it's all happening

I thought PANdora was supposed to be bad?

2007-10-16T08:28:00.000-06:00

OK, I'll admit it. I forgot my login information for this blog. But, alas!, I have rediscovered it.

In the last few months, my life has become a huge technological breakdown. My computer is very ill and with it, my vast amount of music isn't at my disposal as easily anymore.
And then, a very good friend told me about Pandora, so I thought I'd spread the love.
Pandora.com
It's free Internet radio(you can subscribe and pay a fee, but why mess with a good, free thing?). It's your radio. Completely customizable and totally fit for you. It's like a really good pair of jeans that you just can't let yourself wash because you know you'll have to break them back in. It doesn't get much better. You type in a song or artist that you really like and it finds new artists that are similar that you might enjoy. How awesome is that? It helps you find new music without even doing anything.
So, yeah, ejoy. Happy listening.

not much chance for survival.

2007-03-26T14:40:00.000-06:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I give you The Arcade Fire.
this video will change your life.

thank me later.

when i need it most

2007-03-20T21:22:00.000-06:00

Occassionally, I check my top played songs on iTunes. I'll never be able to touch my top two songs "We're Both So Sorry" by Mirah (105 plays) and "I Needed It Most" by My Morning Jacket (102 plays respectively). Both songs elicit vivid memories of a night spent listening to the song on repeat hoping for something to go away. It worked both times.
The rest of the songs on the 25-long list all have deep rooted personal attachment from the one I just couldn't get over ("Happy" by the Wrens) to times when I felt like I just couldn't reach above the surface ("Day Old Blues" by Kings of Leon). There are staple songs I've listened to to make myself believe that I wasn't the fucked up one, they were, like "Paper Bag" by Fiona Apple and songs that helped me feel stronger like "Bag Lady" by Erykah Badu.
All of the songs are part of me and if I were to listen to them I could go back to the exact time and place they hit me. The moment I stopped what I was doing, sat and listened. Began obsessing. Some of them have become prayers of mine. I think God listens a little more closely when Jim James does the talking. Who wouldn't?
I keep my music on shuffle most of the time. Honestly, it's because I feel a huge connection to it and there have been more times than I could count that a song I had never heard before or never heard before in quite that way has begun playing and told me just what I needed to hear. When I needed it most.
It's funny, because as a "writer" you'd think I'd be able to pen down exactly how I feel about something. Sometimes I can. Sometimes it won't come until I'm in the shower or driving my car. But, more often than not, a song does the job for me. And I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but the bottom line is, it makes me feel real to know that someone, somewhere has been there too. It's hit them too.
Sometimes there are moments in life that are completely impossible to articulate. Last week was one of those for me. No words will ever come to mind to adequately express what I needed to. I hoped and prayed words would come to be to be able to express comfort, loss and hope. Nothing. I had been driving around in silence for most of the day Wednesday (probably the second time ever this has happened, the first due to a broken CD player) and as the clouds lifted and the sun broke through I decided it was time. I randomly selected track 3 and immediately found the words to say. They weren't mine, but they brought comfort, and if that made it a little easier for him, that's all that matters. When he needed it most.
There are songs that will fall off the list with time, they will be replaced with more significant moments, but they'll all always be there when I need them most.

it's the most magical time of the year

2007-03-13T21:56:00.000-06:00

I can't remember a time when new music has treated me so well. It's an overload, but one I'd bring on myself any day. Any time. It's come at me so fast, I don't know that I've adequately processed any of it. New Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, Wilco, Deerhoof, Modest Mouse and a few others. It's too much. I have music A.D.D. right now.
It feels better than Christmas morning. I feel like I'm feverishly unwrapping all of those beautiful boxes as fast as I can so I can see what Santa brought me and I'll take the time to enjoy it all later. I just have to know what I recieved all at once. And apparently, I was a good girl this year.
Some of the albums haven't been released yet, and say what you will about file-sharing, it's one of the best things to ever happen to music no matter what the record labels say. I'm sorry you aren't making as much money anymore, but honestly, I feel as though you were making too much as it is. Maybe a few executives should take a pay cut and give it to the people on their label who make their salary for them. They deserve it more anyway. Regardless, I do plan on purchasing all of them upon release. It'll be like Christmas part 2 (or would it really be 3?) opening up the actual album, examining the artwork and liner notes. It's the total experience.
I mean honestly, it's too tempting. There it is. The album you've been waiting months, in some cases years, to hear, waiting at your fingertips. It's a temptation I can't resist. Call me a sinner, it's never felt better.
Kings of Leon's sound has changed tremendously, but as long as singer Caleb Followill's soul-shaking vocals haven't changed, the record is undeniable. Wilco has gone back to the basics, but hasn't lost a thing. Satomi Matsuzaki of Deerhoof is crazy as ever, but I just can't stop singing "If I were man and you a dog, I throw stick for you (arf!)" even if their sound does bring back repressed Pokemon memories. The ever-evolving Modest Mouse has done it once more and I hope they never stop. And, Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible" will convert millions. It's one of the best albums written in a very long time and is actually already out, so do yourself a favor, pick it up, study it and remember the verses.
It's the inspiration to do good deeds all of the time if this is how I'm rewarded. Unlike the "real" Christmas (and I'm referring to the commercial holiday, not the Christian holiday, mind you), I don't know when this one's going to come around again.
OK, maybe it's not like Christmas, I'll equate it to Hailey's comet or a solar eclipse. Unexpectedly magical. And a gift for everyone.