Summer always has a been a time for fun and relaxation. There is a feel and vibe, but there is also a sound. It is not necessarily a genre or style of music, although some lend themselves more easily than others. The sound conjures that feel or vibe.
As a kid, I distinctly remember my dad playing his records more frequently in the summer and it was the one season when Christmas albums were cut from the rotation. The Beach Boys and Rolling Stones will ever conjure thoughts of the sun glistening off of the pool water, the smell of fresh cut grass, and the feeling of not having to do anything but relax.
Now that I am an adult with my own house and family, I am crafting that summer sound for my household. Hopefully my kids will carry the same summer feelings attached to our summer soundtrack as I have to the soundtrack from my youth. Here are some of the frequent summer tunes of our household...
Obviously the Beach Boys and Stones are worked in. I prefer Hot Rocks and Good Vibrations.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - any of the John Frusciante records (By The Way has a fantastic vibe with gorgeous melodies)
The Dandy Warhols - any
Toots and the Maytals - True Love
Chris Isaak - Baja Sessions
My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult - Hit and Run Holiday
Red House Painters - Ocean Beach
Josh Rouse - Nashville
Fleetwood Mac - Rumors
U2 - Achtung Baby
Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y Gabriela
The Cure - Mixed Up / Standing On A Beach
Garden State and 50 First Dates soundtracks
Friday, July 17, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Mark Kozelek Starter Kit
Mark Kozelek is an American song writer and singer that I have listened to on and off for years. His Red House Painters helped to create the slow core movement in the nineties. He has gone on to develop and refine his sound through a number of solo ventures and with his current band, Sun Kil Moon. Most of Kozelek's songs take some time to appreciate. At first they come of as simple and atmospheric, but upon repeated listens they reveal themselves. Brilliant lyrics, beautiful melodies, and sincere delivery. His career has many highlights including RHP's Ocean Beach, Sun Kil Moon's Ghosts of the Great Highway and April, and Mark Kozelek's Rock-n-Roll Singer. That's a lot of albums to venture into discovery so a made a list of some of my favorite songs that you could find on most music services.
Brad's Mark Kozelek Mix
1. Rock and Roll Singer *
2. Metrol 47 *
3. Around and Around *
4. Carry Me Ohio #
5. Salvador Sanches #
6. Gentle Moon #
7. Lily and Parrots #
8. Heron Blue $
9. Moorestown $
10. Unlit Hallway %
11. Tiny Cities %
12. Summer Dress @
13. Katy Song +
* KM - Rock and Roll Singer
# SKM - Ghosts of the Great Highway
$ SKM - April
% MK - Lost Verses
@ RHP - Ocean Beach
+ RHP - RHP (rollercoaster)
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Totally worth the money
The new Spinal Tap album is little more than rehashings of the soundtrack to the movie. Some of the songs have been reinterpreted and there are six new songs. That is all fun and worth the listen, but the real value is in the packaging. It is worth the money for that alone.
The package folds out into a stage with 12 inch cut outs of action figure versions of the band with a scaled version of stonehenge in front. There is also a DVD of the guys commenting on every song. It is a fantastic tribute to the spirit of the original film. One day one of my children will get to inherit this and get be the proud owner of a piece of rock and roll history.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Precious
...and deep in the bowels of Middle Earth, Phil "Gollum" Spector will hide away from from the spoils of life that no longer are his to be part of. Ever pining for the one ring of power that consumed him and once gave the powers of invisibility and to make kick ass records.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Another One Bites The Dust
Earlier this year Ryan Adams threw in the towel on his music career as he strolled down the aisle with Mandy Moore. Good for him. I mean, Mandy Moore? Not bad. If it makes him happy, great.
So now he is supporting her career and pursuing a career as an author. Poetic prose - snore! I have spent over ten years fanatically following his turbulent and prolific music career. This leaves a large gap in my personal time. I actually felt kind of lost and rejected for a while there. Being a Ryan Adams fan is a hobby unto itself. You never knew what he was going to try next or what trouble he would get into next. His music had gone in so many directions and he finally got a band together that gelled with him and they seemed to be hitting their stride. I feel that it ended before it was meant to. Now what I have to look forward to from him is poetic prose? Ugh.
I don't wish any ill will towards him, but I excitedly await the inevitable celebrity marital collapse and his return to life as a miserable artist that vents his demons through fantastic music. Hopefully the guys from the Cardinals will still be available to play with him when this happens.
To make things worse, on the tails of my current music hero calling it quits as he ties the knot, I learned that my music hero through my teens is doing the same thing. Trent Reznor is dissolving Nine Inch Nails after this summer tour and he recently got engaged as well.
