Spoon – Don’t You Evah

This song is great. It’s got eveything a rock song needs. Lots of drums, a great beat, the high pitched solo, and a great guitar sound. Excellent work.

Hey that’s the guitar my dad has, well almost. It looks like a black casino from here.

Spoon’s Last.FM blurb:
Spoon is an American indie rock band from Austin, Texas. The band was formed in 1994 by lead singer/guitarist Britt Daniel and drummer Jim Eno. Current members also include: Eric Harvey (keyboard, guitar, percussion, backing vocals) and Rob Pope (bass, backing vocals - replaced Joshua Zarbo in 2007).

Sonic Youth – The Diamond Sea

A somber little song i heard on Sirius XMU the other day (formerly Left of Center). If i like a song and i want to know more about it i head to songmeanings to analyze what i fail to piece together. Luckily there are some brains on there that like to do the difficult work for me. After the break is one commentors opinion of Sonic Youth’s little treasure.

Jeremybrendan @ songmeanings.net
09-16-2007   

I think that Thurston Moore may be talking about his good friend Kurt Cobain. I'm not sure when this song was released, but several lyrical couplets are telling in this regard:

"Time takes its crazy toll
and how does your mirror grow
you better watch yourself when you jump into it
'cause the mirror's gonna steal your soul"

I see this as an artist looking at themselves and trying to create an image, and then eventually buying into that image and believing that they are the image they built in their minds. Sort of like how Kurt became a rockstar junkie, because the artists he grew up listening to were drug addicts and larger than life in his eyes...

"I wonder how it came to be my friend
that someone just like you has come again
you'll never, never know how close you came
until you fall in love with the diamond rain "

I think they're talking about drugs at this point...It's hard to believe that anyone would subject themselves to traumatic drug abuse until they've actually done it..."Falling in love with the diamond rain" would then mean getting hooked on something...

"look into his eyes and you can see
why all the little kids are dressed in dreams
I wonder how he's gonna make it back
when he sees that you just know it's make-belief "

This is a pat on the head of their friend...If you look in Kurt's eyes, you can see the drive and beauty and determination to make his art, and the kids (ie. his fans) actually changed their dress code from designer etc. to flannel, changed their whole scene after watching him on MTV.

"time takes its crazy toll
mirror fallin' off the wall
you better look out for the looking glass girl
'cause she's gonna take you for a fall "

Kurt and Courtney ...the boy looking into the mirror and seeing the looking-glass girl, a reference to Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass...Curiouser and curiouser. Obviously, Kurt and Courtney were both junkies & also rock stars so I don't have to spell it out, do I?

Anyhow, maybe my reading is too literal but that is what I think Thurston was thinking of when he wrote the song. It could also be an exercise in generalities and things that rhyme...There is no way to be certain with these indie rock demigods.

Neil Young – Old Man

First off, just want to give a special thanks to Aquariumdrunkard for pointing me in the right direction of the legendary Neil Young. He had a post in December of “Don’t Let it Bring You Down.” The song is amazing. I’ve found a few more old amazing songs out there of his, but I feel this one everyone can relate to.

I’m so jealous that i don’t play guitar when i see footage like this. I own two guitars an Epiphone SG in cherry and a Gibson Firebird in Black and White with gold. It’s very sexy. I bought the SG in college to jam on, but i sucked. So i ended up inviting people over to play it for me and entertain me. It worked out well until he started impressing my girlfriends and going after them. And then i didn’t like him so much anymore. James…I had to kick him out of my room one night. It was kind of sad. I just couldn’t take it anymore. He was hitting on my xgf. Of course i was madly in love with her so these things can be expected when the other guy’s just looking to bone her :(.

I gave the SG to my dad and set it up in such a way that all he had to do was pick it up and play it if he ever wanted to. As it turns out for the past five years since i brought it home for him, he’s been playing it regularly. Pretty funny. Now he owns a Gibson Les Paul Sunbeam, (he bought the epiphone Casino and didn’t like the sound so returned it and bought the Gibson Casino in black and white. That’s all back in New Canaan, CT.

At my dad’s house in Cali he has an old Yamaha acoustic guitar. i tried playing that a lot in college, but it’s quite huge so i couldn’t really get used to it. I think thats what provoked me to get an electric guitar. I bought my second electric right after i moved out to Cali after college in 2005. The Firebird. It’s a beauty. I bought it on ebay for 900 bux. It’s got one little rub mark on it, like some piece of rubber mashed against it. It’s not even a dent or a scratch. It’s crazy. You have to really look for it. The thing plays incredibly. Everytime i meet someone who plays guitar I try to get them to play it haha.

Old man is a light and swimming song. It reminds me of so much. How similar everyone is. Not much has changed between now and the time of neanderthals. People still eat, sleep, live and die. It’s crazy. We’re all so concerned with being different and trying to stand out, and yet we’re all so very similar. In Young’s song he comes across as defensive, almost like a father and son relationship. It reminds me of Cat Stevens Father, Son.

