Four o'clock is significantly different than five. Happy halloween.
I'm thinking about decluttering a lot of my life, in cluding my facebook friends, after having gone through the experience of being unfriended. By the way, the final effect of unfriending someone is hilarity, not drama. My money would have been on drama.
Since I'm awake, I thought about doing one of those conscious of streamishness blogs I know Isaac likes so much. Today's musical selection "Probationary Yougurt Run: The Album."
Black Stacey, Saul Williams.
There's something about this song that you either get right away, or you'll never get, no matter how many times you listen to it. It's a song about how Williams views his own blackness, and to that extent, it's a song neither myself nor most of the people I hang out with have any real way to relate to. There's just something incredibly real about it, though, and I can't help be sucked into the combination of hi-hat and piano each and every time I heart it. I know every word, and right now is the first time in a long time I'm not signing them, and I'm pretty sure that's only because I can't sing and type.
That was my singing break right there.
Nothing ticks me off more than white people who get upset when African-Americans, or any minorities, really, embrace their status as part of a smaller group in this country. I hate the people who complain that they wouldn't be allowed to start a white student union. Ladies and gentlemen, that's unfortunately called almost all of college. Being born white comes with priveleges, sadly. Quit complaining about the fact that you don't have a club.
Smile, Lily Allen
Just switched from Safari over to Firefox, for the sole purpose of being able to bold those song title and artist bullets. I'm hardcore.
Someone needs to do a study on the effect of the English accent on the American mind. Everyone reacts to it in a different way, whether that's adding IQ points to the speaker, taking them away, or just developing an immediate crush (that last one's me, by the way, regardless of sex) but I don't think there's anyone who is just indifferent.
American Pie, Don McLean.
This song is really far too long. I like it, but it's early. Skip.
Fidelity, Regina Spektor.
Shake it up.
This song is just... plucky. It's fun, and Regina Spektor is the kind of person I'd want to have walking behind me, singing tunes, as I walk down the street. I know there are a lot of people out there who think the countryside is really romantic and all of that, but I'm pretty sure those people are just crazy. It's not that the outdoorsiness can't be romantic, it's just that I don't think it can possibly hold a candle to the yellow glow of streetlamps bouncing of white, falling snow on a cold winter night in a city. Seriously.
"I hear in my mind, all of these voices, all of these words, all this music, and it breaks my heart."
The crazy thing Spektor does vocally with the word "heart" right there is just incredible.
Take, Take, Take, The White Stripes.
If you haven't heard it, the song's about this guy's chance meeting with Rita Hayworth in a skeezy bar. It's pretty cool, but brings back some not so hot memories for me.
Graham and I went to this amazing show in Louisville, a medium-sized festival headlined by Sleater-Kinney, the greatest three-piece all-female grunge band I've ever heard (and not just because I think they're the only one.) I have crushes on all three of them and, unfortunatley for me (and them) at this time they were still selling their own merchandise at the merch table.
Which meant that I could talk to them. Which I tried to.
And I creeped all of them out. If you've never seen me in full-on crush mode, you have no idea what these women went through. If you have, you're feeling sorry for them right now.
Fun fact: the only real reading I've ever done was of a non-fiction piece about this incident. It's much better than the music blog version you just read, trust me.
Little Plastic Castle, Ani DiFranco.
If I were a lesbian, this song is what I would want my life to be life. Exactly. In fact, it's pretty close to what I want my life to be like right now, only switch some of the bits out.
One thing that I don't think most people get enough of in their lives is the sense of "you and me against the world." There's something incredible about knowing you're in the same boat with one, and only one, other person and that people hate you for it. I think it happens a lot more in the opening stages of relationships, and then quickly falls away as the people around you get used to it.
There isn't much, I think, more fun than liking someone, having them like you back, and have no one else understand it. While these situations rarely end well, when they are working, it's the kind of thing that makes you think you can do anything, which people need more of.
Jenny Don't Be Hasty, Paolo Nutini.
Because I'll catch hell if I don't say it, Beth introduced me to this song (and artist) and while I originally hated it, it's grown on me. It's about this guy who is too young for Jenny, by some arbitrary standard she's set up. It's catchy, and I used it as an answer it Scattergories. Thankfully, Holly knew what I was talking about it, because Paolo Nutini is exactly the type of name I would make up if I had to make up a pretentious indie post-singer/songwriter type.
