Oh yeah, I remember nights like this

Stay tuned for a post about this badass artist

The past 18 months have absolutely flown by. I moved to Denver (with my girlfriend!), jumped into a startup business in Colorado's most ridiculous industry, turned the bottom line from red to black, finished my MBA, and adopted an insane dog. Amanda finished law school and then took and passed the heinous bar exam. Since then we've crammed as much fun into the summer and fall as possible. It's been fun but recently I've been feeling worn out.

For the past two nights, Amanda's been gone and I've taken the opportunity to be lazy. Tonight I put game 7 of the World Series on, listened to new music, and trolled the interwebs, just as I used to do before grad school. God it feels good to do nothing sometimes.

Tonight I discovered the song 1 by Joy Zipper while listening to some commercial. Honestly it makes a better ad ditty than a stand alone song but right now it's serving as the perfect soundtrack to a nice laid back  evening with Lance Berkman and the puppies.

SYTYCD Music

I came late to the So You Think You Can Dance party but now that I'm here, I have no plans to leave. This show is flawed but amazing. The incredibly obnoxious female judge needs to be replaced and they could cut down on the amount of fluff time. There's also some racist undertones (hip hop artists in caveman outfits? The latin girl getting "on the tamale train?")

Now for the good parts. This show delivers ridiculously good dancing to authentic music. What I mean by that is: unlike Dancing With the Stars which is too cheap to pay the music rights for original songs and "features" D-rate celebrities butchering cookie cutter forms of dance, SYTYCD features incredible dancers performing custom routines to a diverse collection of great music.

Here are a few of my favorite songs from the most recent season. Unfortunately fox has tried to remove all video clips of SYTYCD. They're out there though. Happy hunting. :)

Madcon - Beggin' - SYTYCD routine here (2:20 on the video)

Immediately reminiscent of "El Tango de Roxanne" from Moulin Rouge, Beggin' is a song to rock out to, clean house to, just generally get down to. The Franki Valli version is good too, but I like this one a little better. Oh and Gnarls Barkely called. They want their sound back.

George Baker Selection - Little Green Bag

Made famous by the opening scene in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, "Little Green Bag" is a bad m________n song.

Imogen Heap - Aha!

Like a demented Christmas Carol, Aha! is weird weird weird. Imogen Heap sounds like no one else. This song works as the soundtrack to a wide array of imagined acts. I could see a dark love scene, a midnight jewel caper at high speed, a chase down alleys through Chinatown, really anything. The more I listen to this song, the more I love it.

My favorite piece is actually the last song/routine of the season but this blog doesn't support artists who think it's cool to beat women.

My life is a Grey's Anatomy Soundtrack

What's to say? These songs are perfect for a rainy summer night. Really any summer night.

The Delgados - I Fought the Angels

Marion Black - Who Knows

Blue-Eyed Son - Step Away From the Cliff

The Sin Full Sound

In a few hours, I'm headed back to Vegas. 1 part vacation with Amanda, 1 part work. Topping the playlist:

The Killers - A Dustland Fairytale - YouTube

I came late to the Killers' party but I'm sure glad I made it. The Killers represent the less glitzy side of Vegas, a little sad, a little dusty, but still somehow awesome. (Incidentally, the song doesn't start until 1:09 into the video. Before then there is some kind of The Outsiders gang fight going on. Meh.) 

Silversun Pickups - Surrounded (Or Spiraling)

I'm not sure what to say other than how is Surrounded not getting massive airtime? The perfect start to a very solid album. 

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll - Freaky YouTube Video

This awesome song sums up poker in three short words. Over 6,000 people in the World Series of Poker Main Event dancing till they're dead. 

Regina Spektor: Far

As many of you know, I have an absolutely brutal accounting final tomorrow night. This post proves that I lack discipline. But I found a way to preview Regina Spektor's upcoming LP Far and I couldn't be more excited. What can I say? There's no accounting for talent. :) 

My biggest knock against Regina is that in the past, her creativity has gotten in the way of her songwriting. At her best, Regina delivers creative wordplay backed by bubbly and ridiculously catchy piano riffs. At her worst, she sounds like a distracted four year old repeating the same word until someone notices her. 

The four year old has matured. This album (at least the seven songs I heard) delivers some of the most polished of all her offerings. But they don't lose approachable but complex, light feeling harmonies that she's perfected. So far, Machine and One More Time With Feeling are my current favorites. 

My one complaint. Aside from Laughing With, this album seems chock full of cute-sy songs. Is it cruel for me to hope that Regina gets left by her lover sometime in the coming year so that she directs her ridiculously creative self down some darker streets? She'd write the most beautiful breakup album since Fiona. 

Long Strange Spring

I generally don't believe in astrology but this is so accurate that it's scary.

Spring has always been difficult for me. Recently I've been oscillating wildly between euphoria and either depression or anger. I've also been setting myself up for frequent migraines--a combination of not stretching and using this laptop from decidedly unergonomic positions. 

Recently Amanda mentioned that she was surprised I'd never been to therapy. :)  While I may not be able to particularly afford human therapy, this W.I.L.T. reflects the schizophrenia I've been feeling. Here ya go:

The Gossip - Heavy Cross

Best known for Standing In The Way Of Control, The Gossip push all my buttons. I hope they push yours. Love the imagery in this video. 

Joshua Radin and Schuyler Fisk - Paperweight

This mirrors how I feel on the good days. This youtube version is a little weak but trust me, this song slays. 

Nirvana - Pennyroyal Tea

I blame the hipsters. They rediscovered boxy plaids; I rediscovered Kurt. He's whiny, he's dark, and for those rainy nights we've been getting recently, he's perfect. 

