Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

In-Flight Safety, "Actors" (MP3 courtesy of their promo company)

Buoyed by silky sound reminiscent of the 80's New Romantics (Spandau Ballet and Roxy Music come to mind), it would be easy to blithely coast on the safe, warm feeling one might get on first listen to this song. However, if you listen to the lyrics (which some people don't...ignorance is bliss...), you will realize that coasting is not what this song is about. For all the seeming romanticism of the song, the lyrics are really about a small, very personal romantic death--the death of a self-made fantasy. It's about finally looking around and seeing that everyone is faking it--the world is conspiring in a gigantic web of delusion. You're the only one who sees the self-deception. Are you ready to perceive the world as it is, or will you willfully keep playing along, knowing it's a ruse? Will you stop being a pawn and start being a participant? Are you capable of being yourself? If you aren't, then you may have no choice other than to keep playing along.

Website
Myspace
(Thanks to Largehearted Boy for directing me to the mp3)
"Actors" video


The Secret Society of Unknown Officers from Unknown Branches of Service


Neko Case, "People Got a Lotta Nerve"

I recoil anytime I hear about an animal being hurt. I will jump at the chance to do something to help end the torture. This time I didn't have to jump far--the opportunity is right here. Featuring this song wasn't a particularly difficult decision, anyway--I've been a fan of Neko Case for years. She embodies the sauciness, the determination and the fiery personality of the older generation of women country singers--Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and a little Dusty Springfield (ya can't get more country than being in love with the son of a preacher man). The fire and the determination is firmly in place here: anger over severe mistreatment of animals is the fuel running this song. The lyrics explicitly state the situation these animals are in--to the point where I can't pay attention to the lyrics closely, or else I might break down a little. Innocence isn't bliss in this case, but I need to tune out the lyrics to save my sanity. How she can sing the lyrics over and over is a mystery to me--that's part of that fiery determination. She'll keep singing until the cruelty stops.

Learn how to help the Best Friends Animal Society just by liking this song and this artist.
Best Friends Animal Society
Neko's website
Neko's Myspace



This look says "You better not hurt any animals. I'll come after you".

Amanda French, "All My Internet Friends"

When I first heard this song, I really thought it was an old Joan Baez or Judy Collins song. Then I was all "Wait. Is she talking about a board meeting? How very Mad Men!" Then the lyrics got more prescient: Sarah Palin getting smacked down? Sarah Palin was barely a travesty waiting to happen in the 60's. How could a 60's folk singer know all this? Could I be listening to the Nostradamus and the Papas? (Pause for laughter). Then I remembered I was listening to Buzz Out Loud, the most culturally savvy tech podcast I subscribe to (that ain't saying much, folks--tech podcasts aren't known for being culturally savvy. Some of the tech pundits I listen to still think "Max Headroom" is on the air.) Then I realized it must be a modern take on those old folk songs. Amanda French mimics the style well. She's got the trilly, meandering, vulnerable vocal delivery of Judy Collins. The guitar isn't showy and adds a good backdrop to her vocals. There isn't a lot of clutter here: No overpowering electric guitar solos, no keyboards, no heavy drum beats. For a song about tech, it's very untechy. This seeming disparity adds to the dichotomy: The subject of the song is completely at odds with the style of the music (unless you can picture Joni Mitchell with an iPhone...iPod maybe...probably a Nano or a Shuffle), but this is what makes the song interesting. If it were just a neo-folk song it might get lost in the coffee shop clutter. If it were overly electronic it probably wouldn't appeal to me (unless it were more 80's New Wave synth than Techno). This marries two parts of my personality: the Folky Bohemian who's waiting on her HTC Fuze to come in the mail (it better get here soon).


