Playlist of the Week: Last.fm

You know what Last.fm is, right?

I didn't. Of course, I didn't know what Pandora was till it was out for five years.

Anyways, Last.fm is for the completely obsessed. It tracks your listening habits and gives you all kinds of cool options. Like this one, displaying your music trends for an entire year.

Here's an example (might take awhile to download).

So this week's playlist is going to be governed by my top artists according to Last.fm. It's kind of cool to see other people's listening habits and learn a little bit about yourself.

So without further ado, the playlist of the week:

What is this. I don't even.

Lines are being blurred in the world of music and not by Lady Gaga.

The Joy Formidable

As part of my lovely job at District, I get sent all these obscure mp3s from bands trying to promote themselves. I don't know why. I think someone explained it to me in oreintation, but that was A LONG time ago.

Most of these mp3s are pretty bad. Some are actually good. Like this one, by the Joy Formidable.

Taking this from wikipedia (I know, I'm a hypocrite): "their music has been described as 'primal epic grunge rock á la The Breeders, Arcade Fire and Yeah Yeah Yeahs', and they were cited by The Guardian as 'one to watch' in 2008".

Cool.

So enjoy this lovely track.

Playist of the Week: Driving Songs for Rurul Roads

Midterm post. This needs to be extra special.

I'm going to leave you with a playlist. It sort of fits the mood I'm in tonight.

Actually, the story behind this playlist is a bit long-winded and goes back a year ago. I purchased a lot of these songs in 2008 and on my trips home (3 hours of rural roads), I'd just play my purchased songs playlist as the sun was setting.

It was pretty fantastic actually and one of my favorite memories. I'll keep this condensed for the sake of the blog. I had just started at SCAD and my family was moving. We had two houses at the time because no one had bought the first house.

The closer one (pictured below in winter - now sold) was the one I was visiting, since my family would also come in on the weekends to help move stuff out and work on some repairs. It was nearly empty most of the time, while we looked for someone to buy it. Anyways, I'd leave the city after class on Thursday, since it was only three hours away. Plus, it was some gorgoues road - so it was no problem. Even better, the house was completely empty in the middle of nowhere under some of the most amazing starry nights. It was amazing. I miss it.


I recognized that this is sort of sentimental and based on personal taste thing, but I think you will enjoy it.

Oh... the Mario picture. Postal Service's "Brand New Colony" was playing in my car one day and my mom looked over at me. She looked completely confused and asked, "Why are you listening to Mario music?"

Hats off for Mr. Giacchino

Lost is on hiatus this week, so I felt like posting about it.

At this point in the show's history there are two people. Those of you who just don't get it and those of you who are obsessed.

I'm in the obsessed category and I know some people in class like the show. So if you are a fan of the show or a fan of awesome music in general, let me introduce you to oscar-winning Michael Giacchino: the composer for Lost's soundtrack.

Say hi.

I'm not big on TV. The Office, Chuck and Lost are probably the only three shows that I'd consider myself a fan. However, Lost has always been in a league of its own.

It is on its final season (with only a 5 more episodes left), so here is a playlist in memoriam: some of the musical highlights from a surprisingly good soundtrack.

Peter Gabriel. You remember him, right?

When most people think Peter Gabriel, they think of a young John Cusak holding a boombox playing "In Your Eyes". As much as that song is a classic, there's more to PG (that's what we call him in the pits) than that.

See, I grew up on him in the 90's. I even have some fun memories of me and my little sister singing along to one of his concerts that my dad had recorded on an old VHS. He made sure we knew our classic rock.
In recent news, I've learned that PG came out with a new album called "Scratch My Back". That's crazy, right? I mean - he hasn't really done anything since... John Cusak held a boombox playing "In Your Eyes".

The album is actually a clever project. PG covered some modern songs, hoping that the bands he covered would cover his songs in return. This album was suppose to be called "I'll Scratch Yours".

Didn't work out.

But here's some of the covers PG produced. Pretty fantastic, if you ask me.

Peter Gabriel Covers:
Flume (Bon Iver)
My Body is a Cage (Arcade Fire)
Heroes (David Bowie)

If you like that, check out the track listing.


EDITOR'S NOTE: Unfortunately, Peter Gabriel is super strict about his music. So youtube videos are all I can offer you.

Hotel California = Purgatory

So, story time. Me and my brother were driving down Abercorn listening to his iPod. Hotel California came on. Not sure how this conversation came up, but we began to discuss the song's meaning. I said it was about purgatory. He said it was about rock-in-roll life. He thought he won the debate by citing wikipedia (ohhh... credible source... right?).

So here's the deal. My blog and wikipedia have about the same credibility (just roll with it), so even though he's probably right, it's up for you to take a listen and decide for yourself.

Playlist of the Week: Top 10 Songs You've Probably Never Heard

Ladies and gentlemen. Yes. I have managed to publish a
playlist to WNCG.

This changes everything.

