4 more essential streaming songs and videos...

Only the second track released from it thus far, but is this already the best album of 2014?!



Smashing Pumpkins debuted a new lineup this week. Along with Billy Corgan, there was Jeff Schroeder (Lassie Foundation, Violet Burning) who has now played lead guitar for 7 years, and then for the first time Brad Wilk on the drums (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave), and Mark Stroermer on bass (The Killers). Here is "Stand Inside Your Love" with the new lineup:


Not necessarily music related (but with with a great accompanying song), this is an incredible video of Chernobyl shot by a drone. I visited Ukraine twice a few years ago, and visited the Chernobyl museum in Kiev, and have been fascinated by the nuclear disaster ever since. I have a burning desire to visit--but obviously never will--so this is as close as I will get:


Postcards from Pripyat, Chernobyl from Danny Cooke on Vimeo.

Finally, I have watched this a dozen times in the last 24 hours:

Gemma Hayes- "Jets" to "There's Only Love" to "Laughter"

Nov. 23, 2014 Update: This post has been edited to add a Facebook entry from Gemma Hayes the day after I wrote this. See bottom of post.

Nov. 25, 2015 Update: This post has been edited to add a portion of a Gemma Hayes interview from September 15, 2015.

My first blog post about Gemma Hayes was in January of 2013, about her 2011 album, Let it Break, which I (stupidly) bought very late. My next post about her coincides with the release of her new album, Bones + Longing, which just came out last week. I was one of the first people to hear it, as one of 890 people who supported her through PledgeMusic to record it. I pledged the money over a year ago, and it was fun to track the progress of the album over the months, and thrilling to finally be able to download it this week. I have been listening to it non-stop since.

Gemma Hayes

This post though is going to be about one song from the album, which I discovered has three names: "Jets", "There's Only Love", and now "Laughter." On first listen of Bones + Longing, I instantly noticed that the first track, "Laughter" sounded very familiar. I quickly realized it was a different version of the song "There's Only Love", which is track 2 on Let it Break. I began doing research on the song, which led to two album reviews. Both however make false assumptions about the song:

From The Arts Desk:
"Bones and Longing kicks off with “Laughter”, a reworking of 2011’s “There’s Only Love” with a more shoe-gazy feel. Its minimal production sets the tone for much of the record. There are whispering vocals, acres of reverb and scratchy guitars that evoke feelings of distant youth." 

From Drowned in Sound:
"Gemma Hayes fans will do a double take as Bones + Longing whirs into life, and may check the correct file/CD/slab of wax is playing. Opener ‘Laughter’ sounds uncannily familiar... then click - it’s literally ‘There’s Only Love’ from 2011’s Let It Break. Recycling’s always shaky musical ground, especially around this time of the year as the market floods with errant balladry designed to keep Cowell’s pet blue whale in krill. Still, disposable dreck is one thing; it’s a bit odd when a serious singer-songwriter opens a fifth record with a cover of themselves. Maybe the creative flame has puttered out?

Not so: Hayes is making amends. She deftly recasts the original's sub-Snow Patrol slog via thoughtful, considered layering - drifting shoegaze guitars, insistent ride cymbal, flecks of synth and a buried, suggestive vocal wheeling beautifully out of the gorse. Voila; the pedestrian becomes the tantalising, lyrics glimpsed through the autumnal furze. It’s a perfect, and somewhat surprising, opening gambit for a record of brave self-assessment.

‘Laughter’ remains a shade tentative, feet carefully placed among slick leaves, but reinvention’s an aim without an obvious path. It’s the collision that discrepancy provides that ultimately gives the record its impetus as Hayes takes stock. 'Sometimes the magic is deadened by trying to record a perfect version of a song,' she said of the process. 'My aim was to make sure each song had a spark.'"

Both are wrong assessments, but the second (from Drowned in Sound) is especially misinformed and false, and takes Gemma Hayes' interview quotes completely out of context. In fact, Drowned in Sound appears to be attacking the original version (?) of the song, by calling it "sub-Snow Patrol slog". What does that even mean? It is a humorous description that I disagree with considering "There's Only Love" is perhaps my all-time favorite Gemma Hayes song.

