Updates!

Sorry for the radio silence.  Actually, in all sincerity, last week I spent half the week sleeping in a bunk at an overnight summer camp, killing spiders, turning off broken smoke detectors, and walking through cabins at 12 and 4 AM to do rounds.  Don’t ask. 

Anyway, here are a few songs everyone should be listening:

“Amen” by Paper Tongues

I just realized I downloaded “Higher” by Paper Tongues many moons ago and didn’t put it together that these two songs were done by the same band. This is a very I-Love-My-Life this song.  It can truly lift your spirits. I recommend it highly.

“Little Talks” by Of Monsters and Men

I feel kind of embarrassed about this but this song is very creative and catchy and I cannot get enough of it.  If Mumford and Sons had children, they would sound like Of Monsters and Men.  This is a song that I can listen to over and over again and not get tired of it.  I think it is because it can mirror your mood—it can have a happy vibe, a sad vibe, or an angry vibe.  It mutates!

“Hands In The Air” by Timbaland featuring Ne-Yo

Taking a totally different track, the song that plays in most of the Step Up Revolution previews out right now is AMAZING.  This song is a great song for working out or running (or breaking out into dance on an escalator in protest-art-fashion).

“Road to Nowhere” by Talking Heads

I heard this song in a bar recently and I was super excited about it.  I grew up listening to Talking Heads (well, rather I grew up with my mom listening to Talking Heads and therefore me being forced to listen to them as well).  They were just never my thing.  I never took kindly to them, I guess you could say.  However, this song really is great and it makes me respect them a little bit more.

Other songs worth listening to:

“She Doesn’t Mind” by Sean Paul

“Feel Good Drag” by Anberlin

“In My Trunk” by Dev

And if anyone hasn’t heard about it—Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie are performing in New York City on Wednesday, October 17^th.  Concert will also feature Jonathan Davis from Korn.  Should be an epic show!

Stealing Stuff for Miike Snow

I needed face wash.  But I wanted the fancy, overpriced kind that they sell at Sephora.  So I went to Sephora with the full intention of only looking at the face washes.  However, when I walked through the door, I quickly was distracted by the nail polish display.  I would say within the past few months Sephora has really branched out in terms of their nail polish options.  They have all these different brands and colors.  It is truly ama . . . oh right, so anyway, music blog.

So anyway, I was meandering around the nail polish display and noticed briefly the song playing in Sephora.  It was catchy—I liked it.  Then I noticed they had Dior nail polish and I started looking at that, no longer giving attention to the music in the background.  Then I noticed it again.  The same song was playing and it caught my attention yet again.  I had to find out what this was.

I had my big bag with me draped over my shoulder and I started looking for my phone to Shazam the song that was playing.  I fumbled over the sunscreen and dishwashing detergent I had just bought in Duane Reade, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter in paperback, a sweaty water bottle, wallet, but no phone. It was way down at the bottom of the bag and as I was trying to get it deep in the depths of my bag, the woman working at this Sephora came over and asked me, “Can I help you find anything?” 

Now, this woman had seen me at the nail polish a few minutes ago.  I had been looking for quit sometime (and not looking at face washes like I should have been).  But it was not until I had both my hands in my bag that she asked me if she could help me.  I have a sneaking suspicion that she thought I was stealing or preparing to steal something.

I was offended, whether I should have been or not was another story.  But I was.  So, I responded, “YAH—MY PHONE!”

“Oh, sorry,” she said and walked away, never to ask me if I needed help again.  Finally feeling the phone in my grasp, I took it out frantically; realizing the song could end at any minute.  So I stood there, looking at the nail polish with my phone out as it tried to find the song in its electronic brain.

The song was “Bavarian #1 (Say You Will)” by Miike Snow from their 2012 album, Happy To You.  This song is quirky, bizarre, comforting and adorable.  I downloaded it as I left the store and have listened to nothing else since. 

I recommend everyone listen to it as soon as possible.  It will make your day!  And this just goes to show that music comes before all else; even nail polish and face wash.

