Love Your Life

I have a lot of mixes. So I thought I would introduce you to another one. Most of the ones that I have now have been made in the past 3 years, with a HUGE explosion in 2009. This one is my feel good mix. Most of the songs are really laid back, or just make me happy for one reason or another. :) I called it Love Your Life (except I drew a little heart instead of write "love."
1. Maroon 5 - "Sunday Morning"

This song reminds me of a gorgeous, sunny day that's not too hot, not too cold. Dunno why, but it puts me in a really good place.

2. Silverchair - "Straight Lines"

If you've only heard the Silverchair was so popular in the mid-90s, this is going to sound very different. This is from their 2007 album Young Modern.

3. Muse - "Feeling Good"

My favorite cover of this song.

4. No Doubt - "Hella Good"

Yeah, I have some songs that pop up on 2 or 3 mixes. This is one of them.

5. Alanis Morissette - U R

The guitar in this one is kinda...islandy...Official word, yes.

6. Panic at the Disco - "The only difference between martyrdom and suicide is press coverage"

Unlike the other songs, the lyrics in this one don't really contribute to the feel-good vibes I get from it. I think it's a combination of the beat, melody, and Brendon Urie's voice...

7. Modest Mouse - "Float On"

I didn't like this song when I first heard it. I think it only took a month of it playing on Fuse to fall in love with it.

8. Radiohead - "No Surprises"

Ok, so the song's about suicide. But it's happiest-sounding suicide song ever written!

9. The Killers - "Mr. Brightside"

A song about jealousy, but a HAPPY song about jealousy. I loved how the video was modeled from Moulin Rouge, too.

10. Silverchair - "Luv Your Life"

From their 4th album, Diorama. This song is soooooo relaxing.

11. Hoobastank - "Moving Forward"

Hoobastank's Every Man for Himself had some of the most positive lyrics ever.

12. Avril Lavigne - "Girlfriend"

HA! Completely shameless! This songs causes dancing to happen behind the wheel of my truck.

13. Smashing Pumpkins - "Today"

Yeah...so this song's also about suicide...but the music is just so damn happy...

14. All-American Rejects - "Gives You Hell"

Who doesn't feel good about a song wishing hell on someone who sucks?

15. Jimmy Eat World - "The Middle"

Best. Feel-good. Song. Ever.

16. Weezer - "Island in the Sun"

This song has by-far the cutest video ever. Weezer playing with baby animals. Yeah. THAT cute.

17. Dashboard Confessional - "Vindicated"

This song is a double whammy. It was playing on Fuse all the time during my favorite summer ever, and Dashboard Confessional was the first band I ever saw live. That night was awesome!

18. Paramore - "Hallelujah"

I love to sing along with Hayley Williams.

19. Black Eyed Peas - "Where Is the Love?"

Best beat ever. I think this album marked the end of the Black Eyed Peas making meaningful music.

20. Jet - "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?"

:D

And that's my happy album! :D This mix never fails to cheer me up.

For the vid today, I'm gonna advertise a new release. The Gorillaz hit with their 3rd album this week. Their new single's not doing so well so far, but I like it. It's a little different, but it still rubs me the right way.

Blast from the Past

I'm still hooked on Ordinary Riches by Company of Thieves. I've been listening to "Pressure" and "Old Letters" nonstop.

But enough about that. I just thought I would give you the track list to one of my mixes. I made several mixes throughout high school, but not many of them have actually survived the years. There was a mysterious goo incident that destroyed most of a stack of them...

But a mix I made the summer of 2003 still exists. This mix was mostly some old favorites of mine with a few new discoveries thrown in.

1. "Virtual Insanity" by Jamiroquai.

I didn't discover this song then, I just slapped in on a mix at that point. I still love that song. It had an awesome video, too.

2. "Killing Me Softly" by The Fugees

Still one of my favorite covers. The melody is mostly identical to Roberta Flack's original, but through in that R&B beat, and the song has a completely different sound.