Website (with lyrics)
Myspace


Amanda French strikes the folk-singer pose

Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

(Podcast show notes are in the post before this one)

Padre Pio, "Madeline"

The Fanatic Promotions bio for Padre Pio is not being hyperbolic when they call this music "Roxy Music-esque". If I didn't know who this was, I would swear it was a long-lost Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry recording. David Mosey's singing is pleading without being pathetic. It's passionate and romantic--the kind of voice that made young New Wavers in the 80's swoon (not talking about me, or anything...). Of course when you start picking apart the lyrics, it's a little less ideally romantic. As you listen to the song, you realize he's comparing Madeline to a holy figure...if your religion is cheap sex. She's the Mary in the Church of Las Vegas. She accepts "communion under {her] red skirt". He tells her to be aware, though, because her "church is burning". There's a true sadness in the line "He reminds you of dad, so you're going home with him tonight." Like any good romantic poet, Mosey sees the truth and the tragedy all as aspects of a greater romantic story. One of the values of bands like Padre Pio, Roxy Music and Something For Rockets (another nouveau New Wave band) is that they can find the beautiful, the romantic and the yearning in even "questionable" places. Even Madeline, as she's accepting her flesh communion, needs someone to appreciate her as a person.

(No website listed)
Myspace


The cover for The Madeline EP

Johann Johannson, "The Rocket Builder"

It's fitting that this song was created in Iceland. Like Iceland, this song has many depths that rise to many plateaus. It starts off hesitantly, as if it's testing its feet on the ice to make sure it's steady. It builds confidence, and the strings begin to move more fluidly, developing a cohesive, and uninterrupted melody. Then a second part takes over, creating a winterscape plateau of bell sounds, slightly hushed so as not to rattle the ice. But then a loud crashing barges in, like a giant's footsteps. The whole topography threatens to go. Tension seizes the songs as all three characters vie for dominance. The song is courting an avalanche. The three parts begin to twist and intertwine, and the snap seems inevitable, but soon the giant's footsteps tread away and the strings gently lead us out.

Website
Myspace
The description Johannson gives of this song is fascinating


Johann Johannsson actually looks like a guy who would read Guidelines For A Propulsion Device Based On Heim's Quantum Theory (which also happens to be the sub-title of the 10th song on his album, Fordlandia)


Ian McGlynn, "Memorial Day Parade"

This is Pop in the best possible sense. The way pop music's supposed to be. It's buoyant, but it's not treacly. It's not false (though he does sing part of the song in falsetto). The piano is as beautiful as anything Alicia Keys does on the radio, yet for some reason he doesn't have her exposure (er, well, he could wear her clothes, then he would have her exposure...but that would perhaps turn awkward.) The music is light-hearted, but not overly frothy. I feel a little lighter as I'm listening to it...a little less burdened. Good pop music is supposed to do that. Bad pop music makes you feel like you have indigestion. Like you ate Taco Bell three times in a row.

Website
Myspace
His blog


C'mon...give Scarecrow a hug. You know you wanna!

Episode 62, Dancin' The Jig of Slurs

Podcast Page
Direct Link
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Padre Pio, "Common Day"
Myspace

The Great Outdoors, "Under The Sun" (The artist gave me permission to post this. This link only lasts 7 days)
Website
Myspace

NQ Arbuckle, "Postcard From Princess" (The label gave me permission to post the song. The link will only work for 7 days)
Website
Myspace

Whitley, "The Piece"
Website
Myspace

Gin, "These Roses"
Website
Myspace

Jane Vain and The Dark Matter, "C'mon Baby Say Bang Bang" (thanks to Fingertips)
Website
Myspace

Lali Puna, "Fast Forward (Flowchart Remix)" (Once you get t the page, left click on "download")
Website
Myspace

The Break and Repair Method, "You Won't Be Able To Be Sad"
Website
Myspace

Tannahill Weavers, "Geese in the Bog/The Jig of Slurs"
Website
Myspace

Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

Shoot Yer Wads, "The Shoot Yer Wads Anthem"

Okay, I'm just trying to figure out if I can play this at work. As long as I don't scream the name of the song, I should be okay. Well, then again the chorus is "shoot yer wads". Maybe I should play it quietly. You can't really tell what lyrics like "purple helmut" and "the full salute" are referring to, can you? Oh, you can? Huh. I guess it's not as veiled as I think. Ha ha! "Veiled"! Get it? Like "hooded". Hee hee. I just want to dance to this song. I love any song that refers to traveling the galaxy, regardless of the otherwise "dirty" nature of the song. I might put this on my podcast next week, too.

