Showing posts with label kanye west. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kanye west. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
kanye 4 lyfe.
i like kanye. he helps me kick ass when i need a boost.
yet he keeps it real and admits he's not perfect. (i can relate).
some of his songs take me back to pastimes with good pals. dance parties.
while others remind me of not so great times.
regardless, yeezy is my unofficial yet most effective video journal. songs remind me of times. people. slumps. triumphs. today/tonight i crossed a bridge. in more ways than one.
i even got mike to admit his new song with bon iver 'wasn't terrible,' even if did remind him of 'club music.'
funny, how, two + years ago he would have been the last person i'd ever anticipate dissecting kanye too. instead of dwelling on the no-no ye's, ima rock it raw with the inspiration shit.
homeboy's got some sort of power on me. hate all you want ya'll, that pic of west and his mama ain't leaving the confinements of my bedroom anytime soon.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
TOP 10 OF '10, YA'LL.
so i wrote up a list of my top ten releases for the year for the chirp website. it'd been on my to-do list for quite some time, and the fact that it took me as long as it did to get around to it kinda bummed me out. i had been thinking about the list all year, as i always am a nut with music and wonder, 'but does this have any longetivity? will i listen to it to death for the next 2 weeks and then shelf it into oblivion?' kinda bums me out to say 2010 was a bit lackluster of a year for releases. sure, there was shit i dug and listened to to death. like, the new nicki minaj album and even girl talk, i like them both immensely now - but did either of them make the cut for this list? negatory.
plus i guess i spent a lot of time this year revisiting older shit, like my massive siouxsie and the banshees phase this summer. oh well. ramble rant aside, i did manage to come up with a list of ten albums. this isn't to say i didn't enjoy additional records, i guess i could say some honorable mentions would be peter wolf crier (inter-be), yeasayer (odd blood), atmosphere (to all my friends/blood makes the blade holy), and stars (the five ghosts). but man, here's to hoping 2011 has some more 'blow my face off' ammo than this. too bad kanye only dropped one record this year, otherwise he'd have all ten of my slots fo sho.
1) Beach House/Teen Dream/Sub-Pop
No other album could possibly come close to the heavy rotation Teen Dream got on my iPod this year. The combination of Victoria Legrand’s lush vocals and dream pop instrumentation is seriously too good to be true. Tracks like the dizzying “Norway,” epic “Zebra” and the surreal “Silver Soul” are twistedly abstract, romantic and damned enchanting.
2) Kanye West/My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy/Def Jam
Love him or hate him, Kanye knows how to get your attention. After a pretty rough couple of years, West came hurdling through the haters with his most epic release to date, dropping My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy as his musical redemption. West proves he’s got power with his sleek beats, addicting hooks and rhymes (seriously, who else can get the masses singing toasts to ‘douchebags’?) and featured partners in crime ranging from Elton John, Jay-Z to Bon Iver.
3) Robyn/Body Talk/Cherry Tree
Released just in time to secure a spot on my top 10 of ’10 list, our favorite Swedish pop princess compiled her Body Talk trilogy into one cohesive album. Body Talk as a cumulative whole, vs. the three separate eps, rivals the greatness that was her breakout self-titled 2008 comeback. Dropping dance party anthems like “Hang With Me,” “Dancehall Queen” and “Indestructible,” girlfriend proves she won’t be dancing on her own any longer.
4) Arcade Fire/The Suburbs/Merge
While we will sadly never again experience the epic greatness of another Funeral, Win Butler and crew made a damned fine attempt with The Suburbs. Blowing away their sophomore release Neon Bible, The Suburbs was one consistently memorable collection of epic instrumentation and overall indie goodness. Tracks such as “Month of May,” “Sprawl II,” “Ready to Start” and “The Suburbs” are undeniable examples of awesomeness.
5) GAYNGS/Relayted/Jagjaguwar
Not such Broken Social Scene has the indie music scene witnessed such a superhero line-up. The debut release from Midwesterners GAYNGS, Relayted is such an irresistible compilation of sleek, synth heavy, 80’s throwback baby making music that George Michael was pretty much forced into retirement. Who knew the dudes from Bon Iver, The Rosebuds and Solid Gold had such a seductive side to ‘em? Burning hot.
6) Phantogram/Eyelid Movies/Barsuk http://goo.gl/cHLwl
The majority of male/female duos are shiny, happy pop music. (See YACHT, Mates of State, Matt & Kim, etc). Phantogram is not one of those bands. Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter make musical love into mystery, driven with their synth and bass driven melodies and gaspy, seductive shared vocals. Eyelid Movies is eleven tracks of electronic indie dance bliss.
7) Gorillaz/Plastic Beach/Virgin
Anything Damon Albarn touches turns to gold (or at least it should). Even after just releasing the greatness that is Plastic Beach in 2010, Albarn has already announced his intentions of a follow-up album, which was recorded on their current tour—on an iPad. Not sure how he’ll get guest artists like Snoop Dogg and Lou Reed onboard with this current method, but by now I’m pretty sure whatever Albarn’s got up his sleeve is destined for greatness.
8) Vampire Weekend/Contra/XL Recordings
Who knew some random Polaroid photo from the 80’s would blow up into the biggest indie lawsuit of the year? Luckily for the gentlemen of Vampire Weekend, it turns out there’s much more to Contra than their obscure album art. Tracks like “Giving up the Gun,” “Cousins” and “Holiday” are just a few of the album’s upbeat pop ditties, proving these prep rockers are more than a one album success act.
