Song of the Day

Parquet Courts are a bunch of lovable slackers. Hailing from New York City, the group is known for writing unkempt, punky jams. Their sound is sloppy at times and their lyrics juvenile and humorous. However, Parquet Courts are incredibly intelligent...and write some damn good music.  "N. Dakota" is a perfect example of what Parquet Courts are all about. It's a short little tune, with one of the coolest bass lines I've ever heard, about what seems to be disdain for the state of North Dakota.

Genre assigning can be pretty confusing sometimes. Every foundational genre of music has a myriad of "sub-genres". Sometimes it can become a bit overwhelming due to the sheer amount of them that exist. One in particular that I find myself scratching my head at is the genre of metal: doom metal, death metal, black metal, heavy metal, thrash metal, grindcore, industrial... the list goes on. Each one of these sub-genres has their own list of descriptions: hard, dark, heavy, gloomy, evil, sad, etc. Sometimes these genres start overlapping and can bleed into one another making them even harder to distinguish. A great example of this is a band called Windhand. They are classified as a "doom-metal" band. At first I wasn't really hearing  the "doom" in their music. It sounded more like a psychedelic, post-rock act than it did "doom". However, upon further listening I started to see why they are indeed a "doom metal" band. The guitars ...

I’m very tired. Work has been pretty gnarly this week. So I figured I throw up one of my favorite Beatles songs... which happens to be about being tired. What's interesting is that this song is actually about John Lennon suffering from insomnia during a three week stay in Rishikesh, India.The band had apparently traveled there to study meditation. While there Lennon was apart from his dearest Yoko Ono and had been missing her, which is evident in the song; " my mind is set on you ". Lennon continues to sum up the sleepless experience in many clever ways: racing thoughts and a tireless brain, wondering what he would say to the one he admired if he could speak to her, and temporary pleasures such as tobacco and alcohol that may take the edge off. What's even more interesting is the very end of the song, which features an indistinguishable mumbled bit of dialogue. The section puzzled people and even sprouted a conspiracy theory. People have played the part backwa...

Who's your favorite band? Do you have one? Has it ever changed? I can name at least three that I claimed as my "favorite band" since I was young. N'sync was my first. Yep, the Justin Timberlake, pop, boy-band was my jam when I was in elementary. I'm not ashamed. The second band, which held my top spot all through high school, was Cursive (thanks to my cousin Kirk); a bit of a post-emo, Saddle Creek rock band led by Tim Kashir. Eventually Cursive's luster began waning and my interests started spreading in many different ways. I hate to say "maturing" but perhaps that is the best description. As I searched and explored new bands there was always one group that seemed to show up; this mysterious band called The Walkmen. And for whatever reason I always kept my distance from them. I'm still not really sure why. I just never had an interest in checkin' them out. But eventually that would change. I don't remember specifically when I d...

Metallica humiliated me. One song single-handedly humbled me into admitting the one thing I never thought I would admit; Metallica is pretty damn good. It's true. Ever since I first knew of them I hated on them. Throughout middle-school, high-school, and college I addressed them as stale, thin, butt-rockers who had no idea of what metal was. But the truth slowly crept in and smacked my snobby ass square in the face... I had no idea of what metal was. It all started with a little song called “ For Whom the Bell Tolls ”. I remember my co-worker playing it. I instantly knew who it was but just waived it off. But after that gnarly intro and the unforgettable chorus followed by the cymbal syncopated lyrics of " time marches on! " . I gave in. And I immediately started floating through some of their earlier albums.  Which led me to “Kill ‘Em All”. “Kill ‘Em All” is thrash metal at its finest. The guitars are sharp, the drums are fast, and James Hetfield's vocals a...

" You know her life was saved by rock 'n' roll "  Lou Reed (R.I.P), who sadly died of liver disease four years ago, had an enormous influence on music and has become a well-respected contributor of art rock glamour. Fortunately, he left a trail of memorabilia and over 50 years of music behind for everyone to remember him and his time as vocalist and guitarist of The Velvet Underground by.  One of those being a lil ole' song called "Rock and Roll", a fun tune that, according to Lou himsel f, is about him finding rock and roll. " I would have had no idea there was life on this plane t" Lou admits. It's easy to feel the joy Lou conjures up about rock music on this song; it's a fun and thumpy jam. The guitar melody is euphoric and John Cale's bass is warm and up close. Reed is vocally happy on this thing. From his giddy shrieks of " fine, fine, music"  to his shaky chants of " it's alright, now " ...

Have you ever listened to a song that had a melody or riff that you just couldn't get enough of? You could have it playing on loop and it would never get old. And sometimes the actual song doesn't play that section you want to hear long enough. Frustrating huh? Sometimes I get so into a melody that I just want to chew on it. For as long as I can. I love getting lost and just completely smothered by a groovy melody. A great example of this is Comets on Fire's "Blue Tomb", the last track off of their flawless album "Blue Cathedral". I must warn you though, Comets on Fire is probably one of the most erratic and spontaneous bands out there. You may find yourself worn out from what all is going on in their music. But if you allow them to conquer your ears and let everything seep in, you wont regret it. I promise. This is pure psychedelic music. "Blue Tomb" starts off with one of the most ear-tugging guitar riffs I have ever heard. And to my ...