Son the Father

Quick update, since I've neglected this thing: Fucked Up is the best hardcore band around. I was at their show at Kung Fu Necktie Wednesday night, and it honestly was the best show I've been to in some time. I've decided I'll be at any other show they do in the Philly area, regardless of time or job obligations.

Also Chemistry of Common Life was the best album on 2008.

'Cause Tramps Like Us, Baby We Were Born to Run

A recent thread in the Something Awful forums has gotten me to think about music, as I'm so apt to do on my own. The thread is entitled "Perfect Moments in Music," and is found in the NMD sub forum. I've yet to post in this thread, as it is on the long side and I'd rather not repeat anyone on it. Once I've slogged through I'll think of something. For now I think I'll list some of my ideas.

• The break after the solo in Springsteen's "Born to Run" where he counts off and then passionately sings out"The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive." This moment never fails to get me to sing along at the very top of my lungs. The Boss is the boss.
• The part in Lennon's "God" where a defeated sounding John sings "I used to be the Walrus, but now I'm John." It perfectly lets everyone into the kind of hurt that Lennon felt over being part of something so special (The Beatles and the Love Generation) just to see it fall apart. It's a terribly poignant moment within a terribly poignant record.
• "The Scream" in The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again." If you do not know what I'm talking about, then you don't listen to enough music.
• The entirety of the song "The March of the Gay Parade" by of Montreal. It crystallizes the goofy, off-the-wall charm of "the indie Sgt. Pepper" in the most unanticipated and brilliant skits I've had the pleasure of hearing.
• The moment in the lyrics of Death Cab for Cutie's "Tiny Vessels" where Ben shifts the perspective from the second person to the first person and transforms the entire song into a guilty confession. This is one of the moments on Transatlanticism that made me fall in love with Death Cab.

Well, there's a handsome group of moments in music history. I welcome suggestions in either the comments bit of this site, or an instant message. Whatever your heart desires.

I Swear to the Stars, I'll Burn this Whole City Down

Through my audioscrobbler page, which is linked to somewhere on this page, I learned of a fantastic event happening this coming Friday (November 7). One of my favorite bands, The Decemberists, will be playing the Electric Factory that night to what will no doubt be a sold crowd. All signs point to the show consisting of tracks from my favorite album of the band's and one of my favorites of this decade. The album of which I speak (or type for those who fancy being literal) is the latest release by Meloy & crew The Crane Wife.

There is one problem with the concert's timing, I work on both the day of the show and the day after. This will make the timing tight and force me to make some real decisions, not the least of which being the idea of coming in early to leave early on Friday or eating into my reserve of OT built up over a couple days of lengthy setup required for the All Staff Rally happening at work.

One good thing out of this show is the possibility of the tour being a harbinger of a new album from The Decemberists, who happen to be due for one. This is simply a guess based on the timing of it all, but if they are going to be recording soon then the bar is mighty high for the band to follow up their current magnum opus.

Songs to Which One Can Sip Tea on a Winter Morning and Look at Freshly Fallen Snow

This playlist was put together on a whim because I got "Blackbird" stuck in my head and wanted to put together songs like it. As it turned out, some songs I settled on have a bit more happening than just the singer and the guitar, but I think it gels pretty nicely. Without further ado, here's a new playlist:

1. John Lennon "Imagine"
2. New Order "Ceremony"
3. Lou Reed "Perfect Day"
4. U2 "With or Without You"
5. Sufjan Stevens "Chicago"
6. My Bloody Valentine "Blown a Wish"
7. The Beatles "Blackbird"
8. Spiritualised "Soul on Fire"
9. Felt "All the People I Like Are Those that Are Dead"
10. The Monkees "I Wanna Be Free"
11. Pavement "Here"
12. r.e.m. "Sweetness Follows"
13. radiohead "Fake Plastic Trees"
14. The Verve "The Drugs Don't Work"
15. Belle & Sebastian "Piazza New York Catcher"
16. Bob Dylan "Shelter From the Storm"
17. blur "Badhead"
18. Cat Stevens "The Wind"
19. The Decemberists "The Engine Driver"
20. Elliott Smith "Between the Bars"
21. eels "Dead of Winter"
22. Peter Murphy "Let Me Love You"
23. Simon & Garfunkel "America"
24. The Psychedellic Furs "Sometimes"
25. The Replacements "Here Comes a Regular"

A bit on the long side, but I like it.

Teenage Angst Has Paid Off Well

While I'm still tweaking and finalizing my Happy Mix, I've begun brainstorming another mix that seems to be a natural progression out of the last one. This time, I went the other way with it and picked songs that just seethe with angst and rage. Though this one has more of a genre focus than the last one (i.e. I'm tapping into my punk reservoirs for most of the tuneage), I feel that these songs can hit the target very well. Here goes (as before, there are some bands that are represented twice, but I'll only use one per artist on the actual thing):

• Brand New "Seventy Times 7"
• Nine Inch Nails "We're In This Together" OR "Wish"
• Pennywise "Fuck Authority"
• The Cure "One Hundred Years"
• Dillinger 4 "Mosh For Jesus" OR "Superpowers Enable Me To Blend With Machinery"
• Weezer "Why Bother?"
• Death Cab For Cutie "We Looked Like Giants"
• Stiff Little Fingers "Wasted Life" OR "Inflammable Material"
  
• Taking Back Sunday "Cute Without the E (Cut From the Team)"
• The Alkaline Trio "Fuck You Aurora" OR "Radio"
• The Smiths "Bigmouth Strikes Again"
• Rise Against "Dead Ringer"
• Strike Anywhere "Infrared"
• NOFX "Perfect Government"
• Cursive "The Martyr"
• Bright Eyes "Let's Not Shit Ourselves"
• Nirvana "Serve The Servants" OR "I Hate Myself and Want to Die"
• Anti-Flag "No Borders No Nations"

The completed track list for this and the Happy one will be forthcoming when I get them hacked down and properly arranged.

A List of Songs to Make Me Happy

An indeterminate amount of time ago, I was talking with my friend online and we came up with an idea that intrigued me to no end. Both of us being fans of boring, mellow indie music, we decided there were certain songs that just made us feel happy and smile (yes Jen, I'm talking about you). Even though the idea passed and our conversation veered into other areas, I began thinking about this "Smile" mix and what would go on it.

So far, I've compiled a list of nearly 30 songs that could make the grade. With a some thought and cutting, I should have a mix worthy of my ludicrously high standards. Here is the list of songs that I have compiled so far (note--there are multiple songs for some artists, but the final will have a one song per band limit):

• The Ramones "Do You Wanna Dance"
• Death Cab For Cutie "Sound of Settling" OR "I Was a Kaleidoscope"
• Beat Happening "Noise"
• Heavenly "Cool Guitar Boy" OR "C Is the Heavenly Option"
• The Cure "In Between Days" OR "Love Cats" OR "Just Like Heaven"
• The Beach Boys "Wouldn't It Be Nice"
• The Shins "Australia"
• The Beatles "I've Just Seen A Face" OR "Oh! Darling"
• The Monkees "I'm A Believer" OR "Daydream Believer"
• The Postal Service "Such Great Heights"
• Dntel "(This is) The Dream of Evan & Chan"
• Muse "Starlight" OR "Invincible"
• Simon & Garfunkel "The Only Living Boy in New York" OR "59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)"
• New Order "Age of Consent" OR "Weirdo"
• The Vaselines "Son of a Gun"
• Belle & Sebastian "Another Sunny Day" OR "Mayfly"
• Oasis "Don't Look Back In Anger" OR "Champagne Supernova"
• The Polyphonic Spree "Running Away"