Five Songs I'm Loving This Week

Ooh...this is the fun part of my music post. This is the part where I get to find out which website I got each song from. Generally I try to make a note of it: when I write the song down I'll put beside it "from Good Weather", "from Chromewaves" or just to challenge myself, something completely unintelligible which usually turns out to mean "downloaded it from musicmatch". This time I apparently just seemed intent on getting the songs written down. I've got plenty of songs, but not where nary a one comes from (wow...I just channeled some distant relative).

I do know I heard The Weepies from Myspace. The name of the band leaves a little bit to be desired (I always want to put eye drops in my eyes whenever I think of it) but the songwriting is very accomplished, and particularIy "Gotta Have You" is a very lovely front-porch kind of alt-country song. If the Dixie Chicks got very introspective with their songwriting, they might write songs like this one.

Peter Walker's song "What Do I Know". is about as opposite from The Weepies as you can get without being hip-hop. I like a lot of different styles--alt-country, guitar-oriented indie music and occasionally really cheesy 80s music (don't tell--ah hell; everyone already knows). Anyhow, this squarely falls into the guitar-oriented indie categorly. It's short and it doesn't relent, and is all the better for it. The song reminds me of something Ted Leo would do, which equals an endorsement from me.


Peter Walker, from his site

This is a pretty awesome song. It's called "Pulaski Heights" and the band is Venice is Sinking. Cool name, huh? Also, I'm not just bragging because I'm from Georgia, but man, Athens has a very impressive musical outcropping. There are so many good bands there. I'm sure there are bad bands, too, but Athens knows how to weed those out, I'm sure. The violin in this song is absolutely awesome. The whole song, from the opening guitar parts to the end with the voices blending, backs me into the wall and doesn't relent. It's impossible to ignore this song. Their website is Venice Is Sinking, and their Myspace is listed below.


Venice Is Sinking, from their Myspace

Though my infatuation with the White Stripes ended with their first album ("Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" is still a kick-ass song), I read a few articles on his side project, The Raconteurs and was interested to hear them. I knew that Brendon Benson was in the band also, and I just think he's awesome. So, I listened to a few of their songs, and hey--they're pretty kick-ass, too! I'm quite fond of "Intimate Secretary" (I'm only going to keep this up about a month. All cease and desist letters need to go to ceruleanlobster@yahoo.com )

Um...Song number five is gone because it's been removed from all the other sites I saw it on, and I get nervous. So, instead I'll go ahead and post this song. I was going to wait until next week, but now's a good time. I've never heard My Chemical Romance (Omigod they just look they're trying so hard to be goth-emo) but I like String Quartet's version of their song "I'm Not Okay, I Promise". Now I have to listen to the original (damn goth-emo children).


String Quartet, A Tribute To My Chemical Romance

The End


Also, Podcast! I meant to write out the entire playlist on there, but I accidently hit enter. Oops.

PODCAST! A REAL, PROFESSIONAL PODCAST!!

Here's the RSS feed

Okay, well it's kind of rough around the edges (and there's a message from the software company overlaying soeme parts--I'll probably buy the actual version soon) but I'll get better.

Please listen to it--I'm paying $5 a month to host the podcast, plus I'l be paying $49 to buy the software.

It's so much fun, though!

*If anyone doesn't know how to download podcasts, please let me know and I'll help you. Also, you can download just the mp3 here

***

Five Songs I'm Loving This Week

It's 5:57 p.m. on a Saturday. I am trying desperately to wake up. I was trying to wake up before I went to sleep this afternoon. Now I'm just tired and groggy. I'm also making tea, the good kind--it tastes much better than the Wikipedia entry would lead you to think. I'm doing laundry (there is no good kind of laundry). I'm lamenting the fact that I need to eat vegetables for dinner (to balance out the utter unhealthiness of my lunch) and wondering if I'm too sleepy to be trusted in the kitchen.