Fuel, Metallica.
Right on. I actually saw this was next in the queue and skipped the end of the last song.
Alright, I know I should be over this by now. There's a lot of music out there that's more intellectual, more complex, better, probably, but nothing will ever compare to Metallica, especially this song.
Swallow future, spit out home, burn your face upon the chrome.
That doesn't mean anything, but it's amazing. It's rock for the sake of rock, but without the Motley Crue-like sense of joking around. Metallica is not joking around. They are better than you, and they know it, even when they put out a country-inspired ballad. They will rock your world.
Having said all that, I'm bored. Skip bridge and last chorus.
Falling in Love, Lisa Loeb.
"The time between meeting and finally leaving is sometimes called falling in love."
I heard this song in an FYE, tracked it down and bought it that day, and all because of that line. It's tragic to me, but also very matter-of-fact.
I've held this really cynical view for a while, that there's no relationship that ends well. Either you break up, or die, and no one really ever likes either of those. That line speaks to that cynicism, I think, and does a lot of work toward melting it down. Yeah, you're going to meet someone, and yeah, it'll be over, but occassionally, that middle space is filled up by this love thing, and it's enough to turn your world upways and downways and sideways and slantways.
I like that thought.
Standing on the Sidewalk, Dean Martin.
A silly song, and a bad choice for this playlist. skip.
Reach for the Sun, The Polyphonic Spree.
This song is Jessica to me. Always has been, always will be, and I love that about it, and her.
There's this slow build thing right in the beginning, and after a few bars the vocals come in, and there's a verse, and at the end of that first verse you feel it building again, and it builds to the chorus, and there's this explosion of instruments and voices and glisandos all over the place and that's the happiest place on earth, right there, follow the day and reach for the sun, and that's Dyer at her best.
Fit but you Know it, The Streets.
Few people know this, but as obsessed as I am with this band, Isaac turned me onto them.
The song's about this guy trying to pick up this girl at a bar, and she's hot ('fit' in the British slang) but the problem is that she knows it. It's good stuff, even if it doesn't translate to blog form.
There's a point in this song where the music kinda drops out and Mike Skinner (the rapper, not the NASCAR driver) says "Are you smoking crack or something?"
My major memory of this song is my mom laughing at that line the first time she heard it.
Tymps (The Sick in the Head Song), Fiona Apple
"Why did I kiss him so hard, late last Friday night, and keep on letting him change all my plans?"
It's an incredibly odd kind of kiss, but there's something to be said for those kisses you know you're not supposed to have, whether it's because you've got a significant other, or you know the person you're kissing isn't good for you. You can see it happening (and honestly, you've seen it coming for a while now) but there's nothing you can do to stop it, and the scary part is that you're not sure you want to. See Little Plastic Castle.
Inner Peace, Nellie McKay
I've met two people who really like Nellie McKay. Amber, who introduced me to her, and Stephanie, who likes roller derby and Brini Maxwell. I'm getting a little sleepy, so I'm gonna skip this, but I did want to give them shout-outs. They both rock, and I'm hanging with Stephanie on Friday. I'm pumped.
Hey Eugene, Pink Martini.
One of my favorite songs of this year. Great music, a fun story, and the kind of life I want to lead at some point.
New York City is the most amazing place on Earth. If you haven't been there, go, and find someone you want to conquer the world with to go along. There's something about just being there, and knowing that you're in New York City, that changes you. At least for me, that meant walking like you were ready to punch the next person you saw in the face if you had to. It's such a good time.
Freeker by the Speaker, Keller Williams
This is from Graham, even though I think I like Keller more than he does at this point. This is another one of those really positive songs, a little along the lines of "Reach for the Sun" but much more hippy rave.
"It's good in the day, I like it that way, but it's perfectly normal at night."
The reason why I love this song so much is directly related to my concert experience. It was one of the few times when I really felt like I was cutting loose. All the music was brand new to me at that point, and Keller does everything live through loops, so there was this very palpable feeling that everyone in the crowd was part of this solitary experience, and we were all just watching him build this sonic thing from the bottom up and waiting for the release, all most, when we could tell it was a full-blown song.
Then the tornados came, the windshield on my Sebring broke, and we all went home. No one found $20.
It's five now, thanks for sticking with me through an hour of writing. I have to go turn into a hot mess now.
