Songs for my Funeral

This a long time coming. No not my death but my first posted mix. I will not go into a huge description about how the name of the mix came about rather just listen. So here is the playlist for "Songs for my Funeral Part One: Songs 1-13"

The Stone Roses – I Wanna Be Adored

John Lennon – Watching the Wheels

Sun Kil Moon – Lost Verses

Todd Snider – Alright Guy

Ben Folds – The Luckiest

Peter Gabriel – In Your Eyes (Live)

Faces – Ooh La La

Pixies – Dig For Fire

Slobberbone – Lazy Guy

Talking Heads – Road to Nowhere

The Pogues – Love You ‘Till The End

Tom Waits and the Kronos Quartet – Diamond In Your Mind (live)

I Am Kloot - Proof

Another mix will be coming soon(ish). Yes it will Part Two.

More later

Bro

A few tips for fantasy fun

Get your mind out of the gutter. Actually I'll let it linger there for a bit...ok. Ready?

My fantasy football drafts are done. I think I'll do ok. I have been playing fantasy for quite a few years now. Here are a few things I'd like to see in my leagues. If you are not in any of my leagues this might help anyway.

OK first off Yes I know you're busy. You have a wife, a life, hopefully a good job, kids and you need to drink beer. Luckily fantasy football wouldn't get in the way of that last one. It may enhance it.

Trades. This isn't life or death so trade. Or at least get some offers out there. In fact, if I offer you a trade don't just decline it. Counter offer something or at least give me an email explaining why you declined the trade. I can't read your mind. I like trades. Trades are fun. I like fun.

Post something at least once a week. This is supposed to be fun and a little gentle teasing makes the season go by quicker. It doesn't have to be mean. It could anything...honestly anything. Football topics are prefered but I'll even take a non football post about your love of the latest "High School the Musical" movie. Just stay active on the boards.

Yes stay active. Don't be "The Quiter". Sure your team is 2-8 and you have been out of the playoff race for awhile but there are two teams fighting for that last spot. Don't forget to get your stud rb back into the lineup after his bye week. Don't mess up somebody else's season just because you quit.

Watch the waivers. Thus stay active. Your season can be saved by simply watching who is available. Last year Ryan Grant wasn't drafted I am sure plenty of team rode him into the playoffs. This happens every year. There are always surprises.

Forget the experts. Get who you want but don't be a complete "Homer".

So offer trades, post comments, be active and have fun.

Go get'em tiger
More later and good luck
Bro



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Now playing: Old 97s - Dance With Me
via FoxyTunes

Aug 26 CDs

Delta Spirit - Ode to Sunshine
This band comes at you from so many places. It's timeless rock or maybe Indie Folk Rock with the emphasis on the rock. A fun, multi layered cd.

The Gabe Dixon Band - self titled
Clean Piano Rock. Not the clever, humorous, intelligent piano rock of Ben Folds more like an Indie Rock "Benny and the Jets". Quite the Exuberant cd but not too loud and not too soft just like baby bears radio station.

Matthew Sweet - Sunshine Lies
So this man does remember what his guitar sounded like on Girlfriend/Altered Beast. He always puts out quality but it's nice to hear "classic" Sweet.

Don't forget
JJ Grey and Mofro. Sadly I think his latest cd is way over produced. It's still swampy-like front porch music but this time a bit too clean. Blues Traveler have new music too. Nightmares on Wax gives us some "beach jams". Throw one of these on a mix tape and get happy. I always smile when I see a Tesla Cd. See in college the guy across the hall had such a man crush on this band and I will admit that any lead singer that was a garbage truck driver in a former life and turns into a rock star...well that just makes me happy. Much better than being "Hanna Montana's brother"

More later
Bro


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Now playing: Shade - wide eyed
via FoxyTunes

When 5 was 3 now just 1

hey look...it's another lost CD. Yes about bloody time and for more Lost Treasures head to NEXT music.

This time I pick Ben Fold's "Rockin' the Suburbs"

Before I begin with my mini rant about radio missing out yet again let me tell you that you must see the man live. Solo? With a Band? It just doesn't matter just do what needs to be done to see him anytime he is close to where you live. He makes stadiums feel like your living room.

Ben, Live. Army.


Ben with just the piano. Army.


Too much fun. Honestly you come out of the concert on a high. The man is truly talented.

So what about "Rockin' the Suburbs" The CD?

Really besides the occasional "Brick" this man gets almost no radio love. Why? I don't know and how strange is it that when he does get radio play its about an abortion. I guess he doesn't test well. That is a good thing. He is man that must be experience in full not some 30 sec clip over the phone. Bloody silly but that is how music on the radio is picked.

So about the cd is it...

Catchy? Check
Intelligent? Check
Fun and funny (yes those are two different things)? Check and Check.

Now this cd really isn't too different from his Ben Folds Five work but the main change was the fact that Ben played almost all of the instruments including guitar and dropped two band members. Guitar is important to note as the trio was piano, drums, bass. Still really no big surprises just classic sounding Ben making mid tempo masterpieces.

