Appetite For Distraction

New Countdown that continues the February tradition of new songs!

2012-02-12T10:00:00.001-05:00

We had one new song last week and this week we have two more! So exciting!

We also have a very mellow segment on this one, so remember to relax during that part. (I was going to have an exclamation point, but a period is just so much more mellow, you know?)

Countdown #90

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Bush
Chevelle
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Gotye Featuring Kimbra
Foster the People
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Young the Giant

MacGyver Mondays: "The Gauntlet" (Season 1, Episode 4)

2012-02-06T20:00:00.003-05:00

Title: The Gauntlet
Airdate: October 20, 1985
My Age at Airdate: 2 years, 3 months, 4 days
Episode Type: Rescue

OK just from the title, I'm going to assume this will all be about MacGyver having to retrieve some sort of glove, be it armored or silk, only time will tell....

OPENING GAMBIT

Ok it looks like we're in the Middle East... A car is slowly working its way through town, a man is yelling at his camel....and MacGyver is creeping over the rooftops, talking about Mrs. Freifogel, his den mother. I love tales of his youth.

He is breaking into an office to steal a map that depicts the location of "some heavy-handed troublemakers. The door out is locked, so he tries to go out the window, but the camel guy yells at him and alerts the soldiers in the square.

Mac slides the map under the door, pushes the key out onto the map and slides it back under the door. Good thing the key didn't bounce and the space under the door was big enough....minor details. He gets out of the building, but the soldiers see him and continue to shoot at him. They have a typical case of what I call "Stormtrooper Aim" (....from Star Wars...it's a movie?.....Calista Flockhart's future (ex?)husband is in it.)

So Mac sees a woman in a black...hijab(? Is that what that is?) putting away laundry. He uses the map to shoot some conveniently located peas at her ankle so that he can steal a robe-thing. Unfortunately, he's still the only white guy in town, so a soldier catches him and demands the map back. MacGyver says that he really needs it and knocks the gun out of the guy's hand and then clobbers him. With a map? But how?! Ah, clever MacGyver has put an iron rod in the map for just such an occasion.

The rest of the soldiers come around the corner as MacGyver leaps over the wall and into the desert. He's running and they're shooting, so he puts the map down and sleds down a dune on top of it and escapes in a hot air balloon. The soldiers wait a LONG amount of time before the realize they can SHOOT A HOT AIR BALLOON WITH BULLETS. Which they eventually do. They actually hit the balloon which is amazing (due to the aforementioned SA affliction)

And now MacGyver uses the map and some duct tap to patch the hold and escape. Of course, the map would have been torn to shreds on the tiny shards of glass (aka "Sand") that he ran it over but maybe it was laminated or something.

MacGyver (voice-over): Just goes to show you, a good map will always get you where you want to go

OPENING CREDITS

OK, we're opening in Mexico? Or South America somewhere.

Oops. Central America. So close.

He tells a quick story about selling apples with his Dad in a town that didn't feel right. When he asked his Dad why, he is told that the town had lynched an innocent man. I hope that's pertinent to the story and not just a supremely shocking way of saying "This town doesn't feel right either"

Some soldiers (I never noticed how many evil soldiers this show has. I guess if you put a uniform on a man, you don't have to explain why he's acting evil, because he's just following orders....whoa. Deep thoughts.) are picking on a woman.

MacGyver bribes them (!?!) with a 20 dollar bill so that the girl can get away. He keeps a 20 paper-clipped in his passport? Weird.

He's now in a newspaper printing....house and asking the printer about a photographer by the name of Kate SomethingSomething (Prescott maybe?) (I bet she's the hot, feisty girl of the episode. Who's got some Passport Dollars they can spare on some good old fashioned Plot Gambling?)

The printer pulls a gun on him and is very suspicious. Printer's wife calls out that he's probably telling the truth.

Oh wait. That's Kate Something. She's played by the girl that was in...hang on...I gotta look this up...

So there's a guy in a white suit and hat and dark sunglasses that she has all these pictures of. He's not supposed to be in this hemisphere unless he's in jail. Apparently MacGyver got him deported.

MacGyver tells her that her publisher wants her safely back home and not endangering herself with this story. She agrees and goes happily back to America......haha. No, she of course refuses because she's got a big story cooking here.

Printer says that the story will also help get rid of the evil Generalissimo.

...Star Trek III! She was the Vulcan that went down and helped Spock go through puberty or something!

So, MacGyver agrees to break into White Suit's hacienda so that she can photograph White Suit selling arms to Generalissimo and take them both down.

Printer (offering MacGyver his gun): Senor, you're going to need this.
MacGyver: Actually, I do much better without them, thanks
--MacGyver sticking to his....principles.

MacGyver uses a camera strap with a plastic clip to tie the electric fence up so they can get in.

They've arrived just in time to see Generalissimo show up. Kate starts snapping pictures. They decided to go with the "see what she sees through the camera as she takes the picture" shot.

HAHA White Suit is the Dean from Animal House. He's so good at being evil.

She has to switch cameras because she's out of film. This episode is officially outdated.

She needs one more shot: The Handshake. BOOM got it. They turn to go and run right into the guards. They're caught!

While everyone acts super tough about everything, MacGyver starts hatching a plan. He volunteers Kate's film so that he can get her camera bag. He hands one camera to the Bad Guys and puts the other on the table behind him. He dips his fingers into some loose plastique that's just lying there and puts the plug for the flash into the plastique. He turns activates the delayed shutter on the camera and basically tackles Kate. The plastique explodes and Mac and Kate are on the run. MacGyver almost gets electrocuted, but he doesn't.

The Generalissimo sends his army to ransack the Printer's place. And I'm pretty sure they killed Printer!

While comforting Kate, MacGyver sees some firecrackers. I bet he uses that later. They go into the church to come up with a plan

With the airport closed and troops everywhere, they realize that the only way out is across the border into Mexico.

MacGyver grabs another strap off of her camera bag and goes up to the bell tower. He sees G and WS arrive. He lays out a candle, the strap and the firecrackers. He duct taps the candle and the firecrackers to the inside of the bell and straps the bell up with the strap. Wait. I guess there are two candles. One in the bell, one on the strap. I sense timed diversion!!! MacGyver loves timed diversions!

They leave the church and MacGyver takes the cable from one truck, goes under a second truck, and attaches it to the axle and bumper of a third truck.

The timed diversion goes off and there's a great moment where MacGyver tries to give Kate a boost into a bus, but she says "That's not necessary" and climbs in herself.

So Mac tapes a side mirror to the top front of the bus and explains that he's making a periscope. Then he frantically asks Kate for her compact. We won't put that down to him assuming that all women have compacts on them at all times, but that he, in his very observant nature, saw that she had makeup on and guessed that this particular woman might.

The jeeps chase after them and there's some spectacular car crashing. Kate, ever the shutterbug photographs it. Now it's just 100 km to the border. But MacGyver says that WS won't give up that easily.

And in fact we see that G and WS (henceforth known as G&WS) are hot on their trail.

Kate is telling Mac about how she woke up owning three very expensive cameras, and she only has one left, but it's her lucky camera.

Kate: If anything happened to this baby, I'd die....or kill.
-- a woman too wrapped up in her material goods or really really blatant foreshadowing? You be the judge.

They get to know eachother as they go, MacGyver being all dreamy for his part and Kate being all "Aww, you're so dreamy" for hers.

They see a spotter plane and can't get under cover fast enough to not be spotted.

Kate is forever taking damn pictures. Seriously. I think she has a problem.

They go off-road to avoid being seen and wind up in like a river or something. There's playful like marimba music or something. But don't worry, she still has her lucky camera.

Flirting and cameras, that's what she's about.

MacGyver catches a lizard in a trap and cooks it up for her. How does he not have women throwing themselves at him??

Oh, wait. Here's Kate throwing herself at him. The firelight, the lizard, welp time for bed...is she going to try to seduce him? BOOM there's the offer. And there's the acceptance. Put the kiddies to bed. MacGyver's kissing a girl again.

Sunrise. We'll move past the implied Central American sex romp and watch G&WS find the bus and WS hatches a plan to do a pincer attack on M&K. G tells WS that if his plan doesn't work, he'll destroy him. Sounds like trouble in paradise.

MacGyver and Kate (M&K seemed TOO lax, you know?) take out two soldiers by a jeep by pretending she's passed out and tricking them into lowering their guard. She hits one of them with her lucky camera. Oh no. It's broken. She's devastated. MacGyver consoles her, gives her some noogies (seriously.) and they're back on their way in the jeep.

They get all the way to the border, only to stop short when they see all the Generalissimo's men setting up in front of the river that is the border.

So. The titular Gauntlet is going to be this. It's not a glove, but rather something you have to run. Like, running the Gauntlet. Here's a link to what I'm talking about.

Mac decides that if they can't go around them, they'll have to go through them. He's not quite sure how though. So they drive off and find a convenient abandoned farmhouse! Well, a farmhouse is chock full of things MacGyver can convert into weapons, armor, etc. They should just stop the episode here.

They still have that spotter plane flying around and this was seriously just said:

Spotter Plane: Running low on fuel, returning to base
Generalissimo: I don't care if you're low on fuel. Keep looking.
--Quality Leadership

So Mac and Kate have been making bombs and a smoke screen and all this stuff. Basically, they're overheating the jeep and having oil and stuff all over so that it just emits a bunch of smog. It gives them time to deploy the bombs (which are barrels with stuff in them, I guess)

Mac hooks up the jeep to go on its own and sends it careening down the hill. So now it's go time.

Kate: If things don't work out.........I'm really glad I "got to know you" (quotes added by me, because come on. we know what she's saying)
MacGyver: Me too. (seriously! that's his solution to everything!)

They light the barrels and send them rolling down the hill. The soldiers shoot the barrels and they explode!

Except they don't shoot one of the barrels. The one that has Kate and MacGyver in it! The barrel plunges into the river and Kate and MacGyver swim to the freedom of Mexico!

Oh yeah, and the Generalissimo tells WS that he always keeps his promises (So WS is dead)

We close as Kate has jury-rigged her camera back together ("I fixed it, MacGyver style!") and she takes a picture with her, MacGyver and the two Mexican border guards that helped them out of the river. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of Ms. Kate Connelly. (In fact, I know it. Look for her near the end of Season 2 (38 weeks from now.))

Thanks for reading! See you next week!

NEXT WEEK: THE HEIST

I preach, ramble, AND rant on this week's Countdown!

2012-02-05T10:00:00.001-05:00

So, I started recording this one on Friday night. Pretty typical. Then I finished up this evening (It's Saturday night as I type this) and for some reason I got myself worked up about a particular issue. I mean, don't get me wrong. There's not a blue streak of cursing or anything, but I definitely work some stuff out over the course of a couple intros. It'll either be interesting to you or not, but I hope you'll enjoy the music that happens in between!

Countdown #89

***Featuring***
Ben Folds Five
The Black Keys
Blink-182
Bush
Cage the Elephant
Chevelle
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Gotye (Featuring Kimbra)
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Young the Giant

February 2012 Media Update

2012-02-01T22:30:00.000-05:00

With all of the planning of Lila's baptism and everything, I haven't gotten a lot of media time in (I know. Poor James.) so some of this is going to be relatively odd....

Last Song/MP3 I listened to: I was listening to Bad Veins' Self-titled debut album on the way home from work today because they have a new album coming out on April 24th. I was in the middle of listening to "You Kill" when my friend Marc called.

Last TV show I watched: So, I'm the kind of guy who strictly follows the rules he sets up for himself. And in the spirit of that, tonight while we waited for the brownies I made to cook, K, her mom and I watched the season finale of Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood which was enjoyable because she had a baby and then we got to sharing some of our favorite Lila memories. That's what I like to get out of TV: Good conversation. We're still watching Once Upon a Time, though, and that would have been my update if I hadn't made brownies. So I'll let you know that we caught up last night and watched the most recent episode: Fruit of the Poisonous Tree. Every episode, Ginnifer Goodwin's hair looks a little better. I think she's so pretty, but her haircut did not work when she started this show.

Last Movie I watched: We haven't really watched a lot of movies this month. Well, I haven't. I have been meaning to watch Limitless on Netflix. And I want to see Moneyball and 50/50. Oh, and when my friend Marc called, he called to tell me that I need to see Midnight in Paris, posthaste. The last bit of any movie I saw was when K watched the end of Love and Other Drugs. I came home during the climax and wrap-up, so there was no nudity to be seen. It looked like a pretty straight-forward rom-com. So the last movie I watched from front to back is still Love Actually. Which is still such a kickass movie.

Last Written Work I read: I'm in the middle of Stephen King's short story anthology Everything's Eventual. Specifically, I'm in the middle of what completes the non-graphic-novel portion of the Dark Tower series for me (So far. I hear he's doing another one.(Ok. I guess it's more official than I thought. Haha. It's ALSO coming out on April 24th!): The Little Sisters of Eluria. I'm liking this anthology so far, but I think I'm still in the long-form boat for Stephen King. Maybe I just need to read more anthologies. I may read It next.

See you in March!

MacGyver Mondays: "Thief of Budapest" (Season 1, Episode 3)

2012-01-30T20:00:00.002-05:00

Title: Thief of Budapest
Airdate: October 13, 1985
My age at Airdate: 2 Years, 2 Months, 27 Days
Episode Type: Espionage

OPENING GAMBIT

A man with a very awesome mustache sits in a tent in the desert. He is in the tent with a horse. Mustache has stolen the horse from a king and it's considered to be one of the most valuable horses alive.

MacGyver takes out the guard and steals his turban. Yep. There's MacGyver in a turban. A perfect disguise.

Mustache is practicing sword-based Martial Arts while Mac saddles the horse and rides it out of the tent. For some reason, a shepherd is among those who try to stop him. So MacGyver steals his crook (shepherd lingo. it's something i do.)

MacGyver leads the chase with his deft, one-handed horseriding. They're on a beach. Hopefully Mac has a plan.....

He's surrounded by Mustache and his men. So what's left to do but joust. Sword vs. Crook. The first pass, Mustache cuts the end off Mac's crook, the next pass, Mac clotheslines Mustache with the hooky part of the crook.

And then the chase continues.

Suddenly, there's a helicopter with a tow line. MacGyver grabs it, hooks the hook to the saddle and the horse lifts into the air. Turns out it was a harness and not just a saddle that MacGyver put on the horse.

Horse (neigh-over): Whinny!!
MacGyver (voiceover): I'm with you, pal. I hate heights

OPENING CREDITS

MacGyver is in, of course, Budapest. He gets an ice cream cone and very cooly eats it without dripping on his snazzy white shirt. He looks good, you guys.

He eats the ice cream and throws the cone away. If there's one thing MacGyver hates....it's probably guns. But if there's TWO things MacGyver hates.....well, probably guns and heights. But if there's THREE things MacGyver hates, you've gotta give the bronze to ice cream cones. Apparently.

He checks out some sort of fancy yellow car and moves on. But the camera lingers as an adorable Street Urchin Girl in a Jaunty Cap and a Fancy Necklace runs up behind him. She runs into him and CLEARLY picks his pocket. Mac catches her and criticizes her technique. She asks him if he's a gypsy. Haha aw, she's cute. I think her name is Yanna. I dont want to call her Urchin the whole episode because she's cute.

So, Yanna closes the scene by successfully picking Mac's pocket.

There are two KGB agents monitoring MacGyver's double agent friend Nicky. He's Russian. It's the 80's.

So, Nicky doesn't want to give MacGyver the names of the KGB agents he has out in public. He says to meet him at Cafe Mozart. (is that how you spell Mozart? It looks wrong...) so, he walks away.

Yonna trips him with some marbles and steals what is almost certainly the list, but she doesn't know any better. Unless......maybe she's a covert KGB agent! It's brilliant! Employ the cute gypsy youth. It'll be the KGB-CGY project!

The KGB agents (there are like 4 of them now. They must double like tribbles...) yell out Nicky's name and he runs into oncoming traffic and is hit by a truck. Whoa. He's way dead.

The KGB leader searches him but...gasp...no list! They figure that MacGyver must have the list. But then they watch the surveillance tape and see Yonna (have I changed the spelling of her name? Maybe Urchin would have been easier) pick his pocket. So they're after both of them.

KGB Leader is talking to the guy who plays the Dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and he's like the head cop of Budapest or something. Clearly a dirty cop.

MacGyver tries to catch Yanna/Yonna to get his knife back but she's a clever gypsy.....but not clever enough! He knows that she took the watch, too. Man, she's a horrible thief. She said that she gave the watch to her brother, Bruno.

They're going to go talk to him, but the police get to Bruno first! Fuckin' Hungarian Pigs. Whoa it looks like they arrested her whole damn family.

Greek Wedding Inspector also has an AWESOME mustache, too.

KGB Leader tells Greek Wedding Inspector to be a hardass with this family, despite his qualms. GWI is basically a good guy, I think.

So, first things first. Mac and Y?nna have to break her family out of the work camp/prison.

Haha, there's an Asshole Prison Guard in every work camp/prison, you know? This one just picked on Bruno (? I'm not sure if that's Bruno or, like, someone else in her family)

Mac puts a lightbulb (where the hell did he get an intact lightbulb in the Hungarian countryside?!) between two boards ("Think of it as a lightbulb sandwich....and hope they swallow it." Mac always needs a skeptical observer to explain what he's doing in charming, down-home ways) and Y?nna pulls it across the road as the Supply Truck arrives.