But the main point here is that "Laughter" is not a re-working or a new version of an old song. "Laughter" is the EXACT same song as "Jets", which was released on the Velvet Ears Two compilation in Sept. 2011. This was a bizarre discovery! You can listen to it here:



As the original, Irish version of of Let it Break was released in May of 2011 (The North American version, which I have, was released in 2012 with a different track order), the question now is which song came first, "Jets" or "There's Only Love"? In Gemma's Wikipedia entry, it describes "Jets" as a demo. I find that hard believe due to the excellent quality and production of the song.

Based on everything I have read up until this point, I am going to guess that both versions of this song were recording during sessions for "Let it Break". Then I assume she picked one version of the song, named "There's Only Love" to put on that album. Considering the other version is equally outstanding yet very different, she picked it to be released that same year as "Jets" on the Velvet Ears comp.



Fast forward to 2014, for some reason, she re-named and re-released "Jets" as the opening track on her new album. While it is now called "Laughter", is is the exact same recording as "Jets" from three years ago. I only heard this song last week, so it is crazy to me it has existed for at least three years.

I admit I am a relatively new Gemma Hayes fan with limited knowledge of her songs (discovered her in 2008, and it wasn't until 2013 that I had more than one album of hers) . Perhaps she records different versions of songs often? Her catalog is so immense, and I am missing one LP and all of the EPs and singles from my collection.

I will continue my research on this song, and attempt to reach out to Gemma herself. I would love her insight on the different versions of this song, and if you are reading this, and have any information, please comment! In summary: 1 song, 2 recordings, 3 titles.


Update, from Gemma Hayes Facebook page on Nov. 21:
I can see on social media that some of you are curious to know my reason for putting an alternative version of 'There’s Only Love' as the opener on the album. I’m talking about 'Laughter'. The album was always a ten track album, I decided to add a bonus track during the mastering phase. Laughter was that bonus track and was set to be placed at the very end of the album as a secret track. The song has a lot of energy and good life to it. The more I lived with it the more I loved the idea of opening the album with this bonus track! It connects both albums or where I have been but more so it clearly establishes a loud and bold change. It's the same person but changed. So a ten track album became an 11. It's been only four days since it's release and the support and good will towards Bones + Longing is staggering. Thank you x G

While she didn't respond directly to me, I assume she did see my tweets and follow-up responses. This is interesting insight on the song, but still doesn't answer my primary question: when was "Laughter" recorded, and did it precede or follow "There's Only Love"?

Update from a Sept. 15, 2015 interview with The 405:
'Laughter' has a history in that it was on your album, Let It Break, but in a different form under the title 'There's Only Love'. What brought you back to that song on this album?

Well 'Laughter' is actually the original version. I wrote it years ago but it never fitted the mood of Let It Break so I took the bones of it and wrote 'There's Only Love' which is the same song lyrically and melodically. For Bones + Longing, 'Laughter' was intended to be a bonus track hidden at the end. For a giggle during the mastering process I suggested starting the album it. I know it's not the done thing to reuse a song on another album but I just loved the energy of the original recording.

Do the two versions have different meanings for you?

When I re-recorded it, the song became more poppier and synth-driven on Let It Break. The original version on this album is a much more cynical. Lyrically I'm singing the same thing but I'm singing it in a way that means the laughter that I hear is not real and that's all we ever hear.

3 new streaming tracks you need to hear...

First of all, the Decemberists are set to release a new album in early 2015, and this is the first single:


Secondly, one of my top-5 all-time R.E.M. songs, "Walk Unafraid," is being covered on an upcoming movie soundtrack:


Then, thirdly, Steve Taylor has a new animated video as we count down the days to his first album in 20 years. I'm not able to embed it as it is debuting on Relevant's website.

First Luxury song in a decade...

