the cure for the uncommon warmth?

april!? it's been since april?

wow.

well, there is no doubt that i'm terrible about updating, but if it helps, i feel like i just posted that last one (though, i suppose the sharks would still have had to be in the playoffs, huh?)

the story is this. i've been playing a game online which has nearly 100% taken the place of searching for music. however, i've started to drift back. i thought i'd share some of the newest and an older one.

i would feel bad if i didn't give credit where credit is due and admit that the first couple come from Aurgasm, one of my three favorite music sites on the interwebs.





Enur feat. Natasha. Calabria.

i am really hard to please w/dance music. i know it pisses people off too...they are all stoked and swaying and i am such a damn killjoy, but you all know that i don't lie. for some more honesty, i suppose this is how i feel about most music (prince and MJ come to mind as dancy artists that people seem to appreciate who i can't stand...don't even come at me w/gwen and say that her albums are useful for anything but sticking below a table's leg to stop it from tipping)
however, when people manage to make dance music that i like, i listen to it for years, as anyone who has ever taken a road trip with me can attest.
this is the latest dance song that i totally dig. it's even more repetitive than most that grab me, but i'll tell you what, it conjures something for me. it conjures oppressive heat on a street w/squat buildings and condensation on a glass of water.
did i mention that it's terribly hot in the real world right now? if this song doesn't make you enjoy the heat for a few seconds, move to the pacific northwest already.




Ben Sollee. A Change is Gonna Come.
Ben Sollee. How To See the Sun Rise.

well...the fine gentleman from Aurgasm tried to classify this as "cello-pop/acoustic folk" which is sorta fair, i suppose. it certainly points you down the road toward what Ben is doing. however, i can't escape the jazz/soul/70's rock vibe that is not just included, but central in my eyes. he may be classically trained, but his upbringing in the south takes the fore.
this is more warm-weather music....but cool warm weather music.
seriously, you'll like it...what a debut.




Rogue Wave. Eyes.

i forget how much i like rogue wave. this happens to me a lot. i do have quite a lot of music, and i really only listen to a few playlists based on what mood i'm in, and for some reason, none of these playlists contain rogue wave.
thankfully, commercials come along and jog my memory sometimes.
i've heard this lovely song in at least two commercials and a few shows too.
if you dig DCFC and the shins, you'll love it.
it is such a pretty song...remember when your parents read fantastical stories to you to you when you were a child? that's what it sounds like.


nothing fancy tonight. just songs.
oh...songs and the information that i'm not on fire and neither is my house. watsonville is on fire. there is something very creepy about driving past a place that you have driven by thousands of times before...only this time it's on fire. so strange. houses. trees. there were hundreds of firemen doing their thing and a few choppers dropping water about 50 ft from our car. if you know a fireman, say thank you for me.

She's all states, and all princes I

i'm actually going to do a rare thing and start w/words, not music. however, it's pretty easy to figure out where my lucid dreaming stops and where the music begins.

with the exception of one or two other posts, i never go into them with any plan or purpose. i never have any idea where they will go and i don't usually edit. i put on whatever music i want to share and write as i listen to it. "why are you staring into outer space" has always been the finnegan's wake of music blogs (one of the most brilliant people i've ever met said that the only way to read ulysses was in a hot bath with a minimum of one bottle of red wine...i'd appreciate the same criteria for my blog.) as though this paragraph could lead to anywhere else, this one is slightly different. i'm going to try to take my time while i sip my wine.

a few days ago i filled out an online survey on which i answered the question, "where is your favorite place in the world?"

in the whole wide world...hhhmmmmmmmmm...

since the survey was sent to me by a sj sharks buddy, who had answered, "the shark tank," i followed in her footsteps. however, the stupid little question nagged at me in a way that a silly little myspace repost survey answer never should.
i thought and thought and came up with a handful of moments where i felt perfect and complete and just right. they were pretty diverse moments. watching my sister play santa on xmas, and handing a present to mom that she totally didn't see coming. i've been to a couple of concerts that were nearly transcendent...joanna newsom comes to mind. there are those moments with my favorite boys, when the love in the room makes strangers uncomfortable (the segovia's field...slave ship...bubblegum on a bbq?) seeing one of my defenders score her first varsity goal in the playoffs, in the last game of her high school career. watching chas read his vows and grin like an idiot through his first dance.

and then there are those moments with girls. one or two of those stand out. ..but no one wants to hear about all of that.

and on and on and on...i hope everyone has an insanely long list like this.

but see, all these memories that came to mind were moments...not really places. so, back to the drawing board.

