In pictures, music, tweets (reposts from Twitter, which I’ve marked as such), and text.

Day One: St. Louis to Amarillo

Or, technically, my parents’ house west of St. Louis to Amarillo. I initially thought about trying to follow Route 66 for some of this trip, but when I started trying to map it through Missouri (using Historic 66.com) it got really complicated and basically just followed I-44 on the service roads anyway, so I figured to heck with it. Plus I tend to get frustrated on non-interstate roads very quickly on trips, so it was pretty much a stupid idea anyway.

Tweet: California or bust!
Tweet: Music recommendation: Babyshambles’ newest release Shotters Nation. Finally picked it up Saturday [yay Vintage Vinyl!] and it’s awesome.

Here are a couple of tracks off that album. I like the way lead Pete Doherty is bringing in some jazz influences, especially in “There She Goes.”

Babyshambles - Carry On Up the Morning
Babyshambles - There She Goes

There’s not a lot of love lost between me and Missouri (besides St. Louis, which I do love), but the stretch of I-44 going through the Ozarks can be quite lovely. Too bad it was a little cloudy when I was going through, but I really like the rolling hills and rock cuts.

Tweet: I’ve lived in Missouri for 25 years and am now moving away having never been to Branson. Huh.
Tweet: Billboard I just passed was advertising ‘Titanic: A Family Experience.’ Because drowning is always good times.
Tweet: My iPod is picking awesome songs. I guess having playlists FULL OF AWESOME helps.

Of Montreal - Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse

Tweet: Oklahoma! Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain…

Oklahoma!

This is advertised to be the World’s Largest McDonalds, stretching across I-44 just west of Vinita, Oklahoma, but I don’t think that’s actually true. Unless, perhaps, you count all the non-McDonalds parts of the building, like the souvenir shop and the ice cream booth. Still, it’s cool to stop at and watch the cars go under you while you eat, but I didn’t stop this time.

Last chance to continue down I-35 through Dallas to Waco instead of taking I-40 toward California! It was tempting to find an excuse to go down and hang out with my friends again, but then I’d just have to say goodbye again, too, and that would suck.

Tweet: Bob Dylan is good stuff. Why did I not know this before?

I never really listened to Dylan until I saw I’m Not There a couple of weeks ago, but as soon as I saw the film, I was inspired to seek out more music, and I quite like it. Different than most of the stuff I listen to, but then a lot of the stuff I listen to wouldn’t exist without Dylan’s innovations.

Bob Dylan - Mr. Tambourine Man
Bob Dylan - Ballad of a Thin Man

Tweet: Hills and cruise control are an annoyingly poor combination. [So are headwinds and cruise control, as I found going through the deserts later]
Tweet: They aren’t kidding when they talk about the wind blowing down the plains in Oklahoma.
Tweet: Apparently I’m not the first to notice how windy OK is; passing the first wind farm of the trip.

Aw, Oklahoma’s trying to do mesas. How cute!

Tweet: Done with Oklahoma. Seems like I was in there forever.
Tweet: My ears just popped! This is the most gradual hill ever, but I’m definitely gaining altitude.

Getting into Texas made me happy, even if it is just the panhandle. This landscape agrees with me a lot more than Oklahoma’s, for some reason.

Then there was this gorgeous sunset.

And then there was Amarillo.

Click through for Days Two (New Mexico and Arizona) and Three (California).

Read the rest of this entry »

Mates of State

Austin-based indie favorites Mates of State released a new album last week; it didn’t take them long to get back in the studio after having their second child! (Kori was extremely pregnant when I saw them at Fun Fun Fun Fest last fall.) I’m not head over in love with this album yet, like I am with their previous release, but then it took me several months to get into them at all. They grow on you, I promise. [note: I wrote the next to last sentence after hearing the album once the day after release; now I have finally gotten it on my iPod and listened to it a few more times, and I am now head over in love with it. It’s a bit mellower than Bring It Back, but there’s nothing wrong with that, and if you’re a fan, you’ll love it.]

Mates of State - Get Better [video and both tracks from Re-Arrange Us]

Mates of State - Now
Mates of State - The Re-arranger

Re-Arrange Us (2008)	Bring It Back (2006)	Team Boo (2003)
Amazon MP3		Amazon MP3
Amazon CD	Amazon CD	Amazon CD
		Amie Street
		emusic

Snow Patrol

I could’ve sworn I’ve shared Snow Patrol stuff before, on account of them being one of my favorite bands ever and having gone to see them in Austin. But I searched through the archives (in preparation for the Glasgow Band Music Monday post I have planned for the not-too-distant future), and apparently I haven’t. Maybe I just included them in one of the iterations of the sidebar music player.