...and it iss far better than I could have imagined. I contributed more to their Kickstarter than I ever have before, and I am glad to help make this album possible. Apparently it is a few weeks away from a full digital release.

Farewell Walla: Top 25 Death Cab for Cutie songs

March 28, 2017 edit: I am updating this post to make it current, as the 2014 version was pre Kintsugi. The majority of this text was written in September 2014.

Recently Chris Walla announced he would be leaving Death Cab for Cutie after their next tour, which coincides with the upcoming release of their 8^th studio album (early 2015). Because of that, there has been Death Cab news all over the web in response.

I began writing this post over a month ago, as I recently moved to Germany from the US, I didn't have internet at home for the first month, so blogging has been the last thing on my mind. But, I am WAY overdue for a post, and Paste Magazine inspired me as they posted a top 10 list of Death Cab songs.

The Paste list, found here, is terrible. I seriously doubt a fan of the band wrote it. Without ripping it to shreds, I’ll just post my own list. I have been a fan of Death Cab since 1999, so almost the beginning. The first album I bought was We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes and I saw them on tour for The Photo Album. I am not trying to defend my credentials, but I have them.

http://itsoundsbetterlive.files.wordpress.com

About Chris Walla’s departure: he is essential. Obviously Ben Gibbard is the voice and writes all the lyrics, but Chris Walla’s production and instrumentation are awesome. Grantland, a sports news website, published this terrific article about his contributions.

Transatlanticism and The Photo Album dominate my list, because they are far and away the band’s best work. (And only three of Paste’s 10 made my 20.)

25. "You've Haunted Me All My Life" from Kintsugi

24. "Company Calls" and "Company Calls Epilogue" from We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes (Paste’s #1)

23. "Summer Skin" from Plans

22. "Information Travels Faster" from The Photo Album

21. "Home is a Fire" from Codes and Keys (If Gibbard and Zooey Deschanel were still together, "Monday Morning" would be here instead. But their divorce ruined that song for me.)

20. "Someday You Will be Loved" from Plans

19. "Everything's a Ceiling" from Kintsugi

18. "A Movie Script Ending" from The Photo Album (Paste’s #5)

17. "Scientist Studies" from We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes (The first Death Cab song I ever heard, on a mix tape; led me to buy this album.)

16. "The New Year" from Transatlanticism (Paste’s #3)

15. "Coney Island" from The Photo Album

14. "Your Heart is an Empty Room" from Plans

13. "Title and Registration" from Transatlanticism

12. "Different Names for the Best Thing" from Plans

11. "Black Sun" from Kintsugi

10. "Why’d You Want to Live Here?" from the Photo Album

9. "Title Track" from We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes

8. "You are a Tourist" from Codes and Keys (Paste blasts this--Death Cab’s best single--while including Death Cab’s two most popular songs ever, including the incredibly blah "Soul Meets Body".)

7. "I Will Possess Your Heart" from Narrow Stairs (I hate Narrow Stairs. HATE it. But I love this song. I bought the 7” single before the LP came out, and it would have been fine if the full-length had never seen the light of the day. Every other song on the LP, with maybe the exception of "Bixby Canyon Bridge", is completely forgettable).

6. "Little Wanderer" " from Kintsugi

5. "Styrofoam Plates" from The Photo Album

4. "This Temporary Life" from the Future Soundtrack for America complication (I have no idea where this song came from, but it is epic. I just did a Google search to read more on the the background.)

3 and 2 and 1. Ridiculous and amazing that these three songs are back-to-back-to-back on the same album—Transatlanticism. If I was going to introduce Death Cab to someone this is where I would start: "Tiny Vessels", "Transatlanticism", and "Passenger Seat". The middle of these three songs was performed at my wedding in 2004.

Here are the first two of those three songs being performed live back-to-back in 2012:

Final note: It is obvious that my favorite Death Cab for Cutie album is Transatlanticism. After you have explored that album in depth, check out the recently released Transatlanticism Demos, which is the demo version of all 11 songs on the album (only $5 at Barsuk.com).

