Song of the Day, 1/31/11

Just because this song is fun. And makes me happy.

Song of the Day, 1/30/11

I'm not even going to pretend that I'm not bad at doing this daily. Not today.

Most of you probably know about my obsession with becoming a fiddle player (note: not that I've had any time to play the fiddle lately), and with bluegrass-roots music.



But did you know about my obsession with Peter, Bjorn, and John? This song was super popular in Europe when I was there in 2007. I went to Valencia with my boyfriend at the time, right after I decided I wasn't going to go back to grad school, right before I had found a job, exactly when I was broke as fuck. I spent the first day of the trip (he was too busy to hang out with me) watching MTV and waiting for this song to come back on.

It was sad. Eventually after some friends back home yelled at me, I left the hotel, and had one of the best vacations of my life (alone!)


anyways. I love it when my obsessions combine.

Song of the day 1/27/2011

Truly - Blue Flame Ford

Ball locked for MULTIBALL! Lots of songs of the day today.



This is the first song on Fast Stories… From Kid Coma by Truly, a critical smash that sold about a dozen copies. Ever late to the party I found a second-hand copy of this CD in 1999. It was very cheap, even for a used CD. To this day it’s the greatest ratio of “entertainment I’ve enjoyed” to “money I have spent”.

Truly reformed in 2008 and played a show in Seattle (at, I think, Sugar). I brought four friends with me and part way through the second song they decided this psychedelic, shoe-gazing space rock wasn’t for them and they left. It cost a small fortune to get home by cab and it was entirely worth it.


I love the echoing guitar intro. I always try to make my guitar do that whenever I play with a delay pedal. To the delight of no one.

Song(s) of the Day(s), 1/25/11 & 1/26/11

I am really bad at doing this daily thing. And technically Thursday isn't even my day. And I was REALLY EXCITED to post this song on Tuesday, and totally forgot. So here's your song of the day for 1/25/11:



Anyone else remember that one?!?!


Okay, so, I've been busier than I thought since getting into Los Angeles. Today I was planning on going to Rodeo to see if I could sneak into stores where dresses cost more than my car, but instead, I've been puking off and on for the last 8 hours.

It has been awesome. The most glamorous food poisoning that has ever happened.

Anyways, to make up for Wednesday, I'm going to repost a song that has been making the rounds today - yes, I know that I've posted the Portland Cello Project before.

Song of the Day, 1/24/11

So can I tell you, how absolutely excited I am that http://hearnebraska.org/ is live??!?! I feel guilty, in my meager time in that state, that I didn't get to know the music scene better. I didn't feel like I had a door into it other than being all 'saddle creek tilly and the wall whatever' but I like to pretend if I had stayed there longer, I would have been all into it. Or whatever. Yeah.

So in honor of hear nebraska, here's a couple of songs that remind me of the time and place that was livin' it large in Lincoln.



The first song doesn't really have anything to do with Nebraska (sorry!) - it's actually by a Vancouver band that peaked likely before I moved there. I think this is the stand out track from their second (real) album - the only stand out track. I used to listen to this song almost every time I flew in to Lincoln or Omaha.

(Okay, maybe choosing that song was sort of mean. But really, I did listen to it every time, usually as the stewardesses were trying to get me to shut down my iPod as the plane landed. What were they gonna do, kick me off the plane? Leave me in Lincoln?)

This isn't exactly how I wanted this post to go. Or something. But you know, that bottle of Substance Syrah ain't exactly drinking itself!

Apparently the music video version also has a lame edit in the middle.

(Unfortunately, now that I'm halfway through this post, this has become a post about standout songs from otherwise weak albums from bands that burned through their star. SORRY. THAT WASN'T MY INTENTION. I BLAME THE RED WINE. SHIT. HAVE I MENTIONED I LIVE IN WASHINGTON? DECENT WINE IS CHEAP HERE. Although I really like the Faint's Wet From Birth, perhaps embarrassingly so. From start to finish. It grew on me.)

The other song I wanted to post is one that is from a Nebraska band, that even directly references Nebraska -- I remember listening to this song when the album first came out in 2003? 2004? and thinking "What the hell is an Eppley gate?"



(Sorry about the lame video link. Just flit on to another tab like I know you're going to anyways.)

I remember listening to this as I drove to Omaha to pick up (one of my) out of state boyfriend(s)*, wondering if anyone would ever wait for me to arrive at Eppley with enough anticipation and excitement to write a song about it. Or at any airport, for that matter.

Any time I've had a boy meet me at the airport, it's been at motherfucking Seatac, and I've had to pay for the cab back to Seattle. Or pay my own bus fare back to the city.

*(too drunk to remember if out of state boyfriend #1 flew into Lincoln or Omaha....)

Song of the Day, 1/23/11

Sorry for missing yesterday. I had a recording session during the day (scoring student films! Yeah!) and I skipped town in the evening. Tried give my eyes a 24 hour break from computer screens.



Hey I played in this! This is your song of the day.

