Post this Thursday(thanksgiving),it will be undeniably Christmastime, and all you naysayers and humbugs will have to bite your tongues till the the new year. Following that line it's time for Christmas music, the most decisive way to spread holiday cheer, i love holiday music because it can epic or romantic or funny or failing at being funny(that's squarely aimed at 12 pains of Christmas) or best yet nostalgic. Nostalgic for a simpler time in your life when shopping wasn't a priority and staying up an finishing your list for Santa was. i want to help you recapture those feelings
Anyway, I've begun work on my holiday seasonal mix which i have dubbed my "chris-mix." i tried Hanukkah jamz but it failed to roll off the tongue the same way. as their are lot of copycats out there this year, i have decided to work on my mix publicly and openly share my thought on holiday music I've been mulling over as I've mowed it over. That being said I'll be sharing my seasonal journey as i traverse the ups and downs of Christmas music i encounter and at the end I'll be sharing my mix with you to pass along to your friends and family as your own... i call it
A Holiday Guide to Christmas Music...(part one)
Brand new- oh holy night
i like brand new a lot... but i hate this song. i think oh holy night requires some expression which mr. Lacey does not exhibit. also some thing i really enjoyed about "deja entendu" doesn't carry over and just annoys me on this track. I'm talking about how you can hear him take deep breaths... it just sounds like he's bored... some parts are peaceful, but their are better versions of this song out there.
(anyone) baby, it's cold outside
probably my favorite seasonal song, it's dripping with romance in the most wholesome way you can be with out being obscene. If you don't know the song, it's about a guy trying to convince a girl not to leave following a date and the girl giving reasons to not stay. originally written by Frank Loesser back in 1944, as a duet for him and his wife, this song has a very old New York feel to it. kind of a metropolitan romantic style if that makes sense. the main issue i have with this song is that it's covered quite a few times now some good like Zooey Dechannel on the elf soundtrack, some bad like Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey and some just plain weird like the star trek yule tide orchestra. my favorite is actually by Skylana and Seth Roberts, it's cover that has a really true to self sound to it, in it's production or rather lack of it.
June- wonderful Christmastime
surprisingly not many covers of this song, well not THAT surprising as i feel McCartney's accent really made this song unique. still though June does it more justice than camp rock's Demi Lavoto does. I'm still not sure which tween sensation is going to have a huge holiday hit this year, probably some sort of Jonas brother. either way i feel the opening synthesized keyboard in the June version strong enough to be unique with out betraying the original.
Belle and Sebastian- O come, O come, Emmanuel
i struggled with this on because there are a few REALLY great versions of this song. Thrice's Dustin Kensrue as well as sixpence none the richer. B&S take it because you get a real religious feel out of their version. it's a downright sanctimonious experience... in a fun way
Low- Just Like Christmas
it's seems like good "new" Christmas songs are few and far between. but low do it right, so good in fact that snow patrol covered this song a couple years back on a California Christmas radio compilation, but as low wrote this song in the span of my lifetime, we won't acknowledge their version, which is decent. Either way this song is great because it's really poppy and understandable, it's somber without detracting from the "jolly" of the season. theres a warm feeling of holiday peace that you get from this song, especially in the snow at night
Eels- every thing's gonna be cool this Christmas
there are TWO really great Eels Christmas originals that i recommend, this is the first. this song is great to shake any holiday blues you might have really for any reason whatsoever. it's hard to focus on sadness when this song is on. I dare you not to smile when he says "baby Jesus, born to rock" this is Christmas party music at it's best.
... part one closes on an upbeat note, check out these songs and check back tomorrow for part two, curl up with someone you love by a warm fire, put on my mix and just enjoy each other's company, thats the best way to spend any holiday
also Merry holidays
Brendan
Monday, November 24, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
new(?) music 11/21
yeah so, lil late, still trying to get the hang of this, i really want these to stop being so few and far between, but you get a new music playlist this week so it's not all bad, this week i've been listening to lot of songs that sample other songs as well as covers, not all are great and some are just plain awful, still though they all caught my ear
T.I. - live your life(feat. Rhianna)
you've definitely heard this song, because this guy is a machine and he's got Rhianna backing him on this track.... also it samples O-Zone's Dragostea din Tei.
