Song of the week - 2012

January 1st-7th

"All At Once"

Started off 2012 by spending my Amazon gift money on mp3 albums. I picked up 14 total, each for no more than $5, and this album was among them. This song, which is both the title track and the album opener, seems like the perfect song to kick off the new year.

(This isn't the album version as it's a stripped-down live performance, but I really dig it.)

January 8th-14th

"Worms of the Senses/Faculties of the Skull"

On January 9th, Refused announced that they are "NOT FUCKING DEAD" & will be performing a reunion show at Coachella Music Festival in April. Initially it was announced that it would be their only performance, but then they started adding European dates so apparently that wasn't true. Then after both weekends of Coachella sold out they started adding other U.S. dates & so on. I didn't manage to get a ticket for either weekend of Coachella, but I remain hopeful that I'll catch them somewhere while they're still reunited since I never have. This album required immediate listening to.

I went with this song (another opening track, and the uninitiated are welcome for my choosing a video with lyrics) because Refused had always insisted they'd never reunite no matter how much money was thrown at them since there was no other reason to do it. And yet here they are somehow, playing a destination festival known for throwing large amounts of money at broken-up bands in hopes of them reuniting & playing there. And so as the opening line of this song says, "I've got a bone to pick with capitalism/And a few to break".

At the Drive-In also announced their reunion & that they're performing at Coachella on the same day, but since I saw them in a club when they toured behind Relationship of Command I'm not as excited about their reunion. Plus they'll likely end up touring all over the U.S., so odds are I'll have another chance to see them.

January 15th-21st

"Demons Out!"

Yet another album I picked up at the start of the year, and I'd been meaning to do so for a while. I got into Art Brut after seeing them in concert a few years back & have remained a fan thanks to their high-energy & contagiously fun live shows. Plus Eddie Argos's lyrics make me laugh.

I spent a lot of time listening to Art Brut Vs Satan this week, and this is my favorite track.

January 22nd-28th

"It's a Great Day to Be Alive"

This week my daughter got hung up on wanting me to read her Bill Martin & Eric Carle's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and its two offshoots. I must have read all 3 books to her at least a dozen times, and typically it was all 3 back-to-back at a time. Reading the books to her on a sunny day recalled this song to my mind since it contains the lines "redbird, redbird what do you see?/he said, 'I see a lone wolf looking at me'" (which echo the lines of Carle's books) as well as "I know the sun's still shining when I close my eyes."

January 29th-February 4th

"Groundhog's Day"

I really didn't have a song I was stuck on this week. So since Groundhog's Day was Feb. 2nd, I'll go with this one.

February 5th-11th

"Where Is My Mind?"

This week I watched 4 movies whose main characters had various mental issues. So this song seemed appropriate.

February 12th-18th

"How Do You Tell Someone"

On Sunday night of this week I listened to this album on repeat during work. After doing so this song refused to leave my head all week long.

I got into these guys back in 1996 thanks first to the lead single off this album, which led me to buy it, then soon after I saw them perform live and was completely blown away. They knew how to get a crowd fired up & engaged with their shows, and I've rarely seen other bands who can accomplish that the way they do. I never bought another album from Cowboy Mouth, but I saw them many times back in the '90s.

Haven't seen them since then, though they're still around. Having revisited this album I'm somewhat curious to hear if anything else they recorded was anywhere near as good as this album.

February 19th-25th

"Mr. Tambourine Man"

For Hunter S. Thompson July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005

February 26th-March 3rd

"I'm the Slime"

Previously this spot was held by another song, but when an ex-girlfriend and close friend of mine passed away I decided it had to change. She introduced me to Zappa while we were together (which I thanked her for plenty of times) & this was her favorite song of his. So this one goes out to her with love. She will be missed.

March 4th-10th

"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"

Another song in memory of my dearly departed friend. She loved Nina Simone & the lyrics suit her well.

March 11th-17th

"Super Duper Rescue Heads"

SXSW is going on this week here in Austin, and Deerhoof tops my list of the bands I'd most like to catch. (They also topped my Best albums of 2011 list.) They're playing at least a dozen times, so surely I can catch them once right? Spinning this album this week in hopes I will.

Edit: I totally missed SXSW this year. Better luck next year perhaps.

March 18th-24th

"In Bloom"

"Spring is here again..."

March 24th-31st

"The Malkin Jewel"

Over the weekend I found out rollingstone.com was streaming the new Mars Volta album in its entirety. I wound up listening to it 7 times in 3 days, and can therefore say that this is their best album since Frances the Mute. Didn't realize until now that this is the first single off the album, but it was immediately my favorite track. I'm buying the album today & will continue listening to it throughout the week.

