We write letters...

I just toppled my laptop, from my lap and onto my nose. That was not paricularly pleasant. Before this I was outside. It's surprisingly light outside. It's 4:30 AM so that may go someway to explaining it. But from inside my room it now seems surprisingly dark. Maybe it's the artificial light resonating from the street-lights. When I was outside the birds were chirping. I am fully awake and yet gasping for sleep.



Marching Band

Letters
In a Little While

"We feel like good friends should be kept". Indeed. Tonight was a good night. Saul Williams was played. Obviously, it wasn't an Indie Disco. It was Funk, Soul, and Rock 'n' Roll. I only stayed for "a little while". Then the Bound For... the band there played modern loveable covers. It was simple. It was effective. It was enjoyable.

"I'm pretending you're looking outside, trying to decide; how to do it, how to get it right." I am a beating soul, a beating heart, a human body full of emotions, and the Marching Band are not so much marching as strolling towards conveying these feelings. They are the music you hear in the mornings when you're not tired enough to sleep, but too tired to dream; so instead you just think. You love the people you know. You hate the fact that you hurt them so often. Each and every regret has an accompanying moment of happiness.

I am fully awake and yet gasping for sleep... good night. [Find out more...]

x

That's reason enough to celebrate!

Reasons: It's Friday. I have some 'spare' whiskey. No point in having spare alcohol, eh? Friends don't waste wine when there's words to sell. This will be my first time being out of the house and out of the village, since Hell. Hell took place on Wednesday. Let's not talk about it. I have some 'spare' cigarettes. See above. Indie Disco is probably on. I'm going to dance. Music is great. I'm going to buy a hard drive soon.

Reasons not to celebrate: I have to buy a hard drive, soon. As in now. How soon is now? Too soon.



These songs are silly. They were always meant to be silly. Instead of aiming at touching your heart, they try to move your feet. Shake with enthusiasm at the thought of an alcoholic reprieve. Let's not glamorise alcohol, but sometimes it's pretty sweet. What's even better though? Friends and lots of 'em. What's even better still? Friends who dance and love music.



Friday's mini mix-tape

Professor Murder - Champion
Think About Life - Paul Cries
Smile For The Cameraman, Honey - Snips! 2
Radiohead - Idioteque
Snowden - Anti Anti
You Say Party! We Say Die! - The Gap (Between the Rich and the Poor)

* Champion makes me think of a messier Futureheads, less keen on trendy covers, and more keen on reckless abandon.
** Paul Cries is like a second-hand copy of a Unicorns disc. All fuzzy and muddled, conveying a bizarre energy that strives to make the party. A scratched record put on repeat that just loses itself. Ba-da bop ba-dada.
*** Snips! 12 sums up the Indie Disco in a very short space of time. super-disco, disco-making! This song is pretty much one for spazzin' out to - and of course dancing a lot as well. Imagine a kid with ADHD on ecstasy. Got it? Good.
**** Radiohead went from a straightforward rock band, releasing hit single Creep, to that weird art-rock political band that make crazy dance music infused with alot of rock and electronica. Is this a bad thing? No. Everything all the time.
***** Snowden start this song very much like it's a - and here's where it gets hard. Maybe like The Killers trying to be U2? Something like that, which sounds shite... but it's pretty great.
****** Imagine a soft-core female fronted Rage Against The Machine. This is what that song sounds like, and I love it. We're ending with this 'cause I have to get the bus and there's no better song to get me in the mood for dancing - except for maybe Snips! 12. I Say Party!

We came to party... street by street; block by block

Champion, knees up, SPLASH!!...

*Note: post originally written between 21:27 and 22:02. Blogger is shite. Thus it took a while for it to get posted. Post is for Thom. 'cause Thom's a good friend.

It's just bad news.

Sure, there's a few clouds in the sky but they all blend into one; it's a canvas sky - it's been painted by one brush and one colour and then it's been smudged. It's a quiet evening - nearly summer - the barbeque aromas aren't hanging around beside the hedges yet, but it's getting there. Before it gets there, you're thinking of all the things you've done since last summer. You've torn down the walls between you and something you've always wanted to do. You've smiled alot, laughed alot. You've broken down the walls guarding a friendship, and you've destroyed the friendship. You've lied alot, you've cried alot. Maybe this is the song to sum all of this up. "Don't try to call / you'll lose it all". Sometimes, you have to look the other way, just to get by.



Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

House Fire

"We did all we could." Denial. Self-aggrandisement. But, the thing is, you know it's self-denial - so that makes it all the sadder. "It's just bad news". Investigate the band further. Find out who Boris Yeltsin is.

soft-spoken prayers under candlelight

Today was one of those days, that's like, really really bad, but you detach yourself from it so that everything is ok, the sun is shining, hey, it's only life. You ever had those days? They make you feel bad about the detachment, for a start. And then it's like putting off a problem. And yea, well, anyway, read more here.

The Silent Type make beautiful music. I first discovered them through an immensely praising review on Drowned in Sound, which wrote about their music and its perfect suitability for the context in which is was released - the reviewer listened to it on the day of the London Bombings. The review was quite amazing, and obviously, I wanted to hear the band to see if they were worthy of such flattery. Well, I only ever downloaded Ink & Blood, but it was a fantastic song that has been on many of my mix-tapes, and then the other day I took a mood and decided to get more. Only got two others, but if you like male-female harmonies, folky indie music, and beauty, then you should enjoy it all. 'Oh John' reminds me so much of the band Anathallo, that it makes me wonder if The Silent Type are Christians as well. It just has that, sort of distinctive holy sound. Don't let that put you off though, since oftentimes that can be a beautiful sound.



The Silent Type

Ink & Blood
Oh John
Jus Primae Noctis

The lyrics for Ink & Blood are as follows:

Is it true if I wake up that this story I construct will eventually come undone and reveal its empty tongue, like all along, this ink and blood could just wear off? I'm a book wrote in reverse and with several pages torn. As you read, the plot gets worse, and the characters unlearn every virtue, all concern for the lovers that they've hurt, for all pain has been returned. So I'm keeping my eyes shut. No more pages will get cut. The few chapters not yet done will come. Don't rush these words along. The words will come.

You should invest time in listening to the music properly, and listening to the lyrics, since their poetry and beauty is a key feature of this music - although the music is beautiful enough on its own to survive without such words. I've no idea what the band's up to now - still taking a breather I guess - but their website is well broke, and thye've never been featured on Drowned in Sound since.

Notes on that summer / Notes on this music -

Listening to the songs now it is easy to see why the reviewer found so much meaning within the music. After a tragedy comes a search for meaning, a desperate attempt at finding the beautiful and patching up the mistakes. The Silent Type seem to reveal how, effortlessly. The secular sound is hopeful and beautiful. Listening to Nathan Altice's voice is like tip-toeing into a darkened room, lit up only ever-so-slightly, by the candles on the mantelpiece. You take a step in and you hear a soft voice. You look up and see your shadow flickering. You glance the other way and something catches your eye. It's Nathan, kneeling on the ground, praying. This is a prayer you want to listen to. It feels necessary to hear his soothing tones, his delicate way of speaking, his beautiful words. You want to have the meaning that you can hear in his voice. And so you stay. And then you put the songs on repeat, until you feel cleansed.

65daysofstatic get all retro Trainspotting style

There is nothing more distracting than finding great music, when only half-heartedly looking for it. If this song isn't the coolest thing you've heard all day, then you're pretty damn cool. I found this posted here. You should go there, mainly for this. I recommend the covers by: The Lucksmiths, Loquat, Nada Surf.

65daysofstatic

Born Apart [Love Will Tear Us Apart / Born Slippy]
Retreat! Retreat!

I threw Retreat! Retreat! in as a bonus, because well, it seems kind of mandatory, seeing as how this band are unstoppable. The Born Slippy song was of course made into the most memorable and depressing song ever due to its use in Trainspotting. It is retro, and I love it. So should you. Sorry for the excitement, but you know passion is a powerful thing.

Back to revision for me...

last orders are an order

Finally, I've got around to listening to Beerjacket enough, to start to like the music, alot. Borrowing from such well-worn strings as Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley and Bright Eyes, Peter Kelly - the young face behind the voice and the guitar - is turning into a brilliant songwriter with brilliant potential. Using a stripped back acoustic offering of sound, he crafts well-written and well-sung melodies, to carry his songs.

No point in citing influences if you don't explain, so... Beerjacket, writes and plays guitar lines which are more complex than your average singer-songwriter fare - no doubt the influence of Elliott Smith - and with enough variety to keep you interested. In addition to this he's got the (seldom-used) falsetto, and the faltering voice of Jeff Buckley and his lyrics are often reminiscent of Bright Eyes in both their sardonic phrasings and their bitter delivery.

Offering up such sound-alikes as these would put an awful lot of pressure on a young singer-songwriter, but he's nearly good enough to get away with it. Maybe not quite there, but he will be soon, no doubt. I would recommend heading over to Archive.org in order to find a live show of his, since these illustrate that his talent is a natural one, and his charm is subtle but ever-present.

If you're a literary person, or just a drinker, then listen to the lyrics of 'Last Orders', since they're insightful, and the vocal delivery makes them seem even more profound. A song about alcoholism and an ode to resignation - it has to be done, it might be fun, you'll wake up hating yourself in the morning. I'm sure others have felt that.



Beerjacket

Barricade
These Planes Won't Fly
Bad Got Worse
Last Order (live)


This live concert is good. This one; here, silly. It's the one where he opens for Rilo Kiley, and gets nervous but never really falters.

You can download the rest of his second album, 'Great Unhappiness', here. I only offered up my favourites from it, which I believe highlight his potential the best.

Sorry for slow posting, I've been recovering from Friday and then just recovering, and then trying to revise. I'm going to try that some more now.

i don't even know what i'm doing here

Imagine you have a piece of paper and five different coloured pens and your task is to create twenty beautiful/cool pictures [four in each colour], but you're only allowed the one sheet of paper. Could you do it? Maybe you'll create one or two masterpieces but the rest will become cluttered and hidden underneath one another. Well, Smile For The Cameraman, Honey manages the task wonderfully. Through cutting up the best [and worst?] of popular music he manages to create an entirely different beast, which, pretty much, rocks. And although sometimes it can all become very cluttered and overwhelming, there is enough skill in the beat selections and the remixing to allow it all to flow brilliantly, and enough quirkiness for it to appeal to a wider audience than just the indie/rock kids, [although they're probably the ones who will see the true brilliance of such a project - since, y'know, they probably already love 2manydj's or whatever].

A bit of irrelevant info that proves relevant: I was outside before doing this post, clearing my head and polluting my lungs. It started raining. Like really raining. Then it stopped... for a second. Before starting again - heavier this time. I like to think of SFTCMH like that. Frentic bursts of energy that stop, for just a second, to allow you a breather before rocking out even harder.

A little bit more: In Derry, Sandinos does an Indie Disco night every other Friday which is two DJ's playing the best rock/indie/pop music and making everyone dance. SFTCMH is like that 3 hour Indie Disco cut up mixed up stuck together and then made into a [just over] two minute song. In other words, absolutely brilliant. This is your Friday night music, from now on.



Smile For The Cameraman, Honey

Snips! 12
Snips! 5
All yr secrets (Snips! Remix)

Notes:
#1: I also included the remix he did for The Flying Matchstick Men.
#2: These are Myspace download links so may take a second.
#3: This is the second version of this post. Blogger ripped the first one apart.

The days I recall being wonderful weren't so long ago...

Today [16/05/06]'s band have a calendar month in their band name. Thus, maybe time is important to them. It's important to me, because I think it's running out - what with exams coming up soon, so soon; less than ten days away. Where did all the time go? I think I felt it slip through my hand, like grains of sand, as I accumlated knowledge in everything and nothing, all at once. I've learnt alot, forgot alot. Oh yes I remember now...

I spent the time on the beach, on the sand, walking up and down, never expending too much energy. Or I spent the time on the gravel, the cement, playing football, having the sun break down on me. Or I spent the time reading, listening to music, and then somehow getting all those maths homeworks done. The sun was out all the time. Relentlessly shining. But it's raining now. All. Will. Break.

Last Days of April, remind me a lot of Jimmy Eat World, and a little of Ash. Their music is, apparently, 'emo' - but only in so much as Jimmy Eat World are 'emo', which is to say that they are of the new generation of poppier melodic emo, which isn't even a genre since no one can agree on what's emo. It's like the 'indie' label that gets bandied about. Just call it something, and something will suffice. There's no point in being a purist anymore, since no one else will understand what the hell you're going on about. 'Emo' was a stupid name for a genre anyway. Music is meant to be emotional nearly all of the time anyway, so to... well, whatever.



The sky, just a few moments ago looked like a portrait of a bombed village. It was all glowing ambers, and radiant reds. Full of ash clouds and looking like a canvas designed to demonstrate the dangers of global warming. There was a pale blue sky underneath all the damage, and well... it was lovely. There was also an aroma of a barbeque, that was left on slightly too long so that it smelt like an industrial fire. The point of all this? Last Days of April sound like that sky looks. There is a certain detachment, an artificiality, but there are also a lot of inner-feelings expressed, so there's a delicacy, a tenderness, and above all a beauty to the songs. The music makes me feel full of love; happy, but fragile. Vulnerable.

It is actually quite moving when he bitterly sings "that's nice" on Aspirins and Alcohol, but of course, that line can just pass you by since this music of the passing-by nature.

Fact: Aspirins mixed with alcohol can leave you very chemically impaired. Half a beer and you can barely stand, I've heard. I have yet to try this out.



Last Days of April

Aspirins and Alcohol
The Days I Recall Being Wonderful
All Will Break
Fast, So Fast
It's On Everything
Live the End

The sometimes forgotten details that fill scrapbooks and notepads in scribbled handwriting:

Last Days of April hail from Stockholm. Pelle Gunnerfeldt produced all their albums [with assistance on the most recent album, "If you lose it"]. He has also produced all of The Hives' albums. Just in case, you know, you were wondering. Karl Larsson is the main creative drive behind the band and he also has a solo album, which is probably out by now.



Karl Larsson

Off the Cliff
Devil's Strings

was the sun outside? yes

Beautiful weather is to be cherished. All animosity is meant to dissipate in the face of sunshine. Does it? Sometimes, but not always. It's a bit of a silly idea if you actually think about it. It's a typically Irish way of thinking, but it works. Anyway, I was at the beach today think I probably got a tan [though it hasn't shown up yet] playing football tennis and lying down and this was all either before or after forgetting the meaning of punctuaction [fullstop] It's a tough life I have [irony?].

To keep a long story short: the sunshine has brought out my inherent "emo" characteristics. Y'see, summer reminds me of a certain time in my life [two years ago now I believe] where I would listen to sort of emo/screamo stuff alot, like MCR when they were actually making interesting music, TBS [ditto] and others, and it's now sort of traditional to listen to the music, and thusly make myself think of that time [it was a happy time.] It's all about the memories for me, not the music.



Alternative, emo/screamo, post-hardcore sort of thing

Emery - Walls
Anberlin - Ready Fuels
Spoken - Promise

So, waddya think? Bit not for you? Well, if that's the case, here's some nice songs I've also been listening to. These actually are nice, floaty acoustic numbers full of love and promise and hope and sadness, and that's the way I am come summer.




Acoustic, floaty, pleasant music

Dirty on Purpose - Girls and Sunshine
The Weepies - World Spins Madly Around

The title Girls and Sunshine evokes [well, duh George!] sunny weather, and ice creams, and lots of pretty young things running across sand past water, shimmering with perspiration and the spray of the sea, people lying on a beach reading the latest bestselling novels, ignoring you and you them, you've got your sights elsewhere. You're happy; more than content. You're jogging along trying to keep up with everything you see sometimes double-glancing sometimes fighting the urge to stare, sometimes at people, sometimes at nature. Or else you're kicking a football about, it's just a laugh and you're smiling - ha ha ha, amazing, etc - and you're thinking this is Heaven.

However, sometimes if you're stuck in a rut, or you've just broken up, or... well whatever... just sometimes, the title Girls and Sunshine will make you slightly down-hearted, knock the wind out of your metaphorical sails, and so forth. Sometimes it will be a morose happiness, a wry smile, etc. And sometimes it will be a comforting sadness. But in any case, the best way I can think to describe this feeling, and why it appears is this: the constant human yearning, a longing for something else, something better, nicer, prettier, sunnier, happier etc. Quite simply put, in this scenario, you still haven't found what you're looking for.

this story-book has only just started...

Someday I'm going to have to clear out my e-mail inbox. I do it every now and then - say every three months - and it feels good to put all that writing into folders, delete the random stuff that isn't relevant and tidy up. It's like tidying a messy bedroom and looking around and thinking "lovely" - then promptly exiting the room before your very presence disrupts the tidiness. It's something like that anyway.



But the point is, I'm not doing it today. And you know why? Because my inbox holds magic in it today. What magic? The magic of winning two tickets to go and see My Latest Novel in Dublin, after entering a simple competition just for the sheer "why not?" of it all. Now, since I'm an idiot I think I may have entered for the wrong one [Dublin] 'cause Belfast is closer, and on a date when I have just finished two exams, instead of on a date when I should be revising for two exams. However, if I'd entered for Belfast, I may not have won, so I should just get over it and go. I can't wait. Assuming I'm allowed to go. Will. Be. Amazing.

If you would like to share in my joy, listen to the fantastic Glaswegian band with me. They "are an astonishing Scottish five-piece whose gorgeous songs are complemented by violins, xylophones and undulating percussion."** So yea, the easiest way to explain my love of My Latest Novel is to explain when it started.

I was at the caravan, down to enjoy a bit of free time, a day off work, the pleasant-ness of being beside the sea. It was sunny, but windy - really windy - and I was sick. I was watching waves - nearly feeled awed but then feeling nothing. I went back to bed, and decided to make myself a CD of the sort of songs you can either ignore or be amazed by. The Nov featured twice. That's like a record, since I have a rule that only one song per artist is allowed on mixtapes. But every rule has its exception, and all that jazz. What made it even more impressive was that since downloading the songs I had from various blogs and the official website, I had never even listened to them until that moment in time.

