Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Songs for Jenni and Tyler

Check out my post on Mulititracking (A Mix Excahnge) and this will make more sense. But in short - here are some songs for my friend Jenni's upcoming wedding.


The Adicts - "I Am Yours"

Adam Panic - "Peach"

Neutral Milk Hotel - "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea"

Alcoholiday - "Honey in Your Tea"

The All American Rejects - "Your Star"

Amos Lee - "Arms of a Woman"

Annuals - "Sore"

Apollo Sunshine - "Eyes"

The Aquabats - "Red Sweater"

ARMS - "Eyeball"

As Tall as Lions - "Love Love Love (Love Love)"

The Ataris - "I.O.U. One Galaxy"

Audrye Sessions - "Relentless"

Austin Gibbs - "Complete"

Augustana - "Meet You There"

The Avett Brothers - "January Wedding"

Badly Drawn Boy - "The Shining"

Band of Horses - "Marry Song"

Band of Horses - "No One's Gonna Love You"

The Beatles - "In My Life"

Ben Folds - "The Luckiest"

Ben Folds - "You to Thank"

The Cure - "In Between Days"

Ben Folds Five - "Magic"

Ben Kweller - "Until I Die"

Ben Kweller - "Thirteen"

Ben Lee - "Love Me Like the World is Ending"

Ben Lee - "Into the Dark"

Bloc Party - "This Modern Love"

Bloc Party - "Blue Light"

Bob Dylan - "Stuck in the Middle With You"

Bon Iver - "RE: Stacks"

Bowerbirds - "Beneath Your Tree"

Boy Least Likely To - "I'm Glad I Hitched My Apple Wagon to Your Star"

Brand New - "Soco Amaretto Lime"

Brandi Carlile - "If There Was No You"

Mostly Bears - "Leda Atomica"

Bright Eyes - "First Day of My Life

Bright Eyes - "The Calendar Hung Itself"

Built to Spill - "Car"

The Candles - "Life Will Shine"

Cast Spells - "Letters"

Citizen Cope - "Every Waking Moment"

City and Colour - "The Girl"

Coldplay - "Shiver"

Copeland - "Brightest"

Cory Chisel - "It Won't Be Long"

Counting Crows - "Accidentally in Love"

Coyote Shivers - "Sugar High"

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - "God Only Knows"

Dashboard Confessional - "As Lovers Go"

Dave Matthews Band - "Crash"

Dear and the Headlights - "I Just Do"

Dear and the Headlights - "Parallel Lines"

Death Cab For Cutie - "I Will Follow You Into the Dark"

The Decemberists - "The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)"

The Decemberists - "O Valencia!"

Deer Tick - "Ashamed"

Denison Witmer - "Miles"

Devendra Banhart - "The Body Breaks"

The Early November - "Hair"

Ed Harcourt - "Black Dress"

Edwin McCain - "I'll Be"

Elliott Smith - "Between the Bars"

Elliott Smith - "Say Yes"

Evan Brightly - "Light, All Light"

Ferraby Lionheart - "Under the Texas Sky"

The Format - "On Your Porch"

The Format - "Inches and Failing"

The Format - "Janet"

The Fray - "Where the Story Ends"

The Fray - "Look After You"

Fun. - "Barlights"

Gin Blossoms - "Follow You Down"

Gin Blossoms - "Til I Hear it From You"

The Frames - "Falling Slowly"

Good Old War - "We've Come a Long Way"

Green Day - "At the Library"

Head Automatica - "Beating Heart Baby"

Helio Sequence - "Hallelujah"

The Hippos - "The Sand"

Howie Day - "Weightless"

Iain Archer - "You Make Me Forget Myself"

Ian Axel - "This is the New Year"

Incubus - "I Miss You"

Incubus - "Stellar"

Iron and Wine - "Such Great Heights"

Jack's Mannequin - "MFEO: Made for Each Other"

Jason Mraz - "You and I Both"

Jason Mraz - "Lucky"

Jimmy Eat World - "For Me This is Heaven"

Josh Ritter - "Change of Time"

Joshua Radin - "Lovely Tonight"

Joshua Radin - "Sky"

Joshua Radin - "I'd Rather Be With You"

Kate Miller-Heidke - "Our Song"

The Kooks - "She Moves in Her Own Way"

Landon Pigg - "Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop"

Lenka - "We Will Not Grow Old"

Sam Means - "Yeah Yeah"

The Long Winters - "Cinnamon"

The Long Winers - "Delicate Hands"

The Loveblisters - "Newborn Stars"

The Loveblisters - "Until You're Mine"

Mae - "Anything"

Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos - "Will You Love Me Forever?"

