these songs are by the ditty bops.
so, there’s this really great radio station down here called KEXP that plays the best music of all time. indie 103.1 in l.a. has nothing on KEXP. sorry, california. well a few weeks ago i was tuned in and heard this really catchy tune. now, the beauty of kexp is that they archive every show for two weeks, so as long as you remember when you heard the song, you can go to their website and plug in the time that you heard the song and it will play the show. pretty cool, huh? well, it was this very method that i employed to discover this great new band, the ditty bops. the ditty bops are a total throw back to the roaring 30’s when flappers ruled the day and prohibition was in full swing. this band has harmony down to a science. so pour yourself some moonshine, and dive into the melody.
Read more…
music of the week
these songs are by weezer.
okay, so i don’t think i was the only one worried that the new weezer album “make believe” was going to be a total stink fest. after the last two fiascos that were the green album and maladroit, i think there was good cause for concern. well, i bought “make believe” and was, at first, mildly happy with the results. but only mildly. then, after repeated listens, i became very pleased with pretty much all of the songs on the album. one exception being the “hit single” beverly hills. it’s an okay song but nothing special in my opinion. the rest of the songs on the disc are prime weezer. my one complaint would be that the witty lyrics that i’ve come to enjoy seem to be dumbed down a bit. but, the hooks are there and that’s really what weezer is all about.
Read more…
music of the week
this song is by arco.
i guess since finding out that we’ll be having a boy, the whole baby thing feels a lot more real now. it made me think of this song. arco is a really great band. they’re very mellow, not too intrusive, just plain good. just listen to thing song and you’ll know just what i mean.
[audio:Arco-Babies’Eyes.mp3]
music of the week
these songs are by the autumns.
if you’ve listened to some of the songs in the heller family tunes section, you may recognize this first song, the end. it is the opening track from the autumns’ newest self-titled album. jana and i both really liked this song so we decided to record our own version. if you’ve never listened to the autumns, you should. they’re reeeaaallly good. jana’s band, the arrogants, used to play with the autumns quite a bit down in california and they all became good friends. anyway, get their newest album. and while you’re at it, if you can find a copy of their first full length, the angel pool, do yourself a huge favor and pick it up. it’s amazing.
Read more…
music of the week
this song is by the shins.
you’ve probably heard the song a million times by now. but maybe (hopefully) some of you haven’t. in the movie, garden state, andrew asks sam what she is listening to in her headphones and she tells him it’s the shins. “this song will change your life”, she tells him. while i’ve listened to the song dozens of times and the life change that she spoke of has yet to occur, i have to admire her zealousness. i myself have been accused on more than one occasion of being just as over the top. i can’t count the number of times that i’ve been in the thralls of an amazing song and have been convinced that it, being the best song in the world, had the absolute power to change the listeners life.
Read more…
music of the week
this song is by jud jud.
from a jud jud website: “Started in late 1986 JUD JUD has been one of the most influential parts of the ‘Straight Edge’ movement. At a time where people were trying to preach purity in the scene but being totally hypocritical and not aware of their abuse of playing instruments. JUD JUD managed to strip everything away and find the purist of centers. Using only there mouths JUD JUD leave you standing drop jawed with the speed and insensity of a train. ”
Read more…
music of the week
this song is by imogen heap.
those of you who saw the season finale of the o.c. may recognize this song. it was actually featured 3 times during that episode, most notably during the closing scene where marissa shoots ryans brother tre.
for those of you that didn’t see the show: our hero, ryan, is getting beat half to death by his very own brother, tre. ryan’s on again/off again girlfriend marissa walks in and trys to stop tre. just as tre grabs a telephone and is about to pummel ryan with it, marissa finds a gun and shoots tre in the back. the moment that the shot is fired and the tumult kicks into overdrive, the sound cuts out and this very moving song kicks in (you can re-create it by starting the song at 2:51) and lends a very interesting vibe to the action. it was, in my opinion, one of the most amazing finales of all time. anyway, check the song out.
imogen heap is from the band frou frou whom you may recognize from the garden state (a killer movie) soundtrack.
[audio:ImogenHeap-HideandSeek.mp3]
music of the week