WHOA. There's like 7 lightbulbs in that sandwich! Was there just a whole bunch of lightbulbs laying around out there?!?!

Also, why didn't the driver of the Supply Truck notice the wooden board that was crossing in front of the path of his Truch apparently of its own volition?!?1

Naturally, he DOES swallow it, thinking he's popped a flat. He stops and goes around to inspect all the tires, giving MacGyver time to get into the truck. Locks, people. Put locks on your Supply Trucks.

MacGyver puts on a Black Prison Uniform and exits the truck. He fills a bucket with Battery Acid?

Haha he tells a quick anecdote about his mom's chili while he's making a bomb from salt, sugar, weed killer, and the battery acid (or something. it looked mostly like white powder and cloudy water to me).

He makes contact witht he family and tells them to "hang tough".

Under the prison uniform, he has a guard uniform. The gypsies cause a diversion while he takes out the guard of a forklift or something. Oh. Bulldozer. With barbed wire attached to it.

The barbed wire separates guards from prisoners and the bulldozer knocks over the guard tower a la F Troop.

Everyone (by which I mean Bruno and Y?nna's grandpa) loads onto the Supply Truck and escapes!

MacGyver: Now where's my watch?
Bruno: I sold it.
MacGyver: You sold it?!

--comedy genius

So MacGyver has to go talk to a Gypsy Fence named Reena. Bet she's gorgeous. Who wants to bet me?

An obligatory barfight later (wasn't much of a barfight actually. Two guys vs MacGyver. Mac dives behind bar and lights something explosive back there and it flashes like Phosphorous. What could it be? Red powder behind a bar? Anyone?) MacGyver finally meets Reena.

MacGyver: You know, I really don't drink too much.
Reena: Virtuous or suspicious?
MacGyver: Habit.
--Possibly one of the reasons I don't drink is because I saw MacGyver not drinking. True story.

The watch is hanging from a necklace around Reena's neck. MacGyver levels with Reena. And she kisses him. Haha she says that that's how she knows he's not lying. Nice lie detector. Someone's always kissing MacGyver. Have you noticed that?

MacGyver shows her where the list is hidden on the watch. Why is he trusting her so much? That's weird. After all that, she asks what he's offering to pay. The KGB have come into her bar. She says he can't afford to buy it, so it's a gift. He slides down the roof and calls for a taxi.

Welp, that looks like the end of it...hm much more quickly than usual....

Wait. That guy driving the taxi is Y?nna's brother Bruno. So the other guy was her...Dad? Yeah, that makes sense.

Y?nna tells MacGyver that her family wants to defect.

The whole family is now dressed in mechanic's uniforms. They're going to steal racecars from a rally in Budapest to drive across the border.

MacGyver is jamming slices of a credit card into the timer on the traffic light.

Uhoh. KGB Leader and GWI got news that the Taxi had been found, so they're on the way.

Huh. The racecar's are red, white, and blue minis. I mean, they're not mini-Coopers and I never saw the original, but is this, like, an homage to The Italian Job? I think it is!

The traffic light trick slows KGBL and GWI down, but the motorcycle cops are still on their tails.

There's all sorts of racecar shenanigans going on. MacGyver has Y?nna tape her transistor to the police radio(....which they took at some point...I just rewound the episode to see if I was typing when they stole it, but I didn't see anything of the sort...) to jam the radio with non-descript "rock and roll" if they can get it high enough. Fortunately, there's a balloon salesman right there and they stop and buy all his balloons.

The radio/transistor combo is attached to the balloons and the police radios are jammed!

Greek Wedding Inspector: "They're heading for the border!"
--No duh.

The speedy American colored cars make it across like a fjord? or something, but one of the cop cars is swept away.

They're in a sewer pipe now (I think we have car chase BINGO, here.) and some of Y?nna's cousins have raised the grate for them. But they put it down so the last cop car runs into it and off the road.

With so many helpful cousins, why have they not defected before?

They roll into Austria. They're safe.

KGB Leader yells "MACGYVER!" and Mac salutes him sarcastically.

EPILOGUE

MacGyver comes out of the guard booth and tells Y?nna's family that they have successfully escaped. He goes to walk away, but Y?nna has some last words. She's upset that he's leaving. So he gives her his Swiss Army Knife and SHE GIVES HIM A CURSE WHERE HE KEEPS GETTING THINNER AND THINNER....no, I'm kidding. She gives him her gypsy charm necklace. They hug and we go to credits.

Man, that episode had EVERYTHING!

Thanks for watching/reading!

NEXT WEEK: THE GAUNTLET

It was a rough week, but we'll relax with some music!

2012-01-29T10:00:00.001-05:00

The week went by so fast and yet it was full of stress for most of the people I know. Weird, huh?

Well, I know what I always do to destress: Rock out to some Alternative Tunes. The funny thing about this countdown is that the songs can take on a comfort food feel to them. So, pull up a chair and enjoy!

Countdown #88

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
Blink-182
Bush
Cage the Elephant
Chevelle
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Lifehouse
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Switchfoot
Young the Giant

MacGyver Mondays: "The Golden Triangle" (Season 1, Episode 2)

2012-01-23T20:00:00.004-05:00

Title: The Golden Triangle
Airdate: October 6, 1985
My Age at Airdate: 2 years, 2 months, 20 days
Episode Type: Magnificent Seven-style Village Rescue

This is where the rubber meets the road, people. We're out of the Pilot territory and into the honest-to-God Season 1 Experience. Still with me? Great. Let's go.

Opening Gambit

A bearded man is holding suitcase in a junkyard. He looks anxious. MacGyver sneaks in undetected. Beard guy is approached by two suits. Mac lets us know that Beard has Pentagon missile launch codes to sell to the suits. He knocks over some tires and everyone pulls out their guns.

Playfully, MacGyver nabs the briefcase and Beard's gun with a car magnet. But now there are three guys with guns after him! How will he escape?!?!

He hides in one of the cars until two of the guys go by, emerges only to be punched in the face by the third guy. They decided to go with a 1st person POV shot for the punching. More dramatic that way. Evokes empathy for MacGyver's predicament.

Mac wakes in the backseat of a car. Ominous music. The three guys are watching him and gesturing to......A FORKLIFT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CAR! MacGyver is handcuffed and struggles to escape as the forklift carries him to a car compacter!

"Now, you may find this hard to believe, but there have been times when I've had a lot more fun in the backseat of a car." -- MacGyver's steamy past makes an early appearance in this episode.

He has ripped out the back seat and is now in the trunk. He uses a tire iron as a lever to open the trunk as the compacter crunches down. Very clever, MacGyver. He has escaped with his captors none the wiser. What's left to do?

Hoist their car into the air with the forklift, pin it to a pole, and call the authorities. :)

OPENING CREDITS

We open our main event on seagulls. They're flying over a beach. Where MacGyver lies in the sun, tanning.

A military officer is suddenly standing over him, "Good Morning MacGyver. Ever been to Burma?" The dialogue is off to a great start. The general lays out the mission: Recover or destroy a canister full of super toxic material in 24 hours.

So now we're in the Burmese jungle with MacGyver. He comes upon a slave march. Opium dealers leading locals through the jungle to harvest more product. Looks like we have Plucky Boy in Red Cap, Defiant Mother/Sister, D M/S's Love Interest, D M/S's Grandfather, and the Village Leader on Team Harvester. And Lewd Bully on Team Dealer.

Plucky hits Lewd in the back with a branch, so Lewd chases after him. MacGyver hides Plucky and then asks him about the Red Cap with American military stuff on it. Clearly from the plane with the Canister. So Plucky shows MacGyver where the plane is. But the Canister is missing.

SUDDENLY MACGYVER AND PLUCKY ARE CAPTURED BY LEWD BULLY AND HIS FRIEND!

Haha Lewd Bully just called MacGyver a Narc. But there's no time for him to ask any further questions. The General is here. He'll want to see the Opium!

Ok I've definitely seen the General in something before. A comedy, I think. I'm not sure. He's kind of tiny. But then, all tyrants are. (Sorry, tiny people).

Ah, they have the stuff from the plane in the VIllage! INCLUDING THE CANISTER!

And the General plans to add the weapons to his helicopter. "My helicopter will become a gunship!"

I think it's clear that MacGyver has to rescue this town from the tyranny of this General. It's not about the Canister anymore.

The General decides to make an example of MacGyver and put him out in the sun for 5 days with no food or water. Interesting callback to when he was tanning on the beach before. Plucky and Defiant Sister (confirmed as Plucky's sister) come and dab him with a washcloth, but say they can't cut him down or The General will kill a bunch of villagers.

Plucky has stolen back MacGyver's Swiss Army Knife. He puts it in MacGyver's hand. A guard change is taking place, but MacGyver tricks the new guard because he's already cut himself free. He knocks out the guard and escapes.

We see an interaction between Defiant Sister's Love Interest and Lewd Bully. So, the third layer of this episode will be DSLI proving himself and standing up to LB.

Back in the village, MacGyver lets out all the village pigs to distract everyone. He sneaks under the tarp covering all the plane scavengings and goes to the canister. He's a little to cavalier with that clearly empty canister. It's flopping around all willy-nilly.

So he's setting up a chain reaction with the rest of the scavengings to try to get away, but he crashes into a tent. DSLI takes down a guard too and LB runs away. Self-satisfied and cocky, Mac comes back to the village after watching LB hightail it and declares them FREE!....only to be told that LB is going to run to the outpost with the rest of the bad guys and bring back reinforcements...and they're kind of pissed at him for putting them in that position.

The village is divided about whether they want MacGyver to teach them to fight or leave because he's doomed us all. So Mac is all "I've got a chopper to meet. Peace out, yo." (or something like that). But they're zooming in on Plucky, so I think he might run after him and make a desperate plea.

The chopper is about to pick up MacGyver when all of a sudden...there's Plucky. Is he too late? Did MacGyver leave? No! He's still there! "I wasn't going anywhere" (Layer #1, complete)

It must be super nice to return to a village that actually NEEDS you. And Mac looks super smug about it. Really it's only the Village Leader that's not wanting to fight the General.

You know that part in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves where they're preparing to fight the Sherrif? That reminds me of this.

Also, this is a blatant cribbing of The Magnificent Seven (which, in turn ripped off The Seven Samurai)

So, so far, they're making bamboo-based tear gas and trip wire gun nests. Maybe a pit or something?

MacGyver (regarding the Pit): It's perfect
DS: Perfect.... But, they can see it, though
MacGyver: That's what makes it perfect.
--FORESHADOWING 101

Now it looks like they're putting some bamboo in a thin trench. For something.

The reinforcements are on their way.

Mac stands up at the top of a mountain, telling the reinforcements that they're "liable to have a battle on their hands". Because he's badass, that's why.

First up, DSLI chucks a rock at a jeep to get them to chase him, so that Plucky and DS can drop a whole freakin box of snakes on their heads, ambush them, and steal the jeep.

LB clearly sees the pit trap, orders his jeep to drive around....and falls into a pit on the side of the road!! Classic.

The tripwire gun trap tricks the reinforcements into moving a tree, and shooting out their own jeep tires!

So now they're on foot. Wait no. They still have one jeep left. But, you know, it's still good.

A big log battering ram is released and takes out...exactly no one. But they all leap off the last jeep. It drives for another 5 feet and stops for some reason.

Then LB takes out THE BIGGEST WALKIE TALKIE EVER!!!!!! and calls the General.

Ok. NOW the bad guys are on foot. They've hooked the exhaust pipe of the jeep to the bamboo shoot in the middle of the road....oh i get it. That's where they put the bamboo-based tear gas. So, the villagers win, DSLI fights LB and wins, securing his manhood. (Layer #3, complete)

And it's all over....or is it?!?!

The sound of a helicopter...it's the GENERAL!

He has guns on his helicopter and nearly shoots MacGyver, but Mac has an idea. He grabs some wire from the scavengings, hooks it up to a winch (I totally recognize a winch when I see one), and hooks the other end of the wire to the....feet(?) of the General's helicopter. Then it's just like reeling in a fish. In fact, I'm surprised MacGyver isn't talking about catching a fish at the old fishing hole.

A quick Martial Arts fight between the General and Macgyver. Then the General pulls a sword, lunges at MacGyver, trips on the...what are they called? seriously. the helicopter's feet...and somehow impales himself on the sword. I honestly know don't know how that happened. Then the helicopter, which was clearly connected to the General's Life Force, turns off. (Layer #2, complete)

DSLI: Now we are free.
MacGyver: Yeah.

Seriously. "Yeah." is the last line of the episode. Awesome.

Well, that does it for "The Golden Triangle". I hope you're enjoying reading these, because I'm sure enjoying writing them! I know I go on a bit long, but hopefully it's an entertaining kind of long.

NEXT WEEK: THIEF OF BUDAPEST

Countdown #87. Geewilickers!

2012-01-22T10:00:00.001-05:00

Haha I have never seen that word spelled out before. It looks silly.

Here's a new countdown. Hopefully no new songs will go on the chart until I figure out how to get my computer fixed after it suddenly found itself sitting in a pool of soapy water. Pray that it's just the power cord that's fried, people!

Countdown #87

***Featuring***
Ben Kweller
The Black Keys
Blink-182
Bush
Cage the Elephant
Chevelle
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Switchfoot
Young the Giant

MacGyver Mondays: "Pilot" (Season 1, Episode 1)

2012-01-16T20:00:00.005-05:00

Title: Pilot
Airdate: September 29, 1985
My age at Airdate: 2 years, 2 months, 13 days.
Episode Type: Rescue

And here we go. We're opening on a majestic canyon. "....Somewhere in Central Asia. Present day" A dude in a funny hat is climbing an almost sheer cliff. The sultry voice of Richard Dean Anderson comes on the voiceover. Telling a story about a horse. As I recall, MacGyver is a lot more country than he became later on.

This is what's known as the "Opening Gambit". It has nothing to do with the episode itself. It just serves to get the adrenaline pumping.

There's a downed fighter jet. Mac has taken out a guard and taken his clothing, his coffee, and his gun. Weird to see him holding a gun. He hates guns.

This horse story is serving as the skeleton for him rescuing the pilot who has been taken prisoner by these anonymous Asian guys.

HAHA. He just tossed his Swiss Army Knife up to the prisoner to cut himself free. He threw it and it stuck perfectly in one of the wooden jail bars. Awesome.

So now he's in a tent with "the missile". Pulling out some tools. Uh oh. Looks like the missiles going to explode unless he.....YES! Pops an unbent paper clip into the missile and stops it at the last second. That's what I'm talking about.

So then he sets a gun to fire on a matches/taut string timer and they escape! Huh. There's MacGyver returning fire briefly. Weird.

So he shoots himself and the prisoner off the cliff and floats away on a parachute!

OPENING CREDITS.

Ok, so who's pumped up? The opening gambits would slowly peter out. I'm sure they were expensive.

So, we establish that Mac lives in the Griffith Observatory? And is Big Brother to a friendly black pre-teen. So far so good. Wait. Did he LIE to this kid? He can't really live in the Griffith Observatory, right? That's...shady.

Now we're in Bannon, New Mexico. A cute blonde, Barbara Spencer, is both gorgeous and brilliant. This kind of woman will constantly resurface on this show.

Two old scientist dudes are playing chess for hours. But oh no! There's a bomb! Bright chemicals flying everywhere. And a vat has cracked and is leaking "acid" (It looks more like puke, but who asked me?) 20 people are trapped 300 feet below the surface (it's mainly an underground lab. you know how there are, like, underground labs?)

Who, oh who, will they get to solve this? Yes, MacGyver is the ONLY option.

Hmm, the guy that is giving MacGyver his orders isn't Pete Thornton. That's weird, too. Oh wait. There he is. He's not "Mac's best buddy", yet. And he's "Andy Colson". And he smokes. Weird. Pilots are weird.

LOL!!!! This clown who Pete will replace just had to have "Aquifer" and "Sodium Hydroxide" explained to him.

Colson: "It's going to take a lot more than what you can carry in that knapsack to get you through all this"
MacGyver: "Well, the bag's not for what I take, Colson, it's for what I find along the way"

That's MacGyver in one exchange, right there.

He's mic'd up and by himself. This is where it gets good. He's at an elevator shaft that is filled with high voltage lasers. He uses 3 cigarettes borrowed from Colson to smoke out the invisible lasers and the mirror from his binoculars to reflect the laser back onto itself. Easy peasy.

Next problem: the bio lab is blocked by rubble and girders. Mac hears a tapping sound, taps back, and hears a response. There's life down there!

To move the girder that's in his way, he's gotten a fire hose, knotted it and put it under the girder. Turning it on, he can loosen the girder enough to burst through. He's saved the day!

But those two scientist guys are still trapped. And the blonde is going to help him get them, despite Mac's protesting. He is constantly getting bulldozed by strong, beautiful, stubborn women. This is what impressionable me was watching when I was 7 or 8. Explains a lot.

Whoa. The door she was taking him through has a fire on the other side of it. They have to go through "the gas chamber": a series of airlocks around a common lab that works with toxic gas.

