Music Video to Love: Eet

I just heard this song for the first time on Saturday Night Live last night while I was half asleep but it sounded so good that I remembered to look it up once I got to work this morning. I'm not typically a fan of Regina Spektor but she kills it with the emotion in this one. The lyrics, particularly "It’s like forgetting the words to your favorite song you can’t believe it, you were always singing along", really speak to a certain feeling I can understand instantly. Really lovely.

This video is just as beautiful as the song, mostly because Ms. Spektor is a beautiful woman. Check it out.



Eet Lyrics

It’s like forgetting the words to your favorite song
You can’t believe it
You were always singing along
It was so easy and the words so sweet
You can’t remember
You try to feel the beat

Eet, eet, eet, eet
Eet, eet, eet, eet

You spent half of your life trying to fall behind
You’re using your headphones to drown out your mind
It was so easy, and the words so sweet
You can’t remember
You try to move your feet
Eet, eet, eet, eet
Eet, eet, eet, eet

Someone’s deciding whether or not to steal
He opens the window just to feel the chill
He hears that outside a small boy just starting to cry
‘Cause it’s his turn but his brother won’t let him try

It’s like forgetting the words to your favorite song
You can’t believe it
You were always singing along
It was so easy and the words so sweet
You can’t remember
You try to move your feet

It was so easy and the words so sweet
You can’t remember, you try to feel the beat

Somebody to Love: Phoenix

Phoenix is a French alternative rock band formed by childhood friends in the suburbs of Versailles in the late-'90's. Started during the same period as bands like Air and Daft Punk - other friends - their music shares very similar qualities. They've had both critical and international acclaim for their five album ventures over the last decade and are currently touring the US in support of their latest album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, released in May of this year.

This is a band that has never stuck to a genre. Listening to their current album almost sounds like a mash up between European electro pop and The Strokes style of retro rock. It's hard to put a finger on exactly what makes these songs so catchy but without a doubt they are some of the best songs to test out the bass in your car speakers. Songs like "1901" and "Lisztomania", written about the hysteria over 19th century composer Franz Liszt, are as addicting as Wawa's Peruvian coffee blend and sound better than anything on the radio today.




Unlike so many other bands, Phoenix has also managed to make one excellent record after the next. "Everything is Everything" and "Run Run Run" off 2004's Alphabetical and "If I Ever Feel Better" off their debut disc United still sound as fresh as when they first came out. These are timeless, fun, good old pop songs that never seem to tire.

I have to say, I sometimes don't understand how certain bands think they're making good music when in reality it's clearly garbage. Phoenix is the polar opposite. They have created some of the best beats and strangest lyrics I've ever heard. They're amazing.

I suggest buying the entire Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix album immediately. You won't regret it.

Music Video to Love: While You Wait For the Others

I don't know how I feel about this song yet but I do love the music video. I'm so impressed with it - both artistic and heartfelt. Grizzly Bear is quickly becoming one of my trusted bands, I never would've thought.

Grizzly Bear - "While You Wait For the Others"

I Love The National. Did You Know That?

The National just completely remodeled their website and have a couple tour dates up for the end of October - not as the band but the individual members along with several others from The Breeders and My Brightest Diamond will be performing in Brooklyn under the name "The Long Count". I might not make it to that but I hope to hear some spectacular reviews and see some excellent youtube footage.

Check out the new site and learn more about the greatest band in the world: American Mary.

Nothing Beats a Good Poster

Just stumbled upon a great music poster website called The Small Stakes . They have some of the best poster art I've ever seen in terms of miminalist, funky, modern designs that would look fantastic on a living room wall. And if you're at least a semi-middle class person their prices aren't even that bad (if you're a poor college student, it's a little rougher). I love these though and would consider forking over the $25 plus shipping fees for a few of them if I didn't then have to buy an additional frame, border, etc. to make it look right on my already carefully decorated walls.

But in all seriousness, these are exceptional..

