Toodles

Well kids, I'm leaving town tomorrow morning. I'm going to New York for a month, mostly for Christmas, but also to look for a job. I'm pretty sure that that my access to the internet will be sporadic at best, so More Sweet Soul will be going on hiatus. But no fear! I will be back, because I love this blogging thing way too much. Thanks to everyone who has been a loyal reader. You guys are awesome and I love the feedback you've given me.

In the event that I do acquire a job in New York, I will quickly work on getting a laptop and and finding a reliable internet provider, so that I can get back to blogging. I'm hoping that I'll be able to start regularly posting again by mid Febuary, but don't quote me on that. I hope you guys will still be around when I get back :) Until then, take care, Merry Christmas, and I wish you all the best in 2006.

You've given me a heart like a gun

A while back, my friend Akeem said to me, "Shaliza, do you realize that if we lived in New York, we could've seen Glassjaw like three times this year?" I'm thinking about moving up there, and Akeem wants to move back in a year or so. A few years ago, it was pretty much an unspoken rule that everyone in our group of friends listened to Glassjaw. If you didn't, there was seriously something wrong with you.

Glassjaw played a few shows around New York this year, and were supposed to go on tour with The Used back in August. But lead singer Daryl Palumbo, got sick so they had to drop off the tour. For those of you who don't know, Daryl suffers from Crohn's disease, and it's knocked him out of commission on several occasions. I know Daryl hates having to cancel shows, but when your body says "Ok, hold on a minute." you have to listen, or you won't get better. With Daryl's other band, Head Automatica going strong, there were rumors going around that Glassjaw was no more. This, however, is not the case.

(Here's a picture of OldSkool GJ: Beck, Sammy, Daryl, Todd and Manny)

In August, Guitarist Justin Beck posted a letter to fans on the Glassjaw website. He explained the seriousness of Daryl's condition saying that Crohn's was like having,"the biggest ulcers ever on your intestines and then multiply that by 100." Clearly, Daryl's health should come before touring, 'cause I would hate to see him get really sick on the road again. "He's more than a musical act, and for this reason I ask only for understanding," said Beck.

In his letter, Beck also assured fans that Glassjaw is still a band. They were excited about going on tour with The Used, and even had new material written. It would be fantastic to hear new stuff from them.

Glassjaw is a hardcore band from Long Island, NY. People have described their sound as Elvis Costello singing with Bad Brains, or Morrissey fronting Fugazi. Glassjaw's first release, an EP entitled Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, came out in 1997. I didn't hear their music until 2000, when they opened up for the Deftones at the Tabernacle. I didn't pay much attention to them, because I was so anxious for Deftones to come on stage. And I probably didn't listen to them again until the next year.

(This is a picture of Daryl from the Tabernacle show. For years, I totally wanted that Spitfire buckle)

When I started college, it seemed that a lot of the people that I was becoming friends with really liked Glassjaw. My friend Jeremy especially was just crazy over them. But I didn't give Glassjaw a chance until I read that one of my favorite singers at the time (Elias Soriano of Nonpoint) was a huge Glassjaw fan.

So let me set the picture for you guys. At this time, I was mostly listening to hardcore and nu metal. Bands like Deftones, Nonpoint, Poison the Well, Chimaira, Soulfly, etc. One day, Melina and I went over to Jeremy's house to hang out, and as we were just sitting around, Jeremy put on a cd. I was almost certain that it was Glassjaw that I was hearing. It sounded like some of the stuff I had heard at the Deftones show, but I wasn't sure. And then as a certain track started to play, Jeremy said to me, "Hey it's your boy Elias' favorite song," and I knew he was talking about When One Eight Becomes Two Zeros, the third track from Glassjaw's album, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence.

I ended up buying the album over Thanksgiving break in 2001. When I started to listen to it, it didn't wow me like I was expecting it to. It wasn't bad or anything, but I was waiting for the UMP that everyone else was hearing. Then about a week or two later, I listened to it again, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Something clicked, and I got it. From then on I was hooked. My friends only fueled my obsession with this band, and it got to the point where we all seemed to be under the Glassjaw spell.