Snow Patrol - Run [from Final Straw]

Snow Patrol - Wow [from Final Straw]
Snow Patrol - You’re All I Have [from Eyes Open]

Eyes Open (2006)	Final Straw (2004)	Songs for Polar Bears (1998)
Amazon MP3	Amazon MP3	Amazon MP3
Amazon CD	Amazon CD	Amazon CD
		emusic

In the comments to my last Music Monday post, Abby compared Vampire Weekend to The Clash, and I thought, ooh, I should post some Clash.  And I’ve been wanting to do some classic stuff for a change, since I usually focus on more recent indie bands.  My current favorite song to play in Rock Band is The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” which is the inspiration for throwing The Who in here.  The bands are also connected by the revolutionary quality of the lyrics, trying to figure out what to do and how to live in the post-’60s world.  I’ll admit immediately that I’m not hugely up on my classic rock (except the Beatles; after them I tend to lose track), so you’re pretty much just getting the music here.

The Who

The Who is historically earlier, so I’ll put them first.  These tracks are from Who’s Next, which I LOVE, and you should listen to all of it.  But I chose the first one, “Baba O’Riley” because it’s one of the few songs that I absolutely loved within the first ten seconds.  And then I almost did “Behind Blue Eyes” (and I could put it up if anyone wants), but I decided to do “I Don’t Even Know Myself” instead, for….no reason, really.  I just listened through the album, and picked it.  *shrug*

The Who - Baba O’Riley
The Who - I Don’t Even Know Myself

Who’s Next

Amazon CD

other albums

The Clash

The Clash is really punk rock, I guess, but it’s classic punk, so I defend the title of my post.  Both of these songs are from London Calling, the Clash’s 1979 release.  Which, okay, is the only one of their records I’ve heard.  Anyway.  On to the music.

The Clash - London Calling
The Clash - Clampdown

London Calling

Amazon MP3

Amazon CD

Other albums: MP3 / CD

No, I wasn’t at SXSW.  But that doesn’t mean I haven’t already benefited from it. 

Vampire Weekend

According to one of my friends, Vampire Weekend were one of the more hyped shows of the festival and she thought they lived up to the hype, and then one of their songs turned up on XMU (aka the best XM radio station there is) and I liked it, so I went and bought their album.  And I like.  So I share.

Vampire Weekend - Campus
Vampire Weekend - M79

Vampire Weekend

Amie Street

Amazon.com mp3

Amazon.com CD

Sons & Daughters

I was vicariously excited that my friend was going to see Sons & Daughters at SXSW, but she ended up not being able to get in.  So I guess I’m glad that Sons & Daughters are apparently really popular?  Anyway.  Another friend sent me a mix CD ages ago with "Fight" on it, and her description was something along the lines of: "This song is sort of bizarre, but in a good way."  And she’s right.  Sons & Daughters are also a Glasgow band, which for me pretty much means instant love. (Both of these tracks are off the Love the Cup EP; I haven’t had a chance to get the newer album yet, though I’ve heard and enjoyed a couple of singles off it.)

Sons & Daughters - Fight
Sons & Daughters - Blood

Love the Cup	This Gift
Amazon.com CD	Amazon.com CD

Haven’t done one of these in a LOOONG time. But I need to, because I actually got a bunch of very good music over Christmas, and I’ve been selfishly hoarding it.

Headlights - Some Racing, Some Stopping

First up, my favorite FFFFest find Headlights has just put out a new album in the past couple of weeks. Some Racing, Some Stopping has a lot of similarities to their former album Kill Them With Kindness, but a bit more…experimental (not quite the right word), while still being very indie-pop oriented. Both these tracks are off Some Racing, Some Stopping.

Headlights - Cherry Tulips
Headlights - Catch Them All

Kill Them With Kindness (2006)	Some Racing, Some Stopping (2008)
emusic	emusic
both albums on Amie Street
Amazon mp3	Amazon mp3
Amazon CD	Amazon CD

Broken Social Scene

I’ve known about Broken Social Scene peripherally for a while now, but mostly as “that other band that Emily Haines sings with (besides Metric) that I want to like but always end up skipping when it comes on my Slacker radio station because they’re kinda noisy.” Well, I got their self-titled CD at the library and figured out the problem: I usually listen to Slacker at night when I’m going to sleep, and Broken Social Scene isn’t sleeping music, it’s DRIVING music. Context is important.

Broken Social Scene is anchored by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, but also includes some fifteen or twenty musicians/singers who don’t all necessarily work on the same songs/albums. So Emily Haines sings two or three of the songs on this album (including1 “Swimmers” below), several of them are sung by Drew and/or Canning, and Feist even appears a time or two. Awesomeness. For a fuller list of BSS’s relations with other bands, see Wikipedia’s page. (Both of these tracks are from the album Broken Social Scene.)

Broken Social Scene - ibi dreams of pavement (a better day)
Broken Social Scene - Swimmers

Feel Good Lost (2001)	You Forgot It in People (2002)	Beehives (2004)	Broken Social Scene (2005)
emusic	emusic	emusic	emusic
Amazon mp3	Amazon mp3	Amazon mp3	Amazon mp3
Amazon CD	Amazon CD	Amazon CD	Amazon CD

This is some pretty awesome guitar-playing. The real kind, not the Guitar Hero kind. Found via Lisa on Facebook.