Mat Kearney - "Nothing Left to Lose"

Matt Costa - "Sweet Rose"

Matt Nathanson - "Laid"

Matt Nathanson - "To the Beat of Our Noisy Hearts"

Matt Nathanson - "Wedding Dress"

Matt Pryor - "Only"

Miniature Tigers - "Cannibal Queen"

Modest Mouse - "Gravity Rides Everything"

Mumford and Sons - "White Blank Page"

MXPX - "Do Your Feet Hurt"

Nada Surf - "Always Love"

Nada Surf - "Here Goes Something"

The New Frontiers - "This is My Home"

Newton Faulker - "Dream Catch Me"

Nickel Creek - "When You Come Back Down"

Oasis - "Wonderwall"

Oasis - "She's Electric"

Oh Land - "White Nights"

Okkervil River - "Savannah Smiles"

Old 97's - "Designs on You"

Onelinedrawing - "Smile"

Paramore - "The Only Exception"

Passion Pit - "Let Your Love Grow Tall"

Peter Bjorn and John - "Objects of My Affection"

Ra Ra Riot - "Can You Tell"

The Raintree - "Pairs"

Reel Big Fish - "Alternative Baby"

Remy Zero - "Fair"

Right Away Great Captain - "Night Marry You"

The Rocket Summer - "Skies So Blue"

The Rocket Summer - "So Much Love"

Rogue Wave - "Publish My Love"

Rogue Wave - "Eyes"

Ron Pope - "A Drop in the Ocean"

Ron Pope - "You're the Reason I Come Home"

Ry Cuming - "Always Remember Me"

Ryan Adams - "Two"

Sara Bareilles - "Many the Miles"'

Sara Bareilles - "One Sweet Love"

The Script - "This = Love"

The Script - "Science and Faith"

Skybox - "Gravity Can't Keep Us Down"

Something Corporate - "She Paints Me Blue"

Stephen Malkmus - "Together"

The Summer Set - "Passenger Seat"

Taylor Swift - "Enchanted"

The Temper Trap - "Sweet Disposition"

The Thermals - "A Stare Like Yours"

Tim Booth - "Fall in Love"

Vedera - "Greater Than"

The Via Maris - "Shining Through Our Clothes"

Walk the Moon - "Anna Sun"

The Weakerthans - "My Favourite Chords"

Weezer - "If You're Wondering if I Want You To"

Weezer - "Only In Dreams"

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Maps"

The Rocket Summer - "Cross My Heart"

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Top 50 Songs of 2010

I already posted my Top Albums of 2010 on my other blog, Multitracking (A Mix Exchange), but as with any good year of music, it's impossible to only showcase the best 10. While I'm more confident than I've ever been in my choices, I also feel like I have a staggering number of other GREAT albums that didn't make the cut, for one reason or another. Many of these albums I like top to bottom, but don't get geeked out about the way I do the ones on my top 10. Some of these songs are the ONLY ones I like on the record. I suppose which is which is best left a mystery.

I was going to control the number/order of these, but they're really in no particular order except the first one. I suggest digging as deep as you'd like into all of them. I added handy links to videos and such to make it even easier to jam.

Although the list is somewhat daunting, I suppose the fact that I felt this many were good enough to post is a sign that good music does indeed still exist.


