Tuesday Lovin': Bastille (the band not the prison)

Sometimes you hear a new song and you just have to stop and HEAR it, because it's so perfectly awesome on the first listen.  I remember exactly where and when I first heard Bastille's song Pompeii.

It was a freezing January evening at the gas station near my parents' house, where I was filling up before the daily trip back to the house to "camp out" in the living room during the remodel.

While the song was playing, I used the Android "what song is it" widget to find out who it was and hopped over to Amazon MP3 to purchase it immediately.  I should have listened to the other songs on the album and just bought the whole thing right there, but of course I was looking for instant gratification and had two kids perilously close to bedtime.

We've been listening to a lot of Pandora in the house, and after I gave Pompeii a "thumbs up", other Bastille songs started creeping into the mix.  And I loved every song I heard.  So I finally bought the whole Bad Blood album last week, and Oh. Em. Gee. It's amazing. So catchy and such great lyrics.  Any band that leaves me the earworm of "Icarus is flying too close to the sun" is A-OK.  Apparently if you buy the CD, the MP3 download is now free.  (I missed this entirely since I purchased on my phone, sigh.)

I'm noticing a pattern.  British male singers with obvious accents.  Sound reminiscent of 80s music. Thoughtful lyrics not always about lost romantic love.  Hello Passenger, The Script, Scars on 45. So I guess I've become predictable in my old age.  But at least I'm finding new music to listen to!

Tuesday Lovin' - Passenger and Amazon MP3 Impulse Buys

I spend a lot of time in the car as a cliche suburban stay-at-home mama. Most of the trips are short - to/from preschool, grocery, Target. So I listen to the "regular" radio a lot rather than plugging in my phone to listen to *my* music.

Every now and then I'll hear a song that makes me buy it immediately. I love you, Amazon MP3, for those impulse purchases from my phone.

Passenger's "Let Her Go" was one of them:

I have a weakness for British and Irish male bands and singer-songwriters. What I love about this guy (and yes, Wikipedia tells me it's a guy and not a band) is that you can clearly hear his accent. It's so delightful. :) On a side note, his real name is Michael David Rosenberg, which seems way too serious for a musician.

Since I loved the song so much, and the album was only $6 ($5 now!!) compared to $1.29 for the single, I bought the whole thing, and BOY am I glad. This is absolutely my new obsession - every song is amazing. I love that you can clearly understand his lyrics, which are often brilliant.

There's a song called All the Little Lights which made me weepy while driving the girls to the zoo yesterday - it talks about how every time you feel love, you get another little light in your heart, but how they also go out when something bad happens. He draws such a lovely picture with his words and simple music.

He does have some kid-inappropriate language, but I feel strongly about purchasing music the way it was intended by the artist. If T starts to pick up on it, I'll rethink listening to it in the car.

I really hope I get to see him live. Let me know what you think!

Wordless Wednesday: Closer to Fine

Three chords and the truth

I have come to terms with the fact that my current musical taste is embarrassingly mainstream.  I don't seek out new music actively, so what I get comes through the radio when I'm driving around. And obviously what's played on the radio is what The Man wants us to listen to (and buy).

As uncool as that is, I'll share three songs I'm loving right now.

Of Monsters and Men, "Mountain Sound".  This song reminds me of where I live (you know, Puget Sound, mountains everywhere, blah blah blah), and I noticed this weekend when driving east on I-90 that it's called the "Mountains to Sound" highway.  The whole album is fabulous and fun.  I downloaded it last summer after hearing "Little Talks" on the radio, so I guess I was ahead of the game since they're only playing Mountain Sound on the radio now.  Again, another band who doesn't look like I expected.






Justin Timberlake, "Mirrors" . I know, horrifying. But there's something about this slickly-produced song I love SO MUCH. I hate to admit it. It's very sappy, but kind of different. It's on the radio all the time, to the point where T hears it and says "Why AGAIN Mirrors?" Uh, because I like it?  I thought I should get my money's worth so I bought the longer version, but I think I like the Radio Edit better.  (Shudder.) And no, I have no idea what's up with the video. I like the Mountain Sound one better.