I'd heard from several people and had read in magazines that Glassjaw got a lot of crap for their lyrics. People thought they were incredibly misogynistic and believed that Daryl hated women. Here are some lyrics that those people may have been referring to.

From Pretty Lush: "You can lead a whore to water. And can you bet she'll drink and follow orders."
From Piano: "I only beat you when you're drunk, you're only pretty when you're crying."
From Motel of the White Locust: "I like your pretty eyes better blackened, and my fists all fucking red."
From Siberian Kiss: "If I can't have you, no one will."

So you get the idea. These lyrics rubbed some people the wrong way. But My female friends and I were never offended by any of these lyrics. We knew that Daryl didn't hate women. He had clearly gone through some things, and was just writing about how he felt (and quite honestly at that.) Sure it may have seemed harsh to some but that's the way that he chose to express himself. The people who related the most to Glassjaw were the ones who could just as easily put 'he' in the place of 'she' and 'him' in the place of 'her'.

Glassjaw released their second album, Worship and Tribute, in July of 2002. They went on tour in support of it, and I was lucky enough to see them three times on that tour: At Treemont in Charlotte, NC, at the Cotton Club here in Atlanta, and finally at Five Points Music Hall in Birmingham. The guys were incredible each and every night, and after every show, there was a good story to tell, from talking to Todd after the Charlotte show and saying, "Hey! I was going to wear a Michael Jackson shirt too!", to Daryl saving Kevin from getting kicked out at the Cotton Club show for stage diving, to finally meeting Daryl after the Birmingham show. Oh to be 20 again. I used to have the biggest crush on Daryl, and he was so sweet when I met him. He called me sweetheart twice and I totally could've died happy after that. Sorry, I had to be a girl for a minute. Moving on.

(Glassjaw in 2002: Larry, Daryl, Dave, Todd and Beck)

Worship and Tribute is definitely not Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence Part 2. I think some fans were expecting it to be though. Lyrically, Daryl was much more tame, not as angry, less aggressive. Musically, the band explored a more thoughtful and quiet side. While there are definitely some songs that express their hardcore roots, I think the highlights on the album are the more mellow tracks like Trailer Park Jesus, Ape Dos Mil and Two Tabs of Mescaline.

I hope we hear some new music from Glassjaw in 2006. I'm not totally sure who's in the band at the moment, but I know that most certainly Beck and Daryl are still at the core. Until then, you guys can listen to their previous efforts. It was really hard just picking a few songs, because I pretty much love all of them.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang always seemed very raw to me, and I love songs like Black Coffee and The Snow Veil. I'm pretty sure you can still get the album through Glassjaw's merch page. Most people would say that When One Eight Becomes Two Zeros is lyrically one of the best songs on Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence. I'd have to agree. But I still like Ry Ry's Song the best, mostly for the last 58 seconds. It's totally righteous. Vincent Gallo was in the video for Cosmopolitan Bloodloss. At the end he was supposed to kill the band, but it ended up that he just unplugged their amps as they were performing. Haha. So yeah, here are the songs

(from Kiss Kiss Bang Bang)
Glassjaw- Black Coffee
Glassjaw- The Snow Veil *highly recommended*

(from Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence)
Glassjaw- Pretty Lush
Glassjaw- When One Eight Becomes Two Zeros *highly recommended*
Glassjaw- Ry Ry's Song *highly recommended*
Glassjaw- Piano

(from Worship and Tribute)
Glassjaw- Cosmopolitan Bloodloss
Glassjaw- Ape Dos Mil *highly recommended*
Glassjaw- Trailer Park Jesus
Glassjaw- Two Tabs of Mescaline *highly recommended*

And now I leave you with my favorite picture of Daryl and Beck, taken by my friend Janelle. You can get a better look at that Spitfire buckle that I wanted so badly.

There are no black people in Arizona

I'm spending Christmas in New York and I've been busy trying to pack. I'm leaving Saturday morning, and there's no way I'm going to be able to squeeze my huge ass sweaters into my suitcase. And I have to bring them because I hear it's freezing up there.

Did you guys see The Boondocks last night? It was HYSTERICAL. Definitely be sure to catch the repeat this Saturday at midnight on Cartoon Network. We had a fun time over at Negroclash quoting lines from it.