1) Isaac Russell - "Lighthouse" [from Isaac Russell EP]

2) Tobie Milford - "Tiny Eucatastrophes" [from Alyosha]
http://www.vimeo.com/5645436

3) A Lull - "Weapons for War"[from Weapons For War/Spread it All Round EP]

4) Kinch - "Sunken Treasure" [from This is Flying Blanket Vol 2]

5) MGMT- "Congratulations" [from Congratulations]

6) Rocky Votolato- "Lucky Clover Coin" [from True Devotion]

7) Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs - "For the Summer" [from God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise]

8) Surfer Blood - "Floating Vibes" [from Astro Coast]

9) Mark Ronson and the Business Intl f/MNDR - "Bang Bang Bang" [from Record Collection]

10) Brian Lopez - "I Pray For Rain" [from El Rojo]

11) S. Carey - "In the Dirt" [from All We Grow]

12) Ted Leo and the Pharmacists- "The Mighty Sparrow" [from The Brutalist Bricks]

13) Coheed and Cambria- "Guns of Summer" [from Year of the Black Rainbow]

14) Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos "Will You Love Me Forever" [from Buzzard]

15) Brandon Boyd "Runaway Train" [from The Wild Trapeze]

16) Raining and Ok "Safety Net" [from Living Like a Ghost]

17) Midlake - "Acts of Man" [from The Courage of Others]

18) Back Ted-N-Ted - "The War is Over" [from The Mirror]

19) Erick ARC Elliott - "Plane" [from Noir]

20) Snake! Snake! Snakes! - "City At Night" [from Snake Snake Snakes EP]

21) Oh Land - "White Nights" [from Oh Land]

22) Mt. Desolation "Departure" [from Mt. Desolation]

23) Nada Surf "Love and Anger"(Kate Bush Cover) [from If I Had Hi Fi]

24) Motion City Soundtrack - "Her Words Destroyed My Planet" [from My Dinosaur Life]

25) New Politics "Yeah Yeah Yeah"

26) Skybox "Trout" [from Morning After Cuts]
and
"In a Dream" [from Morning After Cuts]

27) Rogue Wave - "Solitary Gun" [from Permalight]

28) Josh Ritter "Change of Time" [from So Runs the World Away]

29) Weezer f/Sara Bareilles - "If You're Wonder if I Want You To" [from Weezer Raditude (Special for Record Store Day 2010)]

30) Young Man - "Five" [from Boy]

31) Two Door Cinema Club - "Do You Want it All?" [from Tourist History]

32) Vampire Weekend - "White Sky" [from Contra]

33) Dinosaur Feathers - "Teenage Whore" [from Fantasy Memorial]

34) Kings of Leon- "The End" [from Come Around Sundown]

35) Arcade Fire - "Empty Room" [from The Suburbs]

36) Jukebox the Ghost - "Empire" [from Everything Under the Sun]

37) 2AM Club - "Flashing Room" [from What Did You Think Was Going to Happen]

38) Gospel Claws - "Walk Me Down" [from C-L-A-W-S]

39) Miniature Tigers - "Dark Tower" [from Fortress]

40) Young the Giant - "Cough Syrup" [from Young the Giant]

41) Austin Gibbs - "I Like The Ones" [from 1986]

42) The Maine - "Inside of You" [from Black and White]

43) Black Dub - "Surely" [from Black Dub]

44) Ra Ra Riot - "Boy" [from The Orchard]

45) Taylor Swift - "Back to December" [from Speak Now]

46) Horse Feathers - "Starving Robins" [from Thistled Spring]

47) Kopecky Family Band - "God and Me" [from The Disaster]

48) Band of Horses - "Evening Kitchen" [from Infinite Arms]

49) Stephen Steinbrink - "Wet Cloud" [from It's Not Just Kissing]

50) Ry Cuming - "Always Remember Me" - [from Ry Cuming]



Wednesday, December 8, 2010

A 90's Mix for Peter the Intern


Today I was talking with my intern about the music that "raised us". Now, I'm not that old, but he was born in 1990 and therefore missed out on a lot of sweet jams while he was busy learning to walk, read and speak. I mentioned how I used to hide the Alanis Morrissette album from my Mom and he gave me a blank look. DUDE DIDN'T KNOW ALANIS! Additionally, he was only three years old when the Bayside High School Senior Class of '93 graduated. The next few generations of interns are just going to get younger, and frankly, I'm worried about kids who lived in a world without first-run Saved by the Bell.

