Just a quick rundown of some songs I've been wanting to download off iTunes but have yet to get a chance because of school, lack of internet access unless at school library, and the anticipation of the new 5th generation iPod that should be in my hands by the beginning of next week. Currently my old one is sitting in my bag, completely uncharged, missing headphones, and rather ragged looking. I feel sorry for it. I remember when I first got it almost two years ago and treated it like the most important piece of gold in the world. Now it's become a homeless person taking shelter in a random pocket next to a couple TD Bank pens. That's not very nice of me to treat an old friend like that but that new, shiny iPod is making dream clouds appear in my mind. I don't know what color I want yet (possibly dark blue? Forest green?.. I've always wanted a red one..) but I can't wait for the FM radio option and the pre-made Genius mixes. Those are the kind of nerdy things I live for. I hope to fall in love.
So here's a little, incomplete list meant primarily for me because who knows if anyone else will understand it.
**Cat Stevens - If You Want to Sing Out (from that T-Mobile commercial I love with my best friend, Whoopi Goldberg) **Wale ft. Lady Gaga - Chillin (I'm obsessed with the video and Gaga's absolutely addicting chorus) **Kanye West - Paranoid (I know I mentioned it before but I have yet to purchase it and hey, I still love him - and Taylor Swift is okay too) **Mayer Hawthorne (no song in particular but I've heard so much about him and think I'd like his style... maybe) **New Vampire Weekend? **Monsters of Folk **Electric Light Orchestra - Evil Woman **Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks (at least I think that's what it's called - found on 101.9) **Pete Yorn - Last Summer (I can't place this song but 101.9's recently played list mentions it a lot so I must hear it) **Joe Jackson - Look Sharp! **The Violent Femmes **James Morrison - Hurt Like You **Snow Patrol - Hands Open
... I feel like there was more throughout this past week but that's all I can think of. I don't mind that "Paparazzi" song of Lady Gaga's either but I wouldn't download it. I'm also LOVING everything about Kid Cudi whose debut album comes out today I think? I still need "Make Her Say" - consider that part of the list and any other new songs I love of his off the album.
A couple other notes:
--Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are releasing a new live collection called "The Live Anthology" that does not have a set date yet but will include something like 48 songs, bonus footage, and all kinds of other stuff at a reasonable price. There's also some kind of digital "Superhighway" tour mentioned on their website but I don't fully understand it yet. Their new website is AWESOME though - the best I've ever seen.
--If you haven't checked out 101.9 RXP and live in the tri-state area, you are completely out of your mind. This is not only the greatest radio station to ever grace the airwaves, they are transforming my life into a better one. I don't hear them as much I'd like but my freaking new iPod better get great reception and tagging options on this station because I plan on listening to them a lot more as soon as I can. They play such rarities - both old and new - that I can't get over it. I keep finding these precious gems on their playlists, even if I listen for just a few minutes in the car. I want to give all the disc jockeys hugs and gift baskets. They are the greatest.
During Labor Day weekend I wrote a post about 101.9 RXP's 1,019 greatest rock songs of all time countdown but failed to ever post my own top 20 list that I managed to send in right before the deadline. I forget exactly how many of my songs wound up on the list but I do know it was a good amount - maybe 10? Maybe even more. I'm proud of that and also proud of all the other songs on my list. Not even all of Matt Pinfield's songs made the list (I don't think).
Believe it or not Pete Yorn, Ray LaMontagne, AND MY NATIONAL SONG(!) got on the list and really that's all I could ever ask for. I was thrilled.
So without further adieu, here is my Top 20 List of my favorite great rock songs.
Enjoy!
Cream - Sunshine of Your Love Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - I Need to Know* The Band - Up On Cripple Creek Led Zeppelin - D'yer Mak'er* The Hollies - Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress Todd Rundgren - I Saw The Light The Who - The Seeker Jefferson Airplane - High Flying Bird The National - Mistaken For Strangers* Bruce Springsteen - It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City* Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge* David Bowie - Queen Bitch Creedence Clearwater Revival - Have You Ever Seen the Rain? Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower* Dramarama - Anything, Anything* Chicago - Beginnings Fleetwood Mac - Dreams Foo Fighters - Everlong* The Smiths - This Charming Man* Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song*
(*)=songs I know were chosen for the countdown, there may have been more.