Edit: I didn't know it at the time, but I actually posted this blog the day that Death Cab played their final show with Chris Walla. You can watch the final song from this show here.

MINERAL

Mineral is on tour, and video clips are starting to pop-up all over the web. Rather than taking the time to sort through them, I have found the best one for you! Planning to see them on Jan. 31 in Milan, Italy!

Collecting vinyl and moving overseas

So over the last few months my wife and I have been preparing to move overseas. This is a difficult task on many levels, but for the purpose of this blog, I will focus on one aspect of it: my music collection. The cassette tapes and CD's are easy, I am just putting them in boxes and in storage. They aren't worth that much to begin with, and they will be fine in storage, as I rarely listen to them anyway. 99% of the music contained on them exist as MP3's in my iTunes library. But I am too obsessed with artwork and packaging to let them go permanently.

The difficult part about the move is my vinyl collection. Number one, I am attached to it, and I am adding to it all the time. Secondly, it is worth a lot. Vinyl, unlike other formats of physical music, either holds its value or appreciates over time. I actually have my collection insured.

But for the purposes of moving, the problems with vinyl records are that they are super heavy, fragile, and sensitive to temperature changes. All that said, I cannot take my collection of nearly 400 records across the Atlantic ocean. So for the most part, they are staying here. Today I completed the move of the majority of my collection, the shelf they are stored on, and my stereo from my home to a friend's place, who has agreed to care for them/listen to them for 5 years. (What a deal, right!?)

So a couple weeks ago I bought a vintage LP case from the 1960's (?) to store some records to take with me. It is made of metal has a handle and a latch, and will be one of my carry-on's when I fly. I wasn't sure how many records it would hold, but below is what will fit (14 albums, which is 23 total records).

Narrowing down my collection from 400 to 14 was clearly challenging, but the final selections were made based on a combination of the music itself (mostly all-time favorites), the artwork, the color of the vinyl, and the rarity (and value) of release.

(Don't be) Afraid of change

Every May I make a mix for the graduating class of the school I work at. Some years the mix has been a specific theme, but the past few years I just stuck to the concept of only using songs from the year of graduation of the seniors and the year of their birth (an 18-year difference). That allowed me to choose songs from my teenage years that were important to me, and new songs that I liked. The results from doing that the last couple of years had been fun, but this year I felt like I needed to create something more meaningful.

In January the song "Terrified" by Rainer Maria came up while listening to my iPod on random. I knew immediately I had to put that song on the mix for this year, and used the theme of "fear". I had no problem finding 20+ songs with the lyrical theme of fear, or not being afraid. But musically, I just couldn't get the songs to work together. ("I'm Not Afraid" by Fleming & John, while being one of my favorite songs of all time, did not work at all.)

Coming back from the boys' state track meet two weeks ago, my assistant coach and good friend put on the album The Five Ghosts by Stars. It is a favorite album of ours, as we first listened to it on a trip to Appalachian State cross country camp four years ago. We have listened to it frequently on track and cross country trips. When the song "Changes" came up, it was emotional for me, as I realized that I had a lot of changes in store personally. It was my final trip with the team and school I have been at for nine years, and am now leaving.

Sausenburg Castle, Kandern, Germany

At that point a second concept of "change" began to develop for the theme of the mix I was creating, which was now really more for me than it was for the seniors (but obviously still applicable). Originally I started gathering songs strictly about change, but soon realized combining the two ideas resulted in the exact idea I was trying to communicate, and the emotions I was feeling. When I write "(Don't be) afraid of change", I am mostly talking to myself, but also to my friends and the graduating class.

The mix is one of the most mellow and sad I have ever created, but is perfect for this time of transition. Change is hard, but exciting and necessary.

1. Rainer Maria- "Terrified" (from the album Catastrophe Keeps Us Together, 2006)
As I mentioned above, this is the song that inspired the original concept for the mix.
Lyric excerpt:
"You could be waiting all your life.
And it's so wrong to wait.
But you're so terrified, so terrified.
So am I.
You're so terrified, so terrified.
So am I."

2. Bob Dylan- "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (from the album The Times They Are A-Changin', 1964)
I had a problem for a long time when making mixes that most all the songs were from the same time period, typically the most recent 5 years. 99% of the music I listen to was released 1990 or later, and over the past couple of years I have been very intentional about expanding my listening further into the past. This song is also used in the movie Watchmen and is placed perfectly.

Lyric excerpt:
"Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'."

3. Waterdeep- "I'm Afraid I'm Not Supposed To Be Like This" (from the album Sink Or Swim, 1997)

Lyric excerpt:
"Well He's been promising me something more than pain
Where the cost is grace and my loss is gain
And I have chosen because there is no other way
I either wallow in shame
Or humble myself and be saved"

4. Stars- "Changes" (from the album The Five Ghosts, 2010)
Part two of the inspiration for this mix.

Lyric excerpt:
"This time in between the day and the night
the light kills my sense of life
so scared, turn it off, turn it off

It's dull, this dusk, this desk, this dust
My eyes adjust
I'll blow out the flame
Can you and me remain?

Changes, never been good with change
I hate it when it all stays the same
caught between the gold and the game
Changes, never been good with change
I hate it when it all stays the same
caught between the cold and the waves
My heart beats up, again"

5. R.E.M.- "Walk Unafraid" (from the album Up, 1998)
Up is my favorite R.E.M. album, which is a rare choice because the album is largely unknown. And this is my favorite song from the album, both lyrically and musically.

Lyric excerpt:
"As the sun comes up, as the moon goes down
These heavy notions creep around
It makes me think, long ago
I was brought into this life a little lamb
A little lamb
Courageous, stumbling
Fearless was my middle name.
But somewhere there I lost my way
Everyone walks the same
Expecting me to step
The narrow path they've laid
They claim to
Walk unafraid
I'll be clumsy instead
Hold my love or leave me high."

6. The Casket Girls- "The Chase" (from the album True Love Kills the Fairy Tale, 2014)
In 2013 I subscribed to Graveface Records record club, which is a deal where one gets everything the label releases in a calendar year. The Appleseed Cast's vinyl releases first attracted me to the label a few years ago. Then I met the owner Ryan at his shop in Savannah, and when he signed Haley Bonar, my interest in the label grew enough for me to commit to the record club.

One of the releases I got early on was the Casket Girls debut album Sleepwalking. The album didn't really grab me, but I loved the vinyl artwork and the story behind the formation of the band (Ryan Graveface plus sisters he met on the streets of Savannah). As my record club subscription came to a close (and I didn't renew, because of my upcoming move to Germany), I waited a few months to pick my final release. The second Casket Girls album is what I chose, mainly because I knew the vinyl itself would look amazing(I was correct, see photo).

What surprised me though was how catchy the songs were. The noisy background and female vocals were similar to the debut album, but everything was so much tighter and the harmonies were great. And the lyrics really jumped out at me this time around.

Musically, this is no where near my favorite song on the album, but lyrically it is very meaningful to me (both in the context of this mix, and as a running coach).

Lyric excerpt:
"It's not the quarry but the chase, not the trophy but the race
There is no prize, there is no finish line
There's only forgiveness"

7. The Postal Service- "Suddenly Everything Has Changed" (from the The District Sleeps Alone Tonight  EP, 2003).
This is a Flaming Lips song, and I considered using the original version, but I had just listened to a lot of Postal Service on the way back from the girls' state track meet three weeks ago. And this Postal Service version is a little more chill, a little less weird, and fit better here.

Lyric excerpt:
"Driving home, the sky accelerates
And the clouds all form a geometric shape
And it goes fast
You think of the past
Suddenly everything has changed"

8. Arcade Fire- "We Used to Wait" (from the album The Suburbs, 2010)
If you have never "watched" the interactive video for this song, stop everything you are doing and try it now. One of the coolest things I have ever seen on the web: The Wilderness Downtown

Lyric excerpt:
"I'm gonna write
A letter to my true love
I'm gonna sign my name

Like a patient on a table
I wanna walk again
Gonna move through the pain

Now our lives are changing fast
Now our lives are changing fast
Hope that something pure can last
Hope that something pure can last

We used to wait
We used to wait
We used to wait
Sometimes it never came
We used to wait
Sometimes it never came
We used to wait
I'm still moving through the pain
We used to wait
We used to wait
We used to wait"

9. Jimmy Eat World- "For Me This Is Heaven" (from the album Clarity, 1999)
This is my favorite song from one of my top 5 albums of all time. In fact, I am so obsessed with and familiar with this song, it almost didn't work here, at least for me. But it communicates exactly what I needed to express and feel.

Full lyrics:
"The first star I see may not be a star
We can't do a thing but wait
So let's wait for one more

And the time, such clumsy time
In deciding if it's time
I'm careful but not sure how it goes
You can lose yourself in your courage

When the time we have now ends
When the big hand goes round again
Can you still feel the butterflies?
Can you still hear the last goodnight?

And the mindless comfort grows 
When I'm alone with my 'great' plans
And this is what she says gets her through it
"If I don't let myself be happy now, then when?
If not now, when?"

The time we have now ends
And when the big hand goes round again
Can you still feel the butterflies?
Can you still hear the last goodnight?

I close my eyes and believe 
Wherever you are, an angel for me

When the time we have now ends
And when the big hand goes round again
Can you still feel the butterflies?
Can you still hear the last goodnight?"

10. Pearl Jam- Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town (from the album Vs., 1993)
2014 was the year I truly discovered Pearl Jam. I listened to and loved Ten when it was released, but I never bought it until a couple years ago. And it wasn't until this year that I bought any other Pearl Jam album, and I bought them all (as used CDs, and got the entire discography for less than $30). I am still exploring the depth of each album. This song (with a weird and long title) I was of course familiar with in the Nineties. But I had never payed attention to the lyrics until this year.

Lyric excerpt:
"Lifetimes are catching up with me
all these changes taking place, i wish i'd seen the place
but no one's ever taken me
hearts and thoughts they fade, fade away..."

11. K's Choice- "When I Lay Beside You" (from the album Echo Mountain, 2011)
This is really the only song on the mix that lyrically is a little off the theme. But musically I thought it was perfect, and actually reminds me a lot of the Rainer Maria song at the beginning. As I listen to the song I am thankful I get to share this time of change with my loving wife.

Lyric excerpt:
"I am everything I want to be
With your loving face in front of me
With your eyes that hum the perfect song
To go on long after I am gone

When I lay beside you
When I lay beside you"

12. Elliott Smith- "Better Be Quiet Now" (from the album Figure 8, 2000)
My assistant coach is obsessed with Elliott Smith (to say the least!) I have always liked him, but never really listened to him all that much. The only album I have owned for a long time is XO, which is awesome but quite depressing.

For me, Elliott Smith and "depressing" have always been synonymous, especially since he committed suicide--well at least I thought I did! I was not familiar with the events surrounding his death as it happened when I lived in Zambia. And in October 2003 I am pretty sure I was camping the the bush. Anyway, my assistant coach has convinced me his girlfriend murdered him, which seems far more plausible after reading all the facts.

I bought Figure 8 just a couple weeks ago, and was thrilled to listen to some "happy" Elliott Smith. I picked this song strictly based on the lyrics, as I still don't know it that well.

Lyric excerpt:
"But I better be quiet now
I'm tired of wasting my breath
Carrying on, not over it yet
Wish I knew what you were doing
And why you want to do it this way
So I can't go the distance
I got a long way to go
I'm getting further away
I got a long way to go
I'm getting further away"

13. Coldplay- "We Never Change" (from the album Parachutes, 2000)
It's amazing how my feelings about Coldplay have changed. When I first heard "Yellow" 14 years ago, I thought "blah". But now I have a ton of respect for the band, and my wife and I both adore their debut Parachutes.

