We've got you now, We've got you where we want you

March. Doesn't feel like it should be here all ready, but here it is, with spring right around the corner. Today it was 60's tomorrow it'll be freezing again. Such is Ohio weather, ever fleeting.

This week looks like it actually might dole out some free time whereas the last few weeks have been cruel headmasters who won't give more than a smidgen. So what better way to celebrate than a new post? Today was one of those first few days of spring, the kind that taunt you and then leave you, but you know in your heart that they'll soon be back. There's just something different about the air and the world... there's an electricity to it, energy where none was before. Maybe it's just that the long, cold winter is finally beginning to lessen it's bitter ways. Whatever it is, there's a certain type of music that is perfect for driving or walking around on one of these crisp spring evenings. Spring crispness is so much different from autumn crispnes... the fall has that bite to the wind, while the spring has a gentleness about it.

If I seem overly verbose, it's because I've been listening to the Weakerthans, hailing out of Canada, the land of the eternally cold. Yet, their music conveys that sense of spring, sense of renewal and warmth. Maybe they treasure it more in Canada, seeing as it's colder up there, who knows. But, I disgress. If ever there was poetry and imagery in music, the Weakerthans are the one to present it. There is no pretentious bull crap, no over dramatic love songs, no wordy for the sake of being wordy songs. I think these songs rise above that. So, go buy the cd, but listen to this as an intro to the album.

Here's a great track off of Reconstruction site : Psalm for the Elks Lodge Last Call

Buy the album here.

I'm at work, I'm posting, how sweet can it get?

Breathe in, huge breath, exhale... that seemed way to quick. The past two weeks have gone by way to fast with an incredible amount of work/adventure/fun all poured into a measley 14 days. I think this is about the first time that I've had to sit back and actually take a few minutes for myself. Tests and homework can do that to you, I guess. Anyway, I didn't end up going to the Ska is Dead show. I had planned another two posts with each of the remaining bands (mu330 and Voodoo Glow Skulls) but they went by the wayside round about the times my van went by the wayside. This marks the second ska show I've missed while at college, which hopefully isn't a pattern. I haven't been to any kind of concert in the longest time, and let me tell you, I'm definetly jonesing.

Oh yeah, I have the best girlfriend in the world, and I'll put my valentines present up against anyone else that wants to challenge. (And if you're single, I feel bad for you son, but I've got 99 problems and you know the rest).

Lately I've been feeling restless, in that need to be creative/make something out of nothing/write/make music/fun stuff like that. So the listening tastes lately have been leaning towards a harder, faster sound. What better band than Strike Anywhere to give inspiration to make something of this restlessness and turn it into something protective.

Strike Anywhere - Sunset on 32nd Street

Snow, School, Sfun

Getting back in the swing of things at college. One week down,a whole bunch more to go, but I don't really want to count. Trivializes the whole thing ya know? Anyway, prospects are looking pretty good for some creative endeavors that might become available pretty soon. Think along the lines of a comic with live action, hilarious characters, ninjas, fighting, and naked women. (excluding the last one, most likely). This is what college is for though. Forgot the whole system of learning crap. It's about making stuff! Like comics and music to name a few. Not to mention to watch movies, that's definetly a major part of college.

On to the music. There's a ska show coming up on Feb 3rd at the Agora featuring Voodoo Glow Skulls, Mu330, and Streetlight Manifesto. In preparation for this huge events that I'm sure all of you have scheduled for months in advance, I'm going to release a song from each of the artists leading up to the concert.

First up is Streetlight Manifesto. Streetlight formed after the original vocalist of Catch 22 (think Keasbey Nights) broke up with the band. If you were always hoping for a sequel to Keasbey Nights, then the band's debut album is probably your thing. Great ska rifts breaking into fast as hell distorted guitar break downs with horns up the wazoo and Tomas Kalonky's distinctive vocals. What more could you possibly want in a ska band?

Here's a great song off Everything Goes Numb, entitled A Moment of Silence. enjoy.

You Belive In Authority, I Belive In Myself

Second semester has officially begun, so I think it's time I got back to posting some tunes. It's funny that I have more free time now that school's started, although work and hanging out with Elizabeth and friends took up most of my attention. That and I only have 15 hours of school a week, that helps out to. So anyway, my winter break was great, how was yours? that's good, so on to the music, right.

I bought Against Me! Is Never Going Home over break, and it's one of the best music DVD's I've seen. It's not the same as being at the show, as nothing itself except being there can give you that total sense of energy, but watching certainly feels close to the real thing. Lately, concerts seem like they have a lack of energy... maybe it's the band, maybe it's the crowd, I don't know. But Against Me! is bringing back all that is good in music. Passion. When they play, you can feel the songs pulsating throughout your whole body, you want to sing along, you want to grab the microphone and start singing. You want to take a part in something that is greater than yourself, greater than everyone at the concert. There's something to be said for a group of people that can all get in one room, crammed into a small room, with sweat pouring everywhere and body contact that would never be tolerated anywhere else. Maybe it's just that, the total like of pretentions that turn is into assholes in our every day life. A release, from everything else, for at least a few hours where nothing else matters except the music.

Here's a song by Against Me! - Those Anarcho Punks Are Mysterious...

Resolutions...scratch that

Back just in time for a New Years Eve post. This holiday season flew by, but it was most enjoyable. This song is off of the Ocean's 12 soundtrack. Its right at the point where the one guy jumps through the lazer fields. I don't think that gives away too much of the plot point. Anyway, it's a dance song for New Years Eve so everyone can start kicking it out like mad hatters on pixie sticks, because that's how it should be. I mean, if this song doesn't get you acting like an idiot, then I guess I fail. But if it does, then I succeed where no one else could, in creating a living, dancing monster. Maracas and a spanish beat always does that to me anyway.

Here it goes.

Nikk Furie - The A La Menthe

No more Finals

Let us all rejoice, for holiday season is upon us and the beast that is school will be kept at bay for another four weeks. Four Weeks! This whole college thing seems, so far, to be a lot better than high school. 16 hours of school versus 35 hours of school. Longer breaks, less busy work, more free time. What more could you want? And then when you do get to come home on break, you don't have to worry about long term break projects that some teachers may have given in high school. Hell, if you're still in High School, I recommend, with out any hesitation, that you forget about the whole thing and just go to college.

So I have a fairly exclusive song this time (it's been a while since I've posted anything, but finals bogged me down). This song is off of the new Wicker Park movie, which looks to be a sappy love story a la current pop TV shows such as the O.C. That shouldn't take away from the soundtrack, though, which is filled with a few indie standouts. Most notably is a new song by the Postal Service, covering Phil Collins' Against All Odds. The song is typical Postal Service fare, which isn't to say it's bad at all. I find the Postal Service begins to grow after repeated listens, and this song has too. While not as great as many of the songs off Give Up, it still contains a beat that asks for a few repeated listens. The songs weakness lies in the fact that the lyrics were composed by Collins. A great songwriter in his own right (all though, Peter Gabriel has him beat times 10), the lyrics aren't the usual introspective, metaphorically filled poems that we usually expect from the Postal Service.

I'll let you decide, though.

Here'sThe Postal Service - Against All Odds.

You can also see the music video here.

No more Finals

Keep X in Xmas

Ahh, Christmas Time is coming, and just is quickly finals week is coming. I'm about ready to be done with school for a little while. Thanksgiving was a nice break from the rigors of the whole academia thing, but I'm yearning for the full month of Winter Break.

I like college, the people are great and my classes aren't so bad. I'm just ready to sit by the fire, drink a little hot chocolate, and listen to Christmas music, ya know? I really like this season, and I'm starting to get the Christmas bug again. It's not so much that I like the masses of corporate sludge that's come to be associated with Christmas, but rather that feeling that you get when you walk outside on a cold december night. The breath comes frosty from your mouth, and the moon shines frigid in the sky. But, the light and the mirth coming from the inside makes the coldness that much better. God, I sound sappy. Maybe I just like getting presents (I still wake up at 6 in the morning to run down and stare at the presents... maybe it's not so much the presents but the tree and the morning and everything else... or maybe I'm just a little kid.)

Anyway, here's Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan dueting on God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. It's a great song to get you in the mood, and the bass will make you start tapping the foot with that Christmas spirit.

Here's the Song : God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Nothing For Me

So, tonight was the Big D and Voodoo Glow Skulls show. I'd tell you all about it, but I didn't end up going. I couldn't find any companions to accompany me, so I missed out on it. I suppose I could have gone it alone, but concerts are always better when they're somebody there with you. More importantly, I didn't really feel like driving to Cleveland and back by myself.

I had back up plans though. Our school was showing a sneak peak of National Treasure, and while it's not a high energy ska show, it's gotta be better than sitting in the dorm. Well, that plan went kaput when the movie reel went kaput. I must just have bad luck.

