A Thousand Words

Comes with a little music edition

Accidental Photograph

I know that not everyone is into this type of music but my husband's band just released their new ep last week. The Husband had a hand in writing two the songs and is currently hitting the road to help promote it. Take a listen and if you know someone who is into good old fashioned party rock pass it on.

on pop culture, music and TV

I have a few friends who turn up their noses at TV.

One of them didn't watch any TV for a whole ear and found upon re-entering the TV viewing populace that there was nothing worth watching. All of it garbage, all of it trash.

While I love love love this friend I can't love her opinion ( kind of feel a little embarrassed around her because of my TV viewing). I am as previously stated in earlier posts a TV junkie. I love a good story. Her opinions are a bit of a slap, and while I know it's nothing personal; a part of me questions my tastes and my intelligence for willingly sitting in front of a box and staring at all the pretty lights...

On the other hand a part of me knows that I'm not just a big boob sitting in front an idiot box with my brain leaking out of my ears. I question what I'm watching, I critique and I get drawn in; if the story is written well enough.

Of course I also have moments when I'm exasperated by what passes for entertainment on the television. There are only so many dating shows, talent/ model contests and lowest common denominator situation comedies that I can stomach. Over the last few years I've paired down what I watch, picking and choosing what I'll sit in front of but I can't bring myself to turn my nose up at those who happen to like those other shows. Who am I to judge anyway?

As an artist I think it's important to be aware of popular culture and what's being consumed by the masses. Being in the know about new shows, bands and other media is also kind of cool too. Who doesn't want to be one of the cool kids?

I recently joined Blip.fm, a website/ social media platform that uses music sharing as it's method of communication. I'm hooked. Mainly because I've been re-introduced to bands I've almost forgotten about over the years and introduced to bands and performers I might not have come across otherwise, but also because the site allows for other users to show their appreciation of your musical choices. Of course this leads to a little performance anxiety.

What if one day you decide you just have to have to have to listen to some mass produced empty calorie pop music, something with minimal musical meat to it but a catchy hook that is slickly produced?

The other day one of the people I follow on twitter complimented my taste in music. The responsibility that went with that tweet was tremendous. With that tweet, (and the 40 odd props on my Blip.fm page that have gone with it) I all of a sudden felt the need to live up to that comment. Now I have to check myself if I all of a sudden have a yen to listen to some retro Back Street Boys. Talk about pressure.

Thankfully, that hasn't stopped me from blipping whatever comes to my fancy, like the sweater song with the kooky 50's/60's vibe, or a random They Might Be Giants tune. I like a well rounded play list.

Any one else feel the same things about your entertainment choices? The pressure to be super cool with your musical and other pop culture tastes?

Share a little, it can't be any worse than my adoration for John Cleese of Monty Python fame; he's on my free list of celebrities... him and a certain member of Depeche Mode......

I know I'm not alone in this

I really don't like kids music. OK for the most part I hate it H. A. T. E. It. There is one, maybe two exceptions to this and I'm not going to go into what they are right now. What I do want to talk about is all the non-children's music my daughter likes to listen to.

1 Weezer-Pork & Beans. This is her number one all time favourite song. If it comes on the radio she sings along, if it comes on the TV she stops what she's doing from 5 rooms away and listens. At least once a week (if not more) she requests it. Once it's been played she asks for it again and again and again.

2 Snow Patrol- just about all of their discography. Her daddy plays bass in a group that covers a few of their songs and she likes to dance to them.

3 Muse- Starlight. She wiggles in her seat and bops her head to this song whenever it gets played.

4 The Clash-London Calling and Train in Vain. We were once listening to this band and she spontaneously started running around and stopping to bounce to the beat. It's especially cute when she nods her head to the music too.

5 Fear Factory- my baby likes it heavy

6 Talking Heads- Psycho Killer. We changed the words to Psycho Kitty meow meow meow hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss

7 Depeche Mode- all of it. I could be biased here but she was in the womb at the last live show I went to see with her. I distinctly felt her moving in there during the opening riffs of John the Revelator. and she likes to sing along to Dave Gahan when he chants "Wrong" in the new single. Also she seems to know most of the words already and when I play the video she runs into the room and gets mad when I take the video off the screen to listen to the song (it's a little to graphic for her to watch).

8 Cold Play-The Scientist. Again in the womb, it was the only song that she would stop kicking me when it was played.

She's also been seen bopping her head to Tool and Keane.

I have to admit that it's a little gratifying to see her enjoying music that goes a little further than Raffi and Sharon Lois and Bram

The Rule of 3

Awhile back I posted about reading about Nick Hornby's theory on the need to solve a song in order to get past it and move on to another song. It makes a lot of sense when you think about it; You hear a song, it sticks, you have a burning desire to hear it over and over. You hum it as you walk down the street, you sing snippets to yourself when you're waiting for the lights to change, for the timer to go off, while putting a load of laundry in the dryer or snuggling your toddler after nap time.

Maybe it's just me, but I become addicted to certain songs and play them over and over until the husband asks "Hey can we listen to something else?" It's a little embarrassing to admit that when I let him play an alternate song that my ears are itching to hear my most recent addiction.

my recent over-plays?
Well, there's Keane's latest album Perfect Symmetry. And not just a single song, the whole album has been on permanent rotation.

There's A-ha's songs Forever not Yours and Did Anyone Approach you from the Lifelines album, plus the title song is pretty good with a wicked cool video (Do the kids still say wicked cool?)

and then in the spirit of the holidays
Raveonettes' Christmas Song.

I have a rule about buying music that I stick to very faithfully. I call it the Rule of 3 and it's never let me down. I will not buy an album unless I've heard three songs and liked them. I could be incredibly enthralled by a single, so much so that my whole life takes it on as a sound track. If I can't hear two more songs I may buy the single song or hit replay on Youtube and listen to it until it's run its course, but I will not buy the whole album. 3 is my limit. If I like two and there isn't a third song that gets me I can guarantee that if I buy the album I will lose interest quickly and the purchase will have been a waste of money. I've done this a few times and the albums are still collecting dust on the shelf.

The last album Canadian band Odds put out before becoming The New Odds is a perfect example. I loved Odds, I saw them live 4 times. My whole relationship with my husband is built around Odds, Monty Python and a mutual love of Pepsi. The last album came out and we bought it because it was Odds. I'm going to be honest here. I don't think I've ever actually listened to the whole thing all the way through.

If I like three songs on an album and the others do nothing for me, I know that with time, more songs will click and I'll end up loving the whole album. The A-Ha is a great example I heard one song and listened to it on Youtube hitting replay more than once, I listened to another and liked it not so much. Listened to another and was a little iffy leaning toward liking, fourth song was "Eh" fifth song I couldn't get enough of it. I got the album and have played the whole album at least once a week for the last 8 months.

I love Itunes and Youtube are perfect rule of three helpers, because they let me sample an album or song snippets risk free. if I love a song or artist enough I'll make a purchase.

I have one exception to the rule of three and that's Depeche Mode. I'll buy them sound unheard based on my adoration of the music and the history of the bands music over the last 28 years. For me they are that good. I can't wait for the new album to come out so I can drive everyone nuts with the repeat all feature in Itunes.

So why am I telling you this?

Really it's to help purge these songs out of my system and make way for the next batch that I know are coming down the pipes. Depeche Mode's as yet untitled album for instance. I'd like to hear about what you've been listening to as well. Any songs that are circling round your head? On auto replay? I've told you mine....