Also, Voxtrot posted a bulletin on myspace saying that they had to cancel the rest of their tour due to van troubles. Totally a bummer 'cause they were supposed to play here at Lennny's tonight. Here's what they had to say:

1. We've had to cancel the rest of the tour [Norfolk, VA/Chapel Hill, NC/Atlanta & Athens, GA] due to our van problems. Sorry to all of those who were planning on coming to see us, and thanks to those who have written nice and encouraging letters to us.

2. We'd like to announce a last minute show in Brooklyn at Magnetic Field. It's an effort to try to make some of the money back that we've lost on this tour, so we appreciate all who can make it!

Weds, December 14th @ Magnetic Field
doors @ 8pm, Voxtrot at 9pm / $5
97 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY, 11201 (718) 834-0069
http://www.magneticbrooklyn.com

3. To top it all off, after all of the confusion with Houston and dates being changed, it seems as if we've been booted off of the December 17th show at Numbers. We'll try and make Houston happen again someday.

Thanks to everyone for being supportive!

Love,
Voxtrot I'm sure you've all heard about the death of comedic LEGEND Richard Pryor. I know that he's been sick for awhile, but I don't think anyone expected him to die of a heart attack. He was only 65. I told my mom when I heard, and she said, "Oh wow, that's so sad. Boy could he cuss a ton of bad words!" She's West Indian, so she has her own way of saying things :)

Here are two clips from his 1982 Live on The Sunset Strip performance. If you're easily offended, you probably shouldn't listen.

Richard on Prison
Richard on Africa

Are you gonna make this resolution last?

If you 're out and about in Atlanta tonight, stop by Smiths Olde Bar to check out a set from Ken Will Morton and the Wholly Ghosts. Ken Will Morton is a fantastic singer/songwriter from Athens, GA. He's been playing guitar for over 15 years, and was a member of both Wonderlust and the roots rock/power pop band The Indicators.

Ken released his debut solo record, In Rock 'n' Rolls Hands, in August 2004. Forever the prolific musician, Ken played guitar, harmonica and banjo on the record. He has this fantastic raspy voice, reminiscent of greats like Bob Dylan, Paul Westerburg, and Bruce Springstein. Ken's songs are heartfelt, and his lyrics touch on the subjects of life, love, and triumph over rough times. His music is a great mix of country, blues, and folk rock. He's already shared the stage with acts like Tommy Stinson, Cary Hudson, and Sugarland. I think he'd be great opening up for Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins when Rabbit Fur Coat comes out next year.

Here are some songs to listen to. Little Victories is definitely one of my favorites from In Rock 'n' Rolls Hands, and Oh Lord is a great track from Ken's upcoming album, King of Coming Around, which is set for a February 2006 release. For more mp3s, go here and be sure to check out Ken's myspace page here.

(from In Rock 'n' Rolls Hands)
Ken Will Morton- Little Victories *highly recommended*
Ken Will Morton- Unbreakable Heart

(from King of Coming Around)
Ken Will Morton- Oh Lord *highly recommended*

Tonight at Smiths Olde Bar
Ken Will Morton and The Wholly Ghosts
8:00 p.m.
$12

And all you are is brand new

After months of silence Billy Corgan finally posted a bulletin last night on myspace.

Subject: Cowboy Back in Action

Hello everyone!

I have finally returned to myspace to check up on things. How is everyone doing? I have been away for some time now working on some very exciting things to come! I will be back to update more on things soon! Be good!

bc

Gina posted some classic Smashing Pumpkins tracks the other day (and a cover of Landslide yesterday!), and so I thought I'd continue the SP love.

One of the best things I ever spent my money on was The Smashing Pumpkins' Aeroplane Flies High box set. Wouldn't it be great if after every band's album, you could get a box set of all of the album's singles and b-sides? 'Cause there's always that one single that's nearly impossible to find, or those b-sides that you've heard about but have never actually heard.

The Aeroplane Flies High was packaged in this really cute black and white box. Billy wanted the box to look like the old time 45 boxes that he used to have as a kid. The box set contains five cds. Each cd contains a single from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness as well as tons of extra songs. My favorites are the cd singles for 1979 and Bullet With Butterfly Wings.