Mac stops to grab some chocolate bars. Wonder if those will come into play later.

SUDDENLY THE AIRLOCKS START TO CLOSE! But they get through. Barely. Man this is exciting!

Cute Blonde and Macgyver see that all those people in that toxic gas lab are dead. Probably from toxic gas.

So, the time crunch here is that they're going to flood the labs with Sodium Hydroxide (strong base) to offset the acid leak. I guess that Mac only has the time it'll take the tankers to get to the lab. And then, SLOOSH, skin separates from bone, and so forth.

They're trapped behind the airlocks. They have to go through the toxic gas lab to get to the Vacuum Evacuation pump which can't be turned on remotely because the circuits are fried. Seems like poor planning on whoever designed the lab.

Mac gets a good luck kiss from Cute Blonde and they each put half his flannel shirt over their mouths to protect them. He turns on the pump. Phew.

Unfortunately, not-Pete (Not Colson, who would become Pete, but the guy that's doing Pete's job for the pilot) finds out that, in addition to the Sodium Hydroxide, they're also going to shoot an underground missile at the lab. You know, to really seal things in. Or something.

I'm not sure what it is that Cute Blonde does, but her high heels and skirt tell me that maybe she's not a chemist. In either case, she's walking all over the acid. But that's a non-point.

They're going to seal the rupture with the Candy Bars. Basically, SULFURIC ACID + CHOCOLATE = TEMPORARY RESIN SEAL. It works like gangbusters.

Unfortunately, their walkie-talkies have been left behind and they still have those two scientists to get. Mac deduces that it was a bomb and not an accident.

Cute Blonde: "Don't tell me you know how to make a bomb out of a stick of chewing gum"
MacGyver: "Why, you got some?"

They have to bust through the rubble to get to the scientists. And they only have 6 minutes before they get missiled (it's a word. just don't look it up, ok?). He's going to pop some Sodium into a pill capsule. Pop the capsule in a glass jar of water. When the water dissolves the capsule, BOOM he's in. Easy peasy. Haha what a clean, rectangular hole. Chemistry is so neat.

OH NO! The scientist that Cute Blonde works for has a gun!

I'm pretty sure that they just over-dubbed Mac saying "Goddammit" into him saying "Gosh Darn it."

We're going to get the "villain monologue" now. Dude wanted to set his experiments back 20 years by killing himself and the world's only other expert in the field because the military was trying to turn his into a weapon. A bold sacrifice. Speaking of sacrifices...

Cute Blonde saves the other scientist by throwing herself in front of the gun. Shot in the stomach, she needs medical assistance. Plus the missile. Plus the Sodium Hydroxide. Thinking quickly, Mac controls the master power to convey a Morse code message via the lights. Hooray! Everyone's saved! And MacGyver gets to kiss Cute Blonde goodbye. And never see her again, ever. He's kind of a kiss slut, it turns out.

Ok, so the epilogue is in Macgyver's room...IN THE OBSERVATORY (which means 1) He didn't lie to the kid, which is good and 2) He lives in the Griffith Observatory??). Where he plays Nerf basketball with his Little Brother (also never seen again. He's a busy man, you know?)

That was fun. But I think it's clear that once a week will be good enough. That was long! It's just there's so much to talk about! Well, I hope you enjoyed it. If this takes off and I make shirts, they'll say MACGYVER: EASY PEASY. And they will be glorious. See you next week.

NEXT WEEK: "THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE"

Back on track with a New Countdown!

2012-01-15T10:00:00.001-05:00

So, you may not be aware of this, but you are reading this in the middle of my daughter's 6-day birthday extravaganza. Well, maybe "extravaganza" is a bit dramatic, but damn if this kid isn't celebrating her birthday on three non-consecutive days! Her actual birthday was on Thursday (1/12) and K and I took the day off and spent it with her! It was lots of fun. Now, when you're reading this, we'll be preparing for the actual birthday party. Fun times. We're probably rocking out to the countdown right along with you!

Countdown #86

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
Blink-182
Bush
Cage the Elephant
Chevelle
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Switchfoot
Young the Giant

MacGyver Mondays: Intro

2012-01-09T22:49:00.000-05:00

So, on Twitter the other day, I asked if anyone had any opinions about me starting a feature on my blog where I watch and talk about each MacGyver episode. One person said that they were PRO that idea and so here we are.

MacGyver (god it's going to get annoying capitalizing that "G". don't be surprised if that stops very quickly. like, before this post is done, quickly.) is one of those shows that I "grew up" on. I have a very vivid memory of being in the TV Room/Office in our house in Nebraska, watching MacGyver, and eating Sour Cream and Onion Ruffles until I puked. Literally. So, that's fun.

The other show in this vein is Quantum Leap. If I enjoy doing this with MacGyver (see, now I'm capitalizing just to spite myself.), maybe I'll do QL, too! (Ooh. I like the abbreviatability of that...QL) It's two seasons less and it's TIME TRAVEL.

But back to MacGyver. Don't worry. There's time travel in MacGyver. Near the end, but still.

So, I will build up a slew of these and then each Monday, you can enjoy reading me watching MacGyver. It'll be great.

It's 139 episodes plus 2 movies. So that's almost 3 years!

I just decided that I'm going to post this Intro and then start posting next Monday. Who knows? Maybe I'll decide that it warrants a Saturday showing, as well. We'll see. For now, I'll see you next Monday for "Pilot"!

2011 Artists of the Year

2012-01-08T10:00:00.003-05:00

This is one of my favorite episodes of the year. I look forward to it and I think that all my anticipation has paid off. I had so much fun putting it together and I think you'll have a lot of fun listening to it!

2011 Artists of the Year

***Featuring***
Dessa
Doomtree
King Post Kitsch
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
New Found Glory
NOFX
P.O.S.
Rise Against
Smashing Pumpkins
Wild Flag

January 2012 Media Update

2012-01-01T11:45:00.001-05:00

So, I'm going to start doing this media update on the first of the month because I think it's fun to look back at what I have been watching, reading, and listening to. If you see something that's missing from my Media Updates, let me know.

Last Song/MP3 I listened to: Part 1 of the 2011 Contrast Podcast Festive Fifty. The In Crowd just introduced #47.

Last TV show I watched: We're in the middle of the Once Upon a Time episode "That Still Small Voice". Really enjoying this show!

Last Movie I watched: We watched bits and pieces of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End while my mom, stepdad and sister were here. They're better than I remembered. But the last movie I watched from front to back was Love Actually. Which is such a kickass movie.

Last Written Work I read: Well I'm reading back issues of the New Yorker and a book of essays for a Twitter-based book club. But the last thing I actually read was the murder-mystery book I'm reading called Reunion in Death. Part of a series that I've been really enjoying a lot, even though there are large swaths of romance novel aspects to them. Overall, though, they're like if Law & Order: SVU was set in 2059

Happy New Year! It's the Year End Countdown!

2012-01-01T10:00:00.001-05:00

Well Holy Crap, you guys. It's time for the SECOND ANNUAL Year End Countdown. Can you believe it? So much has happened this year and I've been countin' them down all the while!

It's such an honor to do this podcast for you and I plan to do it for as long as I'm able. Feel free to check in from time to time ;-)

2011 Year End Countdown

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
Bush
Cage the Elephant
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Linkin Park
Mumford & Sons
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against

2011-12-26T17:53:00.000-05:00

So, they didn't have two of my top 10 (which I posted earlier this month) so I naturally replaced them with Me First and the Gimme Gimmes EP's. This is to vote in the Hype Machine's blogger category for their Zeitgeist 2011 (I love end of year stuff!!)

Merry Christmas! Have a New Countdown!

2011-12-25T10:00:00.002-05:00

Well, it's Christmas and here is the latest AFDATTC (that's what the cool kids are calling it. It rhymes with "Aflac"). Next week is the Year End Countdown and then the Artists of the Year Countdown on the 8th!

Countdown #85

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
Bush
Cage the Elephant
Chevelle
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Fuel
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Switchfoot
Young the Giant

New Countdown...Running out of Clever Titles!

2011-12-18T10:00:00.004-05:00

How the hell did it get to be December 18th already? One week till Christmas!?! Agh! Well, I'm writing this on December 16th and hopefully K and I have gotten a lot done by way of Christmas shopping/prep. Because right now? Not looking so good. But it'll work out. Probably.

Countdown #84

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Bush
Chevelle
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
King Post Kitsch
Seether
Switchfoot
Young the Giant

Best Albums of 2011 #5-1

2011-12-16T12:30:00.000-05:00

5. Wild Flag - Wild Flag A big part of this year, for me, was about female led bands. And one of the best female led bands was Wild Flag. This is a supergroup, but only if you're pretty familiar with the 90's riot grrl scene, which I am not. When I listen to this album, and the same goes for when I saw them in concert, I hear four women IN LOVE with rock and roll. It's refreshing and entrancing. And addictive.

Wild Flag - Electric Band

4. Original Broadway Cast Recording - The Book of Mormon God, what an amazing set of songs. I'm probably never going to see this musical on Broadway, but I almost feel like I don't need to, with this in my life. My favorite superpower of Parker and Stone is their ability to tease and mock and flat out ridicule something, all the while filtering the bullshit down to the essentials. This musical is about belief and how important it is to believe in something, even if it seems weird or stupid to other people. It was so hard to pick a song to feature from this. So I went with some exposition, to draw you into the story!

Book of Mormon - Two by Two

3. King Post Kitsch - The Party's Over Oh dear. I love this album so much. I think it's the effortlessness that gets me most. Charlie doesn't seem like he's breaking a sweat as he's cranking out song after song of glorious rock. It's catchy, it's addictive, it's hummable, it's amazing. I hope that 2012 is as full of KPK as 2011 was! For the featured song, I've chosen the song that started it all for me, nearly a year ago.

King Post Kitsch - Walking on Eggshells

2. New Found Glory - Radiosurgery 2011 was a great year for music, if you ask me. But the cherry on top of it all is this. New Found Glory charging back into my heart with this album of the kind of pop-punk genius that I have been yearning for from them, or Blink, or Green Day. Don't get me wrong, though. You can tell that these guys have matured as songwriters. I would feature "Summer Fling, Don't Mean a Thing" because that's maybe the best song on the album, but I wanted to show that there's even more to love, if you've already heard that one and you're still hesitant (although, I don't know how you can still be considered "sane" if that is what's happening for you)

New Found Glory - Memories and Battlescars

1. Doomtree - No Kings I don't even know where to begin. I suppose I could direct you to my review of this album less than a month ago. I had to wean myself off of this album. I'm still not sure why it hit me so hard. And it's not like all my friends are listening to this so I'm being social about it. In fact, I feel quite miserly about Doomtree in general and specifically about this album. Because what if someone listened to it and didn't like it? Or didn't get it? Or didn't like it as much as I do? It kind of feels like I'm dating a girl from outside my circle of friends and feeling wary about introducing her around. It's not that I doubt my taste. It's that I doubt everyone else's! And I mean that in the best of ways. You should buy this album and love it deeply. Like I do. Oh, and when you love an album as completely as I love this album, it's damn near impossible to pick a song from it to feature. So here's my best shot

Doomtree - Team the Best Team

Guest Review of Countdown Tracks! (Episode 3)

2011-12-15T21:12:00.000-05:00

And so we find ourselves with another guest review! This time, it's by the illustrious and delightful Tricia from I Sing in the Kitchen: A blog where she showcases musical treats and delicious eats! 9 times out of 10, I'm drooling by the end of her posts. It's a great site. Check it out.

We're still hoping to get Betsy's review of the tracks Erin reviewed in Episode 2. I'm not worried about her reviewing old songs. The point is not keeping up to date. The point is getting fresh perspectives on songs we listen to!

You can find the tracks she talks about on my podcasts starting on Episode 66. And there are still songs on the countdown I'll record this week! As always, if you would like to listen to an old episode that is no longer available to download, let me know and I'll hook you up!

Tricia's Guest Review

The Black Keys-Lonely Boy

What you get from this song is rocking fun. It is exactly the uptempo mess of music that
made The Black Keysʼ album ʻBrothersʼ one of my favorite albums of 2010.

“Whoa-oh-oh”

Blink 182-Up All Night

Up All Night takes off with an Edgar Winterish Frankenstein vibe.

Epic drums, indie rock and roll. A wall of jam-out sound.

“Do you want me here?” Thatʼs my favorite part for its calmer feel.

Bush-The Sound Of Winter

Here we have more of that typical post-grunge sound not unlike the Blink 182 track.

Unlikely love songs, such as this one, always make me smile. The music points more to
a night of billiards in a smoky bar than a guy declaring that “Iʼll be with you until the
end.”

Coldplay-Paradise

It is only in the past year that I have become a fan of Coldplay. My son played Clocks at
his piano recital and I was sold.

Coldplayʼs music is catchy, if not completely predictable. Honestly, if you donʼt pay close
enough attention, a whole busload of Coldplay songs could come on in a row before
you look up and say “Oh, listen to that. Itʼs Coldplay.” Again, the music is good, but not
ʻstop you in your tracks listen modeʼ.

And, what do you know? Another song with a prominent “Whoa-oh-oh”.

Foster The People-Helena Beat

It appears that we are now leaving indie land and heading to the dance lounge. This
song is cosmo in one hand, Jon Hamm looking dude in the other. You would clap along,
but you donʼt want to spill your drink.

I can see a Macarena type dance getting made to go along with Helena Beat.

Janeʼs Addiction-Irresistable Force

Arryhthmic rhythms, like in this song, are so cool. I love the bass line and the irresistible
hook, too.

You know, there is almost a “Whoa-oh-oh” in there.

“Banging and banging and banging”. Sounds like Janeʼs Addiction still has the magic
touch.

The Joy Formidable-Whirring

From the opening notes of ʻWhirringʼ you expect it to morph into ʻLiving In Colourʼ by
Frightened Rabbit.

The insistent drums are excellent.

The way that the music drags on at the end of the song isnʼt really my thing. I tend to
like a cleaner ﬁnish. However, that said, I can understand how this frenetic build up
appeals to some music fans especially when seeing the band live.

Mumford & Sons-Roll Away Your Stone

I love every song on the album ʻSigh No Moreʼ, this song being no exception.

That banjo! Lead singer Marcus Mumfordʼs voice. Lyrics so full of passion and vivid
images.

I really enjoy the slowing down and speeding up that occurs throughout Roll Away Your
Stone, culminating in the ﬁnal round of “Stone”. My feet canʼt tap any harder.

Red Hot Chili Peppers-The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie

I love this hazy-gazey tune.

I want to press myself against a full body speaker and let that bass course through me.

Hey Now, catchy, cool.

“I want to rock this body proud.”

Rise Against-Make It Stop (September's Children)

Even more “Whoa-oh-ohs”!

This is a ʻuse your cell phone ﬂashlight in a cigarette lighter kind of wayʼ song.

I envision college age boys listening to Make It Stop while playing beer pong or shining
up the skateboard.

Switchfoot-Dark Horses

See comments for the previous song and replace “Whoa-oh-ohs” with “La la las”.

Young The Giant-Cough Syrup

I canʼt even believe it--More “Whoa-oh-ohs”!

I love this song.

“Lifeʼs too short to even care at all”.

Light, poppy, infectious.

Whoa-oh.

311-Sunset In July

Yes, please.

I will take this song to an expensive restaurant and then out for drinks. That is how
much I like it.

I adore the drum/guitar interplay.

Now, you must be kidding me. Is that a “Whoa-oh-oh” I hear?

End of Review

Thanks Tricia! It's so great to hear people's writing styles mirror the way they speak and think about things! Tricia noticed that a lot of the songs had "Whoa-oh" in them. Here's a song by NOFX about that:

NOFX - Whoa on the Whoas from 45 or 46 Songs That Weren't Good Enough To Go On Our Other Records

New Countdown. Needed: A Chisel and a Garter.

2011-12-11T10:00:00.001-05:00

This episode rocks. Hard. You will enjoy it so much. I know I did!

Countdown #83

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Bush
Chevelle
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Seether
Switchfoot
Young the Giant
Yuck

Best Albums of 2011 #10-6

2011-12-09T09:43:00.002-05:00

10. Rise Against - Endgame I will always buy any album that Rise Against releases. I can't really say they're breaking any new ground with Endgame, but the ground that they've already broken is so rich in nutrients, that I could survive on it for many years to come. The track I've selected from Endgame is the one that I've listened to over and over. It features some good sampling from the film version of Catch-22. It may be the sampling, in fact, that makes the song for me. So, thanks, Joseph Heller!

Rise Against - Survivor Guilt

9. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light When Foo Fighters release a new album, it always feels like the first single is amazing and gets my hopes way up for the rest of the album. And while the rest of their albums are fine, they never really live up to the excitement of that first track. Wasting Light is the exception to that. The first single, "Rope" (the track I've picked to feature from the album), is fantastic. And it is representative of the amazingness of the rest of the album. I still need to spend some time with the second half of the album, but it's time I'm looking forward to spending!