9) LCD Soundsystem/This is Happening/DFA
James Murphy is a pretty righteous dude. This is Happening was one of the year’s biggest hypes, and if you’ve listened to the record, you’ll see why. “You Wanted a Hit,” “Dance Yrself Clean” and “Home” are several exemplifications of how Murphy and co. have raised the bar on electro-indie bangers once again.
10) Caribou/ Swim/Merge
Daniel Snaith is a mathematician by trade, but he’s better known to the masses as the indie electro composer Caribou. Swim is his best release to date, bursting with formulaic layers of samples, reverb, synth, bass and whatever other magical components he throws into the mix. Impossible to stand still while listening to, this album is consistently mind bending from start to finish.
plus i guess i spent a lot of time this year revisiting older shit, like my massive siouxsie and the banshees phase this summer. oh well. ramble rant aside, i did manage to come up with a list of ten albums. this isn't to say i didn't enjoy additional records, i guess i could say some honorable mentions would be peter wolf crier (inter-be), yeasayer (odd blood), atmosphere (to all my friends/blood makes the blade holy), and stars (the five ghosts). but man, here's to hoping 2011 has some more 'blow my face off' ammo than this. too bad kanye only dropped one record this year, otherwise he'd have all ten of my slots fo sho.
No other album could possibly come close to the heavy rotation Teen Dream got on my iPod this year. The combination of Victoria Legrand’s lush vocals and dream pop instrumentation is seriously too good to be true. Tracks like the dizzying “Norway,” epic “Zebra” and the surreal “Silver Soul” are twistedly abstract, romantic and damned enchanting.
Love him or hate him, Kanye knows how to get your attention. After a pretty rough couple of years, West came hurdling through the haters with his most epic release to date, dropping My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy as his musical redemption. West proves he’s got power with his sleek beats, addicting hooks and rhymes (seriously, who else can get the masses singing toasts to ‘douchebags’?) and featured partners in crime ranging from Elton John, Jay-Z to Bon Iver.
Released just in time to secure a spot on my top 10 of ’10 list, our favorite Swedish pop princess compiled her Body Talk trilogy into one cohesive album. Body Talk as a cumulative whole, vs. the three separate eps, rivals the greatness that was her breakout self-titled 2008 comeback. Dropping dance party anthems like “Hang With Me,” “Dancehall Queen” and “Indestructible,” girlfriend proves she won’t be dancing on her own any longer.
While we will sadly never again experience the epic greatness of another Funeral, Win Butler and crew made a damned fine attempt with The Suburbs. Blowing away their sophomore release Neon Bible, The Suburbs was one consistently memorable collection of epic instrumentation and overall indie goodness. Tracks such as “Month of May,” “Sprawl II,” “Ready to Start” and “The Suburbs” are undeniable examples of awesomeness.
Not such Broken Social Scene has the indie music scene witnessed such a superhero line-up. The debut release from Midwesterners GAYNGS, Relayted is such an irresistible compilation of sleek, synth heavy, 80’s throwback baby making music that George Michael was pretty much forced into retirement. Who knew the dudes from Bon Iver, The Rosebuds and Solid Gold had such a seductive side to ‘em? Burning hot.
The majority of male/female duos are shiny, happy pop music. (See YACHT, Mates of State, Matt & Kim, etc). Phantogram is not one of those bands. Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter make musical love into mystery, driven with their synth and bass driven melodies and gaspy, seductive shared vocals. Eyelid Movies is eleven tracks of electronic indie dance bliss.
Anything Damon Albarn touches turns to gold (or at least it should). Even after just releasing the greatness that is Plastic Beach in 2010, Albarn has already announced his intentions of a follow-up album, which was recorded on their current tour—on an iPad. Not sure how he’ll get guest artists like Snoop Dogg and Lou Reed onboard with this current method, but by now I’m pretty sure whatever Albarn’s got up his sleeve is destined for greatness.
Who knew some random Polaroid photo from the 80’s would blow up into the biggest indie lawsuit of the year? Luckily for the gentlemen of Vampire Weekend, it turns out there’s much more to Contra than their obscure album art. Tracks like “Giving up the Gun,” “Cousins” and “Holiday” are just a few of the album’s upbeat pop ditties, proving these prep rockers are more than a one album success act.
James Murphy is a pretty righteous dude. This is Happening was one of the year’s biggest hypes, and if you’ve listened to the record, you’ll see why. “You Wanted a Hit,” “Dance Yrself Clean” and “Home” are several exemplifications of how Murphy and co. have raised the bar on electro-indie bangers once again.
Daniel Snaith is a mathematician by trade, but he’s better known to the masses as the indie electro composer Caribou. Swim is his best release to date, bursting with formulaic layers of samples, reverb, synth, bass and whatever other magical components he throws into the mix. Impossible to stand still while listening to, this album is consistently mind bending from start to finish.
Monday, November 8, 2010
let's have a toast for the scumbags
it's november. my least favorite month of the year. two years ago i went through a pretty damn tricky emotional rollercoaster the last week of october/month of november through, well, damn. i guess june of the next year? but 2008 winter was particularly cold. 'the coldest winter' i guess you could say. there's a song called that, you know. by a one and only mr. kanye west.
now before you start with the involuntary eye rolling, this post isnt about how awesome/amazing ye is and how he's my hero with his bravado and ego antics and sneaker collection. i don't care what kinda dude he is, and even though i'll step up and speak on his behalf (at the chirp hip hop primer/education night last week they mentioned ye, called him a 'horrible rapper' to which i spoke up, 'dudes he rapped with his jaw WIRED SHUT,' to which someone said, 'no that was fiddy,' 'HIS BREAKOUT SINGLE WAS CALLED THROUGH THE WIRE, ABOUT HIS CAR ACCIDENT AND HOW HIS JAW WAS WIRED SHUT,' 'well, whatever, his album with autotune was obnoxious, his crying about getting dumped' 'HIS MAMA DIED.', the subject quickly changed and i'm pretty sure i lost all musical credibility with everyone in that room.) but whatever. you know? i hold a special spot in me for some yeezy. tangent aside, he was kind of non-ironically speaking, my savior of sorts.
sure, i enjoyed college dropout. late registration was a cool enough record. (now days ill retract both statements and say AMAZING albums, but at the time, i was ambivalent with slight interest). graduation i enjoyed, but was re-emphasized to me by a certain pal who meant more to me than they'll ever realize, with really poor timing.