Therefore, as a goodbye gift for his hard semester of work, I decided to make him a 90's mix. Again, I wasn't that old and not as aware as someone in high school or college, but you know what? I watched a lot of rom-coms growing up and these were always in the background, so I'm well versed in the hits. I threw in some punk and Pavement for good measure, as well as a few other hidden gems. Some of my Twitter buddies were interested in what the final compilation would be, so here it is. . . (in no real order, yet)

1) Alanis Morrissette - "Head Over Feet"
2) Bic Runga - "Sway"
3) Dave Matthews Band - "Crash Into Me"
4) Edwin McCain - "I'll Be"
5) Gin Blossoms - "Til' I Hear It From You"
6) Counting Crows - "A Long December"
7) Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
8) Goo Goo Dolls - "Broadway"
9) Green Day - "She"
10) Pavement - "Stereo"
11) Nirvana - "Drain You"
12) Sister Hazel - "All For You"
13) The Wallflowers - "One Headlight"
14) Elliott Smith - "Miss Misery"
15) Deep Blue Something- "Breakfast at Tiffany's"
16) Ben Folds Five - "Kate"
17) The Cranberries - "Linger"
18) The Juliana Theory - "Into the Dark"
19) Weezer - "The Good Life"
20) The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "Someday I Suppose"
21) MXPX - "Chick Magnet"
22) The Verve - "Bittersweet Symphony"
23) The Refreshments - "Banditos"
24) NOFX - "Linoleum"
25) Tal Bachman - "She's So High"
26) The New Radicals - "You Get What You Give"
27) Save Ferris - "The World is New"
28) Jeff Buckley - "Grace"
29) Jane's Addiction - "Jane Says"
30) Coyote Shivers - "Sugar High"


Saturday, August 14, 2010

The Mix Tape Challenge : #1 "A" to #287 "Another Love Story"

I'm about four days into "The Mixtape Challenge", and still sort of unclear as to how exactly I'm going to document it. However, here are a few things I do know:

1) Holy cow, I have a lot of songs: Obviously I knew the number was upwards of about 9,000, but I guess I thought I consumed more songs on average than I actually do. I've had my iPod on during my morning and evening commutes, as well as at work most of the day, but I'm only about to break 300. This might take a while.

2) I'm not always conscious of what I'm listening to: Although I'm not consuming like I thought, I must listen to enough music on a regular basis that it's often just background noise. As I mentioned before, I work in an office that encourages listening to music, and most of my jobs, all the way down to when I was a hostess or cashier, involved music playing at all times. I'm able to function easily with all four of my department/office mates playing music and listening to my own. But between phone calls, getting into a project, etc, I'll have passed 20 songs and not known what they were.

3) I have some really bad music: I'm still very much an "album" person, so most of the time if I like one song, I'll grab the entire album. But sometimes, someone really does just write ONE good song, and I came across a few of those. I'm sorry Nick Cave, but "Abbatoir Blues" starts off great, but is unlistenable after.

4) I have a short attention span: Which is why this project came to be in the first place. This almost came to a halt at the start when I realized that "A" by Cartel, my very first song, was 9:45 seconds long. And then one sleepy morning I just didn't feel like rocking to "All Downhill from Here" by New Found Glory or some afternoons needed something more upbeat than "Alone Apart" by The Swell Season". But I stuck through most of it, regardless of my mood.
So there's that. In the interest of time, if I'm more conscious of the music, I'll give a lot of these songs the "3/4 rule", and if it's something I don't really dig, I might skip over it after a long enough point. At least then, I gave it somewhat of a shot. Again, I'm not sure how to articulate this process, but for now I'm going to go through some of the songs and what came up as I heard them again.