I'm also working on my music post (obviously). I am not ever, ever ever going to attempt to post as many songs as I did last week. It was an experiment and one which needs no duplication to verify the difficulty of. It was a logistical nightmare. I was fixing broken links for hours! If I ever get to the point where I'm hosting all of my mp3s, something like that might be more manageable. For now, I'll stick with my usual 5-7.

The first song will wake me up. It's by a band I fell in love with a few years ago when their debut Logic Will Break Your Heart was released. How could I not love that

album title? And they had a song (one of my favorites) called "Lola, Stars and Stripes". I loved the album so much I went out and bought the cd (Okay, well Amazon

did all of the leg work, but damnit! I had to pick it up from the post office!).

So of course I'm really excited for their new album to come out. Without Feathers is not coming out until May, but one song is available, and it's freakin' awesome. It's called "In The Beginning", and it's available here, and also on their Myspace.

The next song also gets the distinction of being the song title of the month (at least until another one catches my interest): The Late Cord, "My Most Meaningful Relationships Are With Dead People". It's dire, mournful, gothic cowboy music. One of my favorite genres. (I love the description of the town the band's from: "God, cows, and crude". Yes, this is America, folks. Where no matter what drug/drink you do, eventually you will wake up in a cow pasture--it's happened to me.) Mp3 also available on their website.


The Late Cord

The All Mighty Whispers really like Saturday. I can't say I disagree. Since I started working full-time frikkin' forever and ago, I've become quite fond of Saturday. It's really the only day I acknowledge. On Sunday they apparently take to their bed, which is a fine way to spend a Sunday. Anyway, I really like this song, even without my strong identification with the lyrics. It's called "Thinking Saturday With A Whisper". There's not a lot online about them, but who knows--maybe I'll start a revolution with this post. I know--funny. (Their website)

As an aside, you know how when you overcook vegetables they get all limp and stuck together? Yeah, that happened.

I've developed a major fondness for the next song. It's called "Stay" (click on the link then right-click and hit "save as") and it's by Marykate O'Neil (yes, I keep thinking Olsen also, but thank every God and Goddess it's not). It's poppy, but not annoyingly poppy. There's purpose to its poppiness. The name of the album is funny--it's 1-800-Bankrupt. Hopefully I'll never have cause to find out if that's a real number.

Marykate O'Neil, from her website

The last song isn't poppy, but I learned to divest my musical tastes long ago, so I listened to them. The song's called (take a breath) "Seventy-Four Seventy-Five and it's by Shearwater. It's got a beatiful horn part (don't ask me what kind of horn. I wish I knew) and some nice piano. There's something almost sad and gothic about parts of it. Gothic done 70's style. I can't understand the lyrics at all, so if anyone can contribute any insight into what the heck he's talking about, that'd be great.

Extra: The Flaming Lips, "Do You Realize" (Postal Service Mix)...Just

because it exists...

Because I love Madonna and sometimes hip-hop is the only thing that'll cheer me, here's a remix of "Hung-Up" by someone/someones named Diplo. This is for my livejournal friend Jen, who's seeing Madonna live.

It's 8:42. I'm almost done with the post. Now I have to upload it to all three blogs. I'm using an uploading program called w.bloggar, but so far I can only get it to post to livejournal. It's a nifty editor, though, so I like it for that alone.

I don't think I've said this before, but thank you to the musicians whose songs I post and the blog proprietors whose mp3s I poach :)

A Lot of Songs I'm Loving This Week

...He was slicing up an avocado...

I have got so much to post this weekend. I haven't been this excited about a post since...since...since last I was actually awake while writing one. I'm purposefully doing this on Saturday evening as opposed to Sunday at 11 pm A) So I will be awake and semi-coherent while posting it and B) Because I really am excited. This is gonna be more than five songs. It may be more than ten. It may be less than ten. It may be 7.5. Maybe just for the heck of it I'll post half a song. Maybe I'll purposefully mislabel each song just for fun. Maybe I won't.

**Disclaimer: I fell asleep shortly after beginning this post. I finished it on Sunday, April 16th, 2006**

I can't even pick a "most favoritest song" of the new songs I've downloaded. I had it between Jens Lekman and Barbarossa (funny always wins, so probably Jens) but then I thought about Juni Jarvi. All of his songs could easily beat out any one of the others. I decided to call it a stand-off. Any list with Mates of State and Iron & Wine on it is guaranteed to be a good list.

In the first song, "Your Arms Around Me", Jens Lekman, who is the ultimate Swede as far as I'm concerned (Okay--next to the folks from Soundtrack of Our Lives--they could beat me up), feels his love's arms around him, and the distractions causes him to (SPOILER!!) cut his finger off. He sings sweetly about seeing her over him like an angel, and his trip to the E.R. I'd hate to wish more ill on him, but his best songs come as the result of some calamity (he misses his cab, he loses a girl's number) so maybe bad things should keep happening to good Swedish people.


Jens Lekman

Everything I've heard from Barbarossa has been fantastic. The song "The Light" knocks me over every time I hear it. It starts slow, climbs to a crescendo, and then turns restless at the end, not deciding if it wants to be slow or fast, finally deciding on frenetic. Listen to it on his Myspace or download it from his website. (listen to "Aeroplanes" also. I beseech you. I implore you. I highly recommend you to). I wish he'd let us add his songs to our profiles.

I just recently wrote about Mates of State, so I won't say much more here. It's enough for me to say I love that damn band, I love the song "Think Long" and I think it's so cool that they're married.

I just heard Band of Horses for the first time a few weeks ago, but they've made a memorable impression with me. I particularly love their song"The Funeral" (I would suggest listen to "The Great Salt Lake" too).

I don't think I've ever posted anything by Wilco, and honestly I'm pretty late on the Wilco bandwagon 'cause the band has been around for a decade (and Jeff Tweedy's former band Uncle Tupelo was around for quite a while, also) but I can make up for past transgressions now. I saw the song "Via Chicago" posted with several other songs Illinois-themed songs (looks like Trees Lounge is doing its own Sufjan Stevens thing) and I decided it was time to consider that I might actually like them. I certainly do like this song.

I already loved The Reindeer Section, so it was a given I'd want to download "Cartwheels" when I saw it posted. This band has never disappointed me; which doesn't surprise me 'cause it's comprised of members from other bands I love (read article). This band is so different from Snow Patrol, though. I love Snow Patrol, but I imagine high school girls swooning to Snow Patrol songs, but this song is more subtle than that. It's not Myspace ready (and I say that with all love for Myspace).

Mini Swans section



(Man, I should dig out my old Mazzy Star)

Islands, "Swans (Life & Death)" I'd never heard of this band, but this is an awesome song. I love whatever the heck that instrument is that makes that reedy sound (I sound like such a professional music writer: "That instrument that makes that reedy sound". I'm ready for Spin magazine).

Iron & Wine, "Swans and the Swimming" One of the best new folk bands out there (and he's from Florida!)

/End Mini Swan section

Wheat, "Off the Pedestal" I had originally gotten this song from Welcome to the Midwest, but like most good mp3s, that particular song has gone to MP3 heaven, so I yousendit-ed it. One day I will get storage with which to store my own mp3s. The band have several mp3s posted on their website but I'm so fond of "Off the Pedestal" now that I want to post that song. It's cool--I love the way he sings "climb down to your treehouse and dance". They kind of remind me of another "band" (AKA one person) I like named Boy Name Thor.

Ben Lee, "Float On" I love this song anyway, but this is a really pretty version of the song. It deflates most of the intensity, of course, to have it be so pretty, but it's a decent variation on the original.

Juni Jarvi "In My Arms" All the songs posted are wonderful (I also love "Asleep"), but much like Duncan Mcleod of the Clain Mcleod, in the end there can be only one (unless it's one of those days where I post multiple songs by an artist). Anyway, I love all these songs, but I'm choosing to highlight "In My Arms" because that's the one I've been repeating the most. He's also Swedish, much like a lot of the musicians I listen to. How weird is it that he has "In My Arms" and another Swede I like, David Fridlund, has "Into My Arms"? Uncanny! Anyways, so I highly recommend this guy. Also, this is his Myspace. Here's an article on him. His name isn't actually Juni Jarvi; he just recently changed it.


