Blogs are so passe and pretentious. Oh well, here's my blog about music that's stuck in my head when I wake up in the mornings along with adventures of the Cash family and wacky wacky crazy wacky shenanigans.
Today's song comes again from Regina Spektor. I love her music, but my subconscious loves it even more. I dub her "The Queen of Earworms" as this is now the 9th time I've written about her on this here blog.
This song is particularly good. It's from her 2003 album (my personal favorite R.S. album) "Soviet Kitsch" The song is about the deadly gas Carbon Monoxide. I really like this song so listen mkay?
What I'm about to do will likely be boring to most but this is my blog and neener neener.
(Side note, it would be REALLY hard to write a successful column or blog. Like really hard and a lot of work, and it would especially be difficult if you WORKED for someone else who expected you to be an amazing writer/entertainer. I'm really glad this is just a hobby for me and I'm grateful to the people who indulge me by coming here to read my thoughts about music and life and stuff. AND SCENE.)
I'm in the mood to talk about albums, in general. Popular music comes from albums and there are loads of them out there. Some are mediocre, some are great and some are bloomin' fantastic. I LOVE ALBUMS!
So this is a glowing endorsement of ALBUMS! When is the last time you listened to one? Why did they pick the opening track they way they did? What is the follow up track? Why did they pick the order of tracks the way they did? What kind of message are the artists try to say with their music? Have you ever thought of a record as a work of art? ALBUMS YOU GUYS!
The reason I'm talking about ALBUMS (in capital letters) is that I'm afraid that ALBUMS might become a thing of the past. The reason I'm afraid of this is because nobody buys albums any more! The album used to be the medium for which the artist and record distribution made money. But now, between streaming and illegal downloading, albums are rarely being purchased.
On top of that, shuffling music has become a trend- one that I enjoy as much as the next guy- yet I'm afraid that those who stream and shuffle music are inadvertently changing the music industry.
I could be wrong, and correct me if I am, but don't you see artists releasing songs individually, rather than as an album- since nobody buys albums? Does that make sense?
I'm not great at arguing a point, but I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I would be really sad if artists stopped making albums.
So go buy an ALBUM! Go listen to an ALBUM! Do it start to finish. Listen to it quietly and enjoy all the work the artist put forth as an expression of art.
The Queen of Finding her way into my brain has had another victory today.
Irony- Regina means "Queen" in Italian. See how clever I am friends?
The song stuck in my head is "Small Town Moon" the opening track from Spektor's 2012 album WHAT WE SAW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS.
(Fun (boring) fact, this is the 8th song of Spektor's I've blogged about here and the fourth from this album)
This song catches so beautifully what Regina does so well. Namely:
-Her voice is just really nice, clear, pure with a great sense of pitch.
-Coloratura.... is that a word you can even use in pop? She does it a bit with all her songs and her
voice just rolls.
-Interesting subject matter, somebody who's left a small town for the big city.
-Quirky, unexpected twists in the song, my favorite being the way she repeats "baby baby baby baby baby baby...." so many more times than she should. Only Regina Spektor can get away with this sort of thing.
I guess I should let you listen to the song, now that I've talked your ear off about it:
Well, Regina has found her way into my brain again this morning. If you notice on my blog, I keep track of the artists I write about here on the right side of the page. Regina Spektor has now caught up with The Beatles for the most songs discussed here. They are tied at 7 each. Who will win? No one knows.
Are you impressed with graphic design ability? I would be if I were you.
Anyway, here is "Us" a great song from Spektor's great album "Soviet Kitsch" my favorite of all her records. Check it out if you haven't already. Have a listen to the song that was stuck in my head this morning:
That cursed Regina Spektor sure has some catchy songs. I tried all week to listen to cool music in hopes that I could blog about some really cool song here today, instead I had one of Regina's songs playing as I awoke on this beautiful Sunday morning.
Not that I have a problem with Regina Spektor. There was a time about 3 or 4 years ago where her music was some of the most played in my library. I guess my beef is that I've blogged about her a lot already and I worry that people will think my tastes are uninteresting.
