Surprise Me 44

This is Tunng.

Pronounced like tongue. It took me a bit to figure that out.

Anyways, this song, Surprise 44, is the last track from their debut, Mother's Daughter and Other Songs. This is a GREAT band and a FANTASTIC record.  Probably my favorite record of theirs and also maybe creeping up on the list of all time. That's not saying their later records aren't worth it. Quite the opposite! But for some reason I could listen to this record for day on end and never tire of it. I've heard their music described as folktronica, but that just sounds so...bleh. This is so much more than that to me. Please, please, please check this one out!

10_Suprise_Me_44.m4a Listen on Posterous

Song of the Week-Rocket Flare

Comet is a local band from back in the day.  A great band.  I picked up the 45 for this song when it came out and hunted down Chandelier Musings, that this song is on also.  When I tried to catch them live, they always seemed to have to cancel.  Comet took a break around 1997 or 98, I think?  I figured they were gone for good when an excellent EP came out called Feathers from the WIng in 2005.   Naturally, I was super excited for shows and a new record, but nothing materialized.  Everything I can find on them suggests to me that they're not in any hurry, that their lives and familes are the'r main priority.  And they make great spacey, dreamy, beautiful pop songs that never get old to me.  If you like this song, I suggest trying to track down their stuff it doesn't disappoint.

 

Enjoy!  

  
Download now or listen on posterous

01_rocket_flare.m4a (3814 KB)

Saturday Stuff-Oak Cliff

Still not a good title, but it's been a busy week this month.  I still have grand plans to update more often.  The annoying ice and then the subsequent mad rushes to get everything that was shut down by the weather done has crimped those plans.  But no more whining by me.  I'm gonna get whip this thing into shape.

I'm going to be sifting through stuff that I'd saved to my Instapaper app for a while.  This way I actually get through it and anything interesting I can share!  (On a side note, I picked Instapaper up with a giftcard not too long ago, but I've been using the free version before that and it's one of those indispensible apps for me.)  This is an article singing the deserved praises about the wonderful things to find in Oak Cliff.  The Bishop Arts district has really taken off and will soon be, if not already, one of those secrets that won't stay that way too much longer.  There are tons of adventures to be had out there.  I won't comment too much farther so as not too steal thunder from the piece, but we've only just begun to explore out there and I can't wait to go back.

Here ya go...clicky!

The FLaming Lips!!!

My wife was wonderful enough to get me a ticket to a Flaming Lips concert for an early Valentine's Day gift.  I absolutely LOVE this band and their live show.

What I Saw

Santa using the ATM:

Wayne Coyne in a bubble:

Confetti and disco balls:

Wayne Coyne:

Riding a bear and singing:

DJ Lance Rock dancers:

Dancers with a giant worm:

Wayne with giant hands:

Laser hands and disco balls:

Giant hands:

What I Heard

A great set with a mix of tunes from The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and the amazing Embryonic.

They were loud and full of energy. They packed the full, crazy spectacle of their live show into the Palladium. I have only seen them once before and it was just was irreverent.  Balloons are constantly tossed out, the audience is engaged, they are tight musicians: a celebration of life that is worth every penny.  I highly recommend, if you're into the psychedelic rock the Flaming Lips perform, that you do not miss the chance to see them live.

And they managed to drive away the winter weather, at least for a bit.  Throughout the evening, Mr. Coyne repeated his hope that we would all be snowed in for the night, all of us trapped at the show.  Although this held great appeal, it stressed me out as I had been battling my fear of driving in our recent rash of ice.  By showtime, however, the streets in downtown Dallas were mostly clear.  We had a forecast calling for a light dusting of snow after midnight, but it wasn't supposed to amount to much.

By now we all know they were wrong.  Near the end of the set, after my wife texted me that snow had begun, Wayne noted that it was snowing like crazy and his wish was going to happen.  But the show ended soon after, and although we weren't snowed in, there was more than a light dusting on the ground.  More like two inches of snow and it was falling heavily.

It was the longest and most frightening drive of my life.  Snow was covering the streets, I was driving around 15 mph and sliding around.  I missed my exit on the freeway and had to circle through downtown just to get on the right path again. Every time I tried to follow someone and stay in their treads, they left me in the snow. People were passing me like it was no big deal, but I know that they were really lunatics.  Ice froze to the windshield wipers and I had to hunch down in the drivers seat just to see what passed for the street.  My stomach was in knots, but I was praying all the way, blasting KLTY, whatever I could do to keep from panicking.  It took me an hour and a half to travel about twenty miles, but it was definitely an adventure!

Article Saturday?

Not a catchy title. I need to work on that, but in my continuing effort to update this baby, I thought maybe doing an article or news piece that I found interesting on a weekly basis would be cool. This article is about 8 months old. I've had it saved in the hope of reading it and I finally got around to it!

Anyway, in light of all the budget cuts our cities/states/nation may be facing regarding education, it feels timely. Or I'm just way off in my own world.

At any rate, I wanna get back to my wife, so here's The Creativity Crisis.

Song of the Week

Ok, so there's no real reason for me wanting to post thing song other than I really like it and it comes off a great record.  This is "there are seagulls who live in parking lots" by Skeletons and the Girl-Faced Boys.  The record is called "Git" on the Ghostly International label and it is fantastic.  I picked this one up years ago based soley on the description I read in an email newsletter and I wasn't disappointed.  This record is weird, poppy, exciting, surprising...and this song is more of a mellower cut from the record.

Thind band has changed it's name to Skeletons and the Kings of All the Cities, then just Skeletons, and now it's Skeleton$?  THose name changes really make it hard to track down new stuff from them and  I haven't heard too much from them in a while.  Searching for them while I write this down, I hope I've stumbled across new music of theirs that has escaped my radar.  Even if not, I've at least tracked 'em down!

Enjoy!    

  
Download now or listen on posterous

06_-_There_Are_Seagulls_Who_Live_In_Parking_Lots.mp3 (9541 KB)

Song of the Week

Ok, so there's no real reason for me wanting to post thing song other than I really like it and it comes off a great record.  This is "there are seagulls who live in parking lots" by Skeletons and the Girl-Faced Boys.  The record is called "Git" on the Ghostly International label and it is fantastic.  I picked this one up years ago based soley on the description I read in an email newsletter and I wasn't disappointed.  This record is weird, poppy, exciting, surprising...and this song is more of a mellower cut from the record.

Thind band has changed it's name to Skeletons and the Kings of All the Cities, then just Skeletons, and now it's Skeleton$?  THose name changes really make it hard to track down new stuff from them and  I haven't heard too much from them in a while.  Searching for them while I write this down, I hope I've stumbled across new music of theirs that has escaped my radar.  Even if not, I've at least tracked 'em down!

Enjoy!    

  
Download now or listen on posterous

06_-_There_Are_Seagulls_Who_Live_In_Parking_Lots.mp3 (9541 KB)