I love the violin and drums and everything that's going on in Sister Sneaker, Sister Soul. I've listened to the lyrics a few times [everytime actually] but I've only caught odd words, like flipping the pages of a scrapbook and seeing something that looks cool, before thumbing past it onto the other pages, delving deeper and skimming through the book like a pebble across water. This is the sort of music that somedays will appear to be floating past you, but if you grab it and tug it down, it will stay with you and be your friend. Other times it just wants to be mysterious and magical and sound beautiful, and I'm not complaining. I'll let it.



My Latest Novel

Sister Sneaker, Sister Soul
The Hope Edition

There's lots of photos 'cause I think they look cool... Sorry if it takes forever for your browser to open. If you get a chance to hear "The Job Mr Kurtz Done" by them, do, because its spoken word verses and personal tone along with the Scottish accent make the song delicately delightful. Anyway; I'm going to drink my tea now before I forget. Then I think I'll head outside, 'cause the sun is still shining. Do you think it's shining in Glasgow? Hopefully I'll head there next year and see My Latest Novel [hopefully, again], and also other cool bands like Sabrepulse and... possibilities are endless.

**Source: official website

Les Angles Morts

I could make yet another post about some big well known band, that's been done before. Well, this one's about those guys in Arcade Fire. No wait, sorry; who were in Arcade Fire as, *according to Chris Taylor from AIDs Wolf,

"What a lot of people don't know is that individually each one of them has had some sort of time spent with Arcade Fire, playing in their band. They were part of the lineup at one point or another. So they're all musicians who have played really well and cut their teeth on the Montreal scene in the last four or five years. And they've played all over the place."
Myles Broscoe and Brendan Reed featured on Arcade Fire's s/t debut EP, before leaving to create **Les Angles Morts, a chaotic art-rock band. However, much like Frog Eyes, Les Angles Morts are never likely to get the attention they deserve, despite a heavy cult following and many fans from Montreal. That said, they do have an album out, titled "What's Real?" which was released under Blue Skies Turn Black. The tracks are chaoticly addictive, and the album is a quite eclectic collection which maintains a certain psychedelia throughout - a listening experience comparable to walking through a computer at times.

MP3's from "What's Real?"
Huge Antlers
Whats Real summer
Portals

The music is apparently all scores for films they make, and they are apparently as obsessed with video at their gigs as they are with music. Their website shows how truly arty/insane they are, and once you're in there you won't be able to get out until you feel you ***understand it. The website includes material from other bands like Noh Cars Go which is another of Brendan Reeds project. A lot of the music doesn't even make sense and seems unfinished but tracks like Reform Forrest and Sel Keys make it worthwhile to give it a look.

*This interview is actually where I first heard about Les Angles Morts, while searching for information on AIDs Wolf, this quote originates here also.
**Translation : The Dead Angles
***You will never understand it.

Of Montreal

Of Montreal may not actually be from Montreal [like a LOT of the other bands I like] but we won't hold that against them. Hailing from Athens, Georgia, they remind me a lot of Clap Your Hands Say yeah, wih similar style of vocals and with a laid back, floaty feel to their music. On the CYHSY note, I both missed them in Belfast earlier this year along with the Oxegen concert which I will be missing in the future, where is the *Justice? Of Montreal are another one of those bands in the Electric 6 Collective along with bands like Neutral Milk Hotel who were featured in an earlier post, there's plenty of other live mp3's and such in the Of Montreal mp3 section of the site.

Lysergic Bliss is one MP3 I highly recommend as I'm amazed every time 2:30 into the song with the accappella-esque vocal parts come in. Its unbelievable, and if you say it isn't, your wrong. Disconnect the Dots shows a more electonic side to the band, which differed to the more lo-fi stylings of earlier recordings. The Velvet Underground cover features on the tribute album "Rabid Chords". Other recommended songs are Rapture Rapes the Muses and My British Tour Diary off Satanic Panic in the Attic.

MP3's
Lysergic Bliss
Disconnect the Dots
She's my best friend [Velvet Underground Cover]

*Justice are an dance outfit from Paris in France, I LOVE them. And yes I missed them when they played here too, I miss **EVERYTHING!
**Yes EVERYTHING!

Something else to check out if you have time is the Les Angles Morts site. It's confusing as anything but if you look hard enough you can find some real good music, like this little song, clean up pulpit, a bit like Neutral Milk Hotel.

