HURRYUPSUMMER

I'm sick of waiting for Summer. My experience with State College is that we barely have a spring anyway so I thought that thinking good summery thoughts and listening to good summery music could possible accelerate this so called season changing process.

I have to admit that I love the radio during the summer and I embrace the top 40. Last year it was California Girls by Katy Perry and All I Do is Win. This summer I'm sure Ke$ha will pull through with another catchy song completely void of musicianship that will no doubt haunt the chambers of my brain. Here are my favorites for summertime in State College (woot wooot).

Waitin' on a Sunny Day by Bruce Springsteen.
My boyfriend is obsessed with Bruce and has gradually turned me into a fan. I love the strings at the beginning, the scoopy, folky yet upbeat feel never fails to get me in a good mood. Honestly, Bruce is a heart throb and his unique vocals (I can't even really describe them) make any attempt of a cover impossible. Then of course, how can we forget the tenor saxophone solo in the middle. Clarence Clemens, "the Big Man" as my boyfriend and other dedicated fans call him, absolutely wails. Perfection.

Crazy For you by Best Coast
Despite every song on their album sounding extremely similar, I love their sound for summer. Sometimes with bands like Best Coast you expect an echoey lead female vocals. Echoey, definitely, but with surprisingly direct female vocals. Thank you to muh Daddy for finding them.

I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor by Arctic Monkeys
Yeah, when it's summer, its definitely time for Brit-Rock. Head-bang with style and enjoy the accent. By the end it gets pretty angry-sounding. As the listener you escalate easily with it but then you kind of catch yourself screaming I BET YOU LOOK GOOD ON THE DANCE FLOOR angrily and you're like...wait what am I mad about? I'm experiencing some cognitive dissonance here...

Kill the Director by Wombats
Mooooore brit-rock. YEAH. Running to this band is blissful (Suzanne I know you like to run-- check it).  They literally had one song on their first album slower than 110 beats per minute. In this song in particular, I enjoy shouting "THIS IS NO BRIDGET JONES!" over and over again. For whatever reason I just eat up reciting this goofy mantra.

Past My Shades by B.O.B. featuring Lupe Fiasco
What a duo. I picture myself listening to this song, feeling super-duper cool in my own shades driving my teal green 1996 Subaru Imprezza during a summer evening, where its JUST light enough to wear sunglasses still.The bit of melody in the middle ties everything up, creates the perfect chill yet jam song.

No One's Gonna Love You by Band of Horses
Definitely a summer evening song, perhaps having a contemplative moment on your back porch. The title seems depressing but the full lyric is "No one's ever gonna love you more than I do." Cuddling with a significant other, perhaps? Sharing an ice cream cone? It's not a "happy" song though, Band of Horses never really writes a chord progression or chooses instrumentation conducive to the happiness feeling you get with some songs. Yet it would definitely a frame a quiet summer evening for the better.

The Old Apartment by Barenaked Ladies
Oh, BNL. They were my first concert-age 8-rockin' out to my parent's music. That's the way it's always been! Nostalgia is weaved all through song, especially the bridge "why did you paint the walls?" Sometimes I intentionally drive by the house I grew up in, green, white door, huge pine tree in the back, slate-like flooring in the hallway..  But, they changed some things. I was EXTREMELY angered to see the extension to the garage.. was that really necessary? Probably. I'm still irritated. Another good BNL  summer song? It's All Been Done. SO CATCHY. I made up like 20 dances to this song as a kid.

Song for the Dumped by Ben Folds
Very rarely do I make a playlist and not include Ben Folds. Rock out song!
"I WANT MY MONEY BACK, YOU BITCH. AND DON'T FORGET TO GIVE ME BACK MY BLACK T-SHIRT" annnd commence piano jam.  He always sets the standard. I particularly enjoy the ragtime break in the center of the song that turns into angry crackly bass and over-amped electric guitar.

The First Single (Cause a Scene) by the Format.
All I can say is *clap clap*. The chorus is right in the belting range for females and some bonding moments can definitely occur with your friend in the passenger seat.

