Blogging on location and venting at the same time

Okay, I know Mother Nature and I have a rather tumultous relationship at best but come on now this is a touch absurd. I'm blogging on location from Mesa, Arizona today. I was hoping for a drier climate than the standard Houston climate we've had this December. Mother Nature decided to make it colder and rainier than anticipated however. Screwing up my weather patterns must be a sport up there.

On to further venting, The R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl left alot to be desired. I was fully expecting the improved Rice team to assert themselves over Troy but after giving up 21 points in the first quarter to a team that had scored 23 first quarter points all season coming in, things pretty much stayed downhill. WR/QB Joel Armstrong struggled throwing a number of bad interceptions. Rice couldn't establish the ground game with Quinton Smith. The lone highlight for this Rice student was seeing Jarrett Dillard's touchdown streak extend to 15 games, but even that was hollow as it was a sympathy touchdown which made the game 34-17 (Rice would later give up another score to finish the game at 41-17. It was a good season for Coach Graham and the Owls. In retrospect none of us thought 7-6 would happen ending with a trip to a bowl, but hopefully it's just the beginning.

Anyway tomorrow's another day so I'll leave it there for now.

Song Lyrics of the Day
"What if we could put our lives on hold
And meet somewhere inside of the world?"
Blue October -- What If We Could

Best of music 2006: Biggest Surprises

As I sit here this morning trying as always to avoid sleep, I'm reminded of a post I promised my known readership. I did say at one point I would go through the top 5 or 6 musical surprises I've encountered over the course of 2006, but due to my recent musical experiences the list is up to 10. So without further wasting of time on to the list...

10.) The Damnwells -- I get to blame this one on my friends in the general section of the Open Book (a.k.a. "the Blue board"). At the time I had picked up a number of more melodic rock bands like The Fray and Augustana, and I found a thread discussing The Damnwells as a similar type of band. After requisite myspacing and listening to the tracks "Golden Days" and "Sell the Lie". I took a chance. In general the whole CD is good, but I'm particularly fond of the songs "Accidental Man", "Louisville", "Heartbreaklist", and their intriguing nearly 10-minute version of "God Bless America".

9.) Glass Intrepid -- The first time I heard of these guys I was a marginally bitter music fan. They had won a contest to open Buzzfest last October, a contest that friends of mine in other bands also entered. As a result, I skipped their show then. It wasn't until Buzzfestivus this year that I got to experience the show they put on or at least part of it. The live show was entertaining enough that, as I often do with opening bands I enjoyed, I decided to pick up a copy of their CD, The Best is Yet to Come, It was a very energetic listen with very solid lyrics. I'm particularly fond of the lyrics in "My Everything" and "Broken-hearted". I was drawn to the energy in "Whatever It Takes" and the track "Good Enough".

8.) Dropping Daylight -- More keyboard-based rock here at #8. Minneapolis' Dropping Daylight provided a high-energy approach to hard rock with keyboards. One song from this album which has been on my personal theme song playlist is the somewhat angry "Blame Me" , a quality therapy song. "War Song" is done very well with an well-spoken political message. Unlike some of the protest songs of this year the lyrical message does not overpower the musical quality. "Waiting Through the Afternoon", "Tell Me", "Apologies" and "Lucy" also get frequent rotation.

7.) The Hold Steady -- Yes, Mike this likely would be higher if not for the "Collateral effect". It met expectations but you had built expectations fairly high so it can't qualify as as much of a surprise as it might have. "Chips Ahoy!" and "First Night" are stellar songs. I still can't get "Chillout Tent" out of my head, maybe because I've seen it happen. "Stuck Between Stations" and "Party Pit" are also solid.

6.) Revelation Theory -- This New York City band contacted me randomly through myspace on day in March and I ignored them until about June. Upon myspacing, their lead single "Slowburn" became an aggression song for me. By far my favorite song of the 10 on their debut disc Truth is Currency is a track called "Selfish and Cold" which is much slower than most of their tunes but is very solid lyrically. The track "Loathe" quickly jumped into my list of anger management tunes. Finally Rev Theory solidified their spot on this list when I saw them light up a live crowd where 95% percent of the audience had no idea who they were when they opened for Evanescence here in October.

5.) Hurt -- Dark, dreary and yet almost symphonic at times, this band has produced two of my staple songs for the year in the form of "Overdose" and "Falls Apart". However, unlike many bands whose brooding message overwhelms the music to the point where the songs sound the same, Hurt shows enough musical variation to be interesting throughout. Admittedly the lead single "Rapture" may have a message that some would be disturbed by, but this is music... these things happen. "Danse Russe" is a fabulous song which at time actually approaches positive. "Losing", "Forever", and "Dirty" are also worth several listens.

