As stated below, this was the first music post I made when I started this blog. I’ve come a long way since and thought I’d give everyone a chance to download these songs again. I’m also fufilling a request for these songs sent to me by Anthony. Enjoy!
I thought for my first music post I’d give you a couple of my favorite live covers.
MP3 Ben Gibbard – I Want it That Way
MP3 Ben Gibbard – Complicated
Halloween is coming upon us quickly, and theres a couple essential tracks that I think you need to have if your throwing a halloween-themed dance party.
The first is a classic 80’s one-hit wonder that explores the mind’s paranoia. It features a killer riff, some creepy synths, and wierd echo vocal effects. It also has the line “I wonder who’s watching me now? The IRS?”
MP3 Rockwell – Somebody’s Watching Me
The second one is from Aqua (yes, the same band that sang Barbie Girl), and who wouldn’t love a dose of ultra-cheesy euro-dance-pop at their dance party?
Normally, I would agree with that sentiment, but after listening to the track (I actually only listened to half b/c it was so painful), I think this song should only be used to scare guests away when the party is over. Here’s a sample lyric to show you how bad it is
“It’s Friday night/So creepy outside/It’s is thundering and lightning/There’s nobody home/Cause I’m all alone /It’s scary and it’s frightening ”
So, if you can’t handle dancey euro music – i think you should just stick with Ghostbusters instead. Here’s the song anyway…
MP3 Aqua – Halloween
Someone just sent this to me and I can’t stop lauging. This song describes so many people I knew in high school. Very well done.
Sample line – “I don’t jump around when I go to shows, I must be emo. I am dark and sensitive with low self esteem, the way I dress makes every day feel like Halloween.”
You can access the song from this link
Thanks to Ty for the link!
It hasn’t been too long since my last Death Cab post, but I couldn’t pass it up the opportunity when the following two items came up. The first is an interview on MTV.com where they talk about a new album –
And while both Gibbard and Walla have a whole lot of ideas about just what that new record will sound like, there’s one thing they both can agree on: It’s going to be different.
“I’m incredibly proud of [Plans], but I feel we had to make it exactly when we did. It’s a transitional record for our transitional time. I think we’ll make the free-jazz record next time around,” Gibbard laughed. “I think it will be essential for the growth of the band to do something different next time, whether that means bringing in an outside producer or making the album only six songs long. Who knows?”
“Ben’s been talking off and on about concepts for the next record. Like, maybe they’re a bunch of pop songs but all strung together, like some old Yes record or something,” Walla added. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I think everyone’s ready to do something complicated.”
The band also talks about their upcoming video for Crooked Teeth in the interview.
The second item is the release of their iTunes Originals which includes 21 audio tracks (some being interviews) and 6 videos. One of my favorite rare tracks from Death Cab has been Underwater and I was glad to see it redone for iTunes. Here’s the download
One of the best movie soundtracks I’ve ever heard is the one for the movie, I Am Sam . The movie itself is great, Dakota Fanning always gives a fantastic performance and I can relate to the scenes in Starbucks (since I work at one).
The soundtrack is probably the best part of the movie though, Sean Penn plays a character who is mentally handicapped and loves the Beatles, and the soundtrack is a compliation of fantastic artists covering Beatles songs. Rufus Wainwright, Eddie Vedder, Ben Harper, The Vines, sterophonics, Nick Cave, and The Black Crowes are just a few of the bands featured. This is a must-own collection for anyone who is a Beatles fan, its really that good.
Here’s two of my favorite songs from the soundtrack (which you can purchase here):
MP3 Ben Folds – Golden Slumbers (originally on Abbey Road )
MP3 The Wallflowers – I’m Looking Through You (originally on Rubber Soul)
The Perishers are a band that my girlfriend turned me on to, after discovering them on the barnes and noble in-store playlist (we both work there). They’re a Swedish piano/acoustic guitar based lo-fi band thats great for waking up in the morning. It seems the band knows this since they named their album Let There Be Morning .
They’re often compared to bands like Snow Patrol, Athlete, and (of course) Coldplay, but they have more of a California tint in their music (probably why they were on one of The O.C. Mixes)
Here’s two tracks:
MP3 The Perishers – Trouble Sleeping
MP3 The Perishers – Sway
A phrase I like to use when talking about music is “know your roots”. Whenever I get into an artist, I like to know who influenced them, who pioneered the musical genre they fall into, what trademark sounds from other artists are they using, etc…
For me, I assume it would be natural for people that like Bright Eyes, the Decemberists, and The Good Life to listen to Bob Dylan as well, but from what I’ve seen its not usually the case. Out of his innovation came Folk Rock, Protest Songs, and Storytelling songs as we know them today. Almost every current artist has been in someway influenced by Dylan, and Folk Music wouldn’t be remotely close to what it is today without him.
Here are four lesser know but still fantastic Bob Dylan tracks:
MP3 I Want You (from Blonde on Blonde)
MP3 She Belongs To Me (from Bringing It All Back Home)
MP3 Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright (from The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan)
MP3 One Of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)(from Blonde on Blonde)
You can purchase more great tracks in this collection .
So death cab was really awesome. they played a fantastic set with lots of translatlanticism/plans, and a few oldies (for what reason, company calls, title track, photobooth, movie script ending, we laugh indoors, etc…), i took some great pictures which are all available here.
I also took some videos from a camera, which turned out pretty good. they aren’t full songs cuz the memory stick is only so big, and yes you can hear me singing in the background on the videos. why? cuz 1) i like to sing and 2) i think i have a pretty darn good singing voice.
MOV I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Highlights of the concerts include – Youth Group was really good, Different Names for the Same Thing which really rocked live, Expo ’86 which I had really been hoping they would play and also rocked, Tiny Vessels>Transatlanctism which is the perfect ending, I WIll Follow You Into The Dark which had the crowd screaming (as you can see from the video), and the cool lighting. The speaker blew during What Sarah Said which sucks cuz i like that song alot. Marching Bands of Manhattan was great live (the sillohuettes thing they did was really cool) For What Reason was really cool also, but no Airplanes was a little unexpected. Overall, though I rate the concert experience very highly.
I’m seeing Death Cab tonight in Chicago! Hooray! Pics and Review coming after the show…
Here’s a couple of live tracks to get you as excited as me (well, i guess nothing really will get you as excited as me, but whatever, here they are anyway)
MP3 Death Cab – Blacking Out The Friction/Brand New Love (live)
MP3 Death Cab – Lightness (live)
Arrested Development – Season 2 came out on DVD today, and I’m happy to report that it is currently ranked number #4 at Amazon.com and #3 at Barnes and Noble for sales. If you haven’t gotten into this show yet, you are missing out on the best TV you’ll ever watch. Seinfeld, Simpsons, they’re all great, but nothing compares to the comedic genius that Arrested Development conveys every episode. Season Two has some of my favorite eps – “Amigos”, “Good Grief” “Motherboy XXX”, “Meat The Veals”, and “The Righteous Brother”, really all of them are spectacular though. But It. Watch it. Love It.
(So this can constitute as a music blog here’s the Arrested Development Theme Song from composer David Schwartz )
Music For Kids Who Can't Read Good 