(now, i'm a good enough writer to understand that i could turn any of those into places...but that doesn't really seem to be in the spirit of the question...now does it?)

so...places. my answer of the shark tank is a good one and would make any list...there is no feeling like screaming in pure ecstasy with 18,000 other people, i literally almost made myself pass out twice this season from screaming so hard...seriously, i almost pitched forward both times. the top story of MOMA in ny. pt lobos and mavis lake. dog beach when it's packed.

but--to be perfectly frank--none of these really did it for me. however, the survey didn't matter at all, and i was tired of hammering the thing half to death (though trying to recall one's happiest moments isn't the saddest way to spend ten minutes) so i left my original answer of "the shark tank."

but, later that day, i was listening to my ipod on random...and the answer was given to me. the simple and simplistic answer:





The Decemberists. Of Angels and Angles.
There are angels in your angles
There's a low moon caught in your tangles
There's a ticking at the sill
There's a purr of a pigeon to break the still of day

As on we go drowning
Down we go away
And darling, we go a-drowning
Down we go away
Away

There's a tough word on your crossword
There's a bed bug nipping a finger
There's a swallow, there's a calm
Here's a hand to lay on your open palm today

As on we go drowning
Down we go away
And darling, we go a-drowning
Down we go away
Away

There are angels in your angles
There's a low moon caught in your tangles



i'm very aware that my interpretation of this song's meaning may have very little connection to colin's intentions....and i can see the darkness in it if i wish. but, for me, this is a song about the calm perfection of laying in bed in love. this isn't a message to a coy mistress, quite the opposite! it's a celebration of the blissful isolation of love beneath sheets, that place where the outside world has no dominion. a place without modestly or shame. a place where only two exist and even their imperfections are completely perfect. a place where the outside world not only has no dominion, but where it can be completely and truly forgotten because....maybe....just maybe...the world extends out in all directions from that bed.

and so, that is my answer. that is my favorite place.

it is a place where i haven't been in so many years. i've been close though...

ps...
y'all should hope that i don't fall in love again...otherwise you may never see me here again ;)
(ed note: HA! how true that was...3/23/11)

omg! a totally awesome and fun and seaworthy bonus song for those of you who made it to the bottom. see, the blog hasn't gone completely emo on you:

The Decemberists. The Mariner's Revenge Song. Lyrics.

With so many lovers singing soft...

as nearly always, music up front, personal stuff at the end.

i'm not going to apologize for how long i've been away. you can just deal w/it. stuff happens. we all go through periods where we'd rather play nerdy online games w/no moving pictures than write public messages to no one in particular. you shouldn't think that i don't appreciate you...or that i want you to stop reading. i just fell out of the pack a day music habit i had for roughly two years there. i went a little cold-turkey and frankly, i'm probably still not back on it...but i'll do my best to do right by you.




Farryl Purkiss. Times Like These.

this first one is a dedication to a friend of mine from down southways who has a penchant for mopey acoustic music (and yet only had dashboard's new, terrible, albums.) i have a couple of songs by this good looking gentleman, and in both of them, it's the pretty dual guitar parts that grab me. his lyrics are fine (though they are kinda hum-drum) but i would listen to this song as an instrumental. i loves me some acoustic guitaaar. so, hope you enjoy it.




Teitur. Catherine the Waitress.
Teitur. We Still Drink the Same Water.