This week's playlist are songs that you have probably
never heard. Obscure, but good. Take a listen and enjoy
your weekend.

(NOTE: I've updated previous posts to also include the
actual playlists)

The two sides of MGMT

Unapologetic self-promotion never hurt anyone. Here's my article for District on MGMT's new album, "Congratulations" (The two sides of MGMT).

So since we've been assigned followers in class, I want to sort of angle my blog towards the people who are reading. I don't remember who you are though. So tell me about yourself in the comment section. I think it'll help me write something you actually care to read. I win cause I'm writing something people like to read. You win because you get to read something you like. And Beth wins because I do the assignment. So it's a win-win-

-win.

The song on that one preview?

As a avid LOST watcher, I've noticed something kind of cool about their previews for future episodes. The preview for Tuesday's episode, "Everyone Loves Hugo", featured a band I'd never heard of before. They're called Broken Records, a Scottish indie folk band that features plenty of orchestra sound.


The track that played during the preview was called "Nearly Home". It is their first track from their recent album, "Until The Earth Begins To Part". So I bought it and listened and decided to download the entire album. It was a bit hit and miss for me, but I was not disappointed. I recommend getting the following tracks:

• If the News Makes You Sad, Don't Watch It
• Until the Earth Begins to Part
• A Promise
• Thoughts on a Picture (In a Paper, January 2009)

It makes for some good dramatic music. Some have said they are over-the-top in the vein of Meatloaf, but I kind of like that sometimes. I hope you do too.

Playlist of the Week: Chuck vs. the Playlist

Playlist of the Week
"Music from Chuck"

I'm going to give you an awesome playlist to explore. I will be doing this a lot, since it seems like a good idea that fits the theme of the blog. A playlist of the week deal, if you will. This week's list is brought to you by the very awesome show, Chuck.

The show's premise is pretty simple. Everyday guy becomes a spy under mostly unfortunate circumstances. It is very good. If you don't watch it, you should give the pilot a chance and see what you think. The playlist is some of the awesome songs used on the show.

Some questions to ponder while listening to this playlist: Who is picking the music for this show? Are they of the female persuasion? Are they single?

Here comes the sun...

Dear School,

You are a good friend, though I use that term loosely. You and I didn't get a long at first. We had our ups and downs. After all, it seemed like you were clingy. I remember when we first met. You went through my stuff and put weird books on my shelf. That was creepy, School, but we got worked it out. Then there was the phase where you asked me to buy you expensive things like art equipment and drawing supplies, but we got over that too.


But School, this is too much. I need my space. School. You know that. So why do you think its okay to ask me to show up at your place for the entire day when the sun is shining outside? You can't expect me to be the same person I was winter quarter. It's 83 degrees outside with a beach just a few minutes down the road. So School. I'm afraid we're through. Sorry.

What's that you say?
Career?

Oh... Yeah.

Kids are kind of cool

So I went home for Easter weekend and my little sister had a play (Aladdin and Jack and the Bean Stalk double feature). There's nothing quite as funny as a bunch of 7 year olds tripping over their lines. Kids are kind of cool like that. Sorry, Performance Arts. As much as MacBeth had the theatrics, you just didn't have cute kids.


The play was held at a community theater in Tennessee. I like Tennessee. A lot actually. If you have never gotten to enjoy the scenery, you ought to take a break and go up the mountains. There's nothing like them. It's not that far and if you plan right you can make a day trip out of it. Be packing the tunes, though. Or good company.

Went home and watched Little Miss Sunshine. It's a great movie.

I recognize this is sort of a lazy post, but it is the holiday weekend. I'm going to go spend it with the family I never get to see.

Expecting some music recommendations? Go listen to some Sufjan Stevens.

She & Him & Trimming my Blog

I'm being repressed. I've been told to... limit myself. Eventually I will go back and trim my previous posts, but for now I'm going to focus on keeping these updates simple and concise.

She & Him, the indie duo spearheaded by Zooey Dreschanel, visited the school over the weekend. I did not get to see them. I hadn't even given them a listen before the concert and friends have been encouraging me to do so.


I've got to say, there's something kind of cool about Zooey Dreschanel singing folksy songs about love and lost. It almost redeems her for being a part of this. She isn't in the clip, but it's a nice summary of the movie ("The Happening"). If you've never seen it, go rent it now. It's amazingly awful.

Anyways, I like their rendition of The Smiths, "Please, Please, Please..." (which you can listen to here). It's on the "500 Days of Summer" soundtrack, which is an excellent movie.


Also, check out my article on David Shields, author of Reality Hunger. It's my first published article for District. Also, when you google "David Shields" my article is one of the first things to come up. How cool, right? I don't personally agree with Shields on everything, but he was a genuinely nice guy to talk with. Look for him on the Colbert Report on April 14th.

One final thought, I'm thinking of expanding my blog into my screenwriting. I might even post some up here for people to look at, if people look at this to begin with (I know you are, Jonas, even though you won't add me on facebook).