3. "Hella Good" by No Doubt

I was fascinated by this song because it was so different from the third-wave ska sound of Tragic Kingdom.

4. "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy

This song is too funny. Though lately, it's lost a little bit of its humor...

5. "Last Resort" by Papa Roach

Good ole angry rock. Still like this song.

6. "Ghetto Supastar" by Pras ft. Mya and ODB

HA! I used to know all the words to this. Can't say that about many rap songs. Sadly, I seem to have forgotten most of them...

7. "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye

Who DOESN'T have this song on a mix somewhere?

8. "This Is the New Shit" by Marilyn Manson

I added this song on my sister's recommendation. I'm not really a Marilyn Manson fan, but this song is funny.

9. "Clint Eastwood" by Gorillaz

I didn't like this song at first, but it grew on me.

10. "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence

At the time that I made this mix, I had just discovered this song, and I thought it was the coolest freakin' thing in the world.

11. "I'm With You" by Avril Lavigne

Another song I had just discovered. I have to admit to having a thing for Avril Lavigne. I laugh at her interpretation of "punk," but secretly, I can sing along with her first two albums, front to back...

12. "Popular" by Nada Surf

If you haven't heard this song, go listen to it now. It's funny and pretty typical 90s action.

13. "Pepper" by Butthole Surfers

I hadn't heard this song in years, but I saw it on my sister's music library and I thought I would add it.

Well, that's it! Sadly, I didn't fill up the whole CD, but at the time, I couldn't really think of anything else that I wanted to put on there.

I still listen to this mix. It reminds me of that summer. It's a happy mix. :)

Some really random thoughts...

I've been buying a lot of albums lately. It's hard to keep up with. This is probably more of a dilemma to me than it is to most people. I don't think I quite think like the rest of the world. As I get ready to hop in my car, I flip through my CDs, and it takes me forever to figure out which one I want to take with me. That's not really a big deal, but what's weird is that I feel a little intimidated trying to make that little decision. Do I want to take a CD that I know really well and can sing along with? But if I do that, then I miss out on getting to know another album a little better. Or what about a mix? There's nothing like having no clue what song is gonna pop up next. But the majority of my mixes consist of released singles, and so many albums have real gems on them that were never released. Such a little decision, but there are so many things to consider...

There's almost always music playing in my apartment. But I don't really sit down and listen to whole albums here. I think part of that is not really having a stereo system. I know, right? What kind of music freak doesn't have a stereo? I'll tell you what kind: the broke kind. I do have a CD player here, but it's a little portable one that I keep in my bedroom so I can sleep to the radio. The music playing in my apartment is usually just random songs I look up on youtube or play from my Rhapsody library. And I like to throw on my headphones to help me get through the house-cleaning (when it actually happens).

Playing at this moment: Faith No More - "Epic"

I do most of my album listening in my truck. I'm the kind of person that will take the long route just to let a couple more songs play.

I wish I knew more song lyrics. I feel like I know a LOT of songs, but not really the lyrics. Maybe a lot of choruses. But really, I usually don't know the whole songs. Is it weird that I worry about that? I think so. Sometimes I wish I could download song lyrics into my head like in the Matrix or something.

I think I've taken you through quite the run of random thoughts. But I just had the urge to let you into my head a bit. These are things that I actually think about. A lot. So if you see me staring into space, I'm probably running through a song in my head, or plotting what album I want to try to get to know next.

As usual, I need to close out with a song. I just bought Ordinary Riches by Company of Thieves. I know I posted "Oscar Wilde" in a blog a few months ago, so I'll go with another song from that album. So far, I'm really liking this entire album.

New Additions

I mentioned in the last post that my stranded island scenario had gotten me hooked on something new, but I said I would save that for another day. So here it is: Daft Punk.