I thought i'd also include someone who's been on my blog before as half a duet, but never by himself. Teitur (tie'tor) surprised me with the following tracks as i only knew him from his duets (some of which are with some pretty big names.) who knew there was a little pop star in him (probably everyone who actually knew anything about him...unlike me)? those of you who are long time readers are sure to know that i love songs that could be described as ditties. "Catherine the Waitress" is a ditty. the second song is something of a bonus and is much closer to what i figured his new album would contain. it's playful yet a little melancholy, and something like sparsely orchestral. deal with that.




Little Dragon. Twice.

now...this is the heart of the post. this is the one song that has managed to pierce my musical apathy over the last few months. this is totally my favorite song right now. i was talking w/a friend just last night about how this song can be put on repeat for ever! i appreciate this of unobtrusive songs. songs that can easily be thirty minutes long if you so desire. truth be told, i find just once through to be disappointing with this precious gem of a song.
i'm not completely in love with the album, though i find it fascinating. i hear albums described as unclassifiable pretty often...though i almost never agree with this assessment. however, Little Dragon borrows and improves and kicks ass with pieces of this and that, living in none of them. i hope you love this one more than most.




i had plans to party in a hangar tonight, but i decided to pass them up in favor of a good night's sleep. of course, anyone who knows me, knows that a good night's sleep is never a sure thing with or without military mixers.

the pitiful truth of the matter is that i could have used the distraction tonight. the last short period of time, i've felt a little bit like that poor baby Gibson and Walk tortured all those years ago (eff you psych 1a!...you didn't think i'd remember anything, did you?!?!), poised to crawl out into the unknown a little bit, except i'm going for it. new things starting, meeting old things not restarting, meeting a handful of old stuff going away. in fact, my current wish is to change almost everything about my life, minus you wonderful folks. wish me some luck please.

if anyone is left in sonoma, i'll be there this weekend. call if you want a visit as i have literally nothing in my life to rush back for.

muah!

so pick your risk and take it...

i know that i'm a terrible blogger. i really do.

this is actually the second or third time i've tried to write for you...so i haven't forgotten you completely...i have high hopes for this one actually emerging completed since i've got two songs to share (if i had even one drink in me, i'm pretty sure this would be the spot for a tangent about what happens to a blog deferred...alas: soberness.)





Katie Dill. The Body's Only Rental.

Oh God. i love little girls w/ukeleles more than anything...even cinnamon rolls...and i will continue to feel that way until the song ends.
it's karmic and lovely and wiser than it lets on.
two of the last four weddings i have attended have been luau themed. i think the IZ version of somewhere over the rainbow has played at three of the four. as a result, hawaiin music sounds like love to me at this point.
how could this song possibly come from newark?
more importantly, how are you going to use your gentle today?





Elliott Smith. Place Pigalle. Lyrics.

i straight up ripped off this idea for a post from one of the most successful indie music blogs on the net, and one of my favorites: I Guess I'm Floating. go there and read what he has to say about everything. i played the song and decided that you all needed it in your lives.

elliott likely needs no introduction. he shouldn't.

he is famous for tragedy and for beauty...unfortunately not in equal parts.

if john lennon had died ten years earlier, i would have insisted that he and smith shared a soul, and that we should watch for another genius coming our way in 13 or so years. alas, a tired comparison is all we get.

for those of you who are already smith fans, this song was intended for figure 8. in fact, the album was originally to be called "Place Pigalle" [for further trivia...it should be noted that the title track, "Figure 8", a school-house rock song, didn't make the album either, but was included on a single instead.] at least we can eternally be thankful that elliott never seemed to have gone a day w/o recording a wonderful b-side for us to find years later. it must be disheartening to some that smith might be the best act out there, posthumously. this must be how rappers feel about tupac.

if anyone is interested in more of his b-sides, let me know...i'd be happy to post links.



thanks for stopping by folks. i'll try to update more often, but no promises.

no clever titles

Maia Hirasawa. Crackers. Lyrics.

this is it. this is why you wade through spontaneous lines of drivel. this is why you join the ranks of random folks whose visits do nothing to cure me of my solipsism. why you suck it up and deal with the lack of uppercase letters. this is a good song. pop music isn't dead.....................at least not in scandinavia.


hopefully i'll see all you sonoma folks on friday!

lighten up...

new blog.

yep.

i'm feeling melancholy, so here you go.




