inspiration is a wiley thing, indeed

**Warning: This will most likely be a very long post**

Hello, and welcome to my blog. My good friend inspired me to do this. Indirectly. She was talking to me earlier this evening about a musical blog she read, listing his personal "If autumn had a sound" play list. What a cute idea. His selections? NOT so cute. Granted, I have a soft spot in my heart for the Gin Blossoms, but only because they covered a KISS song. And don't even get me started on Hootie and the fucking Blowfish. Talk about BLOWING. Anyhow....I guess the first thing I should admit in this, my very first official blog, is that I'm a judgmental prick. And if this guy somehow happens onto this blog, which I highly doubt, I won't apologize for my pretentious comments, because they're just my big-mouthed opinion, and I have the joy of being able to hide within the darkness of the intarweb. He can just blog about it in response. What a wonderful world of passive-aggressiveness we live in these days. I believe Steven Colbert talked about it on one of his shows recently.......Ah. Here it is.

Steven Colbert's "The Word: SOLITARITY"



Not saying that I'm not one of the masses. I mean...LOOK! But alas, I digress. I tend to do that. A LOT. And, in conclusion to my previous tangent, really, I LIKE KISS. Yes, the band. And if that causes a tsunami-like mass of "what a fucking hypocrite!" blogs, or even just one, then I have made my point, indeed.

NOW. Onto the real topic at hand: Music. Le Musique. First off, just to get an idea about what sort of things I'm into, take a peek at my last.fm page. Looks like I spent a lot of time on that, eh? Not really. Luckily, it reached right into my iTunes and set everything up for me. I love easy nerdy shit like that.

Recently, as the season changes, well.......as much as it can in the bay area, which has some of the most schizophrenic weather I've ever EVER experienced, I've found myself hiding out. Bumming out. Watching the leaves change from my window, wanting to take a walk around Lake Merritt but cuddling underneath my bear pelt of a blanket instead. Depression has set in like a bad cold, and it won't go away. Yargh. For the last couple months, I've been totally obsessing about dreamy electronica. I saw the term "emotronic" just this evening, and I'm trying to figure out how to add that to my snobby musical term repertoire. Groups that I've been listening to lately:

Note: As soon as I learn how to embed MP3s, hopefully I'll be able to put up a song of each band/artist/group I talk about. Until then, there are a plethora of sites (myspace, last.fm, etc.) that one can easily locate these groups on, and make judgments as they see fit.

Lamb: More known for their DNB (that's drum and bass to you, NOOB) roots, I've found myself emo-ing out to their lush soundscapes, Lou's very throaty and at times VERY Tori-esque vocal stylings, and their obvious jazz influences, which I dig.

Telefon Tel Aviv: Perhaps these guys can be put underneath the emotronic umbrella? Anyhow, upon discovering these guys, I found myself happily whisked back to the early 90's, when I was prancing around in my room to bad R&B. Not saying that they are bad, OR that they're really R&B, per say, but that they make me feel young....and even a bit naive. I like that. These guys are hands down some of the best programmers I've ever heard. Not many people can take a bunch of random clicks and beeps, mix them up, and create a MASSIVE laid-back, and once again, lush groove to escape into. They mainly have a male vocalist, very reminiscent of white-guy-trying-to-sing-like-Tevin-Campbell, and also guest some mediocre but etheral female vocalists throughout their tracks, but it works. It truely does.

Portishead: One word: Dummy. Actually, it's an album, not an insult. But if you have any taste for trip-hop (think Massive Attack, but with a Tori-like vocalist), get this album. Seriously. This group also has a decent amount of jazz influence, which, in my opinion, makes them walk the fine line between tasteful and cheesy, but for the most part, they're very easy on the ears.

Yppah: (To be honest, I don't know much about this guy. Another good friend of mine turned me onto him, along with Lamb and Telefon Tel Aviv. This chick is what I like to call MITY, or More Indie Than You. She's the indiest girl I've ever met. ) Labeled "indietronica" (yet ANOTHER snobby musical term), probably because he has not as of yet broken into the mainstream. Maybe he'll stay that way, and just be a well known secret among the indietronica freaks worldwide. I feel like one of the few and proud, for now. What I do know is that this guy is a guitarist-turned-programmer, which is cool in my book. His LP "You Are Beautiful At All Times", is well put together, and totally instrumental, save a few tasty vocal samples sprinkled throughout. His tracks are generally pretty short, which is good if you aren't in the mood to wait, but not so good if you're left wanting more. He's got a good sense of space, and his guitar is tasteful, adds a great sense of dynamic, and fills in the gaps quite nicely.

Whew! That was a lot more work than I thought it would be.

So, in closing (because I'm starting to get bored), and to pull this rambling bullshit full circle, I was inspired to create my own personal fall playlist to be appreciated and scoffed at. Here are the first 5 tracks:

1. Hummingbird - Wilco (A Ghost is Born, 2005)
2. So Many Ways - Mates of State (Bring it Back, 2006)
3. Dramamine - Modest Mouse (This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996)
4. Too Late - The Like (Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?, 2005)
5. I Just Don't Know What to do With Myself - The White Stripes version (Elephant, 2003)

Once again, I hope to learn how to embed music soon so that you don't have to go searching for these tracks if you're at all interested. Otherwise, feel free to contact me with any questions/comments/smack talking.

Coming up next blog: A few more tracks to add to my fall playlist. Dreamy electronica is on it's way out on my iPod. My most recent musical obsession- experimental progressive instrumental. Wild shit. Hope you enjoyed. :)