(No website listed)
Myspace


Shoot Yer Wads has wads...of hair.


Elizabeth Willis, "4 A.M." (Zip File)

Elizabeth Willis' classical training is on display in this song: the violin is absolutely gorgeous. It dances around and shimmies through the equally gorgeous vocals. Her voice is also as professionally polished. The command she holds is only obtained through years of study and practice. This ain't a girl who's been singing into a hairbrush the whole time. Elizabeth is truly a musical master: she composes these beautiful hybrids of classical and modern pieces and plays most of the instruments. She also shows a business acumen which may be the catalyst to a truly successful career. She's set up a publishing company under her name and a record company called Little Blackbird Records, LLC. This is a woman who not only knows how to control her music, but also her direction. It's that type of discipline that aids not only her music, but will set the stage for a longlasting and fruitful career.

Website
Myspace


Elizabeth Willis is ready for the expedition

Little Joy, "No One's Better Sake"

I've missed The Strokes for a long time now. I was a total convert when their debut came out. Their releases since them have been few and far between, but that doesn't mean they're gone. Albert Hammond Jr. has been releasing albums, and most recently, the drummer, Fabrizio Moretti has collaborated with two other musicians to record the self-titled album Little Joy. Though only 1/3rd Stroke, the vocals in this song are reminiscent of the hazy, loungy stylings of The Strokes. Well, a Ska version of The Strokes. The Bossa Nova influence of band member Rodrigo Amarante is in play also. His band Los Herminos plays Brazilian Bossa Nova. Their song "Alem do que se ve" has the same sense of joy (big joy, too--not little) and brashness. Whatever the Brazilian is for "Joy de Vivre", that's what they share.

(No website listed)
Myspace


No. It is not at all evident from this photo that Rodrigo Amarante, Binki Shapiro and Fabrizio Moretti got the name Little Joy from a bar. (Photo by Autumn de Wilde).

Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

(Podcast show notes are in the post before this one)

Denison Witmer, "Life Before Aesthetics" (Thanks to Largehearted Boy for the link)

Oh good. Denison Witmer already acknowledges that his music reflects such songwriters as Jackson Browne, Carole King, and I would say Dan Fogelburg (though his bio doesn't mention that artist). I grew up listening to that music, and that music makes up a good portion of the fabric of my being. I already have a special affinity for folk singers, which is why I took to this song so quickly. I hear the optimism integral to those older songs, but like earlier singer-songwriters, Witmer doesn't infuse false optimism or fake sentiment into his songs. It's honest optimism--something that can seem like an oxymoron in this day, but it doesn't have to be. He's more interested in truly felt experiences than soundbites: He'd rather watch "the mountains in the spring" and "hear the oceans as they sing". He "wades into the sound as if [he] never drowned..." Innocence isn't never having experienced anything. It's carrying on without the weight of pain.

Website
Myspace


Denison Witmer is in a hurry to experience life


Whitely, "All I Wanted" (Not a direct link--goes to Whitely's Daytrotter page)

Whitely is a young man...22 years old. However, from this song, you'd think the man had experienced lifetimes. Lifetimes of loss, it seems. His father "trembled" and is "dead and gone", and with it, his home. The singer was a soldier "who hadn't killed yet". His "gun was clean". That imagery speaks powerfully to innocence on the verge of being lost. His friend, a soldier also, is "dead and gone". Alot of death in this person's life...He (presumably metaphorically) kills his first love. He's "running, blood on [his] hands," but he doesn't want to run--all he "ever wanted was a home". If I met this person, I would wish him luck in this endeavor. Everyone needs a home. Not just the lyrics are traumatizing: the way in which he sings these sad lyrics is equally as moving. There's a trembling to his singing and to his guitar picking. His voice sounds weathered, labored. Tired. Though the situations are most likely metaphorical (I doubt he actually did go to war), I can hear the fear, the remorse, and the sense of loss in his voice. I think his point is that we're all soldiers, trampling through this life, looking for peace and salvation.

