I got soul, but I'm not a soldier

(title from The Killers - All These Things That I've Done - Hot Fuss)

After seeing the commercial for the new album a few times on TV, and really supremely hating the five seconds I heard of "Spaceman" and that stupid costume from the video, I decided I really did want the Killers' new album, Day & Age. 

I snagged it from iTunes this afternoon, and lo and behold, we have reached the age of digital liner notes! No longer shall we be forced to sift through thousands of jewel cases, struggling to remove tattered booklets from their jagged edges and insert them into new, equally as fragile plastic shelf-hogging vessels!

It also came with a bonus video, which I've not yet viewed.

Bonus points for the album artwork, digital liner notes, and bonus video for my $11.99 and instant, gasoline-free gratification.

But I'm having a hard time with this album right now. 

I think my problem is getting over the sound of "Hot Fuss." I don't have "Sam's Town" because I was not the world's biggest fan of the first single released from it (see, I don't even know the name, nor do I care). 

"Day & Age" (holy wow, as I typed that, Brandon Flowers sang it) is... well... I'm not married to it. That's not to say I won't be in a couple of days, it's been known to happen, but I think it's really lacking that catch that was so prevalent in "Hot Fuss." 

Let's face it- you really cannot find a much cooler song than "All These Things That I've Done." From the moment I first heard it during Rodney Mullen's part in the Almost skate demo video in 2004, I was hooked on that song. Everything about it speaks to me- the lyrics, the harmony, the chorus, bringing in a freakin' choir, for crying out loud! Awesome. It gets me right there.

Of course, I'll have to give it a few more spins before I can really tell for sure, but I'm officially on the fence with this one right now...

I'm really lucky- underneath it all

(title from No Doubt - Underneath It All - Rock Steady)

Gracias to my PA pal DH for the tunes. I'm in heaven. It's like I walked into Sam Goody with a thousand bucks and everything I was ever remotely curious about is on sale.

So did you guys catch the Grammy Awards last weekend? My roommate DVR'd it- I could watch Mark, Tom, & Travis nervously announce their reunion a thousand times- but there were a few performances I found surprising. I'm not sure what possessed MIA to get up there and perform in a bikini on her due date (or her doctors to allow her to), but she sure did let it all hang out. Interesting. 

Sir Paul McCartney's performance with the Foo Fighters was quite disappointing. In fact, I might actually say it was terrible! I couldn't even watch the whole thing. I know, I know- he's getting on in years, he probably hasn't been super wonderful to his body, and he's been knocked in the spotlight quite a bit in recent years for his travesty of a love life. I understand that we all have bad days. But man, I was embarrassed for him! Poor guy's voice was wavering all over hell! But to be on stage with the Foo Fighters- who have been making such incredibly great music since the mid 90s- must have been incredible. Conversely, to share a stage with Sir Paul would certainly be a most breathtaking experience.

You know I'm kind of a nerd for country, too, right? I have to tell you that while I do not do not dislike Taylor Swift or Miley Cyrus, and we all know that a public appearance pairing was inevitable, I'm not so sure I really enjoyed their performance. I don't even know if it's fair to classify either vocalist as "country" anymore- which we all knew would happen. Swift is super talented, for sure, but she has not-so-subtly merged from country to pop very quickly. Her vocals are sweet and meaningful, and still a little innocent, which apparently is very "in" these days (have you heard of the Jonas Brothers?). Cyrus, while impishly cute and certainly growing up with a fight in the public eye, seems to lack heart in most of her performances. She should stick to the emotional, gravelly, gruff vocals to make her mark in the industry; I don't feel that bubblegum teenybopper pop really suits her.

Well, those are my Grammy gripes. As for the greats: Jay-Z with Chris Martin from Coldplay- very classy, very well done. And ho lee cow did you catch Robert Plant & Alison Kraus? The two of them, those vocals together... I have goosebumps just thinking about it. Someone at CMT absolutely knew what they were doing when they paired those two. What's most interesting about Kraus & Plant is, if you listen very closely, she doesn't exactly attempt to harmonize his vocals- instead, she gently shadows his melody, wrapping that warm, sweet voice around his. Listen to "Please Read the Letter" or "Gone Gone Gone" for an excellent example. I would love to see them paired for another album- classic rock king with "bluegrass queen," as she was dubbed- I can hear it now, "The Battle of Evermore" or "The Rain Song-" again, goosebumps...!

Time keeps moving on and on and on...

(title from Blink 182 - Man Overboard - The Mark, Tom, & Travis Show)

Holy, holy cats.

I just read the best news-- Blink 182 is reuniting for a tour this summer! 

