Super Cool Possible Band Name

Spoken Like a True (Fill In The Blank)

I Need To Send a Letter

Dear AT&T:

Nice commercial featuring Mates of State.

I'm still a Verizon customer, though.

Many thanks,

Josh

"Sharry, Can I Borrow Your Smallville CD? Thanks. I'll Get It Right Back After I Rip It To My Computer."

Oh man, I can't imagine you borrowing a cd from Sharry. That's the tops, man.

That song/video is money. I love the "Guided By Voices" sign hanging above the band. Minimalist bliss. Does that singer look like Sir Paul McCartney or is it just me? That song is on Buffy? No way. Say it ain't so. Oh well. I think I may just have to revisit GBV. I'm sure I'm in the indie minority for not already loving those guys. Whatever. You can't push me around, you pretentious hipsters.

Someone tell me why.

GBV

I really can't say to myself, "why didn't I find these guys sooner?" because I've tried listening to them before and I only liked Best of Jill Hives. So, I was stunned when I launched this the other day. Just stunned. The live version is really different from the album version, but I can't find the album version that isn't accompanied by a lame YouTube video, so this will have to do. Besides, this encapsulates what I like about looking back at 90s Indie Rock. They look like a bunch of squares, but they aren't really trying to. They have no image. I might like these guys forever now. I might like them another week. I'm fascinated with how my taste in badns can shift in a manner of moments. The other day I realized that my like for the Flaming Lips has peaked and is now on a downhill slope. I expect it to level out with me liking Do You Realize??, Yoshimi, Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell and a couple off of the Soft Bulletin. But the rest of the stuff is beginning to grate. I'm sure somewhere, Sufjan Stevens (Seth the Peruvian) is crying. Well, I'm sure Sufjan is crying because he made a song so delicate that it broke and he'll never have that recipe again.

It's almost shameful to like this song because it was on Buffy, I guess. How embarrassing is that? It was like when I found out that Sharry Wadham the Music Librarian also liked Remy Zero because they sang the theme song to Smallville. I had no idea that Save Me was the theme song. My moment of utmost musical shame came when I asked Sharry if I could borrow her CD, because she was hipper than I.

Here's What I think About Stiff Kittens

I've always liked wearing hats. Especially baseball hats. And to me the perfect hat--indeed any hat worth wearing--is a pro fit hat, none of this one-size-fits-all crap. I want to wear what the pros wear and you've never seen them wearing a one-size-fits-all hat. The worst of the worst hats are the ones that have the mesh on all of it but the front panel and are adjustable to top it off. In the 90's I felt like my fellow hat enthusiasts and I fought against those stupid mesh hats with the adjustable straps. And it worked. We got professional quality fitted hats and no one wore the stupid mesh hats with the adjustable straps. So guess what becomes popular in the mid-2000's? Stupid mesh hats with the adjustable straps.

So. How does this relate to Stiff Kittens? We talked earlier about how I despise the time in my life where I thought Depeche Mode and The Cure were the greatest things in the world. I hate that pseudo-goth, superficial, romanticized crap. And now there is a part of me that cringes every time I head Dave Gahan's or Robert Smith's voice even though I know they and their bands made some good stuff (see Violator and Disintegration). So, that DM/Cure sound is the flippin hidious trucker hat on my soul. And when I hear a song like "Stiff Kittens" that I've never heard before but has even the hint of DM/Cure to it I fight it. Like I said earlier in the IM the song was growing on me. And it's not like it was bad. I just have some barriers I have to escort it through before I can enjoy it. Meanwhile, I'm still collecting awesome music and wearing professionally fit baseball hats.

I Hate Crap Like This

That Photo of Charles is Classic

What's HMV?

And you've got to be right in the idea that Russians are smiling their way into American culture. One of these days it's going to be Red Dawn all over again.You don't erase 50 years of Cold War angst overnight.

Follow-up

This would be a good time to mention that in 2003, my friend BJ and I signed Charles up for a Russian mail-order bride website. I think we used this solemn viola picture that's on his website and he got a couple of responses. They really respected his viola playing or something. Anywho, it was great fun. I think he turned off a lot of women by saying he was religious, but he got a couple that were like "I very religious and will make wonderful wife to priest".

