Uhhh. Yeah. I am starting to be under the impression that I am the only person reading this brand new blog. Please, give me a shout out if you are there. It will only take a second, and then I will know that I am not just talking to a wall. It kinda reminds me of the kid in "Wet Hot American Summer" who was in charge of the camp radio station, and kept talking and talking as if he were on air, even though the microphone wasn’t connected to anything. I do not want to be that kid. Please, do not make me that kid. Am I that kid? But yeah, just drop a line telling me what you think so far. If my blog sucks massive wrinkly balls, just tell me. It is constructive feedback, and at least I won’t have to be in denial any longer.

Why is there always an even number, or common number, when it comes to reviews? You will always see a number like 10… "Top 10 albums of 2005,"etc. What makes 10 such a good number? What’s wrong with 9? I like 9. But 8 1/2 seems more appropriate for proving my point. I know what you’re thinking: "How can you have half of a song? Are you just going to cut it off half way through the song?" Nope. I am going to take the song "silence" off Guster’s Keep It Together album. It is technically a song–you can buy it for .99 cents on itunes. However, if somebody actually pays .99 cents for a 30 second song of dead silence, I think I am going to have to kill them. Or better yet, myself. The funny thing is, I am sure people have purchased it on itunes. That is what our world has come to! We are dealing with a war in Iraq, and people downloading songs that contain musical talent, only to those bands that suck so badly that people applaud when the band finally stops playing.  I truly hope that the silence song, isn’t your favorite song out of all 8 1/2. If it is, I am not doing my job. These songs are not my all time favorites, but songs that I do enjoy listening to.

 

 

 
1.   Fruit Bats- Rainbow Sign

Okay, I lied. This song is one of my all time favorites. #2, on my itunes "Top 25 Most Played."(25, another common number. why not "Top 23 Most Played"?) The Fruit Bats, are from Chicago. I live in Chicago. Already, points for them. But besides them being from Chicago…(btw, go CUBBIES)… they are actually good. Fun Facts- This band formed in 1999 and with in that time, there have been 25 different band members. Also, Brian Deck produced their second CD, Mouthfuls. (produced Red Red Meat, Modest Mouse, Ugly Casanova, Souled American, etc…) In case you were wondering, fruit bats are the world’s largest bats, and eat fruit, and are only active during the daytime.

 

 

 2. Andrew Bird- Measuring Cups

Another Chicago native. Whoa! Seriously, that will be it. No more Chicagoans after this. Andrew Bird plays a mad violin. Fun Fact- Each song on the Bird Man’s new cd, The Mysterious Production of Eggs, has artwork that goes with it by Chicago’s very own Jay Ryan. You should check out his work .(http://thebirdmachine.com/gallery.html). The Andrew Bird posters are under Jay Ryan, 2005, Page 2. I’m still trying to figure out what some of the artwork has to do with the actual songs. All of the posters are limited edition, and most are sold out.

 

 

 3.  The Guild League- Citronella

At the time, this song was a royal pain in the ass to get my hands on. Now all you have to do is download it. I’m jealous. If you like it, I will post Animals, another song on the same CD. I would post it now, but then I would have to change the title of this entry, which I am not prepared to do.

Current president of the Guild League is Mr. Tali White. Members include Marty Brown, Craig Pilkington, Rodrigo Pintos Lopez, Pete Cohen, Clare Bowditch, Richard Easton, Dan Luscombe, Alicia Vanden Heuvel, Jaime Knight, Ernie Gruner, Cressida Griffith, Brent Kenji, Rebecca Barron, Ilka White, and Karl Smith. That is 16 People. Count for yourself.

Break: Alright. I changed my mind. I am making this 4 1/2 songs. This is A) way too big of a post and taking way too long and B) I need to learn how to make this into a mix, so you don’t have to download 9 individual songs… it will be one download instead of 9. But hey, you still get 4 1/2 great songs. I will post more soon.

 

4. Goldspot- Guard

Good Song. pretty chill. If you would like more info on Goldspot click here. Just playing with you. CLICK HERE!

 

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Place: Battery Park, New York City. Date: August 5, 2004. Time: 7 PM. Price: Free. However, the real question is, "was it priceless?" I would have to imagine the answer to that would have to be yes. Chances are you don’t remember what you were doing on that Thursday… Unless you were at that last Beulah concert before they called it quits. I am far from being a diehard Beulah fan, however, I do think that they deserve to be recognized. For far too long, people have been asked if they know Beulah, and their only response is "Boowho?". I am not that into reviewing songs or albums, due to the fact that listening to music is such a personal experience. If I am putting it on here, I think that it is worth your time to listen to it. This band came a far way from starting out with two guys, Miles Kurosky and Bill Swan, who worked together in a mail room at a security firm. I put my personal favorites below. "Sunday Under Glass" comes from one of Beulah’s earlier albums, When Your Heartstrings Break, and is more of a Indie Rock/ Pop song. "You’re Only King Once", comes from their last album, Yoko, which is considered to be their most successful album. This album is darker than their other works and has been compared a lot to Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

 

Album: When Your Heartstrings Break

Beulah- Sunday Under Glass

Album: Yoko

Beulah- You’re Only King Once

 

Don’t believe me? Look for yourself in the Guinness Book of World Records. Right there, you will see Red House Painters’, "Song for a Blue Guitar" listed as the chillest song in the world. All I am saying about the song is that you have to listen to it. If I were to give a dollar to everybody who disliked the song, and took a dollar from everyone who liked it, I would be a rich, rich man. Not many people have heard of the Red House Painters. You may actually know the lead singer, Mark Kozelek, without knowing that you know him… He landed the part of the bassist in the movie "Almost Famous". Some of Cameron Crowe’s assistants were big fans of the Red House Painters, and listened to their music a lot while filming "Jerry Maguire". Crowe heard the music, and had Kozelek come in. If you check out more music by the band, which I highly recommend that you do, you may notice that their songs are longer than the average song. All that Kozelek had to say about that is "why are people perfectly willing to sit through a three hour movie, yet a seven minute song is too long?" Enjoy.

   Red House Painters- Song for a Blue Guitar

 

Many would agree that John Vanderslice’s newest album, Pixel Revolt, is Vanderslice at his best. He has done something that not many of today’s artists can do– make an overall quality CD. Also, Vanderlice’s lyrics have much more substance than most artists. You will find yourself wanting to sing along to these catchy songs the same way that everyone wants to sing along to Ben Folds’ Brick…"Oh, that’s about abortion. Really?" For example, the second song on the album, Plymouth Rock, is about a soldier in Iraq who was all prepared for war until he got shot(and killed) on his first raid. "I lost the reason I’m here…" This album, has something for everyone. So don’t worry, you will definitely be able to exercise those vocal chords.

John Vanderslice-Pixel Revolt