Samurai Ninjas

This is shamelessly stolen from You Ain't No Picasso, but here's a doozy of a song:

Love Conquers All

No idea who the artist is. But it's obviously somebody who doesn't take themselves too seriously; that's golden in my book. I didn't think a song that actually referenced cliches, a song that filled the gaps in those cliches with ramblings about ninjas, could ever "do it" for me. I was wrong. For all those "emo-rockers", and "new-world proggers," here's a love song that can stand up and represent the indie denizens. Or, pardon me, the "new-world indie kids," since generalizations can only be taken the wrong way. But, to whoever made this song- keep rocking. You've got soul.

Wine, Women and Song

Wine, Women, And Song- Harvey Danger

Wow. I don't know what to say. These past two days, it seems like songs have popped out of the ground just for me. I started singing this song this morning when I got to work. I haven't listened to this song in at least three months. The lyrics came back to me, as if from a distance...and really hit me hard. This is another song that reminds me of Fall...but it's the feelings that pass through me as I listen that first convinced me this was a keeper. The band (it's not just one guy) clearly conveys the plaintive sense of loss that can only be associated with loneliness. Not much more needs to be said.

Some Kind of Wonderful

Galactic Heroes- Wonderful

Have you ever found yourself in one of those moods where you know that a problem you've been looking at could have multiple solutions? Somehow you know that you're the only one that realizes this; somehow you know everybody has plugged this as a single-answer problem. And you're just sitting there, split between hoping nobody else will see the look on your face and realize that something special's going on, and wanting to tell the whole world. Because all the sudden, you haven't just solved one problem...you've solved every problem. This song brings clarity to a confused mind. This is an indie song that hasn't lost its "indie-ness." It's danceable to; a foot-popping, finger-snapping ball of goodness....rolled into less than two minutes of play time. Galactic Heroes have something special here, and they know it. I've chosen; to withhold such a gem would negate every single thing I've worked for. Download, enjoy, and spread the love.

Updates....

Updates will be sparse while I'm doing summer theatre, unless I find a song that really applies to my day.

But, a life update to amuse the masses: work today was more boring than usual. During a particularly painful silent stretch of us painting walls, I realized something: RandomGirl hadn't called me in nearly a month! So with my eager co-workers beside me, I looked up her number and gave her a ring. My plan was to say something along the lines of "Hi, this still isn't Scott, but you haven't called in a while and I was wondering if you were ok," but her voicemail picked up. And she sounded old (er than I had originally placed her), so leaving a message was out of the question. I did find out her name was Judy from this experience.

And I'm nearly out of wood. And I broke a wedge that, according to the guy at the hardware store, should be indestructible. All I did was hit it....in anycase, once I'm out of logs, it'll be time to slap some plaid shirts on, sharpen my pickaxe, and begin cutting down anything that's dead. And speaking of that.....

I Lied

I like the summer....I really do. I love the way I can work up a sweat, get a tan, and stay in shape all at the same time. And that summer wind that Frank sung about so long ago is still a refreshing presence.

So, to make up for that, here's a really energetic song. Ska-fever (Shout out to Dan Hayden) for that heady, "don't care at all" summer feeling. Like all ska songs, it's short, but the rush I get from listening to this is comparable to riding a rollercoaster. Which also reminds me of summer. So enjoy it while you can. Yes, it's brutally hot right now, but already September is creeping up on us; judging by how long it took to get hot, I'd say we're in for a brutal winter. Act crazy and jump in pools now!

Feable Weiner- San Deem Us Ready

Is It Fall Yet?

Alright- let's face it, it's not summer itself that I dislike: it's the heat. This song makes me feel like Autumn is right around the corner. It's an inspiring, Elliott Smith-esque composition that reminds me of leaves falling. The guitar, piano, and assorted stringed instruments, along with the ethereal take on singing, make me want to break out a sweater and walk my dog. I feel the breeze when I listen to this song. It's a nice breeze, not too cool; an invigorating breeze that reminds me of better times and happier places. Summer break is great, but I can't wait for those cold fronts to start rolling in.

Earlimart- The Hidden Track

Baseball....

This post was going to be about how much I hate summer because it's already way too hot, but that will have to wait. The Yankees played the Red Sox today and, though I was unable to watch the game (Fortunately, as it turns out....), I thought this song would be appropriate.


Nieminen and Litmanen- Leo Jokela

So, hailing from Scandinavia, we have music that might be considered artistic. But here, in America, this organ-instrumental really reminds me of baseball. And to simply deem it an organ-instrumental is a farce. This song is just as complex as any piece of music produced by an orchestra. There are wayward chords telling a story within the liveliness that exists in this song; the same liveliness that really reminds me of myself as a kid, playing Little League baseball. Chew some bubble gum with this one.