And my "legacy picks" (these were categories with a predetermined artist that required you to choose their best song. For The Beatles it was pre-Rubber Soul and for the Stones it was pre-Sticky Fingers):
Buddy Holly - It Doesn't Matter Anymore Bob Dylan - I Threw it All Away Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel The Beatles - You Can't Do That The Rolling Stones - Paint it, Black (although it would've been "Miss You" if it was out of their entire catalog)
Kanye West has been one of my favorite rappers since The College Dropout but it seems like he just gets better and better - and more mature - with every single. "Paranoid", West's fourth single off his latest album 808's and Heartbreak, has already been around the radio and music video circuit for awhile but it just grabbed hold of me last night when I was sitting alone in my living room watching the VH1 Soul channel (my favorite) and this short film came on mascarading as a music video (not the other way around) and blew my mind.
I'm actually amazed that this song isn't more of a hit. Maybe I missed its heyday a few months back but the beat is irresistable. I have yet to get it out of my head. Apparently, Rihanna - the star of the video - was supposed to be featured as a guest on the radio version but that idea was scrapped and the one sent out to stations featured Mr Hudson instead, also the version on the music video. While the single's been out since March it was only in June that it became available for download and debuted on the Billboard Pop 100 chart at only 96, reaching its peak at 61.
I loved "Heartless" and "Love Lockdown" off 808's but this beats them by a mile. This song is so unique and modern. It does something really arresting with its sound that I can't put my finger on. I might get a little obsessed with this.
This is the question the radio station I cannot get enough of - 101.9 RXP - is posing to its listeners and staff this Labor Day weekend. In order to be a part of their 1,019 greatest rock songs of all time you must fill out the ballot located on their site by tomorrow, August 31st, with your top 20 choices and refrain from repeating any favorite artist more than once. Along with your definitive list, the station is asking for your choice of an ultimate song by their crew of "pioneer rockers" including Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, and The Beatles (pre-Rubber Soul). Results will air Friday morning, September 4 to Monday evening, September 7th.
In case of confusion, they've been kind enough to clog my mind by including on their site the ballots of their DJ's and a few scattered music industry types as examples. I am now obsessed. I need to hear each and every one of these songs immediately. If someone, a disc jockey no less, thinks a song belongs on a TOP 20 LIST OF ALL TIME then I need to know why before my head explodes. I wish I could say it more eloquently but this is the kind of list I create each night before I go to sleep, the kind I write rough drafts of during particularly boring days in science class. I'm at work right now - in the center of the storm some call a Hatebreed concert - and therefore my time is limited but I wanted to complete this post in order to maybe give someone a chance to enter the contest. My list probably won't be finished until tomorrow at which time I'll regret all my choices but still post it here for all to see. Until then, enjoy a sampling of the best list I've read yet - Mr. Matt Pinfield's, the originator of this plan.
The Ramones - I Just Wanna Have Something to Do The Who - Substitute Neil Young - Old Man Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love The Jam - Going Underground The Kinks - Sunny Afternoon Led Zeppelin - Hey Hey What Can I Do David Bowie - Rock N Roll Suicide The Clash - Death or Glory Bruce Springsteen - Candy's Room Elvis Costello - Accidents Will Happen Soundgarden - Outshined The Cure - In Between Days Jimi Hendrix - Castles Made of Sand The Smiths - How Soon is Now Oasis - Live Forever U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name Dramarama - Anything Anything Pearl Jam - Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town Nine Inch Nails - Hurt
The acoustic version he's been playing around LA has been stuck in my head for weeks now but I was expecting a little more from the studio version. I don't know. It's difficult for me to get critical about my favorite artist but based on some other new song snippets from his upcoming album I'm not sure why this was chosen as the first single. I really enjoy the lyrics, both as comedy and slight tragedy, but as one Youtube comment noted: It's very James Taylor. I know Mayer has always been in that genre but it's intensity is up a notch on this one. If I heard it on the radio tomorrow and didn't know it was John Mayer, I would probably love it regardless and think it was hysterical but he has SO MUCH in him that still feels a little repressed. I'm rooting more for "Half of My Heart" than this but I still love it and if I love it now after a few listens I'll probably be obsessed and wondering why I ever questioned it's integrity.
And this is me being really critical of Mayer - this is the worst I can think to say. Other than that, I'm more ready than ever to hear his new music and cannot believe I have to wait until November for more.
(This one minute sample comes courtesy of Youtube but originally from John Mayer's online radio program where he first tested this new material out last night.)
Tentative "Who Says" lyrics:
Who says I can't get stoned? Turn off the lights and the telephone Me and my house alone Who says I can't get stoned?