So what did I do instead? Watched the OC for the first time ever. How was it you ask? Mildly interesting, certainly nothing new. The acting was typical teen acting. On a side note how is it that college graduates continue to play high school students. On a side side note, why do only beautiful people live in California. Anyway, the one good thing about the show was the showcasing of the band the Walkmen. Sounds like the O.C. is upping it's musical appeal by showcasing the likes of the Walkmen along with the Killers and Modest Mouse. Imagine that, good bands being put on a prime time tv show mostly frequented by high school age girls. Will the bands see a boost in publicity? Modest Mouse and the Killers are already making their way up the proverbial popularity chart, but the Walkmen are a little bit less known. A little less dance, and a little bit more garage/experimental than both the Killers and Modest Mouse, the Walkmen are an odd pick for the O.C. (although their tour with Modest Mouse could have caused the producers to pick them, who knows)

Anyway, I'm starting to ramble. Here's a cut off of Bows and Arrows, entitled Thinking of a Dream I Had. It's a bit more upbeat then most of the other songs on the CD, but instead of a slow thumping bass/dance beat, we get a rhythym that is counterpart to the frenetic guitar playing. Tell me what you think about it.

The Walkmen - Thinking of a Dream I Had

Big D and the Kid's Table are crazy. I think that's the best way to describe this band. They play a mix of ska and punk that doesn't have any glimmer or glean of pop music. What you hear is what you get. I think that the best part about this band is their honesty and integrity that clearly shines through in their music. They're guys playing ska when the third wave of ska has come and gone. There can only be one reason why they're still making music together, and the obvious answer is because they love it.

I just received Big D's new CD in the mail, entitled How It Goes. I'll share two of the tracks off the album, but I encourage you to go out and buy the CD, or go see them with the Voodoo Glow Skulls on the 18th at the Agora.

The first song (after the intro) of the CD is one of the hardest hitting, inflammatory songs on the whole CD. It's called LAX and the stream of explictives you will hear should not scare you away from the message of the song. Sometimes, it seems as though bands use the word 'fuck' to make themselves sound cool. I don't think that's what's going on here. Sometimes the only word that comes to mind is fuck, (think the past election), and your emotions require you to use it. Just don't desensitize yourself to the word, because then it loses it's power. Every fuck in this song is sung with indignation and contempt, the way it's supposed to sound. Listen and decide for yourself.
Download LAX

The next song comes near the end of the album. It starts off with a nice slow ska beat, harkoning back to first and second wave ska. David McWane's vocals are a little bit of a departure from his normal sung/shout lyrics, but I think the band does well with somewhat of a slower tempo song. A contrast to LAX, but good none the less.
Download (We all have to) Burn Something

buy How It Goes

Back for the Attack

The election's been over for 4 days, with the news of President-reelect, Bush coming 3 days ago. I think the initial shock and anger has passed, leading to just a general sense of dismay. Reality has hit, and the only thing we can do now is accept it and work on changing our country for the better. (that's actually what everybody wants to do, ya know?) Anyway, the next four years are set to be filled with debates, protests, and politics in general, so for the next few days my mind is taking a break from politics. I wasn't consumed with the election, although I did put a great mental stake in the outcome. Losing kinda hurt.

The Talking Heads are one of my favorite bands. David Byrne's spastic lyrics meld perfectly with the rythym of the rest of the band. Almost Dance Punk before there was such a thing. This song maintains an aire of happiness, almost a joy in the fact that the narrator and his friends are going nowhere. Maybe there's something better, maybe's there's not. They don't know where they've been, only where they're going. Sarcastic and ignorant. Fits the political climate, no?

Talking Heads - Road to Nowhere

Fuuuuck

Thats it America. You and me are done. Over with. I gave you the last four years of my life. I trusted in you to do the right thing. And all you've done is made a complete ass of yourself in front of my friends and my family. They all hate me for loving you. And ya know what? They were right. You had your chance. This was gonna be it, the great awakening. Your last chance for retribution. And you fucking blew it. Fuck you.

This is what our country has become : Ben Folds - All You Can Eat

Elect Me!

