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The band Taylor was in before he started his solo project, My Brother the Welder.
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12/21/06 - Mates of State - Sound it Off (from Team Boo, Polyvinyl 2003) - View
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01/31/06 - Account of a Romance - View |
This might be the cutest band in the world. A husband and wife team of keyboards and drums along with dead on harmonies and lots of energy. So sugary and poppy that it's almost impossible to get their songs out of your head. They have a sound that sets them apart from other bands, but their sound doesn't seem to extend past a song or two. I love them but all of their songs sound A LOT alike is all I'm saying. They're awesome though, they are always sure to bring me out of a bad mood.
I remember the first time I saw them play, it was with Rainer Maria at the Village Tavern in Mt. Pleasant. The place had just opened and I was amazed that they were booking bands like Rainer Maria.
As a matter of fact I just wrote a story for a non-fiction writing class I was taking this past semester, and that paper was about The New Brookland Tavern. I mentioned that it was one of the first places in SC to bother booking a lot of independent bands, outside of VFW and Legion hall shows that we put together ourselves a lot of the time. I mentioned the Village Tavern, and this show in particular, somewhere in the piece. Ryan Hendrick and I played pool with the drummer before they went on. It was cool. That is all.
1991? Holy crap. It doesn't even seem possible that this record came out fifteen years ago. This is a band that has meant a lot to me over the years and I've been sitting here trying to figure out what to say about them and this song but I keep typing half a sentence then deleting it. Everything I have to say sounds boring to me tonight, so I'm terrified of how it will sound to everyone else. I think this is partly because to say "I love Jawbreaker" or "Jawbreaker changed my life" has become something of an indie rock cliché. They have had an impact on so many people that I can only be sure of what they mean to me, and not try to convince anyone else how much I have needed their records over the years. So there.
I will say that this is a really great song though. Bivouac was the first record of theirs that I owned and this song really stood out on the first couple of listens, and it's still one of my favorites today. I remember being home in Charleston some time last year and Zach Lowe played me a tape of some songs he had been working on. Somewhere on the tape was an acoustic version of this song. I really thought it was good and I remember thinking that it was a hell of a lot better that the Face to Face cover of the song. Can anyone tell me what the fucking point is of covering a song if you're going to play it the exact same way as the original? If that's the case I'd rather hear Jawbreaker play it quite honestly. I mean what could you possibly be trying to prove by showing everyone that you can imitate a song exactly? I think it's far more interesting to hear a band offer their take on a song and pay homage to the original artist at the same time.
Covers are tricky business though, sometimes I think bands should be shot in the streets for covering songs and at other times I can kind of be into it. Anyone who remembers Stretch's cover of stop the world might agree with latter statement. Props to Zach though, I thought his cover was good.
This is embarrassing. I have never heard this, as a matter of fact I don't think I've ever heard of this band. I can't say for sure how it ended up on my computer but it's on Second Nature so I'm sure there's some reasonable explanation.
This track is about a minute and a half long and is instrumental. I can see a pattern emerging here. It's got some real nice airy violins and kind of makes you feel like you are in a forest. They are called In The Pines after all. Coincidence? You tell me.
This little number is enough to arouse some interest however, I think I'll have to check out the rest of the record. I like the cover too, see we're making progress already. I may have more to report on this matter at a later date.
Good day.
If my previous rant about Four Minute Mile told you anything then you can imagine where this record stands in my favorites list. I remember when it came out I couldn't believe how much the Get Up Kids' sound had matured, they were writing solid pop hooks that weren't there on Four Minute Mile and it lacked some of the endearing, unpolished qualities that their first record had. Now, I don't mean to say that's necessarily a bad thing, there were things that were just as charming about this record. One thing I couldn't help but notice is that the sound they had developed suited my musical preference perfectly at the time, just as Four Minute Mile had when it came out. I found myself literally growing up with this band. It almost felt like they were keeping tabs on my musical tastes and writing songs accordingly. This went on for their next few records too.
Aside from being an amazing record (that I really don't listen to enough anymore now that I think about it) there is one really strong memory that comes to mind whenever I hear this record. I remember I was working at Strobler Furniture and living downtown, Chris was working at Cat's Music and we hung out pretty much everyday, so I was first to know when Cat's got the promo for this record before it came out. Before mass online music sharing made release dates a trivial, inconsequential matter the only way to get advanced records was to work for a label, a record store, a magazine or elsewhere in the chain that is the music industry. So it was no small thing when he got it. I remember we were going to go see them the night before the album was supposed to come out. That show still ranks high on my list of memorable nights, I rode to Columbia with Chris and Bainie and we packed into the New Brookland Tavern with all of the familiar faces surrounding us. We listened to the album the whole way up there and when they went on we weren't really surprised that they didn't play anything from it, they only played Four Minute Mile and Red Letter Day (the EP, obviously) stuff, but we did get an odd look from James Dewees when Chris yelled out "Action and Action" in the middle of their set.
We listened to the record for the entire drive home too; as I write this I realize how much I miss having people to share new records with like that. I mean someone that would get as excited as I am about a new album, so much so that we could happily listen to it 4 or 5 times in a day, smiling the whole time in silence, just listening. Chandi and I obviously have similar tastes in music, that's one of the first and most important things that we realized we had in common, but I think she tires of things faster than I do and I know she finds it exhausting having to listen to me go on and on about the same records for weeks at a time. I don't know where this I going, I guess I miss the nights of staying up until four listening to music with friends and finding a place for ourselves in the lines of the songs we loved. It's hard to that so much these days with everyone so busy growing up. Oh, how very dramatic of me.
One of their songs came up the a few days ago, that's strange. I have been listening to them a lot lately as I said and this is a great tune. It's a slower kind of affair with a nice easy buildup to an even nicer melodic climax. Then there is about 5 seconds of unexpected rapping after that and then it's all over. Nice stuff.
I've been listening to them so much lately I think partly because I needed a new band to obsess over and they came along at just the right time. I realize too that I've been listening to a lot of instrumental music lately, a lot of Mono and Explosions in the Sky, and especially Red Sparowes. I'll say it again, if you haven't heard Red Sparowes, get off your ass and handle that. But I'm not talking about Red Sparowes, I 'm talking about 65 Days of Static. I think everyone could do pretty well to check them out, they have a lot of electronic stuff going on and that's infused perfectly into the songs with live drums and guitars. They have a sense o9f composition that I think a lot of bands overlook. They really are one of the best instrumental bands I've heard in a long time. Check them out. If you don't like them I'd like to hear why, not to be a dick but just to get some dialogue going here. You feel me? What?
Amazon doesn't have this cover either, which isn't surprising because they only sold this on tour and the copies were very limited to begin with. If you can find it though, good work.
I really can't believe this came up, I mean after my little rant about You and I the other night, it's just a little bizarre is all I'm saying. Maybe because I see this band to be in such a specific category with You and I and a few others that I mentioned. I love this record and I can't say too much about it without echoing what I said the other night. That isn't to say that the bands are so similar that I can't come up with anything new, actually it's just because they represent the same time and feeling in my life that it would be hard to come up with something new.
