There’s no rhyme or reason as to how songs end up in my regular rotation. I hardly even knew that this song even existed for the last couple of years, and probably only heard it once previously (when Eminem performed it on awards show) but all of a sudden in the last couple weeks, I’ve GOT TO listen to it at least once every time I go to the gym. There’s a lot of anger here bordering on felonious passion, it’s what Eminem does best after all but the entirety of the song is compelling with an acoustic guitar hook, and Rihanna adding the chorus. Hey, it took me about eight years to get around to watching “8 Mile” so I guess I’m consistently late to the party.
The blog’s had way too many blank spots lately. Too little time to listen to tunes and sit in front of my computer means that I must be doing something more productive with my free time. That something is coaching Little League. It’s great overseeing a jumble of kids learning how to play baseball, and although I rather enjoy that I manage to get a daily song posted more often than not, being on a field with a bunch of preteens a few nights of the week is a pretty fun gig. It’s amazing how ravenously hungry and tired a person can get just from screaming at /vociferously encouraging a gaggle of 11 year olds. By the time I get home, sustenance and zzzz’s are usually all I can think about. And so, the blog lays unattended on many-a Little League night.
It was sunny on the way to practice yesterday, all of the windows were down and Clarence Greenwood was giving the speakers a work out. Citizen Cope is in my top 5 go-to artists when I don’t want to think too hard about what to press “play” on. I’ve seen him once and to be critically honest, the set wasn’t as good as I expected. Cope gets into those elongated grooves and while he sounds good, it kind of dilutes his strong lyrics and Occupied brand of blues. The other thing which kind of buzz killed it for me was the fact that he was apparently refreshing his. I’m not one to begrudge a man in need of his vice; it’s just that I wish they had passed the pipe a little faster.
Brett Dennen’s cover of Citizen Cope is a solid rendition of a nice song. I had a comfortable seat in the Dennen band wagon about five years ago, right along with everyone else who seemed to be practically proclaiming him as some kind of Red Headed Jesus. I listened a little too much until I finally couldn’t handle another serving and have been further swayed away by a couple of friends who were less than impressed with him in concert. However, if he’s going to play a Citizen Cope song and have a nice moment with it, I guess I’d better take heed.
I’m perusing the line up of bands that will be in Ballard this coming Friday night as I want to partake in the KEXP hosted activities which are part of the station’s Hood to Hood Challenge.
Tiny Messengers are kind of interesting, not sure that I love ‘em, but there’s enough to like to make me want to go to Conor Byrne and check them out. Kind of interesting with a bunch of banjo, and then some steel coming in to add some texture. It’s kind of a honky tonk, blue grass thing, but then they swapped out the two or three other country fellas that would be pickin’ a guitar on a Nashville made album and replaced it with some synth. Capsulized, they sound like something that you can’t really typify which can be summed up as, typical Seattle.
I wonder if Rosetta Stone offers lessons in Volenska. I need to learn the sequence of murmurs, squeaks, and blips that convey the pathetic whining that I need to release for not getting in line fast enough to get tickets for Sigur Rós at the Paramount. That’s all I’ve got for tonight.
I’m counting on The Lumineers being one of my favorite shows of the year. They’ll be here in Seattle in late July to play the Capitol Hill Block Party and as things stand now with what I’m listening to the most, and who I can foresee visiting in the next seven months, I don’t want to see anyone in 2012 as much I want to see The Lumineers.
Although the Block Party schedule has not been set yet, it looks like The Lumineers will be walking on to the mainstage on Sunday night. I’m pretty much a weenie with festivals, and attending for multiple days, but the Block Party line up is pretty darned stacked, so maybe if I space it out, attend Friday night, rest up on Saturday, then come back down on Sunday I will get my fill without being too full. Yeah, the more I think about that, I should try and pull off a weekend double as I’m probably going to pass on Bumbershoot this year.
1,2,3 I belong with you, you belong with me you’re my sweetheart
I belong with you, you belong with me you’re my sweet (Ho!)
This song sounds like a lazy summer day. It ain’t summer yet but when I see in my five day forecast that it’ll be 80 degrees in my very near future, my thoughts go towards whimsy and carefree. Did Alex really drop the word turds in the middle of this song?
