forgotten cool jams

okay, so i guess this is slowly becoming a music blog. waps. just deal with it, y'all. i'll post fashion related stuff soon enough, i'm just having fun talking about music.

anyway- as i've mentioned before, i'm home for a week and a half on a little break before i go back to SCAD for fall quarter. I'm having the best time. Just got back from Burlington, VT which was so fun and also relaxing. A nice change or pace & scenery, which was needed.

But back to the point, erryone. Since i've been home, i left all of my mix cds that i've made recently back in Savannah. So I went through a box of old high school things which brought the LOLs for a lot of reasons (and also happy tears), but near that box was a pile of old mix CDs from 2004 up until this year. A lot of songs I forgot about were on there and i'm happy their back in my life. So, I bring you what I'd like to all "Jams That Are Cool That Have Been Left Behind But Are Now Found" list. OK!

I don't know why but I totally forgot about Oh No! Oh My! and how good and weirdy they are. Like, this song is actually really annoying but somehow it winds up being a really enjoyable song. Obviously it is lacking variety in the lyrics but it WORKS. It just works. I have no idea what this video means but I'm kind of into it. The entire album is really really good and I recommend it. I am going to re-listen to it a million times.


Who forgets about Outkast? Me, kind of. I mean..I think I thought about them more than usual this year since Big Boi is from Savannah and Outkast has a song about Savannah that rules, however I havent listened to this album in so long. Particularly, this song. This song? It's just so good. Andre 3000 is such a crazy talented gangle-fuck & big boi is too, except he's not a gangle-fuck (that, my friends, is what i like to call tall gangly men). Andre 3000 was apparently in Savannah two weeks ago in the fashion building at SCAD but I missed it. Anyway, this song rules. I'm sad I forgot about it. Time to dust off SpeakerBoxxx/The Love Below.
This is embarrassing but I found this song/this band out from LAGUNA BEACH. It was on an episode of the second season and I remember looking for it on the internet (awkward) and I used to watch Laguna Beach a lot (mortifying) and would look up the songs after each episode (sad person). Is it just me or did season 3 kind of rule? Maybe it didn't. Maybe I told too much.

I was kind of contemplating making a post dedicated solely to this song. It's kind of the best thing I've ever heard. It's a musical treat to the ear drums. It's one of those songs I often forget about for some GOD FORSAKEN reason, and when I remember that it exists, I want to put icicles into my eyes for neglecting it. The piano? The beat? The entire song? BYYYEEE.

You know you love them. You know you thought/think that The Con is fantastic. Stop denying it. I stopped denying my love for Tegan & Sara around the time i stopped denying my love for Death Cab For Cutie & Bright Eyes. THEY RULE AND I DON'T CARE IF YOU JUDGE ME FOR IT Y'ALL.

I totally forgot about this song, and also that Albert Hammond Jr. had a solo album. It is so good. I think that a fairy angel person must have dropped Hammond Jr. dust onto my hair this week because I re-discovered this song, and then in Burlington this weekend, the bar we were at played the entire album from start to finish. It's so good! Now, A.H.Jr. is no Fabrizio, certainly no Julian and absolutely no where close to being a Nick Valensi, but you know what? This album made me love him.

IFB Evolving Influence Conference!

looks like i will be attending this next week with brooke! this just made my already exciting trip back home even more exciting. what a perfect way to end my little visit up north. i cannot wait!

first up- seeing friends (last night & also tonight), family tomorrow, trip to vermont this weekend to visit my best friend abby, best coast concert in philly on tuesday, then hopefully spending some quality time with mom, then nyc for the conference then headed back to savannah the next night, with classes starting that monday.

i'm a busy (and happy) girl.

fall inspiration

hello september! we are one step closer to cozy fall weather & clothing. fall inspiration should be diane keaton during her golden years during the 1970's and 80's. Imperfect yet cool, smart, womanly and natural. I've mentioned before how much I love her, even now except for the trap she's recently fallen into career wise. That trap is the "kooky over 50 frazzled crazy lonely divorcee" role. Diane, enough! I forgive you though.

let's all have vintage New York style Ms. Keaton be our style icon this fall. toss out the short shorts, wear next-to-nothing make up, let your hair do what it feels like, layer it up & dispose of those boob shirts, call up your analyst and let's get neurotic!

fuck you, january jones

i have such a crush on jason sudeikis. i bet he even has a beer belly under all those plaid shirts & sweaters he wears. GodDAMN.

favorite album list: Eagles of Death Metal "Peace Love Death Metal"

This time last year, I was settling into my new apartment in Savannah and getting used to the city/being so far away from home. Not to mention, I had no car and lived on the outskirts of the 'historic district'/downtown area. It wasn't a walk in the park, it was hot all the time, and my bike was always getting stolen. Luckily, I was in walking distance from two SCAD buildings where my classes were, plus I could hop on the school bus to take it from place to place. It wound up working well, but traveling by bus, foot and bike naturally made my ipod my best friend.