As far as the sound goes though they are actually pretty different. They tend to be more on the hardcore side, while Saetia and You and I are far more melodic. Orchid knows how to handle a good breakdown. I love this record so much, I'm really glad it came up tonight, I needed something to lift me up a bit. It's hard to believe this is their first record, it's so tight and I don't think they had been together very long when it came out. In true grind fashion the album has thirteen tracks and clocks in at just over nineteen minutes. Though I think the winner in that category is The Locust's self titled album. Twenty songs in sixteen minutes. I like that though, you can listen to the whole album in the shower and it's way more invigorating than any goddamn Irish Spring.
I'm supposed to be talking about Orchid though. Dance Tonight! Revolution Tomorrow! Is my favorite of theirs. Chaos is Me is a very close second. Um, that's it really.
Amazon doesn't have the cover, as I guessed (and hoped, some things are still sacred it seems).
This is one song that can almost always bring me to verge of tears, or at least stop me dead in my tracks, unable to so anything else until it's over. Hot Water Music was among the small handful of bands that I can say, at the risk of sounding melodramatic, changed my life. I found them when I was sixteen and I have been in love ever since. They were a band that pushed me, aggressively, over the threshold into the world of independent music. I have rarely turned on a radio or walked into a mega chain record store since then. Funny that this song came on because of the 119 Hot Water Music songs I have in iTunes this is my absolute favorite.
The first album I owned by them was Fuel for the Hate Game, I remember I only had a tape player in my car so I made a copy of the CD and that cassette didn't leave my car for about two years. I can remember the exact moment that I first heard them, they were that important to me. I was sitting in my bedroom in my mother's house in Quail Hollow on Anna Knapp in Mt. Pleasant. I was hanging out with Chris Ginn, and he had Fuel for the Hate Game in his backpack, he pulled it out and said, "Put this on, I think you'll like it." He had to fight me to get it back. I went out and bought my own copy that afternoon. That record pointed my life in an entirely different direction, one that has enriched my life endlessly since then through music and friendship.
I was just reading the insert to Live at the Hardback the other day for some reason. Instead of the lyrics for each song they have an explanation of each song's meaning. Each one sheds a lot of insight into the writing process and just what the songs are all about. I was drawn to Hot Water Music partly because of the music and partly because their lyrics are so powerful. They represent friendship, brotherhood, unity, pride, respect and living your life to the fullest by surrounding yourself with, and looking out for, the people you love. It nice to have an idea of specific instances that drove them to write each song and the insert for the Hardback record gives just that. The explanation of Where We Belong is beautiful. The song is basically about that moment when you realize exactly where you belong in life, and more specifically with whom. The moment has hit all of us when we realize that we need to get to where we belong at any cost, or maybe the moment for some people realizing how happy we are knowing that we're right where we need to be. It's about achieving a peace of mind and knowing that you're on the right track with the right people. It's literally and metaphorically about finding home.
I have a lot of memories with this song and with this album. I remember sitting in Zach's bedroom listening to this song over and over again with Matt in complete silence. I remember crying the first time I heard them play this song live. I remember being so comfortable with the people around me that I didn't care if they saw my tears. I remember riding in Brian Walo's Jeep with the top down, as he changed CD's the wind snatched Live at The Hardback out of his hand and we both watched it bounce over the side of the IOP connector. I remember all the things I have learned from this band.
I also remember the tattoo I need to get started on. I've only mentioned it to a few people put I'm working on putting together a sleeve including something from each of the Hot Water Music album covers. If you're familiar with the band then you probably know that Scott Sinclair, an amazing artist out of Gainesville, has done all the artwork for their records. I want to incorporate all of them and built a fitting tribute to an amazing band.
If you are a fan I hope you'll share something of what they've meant to you as a reply to this post. If you're not, well, it's never too late to start.
God Damn these guys are awesome. But, quite frankly, with a name like Mastodon you'd better be. To be perfectly honest their singer gets on my nerves a bit but I really like them musically, enough to endure the singing, I mean I like his scream just not his singing. I also have to admit that they are a pretty recent interest of mine. I never really knew anyone in Charleston who liked them and I didn't hear much about them until I moved up here. Some of the parts kind of remind me of Meshuggah, just by virtue of the fact that they have some pretty interesting time signatures, though they don't quite have the precision and uniqueness of Meshuggah. I don't mean that as an insult, no one has the precision and uniqueness of Meshuggah. Them's the facts.
So, yeah, if you aren't already a fan give them a listen.
This is another bands that escapes all reasonable explanation for me. I absolutely love this band and they represent a really great time in my life. I think I got into them when I lived Downtown with Will or possibly right after with Josh, Danny and Rose. They were part of a genre that was pretty small and there were a few other bands besides You and I in this genre that were really important to me back then. Namely: Orchid, Saetia, Spirit of Versailles and Reversal of Man. They were melodic hardcore for lack of a better word. I can't really explain it but what they were doing made me feel like no other bands could. Not to sound lame but they just made me feel more awake, alive and just generally good than I ever did at any other time. Again there isn't one all encompassing genre that would suit what You and I did but anyone who was a fan knows that a description isn't important. it's the feeling. I still love that feeling.
"Kid, you better change your feathers 'cause you'll never fly with those things"
Awesome. This is something I've been listening to more lately. This record in particular I like a lot. I remember about a year or so ago Zach was talking about him a lot so I checked it out. At first I liked the music a lot but the guy's voice just drove me nuts but over time I learned to really appreciate it and get into it. All I can say is that if you haven..t heard him just decide for yourself. It's unique.
This song is a long one and I really like it. It kind of has the feel of a Dylan ballad; maybe that..s just me. The lyrics are really good and I think that..s why I stuck it out and learned to like his voice. Though he can be crude at times when you don't expect it I kind of like that about Destroyer. Another thing I really like about Destroyer is that he calls it Destroyer. Oh gentle irony.
Good Day.
I was listening to this the other day and thinking about how beautiful it was. I even made Chandi listen to it and she agreed. For those who may not know what this track is all about the folks over at Threadless somehow got Bob Nanna to write a few jingles for them based on some of their shirt designs. A few apparently meant about 150. Each of the tracks shares a name with one of their shirt designs and I have to assume that Bob used the design as inspiration. Some of them are short and fun while others sound like they really could be candidates for the next City on Film album. They're just that well written, they don't sound like he just pounded out whatever came to him and let that be good enough. It seems like a lot of effort went into these tracks. Which officially makes Bob Nanna one of the busiest, most prolific men in Indie rock, or it means that he has way too much free time. Maybe both. Most of them clock in around 1-1.5 minutes, the shortest one is 15 seconds and the longest is about 3 minutes.
Paper Tiger is 1:24 and every second of it is absolutely gorgeous. While I'm writing these blogs I always keep the song I'm writing about on repeat until I'm done to hopefully capture any emotions that might crop up while listening to it. This one, even though it's short, works really well on repeat, it just never seems to end and you can really get lost in it and not realize that you've heard it 6 times like I have now. It's really airy and melodic; the track has the sound of the rain in the background and really pretty acoustic guitars that are simple but almost entrancing.