Hey Julie by Fountains of Wayne
Their first album, Welcome Interstates Managers, is awesome, but I heard their second wasn't that good. Of course, Hey Julie, off the first one has beachy percussion and a cute message about always having someone to come home to after you spend a day with a boss with a "bad toupee and a souped stained tie." No one should have to work in the summer! Oh, my ignorant statements are just adorable aren't they. One day I will have to be a member of the summer workforce...one day...

So those are just 10 songs that I absolutely love in the Summertime. I would also turn up some Kid Cudi, an early Gorillaz album and some Killers.

Happy car rides everyone =)

Emma's Welcomed ITunes Dilemma

I just got an email from iTunes saying "don't forget you have gift card money in your account to spend!" yay me!!

This is truly a dilemma though, and I embrace it every time. I only have enough mulah in there for a couple albums and possible a few singles. This isn't a willy-nilly choice to make, this is a serious situation! I don't illegally download my music (although my father and I do blatantly burn CDs from each other, of course) so it feels like this is the last chance to get music until the summer (which is my birthday and then I will get more money).

Usually, a surge of research and constant conferencing with my Dad ensues prior to the actual purchasing of iTunes music. We consult with each other for both suggestions and to make sure we're not buying the same album because that would just be so inefficient.

But, I have never had a blog that people are forced to comment on until now! Give me suggestions!

Here are my candidates thus far:
Another Kings of Leon album. Recently I have gotten some flack for only owning "Because of the Times." Not sure which one to get, apparently "Only By the Night" the album is the popular one and isn't as good as the others. Not sure how true that is but I would love to know if you have any opinions on this one.

Waiting until the new Bon Iver album comes out in June. This is an incredibly long time to have money just sitting in your iTunes bank for me,  but it may be worth it. Obviously reviews aren't even out yet and it's a gamble to buy it without some guinea pig listeners before me (I have made this mistake before).

New Radiohead album, "King of Limbs." It got mixed reviews. Some said it was an experimental, ambient sound that will eventually lead to another "In Rainbows" or "Kid A" but for right now the album was meh--lots of pokey techy sounds, less melody etc. Others say it was a fabulous album though and lines up nicely with the rest of them. Any thoughts? Anyone heard anymore about this?

Also looking into some new bands for me. I haven't yet listened to Peter Bjorn and John- however their sound is rockin' and I'm definitely into what I've heard. Does anyone listen to them a lot? Thoughts?

Finally, my father and I have been following Pomplamoose on youtube and have been watching them make their quirky music videos- blank stares, awkward lack of climax...love it. Investing in their album is a different deal though. The visual isn't there, the music is still good, but it's not as hilarious. However, my family has this interesting complex where if we feel like we are starting to like an artist too much to not invest some kind of money in them we get kinda guilty. I'm at that fan stage of Pomplamoose: I'm rooting for them, hoping they go somewhere and yet I'm not purchasing any of their stuff. It might be time.

15 Steps to the Half-Light

It's about time I break out my play-list masterpiece. Check it out:

15 Steps (by radiohead), ending with  Half Light II by (Arcade Fire) and there are 15 songs! I was proud of my cleverness.

Anyways, as you can see, my play list primarily consists of Bon Iver, Radiohead, Arcade Fire, and Grizzly Bear. I love these four artists together because they all have different sounds, but they share the same mood. Each of them are what I would consider "chill" but have the capability to truly rock out. Bon Iver's soothing (and kind of depressing at times) strumming of guitar, Radiohead's slurred words and sliding electric sounds, Arcade Fire with their echoey vocals and Grizzly bear with their unique combination of the typical guitar, bass and piano to make something truly original.

They have some friends too. Stars, LCD Soundsystem, The Flaming Lips, Beck, Modest Mouse, Kings of Leon, Passion Pit and of course, Coldplay. I don't care how popular Coldplay might be, I LOVE THEM. I am going to revolt from the philosophy of all the hipsters who listen to the same music I do and just adore a popular band. THERE! I SAID IT! I LIKE A POPULAR BAND!

