As I fondled Katya, my pillow girlfriend...

I'm not sure why exactly I can't be as diligent a blogger as someone like Brooklyn Vegan, I mean I'm sure he works for a living right? I've got all the time in the world and yet it seems so tough just to dig into some mp3 discs that I've made since December of 2000 and try to bless you with some songs. It's interesting really, he juggles the blog, setting up a weekly radio show on Sirius Satellite and manages to attend a show every single night it seems. I'm languishing in obscurity with flies in my wallet in my room all day. Oh how sad it is. Well I hope to at least post 3 times a week during the rest of the summer because you the people deserve it. Alright here are the songs-

mp3: Youth Alive - Sweetness/Can't Live
mp3: Fanmail - Rock 'n Roll Star

I've loved John Davis' music since 1996 when I first saw Superdrag's "Sucked Out" video. It was huge...the video was nothing spectacular but it was an MTV Buzzclip and so modern rock radio at the time really blew the song up. I'm always whisked away to the mid-90's whenever that song plays. Years later the band broke up, John had a Paul "on the road to Damascus" moment and found Jesus who is now the main focus of his music. Christians do sometimes get the good ones and he's definitely one of them. These are some demos from his upcoming second solo album titled Arigato!

mp3: John Davis - Scared of what I might find
mp3: John Davis - Never Changing

OK this last one is a bit unorthodox since it's in a completely different language...hear me out though! The artist's name is Marco Barrientos and he's a huge figure in the world of Spanish worship. There's really a trinity (no pun intended) when it comes to that, it's Marco, Marcos Witt and Jesus Adrian Romero. These dudes are huge! I happen to like Marco's music more since his band tends to rock out a bit more than the other guys, not real heavy or anything but it works. So yeah this next song is my favorite which is interesting since it isn't even Marco taking lead--the vocalist featured here is Yvonne Munoz who has a beautiful voice and serves the tune well. Sometimes Marco will let someone else take the spotlight on his albums. The music though is what caught me, it reminds me of so many good indie pop songs that I can't place just one other song that sounds like it. Well decide for yourself.

mp3:Yvonne Munoz - Eres Mi Adoracion (Only You)

Micro Mix

In the interest of actually retaining readers to this blog I've decided to actually post more music because I know it's the only reason you're here. The 5 song mix presented here is pretty diverse going from pure power pop to reggae. So here ya go, enjoy.

Mp3: Copeland - Walking Downtown
Mp3: Copeland - Take Care
Mp3: Regina Spektor - Better
Mp3: Further Seems Forever - The moon is down
Mp3: Matisyahu - Jerusalem (remix)

McCarren Park Pool Party

JellyNYC is once again holding their summer Pool Parties at McCarren Park this year. The park apparently has a rich and interesting history that I'm not going to go into here but can be found at their Wiki entry here. I was not able to attend any of the free indie rock shows that happened last year at the pool due to my commitment as a Sunday worship team member for my church but I'll be able to go this year so if you're going, expect to see me grinning from ear to ear at the shows I decide to attend. In fact until JellyNYC finalizes their lineups, I'll be at the June 24th and August 12th shows for sure. There will be 2 bands that I've seen perform at the Sirenfest before and one that I completely missed most likely because I didn't know how good they were. I'll leave you with a few MP3's from the bands I'm excited to see and a video of Mew performing last year at the pool, most likely not free, but they're really good so suspend disbelief for about 4 minutes.


Mp3: Superchunk - Act Surprised
Mp3: Superchunk - Hello Hawk
Mp3: The Thermals - No Culture Icons
Mp3: The Thermals - Pillar Of Salt
Mp3: Ted Leo and The Pharmacists - Where have all the rude boys gone?
Mp3: Ted Leo and The Pharmacists - Me and Mia

For more information go to www.Thepoolparties.com

Just a quickie, with Voxtrot!!!

