I Celebrate His Entire Collection

37. "Office Space" Soundtrack

I discovered the Geto Boys thanks to this movie/soundtrack. I was on a road trip the other day and was nearly falling asleep at the wheel, and decided I needed some rap to wake me up. Luckily I had this soundtrack. No way can you sleep through Ice Cube and Geto Boys. I always laugh out loud thinking of this scene when I hear "Still." (Also, a funny parody from Family Guy at the end - how did I miss that episode? Why do Stewie and Brian hate that 45?)

38. Viva Voce - "Rose City"/"The Future Will Destroy You"

Have we already talked about Viva Voce? How I went to see them in 2010 at the Wonder Ballroom when I was visiting a friend in Portland, and how Anita freakin' rocked my face off on lead guitar? I mean, really. I worship at the feet of any chick who has mastered lead guitar. It remains a mystery to me. Anyway, they rock. I kept this disc, which is one I burned so I could have both of their last two albums together, in my CD player for a while.


P.S. Did I mention, my friend and I ended up in the FRONT ROW for David Sedaris? Check that off my nerdy bucket list!! He was SO cute and funny. I want to keep him in my pocket all the time, to make me chuckle when I'm having a bad day. Can't wait for his next book. This is how sweet he is - he promoted someone else's book during his talk! I can't remember the name of it right now, but I'm going to get it just because he said to!

Uh, sorry...

While I was most definitely distraught over MCA's death back in May, I promise it didn't send me into seclusion and thus rendering me incapable of updating this blog. I've just been busy.

Also, around that time and for a good chunk of the summer, we had a really awesome radio station in town. I actually didn't have to listen to my CDs because this station was so great. But it turned back into Jack FM and so here we are, 5 months later, and I'm getting back into the swing of things.

I may have missed a few CDs in the meantime, so I'm just going to start with the last two that I have been listening to lately:

35. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 

I can't believe this album is ten years old this year. But it is! And lucky me, I got to see them in 2002 and 2012. In 2002, it was Memphis in May and this album had just come out. My friend Leigh and her then-boyfriend came up to go to the show, and honestly I didn't know a lot about Wilco at that point in time. I think I had a copy of "Being There," but I didn't listen to it a whole lot. After this show I picked up YHF and it really blew me away. I kept it on rotation for a long time, and even now when I go back to it I tend to obsessively replay it over and over for a while before moving on to something else. This year, Jackson was lucky enough to have Wilco come play at Thalia Mara Hall, thanks to my friend Arden Barnett, of Ardenland. I got to know Arden when we worked together on the Crossroads Film Festival back in April of this year. He's been bringing some really great shows to Jacktown, from the Flaming Lips' world record 24-hour tour, to Kevin Costner's Western band, to Henry Rollins (he's performing tonight, as a matter of fact!). I am thrilled that Arden believes in Jackson enough to help bring this caliber of show to town, and I'm always excited to see who's coming next.

 Errbody and their mama came to the Wilco show. It was so great to be out at a kick-ass rock show with all your friends.

I don't know if Arden had anything to do with it, but Jackson has gotten a few other great shows this year that I've been lucky enough to attend. My sister and I got to see WAR a few months ago at the Tamale Fest, and then last month we were treated to Sir Elton John at the Coliseum of all places. He put on an incredible show, playing all the songs I wanted to hear except "Madman Across the Water," but at least he wore a jacket with that album's lettering in glitter on the back. He was so gracious and nice (not the diva that I expected at all), he thanked us for buying a ticket because he said he knew how tough the economy is and how expensive the tickets were (we were in nosebleed BEHIND the stage - but still a great view). He also came out before the encore and signed autographs for everyone in the front row. I've never seen anyone do that, especially someone like Sir Elton. It was a fantastic show.

Then last week some friends and I got to see Loretta Lynn at the Fair, for free! We didn't have a very good view, but we could hear ok and got to see her sparkly pink dress. There were debates over how old she is (Wikipedia says she's 80, other sites say 78 or even 75, so who knows?) - she's still got it though. Chubby Checker, who was scheduled to play the Fair the next day, even came out and did a couple of duets with Loretta, including my favorite, "Louisiana Woman/Mississippi Man." Conway was smiling down on her for sure.

It's not music, but I get to see David Sedaris again in a week or so. This will be the 2nd time in about a year that he's been to Jackson. I got to meet him last year when he came to Lemuria and literally signed every book and talked to every person in line. This time he'll be at Thalia Mara and most likely won't be able to sign everyone's book, but that's ok. I am already set to die happy because of last year's encounter. :-) Chuck Palahniuk came here last year too for a really fun event at Hal and Mal's - I would love to see even more events like this in Jackson, maybe combining books, music and art... we are a town that is hungry for cultural experiences.


