The Year of Black Crows and The Season of the Phoenix.

Song of the Day is...."Love Like a Sunset II" by Phoenix.

What else to say about this song.  Nothing.  It's just beautiful.  In my humble opinion, it is what love feels like.  The title of this blog kind of says it all.  I sit here tapping my foot, trying to get the creative juices flowing but find that I am very tired on yet another gray day here in Portland and I feel that the creativity comes from this quiet introspection conjured up by my background music.  It most certainly has been my season of Phoenix.  When I want to play, I think to put them on. When I want to think, I put them on and heck, lately when I've been doing laundry and dishes, I think they would add to my experience of accomplished tasks.  I think this was a nice video to share for a Monday.  Whether you live in a sunny place and you read this or whether you are in Jultober (as Cassie so perfectly describes this), this band just seems to fit for me, and hopefully you feel the same way too.

The first time I heard Phoenix (I will not lie about this) was when I saw Lost In Translation.  If you don't remember, let me refresh your memory:

Very strange video indeed.

So since seeing the movie, I have been curious about this band.  If Sofia Coppola loves them, why shouldn't I? And yes, she does personally love them because I found this.  Okay okay, so she was dating Thomas Mars in this photo and maybe wanted to give him some spotlight in her film, but it worked!

 Phoenix is a French band (labeled as a French dance rock band) from Versailles.  Lead singer Thomas Mars (pictured above) has an incredible vocal range and gives the band their signature sound.  Some might protest that their songs sound very similar to one another but when you have a distinct front man for your band, it's going to be perceived that way by some.  However, this band is unlike any other in that I have found all of their acoustic material to be incredible, their live performances to blow me away, their videos to be visually stimulating and hypercreative, as well as creating remixes for many of their hits while never dismissing the essence of each lyric or each feeling the song gives.  To be frank, they're just FUN.  And very European.  If you don't believe me, just watch their videos.

The Parisian garage band started in 1995 with their fourth member joining them (and get this) by an incredible guitarist named Laurent Brancowitz, who is the older brother of Chris Mazzalai and was in a band with two other guys that later titled their band Daft Punk.  Zing.  So he leaves that little threesome band and joins up with these other three rockers to form Phoenix.  Gotta give these guys mad credit for not only starting up their own little French rock group in Mars' garage (a real garage band for sure), but that they even started their own label, giving it the title Ghettoblaster.  You have to hand it to them for being nobodies but releasing a single (a single mind you when they are not even famous or even kind of famous at this point) on their very own label.  BUT they managed to press 500 copies to the public and were quickly recognized by Paris-based Source Records.  So if that's not awesome enough, one of my other favorite French bands, Air fell in love with them and had them appear with them on stage several times as their backup band. We all know "Kelly Watch the Stars" yes? My personal favorite of Air's singles (I am convinced it was written for me) but they did all of the backup music for that song. I had no idea about any of this. I think that's pretty cool. That and that they are "best friend bands" with Daft Punk.  I always said I would be in Paris for my 30th birthday. Let's hope that happens and I can become their American in Paris stalker.  (just kidding. kind of.)

So there is a quick little introduction to my new found "friends" and hope you can appreciate them.  The song of the day was actually not much of a love song for me when I discovered it but was more of a subjective song for me as I was reflecting on the symbology of black crows in my life and stumbled upon it and right then and there dedicated it to the dead crow my friend Amanda and I found on the way to a movie theatre on our walk.  We walked right by it and stopped for me to inspect.  They are so massive and beautiful and majestic and I have encountered so many of them recently.  What started as a dying black crow refusing to leave my car and begging me to pick it up and put it out of its misery that fateful morning some fortnight ago but has turned into a consistent icon in my life at the moment.  They do represent transition and spiritual growth.  I like it. Seeing one atop a hearse last week, and then the dead one last Thursday, it's been a lot.  I wanted to bury that bird but instead we left it there and I told myself it was okay.  That night, back at home, I listened to none other than "Blackbird" a few times.

 It hit me. This song is all about what black crows represent.  It was kind of a musical and personal epiphany.

