Songs That Have Defined My Summer 2006, Part 1 of a 10 part series

This summer is just about over, its basically winding down. So far its been one of my favorite ever as I got my license and able to roam about a little more, but not that much. Musically, it has been easily the best as I have discovered so many new bands and old ones that have seemingly been on repeat all summer long. To honor all 20 of these songs I have put together a mix tape of sorts. Each song is a 5 star, highly recommended nugget, and for those of you who use itunes is tagged and has the album art(to the right) attached. I will be writing about two at a time and uploading them via yousend it for your downloading pleasure.(Available for 7 days)


The first song chosen randomly by Itunes is noneother than Elliot Smiths cover of Chilton, Thirteen. This song is one of the many on the list that I can say I know all the words to by heart. Elliott plays beautifully on his acoustic as he lets the lyrics take center stage. The first line of the song sets the tone for the rest as he notes, "Wont you let me walk you home from school". This line is reminiscent of the Beach Boys equally as questioning and as romantic opening line for the song "wouldn't it be nice". Elliot can do just about no harm, musically, in my book.

MP3: Elliott Smith-Thirteen(Chilton Cover)


The next in line is my favorite Mountain Goats song of all time, Love Love Love. So far the summer seems to have been pretty romantic, as the song outlines what people would do for love. The line in the the song that sends chills down my back is when it describes "young Kurt Cobain" who "snuck out to the green house, [and]put a bullet in his brain." If he did it for love we will not know, but surely the moment will last forever as the song later notes. This is truly as wonderful song and its the Mountain Goats at their best.

MP3: The Mountain Goats-Love Love Love


O and the artwork choice contains the two things that have been the highlights of my summer, the beach and soccerfootball.

Facebook>Myspace

This fact is genrally accepted by most college students, and rejected by most highschoolers simply because most high schooler dont have facebooks, and if they do not nearly as many people have them. This is a direct result of the invite only facebook, and the free for any spammer to join myspace. Facebook is much cleaner, no grease, no html crap, just wall writings and personal info. Now to connect this to music, Facebook is greater than Myspace simply because of a sweet offer Apple is giving to all Facebook members. A Free 25 song sampler every week!! There is a new genre covered every monday. So far there has been Rock and Alternative, and they have been excellent. Apple has compiled the tracks and they are of mostly great taste. The only way to get this goodie bag of 25 free songs is to join the Apple Students facebook group and you cant do this without a Facebook...so, here is the track listing of the Alternative Sampler with a few to taste:
1. See the World
Gomez

2 Blankest Year
Nada Surf

3 Brother (Album Version)
Murder By Death

4 iGeneration[MP4]
MC Lars {my favorite "new" song on the sampler}


5 Monster Hospital
Metric

6 Crosses
Josè Gonzàlez

7 Peace and Hate[MP4]
The Submarines

8 Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games (Album Version)
Of Montreal

9 Save Yourself
The Colour

10 Blackened Blue Eyes[MP4]
The Charlatans UK

11 Signs of Life
Every Move a Picture

12 Nothing Left to Lose
Mat Kearney

13 The One Thing I Have Left
Hawk Nelson

14 Letter to Bowie Knife[MP4]
Calexico

15 Forgive & Forget
Alien Ant Farm

16 Prison
Three Fantastic

17 Honeybee
Scissors for Lefty

18 Slow New York
Richard Julian

19 Black and White Movie
Janove Ottesen

20 Neighborhood
Aidan Hawken

21 Quiet As a Mouse
Margot & The Nuclear So and So's

22 Rise from the Ashes
Quietdrive

23 Cecille
Victory at Sea

24 Procrastinating
Stellar Kart

25 Mama's Room
Under the Influence of Giants


And an INVITE!!!Link Broken so just email me at sumeetmarwaha@gmail.com and ill hook you up.

Ted Leo better watch out for those falling mike stands

Clell Tickle is the publicity guy for the band Tapes 'n Tapes, and is freaking crazy. He did not, however, force me to post this as he had done with other bloggers(watch the video). He made hilarious video at Boneroo and it feature Tapes n Tapes, Devendra Barnhart, and Ted Leo!.
Here are some Tapes 'n Tapes mp3s. you better listen or youll have to deal with the muscle/child arsenist guy:
Manitoba

Inistor

Cowbell

Ted Leo went on and did the show anyways:

They are from Barcelona

How many memebers make up a band? under 5, maybe 6. how bout 29? At what point is a band an ensemble. Regardlesss the band I'm From Barcelona is definatley a band ready to be discovered, if they havent already(the are signed with EMI). The songs all have a vacationy-sitting on a beach doing absolutley nothing-kinda feel to it. And its quite a treat.
This is a wicked cool video of my favorite song of theirs, "We're From Barcelona"

Mp3
BONUS MP3: This is what I have been doing on my vacation, We're from Barcelona-Oversleeping.I can say it is everything I ever thought it could be and more!


Speaking of Barcelona, they have a pretty good soccer Football Club. Check out the last 9 minutes of this spectacular game against the not so lowly Club America.