My album collection consists mostly of the various genres of rock, with a pop album thrown in here and there (come on, who doesn't love Lady Gaga?). Electronica is probably not represented anywhere in there. But when posed the 5 album question, a friend of mine's first response was Discovery by Daft Punk. We talked a little about his choices, and I started reading up on them on Wikipedia. Then I started doing a little listening on youtube. I don't know how I feel about their first and third albums, but Discovery is great. What I found even more interesting was the Daft Punk created an anime called Interstella 5555. It has no dialogue. It's just the album played front to back. And it fits really well. I think it's an amazing concept. If you're curious, I would check it out. Anyway, I've ordered Discovery from Amazon, so it should be in sometime this week.

I went to McKays today. For those of you who actually stumble into this and don't live in the area, it's a huge warehouse that has used books, CDs, DVDs, and video games. I went CD browing today and came away with 4 albums: The Presidents of the United States of America (self-titled), Frances the Mute by The Mars Volta, Asleep in the Back by Elbow, and For(N)ever by Hoobastank.

Both the Elbow and the Hoobastank album were on my CD wishlist, but the other two were impulse buys. They were cheap and available. Sometimes, that's all you need...

The song I'll leave you with today is one that keeps getting stuck in my head. Can't wait for the album to come in. Also, apparently they played it during the USA-Canada game on the Olympics. Sweet.

Johnny Castaway and his 5 Albums

So considering that I'm supposed to be waking up for work in less than 4 hours, I really should be sleeping. But instead, I'm up blogging. Makes sense, eh?

Sometimes I really wish I knew more "old" songs. Any kind of "old." I like The Clash and The Sex Pistols. I have Foreigner's Greatest Hits and a box set of Genesis. Hell, even the 90s are considered "old" these days, and I really don't think that's even represented all too well in my album collection. I try to think of it from this point of view: this past decade, I've probably been more musically conscious than any other. So it only stands to reason that I'll have more albums from this era. And some day, future generations will look back on this time and consider it "old." This thought makes me feel a little better about my present-day music fetish. But I still wish I liked more "old" music.

Let me fill you in on a little bit of the inner monologue that's been occuring lately. Actually, you could call it dialogue since I've been arguing with myself. It was not a one-sided conversation. About a week ago, I set up a scenario for myself. Suppose someone strands me on a deserted island. They're kind enough to leave me a portable CD player and a lifetime's supply of batteries. But they say that I can only take 5 albums with me onto the island, and in an act of true cruelty, they say I can't have 2 by any one artist. Which albums would I choose? I added that last rule after the argument.

Originally, I said, "That's easy," and spit out 3 Muse albums and 2 Silverchair. The argument ensued, and that's when I implemented the new rule.

It took me a week to come up with this. I probably put way too much thought into it. Of course, this list could change as I discover new albums or re-discover old ones, but here's what I came up with:

1. Muse - Absolution
2. Silverchair - Neon Ballroom
3. Weezer - Blue Album
4. Radiohead - OK Computer
5. Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill

I've been asking this question to a lot of people lately. I love hearing their answers, and checking their answers for myself. I've discovered one new group I wasn't previously into, and I think I'll make that my next post.

I'll leave you with a song, as usual. This one is from the aforementioned Silverchair album, but it's a more recent live show. It's my favorite version of this song by far.

Know what grinds my gears?

I have an endless array of opinions at my disposal when it comes to my music. I don't feel that I look at music with a critical eye. I think I look at it with an interested eye. What's the difference? A critic voices their opinions and actually thinks that they matter. They try to take something subjective and mold it into something objective. I really feel that this canNOT be done with music. We all have our own musical fingerprint. The songs we listen to give us a feeling that is ours and ours alone. Now, we can have some overlap with others, but you'll probably never find someone else whose tastes match yours exactly. I love this. I love finding out what floats someone else's boat. You should never be ashamed of the music you like. It gives you a feeling like no other, and no one can take that away from you.