The commercials for American Idol have been talking about a big change for this year, and I immediately hoped they were going to start including instruments, something that Australian Idol has done for the last two years to great success. And I was right! I’m really excited now. Incidentally, I hadn’t meant to stop posting Australian Idol highlights, but I got so far behind watching them that I just haven’t done much with it. They’re done with the season now (and I’ve managed to stay unspoiled, which I didn’t last year), but I’m still about eight weeks from the end in my watching–hopefully I’ll finish it in the next few weeks and give y’all a few of the best performances.

Let’s hope the addition of instruments on our Idol brings on some singer-songwriters who do well, because that would be AWESOME.

One day later and I’ve mostly recovered. Physically, that is. It was probably noon today before I could walk and be sure my legs would hold me up, but that’s also because of the actifed I took when I got home last night to combat being-outside-all-day-in-the-dust-and-dry-grass allergies. Still, everything was totally worth it, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Here’s a sampling of who I saw and enjoyed. Though there were three stages at the festival, I pretty much hung out at Stage 1, since that’s where all the bands I’d heard of were playing, and thus I suspected that I would have a good chance of liking the other bands there as well. Generally, that was right. I could hear the bands on Stage 2 any time Stage 1 bands weren’t playing, and they were playing really LOUD punk rock over there. Far too heavy for my tastes. I couldn’t hear Stage 3 very much, but the one time I wandered over there, there was a rapper up, so I wandered back pretty quickly. Thankfully, most everybody on Stage 1 was listenable to one degree or another. If you saw my Twitters during the show, you’ll know I didn’t care for the first four or so on Sunday, but they still weren’t awful. Anyway, here are the eight or nine I enjoyed the most, with my very favorites at the top.

edit: Great photos here, from photographer Chad Wadsworth.

Headlights

I’m giving Headlights the number one spot mostly because I was pleasantly surprised by how great they were. I’d been sitting in the back through four bands that I mostly disliked (far too screamy; fine if you like that sort of thing, but I don’t), and then Headlights came on, and they were somewhere about four bars in before I was up by the stage totally into it–and not just because they were so much better than the previous bands. I hadn’t heard of them before, and in addition to the music being good, they were also adorable. Erin Fein, the lead singer, seemed taken by surprise that we liked them so much. That was also a nice change from the earlier bands, who were convinced they didn’t suck, even though they kinda did. I’m sorry, that was biased. Anyway, I fell in love with them, and headed straight up to their merchandise table and bought their album. And I’m not usually an impulse buyer. But I figure, buying things at concerts gets more money to the artist, so if there’s ever a time to impulse buy, that’s it.

PEOPLE IN ST. LOUIS: Headlights is actually playing St. Louis this Wednesday (November 7th), at the Bluebird on Olive Street downtown. See http://bluebirdstl.com for more info. It’s only like $7-9, so you should totally go.

(video - multiple; I think “Lions” is one)

Headlights - TV
Headlights - Lions

e-music | Amazon.com MP3 | website | MySpace

The New Pornographers

I’ve liked the New Pornographers for a few months now, but have held off posting their stuff because, yes, of their name. But you know what, I can’t help what they call themselves, and they make some really great music (which is not at all pornographic in nature). And they were basically the biggest drawing card for me going to the festival in the first place. The only reason they’re not at the top of this list is because I expected them to be good, whereas Headlights surprised me. Anyway, I was five feet from the stage! They did all my favorite songs off “Challengers” as well as a lot I liked but didn’t know (must be off “Twin Cinema,” which I haven’t heard). Interestingly, “Myriad Harbor” (my current all-time favorite song) doesn’t work as well live as it does on the album; I think because in the recorded version, Dan Bejar is so very introspective and quiet in parts, almost like we’re overhearing something we shouldn’t be, and that’s one of my favorite things about it. But you can’t do that in a live show, you’ve gotta be forceful enough to be heard, and it came out harsher. But it was still good. And the other songs, “Challengers,” “My Rights Versus Yours,” etc., were awesome. Plus, they were more comfortable playing with the crowd than some of the other groups. At one point Neko Case got a serious craving for Rice Krispie Treats (they had a huge sign straight in front of her at the food stand where they were selling them), and said she wanted a mattress of them. Next song break, a stagehand brought a handful of them to her and Carl Newman, so we had a brief snack break. It was fun. I enjoy stuff like that at concerts.

(video - “My Rights versus Yours”)

Three from them, one led by Dan Bejar, one featuring Neko Case, and one with the whole band, but mostly Carl Newman:
The New Pornographers - Myriad Harbor
The New Pornographers - Mutiny, I Promise You
The New Pornographers - Challengers

e-music (”Challengers” not available) | Amazon.com MP3 | website | MySpace

More after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »