Songs That I Might Have Written About Had I Not Busted My Ass Last Night

Okay, so I'm not feeling the whole "writing" thing today. Why am I feeling so down? So bummed? Well, it has a little bit to do with me going out last night and jumping up and down to "Footloose" like I'm Kevin Bacon and it's 1984. Well, I'm sure Kevin Bacon wasn't 37 when he danced in that movie, and I'm not Kevin Bacon, anyway. I'm Lola, I'm 37, and I got cramps in my legs and fell down (and I mean I dropped to the floor) in front of my apartment and my legs have been very sore. So I'm unhappies today. When I'm unhappies my LOLspeak comes out. And we don't want to read a song review that uses LOLspeak. I can has melodie?

So I'm going to post a few songs, but the pain's a little bit too much for me to concentrate on writing anything.


Pela, "Good Foot on a Bad Doorstep"

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The band laughs at the person with the camera...but what they don't know is, that person is going to take their picture. And maybe post it on a blog. Maybe put it in a portfolio. The boundaries are non-existant.


Gabriel Kahane, "L.A." (Live from Daytrotter. The site wants you to register, but it looks like you can hit "anonymous")

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Yes, I have heard that "cat-lifting" is all the rage in exercise circles.


Bishop Allen, "Oklahoma"

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Man, those Bishops sure do know how to party. Who'da thunk?

***

While I'm convalescing, I'm going to watch one of my favorite shows, Vicar of Dibley.

DJ Flight Attendant

Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

Gladshot, "He Was Gone"

Starts out quietly...stealthily. You might think it's a modern lounge song: good for smoky background music, but nothing you want to rush out to iTunes for. Keep listening, though, 'cause this song kicks into some major gear around the one minute mark. Her voice suddenly becomes a singer's dream: soaring, clear and strong. She has the kind of magnetism that calibrates the listener's feelings to her own. By the time the song's over, I've joined the call, too. I'm wandering down imagined London streets, calling out in the fog for a lost love. The only difference with me, of course, is that I don't have her voice, and there's a chance I might be asleep and still in my pajamas. The contrast of the earlier, slower part of the song really highlights her glorious, impassioned voice and the energy of the music playing.

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If you've seen this video, then you might understand why I started singing "She uses tangerines..." when I saw this picture.

Episode 69, Not a Drunk Girl

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Monica Attell, "You're Popular" (Artist asked me not to post the mp3)
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Jody Glenham, "Coffee Soaked" (Artist asked me not to post the mp3)
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Constantines, "Our Age"
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The Dears, "Ticket to Immortality" (Scroll down to #32)
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Hey Marseilles, "Cannonball"
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The Guggenheim Grotto, "Fee Da Da Dee "
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Monica Attell, "Drunk Girl" (Artist asked me not to post the mp3)
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Gladshot, "All I Want Is You"
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Futile Searching

I just spent the last ten minutes looking online for an mp3 I wrote about already in December. I'm kind of bummed that it didn't come up on my search!

Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

*I know...only one song...I didn't find any other songs besides this one that grabbed me.*

Eleni Mandell, "It Wasn't The Time (It Was The Color)"

Yellow. It wasn't the time; it was the color. Green. Colors can trigger memories; sometimes a thing isn't remembered until a small component of that memory--say a color--is reintroduced. Red. Eleni Mandell gives us a few pictures from her life through the colors she retained from memories. White. One particular memory seems to dominate, though, and she wants the other person involved to remember. Gray. Maybe he'll think of the color of a dress she wore, and he'll remember how beautiful she looked in it (I'm just surmising; she never says what memories she hopes for.) Yellow again, when he "kissed [her] that day by the pizza place". Maybe the sign was yellow? Maybe she noticed the sunlight streaming by. Whatever produced the color created a link to her past. She says she "never felt so forgettable", but she's really hoping for the opposite: "One look, and he'll remember".

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Silver.

Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

**Show notes for Podcast ep 68 are in the post below this one, and some live videos are in the post below that one**

It's a bit of a short post this week--I just realized the second song I was going to write about isn't so free. I forgot I actually paid for it. Oot!
I've also posted some live videos in one of the posts before this one, and of course the podcast show notes.


Chris Bathgate, "Serpentine"

Quick! Listen to this song once without paying attention to the lyrics. Yes...now, isn't that relaxing? Such a pretty song...gentle humming vocals, rhythmic, sharp staccato piano--the repetitive notes capturing your attention, distracting you from whatever worries the world would otherwise bring you. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon by the lake...except...now pay attention to the lyrics. You start to sense the true theme of the song, and it's not hammocks and picnic tables. He puts the phrase "tired tarnish in [his] chest" in the same line as a mention of SARS. His "thoughts swirl in some shrill sad cannonade". He asks if his name stings someone's tongue. Ouch! The lyrics are brusque, abrasive, harsh and kind of a downer. But, if you really think about it--the staccato manner of the music fits this word clash. The meshing of non-fitting words in a lyric like "One brash phrase cut crush these fragile days" is complimented by the mash-up of stark piano and comparatively mellow vocals. If you want to go back to the way it was, before the lyrics sneaked into your brain, you could try. Lean back on the grass, look up at the blue, cloudless sky and drift...don't let the shock get ya though, when you wake up with a "spur caused [your] throat to creak". Ouch, indeed.


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Buy at eMusic


Photo by Jennifer Lapsley

Episode 68, My Homeboy Doesn't Need Your Drama

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The Danforths, "Scenester Ma Ma"
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Buy at Modern Radio

The Whip, "Dub Sex"
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Daniel Martin Moore, "Stray Age"
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Bell X1, "The Great Defector"
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The Sand Band, "The Secret Chord"
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Phoenix, "1901"
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Devotchka, "Undone"
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Priscilla Ahn, "Dream" (La Blogotheque, A Takeaway Show)

I posted this song on my blog over a year ago, but I never get tired of it.

Split Series Priscilla Ahn - Dream
by lablogotheque

Bloc Party, "This Modern Love", from La Blogotheque (A Takeaway Show)

La Blogotheque is such a great site.


Bloc Party, 'This Modern Love' - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Amanda Palmer, La Blogotheque (A Takeaway Show)

I don't know what's up with the crutches. The blog is in French. I can recognize enough French words to get the gist of the narrative, and I don't think they said anything about the crutches. Then again, I got the word for eux (them) and eyes (yeux) mixed up, so I'm not sure I really understood what the hell I was reading.


Amanda Palmer - Icarus (A Take Away Show) from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.


Amanda Palmer - Amsterdam (A Take Away Show) from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.