Rock Photography

Just came across an amazing photographer, Justin Borucki, that I felt compelled to share with everyone. Of course one of the most amazing components of these photographs are the subjects but his artistic eye is definitely worth commenting on. The facial expressions he captures in these are pretty interesting.

Top to Bottom: Chris Cornell, Robert Smith - The Cure, John Frusciante - Red Hot Chili Peppers, Common, and 88 Keys.







If you liked these, also check out the brilliant work of Melissa Friedman on her website beIMAGED. Some truly inspiring stuff.



All of these photos found on www.justinborucki.com

Everclear - October 5, 2009

I was extremely lucky to receive free tickets to Everclear's performance at the elegantly simplistic Highline Ballroom on Monday night in New York and even luckier to be off from work and school and have someone to go with on such late notice. To top off my luck, Everclear surpassed my meager expectations and made me proud, once again, to call them one of my favorite bands.

Like some of the rap I've been enjoying lately, Everclear is not typically what one might consider my type of music but upon my first listen in middle school, I was hooked to their deep phrasing and passionate storytelling. Art Alexakis, the lead singer and single constant of the band, can tell a story through alternative rock better than some of our finest folk acts and hip hop stars. This guy has the gift of gab - within a song. Even at 47 years old, he is fresh and the pain still lies deep. Stories of childhood heartbreak, girlfriend overdoses, traumatic nightmares, Volvo driving soccer moms.. no topic is off limit in an Everclear song. It's not only refreshing to hear about personal experiences coming from a place within someone's soul that they're not trying to hide from the public but it's also incredibly moving to be in front of a middle aged man pouring his heart out in songs about some issues other people wouldn't even feel comfortable talking about with their closest friends. It somehow reminds me that we're all just human beings trying - struggling - to get through our day to day lives in one piece.


Everclear's songs have always hit me this way. They say so much within three minutes but it's typically the feeling the words evoke that mean so much to me. Watching Mr. Alexakis up there divulging stories of his daughter taking him to a father/daughter dance and getting up in front of her classmates to give a speech about how proud she is of her dad is one thing but seeing his crooked, embarrassed posture as he does so and how his voice cracks a little when he thinks of how proud he is to have this story to tell - it is just overwhelming. I know it's supposed to be a fun rock show - and I did have tons of fun screaming the lyrics at the top of my lungs and dancing like a maniac - but what separates a band like Everclear from any other alt-rock to come out of the '90's is the heart their front man has without ever meaning to. He is doing what he has to do - what he is trained to do. He comes across as so fragile and helpless that I found myself hoping he realizes the amazing ability he has to touch a person's soul. He understands the human condition in a very unique way that most music doesn't ever come close to.

Now, I do have to say this is a far cry from the last time I saw Everclear about a year ago in Camden opening for the Stone Temple Pilots. Art was in rare form yelling about how he's spent too much of his life listening to women and he's not going to do it anymore and seeming more like an angry old rocker than a person ready to explore their human spirit. While they performed pretty decently that evening, it wasn't anything to write about and they were toppled by STP with Scott Weiland at least pretending to be professional.

On Monday, Art was off vocally, which he acknowledged several times, and did seem a bit exhausted most likely from personal problems he mentions more specifically on his blog, but all of the flaws amassed into something that felt one of a kind. I was not disappointed whatsoever. I actually appreciated the vulnerability much more than the flashiness of the typical concert you get these days with over the top nonsense taking the place of real grit and real music.

The set list contributed to the intimate feeling as well. Let the critics say what they will about Everclear "reliving their glory days" but I enjoy hearing tracks from the older catalog of a band I've loved for a long time. Too many artists get caught up in playing their entire latest album and forget entirely about their devoted, long time fanbase that might want to hear the songs that made them fall in love in the first place. Everclear not only played the classics like "Father of Mine", "I Will Buy You a New Life", and "Santa Monica" but Art took to the acoustic guitar to play old favorites like "Strawberry" and jammed on some stirringly unique versions of "Herion Girl" and "Brown Eyed Girl" which he dedicated to his daughter. And while the encore wasn't long enough, "Everything to Everyone" sounded just as good as ever.