Please, readers, don't be offended when I tell you that my first thought upon reading it this morning was, "There IS a God!!!"

We have been waiting for this for several years. You've already seen me sing my praises for Angels and Airwaves (AVA), and for good reason - Tom DeLonge is a genius.

I'm terribly, terribly excited and I cannot wait to see what Mark, Tom, & Travis have up their sleeves for their fans!

On a much less giddy note, Unwritten Law singer Scott Russo lost his family home in a fire last week. 

All humans are safe; the Russo pets and belongings, tragically, did not survive. 

Scott's family members were also hurt by our failing economy, and as a result, he was the sole provider and their home was uninsured. 

If you are an Unwritten Law fan and would like to offer Scott your financial or emotional support, please visit UL's MySpace page for more information.

Free Music!

Part 2 of your guide on how to listen to all kinds of free music, as promised!

Today's lesson is this handy little program that my buddy told me about: SimplifyMedia. This downloadable program works in conjunction with iTunes (which is available for the Windows OS, so don't panic if you're a Microsoft fan!) to provide users access to a maximum of 30 different friends' libraries. That could mean potential terabytes of listening paradise! Pretty nifty, right? 

Here's how it works: go to http://www.simplifymedia.com and pick your operating system. SimplifyMedia is free free free if you are using it on a PC or Mac. You can even download it to your iPhone or iTouch, but it is no longer offered for free on either handheld- you must purchase it for USD $3.99 (a very small price to pay for remote, walk-around access to multiple libraries). 

Once you install the software, you will create a user account and name your computer (your friends will see your user name, real name, and computer name). You can decide what music to share, and who to invite to your friends list. Once your friends are invited, you can see each others' shared files in the iTunes sidebar, under "SHARED." You can chat with your added friends through SimplifyMedia, and view the tracks your friends are listening to from your library. 

SimplifyMedia is awesome if you have ripped your own CDs or downloaded your tracks through perhaps... less than legal... means. Unfortunately, I've noticed that you cannot share your purchased m4p files with someone using an iTouch or iPhone. I'm not sure whether the same goes for PC/Mac usage.

That's it for my info on SimplifyMedia. Expect more reports shortly!

If I Fall Back Down...

(title from Rancid - If I Fall Back Down - Indestructible)

Hello readers!

Thank you again for all of your support in this venture. 

I'd like to let you know about a couple of free music utilities, since you've all been super helpful to me... and I thought there might be some of you guys who'd like to appreciate new tunes on a tight budget.

My A-number one favorite right now is probably Pandora. I learned about this from the guy in the next cube at Job Recently Departed. Web-based streamer (read: no program downloads) http://www.pandora.com is one of THE coolest Internet radio setups in the galaxy. The Music Genome Project has successfully collaborated a zillion tunes into a giant database for any of your favored genres. Feel like listening to Jack Johnson? Feed the artist name into Pandora's search window and it will pick a random tune in the artist's library. Wanna hear "Behind These Hazel Eyes" but forgot the artist name? Enter the title, Pandora will show you a list of artist options, and play the track you select. For the ensuing tracks, Pandora's intelligence will retrieve artists or songs of similar elemental qualities- "extensive vamping," "major key tonality," "hard-swingin' rhythm," etc. You can hand-pick artists or tracks to add to your playlist, or "add more songs like this." You can skip tracks, ask Pandora not to repeat the track for 30 days, or select a thumbs-up or -down to add or omit particular and similar tracks. No commercials, high-quality uncensored audio, and, my iTouch picks up my neighbors' wireless signal clear enough for me to attach it to the stereo in my room while I'm cooking. The exposure to "similar" artists is the best part, because I now enjoy music by artists I would previously not have given a second thought.

Next on my list: SimplifyMedia, a downloaded iTunes accompaniment, without which I would never have experienced the wonders of Girl Talk... expect more tomorrow!

King for a Day

(title from Green Day - King for a Day - Nimrod)

You guys are giving me some great suggestions to review!

I've been trying to get myself out of the house for a little while, so I haven't had much time in front of iTunes, but I will be spending some quality time with my stereo very soon, I promise.

I Miss Back When

(title from Tim McGraw - Back When - Live Like You Were Dying)

You know how everyone has one of those "you know you're getting old when" sayings?

I knew I was getting old when I could no longer name any one music genre as my favorite.

I maintain that if it doesn't have any solid guitar work, I'm not really interested, but I've expanded my taste from metal, punk, and rock & roll to country (oh, do I love country), bluegrass, jam bands, and all those moldy golden oldies our parents love to sing horribly in public to embarrass us. 

But then, there are a few artists whose work I get giddy over purely for the thump. I have a folder called "GOTS A BEAT" for them. I think it's right above "HIPPIE TUNES" in the tree. Really.