Anyway, here's today's song, "Better," from Spektor's 2007 album "Begin to Hope." Truly, Regina Spektor is a tremendous talent and this really is a great song:
I feel like giving away some stuff. Giving away stuff makes me feel validated. I don't make any money doing this blog, but it's fun for me so I do it anyway. I do giveaways for the following reasons:
1. I'm nice.
2. More people come and visit the blog when I give stuff away and because I'm insecure this helps.
3. I like making a compilation disc of all the songs I've written about here, even though it makes for a strange, random mix of music. It's still fun, and plus nobody makes compilation discs any more so even though it's a new disc I made, it will feel like an invaluable heir loom or antique or something. 4
4. Life can be boring. I like making things more interesting.
So, in no particular order, here are the prizes you could win:
PRIZE #1- A Compilation disc of The Best of the Songs Stuck in Brady's Head, Volume 7. This is probably the oddest mix I've done yet, it's full of obscure songs, pretty songs, hard songs, and even current hits. I'm confident you'll find at least one song you'll like if you're the lucky winner of this compilation.
PRIZE #2- A few albums I have sitting around, Radiohead's "The King of Limbs" and Red Hot Chili Pepper's "I'm With You." Admittedly I was a little luke-warm on both albums, but hey, they were sitting in a drawer and you can have 'em.
PRIZE #3- A 5 Dollar Gift Certificate to Anywhere!
Also, my pointy English nose. (Nose not included)
Prize #4- A 25 Dollar Gift Certificate to Crappleby's! However you may feel about the restaurant, this is real money, and hey, free meal right?
This is how you win, just make a comment here on this here blog. I'm trying something new this time too, I'm linking this up to Facebook, and if you "like" or comment on that post I'll enter you in the contest as well.
I'll announce a winner one week from today, Sundee, March 2nd.
I love you guys so much. Seriously. Thanks for indulging me.
Today's song is from Regina Spektor. I have to say first, that I don't think there's a better voice in popular music than hers. It has such a clear, and strong sound to it. I don't know much about anything, but I would venture to say that she probably could have had a classical voice if she had chosen it.
This song is beautiful and sad. There are lots of break up songs, I have many in my collection. Most have an angry feel to them. The singer in this song is truly in love, and is truly breaking. I've been lucky in life that I have never truly experienced deep heart break, I hope to never have to endure that sort of pain, nor do I wish it on anyone else.
There is an "old" feel to this song. Like it would fit in the 50's or 60's. I want to say it almost has a Motown feel to it, if it's possible for a Russian-American hipster like Regina Spektor to write this sort of thing.
I was chatting with a friend today who mentioned that she was collecting break-up songs. It seemed like a strange collection to keep, but like a bozo I didn't figure out that she and her husband had split and so she was listening to break-up music. It made me wonder, if most people find listening to music that rings true to a particular sad situation is therapeutic, or if they would rather not have the music remind them of why they're suffering. I've found that listening to sad music, even the kind I can relate to, helps me to suffer through my situation- almost like it gives me comfort to know that somebody else has felt that kind of pain.
Regardless, my heart aches for anybody who has suffered the loss of a loved one, whether sad music helps or not.
Regina Spektor is back with my subconscious to share more music from her new album. I finally bought it, and yes, it's very good and the music is very catchy- so plan on seeing more of this stuff as I keep sharing music.
Today's song is called "Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas)" Here's the music video:
I read over the lyrics to this song- and I can't figure out what they have to do with someone leaving another, other than the part of the song when she sings "Don't Leave Me" in French.
This can be challenging to try to be creative when my subconscious chooses the song and therefore topic of my posts. The title of this song has to do with abandonment, so I guess I'll stick with that.
I've been married for 7 years. My wife is very commited to me- and so I give you, the top ten reasons why my wife should have left years ago:
1) I am a worthless piece of garbage when it comes to being handy around the house. I can barely put a light bulb in. I am not kidding.
2) I am a worthless piece of garbage when it comes to being motivated about doing anything worth while at all.
3) I am painfully NON-confrontational, forcing my wife to be the aggresive one in all confrontational situations.
4) I am an absurdly picky eater. She has to cook, order and eat around this problem I have.
5) If I had to defend her honor in a fist fight, I would lose, no matter who it is, male/female, child/adult.
6) I am too cynical to be very romantic.
7) I can't sit down and just enjoy a blockbuster movie. I am too busy dissecting it and wishing it was more arty farty.
8) I have a nubby thumb, fine and sometimes oily hair, no muscles, a pointy English nose, long lurpy arms and legs and a bubble butt.
9) She has to constantly tolerate my mad obsession with music- and wanting music to be playing as much as possible.
10) I haven't brushed my teeth since 1996, only shower when my in-laws come into town, and whenever I hear the word deoderant I have a seizure.
(She had no idea what she was getting herself into)
So there you have it, I'm married to the most tolerant woman in the world. I love her for putting up with me.
The Song today "ALL THE ROWBOATS" is from Regina Spektor's new album, "What We Saw From the Cheap Seats." I will buy this album soon, I've heard it's great, but as of now I have only heard the song that was playing today:
For those of you who still use a rowboat as your primary form of transportation, I have some very exciting news!!! thesongsstuckingmyhead.blogspot.com,LLC has our first sponsor * and it's a car dealership where you can buy a real car!
Because I'm a good new client, I will take time to promote this site's new sponsor!
Nate Wade Subaru, located at 1207 S Main St. in Salt Lake City is AWESOME! In fact, I've even bought a car there! And let me tell you what that car buying experience was like:
NATE WADE SUBARU**
First I inquired on the Internet (http://www.natewade.com/) about the car in which I was interested and was promptly replied to by Brock Kassing- Internet manager.
BROCK KASSING***
Brock was quick to respond to my needs and quickly found the vehicle that was perfect for our family.
The rare times when there was maintenance needs for the vehicle it was easy to find help from Rich Beeler and his staff at your beckoning call when your car needs service:
RICH BEELER***
I had another good experience while thinking about purchasing another vehicle. This time I just showed up off the street and enjoyed looking for a vehicle with Tony Schwartz, one of many knowledgeable representatives on site to help you.
TONY SCHWARTZ***
Most importantly, I need to mention the big cheese, General Sales Manager, Brett Kassing, the big man on campus who makes everything happen the way it should at a car dealership. You won't have any complaints, but if you do, you can take it right to him.
BRETT KASSING***
So hop on in to Nate Wade Subaru where the sun always shines, the streets are paved with gold and buying cars is as easy as eating a saltine cracker****
*Sponsor is a loose term, Brady just won an iTunes gift card for liking NWS on Facebook and was exhorted by Nate Wade Subaru to blog about winning
**Picture is not of actual Nate Wade Subaru location, due to budget restraints
***Amateur actors have been hired to represent real people, due to budget restraints
****This message was in no way sponsored or authorized by the Sun, paved gold streets, saltine crackers or any other entity that may be implied by poor wording or budget restraints. While indeed, buying a car at Nate Wade Subaru is a good experience, it will in no way cure any phobia one may have of visiting car dealerships, nor will it solve any personal problems such as Tourettes syndrome, shingles, or any other malady. Regina Spektor does not endorse this message, nor has she been to Nate Wade Subaru or given them patronage of any kind.....yet. Obviously, this site, thesongsstuckinmyhead.blogspot.com is a desperate bid for Brady Cash to get attention- just because he is so pathetic should not reflect poorly on Nate Wade Subaru or any other corporation, public figure or consumer product in any way, shape or form. Although management at Nate Wade Subaru does promote mustaches, not all employees have a mustache. Brady has a nubby thumb, there I admitted it, don't make fun of me.
I was worried all weekend about the promise I made on the previous blog that I would be willing to perform with my kids. I started to regret it, mostly because I was afraid that the song stuck in my head would be something difficult to perform, like Radiohead's Paranoid Android, or some Wagnerian Opera or something like that.
By vote, 85% preferred us singing to making up a dance.
So I woke up at 5:30 in the morning with another Regina Spektor song going through my head, and I was incredibly relieved because it's the perfect song. I sat down at the piano after downloading the sheet music and was surprised to find out that my kids know a lot of the lyrics already.
So, here we are putting it all out there with Regina Spektor's "Folding Chair." Hope you enjoy. This was our best take, sadly, so don't make fun of us too much. Getting a 4-year-old to cooperate isn't always the easiest thing.
My kids are good sports. This was actually a lot of fun.
Just for kicks, I'm posting the video of Regina singing it, so that you can see someone make justice of the song.
....Regina Spektor this morning! I've been a fan of hers for some time now. Most people who know her music know this song:
I got to see Regina Spektor in concert about 2 years ago. What I find most interesting about her is that in spite of her incredible music, she just seems so ordinary. She was wearing simple clothes, and wasn't showy in any way. She sounded great live though, and was so gracious about everything. She acted as if she was so surprised by the fact that the audience was clapping for her music.
I've never seen this kind of modesty with a live musician. Plus, it didn't seem overdone, or insincere in any way. So "yay, Regina" I say.
