Movies of Myself

Go on brush your shoulders off.

 

I was watching the Tonight Show one day last week and Jenny McCarthy was the main guest. Now, I really, truly have nothing against Jenny McCarthy. She seems nice, she's funny and I heard she cured her son's autism with vitamins.

But look at her fucking shoulder pads. Why??? Why are they evil?? Are shoulder pads back? Really?!? I wouldn't know, because the sudden marked downturn of my fashion sense has me looking like a middle-aged second grade teacher who laid down beaucoup bucks at a Petite Sophisticate outlet.

Still, even I know that your shoulders should not rise in frightening knife points above your g.d. ears. Clothes should not look like there is like a foot of empty space between the garment and your actual skin. Jackets should not appear murderous. I couldn't stop staring at them and I don't think I heard a single word she actually said during the interview. I do believe she was promoting a fitness program for the Nintendo Wii. I sure hope the game has shoulder exercises!

I get so low I need a little pick me up. I get so high I need a bring me down.

Best of the Rest Volume 2

I rediscovered a true appreciation for the album this year. Albums listened to from start to finish without interruption, albums that complete a whole story cycle . I'm proud to have spent more time with the headphones on, really putting the songs front and center instead of just having them on in the background.

I've also placed less of an emphasis on lyrics this year. I still adore a great lyric, but it is no longer the first thing I listen for and, while I still wish I knew much more about music theory, I think it has made a difference. 

Again, these songs are all from albums which were this close to making it into my Top Ten albums list. Each of one of them is a wonderful thing.

Tremble And Tear - John Vanderslice I really think this is Vanderslice's best work yet. He has a remarkable way of finding and describing the profound moments in the most ordinary day.

Harold T. Wilkins, Or How To Wait For A Very Long Time - Fanfarlo If you're looking for beautifully crafted indie pop songs that sparkle and shine you've come to the right place. Solid.

Dark Days - You Say Party! We Say Die! Oh my god do I love this song. Love its darkness and its light. Love how loud and bright and sexy it is, love its determination to overcome the quiet thread of desperation underneath.

Stars of Leo - M. Ward Here's the thing, it is nigh on impossible to touch the feelings I have for M. Ward's last album. He's made a very nice follow-up, but this song stands out because it hearkens back to my favorites from Post-War. Great guitar work.

You go on ahead for a while. I would like to just follow you a while.

Best of the Rest - Volume 1

  

There will be two Mini Music Mixes this week and the first will highlight four of my most listened-to songs of 2009. These are seriously amazing tracks which I stand firmly behind. Each of one them was played a minimum of 75 times by yours truly but they stayed as fresh and true as they were the first day I launched them in iTunes.

These are all reposts from earlier on in the year, so you might be familiar with them already. But if you skipped over them previously, or if you came aboard partway through 2009, trust me, you're gonna want to hit these. All four of these songs are from albums that barely missed the cut for my Top Ten albums list, so I want to tip my hat to them right now.

As always, the songs are playable right here on the page or in RSS and you can also right click (or double right click depending on your browser) on the individual songs to save and enjoy them at your leisure.

You Go on Ahead (Trumpet, Trumpet II) - Sunset Rubdown This song? This song right here? It's my favorite song of the entire year. Yes, that's right. Best Song. I wish someone would drive alongside and film me when I'm listening to this in my car. You've never seen such a whirlwhind of air xylophoning.

From the quirky, glad instrumentation to the lyrics which are a storyteller's dream, I love every single second of it. The imagery is just deliciously expressive. I'm not quite sure what it's about, which means it can be about anything you want.

I'd like to throw this trumpet down and go on empty handed
and I'd like to think I am not one of them, but I know I am
so I'd like to just follow you a while.

This is the best kind of fairy tale. Spencer Krug's singing is extraordinary on this and if you aren't singing along at the top of your lungs by the end, "And I'll appear before you virgin white if virgins are still chaste", then bitch, please, I don't even know. And I don't know want to know.

Fireweed - Patrick Watson This song is pure, mesmerizing magic. It reminds me that there are parts of our lives painted with fate, brushed with mystery, things we won't ever truly understand and never should.

Orange Shirt - Discovery "Orange Shirt" kicks off a remarkably fun indie dance pop album that fell into my lap at the perfect time. It helped me regain a lot of my cool when I needed it the most and became my go-to ready to rumble song. Let's groove tonight.

Warning - Great Northern This band's music makes me close my eyes and feel a tumbling rush of many, many feelings. That's what the good ones do, you know? But this song does that especially, maybe because the feelings are such a perfect combination of bittersweet gladness. This album is not to be missed.

Support good music:

buy Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer / buy Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms / buy Discovery - LP / buy Great Northern - Remind Me Where The Light Is

For So Many Things

 

Do you know that my grandma has a cell phone? She is 83 years young and lives with my aunt, uncle and their two children. I wanted to take a moment to ruminate on the fact that she owns a cell phone and uses it to call the other members of her household while they are all in the house together.

Also the other night I was over there playing mahjong (and maybe or maybe not singing Lionel Richie karaoke duets with my uncle). G-Ma told me for approx. the 100th time that if I keep dying my hair I will get full body cancer and then she gave me a long, glorious string of jade beads which I'd been admiring forever and which I loved completely and totally the second she put it around my neck. I am going to giive her a call on her cell phone to thank her.