What is Important RIGHT NOW!

Today I am here to tell you two things you need to be aware of in the music world.  These two things are 1) “Shake it Out” by Florence and the Machine and 2) Continued Silence from Imagine Dragons.

1)  “Shake It Out” is an awesome song but I never gave it a chance.  When the whole Florence and the Machine craze was going on, I was only interested in her single.  Anything after “Dog Days Are Over,” I cared nothing about.  I had heard the song “Shake it Out” in places like Barnes and Noble or Starbucks, but that’s it; I have only ever listened to it in passing.  I have never sat down (or stood up for that matter) and just really listened to it.  I did that a few days ago on the subway.  I downloaded the song and totally succumbed to the talked about powers-that-be of Florence and the Machine.

First of all, she uses the word, “ghouls” within the first few lines of the song.  We do not use that enough.  That is a fabulous word that brings to mind something along the lines of the demons in Fantasia.  Recently when I was complaining to my mother about Amtrak and their not-so-adequate employees, I used the phrase “inbred swine” which is not my own invention, but rather I stole it from the film 300.  But it is brilliant—the perfect combination of sophistication, arrogance, pompousness and righteousness.  “Ghouls” has the same affect.

The fact the she expresses her past as a “horse” she is always “dragging around” and that she is now going to “bury that horse in the ground.”  It is excellent how she uses her metaphors.  She also uses a phrase that she is has a “graceless heart” and she is going to “cut it out and then restart.”  Wow, have I been there.  It is a serious song but the chorus keeps it catchy and not as heavy as the lyrics and song topic could make it.  “It is hard to dance with a devil on your back, so shake him off.”  It is true just shake it out.  The music itself is wonderful and so are the lyrics and that voice is pretty otherworldly. 

2) Imagine Dragons is a group that only started releasing music a few years ago.  Their song, “It’s Time” has been released and is playing on the radio currently as a fairly popular hit.  In addition, there has recently been a preview for a film, The Words, staring Jeremy Irons and Bradley Cooper.  In the preview, the song playing is another song off of the same EP, Continued Silence.  The song is “Demons” and it is beautiful.  The chorus goes:

When you feel my heat

Look into my eyes

It’s where my demons hide

It’s where my demons hide

Don’t get too close

It’s dark inside

It’s where my demons hide

It’s where my demons hide

There is real emotion, both pain and happiness, that you can hear in their music. It is Mumford and Sons meets Kings of Leon.  Check them out!

David Guetta Yay or Nay

I discovered David Guetta in the Spring of 2007.  I kept hearing this one song in different clubs and I loved it but I could not find out what it was.  Finally, someone very knowledgeable in music was able to pinpoint the song by me incoherently humming the tune.  I bought it off of the album, Ultra 2007 which was one of those club hits compilation albums with one of those pictures on the cover of a sexy woman in a pink bikini dancing to club music. 

The song was “”Love Don’t Let Me Go (Walking Away) [Joachim Garraud & David Guetta’s Fuck Me I’m Famous Mix]” by David Guetta featuring The Egg (I still don’t know who exactly The Egg is; he must have been under The Chicken’s record label—bad joke my apologies). 

Anyway, I loved this song.  I could not get enough of it.  The break down towards the end of the song with the heavy beat and the lyrics “You got me dancing and crying, dancing and crying, love don’t let me go;” I would listen to just that part over and over again.  I loved this song.  I requested it at clubs, listened to it on the subway, walking, everywhere.  It was the only song I cared about for about three months.  And when I say it was the only song I listened to—that is in no way an exaggeration.  I can go hours just playing one song over and over again—this has kind of what I am known for, finding a song I love so much I only want to hear that one song.  Nothing else can satisfy my craving.  Some other songs this has happened with: “Just A Dream,” by Nelly, “Bind, Torture and Kill” by Suicide Commando, “Piece of Me” by Britney Spears, and others much more embarrassing.