April 1st-7th

"Tomorrow Comes Today"

Got on a Gorillaz kick this week after playing songs from their first two albums to help my daughter calm down & fall asleep. They did the trick.

April 8th-14th

"Arcarsenal"

At the Drive In kicked off their reunion run in Texas this week with shows announced in a handful of cities (including mine) about 2 days before each. Tickets sold out in less than 5 minutes for each, and I was not at all fortunate to be among those in attendance. That'll teach me to check my e-mail more often. :P

Anyway, they wound up being on my mind all week long & thus I had to take this album for a few spins. Since they're opening their shows with this song I figure it's the appropriate choice for this spot.

April 15th-21st

"Go Tell the Women"

Dear lord I love the guitar on this song. On the nights I work I usually listen to albums that keep my energy levels up without being too distracting. This album wasn't a great choice as far as not being distracting goes, however, with this song being the prime example of how undeniable it is. It did manage to keep me going though & I couldn't bring myself to stop listening to it on repeat throughout my 4-hour shift...instead I'd just dance a little in my seat, occasionally sing along, and keep on working.

April 22nd-28th

"Bring Me the Heads"

Rediscovered my love for this album this week after using it as fuel for work. I'd forgotten how good it is. My first encounter with Amen was seeing them open a show back in 2000 & I thought they sucked, but this album changed my mind when I heard it. This is easily my favorite song on the whole thing.

April 29th-May 5th

"Sure Shot"

Was going to choose this as my song of the week anyway since I finally watched The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, which this song references (and is the first place I ever heard of the film). Great movie by the way. But then Adam Yauch AKA MCA died, so a Beastie Boys song is necessary for this week.

I loved the Beasties from the first time I heard "Fight for Your Right (to Party)" when I was a boy, a love that was sustained all the way up to their album Hello Nasty. After that album I wasn't impressed by any other music they made, but I held out hopes of seeing them live at some point. So much for that. I hate cancer.

R.I.P. MCA August 5, 1964 - May 4, 2012


--By the way, came across this wonderful thing that reflects on the loss of MCA & some other artists as well. I connected with it, loved it, and figured I'd share with others who might be interested.

May 6th-12th

"The Ocean"

I used to really love Against Me! before this album, which eventually killed my enthusiasm for their music. Everything before was like fire & wine, but I felt like most of this album was forced. Then the follow-up was just terrible from what little I heard of it.

However, I always thought this was the album's strongest track. I never gave too much weight to the lyrics before this week, when lead singer/main songwriter Tom Gabel came out as transgender. Rather shocking news considering that's hardly something you'd expect from a punk rocker, but listening to this song again this week I shouldn't have been surprised. So this revelation has been on my mind all week, and as Xanadon't said when he brought it up to me it seems fitting to follow up a loss of life with the start of a new one.

May 13th-19th

"Life's a Happy Song"

My daughter really loves the Muppets & their movies. This week she started making a more frequent habit of singing the parts of this song she's memorized (yes, and at this time she's only 20 months old), which is both adorable & entertaining.

May 20th-26th

"Enjoy the Silence"

Three years ago this week I drove to Austin to meet a woman I'd been talking to online & over the phone for about 3 months. I spent the entire Memorial Day weekend with her & we've been happily together ever since. This was the song that played in my head throughout that weekend, and since this covers album is the closest I've ever got to owning a Depeche Mode album (not a fan of theirs really) it's the only way I have to listen to the song. Anyway, it's perfect to mark our anniversary.

Also this week we let our friends & family know that we signed a paper that officially makes us common law married (no ceremony needed, just signing papers that earned us a "Certificate of Informal Marriage"...pretty sweet we think). So she's my "wife" & I'm her "husband" though it won't be often that we refer to each other as such. ;) So if you see me refer to my "wife" around here, that's why.

May 27th-June 2nd

"Infecto Groovalistic"

Dusted off this album for the first time in far too long this week & it was even better than I remembered. This one's my favorite song off it.

June 3rd-9th

"No. 1 Against the Rush"

Figured I'd go with the first single off this one because it works both as a primer for this album & has an Amazing video. WIXIW went up for streaming before the album dropped & it took me 3 tries before it finally clicked with me. I was getting worried since Liars are currently my favorite active band, and every other album if I wasn't immediately blown away by it I at least enjoyed some/most of the songs I heard. Not sure if it was a mood thing or just my general disinterest in electronic music, but I'm glad it finally worked for me.

