Singled Out

Well, here are my favorite songs so far this year (those that I can recall).

I realize that some are actually rollovers from last year, but I can't always be privy to the curve.

HERE!





Beck - "Inferno" - Odelay (Deluxe Remastered)
- on the 10th anniversary edition of Odelay's release (really it's close to 12 yrs now....), Beck burns up the dancefloor!

Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk" - (S/T)
- I think we know how I feel about this....

The Black Hollies - "Paisley Pattern Ground" - Casting Shadows
- way cooler than the white hollies ("always bet on black" - Passenger 57)

Tapes 'n Tapes - "Hang Them All" - Walk It Off
- Can't wait!

The Last Shadow Puppets - "Age of Understatement"
- Arctic Monkey's Alex Turner and the Rascals' Miles Kane combine forces for domination

The LK (aka the lovekevins...who knows?) - "Stop Being Perfect"
- like I don't love all Swedes

Jamie Lidell - "Figured Me Out"
- one hip whitey

M (Mike) Doughty - "27 Jennifers"
- former Soul Coughing fronter and I both went to school with 27 jennifers....oh wait i went to school with dudes...

Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin - "Glue Girls"
- SOOO much cooler than Vladamir Putin (and the new guy who was Vladi's puppet)

Jack Panate - "Secon, Minute, or Hour"
-fun, fast paced pop rock

What Made Milwaukee Famous - "Resistance St."
- radiohead combined with tapes n tapes....nice

The Bell - "I am History"
- driving, straight ahead depeche rock

White Denim - "Paint Silver Gold"
- white boys in white pants that think they're the Hendrix Experience

Kelly Stoltz - "Your Reverie"
- kelly has put away the piano for this retro rocker

Mountain Goats - "Sax Rohmer #1"
- good but still maybe too much whining

Frightened Rabbit - "Head Rolls Off" or "The Modern Leper"
- is that Snow Patrol? nope...there just Glaswegians

Headlights - "Cherry Tulips"
- folks, poppy girly stuff - i love it!

The Helio Sequence - "Keep Your Eyes Ahead"
- the NW duo are back un autre fois

The Boy Least Likely To - "I Box Up all the Butterflies"
- more music that sounds like it is for kindergartners - but I love little kid music

Plants and Animals - "Bye Bye Bye"
- if Queen was Canadienne....(I spell it that way to de-masculate canada)

The Selmainaires - "Nite Beat"
- The Atlanta/Southern version of the Rapture w/ some Heads and Wire

and of course, the rest of

Vampire Weekend - the whole album and more

that is all I can think as I pound away the keys at school (pt canceled.....)

"Sic Transit Gloria" or "How Do You Take Your Tea?"

(CHOO CHOO !)

Tuesday is always the day of new releases for music and movies in the U.S. (Monday in the UK). Today, the DVD for The Darjeeling Limited comes out! (sadly not on Criterion Collection format due to the studio that released it blah, blah, blah) Regardless, it was one of my favorite movies of the few I saw last year (whitney, too). I plan on picking it up on the way home today, and you should, too (that is if you like Wes Anderson's quirkiness). After their father's funeral which their mother did not attend, three brothers set out across India to find their mother and themselves aboard the Darjeeling Limited. Though I never thought The Royal Tenenbaums would be topped, Rushmore really won top prize in the "Will's Pantheon of Wes Anderson" after repeated viewings of them both over the years (albeit a VERY narrow 1st prize). As my wife can attest, it really wasn't a fair fight, because I truly enjoy everything Jason Schwartzman does from Rushmore, to Huckabees, or bit parts in Shopgirl. Though the Bill Murray action is limited in this Anderson journey (Darjeeling, now keep up people!), he still makes an appearance, and the movie is better for it after his bloated Steve Zissou (which also holds a special place in my heart, too). There are cameos from many of your favorite Anderson players, and a soundtrack riddled with his usual fare of British Invasion Stones and Kinks. Sadly the uniqueness of Mark Mothersbaugh's (leader of DEVO.....whip it!) score (a staple of all of Anderson's movies) is missing...(tear...sniff). I love his scores especially the music from the Rugrats show (what?). Before you watch it, be sure to watch the short film prequel Hotel Chevalier starring Natalie Portman and Jason S.

You can download it for free on ITUNES for a teaser if you like. Then, you should watch it again after you watch the movie. It will mess with your head....not really. Once you've had the experience, try to track down a copy of The Kinks - "Lola vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Part 1" (preferably on vinyl bc I'm a snob). Either way, check it out. It'll blow your mind, or my name isn't Robert Goulet.

