Tag Archive for 'Music'

speaking the truth (over and over again)

Published
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Jeff
on October 22, 2008
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so the new ryan adams album is out next week, but you can check out “cardinology” for free over here on iLike.

personally, i’m digging on “crossed out name” but your mileage my vary. here’s classic ryan adams courtesy of youtube. i think this is my favorite ryanadam’s performance and keeps me squeaking on my harmonica in attempts to duplicate his sound. so far, my harmonica skills are slightly better than FAIL but not quite up to being just “suck”.

in unrelated news, today i helped teach a 4hour lab to first-year med students. the topic was blood histology and it was exhausting. to compound the monotony of teaching blood histo was the fact that the class was divided into 2 sections which meant teaching it once and then repeating it 120mins later. this effect was also compounded by the fact that the class was broken up into 12 small groups per lab period.

by the end of the day, i felt like i had repeated myself 1000x and caught a glimpse of what it must be like to give a political stump speech and hit the same talking point ad nauseam. I guess the only difference was that everything I said was true…everytime I said it.

new conor oberst music

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Jeff
on July 19, 2008
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this track is called “danny calahan” and is off the forthcoming self-titled album by conor oberst.

good groovy stuff.

ya gotta spend some time with me

Published
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Jeff
on May 21, 2008
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damn the video for deathcab’s single “i will possess your heart” is awesome. let’s see…hot hipster chick walking around in slow motion CHECK…band playing in the freezing cold with wet instruments CHECK…3 minute long bass-line intro CHECK.

i liked it so much i bought the full-on-high-quality-version from iTunes for $2 and that rarely happens.

more from claremont

Published
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Jeff
on May 5, 2008
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so here are some photos that the pretty girl and i took at the aforementioned claremont music festival. keep in mind that these were taken with a humble canon powershot point and shoot camera. my dSLR was being put to better use at the time of the festival…more on that later.

Ben Harper :: Live in Claremont :: 5.3.08

Ben Harper :: Live in Claremont :: 5.3.08

we staked out sweet spots on the lawn a mere 100feet or so from the stage. behind us were these four lesbian chicks of varying levels of attractiveness. what they may have lacked in hottness, they made up for in their lack of inhibition. the pretty girl said that she was officially keeping track of how many times she caught me stealing glances of the four-way-all-girl makeout session going on behind us. when i asked her for my total at the end of the evening, she said she quit counting in an effort to save me the embarrassment.

lesbians FTW.

Ben Harper :: Live in Claremont :: 5.3.08

so after graciously standing in line for coffee, the pretty girl decided to bring us back this treat. unfortunately after knowing each other for nearly a decade, she forgot that peanuts represent an anaphylactic shock type experience for me. she made it up to me by immediately running back to the ever-increasing line and returning with peanut-free ice cream.

Ben Harper :: Live in Claremont :: 5.3.08

Ben Harper :: Live in Claremont :: 5.3.08

Ben Harper :: Live in Claremont :: 5.3.08

Ben Harper :: Live in Claremont :: 5.3.08

good times.

ben harper :: live in claremont

Published
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Jeff
on May 5, 2008
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Ben Harper :: Live in Claremont :: 5.3.08

so on saturday the pretty girl and i went to the claremont folk music festival in claremont, ca. as you may recall, brandon and i went last year and watched ben harper drop new music from the then unreleased “lifeline” album.

Ben Harper :: Live in Claremont :: 5.3.08

this year’s event was much more low-key and community oriented. the entire festival was held at sycamore elementary school (ben’s grade school alma mater). as the local artisans were packing up their tents and goods we claimed our place on the grade-school lawn with our trusty red & blue plaid blanket.

Ben Harper :: Live in Claremont :: 5.3.08

from about 100feet away we watched jackson browne, followed by ben harper and then taj mahal each rock incredible sets. benharper’s website has all the details, but here is the setlist which included a brand-new track (spanish red wine) for the new studio album.