June 10th-16th

"robocop 4 - fuck off robocop"

Great song title, yeah? This song is currently tied with "notes on achieving orbit" for my favorite off this album, which also dropped this month. It took me a while to make up my mind on this one too, but at least I liked some of the songs from the start. Not my favorite of Future of the Left's albums, but still damn good & better than a lot of other crap out there.

Lyrics: I think everybody has fantasized what they would ask Elvis if he was still alive. I know...I know what I would ask him: what's your favorite film?

jaws?
jaws2?
more jaws?
or jaws rebooted?
please - let's take a second to think about a future
state
of love
and bliss
brought to you by
wish lists
of eight year old boys who only crave explosions
why?
well
being eight
they have an excuse -
they are eight!
and giant robots cannot distract them from their fate

middle aged men on a movie date
committed to mortal shame

hey!
relax!
NO-ONE DIED!
in fact- they left improved
if Michael Bay wants a bigger house, let's help him
art?
ha!
where you from?
where you been?
he said -
I went to Cannes once and and really did not have much
fun
why?
well
being French
they talk too much
and all those pages of subtitles kept getting stuck

1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3
1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3

pirates of the caribbean 47
johnny depp stars as the robot pirate
who (loses) his wife in a game of poker
and tries to win her back with hilarious consequences
at least Harry Potter has a proper story
in the sense that the characters crave an ending
if (only) to release poor Billy Corgan
from his role as the titular character's nemesis
robocop 4 is in pre-production
like robocop 3 wasn't bad enough
and George Lucas won't be kicking his heels
til he makes some money from Howard the Duck
robocop 4 is in pre-production
like robocop 3 wasn't bad enough
i hope the projectionist likes his action
motion tracked and medicated

(the first director died)

June 17th-23rd

"Left Alone"

Continuing the current streak of new albums with Fiona's latest, which is currently my favorite album of 2012 so far. As usual her playing & singing are wonderful, but right now what I'm most digging is the percussion throughout the album. I gave the album plenty of listens while it was streaming online & a few more since I bought it. "Left Alone" is my favorite song so far.

June 24th-30th

"You Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd"

This month I finally got around to filling a small mp3 player with songs just for my daughter, mostly to minimize her exposure to all the explicit songs that populate my own mp3 player. She said this is a "good song" after listening to it one day. I completely agree.

July 1st - 7th

"Declare Independence"

July 4th was Independence Day here in America. Here's my song for it.

July 8th-14th

"Fun Fun Fun"

Since my daughter was born, the only show I have been guaranteed to make it to each year is Fun Fun Fun Fest here in Austin. This week they announced their 2012 lineup, and OMG am I excited. I count almost 30 acts I want to watch, including Refused whom I've been hoping to see since their reunion was announced back in January. I thought about doing another of their songs here, but I figure this one makes more sense given the festival's name.

And yes, we bought our tickets already, so I'm definitely going. :)

July 15th-21st

"Get Rhythm"

Another choice from my daughter's mp3 player, she's been singing along to this song whenever it comes on & it's adorable. Well, not so much singing along as simply repeating "when you get the blue one, you get the blue one" which never fails to make me smile.

July 22nd-28th

"I'd Have to Be Crazy"

We had a little party to celebrate our "marriage" since we didn't have a ceremony. Family came in from out of town & while lots of things didn't go according to plan we had a good time anyway. We had some pictures taken of us outside at sunset & this song started playing in my head as I looked into her eyes. If we'd had a traditional wedding I would have insisted that our first dance be to this song.

July 29th-August 4th

"Die Like a Satellite"

It really feels like summer here this week, and this album always makes me think of summer.

It still saddens me that this band never made it big. They certainly could have.

August 5th-11th

"Rockaway Beach"

On April 4th we're flying to Oregon for a week-long family vacation. The bulk of our trip will be spent in a swank house in Rockaway Beach, so the above song seems appropriate for this week. Posting this one early because I don't anticipate being back on Listal much until after we get home again.

August 12th-18th

"Touch Me I'm Sick"

Shortly after getting back from Oregon, I got sick & it lasted most of this week. So this is the first song that comes to mind.

August 19th-25th

"Just One Person"
R.I.P. Jerry Nelson - I first knew you as The Count & came to know all your other characters throughout my life.

August 26th-September 1st

"Song for a Warrior"

The latest Swans album is brilliant, provided you have the patience to get through it all. It's 2 hours of music, with 3 of the tracks adding up to one of those hours (one of which is a very patience-testing 30+ minutes long). I listened to it a few times while working this week, and of all the tracks this one hit me the hardest thanks largely to the beautiful, talented voice of Karen O. Different from her work in Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but every bit as good as the best of their songs.