It's one of those songs that, like Bird of Paradise by The Appleseed Cast or The Floating Waltz by Unwed Sailor, that feel more like soundtracks to a moment that just another track on an album. They're so easy to get lost in, they're just comforting. I hope some of you know what I mean because I'm doing a shitty job of describing it.
Everyone should go over to threadless.com and download all of the songs/jingles. I think they still have them up. They're all definitely worth checking out. The guy is just amazing. Oh and while you're there check out some of the shirts and pay attention to the models. All I'm saying is it looks like Bob is breaking out of the music business.
This is hands down one of my favorite records, probably ever. Forever. Forever ever? ForEVER ever?
Sorry. Seriously though, Saves the Day was a huge band for me. When Can't Slow Down came out I was in love immediately. They were one of the first bands I remember hearing that were really melodic punk/rock without coming across as cheesy, poppy nonsense. Things only got better with Through Being Cool. That was a pretty dark record if you really pay attention. Actually you don't have to pay attention that closely. Chris Connelly isn't all that familiar with term "tongue in cheek". That's OK though, that's something I like about them. They were among the few bands that I considered really special, everyone has a short list of bands that they hold in much higher regard than all of the others. I think so anyway. Well, assuming that everyone else has a list I don't mind saying that Saves The Day were pretty close to the top of mine. This only solidified more when Stay What You Are came out.
I remember it was the early summer of 2001 when this came out. I was living with John and Ryan and we all had copies of the CD so it seemed like it was playing in every room of the house and in everyone's cars for all of that summer. It took a quick hold on all of us and it was definitely a landmark achievement for the band. I know I talked a lot about Rainer Maria, that summer and what it meant to me in another post so I'll just say that this record took a place of honor that same summer for a lot of us. You know those times when music just makes you feel really good. You completely give yourself to the song or the album and it cements that moment into your memory and makes you feel like absolutely nothing is wrong even when it's not true. A moment like that for me that comes to mind was riding in John's Blazer with Ryan and Sarah listening to this album on the way to the beach. I remember sitting in the front seat with the window down and Firefly was playing really loud. As cheesy as it sounds I remember singing along with the wind blowing in from everywhere and feeling like the world was perfect for that moment.
Another assumption I'm going to make (you know what happens when you assume right? HAHA!) is that I'm surely not the only one who has ever gotten out of bed at night to go for a drive until you're tired enough to go back and give sleep another shot. I hope it's not just me because it's really therapeutic. I used to do this a lot when I lived with Will Cisa in downtown Charleston. Not always late at night though, just whenever I felt especially restless or down I would go drive around until I felt OK. The trick to the success of this was very often Through Being Cool.
I feel like I really have a whole load of stories to go along with all of their records so I should probably wrap this up and wait until the others get their more appropriate turn on the Board. But I will say I think that Stay What You Are was the last of their really great records (their new one ain't to shabby though). There was magic in those first three records that I don't think they could achieve again. The band that recorded Stay What You Are and the band that recorded In Reverie are so separate in my mind for some reason. It's like seeing an old friend and the face is the same but the voice sounds all wrong. I'm not sure that makes sense but just go with it.
I realize that I haven't really mentioned the song for today, I think that may be because whenever I hear this record it's not so much like tracks as it is one collective incredible thing that doesn't feel right without all of it's parts working together as a whole. There are so many memories and people that will forever be associated with this band. The shows, the records, the long nights that they were the soundtrack for, there is so much there. I think I'll finish here and listen to the rest of the record. Good day.
I fucking love this band and I have to give it to Matt for turning me on to them, pretty recently actually. They have one of the best sounds I've heard in a long time and it came at the right moment. I had been feeling really shitty about the state of music these days and bummed that I couldn't find any decent new bands/records to really get me excited anymore and then these dudes came along. They're instrumental, which right away I have to hand it too them. So many bands play really boring music hidden behind (usually) less than interesting lyrics and they feel like they've really accomplished something. When there are no vocals, however, a band is left to try and relate emotions and passions through the sounds alone and that can be a true feat. 65 Days of Static is a band that can give me goose bumps on every listen and without the use of sappy lyrics. Can you believe it?
They seem to have found a really happy medium between really powerful melodic rock and driving electronic sections. Thinking about that last sentence I know that it sounds like it might be cheesy but if you can, try and imagine a marriage of Red Sparowes and a really happy Faint record. It's kind of like that only slightly more melodic than Red Sparowes and slightly more interesting that The Faint.
So thank you Matt for rescuing me from the boredom that had overtaken me and as for everyone else, check out 65 Days of Static if you haven't already. Oh and while your at it check out Red Sparowes too (word to Sergio on that one). I can almost promise that you'll fall in love with both of them.
I realize as I sit here listing to this song trying to find a beginning that I don't really have much of a history with Joy Division. Not, at least, like some people I know. I mean to say that I am a fan of the small amount of their music that I am familiar with but that..s not a lot. I just haven't spent enough time with them. That's funny though because, if I can be cliché for a moment, I love all the bands that are general associated with them. I love The Cure, I love The Smiths, I even love New Order, and it seems that most people that like this general group tend to like Joy Division too. I almost feel like I missed the boat on this one however, I mean if I heard The Cure for the first time to day I have to wonder if I would have as strong of a reaction as I did when I was fifteen? Or do I only love The Cure now because of what they meant to me then and how they made me feel as a teenager. I'm not going to try to answer that, I don't think I know the answer (though I secretly think that The Cure, in particular, would appeal to anyone of any age of a certain disposition, like myself).
As far as Joy Division though I suppose I'll just need to explore them a little further and see what it stirs up. As I said though, I really do like them I've just had limited exposure so this should be a fun adventure. Good day.
I like The White Stripes. So there.
I can't say so much for their newest record but everything else is great. White Blood Cells might be my favorite actually, and this is one of my favorite songs. How about that.
This song really just makes me thing of Will Story. Riding around in his car listening to this song really loud and watching Will bounce around in his seat singing at the top of his lungs is an image that I will always associate with this tune. The White stripes in general make me think of Sarah though. Anyone who knows her knows that when she drinks she tends to focus on a band or a song and she is insatiable. Often it is the White Stripes. Yeah. Good times.
Holy hell. I haven't listened to this in a long time, and I'm sitting here trying to figure out why. Scarlet was a major part of the influx of very impressive metal bands from North Carolina a few years ago. Most of the early Tribunal bands were constant fixtures at shows through those years and I never got enough of them. There was something really special about the sound at the time. It was a combination of a lot of different things, which seems obvious, I mean it had elements of speed metal, thrash, hardcore and grind but there was a particular uniqueness to it that was far greater than the sum of its parts. All of the bands around at the time were good but three that stand out as particular relevant to this style are Scarlet, Aria and From Here On. They all had a really amazing sound that was really unparalleled by most other metal outfits. I'm not ignoring the other notable bands of the day though, the scene would not have been the same without other bands like Prayer and Undying but these three bands managed to find an incredible meshing of genres where Prayer for Cleansing, for example, stuck to one sound and style, and they were fucking good at it (I'm not talking them down by the way, I hold Prayer in as high a regard as anyone else, probably higher). Scarlet's newer stuff is really, good, better than most newer metal I've heard but there's something missing that made their earliest EP and full length so special. Their newer stuff is really worth checking out though. I especially like the Something to Lust About EP.