2008 was a life changing year for me. i fell in and out of love. with different people. but i was in a relationship. a serious relationship. so the falling out of love part, well, that sucked. and anyone who knows me knows i'm no longer in said relationship. to this day, we're pals and i'm ever so grateful for that, truly. and i'm good and over the dissolution of the romance, but at the time it was like getting hit by a car and only realizing you'd never walk again months after the fact. at the time, just like any breakup, i knew it was for the best and i was anxious to get away. but then when it inevitably happened, well, anyone who's experienced a breakup from a serious relationship knows what i'm getting at.
this was right before the coldest winter. i had no friends in the city. even though i lived here two years, i realized i could count my friendly acquaintences on one hand. one, being my roommate, who conveniently enough, had her heart smashed to smithereens the same time as me. and we were both pretty fucking miserable. in our case, misery did not in fact, love company. well a certain somebody (mr. west!) had just gotten dumped by his fiance and lost his mama. so yeah, his least credible record to date, 808's and heartbreaks, was the ending result. autotune overload. hardly his masterpiece, i can't really argue with critics who trash it. but do i want to jump up on my soapbox and defend it to pieces? fuck yeah. just like the smelly kid in gradeschool, you KNOW homeboy smells, and chances are 9.5/10 that you (and me, cuz i was that kid), didn't defend the kid at the time - but looking back on it now, don't you feel like a shithead? well, i will admit proudly that i still enjoy 808 and heartbrakes, but tangent aside, the reason this record means shit to me isn't because of 'robocop.'
anyway. fuck. this ramble is going longer than i projected. something about 808's matched my mood at the time. i think 'heartless' is still my number one most played song on my laptop's itunes 2 years later. i couldn't stop. i just kept listening. as lame as it is, there was something with that album that reached out to me and kanye helped fuel my depression, empathize with my broken heart, yet encourage my desire to move on simultaneously. and like the winter of 2008, as soon as it blossomed into spring/summer that next year and my feelings finally returned to that of a normal, hopeful - even, human being, i shelved that record into my dusty cd rack to be forgotten about.
2 years. man, that's a long time. a year later, i met somebody else and couldn't believe my luck. how happy i was! i met so many new friends. i was in a good place. emotionally/physically/professionally. then shit fell apart. lost my job. went through another kinda/sorta/notreally/butyes,really breakup. drifted apart from friends. had some fallouts with my family. which brings me to now. i'm starting to rescrap from the ground up. the dark period is behind me. it's time to stand up proud, and say fuck all ya'll haterz (or douchebags, jerkoffs, scumbags, assholes - as ye puts it). and you know what? dude is kinda retarded. the video/film he made for 'runaway' is laughable to put it lightly. dude falls in love with a bird. they try to feed the bird a bird and she freaks out. some ballerinas come out. bird hangs out with deer and shit in kanye's yard. then the bird bursts into flames and kanye's sad. but you know what? i get where he's coming from with this song. it's his 'fuck you guys, i said i'm sorry and i tried to do right. if you still can't be down with me, i ain't gonna let you drag me down anymore. good bye deadweight.'
i like that philosophy. hence, tonite was my toast to the douchebags. i locked myself up in my bedroom and went through some much needed personal self-therapy. watched bad movies i've secretly been jonesin' to see for months but was too embarassed to admit. enjoyed a glass of wine. cuddled with my kitty and meowed at her like i was in heat. ate a steak dinner for one. listened to kanye's 'runaway' on repeat on my new headphones. and took a 90 minute steaming bath where i treated myself to every miniscule beauty treatment i possibly could endure in the convenience of my own bathroom. fuck, gave myself a foot scrub/massage. haven't done that shit since, well, 2008 i guess.
moral of the story is: everyone's got that one trigger. maybe it's not music for everybody. maybe it's a location. time of year. food. scent. person. for me, i guess everything that sort of narrates or relates to my emotional struggles and triumphs comes down to music. and kanye is hardly the maestro to my life; the soundtrack of my life is much more expansive, i assure you. but you better well goddamn believe that he's at least a chapter. and to say i have high hopes for this new record is putting it lightly - but expectations? non-existant. i'll either love it or not love it. there's always going to be november 2008.
so i think it's time for us to have a toast.
now before you start with the involuntary eye rolling, this post isnt about how awesome/amazing ye is and how he's my hero with his bravado and ego antics and sneaker collection. i don't care what kinda dude he is, and even though i'll step up and speak on his behalf (at the chirp hip hop primer/education night last week they mentioned ye, called him a 'horrible rapper' to which i spoke up, 'dudes he rapped with his jaw WIRED SHUT,' to which someone said, 'no that was fiddy,' 'HIS BREAKOUT SINGLE WAS CALLED THROUGH THE WIRE, ABOUT HIS CAR ACCIDENT AND HOW HIS JAW WAS WIRED SHUT,' 'well, whatever, his album with autotune was obnoxious, his crying about getting dumped' 'HIS MAMA DIED.', the subject quickly changed and i'm pretty sure i lost all musical credibility with everyone in that room.) but whatever. you know? i hold a special spot in me for some yeezy. tangent aside, he was kind of non-ironically speaking, my savior of sorts.
sure, i enjoyed college dropout. late registration was a cool enough record. (now days ill retract both statements and say AMAZING albums, but at the time, i was ambivalent with slight interest). graduation i enjoyed, but was re-emphasized to me by a certain pal who meant more to me than they'll ever realize, with really poor timing.