The Lumineers, "Stubborn Love" . I know, I'm jumping on the hipster bandwagon with this one, but I knew when I heard "Ho Hey" that I'd probably love this album, and I was right. It's got a Paul Simon vibe and satisfies my inner 1990s singer-songwriter love. Also, it reminds me of a line I read in my senior year "marriage" class (Catholic high school, yo).  "The opposite of love is indifference."  That's deep, man.



So that's what I've been listening to lately in the car, when I haven't given into T's request to listen to the Spanish kids' music I sometimes regret downloading. I need more music in my life, so I'm open to your suggestions on new stuff to listen to!

Book of Mormon in Seattle: A Review (ish)

Apparently I had been living under a rock because until sometime last year, I had no idea that the creators of South Park had also written a musical. About Mormon missionaries. In Africa.

Take in those three facts for a minute, and you can pretty much imagine what it's like.  It reminded me a lot of their South Park movie from 1999.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I had no idea that Book of Mormon was coming to Seattle or that it was sold out. I'm pretty much stuck in a haze of parenting, with the occasional coffee or lunch date with friends. Keeping up on pop culture is pretty far down the list.

So when my friend Ric offered me a ticket about a week before, I was EXCITED. I love musicals. I love South Park. I love the idea of having dinner and going out with a bunch of grownups to see something delightfully kid-inappropriate.

And then I found out it was a "thing". Had been sold out for weeks. Tickets being scalped for obscene prices. I am *so* lucky - this really was one of those "unexpected blessings from the universe" woo-woo things. Woot!

The show was at the lovely Paramount theater. The last show I saw there was Queensryche in 2007. (Sidebar: we need to get out more!) We had great seats.

And it was a Spectacle with a capital-S.  Big musical numbers, flashing lights, fancy costumes and laughs. Lots and lots of laughs. Which is odd. I haven't seen many *funny* musicals. (Are there many?) But this one was, as expected, *so* offensive, and yet, *so* hilarious.  The humor is in line with South Park, so it's not the musical to take your grandma or your mom to (unless they'd watch South Park with you).

There were a few things I wasn't expecting to get out of this. (Take home lessons, if you will.) I loved the clever way the writers (composers? authors?) poked fun at the casual racism that comes from living in a homogeneous culture - my favorite was the way one of the characters could NEVER get the name of the African lead female character correct.

The other take home lesson?  Discomfort. I'm not religious, but it was a bit uncomfortable to sit through 2 (award-winning, society-sanctioned) hours of making fun of one particular religion.  I know South Park has always been about edgy humor, but one of the best things about it is that they make fun of *everyone* - it's equal opportunity offensiveness.  

This reaction actually surprised me a bit - I'm definitely not a fan of evangelical religions, having been an easy target of proselytizing in the past. I do believe people should be left alone to practice whatever religion they want, regardless of how "weird" it seems to outsiders. I guess this comes from growing up in a Hindu family in Pittsburgh, PA and having gotten my share of rude comments   about it.

I may be attributing more sophistication to Parker and Stone, but I do think this is part of their humor and what makes it insidiously clever while on the surface looking like fart and poop jokes. I think they *want* us to be uncomfortable, to face all the ugly sentiments lurking beneath our usually polite society.

After all, they did write an entire South Park episode mocking Islam (which I believe their network wouldn't air), and Christianity has also been the target of their jokes as well.

Also clever?  The ads in the program for the Mormon.org website, urging people to check out the "real Book of Mormon". I was pretty surprised to see them!

If you've seen it, I'd love to hear what you think.

What do I stand for? Most nights, I don't know...

First, I am totally OBSESSED with 'Some Nights' by Fun.  So I guess they're not a one-hit wonder (maybe 2 hits?).  I love the quirky song structure, the fact that it sounds like a Queen song, and the cryptic lyrics.





I'm at that point in my pregnancy where I just want to hole up at home and stop making plans to go anywhere.  But alas, we have a lot of "have to's" this week - haircuts for me and T, more doctor's appointments for me, T's 3 year checkup, T's new dance class, and a few final social outings.