Website
Myspace


Whitely is a young old man


Crooked Fingers, "Crowned in Chrome" (Not a direct link--leads to their Daytrotter page. And actually, looking at their website, I'm realizing this is not a new song. This song is actually 8 years old. Oh well. It's retro!)

This song is as tense as a tightwire. From the terse plucks of the guitar, to the sneaking, quietly disquieting voice, to the beautifully manic violin, this song wears the veil of calming beauty, but undearneath is the roiling fire of the earth at its beginning. No cover of niceties. Perhaps that's most evident from the lyrics: he says he "took a ride in the wrong direction", went "down into a twisted dark dissension". He also seems to be courting this despair: he's "shaking with the hand that wants to cheat him". These are the words of a person who is in between two states of being: that of victim and of victor. He's trying to cut these ties; cut the tension. He's trying to unbind himself: "Darknesss froze as all the hooks got disconnected". He won't come out unscathed, though: tension leaves its mark. You can't come out of a personal hell without scars and burns, particulary when you've been "butchered underneath a broken light". Ow. I think I need to go listen to the first two songs as a chaser.

Website
Myspace


Crooked Fingers send one guy out ahead to study this curious thing called "camera"

Episode 61, The Wicket and the Wishful

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Theme Music! Brazilian Girls, "Good Time" (Diplo Remix)
Website
Myspace

Dan Bodin, "Radioactive Werewolf" (Artist gave me permission to link to the album download)
Website
Myspace
Buy at CDBaby

Paper Route, "Sing You To Sleep" (Not a direct link)
Website
Myspace

Wintermitts, "Schoolyard"
Website
Myspace

Handsome Furs, "Cannot Get Started"
Website
Myspace

The Acorn, "Crooked Legs" (Thanks to Fingertips for the link)
Website
Myspace

Reid Jamieson, "The Last Day of the Year" (Not a direct link)
Website
Myspace


I Led 3 Lives, "House of Ahmet"
Website
Myspace

No Age, "Eraser"
Website
Myspace

Jay Jay Pistolet, "Oh Caroline" (The label sent me the link via Yousendit, so I'm not sure if they wanted me to post the song).
No website listed
Myspace

Max Justus, "Ctrl Alt Dance"
Website
Myspace

Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

Neeley Bridges, "Damage" (Sendfile Link) (The artist gave me permission to post her song).

I just want to climb inside this woman's voice and nestle there. No need to wake me. Her voice is the equivalent of getting a pillow from an angel. I'm not exaggerating (though I've never gotten a pillow from an angel. In fact one of my pillows is suffering from stuffing-loss). I hear so many emotions and conflicting feelings in her voice, and this serves the emotional complexity of this song perfectly. As sweet as her voice is, there's trauma and doubt, too. The name of Neeley's album is Devil On My Shoulder, and she does not shy away from the ways in which we sabotage and mistreat ourselves. Parallel to the pain, though, we also find redemption. In this song, she offers to take someone's burden, and pack it on her back with her own. She believe she is capable of taking this on: She'll "answer anything that [she's] thrown". The power of her conviction is evident. She says she doesn't think "anyone should be alone". She almost pleads with the person to "leave the damage" to her: She will find a way to break it down, to dispel "the shadow of doubt". Maybe in this case, the devil is on the other person's shoulder, telling the person that there is no help. There is no relief. The singer is working hard to defeat that devil, which is even harder to do when it's not your own.

Website
Myspace
Neeley's Wordpress Blog


I'm telling ya...like a pillow from an angel...(no, that's not creepy! Why are you saying that's creepy?)