The man who

Harry and Regina walk into a bar...

Harry Potter's chewing on my soul. I think he opened up a link between his mind and mine, because today at work, every word that began with a D turned into "dementor" and I started writing something and it came out Harry Potterish (about memories or something, certainly not TANF-related). Christina think I got Imperiused. I think I shouldn't have stopped at page 500 last night and should have just plowed through until the end. But seeing how I woke up at 3:50 AM yesterday morning to drive to the Shenendoah Valley, I thought it best to go to stop at 2:00 AM last night.

So, every girl loves Regina Spektor. It's just how it is. Once I found out she was Russian, I knew something was suspect. What Russian women have been imported to the US? There was that Russian woman in "From Russia With Love" who really got James Bond into a spot of trouble and then there were the 14 year-old lesbians in T.A.T.U driving 200 K/HR IN THE WRONG LANE!!! So, I distrust Russian women. It's got to be some Putinish plot, this whole Regina Spektor thing. I'm glad I went to elementary school during the Cold War to get the fear of Russians instilled in me. The kids nowadays grab up Russian stuff like cursed chocolate cauldrons. I guarantee that Regina Spektor's next album will have all the girls singing "I love Lenin I love Stalin, they're better better better better bettter bettteeeeerrrrrr!"

Harry Potter / The Darkness In My Life That is Regina Spektor

Remember when I said I was going to post last night? Well, Harry Potter stuck again. We went to Order of the Phoenix. Such a cool movie. I like that they're getting so dark, now. I don't know if you've seen it but the battle scenes in the Ministry at the end were awesome. And Sirius Black is awesome. He's probably my favorite character in the entire series. Him and Snape. It was cool to see Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange. I think HBC could be the leading woman in every movie I see for the rest of my life and that'd be okay with me. She's money.

As per music, I've been thinking about Regina Spektor. My wife and girls love her. I mean l-o-v-e love her. They have all the songs memorized and they all sing along. I feel like an idiot and I sit there and curse her in my mind. The lone ray of light that pierces the darkness in my life that is Regina Spektor is the fact that she's a classically trained pianist. I think that's awesome. Makes she seem more legit. Which at the same time undermines pretty much 100% of the bands I listen to.

Yet I listen.

You and Guster: Mortal Enemies

In a similar vein, you and Guster should be great pals, especially their earlier work on acoustic guitar and no-stick drumming. How organic can you get, Whole Foods? And yet, you can't swallow them. So strange to me. It's like when I had a home teaching companion in my first married ward that was the embodiment of me and yet we couldn't have a decent conversation beyond, "Oh, you like everything I like and are the same as me in every way? Cool".

Oh, believe me, I've tried

I have tried for years to like the Smiths because of all the things that you've mentioned. Wavering between wussy and awesome, literate cool lyrics, and ultimately, the clincher, being British should really put them at the top of the list. And yet, I struggle. I have their "Singles" purchased specifically for Panic and There is a Light That Never Goes Out. I return to them once a year and once a year I sit through 50 minutes of *shrug* "Eh" and 20 minutes of "Niiiiiiiice". I keep trying to put my finger on it and I think this last time I finally realized why they don't do it for me. All their songs sound the same to me. Same dynamics, same rhythms, same Morrisey blabbing his way around bizarre lyrics that seem fresh at first but on repeat are merely annoying. When How Soon is Now? comes on you, it's arresting because it sounds so different compared to the rest of it. There is a Light...is really the same as all other Smiths songs, it's just the best version of the same song they did fifty times over on four albums. That's what I think of them. I also think I lack the historical context to appreciate what were for non-new wave fans in 1980s Britain. I've read a million times about Johnny Marr's guitarwork. I never blown away with it, but I guess if you were listening in the 1980s and you compared Johnny Marr to say, Duran Duran, I'm sure he looked brilliant.

Here's What I Don't Get:

You should be the world's biggest fan of The Smiths. I mean, really. They're British, they waver between wussy and awesome, the lead singer has such a unique voice and no one really listens to them. It's like the perfect storm for you.