Quick tangent- anyone remember when Regina Spektor was high on the hipster list? Like all the hipsters loved her. As soon as the general public caught on to how awesome she is they all moved on to Ingrid Michaelson until her stuff started appearing on popular shows like One Tree Hill and Grey's Anatomy. It irritates me that sometimes the reason the music is so appealing to them is because only them and their friends know about whatever new whisper-singer is walking the streets of Soho.

Okay, back to the the Fantastic Four's friends. Flaming Lips- Do you Realize?? makes me laugh. But it's actually a really well written song and the awkward lazer sounds just add to the character.
Anytime I come back to their hilariously named album, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, I almost always take a listen to Do You Realize??

Beck. Beck is interesting. He started with popular songs off one of his earlier albums, Odelay and a couple off of Guero as well. Although, slowly but surely he has dwindled back into the land of un-heard indie. His latest album, Modern Guilt, was primarily a post divorce, locked into a closet until a way-too-personal record was produced, type album. On it, though, there are a few gems. I'm personally a fan of Volcano, especially for my holy play list. It feels like a contemporary blues. The vocal harmonies in the background during the bridge and the chorus add another layer of contemplation to the song.

Kings of Leon- they are such a variable. They never stick to just one beat, one mood, or one type of lyric. I chose Knocked Up because it's one of my favorites, and also because it lined up with this play list best. But if you listen to "My Party," also on the same album, "Because of the Times," you would find a completely different sound, kind of like one of Modest' Mouse's out-of-the-blue angry songs.

Modest Mouse, who we all know for  "Float On," came to me from a friend with around four of their albums. I don't know about you, but whenever I get that much music, it takes me a while to even start listening to it because it's so intimidating. My approach is to put them on in the car and slowly immerse myself. I did this for a whole summer actually (not just Modest Mouse, by the way, I'm not that much of a loser), and by the end I happened to catch a glimpse of the number of plays column of my iTunes. "Dashboard" had 32 plays. Apparently I liked that song. I like the true rock beat and the falsetto voices countering the harsh lead vocal and the trumpets wailing in the background. Then you realize this song is much more than drums, voices, bass, and guitar. It's fully orchestrated! A masterpiece, in my opinion.

LCD Soundsystem is a great car-trip artist. All the songs are around 8 minutes long, so the album takes way longer than your typical 40 minuted LP. Admittedly, for almost all of them, they have a ridiculously long build up. This may annoy you, but for me it adds something often enough that it's not boring or repetitive. "All my Friends" had the lyrical momentum similar to the rest of the songs on my play list and a beat that wasn't too aggressive that the rest of the songs also share. 

Passion Pit- I SAW THEM LIVE!! His voice is actually inhuman. They only have one album and an EP out at this point, but hopefully more is coming. Sleepyhead is everyone's favorite, I know, but I couldn't resist. The Remix is also awesome (I actually had the remix before I had the real song which it's why it's in my iTunes playlist). Singing Sleepyhead out loud is just annoying though, however it's something I do frequently (imagine me jumping around squeaking out the high pitched synthesizer line while my room mate is trying to study).

Finally, Stars. When I got my new Mac Laptop I was transferring all my music to my laptop and somehow Stars didn't follow with the rest of the group, which is so unfortunate because I love their sound! I think like a lot of artists on this play list they can be described as echoey. Stars is could even be dubbed ethereal. Even though they aren't an all acoustic group, they do have an acoustic sound. It fit nicely between LCD sound system, a more electric sound and Arcade Fire, a band who shares the "echo" factor with Stars.

Together, the Fantastic Four and their friends make an excellent play-list (if I do say so myself). Next week maybe I'll do one on "how to make an excellent play list" because I am obviously an expert. Hope you enjoy!

ps. I couldn't find Half Light II by Arcade Fire on Playlist.com and really did give it my all to try and upload it. So check it out on youtube so you know just how rockin' it really is.  It's incredibly important  because it's the final hurrah of the entire playlist!