Foo Fighters - Rope

8. Yuck - Yuck I know that if I was like 5 years older, I would get a lot more of the allusions and influences that make this album so enjoyable. There's like Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine and stuff, right? Well, in any case, I love the fuzzed out guitars, the wailing solos, the gorgeous vocals. This is a good driving album. Just don't, like, punch your windshield or window. I could have basically picked any song to feature, so I picked "Operation"!

Yuck - Operation

7. Radiohead - The King of Limbs This album was too short. That's my one complaint with it. I wish they'd put "Supercollider", "The Butcher", and "Staircase" on it, but I suppose it's their band and not mine. The trick to "getting" this album, I think, is to look at it as a dance album with a break to catch your breath in the middle. I've picked one of the "breather" songs to feature. The other being "Codex", natch.

Radiohead - Give Up the Ghost

6. The Antlers - Burst Apart I did an actual review of this album back in September but what still gets me about this album is how it is, at the same time, so frigid and so cathartic! It's practically, well, bursting with potential energy. And it lets that energy loose only twice. If this was vinyl (and I'm sure it is, somewhere), it would be the last track of each side. The album closer "Putting the Dog to Sleep" is what I featured back in September, so here's the Side 1 closer:

The Antlers - Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out

New Countdown! New Month! New......Shoes?

2011-12-04T10:00:00.001-05:00

Well, I did get some new shoes. Was that this week? I haven't actually started wearing them, but I'm sure I will have before the year is out. What a way to start a blog post!

It was a very easy podcast to record this week. Grammy nominations, Festive fifty voting, and all that gave me lots to talk about!

Countdown #82

***Featuring***

AWOLNATION

The Black Keys

Bush

Coldplay

Foo Fighters

Foster the People

Seether

Switchfoot

Young the Giant

Rock the Vote and Vote the Rock!

2011-11-27T14:28:00.000-05:00

Well, it's that time of year again! Time to vote on the shortlist for the Contrast Podcast Festive Fifty!

Pick your top 10 favorite songs from the list below and email them to me at aodblog@gmail.com! If there's a song on there that you HATE, you can tell me that too. All votes must be in by December 9th. Happy Voting!

"But James," you're saying, "I don't know ANY of these songs!" Fear not, citizen! Our noble leader Tim has set up a Flash player with the whole list, so you can listen to, love, and vote for your favorites!
It's here: http://www.contrastpodcast.com/festivefifty

A Winged Victory For the Sullen - Requiem For the Static King Part 1
Acid House Kings - Would You Say Stop?
Adele - Rolling in the Deep
Adele - Someone Like You
Airborne Toxic Event (The) - Numb
Alex Turner - Glass in the Park
Alex Turner - Hiding Tonight
Alexis Marceaux - Leila and the Orange Moon
Anna Calvi - Desire
Antlers (The) - Putting the Dog to Sleep
Arctic Monkeys - Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair
Austin Lucas - Nevada County Line
Beirut - A Candle's Fire
Beirut - East Harlem
Beirut - The Rip Tide
Billy Bragg - Never Buy the Sun
Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears - Booty City
Black Keys (The) - Lonely Boy
Blanche Hudson Weekend - If You're Still Together
Bottle Rockets - Lucky Break
Brenton Duvall - World Tour (Weezy, Wale, Dre)
Cashier No9 - Goldstar
Civil Wars (The) - Barton Hollow
Clive Tanaka Y Su Orquesta - All Night, All Right
Cut Copy - Need You Now
Cute Lepers - Noisy Song
Dawes - A Little Bit of Everything
Dawes - Time Spent in Los Angeles
Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys
Death Cab for Cutie - You Are a Tourist
Decemberists (The) - Calamity Song
Decemberists (The) - Dear Avery
Decemberists (The) - Don't Carry It All
Decemberists (The) - January Hymn
Decemberists (The) - Rise To Me
Decemberists (The) - Rox in the Box
DeVotchKa - The Alley
Elbow - Lippy Kids
Ellie Goulding - Lights
Elysian Fields - Red Riding Hood
Farewell Flight - Out For Blood
FareWell Poetry - As True As Troilus
Feist - Bittersweet Melodies
Feist - Caught A Long Wind
Feist - The Circle Married the Line
Feist - Undiscovered First
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Fleet Foxes - Lorelai
Florence + the Machine - What the Water Gave Me
Foster the People - Helena Beat
Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks
Fountains of Wayne - Cemetery Guns
Graveyard - Uncomfortably Numb
Half Man Half Biscuit - Fun Day in the Park
Head and the Heart (The) - Heaven Go Easy On Me
Herman Dune - Tell Me Something I Don't Know
Hotel Lights - Falling Down
Hunters - Deadbeat
Imaginary Cities - Hummingbird
James Blake - Give Me My Month
James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream
James Vincent McMorrow - This Old Dark Machine
Jason Isbell - Alabama Pines
Josh T. Pearson - Sweetheart, I Ain't Your Christ
Kills (The) - DNA
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Bats in the Attic
King Post Kitsch - Don't You Touch My Fucking Honeytone
Kurt Vile - Jesus Fever
Ladytron - White Elephant
Lana Del Rey - Video Games
Lia Ices - Grown Unknown
Lindsey Buckingham - In Our Own Time
Lovely Eggs (The) - Don't Look at Me (I Don't Like It)
Lykke Li - Get Some
Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers
Lykke Li - Sadness is a Blessing
Lykke Li - Youth Knows No Pain
M83 - Midnight City
Middle Brother - Middle Brother
Mirrors - Into the Heart
Misty's Big Adventure - I See a Cloud
Mountain Goats (The) - Birth of Serpents
My Morning Jacket - Holding On to Death Metal
My Morning Jacket - Victory Dance
Nikki Lane - Gone, Gone, Gone
Okkervil River - Hanging From a Hit
Okkervil River - Rider
Okkervil River - Wake and Be Fine
Okkervil River - We Need a Myth
Okkervil River - Your Past Life As a Blast
Pains of Being Pure at Heart (The) - Belong
Pains of Being Pure at Heart (The) - Even in Dreams
Pains of Being Pure at Heart (The) - Heart in Your Heartbreak
Pete Wylie & Wah! - The Day That Margaret Thatcher Dies (A Party Song)
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
PJ Harvey - The Last Living Rose
PJ Harvey - The Words That Maketh Murder
Professor Elemental - Fighting Trousers
R.E.M. - Discoverer
Radiohead - Bloom
Radiohead - Codex
Radiohead - Lotus Flower
Radiohead - Staircase
Raveonettes (The) - Ignite
Red Fang - Wires
Ron Sexsmith - Get in Line
Silos (The) - Teenage Prayer
Sleepies - Sludge River Mouth
Smith Westerns - All Die Young
Sonya Cotton - Man in a Tree with a Gun
Strokes (The) - Under Cover of Darkness
Tom Waits - Bad As Me
Tom Williams & the Boat - See my evil
Tombs - Vermillion
TV on the Radio - Will Do
Twilight Hotel - Mahogany Veneer
Vaccines (The) - Post Break Up Sex
Vetiver - Hard to Break
Washed Out - Amor Fati
Wilco - Art of Almost
Wilco - Dawned on Me
Wilco - I Might
Wilco - One Sunday Morning
Wilco - Whole Love
Wild Flag - Glass Tambourine
Wooden Shjips - Lazy Bones
Wye Oak - Civilian
Yuck - Holing Out

New Countdown with a little help (a log of help!) from my parents!

2011-11-27T10:00:00.001-05:00

Well, Thanksgiving was this week in America, so my Dad and stepmom came down to visit. Those of you that were listening back in February will remember that I asked them to help me out before.

This time I REALLY put them to work!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving if you celebrated, and great week if you didn't!

Countdown #81

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Bush
Coldplay
Doomtree
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Switchfoot
Young the Giant

No Kings.

2011-11-24T23:49:00.000-05:00

So, I want to write about No Kings the latest crew album by Doomtree, a rap collective that I've certainly written about before and probably talked to you about.

I can't stop listening to this album. Seriously. I got my preorder on Friday (the album came out the following Tuesday. Preorders should always work like that.) and, aside from two podcast episodes, it was all I listened to until my parents came for Thanksgiving and we did this week's podcast.

I've tried to figure out why it is that I can't press stop and listen to another album or something when the album ends. It's a number of things:

1. The album closer "Fresh New Trash" doesn't end on a downbeat. It cuts off before that conclusive downbeat would hit and I think that gives me this aching feeling of incompleteness that I just can't STAND!

2. Over the course of the album's 12 songs, Doomtree covers the full range of human emotion. I'm not sure how this is possible, but they do it. I just don't find myself yearning for a missing mood. This album has it all.

3. It's different. The songs are all very different from each other and from anything else that's out there right now. It's like rap music for hardcore punk kids. Raw, tough, but vulnerable and thoughtful.

In addition to struggling to figure out my addiction, I've done a lot of thinking about the structure of this album and these songs. It seems to me that it's all about the contrast between Dessa and Mike Mictlan.

Dessa, who I've definitely talked about before, has this amazing sultry singing voice, and a hypnotic, vocubularily rich rap voice. She's thoughtful and confident and wise.

Mictlan, has a deep, tough voice. He raps fast. He doesn't sing, but his flow has a sing songy quality (sorta like how ODB would rap) and he gets the party going.

There are at least 4 moments on No Kings where Dessa's verse comes right before (and is occasionally overtaken by) Mictlan's. This is the secret album-wide hook. Doomtree is already so diverse, but when you put these two together like that, it's like taking a highlighter and making the diversity Day-Glo.

I want to go on and on about this album. I think I may do a Top 10 albums of the year list, if only so I can talk some more about No Kings!

I just realized that both of the songs I would feel comfortable posting DON'T feature that Dessa/Mictlan pairing.

So I'm going to attempt to link you to the video for "Bolt Cutter", which does.

I would say watch the video, then go to Doomtree's website and listen to "Beacon" and "The Grand Experiment" in the player on the right. Then go to Doomtree's Store (or click the link on the top of the homepage) and by this album. And buy a copy for your friend.

Here's the video:

New Countdown, just in case you're worried I've forgotten how to ramble

2011-11-20T10:00:00.002-05:00

I did so well up until the last intro and then I literally stopped talking to try to do some calendar math. Oh silly James. But that's just me being me, you know? Sometimes I ramble and that's ok :)

I'm really enjoying the context of this podcast being on the radio.

You guys, lots of awesome stuff is coming up and I talk a little bit about it in the aforementioned last intro. If you've been with me since last year, you won't be surprised, but it's still super exciting!

Countdown 80!

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Bush
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
The Nearly Deads
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Switchfoot
Young the Giant

New Countdown! Breath of Fresh Air!

2011-11-13T10:00:00.003-05:00

So did you hear me on the radio?? Its so fun to listen to yourself in a format where someone else is causing you to be heard. I hope that that makes sense. If I was a movie star or something, I feel like I'd feel the same way as I do now.

So, once again and then I promise I'll stop plugging: If you go to shoutcast.com or get the shoutcast app, then search "Destado", you'll find Destado Radio, where the Countdown plays every week at about 830 on Sunday Mornings!

This week marks what I believe is the official end to the craziness that was the month of October. I went and saw Dessa, Lila had her Flu shot and now we are taking it easy this weekend. It feels so luxurious to be able to take it easy, you know?

Countdown #79

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
Blink-182
Bush
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against
Young the Giant

Tune In to New Countdowns!

2011-11-06T12:39:00.000-05:00

Hi there! If this is your first time at Appetite For Distraction. Then welcome! Tell your friends!

If you've been here before, welcome back! Tell your friends! ;)

So, this morning, I was on the radio. Internet radio. If you go to shoutcast.com or download the Shoutcast app and then search "Destado", you will find the Destado Radio Network that will be broadcasting the Countdown every Sunday morning at around 8:30 am!

It's such an honor to be on there and I think back to when I started the Countdown and how Casey Kasem was sort of the model that I was trying to emulate. And now my show will be heard on Sunday mornings. Just like Casey Kasem!

I hope you'll tune in. And then I think I'm going to set it up so that at 10:30 or so, the blog post with the Countdown that has just played will go up and you can download it to listen to over and over again!

Here's this week's!

Countdown #78

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
Blink-182
Bush
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against
Young the Giant

New Countdown: Surprises Abound!

2011-10-30T23:17:00.000-04:00

This episode has some surprises at the front and the back, so why not listen to the whole thing? ;-)

But seriously. I've learned a lesson over the course of the last couple of weeks and that is this: If you just keep doing what you're doing and doing it the best you can, you will find opportunities to do more of what you're doing on a grander scale!

Countdown #77

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
Blink-182
Bush
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Goo Goo Dolls
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against
Young the Giant

A Much Sunshinier Countdown!

2011-10-26T23:36:00.000-04:00

Well, some quality time with my daughter today and a pep talk with my Dad last week made for a much more chipper James this episode! Hope you enjoy it!

Countdown #76

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
Blink-182
Bush
Doomtree
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Jane's Addiction
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against
Young the Giant

A New Countdown with Attitude!

2011-10-18T10:00:00.000-04:00

So, I've been thinking about how this countdown would go. And I have to say that I think I came off a LOT less grumpy than I imagined I would.

It's just more proof that I need to be doing this primarily for myself and stop comparing myself to other podcasters. And if I don't like the way things are going, I can feel free to change whatever. This is my play space. And if no one shows up at the observation window, I can still have fun!

Countdown #75

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
Blink-182
Bush
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Jane's Addiction
The Joy Formidable
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against
Young the Giant
Wild Flag

New Countdown that you NEED to hear....too pushy?

2011-10-12T10:00:00.002-04:00

Ok, maybe NEED is a little strong, but I've realized that strong, forceful advertising is important in this workaday world.

Have you seen any ads for Dr Pepper TEN? It's for men. And it's ridiculous, you guys. How is ten calories any more manly (or "bold") than all the calories of a regular Dr Pepper? If you're wanting a Dr Pepper but don't want all the calories, just go ahead and drink a regular Diet Dr Pepper. Ok. I'll stop. But if you want to get me riled up, bring this topic up and watch me foam at the mouth! Now THAT'S bold!

Anywho...

Countdown #74 (With 11 Bold songs)

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
Blink-182
Bush
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Hole
Jane's Addiction
The Joy Formidable
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against
Young the Giant

New Countdown to Rake Leaves By

2011-10-04T21:40:00.000-04:00

Actually I'm not really sure who rakes leaves anymore. Any leaves that fall on our yard just end up getting mowed. But my sentiment is about the beginning of fall! Of course, fall technically started a couple weeks ago, it really started only a couple of days ago around here, with the cold breezes. This should keep you warm like a nice cardigan!

Countdown #73

***Featuring***
AWOLNATON
Blink 182
Bush
Eve 6
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Jane's Addiction
The Joy Formidable
Mumford & Sons
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against

New Countdown. Recorded in 3 Parts, Stitched Together

2011-09-27T22:58:00.000-04:00

And so it was that, in 3 different sessions, at 3 different levels of fatigue and frustration, I stitched the latest Countdown together and truly I believe it to be a thing of beauty. Enjoy it...if you dare!!!!

(When did I start writing like Stan Lee? It won't last long, bub!)

Countdown #72

***Featuring***
311
AWOLNATION
Blink 182
Bush
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Jane's Addiction
The Joy Formidable
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against
Smash Mouth

Review: The Antlers - Burst Apart

2011-09-20T10:00:00.001-04:00

[This was the review I wrote to apply for the gig at Listen Before You Buy that didn't work out due to my overbooked life. You might find that it has kind of a more serious tone than we normally see me having on this blog (I phrased that weird, don't you think?). Think of it as me putting on my "Review Voice". I'm going to try to start writing all my reviews with my "Review Voice"]

Burst Apart, the new album from Brooklyn trio The Antlers is a journey through a gothic Southern nightmare where nothing is certain. Images of teeth falling out, loose knots, drunken one night stands and loyal dogs being euthanized reinforce the themes of tentative devotion and eventual betrayal that The Antlers do so well.

One of my concerns with Burst Apart was that, because it’s not a concept album like Hospice, their previous album, I wouldn’t find the songs compelling. This is never a problem on any of the ten songs. Sure, there are lulls, but they serve to build tension and suspense. It was only on my fifth or sixth listen that I realized that “Tiptoe” is an instrumental. Each song conveys an atmosphere that is both exclusive and cumulative. It’s the same kind of thing you see in a collection of short stories.

Another concern that had troubled me was the drone. On Hospice, The Antlers had sewn a middle-pitch drone into all but two or three of the songs. The drone was about the same volume as Peter Silberman’s falsetto, so I was forced to turn the volume up in order to hear the lyrics, but quickly back down each time he hit a high note. It created a stress that actually helped solidify the tension of the story, but I hoped it wouldn’t find its way to this album. And it hasn’t. Silberman’s voice sounds gorgeous and the lyrics are perfectly clear.

Burst Apart is the kind of album that rewards repeated listens. The songs are simple, yet chilling. The Antlers aren’t breaking new ground, but they do find ways to cultivate a much-tilled soil. At the end of the day, Burst Apart won’t be one of those, “Where were you when you first heard this?” albums, but not every album can be. This is a solid album from a band whose best days are still ahead of them.

The Antlers - Putting the Dog to Sleep from Burst Apart

An Unprecedented New Countdown.

