Are you Amazed?!?

MMJ!!! No it's not a typo for Michael Jordan, although ya the Bulls are playing out of this world... I hope they pull of the upset. However, back to the point My Morning Jacket (aka MMJ) was recently in Rolling Stones for best album (I believe it was in the top 10) and also best song, I'm Amazed (I believe was 1st), and I thought to myself how many people really know about them.

I for one had no idea who MMJ was until I was about two months or so away from going to bonarroo last year in 2008. My real good friend, and roommate now, Matt told me they put on an awsome show, and hey I had nothing better to do. But, I prepared myself, I listened to their music before hand and was knocked back by their most recent album 'Evil Urges.' It is simply amazing. From beginning to end you can listen to every song and not one of them sounds remotely similar to the other and you could almost swear its a different lead singer from song to song, but no Jim James is the man!!!

Hailing from Tennesee I believe, they fit somewhere in between the country and rock genre. Songs like 'Highly Suspicious' and 'Aluminum Park' almost make you think they could be a strictly rock n roll band, but then they have songs like 'I'm Amazed' and 'Librarian,' which are just so different i'm at a loss of words. The music they produce is just wonderful. Never getting to up tempo in their rock songs, but never too slow in their ballads as they captivate you with more than just music but wonderful lyrics.

One of my favorite lines from any song out their right now comes from the song 'Librarian.' Jim James sings about the typical fantasy of wanting to hookup with the librarian and throws out the idea that 'when god made mirrors he had no idea,' as he is combing his hair in the mirror. How awsome is that? It's so true, how much time do we all stand in front of the mirror just because we care so much of what other's think? I'm guilty we all are, as i mentioned in my post about being Vain.

Either way, today when you are wondering what you need to listen to to get you in the mood, go to listen.grooveshark.com type in 'Evil Urges,' hit play and enjoy the ride... the songs will take you on a trip, and if you can catch them live I highly recommend it as Jim James brings so much soul into his performances... I for one can feel his soul through the speakers, but that may be because i've seen them live a couple times and cant get enough.

Please give them a listen and enjoy as they make your day that much better :)

peace, love and happiness

Lazy Monday

Today it started to thunder and rain in the morning and from that moment I just new I wasn't going to get anything done. So as I sit at work, jammin out to some WSP it dawned on me that this is the perfect music for today. WideSpread Panic is probably some of the closest stuff I listen too that resembles country, which so many of my good friends listen too. JB, the lead singer, always seems to be taking his time going through his lines and the rest of the band follows his lead just chillin and jammin with him. With the rain pitter pattering outside I threw on 'Airplane' and it just helps soothe you, well me technically.

If you enjoy southern rock, country, or just awsome groovin melodies I suggest you look into WSP. Some great songs by them include, Tall Boy, Protein Drink, Airplane, Can't Get High, Wonderin'.

Unfortunately it is tough to find were to find places to download WSP, but you can stream it from their very own site.... http://panicstream.com/

they provide all or atleast most of their live shows to listen to in its entirety and its just awsome to hear them jam from one song to the next in their slow rolling way.

Also, a little bit of a side note, never have I ever seen so many wookies (aka hippies) and frat boys in the same location than at a WSP concert... so weird its almost like they could coexist for those 3hours.

enjoy!! let me know if u need help finding music, im here to help.

Music Experience

So I have totally diverted away from my original intention of what my blog was supposed to be about. Not that it is a bad thing, but there is just so much good music out there that not enough people know about, myself included, and the best way for people to find out about new bands is NOT the radio, but word of mouth. So I will try every couple days to put up mini posts of a band/group/entertainer that I really like and write a tid bit about why, along with recommend some songs to start with.

Hopefully you guys will enjoy and will share your wealth of knowledge as well.

To start I think it is only just that I go with the Disco Biscuits, as they have been rocking my world for a couple years now and I can just never seem to get enough... but that just goes for music in general too.

About the Disco Biscuits: they fall into the 'jam band' category somewhat, but at the same time not at all. They bring thick bass lines, and some wicked fast guitar riffs. If you have ever seen a real DJ perform, not some lame ass Disc Jockey that only mixes songs, you understand the concept of peaking during shows and coming down. This is what Disco does, but with a FULL band. There music sounds electronic because of the intensity they bring to it, but just like that they know how to mellow out and give the crowd a breather. Listening to these guys is tough if you have never seen them live, or do not enjoy dance parties because thats what it is.

I suggest http://www.archive.org/details/db2009-02-08.at4041 you can copy paste the link and you can listen by streaming or downloading. This is a show I saw @ HoB Dallas, there are plenty of other awsome shows too on archive.org, just have to look around a bit.

Some killer songs by them: Caterpillar, Highwire, Rock Candy, etc. I could go on for ever about them. I also suggest youtubing them as they have amazing light shows, and it is just awsome to see the crowd going nuts, and Marc Brownstein (the bassist) has the most incredible power stance ever... he can THROW the funk down on the bass and for that THANK YOU MARC!!!