Juni Jarvi

The Age of Rockets "Once, We Were Monsters" This is a nice, lo-key song. Not very monsterly sounding at all--Just nice guitar work, laid back vocals and a few various bips and bleeps. Almost electronic folk.

M. Ward "Carolina (live)" This is one of my all-time most favoritist songs. It's been one of my favorites for several years, and I just found this version on Aquarium's site. Generally I don't post live versions because I figure if someone likes a song I post they can find live versions themselves, but this version is so different from the original that I almost consider it a different song. That's not taking away from the beauty of the original; this version is just exceptionally well-imagined. I especially love the first part of it. You can listen to it on the site if you don't want to download it.

Danny Dean and the Homewreckers, "Pretty In Pink" This is from the "Isn't She Still..." Pretty In Pink tribute I bought a few weeks ago. It's a song-by-song rerecording of the original album. All the versions are really good; The National (one of my favorite bands) does a particularly mournful version of "Bring On The Dancing Horses". Well, I'm not totally over the moon over Trespassers William's version of "Left of Center"--that's my favorite Suzanne Vega song and it would be near impossible to justify any other version to me, but that doesn't mean it's not "well-done". It's just hard for me to judge, biased as I am. I do find that even some of the songs that I didn't love originally (for instance "Do Wot You Do" and "Get To Know Ya" I like in these new incarations. Maybe it's just having the distance of almost 20 frikkin' years--OH MY GOD I'M SO OLD. You can listen to the songs at the CDBaby website.

Song name of the week: Age of Rockets, "I Smile Out Blood"

That's all for today. No Lolas were harmed during the making of this post (though one did fall asleep for a brief period of 8 hours). I'm listening to a podcast in Italian now. I don't know Italian.

This post marks the first time I've ever used a program. I used W. Blogger. They have a Mozilla version that I'm using. I don't know how this will do 'cause I haven't posted it yet. Wish me luck.

Five Songs I'm Loving This Week

It's Sunday. Sunday is music day--the day I listen to music and write my music post. Today it's also "I didn't get much sleep last night and I feel like I'm gagging" day, paying bills day, tallying up amount of money I've spent during the last week and making tea day. I'll let y'all guess which two I'm looking forward to.

So, while my tea is brewing I'll go on to enjoyable thing no. 2: I'm going to write my music post. I've got a lot of great songs. I only listened to new songs this week so I would be sort of prepared for this week's post. Well, I did find at least a dozen great songs. I just forgot to write them down. So I'm going to queue up the 88 songs I downloaded this week and try to figure out which ones I wanted to post.

I do know of a few offhand.

The first one is by one of several musicians I like named Matt. No, "Several Musicians I Like Named Matt" is not the band name, but hey...that would be a cool band name. I don't know what it is about the name Matt, but I know of several musicians with the name: M. (Matt Ward), Matt Pond, one of the guys from Aqualung is named Matt, Matthew Sweet and Matt Sharp, to name some of my favorites. There are tons more that I sort of like. I'd heard Matt Costa's name before, but not wanting to be crushed under the weight of too many Matts, I didn't pursue finding out information about him.


Matt Costa, album cover, Songs We Sing

Well, I was listening to Fingertips, and one of the songs was "Cold December". I only heard part of it before I was forced to move yet another Matt to the top of the Mattlist. I would hazard that he's only slightly behind M. Ward and Matt Pond in the top Matts of all time.

Okay, so I like two songs equally. I couldn't decide which one. "Cold December" is just so dang, uh, what's a word that doesn't make me sound like a total sap? Uh, uplifting? No, that's sappy. Uh...bright? So sappy. Okay, it gets me out of my depressed "I'm so sad even my music has chronic depression" mode. It makes me happy (Man, I should just join the Partridge Family, what will all my joyous adjectives). The other song I've been listening to is "Darling Be Home Soon". It's just gorgeous. Beautiful and gorgeous.