2008 was a life changing year for me. i fell in and out of love. with different people. but i was in a relationship. a serious relationship. so the falling out of love part, well, that sucked. and anyone who knows me knows i'm no longer in said relationship. to this day, we're pals and i'm ever so grateful for that, truly. and i'm good and over the dissolution of the romance, but at the time it was like getting hit by a car and only realizing you'd never walk again months after the fact. at the time, just like any breakup, i knew it was for the best and i was anxious to get away. but then when it inevitably happened, well, anyone who's experienced a breakup from a serious relationship knows what i'm getting at.
this was right before the coldest winter. i had no friends in the city. even though i lived here two years, i realized i could count my friendly acquaintences on one hand. one, being my roommate, who conveniently enough, had her heart smashed to smithereens the same time as me. and we were both pretty fucking miserable. in our case, misery did not in fact, love company. well a certain somebody (mr. west!) had just gotten dumped by his fiance and lost his mama. so yeah, his least credible record to date, 808's and heartbreaks, was the ending result. autotune overload. hardly his masterpiece, i can't really argue with critics who trash it. but do i want to jump up on my soapbox and defend it to pieces? fuck yeah. just like the smelly kid in gradeschool, you KNOW homeboy smells, and chances are 9.5/10 that you (and me, cuz i was that kid), didn't defend the kid at the time - but looking back on it now, don't you feel like a shithead? well, i will admit proudly that i still enjoy 808 and heartbrakes, but tangent aside, the reason this record means shit to me isn't because of 'robocop.'
anyway. fuck. this ramble is going longer than i projected. something about 808's matched my mood at the time. i think 'heartless' is still my number one most played song on my laptop's itunes 2 years later. i couldn't stop. i just kept listening. as lame as it is, there was something with that album that reached out to me and kanye helped fuel my depression, empathize with my broken heart, yet encourage my desire to move on simultaneously. and like the winter of 2008, as soon as it blossomed into spring/summer that next year and my feelings finally returned to that of a normal, hopeful - even, human being, i shelved that record into my dusty cd rack to be forgotten about.
2 years. man, that's a long time. a year later, i met somebody else and couldn't believe my luck. how happy i was! i met so many new friends. i was in a good place. emotionally/physically/professionally. then shit fell apart. lost my job. went through another kinda/sorta/notreally/butyes,really breakup. drifted apart from friends. had some fallouts with my family. which brings me to now. i'm starting to rescrap from the ground up. the dark period is behind me. it's time to stand up proud, and say fuck all ya'll haterz (or douchebags, jerkoffs, scumbags, assholes - as ye puts it). and you know what? dude is kinda retarded. the video/film he made for 'runaway' is laughable to put it lightly. dude falls in love with a bird. they try to feed the bird a bird and she freaks out. some ballerinas come out. bird hangs out with deer and shit in kanye's yard. then the bird bursts into flames and kanye's sad. but you know what? i get where he's coming from with this song. it's his 'fuck you guys, i said i'm sorry and i tried to do right. if you still can't be down with me, i ain't gonna let you drag me down anymore. good bye deadweight.'
i like that philosophy. hence, tonite was my toast to the douchebags. i locked myself up in my bedroom and went through some much needed personal self-therapy. watched bad movies i've secretly been jonesin' to see for months but was too embarassed to admit. enjoyed a glass of wine. cuddled with my kitty and meowed at her like i was in heat. ate a steak dinner for one. listened to kanye's 'runaway' on repeat on my new headphones. and took a 90 minute steaming bath where i treated myself to every miniscule beauty treatment i possibly could endure in the convenience of my own bathroom. fuck, gave myself a foot scrub/massage. haven't done that shit since, well, 2008 i guess.
moral of the story is: everyone's got that one trigger. maybe it's not music for everybody. maybe it's a location. time of year. food. scent. person. for me, i guess everything that sort of narrates or relates to my emotional struggles and triumphs comes down to music. and kanye is hardly the maestro to my life; the soundtrack of my life is much more expansive, i assure you. but you better well goddamn believe that he's at least a chapter. and to say i have high hopes for this new record is putting it lightly - but expectations? non-existant. i'll either love it or not love it. there's always going to be november 2008.
so i think it's time for us to have a toast.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
men i want to date : justin vernon
reasons why i wanna date justin vernon
1. i know he's a hopeless romantic, cuz let's face it, if he wrote 'for emma forever ago' broken hearted, imagine what he must feel at the heights of a romance. HOLY SHIT.
2. he's a wisconsinite. i'm a wisconsinite. we could just eat cheese curds and drink leinenkugel's and spotted cow. i would move back to my home state for him.
3. his falsetto pipes get my girly feminine side all in a tizzy.
4. i could hang out with GAYNGS on the weekend. hey p.o.s, dessa, WHAT'S UP?
5. did you read that quote above? HE LIKES AND HAS CATS!!! (any dude with kitties is def a winner in my book.)
6. if we dated, i wouldn't feel so sad/depressed when i listen to 'for emma forever ago' anymore.
7. he's really adorable, in that skinny, dirty, midwestern kinda way. i don't wanna date no boys prettier than me.
