Track Fours

The first time I noticed the power of track four was in 2001. Weezer's green album had just come out and my mom was obsessed with "Island in the Sun" but instead of asking to play it by name, she'd just say "track four" and we'd be on our 15th listen of the day. (BTW, that song is not on this list, because I think we're all tired of hearing it by now.)

Back before my husband was my husband, Dave brought it up again. He made an entire mix CD of Track Fours. He had an entire theory that track fours were the best songs on any album.

It's April. The fourth month. It's nearly warm outside. I decided to revisit my favorite track fours in honor of spring.

"Climbing the Walls" by TMBG -- I was listening to a lot of TMBG in 2007, specifically "Ana Ng," and was really into this song even though I had never listened to any of the other songs on this album. I guess it was just luck that it was track 4. Nonetheless, it's an underrated song, kinda like how no one seems to take TMBG seriously. These guys have some seriously wonderful and delightful songs and have the energy and silliness to turn bad days into good ones!

"Zero" by Smashing Pumpkins -- If you know me at all, you'll know that I still claim Smashing Pumpkins is my favorite band. They're not really anymore, but they had an huge impact on my life. I still care about them. This is one of my favorite songs from them. The video is so dark and creepy. The one song I'd love to karaoke.

"In Repair" by Our Lady Peace -- Guys, guys -- this is my favorite concept album ever. This is probably in my top 10 favorite albums ever. I always go back and listen to it and it's still really great. This is before the lead singer had to change the way he sang to save his voice. I totally get that, but I'll always still be in love with this era OLP.

"Persuasive is Her Name" by The Deathray Davies -- The Day of the Ray is the only reason I know Dave. Think about that. Dave and I have been together 11+ years and it's all because of this band. I picked this album up on a whim in a used record store in Cambridge, MA. I thought I recognized the name. I lived in Dallas before moving to Boston and often would read the free alt weeklies and I'm sure I picked up their name from there. I was very into local Dallas alt music scene despite being underage with no driver's license, I somehow was still in the loop thanks to prolific reading and listening to The Adventure Club.

"Inspector of Inspectors" by Driftless Pony Club -- Go listen to everything DPC right now! Please! Also, check out Wheezy Waiter -- aka Craig Benzine, he's the lead singer --  because there are some hilarious "on tour" videos with the entire band and his channel is super creative!  If you're in Boston, you'll see me rocking out to them on April 25 at The Middle East!

"The High Party" by Ted Leo/The Pharmacists -- Honestly, everyone should be listening to Ted Leo. I know, I know...but this is one of my favorite songs...period. In college, the only thing I ever won was a signed poster by Ted Leo from OUC. If you know what OUC is, I'm really embarrassed now.

"Rococo" by Arcade Fire -- I really love songs about hipster kids. Like 2003 elitist hipster indie rock kids. Not the 2007 shutter shades kinds. I also really like listening to "My Coco" by Stellastarr* right after it. Guess what? "My Coco" is a track four. You see what I mean?

What are your favorites?

Influence

I used to have influence. I don't know how, because I didn't do a lot to get it. I just woke up and somehow people knew me. I think it was a friends of friends type thing. It was nice, but I didn't realize how much I enjoyed it till I didn't have it anymore. Mostly because I have things to share that I think are super awesome and I want other people to see how awesome these things are too.

Remember show and tell? Those special days from kindergarten to early elementary when you could bring anything from home and have your fifteen minutes of fame?

I remember having a huge temper tantrum one day when I forgot the toy that I wanted to share. It NEEDED to be seen. I couldn't accept the fact of my bad memory of my lack of discipline. It just couldn't be this way. NO FAIR! Then I calmed down and I ate some graham crackers and took a nap, because that's what kindergarten was like and probably is still like to this day.

So what did I bring to share today? I brought a friend that isn't really my friend but a friend of a friend. He's awesome and you should do yourself a favor and check him out. His name is Lucas Carpenter and he plays guitar and sings amazing songs. He also does amusing covers and basically has some of the best in between song banter ever!

I have seen and known a lot of dudes that play guitar and even though I feel like so many of them are excellent musicians; playing an instrument is not all you need to know to put on an engaging show. It's all about charisma and pizazz and Lucas has all of that and then some. I say this as someone that saw him play live only two times and I only saw those two shows because a friend asked me to tag along and you know how those things go. Oh, this is...okay...sway to music and pretend that you're having a good time, but this time, I wasn't pretending and the smile on my face wasn't fake. Yes, Lucas, you kicked the curmudgeon out of this young lady! Thanks for that!

P.S. In college, I used to have long conversations about why it was okay to like Dave Matthews. I was always on the fence. I sort of hated him, but secretly there were always a few songs that I liked a lot. This is one of them.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s1pGVCawKs?rel=0]

Davy Jones

When I was 8, I was convinced that I was going to marry Davy Jones.

I used to practice kissing on car windows for the hope that we would one day meet. Sadly, I discovered he was already married. No bother, I still loved him and I knew through telepathic transmission that somehow he knew that. I understood we would never be together in a physical way, but I was a kid, and he was old enough to be my father and I guess that meant I should just stick to buying Monkees cassettes, which I did, rather faithfully. I don't think I ever got past my first crush, and most likely he subconsciously planted my love for British comedies, boys named David and absurdest humor.

Thanks, Davy! You'll be missed!

Blockbuster Liquidation

Our local Blockbuster is going out of business, so we grabbed some DVDs and video games. Here's what we got:

Newbury Comics Haul

On March 3, 2011, Newbury Comics had a B1G1 free flash sale on used CDs. I know I'm the only one out there still buying CDs, so I wasn't sure if my fiancé & I would find anything. We went to two different stores and walked away with these fine albums.

1. Better Than Extra -- Deluxe
2. Albert Hammond, Jr. -- Como Te Llama
3. Ratatat -- LP3
4. No Doubt -- Tragic Kingdom
5. Semisonic -- Feeling Strangely Fine
6. Violent Femmes -- Violent Femmes
7. Phoenix -- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
8. Cold War Kids -- Robbers & Cowards
9. The Sounds -- Dying to Say This to You
10. Gorillaz -- Gorillaz
11. Ryan Adams -- Gold
12. The White Stripes -- Icky Thump

What was the last album you bought in either CD/download form?