Marla Hansen. Shuffle Your Feet.
Marla Hansen. Wedding Day.

why isn't every song just always played on a cello? if you're only going to get one, i recommend 'shuffle.' wedding day is pretty and all, but shuffle is the standout song here.

marla has some pretty impressive friends, many of whom appear on her EP, Wedding Day. it's not bad for publicity when you can give the following list of bands as a resume/cast: "My Brightest Diamond, Sufjan Stevens, The National, Inlets, Clare and the Reasons, Oneida, Duncan Sheik and even Jay-Z and Kanye West." as we all know, the national are my favorite rock band of this decade. in addition, i happen to know that she toured w/casey dienel, who is loved by me. well done lady.

with the right songs, i sure do love repeat. i like this song a lot.




it may seem kind of silly to some, but i get all the way caught up in coaching. pretty much, my mood the next four months will be determined by how each day of soccer goes. i will appear to be bipolar.today went just fine except i'm really not used to leading 20+ girls and i'm afraid it is going to be a tall order. i am very good at herding and capturing the attention of smaller groups, but the huge crowd is tough. with those manageable groups, i know how to use my energy to inspire and motivate with great success. i'm feeling inadequate after today, which is pretty uncommon for me.

say lah vee...tomorrow will probably be better.

free music. free music. free music. that's it.

yeah...so...i don't really feel much like blogging tonight, but i thought i would finally re-upload EVERYTHING since people have been asking for a way to get all the old music w/dead links. so here it is. enjoy.
there is truly a shit-ton of amazing music here. as amish pointed out, much of it isn't easy to come across, so think good thoughts about me while you are enjoying it.
these are alphabetical, not chronological.


Why are you staring into outerspace 1.
Why are you staring into outerspace 2.
Why are you staring into outerspace 3.
Why are you staring into outerspace 4.
Why are you staring into outerspace 5.
Why are you staring into outerspace 6.
Why are you staring into outerspace 7.
Why are you staring into outerspace 8.
Why are you staring into outerspace Wake Up.
Why are you staring into outerspace Traveling Mix 1.
Why are you staring into outerspace Traveling Mix 2.


for a mini update:
1) soccer = good....both playing and coaching.
2) that's it.

Thank you kids for reading.

top 10 in 60 seconds challenge

so, gauntlets are being thrown down everywhere. my challenge came via ipickmynose, a san fransisco music blog, but the challenge came to him via jon wilde at the guardian.
the challenge: name your top ten songs of all time.
the catch: you have 60 seconds to do it.

many of these songs have been on this blog before, but since i took the time to upload the songs, i thought i'd throw it up here. i'm also just going to cut and paste, instead of rewriting it.

here are all ten in one file: top ten in 60 seconds (about 50 meg.) get it quick, i don't know how long it will be up.

top ten in 60 seconds (though i think it probably took two minutes.)

beatles. for no one.
i had a copied version of revolver and i wore the tape out. i don't mean that it got a little distorted…it stopped playing completely.

pinback. penelope.
desert island top five album.

badly drawn boy. the shining.
i know that i'm a sucker for the french horn, but that doesn't change the absolute brilliance of this song.

herman dune. you could be a model goodbye (live bbc session).
the funny thing is how mediocre the album version is.

aesop rock. daylight.
this is the converter song…used to shut up those who claim that the hip-hop landscape is devoid of artistic talent. every element is damn near perfect.

the national. city middle.
still my favorite album of 2005. still on heavy rotation (i still prefer it to boxer.) i've probably given more copies of aligator away than any other album.

built to spill. car.
so good.

decemberists. red right ankle.
easily one of my favorite love songs. so unique and fantastically written.

metric. calculation theory.
this remains the ONLY metric song that i care much for…but i REALLY like it.

foo fighters. everlong (acoustic).
this song is the king of je ne sais quoi. i just can't pin down what it is about it that speaks to nearly every person of my generation. whatever it is, it works on me.