Keep the Sample Splashy and Let's Take the Bass Line for a Walk

Well the year has kicked off with some force and has to work hard to keep up with last year (which was a very strong year). While I was in college, music might have reached an all time low for quality. Ever since 2001, music has been on an upswing. Ironically, the music business has been in a tail spin.....File sharing, blind execs, the public's blind eye.....who knows? I sure have been enjoying it! Here are some albums I'm looking forward to this year. Bend an ear! these dogs got chops!


tapes n tapes - walk it off
(way better than other DIY bands like Clap Your Hands Say NO (sic)
franz ferdinand - TBD
(do do do do do you want it?)
albert hammond jr - TBD
(no Strokes, no problem)
raveonettes - lust lust lust
(out this week-i know- haven't got it--so, i'm looking forward to it!)
jamie lidell - jim
(what a smooth, wacky white kat)
N.E.R.D. - TBD
(I'm just hoping........she's sexy!)
Spinto Band - Moonwink
(it better be nice and nicely done)
Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
Goldfrapp - seventh tree
The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement
(more greatness from Domino/Alex Turner)
My Morning Jacket - evil urges
(eat your heart out Band of Horses. You're no Jacket or Shins)
Adam Green - Sixes & Sevens
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Pershing
(great name, huh?)
My hope also falls around: The Futureheads, Doves, Blur (w/ Graham Coxon-please), Mates of State, Wolf Parade, Raconteurs and the Von Bondies
(get your act together!!!)
This is all that comes to mind at this hour..........more to pop into my head I'm sure....

I'm coming back later this week with my favourite songs of the year so far. We're 2 months in, and it's getting good!

Side Note: the arranger/band or whoever comes up with the arrangement for the songs on Idol needs to be shot.....how much slow, tacky, 70's esque, jazz piano, MIDI sounding, i made it with my synth on my iMac garageband, garbage can be played. It's 60's week, and it sounds like elevator music....never before has a live band sounded so much like it's coming out of my 1986 Casio.......terrible.....simply dreadful....

You'll Never Walk Alone !!!

Two late goals by Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard gave Liverpool a 2-0 victory over Inter Milan (FC Internazionale Milano - leaders of Italian Serie A) and put them in a comfortable position in the first knockout round of the European Champions League.

As some of you know and some of you have heard (mainly via complaints from my wife), I have caught the Futbol bug in a BAD way! As if there weren't enough sports in my life, I have finally found something to fill the winter void in my sports life. Once football ends in Jan/Feb, we are left with nothing.....The last time I cared about the NBA, Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, (Oxford Comma) and Clyde Drexler were still running the court. On the other hand, we have the NHL who likely will never recover from their season on the brink a couple of years back. I haven't watched that mess since Claude Lemieux and Ray Bourque were still sliding around. I will say that the NHL's outside Ice Bowl in Buffalo earlier this year was one of he cooler things I've seen in sports in the past year (it should be happening all the time). Coupled with March Madness, soccer might help me make it this year. A serious competitive investment in the Memphis crew's Premier League Fantasy League coupled with my acquisition of 2 European classmates has sent me into a whirlwind of soccer madness! I have had a mild love affair with Arsenal since my time in London with Samford in 2000/2001 (the same can be said about my wife). I latched onto Liverpool year before last after getting a mild case of soccer fever brought on by the World Cup during the summer. This year, I have pulled hard for Fulham FC. Fulham is in west London by the Thames and is owned by Mohamed Al-Fayed (the owner of Harrods, father of Dodi, man of many conspiracies concerning Dodi and Dianna). Fulham also has more Americans playing for them than any other Euro team. They are likely to be relegated (read: demoted) to the lower league if they finish in the bottom 3 of the Premier League (an awesome consequence seen only in soccer that would send shockwaves in American sports if it was implemented - e.g. - Baseball). So, I will continue to pull and hope for the best. Catch the fever - GOOOAAALLLL !!!!!!!!!!

Who Gives a #*$% about an Oxford Comma?

SO, I sometimes do not speak correctly. I admit it. For the most part, I am pretty good with my words, but now and then I screw up...My wife, on the other hand, is one of the BEST when it comes to MLA established English diction (which she made apparent today and everyday). I follow the rules, except when it comes to the objective. I never use the word ME when I refer to myself and something/someone else.
{i.e. - _____ and I went to the show. (correct) The world was saved by ____ and I. (incorrect)} I'm sorry but ____ and me just sounds wrong in my fragile mind (this feels like mad libs). On top of this frequent error of mine, I also do not pronounce words with "-or" correctly. Florida is pronounced: "Flarda", and Orange is pronounced: "ARE-ange". SUE ME !!! Regardless, I will struggle to improve from now on! Whitney, I want to be your Robert Sawyer. (that being the master/idol of English, and the dude that loves to diagram) Then again, I'll never love to diagram....