Si a todo

Danny meets Marc. Everyone loves Marc and thinks he's a brilliant guy. The happiest guy they've ever met. Marc's motto is "Si a todo" - "Yes to Everything". Danny only met Marc, because he had already been following this motto for a while. Before Danny started out on his little mission, he had been staying in most nights, finding excuses, and just wasting time. He was missing out on friendships, connections, promotions, opportunities and life, all because he was saying "No" too much. When a stranger on a bus told Danny that he should, "say yes more" he realised that this was the solution to all his problems. Say yes more, he thought. Genius.

Change-over, and counterpoint.

Elliott Smith is dead. Sometimes I forget this. Everyone knows it, but somehow I still forget it. I think it's 'cause his voice is so heartfelt, his lyrics so immediate. Everything about his life and his music cuts through the skin, the flesh and blood, and gets straight to the heart. I used to know a good deal about his life [gleaned from interviews and biographies] but I've forgotten most of it now, though I do know that he didn't like to talk about it much, and he often pushed friends away without realising it, due to his rumoured drug addictions. Many believe that he stabbed himself in the heart to prove a point - that it wasn't the drugs that were killing him, but life itself. The knife through the chest silently screaming, "this is it, I've had enough, I can't take it anymore - life has broken my heart".



Notes on the song I'm going to post: Elliott Smith said in an interview with Nic Harcourt - on a Morning Becomes Eclectic live session - that he picked this song to close his best [in my opinion] album, Either/Or, "'cause it was kinda happy". Nic suggests that it has a positive name, and Elliott laughs and says "oh yea, say yes".

Change-over, and counterpoint.

In case you didn't realise, the start of this post is the basic story behind the book, Yes Man by Danny Wallace and it's really funny. Comedic is that way that enlightened humour is; wit with a backbone of truth. It's also uplifting. To explain further: Danny decides that for about six months he will say "Yes" to every favour, request, opportunity, advert or question that comes his way. It's all about losing control [much like The Dice Man] and opening yourself up to risks and opportunities. And by the end of it he has become a much more positive person, who feels enlightened by his travels [Singapore, Barcelona, Melbourne, to name a few] and also ends up with a class wife [if i read between the lines correctly - may be just a girlfriend] by the end of it, who he probably wouldn't have had if he hadn't've said Yes.

Therefore this post, is in celebration of that book, and the idea of just throwing yourself at life and everything it offers - nevermind the risks. Danny's girl was "still around the morning after". This post is also a tribute to Elliott Smith, and the fact that the music he made during his life was beautiful, and has meant alot to many, including me. Three years is a long time. It feels like a lot less.

Elliott Smith

Say Yes (live)

There you have it, one of my favourite Elliott Smith songs. I hope you like it. You also have my post on enlightenment: self-help 101, #1: Believe in yourself. You are a unique and beautiful snowflake. Or should that be star?

Bonus:

The Frames - Star Star*

I love that song. [Star, your every word I'm heeding. Can you help me to see? 'cause I'm lost in the dark... yea]



Follow the lead of the innocent and the childish and jump at life, just like the dolphins jump at opportunities, and jump for joy.

*Additional notes for the curious: The Dice Man is a novel by Luke Rhinehart. It was a bit of a cult-hit in its day. The general plot was that this guy would assign an option to every number on the die and then roll the die. Whatever number was rolled this was what he had to do. It gets a bit crazy from what I remember... a particular scene that stands out is when he has sex with his best friend's wife just because the die told him to. However, as far as I know, The Dice Man was purely fictional, whereas Yes Man isn't. And Yes Man is amazing.

Sufjan Stevens and stuff

In "To Be Alone With You" by Sufjan Stevens, you can hear the squeaks as his fingers slight across the acoustic guitar. Raw, lovely, beautiful [? ? ?] Yes. Yes. Yes. And authentic. Following a complaint [thanks Kyle] that it's impossible to get into an artist after only hearing one song [fairly true, except for when I heard one song by Anathallo and fell in love], I decided to post some more. These are all I could find hosted by the two record labels that he has belonged to [he may have belonged to more, but am I prepared to find out? not right now, no]...



Sufjan Stevens

Year of the Dog
All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace
Holland
Jason
Sister
*Note: right-click and save target as, if having difficulty.

Sufjan is good music to be listening to at the minute, since it's nice and sunny and it's been a pleasant day and I can't take anything all that seriously otherwise I'd go insane. Pretty much. So instead, let's all smile, and enjoy Sufjan's pretty voice. I like that idea. Do you? If so, I recommend going onto either elbows or the hype machine and searching for Sufjan Stevens. There are bound to be about a million posts [with a million songs], since last year every blogger fell in love with his album Illinois [and it topped many a best-album-of-2005 chart]. And now there's many a blogger gearing up to give his "new" album of outtakes from Illinois [called The Avalanche] the coveted title of album of the year. As it stands, these songs I've posted are not representations of why I love his music. But get searching...