2011-09-19T20:46:00.000-04:00

This is not the longest Countdown of all time. Countdown #47 and Flashback Countdown #2 were longer. The unprecedented part comes from the number of bonus songs on this episode. Here's a hint: It's more than one!

This is what happens when you let rappers influence your programming via Twitter (And Astronautalis, if you're reading this, Hi! Leave a comment and let folks know I'm not crazy!)

Countdown #71

***Featuring***
311
Astronautalis
AWOLNATION
Blink 182
Bush
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Jane's Addiction
The Joy Formidable
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against
St. Vincent

Liveblogging the First Listen: Me First & the Gimme Gimmes - Sing in Japanese

2011-09-18T00:56:00.000-04:00

If you click on the tag at the bottom of this post, you'll see that the Sing in Japanese EP by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes is a highly anticipated release around these parts.

So I thought I would do a liveblog of my first listen. I have listed the songs' English titles below and I will write whatever crosses my mind while each song is playing. I'm kind of wary about doing this because...well, they'll be singing in Japanese!

If someone familiar with these songs could comment with some context on the songs, that would be very helpful.

1. Hero

It's so strange. I mean, it could a) be gibberish or b) be a classic song...wait. Did he just say James Dean? I can tell that this is going to be an enjoyable EP. I'm already ready for the chorus... HERO...something something. Love it. It's amazing how the music makes it completely relatable. Kind of makes you think about how unimportant the lyrics of a song can be. This is amazing. Haha HAI HAI. Love it.

2. Kokoro No Tabi

Lol. I feel like I've suffered brain damage. The crowd vox always make me Singh along, but I can't sing along! I don't know the words! Or the language! Me first can do anything. This EP is proof. I wonder they'd ever perform these songs live in America. I also wonder if, someday, I'll be able to sing along....kind of makes me want to learn Japanese. Haha. The other thing is that I'm not sure what level of irony these songs are supposed to be heard at.

3. Kekkon Shiyoyo

Ooh. A little social d reference there. I wondered if they'd do that thing where they quote the melody of other classic punk songs. And they did! Hey there was the title! I can sing that too! Kekkon Shiyoyo! Mmm mmm mmm! He really sings that! Haha how many of you are actually going to hear this EP? It's not like when I was doing radio dad. Lots of people listened to that. I bet I'm the only person in my city that has this EP.

4. C-C-C

Haha. It's really strange to have song after song of this. I saw a review that was like, I didn't think they'd ACTUALLY sing in JAPANESE. Fuckin Weridos. Hey there was a little bit of English! "I'm so high...I'm so down...I'm so blue...no no no." haha this is such a surreal listen, guys. If you can pick up this EP, do. It's a trip.

5. 22 Sai No Wakare

But I mean, the songs are completely great. If I didn't know better, I would guess that Spike was making up "Japanese-sounding" lyrics. But I know that he didn't. Well, I suppose I don't KNOW it. Can I get some confirmation that these are actual Japanese songs and that spike is singing them at least close to correctly? I think this might be my favorite song so far. Good, drums and guitars. It sounds like a Japanese western song.

6. Linda Linda

Ok this song is twice as long as the others...oh wow. It's gonna be all ska-ey. I love it. Move over, 22 Sai No Wakare. There's a new sheriff in town. And those horns are by El Mariachi Bronx. Tricia, you know them! I hope you're reading this! Oh man. This song is so great. It's cool to hear the Gimmes play so chillish. This whole EP is going to get lots of plays. I can now confirm that. I'm absolutely speechless about how I'm enjoying this! Ooh fat mike can sing the chorus of this one! Repeatedly! Incessantly. And a nice little stereotypical Japanese accent at the end. Nice.

Well, that was a quick 15 minutes. Far more enjoyable than I feared. You should definitely pick up this EP. It's on amazon. I think you can DL it from iTunes. It's a bold next step in this bands illustrious discography. I suppose Glee is going to have Kekkon Shiyoyo on the show this season. Thanks for reading. Arigato. Sayonara.

New Countdown: LXX Edition!

2011-09-11T09:00:00.001-04:00

It's time for another fun-filled episode! We're getting soaked with some 90's revival stuff on the countdown! I love it!

Countdown #70

***Featuring***
311
AWOLNATION
Blink-182
Bush
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
The Joy Formidable
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against
Sims

Stop your giggling and enjoy Countdown #69

2011-09-05T09:56:00.000-04:00

It's taken me all weekend to get this out but I'm excited for you to hear it! I'll be back with another one very soon.

Also, watch this space for another guest review, an actual album review, the start of another Russian Roulette session and hopefully another Off the Charts episode!

Countdown #69

***Featuring***
311
AWOLNATION
Blink-182
Bush
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
The Joy Formidable
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against
Sugar Ray

Guest Review of Countdown Tracks! (Episode 2)

2011-08-28T23:23:00.000-04:00

I asked one of my best friends in the entire world to listen to all the tracks we'd had on our countdown (at the time I sent it to her) that Andy didn't review a couple months ag o and she came back with this. She also asked her friend Betsy to review them, too, and I will post that as soon as I get it! And now....Here's Erin!

PS. Erin has a blog where she talks about life with her new baby. Her baby is adorable and I think you'll find Erin is a very comfortable writer. You can find her blog HERE.

PPS. You can find the tracks she talks about on my Podcasts starting on Episode 40. And there are still some songs on the countdown I'll record this week! If you try to download an old episode and it's no longer available, let me know and I'll re-link it.

Erin's Guest Review

A disclaimer: It could be said that I am … not overly into music. My taste runs toward pop and ‘80s hair bands (my iPod contains a crap-ton of Bon Jovi and Backstreet Boys), and I may or may not have the entire Newsies soundtrack on repeat. My husband finds it utterly hilarious that I am doing a music review for James. In fact, when I told him about it, he said, “I want to be there when you listen to these songs, just so I can laugh at your reactions.” (He’s not here, though. If I waited for a time when he was here and the baby was asleep so I could actually do this, I would be missing out on precious hours of my own sleep. The joys of parenthood!)

A few things before I get going:

1) I’m listening blind. James gave me the list of songs names and artists, but I have a tendency to decide I hate a band based on one song, so to avoid allowing myself to go into this with any sort of bias, I am not looking at the song titles or artists until I’m done. And since I’m terrible at recognizing bands based on sound, it’s unlikely that I’ll recognize the band without knowing ahead of time who it is, unless it’s a band I really like. If it’s one I’ve only heard one or two songs by, I won’t recognize it. At any rate, if I have more to add after I find out who the band is, I’ll put that in brackets after the initial review. {And I, James, will comment on anything that I find comment-able in these squiggly brackets, and I'll italicize it like this too}

2) James told me I’m only allowed to say, “Ick” to one song, so I must choose wisely. He knows me well.

So here I go. Reviewing music, and stuff. Whee!

1) The Airborne Toxic Event: Changing. I like this one! I don’t really have anything intelligent to say on it, but I could listen to it again. Which is, for me, high praise. I feel like I may have heard it before, or at least maybe I’ve heard the band before.

2) AWOLNATION: Sail. Ick. That’s right, I’m using my “ick” early, but I can’t help it. This song reminds me of both high school open mic nights (and not in a good way) and empty Army bunkers. (I don’t know what that means either, but that’s the mental image I got while I was forcing myself to listen to this whole song.)

3) Beastie Boys: Make Some Noise. This totally sounds like the Beastie Boys. I dig it. [OMG, this actually IS the Beastie Boys. I thought they broke up or something. I totally did not think this was actually them.] {They are still going strong, even though one of them, Adam Yauch, was recently diagnosed with cancer. He's in remission, I believe was the last news. The album that this track comes from, Hot Sauce Committee, Part Two, has been hailed as their best since Hello Nasty}

4) The Black Keys: Howlin’ For You. Was this song on an episode of “So You Think You Can Dance”? I think it was. I just tried to Google it but I couldn’t find anything, so maybe I’m making that up. Anyway, I like this one too. I got a little bored by the end, but I tend to have a short attention span.

5) Coldplay: Every Teardrop is a Waterfall. Why does this seem reminiscent to me of the Ataris’ cover of “The Boys of Summer”? Not that it sounds like that song, but it’s got the same feel to it, for me. I would listen to this with the windows down, head-bobbing and not even feeling like I should turn the volume down at stoplights (which I usually do, out of embarrassment and respect for my fellow drivers – the rest of the world doesn’t need to hear my circa-2001 Britney and the soundtrack to Wicked). [Okay, Coldplay? Really? Would not have guessed that.]

6) Death Cab for Cutie: You Are A Tourist. Crap, what is the name of this band? I recognize this band, I like this band, they did “Birdhouse in Your Soul” … They Might Be Giants! Gah, that would have made me crazy. Thank goodness for Google. Although this doesn’t sound like them except for the singer. Maybe I’m wrong. Either way, I like this. Again, with the head-bobbing. [Surprise! It’s not They Might Be Giants. Is Death Cab a side project of the singer for TMBG? This right here shows you what I know about music. Half the people reading this right now want to slap me, and the other half are probably too busy crying to want to slap me.] {I never saw the similarities between Ben Gibbard (lead singer of Death Cab)'s voice and John Linnell (lead singer of TMBG)'s voice until now.}

7) Foo Fighters: Rope. I like this one. So does the baby. She’s been singing along. She should be napping, but whatever. If she’s going to be in a good mood and let me do this, I’m okay with her being awake.

8) Foo Fighters: Walk. I’ve heard this before! I don’t know who it is or where I’ve heard it, though. My guess is that it’s been on Alt Nation and I’ve heard it in my husband’s car. More head-bobbing, on my part and my daughter’s. Though hers might be because she’s only five months old and her neck doesn’t work super-well yet.

9) Foster the People: Pumped Up Kicks. I am bored with the first 45 seconds of this song. Perhaps it will pick up? … Yes. Yes, it picked up, but it’s still pretty repetitive. I am not revoking the “ick” from song #2, though, because this one is just boring, it doesn’t make me want to stab my eyeballs out. Lorelai seems to like it, she’s singing along again.

10) Incubus: Adolescents. This one reminds me of Incubus. I don’t think it’s Incubus, I think Incubus might be too mainstream for this list, but it’s got some of the same … I don’t know what they’re called. Sound things. Not the instruments themselves, but some of the same types of sounds that the instruments make. James, aren’t you glad you asked me to review music for you? [Wow, I called another one! I am awesome!] {That's what they call them in the industry: "Sound Things" ;-)}

11) Middle Class Rut: New Low. I don’t have anything clever to say about this one. I didn’t like or dislike it. It just was. {Frequent listeners to the podcast will remember that this song got overwhelmingly average reviews. And here's another one}

12) Mumford & Sons: The Cave. I recognize this group too, but can’t identify it. I’m enjoying the Irish-sounding riffs. [This right here is why I didn’t look at the artists before I listened. Mumford & Sons has another song that annoys the crap out of me and I’d have disliked this one without giving it a chance if I had seen it was them before I heard it.]

13) Rise Against: Help is On the Way. This one’s okay. I don’t love it, but it’s fine. If it came on the radio, I would listen to it – but only after making sure my other presets didn’t have something better (but I do that even if a song I love comes on). Oh, wait. I just got to the screamy part. I don’t like the screamy part. Why do singers feel the need to do that? They take a perfectly nice song and go and add in the screamy parts that make my throat hurt just listening to them. [Rise Against did another song back when my husband and I first started dating that he put on a mix CD for me, and I actually rather liked it. I don’t remember what it was called and I don’t know that I’ve heard anything by them since, but I do like them. And I probably like this song even more now that I know it’s theirs, because that’s how I roll.] {I will wager 1000 no-bucks that he put "Swing Life Away" on the mix CD.}

14) Seether: Country Song. This is another one that I don’t love but I could listen to if it came on the radio. I like the harder parts, the verses in between kind of bore me a little though.

15) Social Distortion: Machine Gun Blues. Oooh, I like this. This sounds like something you’d hear in a movie in a scene where the main characters are at some underground music club seeing an obscure band that seems like a no-big-deal scene but then turns out to come around full circle when at the end the guy sends her tickets to see the band as a peace offering after their fight, and then he shows up there and they make up to the sounds of the same song they were hearing in the first scene. (Why yes, I did just watch a movie where this happened. My taste in movies is about as deep as my taste in music. You should see my DVR, the amount of reality TV would gag you.) {We just watched "Going the Distance", too!}

16) Sublime with Rome: Panic. This sounds like an angry version of Save Ferris. Although I think Save Ferris is a ska band (yes?) and the thing that defines ska is the horns, which I don’t hear in this song. But they might be there and I just don’t hear them. That happens a lot. Oh, no, wait, there is a horn. I think. Maybe. Anyway, angry Save Ferris. [Sublime with Rome? Like, those are two groups joining forces? Sublime, like “Caress Me Down” Sublime? I thought that guy died.] {Sublime with Rome is the two surviving members of Sublime playing with new lead singer Rome Ramirez. Save Ferris was indeed a ska band (they broke up a few years back) and Sublime (and Sublime with Rome, I would imagine) had ska elements to the music, but I wouldn't call them a ska band in the same way I would call Save Ferris a ska band. And yeah, the horns are there, they're just a little bit down in the mix.}

17) Young the Giant: My Body. I could dance to this. Not well, because I’m a crappy dancer, but this could easily be in one of my dance-party-in-the-living-room-to-make-the-baby-stop-fussing playlists.

18) Naked and Famous: Young Blood. I’m not loving this one. I mean, it’s okay, but it’s not really doing anything for me. Let’s go back to the Beastie Boys one

End of Review

Thanks so much, Erin. It's actually kind of REALLY refreshing to have someone not immersed in this music (ok...random indentation...) giving it a listen.

If you are interested in doing a guest review of countdown songs, shoot me an email at aodblog@gmail.com and we'll hook it up.

Doubling Up on the Rise Against!

2011-08-25T22:03:00.000-04:00

I was so stoked to see our beloved Appetite For Distraction mascot band (that's right. it's official.) back on our charts that I played two songs by them! Enjoy this one, people. I certainly did!

Countdown #68

***Featuring***
311
The Airborne Toxic Event
AWOLNATION
Blink-182
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against
Sublime with Rome

Russian Roulette (Blog Version) - 6th Round

2011-08-25T06:00:00.000-04:00

Well, here we are. On the last "bullet", so to speak. And this one's a doozy. I know I've kept you on the edge of your seats for almost 2 months since the last round and maybe some of you thought that I posted something and it was the round that hit home (aka got taken down because it was on a "hot list" because I'm a dirty dirty pirate)

Well, I'll tell you this. This final round (of this particular game. I'm absolutely going to play again) may be the one. You see, the song is...

Linkin Park - Waiting for the End from A Thousand Suns (buy)

And that flies in the face of all the reasons I've had for low R-cubeds (see Round 4 for a definition of R-cubed). It's still relatively new. It was a #1 hit on the very countdown I publish on this blog. And I can completely see it being on all kinds of lists.

Keep your fingers crossed for me :)

Hey you! Listen to some music! On my podcast!

2011-08-17T22:50:00.000-04:00

Welp, it's time once again for that glorious event we (and by we, I mean me...and by me I mean I) like to call the Countdown!

I'm probably not going to be posting a lot other than podcasts on here for a bit (my computer still registers "podcasts" as a misspelled word...get with the times, computer!) because I just got a gig writing album reviews for Listen Before You Buy! I'm very excited about it. But I'm going to need to focus all my bloggy energy on getting going on that. But I'll get all squared away over there and then we can have some more fun over here! And it's not like the podcasts are going to stop...so, quit your complaining. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten all up in your face.

Anywho...

Countdown #67

***Featuring***
311
The Airborne Toxic Event
AWOLNATION
Blink-182
Coldplay
Death Cab For Cutie
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Sublime with Rome
Temple of the Dog

Get Your Kicks (Pumped Up or otherwise) on Podcast #66

2011-08-10T22:43:00.000-04:00

I almost didn't see the opportunity that this week's episode afforded me for the title of the post. But then I did. And I took that opportunity and ran with it. And I feel good about that.

So, I'm back from vacation and ready to hunker in for the fall and winter. This is the episode that will get us started on our hunkering. I hope you enjoy it. There are some real rockers on this one.

Countdown #66

***Featuring***
311
The Airborne Toxic Event
AWOLNATION
Blink-182
Coldplay
Death Cab For Cutie
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
The Jesse Minute
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Sublime with Rome

Providence can provide. Providence will provide. Providence did provide.

2011-08-05T23:29:00.000-04:00

So, I know I come off as this big, tough, Alternative Rock guy. Like "Hey man, Kurt Cobain forever." And in many ways, I am that guy.

But in many other ways, I'm just a big pop-punk kid. I like the beats fast, the melodies sweet, the songs about relationships, and if you can throw in some breaks in the song where we can all jump in the air and land on the beat where the music comes back in, that would be super.

So, I would generally contend that the best pop-punk was made around the turn of the millennium, with New Found Glory, Blink-182, Green Day, and Drive-Thru Records (which is the label NFG were on, and I already mentioned them. I know. Relax.) having HUGE releases. And that's only the tip of the iceberg.

I recently made my friend Lisa a mix of all the pop-punk bands I could think of. I rounded it off at 50. I'm hoping it fits on 2 discs.