36. Beastie Boys' Sample Sources

Some months ago, I think thanks to my friend Walter at Quiet Bubble, I stumbled upon the motherlode. Sample sources for every B-Boys album. Yes, even Paul's Boutique. Even though I recognize a lot of sample sources in the Boys' work, there is so much more that I never realized had been lifted from something else. Listening to these songs and then listening to the finished product on a Beastie Boys' album, you come to really appreciate how much work goes into creating something new out of a bunch of old songs. Some samples are obvious - "Root Down," for example, is not a lot different from the B-Boys version. Some drumbeats are instantly recognizable. But in other instances, only a small snippet of the song is used. It's amazing to me how they (and the Dust Brothers, and Mixmaster Mike, DJ Hurricane and probably Biz Markie) even thought to use some of these samples in the first place. Another thing I noticed is that the B-Boys like a phat beat. A lot of the drum samples they use are really rocking beats; something I haven't always appreciated in their music. Anyway, if you're a B-Boy fan, and even if you aren't, it's worth checking out this collection of tunes. If nothing else, there are a lot of cool '70s grooves to be had.

RIP MCA

April Tunes

31. Bishop Allen - Charm School

I talked about Bishop Allen earlier - Charm School is their debut album. It is still fun to listen to after all these years. Some of the songs have been used in TV and movies, and it's easy to see why. BA's music fits the early 21st century trend of putting quirky hipster pop songs in the background of nearly every commercial. My favorites from this album are "Things Are What You Make of Them," "Busted Heart," and of course the cute title track.

32. Dark Side of the Moon - Flaming Lips/Stardeath & the White Dwarfs with Henry F-ing Rollins & Peaches

This was really exciting when it came out a few years ago. It was around Christmastime, and one of my cousins (who also has really great taste in music) hipped me to it. I love the FLips, I just had not heard about this. It is NOT Pink Floyd. I never expected it to be. But what it is is a really cool tribute. And thanks to Henry's ability to enunciate, I understand a few more words in the spoken parts of the album.

I heard a dirty rumor recently that the FLips are going to play a show in Jackson soon as part of a record-setting day of touring to see how many shows they can play in 24 hours. I sincerely hope it's true. I don't care if they play on the rooftop of the King Edward at 5 in the morning, I will be there. (Actually that would be really freaking cool.)

33. "Carnie Love Mix"

I used to belong to a pretty cool mix-tape club here in Jxn. We would meet once a month and exchange mix CDs, usually adhering to some kind of theme. I wish the club was still going, but I know the reason we ultimately fizzled is because we were all so busy. It was fun making and receiving mixes. I always discovered something new. This mix was "Carnie" themed because it was October and the Fair was in town. I always felt like we got bonus points if the mix you received had at least one of the same songs that you put on your own mix. This one starts out with "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite," and I had included the same song on mine, but it was Eddie Izzard's version from the otherwise crappy movie, "Across the Universe." The person who made this mix loves The Bird and the Bee probably a little more than I do (and I love them a lot). She put "Diamond Dave" on this disc and it makes me laugh because she equates David Lee Roth with a Carnie. Not far off, actually. Another gem is Donovan's creepy "Hurdy Gurdy Man." I love Donovan; he is such a weirdo.

34. Phish - Billy Breathes

This is my favorite Phish album. I know that a lot of die-hard Phish Phans (or whatever they call themselves - I guess that makes me not one) think that BB was the "sellout" album, that it was too commercial radio-friendly or whatever. Even in my most jam-band-loving state back in my college days, I could only stand so much noodling. So the compact nature of the songs on BB were pleasing, while at the same time highlighting the incredible musical talent of the band. I could listen to this album over and over and really not get tired of it.

March

I'm going to combine food and music in this post. First, the music:

24. Oxford American Music Sampler - 1999

I told y'all there would be several of these. This one is probably my favorite. It was the one that really hooked me on the OA and the music issue itself. Here are some of the artists that make it so great: Alex Chilton, Bob Dylan's "Oxford Town," The Flying Burrito Brothers covering "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man," Jelly Roll Morton and John Prine...

Probably the most amazing part of the album is this sequence: A lovely, lazy Southern song by Terri Binion called "Locomotive"> Nina Simone's "I Want a Little Sugar in my Bowl"> Isaac Hayes' "Do Your Own Thing"> June Carter Cash singing "The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore." The first time I heard those songs back-to-back, I was blown away and impressed by the variety of genres represented in the OA - which of course was indicative of just how many different types of great music come from right here in the South. It made me proud.

25. Oxford American Music Sampler - 2001

Another great OA offering. This one begins with "Jesus is on the Mainline" by Mississippi Fred McDowell, a footstomping testimony of a song. Other highlights include "You Are Loved" by Victoria Williams, "The Lonesome River," a duet by Ralph Stanley and Bob Dylan, The Gants' "Little Boy Sad," Dolly Parton's upgrade to the Eagles' "Seven Bridges Road," and Emmylou Harris' stunning "Orphan Girl." The great thing about the albums is that the magazine features stories behind or about each of the songs. I have tried to save all my OA music issues because the stories are so good and it's a great education about our Southern music history.

