Blink 182

I like Blink 182. 

Most people would laugh at me but they're fun to listen to. Their songs all tell stories and listening to one of their albums is a great way to kill a half hour. They've got catchy songs, the lyrics are pretty interesting and fairly relatable. I would still be willing to bet if you asked me about liking Blink 182 in class, half of the class would laugh. And it's kind of too bad, because people avoid music that they like because of the social stigmas. I give people a hard time for listening to stupid pop rap about busting some hoe up and stuff, but I try not to make fun of guys for liking Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera. 

It bums me out, because even if Blink 182 doesn't have the most musical merit, they were a good gateway into other types of punk music that I absolutely love now. 

ITunes Radio

So for those that don't know, a new operating system for the iPhone was released this week and it had a cool new (probably a rip off of something else) feature called the iTunes Radio. Basically it's like pandora or slacker, without the ads. It has a link to buy the song, but there are a ton of stations with some pretty specific sub genres. I've been listening to the Southern Rock channel since I got it, and it's been pretty great. I've picked up a few new songs like Miss Understanding by Grinderswitch that I like a lot. Basically it's a good way for me to flesh out my collection in a subgenre that I love, but doesn't get a whole lot of time on the real radio nowadays. 

I'm a Lumberjack and I'm Ok!

Monty Python is hilarious. My parents started me off young with The Holy Grail as like an 8 year old and I've seen just about everything since. I've watched a lot of The Flying Circus, I've seen Meaning of Life, and I loved Life of Brian.

Still, my favorite skit from anything I've seen is "Every Sperm is Sacred". It's not only the funniest in my opinion, but I think it ties for best choreographed with "Knights of the Round Table". The fact that they get so many people on the same page is mind boggling to me. Anyways I'm glad that actually came up during some point in my formal education. 

Against the Wind

I'm a pretty big Bob Seger fan. I love his voice, even though you could probably find a voice that's more melodious, I love all of his songs blue collar themes, I love that to watch the "Night Moves" music video on YouTube you have to verify your age, and I love his hair. 

That is a straight up mane of hair. 

He's got some great lyrics, some catchy tunes, and it just evokes emotion. I absolutely love song that evoke emotion in me. There are songs I like the sound of songs, but when a song really makes me feel something strong it's incredible. Although none of Seger's songs make me cry like Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven, or energize me like Tom Petty's American Girl, I can't think of an artist that has so many songs that make have strong feelings. 

My favorite quote from any song ever is from Against the Wind. The line is "I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then", it's nothing that extraordinary, but it really stuck with me because of the clever wording and the way it fits into that part of the song perfectly. 

In the end though, I think it all comes back to the hair. I wish I could pull that look off, but I don't have the hair for it and I'm about 30 years late. 

My changing image of The Beatles

When I was younger I dismissed The Beatles because of how old they were. I figured since they were around when my parents were kids they were probably fairly quiet and conservative. My music taste has not evolved an extraordinary amount over the past 5 years which is unfortunate. I listen to things I didn't 5 years ago, but the core music is still the same. I didn't realize this until the other day, when I realized I had been missing out on the Beatles because of an assumption made by 14 year old me. The Beatles were awesome, I'm glad we're studying them because I've got no clue how long it would've taken me to give them the credit and time they deserve. 

I'm looking forward to continuing our studies of an awesome band that I misunderstood for so long. 

Lunatic Fringe

I didn't have a whole lot of time this week for music between athletics, homework, and sleep. Last Saturday night though I was driving home at about 12:30 and Lunatic Fringe came on. I really love the show Top Gear, and a few years ago they did a special about the best driving songs ever. The top 5 chosen by the public were Radar Love by Golden Earring, Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf, Don't Stop me Now by Queen, Highway Star by Deep Purple, and Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf. I can see all of them being reasonable, except for Meatloaf (bleh), but I think the greatest omission of all is Lunatic Fringe by Red Rider. Nothing makes me want to accelerate faster than that song. I have an abnormal love for the song, which may come from an equally enormous love for Miami Vice and it's soundtracks.

Whatever the reason for my love, Lunatic Fringe has my vote as the greatest driving song ever. 

Bo Diddley and his incredible guitar

In the Documentary "Legends of Early Rock" Bo Diddley made an appearance. I had never heard of Bo Diddley before seeing him rock the stage. Other than the fact that he was incredible player, one thing stood out to me more than anything else.

I played guitar for a while, I never got too seriously into it though. I still really got into learning about types of guitars because it was fascinating to me. I had never ever seen anything like this. I decided to look up the guitar and try to find it. I ended up finding a remake of a different version made by Gretsch. The main thing about this guitar I loved was the fact that it had such an unusual shape. The rectangle shape is so different compared to all the curves that are common on other guitars. I love the straight edges on guitars more than just about any other visual aspect. Previously my favorite guitar was the explorer, but something about this guitar just seems so obnoxious and awesome that I cant help but love it.