musical playlist #1, a life in transit, and other stories

this past week has been filled (literally and figuratively) with clutter and stress and the bare-boned materialism of just general 'stuff.' i am now sitting in the airport in transit, awaiting the arrival of a plane, just another place to sit in transit. only on the other side of that metal box, i will be home, not merely transferred to another metal box, buildings to planes to everything else. apart also from the literal 'metal boxes of transit,' between all the packing and boxes and combining and opening and pulling out and putting in and taping and closing, i have felt very much in a state of transit. not in school yet, although not truly in summer holiday. not independently by myself yet, although living very much alone. not 'in my element' school and life-wise yet, although not completely lost off the periodic table. so to all my other brothers and sisters out there waiting both in a transit of space or a transit of mind, i feel you, and here's me holla at you. i also am feeling this morning with anyone that's ever been 'randomly pre-selected' for additional screening. their connotations of language are almost as if you have won a car or the lottery, despite what it really is: standing insecurely freezing in a little cotton dress without shoes (because apparently sandals can be dangerous footwear, watch out y'all) holding arms wide with fists clenched as some homely and overworked looking woman pats you down while they search through every item you struggle to carry. now i know i really look like the dangerous, spur-of-the-moment, intensely strong and muscular, angry looking terrorist, but seriously? there is not enough coffee in the world to make that seem better like a better situation in the morning.

speaking of coffee, that is another sense of transit. i packed up my coffee maker first thing, and then stupidly later realized the stupidity of that action. taped up mr. coffee maker box = inability to make coffee = every bad and evil and cruel that exists in the world. you know that you need coffee when even playlists labeled 'can't tell me nothing kanye,' 'abba,' 'getting ready punk 90s style,' 'no, worse than ever,' and 'crunk,' don't seem to aid the packing process.

OH. exciting story. and to make it from long story to short quick exciting story, many of you know i am very much 'in-tune' (to semi-quote wilco's "sunken treasure") with ryan adams and his wonderful music, and saw him at a small show last july in memphis where i was able to meet him and receive his autograph and a little doodle drawing in a little sketchbook type book i made for stencils. via my friend katy witmer, i found out that he wrote in his old blog about a fan he met and drew a little drawing for in her sketchbook type thing filled with stencil-type art. needless to say and as i wrote at the beginning, exciting story (at least to me). unfortunately his old blog is no longer in existence. fortunately this story is true anyways. additional fortunately katy and i are planning on going to the next possible ryan adams show and meet him and show him the picture. yep, that's about as far as i've gotten. regardless, finding this whole thing out from katy last week most definitely made these days of nothing but packing and no coffee and stressing out and no sleep much much much better. most likely the closest thing to anything famous that will ever happen to me, but i will take it with two open arms! just not arms opened to be patted down by the additional screeners at the airport. anything but that.

CHI:


in-between:


MEM:


peace out.

and here's the music complete with playlist, descriptions, and zip file. enjoy!

DOWNLOAD THE ZIP FILE: CLICK HERE

1 the twist frightened rabbit
just listen to this man's accent. slightly different vocals with slightly different instrumentation,
but it all fits together well. but again, his accent. i think it truly makes this song.

2 i've got your number passion pit
not much into the 'techno, instrumental, track loop, etc' scene, but this song from east coast
based band, passion pit, is real real catchy. "did you see me cry, tears like diamonds?" who
knew that would make such an amazing hook? they did, obviously.

3 buildings and mountains the republic tigers
a little bit of a combination of tracks 1 and 2, with a catchy simplistic hook, but real interesting
instrumentation and vocal tones.

4 why do you let me stay here? she & him
see previous blog ranting about she & him (music #2).

5 wrapped up in books belle & sebastian
belle & sebastian can do no wrong with their light high male vocals, simple melodies, smooth
and easy styles, lyrical kicks and pinches, slightly tragically happy, and wonderfully mellow.
they are the epitome of my iTunes genre entitle 'ellowie.'

6 shot to the stars whitley
young man based out of new zealand. up and coming i say. a little of a combination of
damien rice, ben harper, sufjan stevens, with that easy-flowing slightly-accented male voice
and head-shaking rhythmic guitar sections. definitely want to find more of this fellow, who is
actually touring with ben kweller currently. good for him!

7 rumors josh ritter
josh ritter is the incredible (accent on the last 'e'). in college he planned to become a scientist
and then found his passion for writing gorgeously poetic lyrics and moving them into music.
this little history lesson makes very much sense when listening to his absolutely amazing song
"the temptation of adam." not many songwriters can make references to nuclear fission and
the principles of radioactive half-life so eloquently.

8 brandy alexander feist
former singer (or one of the singers) of broken social scene gone solo. beautiful girl, beautiful
voice. slight reminders of regina spektor / ani difranco / the weepies, in the best senses of all
three.

9 mimosa shosha capps
young school-going girl from california (actually, not quite sure...) who sings and writes on the
side of her schoolwork. her name is pronounced like 'sasha' apparently, but i doubt you will
be seeing much of her name any time soon. it seems that she doesn't do many shows other
than summer and then only nearby where she is living, most likely due to school. hopefully
upon her graduation, we can all celebrate.

10 3 rounds and a sound blind pilot
again, with she & him, see the previous ranting on them (music #1).

11 sunken treasure wilco
do i need to comment on wilco? chicago, illinois. jeff tweedy. incredible music talent.
incredible lyrical writing. incredible production. incredible career lifespan. again, do i really
need to comment on wilco?

12 drop and anchor mates of state
as the the best fashion with over the rhine and the weepies and she & him, mates of state
contains the cutest male-female duo ever. between the keys, the drums, and the vocals, there
is no denying full out anthology listening sessions for hours while doing work in a quiet
library. or really while doing anything. i dare you to listen to them and not break out in a full
genuine smile at least once.

13 after hours the velvet underground
classic. not with re-noun velvet underground marksman (or marks-woman?) nico, but never
the less their full out spirit while their female drummer takes on vocals. no going wrong when
listening to the underground on a bright sunny summer morning.

14 (do you wanna) come walk with me mark lanegan & isobel campbell
all i have to say is that i can't believe they used this in a levi's commercial. good for levi's and
their provocative-ness. disappointing for everyone else. if you haven't seen the ad, don't. just
listen to the song without it being tainted.

15 cold water damien rice
this song is full on damien rice: long melodic guitar-scapes, haunting beautiful semi-accented
vocals, piercingly tragic lyrics, and overall complete-ness in everything.

16 dear john ryan adams (norah jones)
"two rings on my fingers, but the other one's gone." i will never forget andrew webster (former
co-worker of mine at ugly mug coffee and winner of the lifetime amazing award) running into
the factory room holding up two fingers on his right hand at me while singing this with the
most intense facial expression. norah jones, too. dang. what i wouldn't give to see this
performed live by the two of them.