Update/Question

First off, I apologize for all the slacking. I could make it one big giant post but I will put in a nutshell:

*I am no longer going to South Dakota. The newspaper I was interning at offered me a job and after a long thought process I took it. So now I will be living in Montgomery, Alabama.

*I am starting a new job at the same time as having to move out of the place I'm at now. And as of this post, I still don't have a place I'm going to. So that's sort of stressful, but whatever.

*Adding on to all this moving nonsense, I will be graduating on August 9, which is actually turning into an event with some of my family flying in from California.

*And lastly, my relationship ended. Details will probably come later, but for now, just add it to the list.

So give me a two week window and I will be back at blogging, better than ever. Even with possibly a new blog, since another one of mine died.

And I guess since I'm revealing everything else, I guess I can reveal that "project" I mentioned in the past. A fellow music blogger and I have gotten together and once we can hammer out the details we will unveil a music web site. There's not much more I can discuss at this point, but I feel like I'm going to hold it really close to me and will probably spend way too much time on it.

Now on to the question...

For those that have been following since the beginning, and I mean the very beginning, you will see that I used to be a lot more personal on here. Lately, I've almost taken that personal approach again but I kind of got into the mindset of "this has become a music blog with occasional life observations thrown in." And, to be honest, I don't want to come across as emo, but sometimes I need a place to vent.

So what do you think? Could you see this blog getting a little more personal? And please, you can give me candid answers. I'm ready for them. Answers and/or suggestions are welcome and encouraged.

(50) Sundays of Music: #23

#23: Kanye West - College Dropout

Try if you can to suspend your current thoughts on Mr. West. For now, let's go back to 2004.

I've mentioned my story here many times, but as a real quick recap: I was born in California, but moved to Alabama when I was 8 and have stuck it out here ever since. I still have family on the West Coast which grants me frequent visits so I feel like growing up I get the best of two worlds: Sunny California and the Dirty South.

Down here is where there are two major sounds coming from car stereos: Country and/or Southern Rock or Gangsta Rap (Sometimes it's really funny to see the dirtiest, nastiest rap coming out of a truck with deer decals... but I digress). So the first couple years of my high school, my exposure to that genre was The Cash Money Millionaires, consisting of rap heavyweights like Juvenile, Birdman and a very young (and different sounding) Lil Wayne. When the songs I was hearing at the time consisted of "Bling Bling" and "Back That Azz Up" it was easy to see why I didn't really respect rap and/or hip hop.

Then came along Kanye West. Don't get me wrong, people like Jay Z had been around but I didn't really get into them for whatever reason. And I had always been into Eminem, but let's be honest, he is in a genre all his own. But I had no idea West was actually doing some of the beats for some of Jay Z's songs (I think the biggest one he gets credit for is "Encore").

I somehow heard "Through the Wire" and I was like "I don't know why he sounds like that, but this is a really good song." He sounded different because he recorded some of the song after his mouth was sown shut following a car accident. I liked it and became curious.

Then came "Slow Jamz" and I was really hooked. I loved the style, the flow. The integration of Twista and Jamie Foxx. Those two songs made me curious enough to actually go out and buy the cd and I wasn't disappointed.

From "Never Let Me Down" to "Two Words" I was in awe of the music. Finally, some hip hop where somebody was actually saying something, not just bragging about money and cars. I watched the cd grow as I remember three different videos for "Jesus Walks" and laughing, but admiring some of the lyrics like the one in "All Falls Down" that goes" "Couldn't afford a car so she named her daughter Alexus."

My main memory comes from a conversation I had with my friend Shedrick. I was telling him how I thought Kanye was becoming my favorite rapper. He said "someone can't be your favorite after one cd." I felt like though Shedrick didn't see it, he predicted the future. In my opinion, none of Kanye's releases have been as good as his first one. Jeanette even called it one of the top albums of the decade and honestly, that was a great pick.

So right now I am enjoying his latest single "Power" and hope that the cd that comes with it contains the same level of music. Though I bet it won't be anything like The College Dropout.

(50) Sundays of Music: #24

#24: Say Anything - Is A Real Boy

"And the record begins with a song of rebellion..."

I have to admit. I hated this cd when I first heard it. Kind of ironic that it now kicks off the under-25 portion of the countdown. I think I hated it because it was pushed down my throat by my roommate at the time. Also ironic? He and I now bond over the memories of this cd.