4.) Midlake -- If I give credit to the blue board for the Damnwells, then I must acknowledge the illustrious Gene for recommending his friends from Midlake. The initial single, a catchy, quirky, little tune called "Roscoe" stuck in my head since about March. Upon obtaining The Trials of Van Occupanther, I was pleasantly surprised by the entire disc of solid music. Standout tracks include "Head Home", "Young Bride" and the title track "Van Occupanther". Though Midlake's music is much different than most of this list. It has a unique place that I recommend everyone explore.

3.) Evans Blue -- It's not often for me that a disc I purchased in February is still receiving daily spins in December. "Cold (But I'm Still Here)" and "Beg" have been outstanding radio singles, but as always there are a number of tracks which are not going to be singles which deserve mention here. My personal favorite is a track called "The Promise and the Threat" which is a solid song about a relationship likely shouldn't be but still is (Like we were meant to be/ but how can that be?/ You run on evil / I run on fumes and stale air). Other songs of note include "A Cross and a Girl Named Blessed" which I quote often, the Sarah McLachlan cover "Possesion", and a slower song called "Quote".

2.) Five Dollar Friend --This Texas-based quintet was entertaining when I had watched there show last year. I wasn't initially sure as to how the music would translate to CD form but then in August I picked up XOXORx (Kisses, Hugs, and Prescription Drugs). Above and beyond the 3 tracks I knew from early myspacing ("Spilling the Blood of Hipsters", "Speeding (35 Going 85)", and "Dancehall") I was impress with the solid core of music contain in the album. Tracks like "The Return" and "Bad Words and Warnings" quickly became favorites. More up-tempo songs like "Firecracker" and "Undercover" also provide easy and consistent entertainment.

1.) People in Planes -- I shouldn't be surprised that a Wind-up Records artist that they don't wish to promote would be on this list. PiP came to my attention in January due to my searching of Wind-up's site looking for new artists. After hearing "If You Talk Too Much (My Head Will Explode)", I knew it would be a worthwhile acquistion. PiP does a solid job of varying styles and tempos between tracks to construct a solid tapestry of music. The closing track "Narcoleptic" is a stand out track, and not for it's nearly 7 minute duration. I very much enjoy the tracks "Falling by the Wayside", "Token Trapped Woman", and "Barracuda". I sure this gentleman will have more to say about PiP in a future post so I won't steal all of his thunder.

Alas it wouldn't be a cosmic rant without a completely unrelated set of song lyrics with no point whatsoever...

Song Lyrics of the Day
"Like Jessica Rabbit, she corrects bad habits
Gets her tricks for free
Animated vixen, stole Cupid's arrow
And came to rescue me"
Eve 6 -- "Rescue"

Lyrics to live by?

Okay, I been having an interesting life as of late with a lot of thinking involved. Those of you that know me know that when thinking is involved there are always tunes on. That brings me to the discussion topic for the day. What song lyrics that you know have been able to provide insight or inspiration to help you with events in your life, or what lyrics have you used to keep things in appropriate perspective?

Here are just a few of the ones that I use for examples and then I'll throw it open to discussion:

• "This is life. It's the class that no one aces" SouthFM -- "Habit"
• "If I stay lucky then my tongue will stay tied..." Seven Mary Three -- "Lucky"
• "I wipe the slate clean, kick the daydream, and remain independently happy." Blue October-- "Independently Happy"
• The list from Blue's "Balance Beam"
• "I know if I just sit there, I'll never find out who I am" Faktion -- "Who I am"

I'm sure the musical geniuses in my audience can provide several better examples.

Concert Review: Three Days Grace, Army of Anyone, and Glass Intrepid

I ventured to the Verizon last night for a little show called Buzzfestivus featuring local openers Glass Intrepid followed by Army of Anyone, featuring the DeLeo brothers from Stone Temple Pilots and Richard Patrick from Filter, and finally Three Days Grace. Admitted I, your humble slower than a crippled turtle reporter, was a little late so I can't do Glass Intrepid justice as I only heard three songs and only remember the title of one of them, the closer "Whatever It Takes". Based on the three songs I did hear I was impressed enough to pick up their CD The Best is Yet to Come.