Ben Harper :: Live in Claremont :: 5.3.08

1. Pleasure And Pain
2. Morning Yearning
3. I Shall Not Walk Alone
4. Black Rain
5. Gather ‘Round The Stone
6. There Will Be A Light
7. Suzie Blue
8. Spanish Red Wine
9. Tomorrow Is A Long Time

Ben Harper :: Live in Claremont :: 5.3.08

ben brought out different local musicians to accompany him throughout the set and even had his mom sing with him on “spanish red wine” and the dylan cover “tomorrow is a long time”

(all awesome looking photos were taken from benharper.net)

i heard you let somebody get their fingers into you

Published
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Jeff
on May 1, 2008
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ya know how you know if you’re cool or not? just ask yourself if you like panic at the disco. if you answer in the affirmative, then you’re gold.

also, if you use internet explorer it doesnt matter if you like panic b/c anything rad that i try to post on my blog seems to break IE. so apparently the coolness test consists of 2 things…

so lately, i’ve become addicted to micro-blogging the events of my life on twitter. i’ve realized that in doing so, i’ve literally constructed an outline for numerous daily blog posts. this is good news for you.

tomorrow stonebraker is flying into SoCal and i’m going to pick him up b/c that’s what good friends fucking do. he’s going to be busy with all of his top-secret-business so we might only have time for 1-15 drinks on friday afternoon. i told him that the best way to conduct his top-secret-business is to be drooling-drunk.

i’ve been listening to “pretty.odd.” on a non-stop basis and i even learned the chords to “we’re so starving” so that i could entertain buster with my guitar/vocal stylings. the louder i sing and the more i make the song about him the more he goes crazy. i’m not quite sure if he LOVES it or if it’s the equivalent to puppy water-boarding.

so today i was reading some random blog whose name escapes me and they mentioned “muskrat love” by captain & tenille. consequently, i’ve had that fuck song stuck in my head all day. also, when i was in 4th grade i had a huge crush on a girl named tenille but she was in love with the cool kid from school whose dad was a big shot doctor. last i heard that kid was all strung out on meth. so in addition to having a shitty song in my head, i’ve been feeling bad about turning out “better” than the cool kid in 4th grade.

the red album

Published
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Jeff
on April 22, 2008
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if you too are a white, somewhat nerdy kid who grew up in the 90s, then you’re probably a weezer fan.

this week, the band announced all the deets of their new album that’s due out on 6/24. while the last two weezer albums have left a lot to be desired, i’m really jazzed and cautiously optimistic about “the red album“.

you can listen to the first single ‘pork and beans‘ here…it’s a catchy, crunchy, tune cut from the tried-and-true weezer pattern.

redalbumyeehaw.jpg

the track i’m really looking forward to hearing on the new album is “pig” which has made the rounds as an acoustic demo for the past year or so. take a listen and enjoy \m/

Download Here

Nine in the Afternoon

Published
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Jeff
on April 8, 2008
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i hope you didnt miss Panic! at the Disco on SNL last weekend but if you did that really blows and i hope this track will make you feel better.


“Nine In the Afternoon” by Panic! at the Disco

head. note. hand.

Published
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Jeff
on April 2, 2008
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easily the best of the 2008 april fool’s day pranks was ben gibbard and his new band “just jazzin“.

best line: “head. note. hand…OUT”

i will possess your heart

Published
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Jeff
on March 26, 2008
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today my gift to you is new DCfC. this is “i will possess your heart” in all of it’s full-length-jam-glory.

stonebraker hates “show off” holidays

Published
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Jeff
on March 17, 2008
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so i was going to get in the St. Patrick’s Day spirit by playing some Irish folk-songs…but iTunes only has JustinTimberlake and teeny-bopper tunes to offer. somehow, my music library doesnt include any dropkick murphy’s OR flogging molly. this blows.

i do, however, have 3 search results for “danny boy”…one’s an instrumental version by clapton, one’s by johnny cash (not as cool as it sounds) and some track by rufus wainwright. again, this blows.