I think this song more than anyone makes me think of Ryan Hendrick and Ben Fleetwood. Ryan because we went to a lot of the legion shows together and Ben because he was one of the most passionate metal heads I have ever known. Ben is really pretty passionate about everything, now that I think about it. not just metal but all kinds of music, people and places. I miss that dude. Anyway, they were both Scarlet fans.
This song has one of the most infectious breakdowns I have ever heard. If you have the CD listen up around the three-minute mark. See? Told you. Not impressed right now? Wait until you're at work or school tomorrow or maybe even next week and you'll see. That riff will pop up out of nowhere and won't leave you alone for days.
If this has been wearisome or especially unorganized I apologize. I mean, I have been listening to Scarlet this whole time. You try and concentrate.
I often feel like I'm one of the only people in DC that doesn't have a fun little story about this band. It's not really my fault that I got left out. I mean, I didn't grow up here you know.
It's not that I don't like them, I really do actually, but I feel like I missed the boat. That sounds ridiculous I know but I hope you know what I mean. I think I mean that a lot of people here are. They are really high on the list of bands I need to spend time with though. This song especially is really nice. This band really makes me think of new friends for once. Most of the stuff that comes up on the ol' board here is so saturated with memories of home and its inhabitants but this is one that makes me think of some newer peeps. Zach and Sergio in particular. I work with Zach, he's rad. I used to work with Sergio and we're still hanging every chance we get. Sergio actually introduced me to Ris Paul Ric, which is Q and not U's singer Chris Richard. It's good stuff.
So yeah, I need to give them a more thorough listening to. That makes it sound like they're in trouble. That's naughty.
Where to begin? It's funny because I just got home from school and I was talking to Ryan Hendrick on the way here. We were talking about how we were both really over Broken Social Scene and there are just so many more bands playing similar styles of music that are so much better than they are. I think it's funny because Godspeed kind of started this whole mess and most likely can be held responsible for spawning such bands as Do Make Say Think, Explosions in the Sky, Mono, Broken Social Scene and even Pelican. Really the whole realm of gigantically epic, mostly instrumental music owes their whole history to Godspeed. And none of them will come close to the majestic, near legendary status of Godspeed, for me anyway.
When I hear Godspeed I have to think of my friend Charles. I really didn't know him all that well I guess but we ended up at a lot of the same parties for about a year or so and we quickly discovered that we had really particular and similar tastes in music. He was one of the first people I met that shared my obsession with Belle and Sebastian, keep in mind that this was around 1999 and a lot of people I knew had never heard them. We shared a love for talking Heads and Kind of Like Spitting, two things I rarely got a chance to talk about and share with someone outside of Charles. Above those things though we shared a love and admiration for Godspeed and could go on for hours about how incredible they were. Somewhere in 2001 I lost touch with him though. A few years later, at a party at Jesse Mead's house in Mt. Pleasant I ran into him again and we picked right up where we left off. At one point in the night we even took over the stereo and put on If Your Feeling Sinister. That lasted for about two and a half songs before there was a coup to remove our beloved Belle and Sebastian.
I suppose that hearing Charles talk so intimately about his relationship with Godspeed made me realize how much they had come to mean to me too. I think it says a lot about a band when they can touch so many people so deeply that you almost get choked up talking about them. I mean, not that I have, you know, I heard people have. Someone told me that one time I think.
This is one weird ass band. Ask Jason about them, I'm sure he'd be glad to discuss it at length with you.
Really though, I like them a lot and I feel like I should be listening to them more, and this song is a great example of why. I have to give it up to a band that effortlessly defies genre classification as much as these guys do. I can't decide if they're punk, hardcore, metal, electronic, dance or pop. I'm happy to accept that they are a little of all of these things though. I think underneath it all it's really just about video games. And that's cool too.
I suppose more than anything this band makes me recall the days (or should I say nights. Yes, long, long nights) sitting around with Jason and Matt listening to music and talking about it all night. Horse the Band is a name that came up a lot right before I left Charleston and every time I talked to Jason after I left he would make mention of these fellows. I haven't listened to them nearly enough as it stands now. I think after tonight I will have to increase their presence in my listening rotation though, they are impressive to say the least.
That's about all I've got for tonight. I will conclude by saying that it's good to be back. And of course check out Horse the Band if you haven't already. Good night all.
I can't hear this song without instantly being thrust inside a ton of warm memories. It makes me think of getting drunk on the beach with Ryan years ago and then going to see A Mighty Wind at the Terrace. Mainly because we had been talking about The Decemberists as this EP had just come out. When we got the theatre Ryan's friend that works there was talking about them too. It seemed like in the weeks after this EP came out I couldn't go anywhere without getting into a conversation about it. This EP seemed to speak to everybody. It came at a time when complaints about a stagnant music scene were not uncommon and everyone was getting tired of the stuff that was coming out, it was all the same, there was nothing interesting happening. And then, as they are known to do, Hush Records sent this amazing little EP out to quiet our discontent. And it worked beautifully. It was really good to hear someone doing something this unique.
I am also reminded of a trip to Knoxville just as this came out. I was visiting Chandi and I think she was at work so Ryan (her brother, not the aforementioned Ryan H. Keep it straight people) and I were hanging out. We went to a record store that's when I first picked this record up. "Shiny" was one of the tracks that really stood out to me on the first couple of listens. It was a combination of those beautiful minor chords and the haunting steel guitar that immediately drew me to it and it remains one of my favorite songs from any record of theirs.
It also makes me sad because I can't help but think about how bad their new album is. After three beautiful full lengths and two amazing ep's how does a band suddenly put out something like this? When we were listening to the new Shins record Chandi scrunched up her face as if there were a bad smell about and said "Are they still on Sub Pop? This sounds like their major label debut". I knew what she meant and I agreed. 9 times out of ten when an independent band signs to major label, no matter how great they were before, their first album on that label sounds like overproduced, unimaginative crap. Boring rock music is not that uncommon, it's everywhere you look really, but when a band as brilliantly and boldly original as The Decemberists start producing it it cuts deep.
I didn't mean to get into all that, I really meant to take up this whole post praising the Decemberists but I just couldn't help myself. So, yeah, they were amazing.
For those interested, Rachel Blumberg, who was the drummer for The Decemberists up until the last album, plays with an incredible band called Norfolk and Western now. Please, please, please check them out. They're on Hush Records and Rachel's husband is actually the front man so I think she had been playing with them off and on while she was still with The Decemberists. Anyway, they're just super.
p.s. for the record I am not entirely closed to The Decemberists' new album. Before I get any nasty messages or comments I want to say that I hope it grows on me as much as anyone else, but so far it's not looking too good.
I'm going to sacrifice some indie cred here and admit that my first exposure to Badly Drawn Boy was the About A Boy soundtrack. But it was love at first sight I assure you. This song is actually one of my favorites from him.
