TVotR and Dirty Projectors

Two nights ago Maranda and I attended a TV on the Radio concert at the 9:30 club in DC. The opening group was Dirty Projectors. We had never heard of Dirty Projectors, but were quite impressed. They are an odd group, they were all dressed in very dated looking clothing (vintage?), had frumpy hair, and had very awkward dancing styles to say the least! They are touring their just released Bitte Orca album, which we found to be really amazing! With two female vocalists singing elaborate harmonies in sharp contrast to the guitar riffs and the powerful male lead singers voice. Based on our ears, this group has tremendous potential. See Bitte Orca review on Pitchfork (linked above) for a much better review than my meager attempt.

TV on the Radio performed their extremely successful 2008 album Dear Science. It was a smashing performance, with Nigerian born Adebimpe ripping up the stage with powerful and expressive vocals and equally expressive dancing. Guitarist and vocalist Kyp Malone has a crazy cool beard and hair and an equally expressive personality. In Dear Science he often soars into falsetto, which combined with Adibimpe's expressive whistling adds a lot of uniqueness to the TVotR sound. While I liked the album pretty well on the iPod, I LOVED IT in concert, the songs took on an entirely new life, making it a night to remember!

Free Music Sites

Here is a sweet list of a bunch of new sites that offer free music, check it out.

Help Save Pandora!

Pandora radio is in big trouble, and may be shut down if the RIAA has its way. Congress is considering legislation to protect internet radio, please act now to show your support for Pandora.

Jacob Miller

I have stumbled onto an amazing new artist, Jacob Miller. Be warned that if you search for his name on iTunes, etc, you will find a reggae singer with the same name.

His entire album is amazing, here is a great clip of his title song as show on BBC's planet earth. Check it out, and be sure to check out his other songs as well (can be heard on his Myspace page linked above).

Top Music Albums of the Year

Check out the following site for a review of the top music albums of the year. Some good stuff there, with a personal favorite Arcade Fire making the list. If you visit the blog page you can see the entire top 100 in multiple posts.

What was your favorite album of 2007? I would have to say that mine was the afore mentioned Arcade Fire's Neon Bible. An innovative and groundbreaking album, I find myself playing it on the iPod more than anything else.

Ain't No Reason

This song has touched my soul over the past week, it captures so much of what I have been going through and what I see in the world. I am very thankful to my dear friend Tara for sending Brett my way. The lyrics are below, they are powerful and poetic just by themselves. However, do check out the song on Brett's myspace page, it is amazing.

Ain't No Reason - By Brett Dennen

There aint no reason things are this way
Its how they always been and it intends to stay
I can't explain why we live this way, we do it everyday
Preachers on the podium speaking of saints
Prophets on the sidewalk begging for change
old ladies laughing from the fire escape cursing my name

I got a basket full of lemons and they all taste the same
A window and a pigeon with a broken wing
You can spend you whole life working for something,
Just to have it taken away

People walk around pushing back their debts
Wearing paychecks like necklaces and bracelets
Talking bout nothing, not thinking bout' death
Every little hearbeat, every little breath

People walk a tight rope
On a razors edge
Carrying their hurt and hatrid and weapons
It could be a bomb or a bullet or a pen
Or a thought or a word or a sentence

There Ain't no reason
Things are this way
It's how they've always been
and it intends to stay
I dont know why I say
The things that I say
But I say them anyway
But love will come set me free
Love will come set me free, I do believe
Love will come set me free, I know it will
Love will come set my free yes.

Prison walls still standing tall
Some things never change at all
Keep on building prisons, gonna fill them all
Keep building bombs, gonna drop them all
Working young fingers bare to the bone
Breaking your back make you sell your soul
Like a lung its filled with cold, sufficating slow

The wind blows wild and I am not moved
The politicians lie and I am not fooled
you don't need no reason or a three piece suit
To argue the truth
The air on my skin and the world under my toes
Labor is stiched into the fabric of my clothes
Chaos and comotion wherever I go
Love I try to follow

Love will come set me free
Love will come set me free, I do believe
Love will come set me free, I know it will
Love will come set my free yes.

There ain't no reason things are this way
Its how its always been and it intends to stay
I can't explain why we live this way,
We do it everyday.

Indigo Girls Concert

My twin sister Melissa recommended that I check out the Indigo Girls as part of my music quest. Over the past month I have enjoyed their music on my iPod and was excited to hear they were performing in Virginia this fall. Last night Maranda and I dropped Kieran off at some friends house and got out for a rare night on the town where our conversation is not interrupted by constant interaction with our wonderful, but busy little boy.

We watched the Indigo Girls in concert at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. It was our first time to visit Wolf Trap and we really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere in an outdoor setting.


The Indigo Girls are a folk music duo with punk rock and blue grass influences. They are very active politcally and particularly support environmental and gay rights issues. It was a wonderful experience to see them in person, they are amazing musicians and full of life and personality! It was also very good to be surrounded by lots of folks from the gay subculture, a reminder that I need to get out of the suburbs more often! The most poignant moment of the night for me was when they stopped singing and allowed the crowd to sing full voice. The entire place swelled with voices and the hair on my back tingled, it felt like church!

Here are the lyrics from Pendulum Swinger (Maranda's favorite so far), which is on their newest album. It is a powerful and pertinent message.

