6 things...

1. Things will be numbered. They are easier to count that way.

2. Lasertag. I wish it were more accessible and a lot cheaper. But always always fun and a nice adrenaline rush to boot.

3. I'm feeling random.

4. Portland [1][2] Exploits: (a) lots of family time. (b) incredible weather. I'm talking 70's and 80's. Partly cloudy, blue sky, crisp clean air. Sun. Perfect, seriously. (c) Wednesday night, my 19-year-old Marine brother chokes me out in a Taco Bell parking lot in response to some ice water I tossed in his face. I black out in less than 10 seconds, I'm out for more than 2 minutes. I come to slowly, totally disoriented, curled in a totally awkward position on the asphalt, and inescapably nauseous. 45 minutes later, I throw up an assortment of Taco Bell and veggies my mom had forced me to eat earlier. My brother felt bad about it. I'm glad. (d) Went to Portland's famous Saturday Market, a mecca of hippies, yuppies, puppies, music, and food. Bought some goodies. (e) Did some totally fantastic vacation shopping. 4 new screen printed shirts from various places, a new pair of shorts from the gap. Mom and I went shoe shopping for her lots of places, but the floor in Nordstrom was COVERED in shoes. it was UNBELIEVABLE. But on the good side, they were playing some Jose Gonzalez through the speakers. Yessss. (f) I'm leaving P-town just in time to miss at least 10 shows in the next two weeks that will NEVER come to Norfolk. Frustration! (g) Stubbed the H*LL out of my right bigtoe while walking in the dark with flipflops. Bent back the nail, tore off some flesh. mmmm yummy, you're hungry now I can feel it. (h) Saw "An Inconvenient Truth" with Cicely and was terrified. It's definitely a movie everyone should see about global warming. Actually scary. (i)Imbibing some incredible beer. For those who don't know, the PacNW is home to one of the biggest concentrations of microbrews in the country. Tons and tons of insanely good beer. I hate leaving here.

5. 7/31 Listening Assignments: This will be the first week in forever that I've neglected, but I'm still out of town til Wed and don't have the means or time to compile assignments worthy of all of you. I figure it's ok because it gives everyone a few more days to check out last weeks, still my favorite set of the calendar year.

6. Back wednesday, Cogans Thurs/Sat/Sun/Mon. Band practice in there somewhere. Talk to me.

<3drew

7.24.06 assignments are way hot...

For serious, this is probably my favorite group of assignments this year. All four could end up in my top 15 in December.


1. Fionn Regan - Black Water Child - Immediately magnetic, this song demands to be played on repeat. This British songwriter is my newest guilty pleasure.

2. Midlake - Young Bride (Cassettes Won't Listen Remix) - The original is also incredible, but this remix was the first version I heard, so it'll be your first as well. Sampled violins, haunting vocal line. [For the first time, this week's assignments will be 5 songs because I'm also attaching the original version here. Enjoy.]

3. French Kicks - So Far We Are - Finally, this band writes something catchy and focused enough to really excite me. Totally sweet drums throughout, great vocals. You know you want to.

4. The Long Winters - Fire Island, AK - I've always loved this Seattle band. John Roderick is the quintessential classic-pop geek songwriter with a knack for cheeky dialogue. Brand spanking new.

love/hate

.love.

this mix cd.
chris thile lyrics. [read this] ridiculously good.
new music.
good coffee.
seeing my mommy next week.
a secret i gots.
this shirt.


.hate.

pre-paying at gas pumps and having it slow to a trickle a full 70 cents away from your destination. completely absurd.
opressive humid heat.
laundry.
ex's moving on. finality.
my car getting hit by uninsured drunk foreign drivers.

to be continued...

pyaaaawwwwwwww

1. Dave Chappelle is a genius.



2. my parents got a new puppy. :) the big one is beaumont. the little one is bellemont. pyaaaawwwwwwww.









3. Movie you should rent immediately: City of God.

Totally powerful, beautifully shot, fantastically written. Based on a True Story. What a movie.

Assignments de listenamento 17 de julio

1. Midlake - Roscoe - this would probably fit on my listening assignments from 1981 as well. Yes, I was -1 at that point. Traces of Paul McCartney, a bit of beck-ish-ness. a ton of flaming lips on their other tracks.

2. Rogue Wave - Catform - simply put, this band writes really great songs. pretty important in the scheme of things. for this, I am thankful.