Ok so for everyone that doesn't know me, I attend Nyack College in Manhattan. As of this writing it is now 9:54 am and today, June 1st, is my first day of the summer session which begins promptly at 1pm. Apparently it's in some section of the school I've never been in so I'm going to ask my old friend (the possibly nigerian security guard) where it is. I'm not sure but a 3 1/2 hour Biology lab class sounds a little brutal. I've been doing nothing all week so there's no way I'm going to crash during this...maybe snore a bit. Figured that before I leave I was going to post up some new songs so let's have at it eh?
Now I'm a pop music fan, I unashamedly admit this. DO NOT confuse me for being a fan of the Top 40 Pop that pollutes the airwaves and MTV when they occasionally say, "Hey let's live up to our namesake for at least 2 minutes". No I just happen to enjoy happy, fun sounding little ditties. So I last left you with a track from Voxtrot whom I witnessed performing last year at the Prospect Pack bandshell with Tv On The Radio as the headliner and they certainly left an impression on me and I would hope that you'll like them too so here's 2 more tracks from the Austin, Texas quintet.

MP3: Voxtrot - Trouble
MP3: Voxtrot - Mothers, Sisters, Daughters and Wives

Siren Fest 2007

July 21st at Coney Island

I've been attending the Siren Fest at Coney Island now since the very first one. This year will be be the seventh annual Siren Fest and you bet your bippy that I'll be there. There have been years where I been right up front, way in the back, kind of in the middle and the glorious year where I was in the press pit doing something for the radio show I was hosting back then. There was even one year where I was there but I practically avoided it. Turns out that a buddy of mine and myself were filming video for a public access show that we always talked about but never got off the ground. Oh the fun bits we had. So anyway this has been something that I've looked forward to every summer. The sun beating down on my fair skin, the lack of money in my pocket to even splurge on a $1.00 bottle of water (When I'm broke, I'm really broke) oh and the absolutely beautiful indie rock girls that I could never have the never to speak to. All in all, a great yearly experience. There are a maximum of maybe 3 bands I really want to see but it doesn't matter, the free swag and ogling at those indie rock girls I just mentioned more than make up for it. Oh right and it's free...so what do I have to lose? So here's the lineup as of this writing.
NEW YORK DOLLS
WE ARE SCIENTISTS
MATT AND KIM
THE BLACK LIPS
DR. DOG
NOISETTES
LAVENDER DIAMOND
THE DETROIT COBRAS
ELVIS PERKINS
THE TWILIGHT SAD

Here's a video from last year of what to expect



I'll be sure to write something on it as soon as I get back but I've got about a month of preparation for that. So here's one of the bands that is playing this year and a band that I wish were performing.

MP3:Matt and Kim - Yeah Yeah
MP3: Voxtrot - The Start Of Something

For additional info about Sirenfest, go here

What happened to Emo? Video and Mp3

The term emo is really now way overused. Kevin Smith used it recently to describe Anakin Skywalker before he was christened Darth Skywalker in a Star Wars retrospective that aired recently as a way of justifying why a whiny teenager with problems would ultimately become overlord of the universe. Can't say that I don't agree with him but c'mon now...Emo? This is a term used for boys and girls who wear their emotions on their sleeve but it was first used to describe a type of music that sprung from the Hardcore punks scene in DC and can be traced back to a band called Rites of Spring. Let me give you an example of why Rites Of Spring stood out from the pack, these lyrics are from a song called "I don't wanna hear it" (curse words censored) by a band called Minor Threat who released it in 1981

Shut your f****g mouth
I don't care what you say
You keep talking, Talking everyday
First you're telling stories Then you're telling lies
When the f***k Are you gonna realize

And now lyrics from a Rites of Spring song called "For Want Of" released in 1985

I—I believed—memory might mirror no reflections on me, I believed that in forgetting I might set myself free. But I woke up this morning with a piece of past caught in my throat… And then I choked. I bled, I tried to hide the heart from the head. And I, I said I bled—In the arms of a girl I'd barely met. And I woke up this morning with the present in splinters on the ground— And then I drowned. And if I can't see it’s for want of you