26. The Hold Steady - Heaven is Whenever
I gave the Hold Steady a try not long ago, along with some other "new" groups, because I felt like my taste in music was kind of growing stale. I wasn't listening to any new music at the time, and I didn't want to become one of those people who say things like, "They just don't make music like they used to anymore." Granted, there's a LOT of crappy music out there these days, but this album and a few others like it let me know that it's not all that way. I wasn't totally blown out of the water by this album, but I do really like the songs and the fact that it isn't overproduced, auto-tuned-to-death music. It's just real rock.

27. Beck - Guero
I love Beck. He's probably near the top of my list of top 5 solo performers pretty much ever. I was excited when this album came out in 2006 because Beck went back to his roots for this one, both musically and in the subject matter (many of the songs are a nod to his days growing up in southern California amongst the Latinos there - "Guero" is a slang term for a white guy.) I don't think I've bought a Beck album since this one, so I probably have some catching up to do, actually. (Now you're saying, "What kind of fan are you?" But I rarely buy albums anymore at all. I need to fix this problem.)

28. Parliament Funkadelic - Greatest Hits, disc 1
Uncut Funk, the Bomb! I love P-Funk. I put this on this past week in preparation for the St. Paddy's festivities. Nothing gets you relaxed and in the mood to party like P-Funk. I wish they'd come back to Jackson. I saw them at Jubilee JAM years ago and even though George and the others are getting a little long in the tooth, they still put on an awesome show. Who else puts 30+people onstage at one time? I can't even imagine what their tour bus situation must be like.



29. Depeche Mode - Greatest Hits, disc 2

This is not my favorite of the 2-disc set. But it does have a good live version of "Everything Counts," so that is a redeeming quality. The rest of the songs are newer, I guess, and just don't have the same "oomph" of the earlier DM stuff.





30. The Clash - The Story of the Clash

There's too much I can say about the Clash. We'd be here all night. This album is kinda cool because it has some excerpts of interviews with the band, but I can't understand half of what they're saying.





Food:

We've had a busy couple of weeks, so our gastronomic trip around the world has slowed down a bit. We did draw Rome last weekend, so the BF whipped up Spaghetti all'Amatriciana for a Sunday lunch. Here's a recipe . He didn't follow this exactly (he uses Mario Batali's tomato sauce recipe), and he used regular bacon instead of pancetta, but it was still very delicious!

I drew Brazil for this coming weekend, so I'm looking forward to some meat dishes and general yumminess all around.

It's Oh So Quiet

So this week, we drew Iceland!

What is Icelandic cuisine like, you might say? Well, we didn't really know, either. Thanks to
this site and inspiration from Miss Bjork, we found some recipes to try. I was rather alarmed to find out that Icelanders eat both horse meat and PUFFINS! Cute, cuddly puffins. I'm going to pretend that it's because they can't get chicken there.


It seems that, so far anyway, many of the countries on our list have fish-centered cuisines. We had hoped to get a nice piece of cod or even haddock to bake, but Kroger, in addition to being one huge Charley Foxtrot right now because of reorganizing, had no good fish to offer. We spent so much time trying to find the ingredients we needed that we quickly settled on having salmon again. I grabbed some red potatoes for an interesting side dish - Caramelized Potatoes , and the BF picked up some pickled beets and pickled herring for Sildersalat. I wasn't convinced about the salad, and the BF wasn't so sure that caramel sauce and potatoes would go together.

This recipe was super easy. Just peel potatoes and boil until tender but not soft enough for mashing. Make caramel sauce with sugar and butter (and I had to add a little water because it got too hot too quickly), then coat the potatoes in the sauce and simmer for a few minutes. We decided to add some carrots too, because carrots and caramel sauce? Come on!

The herring salad was also pretty easy to put together, and interesting to look at. Just slice beets, apple and herring, and toss with mayo and/or sour cream or yogurt. We did 1/4 cup greek yogurt and 1/4 cup mayo, and we also added a little sliced onion and salt and pepper. Chop the pieces pretty small and you've got yourself a pink appetizer! We ate the salad with club crackers, and y'all, it was pretty good! I might make this for Soup Night sometime.

So here is our plate: salmon with a tarragon/mayo sauce, and caramelized potatoes and carrots. We also made some honey oat bread, but it wouldn't be ready until after dinner.

So you're probably wondering how those potatoes turned out? Y'ALL. They were delicious! It was so weird! Somehow that caramel sauce just went right along with the potatoes. The carrots were a nice addition, but I would've eaten this either way. The sauce brings out the sweetness in the potato, but not in a crazy way. And the salmon with tarragon was a nice contrast in flavors.

The coolest thing about this project is that we get to learn about a country and/or culture that we may not have otherwise known much about, and it's a great excuse to try some new foods. I didn't think I'd like pickled beets or pickled herring, but I was wrong. And who knew caramel and potatoes could be so tasty?