8. HE COULD INTRODUCE ME TO KANYE WEST, DUHHHHHHH.
9. we could sing 'your love' together after getting crunk on some IPA's.
10. i would probably be the happiest girl in the world with him ever. jodihasahugecrush.com
Thursday, June 17, 2010
men i want to date : kanye west
yeah yeah yeah yeah, shut up. ya'll knew this one was inevitable. OF COURSE i'd wanna go on a date with yeezy, he's my boy. only the one and only egotistical greatness could pull off that autotune shiz from 808's and still get my hard earned cash in his pocket. love mr. west. always and forever. so as if ya didn't know already, behold.
reasons why i want to go on a date with kanye west:
1. he's got cool kicks.
2. george bush doesn't like black people.
3. he's a gay fish.
4. he cussed out taylor swift. (this made me laff til i was cryin').
5. chicago represent!
6. ummm, have you heard college dropout? graduation? them albums are fucking masterpieces.
7. he could introduce me to jay.
8. he could probably get molly a real pair of kanye glasses.
9. argyle would flip the fuck out.
10. kanye likes girls with big booties, so i'm confident i would fit the bill.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
2004 was my year.
not to get all sentimental/nostalgic on this thing, but as i stated previously, writing is theraputic and a nice outlet for me. plus, there's only so many sleigh bells posts i can throw up in one week.
today i cannot stop thinking. so to avoid worrying about things out of my control, or getting worked up on certain social situations/familial dramabullshit, i'm going to avoid thinking on my yesteryear. 2004 was a pretty good year. a lot of personal growth, attributed mostly, to my soundtrack of the time.
this sounds cliche and lame, but there were several memorable releases that shaped me that were either released/discovered in tthis timeframe.
a lot of music reminds me of someone or something or some experience. sometimes it's good and i can't help but smile (tessa and reggie and the full effect, freshman year). other times it really bums me out and reminds me of old break-ups or sorrows (shout out louds, "very loud"- break-up; wallflowers, "one headlight" - my grandma's passing). when i'm really bummed or stressed out, i strive to find the ultimate "jodi" album. the one where i can listen, front to back, and maybe remember when i listened to the album back in its heyday, but not be reminded of other people or situations. an album for me. of me. just so i can remember me and noone else. not sure if this makes sense, but believe me, if you try to flip through your ipod and find a song/album/artist you can enjoy without some sort of connection/memory, it's trickier than you'd think.
this album is it for me. the yeah yeah yeahs may have taken a turn in their artistic direction since their debut, but i ain't mad at em. 'fever to tell' is the one album, front to back, where i can feel sentimental without any attached personal romance (as i was perpetually single in 2004) - "modern romance/hidden track." i can feel empowered, fuck you in your face, sexy and alive - "y control". i can jump around my apartment sans caffeine or pants, screaming at the top of my lungs and not giving a shit if anyone walks in on me (well, 'cept maybe carrie b/c she's never seen me in my underpants), - "Date with the night," "rich."
BOY YOU'RE JUST A STUPID BITCH AND GIRL YOU'RE JUST A NO GOOD DICK. - black tongue. i mean, seriously. karen o yelping, shrieking, moaning, having hot sex with her microphone. this album is almost surely effective in transitioning my mood from blah to what-the-fuck-ever. and the greatest part is that it's not attached to another single living soul. just me, being me, not giving a shit, and doing what i do. plus, it kicks ass and it's fun to play really really loud until my subwoofer shakes my dining room floorboards.
ok, so maybe the obsession didn't fully evolve until 2008, but i had many-a girly dance parties on my old madison crew's coffee table to 'all falls down,' 'kanye's work out plan' and 'through the wire." more of a guilty part-time pleasure, i didn't own any of kanye's full-length albums at the time of his debut release, but it was the beginning of my longest love affair with any man to date. when a newfound pal in 08 assured me liking hip-pop was not only ok, but awesome, i quickly caught up where i had left off with my old girly crew in the dairy state. i love kanye. this album, though, is still my fave. maybe 'good ass job' can change that come september.
i didn't know much about mr. smith until after his passing. i knew he contributed some tracks to the good will hunting score, although i didn't know any of them by name or anything. i remember very clearly working the front desk of clemens hall, my old dorm at uw-oshkosh, being very bored. staring at the computer screen. seeing a mention on stereogum or somewhere, that elliott smith had died. i looked him up. i felt sad. didn't know why. a few months or however long later, i received his post-humous album, from a basement on the hill, at wrst. it came from a pretty consistent promoter, so i threw it in the disc changer in my old office immediately. from the haunting string opening, moving into the percussion build-up and epic instrumentation, i was crying before he even started singing. this sounds lame as fuck, i know. but believe me, i was not hip in 2004. i was an out of place wisconsinite who listened to saves the day and rx bandits. i didn't know what hipsters were. (truthfully, i even made one of my advanced radio pieces about the upcoming trend of "scenesters," describing them as the "kids too cool to wear a band t-shirt to the show." i interviewed members of motion city soundtrack for this piece. that's how hip i was).
the pain in his lyrics. in his song. his vocals. the instrumentation. bare and simple, yet epic and unforgettable. "a distorted reality is now a necessity to be free." "pretty (ugly before)." "a fond farewell." "king's crossing." (i can't prepare for death anymore than i already have.)