I'm tired of politics. Thank god today is election day. That mean's tomorrow is the beginning of either a long and drawn out legal battle or a long and drawn out Civil War. If it's a Civil War, then I'm fully prepared. I've been stocking up on ninja swords and moltov cocktails in order to fight for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Could it really go that far? I seriously think not. In every human there is a shred of sense that causes them to stop and look around when things are going to far. If we were to go to war over something as simple as differing ideologies, then we would certainly deserve our own fate. But, what is war, other than differing beliefs, ideologies and a need to expand one's power base? This has been used as the basis to start wars for all of history. I think, recently, our own country has done something of the sort in one of those little countries over in the middle east. Ahh, yes, Iraq. I don't believe war can ever be justified on the ground of preemptive preservation of our national being. I don't know if the war in Iraq is illegal, morally wrong, or anything of the sort. I know that I don't like it. That's all there is to it.

(I've been rambling lately. One of these days a post will actually make sense and flow. ya know? (see, that had flow, but not the kind I want) I'm done.).

Listen to this : Propaghandi - Hate, Myth, Muscle, Etiquette

and now, go take part in democracy and vote.

Is this thing on?

Back for another dose of goodness, are we? Today, on the table, I lay down one of my favorite bands. Their blend of ska caught me immediately, and then their later CD's let go of the ska in favor of an indie emo blend hooked me in. I speak of none other than The Impossibles. I don't believe this band got anywhere near the attention they deserved when they were still together. The members have since gone down other musical avenues (most notably Rory and Gabe (lead guitarist and lead vocalists of The Impossibles) in Slowreader.) Anyway, here's a song off of Anthology, in which you can feel the ska backbone, but you can also sense the emo leanings that will be more evident in the next few cds.

Check out there old stuff if you're a fan of third wave ska, it won't dissapoint.

The Impossibles - Priorities Intact
(buy it at Fueled By Ramen Records)

---

The election is one week away. Is anyone else completely sick of the political ads, soundbytes played over and over again, etc. that we've been priviliged to for the past five months? Frankly, I just want the whole thing to be over with (as I'm sure most everyone does). I don't want to speak of apocalypse theories, but can this country survive intact another four years of Bush? The only shred of hope I had left after the decision to go to war was that fact that it would assure a trip out of the White House for Bush if it turned out badly for the USA. The war turned out pretty damn bad for everyone involved.... and the our countrie is still split 50/50 on who should lead for another four years. I need a pair of those rose colored glasses that everyone else in our country is wearing.

Whatever happens, it's sure to be interesting and entertaining. And hey, what else could you possibly want?

F OR U spells FUN

Time to travel back through space and time to the beginnings of my musical history. What do we have next? More Ska! Don't tell me you don't like ska. Let the music take you over, shake you up and down, make you move.

Ska appeals to the inner child in all of us. The one that danced around the living room in pajamas and socks on a Tuesday morning with the radio blaring. Who cares what it was playing, as long as it was fast and you could dance. That's the essence of ska. Turn it up loud, let your own hidden inner happiness meet with the happiness of the song and you'll be all set. Who needs emo when you can hava ska?
Enjoy : Mustard Plug - Lolita

Ahh, a nice rolling bass lines, blaring horns, and that wonderful upstroke guitar. What else do you need to dance?

Hello Tomorrow, Goodbye to Yesterday

  Ahh, it feels good to actually get this thing off the ground. My last post was 2 months ago, and since then I've been struggling to get the right layout and feel that I wanted for the site. It's still not perfect, but it'll have to do for now.
  Anyway, enough of the critique on layout and on to the music. We'll go in a total opposite direction from REM to something that should at least start your foot atapping. My musical evolution was an interesting one. REM led me into more alternative acts, and eventually to punk right around when the punk blood starts flowing is supposed to start flowing in a suburban's kids veins. I think it was 8th or 9th grade. The ska revolution was almost over, but its ripples had enough of an effect to cause me to purchase 'Losing Streak' by Less Than Jake. I still believe its one of the best ska-punk records that came out from that era and the rest of their collection isn't so bad either.
  We complete this path down memory lane with a track off of 'Losing Streak', entitled : Sugar in Your Gas Tank.

The First, prolly not the best

So here's my first post ever on my first ever mp3 blog. First things first, the title comes from my friend Kyle who thought it'd be a cool name for a record label. Until that becomes reality, I'm stealing it for the title of this blog. Updates are on the way, with some snazzy graphics and things like that. I leave you with my first mp3, which is from a band that was and is one of my favorites. They're probably the first band that I really started to listen to when I was a wee little child, so I think it's only fitting that I start of one of my favorite songs off of Automatic For The People.

REM - Nightswimming