PLAYLIST OF ADDICTON: For real this time!

1. “Semi Precious Weapons” by Semi Precious Weapons- Though I must admit that this song reminds me of “It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll” by AC/DC and remade by the cast of School of Rock more that the beats of “Ice Ice Baby” remind ANYONE of “Under Pressure”, this song is amazing. It’s in the Apple-sleek-commercial-song genre (see song #6), because it’s just awesome. I’d also like to note that I’ll bet any amount of money that the phrase “I can’t pay my rent, but I’m Fucking gorgeous” will describe many of my colleagues perfectly in about 7 years.
2. “Favorite Radio” by Stereo Deluxe- This is the sort of song that you listen to and go, “well, this sounds silly” and then can’t help but like. It doesn’t really make any sense why I like this song so much; the genre can’t exactly be classified, there are weird, almost childish sound effects made, and the lyrics remind you of some of those songs you were spoon-fed as a child by networks like Noggin (if you’re from that generation). And yet, it’s a pleasure to listen to. Who knew?
3. “Jimme’s Song” by Emanuel and the Fear- To put it quite simply, this song is a song about a kid who wants to be a rock star, but isn’t willing to grow up, get a job, and earn anything to get there. It has a latently sad theme to it of a person who just thinks their dreams will just happen without any work involved. But, in the ways of the fear, the song begins with a simple whistling melody and beat, and ends with a full blown, almost orchestral melody.
4. “The Rain Becomes the Clouds” by Emanuel and the Fear- Another song by Emanuel and the Fear. This, however, is my favorite song of their repertoire because it exemplified their true strengths, not only as a band, but as musicians in general. To me, this song emphasizes the beauty of nature and, in particular, the nature of human beings coinciding with the nature of the Earth itself. The reason why I love Emanuel and the Fear so much is because they have a sound which takes work; it can’t really be manufactured with a Casio and a computer. This eleven-piece gang doesn’t hesitate to serve you amazing lyrics and musicianship, which is hard to find these days. So, my hat is off to Emanuel Ayvas, Chris Colletti, David Nelson, Brian Sanders, Tom Swafford, Nic Cowles, Dan Tirer, Liz Hanley, Dallin Applebaum, Colin Dean, and Jeff Gretz. I applaud you for making me think of music as something truly greater than music through your refreshing songs.
5. “The Plank” by The Devil Makes Three- This is, literally and legitimately, a great “go to hell” song, which I’d love to have a chance to listen to  the next time I get angry for whatever reason. With lyrics like “to all our enemies, I’ll see you in hell. We’re gonna walk them off a plank into a wishing well. Down to Davie Jones’ locker where the fishes sleep. I won’t be praying for you, so don’t be praying for me,” it has to be a great song to listen to when you feel like venting.
6. “No You Girls” by Franz Ferdinand- The latest song recruited to the “iPod commercial” club, the song tickles your ear with another addicting melody. I promise to any readers whom have even bothered coming back to my site, the day Franz Ferdinand stops making amazing music will be the day I die. Luckily for me, it doesn’t seem as though that will be anytime soon (unlike the disappointingly mediocre U2).
7. “Little Toy Gun” by Honeyhoney- I didn’t know what to expect from this song, mainly because of the, in my opinion, tacky gunshot sound effect in the beginning. However, the song pays of by coming through with a strong, confident melody, and a sort of (don’t laugh) remixed-Yiddish feel (referring to the flowing, slurred refrain).
8. “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved” by The Script- The song you will most likely remember from the latest Rhapsody commercial, this song from the Script feeds me the right kind of melody. What really attracts me to this song is the harmony added. I know, it’s pop cliche. I know, it can be a cop-out with bad songs. I know, it’s one of the weirdest things to record for a song. But it works for this song because it’s been described by many as a new brand of Celtic soul. That being said, don’t you think i should listen to a bit more Celtic soul music?!?
9. “Bang Bang” by K’naan & Adam Levine- Though this isn’t a song I liked immediately, really only because the beginning of the song didn’t rub me the right way, this song has grown on me. I found it two ways, almost simultaneously; first through the Maroon 5 website (there out of curiosity of what had become of the band I was once borderline-obsessed with), then, literally seconds later, through the iTunes store. This song reminds me of southern Floridian songs heard on the boardwalk, and I like that.
10. “I Love College” by Asher Roth- Now, let’s get one thing straight from the chase; I don’t approve of the message this song is sending. Call me whatever you’d like, but I don’t think I’m going to treat college as such a joke. I mean, I feel like spending my years in college late to classes, smoking weed, and drinking all the time would be a waste of about $25,000 a year. On that same note, I feel like after he’s graduated from college and has spent all of his money earned from this song on drugs and drinks, Asher Roth will start repaying his college loans, and then he’ll be a bit regretful of his old lifestyle. With that, I’d like to say that I love the melody and the rhythms of this song. Though I don’t approve of the lyrics, I can’t see this song doing well without them. Let’s just say I have a love/hate relationship with this one. But hey, it’s on the playlist!

