How did Marky Mark become Marky Mark?

The answer is here, in the greatest thing ever recorded for eternity on video.

Death Cab for Cutie - Cath

Let's get one thing straight - I am not a fan of emo. That being said, there are some bands, songs, singers, that produce quality music. I don't think you have to embrace the whole ethos around this genre to appreciate some of what is produced. In some ways, isn't this just the extension of rock/pop for a different genereation? I am beginning to come around to Death Cab after a long standing stance against them.

The Lemonheads - Alison's Starting To Happen

Ahh.... the 90's. It's A Shame About Ray was the breakthrough album for The Lemonheads... the one that put Evan Dando on the cover of Tiger Beat and every other teen fan magazine. I think they're a pretty underrated band from that era, probably due to Dando's slacker-stoner-heartthrob image. All I know is he had/has a sweet voice and wrote great songs. They were also one of my earliest concert experiences. Lots of pogoing...

The Walkmen - On The Water

I guess it's been about a year since I bought this album (You and Me) and I'm still going back to it on a regular basis. Here's their new video for "On The Water," a song that didn't stand out at first but one that definitely grew on me after a few listens. The video fits the spooky vintage sound of the song well and gets me thinking about carving pumpkins, Watership Down, and hunting waskawy wabbits...

Songwriters

I remember the first time lyrics appealed to me that weren't directly political (i.e. not Dead Kennedys, Millions of Dead Cops, Reagan Youth, etc.). They were those of Dave Lowery of Cracker, whom I discovered before I knew Camper Van Beethoven. I wasn't much into the burgeoning "indie" scene growing up. I didn't like Sebadoh, I hated (still do) Pavement. Didn't like Weezer. (And besides, The Connells, whom I did like, should have gotten credit for starting emo, along with Rites of Spring.) But I was a huge Babes in Toyland fan, and so the first episode of 120 Minutes I ever saw was to see Kat Bjelland perform live. That episode also featured "Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)" and I was hooked. From Cracker came Camper Van came REM came Afghan Whigs, Screaming Trees, Gumball, Half Japanese, and so on.

Here's a recent live performance of Cracker doing my favorite song off their s/t debut, Dr. Bernice.

Matt & Kim - Daylight

There seems to be a noticeable trend going on right now with the use of music in TV commercials. Remember when Nike would pay top dollar to tap into the Beatles catalog? Their advertising budget probably paid for a whole wing of the Neverland Ranch. These days it seems like newer and lesser known bands are getting those royalty checks and their music ends up getting just as much promotion as the corporate product. How many people new about Feist before "1234" was used by iPod? The trend makes all kinds of sense. I've gotta believe that it's cheaper on the advertising budgets to buy the rights to a song from some indie rock kids instead of an established classic rock band, and you don't have to be too savvy to find these songs with the prominence of satellite radio and the Internet. I don't blame these bands for taking advantage of the opportunity either. Jeff Tweedy will probably put his kids through college with that check from Volkswagen...

The latest example I could think of are these two kids from Brooklyn hitting the big time thanks to an infectious song and America's thirst for numbness in the form of a sweet summer drink. Here's the video followed by the actual commercial...




Man, I want a Mojito now...

Portastatic - Noisy Night (XX Merge)

"Noisy Night" is the ultimate summer song, with lyrics referencing "summer currents" and "yellow bug lights" and "the dog days when the attic gets warm." It was a fitting song for XX Merge in late July. It was at least 90 degrees under that tent and Clay and I were sipping on mint julep snow cones.

This song is from the album Summer of The Shark, which is a reference to the summer before 9/11. Remember when the news was all about shark attacks, not because there was an inordinate amount of them but because there was nothing else to report on? How quickly things can change... I think this album summed up post-9/11 sentiments better than any other I've heard, and that includes Springsteen's The Rising. The Boss takes a lot of his cues from gospel on that album and eulogizes heroic firemen. Mac's approach is a little more subtle on Summer of the Shark. He paints images of catfish "swimming through tires at the bottom of the Hudson," not fully aware of the chaos at the surface. He addresses that day more directly in the song "In The Lines," where the narrator is trying to find a friend who may be gone: "Did you get lost or did our calls just cross in the lines? I hear some are going through but not my calls to you, but I'll keep trying."

Everything is still seems simple on "Noisy Night" though. Brokaw's reporting on shark attacks, the president's on vacation and Mac's singing about "lingering too long against the hood of your car." Bliss...

Bruce Springsteen - Reason to Believe

After watching the Bills last night, is there "Reasong to Believe?"

Kings of Convenience - Mrs Cold

Nothing like a little Norwegian Indie / folk from Kings of Convenience to help get some writing done. Maybe one day I will come out with my dissertation mix.

Band of Horses - The Funeral

Just a lazy Saturday afternoon. Trying to get some work done. I think this is about right.

Simple Minds - Don't You Forget About Me

If you were alive at all during the 80s, there is no way you could escape the reach of John Hughes' work. He brought to the big screen a new, suburban teen angst. You felt like these were the kids you went to school with. His movies provided endless quotes for me and my friends and we will continue say them, only with a little tinge of nostalgia since the end of an era has arrived.

Fight the Power - Public Enemy

I hereby dedicate this song to a certain utility company that keeps North Carolina lit up. Chuck D, I hear ya. (On a side note, it is very interesting to think of this song as having it 20th anniversary this year. Have we moved past these issues? Have we regressed? Did the beer at the White House serve as an interesting reminder?)

Guided By Voices - A Salty Salute

What's your favorite opening track? I'm not sure if this is my favorite but I've been singing it in my head a lot lately. It's just a great drunken sing along song. It's nice and short, opens with a dragging bass line, and finishes with the lyric: "The club is open!" I included both the album version (Alien Lanes) and an impromptu GBV reunion performance at a picnic in Ohio. That's how a non-instrument playing lead singer should perform, with a beer in one hand and a wiffle ball bat in the other...

Deer Tick - Easy

Deer Tick sounds like more than just another "country alternative" band to me. The long intro to this song sounds more inspired by The Byrds acid-laced Eight Miles High than their countrified Sweetheart of the Rodeo. This is off of their new album, Born on Flag Day. Cool voice...