I think maybe it's the artists that grow up, too. Green Day, for example. I love the first few albums, but I'm more partial to the newer, older Green Day- the stuff after Dookie. I dunno, to me they just seem more orchestrated as the albums span- tighter, more focused- I'm a huge fan of American Idiot and I think that's the best example of their experience as a trio. 

And then you get into artists like Blink-182- I mean, Tom DeLonge? Holy cow, is that man a musical genius. You've got older Blink stuff that's loopy, fun, loud, and childish, but still pretty tight- I'll cite "Voyeur" and "A New Hope" from Dude Ranch, and you go search those lyrics- they're stupid, funny, immature, and yet the melodies and harmonies are pretty decent for a trio of punk rockers. But then you've got the stuff from their last album before the hiatus- the self-title- it totally blew me away, and even 5 years later, it still does. It's still on my iPod, it never came off, it never will. 

But it's DeLonge's most recent public project- Angels & Airwaves- that makes my heart do loop-the-loops. There's a postsecret.com postcard that says, "Angels & Airwaves makes me believe in love again," and I think that about summed up my feelings to a T. The "wall of sound" and synth-heavy background doesn't follow the lyrical melody, but complements it perfectly. DeLonge is clearly still influenced by the Cure (Robert Smith made an appearance on the self-title to sing lead vox for "All of This"), but the infusion of the 1980s-style synth and electronic drum does not feel outdated in either album. And that's what I love- this stuff is timeless, I can listen to it on my worst of days, and maybe two tracks later, all that ticked me off has floated away. That's important to me- that's what music should do.

Seven Story Mountain

(title from Railroad Earth - Seven Story Mountain - The Black Bear Sessions)

Do you know how "unemployed in a bad economy" feels?

I do, too. 

Wish I didn't, but such is life, and now I have ample time to do the things I couldn't because I was tied up behind a desk for 8.5 hours a day, and driving for up to another 3 hours on top of that.

Look for the positive. Always, always look for the positive. What else is there? It happened. You got axed. Cry, scream, rage, blame, and then get over it. 

Positive: I'll have a little time to finally, FINALLY sort through all the boxes of cr-- er, ju-- ...well, stuff I've accumulated since ...birth. I'll have time for exercise. I'll have time for ME.

Moving on.

I'm feelin' like it's gonna take me a couple days to really feel "good" about not working. It feels odd to still be sitting on my bed, unclean, in my pajamas at 10:34 on a Monday morning- not gonna lie. 

But I think, in the interest of getting this gig underway, I should probably give you the lowdown on me.

I'm 25 years old, and I graduated from SUNY Albany in 2005 with a BA in English and a minor in psych (with a focus on child psych). I love to write, but I haven't had the time (or inspiration) in ages. I love music, and I love my Jeep. That's probably all you'll really need to know.

phase shifting

Check. One, two, check check. Check.

Hey out there! How you all doin' tonight? Yeah!

I got a great show for you tonight! I'm gonna do some classics, some new stuff, and I'm gonna do some stuff ya never heard of, all right!

Grab a drink, grab your girl, your guy, and get your rock on!

In another life, that coulda been me. Rock star. Frontman. Leader of the band.

But right after school, I found myself broke, with a degree in English, and ZERO desire to teach. I wanted to write. Not just any writing, though. I wanted to write for Rolling Stone. 

See, I'm what you'd call "obsessed" with like maybe two things in my life - music, and my 1999 Jeep TJ (both totally cool things to be obsessed with, if you ask me).

I'm one of those people who walks around with a song in their head on a daily basis. I can pull lyrics out of thin air to describe nearly everything I'm feeling, or to reference anything anyone says. It's sick. My friends used to call me "the database." In high school, if you threw lyrics at me, I could give you the song title, artist, album name, track number, and year of release for probably 30% of popular or classic rock. That probably doesn't seem like much, but think of ALL the music out there, man. 

But I'm not that good anymore.

I got caught up in the corporate life- sort of. I've spent the last year of my life sitting at a desk- punching numbers, pushing papers, filing, stapling, corresponding, Web searching. Phone calls, faxes, E-mails. Contracts, long-term agreements, software, pricing, spreadsheets, busy work. Vacation days, snow days, sick days, personal days, holidays.

The time for that has changed. This is my time (again). Unemployed and still thinking about music 12/7 (that Jeep takes up the other 50% of my thoughts), I think it's time to get it out there. 

So thanks, big sister, for reopening my eyes to something I really should have started to see a long time ago...

Look for more installments soon. And if you have anything off-the-wall that you think I should hear, drop me a line and a link to find it.