FRIDAY

Yeah, you all know what I'm talking about. It's Friday. You know how I know what day it is? Because Rebecca Black told me so! Okay, so this is totally cliche but I thought it was worth a mention seeing that its trending harder than Japan on twitter. For real. What is wrong with our world?

BUT, I did do a search on songs that have to do with Friday, or just days in general. What is there to talk about when it comes to days of the weeks besides "today it is Friday, tomorrow it is Saturday, and Sunday comes after wards?"

We will see.

Mostly what I have gathered from analyzing the lyrics from a variety of artists including our Rebecca Black is that there is something special about Friday, and there's also something special about the sequential nature of how our calendar runs. Just to throw our favorite 13 year old a bone, I think the point of spelling out what days are included in the weekend and what order they occur in, is to highlight just how quickly the days pass and especially how quickly the splendid day of Friday passes as well. So she's not poetic. Really, really, not poetic. But the concept isn't new. Check these out:

The Cure
"Saturday, wait
And Sunday always comes too late
But Friday, never hesitate..."

Or The Easy Beats
"Wednesday just won't go
Thursday goes too slow
I've got Friday on my mind"

Or S Club 7?
"Monday, Tuesday come and go
Wednesday, Thursday sometimes slow
Then Friday comes just like a dream"

Definitely better than Black's blatant stating of facts, but all the same patterns!
Furthermore, all of these lyrics tend to emphasize the personas that our society have assigned to them.

Click Five says, "Manic Mondays singing you to sleep" while The Cure says, "I don't care if Monday's blue"and the Easybeats say "Monday morning feels so bad. Everybody seems to nag me"

Friday's persona is well known. Katy Perry says,
"Last Friday night
Yeah we danced on table tops
And we took too many shots
Think we kissed but I forgot"

Lilly Allen says
"Friday night last orders at the pub,
Get in the car and drive to the club"

 Even tween, Rebecca Black refers to Fridays when she "sings":
"PARTY AND PARTY AND YEAH!" about 30 times in a row.

So, basically, this is what we learn from these revolutionary artists: Fridays are for partying, Mondays are for the blues. We can fill in from there.

Personally, I think that no one should write a song about a day of the week because your content options are extremely limited. Unless a significant event happened on that day and you're not actually writing about the day itself...steer clear. You probably shouldn't write songs if that's the extent of your imagination for song writing. Harsh? Probably. Sorry.

Arcade Fire

Grammy award winning indie band. Yes! This is my dream come true. Grammy recognition of real music. To be specific, Arcade Fire won Best Album for "The Suburbs"(sorry Beibs). So many stati were like "Great, Best Album went to someone I've never heard of before." And to them I say, well maybe you should invest!

So let's  talk about "The Suburbs." This is one of my favorite albums right up near "Songs for Silverman" by Ben Folds and "For Emma, Forever Ago" by Bon Iver and "In Rainbows" by Radiohead.

I believe it's centered around Nostalgia. Check out their album art work:

There were eight total photos, some of them giving a more tropical feel. But without even listening to the music, the mood is set. The typical suburban hut like homes, the tall fences for privacy needed in the flat, treeless mid-west, the car you probably inherited from your parents. The dulled yet saturated colors, similar to a black and white mood, transports you to a much simpler, less vivid memory of childhood. Almost too familiar to the point where it's no longer familiar.

Moving onto the music. Trance like, echo-y, streaming sounds. All real instruments, all real voices. You have to listen to it yourself. Allow yourself to be transported, carried away.

They even have this interactive music video that visually transports you to your first home, your first neighborhood. It utilizes google maps to mesh the original video footage with images of your hometown.

For me, nostalgia is a feeling that makes me want to weep. This album comes close to  when I use it for me sole listening pleasure (as opposed to background music to whatever my predominant task is). It's interesting music to meditate on and I suggest you do so.