1979 contains that single, as well as two of my favorite Pumpkins songs. While Siamese Dream is my favorite Pumpkins record, there's just so much great stuff that the band wrote during those Mellon Collie years. Ugly and Set the Ray to Jerry are two standout tracks on the box set. Set the Ray to Jerry is a song that I honestly listen to every single day. There's such a hypnotic quality about it, that I can't help but listen to it on repeat. And Ugly, well, the title is pretty much self explanatory.

The songs from the Bullet with Butterfly Wings single are mostly all covers. I posted the Cure cover on Wednesday, but that's not even the best one. I think the Pumpkins' version of The Cars song You're all I've Got Tonight is incredible. I love all the quiet and pretty Pumpkins songs, but really, they're at their best when they're just rocking the hell out. And they definitely do that on this Cars cover.

They also do a great job of covering the Missing Person's track Destination Unknown. I actually like their version better than the original. The Pumpkins ability to completely transform a song definitely shows in their version of the Blondie classic Dreaming. It sounds nothing like the original. When I saw a solo acoustic set by Billy 5 years ago, I asked him if they were planning on doing anymore covers. He said that they probably wouldn't, but that when they did do a cover, they wanted to either make it as a tribute to the band they're covering, or just completely fuck it up (in a good way of course).

The other cover that I really like from the Boxset is on the Thirty Three single. My Blue Heaven is a very old jazz song. It was written by Walter Donaldson and George Whiting in the 1920s and it's been recorded by people like Doris Day, Bing Crosby, Fats Domino, Jackie Gleason, Lena Horne, and Jerry Lee Lewis just to name a few. Billy's interpretation of it is pretty simple actually. It's just him singing and playing the piano, but I think it's really beautiful.

A lot of bands just kind of throw on any old song for the b-sides of their singles. But all of the songs on The Aeroplane Flies High were just as good as the songs that made it onto the Mellon Collie cd. So I gonna post a couple from each single. Be sure to check out all the covers from Bullet With Butterfly Wings and Set the Ray to Jerry.

(from Bullet With Butterfly Wings)
The Smashing Pumpkins- You're All I've Got Tonight *highly recommended*
The Smashing Pumpkins- Destination Unknown
The Smashing Pumpkins- Dreaming

(from 1979)
The Smashing Pumpkins- Ugly
The Smashing Pumpkins- Set to Ray to Jerry *highly recommended*

(from Tonight Tonight)
The Smashing Pumpkins- Rotten Apples
The Smashing Pumpkins- Meladori Magpie

(from Zero)
The Smashing Pumpkins- God
The Smashing Pumpkins- Pennies

(from thirty-Three)
The Smashing Pumpkins- Transformer
The Smashing Pumpkins- My Blue Heaven *highly recommended*

Finally, while I didn't do much in high school, I made sure to fill up all the room they gave me for my senior quote with words of wisdom from the Pumpkins. Yesterday, I scanned this from my St. Pius X senior yearbook.

Tolda ya I was a hardcore Pumpkins fan in high school. Even though my favorite band was and still is The Cure, Pumpkins lyrics were made for senior yearbook quotes :)

We don't have to talk it over

I know a lot of people have been posting their best of 2005 lists, but I don't think I'm qualified to do that. 'Cause you know I've only listened to M.I.A., Bloc Party, and Nikka Costa this year, right? Just kidding...sorta. And Speaking of Nikka....

I know you watched The OC tonight, yes? And I know you saw the scene where Sandy and Ryan confronted Matt in the strip club. BUT did you hear the song that was playing in the background? It was none other than Nikka Costa's On & On. I totally jumped out of my chair and started screaming. It was rad.

If you missed On & On when I posted it a while back, here ya go. Just look at these lyrics, you know you want to listen.

Make your mama proud like a real man should
Scream so loud I wake the neighborhood
Gonna write a song 'bout the way you do it
Baby don't fuck around put your back into it yeah

Nikka Costa- On & On

Now, do the best thing you've done all year, and go buy this record immediately.

