tiny bone hands

Unlike Mallory, I am fairly unorganized, quite passive about my music, and make mediocre mix CD's. This month was cold, rainy, and full of train rides. Here's the result:

Train Songs

1. Igloo by Karen O & The Kids
2. Talking Bird (demo) by Death Cab
3. When The Road Runs Out by Blonde Redhead and Devastation's*
4. Whatever (Some Folk Song in C) by Elliott Smith
5. Little Fury Bugs by Death Cab
6. Another Saturday by Stuart Murdoch*
7. Train Song by Ben Gibbard and Feist*
8. Brackett, W9 by Bon Iver *
9. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song by Fleet Foxes
10. Light Leaves by Why?
11. You've Got The Love by Florence and The Machine
12. Service Bell by Grizzly Bear and Feist*
13. Look At Me by John Lennon
14. Igloo by Karen O & The Kids
15. Look at That Old Grizzly Bear by Mark Mothersbaugh
16. Banshee Beat by Animal Collective
17. Moon Over Goldsboro by The Mountain Goats
18. These Days by Nico
19. Raincheck by Polytechnic
20. Those To Come by The Shins
21. Deep Blue Sea by Grizzly Bear*
22. Punky's Dilemma by Simon and Garfunkel
23. Steadier Footing by Death Cab
24. To Be Alone With You by Sufjan Stevens
25. Writing To Reach You by Travis
26. Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure by The Weakerthans

*These songs can be found on the Dark Was The Night compilation. This CD benefits the Red Hot Organization, "an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS through popular culture."

say playlist one more time and I swear...

Here are three facts about me that make the statement I am about to make seem impossible: I love my music, I am fairly well organized, and I make pretty fantastic mix-cds (which I create as pleasant surprises for my friends...but that's another story)

Now the statement I want to make is this: NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY I CAN'T MAKE A PLAYLIST on iTunes.


It's not that I'm physically incapable, but for some reason whenever I try to create a compilation of songs so that I'm not stuck wondering what to listen to, I just give up or end up deleting it. About every two weeks I have a set list of songs that I listen to over and over again and then move onto the next batch, and it would make sense to just create a goddamn playlist! I want to utilize my iPod to the best of its ability and simplify my life. I can imagine having tons of lovely playlists, each with clever names. I've even considered organizing it in different categories like the best of each genre, or by appropriate season but holy crap I just end up deleting it after minutes of wasted scrutiny.

It doesn't help that GENIUS playlist and PARTY SHUFFLE (sounds like a dance move) playlist are all up in my grill telling me that a computer can create a shitty playlist and not have the obsessive need to delete it immediately.

And you know what makes this rant especially crazy? Deep down in my heart I know why I can't create a playlist. DEEP DEEP down I believe that if I create this disgusting list of elite songs I will snub the other ones. The ones I don't listen to everyday (you sons of bitches know who you are!), the ones that come out of nowhere on my shuffle and surprise me with their subtle beauty and sneaky charm. Oh my heart aches knowing I don't pay attention to you. You're all important and I love you all!


**I do have a Christmas playlist that doesn't count because a blind monkey could organize their Christmas songs.

my toothbrush never lets me down

SO I still want to have Kevin Barnes' babies, although unfortunately (for me) he already has one cute-as-a-button daughter. Kevin Barnes is the frontman of one of my all-time favorite bands, Of Montreal. They just released this song for Nick Jr., I think. In any case, it's a free song to anyone who needs reminding to brush their pearly whites. It's catchy and adorable.

Brush Brush Brush

PS- please ignore the sexual advertisements; if it were up to me I'd be advertising something pleasant like a healthy smile.

Poodlejamz

I can't believe Mallory nor I have ever mentioned this!

Well, when I got my Mac, I found out it came with a nifty little widget: GARAGEBAND! You can basically create TastyCake for your ears with this. One day we were messing around with it, and POODLEJAMZ was born. This was way back in I don't know last June? We made one song, Alvaroodle Pelaezz (available for free download if you click the link, hah I'm shamelessly selling myself, although technically its not selling!), for our album "Car Commercials," made plans for the heaps of money we would get, and promptly forgot about it.

