The Nappy Cat Chronicles » Music

A Diversion Worth Diverting To

Michael — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:00:49 +0000

Considering my other interests in music, last night, I saw what will probably be the most popular show I will see, for quite some time. Owl City put on a show at The Electric Factory, along with the person whom I was so eager to see, Lights (pictured with me on the left).

While I could go into a review , let me just say that she and Owl City were both excellent, and that everyone had a great time. And Lights being the wonderful person that she is, was nice enough to take a picture with me. Many thanks to Brett who got us there, and Heather, who took the picture.

It was a fantastic break from thinking of all things economics, which we’ll get back in a bit here at The Nappy Cat.

iPod

Michael — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:00:39 +0000

These days, KEXP is the only radio I listen to. And since I don’t want to hog bandwidth at work, I usually bring in my iPod and listen to it while it plays songs randomly (about 5,000 to choose from).

The thing is though, every time it plays something by Rick Astley I feel as if it’s purposely Rick-Rolling me.

What the Hell?

Will — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:11:28 +0000

Mandy Moore now calls herself Amanda Leigh and is married to Ryan Adams?

Dead Dead Dead Weather

Will — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 02:02:21 +0000

The Dead Weather = Zzzzzzzzzzzz. Is there any musical equation with a Jack White variable that isn’t a snoozefest?

The Best of February / The ‘That was a Damn Wimpy Snowstorm’ Edition

Will — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 03:26:43 +0000

(Heartless Bastards image courtesy of Big Hassle.)

Thoughts I’m thinking, right now, this very minute:

I think a few of these tracks were released in ‘08 but KEXP tells me otherwise. I’m too lazy to verify.
Or, maybe I’m up past my bad time.
I shouldn’t have eaten all that cheese.
Portishead is a very acceptable Trip-Hop band.
Work sucks, but I guess it beats Communism.
Would getting eaten by a dinosaur even hurt? I imagine it would happen very quickly.
I really shouldn’t have eaten all that cheese.
This thinking is prohibiting this exercise.
Fin.

And now, onto the music:

(Click the arrow after each track for Last.fm info)

For your downloading pleasure:

Shows to get Beat Up At

Michael — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:00:00 +0000

An upcoming show to get beat up at: The Brian Jonestown Massacre

An event you missed to get beat/stabbed at: Notorious afterparty

The Best of 2008 / The ‘Will’s 20 Favorite Tracks’ Edition

Will — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 02:07:45 +0000

(Baltimore Inner Harbor image courtesy of Dining@Large.)

It’s four hours before 2009 and I just now put this post together! What’s wrong with me? In short, I had to create a Wordpress plugin to automate the process. Hand typing a twenty-track list is tad tedious. So, I wasn’t putting off the post, per se. I was putting off writing the plugin code.

Anyway, these are the tracks released in 2008 out of which I got the most enjoyment. I hope you enjoy as well:

(Click the arrow after each track for Last.fm info)

For your downloading pleasure:

Purging My Inventory

Will — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:18:48 +0000

Yes, that’s a trashbag full of CDs. Thanks to my iPod Nano and subsequent iPods, I’ve not listened to a single one of those since 2002.

Loading the trashbag was an odd experience. I felt like I was throwing away a favorite childhood toy. Who would appreciate the physical aspects of each album contained within that bundle of CDs now?

Whether perfectly organized or in complete disarray, a CD collection is visually appealing. Ownership of an album on CD or, for that matter, on vinyl, is ownership of a piece of history. As well, owning a physical copy is to be imbued with a sense of security.

I’ve not been able to replicate these aspects of the ownership experience with my digital collection. I am able to delete tracks and albums at will. The album is no longer a part of my music experience. Possessing the best 10% of an album is fine enough.

The laughs and the cringes that are experienced when listening to an album’s lowlights calibrate a listener’s musical radar. You appreciate a band’s sweet spots more profoundly when you know, from experience, that they can disappoint you.

As for the security aspect, drops are more frequent than floods. But, since my music collection is strictly digital now, I have to believe that it’s not the medium. It’s the music.

The Songs We Sing

Michael — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 12:00:00 +0000

Recently, I noticed a commercial with a woman that was using the song, “Hot Child in the City.” I don’t care what Nick Gilder says, but the core of the song is about a hooker.

Now, I’m not railing against people who choose the career path of prostitution, but I am railing the producers of commercials who make song choices without much forethought. I’ve done it before with a Mercury Milan commercial. And I love Morningwood (the band), but why would you pick a song where the main theme is the band (Morningwood) spelling out M-O-R-N-I-N-G-W-O-O-D repeatedly.

Who knows, maybe this just keeps proving that we can so easily be lost on the groove, we forget where the lyrics are going.

The Best of September / The ‘Mr. Puddles, I Have Snausages’ Edition

Will — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:01:44 +0000

(Kings Of Leon image by Cara Bloch)

MY TOP FIVE FAVORITE MOMENTS WITH MY FRIEND MICHAEL

6. That time when we inexplicably began singing Gary Numan’s “Cars” at the same time.

5. That time when I said “Hop in!” and he did and I pushed the shopping cart across a parking lot and into a curb.

4. That time when entered some sort of animal-role-playing-sex-chatroom on AOL and made fun of everyone.

3. That time when our friend Ben kept asking Michael to ask one of his sisters to give him a back rub.

1. That time when I wrecked Ben while we played a racing game and he proceeded to get revenge by wrecking Michael who was easily in first place.

1. All those hours we logged playing inane racing, shooting, and basketball games.

Now, onto the music:

(Click the arrow after each track for Last.fm info)

For your downloading pleasure: