Thursday, May 27, 2010

OK, hippies, maybe your tea does have some benefits.

I'm feeling significantly better today, which I am chalking up to all the green tea I drank yesterday and all the rest I've allowed myself to have. I'm drinking more today and will probably shoot for another early bedtime tonight. Other than that, nothing much to say, other than that my stupid, annoying-ass dog threw up on the floor last night because she doesn't do well with human food and, the day before, turned over our trash can while we were gone and ate god knows what out of it. She really needs to do something awesome soon because Leah and I are not fans of her.

The Ipod's on shuffle again. Here's what these 10 songs make me think of.

1. Come Together - The Beatles
This was the song that made me stop and think, "I didn't know The Beatles were cool." I was in 6th grade and some older kids at my church "performed" this in a lip sync contest. My impression of The Beatles until then was just that they were "old people music." No doubt, 6th grade Taylor probably thought this song would've been better with an Eddie Van Halen-esque guitar solo, but the seed was planted nonetheless.

2. Yolanda Hayes - Fountains Of Wayne
There was, and still is, a guy I know named Jason Brint. We went to high school together, though he was a couple years older than me. He was in the coolest local band, The Dynamics, and was always nice to me, though his friends often weren't. Anyway, he always knew the coolest bands that I'd never heard of, and on one fateful band trip he exposed me to Fountains Of Wayne's first record as well as the debut effort from Superdrag. Both remain 2 of my favorite bands to this day, though Superdrag's work has, unfortunately, fallen off as of late. Too much Jesus does a rock god bad, after all, it seems.

3. Good Times, Bad Times - Led Zepplin
Chuck Closterman has written about how Led Zepplin is great because they effect all young boys in the same way and every boy apparently has a phase were they think Zepplin is the greatest band in the world. Well, I can't say that that was true for me, but I was never really exposed to them as a boy and really only gave them an honest listen a few years ago. They're pretty great, but I think I'm hearing them as too old a man. I've missed the opportunity to have a "Zepplin is the best band in the world," phase. I did, however, have a "Bride is the best band in the world" phase, that was undoubtedly less cool than a "Zepplin phase," would've been.


4. Turn A Square - The Shins
Another Shins song. I really like the lyrics in this one, especially the analogy of "my head's like a kite." I think his lyrics are generally really good. Smart, you know?

5. Good Morning, Joan - The Cardigans
It sucks that a lot of people view The Cardigans as a one hit wonder band, when they are so terrific and still putting out fantastic records. One of my favorite female singers, for sure. Their melodies are always so catchy with such a tone of longing. So good.

6. Yr Epic Heart - Viva Voce
Epic is exactly what this song is. One of their instrumentals from Lovers, Lead the Way, and definitely my favorite, maybe my favorite song on the whole record. I don't really get why bands like Mates of State are so popular and Viva Voce isn't enormously famous. I'm not having a go at Mates of State, their last album is great, I'm just saying Viva Voce is way better and they're a cute married couple band too. They used to live in Nashville and I was really excited about getting to see them a lot when I moved up there, but lo and behold, they moved to Portland, like, a month before I got there. So it goes. Leah and I saw them a few years ago in Austin and we were the only two people there. They were amazing but I felt bad for them.

7. Concrete - The Features
Speaking of Nashvegas, The Features are the best band from that area, I think. Technically, they're from Murfreesboro, but who gives a shit, right? Damn, I love this record. The melodies are so good and his voice is so weird and interesting. This song is mostly synths and drum machine so it's very different from the norm, but still....perfect.

8. Celebrate - Bleach
I got to know these guys right after they released this record and were touring a lot in support of it. I've said it a lot, but I mean it when I say that they really are some of the best, most genuine people you could ever hope to meet. If they'd had a manager who wasn't a total incompetent asshole then who knows where they'd be today. As it is, they've been broken up until recently. I talked to Davy the other night, and they're about halfway through recording a new EP. I can't wait to hear it.

9. Burning Man - Third Eye Blind
I don't care what anyone says, this first 3EB record kicks SOOO much ass. True, I could really do without "How's It Gonna Be?" but overall, the songs are great. They always kind of seemed like a bunch of frat boys, but I don't know if that's true at all, it's just the impression that I got. I just envision them all wearing a lot of sandals, cargo shorts, and visors. I don't know.

10. Of A Broken Heart - Zwan
I said it the other day, but if I could ask god one question, it may very well be, "What the hell did you do to Billy Corgan?!?" Zwan was OK...not great, but OK. That being said, it is a testament to how horrible the new Pumpkins stuff is that I find myself missing Zwan. I just feel like Billy has lost himself in what seems to be a delusional self image. By that I mean that he's trying to recapture the version of himself that we all loved, but he seems to think that all the stuff we hated was the stuff we loved. The songs he's been giving away on the Pumpkins site are just pitiful and I'm almost embarrassed for him. God, I hope no one ever says this shit about me. Well, now I'm sure I have it coming.

5 comments:

  1. YES at #9. Finally someone agrees with me. I just said like a week ago on Twitter that I don't give a fuck, that has consistently remained one of my top 5 favorite albums ever since 1997. It is fantastic. I've never listened to any of their others, but fuck those guys after they kicked out Kevin Cadogan because he was amazing and they are shit now.

    However, wtf at you hating on your dog. She's a DOG. They do stuff sometimes. And usually it's their people's fault. ;) Just saying.

    Look what you've gone and done. I can already hear the choir of smug naysayers going "I told you not to have a dog indoors!"

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  2. You guys all know that my dog can't read, right?
    She's unlikely to discover this blog and I certainly haven't told her about it.
    I'm sure I'm the ONLY person who has EVER expressed frustration at their dog's behavior. And the smuggies have already come out on my formspring. These people all need to relax. When I start posting pictures of me nailing Darcy to a cross, feel free to call the SPCA.

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  3. I know she can't read. Dogs sense when you're hatin' though, trust. Mine usually gives me the eyes or rolls over.

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  4. I'm just happy that someone else I know appreciates The Features. Hooray :)

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