Who says I can't be free? From all of the things that I used to be Re-write my history Who says I can't be free?
Its been a long night in New York City Its been a long night in Baton Rouge I don't remember you looking any better But then again I don't remember you
Who says I can't get stoned? Call up a girl that I used to know Fake love for an hour or so Who says I can't get stoned?
Who says I can't take time? Meet all the girls on the county line Then wait on fate to send a sign Who says I can't take time?
Its been a long night in New York City Its been a long night in Austin too I don't remember you looking any better But then again I don't remember you
Who says I can't get stoned? Plan a trip to Japan alone Doesn't matter if I even go Who says I can't get stoned?
Its been a long night in New York City Its been a long time since 20 too I don't remember you looking any better But then again I don't remember you
It has nearly 2 million views on Youtube, it is a worldwide, underground phenomenon and I cannot get enough of it. "Divine" by French singer Sebastien Tellier is a crazy cavalcade of lunacy. The song, off Tellier's 2008 album Sexuality, was the French entry for the renowned Eurovision Song Contest where it was harshly criticized for being primarily in English to the point of getting the French Parliament involved, partially helping it to place a low 18th out of 25th within the contest.
Despite the controversy, the song peaked high on Belgian, Swedish, Danish, and UK Singles charts throughout 2008 and the video has become an even greater success with the help of comical montages featuring the singer in strange situations amongst people of various backgrounds.
I promise this is the funniest music video you will ever see.
No no no no no no no I’m looking for a band today I see the Chivers anyway Through my eyes
Oh oh oh I… I’m alone in life to say I love the Chivers anyway ‘Cause Chivers look divine Look away They try to find the Milky Way They love to drink it every day
No no no no no no no You… you and I, it’s like you said I’m not a Chivers anyway You look fine
Oh oh oh I… I’m alone in life to say I love the Chivers anyway ‘Cause Chivers look divine Look away They try to find the Milky Way
I… toi et moi, c’est comme tu sais Comment mon cœur a succombé She looks fine
Oh oh oh I’m looking for a band today I see the Chivers anyway I’ll be a Chivers guy some day In my mind
Dudu dududu dududu… Dudu dududu dududu… Du… dudu…
(In case you were wondering, "Chivers" is apparently a fictitious high school band in the movie "Steak" that Tellier was in and composed for.)
I am sick to my stomach today. As much as I feigned excitement about the coming semester, I am not in the mood to go back to the lifestyle it requires: waking up at 7am, walking to and from distant campuses, faking a smile for strangers, awkward encounters, etc. I almost feel like I'm too old for it. Most of my age-appropriate friends have either graduated or decided not to attend college. I am an old lady walking around with Ugg wearing youngsters trying to act like I'm into Miley Cyrus or something.
But I am.
I have a secret that I would only share with the people crazy enough to read this very music blog: I have watched Hannah Montana, I have enjoyed Miley Cyrus's creeptastic rants about her father, Billy Ray, and I have a really strange reason for loving for her latest single, "Party in the U.S.A.". I know! Stop reading now. It might only get worse! This is ridiculous. I'm stuck in the movie Big or something. I'm going backwards in time. While it sounds juvenile to appreciate Cyrus, I promise if you stick it out until my point is finished, you just may find there's quasi-sophisticated reasoning behind my madness.
Okay, to prove my point, here are the lyrics:
I hopped off the plane at LAX with a dream and my cardigan welcome to the land of fame excess, am I gonna fit in?
