Busted Knees

So this music blog hasn't had much music on it recently. This post will change all of that. Summertime always puts me in the mood for a lot of pop-punk and punk music. Something about the fast-paced guitar riffs, catchy hooks and rhythms, and "don't care" lyrics are perfect for a hot day. They remind me of when that music was all I listened to and how it defined my summers. Bands like Blink-182, Green Day, New Found Glory, and Sum 41 were at the top of the charts. Skateboarding was all the rage. And we could waste our days waiting for the ice cream truck. So crank up these distorted tunes and have some fun :)

Songs for Busted Knees, Bugs, and the Bright Summer Sun
^^^LINK^^^

1.) I Believe - Agent 51
2.) Movies - Alien Ant Farm
3.) Trouble Breathing - Alkaline Trio
4.) I'll Get There - All
5.) Flavor of the Week - American Hi-Fi
6.) Awesome Forces - The Aquabats
7.) San Dimas High School Football Rules - The Ataris
8.) She Won't Ever Figure It Out - Big D and the Kids Table
9.) Don't Leave Me - Blink-182
10.) The Rock Show - Blink-182
11.) Kate is Great - Bouncing Souls
12.) I Got Punched In The Nose For Sticking My Face In Other People's Business - Boys Night Out
13.) Can't Wait One Minute More - CIV
14.) Sunshine Highway - Dropkick Murphys
15.) Festival Song - Good Charlotte
16.) My Girlfriend - Guttermouth
17.) No Worries - Hepcat
18.) Bandages - Hot Hot Heat
19.) Status Pools - Lagwagon
20.) Last Hour of the Last Day of Work - Less Than Jake
21.) Prisoner of Society - The Living End
22.) Bright Lights, Big City - Madcap
23.) You Gotta Go! - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
24.) Capital H - Motion City Soundtrack
25.) Walking On Glass - The Movielife
26.) Tune Me Out - Mu330
27.) Not Enough - Mustard Plug
28.) Punk Rawk Show - Mxpx
29.) My Life Story - Mxpx
30.) Rock & Roll Girl - Mxpx
31.) Sincerely Me - New Found Glory
32.) Hit Or Miss - New Found Glory
33.) Olympia, WA - NOFX
34.) Ocean - The Pietasters
35.) As Wicked - Rancid
36.) Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight - The Rezillos
37.) Don't Hate Me - Rufio
38.) She Wants To Be Alone - The Slackers
39.) Friday Nite - Slick Shoes
40.) Enemy - The Smooths
41.) Lay It Down - Squad Five-O
42.) Right Now - SR-71
43.) Daddy's Little Defect - Sugarcult
44.) Someone - Suicide Machines
45.) Makes No Difference - Sum 41
46.) So Awake - Tuesday
47.) Jaks - U.S. Bombs
48.) My Girlfriend's Dead - The Vandals
49.) Meltdown - War Called Peace
50.) Underdog - Yellowcard

In the garden

In the garden alive and bright
Something wasn't sitting right
Perfection in creation true
I wish to tarnish its wholesome hue

With cunning diction and elegant words
To humanity shown a mirror absurd
"You are unlike the god you serve
I call this ignorance undeserved."

Both took the fruit, from my sly voice
Innocent I am, it was their choice
What false freedom and feigned free will
To woman and man did You instill

I only showed what they ought to see
I only suggested, "Come coil with me"
And from this singular request
I ruined the world in one just jest

I am the snake, I do misguide
The weak, the fake, the indignant pride
My head is crushed, I strike your heel
Such a rush sweetens the deal.

Luke 19:40

We are a well run dry
We are a water tower emptied
We are an ocean evaporated

The living water flows ferociously.
The living water is alive.
The beads crawl to us, knowing our thirst.

What does it mean?

If I shut my mouth,
a shout of stones
a party of pebbles
a clamor of quartz
a bellow of boulders
a roar of rocks

What does it mean?

If we don't know what tomorrow brings
we still know that it is good.

When I'm with You
I feel so grown and like such a child
Radically adult and infinitely immature

When I'm with You
I run with you but I am standing still
Constant motion and peaceful repose

When I'm with You
We talk incessantly yet no one speaks
Constant dialogue and abundant silence

When I'm with You
I don't need anything because I have everything
Purposefully poor and excessively rich

When I'm with You
I am so ashamed and so uplifted
Inherently guilty and forever forgiven

Understanding, knowing
Doing, being
Living, hoping
Wanting, breathing

Allowing myself to get carried away

These warm, sunny spring days get me thinking a lot. Everything about the human experience in spring is terribly nostalgic for me. I cannot pinpoint why. Many intense memories are from the spring, and they replay in lush colors. Old friends long gone, neighborhood games growing up, goofing around with my sisters when we were little, many hours spent laying in my high school parking lot waiting for graduation, practicing and playing shows with the band, catching a nap on the mall, seeing a special someone smile at me, mix cds, warm nights under a blanket of stars.

Life is a very, very strange thing. We are always seeking meaning or reason, when everything about people, decisions, what happens to you, what doesn't happen, things both in and out of your control, appear so haphazard and chock full of entropy and dissolution. Sometimes a Pollack smattering of absurd colors, blending in each other, connected but randomized. Sometimes a da Vinci, founded on order, math, science, and beauty, not cold but not entirely warm. Sometimes a Seurat mosaic, small dots each playing a part in a grand scheme masterpiece. Being a dot is humbling but important, I suppose. I'm ok being a small, unassuming dot.

