Friday Random Eleven - Too much 90's?

It appears I have to get more new music. Or older music...

1) 24,900 Miles Per Hour - 7 Year Bitch.
One of those Seattle bands the industry drug (dragged?) up in the 90's. Coincidentally, Marge and Homer are telling the story of how they got through the 90's. Pretty lame, actually.

2)Black Hole - Beck.
I love this song, except the last 2 minutes of wacky laser sounds make me feel like my guts are turning inside out. Subsequently, although I listen to this song a lot, iTunes shows zero plays.

3)Big Long Now - Nirvana.
Funny, Homer is dressed up as Kurt Cobain. Love the old stuff.

4)Stumbleine - Smashing Pumpkins.
Holy crap...all 90's far.

5)My Doorbell - White Stripes.
Finally, something from this century. Some people think Meg is not a good drummer. These people are jealous wankers.

6)Alone I Break - Korn.
I like these guys...not sure why. Maybe because they were on South Park?

7)Evil - Interpol.
In general, I am not all that big on Interpol. I really like this song, though.

8)Something Against You - Pixies.
Back in the 90's again. Totally worth it. This song, hell, all of Surfer Rosa, is sublimely, insanely awesome.

9)Earthcrosser - Veruca Salt.
They're more than just "Seether". I'm still looking for their Blow It Out Your Ass EP. Lemme know if you find one.

10)Septopus Theme - Brendan Small (Home Movies).
Beware the might Septopus!

11)Snake - PJ Harvey.
I going out rocking. Hard. Teh awesome!


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Listening to: Porno For Pyros - Pets
via FoxyTunes

FRE - At Last!

You would think that I could manage to post at least once a week, given that I really don't even have to think about material. But Lord, it is a struggle. Enjoy!

1)Asshole - Denis Leary.
Just downloaded this last week. Now I have two songs entitled "Asshole". Sweet!

2)Plateau - Nirvana (Unplugged).
I love the beginning of this song, with all the posers apprehensively clapping because they have no idea hat the song is, but don't want to let anyone know.

3)Symphony No. 5, 1st Mvt. - Beethoven.
I've heard that the letter V in Morse code is "dot dot dot dash" because of the beginning of this song.

4)Sheela Na Gig - PJ Harvey.


5)Your Woman - White Town.
Meh.

6)Where Is My Mind? - Pixies.
Surfer Rosa - now that's an album. In my head right now, I sound like Larry King. Sorry about that.

7)Sister Rosetta - Noisettes.
Free from iTunes. Thanks Steve!

8)Ring Finger - NIN.
I awalys thought this was a strange coda to Pretty Hate Machine. Didn't really fit in with the rest of the album.

9)Verdi Cries - 10,000 Maniacs.
Goddamn but I love this song. In fact, I shall listen to the whole thing right now. Discuss among yourselves.

10) Man-Size - PJ Harvey.
All right - 2 Peej songs in one FRE. I truly am blessed.

11)Fake Empire - The National.
Well, that took all the wind out of my sails. I think I'm off to bed now. Night night!


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Listening to: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Bring It On
via FoxyTunes

Friday Random Eleven

Boy oh boy - I gots me some fresh downloads this week, so here's hoping one or more of them come up!

1)The New Style - Beastie Boys.
God help me, I like these guys. This one is short and sweet, and off of the "No Alternative" CD, so it's better than the one on "Licensed To Ill".

2)Life Wasted - Pearl Jam.
I used to know a girl who had a stalker-style crush on Eddie Vedder. Last I heard she was a practicing lesbian...I'm not sure what, if anything, that means.

3)The Guide - Borne.
Free on iTunes...not sure I got my money's worth.

4)Drivin' on 9 - The Breeders.
It just goes to show the sorry state of country music that the best country songs in the past couple of decades have been written by Kim Deal and Beck ("Rowboat").

5)Do You Realize? - Flaming Lips.
My favorite part of the movie 50 First Dates is the part where this song plays just seconds before the car crash. It was a little flash of high art...in an Adam Sandler film?!?

6)Drain You - Nirvana.
The production on Nevermind is among the best I've ever heard. There is not a weak song on the album; it's one of the best ever.

7)Freight Trane - John Coltrane.
Man, did white people ruin jazz or what?

8)50 Foot Queenie - PJ Harvey.
She is crazy...which is probably why she's so damn awesome.

9)I've Seen the Land Beyond - Beck.

OK, this is actually more folk than country, but this song still speaks to the point I made earlier.

10)Alala - CSS.

I hear these guys all the time now - iPod commercials and movie trailers. And the video is awesome.


11)One Beat - Sleater-Kinney.

Great song. Here's what Carrie Brownstein has been up to since the band's gone on indefinite hiatus.


Well, none of my new downloads came up today...I guess maybe I'll have to do a special post about them later. Or not. We'll see.


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Listening to: Limblifter - Cordova
via FoxyTunes

Last Freakin' Minute FRE

Sweet merciful crap! I totally forgot the FRE until just this minute. No time for chit-chat, I'm up against a deadline here.

1) Jesus Lizard - Blue Shot.
OK, these guys are freakin' weird, but I really like some of the inventive chord structures.

2) Atmosphere - You.
These guys are freakin' awesome, a local act that makes up part of the Rhymesayers Collective (warning: link NSFW!).



3) Bjork - Human Behaviour.
Bjork is teh freakin' awesome! I read recently that she's starting a foundation to supply seed money to Icelandic entrepreneurs. OMG! - I spelled entrepreneurs right the first time!!!

4) The National - Fake Empire.
Meh. Freakin' meh!

5) Morphine - Sharks.
Dirty, jazzy blues at it's freakin' baddest.

6) Findlay Brown - Seperated By The Sea.
Pretty freakin' good for a free iTunes download.