I know I'll often stop and think about them

When I was a sophomore in high school, my friend Amy and I were huge Doors fans. Our friends Kirby and Terri were huge Beatles fans. One year we got this idea to honor Jim Morrison and John Lennon, who both died far too young. Jim Morrison was born on December 8th, 1943 and John Lennon died on December 8th, 1980. We made a bunch of signs with pictures of the two musicians on them. They read, "Hello Jim, Goodbye John." and we put them on our lockers. The following year, I saw a few other lockers belonging to underclassmen that had similar signs, and I felt like my friends and I had started something. While, Jim Morrison died at the age of 27, and John Lennon died at the age of 40, John's death definitely impacted people's lives a lot more. Not only because he was a Beatle, but because he was a good person, a great father and husband, and if not for his killer, would most likely still be alive today.

Today is the 25th Anniversary of John Lennon's death. A few weeks ago, Dateline NBC aired a special about Mark David Chapman, the man who shot John Lennon. It was about two hours long, and even Michael Grace watched it and wrote about it here. There were so many things that disturbed me, but a few stood out in particular. The first being that the day before Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon, he met John's son, Sean, outside as Sean was going back into the Dakota with his Nanny. Chapman stuck out his hand to shake Sean's, and Sean shook it. Sean was incredibly polite and was used to his father's fans coming up to him. How could Chapman shake that little boys hand knowing that he was there to kill his father?

The other thing that really bothered me was a picture of John signing a copy of the record Double Fantasy for Chapman. Another person waiting to meet John had taken the picture, and while part of Chapman's face isn't shown, you can see John's, and he has a smile from ear to ear. He truly was happy to sign autographs and take pictures with people. And he loved New York so much and felt so free and safe and alive there. He even asked Chapman if there was anything else that he wanted after he had signed the album for him.

I've had so many friends over the years that have introduced and reintroduced me to The Beatles. Each one had a favorite Beatles era, a favorite Beatles record, and usually a favorite Beatle. While George was a favorite for a few of my friends, most of them adored John.

John was killed about 11 months before I was even born, and most of my other Beatles loving friends were also born after 1980. But they grew to love the Beatles through their parents, and aunts and older siblings. They listened to them on oldies radio, or gawked over pictures of them arriving in America for the first time in their history books. I remember my friend Karen wanting to play me all of her favorite Beatles songs, and being so anxious for me to hear them all, that she'd go to the next track before the previous one had even finished.

The great thing about music is that it will always be here. If you put something down on record, you can trust that people a hundred years from now will be able to hear it and enjoy it. I think John would be pleased to know that the world has not forgotten about him or the Beatles and still continue to listen to him 25 years after his death.

Below I've got three versions of a great Beatles songs, In My Life. One is the original version from the 1965 Beatles album, Rubber Soul, and the other two are covers by Ben Lee and Johnny Cash. I know you guys are definitely going to listen to Johnny Cash's version, 'cause it's Johnny Cash and all, BUT don't miss out on Ben Lee's awesome interpretation too.

The Beatles- In My Life (from Rubber Soul)
Johnny Cash- In My Life (from American IV: The Man Comes Around)
Ben Lee- In My Life (from This Bird Has Flown)

There's another way if I leave here today.

With James Iha's remix of Stellastarr*'s Sweet Troubled Soul circulating around the blog world, I've been listening to a lot of the Smashing Pumpkins lately. They're definitely one of my all time favorite bands and one of the first bands that I became extremely enthralled with as a teenager. James sang on a few Pumpkins tracks. When I saw the Pumpkins at their final Atlanta show in 2000, one of the biggest cheers from the crowd took place when the band started to play the first few notes of Blew Away. And when James, in a very stylish white suite, started to sing, the cheers grew even louder. It was a great thing to witness, since I'm sure most of us had never heard him sing in person. And Blew Away is a great song too.

Being a Cure fan, I was really excited when I heard on the Week In Rock (remember that show?) that The Pumpkins were covering A Night Like This for their Aeroplane Flies High boxset (which I've been dying to post a bunch of songs from and may do tomorrow or something). They played a clip from it, and I was kind of surprised when I heard that it was James and Not Billy singing.