But I'm done going to the office for work, so yay for that. I've got a few things to wrap up at home and then I'm off until Baby X' shows up (at the latest, 2 weeks from Monday.)

I've had some pretty crappy things happen this week, which I don't feel like rehashing here, and some really good things too, but for the next couple of weeks, I'm just looking for low-key and stress free.  I'm sure there will be a lot of nesting involved as I get the rest of the tasks on the Big List crossed off.

Also, if you have any ideas for how to get decent sleep at 37 weeks pregnant, I'm all ears.

Two songs

Unfortunately my car doesn't have an AUX jack where I can plug in my phone or iPod so I'm generally stuck listening to the radio.  Since my commute is less than 5 minutes, or maybe 20 min total if I have to drop off T at preschool, I can't complain about this too much.

But there are two songs on the radio I'm absolutely loving these days.  Sadly it's for their nostalgia factor.  I remember being in college/early 20s and feeling invincible.  Especially after drinking a lot.

Fun's "We Are Young" is such a cool song.  It's actually got a very interesting structure and a different kind of sound, which I like.  If I were more technical about music I could put my finger on what that is, but all I can say with my limited knowledge is that I like it.  And I love the drunken swagger (that everyone else around thinks is people being loud and stupid).  It sounds a tiny bit like a Queen song to me.



And how cool is it that the phone in the video is a Windows phone?!


The second one is similar, and a couple of months older.  It's "Nothing" by The Script, and is about a guy who meets his buddies in the pub, gets really drunk and decides to tell his ex that he still loves her.  Typical pop song content, but the lyrics are a lot more emotional than I expected.  I mean, who hasn't been *that* person who gets the alcohol-fueled courage and makes regrettable phone calls (or visits)?  Not me, of course.



My favorite lyric - "Every drunk step I take leads me to her door." You KNOW that's not going to end well. I just found the videos for these today and neither band looks like I expected! Got any songs you love that you have to share? I'm looking for new stuff to download!

Releasing expectations

I am really lucky that TJ and I have similar vacation styles, because he would be thoroughly fed up with me by now.  It's Friday (Happy Good Friday!) and I'm STILL sick.  As of last night I still had a fever, puked again, and went to bed at 7:30pm and slept (sort of) until 10 this morning.  I'm the worst vacation buddy ever.

Even worse because he's had to pick up 90% of the kid duties, including adjusting to T's new schedule which seems to be:

• Nap normally (1.5-3 hours around 1pm)
• Go to bed between 8-9pm (so far, so good)
• Sleep exactly 4 hours then awake and ready to rock
• Go back to sleep between 2-3am and sleep until 10:30am (this we can live with)

We've tried waking her up from naps if they're longer than 3 hours, putting her to bed earlier, putting her to bed later, and they all result in her waking up exactly 4-5 hours after we put her down.  It doesn't really correlate with the time back in Seattle and she's getting the same *amount* of sleep.  Sigh.

On the bright side, she decided all by herself that she wants to sleep in the Big Girl Bed instead of the port-a-crib.  So the first night she just switched and (fingers crossed!) hasn't fallen out yet.  She agreed at home that she would give her crib to The Baby in Mama's Belly, so that may be easier than I thought.

We did venture out for a bit yesterday, because I couldn't stand it anymore.  We drove up to Killarney, the next big town, about 30 km away (see how I deal in kilometers now!).  That may have been a mistake because the drive is on a steep, narrow, winding road that would have been fantastic on a motorcycle but in a compact car was a bit nauseating. 

We got to the town and couldn't find the cathedral we were looking for but wandered around and stopped in a pub for a bit, where I heard the original version of Over the Hills and Far Away by Gary Moore, which totally made my day.  It's the little things.

The landscape here isn't as green as I expected; in fact, the road to Killarney (good old vomitous N71) is surrounded by scrub and mountains that looks remarkably like Southern Arizona, minus the cacti.  We saw a LOT of sheep, this time with hot pink stripes, so we dubbed them Fashion Model Punk Rock Sheep.  Sometimes they escape through holes in the fence and wander across the road, but TJ wouldn't let me get out and hug a baby lamb.  (Probably just as well.)

