Something a little different....

I've been meaning to do a music post for awhile, I just haven't particularly been inspired. But. In working on mixes for Greg, KT, and Booshy, I've actually had a TON of fun getting back into the good ol' fashioned theme mix and just delving into my music collection.

So, one of the mixes I put together for the boy actually started out as a joke, and moved randomly into super serious and thoughtful territory. We had a conversation making fun of Tom Delonge and his elitist and ridiculous musical side project, Angels and Airwaves. The album came with a note on the inside telling the listener that the album was meant to be played in a dark room, with one candle burning. Which is ridiculous. I mean...I've done things like this, but I don't particularly want my rock stars telling me how to listen to their music. Shut up, let me discover it on my own.

I wanted to make a snarky mix playing on that idea: the elitist "play by candle light from a light house" mix. I'm not necessarily a candle light kind of girl, but I understood the sentiment: your contemplative place. For me, this is definitely my car. I cannot, and don't particularly want to think about, how many nights and how many miles I've driven, chainsmoking and listening to music while thinking about...whatever. I just kept thinking about how, as awkward and misguided as Tom was in throwing this statement in with the album...his intentions were good. So as I built this playlist, it went from snarky to serious as I spent too much time thinking about this idea.

First of all, here's a link to download it: http://www.mediafire.com/?4yk9gdo1n77z9gz
That will make the rest of this make more sense...not to mention, actually worth your time in reading this.

Here is the suggested track list/commentary/fun facts.

1.)What Ever Happened--the Strokes
I don't know what it is about this song, but I've started so many mixes for my car with it. The first ten seconds are amazing...not to mention the rest of the song. There's just this intense build up to this explosion of emotion, so when the first lines I want to be forgotten and I don't want to be reminded happen, you stop and you listen and you want to know more. I get sucked into this song every time I listen to it.


2.)Gravity Rides Everything--Modest Mouse
The Moon and Antarctica is my favorite Modest Mouse album, and this song is a large aspect into why. This album is more melodic, slower, a bit more acoustic and melancholy. With MM, I often find myself drifting in and out with the lyrics--it's hard to follow them, because they're abstract and all over the place, but there are these one-liners that are punctuated, they catch you, and they stick with you. It all will fall, fall right into place is more than a call-and-answer style chorus, it's a plea, as if the lead singer is trying to convince the listener as well as himself that this is true.

3.)Evaporated--Ben Folds Five
Ok. So, we're friends. And that means you know about my Ben Folds obsession. This song. Out of all the songs and musical things that Ben has touched, this is my favorite. I can't explain why. It just is. This song reduces me to a puddle of emotions and brainwaves every single time I hear it. This isn't a famous Ben song, so I never expected to ever get to see it played live, but the last time I saw him, he did it. I cried. Like a bitch. Becky looked at me like I was insane, as well as strangers around me, but I couldn't have cared less. My life is a little more complete in hearing him perform that song live, because when he sings I poured my heart out, I believe him.

4.)San Franciso--Brett Dennen
First of all, Brett Dennen is adorable. One of those ginger boys who is kinda awkward, but who cares, because he has an amazing friggin voice. This song is cutesy, with a tinge of melancholy to it. He tells the listener all these wonderful plans he has for his life, but...he's alone. He paints a picture within the lyrics--you can picture the city, his little home he builds, the little life he leads. You can read into it on several levels, which I like.

5.)Motorcycle Drive By--Third Eye Blind
All you suckers who are sitting there going, "Third Eye Blind? Really? Burgs. How friggin 90s of you" can just shut up right now. First of all, this is not radio 3eb. This song, when listened to correctly, is an emotional roller coaster. By the time the whole band kicks in about two and a half minutes in, your heart soars along with the music. Stephen Jenkins' screechy, haggard delivery of the lines I've never been so alone, and I've never been so alive tug at your heart, and you understand. Completely. Wholly.

6.)My Wandering Days are Over--Belle & Sebastian
Belle & Sebastian are wonderful. They have this quirky style of song writing that sounds child-like, and yet is very wise. This song is self-contemplative, and I don't know a person who hasn't at some point during their existence who hasn't struggled with the idea of life's adventures being behind them. Y' know my wandering days are over/Does that mean that I'm getting boring?/You tell me/I'm tired of listening to myself... But despite this deep lyrical beginning, you're still bopping along to the beat and you still leave the song smiling.