Indigo Girls - Pendulum Swinger Lyrics
I meet you for coffee
We get together periodically
I got a bad case I can't shake off of me
The fevered walking round wondering how it ought to be
You work in the system
You see possibilities and your glistening
Eyes show the hell you're gonna give 'em
When they back off the mic for once and give it to a woman

I dream like a mad one
Brutal fantasies I catch as catch can
I'm a psychic and a laywoman
I see love and I like to make it happen
What we get from your war walk
Ticker of the nation breaking down like a bad clock
I want the pendulum to swing again
So that all your mighty mandate was just spitting in the wind

It doesn't come by the bullwhip
It's not persuaded with your hands on your hips
Not the company of gunslingers
The epicenter love is the pendulum swinger
She is she is she is

It's fine about the old scroll Sanskrit
Gnostic gospels the da vinci code a smash hit
Aren't we dying just to read it and relate
Too hard just to go by a blind faith
But they left out the sisters
Praying to a father god so long I really missed her
The goddess of benevolence
You should listen to your mama if you have a lick of sense left

Pushed under by the main press, buried under a code of dress
Relegated by the Vatican
But you can't keep a spirit down that wants to get up again

If we're a drop in the bucket
With just enough science to keep from saying fuck it
Until the last drop of sun burns its sweet light
Plenty revolutions left until we get this thing right

My personal favorite is Closer to Fine, which has a message that resonates with my place in life right now. I will let the lyrics speak for themselves.

Closer To Fine

I'm trying to tell you something about my life
Maybe give me insight between black and white
The best thing you've ever done for me
Is to help me take my life less seriously, it's only life after all
Well darkness has a hunger that's insatiable
And lightness has a call that's hard to hear
I wrap my fear around me like a blanket
I sailed my ship of safety till I sank it, I'm crawling on your shore.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

I went to see the doctor of philosophy
With a poster of Rasputin and a beard down to his knee
He never did marry or see a B-grade movie
He graded my performance, he said he could see through me
I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind, got my paper
And I was free.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

I stopped by the bar at 3 a.m.
To seek solace in a bottle or possibly a friend
I woke up with a headache like my head against a board
Twice as cloudy as I'd been the night before
I went in seeking clarity.


I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

We go to the bible, we go through the workout
We read up on revival and we stand up for the lookout
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in a crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine

Karunesh

I am completely thrilled with new age world music artist Karunesh. Every song on his album Global Spirit is a thrilling experience. These are not songs to listen to, but rather experience! He blends international sounds, especially native and tribal sounds and instruments, with an electronica rythym (this is my uneducated take, so I may be wrong!). If you are into something a little different, with sounds that transport you across the world, check out this album. He has a number of other albums that I have not listened to, but they come highly reviewed, check them out on his web site, where you can also listen to clips from each album.

My favorite songs from this album are Native Rituals, Punjab, Kubula Ma, and Earthsong. If you liked Sting's "Desert Rose," be sure to check out Punjab, the haunting vocals are amazing. If you are interested, I recommend the entire album as there is not a single "filler" song, they are all amazing.

If you happen to listen to any of his music, or are already a fan, please post your responses here, would love to hear your perspective.

Tay Zonday revisted

This song is very good, I like it even better than Chocolate Rain. Check it out, the lyrics are powerful!

Imagine by A Perfect Circle

In my musical forays, I have started to come across some wonderful new musicians and songs. When I find an artist or song that I feel is truly exceptional, I will blog about it here so others can share in my findings (or clue me in to new ones!). Of course for some of you this is not "news," so bear with me as I fumble around in the world of music.

A song that has really piqued my interest is called Imagine by A Perfect Circle on their album eMOTIVe. It has a haunting composition, with lyrics that capture your attention as they explore the possibilities of living in a very different world from today. It strikes me as both a bit melancholic (which suites me just fine) with a thread of hope running through the song. As soon as I have the funds, I plan to download the entire album, lemme know if you have already heard this album and what you thought of it?

Here are the lyrics:

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isn't hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

Imagine all the people sharing all the world

You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

Imagine no possessions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.


And here is the song on Rhapsody. If you download their free player you can listen to the song for free (after 25 songs you have to start paying for the service).

eMOTIVe by A Perfect Circle

Update: See the comments section, this song is actually a cover of John Lennon, which probably explains why it was vaguely familiar! I will check out more of their stuff and see if they have some equally compelling original content.

I Need Music Recommendations

So this may come as a surprise to some of you, but I don't currently listen to a lot of music and have very little in the way of music preferences. Ever since I gave up on "pop" Christianity in high school, I have been adrift in regards to my music tastes. Primarily I just listen to whatever is on the radio, and it really doesn't matter what station (I know, I know, this is sacrilege!).

My therapist has prescribed that I learn what music I like and start listening to it regularly. Supposedly this will help me access my emotions (do I have to have them?). So I am on a quest to discover my music tastes.

What I know: I like meaningful lyrics, good instrumental or vocals, and in light of my therapists directive, something that has emotive elements (not that every song has to make you cry or anything). Spiritual is okay if it is VERY subtle. Your task is to give me suggestions that I can investigate via my new i-Tunes account. I am open to trying pretty much anything, although I may decide it is not for me.

Thanks in advance for your help.