... the numa numa guy song, so thats fun, it's like 5 years irrelevant at this point and T.I. and weezer won't let me forget about this thing. still though nostalgia aside it's a catchy song with a really serious message, nothing i can really relate to...something about integrity in rap or whatever. but theres a message there i promise...either way just live your life, cause this will go away
Marnie stern- Don't stop believin'
marnie sterns from new york,so she sounds a bit like cat power,feist and karen o, still though i giver her credit for taking a song like don't stop believin' and adding to it, it actually sounds "not the same" not that there have been tons of covers of this song, it's just actually unique for a cover i can't say Journey would be pleased, but then again who the hell cares it's this or your friend doing on Rock band 2... I'll take this
You, Me, and Everyone We Know- Happy Birthday
no it's not a cover of happy birthday, this song is just a new song that i like, from a new band i like. so young and insane is the second CD this band has decided to give out for free, recently max bemis came out in support of this band, and even appeared on the finished version of the the albums first track "i can get back up" this album also had some work on by members of motion city soundtrack, and this song is just a really catchy song of of said cd
Rick Ross- sunglasses
there are other people on this track, but i have no idea who they are, it took me a while to figure which one "rick ross" was(if you don't know he did "everyday i'm hustlin'") but he sophomore cd still hustlin actually did stand out to me... it has about 3 tracks that sample older songs. this song samples my FAVORITE 80's hit Cory Hart's "sunglasses at night". which is kind of a really gay song with a cool beat, so it's win win, not bad song all and all, just weird
t-pain- superstar lady
this song is just name dropping, the idea is to compare all his "lady's" parts and actions to popular celebrity's. which makes for fun but really makes you laugh when you think of how little sense this song will make in 5 or 10 years, of the lies is party like a Hilton, sex like a Kardashian. still hough i really like T-pain, he's alot of fun he's never to serious and he gets along with everyone, he's a really quality producer, check out thr33 rings, i've listened to it quite bit this month
cruiserweight- balboa
crusierweight reminds me quite abit of Zolof the rock an roll destroyer, who i love. thats probably because they both came out california, have female vocalist's and only sing about happy things. balboa's a confident song, but whatever. i'm really happy to hear a female rock band thats not paramore these days, which is sad because i used to love Hayley Williams, she "that cute lil' punk rock spitfire from paramore" now i just think "oh god theres that twat from paramore singing about sexy vampires or blowing new found glory". in summery listen to crusierweight , don't see twilight or your a whore...to me at least
The Two tongues- crawl
speaking of max bemis(like 3 songs ago). he just got engaged yo someone from eisely just like taking back sunday...more importantly, in February he and Chris Conley will be releasing a cd under there side project the two tongues. so if you lie saves the day and/or say anything check out the first track to be released from the two tongues "crawl"
Common- Universal mind control
this song samples "planet rock" which is awesome.... and is used to advertise the new zune software update "zune 3.0" of which i don't care about. none the less this song is sick, very futurstic and the video has a robot in it....oh also pharell is in the song, i'm not being disjointed i just care more about the robot than i do about pharell on this track.
oh no oh my- boy with and anchor
this is indie peaceful fun, existentially ripe with metaphors, but i do like the line "i tried to write , i tried to love... but all my i failed at both" also a fun use of brass instruments in the chorus...if that your thing. danceable death cab...no not the postal service, jerk
innerpartysystem- don't stop
i just saw these guys with 3oh!3, lyrically this song/band is retarded but the can put out some good music and beats, also they have their own light show so i say it's worth seeing live if you get the chance, but yeah lyrically it's all society and "dear future..." nonsense, doesn't make sense, not to me at least, but i can be dense so whatever. everything else is blast though.
Jack's mannequin- the resolution
i really don't like the glass passenger, i liked their first cd more...and i like all of something corporate more than that...so i guess i feel like Andrew Macmahon is moving steadily down, because i feel like his recent work is at best on "par" with this best work. that being said the resolution IS a pretty solid song, and does remind me of some of the old somethng corporate stuff, so it ain't all bad... stupid cancer(ask me about glassjaw)
Santogold- lights out
this is the theme song to bud light with lime... so that fun, i had it stuck in my head, so listened to it and accidentally put it on this playlist...but it's a fine song so i didn't feel like taking it off, I'm pretty sure i even put it on a play list on my blog already... well here it is again, with an explanation
Fall out boy- love lockdown
it's funny... i love both kanye west and fall out boy, but i feel like this is the best thing they've both put out, in that fall out boy do a better version of this song than kanye does...and love lockdown is better than some of the demo's for the new fall out boy cd. i hope i'm wrong for both their sakes
Red Car Wire- i kissed a girl
this is a cover... of katy perry... so there's that too
enjoy... or don't
BrendanFM
to check out all these songs and more
go here
T.I. - live your life(feat. Rhianna)
you've definitely heard this song, because this guy is a machine and he's got Rhianna backing him on this track.... also it samples O-Zone's Dragostea din Tei.
