Cee Lo Green - FUCK YOU (Official Video)

shit. it's almost 2011?

so many good intentions, so many non-posts....

just today I had the good mind to actually do some writing and work on that for a while. Not concerned about an audience (if you're actually reading this - thanks! I apologize for this not being audience-driven, cuz I don't know who you would be...haha)

I have compiled an obligatory (because it's what my mind just does and I am inevitably influenced by the pop culture LIST obsessions that surround me) year-end list of music that made a big impression on me, things I just love/d this year, 2010....

here is that list, in no particular order:

"Cameras" Sidewalks - Matt & Kim

Still loving this song, never sick of it (yet) when I hear it on

the radio. The dancey riddem and shoulder/boob-shake-worthy beat drives the whole thing - 80s revival, all the way. But my fave bit is that killer melody line, in the chorus, that grabbed me in the first place. The, "no time for cameras, we'll use our eyes instead ... we'll be gone when we're dead.. I see flashes of go-oh-oh-ld.." oh yeah, *golden* pop!

"O.N.E." Odd Blood - Yeasayer

Just watch the video on this bugger.

Gawd, talk about your 80s, New Order revival to the max. Still loving this one, too.

"It's hard having fun/it's much easier said than it's da-hone" - how can you not love the acknowledgement of the ol' Crazy Heart mentality ("If there's such a thing as too much fun/This must be the price to pay/Funny how fallin' feels like flyin'/Only for a little while") in a popped-out, dance, electro, tribal beat number? That "you don't move me anymo-a-hoor/And I'm glad you that you don't" bit is pure ode-to-New Order for me, which is why I placed it right after "Bizarre Love Triangle" on ye olde Wedding Dance Mix. This song got one of the best responses, joy-fueled dance-wise at the par-tay...and this was one of my ultimate highlights/memories from Lollapalooza, too. Double-percussion dance party in the park!!

"Shark in the Water" Traveling Like the Light - V.V. Brown

This was a Bust (mag) discovery, at first for me. I was blown away by her look (see image above and note 9 foot gams) and her roots (She’s a Brit and of is Puerto Rican and Jamaican descent she’s a genius, and ended up declining offers from top universities (including Oxford. yeah.) to follow her musical heart. Love that.) Then I finally heard her on the radio, and got totally hooked by this hook. The rest of the album is great, too.

"Fuck You," The Lady Killer - Cee Lo Green

Almost as brilliant as "Crazy"? Yeah, I kinda think maybe it is. I am *in love* with this song and the humor, the spite and catchy groove. Add the sentiment for these hard times, "I guess the change in my pocket wasn't enough/Now, ain't that some shit?" Ain't that some shit? The video is also amazing. (See previous post, above)

"Detroit Detroit," Keep it To Yourself - Erik Koskinen

Another perfect anthem to suit us all and address that current, somewhat bleak state of American life. A rollicking, country bar rally cry to go out, "take your money" to the Motor City and party like there's no tomorrow, cuz that might just be true. Bleeding jobs, homes lost, bleak outlook in Detroit, you say? Fuck it. Let's rock this city.

"American Slang," - Gaslight Anthem ...see more...(June post)

"Wait So Long," Palomino - Trampled by Turtles

Finally, TBT get the production they deserve. Oh, and the exposure! Perfect album for it, too. Shows off the best of what the boys can do.

BLACK KEYS - BROTHERS - THE WHOLE ALBUM - SEEING THEM AT LOLLA - WHEW.,

"I got your name tattooed inside of my arm..."

Well, hi, there.

How bad, bad, bad...been so damn long, I think my writing muscle has atrophied. Well, let's hope not.

Lots of stuff has happened in my life. (don't worry - I don't want to turn this into THAT kind of blog. MUSIC and pop culture are still the point of this thing - because that's what drives me to write.) humph.

I have a new (well, since freaking February) job...it's pretty great, and it beats the old one, which is always good...I can listen to music, most days, now...and that really makes life better. Always.