Not sure what it all means, and I may never know, but I am okay with that. For now.  Because now, I have music and all of the interpretations I choose.  And I have Thomas Mars keeping my ears company in the meantime.

IN OTHER NEWS:  The Killers' drummer, Ronnie Vanucci releases his self-titled debut album today! Hmm...I have no idea what's in store with that one.  Red Hot Chili Peppers release the first single from their 10th studio album 'I'm With You' today, with 'The Adventures Of Raindance Maggie' coming out. Oddly enough, even the GooGoo Dolls came out with a new album today. They're still alive??!?!

So there are some good things to check out and tons to look forward to.   My biggest highlight:  Portugal. The Man releases their album "In The Mountain In The Cloud" tomorrow!!!!! Finally!!!! Best Album of the Year for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JyZZIQC3v4



 Have a fantastic week!

Happy 6th Month Anniversary to me (Portland + Kelly = Love), Long Lost Memories, and The Temper Trap

 Song of the Day is...."Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap

It's fun how I write these ginormously long titles so you know exactly where I'll be going with this blog (or trying to at least) and gives a good indication of how none of this has any rhyme or reason. I crack up every time I write it but at least I'm being honest at the gate so you can decide if you really want to race.

FIRST THINGS FIRST. I lied. I said that I was going to chat about Phoenix today but wrong. I've decided to actually spend an entire week dedicating five songs of theirs for each day of next week. That's how much I love them right now. I will give a great introduction to the band and then get you hooked by the end of the week. That's the goal anyway. I'm listening to them a lot today and will be for a while to come.

I feel so Debbie Downer today. Maybe not the best day to write. But I will anyway (lucky lucky you).  I think it's the weather or the fact that my insomnia is making me narcoleptic through the day and kicking my ass by evening. My thoughts are all jumbled and I feel kind of nothing. The only interesting things that flash through my head are really dark (like when I die, I will not be able to have that first initial high of hearing an amazing song for the first time - yes, this was my thought on my way home from school) to really strange (like maybe I should quit my day job all together and really delve into physical science like why we can see through solids like ice and glass).  And while on the subject of day jobs, I decided that writing about music or having my own radio show would be my dream job.  I feel like a female Christian Slater hunkered down in my little room with nothing but music in the background and so much to say.  None of these thoughts are useful at all. I'm a noncontributing zero at the moment.

But Phoenix aside, there are some other great bands worthy of attention right now. One that no one seems to talk about is The Temper Trap. I think I like them. I mean, I'm more on the side of really liking them than not liking them which was a fence I hopped today with Muse. Sitting on this fence for a while and then this morning I decided it's just not my thing. Speaking of Audioslave yesterday, that's what they remind me of. Like MGMT synthesized sounds mixed with Audioslave and some Third Eye Blind. Just not really doing it for me. Doesn't give me the tingles. But Dougy Mandagi of The Temper Trap does. His voice is very melodic and I like how straightforward it can sound one minute and then reach an unbelievably high pitch in no time. He's no Bon Iver (that's French, assholes HA!) but smooth and consistent. I like him, so I am featuring him as my artist of the day.

The Temper Trap, for those of you who don't know, are a band that started in Australia with the front man being born in Indonesia. He's super cute to boot. The BBC nominated them as the top 15 sounds for 2009, the year they broke out and had commercial success with their first album, Conditions.  You are bound to hear them as a band in an awesome lineup for kick-ass music festivals.  They gained worldwide notoriety after their performance at South by Southwest in 2009.  So look for them out and about in your area to see a show or better yet, just buy an album. I still buy CDs. I'm so archaic like that.