Chandi was visiting Charleston when I first bought that soundtrack. It was actually the weekend that we started dating and we listened to it a lot. So there will always be that connection to any of his recordings. Also, and this is another point that sets him high on my list of favorites is that any of his music is always going to remind me of my wedding. I think we did ourselves a great favor by taking the time to sit down and put together the music ourselves. For two people who love music so much and in some ways came together over that common love, it only seemed natural. As a result everything that played at the wedding was something that had some meaning for us and now that meaning has been greatly increased because of its involvement in the ceremony or the reception. Magic in the Air was the Badly Drawn Boy song that we used in the reception but all of his songs have gained a new distinction for me.
I have to go to school now so this is going to be it for today. Plus I'm really tired and having reread the above paragraph and considering the amount of typos and nonsensical ramblings I had to fix it's probably best if we pick up again tomorrow. Same place same time.
"Hello image, sing me a line from your favorite song..." oh my.
I have been sitting here for about five minutes thinking about how to start today's entry. What can I possibly say about The Cure that a fan hasn't already heard, thought or felt? I have so many memories involving various Cure songs spanning through my short life and I think that's because they have meant so much tome and so many people I have known. I remember talking to Chandi a few weeks and making some kind of asinine comparison between The Cure and The Kinks or The Rolling Stones or someone like that. What I meant was that The Cure is a band that I share a love for with so many generations of people. It's likely that my favorite Cure record (Head on the Door if you were wondering) is in the collections of as many 14 year olds as 40 year olds. In that sense my comparison will continue to hold water. Now I'm not saying that The Cure is as popular or oven comparable to The Beatles, I'm just saying that, like The Beatles, The Cure will continue to find a new group of fans with every generation of listeners. Their music has a timeless quality, what Robert Smith is singing about will always be relevant to any number of people. Just listen to M and tell me that it doesn..t do something to you. It makes me feel sad in a reflective kind of way. That's what good music, or any other form of art for that matter, should be able to do.
I have to say that I much prefer these earlier recording to the newer ones. I'll take Boy's Don't Cry over Friday I'm in Love any day. Not that the later songs aren't really great, but have you actually listened to Seventeen Seconds? My god, what a record that is.
I am going to sign off here. This is another song (and band) that I could go on forever about. There are so many memories tied to this band. Their music played at my wedding, just as it played at parties and in smoky apartments and bedrooms growing up. It has spanned so much of my life with me that it almost seems trite and insincere to say I love them or try to put that into words. You know?
I have something to say and I have a feeling that it's not going to be very popular.
I really don't like Broken Social Scene.
When I first heard them I thought they were ok so I bought You Forgot it in People and it lived up to my initial impression of them; they were OK. I was happy with that for a few years but lately I have heard so much hype about them that I've really just been scared away. I don't get it and I certainly wouldn't have pegged them as a band very likely to become as popular as they have. Nevertheless, the gravitational pull of Planet Social Scene has loomed large over the indie community lately. They have created something of an empire it seems
Hmm. This is ironic, but I really like Canada vs. America. That doesn't change the fact that I think they are pretty overrated. The song is from an ep that came along with the self-titled album from last year, which I thought all in all was not so good. I hope no one is too offended by this but I'm sure we'll be able to put this behind us. We'll all laugh about this some day, just you wait.
One of my absolute favorite songs ever by one of my absolute favorite bands ever. Hands down. This album has been present at almost every turn in my life since I was 16 years old. I remember when it came out and Chris Ginn made me a tape of it (remember those?) and there was nothing else in my car for months other that this album. This was on album among only a few that quite literally changed my life. For those of you who are rolling your eyes at that, maybe I can rephrase it to sound a touch less dramatic. When almost everything that means anything to you involves music and an album comes out that changes the way you look at, approach or think about music wouldn't that be considered life changing? When this came out I was in a ska band, I mean c'mon. I heard this album and my life took a distinct turn away from Less Than Jake and towards more bands like The Get Up Kids (the temptation to use the "E" word was overwhelming right there, could you feel it?) I found my self down at 52.5 selling my Link 80 and Voodoo Glow Skulls records to get the new Mineral and Braid records. The point is that Four Minute Mile (and Woodson actually) took my life in the direction that has brought me where I am today. It was the introduction to the music that I still love today and it brought me together with many of the people that I love today. I can scarcely think of one person that means a lot to me that I can't relate to this album, whether it's driving around all night listening to it or sitting in a corner at a party going on and on about how amazing it is. Like I said it's always been there, it's just such a part of me.
I could go on forever about this album. Though I think that the people that have shared what I've been talking about with me already know who you are, and the ones that didn't get there with me very likely have stories about this record of your own. Also I realize that the more I talk about this record the more likely I am to drag all of you behind this illogical train of thought for far too long so I had better stop while I'm ahead. Unless, of course, it's already too late.
p.s. For the record, the picture that comes up below from Amazon for the "currently listening" thing is a bunch of nonsense. Some of you know what I'm talking about and some of you may need a refresher. What I mean is back when I bought this album it looked like this
This song is a mess but I really like it. There's a really pretty song hiding under a lot of noise on this track and if you look hard enough you'll find a really great tune. I don't have much to offer in the way of reminiscence for this one seeing as how I really just found this record about 2 months ago. Plus I have a splitting headache. I'm going to have to cut it short today.
Oh, I really do love this record though, I hope it doesn't seem that I don't care.
Ridiculous band to say the least. If you haven't heard them, well, it would be in your interest to do so. It wouldn't hurt if you spoke Japanese either. It may interest and surprise you to find that I don't speak it but what can you do. That brings an interesting question to mind though All of the lyrics are in Japanese but the way Hisashi sings it doesn't seem to lose any of the meaning, whatever it is, more accurately though the feeling is there and that makes up for the language barrier. The question is, if this is true, does it really matter what a singer has to say or is it all in the delivery. Does anyone care what a painter paints or is it how passionately he supports his work? I'm not saying that I agree but it's strange to think about. I think the same thing can easily be applied to a lot of metal, music that often brings the complaint from people that you can't understand the singer, they're just screaming. Well does it matter? He's obviously got your attention, and if he's pissed, or hurt or whatever you get it right? Again I'm really just playing devil's advocate here, but think about it. Where I meant to go with this was to say that I enjoy Eastern Youth as much or more than a lot of bands that I actually share a language with.
I remember when Zach came to visit me for the first time in DC; he was visiting his sister in New York and stopped here for a while on the way there and on the way back. While he was here Cursive was playing at the Black Cat and we went. Eastern Youth was opening for them and they absolutely floored me. I mean, I had heard them before, Ryan Hendrick and I had found some of their stuff when I lived in Charleston and we both liked it but kind of thought it was something of a novelty. We joked that they were just the Japanese Jawbreaker (they do have a similar sound). But when I saw them everything I thought about them was gone in an instant. I can't imagine playing every night in front of huge audiences that can't understand a word you say, an audience that you can only relate to with your instruments. They were awesome and the only English they knew seemed to be "Thank You" and "Cursive". Mostly though when I think about them I think about Zach being here, those where good times. I was still really new to the city and we got to kind of explore together and, you know, drink a lot.
Writing this thing everyday has really started to make me miss all of Charleston friends I think. Most of the music that I really love and that makes me happy can be easily related to someone in that city. Someone come see me soon.
So, 365 - Step Blues is Eastern Youth's newest record and I can't find a single complaint about it, I recommend it whole-heartedly to everyone last one of you. Good night.