Another beautiful and gorgeous song is "Quiet Song" by Josh Rouse. I first saw the video for this last week on MTV2's Subterranean. I can't begin to say how many new songs I hear through this one program. Alot of the videos they play are just too sophomoric for me, but at least once or twice in a broadcast they'll bowl me over. I first heard Regina Spektor through Subterranean and I think Arcade Fire. Anyways, I had to search through pages and pages of google listings before I could finally a copy. It was worth it, though.

I know this album has been out for awhile, but I haven't had a chance to buy it (okay, so I'm broke) and I haven't heard much of the album. Just one song really, and I didn't even know it was them. This song kept coming up on my mp3 player, and the lyrics were "Why don't you walk away, why don't you walk away..." I thought it was a pretty nifty song and I thought it was by Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah or one of those newer wave bands coming out now. After the tenth or so time listening to it, I finally looked to see who it was. It was Franz Ferninand! I had heard something from the new album and just hadn't realized it.

The song's called ironically "Walk Away". At first the lyrics came off as kind of cocky to me; "I love it when you walk away", but as is the form in pop songs, he redeemed himself later by saying he wanted to love it when the person walked away, but of course he really wants the person to come back, ya da ya da.

Actually, I am remembering what I wanted to post. It's all coming back to me. I can cancel the appointment to the doctor; I do not have amnesia. I do have insomnia, but that doesn't cause me to forget things (unless I'm really tired).

The fourth song--okay, it makes me happy as hell. If hell can be happy, then I'm that happy. It just makes me want to be eight years old, though ithat would be kind of a weird feeling 'cause I have a thing for the singer. (Eew--shades of the movie Kids all over again). Anyways, I've posted about Great Lake Swimmers before. They're an awesome band; the music is so good it shimmers (betcha haven't heard that description before). The cd case even shimmers; that's how spectacular their music is. I just found this song recently, however, and it is not on the CD I have. Since I downloaded it last week, I've listened to it numerous times a day. Just 'cause I can never remember how the cow goes. Damn Amnesia. The name of the song is "See You On The Moon" and it just makes me giddy. If I can wrangle up enough money, I'd like to buy the CD this is from. I want to be a veteranarian.

Sufjan Stevens
I'd had a picture which really showed off his pretty eyelashes, but I can't find it.

The last song is by an artist I've resisted liking. I have the aggravating tendency to pull away from a band if they get too hyped, so even though everyone (and even the animals from the previous song) were squeeing about Sufjan Stevens I dismissed him with a nod. Alliteration in proper nouns is so passe, anyway. Plus I'd heard a few of his songs and wasn't exceptionally thrilled. Then I decided to give him another chance 'cause I don't want to be the type of person who makes music choices based on what other people think (I'm scolding myself now), so I downloaded a few of those songs.

Well, "Chicago" (live) was one of those songs. I knew his album was a concept album, which was just weird to me anyway. The CD Illinois has songs all about, yet, Illinois. He's supposed to do that for all the states. That's just weird. And time consuming. Anyway, so while I was trying not to roll my eyes, I listened to the song. And I liked it. Liked it alot. Damn him and his pretty eyelashes and weird concept for an album.


Stars, Set the Night On Fire

Bonus! I've been wanting to post this song for months and months and months (and maybe even a month before that) but I couldn't find an mp3 of it. I want to buy the record, but you know how it is. I will eventually. For now, though, I found a copy of Stars' "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead". Whoot! Whoot! (Okay, I'll be calm down. I think I need to go to bed like at six tonight).

I can't stop downloading... I think I have an illness. I need a new harddrive.