Here's the tracklist for that new album:

1. The Avalanche
2. Dear Mr Supercomputer
3. Adlai Stevenson
4. The Vivian Girls Are Visited In the Night by Saint Dargarius and his Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies
5. Chicago (acoustic version)
6. The Henney Buggy Band
7. Saul Bellow
8. Carlyle Lake
9. Springfield, or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in his Hair
10. The Mistress Witch from McClure (or, The Mind That Knows Itself)
11. Kaskaskia River
12. Chicago (adult contemporary easy listening version)
13. Inaugural Pop Music for Jane Margaret Byrne
14. No Man's Land
15. The Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake
16. The Pick-up
17. The Perpetual Self, or "What Would Saul Alinsky Do?"
18. For Clyde Tombaugh
19. Chicago (Multiple Personality Disorder version)
20. Pittsfield
21. The Undivided Self (for Eppie and Popo)

The moon is a tiny crescent

...when I look at it from my bed, in my room, out of the window.

Friday's have always been the best night for me. Everything happens on a Friday. Saturday's are slow days. But, last Saturday? Amazing. Dan's birthday was amazing... drunkness was amazing.. and it was preceded by The Frames... Glen [Hansard - lead singer of The Frames] is mental. Officially.

The Frames

I like this song quite a lot: People Get Ready

Glen Hansard and Mic Christopher

And I would like to add that the first line [including the title] of this post is true. Thus, making this song relevant: The Whole of the Moon
[I saw the crescent, but you saw the whole of the moon]

I'll do a proper post at somestage, but this one is to keep you happy in the meantime, and stuff. After all: We have all the time in the world... to get it right.

Ok, I've thought about it [life that is]

So I'm going to see The Frames tonight. I'm drinking Hennessy now. Dan's celebrating his 18th birthday tonight. I just finished stock-take there now in Long's. I don't have to work again 'til Thursday. I have money. Is life sweet? Yes.

Sufjan Stevens

No one knows how I feel about Sufjan Stevens [except for Thom] 'cause I've never featured him on the blog, and now is not the time to get fully into it. But, to keep this short:

I love his music. It's incredibly lovely. I associate it with love, affection, tenderness, memories, hard decisions, moving on, changing scenery [remember that lake in Stirling? It was beautiful. The sun was out, it was a nice day. I think it started raining. No matter - the memory sifts through and selects the gems]. This is music for falling apart to but also for restoring your faith in whatever it is you believe in. I've connected with the music. Enough gayness.

The fact that he does/did/does? do shows in funny costumes? How do I feel about that? I'm not sure, since it adds a joky nature to the music which I've only had glimpses of but never really seen in all its undoubtedly brilliant glory. Like a flash of light. Like a blind spot on your vision. He is amazing. That's all... here's a track that Pitchfork featured. And then head over here to get another. The always fantastic Good Weather For Airstrikes did have two others, but the label requested their removal. Pity.



Sufjan Stevens

Dear Mr Supercomputer

Time to think about life

I had typed up a post [didn't take long, four lines] where I explained I was going to post soon. Turns out I'd nothing better to do so soon equals now. How soon is now? [As Morrissey asked]... well for me, it's right now. But anyway, point of the story? I changed my mind when I saw that Think About Life were getting popular and I decided to get in on the game. I like the song "What the future might be" alot. Not too fussed on everything else I've heard so far, reminds me too much of The Unicorns [who I've seen hyped as the band that all cool people like now and liked before their dismemberment, but who I've never really seen as anything other than average. 'cause I'm boring I guess... or just haven't given them the time of day. I'm lazy like that] So anyway, I hope you like these tracks I'm going to post after I ramble - they're those songs you stick on at a party when you're drunk as hell and think a bit of madness might brighten up the room and stop everyone from taking so many breaths before they speak; intended to kick the party off again, or just make people laugh and joke and go "what the fuck's going on?". Pretty much.

So my thoughts on Think About Life's actual sound? A swarming mess of synths and keyboards, [and other instruments, of course] lo-fi production and vocals just thrown around the mix. Hailing from Montreal, perceived hip capital of the indie world, they were personally invited by Wolf Parade to be their support act during last year’s autumn tour. So they've got all the street-cred they'll ever need in the world... listen to them and their wacky brand of post-punk electronica hazy drunken chemically enhanced music.



Think About Life

Paul Cries
Serious Chords
Snowee Caterpillar

I think the artwork is stunning. The song "Paul Cries" reminds me of a Derry band called Farrago. A lot. Mainly 'cause of the ascending harmonising.