And it goes on and on. When the other shoe drops it's going to be devastating.
This is a really interesting song. It's not the version of Beautiful World that you're probably thinking of. It's actually an elevator version of the song. See, when it looked like there may be an interest in turning some of their songs into muzak friendly tunes Devo beat everyone to the punch by recording this collection of their hits elevator style. It was probably appalling to them to think that their music could exist in this capacity so I guess they figured if it had to be done at least they would do it right. I think it's also really making fun of the whole idea of elevator music too, especially when it's songs from a band as unlikely to recieve the honor as Devo. I owe my entire Devo obsession to Cassie by the way. I had never really given them much thought but when I moved to Washington and started working at Moto Cassie would play them all the time (along with Dolly and Journey and nothing else for weeks on end). I really started to get into them and she brought me a copy of this CD. Its really pure novelty but it's fun nonetheless. Thanks Cassie.
Will this never end? Good song, good song.
I really only recently found Herman Dune but it has been a whirlwind affair I tell you. Chad and Sarah kept mentioning to me that I should check it out and once I finally did I was very happy indeed. This track is nice, I really like the whole EP actually. The song has a good lo-fi four-track feel and I like that. There is one point in the song that you can even hear a siren in the background, hmm. I just read online that Herman Dune "endures countless comparisons to Belle and Sebastian". Bwawk? I would have never come to that on my own. Whatever. There may be a handful of similarities between them but the same could be said about a hundred other bands too. Just check them out for yourself if you're looking for some new, good music. I don't think you could be disappointed.
Sweet Christ, I'm really beginning to worry that people are going to think I'm cheating here. I assure you there's lots of bad shit in my iTunes but so far everything has been exceptional.
This song, well, where do I begin here? Those of me who know me well know that I have been prone to drunken fits of yelling about Braid. They are one of those bands that are just so special to me I hardly see much use in talking about it really, because there just aren't words for how much this band impacted me. Though I will mention that I remember the exact moment that I heard them for the first time. It was shortly after Frame and Canvas came out, I got the record at 52.5 (what..s up Charleston?) and listened to it for the first time in my little bedroom of the house I shared with friends on James Island. I was absolutely floored, from the chaotic beginning of "New Nathan Detroits" to the soft ending of "I Keep a Diary", and at the risk of sounding trite my life really hasn..t been the same since. This band invaded every part of my life and changed everything for the better and all of the members are continuing to in other incarnations.
This song does a lot to stand out from the rest of the record, which is no small feat considering how amazing this album is. I can't be too specific about memories involving this song though because it's been constantly playing for the past 7 years. I do remember when I got the Movie Music compilation after Braid broke up (and what a dark day that was) and discovering the remix of this song there. I was living with John and Ryan and Matt was there when I first got it and we were listening to it together. When it came on we just kind of stared at each other in disbelief for the entire time it was playing. We were both amazed, if you haven..t heard it your missing out.
So I could probably go on all night about this song and this album and this band but I won't. you have been spared. I suspect that people who know me already know what I have to say about these guys. Good night
Hot Damn! The streak continues.
The one thing that comes to mind when I think of this song is driving back to Charleston from DC in Sarah Tennyson's van. John, Ryan and Sarah were sleeping in the back, Matt was driving and I was keeping him company in the passenger seat. We were listening to this record for most of the trip back, it had just come out the week before and we couldn't get enough of it. I didn't live in DC at the time but we had gone up to visit Chandi and see Hey Mercedes with Jimmy Eat World at the 9:30 club. It was an amazing weekend to say the least, it was my first time in DC, not to mention my first time away from Charleston in a really long time if I remember correctly, and I fell in love with the city immediately. This album helped to round out the trip and make the drive back really nice. This song, though it is repetitive and instrumental with one guitar playing harmonics and what sounds like a keyboard adding some pretty little bells, really says something about The Appleseed cast I think. They can take the smallest thing and make it so perfectly pretty, the song really isn't a song at all, it's more like a captured moment. I mean that it sounds like time passing slowly, like an accompaniment to a beautiful moment rather than just another track on an album. If you have the album pull it out and listen to just this track by itself, hopefully you'll see what I mean, or maybe you'll just think I'm retarded. I think that's why this song stands out from the rest of the album as being especially memorable in relation to that weekend. When this track came on the van was so quiet and the sound filled the space so perfectly, I remember it being really calming and I was staring out of the window, lost in the music, thinking about the moment and what the people in that van meant to me, especially right at that exact moment. That sounds kind of creepy I think, but I hope you know what I mean.
I have to say that so far I've been really lucky with this project... No embarrassing tunes yet, but I'm sure they're coming... What's more surprising is that all of the songs that have popped up have been pretty meaningful to me so this has been rather easy so far... This song definitely brings up more than a few memories... I remember when Chandi and I first started dating she would drive from Knoxville to Charleston pretty regularly to visit... We started dating in June of 2002 and one of the first times she came to visit she stormed through the door with this Bright Eyes EP in hand saying that there was a song I had to here before we did anything else... It was "Messenger Bird's Song" and it is still one of the sweetest songs I think I have ever heard... After Chandi left I promptly bought my own copy of the CD and listened to it, and hardly anything else for quite a while afterward... Even though there are only 4 songs on the disc Loose Leaves stood out as a really amazing song, not just on this record but within the entire Bright Eyes catalog... The EP though will always remind me of when Chandi and I first started dating because naturally we were both pretty passionate about music and liked a lot of the same things, which was surely part of our attraction to each other... This was the first record I saw Chandi get really excited about and that has stuck with me over the years and always will for that matter.
Funny that this song popped up today. When this album came out I thought this was the only descent song on the whole thing. I've since come to terms with this record and like it quite a bit but this track is still my favorite. Funny also because yesterday hearing "Yearling" made me think of the townhouse I had in West Ashley with John and Ryan. This song definitely has a similar effect. I'm beginning to wonder how many songs are going to conjure memories of that place. I bought "Look Now, Look Again" when I lived there, it was the first Rainer Maria record I ever heard. I bought I partly because I liked the cover, partly because it was on Polyvinyl (there's something to be said for label loyalty), and partly because someone had recommended it to me. It was the winter of 2001, December actually. I remember so vividly lying on the floor of the living room listening to that record over and over again. John and Ryan had already moved out and I was still there for about a month before my new place opened up, which is why I was on the floor. All of the furniture belonged to them. I also remember, so well, riding in Matt Young's car to the Piggly Wiggly about a mile from our place to buy several bottles of wine on one of those freezing nights and yelling at him over that album, "Do you hear this! Holy Shit!"
There was something really amazing about that winter, I've never been able to put my finger on it but I know that it was a combination of the people that were always around and the things we shared during those long, late nights on the porch and the music that roared out of the speakers all of that year really. Now I think that part of the wonder of that period in my life was that all of the people I was spending time with were as obsessed with music as I was and when we found a new record that really moved us we all shared it so intensely that our memories of each other were burned right into the lines of those songs forever.. now I hear certain songs and can't help but think about certain people, I can't imagine the song out of the context of my relationship with them actually, and I wouldn't give that up for anything. "Look Now, look Again" was one of those records.