Why Hello

Hello and welcome to Ex Loudspeakricus. A name change was in order here; a sort of maturing and growing up for the blog. I deliberated for a long time on this, as I often do, hence the lack of updates. But here we have a new beginning- my music blog will spread its wings. Whether it flies or not depends on whether everybody actually downloads the songs I recommend. Your feedback is the most important thing to me.

So, since we're beginning, let's pretend we've never heard of Self. (No more italics on band names! That's now for albums!) Let's pretend now, that we haven't heard of Billy Joel either. But that we like harmonies on songs. Layered harmonies even, with these amazing hooks. You'll forgive the repetitiveness immediatly, because you won't want this song to ever end.

Self- Uno Song (Billy Joel Mix)

Live 8

Still working on a few things, but here's something very special: Live8. This site allows you to download very nice videos of all the Live8 performers, from the Live8 concert held, what, a week ago (?) to try and influence politicians at the G8 summit. There's so many videos of so many great bands....they're relatively big, but the download time is worth it.

Also, nobody ever seems to be online when I need to talk with them. (Klaus, this means you!) I'm looking to consult a few people, opinion-wise, on a couple of my ideas. More to come later.

Update

Slight update- big things still in the work here, so pardon me for the lack of yummy downloadables, but let me say this: I just air-fiddled to Dave Matthews Band- "Ants Marching" and I couldn't be happier. Despite an exterior lack of....things....I feel complete.

On Fire

Man From Fiery Hill-Dull Guy

Man From Fiery Hill is a band that I discovered during Grease. What started out as a two-man college band has morphed into a very special quartet. Not only do these guys sing and play instruments...they write, direct, and produce their own indie films. Indeed, I can't wait for some pocket change so I can buy their movie, Almelund, which has been a long time in the making. Long story short, I really dug their music, but I never really got around to listening toall the songs that were available. One day, "Dull Guy" came up on the iPod's shuffle, and a new respect for this band was born. What I like about them is their flexibility- in "Dull Guy," there are nearly tangible parallels to Barenaked Ladies.....and yet their other songs are suitably diverse, calling to mind many different bands. From the very first time that bass guitar is strummed, to the last vocals fade away, the energy here is inspiring; the lyrics are cryptic and at times hilarious. Enjoy.

Back

Well. I didn't expect to be gone this long. But if getting home was hard enough, so was waiting two hours without internet and a dinner break to post. Basically- the pics will be up on the flickr later. As for right now, let me just say, camping was great. Seeing Timmy and Greg (again, the little brothers of wayfaring Chris, my musical benefactor) was great. Timmy brought me back an Indian silver necklace from India, which was really cool. I'm going to have a hard time topping that gift.

And getting away from it all had its perks. Not being called was not one of them, but ok. Two good friends of mine have died in the last two weeks- as they were gaming buddies, I can't say I knew a lot about them. But they were the finest, most respectful, coolest people I knew online, and their absence is something that is going to take a little getting used to....being offline for a few days gave me some time to get myself together.

Without a doubt, Guster- (Nothing But) Flowers was the hit of the trip. Thankfully, between Timmy and I, we had three live versions of it to choose from, so there was plenty of variety. As this is a song that Guster covers, rather than has written, it's funny that I like it so much, but if I've heard this song a thousand times, the only times I've really liked it were the times when I heard Guster playing it. I'm lucky to have seen these guys live: they started out as a trio from Massachusetts, gained a fourth while touring, and have four solid albums under their belt...with a fifth on the way in September! Do yourself a favor and give them a listen- you can download a ton of their live shows here and the quality is actually quite good.

I hope everybody had a great 4th, watched some quality fireworks and whatnot.

Shattered

Or Broken. You'll need iTunes to listen to this: Broken Social Scene- Capture the Flag. I picked this song, and this band, for a lot of reasons. I think the band name accurately describes what's happened to my group of friends. I won't name names, since that's....not nice.....but, while a lot of what has happened is good, there are now basic "incompatibilities" that prevent me from hanging out with everybody I'd like to hand out with (at the same time.) And the song choice is my ironic application to life. The entire Broken Social Scene album, You Forgot It In People is tremendously good.

Work update- took apart another xerox machine today. Except this one could not be sledehammered, so we (four other guys; Keith, Dan, Greg, and Timmy + me) had to dismantle the thing. It easily weighed over three hundred pounds when we first started, and, five hours later, with only the frame and wiring remaining in one piece, it still had about a hundred pounds on it. Good cheer for getting to sledgehammer the top photocopier piece (easily the heaviest part) once we finally managed to lift it into the dumpster. So that's my explanation for sounding like somebody left for dead on the phone.

Blog update- there may be some major editorial changes around here in the next few days. I'm thinking about picking up another blogger. Yeah. Big stuff. And I will be camping for the next four days in upstate New York, so there won't be any updates till Tuesday.