... the numa numa guy song, so thats fun, it's like 5 years irrelevant at this point and T.I. and weezer won't let me forget about this thing. still though nostalgia aside it's a catchy song with a really serious message, nothing i can really relate to...something about integrity in rap or whatever. but theres a message there i promise...either way just live your life, cause this will go away
Marnie stern- Don't stop believin'
marnie sterns from new york,so she sounds a bit like cat power,feist and karen o, still though i giver her credit for taking a song like don't stop believin' and adding to it, it actually sounds "not the same" not that there have been tons of covers of this song, it's just actually unique for a cover i can't say Journey would be pleased, but then again who the hell cares it's this or your friend doing on Rock band 2... I'll take this
You, Me, and Everyone We Know- Happy Birthday
no it's not a cover of happy birthday, this song is just a new song that i like, from a new band i like. so young and insane is the second CD this band has decided to give out for free, recently max bemis came out in support of this band, and even appeared on the finished version of the the albums first track "i can get back up" this album also had some work on by members of motion city soundtrack, and this song is just a really catchy song of of said cd
Rick Ross- sunglasses
there are other people on this track, but i have no idea who they are, it took me a while to figure which one "rick ross" was(if you don't know he did "everyday i'm hustlin'") but he sophomore cd still hustlin actually did stand out to me... it has about 3 tracks that sample older songs. this song samples my FAVORITE 80's hit Cory Hart's "sunglasses at night". which is kind of a really gay song with a cool beat, so it's win win, not bad song all and all, just weird
t-pain- superstar lady
this song is just name dropping, the idea is to compare all his "lady's" parts and actions to popular celebrity's. which makes for fun but really makes you laugh when you think of how little sense this song will make in 5 or 10 years, of the lies is party like a Hilton, sex like a Kardashian. still hough i really like T-pain, he's alot of fun he's never to serious and he gets along with everyone, he's a really quality producer, check out thr33 rings, i've listened to it quite bit this month
cruiserweight- balboa
crusierweight reminds me quite abit of Zolof the rock an roll destroyer, who i love. thats probably because they both came out california, have female vocalist's and only sing about happy things. balboa's a confident song, but whatever. i'm really happy to hear a female rock band thats not paramore these days, which is sad because i used to love Hayley Williams, she "that cute lil' punk rock spitfire from paramore" now i just think "oh god theres that twat from paramore singing about sexy vampires or blowing new found glory". in summery listen to crusierweight , don't see twilight or your a whore...to me at least
The Two tongues- crawl
speaking of max bemis(like 3 songs ago). he just got engaged yo someone from eisely just like taking back sunday...more importantly, in February he and Chris Conley will be releasing a cd under there side project the two tongues. so if you lie saves the day and/or say anything check out the first track to be released from the two tongues "crawl"
Common- Universal mind control
this song samples "planet rock" which is awesome.... and is used to advertise the new zune software update "zune 3.0" of which i don't care about. none the less this song is sick, very futurstic and the video has a robot in it....oh also pharell is in the song, i'm not being disjointed i just care more about the robot than i do about pharell on this track.
oh no oh my- boy with and anchor
this is indie peaceful fun, existentially ripe with metaphors, but i do like the line "i tried to write , i tried to love... but all my i failed at both" also a fun use of brass instruments in the chorus...if that your thing. danceable death cab...no not the postal service, jerk
innerpartysystem- don't stop
i just saw these guys with 3oh!3, lyrically this song/band is retarded but the can put out some good music and beats, also they have their own light show so i say it's worth seeing live if you get the chance, but yeah lyrically it's all society and "dear future..." nonsense, doesn't make sense, not to me at least, but i can be dense so whatever. everything else is blast though.
Jack's mannequin- the resolution
i really don't like the glass passenger, i liked their first cd more...and i like all of something corporate more than that...so i guess i feel like Andrew Macmahon is moving steadily down, because i feel like his recent work is at best on "par" with this best work. that being said the resolution IS a pretty solid song, and does remind me of some of the old somethng corporate stuff, so it ain't all bad... stupid cancer(ask me about glassjaw)
Santogold- lights out
this is the theme song to bud light with lime... so that fun, i had it stuck in my head, so listened to it and accidentally put it on this playlist...but it's a fine song so i didn't feel like taking it off, I'm pretty sure i even put it on a play list on my blog already... well here it is again, with an explanation
Fall out boy- love lockdown
it's funny... i love both kanye west and fall out boy, but i feel like this is the best thing they've both put out, in that fall out boy do a better version of this song than kanye does...and love lockdown is better than some of the demo's for the new fall out boy cd. i hope i'm wrong for both their sakes
Red Car Wire- i kissed a girl
this is a cover... of katy perry... so there's that too
enjoy... or don't
BrendanFM
to check out all these songs and more
go here
Saturday, November 1, 2008
update: 11/2...what i'm up to
okay, so i just started work this week so, i feel a bit behind due to poor time management... however this does not mean that i have fell behind on my media..so a brief overview
what i'm watching
avatar the last airbender: this show is phenomenal! i speak with enthusiasm! i was quick to judge this show while it was still airing on nickelodeon but it's really something special. it has integrity in iy's drama and actual humor when appropriate..but yeah i'm up to season 3. so far just great
the office: employee transfer, wasn't a very good episode. i wouldn't call it a bad episode persay, but not near the top. the advertised Halloween stuff was 5 min in the beginning, enjoyable but a letdown when i realized that was all. we saw Micheal and Holly break up(?) or at least end things temporarily which also depressed me as holly was my favorite new character this season. worse yet we saw a very unimpressive c story in Jim visiting Pam in NY with his brothers taking him out to dinner and attempt to prank him...it just ends up making me sad...the saving grace comes with a story between Dwight and Andy fighting over Andy's precious "Cornell" that and the scene with mike, holly and Daryl singing "life is a highway"...high larious, not a total loss, but kind of a let down
valentine- this show caught me off guard. i actually like weird magic non sense in my prime time that's why i like pushing daises and lost and all that nonsense, so it may not surprise you that i find this show adorable...and probably cancelled... but hopefully get through 1 season so i can add another show to my DVD collection of no renewal for a second season(catchy, no?) any way the shows about the gods of love Aphrodite and the rest running their godly duties like a matchmaking service, so each week is them trying to bring two soul mates together using their magic powers. it's cute... whats alsoute is Taylor from the OC, as she plays the same kind of awkward fidgety character.