Seth the Peruvian is Sufjan Stevens Only I Don't Have the Photos to Prove It

Evidence #1: They look the same. Same hair, face, build. They're the same.

Evidence #2: I never saw them together in the same place.

Evidence #3: Seth and Sufjan both start with the letter "S."

Evidence #4: Seth the Peruvian always talked about Sufjan.

Evidence #5: They're both of ethnic decent.

Evidence #6: They're both religious. Seth was always talking about his mission and about church. It's well known that Sufjan sings about religious themes.

Evidence #7: Seth wanted to work in the music biz as a producer. Sufjan worked in the music biz as an artist/producer.

Evidence #8: Seth played the piano in a band. Sufjan is a multi-instrumental genius.

Evidence #9: Seth introduced me to Pitchfork Media. The day he did the top news story was about Sufjan performing somewhere. Seth told me to "check him out."

Evidence # 10: Seth was always wearing those butterfly wing things around:

Conclusion: Seth the Peruvian and Sufjan Stevens are one in the same.

Man Cannot Live By Bread Alone

I can see that similarity. Bread is great. They have great guitar work. The guy's femmy voice gets a little too femmy for me to listen for any extended period of time, though. But "Everything I Own" totally rocks. And "Aubrey" is great, too. Great enough to name your daughter Aubrey.

White Stripes and Fathers / Bread is all right by me

I once thought that my dad would like the White Stripes, so I sent him Apple Blossom. I received an e-mail the next day saying, "It sounds like they are trying to imitate this band". He had attached a song by the Beatles. I had never thought the White Stripes sounded like the Beatles or were trying to sound like the Beatles for that matter. My dad did listen to a couple off of Wilco's latest album and thought that Jeff Tweedy was trying to channel John Lennon. You might think that my dad is stuck on the Beatles and both he and my mom will probably admit that they have liked no band better than the Beatles. But one time I played Radiohead for him and he said they sounded like Bread and lent me his Bread cassette. The horrible thing...Thom Yorke DOES sound like the lead singer of Bread with an English accent. Facing a crisis, being at risk of having the image of one of my favorite bands destroyed, I made a command decision. Bread was all right. I had to say they were all right. If I made fun of them, I made fun of Radiohead. So, Bread is all right. Just like the kids.

My Dad Rocks To The White Stripes and Doesn't Care Who Knows

My father is great. We've had a good relationship most of my life. We talk about sports and books and movies and our families. We've hiked and fished together. We've re-roofed several homes together. We've traveled to New York, California, Canada and Texas together. When I was a teenager he even told me that if I was going to experiment with drugs or alcohol to come to him and we'd do it together. I'm still not sure what that means but it was cool that he said it. However, there's one thing we have never agreed upon: music. He likes classical and religious music. I like a different kind. So, I'm blown away last year when he asks me to make him a cd of my indie bands. And I'm blown away again when, two weeks later, he asks detailed questions about the songs and the bands. And I'm blown away six months later when he asks me to make him another cd with more music that I listen to. And I was blown away again last month when he sends me an email saying, "Have you heard of The White Strip[es]? I just listened to some and thought they were pretty good. Sounds like something you'd like." Yeah, I know, blown away. So I told him I know the Stripes and that I'm actually going to their show this fall. He asks me to make him a cd with their music. I do. Then last Saturday we went hiking to the top of Y Mountain. I pick him up at 7:00 a.m. He gets in my car, ejects my cd out of my cd player and puts in the White Stripes cd I made him. "These are some of my favorite songs." He went through, "Pretty Good Lookin," "Hello Operator," "Apple Blossom," and "Dead Leaves" before we got to the trail head. We hiked. When we got back to the car he continued on to "Hotel Yorba," "We're Going to be Friends," "Little Ghost," and "My Doorbell," until we got back to his house. Blown away. And just when I didn't think I could get blown away any further or more or whatever we sit down at his computer at his house a couple days ago and he buys a ticket so we can go to The White Stripes together.

My dad and me. Going to The White Stripes. Together. Crazy.

"I gotta tell you dad I'm a little surprised. Of all the bands I've ever listened to I can't believe we're going to see The White Stripes together."

"Well, I haven't listened to very many of your bands."