I left the venue feeling privileged to have been a part of an audience of die hard fans that truly love and respect an artist, flaws and all.



Photos courtesy of The Aquarian (from different show but same idea).

Connect the Music

I had some wonderful inspiration for a post today in the form of a song I listened to on the way to class.

In the morning it's usually difficult for me to hear anything besides the running water in the bathroom as I get ready for the day and possibly the humming of the heat if it's cold enough. Today, on the other hand, I decided to actually hook up my iPod and try to get in a lively mood before my first class. John Mayer was my go-to voice for this occasion.

Now, you know that I love John Mayer but oftentimes I'm asked to explain what it is about Mayer that makes me so happy. Is it that I can relate to his lyrics? Do I think he's "hot"? Maybe my friends are into him? Well none of these are applicable in my situation and until today I don't think I had a solid answer.

Typically I'm all about sharing musical experiences with other music lovers and coming together as one to appreciate a sound we're all obsessed with but sometimes there's no good explanation for why a particular piece of music evokes a feeling in you and might not in someone else. Putting on the song "I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)" this morning, I was somehow brought back to the first time I heard the song and how much it meant to me. I had just bough Mayer's album Continuum (on the day it came out of course) and I hadn't heard any of the songs on it save for the single, "Waiting on the World to Change" and the John Mayer Trio version of "Vultures". I didn't know what to expect but the built up anticipation and near anxiety I was going through waiting to hear it for the previous couple months had come to a head and I was prepared to give it my complete attention.

I put the cd in the player and sat back on a white leather chair in my bedroom waiting the final seconds for the sounds to begin. "Waiting on the World to Change" was first and that was fine. It set the mood. Then "I Don't Trust Myself" was next and the opening chords blew me away. I remember thinking it was everything I was looking for in a song - the way someone might feel when they think they've found the right partner - it was everything I never knew I needed. Jazzy, sexy, slinky, tight beats, sparse drums, the lead guitar part that is more melodic than our greatest vocalists, the emptiness of a song that says so much but mostly in your mind... with the music more than the lyrics.

In the days after this discovery, I would play this song while putting on my shoes, while writing, while playing with my cat ... anything. I always wanted to hear it. It took me to a world I wanted to be in. It was my key into a Manhattan penthouse with slate gray walls and luxurious Armani furniture. It was not superficial though. It was the feeling all of these images evoked for me. I have always been in love with modern, sexy, cool jazz sights and sounds. I know the tabloid's "John Mayer" isn't known for this specific vibe but my John Mayer unconsciously achieves this since his first album and beyond. "Neon" on Room For Squares was the same thing. That songs still skips on my original cd version because of my repeat playing habit since I was - oh - 15? Now that I'm quite a bit older, it has come to my attention that I came of age to Mayer's voice and music. He is an old, trustworthy friend that keeps me company and makes me less afraid to face the world when his voice is reassuring me through my headphones.

I don't take this for anymore than it's worth though. It is "just" music and I get that but it means the world to me. There's not too many things you can rely on in this world and I consider myself lucky to have one constant that has stayed by side through thick and thin, high school, West Virgina, college, break-ups, get-togethers, etc. What a gift.

While I still deeply, deeply love the New York jazz sound I feebly tried to explain above, as I get older, I get a little more jaded and rough around the edges. Sometimes the old standbys don't work anymore and that's when I find music that not only soothes my soul but changes it - The National.

The National is the only other music I've come across at exactly the right time and I strongly believe it changed my outlook on life, love, logic, etc. It transformed me if you can possibly imagine one single band doing that. Like Mayer, Matt Berninger's voice was a beacon of light. It just clicked instantly. And strangely, unlike Mayer where the sound of his sparse music felt immediately recognizable to me, it was The National's strange, deep emotional context and connection that got inside me. It was the exact opposite of what I was loving about John Mayer and it set up the foundation of a maturity in my own life that was beginning to grow.

I would love to hear other people's stories of music helping their evolution as a person too but I guess I'll have to wait to until I can do some real research.