I've taken less than 10 photos on this trip (aagh!) and really hope to get it together in the next couple of days.  Please send virus-fighting thoughts!

Tuesday Lovin': Somebody I Used to Know - Gotye

I guess it's a surefire sign that you're old when you like songs played on the radio.  In my defense I heard this one on our new 'alternative' station so maybe I can maintain some shred of dignity. 

This one snuck up on me.  It has a very 80s vibe, and the guy's voice is oddly familiar, but he's not actually someone I heard before.  The first time I heard it, I liked it enough not to change the station but wasn't sure I LIKED it.  By the second time I was hooked.  I finally bought it yesterday on Amazon MP3.



I'm not crazy about the video, but it's the easiest way to share the song. I listened to some of the other tracks by Gotye, and they're ok (definitely an 80s vibe) but I don't LOVE any of the others like this one. I love the Peter Gabriel/Sting sound to his voice.

You may have also seen this version performed by a Canadian band Walk Off the Earth, using just their voices and *one guitar* for the whole thing. It's really fun to watch. I like the original best, though.



What do you think? Like it? Meh?

20 Albums That Influenced My Life

I had a similar post on Facebook from Feb 2009 ( a lifetime ago!) but wanted to share it here.  I also updated it a bit to include 20 albums instead of the original 17.  It was one of those memes going around and I knew immediately I wanted to do it. Music is such a part of my life that I can instantly go back to certain time periods when hearing certain songs.  I love that kind of sensory memory.

Clearly this is going to reveal some terribly uncool stuff, but I was 8 when I started really listening to music, so I can't help it that I was influenced by what was on MTV and Top 40 radio at the time :)

Instructions:
Think of the albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. Not your favorite albums now: the ones that sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world. Albums you wore into the ground.

These aren't in any particular order. And I am too lazy to look up the release year, so you'll have to live with that.



Michael Jackson: Thriller
I was 8. Gimme a break. But listening to it again now, it really is a great album. And I only recently found out that Eddie Van Halen does the guitar solo on Beat It. So it *is* a little bit metal :)

Def Leppard: Hysteria
I was 13, and my mom drove my friend Judy and me to a different state so we could see my then-favorite band live. Someday, I'll do that for BabyT, because I too will understand just how important it is.

Queensryche: Operation: Mindcrime
I saw them open for Def Leppard at that show and was *hooked*. I have seen them at least 9 times since then. I still don't really understand the whole story behind this concept album. Something about a dude who had to kill people, and a priest and a nun? Good times. Plus it seems to be one of TJ's favorites, too, so that's how I know we are meant to be together :)

Death Cab for Cutie: Plans
This one snuck up on me. It's not my usual kind of music. But when I heard it, I couldn't stop listening to it. It reminds me of my favorite part of my career - when I ran the beta program for Microsoft Speech Server 2007. I spent a lot of time at work then, and this album kept me company.

Counting Crows: August & Everything After
College. 4:30am on a Tuesday, doing wretched Physics homework. Debating about what Adam Duritz really meant in the lyrics.

10,000 Maniacs: Our Time In Eden
I love her voice. It was the soundtrack to my first summer back home after starting college. Bonus points because she sings in a range where I can also hit most of the notes, so I sound less wretched than usual when singing along.

Indigo Girls: Indigo Girls
In the midst of all the metal in high school, I found this album and inexplicably fell in love with it. I've seen them live more than a few times and my friend Judy took me to Emily Salier's restaurant in Atlanta a few years ago.

Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes
Bad choices in college. Unreliable boys. Last time I "saw" her live, I took Peanut over to Marymoor park and camped out on a blanket across from the venue. Free concert. Woot.

Vienna Teng: Waking Hour
Saw her at the Tractor Tavern on a whim upon recommendation from someone at Microsoft. Was blown away. I've seen her at least 7? 8? times live.

Live: Mental Jewelry
Soundtrack to the summer after my senior year in high school, waiting to go to California for college. I still take it with me on every road trip. I have never seen them live, and don't really want to, since their first album is the only one I love.