Plus Minus, "Snowblind"

As part of my new job, we're having to do all these team building exercises. Yes, it is fun. Anyhoo, one of the exercises was determining how to survive in a snowstorm. We had to answer questions as a group, making the best decisions for survival. One of the questions was "You find yourself in an avalanche. You ride it out and you realize that it's slowing down, though it hasn't stopped yet. What do you do? Do you start digging yourself out, or do you ride it out until the snow has settled?" I said to ride it out because when the snow is swirling all around you, you don't know which way is which, you don't know if you're right beside a precipice, you don't know if there are branches caught up with you that could scratch you. You just don't know what's around you--it seems safer to wait until you can get your bearings. I think the person in this song feels like this. The dam has broken. Floodgates flooding. According to the singer, everything that upsets the person is "overwhelming everything you see". The person is "snow blind", in a "sandstorm haze". The singer observes that "There’s nothing to connect to" as the avalanche descends. The storm may be a "near-miss" but it overtakes the person just the same. Anyone who's ever felt like they're in an avalanche knows that when you're in it, you can't tell how severe it is. It's too easy to lose your bearings and your sense of judgement. Which is why I would opt to ride the storm out instead of fight it. Well, turns out I would be wrong. According to the survival thingy, you're supposed to start climbing out as soon as you can. Whatever. I'd be so dead anyway.

Website
Myspace
Plus/Minus lyrics



but...where's Ringo? He's in the next picture, afterall...
























Seabellies, "Drain The Lake"

Damn! Damn!!! I've been sitting here for ten minutes trying to find the perfect thing to say about this song. You know--something succinct and poetic, yet utterly accurate. No fluffy, pointless language. Every word enhances the other word. A perfect paraphrasing of the sound and the meaning of the song. Well, it turns out someone has already given the most perfect description of their sound. On the band's Myspace is a quote from Beat Magazine: "Seabellies have shades of Arcade Fire about them – fevered pop with a fierce romantic heart".

"Fevered pop with a fierce romantic heart". Yes, I shamefully admit that that is perfect, and I did not write it. That's exactly what I would have written, though, if I'd thought of it first. Maybe I can go back in time and think of it first. Or maybe I'll just "writer-up" and try to think of something myself. Okay, here goes:

In this song, I hear a longing for our natural state of being to be returned to us. Our instincts, our peace, our strength should be restored. Our strength doesn't come from industry; as the song details in a fabled future where we do reclaim ourselves: "Folks grew strong as their buildings fell down". In our preferred state of being, serenity is judged by how long the "starlight takes to reach our eyes". The earth also reclaimed her territory: "The forests grew between the pavement cracks". We've ceased hurting not only ourselves, but our home as well. In the song's vision for us, "our histories went with the waterline", but I don't believe we went underwater. In this possible reality, I think we will shed our past and become only ourselves. The context of our former daily lives' will be gone, but we will have our relationships to ourselves and each other, instead of the daily patterns that have demoralized us and chained us.

Their Mp3.com Australia Site
Myspace
Lyrics


Seabellies would like to send out the message that bookstore chic is still cool

Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

Blitzen Trapper, "Furr"

This is one of those songs that epitomizes the area from which it hails. While I've never been further west than New Mexico, and I've barely touched the world above the Mason-Dixon line, this song calls to mind my impressions of the snowy Northwest: Crisp, untethered, and maybe a little remote, though in the singer's case, the remoteness isn't just a matter of geography: He's wild, untamable. He's a "rattlesnake", and if you "get him, don't be afraid of what you learn". He confesses he doesn't understand the world of people, but rather feels comfortable in the world of animals. Even after trading his fur for skin again, he "still dream[s} of running careless through the snow". I'm not sure why he went back to the world of people. Listening to this song, and despite the cold, I'd prefer to be with the furred ones.

Website
Myspace
Lyrics


Well, I don't know...they all seem to be assimilated to human life...