What does all this have to do with Providence? Glad you asked.

Providence, Rhode Island is the birthplace of the most exciting pop-punk band I've heard in years: The Jesse Minute. They have all the qualities that I mentioned before and what's more, they have a female lead singer, so I can ask them to be on the Wayne Foundation comp (which I've already done...they said yes!!!)!

The thing that I keep thinking about The Jesse Minute is that they are what I'm always hoping Paramore will be. Missa, the singer, has a lovely voice, but (and here's where I come off as insensitive) she doesn't feel the need to showcase it in ballads that frankly take away from the rock. And the product is delicious. I want these guys to come to Virginia soon so I can be all nuts at the front of the crowd.

They have two studio albums and a live album available for FREE at their bandcamp page. And then if you go to their website, you can get physical copies of all three albums, some stickers, some pins and a t-shirt for just $25. Which is an insanely good deal, but that's just how Providence, RI rolls.

The Jesse Minute - Rally from Shut Up and Play

Back to 1996! (Flashback Countdown #2)

2011-08-01T11:00:00.003-04:00

Here we are for another Flashback Countdown and the way it works out is that we're doing 1996 again. Fortunately it was a very good year. So I know you'll simply LOVE the episode this week. It's also over an hour long so, in addition to telling me if there are any linkage problems, you can enjoy my sultry voice extra long while I'm away. I'll be back next week!

Flashback Countdown #2

***Featuring***
Beck
Butthole Surfers
The Cranberries
Garbage
No Doubt
Oasis
Primitive Radio Gods
Screaming Trees
Smashing Pumpkins
Stone Temple Pilots

Everybody's Working For the Weekend

2011-07-26T22:53:00.000-04:00

So, at work, I'm basically scrambling to get the mountainous pile of stuff to do done before the end of Thursday, as I will be leaving for Florida with my wife and daughter and won't be returning to work until the following Monday.

In a similar situation, I have been stressing (well, not stressing, per se, but concerned) about getting the podcasts from last week and this week recorded and posted. Well, hang the banner because it's MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

Countdown #65

***Featuring***
The Airborne Toxic Event
AWOLNATION
Coldplay
Death Cab for Cutie
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Incubus
The Naked and Famous
Sublime with Rome

Somehow playing catch-up already

2011-07-25T00:44:00.000-04:00

Well, here's the first of a couple podcasts I'm going to be doing this week! I hope you're enjoying them in the blocks that I'm posting them!

Countdown #64

***Featuring***
The Airborne Toxic Event
Alanis Morrissette
AWOLNATION
Coldplay
Death Cab For Cutie
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Incubus
The Naked and Famous
Sublime with Rome

The Grand Finale!

2011-07-11T20:30:00.001-04:00

Well, it has come to a very surprising end.

I don't want to say more than that, lest I ruin the surprise of what this episode has turned out to be.

Countdown #63

***Featuring***
The Airborne Toxic Event
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Coldplay
Death Cab For Cutie
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Incubus
Sublime with Rome
Wugazi

Welp, here it is!

2011-07-11T16:07:00.001-04:00

So, this is the culmination of the rumors and the hearsay!

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Sing in Japanese

I'm excited to hear how this turns out!

Off The Charts #3: #1 Albums

2011-07-10T20:30:00.001-04:00

At first I was worried that this would be immediately shut down by the Man. And maybe it still will be, but I hope not. The thing is, you probably already own all of these songs. So why would you steal them?

I had a blast putting this one together and I hope you have a blast listening to it!

Off The Charts #3: #1 Albums

(A running theme of these episodes has been that I've been talking and talking and talking, so it's another Google Docs link. Let me know if it's not working, but I haven't heard from anyone about the others, so maybe I've learned how to do this right)

(Also, it seems that Blogger has forgotten how to move a word to the next line if it doesn't fit on the line it's on. So, that's annoying and hopefully you won't know what I'm talking about when you're reading this. If you DO know what I'm talking about, I apologize for the weirdness.)

***Featuring***
The Beatles
Blood, Sweat, and Tears
Carole King
Fleetwood Mac
Guns N' Roses
Jay-Z
Jaydiohead
Lauryn Hill
Michael Jackson
Nirvana
Radiohead

4th Consecutive Day with a New Podcast!

2011-07-09T20:30:00.003-04:00

I'm so happy that this is going so well! I hope you're all enjoying and rocking out to all the podcasts this weekend!

This is the Countdown for the week of 7/9. And today's 7/9. Do you know what that means? I'm caught up!! Woohoo!!!! And there's still two more days of podcasts for you to look forward to!

Countdown #62

(This is another long one (there's a particularly long intro...) so let me know if the link's not working!)

***Featuring***
The Airborne Toxic Event
AWOLNATION
The Beggars' Guild
Coldplay
Death Cab for Cutie
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Incubus
Rise Against
Sublime with Rome

Off The Charts #2: Daytrotter

2011-07-08T20:30:00.004-04:00

In preparation for the birthday edition of OTC, I put together a tribute to Daytrotter!

I hope that you enjoy it! I absolutely enjoyed it and I'm so excited about this new show.

Off The Charts #2: Daytrotter

***Featuring***
French Kicks
The Jim Jones Revue
The Morning Benders
Sam Roberts
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
White Rabbits

Day 2!

2011-07-07T20:30:00.001-04:00

Well, here we are on day 2 of the Appetite For Distraction Podcast Marathon (or something like that) which will see a new podcast posted every day at 830 (with the exception of yesterday's when I didn't know that I was doing the 830 thing) until Monday! Today's podcast is....

Countdown #61

***Featuring***
The Airborne Toxic Event
AWOLNATION
Coldplay
Death Cab for Cutie
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Incubus
Rise Against
Seether
Sublime with Rome
U2

Off The Charts #1: Sister/Summer

2011-07-06T15:11:00.000-04:00

So, here's a new series of podcasts that I've been thinking about doing. It's not the countdown. It's something else. Something...different. I hope you enjoy it

The microphone quality is also different from normal, but thats what you get from setting up and recording on the fly!

Off The Charts #1

(As always, let me know if that link isn't working...)

***Featuring***
Beck
Breakbot
Freestylers
The Japanese War Effort
Kings of Leon
Matt Nathanson
Passion Pit
Peter, Bjorn, and John
Sly & the Family Stone
Sugar Ray
The Who

Russian Roulette (Blog Version) - 5th Round

2011-07-06T06:00:00.001-04:00

First of all, Happy Birthday Dad! I'm so stoked that one of these landed on your birthday! You have been instrumental in my musical growth over the years! Not to mention my growth as a man and a human being.

So, today's round goes to the first track on the Joplin In Concert album. It was an album I bought after hearing about how amazing she was and this track absolutely hooked me in to loving her and her amazing voice!

It was recorded on March 2, 1968 when she was with Big Brother and the Holding Company.

Every time I hear this, I am sad that I never got to see her perform in concert. They truly don't make singers like her anymore. Or maybe they do and she was just one of the first, biggest, brightest example!

The R-cubed (see previous round) on this is still pretty low, because I feel like there's not a lot of demand for this kind of recording. It's a pretty common thing, is what I'm saying, so don't worry about little ol' me. :)

Janis Joplin - Down on Me (live) from Joplin In Concert (buy)

Russian Roulette (Blog Version) - 4th Round

2011-07-04T06:00:00.003-04:00

I really don't know much about this band that I'm posting for the fourth exciting round of blog Russian Roulette. I know that I got this from I Am Fuel, You Are Friends, along with "Hey Sandy", "As Usual" and "Coronado II", all of which come from the Music from The Adventures of Pete and Pete which was a TV show on Nickelodeon that was the "cool, awkward kid" among all of its contemporaries. "Hey Sandy" was the theme song, but this song is also quite enjoyable.

The Adventures of Pete and Pete was a nice glimpse into middle-class, kooky American life, so it's apropos that this song is showing up on the day we celebrate our Independence Day!

In terms of Russian Roulette Risk ("R-cubed" to those in the know), I would say that this song is fairly safe. I could always be wrong, but, in this instance, I don't think I am. Not a lot of people trying to pirate this kind of music and so it's probably not on too many hot lists...

Polaris - She is Staggering from Music from The Adventures of Pete and Pete (buy)

This Week's Countdown: Many Changes

2011-06-20T23:58:00.000-04:00

All of the songs moved either up or down this week, save one. Which one? You will have to listen to find out!

Countdown #60

***Featuring***
The Airborne Toxic Event
The Black Keys
Death Cab For Cutie
Foster the People
Foo Fighters
Incubus
Mumford & Sons
Rise Against
Seether
Sublime With Rome

My Birthday

2011-06-19T21:33:00.000-04:00

So, my birthday is coming up and for it, I'm going to try one of a couple new podcast ideas.

All day on July 16 (my birthday), I'll be watching my Google Reader (where I read my blogs) and I'll be listening to every song posted in blogs on my list. I'll download my favorite song from each post (because the posts often have more than one song on them) and doing a podcast where I talk about the songs and the blogs that they came from. In between songs, I'll also talk about the posts that didn't have any songs in them.

It should be a lot of fun (despite how dry the previous paragraph may have sounded) and I'm really looking forward to it! For instance, Daytrotter posts at least one session every day, so you know there'll be a Daytrotter track on there.

If you'd like to be on my list (or confirm that you are already on my list), leave me a comment!

Like I said, this is one of a few ideas I have for some new podcast shows. So watch this space in the upcoming weeks and months!

Russian Roulette (Blog Version) - 3rd Round

2011-06-18T06:00:00.002-04:00

Well, it's appropriate that today is my wife's last day of responsibilities at school and our Russian Roulette song is a punk song from Fat Wreck Chords heroes No Use For a Name. I am not too worried about this song getting me in trouble. Punk rockers are on our side, right? :)

This album is a fast-paced rocker that's perfect for the first days of summer. Get the whole thing, listen to it, and wreck your living room.....or someone else's living room.....ok, maybe leave the living room alone.

No Use For a Name - Leave it Behind from Leche con Carne! (buy from Amazon) or (buy from the label!)

Creepy Love (A Poem and Two Songs)

2011-06-15T22:32:00.000-04:00

A reading of this poem came up on my iPod this evening. It goes from "almost uncomfortably intimate" to "maybe I should call a cop..." but the intimacy never leaves. Some of the imagery is pretty horrifying, but also pretty great. I feel good about these three works being in the same post.

Lovesong
by Ted Hughes

He loved her and she loved him.
His kisses sucked out her whole past and future or tried to
He had no other appetite
She bit him she gnawed him she sucked
She wanted him complete inside her
Safe and sure forever and ever
Their little cries fluttered into the curtains

Her eyes wanted nothing to get away
Her looks nailed down his hands his wrists his elbows
He gripped her hard so that life
Should not drag her from that moment
He wanted all future to cease
He wanted to topple with his arms round her
Off that moment's brink and into nothing
Or everlasting or whatever there was

Her embrace was an immense press
To print him into her bones
His smiles were the garrets of a fairy palace
Where the real world would never come
Her smiles were spider bites
So he would lie still till she felt hungry
His words were occupying armies
Her laughs were an assassin's attempts
His looks were bullets daggers of revenge
His glances were ghosts in the corner with horrible secrets
His whispers were whips and jackboots
Her kisses were lawyers steadily writing
His caresses were the last hooks of a castaway
Her love-tricks were the grinding of locks
And their deep cries crawled over the floors
Like an animal dragging a great trap
His promises were the surgeon's gag
Her promises took the top off his skull
She would get a brooch made of it
His vows pulled out all her sinews
He showed her how to make a love-knot
Her vows put his eyes in formalin
At the back of her secret drawer
Their screams stuck in the wall

Their heads fell apart into sleep like the two halves
Of a lopped melon, but love is hard to stop

In their entwined sleep they exchanged arms and legs
In their dreams their brains took each other hostage

In the morning they wore each other's face

This is also called "Lovesong":
The Cure - Lovesong from Disintegration (buy) (or on MP3)

But this poem feels a bit more like:
Alkaline Trio - Nose Over Tail from Goddamnit! (buy) (or on MP3)

King Post Kitsch Review: The Party's Over and I'm Sad

2011-06-13T18:43:00.000-04:00

I'm writing this on Monday, June 13. And as I'm writing, I'm sad. It's because I made a pact with myself almost two weeks ago and I'm really planning to stick to it.

Matthew from Song, By Toad and Song, By Toad Records sent me a review copy of the new King Post Kitsch album The Party's Over (which, as it happens, comes out TODAY!). It's an album, that I've been looking forward to hearing since he played "Walking on Eggshells" back in January. I downloaded it and put it on my iPod on June 2nd, telling myself that, rather than just saying, "How awesome is it that I got is album I was intending to buy, absolutely free!", I would give myself two weeks to listen and review and fall in love with it and then I would erase it from my hard drive. That way, I'd go through withdrawal and NEED to buy it for my birthday, as I and been intending.

And my plan worked. I am absolutely head over heels in love with this damn album. Everything I liked about the EP's is here in spades. I think the best exampe of what I'm talking about is the transition from Track 2 ("Don't You Touch My Fucking Honeytone") to Track 3 ("Fante's Last Stand"). The former is a rocker the likes of which I haven't heard since I was first listening to Arctic Monkeys and the latter is a song that wouldn't be out of place as a soundtrack for lying in a field picking out cloud shapes. They SHOULD feel totally out of place being played back to back. But that's not how King Post Kitsch rolls.
KPK is all about the "what could possibly come next?" factor. And that's why I love this album and why I'll be playing it hard for the last three days of my review period and why I'll be ordering it and the "Don't You Touch My Fucking Honeytone" 7" as soon as it isossoble to justify it as a "birthday purchase".

King Post Kitsch - Fante's Last Stand from The Party's Over (BUY!)

A New Countdown and Perhaps My Favorite Flashback Song, Ever!

2011-06-12T22:00:00.001-04:00

So, along with the Flashback song being a better song than I even remembered, I think I've determined that there are at least 2 songs that will be on my end of year "Best of" List! Try to guess what they are. You might be surprised!

Countdown #59

***Featuring***
The Airborne Toxic Event
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Death Cab for Cutie
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Incubus
Mumford & Sons
Rise Against
Sublime With Rome
Toad the Wet Sprocket

The Podcast as a Well-Oiled Machine

2011-06-06T23:29:00.000-04:00

THIS, my friends. This is how I always want the podcast to go. It's Monday night. The baby is sleeping. I knocked out the podcast and had fun doing it. It's a pretty exciting little episode. Only three songs stay in the position they were in last week! I hope that I can continue to stay on top of this podcast. I enjoy it even more when it's punctual! Plus there's the factor of the unknown. Recently, I've been a week behind, so I was doing intros knowing full well what the song did the following week. And I haven't had that recently!

I'm going to have to use some of this extra time to make the Flashback countdown for August!

Countdown #58

***Featuring***
The Airborne Toxic Event
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Death Cab for Cutie
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Green Day
Incubus
Mumford & Sons
Rise Against
Sublime with Rome

BLUE BIRD!

2011-06-02T13:00:00.001-04:00

So, when I put on the Metamorphosis EP by Blue Bird, I know that I'm not going to hear just one band. The Omaha-based band moves fluidly from gospel to rock to girl group with such grace that, even after many listens, I'm still caught off-guard. One example of this fluidity occurs at 3:03 of "Everything Can Change" and it never fails to give me goosebumps. This is surely a band to keep your eyes and ears on.

Blue Bird - Everything Can Change from Metamorphosis EP (which you can download for FREE over at their Soundcloud site )

They're on tour this summer and I would highly recommend you get out and see them!

6/25 Red Sky pre-festival showcase (venue TBA), Omaha NE

6/26 Big V's, Minneapolis MN

6/27 Elbo Room, Chicago IL

6/28 Wilbert's, Cleveland OH

6/29 Labyrinth, Jamestown NY

6/30 Hennessey's Hooley House, Boston MA

7/1 Pianos, New York NY

7/2 National Underground, New York NY

7/3 TBA, Philadelphia PA

7/5 TBA, Washington DC

7/6 Elliott's Revue, Winston-Salem NC

7/7 Rye Bar, Athens GA

7/8 TBA, Nashville TN

7/9 TBA, St. Louis MO

When did the countdown get so mellow?

2011-06-01T22:51:00.000-04:00

I think it's the transition between #6 and #5 that really got me feeling like this is one mellow countdown. I know #3 and #9 and #10 totally cancel this out, but for a bit there, it's super-chill.

Countdown #57

***Featuring***
The Airborne Toxic Event
Beastie Boys
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Death Cab for Cutie
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Incubus
Live
Mumford & Sons
Rise Against

Also, I love this song:

Kimya Dawson - Looking Out the Windshield (Daytrotter Session) (I know it says Aesop Rock is on there, too, but unless he's playing a guitar, it's just her on this one)

and this one too

Kimya Dawson and Aesop Rock - Delicate Cycle (Daytrotter Session)

Memorial Day 2011! This time last year, we were in Boston...

2011-05-30T15:19:00.000-04:00

...and the podcast was flashing back to 1997. We do a little of that this week, but not as much as that time. The big flashback countdown is going to be in the first week of August this year. And it's going to be a good one.

