This five songs post is brought to you by hormones. Lots and lots of hormones.

I know. I suck. I neglected my weblog for two weeks.

The first song, "I'll Be Waiting", by Archer Prewitt is a lovely and deceptively simple song. I feel like I should be lying in a bed of recently fallen leaves on a New England farm, or sitting on a rock drinking wine in the mountains of Colorado when I'm listening to it. It's not a sad song, but it's not necessarily a happy song. It's melancholic, but not in a depressed or dire way. It just is, I guess. It's the zen buddhist of songs.

The next song, "Nervous" (direct link) starts out with just guitar and the singer's voice. The combination is melodic, beautiful, hopeful and slightly melancholy. The addition of drums seems to add a bit of urgency to the song and diminish the melancholy a bit, but it's a beautiful song throughout.

Okay, the next three are brought to you by the man who stole me away from you all. I didn't even have to tell him I liked Beth Orton--I guess he just knew that since he liked her there was a good chance I'd like her, too. Surprise, I do. (Okay, I'll stop acting like an idiot now). Anyways, Beth Orton rules, and this is her awesome new song "Conceived."

I've got a few songs by a band called Loudermilk, and the one I'm currently stuck on is "Attached at the Mouth". I'm mega-uploading 'cause I tried to find it on blogs and such but it wasn't meant to be. It's an introspective, thoughtful piano and guitar driven track. Okay, so yeah, it's romantic and my guy is romantic, and *swoon*

The last song is by a band called Saybia, and this song is romantic to the point of shattering my heart. It's just gorgeous--it's called "It's Okay, Love". It's all piano, and the lyrics are beautiful: "Just when I thought there was nobody out there no one who could quite understood me I glanced to the side and I found you there smiling patiently holding my hand saying over and over it's ok love easy love I'm yours." His voice conveys so much emotion it positively trembles.

Okay, yeah, I suck. I never posted last week. I meant to! I've just been dating a boy. I will try to post tomorrow night.

My Five Songs update is going to be delayed until tomorrow or the next day. Why? Because I love you all, and I don't want to do a half-assed job (or quarter-assed, 'cause frankly I usually do a half-assed job, and that's always worked out fine). So, I'm waiting until I'm prepared.

Why aren't I prepared? hmph. Why don't you mind your business ;) Oh, okay. You've gotten me to spill...I've been talking a man. A real man! One who lives in the same city as I do! One who loves the same stuff I do, and is showing great affection for me, and I feel great affection for him.

I'm turning into a 12 year old girl--dedicating songs to him, and scratching his initials into my monitor (just got a few sparks, but now his initials run through everything I read!) and planning to take him to Fernandina with me to see the beautiful beach (wait, it's December. It's always very windy and cold--screw it. We're going to the beach, damnit!) so, I've been busy.

I haven't forgotten you--I promise. I'm just a little slow these days with anything not directly pertaining to a possible mate.

Five Songs I'm Loving This Week

The first song is such a pretty, pretty song. I happen to think it's the most gorgeously simple song I've heard in years. The first time I heard it I didn't know what to make of it, until it got a hold of me midway through. The video is on Paste's DVD this month, and I played the video four times last night while I was being stood up (for the first time, mind you--I haven't gone on many dates). It was just sad and defiant enough to make me very angry, and then very sad. Then angry again. All I'm saying is that Karma's a bitch, and I know Karma. I send good mojo Karma's way. Anyways, the musician who helped me get in touch with my anger and my inner vengeful bitch was Maria Taylor. The song is called "Song Beneath the Song", and it's from her debut solo record, 11:11. She's been in a lot of bands (Little Red Rocket, an Alabama band), Asure Ray and Now It's Overhead (one of my favorite bands). And look--she's from Birmingham! That's one of my former homes! I'm definitely liking her. Listen to her live here.

The second song is by Imogen Heap, and it's called "Hide and Seek". I do not know what she/the producers are doing with her voice, but I think it's cool. I know some people who don't like voice modulation, but I like it if it's interesting. I don't like it if it's done as just a neat trick--It has to fit with the song. This is a lovely a capella song. Of course I can't understand the words because of the modulation, but the melody is very lilting and changes in parts-- almost like it's two different songs. The different parts go very well together.

Suffering and the Hideous Thieves "I Will Always Find a Way." Huh. I would dedicate this to stand-me-up-dude, but it seems a little excessive for someone I've only known a month. The vocals are a bit emo for me, but the music itself is nice--especially the violin.

I mean, if he'd just e-mailed me and told me truthfully "Look, I think you're a nice person, and I had a nice time. Unfortunately there just weren't the sparks I thought there'd be" or something like that. If he'd done that we could've had a friendship--probably a really nice friendship, and he'd have access to some really awesome music, and I could listen to his Weakerthans and Guided By Voices records. I'm avoiding calling him some really bad names because I'm still a Southern Girl and we're not harsh in public. When we shut the door, though, we tear up motherfucking hell. Of course I will feel like shit if something did happen to him, but what's the likelihood...

"Socialize" by Metal Hearts is a nice, languid song. The melody doesn't deviate much, but the simplicity works for it. It's perfect to help calm me the day after I've been stood up by someone who really had seemed to like me. (This post is steadily devolving). I mean, I may not own weapons, but I have two music blogs and a livejournal. And a fierce Scorpio Irish/Scottish temper (only muted slightly by the English part of my heritage). Oh yeah, and I'm a woman. All that put together means fire.

I need to clean up my music files. I have almost 3,000 mp3s, and they're scattered everywhere. I've been trying to find the songs my friend Tony sent me, and they're everywhere. I was looking for the one I thought sounded like a madrigal. Instead, I'll post another song he just gave me today. It's called "Halloween" and it's by Matt Pond, Pa. I've posted a song of theirs/his before, but this song is post-worthy in its own right.

Hey--it's named after my birthday--I should post it.

Most people suck. I love my friends, though.