I just realized that I haven't actually been talking about the song for today or even the album it was from for that matter, but I assure you this is going somewhere. I think it's important to tell you how much of an effect this band had on me when I first heard them so that I can now tell you how disappointed I was with this album. I was pretty upset when I first heard "Long Knives Drawn" but I think I may have put them on so much of a platform in my mind that I doomed them to let me down with anything they ever did because it wouldn't live up to my affection for "Look Now, Look Again", "Past Worn Searching" or "A Better Version of Me". Though after listening to this album over a few months, when it came out, I realized that I really did like it very much, this only grew after seeing them play a lot of these songs live. As far as this song in particular is concerned I really do think it's the best on the record. I've listened to it about five times while writing this and have hardly been able to stop myself from bouncing around in my chair and beating out the rhythm on the desk. It's one rockin' tune.
Sorry this one was so long and rambling, its been that kind of day.
My goodness, where to begin. I was just talking to Ryan Hendrick about this album the other day. This song, more than a lot of other Jump Little Children songs, holds a special place for me. Mainly because this song played at my wedding. Chandi and I spent several evenings hand picking all of the music that would be played at our reception and this was one of the first songs to go on the list. The song reminds me of so many other things too... sitting in the living room of the townhouse I occupied with John Judson and the aforementioned Ryan H when this album came out, listening to it over and over again one night with John, Ryan, Sarah Tennyson and Justin Taylor, getting a little more drunk with each listen and a little more enthralled with what these guys where able to accomplish with this record. It reminds me of packing into the Music Farm on the last Saturday of every month for the better part of two years in the late nineties to see Jump Little Children play. But again, it reminds me, and always will, of my wedding day. Interestingly, the fact that this beautiful song was such an important part of our wedding coupled with the fact that about half a year before we were married on the stage of the Dock Street Theatre Jump Little Children recorded a live album there, on the same stage, makes it even more special. In fact, they played on that stage every Christmas for 8 years, these shows quickly became much anticipated events for their fans. It is a gorgeous song, like a lot of their songs are, but this one is just so sweet, so innocent, it finds a special place aside from all of their other songs, for me anyway.
1. In the Red - Kind Of Like Spitting
2. In Formal Introduction - The City On Film
3. Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness - Coheed and Cambria
4. S/T - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
5. Apologies To the Queen Mary - Wolf Parade
6. Juturna - Circa Survive
7. Woman King - Iron and Wine
8. Separation Sunday - The Hold Steady
9. The Sunset Tree - The Mountain Goats
10. Picaresque - The Decemberists
So there you have it, I hope this does not spark any conflict. Good Day
- I feel like I should add two very honorable mentions. It pained me not to include these two albums:
Songs for Silverman - Ben Folds
Plans - Death Cab For Cutie
Now I'm finished... Thank you for your time.
2006 was a less than impressive year for music so putting this list together was no small task. But I think these are very fine records nonetheless. I do hope that people get mad enough to post their own amendments and retaliations or possibly lists of their own. So, in no particular order:
1. World Waits - Jeremy Enigk
2. Eventually, All At Once - Joan of Arc
3. Brother, Sister - mewithoutYou
4. Happy Hollow - Cursive
5. Every Red Heart Shines Toward The Red Sun - Red Sparowes
6. Little Lost Blues - Bonnie Prince Billy
7. The Life Pursuit - Belle and Sebastian
8. Beneath Waves - Karl Blau
9. Your Living Room's All Over Me - Kind of Like Spitting/Lemuria
10. You Are There - Mono
And an extremely notable addition would be "At Home With Owen", but I got the record about 2 weeks ago and it didn't seem right to include it with so little time spent with it.
Let the complaining begin.
Here we go, in no particular order:
1. Trompe L'Oeil – Malajube
2. Autumn of the Seraphs – Pinback
3. Feast or Famine – Chuck Ragan
4. Hello, Avalanche – The Octopus Project
5. Colors – Between the Buried and Me
6. Emerald City – John Vanderslice
7. Every Scene Needs a Center – Tullycraft
8. Achievement – International Falls
9. The Flying Club Cup – Beirut
10. Skullgrid – Behold… The Arctopus
I very much wanted to include Vampire Weekend on this list, and they certainly would have been one of the first to make it if they had released something "official" during 2007. Despite the fact that you can find an incredible amount of their stuff online they aren't actually putting out an album until the 28th of this month. They did put out a 7", but I thought it would be a stretch to include it on this list. Speaking of 7"s, if I were to include them I would have had to give consideration to the new Coalesce 7". I can see how this could get out of hand.
So there you have it.
I kept a list of all of the movies I watched this year for reasons unknown to anyone, including me. I held myself to rather strict regulations for the included entries. I had to have watched the movie from start to finish; if I missed the first five minutes then it couldn't go on the list. Documentaries were included only if they were feature length. If I stopped watching a movie in the middle and finished the next day, the film had to be restarted in the same place and the entry date reflects the day I finished it. This is a written testament to how bored I can get at times. Enjoy.
001. Anchorman - 01/01/05
002. Dodgeball - 01/02/05
003. Super Size Me - 01/05/05
004. Focus - 01/09/05
005. Life Aquatic - 01/11/05
006. The Talented Mr. Ripley - 01/12/05
007. Shaun of the Dead - 01/12/05
008. Peter Pan (Disney) - 01/16/05
009. They Live - 01/17/05
010. Strange Brew - 01/18/05
011. The Emperor's Club - 01/21/05
012. Breakfast at Tiffany's - 01/22/05
013. Catalina Caper (MST3K) - 01/22/05
014. Freddy Got Fingered - 01/29/05
015. Ju-On - 01/30/05
016. The Village - 02/03/05
017. Hooper - 02/04/05
018. Night of the Living Dead - 02/04/05
019. Run, Ronnie, Run - 02/12/05
020. Timechasers (MST3K) - 02/12/05
021. Old School - 02/17/05
022. A Mighty Wind - 02/18/05
023. Series of Unfortunate Events - 02/20/05
024. Wild World of Batwoman (MST3K) - 02/21/05
025. Monty Python and the Holy Grail - 02/25/05
026. Castle in the Sky - 02/26/05
027. Grave of the Fireflies - 02/27/05
028. My Neighbor Totoro - 02/28/05
029. Porco Rosso - 03/01/05
030. Garden State - 03/07/05
031. Bambi - 03/09/05
032. The End - 03/11/05
033. Robots - 03/11/05
034. The Others - 03/13/05
035. Stroker Ace - 03/15/05
036. Cannonball Run - 03/15/05
037. The Incredibles - 03/19/05
038. Nausicaa - 03/24/05
039. Dawn of the Dead - 03/25/05
040. Pitch Black - 03/29/05
041. Day of the Dead - 04/01/05
042. Mother Night - 04/03/05
043. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle - 04/09/05
044. Best Little Whorehouse in Texas - 04/11/05
045. The Man Who Cried - 04/12/05
046. Welcome to the Dollhouse - 04/15/05
047. Palindromes - 04/15/05
048. Scotland. PA - 04/19/05
049. Miles Electric - 04/20/05
050. Semi-Tough - 04/22/05
051. The Forgotten - 04/24/05