Starting a new school year, I loaded my ipod up with bands that I've always wanted to give a listen but never did. One of those bands was Eagles of Death Metal. The name kind of gave me the feeling that they were going to be a scary, noisy & loud mess with members wearing Insane Clown Posse make up, all black tee shirts and chains around their bodies or something. Clearly, I was putting emphasis on the "Death Metal" idea, and clearly, I assumed wrong.

They exude this energetic, soulful southern rock feel which was perfect for getting acquainted with my new southern surroundings. I was ADDICTED to this album my first quarter at SCAD. From the first track to the last, it's just a masterpiece in my opinion. I'd listen to it while sitting on the bus, waiting for the bus, wandering around under the spanish moss, working on my drawing projects & my 2D projects, getting charcoal all over my floor and hands & nursing exact-o knife battle wounds. It was the soundtrack to my first fall in Savannah and my last fall as a twenty year old.

Every song makes me want to air-drum on my knees. You know what I mean. It turns you into "that person" that pretends they're a drummer or that they even know how to follow a beat, by simply banging on their knees or on any surface and maniacally tapping their feet. Eagles of Death Metal will do this to you. It will make you become that person. It's the perfect road trip music even though I've never taken a road trip listening to it. I just imagine it would be the best sounds to hear while driving with the windows down and friends in your passenger/back seats. It's also perfect beer drinking music. Maybe it's just perfect music..for...living. Just listen. To ALL of it. You won't be sorry. I promise.

favorite album list: Pixies - "Doolittle"

Here I am again, blogging about another favorite album. I'm in limbo right now waiting to head home tomorrow morning, whilst sitting around cloudy Savannah with basically nothing left to do. I've had it with my boyfriend for a little while (and by boyfriend, I mean Savannah. Not an actual person) and need a break. This little vacation is much needed. I'll be heading to NJ for almost two weeks, with a three day get-away to Burlington, VT in between. So since I have some spare time on my hands, I am here again bringing you another post about a favorite album.

The Pixies are just one of those bands that I can listen to constantly and always receive the same feelings over and over again when I hear them. They act like a time machine for me, bringing me back to different times in my life over the past five years. I started listening to the Pixies when I was a junior in high school which was one of the greatest years of my life. I'm not sure why, and I'm sure it wasn't as perfect as I remember it, but it's one of those years that remain golden in my head. Untouched and safe. After the age of 11, I have very few full years in my life that I can put in that category. I think that goes for everyone though since when you turn eleven or twelve, that's when shit starts to get real. You're not a little kid anymore with hearts and sparkles dancing around in your head 24/7. There is a switch that turns on, and that switch is called "Hello Person, Welcome to the Real World".

So, that's when the Pixies entered my life, along with most of the other bands I consider my favorites. It was a big music year for me, I suppose. It's when I discovered alternative bands from the late 80's, early 90's. I had always listened to bands like Brand New, Rilo Kiley, Bright Eyes, Le Tigre and Cursive mixed in with older stuff like Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley & Janis Joplin. I never gave the 90's a chance, so that summer is when my music taste started to really develop. This is when I started loving, what I like to call it, "Cool Uncle Music".

Everyone has or knows that Cool Uncle. He was awesome in the late 80's and early 90's. He never married because "he doesn't believe in monogamy" (but is far too neurotic to get a wife, anyway). He remains cool even into his 40's and 50's. Still kind of pretentious, has a hip foreign girlfriend who plays guitar and follows a vegan diet. He likes to talk about seeing Sonic Youth's early shows and swears he asked Kim Gordon out one time in Providence in 1987 or something. He smokes the same cigarettes & drinks the same beer as he did when he was 22. Most importantly though, he tells all his awkward nieces and nephews about bands like Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr., Superchunk and of course the Pixies. You know him, or you've heard of him. He's the Cool Uncle. If I have style icons, I could definitely have a music icon and my music icon is the Cool Uncle figure. He's more of an idea or a dream than an actual physical person. But you know he exists somewhere. Or everywhere.