Are you vain? yes you are!

The issue of being vain, or really what vain meant came up in my house between one of my room mates and good friend and it was kind of funny because one of them didn't know exactly what it meant. Does it even matter though? Aren't we all?

Apparently a girl asked him, 'hey are you vain?' Not really knowing/realizing the negative connotation that is associated with the word he responded 'yes.'

So I began to think, am I vain? are my friends vain? are they vain? etc... until I came upon the question 'Who isn't vain?' I don't think ANYONE, well at least anyone reading this blog post is not vain. Pretty much from the time we are born to when we die we have all sorts of pressure to conform or look a certain way. Even if you don't conform though you are going for a specific look. You want to make sure you stand out in a way... even if its the don't look at me I hate life, but really I want you to look at me and see how cool/different I am look.

I am def guilty... doing yoga, the couple push ups a day, the not so frequent jogs... its all part of my master plan, to look good :). Isn't that what everyone wants? to look good?

Now looking good is a different topic all together. To some looking good is looking like a super model, to some its wearing the hippest clothes, and still to more it is hopefully just being comfortable with your body. Being comfortable with it though I hope does not mean to do nothing about it, but more to understand your body. For example I cannot dunk but it doesn't mean i still don't try, or I know i am not Fernando Torres or some other super star soccer player, but it doesn't keep me from playing at a different level.

Any who, I believe we are all vain to some degree, but what really matters is how you let it effect your life. The worst example of this EVER happened to me in college. One of my friends started to seriously freak out when I asked to touch his Don King looking hair. A) he was white B) Are you fucking serious its your hair!? C) he looked like one of those idiots out of the 'My New Haircut' you tube video sensation. Wasn't like I wanted to run a lawn mower through his hair, in Texas, at least back in the day, I wasn't used to these types douche bag... but i have learned to adapt and deal.

Domination!

Simple as that. That is what my coed naked kickball team does. We blasted through last season's schedule winning games with double digit leads easily. I mean we were focused!!! All we talked about was 'We're goin to the Ship!' Honestly that was our chant starting in the 2nd inning of some games. How ridiculous right?

This group of friends and friends of friends came together and unified under one name 'Peanut Butter Pudding Surprise,' thanks to our good friends My Morning Jacket and their song 'Highly Suspicious.' This became our anthem and we would all rock out to this song while passing jello shorts around, throwing empties in the trash, and bustin a dance move or two. That's right jello shots, beers, dancing... sounds better than some peoples weekends right? Well yep that's how we roll. And thanks to my new found hobby 'Ghostriding' I will be able to do it with a little bit more style! :)

Tonight is the 2nd game of the 2nd season and after a great start we need to keep this going as a team. We wond our first game by a close margin of 8-6 I believe... honestly I shouldnt have been driving, but shhh, so i dont really remember details, just that we got that W. I think the key to our team not dominating so much was the lack of music... we had the beers, we had the jello shots... but the music it just didn't complete us. Therefore I have taken it upon myself to bring a boombox out to the game tonight to help out with CRUSHING and DOMINATING!!! That's what kind of team player i am.

One Nighters

It has come to my attention that the one night stand has become increasingly less popular... especially with age. What gives? Why not have a good time, maybe you just had a rough day, maybe its your birthday, maybe he/she is hot... who cares, it was in the moment, it felt right, why not.

Well apparently that's not the case to a lot of people. Is it jealousy, is it how they were raised, is it that maybe they dont enjoy it as much? Who knows... I for one enjoy the company of a cute girl. I dont quite understand the concept of why it is looked down upon so much. I find that if he/she meets a someone of interest out on the town that life is way to short to think what if; however, if he/she is running around every weekend with a different guy that is a little different, in my opinion. I just dont see what the big deal is if you are genuinely attracted to someone why you have to play some game of cat and mouse to see who wants who more, or who has the power of this and that... politics is it in fucking everything?

Not only is there the overall issue of the 'one night stand,' but it is also EXTREMELY biased towards the females. When a guy sleeps with a couple hot girls he is seen as a 'pimp,' 'the man,' etc., but when a girl does the same thing she is looked down upon as being 'easy, 'loose,' etc. Granted I am not a girl so I dont exactly know, but from all the drama I have observed in my quarter century of existence it seems that girls are much harsher on each other about it.

I am not exactly saying for everyone to run around sleeping with each other, but if something feels right why go against it? Science goes beyond my vocabulary to explain the most ridiculous phenomenons with elaborate hypotheses and everyone believes it. When two people are attracted to each other doesnt that just make sense? I dont know, maybe i am less inhibited than others, or maybe I am just wierd.

Do your thing, whatever that may be.

How bout you?

So what were your early musical influences taking you through middle school, high school, and college? Did you feel yourself evolve as a person with the music you listened to, and as the music changed in different parts of your life?

If you would like please share, but also it is a nice reflection exercise... as I believe it can really help one align their life path, ideals, and morals