Youngs voice is amazing. It’s so melodic, he could just be speaking the words, but we all want to moan and eww with him. That’s how powerful this song is, you really want to sing it out and share it with people which is exactly what Young does. He shouts it out with vigor.

Santana – Samba Pa Ti

Going back to what i’ve said about tone and a sense of understanding to the rhthym, this is another toon that sounds amazing and i can listen to over and over again and try to imagine what Sanatana was going through when he thought out the tale of this unsung hero. It starts out sad and dejected and then it comes up and starts roaring. Almost like a whole lifetime being revealed in these short minutes. Slow and peacefull like a crying baby and then we pass through the blissful days of youth, adolescence, and adulthood, and old age. For me it seems like it chronicles a whole lifetime in the short period of four and a half minutes. “Samba Pa Ti.”

Santana Last.FM blurb:
Santana was formed originally in 1966 in San Francisco, California. Originally named The Santana Blues Band, they rose to international fame when they headlined at the Woodstock festival in 1969. This led to their second studio album, Abraxas(1970), becoming a Latin-Rock standard and a huge critical and commercial success. Over the years their line-up has changed constantly, allowing them to evolve with the times.

p.s. Listening to Samba Pa Ti over and over again.

Ryan Adams – Wonderwall

I absolutely love this track. Ryan Adams’ cover is so good in fact that Left of Center has reported that Oasis now sings this song live the same way. I think thats got to be pretty unusual, probably even a first. It’s quiet, sad, depressing, caring, absolute, resolute, uplifting. I don’t even need to post lyrics, everyone knows them from this classic Oasis tune of the mid to late 90s, back when i didn’t even care for Oasis, back when i was too minded of what was in and cool. Girls liked Oasis and guys liked 311. It’s pretty silly, but that’s the world I lived in.

Adams’ Wonderwall takes me back to the romantic college days of Junior year, courting a Belgian girl (or rather obsessing over) and the sense of love i lost, and have been unable to regain since. It’s true, now i’m a grumpy 27 year old and no one knows why. At times it sounds like he’s crying when he’s singing, which brings me back to University of Richmond Jeter Hall room 212, I’d cry myself to sleep at night listening to depressing ass music deeply saddened that the one thing i had come to love and cherish could not find the same love in her own heart.

Luckily I’ve moved on, but I’m still riding solo. :)

Ryan Adams Last.FM blurb:
Ryan Adams (born David Ryan Adams on November 5, 1974) is analt-country and rock and roll singer-songwriter from Jacksonville, North Carolina.

p.s. Listening to Ryan Adams – The House is Not For Sale, Love is Hell.

Vampire Weekend – The Kids don’t Stand a Chance

I was reading on last.fm that everyone things Vampire Weekend wouldn’t exist if Ra Ra Riot had come out sooner, and i just had to disagree. I think Vampire Weekend uses some of the same instruments, but the sound is completely different. Vampire Weekend sounds like a rock band and Ra Ra Riot sounds like an acoustic ensemble. They feed different hungers in my own persona.

”Kids Don’t Stand a Chance” is a a sad but true song probably about college campus recruiters who come and show off their aquired bling through big business and try to lure creative young minds to join the force and continue to toil away day in and day out so that they can go home to sleep on a softer pillow. "Sled23" got it first.

Also checkout their A-Punk video on youtube. It’s flippin sweet yo!

Ra Ra Riot Last.FM blurb:
Vampire Weekend is an indie pop/rock band with Afro-pop influences. Bandmates Ezra Koenig(vocals, guitar), Rostam Batmanglij(keys & vox), Christopher Tomson(drums) and Chris Baio (bass) formed February 2006 in New York, NY.

p.s. Listening to Ra Ra Riot – Each Year, Vampire Weekend – A Punk.

Ra Ra Riot – Ghost Under Rocks

This song became popular in indie cultures right around Halloween when they started playing every song they could find that had anything to do with Halloween, in this case ghosts. Tegan and Sarah’s Ghost song also got a lot of play as well as a song called Halloween Head which was kind of funny, because i have no idea how you could come up with such a word. “Ghost Under Rocks” starts out slowly introducing each instrument guitar, violin plucking, drums & vocals. That’s one of the main things i like about this band is they use so many different sources to create a fun song. Their new album Rhumb Line has just been released go get that shit!

Ra Ra Riot Last.FM blurb:
Formed at Syracuse University in January 2006, Ra Ra Riot is an amorphous blob (read as: band) that consists of seven highly dedicated individuals, each bringing her/his own experiences as both people and musicians to the metaphorical table. Their most recent indie pop recording is The Rhumb Line on Barsuk records for which the band received a 4 star review in Rolling Stone and is on tour across the U.S beginning in the fall of 2008.