We'll be skipping next weekend because I'll be in New Orleans for the Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon , but I am looking forward to pulling the next country out of the jar.

And just because I can only go so long before I post another Sifl and Olly link (at least this one is relevant):

Around the World in 80 Plates

As if the CD Project isn't enough for me, I've decided to use this blog to document another project for 2012 (and probably beyond).

The BF and I don't necessarily see each other every day, but we talk several times a day and we always make time for each other on the weekends. Weekends usually revolve around food for us, either cooking or occasionally going out to eat. (We're still on a tight budget because he is still without job.)

Wednesday or Thursday of each week, we have the same conversation: "What are we going to eat this weekend?" Inevitably, because we can both cook pretty well (thankfully) and have such varied tastes, we often cook from a different style of cuisine every week. The BF had the great idea recently to just pick a different country every week to cook from. Our method of choosing countries? See that jar above with the slips of paper in it? That's it. We sat down and thought of every country/region we could come up with that had viable cuisine and wrote them down. We also referenced the Frugal Gourmet's "Our Immigrant Ancestors" cookbook (an EXCELLENT one to have if you can find it) and the international foods section at Kroger. Before cutting them up, I counted, and I think we have well over 70 countries and styles of cuisine in there. For some regions, such as China, we broke it down into the different types of Chinese cuisine. There are some countries in there that I don't know anything about. It will be an adventure learning how to cook recipes native to that area.

This past weekend, we drew our first pick. I was more than a little thankful that it was something relatively easy: San Francisco/Pacific Northwest. The BF didn't think it was as easy at first so he suggested we draw a backup, but when it was Hawaii we realized we were going to be eating seafood either way. I think we put Hawaii back - I hope so, because I do think that one stands on its own (and we discussed having some kind of Spam-related dish because of its prevalence in Hawaii!).

Here's what we came up with:

Clockwise, from top: wild rice, spicy teriyaki-glazed salmon, quinoa crusted scallops, and mixed green salad with dried apples, pecans and a gorgonzola vinaigrette.

We figured haute cuisine with lots of fresh ingredients was pretty representative of the Pacific NW. The quinoa-crusted scallops I copied from a dish I had at a restaurant called Andina in Portland a few years ago. It was so good I've been trying to re-create it ever since. The last time I tried it, I couldn't get the quinoa to stick. This time I coated the scallops in cornstarch, then egg, then cooked quinoa, and pan-fried them. The coating stuck on a little better and was more crunchy, but still not quite like what I had at Andina. I'm not complaining, though, because the scallops were tasty and huge.

The salmon was divine and I could have eaten a lot more of it, but as you can see that's a lot of food on that plate so I was really full. The salad was also delicious - the dressing was a vinaigrette that tasted something like a mix of honey-mustard and that ginger dressing you get at Japanese restaurants. You'd think blue cheese would have no business getting all up in there, but it was super delicious.

The rice? Well, of course we couldn't do San Fran/Pacific NW without the San Francisco treat!
It was actually pretty tasty, although these box mixes always have too much sodium.

I am excited about this adventure! It nearly solves the "what's for dinner" question for at least the next year of weekends, and gives us one more reason to be excited about the weekend. Can't wait to see what comes out of the jar next time!

Mid-February

This week's selections, while few, are a hilarious sampling of what I was into about 10 years ago. I promise, I was not a pothead. My musical taste was, though.

22. Rusted Root - When I Woke

Here is my Rusted Root story:

"You wanna go with me to Memphis in May and see Rusted Root tonight?" "Heck yeah!" - this is a conversation I had about 12 or 13 years ago. I wish I still had convos like that now, and the fun that usually comes soon after.

I think it was just before summer break in 1999, the end of my first year at Mississippi College (not exactly a party school, but we still found ways to have fun - usually involving getting as far away from campus as possible). I had become pretty good friends with this cool girl named Sally. She was very free-spirited and a lot of fun. She had an extra ticket to Memphis in May*. Seeing as school was out and my birthday was just around the corner, I needed a fun trip to celebrate.

The plan was to drive up, meet up with some friends of hers at the show, and drive back that same night. Memphis is "only" 3 hours away, so it was doable. We got there in the early afternoon and stopped off at the home of a friend of Sally's before heading downtown. After visiting with them for a while, we drove down near Beale and somehow found a place to park. I remember we managed to get something to eat at Blues City cafe, and then made our way down to Tom Lee park. This was my first visit to the festival and it was an awesome people-watching spectacle. LOADS of hippies, baby hipsters and frat boys all around. There were lots of vendors set up selling jewelry, "water pipes," you name it. I guess we eventually found her friends and settled in for some Rusted Root. We probably saw some other acts before they came on, but I don't remember now. I had not been super familiar with RR's music before this show, but it was still fun.