In 1997, James said this in an interview with Guitar world about the track.:

This is one of my favorite Cure songs, but in doing a cover we always tried to change something about it. I decided to make it a slow, acoustic dirge with different drum feels for each part instead of a straight beat through the whole song. There's also a cello, which gives it a gothic feel. At the end, it sorta rocks out with some Big Muff and Neil Young & Crazy Horse kind of rhythm guitars.

James released a solo record in 1998 called Let it Come Down. I definitely enjoy that record alot more now then I did back then. I don't know if he's still writing songs, but it would be cool to get a second solo record from him one of these days, even if it turned out to be completely different from Let it Come Down.

So here's some Iha for you.

The Smashing Pumpkins- Blew Away (from Pisces Iscariot)
The Smashing Pumpkins- A Night Like This (Cure cover from The Aeroplane Flies High)

(from Let it Come Down)
James Iha- Beauty
James Iha- Winter
James Iha- Jealousy *highly recommended*

Also, here's James' remix of Sweet Troubled Soul

Stellastarr*- Sweet Troubled Soul (James Iha remix)

James at MisSHAPES, dressed as Thurston Howell III for Halloween

Won't someone give me some fun

First of all, the current issue of URB magazine has, what might possibly be, the best magazine cover ever printed.

I'm totally jealous of both of them.

Also, someone just posted the raddest thing over at the Live Journal Bloc Party community. Thereabouts was looking through old Suede fanzines and came across these ads from two 1997 issues:

Suede Fanzine, Winter 1997 (issue #14)




Spring 1997, issue #15




So Kele was looking for people to play art rock with, trade Suede music with, and contribute to a fanzine. Why couldn't I have been born in London? I ask my mom that all the time. Not such a farfetched idea as my Aunt Mary lives there and had many children there. Also, most of my Uncle Arthur's children and grandchildren live in the UK as well.

Seeing as how Kele is only 9 days younger than me (yeah I know it's kind of ridiculous and stalker like that I know that) he was 15 when these ads were placed. Aww, just imagine how adorable a 15 year old Kele was, all rocking out to Britpop. And from the first ad, it seems he had already discovered what a great voice he possessed. Anyway, I thought you all might get a kick out of seeing this. And it's been at least a week since I've mentioned Bloc Party, right? Oh and for future reference Kele's birthday is October 13th and mine is October 4th (ya know, in case you ever want to send presents or something)

I found a Bloc Party song called This is Not A Competition on Soulseek a few days ago. I can't find too much info on it. BlocParty.net only says that it's an old song, which means it was recorded in the early days of BP, possibly when they were known as "The Angel Range" or "Union."

Bloc Party- This is Not a Competition

And here's a great song from Suede

Suede- The Drowners (from Suede)

Calling all female R&B singers. Christopher Richards wants you.

(from the myspace blog of Ris Paul Ric)

Friday, November 25, 2005

I'm starting a(nother) band.... Hey all... Making the band 22: I've been busy with Ris, and yeah that's nice, but I'm also trying to start a new group with a friend of mine. Here is the ad we have up in certain places. If you know anyone interested, have them get in touch. Thanks! Here's the ad copy..... FEMALE R&B SINGER WANTED - WASHINGTON DC/ BALTIMORE MD Lady R&B singer/rapper/vocalizer wanted for crossover group to write, record, and tour like crazy. Stealing moves from: Aaliyah, the Clash, Ciara, Prince, Dipset, Queen, Public Enemy, Amerie, Roxy Music, Eno, Mary J, Crydamoure, Trax, Flyte Time, Rich Harrison, Lil Jon, Talking Heads, Wu Tang, Janet & Michael, Bmore club, hardcore, booty, riot grrrl, crunk, gogo, grime, great! One of us lives in Washington Deep Sea, one of us lives in Bodymore. If this isn't you then tell your friends about it!!! Thanks.

I wrote a song for you

I'm happy that the OC has been more interesting in the past two weeks. Although Ryan didn't beat anyone's face in on Thursday's episode which was unfortunate, but it was still a good show.

Earlier this week, I found out that the guy who plays Johnny (Ryan Donowho), is in a band with Michael Pitt. They're called Pagoda. I suppose everyone grew to love Michael Pitt when they saw him on Dawson's Creek and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. But I became acquainted with him in Murder by Numbers, since I watched that movie at least once a day when I was in New York a few summers ago. It was constantly airing on one of those all movie channels. Anywho, here's a track from Pagoda called Sadartha. If you like it, you can download three more songs from the Lonely Journey EP on their myspace page. They're pretty much grunge all the way.

Pagoda- Sadartha (from The Lonely Journey EP)

And for good measure, here's a song from Adam Brody's band, Big Japan.

Big Japan- The Rise and Fall of Bill (from Music For Dummies)

The OC has been really good about playing great tunes throughout their shows. Whoever decides which songs to put in each episode and what bands should play at the Bait shop must have the most fun job ever. On Thursday night's episode, there was this awesome cover of Coldplay's Yellow that was played at the end. Say what you want about the Coldplay, but you've gotta admit that Yellow is a great song. Through Central Village, I found out that the cover was sung by the lovely Petra Haden. I got the track from Rose Music Project, but you can download it below:

Bill Frissell and Petra Haden- Yellow

I know what you're thinking

Because I'm HTML challenged, it took me forever to figure out how to put that banner up at the top of my blog. But I did it! For those of you who might be wondering, it's a picture of the DJ booth at WUOG that I took in 2003. I mention WUOG quite a bit, I know, but honestly, I'm so grateful to that radio station and to all of the great people that I met while I was a DJ and a member of the music staff. It was my favorite thing about college, hands down. If not for WUOG, I wouldn't know about 90% of the bands that I listen to now, and that would be a terrible, terrible shame. Below are pictures of the Lobby, and the entire DJ booth as it looked a few years ago.

This is what I wrote in my journal on April 4th, 2002, the day after my first DJ shift:

So today I slept...a lot. I had to I was SOOO tired. Yesterday I got an email from our training director Anna, asking if any one of us new trainees wanted an early Thursday morning shift from 3-6am. the first person to respond would get it. I found the email about an hour and a half after she had sent it. So I emailed her saying that I'd like to do it. Later I got an email and a call from Chris Lozzo, the programming director, confirming that I was now the 3-6am Thursday morning dj. Wild. I was a little nervous because I didn't know if I would remember everything. I made out a list of opens that I wanted to play,and wrote down the track numbers. I woke up at 2 am this morning and went to the station. My shift went really well I think. I played lots of cool stuff in my opens including, further seems forever, shun, minus, swift, glassjaw, far, refused, nonpoint, rival schools, siouxsie and the banshees, and poison the well. I didn't think anyone would listen to the show. But I actually got a call after I played "New Year's Project" by Further. Some kid wanted to know the name of the song and the band. So that made me feel good that at least that person was listening. Also Curtis was sweet enough to stay up the whole time and listen to the show. I don't even know any of my friends who would do that. Not that I blame them. Who wants to get up at 3 and listen to a show until 6 in the morning?

That 3 to 6 shift was rough, but I got used to it after awhile. And honestly, I was just SOO excited about being a DJ that I didn't so much mind waking up that early to go to the station every week. I LOVED playing music on the radio. Of course, I never had a 3 to 6 shift ever again. I'm not crazy or nothin' :)

Here's a song that I heard a lot during my days at WUOG. This was definitely a favorite of many of the DJs and listeners. Masters of the Hemisphere was a local indie pop band, and we very much loved them. Anything, Anything is just a great song.

Masters of the Hemisphere- Anything, Anything (from Protest a Dark Anniversary)

Now here's some music news. Bella Lea had to change their name because another band was also named Bella Lea. So now they're called Ambulette. I wonder what they're going to do about their old merch. Their music is still awesome though. Visit Ambulette's myspace page here.

Head Automatica have headed back into the studio to record the follow up to their debut cd, Decadence. They're documenting the recording process on video, and the first installment can be see here (quicktime) or on their myspace page here. Daryl talks a lot in the video, and he hasn't lost that awesome Long Island accent. Hmm, I think I might make a glassJAw post soon.

If you enjoyed my Terribly Empty Pockets post the other day, you can check out another track by the band here on Columbus Discount Records' myspace page. I believe it's called Trucks and it's the B-side to the Sexxy World 7"

Finally here's a great song to get your Friday night dance parties started

Captain Sensible- Wot (from Collection)