"A" by Cartel - "Another Love Story" by Jeffrie's Fan Club
  • I have five different versions of Elliott Smith's "Angeles". What's funny is I got to thinking that he's one of my only Top 10 artists that I have never and will never see live, yet that's never bothered me until now.
  • I have sooo many songs that begin with "All". I thought it would never end.
  • I really looked forward to when I hit "Alternative Baby" by Reel Big Fish. What a great song.
  • I got really into the band Centro-matic in high school, but despite their expensive discography, I could never find their older albums at my local record stores. It wasn't until I went to LA and browsed the Ameoba Records candy shop that I found at least three of their records, including Distance and Climb. The funny thing is, I never really got into the rest of them, although hearing "Actuator's Great" makes me want to revisit.
  • Drew Danburry is the MAN, and "Accidentally" is a great song.
  • For a lot of the songs, the Daytrotter.com version comes before the album version, and it's really cool to hear them back to back. They are still one of my favorite out-of-the-box music developments in years.
  • I probably should have been in college in the 90's, because I LOVED when Goo Goo Dolls "Acoustic #3" popped up.
  • Further Seems Forever "How to Start a Fire" was such a great record.
  • I felt the need to apologize when Dashboard Confessional came up, even though no one said anything.
  • The Hippos still have one of my favorite covers ever with "Always Something There to Remind Me"
  • Mostly Bears' live version of "Airports" breathes an entirely different life into the song than the album version. I suggest starting with their live album "Team of Spirits" and then circling back to the records.
  • I had to skip over "American Idiot" by Green Day because there's a good chance I heard it in a grocery store or salon recently anyway. That song is STILL everywhere.
  • I unapologetically listening to ALL 8:34 of "American Pie" at my desk.
  • I have an old demo of Dear and the Headlights that I still have named "Andrea" (because I didn't have any of the tracklisting back then and they say 'Andrea's in the room kickin her shoes off). I know it's "Daysleeper", but I will always use the original file name I made up.
  • While I skipped some of my duplicate songs (ie-if I had a live version and album), I listened to ALL three versions of Matt Nathanson's "Angel".
  • I skipped the bootleg I had of Annuals at Bowery Ballroom from '08 because the quality just isn't that good. I should probably just delete it. (still an awesome band though! just bad recording)
  • Lucky song #222 is "Analog Boy" by RX Bandits, and it still rules.
  • Band of Annuals is a nearly perfect band. "Amy's Great Escape" from their first record is excellent.
  • "Ambling Alp" is STILL the only Yeasayer song I like.
  • In a time where a lot of bands are getting back together (Something Corporate, No Doubt) hearing Jeffrie's Fan Club say "Only because we're never gonna play this again" from their Last Show at The Glasshouse was really sad, knowing they never did.
  • Apparently I have just as many songs that start with "Another", which is where I pick up again tomorrow. Til then . . .



Tuesday, August 10, 2010

The Mix Tape Challenge


One time, when I was in college, I was walking across campus to go home when I ran into my good friend Adam Pah skating to class. I almost always had my iPod and headphones on me, as did he, and we exchanged conversation about what we were "rocking". (I literally say it that way, I'm kind of embarrassing) He mentioned that he was trying out a challenge to listen to his iPod on shuffle and NOT skip over anything, and challenged me to do the same. I took my iPod and put it in my purse, getting through about half the parking lot before a song I didn't really like came on and I skipped right over it.

I think about this encounter a lot as I go through my day to day. I live in New York and since 99.9% of my commutes involve public transit, I ALWAYS have my iPod on me. I'm also fortunate to work in an office that encourages music-listening at our desks, often inciting a hilarious "speaker war" between our respective offices. I am constantly around music, only recently replacing my morning music shuffle routine with watching the morning news.

The funny thing is, despite how much music I constantly consume, I still find myself skipping songs over and over and over, even if it's a song I know I love. I've ended up with about 9,500 songs total, which according to my iTunes is about 25 days worth of music. I can't even imagine how many songs are buried deep within my library. There are probably records I don't even remember buying and since I upgraded to the 160gb, I loaded on records I hadn't had room for but were still on my hard drive. It's sometimes overwhelming.

Today I was listening at work and shuffling through, laughing to myself that it would be funny if I finally reached the end of ALL of the songs. And then I remembered Adam, and our conversation, and I was suddenly inspired.

What if I listened to every song on my iPod uninterrupted?

I realize this is twice as daunting as my "The Loop" series (where I wrote about my top records of the last decade - about 150 or so) I am going to make myself listen to each song - the entire song - no matter what it is. However, I'm not necessarily going to put a time limit on it, which should make thing a little easier/rational. I initially thought I'd just hit shuffle and go, but I know my iPod will restart itself if I plug in to add a new record, etc. The only real way to do this is to go through my songs in alphabetical order - that way I can jot down where I start and stop. I know I'll be adding new music during this process (it's amazing how you can "accidentally" end up with about 6 or 7 new albums thank to Amazon.com's $5 deals) and taking breaks to listen to full records, which will probably be necessary. However, this is more about revisiting songs that I had forgotten about. This means every embarrassing ska song, live bootleg, half-demo and emo ballad that exists in my catalog. I had them for a reason at some point, and I want to remember why.