3. The Scourge of the Seas - Water Wings - lazy and lackidaisical, we're channelling solo Ben Gibbard on this occasion. A nice mood piece.

4. Keane - Leaving So Soon - this record is coming around on me. i still think it's full of cheddar, but there are definitely some gems. great pre-chorus on this one.

If you've got a second, it'd really behoove you to read this plain english breakdown of how buying (technically leasing) music from itunes (or any other online store) as opposed to buying the physical CD actually results in the artist receiving almost 85% less in total revenue. I learned a good deal.

[you know you want to read it]

And also this really hot addendum of sorts that details many non-major-label avenues an independent artist can take. Really fascinating stuff.

[hey, and this one too]

Most of you aren't going to get it. Smile and nod.

380 ways to freak out your roommate.
example: Spill a lot of beer on his/her bed. Swim.

I've been on an mp3 blog kick. So much good music to be had. So much crap. The fun's in the sifting.

i'm feeling folky this week...

july 10th listening assignments:

1. josh ritter - here at the right time - yes this album is totally stellar. this is one of those songs where you could hear a pin drop. this is a song for sitting on a rug, wrapped tight in a blanket, and contemplating. the reverb makes it sound like he's playing this is a tiny club built just for you.

2. the theater fire - these tears could rust a train - i can't help but smile when i hear this song. it's love, it's whimsy, it's beautiful.

3. songs: ohia - two blue lights - in some circles, jason molina is a legend. i just happen to love this song. the perfect guitar tone, the intermingling harmonies, a mood maker.

4. sufjan stevens - lord god bird - yes, it's been out for awhile, but everytime it makes its way to my speakers, i can't stop singing it for hours. a demonstration of perfect writing to suit a subject. apparently sufjan himself is tired of his voice. i'm certainly not.

cyanide and happiness get nipply

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

another july 4th comes and goes...i can't help but wonder if fireworks would be as big as they are if not for the lyrics in the star spangled banner? in any case, i witnessed an embarassingly small amount of fireworks, probably for the first time in my entire life. and looking back, it was no biggie. they're usually the same. i was with friends, shooting hoops in the moonlight, "sipping" tequila, watching lewis black on a 50 inch flatscreen.

lovedrug saturday. working thurs and fri at 5. it's good.

[myfavoriteword.com]

good gracious, asses (bodacious)

1. listening assignments [7.3]

boy kill boy - suzie - i really feel like a sellout for just about every reason i can think of. from the name (rock kills kid, anyone?) to the genre (trendy hipswaying dancerock) to the fact that it was a featured download on iTunes last week. that being said, the melody completely owns, the singer intentionally rolls an "r" at the beginning of verse two (amazing!), and they opened for echo and the bunnymen in norfolk last week. they deserve some cred for that.

the constantines - soon enough - this toe-tapping ditty was pilfered from the free mp3's on SubPop records' website. organs swirl, tremoloed guitars, semi-raspy indie rock vox.

the velvet teen - a captive audience - this one took me a few listens, but it's a song i listen to on repeat some days. beautiful instrumentation, vocals are a little beck-like, a little elvis costello-ish. chords...strings...they brings...melody.

the fire theft - it's over - one of my favorite bands. make another record, damn you. nate mendel's (foo fighters) bass line is the sex. jeremy enigk is an indie legend. every few months, this becomes my favorite album again.

songs are links.
links are chain.

2. angeles

i'm finally teaching myself how to use garageband on my new mac. behold the fruits of my labor. i lack the patience to sit down and record an entire new song track by track, but i obviously enjoy sitting down and recording live takes of cover songs, don't i? elliott smith is a name you probably know and love, but if you don't, all i have to say is that it took me way, way, way too long to really give it a listen (because i thought it was emotional bleeding heart crying depressing sad bastard acoustic crap...shows you the power of a first impression) and then it was too late. i really wish i could have been the fan i am now while he was still alive. fascinating and inspiring. capable of immense joy and profound statements on life. multi-instrumentalist, composer, writer. this is one of my favorites...

[angeles]

3. lovedrug july 8th

yes, i keep saying it because i love this band, i'm giddy that we're opening, and our good friends the rebel yell will be making a triumphant comeback at this show. 6pm the peppermint beach club on atlantic ave in virginia beach. [directions]. we're bringing back a very old pre-editorial we song and looking forward to rocking the rock out of the whole rockness of it all.

4.