I began to think about life, as I mentioned earlier today, and was thinking about the loss of memories. Some people will really surprise me with their memory. I think years of drinking and self-destructive self-centered behavior enabled me to forget most of my past, which I thought was really great there for a while and now I hate it. I don't necessarily wish I had superior autobiographical memory but I also don't want to forget what it was like to have a first kiss, what sneaking out for the very first time felt like, Indian summers with my brother in huge fields running around barefoot pulling ticks off of us while skipping down to the corner store market for Big Hunks and Yoo-hoos.  I don't like forgetting past lovers and what hearing Pearl Jam's Ten album was like in my room long, long ago. Speaking of Pearl Jam, I DID remember the other day while doing the dishes about me applying for one of my first jobs when I was 16 to The Music Station. It was like the hippest thing we had in Roseburg and was the ONLY place on earth you would buy music (us alternative kids, anyway because like we would be caught dead at Sam Goody).  The question on the application was "If you were on a deserted island but had a way to listen to music, what five albums would you take?" What a question. It would still feel nearly impossible to me to answer but my attempts were:  1) Pearl Jam - Ten; 2) So far the best of... - Sinead O'Connor; 3) Elliott Smith - Either/Or; 4) Billy Holiday - Songs for Distingue Lovers; and 5) Chet Baker - My Funny Valentine.  I had to of course put backups on there.  16-year-olds are indecisive by nature.  I believe I put Jeff Bukley's "Grace" and Beastie Boys' "Licensed to Ill".  I think Jeff Buckley should've replaced Sinead. He is after all my second favorite musician of all time.  I never got the job. Was it something I said?

Anyway, sometimes I will have very strange memories like I will suddenly smell the sweet pungent aroma of plastic/latex mix that reminds me of the inside of a Halloween monster mask from the 80's that my brother and I used to play with or I will be behind a school bus and can smell the diesel remembering my rides to school every morning and every afternoon picking at the crappy hot glue gun job they did on those cheap brown plastic seats.  The other day I even caught myself missing a current memory in the making in which I was on the freeway listening to Phillip Glass watching a crop irrigation sprinkler thingey water this huge field and it just looked like these huge tennis balls with streamers attached pummeling the plants like comets falling through the atmosphere.  I just realized how tired I am.

Some songs can be so sad when talking about memories or at least they make me sad and I can't tell if the artist is sad or maybe I'm sad when I think while listening to them. Who knows. Songs can be strange that way. Like what about "Against The Wind" by Bob Seger or "In My Life" by The Beatles or "Copperline" by James Taylor or "Glory Days" by The Boss (that's Bruce Springsteen chitlins), oh I could go on and on. But these songs are so sad for me. A song that I hear once in a while that makes me feel all pensive and imagine myself driving through the desert toward an awesome sunset thinking back on my life driving toward the future (how's that for a cheese vision) is:  Noah and the Whale "Oh Joy".  It's a pretty song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EZ_TiLp-qI  

For some reason I couldn't imbed the video.

Something that I am so super duper happy about with this blog is that I get to keep these featured songs archived. I can always look back on them. I love that I have a digital record of these songs. Ever since Facebook changed its features, I have lost every song I have ever shared (which is the main reason I am on the thing anyway) and I used to love that in the left hand column, it listed all of my music. No longer. I lose them as I go.  So here I am making and recording memories with these songs I share for good.

Can't wait to make lots of memories in this beautiful city I live in now. Some artists even sing about their memories in Portland, Oregon. It's a memorable place.  Today I celebrate my 6 month anniversary of living here. It's the longest relationship I have had in a while. I think it's getting serious.

I will now leave you all with a quote from my very favorite television show from my youth:

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.  ~The Wonder Years

It's All About James. Not Ken, Just James. Oh, and a Little Tribute to Patti Smith.

Song of the Day is......"The High Road" by Broken Bells.

 

Thank you Sadie, for suggesting that I embed (did you know that this is essentially the same word as "imbed"? I learn something new every day) so anyway, this gives the blog a little more visual stimulation, yeah? Maybe better than just a link? Give me your feedback please. I can leave it the way it was if you prefer.

Oh y'all are in for it. My head is spinning out of control today. I have a million things in there and it's all just bouncing around desperate to get out and onto a page somewhere. Lucky for you, I will give it all right here on this blog right now in this moment. So...with that ----

I of course had to pick a Broken Bells tune for the song of the day because well, I am ALL ABOUT James Mercer right now. I couldn't sleep last night because I was thinking about an email I received yesterday. So on Facebook yesterday, I essentially threw it out there that I wanted to meet James Mercer and interview him for my stupid blog. I really was being funny at the time and voila! I got a response. Not just a response but an email from someone saying that they would look into it as his friend is a publicist for Danger Mouse. Um...wha? Come again? Are you serious? Okay okay, I know what y'all are thinking but I can't help but daydream about it, right? So the guy is god to me right now. I was rehearsing everything from what my first impression would be (do I shake the guy's hand firmly? to what do i wear? where should we eat? would he want me to buy it? will he think i'm dorky? am i allowed to say that i hope to see him around?) I know, I know. Super dork at her most right now.