Band name of the week: Sounds of (Kaleidoscope)

Review: The Coast, Self-Titled CD

The Coast Music (Official Website)
Myspace

Band Members: Benjamin Spurr - Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards
Luke Melchiorre - Vocals, Bass
Ian Fosbery - Guitar, Keyboards
Jordan Melchiorre - Drums, Precussion

I've never had CDDB (the online music identification service) ask me to name a cd that wasn't one of my homemade CD creations featuring Talk Talk, Missy Elliott and a dozen other incongruous acts. This was my first time submitting information for a professionally produced album made by an actual band. I was nervous. What should I categorize it as? Indie? Indie-pop? Alternative? This was serious business. I couldn't be coy and flippant and brand it something like Vaudevillian Latin Jazz. I've done that before. I suspect that's how Tegan and Sara got branded as Blues on my player, because I hate labels. I never take them seriously. This was serious, though. I could be a part of history.

Truth is, I don't know if CDDB used my submission, if they review all the submissions and make a decision on what to use or if some albums go forever uncategorized, no matter how many times people take the time to give their opinions. Actually, they're not even called CDDB anymore; they're Gracenote, and they didn't include a category for their listing of The Coast's self-titled CD. I have no idea if they even looked at my little submission.

In the end I went with "Indie Pop", but that's misleading. The Coast is independent; they're not currently on a label (I have a feeling that'll change), but they're not "pop". They're not really rock either, though closer to rock than pop. They're somewhere in between. It's fitting, though, as their songs live in an "in between" in my mind. I'll be sitting on the bus (my city isn't enough of a city to have a subway) and the line from the first song, "All Farewells" will run through the surface of my consciousness: "It cannot touch me now...it cannot touch me now...I'm just this pulsing heart on an empty subway train". The singer is saying goodbye to someone, and that one line about the subway train makes me feel as though he's going forward, and by extension we all can go forward, no matter what we're having to leave behind.

It's a very powerful song, and one I listen to when I need to be pushed forward. That song and track three, "Take a Walk Outside" were already on heavy rotation on my mp3 player from when the band went by its prior name, The July 26th Movement. The CD they released under that name is unfortunately unavailable (last I checked), and it's an honest shame some of those songs may never be known by newer fans (perhaps the members will mercifully resurrect the other July 26th songs).

The Coast's presskit says their intention is to make music that is both timeless and unique. I'm a fan of the band, so it's no surprise to me that I agree. Their music takes me outside of myself and I'm reminded of when I was young and enthralled just to be alive. Now I'm older and enthralled just to be enthralled once again.

The remaining four songs were new to me, so I can be perhaps a bit more objective regarding them, instead of automatically pinning them up on the "to be remembered forever and ever" billboard in my mind. Lyrically, "Circles" follows the theme of the other songs: spoiled love. It's a very timeless theme. He says that he and the other person "go in circles", and he's obviously trying to let go, but they'll "see each other again". When he remembers their time together, he asks "how much is [his] to keep." Most listeners will be able to relate to the choice he has to make, and will recognize the sadness and resignation in his voice.

Song four, "The Lines Are Cut", seems to be the dialogue after most of the fighting is done and acceptance is beginning to creep in. He asks "Is this all that becomes of us? When all the lines are cut, conversations lay in ruins and all the doors are shut". I've never thought of conversations laying in ruins, but that does perfectly describe what remains when you're leaving a relationship that used to be full of laughter and a connection greater than the two people involved. That line perfectly describes the "used to be".

When I refer to "he", I mean the "character" in the song, but the lyrics are written both by the singer, Ben Spurr and the bass player Luke Melchiorre. In an interview with Virus Zine Luke says that he finds it "enjoyable to see whether people can guess whether a song's lyrics are Ben's or [his]". So, no one but the band knows who writes which lyrics, but the lyrics do all match a theme, so there's no incongruity.

Sonically, most of the songs feature the climbing, resonating guitars that make me want to buy the best pair of headphones available and listen to the CD in a large, empty room, preferably overlooking a dark, removed city night . "The Lines are Cut" is slower than the other songs-- paced differently, which best captures the sense of loss the song is describing . "Evening's Heights" by comparison is faster, rushing along instead of lingering. The rushing undercuts the sadness of the lyrics but serves as an ideal bridge between the regret and introspection of the first part of the album and the profoundly beautiful and haunted final song, "Harbour Lights".