I mention my Twitter name on the podcast and I just wanted to type it out. If you want to follow me, I'm @james80d! (not the exclamation point. was that a necessary detail to mention?)

Countdown #56

***Featuring***
The Airborne Toxic Event
Beastie Boys
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Death Cab for Cutie
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Incubus
Mumford & Sons
Rise Against

150th Post and 55th Podcast!

2011-05-20T12:39:00.000-04:00

Making the best of a bad work situation by putting a new podcast up!

In Wayne Foundation compilation news, Dessa has agreed to be on the comp. I'm not going to reveal what song I'm going to be using, but it's a good one :) I'm super stoked to have her aboard. Thanks Dessa!

Countdown #55

***Featuring***
The Airborne Toxic Event
Beastie Boys
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Incubus
Mumford & Sons
New Order
Rise Against
Young the Giant

Gimme Gimme an Update!

2011-05-17T22:51:00.000-04:00

So, a bit of a follow-up on the mystery of the next Me First and the Gimme Gimmes theme.

On Twitter today, Fat Mike (@FatMike_of_NOFX) said, "Can't tell you what the theme of the new Gimmes EP is, but check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVz6Ogfowjo&feature=related"

So, I click on the link and the video is clearly from one of the Asian countries. So I'm thinking to myself, "Wha? Is this some kind of joke?"

Then the Fat Wreck Chords Twitterfeed (@fat_wreck) tweeted this: "Me First and the Gimme Gimmes in the studio! http://www.fatwreck.com/news/detail/375".

Which brought me to the information that, "The six song EP includes covers of songs by famed Japanese artists such as: “Kekkon Shiyoyo” by Takuryo Yoshida, “Hero” by Kai Band and “Kokoro No Tabi” by Tulip."

Clicking on the link contained in THAT link (it's a labyrinth of links on the Internet, isn't it?) told me that this, in addition to Go Down Under (the Australian covers EP), " is just the second in a series of what he calls the band’s 'world EPs'; ones focusing on Spanish, Italian, German and French should also surface in the future."

This is basically the most exciting and terrifying news I've heard in a long time. These will be covers EP's with songs that it's almost impossible that any of their American fans will have heard. It will indeed be a different listening experience and I see what Fat Mike meant by "nothing we've ever done before." AND by "I don't know if that's a good thing or not." Time will tell.

Can anyone give me a rundown on those three songs? I know I have at least one reader who could help me with this particular genre...

Acrylics: From the Name On, A Band to Love!

2011-05-15T19:56:00.000-04:00

I know it's wrong to do things this way, but I knew when I saw their name, that I would like Acrylics.

When I listened to a couple of songs, and then the whole album Lives & Treasure (which can be bought here or here), I quickly decided that I was right. The vocalists, Molly Shea and Jason Klauber play off of eachother in their duets and also create beautiful songs when singing alone.

I think my favorite Jason song is called Counting Sheep (which I don't have permission to post (but they have a Daytrotter version that I CAN post)

Acrylics - Counting Sheep (Daytrotter Session) (Get the whole session here)

My favorite Molly song is one I CAN post:

Acrylics - Nightwatch from Lives & Treasure

I'm going to let you buy the album and decide which duet you like best! (Mmm, that's enticement to buy!)

I know you're itching for a new podcast now that Blogger has been down for 24 hours...

2011-05-13T19:25:00.000-04:00

...and I have one for you! That's right. One piping hot, awesome new Countdown. To keep you warm. I actually finished it last night (go me.) and then Blogger was down, so I couldn't post it when I was finished.

But here it is!

Countdown #54

***Featuring***
The Airborne Toxic Event
Beastie Boys
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Depeche Mode
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Incubus
Mumford & Sons
Rise Against
Young the Giant

Anybody's Guess

2011-05-11T11:00:00.001-04:00

So about a day ago, Fat Mike (bassist for NOFX and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, head of Fat Wreck Chords) tweeted, "New Gimmes record is almost done, and let me say its like nothing we've ever done before. I don't know if that's a good thing or not"

And it got my mind reeling about what it could be....and I'm stumped. So far, they've done:

Have a Ball (70's covers)
Are a Drag (Showtunes Covers)
Blow in the Wind (60's covers)
Take a Break (African-American Covers)
Love Their Country (Country Covers) (Still one of my favorite album titles ever)
Go Down Under (Australian Covers)

So the problem is that there have been so many punk cover albums (Punk Goes...Metal, 80's, 90's, Pop, Crunk, Classic Rock) that it boggles my mind what they could be up to.

What do you guys think?

Get ready to dance. This podcast is fortified with 11 essential booty-shaking vitamins and minerals

2011-05-10T19:57:00.001-04:00

What I mean is that I feel like this episode's going to make you dance. I know there are some new songs (or, song, rather) that would play well on the dance floor but I feel like the whole thing just has the tone of "Dance!"

Or maybe it's just me ;-)

Countdown #53

***Featuring***
The Airborne Toxic Event
Beastie Boys
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Incubus
Mumford & Sons
Radiohead
Rise Against
Young the Giant

Russian Roulette (Blog Version) - 2nd Round

2011-05-03T06:00:00.001-04:00

The second round of our game of Russian Roulette goes to:

Squirrel Nut Zippers - Low Down Man from Perennial Favorites (buy)

I feel like this a little bit more risky than the first round. It's a song by a band from the 90's as opposed to the 60's and they might be on the "master list" somewhere

Perennial Favorites came out in 1998 and was the first SNZ album I had an official copy of. (My cousin had made me a tape of Hot which I practically played into the ground.) This is one of the songs on the album sung by the beautiful-voiced Katharine Whalen. It's so gorgeous. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it could be Billie Holiday singing this song. It's that beautiful.

Totally coherent and non-rambly musings with musical accompaniment...

2011-05-03T00:17:00.000-04:00

Ok, so maybe I sound distracted and "crazy" on this week's episode. So what? So do you! I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. Friends? Awesome.

Countdown #52

***Featuring***
The Airborne Toxic Event
Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Incubus
Linkin Park
Mumford & Sons
Rise Against
She Might Bite
Young the Giant

Ain't no mountain high enough, etc.

2011-04-26T19:32:00.000-04:00

Well, the podcast faced some serious challenges this week as a thunderstorm killed our router. But we have a new router and a new episode! It's a good one! And now I can start to work on next (or this or whatever) week's!

Countdown #51

***Featuring***
The Airborne Toxic Event
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Linkin Park
Mumford & Sons
Rise Against
Young the Giant

Their Mix

2011-04-23T00:11:00.002-04:00

So, I had an idea for my sister's 17th birthday. I have a lot of friends who have great taste in music. So why not ask some of them to contribute a song each and make her a mix cd in addition to the one I was already making her! And so I did just that. And here's the mix I ended up with.

What I forgot is that some of my friends are also rule breakers ;-) as you'll see.

Thanks so much to everyone who contributed. I appreciate it and I think I can speak for my sister when I say "What is this crap?" ;-) But seriously, I know I can count on my imaginary (and, in two cases, real-life) friends to come through with an amazing mix like this.

You should also know that it was this mix that led me to the idea about the compilation cd that i was talking about in the previous post. And if I can pull that off, I think I might be even more proud of it than I am of my podcast!

KMP BDAY 2011 "Their Mix"

1. Marc & the Mambas - A Million Manias (From Kev)
2. The Format - Dog Problems (From KT)
3. Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed (From Andy)
4. Dexy's Midnight Runners - Reminisce (Part Two) (From Adam)
5. Big Star - Thirteen (From Jessewells)
6. Laura Marling - Ghosts (Also From Jessewells)
7. Lou Reed - Perfect Day (Again, From Jessewells)
8. The Twilight Sad - Cold Days from the Birdhouse (From Matthew)
9. Ultravox - Sleepwalk (From Tricia)
10. The Sound - Counting the Days (Also From Tricia)
11. Morrissey - Such a Little Thing Makes Such a Big Difference (Again, From Tricia)
12. Bourgie Bourgie - Breaking Point (From JC)
13. Broken Social Scene - Anthems For a Seventeen Year Old Girl (From Marcy)
14. An Intro By Dirk
15. Pulp - Common People (From Dirk)
16. Jellyfish - New Mistake (From Greer)
17. Wayne County & the Electric Chairs - Wonder Woman (From FiL)
18. Soil and Pimp Sessions - Go Next! (From Riley)
19. !!! - Steady as the Sidewalk Cracks (From Riley)
20. Harold's Leap - Being Just Like You (From Tim)

Download the whole mix HERE

"If you believe in what you are doing - persist"

2011-04-19T00:10:00.000-04:00

That quote was tweeted by Jamie Walton this afternoon and it's basically the reason why I didn't skip last week's chart. I believe in this podcast and I'm going to persist, even if it means publishing a countdown super late.

By the by, Jamie Walton is the founder of The Wayne Foundation, whose aim is to "provide women who have fallen victim to commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking with a means of leaving the sex industry for good....by providing individuals with a safe home environment that will empower them with the tools they will need to stop the cycle of abuse." It's a charity that I have really started to feel inspired to support. I would ask you to donate some money to them, because they're just getting started and they need anything you can give.

I'm also tossing around the idea of putting together a compilation to benefit The Wayne Foundation. If you are in a band or know a band that would like to contribute a song, email me and let me know. I think I would sell it on BandCamp, but I haven't even begun to hammer out the details yet. But I do have one band that has said they'll do it if it comes together. It's a good cause and would also mean a little more publicity for your band. So, you know, win-win.

ANYways...

Countdown #50

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Linkin Park
Middle Class Rut
Mumford & Sons
Rise Against
Smashing Pumpkins
Young the Giant

Russian Roulette (Blog Version) - 1st Round

2011-04-11T06:00:00.013-04:00

The first round of our game of Russian Roulette goes to:

Joe Tex - Show Me which I have from Atlantic Rhythm and Blues 1947-1974 Vol. 6 (buy)

I don't think this is in any danger, so it's a pretty safe song to start with.

Joe Tex was a soul and R&B singer who, when he wasn't feuding with James Brown, developed a style of talking over music, which he called "rap". Yes. THAT rap.

Quentin Tarantino is a big fan, putting Tex's "I Gotcha" on the Reservoir Dogs soundtrack and "The Love You Save (May Be Your Own) on the Death Proof soundtrack

Help! I'm losing my mind...or my podcasts...

2011-04-10T20:07:00.001-04:00

So, do any of my loyal listeners happen to have a copy of Countdown #41? I erased it from my wife's computer to make room for making more podcasts, thinking, "Aw hell, I'll just download it from my blog." So I went to my blog and lo and behold, there's a post telling everyone (including me, apparently) that 41 would be available for a limited time only.

So, I'm desperate to get a copy of this episode for the archives. If you have it, please email me at the address on the left-hand side of the page so that we can work out getting me that file, and as a sign of gratitude, you will pick next week's bonus song.

Thanks in advance,
A Desperate Podcaster

UPDATE Thanks to one intrepid listener, the archives will soon be complete!

Maybe I Should Change the Name of the Countdown to "Holding Steady"

2011-04-10T20:00:00.000-04:00

Kind of like how on the Contrast Podcast, I feel like I should change the name of my blog to "Without Any Further Ado" because I say it so much! My wife even gives me grief when she hears me recoding an intro and then I start thinking about it and then i can't HELP but say it. Am I making ANY sense?! :)

Countdown #49

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
The Cure
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Linkin Park
Middle Class Rut
Mumford & Sons
Rise Against
Young the Giant

Review of She Might Bite "Sinister Device"

2011-04-09T17:25:00.000-04:00

It's so exciting to get emails from bands that are JUST getting started in what are sure to be huge careers. I got such an email the other day from a girl named Tara in Kentucky. She and her sister Courtney started a band called She Might Bite and set out to make a folk EP. But then Tara got her hands on an electric guitar.

What followed was this four song rock EP. I've only heard the first track, "Sinister Device" And wow. I mean, this is rock and roll, people. It's full speed ahead rock with guitar solos that sneak up on you. I've never had the experience of a surprise guitar solo, but this song has two of them. I'm listening to it and all of a sudden it's like "SURPRISE the solo started 10 seconds ago and you were too busy rocking out to notice!" Love it.

"The sisters now view their EP as a catalyst. Drummer Kat Slaughter has joined and the trio is working on lots of new material inspired by hill country blues, 70s rock and punk." - From their bandcamp page

I'm really excited about this band and what will come of them. Go to their bandcamp page and get this album now.

She Might Bite - Sinister Device from The EP

New Countdown. With Rockblock attached!

2011-04-02T20:02:00.000-04:00

I swear I'm getting caught up and will start doing these during the week again. Maybe. I don't know. It kind of works to do it on a day when I'm not falling over tired. It's a work in progress, you know?

Countdown #48

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Middle Class Rut
Mumford & Sons
Rise Against
Young the Giant

Seems like just yesterday I thought to myself, "I should do a podcast!"

2011-03-27T18:22:00.000-04:00

Well, once again, I've surpassed the capacity that Fileden lets me upload. But thanks to Mr. Tim Young I have come to realize that Google Docs is a fine place to store my files when they're too big and it won't send you gross/scary/sketchy pop-up ads! So, no play button this week, but I didn't want to cut anything out because....

IT'S MY ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY OF THE PODCAST (Go to hell, you old bastard)

So there's ample amounts of reminiscing about bygone days and days of yore and so forth and so on.

Also, never fear, I'll keep the podcast coming out nice and regular even though it's been coming out a bit late in the week recently. In the spirit of Stan Lee, "Stay Strong, True Believers!"

Countdown #47

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Foo Fighters
Linkin Park
Live
Middle Class Rut
Mumford & Sons
Rise Against
Social Distortion
Young the Giant

Some Call It Rough, But It's Beautiful

2011-03-22T21:33:00.000-04:00

So King Post Kitsch released a new FREE EP today. It's called "Some Call It Hell, But It's Home" and I don't normally quote directly from the press for the release, but if I tried to summarize, I couldn't word it half as well. Here's what's on the BandCamp page (where you can download the album for free!):

"Well I first recorded a bunch of acoustic songs on a four track to listen back and get a feel for where they should go. I then tried to re-record them with more guitars, vocals, harmonicas, melodicas, percussion... but they didn’t really improve on the rough demos. So here are three of those songs, complete with tape-hiss, scuffs, fumbles and additional vocals on 'Riverbank' from a seagull who was outside my window."

Despite this description, these are three beautiful and delicate songs. My favorite is "Rebecca" but that may just be personal preference.

In addition to this release, King Post Kitsch has a single called, "Don't You Touch My Fucking Honeytone", coming out on 7" on May 16th. That's a single from a forthcoming album The Party's Over which will come out on June 13th on Song, By Toad Records

You should get everything thing that King Post Kitsch releases. I certainly plan to.

New Countdown in which I imagine Mumford & Sons use instruments that they don't use

2011-03-19T11:22:00.000-04:00

That's right. It's a countdown where I let my imagination just go with whatever it can come up with. Good tunes, though

Countdown #46

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Foo Fighters
Linkin Park
Middle Class Rut
Mumford & Sons
My Chemical Romance
R.E.M.
Rise Against
Young the Giant

Russian Roulette (Blog Version)

2011-03-13T20:59:00.000-04:00

So, over at Cathedrals of Sound, they do a Lazy Sunday feature where they talk about whatever comes to the top of the "shuffle pile" and I have always thought that was cool, but I wanted to do something a little bit different with it. So I'm going to do a round of Russian Roulette, blog style.

I pressed Shuffle Songs on my iPod one day and wrote down the first 6 songs that showed up. Then I went on random.org and generated 6 dates that will be occurring in the next 6 months. (This was on 3/6. Sensing a "6" based theme?) So I'm going to write these blog posts about these songs and on the designated day, the post will show up with a link to the song to listen and/or download. I'm hoping to forget all about which days things are scheduled so it will be a surprise for me AND you.

The Russian Roulette is based in the fact that I'm "taking 6 shots" and I don't know if one of those shots will result in the post being deleted by the powers that be. It adds a bit of danger and that's kind of fun.

So, look out for that in the near future!

A Brand New Countdown That's A Real Rocker, I Think. Don't You Agree?

2011-03-12T22:45:00.000-05:00

Less computer sounds this time, but more rock! I'd say that's win-win. Damn, I love music. Sometimes it just hits me. And now is one of those times. What a wonderful time to be alive!

Countdown #45

***FEATURING***
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Foo Fighters
Jesus Jones
Linkin Park
Middle Class Rut
Mumford & Sons
My Chemical Romance
Rise Against
Young the Giant

Dessa: The Appetite For Distraction Interview

2011-03-10T00:23:00.000-05:00

So I got it into my head that maybe I should interview Dessa. If you've been reading my blog for more than a couple weeks, you'll know that Dessa was who I was most excited about finding out about last year. She's a part of the Doomtree collective and they toured America last fall. Now they're gearing up for SXSW and a spring tour! Find all your Doomtree related stuff HERE.

So this is my first interview I've ever done. Well that's not true. I interviewed a Boston College basketball player that my Dad taught. But that was maybe as far back as 7th grade? And it was for a school assignment, so it doesn't count. So, THIS is the first interview I've ever had to compose questions on my own for and I think it went ok. Maybe I'll be able to do more of this kind of thing on the blog. Thoughts? Well, don't give me your thoughts until you've read the interview.