(apparently) Only Posers Use the Word 'Drop'

I've been told that my credibility suffers every time I use the word 'drop' to describe the emergence of new tracks and albums.

It's been a rough couple of weeks in the music world. The Peaches album seems meh and the few Passion Pit songs I've heard just sound like they're trying to get a little too much Oracular Spectacular on me.

WILT: a very random collection. Some old, some new, some electronic. Could we be seeing the twilight of Truman's upbeat chick rock phase?

Starsailor - Four to the Floor (Thin White Duke Remix) - YouTube
FttF is a couple years old but I freaking love this song.


Kriss Kross - Jump - YouTube
As a fifth grader, this was the first modern song I can remember hearing. Thanks to Dad for introducing me to The Who, Talking Heads, Doors, Stones, Elvis, etc but when Ryan Shanahan called and breathlessly told me to turn on the radio to hear something from "this decade," I couldn't get enough. I promptly wore my clothes backwards to school the following day. Yep.


One EskimO - Givin' Up (Don Diablo Remix) - YouTube
This dropped a couple of OHMYGODHEUSEDTHEWORDDROP!AHAHAHAHAWHATAPOSER! weeks ago. Have you ever heard a sappy, easy listening type song and just wanted to give it a little backbone? So has Don Diablo. The only difference is he actually did something about it. This track is more catchy than swine flu. I'd love to see Don D try his hand at a Gnarls Barkley song. Enjoy.

Success Metric

The new Metric album is very solid.

I'm amazed that this band hasn't blown up yet. Take everything you like about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and (usually) remove the screaming. That's Metric. Frontwoman Emily Haynes combines great riffs, witty lyrics, and an effortlessly changing sound with what I'm choosing to call "Listenability," that immeasurable quality that prevents you from hating the song that you loved two weeks ago.

WILT: GypsyRogueHillMusic

I was born in Boston and live now in Boulder but my family hails from the coal mines of Ohio and the clay hills of Appalachia. As a child, I grew up eating collard greens, catfish, cornbread, and just about everything you can throw in a fryer (po' boys, okra, chicken, steak, etc.) But when it comes to appreciating music, location is neither here nor there.

You don't have to be from high country or back alley to dig a soulful sound. A little pain in your life, a little fire, a little whiskey. These are what's needed.

You already know about my late breaking man crush on Tom Waits. Here are three other artists I've recently discovered. If Kings of Leon is the annointed son, these three are the backward black eyed cousins. Thanks to AkercByVolume, GNightMoon, and a certain girl who done me wrong for these:



Kevin Quain - Thief of Dances (some random dude painting KQ and the Mad Bastards on YouTube)
When I heard this guy drop the accordion, rear back his head and howl like one of Mowgli's brothers, I was already two bourbons deep and still digging. Kevin Quain wouldn't have it any other way. He doesn't get out of Toronto much but to hear him sing, you'd think he'd raised ghosts, stolen senoritas, and dropped hammers in OK Corrals all over the world. He is a Louis L'amour short story in your ears. He is Kevin Quain.

Gillian Welch - Lowlands (relatively decent youtube version)
At first listen, there isn't much to Lowlands. But play it again. And maybe another time. Like long hours in a smokehouse, the repetitive bass line, lonely vocals, and subtle guitar start coating listeners with soft soulful flavor. If they tasted the way she sounds, there'd be a line out the door.



JJ Grey and Mofro - Blackwater (iTunes)
The recipe for this group? Mix equal parts Lynyrd Skynyrd, B.B. King, Jimmie Hendrix and (more recently) Motown. I really don't know anything about these guys but if the song Blackwater doesn't stir something within you, then you've already died so killing yourself will just accomplish a little tidying up. Honorable mention to Brighter Days and Lochloosa.

Not (quite) So Simple

It never fails. The more stressed I get, the more I retreat into the headphones. Here's a few slightly more complex songs and limited commentary:

Poe - Spanish Doll

Poe is a work in progress, and a leisurely one at that. One of her albums shows just how bad "chick rock" can get. But the other one captures that dark yet upbeat feel that has enabled Zero Seven and Portishead to have such success. But poe is a little less polished than ZS & P. She takes more risks (or is more schizo) than them. Her range is broader. I'd actually really like to hear Spanish Doll sampled for some slow, myopic hip hop piece.

Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses (Possibly NSFW) YouTube

Most FF songs are annoyingly similar. This one takes a small step forward, thanks to a Spoon-like guitar intro and some scratchy synth stuff which takes some of the focus off of FF's weakness: their vocals. Despite the fact that they pronounce it "My u-LUSS-eeze," the song remains just as catchy as Take Me Out and others but adds more complexity.

Ratatat - Truman

I couldn't help it. I really could have picked any Ratatat song here because their melodies seem like simple guitar riffs. That is until you realize that they actually sound like simple guitar riffs by aliens in a paper ripping factory inside a bottle, in your weirdest dream. This band does not categorize well. As for Truman? Truman is a little bit drum n bass, a little bit wierd vibraphone, and a lot awesome. Maybe you already knew that.

What I'm listening to

I so don't have time to be posting on the blogger but all (school)work and no music makes Truman a dull boy.

No time for reviews. These songs are awesome. Their soul runneth over. Drink up:

The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army YouTube (It's been long enough. You can admit that this song makes you feel like a total badass)
Fiona Apple - Get Gone YouTube (Slow to develop but worth the wait)
Tom Waits - Clap Hands (You love The Wire. Now love Tom)