We headed back to Jackson pretty late, probably around 11:00 or midnight. Sally drove a blue Pontiac 6000, which, coincidentally, was exactly the same kind of car I had in high school. It was 1999, so I am not sure I even had a cell phone, and if I did, it wasn't with me. Sally had a bag phone, I think. The Pontiac 6000, while it was a nice car for a young student to drive, was lacking in one particular feature: it had no warning light for the gas gauge.

Sally and I are talking and laughing, listening to Edie Brickell and trying not to fall asleep, and we're getting closer to Clinton. Suddenly, the 6000 starts sputtering, and slowing down. We are now wide awake. She looks down at the dashboard and realizes that we have run out of gas. No big deal, it's only 2:00 in the morning and we're on I-220 near the Medgar Evers exit. Just two 21-year old gals! Totally safe.

We think for a minute about walking to the gas station that's just off the exit ramp on Medgar Evers, but knowing the area and the time of night, we decide against it. She pulls out the bag phone and we try to think about who to call. Remember, this is the end of the school year. School was out, actually. Sally was from the coast, and the only reason she was still in town was because she was an RA, and they had to stay an extra day or two for some reason. I don't know why I was still around. Probably just for this trip. Anyway, the point is, there was nobody left in the dorms to call. Except for our friend Carol, who also happened to be the Resident Director of our dorm. Carol was and is a very sweet person; so sweet in fact that we really hated to call and wake her up like that. But this was a pretty desperate situation, so we called her. About 20 minutes later, she and another friend and her boyfriend come to help us. I'm sure they all thought we had lost our minds, but they were nice enough not to make us feel worse about it. We got some gas, made it back to the dorm, and crashed out for probably 12 hours or so.

Was it worth it? Totally. Would I do that again? Probably not.

Rusted Root put on a good show if I remember correctly, but I never became a superfan. Maybe if I had been a pothead? Their music is just a little too earthy/bongo-y for me now. But I always smile when I think about that trip.

*Later, when I lived in Memphis, I learned that it is actually called "Beale Street Music Festival," but nobody down here really calls it that. (Memphis in May actually encompasses the entire month of May, because there are different festivals going on every weekend, but I'm showing my snobbery as a former Memphian and digressing. Sorry!)


23. Mix CD from 2001 or Thereabouts

So there will be several of these throughout this project. Like a lot of music nerds, I used to make tons of mixtapes. When tapes finally went out, and I got a CD burner**, it became mix CDs. Most of them I only made for myself to listen to in the car, but of course some of them I made for friends or cute boys. I always made copies of the ones I made for cute boys.

I am pretty sure this is a copy of one I made for a guy I was seeing off and on in Memphis. It was a very silly relationship that I wasted a lot of time on. But of course at the time I just knew we were meant to be, and this mixtape was going to propel us forward into the throes of mutual "like."

The disc begins with Phish's "Theme from the Bottom," a deliciously pathetic tune. I don't think I could've been more obvious. There's some obscure Dave Matthews, some Ben Harper, Ani DiFranco, Jeff Buckley, and even (cringe) some Jack Johnson. In my defense, he was just becoming popular at the time. I had no idea all his songs would wind up sounding exactly the same.

I don't know what I was thinking giving this guy a CD like this. Overall it has a very dark and dreary feel. I guess I wanted him to think I was deep? But really, I think I just looked extremely desperate/borderline psycho. Jeff Buckley singing "I know we could be so happy baby/if we wanted to be"? Poor Jeff, who had just died a few years earlier in Memphis, had to have been rolling in his grave, telling me to stop.

I will say that one line from Ben Harper's "Show Me a Little Shame" still sticks out and sums up the way my relationship was with this guy to a T. "You change your mind so many times/I wonder if you have a mind at all/And I'd rather be by myself/than to have your lonesome company come to call." I do think I put that one on there on purpose.

**I still recall going to Best Buy to purchase a CD burner and installing it myself in my tower hard drive. Still proud that I could do something like that, but WTF, really? I bet I paid nearly $100 for that thing.

When I think about my college/grad school years in the late '90s/early '00s, it often seems like it was really just a year or two ago. But then... bag phones? Pontiacs with no gas warning lights? installing a CD burner into a desktop computer that takes up half your living room? 3-day passes to Memphis in May were $36 in 1999. They are $65 today. Pontiacs don't exist anymore. My work computer doesn't even have a CD drive in it at all. So... ok, I'll concede. It's been a long time! But how fun it is to look back and see how far we have come.

Late January/Early Feb

I guess I'm a little behind so I can't exactly go by weeks anymore. But I have good reasons! I've been really busy with work and "extra-curriculars" - things like my niece's birthday, the Best of Jackson party, training for my next half-marathon, etcetera, etcetera.

Also, if you notice, I've re-numbered the discs. Thinking about just how many CDs I have, I thought it would be better if I numbered sequentially rather than starting over each post. This way, by the end of the project, I'll know exactly how many of these damn things I actually own and have listened to!

