2008 Summer Mix

This week (and last) has been horribly hectic, but I've managed to scrounge up a little ear candy for you. I tend to make a music mix every season or so, and this summer's mix will not disappoint those who like Indie Pop Rock, lady singers, or piano & violins. I worked hard and found free (and very legal) downloads of the songs, so get 'em while they last! Just left-click to listen or right-click and Save As to download. Needless to say, if any of them don't work, you can either send me a comment or check out my source of free and lovely music, The Hype Machine.

1. Elevator Love Letter - Stars
2. Campus - Vampire Weekend
3. Animals are Cut in Two - Half-Handed Cloud
4. Second Chance - Liam Finn
5. I'm Not Going to Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You - Black Kids
6. Think I Wanna Die - Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
7. A-Punk - Vampire Weekend
8. In This Home on Ice - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
9. The Party's Crashing Us - Of Montreal
10. Soft Revolution - Stars
11. Foundations - Kate Nash
12. Mr. Blue - Catherine Feeny
13. I'll Follow You Tonight - Anna Ternheim

There are a couple repeat bands (i.e. Stars and Vampire Weekend), but that's just because I am continually impressed by them and their sound. The mix starts out kind of quick and happy, even "Think I Wanna Die," which manages to use the word twee, which is now my Favorite Word^TM. Then it gets into female vocals with Kate Nash and slows way down into Catherine Feeny and Anna Ternheim. So it's very fitting to the summer months: fast-paced and action-packed pools and zoos and sports then picnic and nap in the park.

Miracles Happen

The past week has been a flurry of events, namely the Honda Civic Tour at the Pageant featuring Panic and the Disco. I not-so-secretly went because Motion City Soundtrack was opening for Panic. And they did not disappoint, playing all the best songs from their new album Even if it Kills Me, like: "Last Night," "Broken Heart," and "This is for Real" among other favorites.

This is the fourth time I've seen them live (does Warped Tour really count?), and I'm not actually that huge of a concert-goer, but it's worth admission alone to see their keyboardist do handstands off his Moog synthesizer.



While at the concert, I pretty much nagged the rest of my party (work people who also do not dance at concerts) with endless vigor to visit the shirt shop next door. And when we got there, I fell in love with this:



Except mine is in girl-size and a more pastel yellow. I'm sure there will be many a picture of me in it when I post from Denmark, seeing as it is now the shirt that I wish to be buried in. Before, it was this:

Like Such As

I've found a wonderful little site that makes me want to drop everything and sketch for a week without stopping. It's called 'Skine Art, which is short for Moleskine Art. Most of the drawings are characatures or cartoons, but there is also a hefty amount of still art and architecture.

Two artists who post regularly on the site have caught my attention. Here are some samples of their recent work:



First is Mattias Adolfsson. His imagination and attention to detail are amazing. And I really like the humor he puts into his drawings.



Next is Wil Freeborn. I especially like the sketches done during meetings, where he starts off taking notes and gets distracted (like you do) and starts drawing the people around him.

And on a completely unrelated note, sometimes I get curious and I google my username. Just to see what is out there. Today's search brought back mostly Twitter and LastFM links. This one I found to be interesting:



Apparently, I am a current top listener of the Phil Collins song, "Only You Know and I Know." (That's me right there in the bottom right corner.) Now, I think I know what happened here. I ripped the CD onto my iTunes and it automatically started playing as I walked away to do something equally unimportant. And that song played. Once. I feel slightly unworthy to hold this title, but a small competitive part of me wants to play the song endlessly until I achieve number one listener status. But then I realize that's silly. Why would I make number one on that song when I could be number one for "Don't Lose My Number?" Makes me really want to know a person named Billy so that I could annoy them endlessly.

Thursday Becomes Eclectic

So I went to the library tonight to find some books on Denmark so that I'm not a totally ignorant tourist. I found a Frommer's on Denmark that I'm sure will have me adequately prepared for all the learny stuff I'll want to do, and I also picked up Rick Steve's Scandinavia, which not only starts with Denmark, but has a pretty hefty section on Copenhagen. While reading the first page, Mr. Steves informed me that learning Danish will be nearly impossible. Awesome.

While I was at the library, I couldn't help but give in to my guilty pleasure of perusing the music CDs. And I don't think I have ever walked out of there with a more eclectic range of musical styles:

1. Bad Religion's "The Empire Strikes First" (Socio-Political Punk Rock)
2. Walt Disney's Bambi Motion Picture Soundtrack (Children's)
3. DJ Smash presents "Phonography" (Jazz Electric Remix... I never said I had great taste in music, but I'll try any sound once)
4. Folk Implosion's "One Part Lullaby" (Alternative)
5. Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of "The War of the Worlds" (Narrated 1978 Disco Fever) and
6. Phil Collin's "No Jacket Required" (General Pop Rock)

Personally, I can't wait to hear what a musical version of "The War of the Worlds" sounds like.

EDIT: Trippy. It sounds way trippy.