For those of you who don't know James Mercer (I dare write that sentence but believe me, it was with a gasp), he is amazing. He really is an incredible musician. For most of you who know me well, Elliott Smith is my favorite musician. Unfortunately for the world, Elliott is dead. So then you think, how/when/is it at all possible to have someone else in the world who knows how to play like a million instruments, produce their own music, collaborate with some of the best musicians in the world, create multiple projects, keep it all going simultaneously while constantly producing brilliant material that the entire world enjoys? Ah Daniel-san, the time has come. Young grasshoppa was patient and the world was blessed with James Mercer. For starters, the guy has the voice of an angel. He also has starred in a film and also contributed a song to a documentary and not just any song but a Neil Young cover. Oh you had me at Neil.  He even tours with my beloved Califone. Does the guy get any better?  You all probably know him best as the front man for the ever awesome band "The Shins".  What you might not know is that he has done even back-up vocals (really?!?) for Modest Mouse. On their album We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, he sings backup vocals for "Florida", "We Missed The Boat" and "We've Got Everything". The guy is that good that even other A-list rockers just want him around. Do something, anything, play something or sing whatever you've got. Wouldn't you want to be that guy? This is his day job. Holy shit.

James Mercer has started a new project with the profoundly eclectic electronica rocker/DJ/producer, master of the mix Danger Mouse. You all probably know Danger Mouse from his big major mainstream debut in 2004 with Jay-Z to produce The Grey Album where Jay-Z does raps from his Black Album to the instrumental background of The Beatles' White Album.  Clever.  Anyway, it really is a fantastic album and man do I love artists who know how to do incredible stuff like that - stuff you wouldn't dream of sounding incredible but just are. It's always a "I wish I had thought of that" sort of moment for me.  So Danger Mouse and James Mercer come together to create Broken Bells. An amazing band that makes me think of The Flaming Lips meets Ian Brown meets Air meets Nada Surf. I just love them. Love the sound, the way it makes me feel, and to top it off their videos are awesome. Just hearing Mercer's voice gives me chills in whatever capacity so I just feel lucky he's still doing this amazing stuff.

Speaking of collaboration and producing great projects between talented musicians, I began to think the other day about jaw-dropping bands that when you hear them you say "I love this and it is familiar to me. I don't know why but it's just right there in the genre of greatness in my psychological card catalog of bitchin music".  That's because it is. Like when you go to a store and you find something you like and it's because you have 50 of them hanging up in your closet but this one is unique in its own way and will probably be the one you will wear every day for the next 6 months.  Here is a list I came up with in my head in the shower this morning just off hand (a brief list): 

1.  Temple of the Dog (remember when?). I think the only hit was "Hunger Strike" but I remember the video like it was yesterday.  They formed in 1990 with the best of the best grunge rockers around including Stone Gossard on rhythm guitar, Jeff Ament on bass guitar (both ex-members of Mother Love Bone), Mike McCready on lead guitar, Matt Cameron on drums and Eddie Vedder providing lead and backing vocals.  We think of Chris Cornell and a few members of Pearl Jam but they came later, believe it or not. Well Chris Cornell founded the group but then it was all circulated around Mother Love Bone, etc. There is a lot to say here, but you get the gist.  I digress.  

2.  Audioslave.  Now isn't this a crappy band. What a sad day it is when Tom Morello, one of the best guitarists around, decides to team up with Chris Cornell to make Audioslave, a terrible band that sings love songs for pete's sake. I mean, how do you go from Rage Against the Machine's angry, poetic, prolific, emphatic tone of anti-government rants to teaming with the Soundgarden dropout? Beats me.