Best Playlist on my iPod; The REAL Playlist of Addiction

I made a playlist on my iPod of all of the songs I love, and I can’t stop listening to it. I’ve written about most of them, but I’m just putting them all on one post for fun. The playlist is always on shuffle, and is generally amazing. It’s also an iMix on iTunes, so if you search “Totally fly Flying Kites”, it should be there!

1. “That’s Not My Name” by The Ting Ting’s- Is it possible to have a sexual attraction to a song? I think it is.
2. “Ottoman” by Vampire Weekend
3. “Time to Pretend” by MGMT
4. “Womanizer” by Britney Spears- I think I’m the only person in America who hasn’t gotten tired of this song.
5. “Human” by The Killers
6. “Give it 2 Me” by Madge (Madonna, deary)- So, she’s as old as Methuselah. Doesn’t mean she can’t serve up a hell of a dance tune. Queen of pop + Pharell = Earth Shattering.
7. “No More Gas” mixed by DJ Earworm
8. “One of the Boys” by Katy Perry
9. “Happy Together” remade by The Flobots – The bad sound quality and weird keyboards in this song tend to give me remission, but I still love it!
10. “Untouched” by The Veronicas
11. “United State of Pop” mixed by DJ Earworm- DJ Earworm rocks my world, because not only does he give away his mixes for free on his website, but his mixes also integrate many different genres and are incredibly daring and bold.
12. “Bassment Party” by The Cool Kids
13. “Xavia” by The Submarines
14. “Circus” by Britney Spears
15. “Middle Management” by Bishop Allen- This song is so upbeat and sweet, I can’t help but listen to it!
    
16. “Supermassive Black Hole” by Muse- Incredibly awesome song, which has been used on numerous TV shows, including most of my favorites. Includes an ingenius beat.
17. “Dynamo of Volition” by Jason Mraz
18. “‘After Hours” by We Are Scientists- I was originally introduced to this song through Akiva Schriver’s amusing video for it, but I came to love it through the “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” soundtrack.
19. “Make it Mine” by Jason Mraz
20. “Butterfly” by Jason Mraz- This song is kind of dirty in an unconventional way, but I love the addictive melody and the amazing guitar licks.
    
21. “Mudhouse/Gypsy MC” by Jason Mraz- I recently titled a note on Facebook “I’d like to give a shout out to all my VIP’s”. I love this song.
    
22. “Electric Feel” by MGMT- I love this song because I was kind of scared by the video at first, then I listened to the song and I said “Wait, this is totally my life”.

IMPORTANT NOTE: On iTunes, DJ Earworm’s mixes and “Happy Together” by the Flobots are not included. DJ Earworms mixes are available, free from source right here, and the Flobots cover is found here.

PLAYLIST OF ADDICTION

1. “Rock ‘N Roll train” by AC/DC- I’ve become completely obsessed with this song. It is amazingly catchy and let’s face it: it’s hard to hate an AC/DC track.
2. “Car Alarm” by The Sea and Cake- An awesome indie track with great guitars and simplistic vocals, aka just my style. The song has a pretty awesome ending, and the melody reminds me of another amazing indie track, “London Bridges” by This Is Ivy League.
3. “Snowblind” by Plus Minus- Another great indie song. It starts out pretty slowly, and I’m sure that if the song were abridged, most of the beginning melody would be cut. That being said, the melody and beat jumps into overtime in the middle of the song, which is perfect for those of us with patience.
4. “Life Like” by The Rosebuds- I chose to add this song because it surprised me. When I heard the beginning melody, I expected a soft, light, feminine voice to accompany the strong melody. The typical, indie-alternarock song. When I heard the vocals, I was pleasantly surprised by the male voice, accompanied by the female voice. Thus, introducing me to The Rosebuds, a duo from North Carolina.
5. “Bitch of Living” by The Cast of Spring Awakening- RIP Spring Awakening. I will have never gotten a chance to see the Tony Award Winning musical before it’s closing on January 18th, 2009. This song always makes me think about my life, and how hard it can be living in this world as a teenager. It’s a truly amazing song, and a great musical. It’ll be back with time.