i'm about to start watching weeds season three as well as catch up o the current season of dexter
what i'm listening to
forgive durden-razia's shadow: a musical- i started to talk about this before in my new music post but i can't explain how good it is. each character is perfectly represented by the people playing them especially max bemis, shawn harris and brendon urie. nic newsham does really well too. but much credit to thomas dutton for putting together a cohesive musical journey. unfortunately i really don't think there's a market for this sort of thing... so I'm curious to see how well it does
sugarcult- start static- goooooood cd. i used to just max and relax with sugarcult hang out with friends and nothing got me pumped more than "bouncing off the walls again"...then i graduated, and forgot about them in a sea of indie rock and others. but start static at the very least stands the test of time i listened to it today in the car and it was poppy and fun it had everyone singing along.
kanye west robocop- the premise is stupid I'm gonna talk about more in new music this week but suffice to say this song is bizarre...it's either a demo or one of the new songs along with love lock down... either way, weird
that's all for now
Bredan FM
what i'm watching
avatar the last airbender: this show is phenomenal! i speak with enthusiasm! i was quick to judge this show while it was still airing on nickelodeon but it's really something special. it has integrity in iy's drama and actual humor when appropriate..but yeah i'm up to season 3. so far just great
the office: employee transfer, wasn't a very good episode. i wouldn't call it a bad episode persay, but not near the top. the advertised Halloween stuff was 5 min in the beginning, enjoyable but a letdown when i realized that was all. we saw Micheal and Holly break up(?) or at least end things temporarily which also depressed me as holly was my favorite new character this season. worse yet we saw a very unimpressive c story in Jim visiting Pam in NY with his brothers taking him out to dinner and attempt to prank him...it just ends up making me sad...the saving grace comes with a story between Dwight and Andy fighting over Andy's precious "Cornell" that and the scene with mike, holly and Daryl singing "life is a highway"...high larious, not a total loss, but kind of a let down
valentine- this show caught me off guard. i actually like weird magic non sense in my prime time that's why i like pushing daises and lost and all that nonsense, so it may not surprise you that i find this show adorable...and probably cancelled... but hopefully get through 1 season so i can add another show to my DVD collection of no renewal for a second season(catchy, no?) any way the shows about the gods of love Aphrodite and the rest running their godly duties like a matchmaking service, so each week is them trying to bring two soul mates together using their magic powers. it's cute... whats alsoute is Taylor from the OC, as she plays the same kind of awkward fidgety character.
i'm about to start watching weeds season three as well as catch up o the current season of dexter
what i'm listening to
forgive durden-razia's shadow: a musical- i started to talk about this before in my new music post but i can't explain how good it is. each character is perfectly represented by the people playing them especially max bemis, shawn harris and brendon urie. nic newsham does really well too. but much credit to thomas dutton for putting together a cohesive musical journey. unfortunately i really don't think there's a market for this sort of thing... so I'm curious to see how well it does
sugarcult- start static- goooooood cd. i used to just max and relax with sugarcult hang out with friends and nothing got me pumped more than "bouncing off the walls again"...then i graduated, and forgot about them in a sea of indie rock and others. but start static at the very least stands the test of time i listened to it today in the car and it was poppy and fun it had everyone singing along.
kanye west robocop- the premise is stupid I'm gonna talk about more in new music this week but suffice to say this song is bizarre...it's either a demo or one of the new songs along with love lock down... either way, weird
that's all for now
Bredan FM
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