Jumped in the cab, Here I am for the first time Look to the right and I see the Hollywood sign This is all so crazy Everybody seems so famous
My tummys turnin and I'm feelin kinda home sick Too much pressure and I'm nervous, That's when the taxi man turned on the radio and a Jay Z song was on and the Jay Z song was on and the Jay Z song was on
CHORUS: So I put my hands up They’re playing my song, And the butterflies fly away Noddin’ my head like yea Movin my hips like yea I got my hands up, They’re playin my song I know im gonna be ok Yea, It's a party in the USA
Get to the club in my taxi cab Everybody's lookin at me now Like “whos that chick, thats rockin’ kicks? She gotta be from out of town”
So hard with my girls all around me Its definitely not a Nashville party Cause’ all I see are stilettos I guess I never got the memo
My tummys turnin and I'm feelin kinda home sick Too much pressure and I'm nervous That's when the D.J. dropped my favorite tune and a Britney song was on and the Britney song was on and the Britney song was on
CHORUS: So I put my hands up They’re playing my song, And the butterflies fly away Noddin’ my head like yea Movin my hips like yea I got my hands up, They’re playin my song I know im gonna be ok Yea, It's a party in the USA
Feel like hoppin' on a flight (on a flight) Back to my hometown tonight (town tonight) Something stops me every time (every time) The DJ plays my song and I feel alright
CHORUS: So I put my hands up They’re playing my song, And the butterflies fly away Noddin’ my head like yea Movin my hips like yea I got my hands up, They’re playin my song I know im gonna be ok Yea, It's a party in the USA
Okay: when I first heard this song being made fun of on The Soup where Miss Cyrus was kind enough to entertain us all with a pole routine and crazy gyrations on top of a makeshift ice cream truck during her Teen Choice Awards performance, I found myself bopping my head along. I didn't want to but it happened. Then, as I'm proned to do, I watched the same episode of The Soup again. And again. Joel McHale is one of my all time favorite people so I can never get enough. Anyway, with each viewing I found myself creeping more and more out of my seat to the point that I wasn't just laughing, I was enjoying it. Something about the lyrics made that crazy bell inside of me ring.
This song is all about music in a really interesting perspective. Other songs may have done this before but I didn't catch it. Blatantly the lyrics are saying music will save us from everything. This young girl arrives in LA full of frustrations and anguish about what lies ahead of her then she joyously hears her favorite Jay-Z song (sometimes replaced by "Michael" - as in Jackson - during live performances) and everything is okay. She's suddenly moving her head "like yea" and shaking her hips "like yea". I'm not sure what that means but I approve. And I know what she's saying.
Who among us hasn't had a god awful day when suddenly our favorite song comes on the radio and we instinctively raise the volume knob and starting singing along? This freaking song has tapped into the truth behind the love of music. I might still be slightly intoxicated but I sincerely believe this.
I'll give you an example:
When I thought I would be a driver, I took a meaningless computerized permit test at the DMV. I was about a 100 years old at the time, nowhere near 16 or whatever the normal age is, and I absolutely didn't want to be a part of this scene. I don't know if you're aware of what happens at a DMV in New Jersey but there are hairy, old men with open shirts and large protruding stomachs, scary, young women with so much hairspray on their heads they look like bad wax statues, and angry people of all shapes and sizes behind the counter - a situation that can only be described as the creepy leading the creepier. It was one of the most miserable days of my life. I am not a person that gets excited about studying for a test that will only lead to bankruptcy and car crashes. Suddenly, in the middle of maybe question 22 on the test, John Mayer pipes out of the speakers. "Waiting on the World to Change".
My head popped up, I regained a sense of the outside world, and passed the test. I scheduled a driving test date that I never attended and marched out the door. It was a victory - mostly due in part to them "playing my song, and the butterflies fly away, moving my head like yea..." You get the idea.
This is not the first time a song came on the radio that miraculously changed my thought process - not by a mile. John Mayer always comes on at exactly the right time and just the other day I was feeling like a sack of broken old bones (this is not a strange feeling for me) in the car when Snow Patrol's "Hands Open" started playing on my favorite, favorite radio station, 101.9 RXP, and I had to turn it up. I was barely even conscious and I just had to hear that song louder. It is simply involuntary. That same day there was also this James Morrison song on the same station that I managed to write down in my phone as not to forget it when I could consciously look it up. Some things just sound so good (hence the title of this blog, baby).
In relation, I realized yesterday how much music can take the shape of a human being. My dear friend in from Ithaca for the weekend was playing a great deal of music in her car on the way to a concert. While we have similar musical appreciation, I couldn't help but notice that her music sounded very much like her - not her voice but the style of who she is. It fit her just right, like a snug jacket. When someone is open and honest about the kind of music they love and know themselves the way they should like she does, this wonderful cloud of music surrounds them in just the right way. I can't see if my music does this as it must be an aura thing that only others can see but when it's there, it's beautiful. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. It's almost too poetic to express properly.
So here's a video of Miss Miley doing her thing and getting me all messed up and introspective for no reason. I sort of hope you enjoy. She rocks it out better than real rock stars. I hate that I like this stupid/non-stupid girl.
It's pretty extraordinary how much music plays a part in my everyday life without me consciously provoking it. It seems like any element of my life worthy of discussion has something to do with music - either directly or indirectly.