I took a trip to Greenwood, MS, for work a week or so ago, and seeing as that is a 2-hour trip one way, I got through several CDs that day. It's nice to have so much to listen to when I'm on the road. When I rent cars, I usually have Ipod capabilities, so I'll plug in my phone and enjoy Pandora or Radio Paradise. Since Greenwood is a relatively short trip, I took my own car and looked at it as a good excuse to burn through some of these albums.

One quick aside before I begin my reviews: recently Jackson lost two of its pop/rock radio stations to a format change. Normally I can live with these changes - many times the formats don't change drastically, or if they do, there's still at least one other station in town that plays similar music. But this format change was a huge blow to the Jackson radio scene. 94.7, most recently known as Jack FM, and 93.9 (or Rock 93.9) were both taken over by satellite radio stations. But it wasn't just any station; friends, it was K-Love. And while I am a Christian and I think Christian music has its place, taking over two more radio stations (we already had 2 other contemporary Christian stations and one gospel station) is a bit much. I won't take the time to delineate all of my feelings about contemporary Christian music here. But I will say that I have a problem with K-Love taking over these stations, especially 94.7. First, 94.7 was pretty family-friendly to begin with. They played mostly 80s and 90s pop, with the occasional current song thrown in, but mostly just songs that people in the 18-44 age group grew up with. Now there are no stations that play this format. Secondly, K-Love is not local. The few staff that were working at the little station on Beasley Road were probably replaced by a computer. This means no more live remotes, no more support for community events and promotion by the radio station - in fact, no community participation at all. Also, K-Love runs solely on donations, so when listeners donate money it goes to Colorado, rather than staying in Mississippi. I have a problem with that.

So, when these stations changed format a few weeks ago, I quickly changed my presets in the car and thanked God for giving me a love for all kinds of music and the ability to acquire hundreds of CDs.

14. Counting Crows - August & Everything After
It was a rainy day when I popped this album in, and that seemed to be a perfect fit. I still really like this CD after all these years. But I got to wondering what happened to this and many other bands/artists that you will find on my list. I recall Counting Crows doing some stuff in the early 2000s, but where are they now? Does Adam Duritz still have those crazy dreads?

According to Wikipedia , the band just released a live version of "August & Everything After," and they are planning to release a covers album this year. And yes, he does still have the hair. And apparently Mike & the Mechanics were an early influence?! Now all that makes me think of is last week's Portlandia.

15. Oxford American 2007 Music Sampler

There will be several of these over time that I will listen to. I began reading the Oxford American and getting the music issue especially shortly after the magazine began in the late '90s, then located actually in Oxford, MS. My cousin Jessi worked there as a fact-checker and would send me the music issues I missed before I got turned on to the mag. Those early discs were real gems. There had been nothing quite like it before. Paste followed a similar route with its CD samplers later, but those were always new artists. The great thing about the OA is that each disc was a schooling on Southern music history, while subtly introducing you to some new Southern acts as well. This particular disc starts out with the classic "If I Were a Carpenter" by Eldridge Holmes and continues on to feature legends such as Thelonious Monk and Van Dyke Parks, but also slyly intermingling current acts like David Banner and Iris Dement (although she really belongs in another century). I popped this disc in just as the Yazoo hills gave way to the flat Delta soil, so it was a perfect soundtrack.

16. Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys

I think this is a "Greatest Hits" album, maybe. I copied it from my boyfriend, a Texan himself. I had never heard of Bob Wills before I met the BF, but I had definitely heard this style of music. Think Hank Williams, only a little more upbeat. Something made me think that Bob had a drinking problem back in his day - maybe the BF had told me about this, so I looked him up and the Wikipedias say that he was a binge drinker, which did affect his ability to perform. But I don't think he was an alcoholic, necessarily. His style of music was early honky-tonk, good-time drinking music in the 1950s. So it's no wonder he liked to have a beer or 12! Bob Wills' music is fun and an important part of country music history for sure.

17. Clinic - Walking With Thee

My early foray into internet radio introduced me to Clinic. "The Equalizer" was the song that got my attention, with its sample of "Iko Iko" providing the beat and the trippy lyrics. The rest of the album is kind of meh... it gets annoying after a while. But if you're in the right mood it can be a pretty interesting soundtrack. Continuing my "Where Are They Now?" theme, it seems that Clinic is still around, and their last full-length album came out in 2010.


18. Grand National - Kicking the National Habit

I wore this album out when it first came out in the US in 2006. It actually came out 2 years earlier in the UK, but we had to wait a while. I used to (and still do) listen to Radio Paradise a lot, and it introduced me to a plethora of indie bands in the '00s. Grand National was on heavy rotation in 2005 or so, and I shook my fist at the skies when I realized that I couldn't get the album in the US yet. Maybe I wore it out too much because I haven't listened to it a lot since then. It was fun to give it another spin. It's basically just a fun dance-rock album that leans a little toward annoying at times. The group got its start as a Police cover band, which makes sense if you pay attention to the duo's vocal stylings. As for what they are doing now, apparently, nothing. I couldn't find much beyond 2008. Oh well!

