New Music

I know I've been pretty lame as far as updating my blog is concerned but I've been busy. But I have found a few new artists which hopefully I will get up here soon. Last night at First Unitarian Church was the Black Kids and The Virgins concert. In honor of said groups, since I have mentioned Black Kids a lot, Song of the Day goes to The Virgins. I love the old school- yet new school vibe of this song- it's like The Delta Spirit meets KC and the Sunshine Band.

The Virgins- Rich Girl

England, You Had Your Chance- Today is ours!

That's right! I woke up yesterday at 8 AM to buy Songs For You, Truths For Me, only to find out that it had not been released in the US yet. If you think about it, it kinda makes sense, as in the US, new music is released on Tuesday but anyway. It's out today! And I just purchased it and I love it already, despite the fact that it received mediocre reviews. One song, Broken Strings, is due to be released as a single around Christmas time and features the unlikely combination of James Morrison and Nelly Furtado. Check out this album!

Songs to check out:
If You Don't Wanna Love Me
Love Is Hard
You Make It Real

The Gossip

This is not a gossip blog but I can't help myself.

Clay Aiken came out of the closet today. I know, you know, and finally he knows that he is gay. But, the American Idol winner claims that he came out of the closet for the sake of his new born baby. I would just like to point out that the child does not yet know the difference between gay and straight. Also, Clay, why come out of the closet AFTER knockin up yo baby's mama (Jaymes, that's right Jaymes Foster). Last comments on Clay Aiken- I just find this somewhat humorous. I have a friend, who is a lesbian, and after coming out of the closet, she began a new look which was striking similar to Clay Aiken's new look circa '06. I would like to show you how freaky these pictures are, for comparison, but I also want to respect her privacy, so I shall not- but it's crazy!

Next. Also to come out of the closet today was Lindsay Lohan. Yet again, no surprise there. She's been all over this chick for months now. This news, not so interesting.

Lastly on my list of strange things happening in Hollywood is that Jennifer Hudson (American Idol reject but Dreamgirls success) is engaged to Punk from the TV show I Love New York. Now, Jennifer, you know you can do better than marrying someone who was head over heels for New York. But on the topic of gay celebrities...I am not so sure that Punk is straight. Perhaps he will come out of the closet after their first baby.

Speaking of Clay Aiken, this is perhaps the best clip....ever


Note that he's covering Elton John.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

I picked this song for two reasons
1) My super-cool Communications professor, tends to play music in class and when he played this song I remembered just how classic it is
2) It's freaking cold for September. I am shivering in my dorm room. One might suggest turning off the air conditioning, but this city is too loud and I prefer the sound of the air conditioning to obnoxiously drunk 18 year olds and ambulance sirens. But even outside, where the air conditioner is not, it is freezing!...Anyway, I digress.

For those in my Comm class, it is important to note that this rendition (as with the one that Turow played), is not by Ray Charles and Nina Simone, but rather by Ray Charles and Betty Carter.

Now, I can't find a live recording, but this will have to do.



Ps: if you haven't seen the movie, Ray, with Jamie Foxx, you should really check it out- it's an excellent movie.

Pistol For Ringo

I'm not going to ponder a guess as to what their name means, but a good old google search led me to this- which left me even more confused than I was originally. But regardless, you should check these guys out. Featuring one of my Philly faves, Ben Arnold, Pistol for Ringo formed as a collective, this summer, in sunny LA. Their sound is pretty sweet- it's like surf/indie/blues rock. I hate genres. I also hate when people fuse genres because that makes it even more confusing, but I'm sorry I had to do it. I guess you could call it simple feel good music, but Arnolds voice, as always, delivers that raw, raspy sentiment that touches your soul.

Now, I have just realized, through the wonderful aid of google analytics, that my blog readership is pretty international, so I should stop speaking strictly about Philadelphia events. So, for your West- Coasters, this is for you!


This fall, Pistol for Ringo will be playing on the West Coast, namely California and Nevada. I would seriously check them out, if you get the chance. For everyone else, their 4 song EP will be relased on iTunes October 8th.

Song to Listen to:
Love Like Water

Not the Same

I told you about this event a while ago but last week, Ben Folds performed with members of the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra at the Mann Center. Epic, I know. For those of you who missed, here is a sample of the amazing evening:



Unfortunately, the quality sucks and as you can imagine it was "Not the Same" live, but soo much better.

Roc the Mic

Philly Phriday, son! So, I love this song, even though it's mad old. But it definitely deserves to be a Philly Phrday- especially given the Philadelphia paraphernalia.

Hang Me Up To Dry- Cold War kids

I am tired and not really thinking straight, so I am just going to post Song of the Day

The Kooks come to Penn

I am not sure if this is supposed to be a surprise or not, but I figure, their probably aren't that many people from Penn who read this- so I am going to go for it.

