Sunday, October 31, 2010

Because Music Makes Halloween...

This post basically mixes two of my favorite things: Halloween and any random reason to create a playlist. These are my top 10 Halloween songs for 2010.

10. DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince – A Nightmare on My Street
The only thing that freaks me out more than Freddy Kreuger is Michael Myers. I can guarantee that the Halloween theme song will never make one of my playlists because it takes me a month to sleep right again after hearing it. Oh yeah, I love this song too because it gives me an excuse to do the Fresh Prince jump.

9. Marilyn Manson – Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
Considering that Marilyn Manson is pretty much walking Halloween, this was an easy choice. Plus, I love a good cover.

8. Warren Zevon – Werewolves of London
A classic pick for any playlist, this song is just great to jam out to while nice and toasty in your costume.

7. Talking Heads – Psycho Killer
I always think that this song is The Doors when it first plays, which in itself stands for it being awesome. What's Halloween without French-singing mass murdering art-school psychopaths?

6. Oingo Boingo – Dead Man’s Party
The 80's knew how to do everything to make me love it, and this song is no exception. This song will definitely start your ghoulies on some Molly Ringwald 1980's Breakfast Club style dancing.

5.  Rockwell – Somebody’s Watching Me
Wow, Berry Gordy's kid sure did know how to pick a backup singer (ahem, Michael Jackson). Dare you to try to get this song out of your head. I'm just an average man with an average life...

4. The Doors – People are Strange
This song is always awesome. It always reminds me of The Lost Boys and of simpler times when the Coreys were fighting vampires and Keifer was still cool.

3. Bobby “Boris” Pickett – Monster Mash
This is the most classic and essential Halloween Song and will always be on my playlist. Bet you can't listen without wanting to Mashed Potato. 

2.   Matthew Sweet – Scooby Doo, Where Are You?
I have always loved Halloween (costumes and free candy!). Every day after school, I rushed home to watch Scooby, which gave me my daily dose of Halloween. I guess that I was just born a dark, freaky child.

1.  Michael Jackson – Thriller
Even before Scooby, I loved Michael Jackson's Thriller. I would play this song over and over and over again even though the Vincent Price voice over at the end scared me. I loved being scared. I guess that some things really never change. 


(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA)

Want to listen to this playlist and even more Halloween classics? Halloween Mix on last.fm

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Songs I Loved in the 90's

I still haven't been listening to anything new lately. Tumultuous times in my life mean that I need some old music with fantastic memories. These are songs from my early high school years when grunge was over and everyone was all about Clueless, baby doll tees, and emotional alternative rock.

Gin Blossoms - Till I Hear It From You

I've always loved listening to the Gin Blossoms, but this song has even more meaning to me because it was the main track from the Empire Records soundtrack. When the movie came out on video (yes, VHS and that's how I know that I'm getting old), I had a group of friends and we would watch it over and over again. Each one of us was like one of the characters in the movie. I was Corey. Apparently, I was destined to try to seduce aged rock stars. It's Rex Manning day!


(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7sx32alzeE)

The Wallflowers - One Headlight

Umm, Jakob Dylan, will you marry me? Yes, even at 30 the offer stands. I saw the Wallflowers in concert a few different times, and Jakob was most definitely my biggest adolescent crush on a rock star. I mean come on he's a Dylan (aka son of Bob Dylan) and that alone makes him super awesome in my book. He also wrote some pretty sweet tunes (and still is, his newest solo album is really good). Plus, nothing takes me back to being 17 more than this song.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzyfcys1aLM&ob=av2e)

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Velvet Elvis

I seriously dig Elvis. If you read my post earlier this week, you'll know that Elvis movies were my secret joy as a child. While I was listening to Geto Boys with my friends, but at home I would escape into the world Elvis and spontaneous singing. While trying to download the ultimate Halloween playlist, I got stuck on the Elvis collections, and I was sucked right back in. Here are some Elvis goodies that always make me super daydreamy.

The Lady Loves Me

I've seen Viva Las Vegas more times than I would like to admit. I liked to pretend that I was Ann Margaret because she had an awesome wardrobe and got to make out with Lucky Jackson.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6fH02JqpDE)

She's Not You


I always love a good love song, and this one just kills me.


(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjiBHT3Z0d8)

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Dylan is Dylan

Around 11, I became completely fascinated with the 1960's. Bell bottoms, beatniks, the civil rights movement, Vietnam war protest, hippies, JFK, free love, Paul Newman, The Monkees, the march on Washington, Barefoot in the Park, Batman, peace signs, Woodstock, and the music... where do I even begin with the music?

Weekly, my mom would take me to the public library in Columbus. I would borrow books, music, and movies, which is how I found and fell in love with The Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Simon and Garfunkel, The Who, and Bob Dylan. I'd pour over photography books of The Beatles, spend hours watching Viva Las Vegas and Help!, listen to album after album of any music that I could get my hands on, recreate art, and get completely lost in lyric books. The Dylan lyric book coupled with the Bootleg series became my bible of poetic aspiration. It was heaven for me, and it still is.

So a few weeks ago when I found out that Bob Dylan was coming to Tampa, I bought tickets and waited (very impatiently) for my first time seeing him live. Going in, my expectations were based on all of the reunion tours that I've seen where the artist performs a mixture of their hits with some not-so-great new songs, they throw out the name of their current city, and the crowd cheers and sings along at all the prescribed moments. The experience feels nostalgic, yet somehow over. I don't know why I would have ever expected something like that. What I love about Bob Dylan is that he never went along with what was conventional. He broke the rules and he pushed the limits. He still breaks the rules.

The setlist was enough to make any Dylan fan Ohh  and Ahh: Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat, Lay, Lady, Lay , Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again, Just Like A Woman, Tangled Up in Blue, Simple Twist Of Fate, Love Sick, Highway 61 Revisited, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, Like A Rolling Stone, and All Along The Watchtower, etc. It amazes me to think that the list barely even begins to crack the surface of all the amazing songs he's written. Apparently, he mixes up the set lists every night.

At first when Dylan was singing, it was a little jarring. He took each of the songs and mixed them up and made them something different. When I got past the fact that it wasn't going to be a sing-a-long, I really started listening and was floored at just how tight the band sounded. Thinking back over the experience, I realize that it was a unique, artistic experience and not some cookie cutter tour with everything carefully planned out and perfect.

Even more surprising, after years of playing into all of the myths of the different personas of Bob Dylan, I found him to be the antithesis of the common rock star that takes the stage, eats up the applause, and can't stop talking about what he ate for breakfast. When Dylan took the stage, he was part of his band, and he was just there to play some seriously badass music. No one messes with Dylan. It is not because he is a famous musician. It is because he is just cool with who he is... Bob Freakin' Dylan.

Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash - One Too Many Mornings

You can thank me later for sharing this piece of awesomeness.


(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvnSyOYzTHY)

Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues


Awesome song. Very cool video with it used.


(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcm0rG8EKXI)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Something a little more beautiful...

Life has been crazy lately. It has been really important to me to just slow down and stop constantly racing. I have been listening to lots of different types of music and loving the beautiful songs.

Ryan Adams -  La Cienega Just Smiled

I love Ryan Adams, but there is something about this particular song that is so freakin' amazing. It makes your breath catch in your chest like you're falling in love and all you can do is mumble uhhh huh.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2jYzr1FH0g)

Josh Radin - What If You


What a voice. What a song. I'm already half in love. It also helps that it was featured in the movie Catch and Release and it always makes me day dream about going on a photography trek in the woods with Timothy Olyphant.


(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXu3WafBt6I)