god, even thinking about these songs. and how much of an impact they made on me. and how many tears i shed. again - not attached to any person in particular, or even for the deceased songwriter, just the emotions that accumulated. no reason, really. just sad, empty, loneliness. i had recently gotten over a serious bout with depression and anxiety that took me across the state and two years of medicated therapy to overcome. while i wasn't a heroin addict like elliott, i could relate to the feeling of emptiness and the need to just feel, something, anything. it was theraputic to know that i wasn't alone, well, in the emotional sense i guess. shortly after listening to 'from a basement. . .' on repeat for the next 6 months, i eventually picked up the remainder of his catalogue. while 'figure 8,' 'xo,' 'either/or,' 'new moon,' 'roman candle' and his self-titled are all impeccable releases, i always wind up coming home to that basement on the hill.
my friend seth wasn't even promoting this record at his label, but after we became buddy buddy on our weekly phone chats, he sent me a few burned discs he personally recommended. dude introduced me to annie, the knife, de la soul and most importantly, the arcade fire. i had heard a few tracks here and there from 'funeral' and at first was bored. dude's voice was wavy and off kilter. the music was accordians and not really my thing. but then, i realized this shit was bigger than that. neighborhood 3? how can one deny that intro, it's fast tempo, marbly vocals, xylophone/accordian/string sections. neighborhood 2? perfect shower shout-along, LAAAAAAAAAAIKA! wake up - well, we all know it was so catchy that spike jonez caught on 5 years later. rebellion (lies), however, is where i lost my shit. this is another album that is for jodi. sometimes i remember how i introduced my ex-beau to it and it was one of the few agreeable discs to play for long car rides, but really, it was mine. that blank burned cd. thanks, seth. i don't know where you are these days since gym class heroes broke up unless you're still band manager for that shit, but thanks for introducing me to funeral. this shit makes me happy, hopeful and back in my shower in 2004 on 715 wright street, oshkosh, wisconsin. not such a bad place or time.
plus, i vaguely remember smoking a mystery joint and sipping on some whiskey at central park watching this 12-member outfit rock the park stage, complete with david bowie on hand for the encore.
at first, i was over jimmy eat world. bleed american was the shit. clarity was the album you were supposed to like the most, and eventually i almost did, but when i heard a new one was coming out, i had just exited my "emo/punk" stages and was embarassed to admit my former love for these pop superstars. this changed, though, after the third or so listen to this record. this record isn't really a collection of singles, persay. i don't think i could really enjoy each track individually as much as i enjoy listening to the album from front to back completion, but when i do have 46 or so minutes, this is a good visit to the past. unfortunately, its' not a jodi album, it's a former dude album, but i have been able to remove myself from that time to the point where listening to this album is just an enjoyable glimpse of the time before. i had the record before the ex-boyfriend. i was really, really happy in 2005, so those memories are good ones. like looking in a photo album before all pictures transitioned to digital formats.
"i always believed in futures. i hope for better, (in november)." oh, mr. jimmy eat world, you are so deep.
if i ever have to introduce music to people of another ethnicity or another species from another planet. i think this album should be a crucial educational text. this album, from start to finish, is one of the most solid albums i've ever owned and if i need to explain why to you, you should go directly to a record store (or online) and find out for yourself, right. now. isaac brock is cool. even when he's fucked up on drugs. and making albums that aren't as tight (see, 09's noone's first and you're last). who cares. dude knows how to make a catchy track you don't need to feel embarassed about. can't wait to catch em at p4k this july. i really hope they play 'the ocean breathes salty' or 'the view'. then i can just shut my eyes, move my feet, shake my hair and scream marbly along with brock, and feel alright.
this would be a jodi album, although it takes me to a different time. summer of 2004 in wisconsin dells. residing in the extinct trailer 8. (trailer 8 is great!) where i could see the grass below the rusted/rotted hole in the bathroom by the toilet. i'd stare at the wildlife below every time i peed, praying a centipede wouldn't crawl in. this was probably my favorite summer of wisconsin dells. i remember my old friend nikki and i driving to borrow her dad's truck to move my furniture in oshkosh on our day off. cranking this album full blast, shouting along to 'float on,' arms flailing out the windows, knowing a long day was ahead but that our youthful states would get everything completed on time to return to our trailers on time for the night ski show. smoking cigarettes and pulling beer bongs in the picnic concrete courtyard between our trailers. climbing on the roofs. a hell of a lot of miller lite, hamms and pepsi. petey pablo. 50 cent posters. doritos. video camera. trips to walmart. and always, modest mouse bumping in the background.
i wish more than anything, i could get those friendships with nikki and kelly and days of my happy youth back.
ok, so this album had been released a few years prior to 04 initially. but i'll never forget the day the re-issue arrived at my office at wrst. i opened the package and screamed in glee! there were a few additional bonus tracks, and it was polished up a bit, but it was mine! and reminded me of my freshman year at uw-riverfalls, drunkenly shouting and singing along with tessa and quinn to these quirky key-heavy pop punk tracks. 'girl, why'd you run away,' 'your girlfriend hates me,' 'another runaway song,' and 'your boyfriend hates me' are hardly deep meaningful tracks, but they sure are fun as fuck to sing super loud and dance around in your underpants to. crooning to my cat, mostly. but if tessa or quinn were here, you're damned tooting they'd get a special lapdance tribute.
i didn't listen to this album as much as i should have when it first arrived at wrst. but after a little prodding and encouragement from a certain promoter, i decided to give it a go. these lesbian canuck twins had strange haircuts and high pitched voices, singing into their acoustic guitars and keyboards about heartbreak, loves lost and jealousy. as a human being with a vagina, naturally, i could relate. and this album became my all-time 'i hate boys' anthem album. total vaginafest at its best, so jealous ignited a life-long relationship with their tunes. while this record doesn't necessarily count as my fave t&s record, (maybe 'if it wasn't you'? or 'the con'?), it's pretty solid and awesome. i even devoted my film pre-production final project to creating the music video for 'you wouldn't like me.'