7.)The Rain Song--Led Zeppelin
Robert Plant did an interview in which he said that his favorite vocal performance of his was "The Rain Song", and I agree, wholeheartedly. This is a slower Zeppelin song, with their amazing guitar work layered with strings that give you chills. It's a fairly long song by today's standards (about 7 and a half minutes), but this is fairly par of the course for these kids. There's a wonderful instrumental buildup, and by the time the drums and bass kick in full-fledged, Plant's wailing I've felt the coldness of my winter/I never thought it would ever go./I cursed the gloom that set upon us...But I know that I love you so on top of the instruments soaring away...gives me chills. Every time.

8.)Flip!--Apollo Sunshine
All right. So far in our musical journey, we've been a bit on the mellow, quiet contemplation side of things. Now it's time to rock out. I love these kids, and this song is just a great rock song. It's one of those songs that I love to listen to, and just hone in on a single aspect. The vocals are spot on, the guitars are interesting, the drum work is awesome and fun, and I can keep going but you get the idea.

9.)Bohemian Like You--The Dandy Warhols
Anyone who has received a mix from me in the last two years or ridden with me in Chuck has heard this song. I. Love. It. This song is so much fun. This is one of those "windows down, driving into the desert, feeling like a complete badass hero moment before the credits roll" kind of songs. The distortion in the guitar gives this song a grit that adds another level to the snarkiness of the lyrics, and the vocalist has this ability to deliver lyrics in such a dry manner. This song embodies the hipster ideal in such a unique way, and yet...most hipsters wouldn't admit to liking it.

10.)Kiss Off--The Matches
This is a live cover of the Violent Femmes. Who, first of all, are not a band easily covered. Their lyrical delivery is so incredibly off-beat and quirky, and it's a hard style to emulate and make your own. However, Shawn Harris seems like a really obvious choice, at least to me. I think it's a really interesting cover that manages to encompass everything about both VF and the Matches. It's a fun listen.

11.)Somebody More Like You--Nickel Creek
I have this strange love for bluegrass, and Nickel Creek were contemporary bluegrass darlings in the early 2000s. They've since disbanded, which is very sad. However. This song....out of all of their catalogue, I'm not particularly sure *why* it is one of my favorites. The thing I love about these kids is their vocal harmony. I dig a male-female harmony, and they have a great blend and tonality. This song has a simple melody-counter melody thing going on, which is echoed on guitar (...or it's a banjo. I can't tell offhand, and I'm too lazy to go a-hunting currently) in the verses. This is one of those songs that I will listen to on repeat ad nauseum...not only for the instrumentation and timbre notes previously mentioned, but lyrically...it's friggin HARSH. I like the juxtaposition. While Nickel Creek does a ton of traditional bluegrass numbers, this isn't one of them. Traditional bluegrass does not have cutting lyrics like I hope you find someone your height so you can see eye to eye with someone as small as you.

12.)White Winter Hymnal--Fleet Foxes
Oh. Em. Gee. Speaking of vocal harmonies being awesome. What up, Fleet Foxes. This is one of those bands that I haven't had the chance to see live, but would kill to. (*hint*) This song is one of those songs that every time I listen to it, I get this image of my head of driving through the mountains in Tennessee during sunrise, the promise of a new day and the open road stretched before me. Which is SO incredibly cheesy. However. I played this album driving down to Florida while we were in Tennessee (after Nashville, where Ben Folds happened) and it was a strangely religious experience. I highly recommend it.

13.)Thirteen--Ben Kweller
Ben...yet another Ben who I love. Mr. Kweller has an amazingly clear and beautiful voice, and has songs that are simple, earnest, and beautiful. This is one of those songs that you can listen to a million times and find something new to love about it, every single time.

14.)Drive All Over Town--Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith. Um. What is there to say about any song from Elliott? Lyrics, amazing. Guitars, amazing. Vocal delivery...there is no one who has a voice quite like Elliott. Elliott Smith is sort of my go-to contemplative driving music. His lyrics are sharp, intelligent, and that somehow manage to paint you a picture of exactly the scene and emotions he's conveying, while having a level of ambiguity that lets the listener interpret the song in a multitude of ways. Which is a talent that a lot of songwriters lack. I miss you, Elliott.