Lyric excerpt:
"And I live my life, and have friends around.
We never change do we? No, no,
We never learned to leave.
So I wanna live in a wooden house,
Making more friends would be easy.
Oh and I don't have a show to say,
Yes, and I sin every single day,
We never change, do we?"

14. Fleetwood Mac- Landslide (from the album Fleetwood Mac, 1975)
I hate to admit it, but I heard the Smashing Pumpkins cover of this song before I heard the original. About the same time, the first girl I dated put the original on a mix for me. I have always thought the song was sad, and it was meaningful as I left my hometown to move to college in 1995. Crazy that it is almost 40 years old.

Lyric excerpt:
"Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm getting older too"

15. Bright Eyes- Nothing Gets Crossed Out from the album (Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground, 2002)
During our team trips my assistant coach will often take my iPod and select random songs to play. This is fun for many reasons, but when one has 16,000 songs to choose from, there are many songs I have not listened to in many years (if ever). She played the song "You Will. You?..." off this Bright Eyes album, and I while I am sure I had heard it at some point, this was the first time I had truly paid attention.

I have mixed feelings about Conor Oberst. He is a musical genius, but I often cannot identify to his songs. The album Lifted... I purchased a couple years ago because I became obsessed with The People's Key, and was looking for the next best Bright Eyes album. I still haven't properly digested Lifted..., but I have listened to it more the last couple weeks and this song fit the theme of this mix.

Lyric excerpt:
"Now I'm tryin' to be assertive.
I'm making plans.
Wanna rise to the occasion, yeah
meet all of their demands.
But all I do is just lay in bed
and hide under the covers.
I know I should be brave
but I'm just too afraid of all this change.
And it's too hard to focus through all this doubt.
I keep making these 'To Do' lists but nothing gets crossed out."

16. Sleeping At Last- Earth (from the album Atlas: Space 1, 2013)
Sleeping at Last is so prolific that it is hard for me to focus on any one album  (or EP) of theirs (really "his"). But the Space EP's are terrific, and rival the best songs he has ever written.

Lyric excerpt:
"there was an earthquake.
there was an avalanche of change.
we were so afraid,
we cried ourselves a hurricane.
there were floods,
tidal waves over us,
so we folded our hands and prayed.
like a domino,
these wildfires grow and grow
until a brand new world takes shape."

17. Jeremy Enigk- "How It Feels to Be Something On" (from an AOL Music - The Interface session in 2006)
Originally a Sunny Day Real Estate Song, I have always loved this acoustic solo version. I have been listening to a ton of Sunny Day recently, as they just released their first song in 14 years. I don't listen to Enigk's solo stuff enough, but we went through lots of random Enigk songs during the boys' state meet trip, including the Fire Theft's "Heaven" and mewithoutYou's "O'Porcupine".

Lyric excerpt:
"Don't tell me, God
The dreams I've had
To fill it up but spill instead
Talk to remind
Days, weeks and hours

All in time will be, later on we'll try
All we gave to fly
Hollow peaks we've climbed
All these things I've been
How it feels to be something on"

18. Manchester Orchestra- "Colly Strings" (from the album I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child, 2006)
This song is pretty hard to understand even after listening to it over and over again for years and reading interviews on what it is about. I picked it because I needed a song that lyrically continued the themes here, but musically ended in an uplifting way (after half a dozen sad songs in a row).
Lyric excerpt:
"'Cause like dying young, idols got the best of me,
Well don't stop calling, you're the reason I love losing sleep,
And the building collapse, we'll shop one for something

I'll stick it at our skin, pierced for something

Besides, don't release me until it's over
And besides, you can't believe without bleeding"

Mos Eisley Cantina band auditions

MINERAL Reunites

As I posted on Facebook earlier, WOW. Mineral getting back together, even if it is only to play shows, is one of the most amazing and unlikely reunions I could have imagined. Their short existence was so tumultuous and volatile, I just never saw it coming. 17 years later!

Brooklyn Vegan
Pitchfork
NPR
AV Club

Here is my 2009 interview with lead singer Chris Simpson.