i still have the hand drawn stick person tegan and sara drawings on neon construction paper in my closet.
now i think i need to revisit these, but maybe i'll start back in 2003 while i'm reminscing, i haven't checked 'give up' for a while now. the postal service always brings back memories. . .
today i cannot stop thinking. so to avoid worrying about things out of my control, or getting worked up on certain social situations/familial dramabullshit, i'm going to avoid thinking on my yesteryear. 2004 was a pretty good year. a lot of personal growth, attributed mostly, to my soundtrack of the time.
this sounds cliche and lame, but there were several memorable releases that shaped me that were either released/discovered in tthis timeframe.
yeah yeah yeahs - fever to tell
a lot of music reminds me of someone or something or some experience. sometimes it's good and i can't help but smile (tessa and reggie and the full effect, freshman year). other times it really bums me out and reminds me of old break-ups or sorrows (shout out louds, "very loud"- break-up; wallflowers, "one headlight" - my grandma's passing). when i'm really bummed or stressed out, i strive to find the ultimate "jodi" album. the one where i can listen, front to back, and maybe remember when i listened to the album back in its heyday, but not be reminded of other people or situations. an album for me. of me. just so i can remember me and noone else. not sure if this makes sense, but believe me, if you try to flip through your ipod and find a song/album/artist you can enjoy without some sort of connection/memory, it's trickier than you'd think.
this album is it for me. the yeah yeah yeahs may have taken a turn in their artistic direction since their debut, but i ain't mad at em. 'fever to tell' is the one album, front to back, where i can feel sentimental without any attached personal romance (as i was perpetually single in 2004) - "modern romance/hidden track." i can feel empowered, fuck you in your face, sexy and alive - "y control". i can jump around my apartment sans caffeine or pants, screaming at the top of my lungs and not giving a shit if anyone walks in on me (well, 'cept maybe carrie b/c she's never seen me in my underpants), - "Date with the night," "rich."
BOY YOU'RE JUST A STUPID BITCH AND GIRL YOU'RE JUST A NO GOOD DICK. - black tongue. i mean, seriously. karen o yelping, shrieking, moaning, having hot sex with her microphone. this album is almost surely effective in transitioning my mood from blah to what-the-fuck-ever. and the greatest part is that it's not attached to another single living soul. just me, being me, not giving a shit, and doing what i do. plus, it kicks ass and it's fun to play really really loud until my subwoofer shakes my dining room floorboards.
i wanna be karen o when i grow up.
kanye west - college dropout
ok, so maybe the obsession didn't fully evolve until 2008, but i had many-a girly dance parties on my old madison crew's coffee table to 'all falls down,' 'kanye's work out plan' and 'through the wire." more of a guilty part-time pleasure, i didn't own any of kanye's full-length albums at the time of his debut release, but it was the beginning of my longest love affair with any man to date. when a newfound pal in 08 assured me liking hip-pop was not only ok, but awesome, i quickly caught up where i had left off with my old girly crew in the dairy state. i love kanye. this album, though, is still my fave. maybe 'good ass job' can change that come september.
george bush doesn't like black people.
elliott smith - from a basement on the hill
i didn't know much about mr. smith until after his passing. i knew he contributed some tracks to the good will hunting score, although i didn't know any of them by name or anything. i remember very clearly working the front desk of clemens hall, my old dorm at uw-oshkosh, being very bored. staring at the computer screen. seeing a mention on stereogum or somewhere, that elliott smith had died. i looked him up. i felt sad. didn't know why. a few months or however long later, i received his post-humous album, from a basement on the hill, at wrst. it came from a pretty consistent promoter, so i threw it in the disc changer in my old office immediately. from the haunting string opening, moving into the percussion build-up and epic instrumentation, i was crying before he even started singing. this sounds lame as fuck, i know. but believe me, i was not hip in 2004. i was an out of place wisconsinite who listened to saves the day and rx bandits. i didn't know what hipsters were. (truthfully, i even made one of my advanced radio pieces about the upcoming trend of "scenesters," describing them as the "kids too cool to wear a band t-shirt to the show." i interviewed members of motion city soundtrack for this piece. that's how hip i was).
the pain in his lyrics. in his song. his vocals. the instrumentation. bare and simple, yet epic and unforgettable. "a distorted reality is now a necessity to be free." "pretty (ugly before)." "a fond farewell." "king's crossing." (i can't prepare for death anymore than i already have.)
god, even thinking about these songs. and how much of an impact they made on me. and how many tears i shed. again - not attached to any person in particular, or even for the deceased songwriter, just the emotions that accumulated. no reason, really. just sad, empty, loneliness. i had recently gotten over a serious bout with depression and anxiety that took me across the state and two years of medicated therapy to overcome. while i wasn't a heroin addict like elliott, i could relate to the feeling of emptiness and the need to just feel, something, anything. it was theraputic to know that i wasn't alone, well, in the emotional sense i guess. shortly after listening to 'from a basement. . .' on repeat for the next 6 months, i eventually picked up the remainder of his catalogue. while 'figure 8,' 'xo,' 'either/or,' 'new moon,' 'roman candle' and his self-titled are all impeccable releases, i always wind up coming home to that basement on the hill.
i'm so "scenester" i even have two tats semi-dedicated to the dude.
