Blog of (Mostly) Independent Music
These are all songs found on free, legal music-sharing blogs; however, if you're a rights holder to a song and want it removed please e-mail me mailto:ceruleanlobster@yahoo.com . *Please* put "music" in the subject line. I have 6,000 + e-mails. Seriously. I have the Gmail account, too, but it has 11,000 emails. For reals.
I heard The Boxer Rebellion on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, one of the best new music podcasts out there. My favorite song of the set was "Flashing Red Light Means Go". I tried to find a free, legal mp3, but nothin'. The songs are available on Amazon mp3, though.
Diane Birch's Daytrotter Session (live, free, legal mp3s) Rolling Stone article Her Myspace (She links to her song "Rise Up" which is the free single of the week on iTunes)
I have never heard anyone sound so much like Carole King since, well, Carole King...
Elizabeth and the Catapults, "Taller Children" (The mp3 is labeled incorrectly. I listened to "Taller Children" on their Myspace, though, and it's the same song).
They are tall children indeed...almost as tall as those skyscrapers!
A song I've been obsessed with the last few days is "The Book of Love" by Peter Gabriel. I couldn't find a free, legal mp3, but here's a Youtube clip. Unfortunately I couldn't find an actual video. Just someone putting up lyrics. I heard the song on the season finale of Scrubs, and I just started crying. I've decided I'm either playing it as I walk down the aisle (if I ever get married) or it'll be the first dance. It's a Magnetic Fields cover. There's just something raw about Peter Gabriel's voice that scrapes out all of the heartwrecking emotion of the song.
*Podcast show notes are in the post before this one*
One of my favorite bands, The Shins, have begun touring again. They're playing a few new songs, but I haven't heard them yet. There's hopefully going to be a new album soon. They've changed their lineup. I don't know if that's for the good or the bad...we'll see...in the meantime, here are some of my most absolutely favorite of their songs:
"Kissing The Lipless", from Chutes Too Narrow
"The Past and the Pending", from Oh, Inverted World
"New Slang", from Oh, Inverted World
I couldn't find studio versions of "Those to Come" or "Know Your Onion!" on Youtube, "Know Your Onion" is on The Shins website. Go to their website and click on "media" for more videos (probably better quality than Youtube). Their Myspace also has some videos, also. Song-only for "Those To Come" is on Youtube, also.
I think I'm going to do a little less writing on this blog and stick mostly to posting music and doing my podcast. I'll still post every weekend like I have been doing for the last four years, but I started this blog to get myself back into writing. My ultimate dream in life (besides saving all the kitties, doggies and other animals from cruelty) is to write fantasy. It's been my dream since I was a kid. My b/f was supposed to make me a website that I could use as a portal for my music blog and writing. Anyways, I'm sure I'll coerce him into doing that at some point. I haven't written anything (save for half a short story that I lost once, had to rewrite and have lost again) in these four years, so I'm thinking I need to concentrate on that more. I'm still going to post music ('cause music is one of the other things that makes everything worth it), but I think I'm going to save my writing energy for my stories.
Coldplay has put their live album LeftRightLeftRightLeft for download, free, on their website. When you're signing up, if you don't want to receive e-mail, be sure to uncheck the box at the bottom. I didn't see it until the page was turning. I get too much spam already, danging.
Legitimate reasons I'm doing a podcast instead of a proper post:
1) I spent all of my time yesterday taking the bus to a movie theater, watching Star Trek (it is of teh awesomes!), eating at the fabulous Mellow Mushroom, taking a cab with Eric to his home-brew meeting at Bold City Brewery. I spent the entire evening at Bold City Brewery.
2) I spent today paying for my evening at Bold City Brewery, and I also spent the morning at my mother's (45 minutes to get there, 45 minutes to get back) and the afternoon walking to our favorite Japanese/Korean restaurant (1 mile and a half away) and then sullenly backtracking to one of our favorite Japanese restaurants (another 1/2 a mile) when we found out that the Korean/Japanese restaurant was inexplicably closed. Then we spent an hour at the restaurant.
So, what I'm saying is I haven't had time to pick a song to write about, much less write about it.
Illegitmate reason I'm doing a podcast instead of a proper post:
A band of Lilliputian My Little Ponies tied my wrists and ankles down and wouldn't let me go until they received their ransom demand of 12 Barbie Mobiles. Thank God for Ebay.
(I realize I only posted one song. It would technically be "song that might otherwise pass you by". Oh well. The world still rotates, despite my obvious grammatical trespass...)
I wouldn't expect to like a song by a band named "Suckers". I figured it would be some kind of scream-o, juvenile, whiny crap. Instead, I'm happily surprised. As a child of the 80's, I can't help but draw comparisons to the era, the age, of the New Wave. I know--if you've read my blog before, you've probably been witness to my rapturous descents into 80's glorification. Well, suck on it. I love that music. It's my life-raft when life gets sucky. And while, I'm sure the members of Suckers were probably only reflections in their mothers' glitter eyeshadow during my late, great early 80's, their music sure hearkens to it. I hear a strong overlay of Talk Talk in here (famous for the songs "Talk Talk" and "It's My Life"), with a little Haircut 100 and short bursts of "I Want Candy" (a song crafted out of grains of pure golden sand). For those whose exposure to 80's music doesn't travel much farther than Whitney Houston and Poison, please understand: I mean this as a compliment. The 80's songs that stand the test of time were perfect gems. They were whole pop-worlds unto themselves: well-crafted, self-contained and each with its own unique identity. With the glut of screamo, bland regurgitation gestating in the current musical crop, a song with personality, style and a little humor (keyboards are always kind of funny) is sure to catch my attention.
You, Me and Iowa, "Dress The Stage" (I originally got this from IODA Promonet, but the link wasn't working. Instead, I found a download on Last.FM) Website Myspace Buy at Amazon Lots of free downloads for this band on their Last.FM site
