Day 10

Wow, ten days! According to my math, that leaves only 990 days left to go! Live it up while you still can!

Song 46: Akron - "Interlude: Ak Ak Was The Boat They Sailed In On"
Again, probably not a "song" I should really be blogging, but this is like the best version of Ocean Sounds there is! I don't need calm, relaxing seagulls and mild surf. I want ratchey tractor noises and an uneven sea! I want an ominous sound of a person walking in the brush, just out of my eye-sight. I want to not watch the Cardinals win this football game...oh wait.

Song 47: Pavement - "Coolin' The Sound"
I hesitate to say Pavement had a bad ear for their best songs, because aside from a few clunkers per album, it's not like they ever released a record that was one big shit sandwich, but their b-sides are sometimes equally listenable. I always liked "Coolin' The Sound," which is maaaaaybe poooosssibly the one song sung by Spiral Stairs that I really, really enjoy out of the Pavement catalogue. I install such a caveat to that because A) I'm not even entirely sure that's Spiral singing and B) because there might be one other song somewhere of his that I like. Whatever, the guitar is so easy going and fun in this track.

Song 48: The Dresden Dolls - "The First Orgasm"
I'm feeling a little too shy to blog about this song, so instead i'll post the lyrics and just say that I probably can't ever include this on any mix cd I ever make, ey?
It is a Thursday
I got up early
it is a challenge
I’m usually lazy

I make some coffee
I eat some Rice Chex
And then I sit down
To check my inbox

I only read a word or two
I stare across the street and see the churches and the blue

The first orgasm of the morning
Is cold and hard as hell
There wont be any second coming
As far as I can tell

I arch my back cause
I’m very close now
It’s very cold here
By the window

There are some school kids
Yelling and running
They barely notice
That I am coming

The first orgasm of the morning
Is like a fire drill
It's nice to have a little warning
But not enjoyable

I am too busy to have friends
A lover would just complicate my plans
So I will never look for love again
I’m taking matters into my own hands
I’m taking matters into my own hands

I bet I could last at least a week without someone to hold me
I bet I could last at least a week without someone to hold me
Won’t you hold me?
Won’t you hold me?
Won’t you hold me?

Upon pasting that, I'm actually fairly impressed at the mix of odd puns and sad desperation near the end. I also just probably make some young kid's google searching very irritating. Sorry, bro!

Song 49: Magnetic Fields - "Roses"
One of the shortest Magnetic Fields songs that I am aware of, at 27 seconds, it reminds me of a church hymn. Not that I go to church very often, but the heavy echo on the vocals sung in a choral manner leads me to that very wise statement.

Song 50: Jack Rose - "Dark Was The Night"
Ha ha! Very funny, iTunes! A fine song to end our day on, this instrumental country ditty reminds me of a time when I said, "Yeah I like classic country, not that new stuff." And this is the sound I meant, basically. It's all slide guitar and sounds like it was made by an hombre in the middle of a desert. Cool song.

Day 3

Song 11: The Slapsticks - "Johnny"
Growing up, I had a pretty small social circle, but each of my friends had pretty disparate musical tastes. One of my friends, Josh, was really into ska and pop punk like MxPx and, well, The Slapsticks. I remember distinctly one day borrowing about 30 or 40 of his cds and copying them for my collection. This was definitely one of them. Josh lives in Hong Kong now and I haven't seen him in years, and all of that is more interesting than this song, which might be the longest three and a half minute song I've ever heard.

Song 12: Pavement - "Box Elder"
Just last night when I was DJing, two girls who I didn't know, after hanging around for awhile, asked me to play some Pavement. I explained that I had lost my iPod earlier in the day so I was sort of out of luck, only able to DJ with the mix cds I brought to the bar, which included not a single Pavement song. They saved the day and gave me their iPod and I played "Cut Your Hair," but the point of this story is that it made me really happy to hear people request Pavement when my plan, prior to losing my iPod, was to play some that night. "Box Elder," I always thought of as a sort of boring song, but the sentiment that, "I've got to get the fuck out of this place" is pretty relatable.

Song 13: Editors - "All Sparks"
I know that this band sounds like Interpol without the funny lyrics, but this song is pretty great. The bass line has a nice slinky groove to it, and even though I hadn't heard it in awhile, I was able to guess that the song was called "All Sparks," just by listening to the lyrics (All sparks will burn out in the end. / All sparks will burn out.) which is always comforting to me. In a fun twist, this song's three and a half minute length feels half as long as that rough Slapsticks song above.

(Skipping: Stephen Malkmus - "Post-Paint Boy" for the same reason I skipped Modest Mouse yesterday)

Song 14: This Is Me Smiling - "Alive in the Chase"
This is actually an un-mastered version of this song that I received from my old roommate Jim (Did I mention how cool I am enough in this entry?), which makes This Is Me Smiling the first local entry onto the blog. I think this song stacks up nicely to the rest of the other 13 songs so far, too. It's a bit schizophrenic, jumping from a down-tempo verse to a piano-aided alternative rock chorus but it fits really well in a Ben Folds niche.

Song 15: The Wrens - "Behold Me"
There are a few good The Wrens stories in my head, but this isn't the time for them. Instead I'll just say that as much as I absolutely love the entire Secaucus and The Meadowlands albums, I have not come around on Silver the album or this track. The Pixies influence is too great of a shadow over the whole thing and the song itself isn't that distinguishable as a blistering punk rock number from countless other bands. I'm so glad they expanded their sound on the follow-ups. Of course, that's what a good band would do, and this is a very good band.