Blown away.

On a similar note I've been listening to Icky Thump. I love the track but don't have much love (yet?) for the album. I'm pumped to see them, though. Rock me Jack and Meg. Rock me hard.

On a not so similar note, the hike to the top of Y Mountain is freakin awesome. I mean it. The hike to the Y is hell. I hate it. But then the trail goes south into Slade Canyon and through some really cool rock formations. Then it goes through some very nice aspen groves. Then pine groves. Then some beautiful, lush meadows as it leads to the summit. One of my favorite hikes I've ever been on. I took this on my cell coming around the edge of the canyon from the Y.

I had a goal to hike Timp on my birthday next month but I'm not sure I'm going to make it. I had some trouble completing a couple hikes because my diabetic limbs failed me. Oh well. I've already hiked more this year than I have in 12 years. Yippee.

What has happened to Live?

Remember when they were releasing dark albums featuring such gloomy tracks as The Dam at Otter Creek or Lakini's Juice? Those were some great days for Live. But what's this latest drivel? Just heard this track Nobody Knows, thought you should see some of the killer couplets

I was on a street with a common name/i prayed for love yeah i even begged

This is repeated twice

like so much rain it fell/and pierced my brains

Love piercing brains. And he was singing it all sappy. It was terrible. He's so mystical that Ed Kowalchtryrghk or whatever his last name is.

On a completely positive note, I heard an All-American Rejects song, Night Drive (acoustic) which really surprised me. It didn't have the same feel as all other AAR songs, which was good. I know you claim I love them, but I really don't. Honest. Well, okay so I kind of like them. I didn't think I liked anything off their second album because it sounded like a bad retread of the first, but then this little song appeared. Maybe there's hope for the Rejects. We must all pray for hope for the Rejects.

Micro Cuts

I still remember the moment I first heard this track. I was sitting in our apartment in London listening to Origin of Symmetry for the first time reading some book when suddenly these unworldly vocals burst out of the headphones. I sat transfixed. Then I grabbed my sister and said, "Listen to this! It's amazing!" She just said, "Weird" and moved along. I felt like I had just uncovered one of man's great accomplishments and no one would acknowledge it. And no one did until I got home and played it for Charles T. Martin who loved it. We would listen to it loudly and try to sing along with it. In my Miata. With the top down. People in the cars next to us would laugh. I thought they were laughing with us. In retrospect, they probably just thought we were gay (two men in a Miata singing a song in falsetto???!!! What was I thinking????)

Begrudingly, I accept that Muse might sound like Radiohead once in a while. But it's only the vocals in the first couple of albums. The musical structure itself is very different in my mind. Much more metal-influenced. The bass and piano play much more prominent roles in Muse's music and they haven't wrapped themselves in a disgusting cloak of technology like Radiohead has. Thus, to me, Radiohead's later albums feel ice cold, whereas Muse feels warmer.

Micro Cuts is so odd too, what with the strange little outro at the end with the bass bouncing between speakers. It really is totally different from the rest of the song. I will say that the two loud guitar jabs pre-chorus do seem lifted from Creep now that I think about it.

Ticket to Ride Europe is where it's at. It's so much more fun to butcher the names (I'm building to Effluvium).

Micro Cuts and Mickey Mouse Ears

So I'm listening to Micro Cuts right now. I don't know why but I think it sounds like a cross between Rush and Queen (aside from the fact they sound like Radiohead's sibling). But I don't listen to either one of those bands so I don't know how I came to that conclusion.
You're right, though, regardless if I like it or not, I've never heard a song quite like that. Sometimes I wonder about how much you love Muse. I mean they sound so much like Radiohead. I'm sorry. I'm sure you get so tired of hearing that--especially from me.

I had this funny dream last night that stemmed from our IM yesterday. It started when my family came over to your house. And when I say family I mean not just me and Dana and the girls but my folks and my sisters and their families. The whole Sorensen clan. And we'd just gotten back from our trip to California so we all had on Mickey Mouse ears. We were all squished into your old apartment here in Provo. And I was asking you about the differences between the American and European versions of Ticket to Ride. Christina and the boys were no where to be seen. I'm not sure what that means but there you go.