Army of Anyone took the stage and went into a solid rendition of "Generation" followed by "It Doesn't Seem to Matter" both of which are excellent energetic songs. Sadly it seems as though they fell victim to the radio show crowd. The show had been promoted almost entirely as Buzzfestivus featuring Three Days Grace (insert long pause) with Army of Anyone and Glass Intrepid (said quickly to finish the 20 second spot). That said there was a significant portion of the crowd that was into it. Highlights of the AoA tunes were the two opening tracks and “Father Figure” which got the show off to a quick start though many of the younger 3DG fans hadn’t caught on at that point. As with any “supergroup” there’s always a few relics of their past musical lives. “Vasoline” and “Big Bang Baby” were outstandingly done and had the crowd energized. They did perform one other STP song; however, it escapes me as to which non-single it was. From the Filter side, they played 2 of my 3 favorite Filter songs with “Welcome to the Fold” and “Hey Man, Nice Shot” It was a shame when they play “Non-Stop” that the crowd seemed a little down because that song is spectacular live. As one would expect they closed with the radio single “Goodbye” which was a solid ending and the only AoA song where even the “we’re just here for Three Days Grace” faction was into it (they participated in the STP and Filter segments but were notably absent from most of the AoA material.

Three Days Grace was next up after the standard radio show pause to introduce the radio staff and obligatory picture. They started of quickly with the radio-friendly “Animal I Have Become from their most recent release One-X followed quickly by “Time of Dying” to keep the energy up. I’m not going to pretend to remember the exact order of everything. I was very pleased with the mix between the self-titled record and One-X. Of the 1 songs they played 8 were from the first album and 7 from the second one. This allowed them to play a number of non-singles the highlights of which included “Wake Up”, “Riot” (both of which had significant crowd participation) and “Scared”. I was pleased they played “Never Too Late” which I very much enjoy. Their set did include an interesting break at one point with Adam essentially playing solo a pretty decent rendition of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” which turned out better than most of the stunned crowd expected.

All in all it was another in my recent string of consecutive good shows which stretches back to about May of this year.

Concert Review: Five Dollar Friend at Jet Lounge

As a band promoting weasel in the past I have referenced the entertaining musical experience Five Dollar Friend is. Well in one of their rare visits to a venue within travelling distance for me, I had the opportunity to see them again at the quaint Jet Lounge. Jet Lounge is basically an annex to the Engine Room. It turned out to be a free show which I always enjoy (shows are good, free shows are better Coyner's law #5) . Thinking that FDF was supposed to go on at 10:30ish, Albert and I wandered to Jet Lounge early. We would later discover, that there were 3 acts on the bill and that FDF was last. The first group of musicians who didn't have a collective name as far as I could tell were a solid guitar trio who performed mostly covers. Some of the standouts were "Ring of Fire" and "Folsom Prison Blues."

Jeff Canada then took the stage and though he had a bit of an absurd fascination with referencing male anatomy in every instance of commentary between the songs, he had a number of interesting set of original acoustic material. "King of the Playground" which ended his set was recognized most among the original material by the crowd. Admittedly most of the crowd there had seen him play before unlike Albert and myself. I was particularly a fan of the track "Memories in a Shoebox" although many of his other tracks were also good. He also played two outstanding covers and an interesting smash up of Sublime and Bad Company. The covers were Oasis' "Wonderwall" and my favorite Pearl Jam song "Black" so those stood out.

Then it was time for the admittedly short-handed Five Dollar Friend. Keyboardist and backing vocalist Xochitl Salinas was unable to be there but the show went on. FDF played most of the tracks from XOXORx and mixed in three new tracks which were very solid. They opened their set with "Bad Words and Warnings" and included my favorites "Spilling the Blood of Hipsters" "Speeding (35 going 85) " and "The Return". The new songs were tracks called "Tango and Cash", "Bending the Line" (I think that's what Jacob said), and an uptempo song I really enjoyed called "Reality Runs Quickly" where Jacob didn't have a guitar so he got to play semi-crazed frontman. Despite the lack of Ms. Salinas, they playing a modified version of "Dancehall" and helped me rectify the lyrical quandry that Mike and I have had (see song lyrics below). Interestingly During the extended musical breaks in "Speeding" and I believe "...Hipsters," Jacob slipped in some interesting cover lyrics. In "Speeding" Jacob broke into Outkast's "Ms. Jackson" and later he blended the Eagles' "Hotel California."

Beyond the music there were some interesting side plot where apparently at least for Albert needing a cigarette at the bar can become a profitable experience. Our bartender suggested that he talk to the Camel distributor. Some ten minutes later he returned having taken a survey and received not only a free pack of cigarettes but two free tickets to the Ratatat and The Faint show at Warehouse Live on the 13th. Who knew these things worked like that?

Anyway, it was a very solid show to say the least.

Song Lyrics of the Day
"I don't deal
Dealing with me
Feel like trash
Thought that church could make me clean
I was wrong
I let go of everything"
Five Dollar Friend -- "Dancehall"