i had this conversation w/ stonebraker earlier today:

onelonelysuccess: are u wearing green?

stonebraker: no, I’m a brit

onelonelysuccess: oh…ok

stonebraker: I decided today that I don’t give a fuck about St. Patricks day

onelonelysuccess: really? but it’s a drinking holiday! if you like to drink then it’s your holiday too

stonebraker: yeah I know but I can drink everyday

onelonelysuccess: yeah but EVERYONE is drinking TODAY and that makes it special

stonebraker:I guess I’m a SPD scrooge

onelonelysuccess: yeah this reminds me of you on vday
onelonelysuccess: and halloween
onelonelysuccess: and new years
onelonelysuccess: and cinco de mayo
onelonelysuccess: and fourth of july
onelonelysuccess: so what holidays DO you like?

stonebraker: christmas

onelonelysuccess: yeah, baby jesus rawks

stonebraker: I don’t like show off holidays
stonebraker: like halloween

onelonelysuccess: that’s b/c you’re off-putting

stonebraker: people are all “but we can get together are party”
stonebraker: if you need a reason to party your life sucks IMO

onelonelysuccess: damn
onelonelysuccess: then my life sucks

ten minutes later, stonebraker was headed to the irish pub to celebrate…or so he says.

slick bass player moves

Published
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Jeff
on March 5, 2008
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collegehumor.com had a great article today about all the slick moves bass players make on stage.

“Bass players are the most underappreciated members of any rock band. Next to their more theatrical bandmates, the bass player is often mistaken for boring or stiff. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Bass players have many exciting moves all their own, like…

The ‘Whoa, Did You Just See Me Slide Up the Fretboard?’

collegehumor.dd5c469968a16be32bf3f2ed92cc684e.jpg

Almost from nowhere the bassist will go from playing a progression in the lower register to playing a similar one a few octaves higher, by way of a long slide up the fretboard. It’s this kind of charismatic move that makes bass players beloved princes of the stage. Man, you guys eat this sh*t up. I can see from the stage how you’re like ‘whaaaaaat!’ when I bust this out.”

in addition to this move, i’ve also been known to do the “slow turn away from the amp to crowd” move. the audience eats this up!

if it aint broke…

Published
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Jeff
on February 27, 2008
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i still enjoy listening to the strokes’ album “is this it?” b/c i like the track ‘hard to explain‘ and if you like one strokes’ song then you like EVERY strokes’ song…ya know…b/c they’re all the same.

good…but exactly the same.

bang bang shoot shoot

Published
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Jeff
on February 18, 2008
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even though i havent yet seen ‘across the universe’ (it’s somewhere in the netflix q), i can easily say that joe anderson’s version of “happiness is a warm gun” is the gem of an otherwise so-so soundtrack.

take a listen and tell me that this tune doesnt stand up nearly forty-years after it was written.

smokers outside the hospital doors

Published
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Jeff
on February 16, 2008
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last week i heard a track from the new “editors” album ‘an end has a start‘ called “smokers outside the hospital doors“.

the song immediately got stuck in my head and i thought i would pass along the recommendation of the band/album/single to those passing by…check it out!

enjoy.

ryan likes jessica

Published
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Jeff
on February 8, 2008
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i’ve always dug ryan adam’s because—like me—he’s a dramatic, emotional mess when it comes to women.

unlike me, ryan can write songs, play the guitar and get girls.

check out the latest courtesty of stereogum:

Word is Ryan and girlfriend Jessica Joffe, she who was credited as catalyst for Ry’s sobriety in that lengthy NYT piece last year, are over. And wouldn’t you know it, he’s handling things a little dramatically! And using the internet as a means for his public displays of contrition.