Music FTK

 

First of all- THON raised 9.56 MILLION dollars this year! Unbelievable. I am still in shock.

I am a Springfielder and also an OPP committee member for THON. Yes, it was my life, and yes now my life is over. So what do I do? Blog about it.

There are some iconic THON songs that anyone involved (or even not involved) know about. They are not just songs, they resemble certain emotions and certain moments that we all feel throughout THON. They resemble the passion that THON fundraising participants share, they resemble the unity. During THON weekend, the music propels THON, it's the fuel for the dancers, the standing supporters in the stands, the committee members and captains and the families. 

I had heard over and over again that when they play "Angels Among Us" during Family Hour and the end of THON, you better find some tissues. I knew, as I was standing there with my fellow Springfielders that this time was coming. I knew that probably the most moving part of THON was coming. Finally, Angels Among Us came on and we held each other as our THON child was listed as one of angels that we had survived. It occurred to me that I had never heard the song before. I had no idea it was a quasi-country ballad and I didn't even know the tune.  But, it didn't matter that country really isn't up my alley, it didn't matter that I had never heard the song before. What mattered is that we were all there together, supporting each other and supporting the families. Now, after hearing it just once at THON, that song is the most moving song in the world to me. It embodies what THON means to me and it reminds me why I have joined the fight against pediatric cancer.

We grieve, yes, but we also celebrate. We celebrate life and how the Four Diamonds Fund allows families with a child with pediatric cancer to live life as well. Cue "My Love is Your Love." Unfortunately it seems that Larry Moore (the THON DJ) is the only guy who has the right, upbeat version that we jam to at THON. It's only played once, and it's right after the numbers with total go up. We all look forward to it, we all have been aware that it hasn't been played all weekend and so when Larry hits it, we all lose it in the most joyous way possible.

My love is your love and your love is my love. It would take an eternity to break us.

And it would. I will be survived by THON. I will know that energy in that room until the day I die.

Sounds corny, right? Well it is, but it's heartfelt, and its something that anyone who has participated in THON before would tell you.

FTK

FOCUS

Have you ever sat yourself down to write a paper, do math homework, or just get something done and always find yourself singing along to the words blasting through the tiny speakers you have jammed into your ears? Music with words distracts me from my work. Having a good no-words, lazer-beam-focus play list of songs can be a handy tool. It's like legal adderall.

Either you can go with no words, or a band with a singer impossible to understand. So obviously I mean Radiohead. You never quite know exactly what he's saying, but I think that both the listener and Radiohead know that's really not the point of listening to Radiohead.

If you're looking for something to make your Chem homework more epic, turn on The Pirates of the Carribean or John Adams soundtrack. As the music builds in intensity, the speed of your frantic scribbling increases until at last it changes key and switches to some funky 7/8 time and YES! You have found the empirical formula at last! ONTO THE MOLECULAR FORMULA! Honestly, there couldn't be something more satisfying.

Another option is Classical music. This can take many forms. I'm a fan of the Pavarotti pandora station. Opera is almost never in english, so it's rarely distracting. Unfortunately, an opera itself isn't distracting even when its supposed to be in a theatre (ZZzz....) I'm a fan of Bach and Debussy as well, if you're going for a more calming focus. Classical music creates pleasant background noises and drowns out the gab of annoying people around you. It typically makes me feel pretty sophisticated. Is that pretentious of me?

Finally, my favorite. Ratatat. Hip-hop/electronical/rock slide-y sounds that just perfectly echo the way I imagine my brain functioning while I'm studying. Sustained sounds tend to stream line my brain power and put me into a deeper work-trance for a longer period of time.

So find your favorite! I typically don't combine these different types of sounds into a single playlist, but I want you to sample them all! Plus, I like them for different things. Ratatat for paper writing, Pavarotti for Chem, radiohead for high-stress situations, classical music for when I'm in a comfy chair or by a window with a nice view.

 I'm sure you have your favorites too. Leave recommendations for me with your comments!