3.  The Aliens.  Now this is a fun group you would be so lucky to meet or see in real life given the opportunity. They represent the natural flow of creativity similar to Mercer working with The Shins and Broken Bells - going out on a limb and doing more of the synthesized electronica/funk beats with the familiar sing-songey sound.  The Beta Band created another group called The Aliens and they rock. Just purely kick ass. I can't praise them enough. One of my favorite inbred greats for sure.

4.  Gnarls Barkley.  Danger Mouse hits it up with some great musicians being that his thing is producing and mixing and what not. So he went from working with Jay-Z to working with Cee-Lo Green to create Gnarls Barkley, the funkdafied duo that you can't take out of your stereo on a sunny Saturday.  Love it. It's really fun. Don't miss out on having these guys in your collection.  And now he's onto Broken Bells. What artistic moves he has made. Smart ones at that. 

Another fun band that makes you feel fuzzy all over is Fruit Bats. They have a song called "When You Love Somebody" and I dedicate it constantly to Scarlett. It's only four lines sung over and over and over again. Only a band like Fruit Bats can do that. You want to just eat them up. DID YOU KNOW: Eric Johnson of Fruit Bats plays for The Shins? Oh we're full circle again. I love the incestuousness of rad bands.  It makes me feel like I win the lottery when they do this.

You're probably all wondering what my reference to "Ken" was in the title of this outrageous all-over-the-place blog. That is because Ken is an artist that just goes by Ken. Yes, believe it. I'm not sure how Ken is going to get noticed or accomplish the feeling of a sold-out show going by Ken but we'll see where he goes. And by the way, poor Kens everywhere in the world. All we do is associate him with Barbie. Not a chance in the world. Anyway, I just discovered him. I do like one song of his. It's called "Wake City". Not a bad one at all.

On the way home from a long, tedious, boring, terribly exhausting, long and extremely unnecessarily stretched out day at school, I was heading home when I thought about how the highlights of my day really do consist of music and that's about it. I woke up this morning and played some satellite radio where I got to hear one of my favorite Modest Mouse hits "Trailer Trash" followed by Phoenix "Love Like a Sunset II". Tomorrow I will go into my love for Phoenix, as I have been daydreaming about them for days now as well. They are definitely in the top three in my life right now. Absolutely love love love them. Anyway, I'm so tangential today and I can't believe I have kept your attention this long (maybe some of you stopped a long time ago, understandably so) but today has been one of those days. The satellite radio station spoke to me with two great songs while getting ready and then I get in my car and turn on 101.9 and I get to hear the end of Foster The People "Pumped Up Kicks" as it melded into The Clash.  Lucky me on my morning commute! As I'm heading home, I turn on 94.7 (the 90's at noon can blast some supreme hits I tell you what) and I got to hear Soundgarden's "Spoonman" (have they come up like three times in this blog unintentionally already? hmm..coincidence?) but then nothing was on. I have "fallback" albums like the never disappointing Elliott Smith along with others (this is in reference to an argument this morning with someone about how rare it is to have albums you can just listen to all the way through and I stated that I actually own quite a few of those because my taste in music is AWESOME). Anyway, listening to From a Basement on the Hill.  I drive down my street hearing the words "heart of a blackbird" when I see a crow sitting atop a hearse in front of the little church next to my house with a funeral procession streaming out. I thought about how many songs I could've been blaring. This was the choice I suppose. It could've been Band of Horses "Funeral" or Jeff Buckley's "Lover, You Should've Come Over" or any other eerie song about being old or too young to die or making mistakes in life, etc. It was a quiet Portland moment, sort of a tribute almost to Elliott, this beautiful gray and simultaenously sunny day in the city of Roses, and to people who have gone. 

To end on a positive note, my brother says I resemble Patti Smith here. 

Believe me when I say that it made my week.  

Speaking of week, I hope y'all have a great middle of the week day. I guess that's hump day. I don't mind if I do. Thank you for reading this insanely long blog entry. You all got to experience what is in my head. It's a lot I know. Try being me for a day.

Peace.

Flea's Praise and Missing Axl.