So there you have it. I'm not sure what form this will take quite yet, most likely checking in periodically, talking about songs from one stopping point to another, digging up videos/streams/memories/etc.

I issue this challenged to YOU as well, if you're up to it. I'm honestly sort of nervous about it even now that I've fleshed it out, but I'm excited to see what I discover.

First up : "A" by Cartel

Ready. Set. Go.


Thursday, May 13, 2010

How the Notes All Bend: What Laura Says and Annuals @ The Empty Bottle [VIDEOS]

I took an impulsive trip to Chicago last weekend, not only to visit some great friends out there, but to catch a tour that I just so happen to be out of town for next month in NYC. This tour features two of my favorite bands, including a band from Arizona that I have been championing for years, What Laura Says as well as the never-fail-amazing-live-set band Annuals.

What Laura Says released their debut full-length, Thinks and Feels on Terpsikhore, a label run by members of Annuals after meeting each other by playing together in Phoenix. They are set to release their latest album, Bloomcheek on June 8th and are touring with Annuals across the country as we speak. The buzz for this band is tangible, and the record itself speaks volumes to their talent, capturing the energy of their much-talked-about live performance and connecting the dots in an outstanding way.

As for Annuals, there was one point in my life where I remember saying that if I could only see one band live the rest of my life, it would be them, and gosh darnit, that's still holds pretty true. They seem to have a new show every time, and as you'll see in the "intro" video, they've added even more live elements on top of what's going on musically on stage. I was fortunate to catch my favorite song, "Brother", which you'll see below. Unforunately the venue was pretty dark, but the sound turned out really well and I think you get the idea :)

It's shows like this where I step band and think how fortunate I am to do what I do, as a fan or otherwise. I am supremely geeked out for the music What Laura Says is about to unleash on the world and for the example that Annuals has set for live bands everywhere. It just plain feels good.

What Laura Says "On the Fence" (new song!)

What Laura Says "On the Fence" @ The Empty Bottle from Seven Watt Media on Vimeo.



What Laura Says "July 23" (extended version)

What Laura Says "July 23" @ The Empty Bottle from Seven Watt Media on Vimeo.



Annuals "Hot Night Hounds" Drum Intro (amazing!)

Annuals "Hot Night Hounds" Intro @ The Empty Bottle from Seven Watt Media on Vimeo.



Annuals "Brother" (my favorite song of theirs)

Annuals "Brother" @ The Empty Bottle from Seven Watt Media on Vimeo.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

How the Notes All Bend : Miniature Tigers "Bull Fighter Jacket" 4/21/10 [VIDEO]

It's no mystery that I'm a huge cheerleader for Arizona music, despite having moved from the state nearly two years ago (really?) It became such a big part of me and I get beyond geeked out to see some of my favorite people continue to find success in music, because they make GREAT music. Miniature Tigers is a prime example.

The funny part is, I actually hadn't met them or seen them live until AFTER I moved to New York. For one reason or another I had missed when they played in AZ, although I used to play some of their songs on my radio show. Regardless, I'm happy to have jumped on the bandwagon when I did, because it's been such an amazing ride to watch. They have been on tour the majority of the two years I've known them, with everyone from Ben Folds (seriously), Say Anything, Fun., Dear and the Headlights, etc. This was one of the first times I was able to see them play a full headlining set, on the tail end of their tour with The Morning Benders. Charlie has joined our ranks as an AZ transplant living in New York, so it's fun to see them as well received here as they were when I saw them in Phoenix around Christmas.

At any rate, they're well on their way to serious buzz band status. Their new album "Fortress" will drop this Summer, and believe you me, there are some SERIOUS jams to look forward to. I was able to catch one on film below, the song "Bull Fighter Jacket". Keep your eyes on these tigers.

Miniature Tigers "Bull Fighter Jacket" 4/21/10 from Seven Watt Media on Vimeo.

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