road trip playlist

sorry about the absence. i guess i'm really not made to write a blog where i try to force myself into writing something in particular, every day. it was starting to feel really contrived, and i was getting unhappy with it. so, i left it for a while.

i feel ready to come back. i'll still post here when i feel i have something to say about some music...but i won't really promise a schedule ever again. i feel better about it when i restrict it to when i actually have something to say.

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anyway...i was on a road trip this weekend. somewhere along the highway between kansas city and topeka, i made a playlist on my iPod. i was in the car with two major indie-rock fans...so all the indie-rock on the satellite radio was starting to drive me up a wall. i was hoping i'd get to play it in the car at some point along the way...but never did. however, i listened to it on the way back to st. louis from chicago [the base of the scavenger hunt for which i did this road trip], and realised it's the best mix i've ever made.

it doesn't have much of a theme...it's just songs i really felt like hearing in the car that night. but...it turned out to be a fun, eclectic mix of songs, and a playlist i'm going to go back to a lot. it's got rock, punk, metal, pop [of both american and korean varieties...], and a smattering of wesley willis, because no playlist of mine is complete without some wesley willis. it makes me happy to listen to, and i'm proud of it.

roadtrip playlist

"somewhere on fullerton" by allister
"beast and the harlot" by avenged sevenfold
"minus celsius" by backyard babies
"turkey march" by banya
"hook" by blues traveler
"another white dash" by butterfly boucher
"my favourite game" by the cardigans
"duncan hills coffee jingle" by dethklok
"blackhat life" by dj boo
"through the fire and flames" by dragonforce
"i want it that way" as covered by dynamite boy [originally by backstreet boys]
"stay in shadow" by finger eleven
"remember the name" by fort minor
"mr. walker" by gemie
"kenesaw mountain landis" by jonathan coulton
"mr. fancy pants" by jonathan coulton
"when you cry" by krim
"greenhorn" by lexy
"gas hed goes west" by live
"cigarette lighter lovesong" by the marvelous 3
"monster" by meg & dia
"don't think twice" as covered by mike ness [originally by bob dylan]
"letter from an occupant" by new pornographers
"the way it ends" by prototype
"it's so easy" by shooting blanks!
"sorry illinois" as covered by shot baker [originally by francesco ostello]
"analogue" by spirit creek
"anthem of our dying day" by story of the year
"stars don't shine" by three words to live by
"american psycho" by treble charger
"i'll give you all my love" by wax
"james doo" by wesley willis
"richard speck" by wesley willis
"ricky gott" by wesley willis

Quite Suppressed Yet Quite Revealing: Monday, March 31

Brian Vander Ark is playing on campus tonight. i have a ticket. i don't know if i'm going to be able to go because of some school commitments i have...which kills me, absolutely kills me. hopefully i'll be out soon enough to go see him, because his solo stuff is really good--and i've never seen him play solo before. this is my favourite solo song of his, "I Didn't Want To Be A Bother." i love songs that are bitingly sarcastic toward people who try to shove their religion on others, and this is a great song in that tradition.

Quite Suppressed Yet Quite Revealing: Sunday, March 30

missed yesterday...so you get two today. i'm overworked and stressing out, so i've got two songs about that.

"Work Song" by Caroline's Spine: [excuse the weird anime sounds at the beginning. it's the only complete recording of the song on youtube...so if you stick it out through the first five seconds, the song will start.]



"Take This Job and Shove It", as covered by the Dead Kennedys:

Quite Suppressed Yet Quite Revealing: Friday, March 28

"Cat Me If You Can" by Agile Like This is weird. if you like lolcats, you'll love it, because it's basically a lolcat set to music. if you don't like lolcats, you probably won't like this song much.

laughing at cute cats during weird things has helped keep me from going crazy on many occasions. as such, this song holds a special place in my heart.

Quite Suppressed Yet Quite Revealing: Thursday, March 27

Inept's old music, circa 2002-2005, is amazing. i've seen them more times than i've seen any other band--sixteen times, at all kinds of small to medium venues around chicago. this is one of my favourite Inept songs, "Beyond The Tears."

i'm looking forward to seeing them again when i live back in town. i can't say i'm a fan of their more recent songs, but i'd love to see if they play anything from their first three EPs anymore.

Quite Suppressed Yet Quite Revealing: Wednesday, March 26

i tried, i really tried, to get away from the whiny stuff. but, it's not that kind of week.

"Face Down" by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus has a driving beat to it, but the lyrics are sad. it's about a friend who is really, really pissed off at someone who is treating his friend badly in a relationship. it's so weird that such an upbeat song has lyrics that are such a downer...but i like that juxtaposition.

Quite Suppressed Yet Quite Revealing: Tuesday, March 25

no more emo today, i promise.

instead, i bring you nerdity, in the form of "Mandelbrot Set" by Jonathan Coulton. it's a catchy little ditty about the mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot, and his famous set:



for one thing, you'll never forget the formula for the Mandelbrot Set again, thanks to the chorus of this song. i don't know about you, but having that piece of knowledge indelibly marked in my brain makes me feel a little smarter, and helps me sleep a little better at night.