OK, now it's your turn. 60 seconds. 10 songs......go!


i leave for scotland and amsterdam in six days.

do something summer. (today! 8-10-07)

on the tv the other day, i actually heard someone say that they hated summer. wow, right?





Maritime.   The Guns of Navarone.

This is shameless. Throw whatever labels you want at it (personally, i hear a symbiotic meeting of sub-pop and first generation drive-thru records, sort of "photo album" era deathcab over for a playdate with the benjamins) this is a fun song. i thought i knew exactly where it was going, always, and instead it just made me smile.
this a song for everyone who remembers when emo had nothing to do with bleeding wrists and, most importantly, with being depressed.
it's a head bobber. a happy little ditty. have a bar b q, throw a frisbee, roll down the windows and smile...it's still summer!


and if this song made you smile, please pass it on. think of someone that you know needs a pick-me-up, and give them a call, or send them a note. there is so much unhappiness out there, so much that it can be daunting. go fix some of it, would you?




i saw this yesterday and wanted to share it. i'm never guilty for what i have, but i'm often guilty of forgetting just how little others have.

These two asleep . . . (8-7-07)

27,000 Miles by Albert Goldbarth 

These two asleep . . . so indrawn and compact,

like lavish origami animals returned

to slips of paper once again; and then

the paper once again become a string

of pith, a secret that the plant hums to itself . . . . 

You see? — so often we envy the grandiose, the way

those small toy things of Leonardo's want to be

the great, air-conquering and miles-eating

living wings

they're modeled on.  And the bird flight is

amazing: simultaneously strength, 

escape, caprice: the Artic tern completes

its trip of nearly 27,000 miles every year;

a swan will frighten bears away

by angry aerial display of flapping wingspan.

But it isn't all flight; they also

fold; and at night on the water or in the eaves

they package their bodies

into their bodies, smaller, and deeply

smaller yet: migrating a similar distance

 in the opposite direction.

there is no theme here...i just read that poem and wanted to share it. i saw the first five lines quoted by themselves and i like it that way, perhaps more than in its entirety.

the internet does precious little to stave off loneliness these days. i'm pretty sure that this is my fault. i'd probably also be better off turning to real, live, people for this service.

my grandma is full of great memories about my family's history. the ones that interest me most are the cute little things that we all did when we were kids and have long since forgotten. she told me an awesome one yesterday about my mom's cousin herkey. when he was quite young, he gave his mother a box of chocolates for no apparent reason. when she opened the box, all of the chocolates had been eaten and little herkey proudly proclaimed, "i surprised you with none chocolates!" i love it sooo much!
i have a terrible, really really bad memory...it is a little depressing to think how many of these things will die with grammie when she goes. i hope someone in my generation is able to call up these sorts of tidbits when i am old. who will be the scribe, mental or not, of our generation?


i got a new phone and it kicks all the ass. i had my amazing 6230 for two years and it was still a better phone than any i had seen in stores. finally, one came along that topped it. i am totally in phone heaven.

i know that you're here for the music, so here is a list i cribbed directly from Vertigo's (of Peanut's Playground) top 25 albums of all time (though doing the tables took enough time that you should all be thankful.) i left the 12 that i most wanted to share, and what is left is a pretty good haul for anyone willing to do the downloading.
they should work, though many of them require more than one step.

Nirvana – Nevermind (1991)	Joanna Newsom – Ys (2006)	Radiohead - Ok Computer (1997)
Sufjan Stevens – Illinois (2005)	Death Cab For Cutie –Transatlanticism (2003)	Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea(1998)
The Postal Service - Give Up (2003)	The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow (2003)	Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds(1966)	The Beatles - Abbey Road (1969)	Jeff Buckley – Grace (1994)

thanks for stopping by. if you are bored, send me a text message...i love getting them now that i have unlimited texts and an awesome phone.