Boy, quite the contrast eh? So while hardcore punk's lyrics mainly dealt with Society and Government, Emocore (as it was first called) reflected personal issues. What I really abhor is the usage of the term to describe these melodramatic teenagers who complain that people don't quite "get them" and sometimes hurt themselves to "feel something". Now it just seems like anyone who's particularly feeling down one day can be called Emo. Sad indeed. By the way, anyone that's a part of a scene can't admit it because if you do you're a poseur. I got that from SLC Punk, the minute you call yourself emo, punk, or goth, you're just another person that wants to set themselves apart by pretty much copying something you saw hanging out with people who look just like you. Escaping perceived conformity to conform.
So here's a parody video of this Emo subculture that I find so annoying.




Here are 2 mp3s that I think you should listen to. The first one is from the aforementioned band Rites Of Spring.

MP3:Rites of Spring - For Want Of

Here's a more modern take on Emo

MP3:Love and Reverie - Finding truth

Page France

When I peruse these various mp3 blogs I suppose that I'm looking for the next song or artist that I can obsess over for 2 months or so. I'm not sure why bands or artists have a time limit when it comes to my taste but it's just the way that that it's worked for years now. Well Page France, an indie folk-pop from Maryland were given that same attention a few months ago when I would play my defective Creative Labs zen player on the subway going to school. Their songs "chariot" and "junkyard" got me through that morning ride across the Williamsburg bridge as I would quietly pat myself on the back for probably having the best music selection on that train as other people were shuffling their iPod playlists in hopes of hearing that song that they downloaded last night because it sounded so good on [insert name here's]bland top 40 radio morning show. Well if this song isn't indicative of what will never be played on mainstream radio then you're just gonna have to do better. This track is from Page France's new album "...And the Family Telephone"

MP3:Page France - Hat and Rabbits

Bobby Brown

Although I did enjoy Bobby Brown's trainwreck of a reality show when it aired on Bravo back in 2005, I realized that there is nothing more that this former member of an 80's boy band could provide me in terms of entertainment. Ahh but then I remembered his great cameo in Ghostbusters II asking for a proton pack for his little brother and of course Egon flat out rejecting the idea. The other great thing to come out of him in that classic film was a song he contributed to the soundtrack album called "On Our Own". This song makes me wanna do the running man, enjoy it.

Bobby Brown-On Our Own

60's-ish or 60's-esque?

So I recently stumbled onto this video that might've been playing on Fuse Tv buuuut I don't really remember (Ask me what my first meal during lunchtime in the first grade was and I'll be able to tell you in excruciating detail). So this vaguely 60's sounding tune is playing while good looking, 20-somethings play their instruments while the camera rotates around them. Standard indie music video concept, sure but the song grabbed me and I now want to share the video and song separately for you to enjoy. Turns out the band is Starflyer 59 and that the people in the video are just actors...sigh. Now I'll never know who that fine looking lady is that's playing the organ, guess I'll have to call Central Casting for that answer. The song itself isn't as happy sounding as the title makes it seem but if you like it the song can be found on their 2006 album "My Island". Here's the video for Starflyer 59- I Win


MP3:Starflyer59 - I win

Now I did say the song was vaguely 60's sounding, at least that's what I heard. This next band sort of wears their 60's influences on their sleeves playing more of an early garage rock sound. On this track though the poppiness really shines through. they're called The Deathray Davies and they're still around but this cut is from their 2002 album called The Day Of The Ray which I used to play on my college radio show all the time.

MP3:The Deathray Davies - Pulling Teeth

Whoa...Why even bother coming back?

Uhhh...'cause I want to. Yeah sure I haven't posted in a millennium but I've thought about this blog a lot for some time and I wanted to redesign it (which I did) and focus it on music (which I will). In the coming days, months, years...whatever, expect me to post some mp3 files of music that I feel just has to be heard so expect much bands on independent labels and such. And let's start off with one of my favorite songs by a band formerly known as The Incredible Moses Leroy and are now known as The Softlighties (I like both of those names by the way) it's called 1983 which is a year after which I was born. I'm sure you were begging to know that.

MP3:Incredible Moses Leroy-1983