CRASHBURN

Wow, this is only the first week, and this is already becoming quite a burden. Maybe I won't make such a solid comittment to the every day thing. I'd pick something out, but I'm at the end of my wick, and I can't write anything worthwhile, and I couldn't find anything that I liked but didn't want to link to or write about, so...The Lord rested on the seventh day, and so shall the Lord of Oats. It's definitely time for some sleep. I may have to change this around. Instead of working on this for the same amount of time every day, I will post less when I'm busy, and more when I'm bored. I'll work it out so it still comes out to seven per week, but I just can't be this consistent right now. I'll only stick to the schedule if it's working for me. I just...well, it's not this, really...I'm incredibly tired. I'll post when I can think straight.

Day 6 - Radiohead - Climbing Up The Walls

Hmm...here's a live performance. Okay sound quality.

Everybody always raves about OK Computer. It's alright. But I think it drags right from the beginning, and only lets up occassionally. "Airbag" opens with a cool guitar theme, but it just doesn't know when to let up. "Paranoid Android" is a very cool song, but after that, we visit boring town, and it seems like it takes forever to get back from there. Despite this being a slower song, it holds my interest pretty well. The verse chords and feel are so good. The chorus is almost more of a bridge than a chorus. It's function really seems to be to lead back to the verse. But when the verse comes back, it's reprised instrumentally, and it's ten times heavier. It sounds like a pretty epic struggle. The whole thing kind of just builds to the guitar solo, which I'm totally into, because the emphasis on vocals in popular music tends to point my interest toward the instrumental sections, for whatever reason. So this song suits me well.

Day 5 - Sebadoh - Brand New Love

I was trying to go by calendar days with this, but I guess that didn't work. So we're going to count the time in between sleep as a day, and say I still made it on time. I couldn't find a video for this one. Eh...whatever. I guess I mainly thought of this because Ross Durand mentioned something about Dinosaur Jr. today. In any case, it's a great song. It's not necessarily a good performance or recording. There's not much to like here other than the songwriting. The lyrics are kind of a jumbly, confusing, cryptic mess...not the kind I'd use in a song. The chorus is loud and clippy and awful. When the drums come in at the beginning, it's at a different tempo than the guitar, and the guitar has to slow down to match it. The drums also seem to be helping ruin the chorus. The ending...wow, they really pile on the noise. But there's a certain beauty to it. Lou Barlow obviously knows what's he doing, and I wouldn't want to mess with that. Harmonically, it's so simple, but I'm finding that simplicity is what really catches your ear. In any case, this is a good piece to know if you want any indie cred. It's been covered by both Deadsy and Death Cab for Cutie, and the Deadsy cover is actually the first version of this song I heard. It's undoubtedly shinier and nicer-sounding, but maybe that's not the point. My research on this artist initially disappointed and upset me, when I found out that Sebadoh was a pioneer in the "lo-fi genre." I was previously under the impression that when somebody called my stuff lo-fi, it meant either a. I'm and idiot and don't know how to mix, or b. I can't afford nice equipment. Yeah, no. I guess it's a style of music. Which, you know, it's a style I'm totally comfortable working in. But I'll be damned if it doesn't feel like cheating. Eh, but you know. It's art. It's best not to mess with it. I like this, and that's all that counts here. Both of the other versions might be bettter on several counts, but I figure the other two groups have enough other songs I like, and this one doesn't have many that I know. Although I have a suspicion that by the time I get all 10,000 listed, those two other tracks will end up here, too.

Day 4 - Melvin - History of My Broken Heart

The file is here. No music video, yet, as far as I know.

Wow. This is the last song I voted for on SongFight!, and my favorite Melvin song so far. Great rock shuffle feel. Energetic drum performance, good sound. Good lyrics, good vocal performance. Great bass line, awesome bass tone. Rhythm guitar doesn't stand out, but it works well. Lead guitar is perfect for the song. Great verse, great chorus, great bridge. Catchy as shit. I couldn't help but singing along after two or three listens. Everything on this track is perfect. No complaints. About anything. Fantastic. It almost won, too. I should have gone to the library and voted this one up. Kidding. I do have ethics. But wow. All the elements work so well together. This is brilliant pop art. Since Melvin's apparently pursuing commercial opportunities, and he's got the skills to contend with the big name acts, he ought to be famous before the decade's out. Luckily, he's still songfighting regularly. Check out his stuff at SF before I have to move him to Wednesdays and Saturdays!

Day 3 - Audioslave - Revelations

I was surprised to find a pretty cool music video, viewable here.