I'm a freaking homeowner now... so, I can play Madonna REALLY loud and not have to face neighbors down the hall with shame. Those days are over, man.

I lost a good friend in April and it's really shaped everything that's happened since. Not a day goes by that I don't think about you, Sarah...

The Gaslight Anthem crept into my consciousness at the same time we lost Sarah... and the song, "American Slang" was just about the most perfect thing to comfort me, and it seemed to be about Sarah, to me. In that way that when you hear a song at a certain moment, and it just speaks to your pain ("want to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me" style). Even if the lyrics aren't *really* about it, specifically...it just suits the moment, suits where you are in your life.

I just needed something emotive and *earnest*, I guess. That's Bruce....and then, you hear these young Jersey punks pulling the same thing...oh, and it's on the RADIO, and then you hear it when your in the shower, or at work, or in the car...and it puts its stakes in ya.

The thing about Sarah, you gotta know, is that she was magic, when it came to bringing people together and making plans, and just LIVING life to it's total fullest. She loved music, partying, baseball, UK football, kickball, animals, and she loved making us all happy - making us all laugh. And when I hear that line, "you told me fortunes in American slang," I just think of everything she brought into my life and all the music I saw with her and all the smiles and hysterical laughter...So, it really fits - I s'pose I created the connection, myself, but I know that's exactly what songs (and ART, really) are all about. It's written and it's put out there ... and then it reaches the individual and it will touch us all in different ways, we all get something different out of it...

and there's the line that Fitzy calls the real kicker...

“I got your name tattooed inside of my arm,”

It’s the way Brian Fallon sings it, it’s an angry, defiant cry, and it’s the ringing guitars and heavy, pulsating beat behind it all. It’s full of pain and it sure seems like he’s telling someone who isn’t there anymore…The word that keeps on persisting in my head during the song is *indelible*. Sarah left an indelible mark on all of us – we will always have her spirit/personality/light she gave us, especially when we're all together (all of her friends that she bonded together – she was the *glue* holding us all together)….and some of us took it to another level and got tatts. Those who partook got tattoos of nautical stars. Sarah had 8 red stars on her arm. It made sense to us who got them, right away – it was gonna have to be permanent – just like what she left us…this song sure speaks to that...

So, I dig the Gaslight Anthem, now. It really has a helluva lot to do with when the single "American Slang" hit the airwaves...and now I am loving the album, American Slang - been a lil' obsessed with it, lately...

Here's a cool Brian Fallon-solo-version of the song:

ze best of 2009

ahhh! so much good music, it almost surprised me! (hard to distill down to this, even)

Here is my mix of the stuff deserving attention and praise in 2009:

Get On Your Boots, 2009

1. "Fresh Air" Brother Ali, Us
2. "Hysteric" The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It's Blitz!
3. "Hang You from the Heavens" The Dead Weather" Horehound
4. "Cornerstone" The Arctic Monkeys, Humbug
5. "While You Wait For the Others" Grizzly Bear featuring Michael McDonald
   
6. "Get On Your Boots" U2 No Line on the Horizon
7. "The Wrestler" Bruce Springsteen Working on a Dream
   
8. "Something Is Squeezing My Skull" Morrissey Years of Refusal
9. "Ulysses" Franz Ferdinand Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
10. "Fire" Kasabian West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
11. "Home" Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Up From Below
12. "Beyond Here Lies Nothing" Bob Dylan Together Through Life
13. "!Viva La Gloria!" Green Day 21st Century Breakdown
14. "Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise" Avett Brothers I and Love and You
15. *bonus track*: "Red Right Hand" Arctic Monkeys Crying Lightning single
    

why (I don't really need an answer)

HOW is that some music just sinks in immediately, and other stuff takes a whiiiile to marinate?

Is it better when it takes longer?

Is the quickly pleasing stuff that's easier to digest lacking in some way?

But what about the Beatles?

ha.