Toad the Wet Sprocket: fear
Happy, cheerful soundtrack for most of college. I have seen Toad live at least 7 times, nearly always with my friends Chris and Jasmine.

Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet
I was 10, and this started my glam/hair metal phase. I wasn't allowed to go to their concert, and didn't see them live until 1994 in LA at the venue formerly known as the Great Western Forum.  This is also the year I learned a lot of swear words from a friend who introduced me to this album. I remember being a little sad when those words entered my (mental) vocabulary - it was like a glowing neon sign saying "your childhood ends here".

Rush: Presto
Senior year in high school. Moping around waiting for it to be over. This album made me look forward instead of back. I know, it's the Rush album everyone else hates. Too bad.

Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs: Crooked Path
Reminds me of new friends, but also reminds me of the year I lived in Butte, MT against my will. I'm apparently a little bit country and a little bit rock n roll...

Pearl Jam: Ten
College, Ruddock House friends and a bad ski trip that turned out ok in the end. Made me want to visit Seattle someday. Here I am :)  I still have not seen these guys live, and I deeply regret missing my chance in 1994 because of some lame excuse like too much homework, not enough sleep, blah blah blah.

Guns 'n' Roses: Appetite For Destruction
I think I was 13 or 14 when I first heard it, and I was both horrified by it and loved it at the same time. It was so much *dirtier* than any of my other hair metal albums that I listened to at the time, but different and awesome. I saw these guys with my friend Uma at Three Rivers Stadium in 1992 (may it rest in peace), and they played with Metallica and Faith No More. It was amazing, just like when I met Uma and found another Indian-American girl who liked the same kind of music as I did.

Matchbox 20: Yourself Or Someone Like You
I found this used at my favorite CD store (RIP, Disc Go Round in the U-District). I was in grad school, and really felt like I shouldn't be there. I was in a relationship I really felt like I shouldn't be in, and to make matters even more complicated, was seriously crushin' on someone else who shall remain nameless but lives with me now :) I know it's cheesy and Top 40, but Rob Thomas can write a catchy pop song with tortured relationship lyrics like no one else. I saw them play in a high school auditorium before they hit it big, then saw them in Key Arena when Adam Duritz showed up out of nowhere to sing "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys". Swoon.

The Decemberists: The King Is Dead
Like Death Cab for Cutie, this is another band I thought only hipsters wearing skinny jeans liked and I did my best to ignore them.  But I couldn't.  The first time I heard "This is Why We Fight" on the radio, I knew I had to own it.  Something about this album reminds me of the 70s classic rock I grew up with on WDVE in Pittsburgh, the only radio station we had in the 80s that would play anything remotely "metal".  The whole album is great, and classic, and 1 year-old BabyT would request it.  That made it even more fun.  She still likes to listen to "'Cemberists".

Dave Matthews Band: Live At Red Rocks 8.15.95, Disc 1
This album got me skinny.  I was living in Seattle, and decided I needed to make some changes in my life.  I started walking on the Burke Gilman trail, miles and miles.  DMB kept me company.  This album was long enough that I never made it to side 2 on those walks.  Plus, it was before I had an MP3 player so I was listening to the actual CD and it's hard to carry extra CDs when you're out walking and running.
 
Dave Matthews Band: Under The Table And Dreaming
Caltech, senior year. Not sure how I discovered them since I was pretty much living in a media-free bubble, but it was hard to avoid DMB in the mid-90s.  It was so different from the metal and grunge I had been listening to, but this one was *always* in my CD player.  I listened to it when taking my very last final exam (Analytical Chemistry) and made a mental note to mark that occasion.  16 years later, I still remember sitting at my desk in my room, and feeling the utter relief tinged with a bit of sadness that I was almost done with college.  Even now listening to "Warehouse" makes my heart rate increase just a little, remembering that stress.


That's my 20.  Now I want to know yours!  Leave me a link in the comments.  Jenn, Shalini, hush, Cloud, caramama, LauraC, Di, and Shannon, I'm talking to you!  If you weren't listed here, I'm talking to you too!  Think of this as a homework assignment :)