While I never had that type of uncle, I always knew he was out there somewhere. People I knew had those uncles, and I learned from their taste. So that summer I was introduced to bands like Pavement, Dinosaur Jr., The Replacements, Superdrag, Radiohead, Nada Surf & the Pixies. I distinctly remember listening to the album Doolittle all the time and falling in love with each and every song. It was different than everything that I was listening to previously.

That summer was the first summer all my friends & i had our licenses so there was a lot of driving around and getting drunk in parking lots behind our school. I have a specific memory (i don't know why i'm stating it like it happened 20 years ago, it was only like 5 or 6 years ago) being in the parking lot behind my school with my friend in her car screaming the lyrics to "Monkey Gone to Heaven" while drinking Fuze fruit juice with vodka. I was totally inexperienced when it came to drinking and that was the first night I ever got wasted sick. It was embarrassing to say the least. I remember everything from that night though strangely, even the Free People dress I was wearing and every single person that was there with me. But like many nights, it was started by singing (more like screaming) and listening to the Pixies.

I'll always listen to Doolittle and it will remind me of those nights. It was before everything changed. Senior year was awful. I acted out, everyone acted out, we all fell apart. I fell apart. I lost something that I had constant in my life for most of high school and I was totally depressed. Blah, blah who cares, blah, blah. Everyone has that angsty & sad year from their youth and that was mine. I didn't know what to do with myself for many reasons. Looking back, I don't find that abnormal. That's just something that happens to everyone and sometimes you act out in a not perfect manner when you're too young to know the right thing to do. I finally know what to do with myself, but that too will change. Everything does. It's okay, though.

This summer I rediscovered the Pixies. They were always playing on shuffle on my itunes or on different mix CDs through the years but I never paid the same attention to them as when I was first falling in love with them until now. It's like a re-launched love affair. I'm hearing different things in their songs and appreciating them with more mature ears. I'm no longer screaming their lyrics while irresponsibly drinking in Red Bank, NJ but I'm enjoying them with a totally clear & nostalgic brain.

favorite album list: Nada Surf "High/Low"

questions like "whats your favorite color?" or "who is your favorite artist?", "who is your favorite designer?", "whats your favorite band?" "whats your favorite movie?" give me anxiety when I think about it. Favorites freak me out. I ask these questions all the time, we all do, but answering them is one big "Eeeeek!" in my brain for me. It's Sophie's Choice. What do I pick? I left something out! Wait, come back! I forgot I have two favorites! I changed my mind! Ah!

But recently I've decided that I need to have a couple favorites stored up in my brain for when the time strikes and I'll have to quickly answer one of these dreaded questions. I mean, it says a lot about you to someone that you've just met. At least that's how I view it when I ask these things to new people. Did you just say that your favorite band is Dave Matthews Band? Oh, you said you like "all genres" of music? Your favorite movie is Mr. Deeds? YIKES. See these basic questions are a big safety precaution. Do you really want to keep talking to someone that think Dane Cook is an entertainment genius? Of course not. Good thing you asked the "favorite comedian" question, huh!

Alright, so let's get to the point here. I came to the conclusion that I'll never have a favorite band. I'll always have like, 5 (or 6, maybe 7) favorites. I'll never have a favorite album. I'll have like, 5 (or maybe 6, maybe ..7? 8?) but definitely one of those favorites has to be Nada Surf's 1996 album "High/Low".

Though it's probably not number one or two on my list, it's good enough to call an all time favorite. I really enjoy listening to it from start to finish. That's rare. There is always that track or two, or three that you skip and curse the day it was even born. "Get this shit off!", as you skip to every other track but that one. I don't think I curse the day any of the tracks on High/Low were born. Get into it. Skip the bullshit they recorded recently, all over romantic comedies & The O.C (not exactly hating on The O.C though. Secretly obsessed with that show and the soundtracks)

I figure I will do a little feature on my favorite albums every now and then on here. Not that you care, but maybe you do. I just want to share. Sharing is nice. I think I'm a nice girl. Let's do this.

ps: speaking of music, i write a weekly post on Cool Material, suggesting two new albums & writing a short review. Every Wednesday it's usually up so check it out. I've been doing it for a couple of weeks now, check out past write ups: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.