Song of the Day, 1/21/11

Today while I was packing up my office for the giant Xbox Move, I listened to the new Tapes and Tapes record - Outside. (Holy release dates, Batman! This is a new song!)

My favorite track is the first one (how cliche) - Badaboom - so I really wanted to make that the song of the day... Since I'm ostensibly avoiding music piracy with this, it's sort of convenient that this song was KEXP's song of the day on Monday. Even if it's embarrassing that they beat me to it.

My embarrassment is your gain - because not only can you click through to KEXP to listen to the song, you can download it too.


I think it's a good song for setting out on a new adventure (which was better for me than listening to songs that remind you of the good old times....)

Song of the day 1/20/11

The Wedding Present - My Favorite Dress



Over Christmas my wife and I went to visit my parents in the north west of England. Spiteful weather conditions and lazy airline incompetence stretched the time of the Seattle to Manchester journey from the expected 19 to 48 panic-stricken hours. For some reason I made this song alone my soundtrack, I listened to podcasts, audiobooks and standup and every so often broke off to listen to this song.

It’s a fairly typical Wedding Present song: it has bitter lyrics that are as close to being spoken as they are sung and it closes by exploring all aspects of a very repetitive riff (see also Take Me! Off Bizzaro which does this trick for ages and becomes hypnotic). The thing that really made me keep playing it over and over to distract myself from my horrible reality is that the chord change into the chorus. It sounds huge.

Song of the Day, 1/19/11

Because I'm true to form:



So I've loved Ben Gibbard and Death Cab for Cutie for a really long time. The week I started college was the week the Photo Album came out, and the week before I went on my friend's radio show in Bellingham and we played the album start to finish on the air. One of the standout tracks is about driving in to town, listening to Death Cab for Cutie for me is a little bit like going home.


Anyways. I love some John Roderick too, maybe on Friday I'll tell a story about that.

Song of the Day, 1/18/2011

Sorry for being so bad at this "every day" thing gang. I spent some time today fixing the music situation on my work computers (I've been suuuuuuuuuuuuuper busy lately) including unwinding the settings on my mangled Zune account so I can like, listen to new music, on demand at work again.

(Did you know, that before I got moved to the weird quiet aisle where I am now at work, I used to download every new album tagged 'Indie Rock' off of the Zune Marketplace and listen to a track or two? WELL IT IS ON AGAIN.)

Maybe you'll start getting some new stuff from this feed!

For now, you get one of December's greatest hits - oh how I LOVE this song! The Thermals are playing in Seattle on the 21st.... one of those nights where I already have two other sets of plans......:

Song of the Day 1/16/11

I found myself on an email list at work last week defending some of the rad things that are going on in Seattle hiphop (after some old dude asserted that hiphop == getting stabbed. He saw IT ON THE NEWS, PEOPLE.)

Anyways, there's some great art happening in Seattle's hiphop scene right now. I highly recommend getting out and getting your dance on.




I love these ladies. They have a new song where the hook is "sweat through your cardigan!"

Song of the Day 1/15/11

Well hello!

Have you noticed how the posts on Thursday are very well thought out, more timely, and more interesting than the other days? That's because I (Emily) am not doing them!! My friend Stephen really wanted to help out in the the song a day project, so he is covering Thursday. Credit where credit is due! He is rad, you will be getting rad songs from him.

So I have missed two days of this so far, out of the 13 days I've been responsible for. Oops. I've been busy. My band, Lawndree, had a show on Friday night. Today's song of the day is from one of the bands we played with, who I really enjoyed, called the Ascetic Junkies:



Their live show is excellent, they have sort of a country-ish vibe (maybe only because the banjo cuts straight through, which I mean as a compliment!) but they throw in some rad synth hooks! Banjo + vocal harmonies + synth hooks = love.


I thought they put on an excellent set and would go see them again, but I was really disappointed they didn't bother to learn my band's name and ask their crowd to stay for us (and they didn't.) Sad times! Too bad your music is so good, otherwise, blood feud.

Song of the day 1/13/11

M.O.T.O. – I Hate My Fucking Job

I love my job. I work with smart, pleasant people, on complicated and interesting things. It’s the best ratio of coding : boring things that are not coding I’ve had in my career. Also there is free coffee.

What I don’t like is working weekends. Weekends are for abusing whiskey, watching Futurama and playing Stone Roses songs on the guitar. Working a weekend is like taking a 30% pay cut and it turns the following week into a deathmarch.

I will be working for the next three weekends. Hence M.O.T.O.:

Song of the Day, 1/11/11

What a beautiful number of a day, HUH?! I am in a ferociously bad mood, and this song is hitting the spot.

Song of the Day, 1/10/11

So Sebadoh popped up in my Zune recommendations a couple months ago -- a band I had completely forgotten about (and so have you) and that you'll instantly recognize when you hear it.

The real music video for Ocean has embedding disabled (are you out there label wanks?? I hate you.) and there are tons of old TV live versions - but I specifically wanted to link to the album version of the song.



You can watch the super 90s alt-ed out music video here if you want.



