Song of the Day

I went back and forth on this one. I was set on the fact that it would be a Wand song. But so many choices. Wand knows how to get weird. And psychedelic...very psychedelic. Which is something I dig very much. Lead singer Cory Hanson is no stranger to the world of psyche rock. He's played with plenty of other weirdo rockers such as Ty Segall, Mikal Cronin, Meatbodies, and more.  Wand's music feels like you are in the middle of either a medieval dungeons-and-dragons escapade or a some sort of space fantasy trip. It's other worldly. It's an escape. And it's often fun. My first choice was their second track " Self Hypnosis in 3 Days " from their second full-length album "Golem". I was listening to it and thinking about what all I would write about; the loud fuzzy guitars, the strange space-station noises that interrupt each set of versus, and maybe the killer slowed tempo section that paces  along to this gnarly doom metal mountain of an endi...

Up until this point of the blog I have attempted to keep things a bit tame. My goal of this whole thing is to broaden tastes; to explore music that we may not ever have considered listening to. And to be completely honest, its also just a way for me to write and share music; two of my favorite things. So just as a heads up the songs that I choose to share with you will progressively get weirder and perhaps harder to wrap you head around. Music that takes a keen and focused attention to appreciate. I know how this sounds and it's what I am trying desperately not to present myself as; some snobby know-it-all with a "better taste in music than you". I love all sorts of music and have really endeavored to keep my mind open towards music. So I want this to be a journey together. There are individuals out there that have FAR more knowledge of music than I do. And that's what I appreciate. I want to meet these individuals; I want to share and connect with them. I want to...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! I hope all of you are full of turkey and stuffing and enjoying time with family. I know it goes without saying, and everyday should really be regarded as such, but today is a designated day of thankfulness. We all have different circumstances and things going on in our lives. But we have it pretty good. Especially if  you are reading this very blog on any sort of screen. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in what we don't have or what we wish we had. But today let's be thankful for what we do have. I can't help but want to listen to happy music on days like this. Music that reminds me of how good life is. As I woke up this morning I immediately began pondering what song I should throw up today. It took me some time. But then it popped in my head. Good ole' Ty Segall. The prolific, psychedelic, weirdo rocker from Laguna Beach, California. Ty can do it all. Face-melters, solo-shredders, acoustic-crooners; the dude covers it all. ...

During these past four months a co-worker and I have had to drive around thirty minutes to Lawrence, KS and back. We meet up at our warehouse (which happens to be in a cave) and head out to Lawrence to install at Kansas University. The co-worker and I have made up a couple of rules. 1st rule - we alternate driving to and from site. 2nd rule - whoever drives gets to play the music. Now, both of us have quite different tastes in music. There are those one-offs that we both like; but for the most part we just don't carry similar tastes. One day as I was playing music just shootin' the shit with him, I asked, "You like Led Zeppelin?" He replied by saying something along the tentative lines, "Ya you know, they're alright. I mean. Show me one song that I haven't heard from Led." Challenge accepted. I started off kind of weak; just to test his knowledge. I started with " Misty Mountain Hop ". He looked at me with of sense of "Come on ...

My favorite song. That's right. My favorite song ever. I knew it was the moment I heard it. "Obstacle 1" by Interpol. The first time I heard it was in a skatevideo called "Yeah Right" by Girl skateboards during Brian Anderson's killer part . I'll never forget how catchy that opening riff was. That lone guitar strumming along until layer after layer of more guitar, drums, and bass comes in at the right time punctuating the layers perfectly. Just jamming along when Paul Banks almost whispers in, " I wish I could eat the salt all of your lost faded lips. "  The song is underscored, without a doubt, with a sorrow-filled reflection of how things were...and if they could be again. This woman who he adores and has had many incredible times with "can read". Well I would hope she can read, right?  What she is reading is the feelings of the main character (maybe Paul or another man) and how this man feels for her.  It's the tried...

Country music. What's your response? Love it? Hate it? Not sure? We've all heard the similar response... "pretty much anything but country music". And those responses are usually followed by the same justifications: all they sing about is trucks, beer, dogs, and dirt roads, or it all sounds the same.  These conclusions are interesting in a couple of ways. In one aspect, we know this is not entirely true. Of course not every instance of country music is centered around trucks and beer. However, it is intriguing that this seems to be a consistent complaint by many people, including myself! I have made the exact same remarks in the past, even though I had almost never listened to any country music other than what was on radio station and music videos I had come across here or there. So there is without a doubt some certainty to these accusations. Perhaps this is just a formula to appeal to the masses. But this complaint isn't isolated to just country music....

Chills, man. It's all about those chills. You know what I'm talking about? No? Those chills. Those moments when you are so engulfed by the composition you are listening to that your emotions get the better of you. Those chills set in and you can't help but feel overwhelmed. You can't exactly explain why. Maybe it's the grandiose sound, the layers of instruments, or maybe it's the lyrics. Or perhaps it's just where you happen to be; driving home during a killer sunset or driving through the mountains on a road trip. Whatever it is it just hits you and you feel taken by the music. This is what makes music. This is my favorite thing about music. Throughout this blog I will reference these "chills". There are tons of songs and moments that make me fill this way. Sometimes they don't. It all depends on how I am feeling or where I'm at. Today I was driving home throwing on some old tunes that I remember listening to around this time...