052. Girl in Gold Boots (MST3K) - 04/29/05
053. The Big Lebowski - 04/30/05
054. Midnight Cowboy - 05/04/05
055. The Rundown - 05/04/05
056. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - 05/06/05
057. Waiting for Guffman - 05/06/05
058. Zoolander - 05/07/05
059. Shattered Glass - 05/10/05
060. Sideways - 05/11/05
061. Deconstructing Harry - 05/13/05
062. Mighty Aphrodite - 05/13/05
063. One Hour Photo - 05/18/05
064. This is Spinal Tap - 05/21/05
065. Star Wars: A New Hope - 05/29/05
066. Melinda and Melinda - 06/04/05
067. Carrie - 06/08/05
068. Spellbound - 06/11/05
069. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith - 06/12/05
070. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - 06/13/05
071. Whisper of the Heart - 06/13/05
072. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - 06/27/05
073. March of the Penguins - 07/05/05
074. Clay Pigeons - 07/12/05
075. American Pie - 07/12/05
076. American Pie 2 - 07/12/05
077. American Wedding - 07/12/05
078. Starsky and Hutch - 07/15/05
079. Dark Water - 07/15/05
080. Wedding Crashers - 07/15/05
081. Empire Records - 07/19/05
082. Road Trip - 07/19/05
083. Best in Show - 07/20/05
084. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - 07/22/05
085. I Heart Huckabees - 07/22/05
086. A Shark Tale - 07/31/05
087. Broken Flowers - 08/07/05
088. Kitchen Stories - 08/09/05
089. The 40-Year Old Virgin - 08/11/05
090. Anything Else - 08/12/05
091. The Cable Guy - 08/16/05
092. Three Kings - 08/19/05
093. Skeleton Key - 08/19/05
094. Best in Show - 08/23/05
095. The Edukators - 0823/05
096. Sideways - 09/05/05
097. American Splendor - 09/23/05
098. Bullets Over Broadway - 09/24/05
099. Identity - 10/06/05
100. The Amityville Horror (2005) - 10/07/05
101. Stewie Griffen: The Untold Story - 10/15/05
102. The Royal Tenenbaums - 10/16/05
103. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children - 10/25/05
104. Me and You and Everyone We Know - 10/29/05
105. Bewitched - 10/29/05
106. Dark Harvest - 10/30/05
107. Meet the Fockers - 11/05/05
108. Kicking and Screaming - 11/05/05
109. The Jacket - 11/09/05
110. The Squid and the Whale - 11/10/05
111. Bad Santa - 11/11/05
112. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - 11/19/05
113. Anchorman - 11/21/05
114. Anchorman - 11/22/05
115. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - 11/24/05
116. Creepshow - 11/24/05
117. The Big Empty - 11/25/05
118. Rounders - 12/01/05
119. Zoolander - 12/06/05
120. Boogie Nights - 12/09/05
121. Run, Ronnie, Run - 12/14/05
122. Elf - 12/15/05
123. Dodgeball - 12/16/05
124. Almost Heroes - 12/17/05
125. A Christmas Story - 12/19/05
126. Christmas Vacation - 12/21/05
127. The Exorcism of Emily Rose - 12/23/05
128. Madagascar - 12/26/05
129. Sin City - 12/29/05
130. Smokey and the Bandit - 12/31/05
Taylor Jenkins: Where were you born and when? Where did you grow up? What was you family environment like?
Robert Nanna: I was born on June 14, 1975 in Chicago, IL and we lived in the city for 13 years. When I was in 8th grade, my family moved to the suburb of Lombard. My real parents were actually high school kids and I was adopted by the Nannas before I was born. It's weird for me to say that because my family environment was so warm, loving, and natural, that it's hard to think of having any other parents than the ones I've had my whole life.
TJ: Where there any childhood experiences in particular that led you into playing music? Was there any one person that influenced you, family or otherwise?
RN: It's strange because not one person in my family is really that into music at all. You should hear my dad try and carry a tune! So I have no idea where it came from. There's a story my mom always tells about my first "words" and I'm not sure if it's true or not, but it's still kind of cool. She says the first thing she ever heard out of me was the Alphabet Song. She said I was singing it in my crib one day. Cute... If I can pinpoint any one person that maybe helped me appreciate great music, it was my best friend's parents. They had a jukebox in their basement packed with The Rolling Stones. They absolutely adored The Rolling Stones. And thus, so did I.
TJ: Describe your early education and personality. Are there any experiences that stand out as having lent something to your personal and/or emotional growth?
RN: I went to a Catholic grade school and a Catholic high school. I was a pretty shy kid and I guess I still am. I think I was uncomfortable with being the kid with the big mop of red hair. As for experiences, I remember very vividly being smitten with a certain girl in kindergarten and seriously going into shock when the teacher sat me across the table from her. Oddly enough, it was a table with the alphabet on it. And I was always constantly doodling in class, making songs and album covers and making Top 40's.
TJ: Was there any one thing or goal that pushed you when you were younger... as a musician and as a person?
RN: It was really just this intense drive to be engulfed in music 24/7. It's all I cared about. I really never had any dreams or aspirations to be anything else ever. And as for people encouraging me... well, back then there were none. Everyone thought it was just a hobby that would pass. Only I knew otherwise.
TJ: Descibe any higher education you may have had. Did you attend college? Where? Where you involved in any activities or clubs?
RN: I attended the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana and graduated with a degree in Communications / Advertising. You see, my parents made this deal with me where they would fully support anything I ever chose to do PROVIDED that i graduate. So that's what I did. I took the easiest classes and chose the easiest major, coasted through, graduated, and went on tour. Within 2 months of my first year there, Braid had started, so I really had no time for activities or clubs. Every now and then, I'd help set up a show...
TJ: Has there been any crisis in your life that propelled who you are today? How did you deal with this crisis?
RN: Nope. No crises. None that I can think of. Maybe I'm just good at repression.
TJ: What is your philosophy for life? How do you define yourself in regards to you surroundings?
RN: My philosophy I guess is to make other people happy. As for myself, I try not to get too bogged down with anything that takes away from the true essence and passion of what I'm doing. A great example is: not being involved in the business / money aspect of playing music. If I concentrate too much on making / losing money, then it will have a negative effect on my music production... not to mention my state of mind.
TJ: Descibe your work ethics as a performer
RN: They are pretty insane and some might say brutal. This year alone, I'll have been on tour almost 9 months... with Hey Mercedes, solo, and with Braid. And every minute of a tour that I'm not on stage, I'm taking steps to make sure that I can play the best I can. And that includes aspects such as diet, rest, and even talking too much. I also warm up and stretch out for an hour before shows.
TJ: Of your musical projects which do you think was the most satisfying? which did you take the most from?
RN: I really truly cannot pick one. I learn different things from every recording session or every project that i'm working on.
TJ: Any advice for a songwriter trying to get out there and get his/her music and ideas heard?
RN: Play shows. Play a lot of shows. Get better. Get feedback from people that you trust will be honest with you (your best friends). Anyone else's opinion you can take or leave. And then start recording. Put your stuff online... But yeah, first play shows. Get comfortable.