I remember when Audioslave came along, and everybody was all freaking out because it wasn't Rage, and it wasn't Soundgarden. Well, obviously. So we got used to it. And as soon as they finally got their act together and developed a consistent sound, that was it. They pulled the plug on us. Somehow, Chris Cornell covering Michael Jackson, trying in futility to rock my ass, or any of his other experiments in boredom just don't stir my tea like this does. At least the prospect of Rage returning is exciting. In any case, this is probably the best track Audioslave ever produced. A lot of their songs are contenders, but this has everything I want from a piece of music. The deceptively quiet intro is perfectly appropriate, but nothing to rave about. I believe it's just the chorus chords. We're better served by those later on. In any case, this riff is just monstrous. It's huge and powerful. It's hard rock. It's not metal. This is where the line is drawn. Right around this song. It's just hard enough not to bother me. It's also funky as hell. Funk-rock is a good sound. I don't know why they didn't embrace it sooner. The verse is your basic hard rock verse. It's not exciting, but it really does its job in the song. The chorus is obviously very different from the riff, but has equal hook value. You say, which one is the hook? I don't know. They're both so good! Chris's talent for layering vocals shines here. The guitar solo is surprisingly tasteful, especially for a Tom Morello solo. I might have preferred bendier blues-based stuff or something a bit more energetic, but I don't think you can really ever leave the dark side once you've chosen to go there. I guess he uses his signature toggle-switch magic on this one. The bridge is very bridgy. A perfect rock bridge. It's quiet, and this is hard rock, so you know a rebuild is coming. Ah, and there is Brad Wilk, rock's king of the snare drum crescendo, over some tense chords to prepare us for more rocking. And some more chorus. Well-planed, and very well-executed. Four heads are better than one, Chris. Idiot.

Day 2 - Minus The Bear - Knights

The music video is here. The music video is almost as cool as the song. Almost. Pay particular attention to the shots of the individual band members interacting with themselves. Those shots delight my artistic sensibilities.

It was "Stapler" that launched my career as an internet musician, and this was the song that inspired me to do this blog. I came across this entry over in Glenn Case's Blog, and not only did I like the concept and eventually get interested enough to start, but I was thrilled to find out that Minus The Bear had a new album out! I looked for it at Target, as soon as I read his entry, but to no avail; I'll have to look again. Meanwhile, the internet helped me get a hold of it. There's some great stuff on here, but this is the only song I'm totally in love with so far, but probably just because I've listened to it more times than the rest of the album, thanks to the video. This song is great from the first notes Dave Knudson stomps out on his delay pedal. The intro reminds me of the beginning of the opening track from Menos El Oso, "The Game Needed Me," but the high-tech urban funk feel has been replaced with a much more straight-ahead post-punk groove. That said, it's at least as danceable. This song rocks about as fast as I usually like songs to rock. I can really feel the energy without feeling like I'm being rushed through the song. The little instrumental breaks help that out a lot, and give it some dynamic structure. Everything about this song is just great, but of particular interest is the instrumental section starting at around 1:44. It begins with a good old fashioned chord slamming rockout section, and using a somewhat uncharacteristic kickass shred lick, segues into a more bluesy take on the post-punk sound. From there, the mysteriously beautiful guitar melody that was hinted at earlier takes over. Wow. Then we're back to the intro thing, but wait, what? The chorus in half-time!? Absolutely brilliant! Then there's that infectious guitar line again. You can really feel a lot of sonic space here. All the great melodic ideas from earlier in the song really have room to sink in. It's a pause for reflection after such an amazing sonic journey. And that's where they leave you.

What's not to like about this band? Outstanding technical proficiency, exceptional instrumental creativity, plus great pop hooks. And a pretty physically attractive bunch, at that. Sounds like a winning formula. I don't even know who to compliment, specifically. Every band member brings something great to the table, musically. Hopefully, I can meet up with John at their show in Orlando about a month from now.

Day 1 - Glenn Case - Stapler

The mp3 for Stapler can be found here.

This song started it all. If you want someone to blame for my music invading your ears, blame Glenn Case. John sent me a link to Tom 7's web site, where I found the Album-a-Day Project. I was a little skeptical, at first. But for some reason, upon deciding to sample some of the works, the first I came across was Glenn Case's album Just So You Know. I heard the bouncing piano chords and immediately fell in love. As I listened, I thought, "Oh, so it's possible to do this and, at the same time, make good music." I didn't end up making any really good music during my time participating in the crap art movement, but I did gain some for my personal library. This turned out to be a great album, and ultimately, I ended up over at SongFight! thanks to this entry, but let's not lose too much focus on the song.

The initial chord progression is brilliant. Paired with the rock shuffle feel, and some clever lyrics, this song is off to a great start. The chorus is a completely appropriate place to go, musically, from the verse, but it feels somewhat far from home. It's not unpleasant, or strained, but the verse seems like a better place for me to hang out. Ben Folds, who probably had some influence on this track, takes a similar approach to a lot of his choruses, and even claims that he doesn't "understand hit choruses." However, this chorus is very lyrically interesting, and is a lot of fun to sing along with. It may actually be a step above a typical Ben Folds chorus. In any case, the way it's set up allows the little tag on the chorus to lead right back into the verse very effectively, and makes for a nice outro later on. The a capella bridge is a great technique that I'll have to rip off some time. It provides more sophistication to the song's dynamic flow, going beyond the requirements for such a short pop song. From the bridge, the song is rebuilt for one more go-round of the song's basic structure. The repeated taggy thing becomes the outro, and it persists, until the instruments unexpectedly drop out. The vocals finish quietly, leaving us in a great position to hear the beginning of "Hurry Up," especially if one has taken these mp3's and made them into a nice gapless album for the car. But, uh, "Hurry Up" is for another day.

I don't think I did a good job with this, but hey, it's my first day. Deal with it.