Things got started when someone calling himself Romantic Danzig sent Gawker a poem entitled “poem for Jessica Joffe because she blocked my email,” but since that wasn’t sufficiently personal (read: traceable) now he’s using that YouTube account we checked the other day to post the more succinctly titled piece called “Jessica.” It’s a freshly minted jangler about how he “ain’t no good,” the tune set to a map of the West Village (framed within a heart), a scrolling lover’s poem, a picture of Jessica gradually zoomed in upon until creepily pixelated, and a slow close-up of the letters “S-O-R-R-Y” written on a handful of white M&Ms (or, pills). What guilt trip?

it’s alright ma (i’m only bleeding)

Published
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Jeff
on February 8, 2008
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my blog still has the dirty taste of janet jackson top 40 music in it’s throat.

let’s wash it down w/ some dylan. here’s “it’s alright ma (i’m only bleeding)”

also, i insist on using the “title (parenthesis)” scheme for anything i do that’s creative b/c of this song.

Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their mark
Made everything from toy guns that spark
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It’s easy to see without looking too far
That not much is really sacred.

–Bob Dylan

puppy anorexia is a major political issue

Published
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Jeff
on January 31, 2008
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today was crazy-busy-awesome…so how about an old-fashioned bullet-post-blog?

- i’ve got a digital bathroom scale that has been going through batteries like crazy. after some investigating, i’ve traced the problem back to buster the dog. i think the little guy’s got self-image issues b/c he walks into the bathroom at least 5 times a day and stands on the scale. i know this because of the familiar *beep* that it makes when he hops on. i keep assuring him that he’s a “healthy” weight and that he shouldnt compare himself to the tiny italian greyhounds that live next door.

- picked up “the swell season” album by glen hansard the other day and have been enjoying some heart-break-acoustic music ever since. of all the tracks, i think i like “leave” the best b/c it’s written in my favorite chord progression of all time: E - C#m - B - A

i cant tell you how many great songs that are written in that heart-wrenching key. love it.

- watched the democratic debates tonight on CNN. despite an invitation to join my friends at the Kodak theatre, i was stuck watching from my bachelor-pleather-sofa. nonetheless, i was proud to be a liberal tonight and even more proud to get to vote for one of the democratic party’s fine candidates. personally, no politician has grabbed hold of my conscious and held on to it with a kung fu grip like Barack Obama. This weekend I’m going to volunteer at one of his SoCal campaign headquarters, in an attempt to put him over the top in CA on super tuesday.

- are you reading “yes is a world”? if you can put up w/ me rambling on-and-on about music, politics and the buster then you would love nic’s blog. go there now.

- now you too can own a liznelson original. liz has put up a lot of her most popular work as prints on imagekind. go here and check it out.

- last but not least, i wore the farting shoes today. what sucks is that i completely forgot that my grey chuck hightops make the aforementioned farting noise until i was in the NASA Radiobiology dept on campus. Need I say more?

nux vomica

Published
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Jeff
on January 16, 2008
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photo.jpg
so has anyone else listened to the veils‘ album nux vomica?

the album was released back in 2006, but better late than never, eh?

i downloaded this diamond amongst the crap last week based on a suggestion by stereogum and i’ve been digging it…especially the track ‘jesus for the jugular (one at a time)’ and what the hell, give it a listen below if you’re curious.

blowin’ the harp

Published
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Jeff
on January 14, 2008
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for xmas, leanne & brandon bought me a set of blues harmonicas b/c sometimes a brother just aint right ’til he plays a harmonica. so it’s a really nice set that included all the important blues’ keys and even one of those neil-young-type-harmonica-holders that go over your neck so that your hands are free to strum the guitar.

needless to say i look like a stud decked out in so much musical metal. (NOTE: this is NOT me in this picture.)

HM24_frnt.jpg

so i’ve been learning the harmonica parts to “you dont know how it feels” by tom petty. the only snag to this whole gig is that after about 2-3 notes buster goes apeshit. as i play, he barks, runs around, barks, runs around, repeat.

at this point, the barks sound like the dog equivalent of “…what the ‘eff man! that hurts my big ol’ floppy ears!” but i’m hoping that soon he’ll just howl along in perfect harmony.