There's something awfully concrete about words, what they mean, how they are strung together to convey concepts, notions, opinions, and attitudes. Sometimes, I feel like writing a song and organizing it into a cohesive, structured piece is limiting. I think the idea without structure has more liberty to blossom and grow.
But then again, where would we be without people committed to fleshing out their thoughts to release into the world? There would be no artwork to dazzle our minds, no literature to confound and teach us, no government founded on upright principles and justice. We would all be walking around with a lot of thoughts rushing through our heads but no one saying a word.
Still though, an idea that isn't confined by specific statements about itself can transform and change, be a quiet whisper while falling off to sleep, or a bold trumpet beginning a revolution. But, one thing is for certain: ideas are never one thing. Hard to grasp and harder to put into practice. Impossible to put into words.

A triumph

Blow your trumpet
let it resound through Jerusalem's streets
A triumph,
a sorrowful, God-forsaken triumph.
Blow your trumpet
overpower the hammer to nail
bringing pain, showing grace.
And you never know who will turn their backs, their faces
who will run away:
disgusted
scared
of the dichotomy of watching such a beautiful, horrific sight.
But nevertheless,
Blow your trumpet,
your small meager trumpet.
It is no less a triumph.

____________________________________

The real deal blog post coming soon. Fun stuff on the way.
Patience.

2008 Best Albums: The Final Five!

And here is the long-awaited final 5 albums of the year!!! 2008 was pretty solid for music. The Format broke up. A Billion Ernies got back together. We had some album flops and some crappy "comebacks." But, we also had some of the strongest releases I've heard in awhile, and I personally went to some very memorable concerts. Well, without further ado, drummmmmmmroooooollllllllll... #5-1!

5.) “Dark Shades of Blue” by Xavier Rudd

Aussie Xavier Rudd released this gem to the world in August and has literally been touring the globe since. As the album title would suggest, “Dark Shades of Blue” comes off a bit edgier and, well, darker than his previous recording endeavors. The opening track “Black Water” is a lyric-free onslaught of squealing guitars and powerful drums and leads right into the title track. While many of the jams are heavy in instrumentation, Rudd does not abandon his beautiful slide guitar work and harmonies, heard on “Shiver,” a seven-and-a-half minute opus, and the Dave Matthews-esque “Hope That You’ll Stay.”

4.) “The Eventually Home” by Right Away, Great Captain!

In my opinion, this album solidifies Andy Hull as one of the preeminent songwriters of this generation. All naysayers should be stricken. If you’ve been following his career as I have, you know of his strong releases with Manchester Orchestra, the most recent being the “Let My Pride Be What’s Left Behind” EP. But this release, under his solo RAGC! moniker, is on the list because of what it isn’t. It isn’t Manchester Orchestra. It isn’t polished and overproduced. It isn’t loud, rocking, or even all that catchy. But good God, can this guy write music that grips you with story, metaphor, and meaning. Armed with little more than a guitar, beautiful self-harmony, and raw emotion poised on his sleeve, Hull chronicles the tale of a sailor on his way home to punish his cheating wife. This is not one to miss.

3.) “Gossip In The Grain" by Ray LaMontagne

LaMontagne shone on his breakthrough “Trouble,” but lost a little of himself on his follow-up “Till the Sun Turns Black” But, LaMontagne shut the critics up and proved why he is one of the best contemporary songwriters out there. From the opening horns of “You Are The Best Thing” to the closing smoky whisper of “Gossip In The Grain,” this release is a knockout of emotion. The piano and guitar work alike are mesmerizing, as they wrap you into each word LaMontagne croons. Also, who else can get away with writing an unambiguous love song for the drummer of The White Stripes? (Go listen to “Meg White” and wish it was written for you.)

2.) “Anorexia Nervosa” by Showbread

Showbread released quite the labor of love this year with two albums dropping on the same day. They are concept albums, written and orchestrated around intertwined storylines about two sisters, Anorexia and Nervosa, and their quest for self-fulfillment.

The accompanying linear notes are meticulous, detailing the siste

rs’ tales by giving time markers to read a paragraph at a specific point in each song. In true Showbread fashion, both albums are remarkably heavy and grotesque, both lyrically and musically. And this is where the project truly shines. Every word and note of every song is purposeful and important, whether haunting and disturbing or elegant and worshipful. They prove that even amongst the harshest and noisiest of chaos, God can be found and praised.

1.) “Canopy Glow” by Anathallo

And the winner for best album of the year is Anathallo’s “Canopy Glow.” I’ll admit I was pretty excited for this record to come out, but also hesitant that it wouldn’t be able to compare to their previous EPs and other full-length “Floating World.” I knew they had it in them, especially after seeing their passionate artistry live a few years ago. But, I was unsure whether or not Anathallo would deliver. As soon as I got “Canopy Glow” in the mail one fine November day, I knew all my fears were quelled. The grace and sophistication of this record outweighs anything else I have had the pleasure of listening to this year. This band utilizes everything from basic guitar, bass, and drums to piano, organ, hand bells, trombone, flugelhorn, shakers, strings, glockenspiel, and many more. They are used in precision, not overbearingly, and then, when the lyrics are overlaid, they are delicate and harmonizing, as an instrument, one with the rest of the band. Anathallo creates a lush and sunny appeal with musical depth and intensity, while being able to conjure up images of death and passing from this world to the next. Every song is its own highlight. Support this band. They will be touring nationally this spring and summer!

DOWNLOAD ONE SONG FROM EACH ALBUM

Runner-Ups: AKA the Almost-But-Not-Quites-But-Still-Worth-Mentioning

Ben Sollee “Learning to Bend”

William Fitzsimmons “The Sparrow and the Crow”

Mates of States “Rearrange Us”

Owl City “Maybe I’m Dreaming”

Sigur Ros “Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust" aka "Butt CD"

Punch Brothers “Punch”

Well, that's all folks! The bar is set high. I look forward to a strong 2009!!!