the arcade fire - funeral
my friend seth wasn't even promoting this record at his label, but after we became buddy buddy on our weekly phone chats, he sent me a few burned discs he personally recommended. dude introduced me to annie, the knife, de la soul and most importantly, the arcade fire. i had heard a few tracks here and there from 'funeral' and at first was bored. dude's voice was wavy and off kilter. the music was accordians and not really my thing. but then, i realized this shit was bigger than that. neighborhood 3? how can one deny that intro, it's fast tempo, marbly vocals, xylophone/accordian/string sections. neighborhood 2? perfect shower shout-along, LAAAAAAAAAAIKA! wake up - well, we all know it was so catchy that spike jonez caught on 5 years later. rebellion (lies), however, is where i lost my shit. this is another album that is for jodi. sometimes i remember how i introduced my ex-beau to it and it was one of the few agreeable discs to play for long car rides, but really, it was mine. that blank burned cd. thanks, seth. i don't know where you are these days since gym class heroes broke up unless you're still band manager for that shit, but thanks for introducing me to funeral. this shit makes me happy, hopeful and back in my shower in 2004 on 715 wright street, oshkosh, wisconsin. not such a bad place or time.
plus, i vaguely remember smoking a mystery joint and sipping on some whiskey at central park watching this 12-member outfit rock the park stage, complete with david bowie on hand for the encore.
if only life was still that amazing.
jimmy eat world - futures
at first, i was over jimmy eat world. bleed american was the shit. clarity was the album you were supposed to like the most, and eventually i almost did, but when i heard a new one was coming out, i had just exited my "emo/punk" stages and was embarassed to admit my former love for these pop superstars. this changed, though, after the third or so listen to this record. this record isn't really a collection of singles, persay. i don't think i could really enjoy each track individually as much as i enjoy listening to the album from front to back completion, but when i do have 46 or so minutes, this is a good visit to the past. unfortunately, its' not a jodi album, it's a former dude album, but i have been able to remove myself from that time to the point where listening to this album is just an enjoyable glimpse of the time before. i had the record before the ex-boyfriend. i was really, really happy in 2005, so those memories are good ones. like looking in a photo album before all pictures transitioned to digital formats.
"i always believed in futures. i hope for better, (in november)." oh, mr. jimmy eat world, you are so deep.
please quit making overproduced shit now and go back to simple pop ditties, thanx.
modest mouse - good news for people who love bad news
if i ever have to introduce music to people of another ethnicity or another species from another planet. i think this album should be a crucial educational text. this album, from start to finish, is one of the most solid albums i've ever owned and if i need to explain why to you, you should go directly to a record store (or online) and find out for yourself, right. now. isaac brock is cool. even when he's fucked up on drugs. and making albums that aren't as tight (see, 09's noone's first and you're last). who cares. dude knows how to make a catchy track you don't need to feel embarassed about. can't wait to catch em at p4k this july. i really hope they play 'the ocean breathes salty' or 'the view'. then i can just shut my eyes, move my feet, shake my hair and scream marbly along with brock, and feel alright.
this would be a jodi album, although it takes me to a different time. summer of 2004 in wisconsin dells. residing in the extinct trailer 8. (trailer 8 is great!) where i could see the grass below the rusted/rotted hole in the bathroom by the toilet. i'd stare at the wildlife below every time i peed, praying a centipede wouldn't crawl in. this was probably my favorite summer of wisconsin dells. i remember my old friend nikki and i driving to borrow her dad's truck to move my furniture in oshkosh on our day off. cranking this album full blast, shouting along to 'float on,' arms flailing out the windows, knowing a long day was ahead but that our youthful states would get everything completed on time to return to our trailers on time for the night ski show. smoking cigarettes and pulling beer bongs in the picnic concrete courtyard between our trailers. climbing on the roofs. a hell of a lot of miller lite, hamms and pepsi. petey pablo. 50 cent posters. doritos. video camera. trips to walmart. and always, modest mouse bumping in the background.
i wish more than anything, i could get those friendships with nikki and kelly and days of my happy youth back.
revisitng this album isn't a bad consolation prize, though.
reggie & the full effect - greatest hits '84-'87 (re-issue)
ok, so this album had been released a few years prior to 04 initially. but i'll never forget the day the re-issue arrived at my office at wrst. i opened the package and screamed in glee! there were a few additional bonus tracks, and it was polished up a bit, but it was mine! and reminded me of my freshman year at uw-riverfalls, drunkenly shouting and singing along with tessa and quinn to these quirky key-heavy pop punk tracks. 'girl, why'd you run away,' 'your girlfriend hates me,' 'another runaway song,' and 'your boyfriend hates me' are hardly deep meaningful tracks, but they sure are fun as fuck to sing super loud and dance around in your underpants to. crooning to my cat, mostly. but if tessa or quinn were here, you're damned tooting they'd get a special lapdance tribute.
fiona apple can kiss my black ass.
tegan and sara - so jealous
i didn't listen to this album as much as i should have when it first arrived at wrst. but after a little prodding and encouragement from a certain promoter, i decided to give it a go. these lesbian canuck twins had strange haircuts and high pitched voices, singing into their acoustic guitars and keyboards about heartbreak, loves lost and jealousy. as a human being with a vagina, naturally, i could relate. and this album became my all-time 'i hate boys' anthem album. total vaginafest at its best, so jealous ignited a life-long relationship with their tunes. while this record doesn't necessarily count as my fave t&s record, (maybe 'if it wasn't you'? or 'the con'?), it's pretty solid and awesome. i even devoted my film pre-production final project to creating the music video for 'you wouldn't like me.'
i still have the hand drawn stick person tegan and sara drawings on neon construction paper in my closet.
i'm a really, really good illustrator.
now i think i need to revisit these, but maybe i'll start back in 2003 while i'm reminscing, i haven't checked 'give up' for a while now. the postal service always brings back memories. . .
Friday, May 28, 2010
i've got powers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)