The NIN news wasn't as big of a blow for me. I've seen them a number of times and they have enjoyed a resurgence of relevance lately and are bowing out right before the end of a fantastic second life. Most acts aren't so lucky to be able to strike gold twice. They have secured their place in music history and are taking a bow and exiting the stage before they misstep and blow it with another flop like The Fragile, an album that nearly destroyed the NIN legacy. They may come back still, but the pressure is off to follow up their recent successes. If Trent comes up with something creative for NIN he can make a comeback. If he doesn't, then there is no pressure to just slap something together.
It's a good thing that Robert Smith is already married.
So now he is supporting her career and pursuing a career as an author. Poetic prose - snore! I have spent over ten years fanatically following his turbulent and prolific music career. This leaves a large gap in my personal time. I actually felt kind of lost and rejected for a while there. Being a Ryan Adams fan is a hobby unto itself. You never knew what he was going to try next or what trouble he would get into next. His music had gone in so many directions and he finally got a band together that gelled with him and they seemed to be hitting their stride. I feel that it ended before it was meant to. Now what I have to look forward to from him is poetic prose? Ugh.
I don't wish any ill will towards him, but I excitedly await the inevitable celebrity marital collapse and his return to life as a miserable artist that vents his demons through fantastic music. Hopefully the guys from the Cardinals will still be available to play with him when this happens.
To make things worse, on the tails of my current music hero calling it quits as he ties the knot, I learned that my music hero through my teens is doing the same thing. Trent Reznor is dissolving Nine Inch Nails after this summer tour and he recently got engaged as well.
The NIN news wasn't as big of a blow for me. I've seen them a number of times and they have enjoyed a resurgence of relevance lately and are bowing out right before the end of a fantastic second life. Most acts aren't so lucky to be able to strike gold twice. They have secured their place in music history and are taking a bow and exiting the stage before they misstep and blow it with another flop like The Fragile, an album that nearly destroyed the NIN legacy. They may come back still, but the pressure is off to follow up their recent successes. If Trent comes up with something creative for NIN he can make a comeback. If he doesn't, then there is no pressure to just slap something together.
It's a good thing that Robert Smith is already married.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Happy 50th!
In the very long shot that you may be reading this (hahaha)...
Happy 50th Birthday Robert Smith!
Happy 50th Birthday Robert Smith!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Near Beer
After the success of my fall beer making, I decided to take the process a step further, and attempt brewing beer from the raw materials. Barley, Hops, Yeast, and Water. A simple and amazing process and product.
The first step is to work the barley. I germinated the grain to begin the process and then slow roasted the sprouting seeds to dry them. The process took most of the day on Sunday, but the result was a golden roasted pile of pre beer goodness.
With the roasted barley on hand and a bucket full of dried hops collected from the vines in my neighbor's yard last fall I was ready to boil up my wort. To make the wort, the roasted barley is boiled to extract the sugars that feed the the yeast in the fermentation process. The hops were added into the mix to create the fruity bitter taste that most pale ails have.
Well... That's about when it all failed. The boiling process is supposed to last for at least an hour in order to burn off unwanted enzymes and release the desired sugars into the water. Two unexpected things happened. 1) The Barley swelled up and overflowed the water level, driving the bottom layer of barley to the bottom of the pot and proceeded to burn. The delightful beer smell quickly turned to a pungent burn odor. 2) The wort broth that I tried to salvage from the initial boil was unbearably starchy. It was thick like pea soup and colored like porridge. After various strainings and filterings, the first attempt had to be aborted.
The first step is to work the barley. I germinated the grain to begin the process and then slow roasted the sprouting seeds to dry them. The process took most of the day on Sunday, but the result was a golden roasted pile of pre beer goodness.
With the roasted barley on hand and a bucket full of dried hops collected from the vines in my neighbor's yard last fall I was ready to boil up my wort. To make the wort, the roasted barley is boiled to extract the sugars that feed the the yeast in the fermentation process. The hops were added into the mix to create the fruity bitter taste that most pale ails have.
Well... That's about when it all failed. The boiling process is supposed to last for at least an hour in order to burn off unwanted enzymes and release the desired sugars into the water. Two unexpected things happened. 1) The Barley swelled up and overflowed the water level, driving the bottom layer of barley to the bottom of the pot and proceeded to burn. The delightful beer smell quickly turned to a pungent burn odor. 2) The wort broth that I tried to salvage from the initial boil was unbearably starchy. It was thick like pea soup and colored like porridge. After various strainings and filterings, the first attempt had to be aborted.
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