The following year in 2008 I discovered the song, “Love is Gone” by David Guetta and Chris Willis.  I would play this song so loud, trying to bug my roommate in college because she liked mostly country music an there was NO WAY I was having any of that.  Ah, youth!

Since then, I have liked almost everything David Guetta related.  One of his more under-rated songs was “When Love Takes Over” with Kelly Roland which is a wonderfully happy song.  It was released close to when “Sexy Bitch” was released featuring Akon which got a lot more popularity.  Both, however, are equally good. “Memories” with Kid Cudi, “Who’s That Chick?” with Rihanna; Guetta has the ability to pair himself with the best people in the business.   

He has done two different songs with Flo Rida.  He was featured in “Club Can’t Handle Me,” and Flo Rida was featured in “Where Them Girl’s At?”  He has done more than one song with Nicki Minaj and a song with Usher (“Without You,” probably my least favorites of his singles).

My most recent purchase (but not his most recent hit) was “No Getting Over you” featuring Chris Willis, Fergie and LMFAO.  Comparable to “Part Rock Anthem,” in my opinion.

One thing I have noticed about David Guetta that is different than any other celebrity DJ I have seen perform live or on television—he always looks happy.  He always looks like he genuinely having a good time with what he is doing.  And really, his type of music, what is there to be serious about.  He has worked with the likes of Flo Rida. 

I never really thought about how much I liked David Guetta until now but I have been downloading his music and obsessively listening to it since 2007—that is 5 years of Guetta dedication.  David Guetta was my first real club music.  Before that, Britney Spears was about as “dance” or “club” as I got.  Guetta was the soundtrack to so many crazy, endless nights that I cannot help but always feel young and happy when I hear his music. 

Metallica, Enrique and Nero

It has been a while since I wrote a blog entry and I apologize.  It has been partly because I have been busy getting acclimated to my new job and finally being a part of society again; and partly because I have not really found anything exciting to report that is new and noteworthy.  So, as far as I know, these are the important music facts.

Enrique Iglesias is not so bad:

After actually listening carefully to a few of his recent hits (ya know, since his Bailamos days), I have found that they are actually fun and enjoyable to listen to.  I particularly like “Tonight I’m [Loving] You,” and “I like How it Feels.”  Also to take into consideration, he has Ludacris featured in one song and Pitbull featured in the other so how bad could these songs really be.

Everyone should listen to “Me and You” by Nero.

Metallica is good for runners:

I recently went for a run outside, on one of the hotter days.  The temperature was in the 80s.  It was hot and harder to run than usual because of the heat.  I got tired quickly and I knew I needed something to boost my energy to push me through. I turned my music on shuffle and “Frantic” by Metallica came on.  I tuned the volume up as high as it would go and suddenly I did not feel the need to stop running.  I ran hard.  I listened to “St. Anger,” “I Disappear,” and a few others.  I ended up running about 6 miles.

When I am angry, “Panic Switch” by Silversun Pickups helps.

I don’t really enjoy the Beastie Boys except for two songs:

I discovered “Sabotage” at a Lady Gaga concert.  The song was playing in the arena before any opening acts had even come on and I heard it for the first time.  I bought the song as I sat there with my Lady Gaga sunglasses and my Lady Gaga t-shirt and have enjoyed it ever since.  In addition, I also enjoy “Intergalactic,” although, I didn’t always.  That song was released as a single in 1998 and it played every morning on either VH1 or MTV or oftentimes both (these were my two television stations of choice at the time, along with whatever channel showed “Garfield and Friends”) as I got ready for school and I hated it.  I was so sick of the music video and the stupid special affects that were supposed to be bad.  I hated the rapping that I had to hear every morning, and soon memorized.  Now that a few years have gone by without hearing it daily, I can appreciate it.  So, now I can enjoy it for what it truly is—“I like my sugar with coffee and cream.”

One Direction is better than The Wanted.

More blogs to come with less time in between . . .

