Music Diary Project (Wednesday)

Day 3 of the Music Diary Project had me returning to my new morning music routine, catching a show at the Grog Shop, and listening to the usual slew of miscellaneous albums and songs while at work.

• Sweater Girls/History of Apple Pie split cassette, Side B

I listened to Side A of this cassette while getting ready for work on Monday & listened to Side B while getting ready for work today (I can’t listen to music in the morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays because Drew’s classes start later on those days and he’s usually still sleeping when I leave for work. Anyway, Side B of this cassette is full of beautiful pop from The History of Apple Pie. I can’t wait for another release from them & need to make time for their music at a time of day when I’m not brushing my teeth.

• Brave Irene, Brave Irene EP

I was so stoked to get my copy of this in the mail the other day! I’m a long time Rose Melberg fan and just about lost it when I heard that she was playing with a band again. Don’t get me wrong, her solo albums were beautiful & all, but I missed that full band sound. This EP definitely doesn’t disappoint — so many short, fast, breezy songs. Listening to this filled a hole in my heart.

• Beth Ditto, Beth Ditto EP

Kathy from Her Five Dollar Radio posted about listening to this EP and embedded the video for “I Wrote the Book,” so I downloaded it and gave it a listen this morning. I was never a big Gossip fan (I did seem them play once with Le Tigre), but Beth has a great voice & the songs on this EP are fun to listen to. “I Wrote the Book” is my favorite track and will probably end up on a mix CD in my car soon.

• The Go! Team, “Buy Nothing Day”

I had a sudden urge to listen to this this morning. I’ve never been wild about The Go! Team, but I like this song a lot. Maybe enough to give The Go! Team another chance.

• Cults, Cults 7″ (streamed on Bandcamp)
• Magic Kids, Memphis

Drew got two-for-one tickets for the Cults/Magic Kids show at the Grog Shop tonight, so I decided to refresh myself on both bands. I haven’t listened to Cults much at all and after listening to their 7” again online, I’m curious about how their sound will translate to a live show. This was my 4th listen to the Magic Kids album (one of my favorite things about modern music listening technology is the ability to track plays, be reminded of when you last listened to something, etc.) The Magic Kids album grows on me a little bit with each listen, but I also wonder what they’ll sound like live (it’s hard for me to imagine how something so smooth sounding will translate to a live show.)

• Dom, “Burn Bridges” (YouTube)

A YouTube video for this song was embedded in a recent post on nogoodforme.com, so I decide to give it a listen. At first I don’t like it at all, then I realize that the volume is too low, so I turn it up and start to like it a lot.

• Margy Pepper, “Iceberg,” “Secret Caves,” and “Little Cat” (streamed on MySpace)

Reading the “Friends and Neighbors” section of the recent K newsletter inspires me to check out Margy Pepper. I stream a handful of their songs on MySpace until the site tells me I have to log in or create an account to listen to more. At first I’m on the fence, but I really, really like “Secret Caves” and will probably buy their tape next pay day (though I am always promising myself that I cam going to curb the amount of money I spend on music.)

• The White Wires, Girly Girly Girly

The White Wires track on Under the Covers vol 2 was one of my favorite ones on the compilation, so I make a mental note to check out the rest of their catalogue. Girly Girly Girly is their first album & doesn’t do much for me, but I don’t want to write them off just yet & will probably listen to something more recent before making up my mind.

• The History of Apple Pie, “Tug” (listened to twice), “Mallory”, “You’re So Cool” (streamed on MySpace)

Still thinking about listening to their cassette this morning, I decide to see if The History of Apple Pie have any new songs. Their MySpace has a song called “Tug” that doesn’t appear on the cassette I have, so I listen (& really, really like it.) I listen to the other two songs on their MySpace & then listen to “Tug” again (and like it even more than I did the first time around.) I can’t wait to hear more from them!

• LCD Soundsystem, The London Sessions

Last weekend I stopped in Music Saves to pick up some concert tickets and 7”s and while I’m there, I overhear someone talking about The London Sessions. They call it “amazing.” I make a mental note to listen to it. I like it — it sounds warmer than LCD’s studio albums, if you know what I mean.