Portico, "Sincerely"

Wow. I know a lot of people who have felt like this before, myself included. Not since Alanis and her Jagged Little Pill have I heard a singer portray feeling romantically betrayed so succinctly, and with such determination. The hair on my neck stood up. My muscles tensed. And then I said "Yeah. You do it! Make him pay!" and then I degenerated into blindly goading her along. I think I might have foamed at the mouth a little. When she says "I'm going to leave you crying, but with so much style, you'll be forced to resent all the cruel things you said", I felt like she expressed something I've thought before. She took an incoherent feeling and cohered it. Most people reading this have been in the position where you just want someone to pay. You want them to feel the pain they put on you. Ain't nothin' wrong with a pure revenge song; afterall, it's a valid emotion. Maybe not always the clearest or purest, but it's very real. The best way to work through it is to write a song that cuts to the core of it. Then if you still feel vengeful afterward, that's when you go to Plan B.

Website
Myspace


Portico are getting their feet wet (literally)


School of Seven Bells, "Iamundernodisguise"

Sigh...this song does not hide under guises. It is blatant, blazing, forceful and absolutely hypnotizing. In fact, I'm quite sure it would set any disguise it tried to wear on fire. The
music is driving, intense. The singers' beautiful voices blend and intertwine, climbing the scales like they're pulling an imaginary vine. Their voices are a Rorschach pattern in audio--seemingly hallucinogenic, but surprisingly of-this-world.

Label Site
Myspace


No, you are not looking at a double image. These are twin sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza and ex-Secret Machines guitarist Benjamin Curtis.

Episode 60, Happy Holiday Wishes

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Theme Music! Brazilian Girls, "Good Time" (Diplo Remix)
Website
Myspace

Deer Tracks, "Christmas Fire"
Label Site
Myspace

State Bird, "The Bright July Night" (The song downloaded with the title "4th of July", which is why I said it was called "4th of July" in the podcast.)
Website
Myspace

Plajia, "Dummy"
Website
Myspace
Buy their CD or mp3s here

French Kicks, " Abandon"
Website
Myspace

President of the United States, "Sharpen Up Those Fangs"
Website
Myspace
Buy at iTunes

Waves On Waves, "Secret Language"
Website
Myspace
iTunes store

Sam Billen, "The First Noel"
Website
Myspace

Tycho, "The Daydream"
Website
Myspace

Dustin O'Halloran, "Opus 23" (For some reason the link isn't working anymore, but I got it from their label)
Website
Myspace

Instead of my normal blog post, I did another podcast. I love podcasting.

Sigh...okay, well, instead of doing a full post this weekend, I decided just to make a podcast. Not to diminish my podcasts. I love my podcasts. They're actually the most fun part of this here blog. It's not overtly taxing, either, which is why I did a podcast today instead of a blog post. I've had a crappy weekend. You know how sometimes you're already tired and someone says something to you that sends you over the edge, and next thing you know you're throwing a fit, crying, etc. Okay, so maybe you don't know that. I do. That was my day today. Hopefully I'll get a regular blog post up next weekend.

Podcast Page
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Michael Zapruder, "Happy New Year"
Website
Myspace

Frightened Rabbit, "Poke" (Live. Not a direct link; takes you to the download page)
Website
Myspace

The Heavy, "Set me Free" (I couldn't get this song to download correctly through Firefox. I had to turn on Internet Explorer. For some reason, only a few KBs would download when I used Firefox--I tried a few times).
Website
Myspace

Mercury Rev, "Senses on Fire"
Website
Myspace

MGMT, "Time To Pretend"
Website

Dub Pistols, "Rapture"
Website
Myspace

Thailand, "Favorite Sun"
(No website listed)
Myspace

Steve Goldberg & The Arch Enemies, "Summer's Ending" (Thanks to Fanatic Promotions for sending me the mp3 originally...though I can't find that link anymore)
Website
Myspace
More mp3s