As usual, while being the epitome of a creepy, young girl I googled something that lead me to the lyrics of "Don't Stand So Close to Me" and "What I Go to School For" (I'm sure the more clever of you can use the context clues to figure it out). I'm probably one of the only people strange enough to look for songs pertaining to even my weirdest of obsessions. I heard "Don't Stand So Close to Me" at a bar a few months ago and whilst drunk found it incredibly endearing. That Sting definitely knows what he's talking about from the female perspective at least. I'd post the lyrics but they're slightly incriminating to my character. I have a lovely boyfriend and my indecent infatuation is on his last nerve. With the growing anticipation of classes next week, I will admit I'm out of hand. But I invite any one of you to come with me and see for yourself. It's practically a rite of passage within pop culture to be in love with at least one gorgeous prof. Funny note, my iTunes is telling me that I haven't listened to that Police song since Christmas of 2007 until now. Oh my.
Now I'm embarrassed so on to the next topic:
There are too many good songs I've been listening to lately. I was at another bar (I'm not the alcoholic I make myself out to be, I promise) the other night where the jukebox was ten times better than the usual one I frequent and it inspired me so much that I ran to the library the following day and actually PAID to download at least three of the songs I heard. On a side note, I have fully given up on free music networks like LimeWire that absolutely do not work anymore. If you're looking for a real gem, they are always impossible to find for free these days. I am so satisfied with the music I've been blasting from my headphones. I'll admit when I'm out in public, I get nervous about my music being heard by people sitting next to me on buses, at coffeehouses etc. through my headphones but when I'm listening to Edwin Starr and classic Bruce Springsteen I have nothing to fear. It's just those off days of Britney Spears' "Radar" that I have to worry about.
ANYWAY, it's these soul songs mixed with some other tunes I downloaded after people watching at an Urban Outfitters several months ago that have been reverberating off my eardrums in the past two weeks. I might have written about it at the time but the sound system was so good at UO that songs I've been hearing for the past decade finally started to take shape in my brain as really good material and I immediately dug into exploring them further. I'm talking about songs like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "One Headlight" here. I don't know where some of this stuff comes from out of nowhere. One day I'm barely listening to something on the radio and the next I'm obsessed with it. It's absolutely all about timing and speakers. Listening to my same old music on my incredible speaker system at home always makes me get up from whatever I'm doing, go to the iTunes playlist, and check out what the amazing song playing is - I'll find it's something I've heard 5 times before that I didn't recognize as great until that very minute - then suddenly I can't get enough of it. While folding clothes the other day, a whole mess of Rhett Miller came on the speakers and I was dying. How did I forget about this guy?
I was also watching part one of The Beatles Anthology tonight on VH1 and felt happier than ever that I didn't go out of the house. This documentary captured my attention for the entire two hours to the point that I was waiting to even get up to go to the bathroom even though I have DVR and could've just paused it. As mentioned previously, I've been a huge fan of George Harrison for nearly a decade now but my immense love of the band collectively didn't reach its peak until maybe five years ago. I had many of their albums before then but didn't appreciate them the way I should have. Hearing their music on this show tonight really opened my mind. I seriously couldn't tear myself away and was really bummed when it was over. If you're any level of a Beatles fan, I highly suggest the cumulative cover story on this week's Rolling Stone that truly encompasses at least a paragraph for every phase of the band. Both the story and documentary got me in the mood to listen to all of my favorite Beatles song on a loop for the rest of the night.
And now for the best part of this post, the playlist. Let's add a dash of this post, a sprinkling of recent 'Songs to Love', and a large dollop of what I've been listening to lately:
01.Edwin Starr - 25 Miles 02.Bruce Springsteen - It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City 03.The Police - Don't Stand So Close to Me 04.Stevie Nicks - Stand Back 05.Sebastien Tellier - Divine 06.The Avett Brothers - Will You Return? 07.The Wallflowers - One Headlight 08.The Clash - Spanish Bombs 09.Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine 10.Sam Cooke - You Send Me 11.Beyonce - Ego (yes, I love it, actually - oh well) 12.Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose - Too Late to Turn Back Now 13.Paolo Nutini - These Streets 14.Phoenix - 1901 (probably on another list too but I still love it - MUST LISTEN) 15.Paul McCartney - My Love 16.The Beatles - You Can't Do That 17.Desi Arnaz - Babalu 18.Eddie Floyd - But It's Alright 19.Gene Vincent - Be-Bop-A-Lula 20.INXS - By My Side
I promise this would make an awesome - if not diverse and maybe even semi-impressive - cd mix for the car or office.
