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.