(0:00 score 1-4....9:23 score 4-4(he missed the freekick at the end)

EDIT:AT 1:16 into the We're from Barcelona video is that Brandon Whiles the drummer previously from the local band This Could Be Forever ? Or a twin/brother of his? Maybe? Some one check me on this.

Death to Death From Above 1979

Death from above 1979 calls it quits. The bands after a month or two of rumors of the breakup confirmed the worse on their myspace. The memo went something like this:
hey

I know its been forever since I wrote anything on here. im sure by now most of you assume the band isn't happening anymore since there are no shows, no work on a new album, etc. well. i wanted to let you know that your assumptions are correct. we decided to stop doing the band... actually we decided that almost a year ago. we finished off our scheduled tour dates because there were good people working for us who relied on us to make a living and buy christmas presents and pay rent etc. we couldnt just cancel everything and leave them out to dry... plus i think we wanted to see if we would reconsider after being out on the road. our label was really hoping that we would change our minds, so they asked us to keep quiet about the decision for at first. well, its been quite awhile now and we are still very sure the band wont happen again, so i guess its time to say something.

we started as a punk band with pop aspirations and we met every goal we set for ourselves. a few weeks ago, the album finally went gold in canada and that was the final mark i really wanted to reach.. it was my goal to see how big we could become without ever compromising or changing what we did right from the start... and now i know. we did way more than i ever expected and i like to think the fans (you?) enjoyed it as much as we did.... watching us sneak our way onto network tv, big festivals and sports arenas... playing music that most people assumed only belonged in basements and dirty rock clubs. we played our first show in a living room on long island for about 12 people and played our last in the calgary saddledome for 12,000. ha! what more could i have ever asked for? ive been in lots of punk bands over the last 15 years and i played every basement, squat, hole and alley from here to eastern europe. dfa79 was the first time i ever really played on a stage, yet i really didnt change what i was doing from what id been doing in the past... hell i was even using the same amplifiers! i never would have imagined that the wall of noise i love so much could have come this far. to see my silly elephant trunk idea become so popular... im sure its the greatest piece of graphic design ill ever do.

over the last 3 years of touring, sebastien and i had grown apart to such an extent that the only real time we spoke was just before we would play and during interviews. we both changed so much that the people we were by the end of it, probably wouldnt have been friends if they were to meet for the first time again. its a totally normal function of growing up. like how your high school bf/gf that meant so much to you would probably be the last person you would date at 30, ya know? thats where we got to. its not sad. it would be more sad if we stopped changing and growing and kept playing the same songs for 40 years like the rolling stones. for me that would be a nightmare.

thank you so much for your support from beginning to end. thanks ache records for giving us that first 325 dollars and thanks last gang for taking us the rest of the way. thanks to everyone who came out to our shows, wrote letters just to say hi, baked cakes and made your own t-shirts. i kept everything you gave me. thanks so much to the kids who came really early to see us when were were opening for bigger bands... that meant so much to me. i hope i have been a positive example and not a bad influence and i really want you to know that when you stop me on the street and i dont know what to say, its not because i dont appreciate you, its just not something ill ever really get used to.

thanks again.

eh i was never to high on this band but did have a soft spot for them because their drummer was also the lead singer which doesnt happen to often. Here is their one good song in my opinion.
Romantic Rights.mp3
Here is an amazing, one take, choreographing masterpiece by OK GO! If you haven't already seen it. If not then watch, i assure you you will be awestruck.

Click Click Click Click Click Click Camera

Bishop Allen has quickly become one of my favorite bands. Over the past year they have been releasing an EP every single month. Each are 4 songs long and wonderful. This project inspired the name of this very blog. On the May EP, the song A Tiny Fold debuted. Unfortunatley the great people at Bishop Allen will not let me host this mp3 but you should go on and buy the whole EP anyway. The Band's sophmore album, Clemetines is about 2 years overdue. The band has for some reason decided to hold the sure masterpiece all to themselves. The songs were unheard until this ep project. A Tiny Fold was one of the tracks rumored to be on Clementines before the May Ep released. I guess making 4 new songs a month can drain a song writer. This month, Bishop Allen has realeased 4 more songs off of Clementines under the July Ep. This is a true treat for any Bishop Allen fan and is a must purchase.

July Ep's-Click Click Click Click

BONUS: May Ep's-Butterfly Nets

both HIGHLY HIGHLY Rec'd

Last.fm

This is way over do but now that Im apart of a blog I have registered on the website of Last.fm. It tracks all of your song, and artist plays and is an essential for just about every indie blogger out there. It is not an accurate account of my true "play count" because i do just about 70% of listening to music on my ipod. I mainly listen to newly downloaded tunes on Windows Media Player. So this will give all 4 readers out there a taste of the new music i have recently aquired/am too lazy to upload to my ipod. Here is my chart so far.

Ill be adding this to the side bar also.


Hurrah!

haunting melancholy tunes

What truly reminds me of all the thoughts and memories I think of before I fall asleep into a slumber is the voice of Geoff Farina (formerly of Karate and the Secret Stars). His voice gives a chilly but yet melancholy tone as he plays gently on either accoustic or electric guitar. What could be known as folk or soft rock, Farina combines both haunting lyrics and sweet melodies in a batch of butterscotch candy.