May a summer vibe wash over your being sometime soon, and if it does make sure that you’re accompanied by a fitting soundtrack.
Just sitting around listening to some blues tonight while perusing the Bumbershoot line up which was announced this morning.
Saturday looks solid. I would love to see Jane’s Addiction. I’ve seen The Heavy and Damien Jurado and would be down to check ‘em out again. Sera Cahoone, TheeSatisfaction, and M. Ward are the others on the schedule that make Saturday look attractive.
There’s nothing that makes Monday a day that I have to attend. M83 would be cool, I’m decidedly not a fan of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and The Vaselines would be fun.
Guess that makes Sunday the day for me. Tony Bennett on the main stage will be a great show and super fun just to check out what I’m sure will be a very diverse crowd. Blitzen Trapper does nothing but churn out great music. Wanda Jackson & The Dusty 45′s, The Young Evils, Mudhoney, and Karen Lovely give me lots of quality choices. And then of course, the cool thing about Bumbershoot for a music lover like myself is that if I can’t get into a venue to see one of my top choices, I can just walk in on something that I know not a lick about. The ticket prices at Bumbershoot keep on going up but there still is a lot of value there if you’re not genre and marquee oriented. I really had no intentions on sitting in on Leon Russell last year but am I ever glad that I did. I saw 40+ band play live last year and Russell and his guys put on the best show that I saw of all of those acts.
Yeah, I’ll take some Karen Lovely and if not, maybe The Ty Curtis Band will be good.
Big loss last week with the passing of MCA. I’m not really one to create and maintain bucket lists but if I was into that sort of thing, a Beastie Boys show would definitely be on the list. It never happened for me, and although I’m sure that his bros will keep on making music and rolling it out live for their fans, I missed out on the real deal.
The Beasties shape shifted a genre into something that I’m sure the pioneers of hip hop never envisioned. White guys, Jewish white guys at that, rappin’, layering it over rock and roll guitars and samples, crunk as hell, they did stuff that hadn’t been tried yet when they busted onto the scene in the mid-80′s, and as far as that goes no one has come close to delivering a similar sound since then.
The Wedding Present is one of those types of bands that I pretty much dig if I just plug them in and hit play but I don’t think that I ever need to see them live. In fact, if I do, I might end up not liking them. Kind of like The Shins. I used to listen to The Shins, probably a little more than the average/casual Shins fan but then I went to see them live and it was pretty much all over. If I try to unblock the memories, I think they sounded okay but they were so statuesque and standing-still-in-the-studio boring that I almost couldn’t even listen to them after I saw them in concert. I’m definitely judging, and under informed as to The Wedding Present’s live persona but I’ve just got a feeling. Am I wrong? Has anyone seen them live?
I ended up at Live From Daryl’s House the other day when I was constructing my Grace Potter post. What a great format for listening to professional musicians talk about and make music. I love the between song banter about the subtle little things that Hall, his House band, and his guests want to do during songs.
In this song, the out of tune keys, and encouraging Company of Thieves guitarist Marc Walloch to solo were neat little elements of the song that I would have heard (even if I hadn’t heard the pre-song talk) but wouldn’t have really heard, as if they were little tweaks put into place to give the song a little extra something. I saw Company of Thieves last December and gushed about them on this here blog shortly thereafter. Genevieve Schatz is one of the best female vocalists and fronts in rock and roll and far too many people don’t even know that she exists. Go looking for this band’s music wherever you can find it. If you’re a rock and roller and want to hear a young gal with a passionate rock and roll voice, backed by a stellar band, and excellent guitar work, Company of Thieves is ready to entertain you.
And, of course check out LFDH. Don’t worry no one will ever know that you have copies of “Voices” in every format known to man, you’re still a cool kid, or a cool 40-something. I love listening to people who’ve been in the pop and rock music biz like Jimmy Iovine and Daryl Hall talk about the craft of making music that people want to listen to. For a non-musician, music lover like myself, it’s fascinating stuff.
Don’t try mixing the Mint Juleps and Margaritas tomorrow, your Sunday morning activities won’t appreciate it.