Kosheen – Resist

I’m not really sure why i have Kosheen on my iphone, but now that its there and i’ve heard this song, i’m really glad i do. I put all my “new music” on endless repeat this morning and this was one of the tracks that came up. Other tracks came up but they weren’t memorable i suppose. One track by cat stevens came up off his 3 disc box collection and i was 25 yards away upstairs dying for the song to end so i didn’t have to walk downstairs and change it. Then Resist came on and about four tracks later of decent tunes that i’ve heard dozens of times (black river killer) i still had to walk downstairs to backtrack and put it on again.

Resist is a soft electronic song. It’s got good cool rhythms, beats, and sounds unusual. It reminds me of Santogolds – Starstruck, which is harder and darker, whereas Resist makes me want to sing “you’re always talking, you’re out of control, you’re always talking” and starstruck just makes me wanna partay! Sian Evans has a great voice. I think you’ll like it.

Kosheen Last.FM blurb:
Kosheen are a Bristol-based trio formed in 1998. The band includes Sian Evans(vocals), Darren “Decoder” Beale and Markee “Substance” Morrison (both producing, mixing, guitars etc.).

You’ll notice i keep using songmeanings, because i love the idea that you can comment on someones song, when can you ever do that on a lyric site?

Glasvegas - Geraldine

I first heard this dynamite song on Left of Center at around 2am driving home from San Francisco to Monterey, the Sunday after thanksgiving. I’m only just now writing about it because a friend of mine relies on me for new tunes and told me yesterday when i told her to check this song out that i had told her to do that a month ago and that she owned the album already. I thought that was pretty cute and classic since i personally don’t own the album, but regularly listen to it on youtube. That night i kept rewinding the Sirius machine to hear this jam over and over again. Actually to be fair i usually let a lot of other songs play after a song i like, just to be sure i really like it. That night i heard other fun songs like Of Montreal’s “Id Engager” and Ra Ra Riot’s plethora of super-duper fantastico tracks (ghost under rocks, dying is fine, do you realize). Geraldine has a soulful approach that builds her up to a heavenly body or a guardian angel. It’s really can feel like a magnificent song. As it turns out the song is really a tribute to a woman named Geraldine that sells the bands merchandise and accompanies them to each show.

Glasvegas Last.FM blurb:
Formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 2006, the band is composed of James Allan (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rab Allan (lead guitar), Paul Donoghue (bass guitar) and Caroline McKay (drums). Their music is influenced by artists such as ‘Wall of Sound’ producer Phil Spector and other, more recent, bands which share that same aesthetic such as My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain.

The song starts out with a high guitar solo and in come the booming drums. Lots of girls will no doubt fall in love with the accent. I personally didn’t even notice it until someone on songmeanings pointed out the fact that he was Scottish. Honestly the only words i think i understood the first dozen times i heard this song were “I’ll be the angel on your shoulder, my name is Geraldine, i’m your social worker" and then something about “I see you, i love you too”. The song sounds just as strong now that i’v read the lyrics as it did when i didn’t understand it. It reminds me of opera and hearing Andre Bocelli belt out these ballads, in a foreign tongue, you can sense the depth of each song. We know from his voice, the music, and the tone what he’s trying to say. Because we’re so familiar with those tones in our everyday life. We know how anger sounds, we know how sadness sounds, we know how grief sounds, we know how pain sounds. That’s what i sensed in glasvegas, remorse, pain and suffering, and a calm gratefulness to the subject.

p.s. right now i’m listening to Kosheen – Resist.

The Power of Music

Last night I was cleaning shelves in ye old druggy store. An old classic by Bob Dylan snuck its way on the radio. The song is one of those rare gems that comes along and just knocks you off your feet. I like it most when i don’t hear it for a really long time and then suddenly it appears. I get goose bumps, the shivers, all of it. It’s amazing how a song can sound cool or powerful when heard the first time. I know for certain i was surprised when i heard Bob Dylan’s version as a kid. I thought it was a silly little acoustic version of the same song by Guns n Roses. I was just an uncultured listener then. Finally after years of listening, watching, and reading I’m able to accept the two versions as great in their own right. GNR use Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door to represent their own “living on the edge” lifestyle, whereas Dylan’s has meaning, vision, and purpose. Go watch Peckinpah’s “Pat Garret and Billy the Kid.” A beautiful film. It touches all senses. I get goose bumps just thinking about the movie. To this day I’m still in awe after the first time i saw it a few years ago. The scene where KOHD comes on is magnificent and terrible. Pat Garret requests the help of an old friend a sheriff in a quiet town. He knows Billy the Kid is coming for him and no one else will help. They hold up at a barn, just the two of them. Billy the Kid shows up with his posse and it all goes downhill. The old sheriff gets shot a dozen times. He exits the barn riddled with bullets, blood oozing out of his body. The sun is low and hot, reddish orange in color. The old sherriff kneels down and pulls of his badge, and unclips his gun. He is ready to go. His body hangs lifeless in a kneeling position. Honor, good, truth, and justice are knocking on heaven’s door. What good they did this man. You never know something like that is possible. There are so many films out there that are just movies. They were made to make money and that’s it. Peckinpah made films that will never be forgotten and Dylan wrote lyrical ballads that still shock us with their truth and insight today.