Wonderful start to the cd with "Annie Waits".
This song just gets to me. Beautifully written. You can just picture Annie seeing the "headlights cresting the hill" and being disappointed when the car continues past her house...it's not her "friend". Here are two quite good fan vids.





Zak and Sara
Funny. Weird. Not normal. Brilliant. Yes. Plus hidden swearing.


Rockin' the Suburbs
Great video.

the next two songs will be played at my funeral.

If this next song doesn't choke you up you have no feelings. This is why we love music.
The Luckiest


and a song he wrote for his son.
Still Fightin It
Link to "embedding disabled video"

So yes go get this cd. Period. Thats it. Oh and radio get smart before you become an afterthought...opps too late. Well almost too late.

More later
Bro

Better late...

Sorry I was off on a family camping trip. Good time had by all plus it was car camping so really you could bring your whole family room if you wanted to. There is something to be said about occasionally sleeping in a tent. Also building a fire does feel good and right.

On to the music


After last weeks fairly weak showing a nice follow up.

Juliana Hatfield - How to Walk Away
Ahh the break up album. It is dangerous although I guess if you are dating a singer you have to know there will be songs about soon enough. This one isn't too bitter or nasty but fear not People or Cosmo readers there are juicy moments. Age agrees with her too. It has added an edge to her voice.

Hotel Lights - Firecracker People
Second "solo" cd from the former Ben Folds Five Drummer. The man knows how to write and perform great, wonderful, mid tempo rockers. Now very soon I will write about the Dandy Warhols and how they usually bounce from song to song with a completely different sound...now this cd could have used a track or two with a completely different sound. After a while this cd just bleeds into itself. Still an incredibly strong cd.

Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line
A musical collective of Gypsy Rock from upstate NY. This cd puts them close to the top of the "promising newcomers" list.

The Stills - Oceans will Rise
A slight shift in sonics on this cd. Big and bombastic are the keys words. Don't worry their songs still have some hooky pop to them.

The Dandy Warhols - Earth to the Dandy Warhols
Closest to 13 Tales then they have ever been. The Dandys seems to love to jump from sound to sound. It makes for an interesting listen but not a complete cd. Earth to the Dandy Warhols is more a completer cd then just a collection of singles. There are, of course, mis-fires.

Donavon Frankenreiter - Pass it Around
What is referring to with this title? Herb? The MP3s? Does it matter? More of the same for CD number 3. Mellow surfer dude music from FOJ (friend of Jack (Johnson))


A bunch to watch for and listen to and download a few favorites of:
Let's start with the ladies. Laura Marling and Jennifer O'Connor. Laura the talented young UK piano tickler and Jennifer the NYC rocker chick. Xavier Rudd released a cd that will probably get kicked up to the Gold Star status the next time I listen. I know there are rabid fans for The Walkmen, The Fiery Furnaces, and Stereolab but none released a "must have" in my opinion. All three released cds that were anticipated greatly.

More later
Bro

Save it for later

Not much going on this week unless Hanna Montana is a star in your life. The Jonas Brothers released something. I will say one thing...it's gotta suck when you are a horny band and your biggest fans are between 8-13. "Dude in 5 to 8 years this is gonna be Led Zeppelin awesome". I guess the Beatles did start with "I wanna Hold Your Hand". So who is going to be their Bob Dylan and introduce them to marijuana? Or maybe they should just skip to their Peter Fonda LSD stage.


I mean I don't care what anyone tells you the main reason they pick up a guitar, or sticks or the microphone is girls. Maybe their fan's moms make up for it. But that would be weird - "Mom you slept with the Jonas' Brothers. I hate you" Yes that little girl will be on a couch for a long, long time.

So on to the not so hot week in CDs.

Really I can only tell you to download a few tracks from The Pack AD. A female version of the the Black Keys from Canada. They are a band to watch. Each cd gets them closer to fine.

I will leave you something cool/funny. "The Line"

It pays to be a music geek

Remember when I was moping about not being able to see She and Him on Bro's post? Well, I've been dealt a change of luck.

Thursday night I made an attempt to win Virgin Mobile Festival tickets. At 5:30 pm in the afternoon, the radio station I was listening to (94.7 the globe which is out of DC) wanted the tenth caller. Obviously those sorts of phone contests are impossible to win at times. You have to time things very carefully. Of course, I didn't win. I felt frustrated and thought "shoot, maybe I'll try again during the 8 pm hour." The next give away was going to happen at 8:30 pm during th 80s at 8 pm program. So here I am listening, I have the station's number on speed dial, the dj gets on the air and says "First caller to tell me what year these things happened wins two 2-day passes to the Virgin Mobile Festival." The question was "What year did the beastie boys get censored on american bandstand, the cure released their album kiss me kiss me kiss me..." That's all I heard as I quickly hit dial on the phone. It was ringing, I could hear on the computer the dj also mention that Peter Gabriel's "Sledge Hammer" was a hit. As the phone rang like three times, I thought to myself "Dear God, please let me get this one. Please! I'll give up anything. I'll even give up sex for awhile..." (Sometimes you have to give up things like sex or beer to get something awesome) The DJ picked up my call first! I must've been on a 3 second delay by listening on the net. So I didn't even know my choice of answers. Lucky for me, he repeated the years when he answered the phone. I said "1987." He replied "You sound pretty sure of yourself." I laughed and said "Well kiss me by the cure is one of my favorite albums." and he said to me "Well guess what, it looks to me like you have plans for the weekend..." (for a second there, I thought I was going to lose...when he said guess what) I start freaking out when he told me that I had won. "Oh my god, I can't believe I won!" If someone told me a few days that this would happen to me, I would think they were either nuts or full of it. I just still can't believe it in a way. I will when I get there. But yeah I won tickets that are close to 200 bucks (175 dollars plus ticketmaster charges duh) a piece and it was all because I knew that the Cure's album kiss me kiss me kiss me was released in 1987. See being a music geek works!