19. Big Star - #1 Record/Radio City

I could go on all day about Big Star. It's really too much to write here. Needless to say, this one stayed in the CD player for several days. I was lucky enough to get to see what became a tribute concert in Memphis in May of 2010, just a couple of months after Alex Chilton died. Jody Stephens was there, and it was a kick-ass show. I just got a vinyl EP from that very show a few weeks ago, and the BF and I have been wearing it out. I was a little late to the bandwagon with Big Star, only discovering them in the early-mid 2000s, but no matter. Now I never go far...


20. The Walkmen - Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone

The third in this list of discs that fall in the "slightly annoying" category. What's interesting is that I bought the Clinic, Grand National and Walkmen albums in the same year or so. What can I say? I was expanding my horizons. I think The Walkmen are actually a good band. This album has its moments, and yes, I bought it because of "We've Been Had," that catchy song from the Saturn commercial so long ago. But the disc as a whole is just not one that I want to listen to over and over. I hear they did a Nilsson cover album a few years back, and seeing that Nilsson is one of my All Time Top 5 Dead Guys of Rock, I really need to check that out.

21. David Gray - White Ladder

2001. This album takes me straight back to 2001, and grad school, and Memphis, and stupid boys. It had been a really really long time since I had listened to this one, and it was like stepping into a time machine, no joke. I couldn't help but laugh at myself. How I used to crank up the volume on "Say Hello/Wave Goodbye" and CRY and SING at the top of my voice. I didn't even know at the time that it was just a sappy cover of a Soft Cell song. SOFT CELL!

Anyway, I still have a soft spot in my heart for D. Gray. He was a blonde, British Dave Matthews for me. I saw him in Nashville during my time as a Tennessean, and it really was a good show. His cover of Randy Newman's "Baltimore" is still one of my all-time favorites, although not as good as the original. And it's so obvious how much of a Van Morrison fan David Gray is, so naturally I love him for that.

Week 3

Somewhat random mix this past week:

9. Sufjan Stevens - Come on Feel the Illinoise

I'd still like to know when Sufjan is going to get on the next state in his "50 States" series. I don't think it's actually going to happen, but it should. I think he realized he didn't know enough about all 50 states to make this happen. But what a great reason to learn! Come on Sufjan, man up and stick to your promises!

Anyway, this album is really really good, even 7 years later. I forgot what a beautifully creepy song "John Wayne Gacy" is. This album isn't exactly a feel-good experience from beginning to end, but it does have its moments.

10. The Best of Badfinger

Badfinger reminds me of the early days in my relationship with the BF. We both really dig this band and the first several songs were in heavy rotation for a while at our house. Badfinger was formed as somewhat of a Beatles spinoff, but I think that they really did hold their own. At times their sound reminds me of Big Star too, which is always a good thing.


11. Best of Crowded House

I don't think that the album cover to the left is actually the one that goes with this CD, but I have long since lost the cover so I really have no clue what it looks like. At any rate, this is a great album. The Finn brothers write some of the best songs around, and after listening to a few "sad bastard" albums lately, it's nice to have some feel-good music to drive to. I let this one start over a few times before I went on to the next CD.




12. Local Natives - Gorilla Manor

I discovered this band one night when flipping channels. They were the musical guest on Craig Ferguson's show, and I think this album had just come out. I rarely enjoy bands on late-night talk shows anymore, but these guys had my attention. I immediately went to Itunes to download the song that they performed on the show. When I sampled the other songs on the album, I realized that there wasn't a bad song in the bunch, so I downloaded the whole thing. That just doesn't happen much these days. Some might say that the harmonies are too cliche' and easy, but I think they feel right and sound awesome. Sometimes music doesn't have to be complicated.


13. Dave Matthews Band - Crash

Ok, I'll admit it. I was a HUGE Dave-head in college. Up until a few years ago when I got my new car, I still had a Firedancer sticker on my back window. Yeah, I know.

I had not listened to any DMB in a long time. I lost interest in the mid-late 2000s because I felt like the latter albums that the band released were just... meh. Not the same music I fell in love with as a 20-something. Going back to the music now, I have to say that a lot of it doesn't have the staying power that I once thought it would. Maybe I'm stuffier and older now, but some of the lyrics are just bad. "I have no lid upon my head/but if I did/you could look inside and see what's on my mind..." Ugh. Really?

I'll always have a soft spot for Dave in my heart, but now I look at him and the band almost like old college boyfriends. They were cute at the time, but it was never going to last beyond a couple of road trips to music festivals together.

I still really like the first song on the album, "So Much to Say." And I still say that Carter Beauford is in my All Time Top 5 Drummers, along with Stewart Copeland and Keith Moon. I guess I'm just glad we've all grown up and kinda gone our separate ways now.