That's cool, though; I still play it sometimes and we can impress the hell out of people if we don't mention the fact that we didn't ACTUALLY play the instruments in this song, we just ARRANGED them so they sounded like the second coming of the lord. In the middle of the school week. I'm proper proud of it though, even if it was a one-shot thing. At least I know I can fall back on something in college if my thousands of dollars are wasted learning!

a hipster in the making

Today I was playing Jenga with my little brother, and he asked me if I could play some music. I cast my eyes over my meager collection of CDs and asked him what he wanted to hear. He asked for me to play the song that went like "all i wanna do is BANG BANG BANG and ka-ching take your monAY."

WHAT? MIA? gosh!

Similar instances:

overhearing him mumble "NORTH AMERICANS ah yahhhhh, ah hah ah, north americans" while building a Lego star wars model. (LCD soundsystem)

constantly asking me to play that "shake your coconuts" song. (junior senior)

bopping his head to the beat and shouting "I'VE GOT A HUNGERRRRR, THAT'S TWISTING MY STOMACH INTO KNOTS, THAT MY TONGUE HAS TIED OFF dah duh duh dah dah."

and asking his new friend Brian if he likes David Bowie, 'cuz there was this song that went like CH-CH-CH-CHANGES and it was really cool OH and another that went like major tom to ground control, does he like that song? and his friend brian is all "hannah montana is pretty."

and you know what my brother says? "HANNAH MONTANA IS WEIRD."

yo man, 8 years old, and this kid is the coolest kid on the block. young skywalker, i've taught you well.

sanctimonious indie fascits

This made me think. I think it's very true, and I love Kevin Barnes very very much. It's very insightful and worth the read.

"People who want to be artists have it the hardest time of it 'cause we are held up to these impossible standards. We are expected to die penniless and insane so that the people we have moved and entertained can keep us to themselves. So that they can feel a personal and untarnished connection with our art. The second we try to earn a living wage, or god forbid, promote our art in the mainstream, we are placed under the knives of the sanctimonious indie fascits."

Selling Out Isn't Possible

Supporting the Order with Rock!

Yesterday I went to see the Remus Lupins play their awesome wizard rock at my local library!
Since I write for the high school paper I used my press power to interview Alex Carpenter. If I weren't giggling like a little school girl I would probably have some decent notes and post the exclusive MIGHTY BELUGA INTERVIEWS THE REMUS LUPINS. Unfortunately I don't. Instead I have a vague recollection of Alex saying "rad" a lot and some mediocre pics of the show:


song list for whomping willow



El whomping willow himself

Foxy drummer Justin



represent

he likes his jazz the way he likes his peanut butter

Dear Dad,

Hi. I was just in the car with you, remember? Anyways, riding shot gun gave me an excellent opportunity to observe your ears. They aren't shaped any differently, they don't hang low , or wobble to and fro, you can't tie 'em in a knot, you can't tie 'em in a bow....

okay, the reason i was searching for a flaw or possible wax build-up was because you cannot stop listening to SMOOOOOOOOTH JAZZ.

don't get me wrong, i love jazz. I can write a news article 5x faster when jazz is playing, but c'mon smooth? smooth?!

I try to be accepting. I bite my tongue from calling it elevator music, "Let us put you on hold" music, but my head starts throbbing and my lids get heavier and suddenly i want to fall out of the car and roll down the street. Honestly.

I googled "smooth jazz haters" in hopes of finding others like me. Instead i found an article about another man's smooth jazz addiction. Kirk Pynchon regrets his affinity for smooth jazz, he understands that "like masturbation, listening to smooth jazz is best done alone." (yikes, am i addressing my father?)

Father's Day is coming soon so my present to you? Accepting your lifestyle as a smooth jazz lover.
In the meantime I will fulfill my jazz craving with a little Charles Mingus (check the top right to dl)
Sincerely,
Mallory

I won't do too much scheming

This song makes me feel O.K.

Nico-These Days

enjoy.