September 2nd-8th

"Who"

Actually not my first choice off this album, but I'll take what I can get. This week I started frequenting npr.org regularly for their First Listen page to have music on in the background while I work. It's also a great place to check out some albums before they come out to determine whether I need to buy them or not. Anyway, I was very impressed when I heard this one despite the fact I'm not typically a big fan of either artist. Been spinning it nightly ever since.

September 9th-15th

"Rock 'N' Roll Ain't Noise Pollution"

Spent a lot of time listening to AC/DC during work this week for whatever reason. Turns out most if not all their albums are uploaded to youtube for streaming, so I've been going through their back catalog. Honestly I spent more time listening to the Bon Scott records than this one (though I did listen to this one a couple times), but this song is the one that was most stuck in my head.

September 16th-22nd

"The Curse of Elkhart"

MTV Hive.com was streaming the new Murder By Death album this week in advance of its release, and once I started listening to it I couldn't stop. This is probably my favorite track on the album.

September 23rd-29th

"We're Going to Be Friends"

"Fall is here..." (not that you could really tell here in Texas as the highs were in the lower 90s, but officially it's now fall)

September 30th-October 6th

"(Every Day Is) Halloween"

31 days of Halloween songs

October 7th-13th

"Sadness Comes Home"

Spent much of this week streaming this album repeatedly during work, which wasn't always a good choice as it's hard to concentrate on something you're reading & rock out at the same time. I'd post the link to the full album stream on Youtube, but odds are it'll be gone soon since the album is in stores now. While I'm not a big Converge fan I'm definitely digging this album in all its dark, brutal glory. It makes me want to break things, and it's been a while since an album has made me feel that way.

October 14th-20th

"No One Lives Forever"

Was in a very Halloween kinda mood this week & this album got a lot of play around the house. My daughter loves dancing to every song on it, which is adorable. Since I already put the title track from this album on my 31 days of Halloween music list, I went with a great runner-up.

October 21st-27th

"Bumper"
"They on some nonsense, we on some non-stop!"

This album went up for streaming prior to its release & I listened to it repeatedly during my work shifts. There's not a bad song on it & I'm looking forward to picking up a copy in the near future.

October 28th-November 3rd

"You Be Illin'"

Not at all a proper track for the week of Halloween, but November 2nd-4th was Fun Fun Fun Fest here in Austin & Run-D.M.C. headlined Friday night. I spent much of the week with this album in preparation, which paid off as almost every song they played was off this album. Sadly this song wasn't among the songs in their set, but they were so much fun live that I couldn't help thinking that anyone who missed their set was illin'. ;)

On a side note: Friday Nov. 2nd we were without a babysitter, so we took our daughter with us (she got in free). She had a blast, was totally in her element (proof she's my kiddo), and made new friends as she danced around during the bands we watched. She danced through Run-D.M.C.'s entire set with us & other people near us & wound up exhausting herself. Guess I need to put some of their songs on her mp3 player.

November 4th-10th

"Liberation Frequency"

Refused was easily, hands-down the best performance/moment of Fun Fun Fun Fest 2012. They were so good I almost cried a couple times. I never thought I'd ever sing along with this & the other songs they played with so many other people who knew every word, but then I never thought I'd get to see Refused perform live either. Anyway, they're not leaving my head any time soon (this song especially) so I'm listening to this album a lot this week.

November 11th-17th

"You Got a Friend in Me"

My daughter has spent most of this month so far watching all 3 Toy Story movies. Not all at once, mind you. She's allowed to watch one movie per day & that's it. She watched the first one once a day for about a week, then the 2nd once a day for about a week, and on Saturday of this week she watched the 3rd for the first time. So I've heard this song a lot lately.

November 18th-24th

"More Beautiful Than Barbie"
"No one I ever met in my life
As pleasant and gracious as you
Thank you thank you thank you
I'm always humbled by your generosity"

Forgot to update this list for a while, and now I can't remember what my song for this week was anymore. But since this was the week of Thanksgiving this one seems somewhat appropriate.

November 25th-December 1st

"Start Wearing Purple"

After watching Everything Is Illuminated this song (which plays over its end credits) was stuck in my head for a few days.

December 2nd-8th

"Navy Nurse"

Had a lot of little things go wrong this week. So this song's refrain of "If there's anything I've had enough of, it's today" was very apt.

December 9th-15th

"I Don't Want to Grow Up"

Song of the week in response to the shooting in Newtown.