Week 2

This week I've been listening to some more music that I haven't listened to in a long time. That's what's so great about this project - rediscovering songs and artists that have been on the shelf too long.

5. Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint - The River in Reverse

I think I got this album by mistake, actually. Remember Columbia House and BMG? I still belonged to one of those clubs back in 2006 or so. This album came out after Katrina - a somewhat strange collaboration between one of New Orleans' renowned R&B musicians and, well, Elvis Costello. I think this one was the "selection of the month" and I forgot to respond to the email or whatever. I probably wouldn't have gotten this album otherwise. Nothing against either artist - I just didn't really know anything about it beforehand. I had to give this one a couple of listens, and it's not bad, but it's not amazing, either. The album gets off to a slow start, but toward the end there are some really nice songs. I'm glad I gave this one a listen again. It did at least remind me to put the WWOZ app on my phone so I can listen to New Orleans jazz at work or whenever I want. It puts me in a good mood every time.

6. Peer Music: Your Soul Destination Vol. 2

This is the 2nd part of a 2-CD set that was given to me by a good friend that used to work for Malaco Records. To be honest, the 2nd CD isn't as good as the first. The first album has a lot of really classic soul and R&B hits that were recorded on the Malaco label back in the day. The 2nd CD has mostly modern-day songs that either sample the classics, or are just modern songs that were also recorded at Malaco, or that Malaco had the rights to. It was enjoyable enough.

7. Uncle Tupelo - 89/93 Anthology
I was a Wilco fan before I delved into Uncle Tupelo. I like some of Son Volt's stuff, too, but to be honest Jay Farrar's voice grates on my nerves after a while. I remembered most of Uncle Tupelo's music as being of the "sad bastard" variety, and listening to it this week I think I can still kind of classify it as such. There are a few rockin' tunes, and overall it's pretty good driving music, but I did feel kinda bummed out by the end of it.


8. Keane - Hopes and Fears

I just popped this one in today. This album is several years old now, but it still sounds pretty fresh to me. It's just a good pop album. I never noticed before how much the lead singer sounds like Freddie Mercury. Queen is listed as one of the band's influences, so that makes sense I suppose. Queen should've gotten Tom Chaplin to be their new frontman instead of that guy from Bad Company (although he has a great rock voice; it's just not anything like Freddie's operatic tenor).

The Great CD Project of 2012

I'm about to leave for work so this is a really quick post that I will expand on later. I've decided for 2012 to listen to each and every CD I own before the end of the year. Most of this will take place in my car, because that's really the only CD player I still use often. And I'm always getting bored with the radio in the car.

I will blog about the music, to help me remember why I got the album in the first place, or just to review an artist that we have maybe forgotten about over the years.

This first week of the New Year I started out with the following:

Otis Redding - Greatest Hits
VHS or Beta - Bring on the Comets
Bishop Allen - February
The Shins - Oh Inverted World

Will come back later and write more details about these albums. Yippee for new projects and a new year!

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Ok, very quickly, because now it's past my bedtime, a few notes about this week's music:

1. Otis Redding - Greatest Hits
What's not to love about Otis? He's a classic. There isn't a lovelier, more bittersweet tune than "These Arms of Mine," and "Try a Little Tenderness" is one of my all-time favorite feel-good songs.








2. VHS or Beta - Bring on the Comets
This album reminds me of when I first began writing music articles for the Jackson Free Press . BOTC was one of the first albums I was given to review. I had not heard of the group before, but I was pleasantly surprised. The music still holds up pretty well and is fun for driving.







3. Bishop Allen - February
I can actually say that I got into Bishop Allen before anybody else really knew about them. In the very early 2000s, when I still lived in Memphis, I somehow began corresponding with Christian Rudder, who is one of the founding members of the band. I think it had something to do with his website (now defunct) thespark.com and the fact that he was originally from Arkansas. Anyway, he used to let me know when the group was traveling south, and then they got all fancypants and had their music featured in films like Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and that "Chuck" show on NBC, and that was the end of that. I still really love their music and I don't think they are capable of writing a song that isn't catchy. "February" is an EP from 2006, when they made an EP for each month of the year. I meant to get all of them, but only have January - March, I think.

Also, Bishop Allen got their name from a street in Cambridge. Christian and Justin Rice, the other founding member of the band, met at Harvard and lived on this street. Furthering the coincidence between myself and the band, my cousin who has lived in Boston for the last several years used to live around the corner from Bishop Allen drive. Here's a picture from my visit there for her wedding back in 2007:













4. The Shins - Oh Inverted World
I didn't realize this album came out in 2001. I don't think I got into the Shins until 2004 or 2005, which makes sense because that's about the time when Garden State came out and introduced the masses to The Shins and a whole lot of other "indie" music. I had not given this album a spin in a long time because I got kind of burnt out on that whole scene, but I have left it in the CD player for a couple of days now because it really does hold up remarkably well. Even if it is (gulp) eleven years later.

Looking forward to what this week will bring!