The Past

1. Who were your role models growing up?

I had a sixth grade teacher named Patti who kicked a considerable amount of ass. She lectured with passion on the glorious history of Mesopotamia, she didn't wear a bra, and she took her students as seriously as we gave her reason to take us.

2. What was your favorite subject in school?

I enjoyed language since I was a child, but I'm not sure I was particularly romanced by English in school. Science, that was probably my favorite subject of study.

3. What was your favorite song(s) when you were 16?

I didn't listen to very many artists as a teenager. But the few albums I did own, I listened to again and again. At sixteen, I was probably most enthusiastic about...man, I don't know. Sixteen is a total blur. But at 13, I was really into The Cowboy Junkies, Offspring, and Tracy Chapman.

As near as I can tell, Dessa is one year older than me. Which puts her being 13 in about 1995. Which means something from Smash

The Offspring - Nitro (Youth Energy) from Smash

The Present

4. Do you have any pre- or post-show rituals or traditions?

I get nervous before a show and drink whiskey afterwards. Those seem to be the only constants.

5. What are you reading these days?

At a snail's pace, I'm reading A People's History of the United States. I don't have the mind for history--this is very slow going.

6. What is your favorite music to wind down to?

I listen to a lot of melody-centric down-tempo folky stuff. But honestly, I'm waiting to find my next new favorite.

Well, I don't know about it being down-tempo, but maybe we can turn Dessa on to a little Rocky Votolato

Rocky Votolato - Mix Tapes/Cell Mates from Suicide Medicine

7. What do you like to do in your free time? Do you actually ever have free time

I spend some time with my friends at the neighborhood bar, but really my job is both my social life and my hobby. A career in music takes up most of my time, but I don't have any complaints.

The Industry

8.Where do you stand on music blogs? Helpful? Annoying? Useful in the right hands?

I don't read as many blogs as most of my friends. They're immediate, which can connect readers with fresh content. But I think there's a lot of pressure to publish quickly and that can dilute the quality of content.

9. Do you think radio, in the AM/FM sense, is irrelevant when it comes to music? Or is there still a purpose for it that the internet can't supply? Do you miss it or would you miss it if it were gone?

Yep. Cats don't surf the net on their way to work, they listen to the radio. Independent radio has definitely been a large part of Doomtree's growth.

The Label

10. What makes Doomtree work so well?

Doomtree was built on friendship. And we've stuck together through some pretty tough times. I'm not sure how other labels run their businesses, but we've tried to keep our expenses reasonable and divide our revenue fairly. I think that's probably a part of why we've been able to stick it out as friends and business partners.

11. What's different about releasing an album as opposed to a book? Do you take different factors into consideration when you're putting them together?

I've only released one book, Spiral Bound. I wasn't sure if anyone at all would be interested in it, but was really heartened to find how many rap listeners were game to give my prose a try. I think I'll take the publication of the next one as a more strategic endeavor--more akin to an album release.

12. Will we be seeing a follow-up to "Spiral Bound" in the near future?

Follow up? Yes. Near future? Uh, maybe.

13. What's your favorite song on the new Sims album?

One-Dimensional Man or Hey You.

You can hear both of these songs and MANY MANY others on the Doomtree SXSW sampler

14. Can you clue us in to what's coming up for Doomtree in 2011? (Releases, tours, etc.)

At the moment, Doomtree is looking down the barrel of SXSW--the independent music festival in Austin, Texas. After that, we'll be announcing a spring tour. Keep your ear to the ground.

Here's the list of all the places to find Doomtree performing at SXSW

The Process

15. What is your songwriting process? I would imagine that, with your background in spoken word, the words would come first and the the melody.

This question's been pretty well answered in a bunch of interviews, I'll let you take what you like from those.

Ok. How about this from Mom Culture:

As I lyricist, I’ll often overhear a bit of conversation that will end up in a song. A turn of phrase often catches my ear and sits on the clipboard in my head until I find someplace to put it. When I sit down to write music, I’ll review all of the snippets that I’ve collected in recent months to see what I can stitch together.

16. One of my favorite songs I've heard by you is "If & When" It has such an intense plot that seems like it belongs in a short story anthology. Where do you get the inspiration for songs like that?

I worked on that song with MK Larada, one of the Doomtree producers. We began with an image of a woman and a house fire, and it developed into the idea of a woman obsessively minding the pilot light in the hopes that it would serve to call her missing husband home in a very bad storm. The listener comes to learn that the husband was found frozen years before in the barn, but that the woman continues to tend the fire, refusing to heed the advice of her neighbors and descending into a frightening recluse in her small town.

Dessa - If & When (Daytrotter Session)

Thanks again to Dessa for being amazing in all sorts of ways.

New Countdown with ANOTHER guest contributor!!

2011-03-02T23:40:00.000-05:00

...the plastic of the laptop! That's right. I was recording tonight with the laptop on my lap (it's what it's meant for, for goodness sake! it's right in the name!) and whenever I moved even slightly, it makes this big noise on the tape. I hope it's not too distracting. The tunes are good this week and the laptop couldn't interfere there!

Countdown #44

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Linkin Park
Middle Class Rut
Mumford & Sons
My Chemical Romance
Rise Against
Social Distortion
Young the Giant

Posting a Countdown when I should be sleeping. That's dedication :)

2011-02-25T00:41:00.000-05:00

So, it's a day later than normal. Give me a break. I have a baby in the house ;-) This is a really fun one. Something happens that has never happened on the countdown before! It's exciting!!! Exclamation points!!!!

Countdown #43

***Featuring***
The Avett Brothers
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Linkin Park
Middle Class Rut
Mumford & Sons
My Chemical Romance
Rise Against
Social Distortion
Young the Giant

Do You Want More?

2011-02-21T00:55:00.000-05:00

So I feel like I got some positive feedback about the liveblogging of the Radiohead album and I must admit it was a pretty enjoyable experience. Would you like me to do it again? I think I'd be open to it. Suggest some albums that are coming soon or that you think maybe I haven't heard and we'll see if I can make the "liveblogging the First Listen" thing a regular type thing around these parts.

Liveblogging the First Listen: Radiohead - The King of Limbs

2011-02-20T00:46:00.000-05:00

So I'm getting ready to pop on my headphones and dive into The King of Limbs, which, if you are somehow reading my blog from under a rock, is the name of the new Radiohead album that was announced on Monday, scheduled for release today, and released yesterday.

I'm a tad nervous about this. First listens don't always go as well as twentieth listens and I've heard good things and I've heard bad things about this album. Someone was saying, "It sounds more like Thom Yorke's solo stuff" which I feel is a rather nitpicky comment seeing as Thom Yorke's solo stuff sounds a lot like Radiohead. So thtis could go well or not so well or only ok. Those are the options.

Ok, I have the first track queued up and I am going to hit play...

Track 1: Bloom

This comes in with some plunky pianos and then some stuttering drums. I can understand the TY solo comparison. There's a bass in the background doing some nice stuff. Thom has come in and it sounds like this is going to be one of the "Thom sounds drunk" type Radiohead songs. These vocals are very haunting. I feel like it could all explode soon. There are some horns and some skittering sounds. Maybe some synths? This song sounds like it is the same pattern repeating over and over, but getting more organized with each iteration. Kind of a trip to listen to. This part kind of feels like part of the song "Kid A". Fading out...still with the skittering and the bass.

Track 2: Morning Mr. Magpie

Starts off with some dancy guitar and then another guitar to offset. Ooh this is more of a "Thom sounds like Bono" song. "you stole it all./give it back". Whoa. Breakdown into just ooohs and a beat. Now a little bass. The songs so far are definitely more sparse. That dancy guitar is so hypnotic/catchy. The vocal melody sounds a little Magical Mystery tour. Ends on a flatline of static and bird sounds.

Track 3: Little by Little

This one is starting out sounding very south of the border. Jangly. What's interesting about liveblogging like this is that I can't really pay as much attention to the lyrics. This COULD sound like a solo TY album, but I think it would get criticism for trying to sound too much like RH. I would love it if this album had a straight out rocker. Wouldn't that be a surprise? "little by little/by hook or by crook/I am such a tease and you're such a flirt"

Track 4: Feral

This one starts off reminding me kind of of "15 Step". Whoa. Kind of like if they did a mashup of "15 Step" and "Pulk/pull doors" like that kind of fast paced beat from the former with the weird box from the latter. The bass is really prominent in these songs, I'm noticing. This song would be a trip to see performed live. The bass line turns into midi to end it.

Track 5: Lotus Flower

Ok. the single. Once again catchy bass. Good steady mid tempo drums. I like how they're giving the music time to settle in before the vocals start. This is definitely more conventional singing than the othe songs so far. This is a very "Gospel Thom" type vocal. They sure do know how to craft a song, don't they. I can't wait to get more of what these songs are about, you know? I'm loving the drums in this. And the bass. It keeps coming back to the bass.

Track 6: Codex

Whoa. A vocal that almost started, but was cut off and into some very intense piano. Like "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" by Smashing Pumpkins intense. And then suddenly Thom sings sharp as a knife, "sleight of hand/jump off the end/into a clear lake/no water 'round" this song is also kind of ringing of "in the air tonight" or "nightswimming". Oh, the slightest hint of trumpets and then the slightest hint of strings. But mostly, the piano. This is absolutely a Radiohead song. No solo TY here. Ends with bird sounds. And the sound of rewinding straight into...

Track 7: Give Up the Ghost

Thom's vocals and then some crisp acoustic guitar. You can hear the hand tapping the wood of the guitar. I'm definitely enjoying the second half of this album a lot more than the first half. I just looked and was relieved that there's three more minutes of this song. I'm loving it. It's building so slowly. Like the lights are slowly coming up. Or going down. This is almost meditative or mantra-like in it's multiple repeated parts overlapping and syncopating. Into some mellow guitar and tape noodling.

Track 8: Separator

Starts with some fun drum and hi-hat stuff with a little drony synth. Echoy vocals. Lovely bass. All the parts are so crisp in this song. They are confident musicians. You can tell by how they let the music sit there for almost too long, but pick it up just in time. Like a juggler with chainsaws. Oh, is that a sitar? Or a guitar? Both? Haha. He is singing, in the last song, "if you think this is over,/you're wrong." that's actually reassuring. Thanks, Thom. Please let that mantra be the last thing on the album. Nope. I think they're going to end on some ringing and the drums.

Final First Impressions
Ok. No rockers here, but that's not a complaint. Just an observation. It's too short. That is a complaint, but it comes from a good place. I liked so much what they were doing with everything that I could have happily listened to three or four more songs with similar ideas. The bass was the winner on this album, with Thom's vocals coming in a close second. Overall, after one complete listen, I'd say this gets a 7.5/10 with the potential to get even higher upon repeated listenings.

This was fun, albeit slightly stressful and surreal :)

Here's What I Think I Might Do With the New Radiohead

2011-02-18T11:47:00.000-05:00

I think I might listen to it and write down my initial impressions as the songs come out. I could probably do that tonight. Would anyone be interested in that? Is, like, everyone else doing that too? Man, I wish I was home listening to it right now....

I'll probably do it regardless of if I get comments about this or not, but I'd love to see who might be interested in hearing what I think about it...God that sounds self-centered

New Countdown! Less Ramble! More Rock!

2011-02-16T22:35:00.000-05:00

So I made a valiant effort not to ramble this week. And it was tough! There was a lot to talk about! The Grammys were on Sunday and we had some big wins and some performances by people that are currently on our chart! It's a good episode. And it includes....SOMETHING THAT HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE...on this show...tune in, won't you?

Countdown #42

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Cake
Florence + the Machine
Linkin Park
Middle Class Rut
Mumford & Sons
My Chemical Romance
Neon Trees
Rise Against

Clandestine Countdown Posting

2011-02-11T11:02:00.001-05:00

Shh. Don't tell anyone, but I'm posting this very quickly at work. That's how much I love you guys. Elizabeth, I'll buy you some tasty food if you keep this under your hat :)

Quick thing, though. Get this one and last week's soon. Because sometime next week, I have to cancel my box.net account because I can't afford to ACTUALLY subscribe to it! So, yeah. Do some quick downloading this weekend!

Countdown #41

***Featuring***
30 Seconds to Mars
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Cake
Florence + the Machine
Linkin Park
Mumford & Sons
Muse
My Chemical Romance
Peter Murphy
Rise Against

New Countdown with extra parenty goodness!!!

2011-02-06T16:06:00.000-05:00

So, my Dad and Stepmom were down visiting the lovely Little Distraction (as I've decided to refer to her) and they were kind enough to join me on this week's podcast! It's lots of fun, but it ran a little long. So I decided to try box.net for my "larger than Fileden can handle" needs. So, the file might not play the way it normally does, but it should download just fine! It's called "Long Version" because I made a shorter version to try to get it into Fileden range, to no avail.

Countdown #40

***Featuring***
30 Seconds to Mars
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Cake
Florence + the Machine
Linkin Park
Mumford & Sons
Muse
My Chemical Romance
Neon Trees
The Psychedelic Furs

Rodeo Massacre

2011-01-31T11:28:00.000-05:00

So, here's a band with a girl who came up in the Swedish blues scene, moved to Paris and started a band. The band got ripped off in France and so they moved to London. And then they come out with this album.

I know it's kind of a cop out to compare bands to other bands, but this sounds like if either Grace Potter or Grace Slick were the lead singer of the Black Keys. If that sounds at all interesting to you, you should check it out. Hell, you should check it out anyway. This is one of the most exciting albums I've heard in years. Seriously. Every track sounds different, but every track kicks ass. There are some more bluesy songs and some more rock and roll songs, but they're all amazing.

Here's one now:

Rodeo Massacre - Heaven or Hell from If You Can't Smoke 'Em Sell 'Em

Also, you can go here to get a FREE Rodeo Massacre track that won't be appearing on the new album.

Their album came out today. (In England, albums come out on Mondays. Weird.(Ok, not weird. Just different. In fact, maybe it makes even more sense than Tuesdays. But I digress.))You can buy the album from Amazon and probably pretty much anywhere else you buy music. And you should buy it. It's fantastic

Oh yeah. And I do podcasts too :)

2011-01-27T02:32:00.000-05:00

I've found myself really looking forward to doing this podcast this week. Not that I'm not normally excited to do it, but this week it's just been something I've been looking forward to. The blog seems like it has new life for me. And I think that it maybe has something to do with Tricia starting her blog. So thanks Tricia!

Countdown #39

***Featuring***
30 Seconds to Mars
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Cake
Florence + the Machine
Linkin Park
Muse
My Chemical Romance
Neon Trees
Sick Puppies
U.S. Royalty

Guest review of Countdown tracks!

2011-01-25T10:18:00.000-05:00

While I was in the hospital helping my wife have the baby (read: trying to keep out of everyone's way), I asked my friend Andy to write up his reactions to the songs that have been on our countdown over the past couple of weeks. I initially gave him the order of the songs as they appeared on the countdown, but since that has changed a bit over the last couple of weeks, I put them in alphabetical order by band name.

I'd like to do this occasionally. If you'd be interested in being on the list of people willing and able to give their impressions of 10 or so songs, leave me a comment or shoot me an email!

And now, without any further ado (I say this so often, but never type it...it's fun to type!), here's Andy!

Let's start off by saying that I don't listen to that much modern
rock, so I was pretty much hearing most of these songs for the first
time when writing this post.

30 Seconds to Mars - Closer to the Edge
I hated Jared Leto's acting career. But I'm loving his work with 30
Seconds to Mars. This latest album is the most polished I've ever
heard them. And this song makes me want to jump in the air and never
land.

The Black Keys - Tighten Up
The Black Keys have a distinct vocal sound. It's definitely one that
grows on you.

Cage the Elephant - Shake Me Down
Everyone's been raving about Cage the Elephant and now I can see why.
This song is very catchy and makes me want to sing along.

Cake - Sick of You

Cake continues their trend of light hearted fun rock music and even
their new stuff reminds me of 1998.

Florence + the Machine - Dog Days are Over
Quite a lovely song is all I can say about this track.

Kings of Leon - Radioactive

For some reason, I can't think of Kings of Leon anymore without
thinking about the bird that crapped in the lead singer's mouth at a
show. I'm not a huge fan of this song, but it is kind of catchy.

Linkin Park - Waiting For the End
I remember when Linkin Park was simply a hip-hop/rock fusion band.
They've changed over the years and now they apparently sound like 311.
Not a fan of the direction they're going in, but hopefully something
new and exciting comes out of it.

Muse - Undisclosed Desires
Muse is going to become the Radiohead of this generation.

My Chemical Romance - Sing

I'm glad My Chemical Romance has stopped screaming for an entire song
and worked on creating harmonies and catchy songs

Neon Trees - Animal
I've been in love with this sick ever since I first heard it back on
Record Store Day. James tells me this album is one of the best he's
hard in the past year. I have still yet to listen to the whole thing,
but he's usually a good judge of music.

Sick Puppies - Maybe
I really like the message of this song - breaking out doing something
on your own even though you're scared of what will happen. Very
uplifting and hits a personal note with me at this moment.