Anyways, I'm linking this because I was listening to this song (and album) on the bus this morning, and damn, this is just one of those great sounding tracks. I love the riff at the beginning, how it sounds good on its own right and how the song just gets HUGE when the other instruments come in... pretty much immediately.

Let's not forget the lyrics - such a perfect example of rambling 90s song writing. You know you were dancing around in your room listening to this pretending you really 'got it' and that it 'spoke to you'. It's okay, I was too.

Song of the Day, 1/9/11

So, I forgot to post a song yesterday while I was working on fixing my insomnia problem. It worked, though. So. You know.



For Sunday, you get Mad Rad. My favorite guilty pleasure music for the last 7-8 months or so. Someone from the Stranger recently called their records unlistenable and asked - 'WHO exactly would listen to this outside of a Mad Rad show?'

ME. IN MY MOTHERFUCKING CAR. ON THE WAY TO WORK. That's about right.

Song of the Day, 1/8/11 -- Doozo Yoroshiku Edition

I hope to get to the point where I actually post on the correct day and give this slightly more thought ahead of time.

So a few weeks ago I was talking with my friend Amanda, about folk and bluegrass music and banjos (did you know Steve Martin plays the banjo? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnr9xkJbfhY).

Anyways, somehow because of this conversation I ended up watching most of the videos in this Youtube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/pappyredux). Like, whoa. I hope that someday, videos from Late Night with Whoever seem as like, charming and strange as these videos seem to me.


So anyways, today you get Bobby Troup doing Sweet Georgia Brown on Japanese television. Dig this attempt at Japanese!




Bonus Track:

Tex Williams - That's What I Like About the West

"You can prove that you're a man drinking fruit juice from a can!"



I also like the schitzo fiddles during the first chorus, and the slide guitar int he second chorus.

Song of the Day, 1/7/11

It is FRIDAY NIGHT!!! After the first work week of the year!!! I FOUND OUT TODAY I'M GETTING AN OFFICE AT WORK! WITH A DOOR MOTHERFUCKERS!!!! Doesn't it make ya'll want to get stupid, get crunk, on some malt liquor?!?!

I DO. Except I haven't had a single night with more than four hours of sleep this week, so I can't really even bring myself to pop a cap or flip a tab.

In honor of my urge to party party party, I'm sharing with you a song I've probably made you listen to at least once. Done by some friends of a friend (and a friend?) All of occurrences of the word friend make me feel really popular.

Song of the day 1/6/11

The Fall – Blindness




The Fall almost always make me feel uncool, they’re name checked by artists I love and by people whose opinions about music I respect. They’ve done twenty-four Peel sessions and have some of the best named albums you’ve ever heard. They’re post-punk, avant-garde, indie-rock legends.

And yet I find it really hard to like much of their stuff.

However, this is one of their songs that I got immediately and for the last few months I’ve had that uncompromising, immutable bass riff stuck in my head.

This is an excellent performance from the TV show Later With Jools Holland, and a few things stand out:

• The band are totally unfazed when Mark E. Smith starts making unmusic on the keyboard, I understand this is standard operating procedure at Fall gigs, nice to see it on TV too.
  
• It’s much shorter than the studio version (which is over 8 minutes and still has the same bass line all the way through) and hardly any of the lyrics actually make it.
  
• Despite this, and the song being a repetitive, signpost-free wilderness the band are super tight and make the changes seemingly without looking at each other.
  

Also: Mark E. Smith is wearing only one glove, which raises the question: Who is the real king of pop?

Song of the day 1/5/11

Wait, what time is it? Probably a song about insomnia or something like that would be more appropriate right now, but instead you get Drumming Song. Because it's lovely. Enjoy it. Relish it.

Song of the day 1/4/11

It's past midnight, I got really obsessed with recording a song and then accidentally deleted the vocals and uke.

This has to be the song of the day though. I'm so excited for these kids to release a record.

Campfire Ok at Oddfellows from Christian Sorensen Hansen on Vimeo.

Song of the Day, 1/3/11

Already I feel the pressure to post new-ish stuff, but I couldn't come up with anything really recent I wanted to share up here, and I'm not ready to start posting total crap yet (we'll hit that stage.) So you'll have to look up the new Avril Lavigne track all on your own, basically.

So here's some Fences, someone I started listening to in the last month, whom I'm a little late to the party on. I love this man and his music. And I'm totally jealous of that cellist (good lord that guy gets the best gigs.)

Song of the Day, 1/2/11

Slow Hearse, Son Volt


I'm still feeling pretty cranky and dramatic today, so you get Slow Hearse. I started listening to Son Volt probably via the totally predictable path for me (by checking out other things Jay Farrar has done after consuming One Fast Move and I'm Gone".)

I think this song drags in a delightful way, and the record it came from (2007's The Search) is fantastic.

Song of the Day, 1/1/11

For those of you that want me to do a song-of-the-day thing, I'm going to try it. I'll post some more commentary most of the time, but today I'm feeling tired, low key, and grumpy.