Playlist.com

For a while I tried to get into Last.FM, but I never really stuck with it. I use Hype Machine for some songs, but the main way I stream music that I don't own is off of Playlist.com. The site might be covered in ads, but it works really well and the playlist creation and management tools are pretty good. Hype Machine has the better interface, but it's better used for finding new music or listening to a single artist's new stuff.

I've used Playlist.com for a couple years now, off and on, and I just started putting together playlists again. You can find my profile here, and listen to a few of them. The "New Wave" and "Party Time" lists are my favorites - also the newest, so that makes sense.

The Three Songs I Just Bought...

...are all pretty awesome, but I'm not exactly the first one to say it. Still, it was a good use of the four dollars of credit I didn't know I had on iTunes.

Rill Rill - Sleighbells
We Own the Sky - M83
Statue of Liberty - XTC

The first two are electronic-ish, the first being upbeat and the second a lot slower, and the third is good old-fashioned indie rock.

Since I haven't gotten any other new music lately, so this is all I've got. More whenever I can!

New (and old) Blitzen Trapper

"The Man Who Would Speak True" and "Black River Killer" are the same story, told from different perspectives. At least, that's what I'm going to try and prove by writing them into a single song. Either way, you should listen to them both, because they are awesome.

That is all.

United State of Electronica

U.S.E. has been around for quite a while, and I've seen them in concert a few times - mostly by accident - but I'm still on a plodding path when it comes to actually getting their music. It's not that I don't like them or that it takes a while to get into them, because neither of those things are true. They're really upbeat, all of their songs and remixes that I've heard are great, and I would love to grab an album or two. However, I can say that about so many bands right now that it loses its meaning, so all I can do is add them to some playlists on Hype Machine and Playlist.com, and write about them here. Emerald City and It's On are the best songs I've heard from them, but that's no indication, so go listen to them yourself!

Best song around right now (part 2)

King of Spain! I've written about this song a little bit before, or at least mentioned it as a good summer song, but right now it really is my favorite. It isn't on my iPod (there's a long post that could be spend describing my incredibly janky iPod, but since it isn't something I actually like, it isn't terribly suited for this blog), so I can't listen to it as much as Come on Mona. All the same, I just picked up the new Tallest Man on Earth album that has this on it, and it's fantastic.

King of Spain, like most of the songs I love, tells a story. It talks about how the singer dreams about being the titular King, and asks the lady who he is singing to - since she can "redefine him" as her lover - to make him as such. He both describes his hypothetically ideal life as the monarch in question and questions her relationship with him.

The song is centered around the singer and his guitar, and the two blend seamlessly. It's really fantastic, a fast and upbeat song that lends itself to a range of interpretations. Go listen to it.

The Mixtape

The Mixtape is a podcast on MyNorthwest.com, hosted by one Sean DeTore of TBTL infamy. I'm going into the KIRO Seattle studios tomorrow with a friend of mine to record an episode, and we're each bringing in some music songs in the theme of "Roadtrip". Now, I'm not usually one for themed music, but I figure I did pretty well. I'll post the playlists later (from both of us), but I just wanted to put the word out.

Why do I think "The Way" is the best song ever?

It is a good question. Completely without reservation or regret, I have stuck by this opinion for the last few years, since I pulled the song off on "Now: That's What I Call Music Volume 1". Before that I hadn't heard it since sometime in the late nineties.

My best guess is that it more or less have everything I want in a song:

• The lyrics are catchy
• The lyrics tell a story
• It has a piano (with a very similar riff to "Come on Mona"! Actually, almost exactly the same... Hm.)
• It's got one of the best intros I've heard (a radio switching around)
• No one under 25 has heard of it
• Pretty much everyone has heard it
• It's from a one-hit wonder, so no one will cite a better song
  

Not terribly exhaustive, but that's okay. It's the best song ever.