The music critic on the other hand, pretends that there are laws that music must adhere to. They want everyone to reinvent the wheel. I mean, it's great to hear someone come along and put a new spin on an established genre. That's how music evolves as it should. But who says we're not allowed to like the bands that spin the sounds of their favorite style through their own filter?

That being said, let me tell you about one of my biggest pet peeves in music. This not only applies to the majority of critics out there, but to a lot of my fellow music snobs as well. Somewhere along the line, the notion was born that once a band became popular and achieved any degree of mainstream success, they ceased to be any good. I loathe this idea. I hate it when people parade around the names of unheard-of bands like a badge of honor. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad you like the bands that have yet to see any major exposure. Hell, I've got a few in my repertoire as well. But that does not make your taste in music any better than mine. It just makes it yours.

A thought comes to mind. I keep thinking of "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Some people say that's just something that ugly people say to make themselves feel better. I think some people liken what I'm saying about music here to that phrase. You know, that me saying "it doesn't matter what you like, just that you like it" is my way of trying to justify the popular music that I listen to. Maybe, but I don't think so. I don't think I really have anything to justify.

Anyway, that's just something I've been thinking about a lot lately. I thought I would share it. As always, I'm not entirely sure about how well I was able to take what's in my head and put it into words. But I think you get the gist. I'll leave you with a song. :) Until next time!

Just a little concert action...

Ok, so let's change the status of the blog from "daily" to "when I bloody well feel like it." Ha! Though I've gone a few months without posting certainly doesn't mean that my obsession has slowed down in any way.

To catch you up on all of my music news since the last post would be pointless, so let's skip straight to the present, shall we?

Caught a show last week. Headliner was Theory of a Deadman with Halestorm, Adelitas Way, and Taking Dawn opening. Now, for the rundown!

Taking Dawn was energetic, but really, just not my style of music. That definitely doesn't mean that they were painful to listen to. I liked them alright, I guess. I can't picture myself buying their album though.

Adelitas Way took the stage next. This was my third time seeing them, and I think it gets a little better for me every time. The first time I saw them, they were opening for 10 Years and had their debut album on the way, and I believe they hadn't even released their first single to rock radio yet. I liked them. Thought I'd look some into them a bit. Then their first single hit the local radio station, and I was able to see them again. Liked them even more. This third time sealed the deal though. Ordered their debut album, and it's on its way to my mailbox as we speak (or maybe it's there already...haven't checked today...). Check out their new single, "Last Stand!"



After AW, Halestorm rocked my world...yet again. It was my third time for them also. I think I've been in love with them since the first time I heard "I Get Off" on the radio. They could quite possibly be my favorite new band. Their whole album is amazing. Anyway, their shows are pretty similar, but somehow I don't get tired of it. They have a lot of energy on the stage, and Lzzy Hale's voice is JUST as amazing as it sounds on the album. If you get the chance to see them, I highly recommend taking it. They've also got a new single out. "It's Not You." Go give it a listen!

Ah, Theory of a Deadman. I liked them alright before. Only knew maybe 4 songs by them, and only really loved one of those. I had bought my ticket pretty much just to see Adelitas Way and Halestorm again. But I've always said that live is the best spice for music. Tyler Connoly's voice lacked a little something live, and I'm not sure if that's because he was having a rough night or because he's just not as good live. Either way, they still put on a great show despite that. Hearing their songs live and being introduced to the rest of their material shed a new light on them for me. I'll definitely be picking up their newest album, Scars and Souvenirs. They've released more singles than is usual off of that album, and they've got a new one out, too. "Little Smirk." Check it out!

Cage the Elephant is coming to town soon. I would love to go see them, especially since I missed them the last time they came through Knoxville. I really don't think my funds are gonna let me go though. I've got a trip to Atlanta coming up in April to go see A Day to Remember with some friends. Not a band that I know a lot about, but they were going, and it sounded like fun. Plus, I spent a small chunk on what could be the event of the year for me...

March 15th, 2010.

Nashville, TN.

Muse. In. Concert.

And I have a TICKET.