7) PJ Harvey - Hair.
PJ Freakin' Harvey! She so kicks ass. She reinvents herself like Madonna, but she doesn't suck...like Madonna.

8) Sleater-Kinney - Get Up.
Man, do I have freakin' great musical taste or what? Sleater-Kinney is one of the most underrated bands in recent times, and I supoose that might be why I love them so.

9) Tori Amos - Putting the Damage On.
Boys for Pele is a freakin' great album (in fact, Tori's last great album), but the title puts distirbing imagery of world-renowned footballers touching little children imappropriately.

10) Fiona Apple - Limp.
I'm starting to see a freakin' pattern in musical artists here...

11) 7 Year Bitch - Whoopie Cat.
Another Seattle band from the freakin' 90s. Not too bad though.

Well, it's a little late, but it's still Friday. Have a freakin' sweet weekend!


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Listening to: Barbara Manning And The San Francisco Seals - Joed Out
via FoxyTunes

FRE - Bold New Adventures In Obsolescence and Futilty

I would be remiss, as I bloviate across the empty vacuum of this far-flung arm of the blogosphere, if I did not, among other things, such as, in the interest of full disclosure, admitting that I've just absolutely lost control of this sentence, point out the little music player on my sidebar over there. Give it a listen, won't you?

Great...now let's get on with the FRE while it's still Friday, shall we?

1) Shiver - Coldplay.
I really can't abide what's become of Coldplay since this album.

2) Somewhere Only We Know - Keane.
I like this song, but it just needs a big "gong" at the very end. That'd be sweet!

3) Victory - PJ Harvey.
Love me some Peej! She's a real artist, growing through her medium. Great stuff.

4) Question! - System of a Down.
If a song has an exclaimation point in it, it's good. That's just the way it is.

5) Satchel Mouth - Balloon Guy.
Ooo...look at me! I'm supporting local music!
This is pretty good, actually.

6) Fake Pastic Trees - Radiohead.
You could really tell they were about to do something big when The Bends came out after Pablo Honey.

7) Been A Son - Nirvana.
Old school Nirvana is the best-school Nirvana.

8) Ghost Song - Best Friends Forever.
The one time I saw BFF in concert, we only got like two and a half songs out of them before the equipment crapped out, but it was awesome. This was the one of the two songs I heard all the way through, and it echoed surrealistically off of the brick facade of the Bell Museum.

It was fucking awesome.

This video doesn't do it justice, but check out their stuff.

9) Cannon Ball - The Breeders.
Who doesn't like this song? Show me one person - I will personally spit upon them!

10) Would? - Alice in Chains.
OK, we're going a little early 90's here. Let's see if we can turn it around on #11.

11) Fuck and Run - Liz Phair.
Nope, I we couldn't turn it around. That's OK though - I like this song...except the part where she goes, "Fuck and run, even when I was seventeen, fuck and run, even when I was twelve."

Twelve?!? WTF!


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Listening to: PJ Harvey - Rid Of Me
via FoxyTunes

And the day was not as dismal as it seemed it might be

I punched up "random" on the old bobPod on the way to work this morning, and was presented with the following playlist:

Sleater-Kinney - "Jumpers"
Pearl Jam - "Life Wasted"
PJ Harvey - "When Under Ether"
Monty Pyton - "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life"

What is my mp3 player trying to say?

Don't call it a comeback...

Wow. What a trying month away from the blogosphere. Well, not really so much trying as it was busy. Actually, sort of busy and sort of not really feeling inspired to write much of anything.

But, mark my words, I shan't leave you all again for such a long period of time. That is my guarantee. Well, not so much a guarantee as a promise. Hmmm..."promise" is such a strong word - how about I call it my goal. No, not really an actual goal, more of a "I'm going to try until I give up" kind of deal. What's the phrase I'm looking for?

Ah, yes. New Year's Resolution! I resolve to keep on writing and posting and everything until I decide to throw whatever readership I haven't already pissed away onto the heap of discarded exercise equipment and A.A. pamphlets.

Speaking of promises unfulfilled, I believe I owe everyone some album reviews. Let's start with PJ Harvey's White Chalk.

This album was released in the States back in early October, I believe, and I didn't actually hear anything off of it until mid-October, on my way back from a pumpkin carving party. As I listened intently, I knew one thing for sure: I really had to up my game if I wanted to win the pumpkin carving contest next year. Man, I really mailed it in this year. Anyway, back to Peej.

When I first pushed play on my CD player, I was greeted by these weird, ethereal Beach Boys-esque piano chords. Had I not read up on this album before I played it, this might have come as quite a shock. There is no wailing or shrieking on this album, and piano. rather than guitar, is the instrument of choice. However, I did read up, so I guess the joke is on her.

I'm not going to do a song by song breakdown like I usually do. What I am going to do is just let you know that the more you know about PJ, the more you can appreciate this album. Of course, having just started playing piano a year or two ago, she is no virtuoso. At times, her playing reminds me of the times I'd go to my son's piano recitals and listen to child upon child struggle and fumble through pieces, nearly losing it but somehow pulling through with a recognizable, even gutsy, performance.

I admire Ms. Harvey's ambition and willingness to experiment and explore, and I think that these traits come through in many of her songs. She's really pulled together an honest-to-goodness album here, an increasingly rare feat in these days dominated by single-song downloads and you kids with your long hair and your salads with arugula in them. Arugula! In my day salads had iceberg lettuce, one mealy tomato slice, and, if you were lucky, maybe some vinegar for dressing. Arugula!

Anyway, I recommend this album for it's inventiveness, bravery, and for the fact that PJ is bringing back Victorian chic. Check it out:



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Now playing: PJ Harvey - White Chalk
via FoxyTunes