In "Harbour Lights", lyrically the focus is split between the one he says is "the only one he's known" and the landscape surrounding them, which is reverentially described as a "seascape of a sky". The "darkness of the water" is the "darkness of [his lover's] eyes". The two people are going towards something, a harbour, but are also still floating away from each other. He wishes to "take back the words he said", but can't because there's "nothing left to do". The rope holding the two together is frayed--they're "sinking out of sight".

The EP ends there, with a few mourful piano notes, and the two people drifting apart. Though the "used to be" may eventually fade, the climbing guitars, plaintive singing and soft piano will continue to surface for me at random times: under the cover of a dark bus, in my apartment while I'm posting to my blog or when I'm waking for no reason at 2 a.m. because I remembered someone I used to love, could've loved or wish I'd gotten the opportunity to love.

I sincerely hope this band gets signed.

Five Songs I'm Loving This Week


I first heard Willie Mason on In House With Jeremy Petersen, and of course my first thought was "Wasn't he a baseball player"? (I think that was Willie Mays--I don't know--I get confused). Anyways, if he plays baseball, that's fine--as long as he keeps writing songs like "Oxygen" (look beneath Beth Orton's picture). He was purportedly discovered by Mr. Warble-Voice, Conor Oberst, when Oberst heard him on a small radio station. Anyhow, I like it--his voice is manipulated a little, which can be good if it fits the song (which I think it does here) and the song has an intensity to it I like.

I heard "The Sun Comes Through" by Kelley Stoltz on one of the many podcasts I listen to (okay, In House again) and I immediately caught on to how good it is. I wasn't content with just having the song on a 30 + minute podcast, so I searched for my very own version that I could play again and again (and eventually I will buy the CD--one step at a time). Oh, I don't know what language that's supposed to be on the blogger thingy, or if the characters really represent a language or is a made up Microsoft language. Anyhow, luckily the mp3 title is in English.

The next song makes me sad, but it's a familiar kind of sad. Someone screwed someone over, and now they're sorry, and apparently there's someone else involved who's not a nice person, and is in fact a "Skeleton Key". It's an old story, but this is a very new song; one I like a lot. The violin is an exceptionally lovely touch. The band is named, yes I'm serious: Margot & The Nuclear So So's. No, I don't know what that means.



Margot & The Nuclear So So's (from Myspace)

The last song is a beautiful song by someone with a name that must've put a lot of pressure on the owner when he was younger :) The name of the song is "The Only Night" and the musician is named Ian Love. He says there's "no one in the world but you and I" and I say "Okay".



Ian Love, Self-Titled Album Cover


Bonus: I'm including two songs that I cannot find mp3s for. They're so good, though, that I'm breaching my usual "no mp3, no inclusion" creed. I wanted to include the first because it's so pretty. I had it on my myspace profile, and I didn't want to take it off. I usually switch the song every two days but I let this one hang on a little bit longer. Plus the singer commented on my Myspace, and that made me happy. It's a beautiful song; it's by Jenda Wight and it's called "Searching for You" (it's the second song on her profile).

I wanted to include the last because it's so damn good. It's called "Snakes in the Grass" and it's by Essex Green. I've found a dozen other mp3s by them, but I like this song the most (for now, anyway) and I want to post this song! (Stamps foot on the ground. Hurts foot.)

Oh, I give up on GCast. I tried to make an 80's "podcast", but now not only will it not work in podcasting software, it wouldn't let me download using the larger download button. It's possible to either download each individual song (right click on the little mp3 button to the left of each song and click "save as") or listen to each song using Garage Band's software (click the little green arrow button). Also, the little mini-player in the top right of the page will start playing an old playlist; hit stop/pause on that. If someone can get the whole playlist (aka podcast) to download, let me know--it wouldn't work for me--it just downloads something that takes a second. Oohhh...but what's this? Worth investigating.

That's all for this week. I'll try to do some more stuff during the week, but I get so tired...(lays hand across forehead dramatically).