My initial thoughts the first time I heard the vocals of Max Bemis was "this is weird." And indeed, the cd is kind of weird. But Say Anything are... different. And in a time period where I was coming from Fall Out Boy and Yellowcard being my favorite bands (don't take that as disrespect to those guys) I guess I needed something different.

Ultimately, the song that got me was the classic "Alive with the Glory of Love." The beginning captures anybody's attention when he starts out "When I watch you / wanna do you / right where you're standing." Come to find out the song came from stories of his grandparents meeting in a time of war. I could be wrong but at the current moment, I'm too lazy to fact check. But the story goes something like that.

The rest of the cd is mental journey, from "Spidersong" to "Chia-Like I Shall Grow." This was also a period of angst for me so while I couldn't relate to the lyrics, I could relate to the tone of "Every Man Has a Molly."

A note of interest is the song "Woe." In music, I feel that if the "f word" is used properly, it is almost needed. And this song is one of the best examples of the use of that four letter guilty pleasure of mine.

But the defining song on this cd comes toward the end. More than "Glory" and "Woe" combined is none other than "I Want to Know Your Plans." In a cd full of the rantings of a mad man (Bemis spent time in a mental hospital between this release and the next cd), this was as close to a love song as you were going to get. And while it was nothing out of Shakespeare, it was, in a word, real.

While the verses are his own form of poetry, Bemis hits a home run with the chorus that you have to hear to truly feel:

"You're what keeps me believing the world's not gone dead,
Strength in my bones put the words in my head.
When they pour out to paper, it's all for you.
'Cause that's what you do."

Sadness

The other night my musical world shattered. I saw a post on facebook from one of my favorite bands, Envy on the Coast, simply titled "end."

My worst fear upon seeing that statement came true when I read this:

"To anyone and everyone who's ever supported us: The day has come to pull down that curtain down."

Don't try to to tell me I'm not allowed to be sad. I loved these guys. Their debut LP is one of my all time favorites. Their second cd, released earlier this year, was great. I remember telling someone that I feel it was the kind of release where they would go from being a band that you compare to others to a band that others are compared to. Not to mention the fact that they have lyrics that I still take to heart today.

This is going to sound stupid, but I honestly felt like he was talking to me when he said this:

"I've toured with the flavors of the week. I've watched teenagers place "band dudes" up on pedestals, not for the music they make, but for the aura they omit. I've seen the looks in our fans eyes. I know that this little band meant something to you. I know that all of our sacrifice, all of our struggle, and all of our hard work was worth it. I know that we didn't have to tweet what the fuck we were doing every hour of the day in order to stay connected with our fans. They stayed connected to us through our music, regardless of where we were or what we were doing. You understood. You got it."

My brother is also a fan of this band. In fact, he was the one that got me into them. I will leave you with something he reposted from EOTC's myspace page...

The first God I remember was a Santa Claus God, who you only turn to around Christmas time, who you tried to butter up, and you got mad at if you didn't get what you wanted.

That didn't make sense.

I knew if there was a God, he could see through us, like we were made out of cellophane, like he could stare directly into our hearts, the way we look into an aquarium, like he'd know what was floating around in there, like he were the one feeding it.

Then there were those people who used god to threaten you, saying "you'd better be careful- God's watching," like God was some badass hillbilly sitting on some cloud, with some binoculars, a cotton candy beard and a shotgun.

Then there were those people who had God's name on a bumper sticker, like he was running for president. And sometimes those people would cut you off on the freeway and give you the finger, which is very different than lending a hand.

Then there were people on television, dressed in weird clothes and scary make-up, SWEARING that they had the secret to God, like god was a keyhole their eye was pressed to it, and if I gave him some money they'd let me look, and I could see God just hangin' around in his boxers, and though I liked the idea of spying on God, I began to wonder if the world would be a better place if the Romans had just put up with Jesus and let him die of old age...

And then there were the football players, kneeling down in front of everybody, thanking God, like he was their best friend, but then they'd jump up and spike the ball yelling, "I'm number ONE!!", and that confused me, for if you're number one, then what number is God??

Then I saw politicians trotting God out on a leash, like a racehorse they wanted to hop on and ride to the finish-line. But if they lost, it would be GOD's fault, and God would be the donkey they'd pin their problems on, and that was very nice of God, to be both a racehorse and a donkey.

And then there were those who said, "You'd better be good on earth, if you wanna get into heaven," Like heaven was the United States, and the Earth was Mexico, and angels were the Border Patrol.
Like when you die, you sit in a parked car on the outskirts of Heaven, the engine idling, your soul in the back-seat in one of those kennels used to carry small dogs on an airplane, as you listen to the radio, hearing the voices of all the people you ever wronged testify against you.

And then there's the church which was like this cafeteria, where they serve God to you on these very un-Godlike plates, but I wanted my God PURE, not watered down by humans. So I had one of those catastrophe gods- you know, the one you called in an emergency, like God was the National Guard you call on to clean up the earthquake of your life.

So I got drunk one night, drove home, passed out behind the wheel, and woke up, going 60mph straight at a brick wall. I slammed on the brakes, my heart banging like a wrecking-ball in my chest, staring at death's face, close enough to see that we had the same cheek-bones.

Now I have a God who's like a mechanic who can fix anything. So, when I wanna chew somebody's head off like a salt-water taffy, or amputate my DNA, or open my wrists like windows that have been painted shut, I just put my soul into a box, like a busted computer, and haul it in. And He never asks to see my paperwork, or says that my warrenty has expired.
And I walk out feeling better.

And I don't care if He doesn't exist.
-Jeffrey McDaniel

(50) Sundays of Music: #25

#25: The Legion of Doom - Incorporated

I want to give a special thanks to everyone who submitted a guest post for this week leading up to my 25th selection. I chose this week to celebrate for two reasons: 1) because 25 is one of those celebratory numbers and 2) it just so happened that #25 was a mash-up type cd, so it was fitting to have a mash up of posts.

Earlier when I talked about Travis Barker and DJ AM's "Fix Your Face" collaboration, I said it was the first of two cds on this countdown that were never officially released. The Legion of Doom's "Incorporated" is the second cd.

I found most of these tracks back in the day I used Limewire nonstop. But it was actually ok to download these, because since the songs are all mash-ups, I guess it fall under the category where the Legion of Doom couldn't sell it due to copyright.

But what was different about these mash-ups were that they were of rock songs. The first one I ever heard blended Senses Fail's "Buried a Lie" and Taking Back Sunday's "You're So Last Summer" to produce "I Know What You Buried Last Summer." The songs were so detailed and well produced that one could actually think they were supposed to be released that way.

The other big reason why "Incorporated" was so important to me is that it opened my eyes to new bands. Before I heard the mash-up, "The Quiet Screaming," I was actually unfamiliar with Dashboard Confessional's "Screaming Infidelities" and Brand New's "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows." I had always heard of the songs, but never heard them.

And that applied to other bands: Alkaline Trio, Matchbox Romance, Underoath, Norma Jean. I was finally tapping into these sounds, and I had dived in head first.

Even if these isn't your genre of music, try to appreciate how well these guys put the songs together.

Senses Fail - Buried A Lie + Taking Back Sunday - You're So Last Summer =

Dashboard Confessional - Screaming Infidelities + Brand New - The Quiet Thing That No One Ever Knows =

Sunday Music Guest Post #6

In celebration of reaching the halfway point of my (50) Sundays of Music countdown, I wanted to do something to celebrate. I figured what better way than to turn the tables around and hear about other people's favorite music. So I asked some of my blogger friends (and a special guest) to give me a week full of guest posts talking about one of their favorite artists, albums or songs and to give the reason why. Today's guest post comes from...

Nick! Now, you will notice, there is no hyperlink over his name. That is because he is this week's special guest. Nick doesn't have a blog as of press time, but he got here because he is my brother. At one point in his life, literally not too long ago, he was following in my footsteps and was thinking of pursuing a journalism degree. His thoughts have now changed in a direction that is taking him to music school in Los Angeles. I still am incredibly proud of his writing talents, at times honestly becoming jealous. It must be in our blood to write about music with a passion. Let him showcase what I believe to be a talent below:

Dance Gavin Dance - Dance Gavin Dance [DeathStar Album]

In today's era of a music industry there is, needless to say, a mass multitude of music out there and available for music- goers worldwide. With that said, it is far from guaranteed that every album produced is pure gold. It is sort of crazy in that sense, that you can get so lost in the music industry these days looking for some good music to suit your ears, you can honestly wind up more confused than ever trying to find that new great cd. After countless music shows and concerts, honestly countless, I've been able to witness many forgettable acts which would be tactful to name, but yet on the flip-side there have been quite a few musical groups that have simply been able to awe and blow me away with whatever they were doing. And it is because of this live aspect, which everyone should at least experience once for the atmosphere, that I'd have to say it was honestly difficult narrowing down my choices of a favorite cd.

When first prompted with the question of preference, I sort of wanted to go retro-ish and bring back a cd everyone has heard but may not remember, with UnderOath's "They're Only Chasing Safety." For me that cd was monumental; first screamo band in high school. So many people I know would cringe if they ever listened to this music, but for me it was just a raw blend of melodies and angst via Spencer Chamberlain, screaming vocalist. Even though this wasn't my pick, this cd was significant enough for a mention, because it was thanks to these guys [ and a friend's band, La Circa] that I got into that whole genre for a fairly long time. In this time, i was able to come across some really good bands that honestly had a very good chance of stealing this pick. For instance, Pierce the Veil and Lower Definition, two up and coming bands from San Diego, Ca. I saw both these bands when I was in high school, and was hooked ever sense. The crazy thing was that the same night that i first saw Lower Definiton, I was also able to see another standout band from Sacramento, Ca take the stage. Anybody ever heard of Jonny Craig? Jon Mess? Well if not, then I was in your shoes that night. After that show though, I have honestly seen Dance Gavin Dance at least a dozen times, and have practically grown with them through their cds, which is kinda weird but also a cool thing, if that's not too contradicting. But for real though, if you have never heard Jonny Craig sing, in what ever band, you've been missing out. This guy may not possess the greatest personality, but the man can sing. And Jon Mess is a whole different story.

After being apart of Dance Gavin Dance for two studio albums, Jonny Craig left the band, with Kurt Travis filling his vocalist shoes. I personally feel that this is where Jon Mess took his writing to a whole other level with the Deathstar album. He just wrote with an edge, cynically even, and it worked extremely well for my listening likes. For instance, in the song, 'Me and Zoloft Get Along Just Fine,' Jon Mess has a distinct line that goes "Rate me and judge me, on a graph that you drew, hope i compare to the friends that left you for dead." I remember reading the lyrics tothat song for the first time in the summer of '08, and just getting the chills.

The added intensity of Mess' vocals was not the only new features of Dance Gavin Dance's Deathstar though. There was also the new melodic riffing of guitarist Zac Garren, who gave DGD a funkier tone to their already intricate musical works. Then there is the total 180 of singing with clean vocalist, Kurt Travis. He gave DGD a breathe of fresh air while tag teaming with Mess and the rest of the band to create this master piece. This was a great change of pace, because it introduced the likes of great songs like RockSolid [Featuring vocals from Lower Definition's Matt Giese] People you know [ Mess' giant rant song] and Uneasy Hearts weigh the most, a song in which everybody can get into and enjoy.

Sunday Music Guest Post #5

In celebration of reaching the halfway point of my (50) Sundays of Music countdown, I wanted to do something to celebrate. I figured what better way than to turn the tables around and hear about other people's favorite music. So I asked some of my blogger friends (and a special guest) to give me a week full of guest posts talking about one of their favorite artists, albums or songs and to give the reason why. Today's guest post comes from...

JerseySjov! I remember lurking around the 20something bloggers web site when I came across a New Jersey girl asking for more followers around her age. I showed up and was immediately interested. Her weekend recaps make me wish I had a cooler life. I read all the crazy situations she gets into and it makes me think about how some of my weekends consist of... Lost. However, (and you know this was coming) what got us to become more than just blogging buddies is our mutual appreciation for different kinds of music. When we became facebook friends, we started trading various mixtapes. What's that you say? A nice segway into her post? Find out if it actually was below:






When I first sat down to write my guest post on the most influential album in my life, I plugged in my headphones and got to shuffling around my current iTunes library. I quickly realized that my digital library doesn’t contain any full albums; In fact, of the 637 artists in my collection, only 8 have more than a CD’s worth of music: Beastie Boys, The Killers, Basement Jaxx, Girl Talk, TRVS/DJ AM, Kanye West, Jason Mraz, and Modest Mouse. Further clicks and scrolls reveal that I have about 400 artists represented by just a single song. How, was I supposed to pick a CD to write about when I apparently haven’t listened to a full CD in ages?



Disheartened and a little worried that I might have to bail on my guest posting commitment, I looked at all the stats that iTunes has to offer -Play Count, Skip Count, Last Played- and still couldn’t find any one artist’s release that captured any specific moment in my life. One last pass through my albums finally brought a pattern to light and caused the memories to start flowing. Suddenly I couldn’t just pick one album to write about.