Geoff Farina - Already Told You EP

Sea Wolf

Not the novel by Jack London, but the band by Alex Church, also known for his work with the band Irving. Alex encompasses everything leading a band means. He was the only constant member of the band untill they recently went on a small LA area tour. I was going to attend a show of theirs but it was an 18+ venue. The main reason I was dying to see them live is because I only have 3 songs by them and no show is 3 songs long. Alex only has released the 3 songs on the bands myspace. The three songs have that catchy Irving sound but with a bit of folk intertwined. I dont want to compare with them other bands because it never does a unique band such as Sea Wolf the justice it demands. I highly highly recommend all three of these great songs.

Black Dirt

Your a wolf

Middle Distance Runner(my favorite)

water like glass

Hello to you all once again,


Here is a small post on an upcoming band which is probably one of my favorites at the moment. They are called Maritime and formed from the ashes of the Promise Ring and the Dismemberment Plan. Their sophmore release entitled, "We, the Vehicles" has been stirring up quite the hype and I decided to look into the waters of which Maritime rocked.


I must say I am quite impressed and I thoroughly enjoy their music.

Maritime - We, the Vehicles


If you enjoy smooth and delectible music I highly suggest you run out and purchase a copy of Maritime's sophmore release.

More to come buds.

The Lonely Island

These 3 guy(from left), Andy, Jorm, and Kiv, are the master minds behind the WAS music videos Its a Hit and Nobody Move and also the famed SNL Digital Shorts. They all got hired recently to the SNL team not by audition but rather by hype. Simply the people over at SNL had heard about their site, The Lonely Island.com and sooner or later they were on their way to new York. The 3 aforementioned guys are not the only people on the Lonely Island team. A man named Chez has joined their ranks and now that the boys are off to New York hes kinda taken the reigns of the studio while they are gone. He has made a short film named "The Avon Lady " with none other than KAL PENN!



its part 1 so it has some loose ends. But nonetheless it is banking on the Lazy Sunday phenomenon in a good way.
Note: Be sure to check out the lonely island website for some ipod videos(the mp4s).
they are all a hit.

Hello Bonjour and Goodbye

Hello Y'all,

My name is Dan and I'm one of the writers for this minimalistic blog here.
Sumeet has done great with the first two posts and I suppose its my turn now.


I decided to pick up a CD on a mere whim one day and I purchased the album Return to the Sea by the great band Islands. With two members from the now defunct Unicorns, Islands is possibly the greatest album of the year and by far the best album of the summer. While I do not have a direct link or download of the entire album you can check them out on their myspace at: www.myspace.com/islandsareforever


I highly recommend a listen to the song "Rough Gemstone".
I hope all of you have a great summer and hopefully I'll have something more insightful to post on my next visit.

The Raconteurs cover Gnarls

The Raconteurs freshman release is one of the top CDs of the year. The combination of Jack White and Brendon Benson produces something extremely catchy and heavenly. With the rythm section composed of Greenhorne members the band is worthy of the title of "Supergroup". Recently at a show they covered the Mega hit Crazy by Gnarls Barkley. And because of the great site called youtube i have found a video of it.


O ya and for those of you who do not yet have the CD....
The Raconteurs-Broken Boy Soilders


steady, as she goes....

The First Fold

Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-a-vis an introduction, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.

Simply:

Look! Standing before you, a humble, experienced stage performer, shown in abscence as both a victim and a villain by the circumstance in which you see me. This appearance, no simple ornament of vanity, is a shadow of the people's voices, now empty, gone, as the once vital voice of truth will now respect what they once fought against. However, this proud visit of a voice from the past stands renewed, and has vowed to destroy these corrupt and infectious vermin who guard the evil and condone the violent and the violation of choice. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a vow, not without purpose, because the value and truthfulness of it shall one day vindicate the right and just. Yes, this overabundance of words turns most wordy face-to-face an introduction, and so it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.

but not really

Truly, I am Sumeet and this is the inaugural post of this blog. I am not nearly as good at introductions as "V" so I will leave it at that and if you would like to know more then leave a question.

V for Vendetta comes out on DVD today! The film is the years finest in my mind and should be . It is in the same category as Fight Club for me. That category would be Political Thrillers and mind you it is my favorite.Rewatching the movie, the lack of a larging screen and surround sound as in a movie theater does take away from the visual effects including the ending descruciton ofparliamentt, but it did however enhance the dialogue asIi was able to turn on the subtitles and fully understand the man behind the mask. Irecommendd all to see it as it tackles issues many other films shy away from such as gay rights, censorship to "prevent" terrorism, and the increasing power of governments. Do see it. An added bonus is during the final moments of the movie Evey and V dance to a Antony and the Johnsons song, Bird Girl.
Here is the whole wonderful cd becauseIi do not know how to upload mp3s in a nonhassle manner yet.
Antony and the Johsons-I am a bird now[CD]

Hugo Weaving

aka the man behind the mask