Edit [five minutes later]: I might retract my "not fussed" statement soon. 'cause I'm starting to really like "Paul Cries". Although it reeeeally reminds me of some other band as well. I wish I could work it out.

Hey, what's going on?

Here's something quick just to tide you over. See it's reaching midnight. And when it hits midnight a new day starts. And if a new day starts then I didn't post today. I'm trying to avoid incidents like this. When they happen they will happen in isolation. Anyway, like I say, just a quick one, tomorrow's will be all weird again I'd imagine. Most of it's in my head already from today's: feelings / moods / experiences / visions / sadness. So it's just a matter of finding the time and writing it up, dragging myself to wear the old heart on the old metaphorical sleeve [which probably won't happen since I like to talk in a cloudy haze of vague poetic imagery] and making it fit to whatever music I feature.



In order to play shows and go on tour as much as she could, Melanie Valera of Garrison Rocks, created a solo project: Tender Forever was born. “emotional pop” or “lo-fi R&B” are unusual definitions, but do not give the complexity of it at all. In the first place, Tender Forever is a girl performing alone with her DIY crafty sounds, a cardboard laptop, a very personal body language, tears, cut-outs, spasms…and more. Tender Forever also means countless people, feelings and emotions living through her music. Tender Forever plays guitar and calls you into play. Tender Forever sings, dances, gets stirred, excited, worn-out, falls on the floor and affects us. Tender Forever is something very, very fragile! And at the same time, it is a great ball of fire dragging along everything in its way, which might wake up intense things that are buried deep in each one of us...

Tender Forever

Then If I'm Weird

This song's a bit of a strange one to be honest, in that I'm not sure what to make of it. I think I like it. It seems kind of jokey but it's still fairly sad. Confused the old brain, to be honest. Although I'm featuring this song, it should be noted that there's a better one called, "Take it off", which I couldn't find hosted somewhere that wasn't a blog. Go search for it though. It's good. But still this post filled its purpose in that in gave you a fairly good song to listen to, some biographical information about an artist, and filled a gap. Think of this as a bridge. From one day to the next to the next to the next. A steady stream of information, updated daily [*note: preferably - not always though...] This is the Domino Effect in practice. You have to set them up to knock them down.

Set.

Up.

So say you want it

I'm tired. Not really. I'm just lazy. I think that's it anyway. My brain isn't quite functioning, right now, and I'm looking at a leaflet on Uni accomodation for next year. Freak out? Gettin' there. But I still have a couple of maths papers to do [sic: 'couple' denotes 'two'. The word 'five' does not denote 'two'] so there's still plenty of time for that. There shall be an onslaught of depression tonight, or boredom, I'm sure of it. So to get us in the mood let's listen to some Jens Lekman style stuff not by Jens Lekman. Oh, intrigued are we? Well, then, maybe you would actually like to listen to Jacob Borshard. He has two albums on the internet. Why? Beats me.

Hey, you, do you like free music?

I'm going to feel the static crackle, waiting for the hum to disappear, the mental lethargy to rumble slow-motion style into kinetic moments and I shall be back, like a bird, flying away and around and boomeranging back into place. Soon. Soon, I will return and finish this post. Where am I going? Outside to breathe freshly poisoned air [by my own hand, no less... clicky clicky on the lighter] and watch the sun descend.

I'm afraid to say that I know next to nothing about Jacob Borshard, as I discovered him on Catbirdseat and didn't really read, just downloaded [I'm playing catch-up, blog-wise, starting tonight over about two weeks worth on content on every blog... hmm...] What can I tell you then, to make you interested? Well, aside from the Jens Lekman comparison, there is also the fact that Catbirdseat described his music as "ukelele bedroom pop". And that I think it's good. So I think you should all listen. Closely too, for there are some very noteworthy lyrics in the mix. Like this:

I've been thinking all day about this dream I had where I never lost you
But the only mermaid that's flesh and blood is a bad tattoo
The stars are out and the moon is new; how long do I have to stand here praying?

from the song, Grass Stains.



Jacob Borshard

6,000,000 Dead Punks Can't Be Wrong
My Sweet Skyline
Grass Stains
Brains, Brains
Sarah

Music for those tired afternoons. Anyway, I boomeranged back into place, into shape, and then lost all hope. I've been grappling with the merits of actually doing this maths and I'm coming up short. Reasons against: I'm incompetent, it's too hard, i'm too lazy, it's boring, i'm fed up, it's pointless, pointless, pointless. Reasons for: teacher, oh el profesor, won't have a reason to lecture me. I won't have to avoid class. I think the reasons against are winning but I'm not too sure. Who knows? Well, basically... as far as this blog is concerned...

I'm back. Goodbye.