VID OF THE DAY: I listened to this song about 40 times yesterday

LISTEN TO THIS: David Ford

David Ford is an Alternarock, multifaceted musician from the UK, who’s music is amazingly addictive to listen to. Ford is currently signed to the Indie/Rock label, Original Signal, the label that signed another of my favorite artists. At first glance, it may seem as though his voice is a typical, British alternative rock artist, but underneath it all is an extremely talented musician. Ford’s songs are well interpreted, imaginative, creative songs that tell stories with every chord. My favorite song from his latest album, Song for the Road, is, indeed, “Song for the Road”, because the song is so raw and has an amazing piano-vocal contrast and harmony as the horns are added, not to mention heart-wrenching lyrics. Another song of his I love is called “Go to Hell”, mainly because it was the first song of his I’d listened to, and because I thought it might be one of those full-on, loud, hard, angry songs, and I was pleasantly surprised by the product. It’s such a challenge for artists and songwriters to write amazing songs like these with anger, and Ford pulled it out perfectly. David Ford is Definitely an artist to look out for!

LISTEN TO THIS: Cake

So, I know this one is kinda lax since Cake has been on the music scene for quite a while, but they’re still picking up speed to me. Cake, an indie rock band, has been the genius behind many anthems, including the radio smash hit, “Rock and Roll Lifestyle”, and the theme song to the animated cult hit, Mission Hill, currently airing on Adult Swim, usually at about 2 AM (I would know). The band, having erupted onto the scene in late 2004, has an extremely distinctive taste, which separates them from every other indie band. My favorite element of the band is the amazing amount of work done by Vincent DiFiore, the bands trumpeter, keyboardist, percussionist, and background vocalist. The jazz trumpet really helps the band stand out, and, as a percussionist of many years, I feel it neccesary to give some props to one of the hardest working men in indie If you haven’t already, you should definitely give Cake a try.

 

LISTEN TO THIS: Blip Blip Bleep

Blip Blip Bleep is an electro-indie band, that captures the essence of the genre surprisingly well. A trio of New Yorkers, the band sports a name with high expectations, which they meet with their HelloGoodbye reminiscent songs. However, the band is more than other modern electronic bands, because they make their sound unique. How? What stood out to me were the pure, un-electronisized vocals. To simplify, where bands like hellogoodbye synthesize vocals, robotic triple B’s, in a pop/rock style, keep the keyboards ad lose the synthetics, which, in my opinion, adds to their musical swagger. Blip Blip Bleep is definitely a group to look out for.

 

VID OF THE DAY: I love The Ting Tings

This vid is so outrageously cool. Once I saw the whole thing, my mind was totally boggled by it’s complete and total awesomeness. Way better than the Apple commercial.

LISTEN TO THIS: Golden Shoulders

Golden Shoulders are an indie/pop/rock band from California, with songs that reminded me of a better, more improved Juno soundtrack [don't get me wrong, I love the movie and the soundtrack, but seriously, if I hear another Kimya Dawson song, I will probably set out to kill her (just kidding!)] What I love about Golden Shoulders is their inventive and unique percussion, their imaginative use of the guitar, and their impressive lyricism. Some may argue that their lyrics are stereotypical indie, as they tend to seem a bit simplistic at first listen, but their lyrics are very versatile and creative, as the group proves with the song, “I Will Light You On Fire”. Of course I love the song because of the piano, but more because of how the guitar perfectly coincides with the vocals of the song. Overall, Golden Shoulders is an amazing group you should listen to this summer.

LISTEN TO THIS: The Procession

The Procession is a Californian duo with nothing to prove, as their addicting, enlightening ora is sure to be hitting the airwaves soon. Originally from Michigan, the band has an almost frightening, yet sunny disposition and sound, making them comparable to such hit bands as The Beatles, Wilco, and even Weezer, to some extent. Some songs, like “Major and Minor”, are sure to get stuck in your head, as the simplistic yet complicated melody, slightly comedic lyrics, and Guitar Hero-bound riffs complete an absolutely amazing song, while others, such as “Sweet Heart”, reflect a slightly sadder view, as far as lyrics go, with the theme of a lost love for another. Needless to say, I’ve become a fan in a day, as their sound is truly ecstatic. Check them out!