After listening to The London Sessions, I listened to a ton of random songs:

• Bob Mould, “It’s Too Late” (embedded on Tumblr)
• Nicholas Jaar, “The Beach” (embedded on Tumblr)
• David Guetta ft. Flo Ride and Nicki Minaj, “Where Dem Girls At” (embedded on Tumblr)
• Death Cab for Cutie, “Home is a Fire” (embedded on Tumblr)
• Lunachicks, “Just What I Needed (Live)” (embedded on Tumblr)

Notes on the above: I will almost always make time in my day for Bob Mould. I was intrigued by the write-up that accompanied “The Beach,” but wasn’t wowed (maybe I need more time with this one?) The best part of “Where Dem Girls At” was Nicki’s rap. (Official Nicki Minaj Rule: The best part of any track “featuring” Nicki Minaj will always be Nicki’s part.) I never really listened to Death Cab for Cutie and would probably only have a peripheral knowledge of their existence were it not for the fact that they’re a band that everyone assumes I liked in high school. I did buy the Postal Service album b/c it featured Jen Wood, but it wore thin for me pretty quickly. I didn’t really dig this track, either. I guess I am doomed to never be a Gibbard fan. When it comes to Death Cab, I stand with Summer Roberts (as I do on so many pressing issues.) The Lunachicks cover of “Just What I Needed” ruled. I was all over their album Pretty Ugly when I was in middle school and was totally into the spontaneous joy of both the band and audience documented in this recording.

• Panda Bear, Tomboy

So, I finally got around to listening to the stream of the new Panda Bear album (thanks, NPR! I’ve been calling my national reps re: the importance of keeping you well-funded!) I enjoyed this, but made the mistake of listening to the whole album vs. individual tracks, so the whole thing played as one 50 minute track and I have no clue which songs were which. I was soothed by this, though nothing jumped out and grabbed me the way that “Bros” did when I first heard Person Pitch.

• Hooray for Earth, “True Loves” (embedded on Tumblr)

I saw Hooray for Earth last summer when they opened for The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and honestly don’t remember much about the whole experience, but I liked this song — it was a good accompaniment to the Panda Bear album — and am definitely compelled to give them another chance.

• Weezer, “Jamie”

“Jamie” is gunning for the title of “most listened to Weezer song” (current title holder is the unfuckwithable “Tired of Sex” (the album version, not the Songs from the Black Hole version), but anyway…) I love this song. For real. And am not going to get into my whole “thing” with Weezer and reconciling personal politics with pop culture because been there done that. This is just the best song.

• Tilly and the Wall, Woo EP

Recorded in Conor Oberst’s basement in 2003. Taking me back to my teen years. Not as good as I once thought it was, though parts of me are still charmed by the openness of “Pictures of Houses.” Sometimes I am embarrassed that Tilly and the Wall comes up as one of my most listened to artists on last.fm, but not really. There is something unapologetically teenage and honest about their music and sometimes I just need to be reminded of that.

• Beastie Boys, “Make Some Noise”

Jess links to this on Twitter, so I make a mental note to check it out later in the day. While listening, I read the Beastie Boys’ WikiPedia page and feel both happy and sad at the same time. I used to listen to the Beastie Boys a lot, but don’t so much anymore. I make a mental note to listen to Hello Nasty.

• Wiz Halifa, “Black and Yellow”
• Childish Gambino, “Freaks and Geeks”
• Childish Gambino, “Break” (twice)

I had “Freaks and Geeks” by Childish Gambino stuck in my head, so I listened to “Black and Yellow,” then I listened to “Freaks and Geeks,” then I listened to “Break” twice, because I’m still Working It Out on that… Things I Could Use: The Annotated Childish Gambino.

• Superhumanoids, Magic Kids, Cults (live show)

Drew got two for one tickets to see the above bands at the Grog Shop last night, so when he got home from work we rushed up there. We missed the first few songs of Superhumanoids’ set, but I really, really like the last song that they play (it reminds me very specifically of another song, but I can’t remember what. Probably something by New Order?) After Superhumanoids wrap up, Magic Kids begin the process of setting up. Their set up is crowded and a little haphazard, I find myself getting a little nervous and worried that they might not sound so good live, but as soon as they start playing, I know immediately that they are going to be amazing. I can’t believe how good they sound. The band members are dynamic and it’s incredibly fun to watch them play. Their record is good, but seeing them play live is amazing. After Magic Kids, Cults seem hardly present. They sound good (better live than they do on record, I think, and their singer is really polite and thanks the crowd after every song), but at this point in the night my fuse for Other People is short and I’m feeling hassled by the dude standing next to me and I pretty much just want to go home and eat something and go to bed.

• I think we listened to the radio on the way home, but I can’t remember what we heard.