Song of the day is....."Level" by The Raconteurs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sblEd3VOQK0

I'm choosing this distorted pedal slow dazed out rhythm for this weather. I feel like I'm stuck in a bowl of honey or something. This weather is really unmotivating and I have so many things to do. I'm supposed to be in school right now but my alarm never went off so I'm taking the opportunity to catch up on things that I need to attend to. Word Feud on my phone and music blogs are definitely at the top of the list. Without further ado, here is a long-winded blog by me.

Highlight of my day yesterday: Listening to 94.7 on the way back from dropping Scarlett off in Albany and suddenly I hear the voices of my beloved Chili Peppers when all of a sudden, Flea interjects and says "You're listening to 94.7 Portland's alternative station because we definitely know that there is an alternative underbelly in that city" and it was great. I do feel happy inside knowing that people perceive Portland to be this alternative fun city that never really died after the grunge days ended in mainstream media. That was my time. And at times, it does feel like 1994 is still alive and well. Ah, the 90's...

Speaking of alternative, while I was in the car (yes, it is where I do most of my thinking for better or for worse), I was thinking about quintessential alternative sounds. Is it Pixies? STP? Guns and Roses? "Patience" came on just as I was contemplating this. Normally I would say something like "Where Is My Mind" might be one of the most alternative songs out there but then I listened very carefully to Axl's voice. Who has sung like that since? I suddenly found myself really missing that sound. What an amazing voice he had. And we celebrate the same birthday so maybe I just feel connected planetarily or some odd whatever.

So I went to the beach on Sunday which was RAD. It was a really great trip and I feel blessed to live only an hour and a half from one of the greatest beaches, Cannon Beach. One of my favorites, Michelle, and myself went with our mousekins and took along some raw food and some tunes. We ended up talking most of the time and catching up as we never get to being as busy as we are.  Didn't get to hear as many tunes as I always hope for (I'm not kidding, it's something I feel sad about) but I did get a glimpse of Naked and Famous "Young Blood" while veering onto highway 6. Just a little break from the chit-chat and to a song that I feel really is a signature for this 2011 summer season.  But what a great trip, really.

So in the car I love to play games (as you all know) and I was listening to the radio when I suddenly thought to myself "whatever song comes on next defines me today".  And the song was..."Cornflake Girl" by Tori Amos. Now when was the last time we heard Tori? Um forever ago on my end. I love love love her. I have every album she has ever made and I have not heard what she is up to at all these days. Where are you miss Amos? Anyway, the song couldn't have been more perfect for me these days. It was wonderful to hear and I love how I knew every word and could just scream it loud. What a nice surprise.

NEWS FLASH:  Robert Plant is coming out with a new DVD with rare performances on it that comes out August 23rd. Very very excited to see what it's all about. So check it out!

Other things to check out:  My friend Jess Speer (the amazing Chicagoan librarian that she is) has recommended the band "Radical Dads" to me as she just finished up with them on their tour and said that I might like them. And like them I did. They are an indie rock band from Brooklyn and if you have a moment, just sample some of their music. What I love is that I get tickled over hearing some non-famous indie rocker band starting up that still sounds unique and amazing. People are still making great music! Thank god!!! So here is the link:  http://radicaldads.bandcamp.com/

In other news (and still speaking of Jess):  Jess has started a blog as well on library stuff (something i LOVE) and just interviewed someone on archiving mixed tapes! For real? That's someone's job? Why don't I have that job and where the hell do I start? So exciting to hear someone talk passionately about music for one, but mixed tapes? Are you kidding me? Who doesn't love mixed tapes? I wish I had all of my old mixed tapes. I would be in heaven. So this person feels very passionate about the subject and has decided to make it a mission to restore and archive these amazing pieces of historical gold. The interview was a fun read and got me excited to keep going with this music stuff.  If you would like to read it yourself, please do and check it out at:  http://antelopist.info/    I'm not the only geek out there. Yessss! Here is me geeking out Sunday at the coast btw: 

Yes Elliott Smith is with me always.

Have a wonderful Tuesday! I'm now going to run around like a chicken with my head cut off for the next 16 hours or so and stop making sense. Ooooh...Talking Heads it is today.  Musical perfection.