To The Long Weekend

Songs I Recently Bought and Can’t Get Enough Of:

“212” by Azealia Banks (featuring Lazy Jay)

            I first heard this song in a clothing store in SoHo.  I wanted to track down what song it was by opening up the Shazam App and sticking my phone in the air but felt like I was in the company of too many young hipster girls that would totally judge me for not knowing what song it was.  I heard it later on the radio with someone who did not judge me for not knowing who it was and told me so I could download it later.  I initially had thought this song was 2 or 3 separate songs and later discovered it was just one song with lots of different crazy-awesome parts.

Sweeter by Gavin Degraw

            Great adult rock song that has a little soulful rock beat to it.  Best line: “You take that body to the other end/I really like you but I can’t be friends/not with these hands of mine.”

Shut Up and Swallow by Combichrist

            Perfection!  If you like Industrial techno metal about X-Rated bondage sex (and who doesn’t?).  Love this song because it is so outrageous and then the chorus is some automated-sounding woman repeating the instructions “shut up and swallow” in a pure and innocent tone.  I find myself often walking around the apartment or quietly at work reciting the lyrics nonchalantly . . . “shut up and swallow.”

You Know How I Know You’re [a Music Snob]—Because you like Coldplay

Music snobs are abundant.  I have noticed them ever since I bought my first Tool t-shirt and someone in a record store asked me if I liked their old stuff or new stuff which then dictated whether I was worthy of talking with or not. 

Music snobs are everywhere and you could be one of them.  Don’t let this happen to you.  Here are the 20 telltale signs you are a music snob.  We are all guilty of a few of these things, but if you are guilty of more than 6, tell your friends to run and save themselves!!!!

You Are a Music Snob If . . .

11.     You like the Black Keys

22.     You listen to college radio stations (of colleges you did not attend)

33.     You cannot like a band or artist unconditionally—you can only like particular albums, songs, or eras of the band

44.     You like Wilco

55.     You wear tour t-shirts of tours that happened before you were born

66.    You hate when bands “sell out” (and you conveniently think all bands have)

77.     You often need to make it clear that you liked [insert artist name here] before they became mainstream and/or popular

88.     When someone asks you “who is this,” you react either with a “You don’t know who this is?!?!” or a long essay-like explanation of who they are with lots of backstory

99.     You don’t pay for your music and you want everyone to know you do not pay for music and make fun of those who do

110.  You have never liked music that anyone else has suggested to you

111.   You are Trent Reznor

112. You are either pro-Glen Danzig or pro-Michael Graves (and you are willing to fight over it)

113. You hate U2

114. You own over-the-ear headphones

115. You hate Metallica’s St. Anger album

116. You hate Buckcherry, Daughtry, Hinder, Nickelback, Theory of a Deadman, Breaking Benjamin, Seether, Shinedown or Puddle of Mudd

117. You have anything to say about John Mayer—good or bad

118.   You liked The Shins before the Garden State soundtrack came out and you want everyone to know that

119. You have a tattoo that is in anyway related to a band from the 70s

220. You have a Weezer t-shirt

Mother Daughter Pitbull Lovers

On Friday morning, my mother alerted me to the fact that Pitbull had performed on the Today Show as the first concert in their summer concert series.

“Pitbull performed?” my mom said.  (The question mark references that she often says bands and artists in a questioning tone because she assumes she has probably pronounced their name wrong.

“Oh yah, Pitbull,” I replied.  “The new Men In Black movie probably came out today and he did a song for the soundtrack.  He is pretty good,” I explained.

“He was really good.  He was so energetic,” she said.

“Yah he puts on a good show I bet.”

“Yah, and the suit and the sunglasses . . . “

“Yah that is kind of his thing, he always dresses like that.”

“Not gonna lie, it works.”

“You like Pitbull, mom?”

“Yah, I think I do.”

Well this was a start to an interesting weekend.  Constantly tracking down radio stations that may play his songs, adding songs of his to a playlist so we could easily listen to him in the car.  This may perhaps the first mother-daughter duo to ever be looking for Pitbull tickets together.

P.S.--“Back in Time” is probably better than the movie it is on the soundtrack for.