PS - An "Oxford Comma" is the VERY unnecessary comma that is seen in and/or situations:
(Will, Whitney, and Lorelai......) which can also be written and should be written, "Will, Whitney and Lorelai....", in order to save time and effort....
SO, "who gives a #*$% about an Oxford Comma? I've seen those English dramas, too! They're cruel..."

Oh, Josiah! We Hardly Knew Ya...

Well, we had one week of the east TN via Liverpool(sic) musical vagabond....Randy said, "sorry dog!".
After breaking hearts with his boyish charm and sad story (living in his car at 17), Josiah rocked out in Atlanta earning a Golden Ticket to Hollywood last Tuesday. And for the record, I detest Idol (yet, I watch it...except for seasons 3,4,5).

Ya know, I relate to this kid (musically). If you never saw Josiah, he has a penchant for British music, and when he sings he veers into a British accent (much to the chagrin of Simon). I tend to have a problem with accents in general and have been referred to on multiple occasions in my life as a chameleon. As a southerner stuck in Bah-stun, I have daily identity crises (pronounced: Cry-seeeeees - I know how to spell crisis). Sometimes, it's intentional (i.e. when I tell any story or impersonate anyone or anytime I take a cab with a real Bostonian driving) and other times I do not even realize it's happening.....e.g. - eating at Matt Murphy's Pub and mid-sentence warping into a Glaswegian (my best Glascow) accent while ordering a pint......Must be a TN thing...
Regardless, I see where the kid is coming from...he wasn't bad, but I saw this coming. He managed to make me enjoy a song I hate (Mika - "Grace Kelly"), and made me long for him to qualify so I could hear some more of the Brit Pop that he gravitates towards (Im sure he does a mean version of the Kooks, Arctic Monkeys, or the View). Either way, we'll never know. I thought he'd bring the Chris Sligh element (that being-singing songs that arent always the Idol norm and not found in karaoke bars). Nevertheless, best of luck kid. Maybe you and McDonough can be friends in Ft Worth...he has a guitar...

A Vampire Weekend Indeed

After what was a boring/surreal experience with Chan (Shawn) Marshall and her Cat Power self on Thursday, the wife and I caught the worldwide phenomenon that is Vampire Weekend at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. What a wonderful time! Granted, this was our 1st concert in a lecture hall, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. After 8 straight songs full of "ohs and ohs" and no choruses to speak of by opening act, Sam "buck" Rosen, the boys of VW took the stage looking like a band comprised of Stuart Harris and friends. We all jumped and jerked for an hour while they blazed through their entire new album. We were treated to one new song that will fit nicely on a future endeavor and the entirety of their Boston Trilogy ("Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa", "Walcott", and "Ladies of Cambridge").

When I 1st showed Leland their video for "A-Punk", I believe he said it nearly induced an epileptic seizure. Their live show did the same not so much with strobe lights (which hold a special place in my heart) but their robotic gyrations on stage. If you haven't heard them, please check them out. Their EP from last year was one of my favorites of 2007 (albeit with only 3 songs). Their (s/t) debut (out last week) is my current fav of '08 and will likely stand atop the onslaught of many albums this year to be my favorite record of the year. Hell, if Whitney likes them, they can't be all bad. Besides if you don't act now (read: September 2007), you'll be nothing but "Johnny Come Lately". The backlash is already on,

"In late 2008, after Vampire Weekend has guested on Saturday Night Live, sold out the Theater at Madison Square Garden for nine consecutive nights, and licensed songs for commercials for every product in Apple's lineup, Zach Braff discovers a hip, new underground band called "Vampire Weekend." He adds them to the soundtrack for his new movie, a coming-of-age story about Zach Braff sleeping with whichever currently popular 22-year-old actress is the hottest. He explains in the CD's liner notes: 'Their songs sound like Graceland by Paul Simon, another artist with which I am newly familiar.' "

but I don't care....I just wanna have fun.

...and YES, that is Whitney singing along (sorry for the poor quality......of the video not her singing........love you, honey!)

The End of the World (as I know it)

Well, this is the beginning of the end. As if I had more time to waste.........time to fall in line with the cult.





I really wanted to call this,

"Go Blog Yourself"

(which I'm sure is taken 10x the world over)
or perhaps, "Forget What Ewe Herd" and go with a sheep theme...
Regardless, I'm no shepherd, and now hell is freezing over.
By hell, I mean Boston
(not really, we all know that Memphis is Hell - my apologies to the Jim Jones crew from ECS)

Here she blows!