So what digitally stored albums are the most important to me? The list is pretty long: Ali’s Mix CD. Gloria Thumb Drive. PA Presents. Julie & E Go to UConn. Mixes from Sarah. Modern Dance II. Old Pop Business. Represent Curacao. Julie Goes to France. And more.



Whether the songs were ripped from a physical disc made for a special roadtrip or an unmarked burned CD found on the floor in a dorm room, if they came to me as digital files during a hard drive raid, or if the album title was just a way to compile old favorites into one easy to find playlist, those are the titles that kick me way down Memory Lane. Songs on the mixes don’t come from the same era, they don’t always tell a story the way the musician and the studio mixer would like, and they don’t have to have significance to anyone but who they were made for.

That being said, if you’ve ever received a Mix CD, you know the sentimental value of music chosen for you by someone else is massive. Thanks to my freshman year roommates Ali and Charlotte, I can never hear OK GO “A Million Ways” without expecting Dr Dre “Still” to come on and merely hearing the opening plinks of Fiona Apple’s “Tymps (Sick in the Head Song)” brings to mind my 18 year old self participating in impromptu singalongs with my roommates, often with surprised guests in the room. If I had never asked my highschool friend Sarah to make me a CD with silly pop songs she downloaded from LimeWire, she would have never forced her twangy indie-ish country music into my head in a successful attempt to get me to listen to more interesting music.

The album title “Mix CD from Michelle” was changed to “Mix CD” when Michelle and I had a falling out; I felt so attached to the idea that she had made the CD for me I had to change the name to something neutral in order to enjoy the music again. When she and I resolved our differences years later, she got put back into the title. She had and has no idea that I did this, but to me it made all the difference.



There is nothing I love more than getting a mix CD as a gift, because you can tell a lot about how people perceive you based on what music they think you’d like. I have an open-to-a-fault mind when it comes to hearing new sounds [“except for new country music” like everyone says. Sorry, but it just all sounds the same to me!], so I’ve gotten some insane buffets of music over the years. I received one such mix as a pre-show gift from a girl I danced with that had 20 tracks with everything from Michael Jackson to Rilo Kiley to an instrumental gospel-sounding song I’ve been trying to identify for over 4 years now.

Sometimes it doesn’t work out so well, and I’ll whittle away at a CD’s presence on my iTunes until there are only a couple tracks left, but I find myself being deeply attached to certain bands despite only having one song from them due to the way that song came to me, like Magnet “Where Happiness Lives”. Other times I’ll get a listen of someone new and obsessively collect their tunes any way I can until I have an extensive collection, which is what happened when one of my favorite bloggers made an offhand reference to the Fu-Shnickens a while back.



Lately, one digital compilation list has been growing by leaps and bounds: Blog Finds. I suppose it’s true that “birds of a feather flock together” because almost every blog I read eventually wanders around to the subject of the writer’s diverse musical taste. Some analyze lyrics or post songs of the day, others put up youtube videos that cross their computer screens, and still others count down their top 50 favorite albums. [Just kidding with that last one: Mr O, you’re the only one I’ve seen so far who’s doing a top 50!] Listening to music, talking about favorite songs, and, above all else, asking “Hey, have you guys heard this?” is a big part of what the people I surround my digital self do.



I hope you guys found a way to connect with my Mix CD story time. Because I’m a believer in little presents, I’m going to leave you with JerseySjov’s Mini-Meta-Mix Playlist: 5 songs I now love that came to me on a Sharpie-covered Memorex CD, packed into a thumbdrive, or in my Blogger Reading List. As with any mix, I can only hope that you all listen and find something in here that you end up loving, and that you think of me when you spin it.



1.From Hex’s blog Sleep Dirt: Astronautalis “Trouble Hunters”

2.From Modern Dance II: Leona Lewis “Run”

3.From one of my best friends in highschool, Sarah: Old Crow Medicine Show “Wagon Wheel”

4.From Julie Goes to France: Make the Girl Dance “Baby Baby Baby”

5.From Mr O’s blog A Rush of Blog to the Head: Band of Horses “Our Swords”



And of course, any mix CD worth the plastic in its jewel case has a hidden track



Thanks for reading, yall! Catch me at A Bit Unaware [http://jerseysjov.blogspot.com] if you liked what you read. Many thanks to Mr O for giving me my first guest appearance on another blog; this was a lot of fun to write!