15.)Perfect Day--Lou Reed
...The bass buildup to the chorus makes this song for me. Not to mention Lou Reed is a friggin badass. This is one of those songs that if someone were to dedicate it to you and really mean it...it would change your life.

16.)Northern Downpour-Panic At the Disco
PATD has this way of delivering amazingly witty, intelligent lyrics with interesting instrumentation. This song is one of the best examples in their catalogue to show this off. There are so many one liners that you can spend hours interpreting and pondering.Example:I know the world's a broken bone,
But melt your headaches, call it home. Holy balls. Repeat this line to ten people, you'd get ten different-yet-valid analysis of it. [This is one of those lines that I would get tattooed on my person, and have contemplated it at much length, actually.]

17.)Hold On--Tom Waits
Tom Waits has this voice that sounds like it's been tarred and feathered, then lit on fire and covered in dirt...and yet has this intense soul and heart behind it. It feels like covering up in a giant wool blanket--heavy, comforting, and warm, but itchy. You have to spend some time cuddled under this blanket before the itch goes away, and you're completely comfortable and warm. It takes time to get completely comfortable with Tom's vocal stylings, but once you do, it's worth it. The lyrical journeys and wisdom found in Tom's songs....you can tell, this man has LIVED, and is just trying to pass his experiences onto whoever will listen.

18.)Playground Love--Air
Air is a French band. They do a lot of interesting trip-hop/dreamscape inspired instrumentals, and thus end up doing a lot of soundtrack work. They were asked to do the score and soundtrack for the film adaptation of The Virgin Suicides, and this song is from that soundtrack. First of all, this song is probably one of the sexiest songs I've ever heard, in the way that only trip-hop and sexy horn solos can be. The lyrics are sweet but dark, and his vocals are delivered perfectly to leave the sweet/dark ratio up to the listener. I'm a high school lover, and you're my favorite flavor/Love is all, all my soul/You're my playground love. There's a tinge of seduction, manipulation, but at the core, you want to believe this is just a sweet song depicting that intense high school romance.

19.)Lilac Wine--Jeff Buckley
If God took voice lessons, I'm convinced he'd take them from Jeff Buckley. His vibrato makes my knees weak. I believe this is actually a cover of an old old old jazz song that was actually performed by a woman (whose name is escaping me at the moment), but Jeff takes this song and makes it his own. Completely. It feels improvised, like this is his state of being at that moment. You feel like you're almost interrupting an intimate moment of self realization and contemplation by listening in. There's this amazing guitar chord resolution that happens underneath his vocals before the drums and bass kick in that gives me chills. This song reminds me of driving home after spending time with that person that you're infatuated with. You're floating, happy, tired, yet couldn't possibly think of sleeping. You've been up all night talking of silly, romantic things. You're going over every detail of the evening: the conversations, the touches, the facial expressions, just trying to imprint it all in your memory forever.

It's been a minute. Sorry about that.

Update: No longer working at AttB. Lost that job. Found another job, working for Sodexo, a food service company that works for colleges, hospitals, and all that junk. I'm working in the coffee shop, but...in all honesty, not really making much coffee. Mostly just warming up sammiches and selling RedBull. *sigh*

I'm working full time, making more money an hour than I ever have, but...it's hard realizing that no one I work with particularly cares about the quality of coffee that we're selling...or that the students really don't give a shit either, aside from the drink having caffeine in it. *sigh* I feel like since IAG, I've slowly wandered away from the reason I fell in love with barista-work: making quality beverages. but. *sigh*

Losing my job at the bean screwed my money situation. I had to dip into my New Year's fund in order to pay bills, so...Greg n Burgs aren't going to be together for New years, which sucks. This on top of him being super busy with work and finals...it's been hard. I haven't heard from him much for the past week or so, and it's been mostly short bullshit conversations. I don't know. Things will be fine, I have faith in that. It's just rough right now.

I've been insanely homesick as of late. The longer I'm here, the more I realize that I don't particularly fit in here. Not to sound egotistical and elitist, but...the people I've met here that are around my age are just...uneducated. Uncultured. In talking to Laura on the phone last night, we randomly got on the topic of political utopias. I can't imagine having that conversation with anyone that I've met here thusfar. I don't know. I just feel out of place.

So. I guess things have been worse, but things have been better. That's about it. I can't focus right now, so I think I'mma crash for the evening.