I originally asked my sister, but she really only wanted to see a few bands and wasn't sure if it would work out. Our parents' finances aren't the best right now. So I asked Meredith if she would go with me. She can drive and her bf is giving us gas money and I am providing my parents' ford escort and well she has an aunt, who lives in Baltimore (so yeah we have a place to spend Saturday night). Looks like everything is going to work out nicely. She freaked out when I asked her too. I'm quite excited, but I know that I'll be quite exhausted by Sunday night. I've never been to a both days of a two day music festival before. I'm just totally stoked about how this all turned out.

Meredith and I are taking a camera so hopefully there will be pictures to share! and of course, I will post stories on either Monday or Tuesday. http://www.virginmobilefestival.com (check out the line up, it's nuts and yes, I'm sorry but you're just going to have to be jealous.)

ps - On a different note, I watched Superbad tonight for the first time. All I gotta say is that the movie was hilarious, awesome, cute and crude. (Is that even really possible in a film? Apparently it is)

CDs for yesterday

I took the little man to see Walking With The Dinosaurs Live at MSG the other day. It was brilliant. It reminded me of the first Star Wars. Very un-now. No CGI. Just reality sized computerized dinosaurs. Plus a few maned by Humans in what would be the coolest Halloween costume ever. It is traveling around the States right now. When it comes to town make a little one very happy and take them.

The dinos do "fight" but there is no real interaction thus no blood or really even violence. The pace is slow and plodding but filled with good information. It really is a throw back. Money well spent.

The tunes this week or the more things change the more they stay the same.


Conor Oberst - Self Titled
He still sounds like Bright Eyes. That could be the whole review. More of the same and that should make all music lovers happy. He went down to Mexico with his "crew" to record this one. It makes for a nice, relaxed, intelligent ride but the folk/rock and country/roll and biting lyrics are all intact.

Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
It has been awhile since a non-Pixar album but again like Oberst more of the same. The wit and wisdom shine through on this low production cd.

Carla Bruni - Comme Si de Rien N'Etait (As If Nothing Had Happened)
It's a joke. The title of the CD because the music is wonderful. The joke is that she is now the "First Lady" of France - as if Nothing has happened. Get it? Yes she is the one that recently married the French President. I wonder what kind of cd our "First Lady" would come out with. No way it would be as cool as this one. I had to listen to the cd, well, because of who she was. The more I listened the more I enjoyed. Give her a serious listen. She may surprise you too.

Also to check
Ida if you are into the Indie Folk thing. Or Mike Gordon if you miss Phish. He was/is the bassist and this is a solo cd. Oh and you get a Legacy Edition of "Fumbling Toward Ecstasy" with includes a bonus CD/DVD.

More later
Bro

CDs for 7/30

Just in time before a fresh batch of CDs tomorrow. Strange how you need a vacation from your vacation. It takes a bit to get back into the swing...after you have been gone for a bit.

So I finally saw Batman The Dark Knight. Yes I am the last person on Earth to have seen it. Brilliant. I still love the first part of Ironman a bit more but what a dark and wonderful movie Batman was. I understand why they "enhanced" Batman's voice but I still didn't like that. It really isn't that shocking that Heath nailed the Joker. Brilliant job just mind blowing.

I was shocked at the amount of little kids at the movie. Really? C'mon P's it was rated "PG-13"...I don't see how but it was. Yes I know the rating system is a joke but really that movie was much too intensive for youngsters.

The movie does give you quite a bit to talk about too.

On to the Music, man

Neil Halstead - Oh! Mighty Engine
Shoegaze hero, and all around great singer and songwriter turns in a very pleasant "Summer Afternoon" vibe of an album. He is the Slowdive guy and also part of the always excellent Mojave 3. On this solo project he relaxes. I claim "summer afternoon" vibe because in the heat of the day you don't really want to jump around. You want to spike your lemonade and sit on a rocking chair and listen to this cd.

Also out was
the release of George Carlin's "It's Bad for You". It is the same material as the HBO special but a different recording and maybe a better night for Carlin too. If you care Rick Springfield also released something new. Soccer moms rejoice.

More later
Bro