The Kooks are performing at the Electric Factory on Monday- but prior to that performance, they will be on Penn's College Green, busking. One may ask what busking is and I have a credible answer for you via wikipedia.

"Busking is the practice of performing in public places for tips and gratuities. People engaging in this practice are called buskers. "

I think the Kooks are very good. I guess they're your typical British Indie Rock band, but I really like their sound. So, if you're in the area, go to College Green circa 1pm.

Naive- The Kooks

Pump Up Music

This morning, I found out I made the Women's Club Soccer team at Penn, to much of my surprise. When I heard the news, I heard this song in my head:



Cheesy, yes, but that song gets me going. I then realized, it's been two years since I have played soccer, so my warm up music is a bit dated. My current warm up playlist includes:

1. Disco Inferno- 50 Cent
   
2. Where's Your Head At- Basement Jaxx
   
3. Roc the Mic- Beanie Sigel & Freeway (Philly!)
   
4. Touch It- Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott, Mary J, Rah Digga
   
5. Come to Me- Diddy
   
6. Faint- Linkin Park
   
7. Money Maker- Ludacris
   
8. Breathe, Stretch, Shake - Mase
   
9. Lights, Camera, Action- Diddy/ Mr. Cheeks
   
10. Make it Rain- Fat Joe
    
11. Eye of the Tiger- Survivor
    

Needless to say, I am going to need a new playlist for this season.

I Told Jay I Did a Song With Coldplay

On Kanye West's tribute (?) to Jay-Z, "Big Brother", he recites the line, "I told Jay I did a song with Coldplay/ next thing I know he got a song with Coldplay/ Back of my mind I'm like 'Damn, no way,'/ translate Espanol, 'No way, Jose.'" Now, this song in general confuses me because I don't understand if Kanye West is praising Jay-Z or at times insulting his integrity. I am leaning toward the former but check out the lyrics and you decide for yourself (and don't cheat using song meanings)

The other thing that confused me about this song is that I didn't recall Jay-Z or Kanye West doing a song with Coldplay so I did a little further investigation and found the following:

The song that Kanye West is referring to is not actually a song with Coldplay, but rather "Homecoming," featuring Chris Martin of Coldplay. I have the CD but I never bothered to look at the cover art (because I don't particularly like Kanye West, the person, too much). So, I never knew that this was Christ Martin. Anyway, here's the music video- seeing the two of them on camera is kind of interesting, but I think the video and song are quite good (note Chris Martin's hand dancing, as seen on Viva La Vida):




Now, for Jay-Z's song with Coldplay, that took a bit more work, because I had actually never heard the song before. But, the song is "Beach Chair," also featuring Chris Martin, not the whole band. This is not the official video, but here's the song:




Stylistically and musically, I like Jay-Z and Kanye West equally. Personality wise, I like Jay-Z a lot more than Kanye West. But when it comes to their songs featuring Chris Martin, I think Kanye's is best. So, Homecoming is Song of the Day.

Motivation- Delta Spirit

I first heard Delta Spirit this summer, while working at XPN. They're a pretty sweet band, I think, and very catchy. Song of the Day is "Motivation" by Delta Spirit. The video is quite strange, especially at the end.



If you like what you heard, check them out October 23rd at Johnny Brenda's.

32 Flavors

Ani Difranco is an XPN favorite and I walked past XPN today soo...I made her artist of the day. Artist of the day translates into artist of the day. So, here it is, Ani Difranco, "32 Flavors."

Sunshine of Your Life

I've been familiar with this song for quite a while now- mostly because my mom is a hippie. But, it's on Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock. And, I am pretty amazing at that game (on easy) so I've had it stuck in my head all day sooooo I made i song of the day.

Australian Music

In the past few days I have been thinking immensely about where I want to study abroad. Due to the fact that the only languages I ever studied are now "dead" (although, Dr. Henry V. Bender would disagree), I am stuck going to an English-speaking country. In reality, most countries speak English and I think I should be rewarded with the opportunity to study wherever I like, but Penn seems to disagree with me. I thought England- but I would only want to be in London- and I've been there before and I didn't think it was all that great. Scotland and New Zealand were always pretty much out of the question and I finally decided on Australia. Where in Australia you may ask? Melbourne!


So, I've been thinking about how I will acclimate to a new country and of course the music of the country was going to be pretty important. I know American music is all around the world, but I wanted to know more about the music of that country. So I sat down to make a list of music I knew from Australia and came up with the following:

1. Yothu Yindi

I studied them last year and I think they're actually pretty sweet but slightly dated. So, I headed to good old Wikipedia and extended my list to include:

1. AC/DC
2. Savage Garden
3. The Bee Gees (sort of)
4. The Loved Ones (Melbourne!)

The List is much more extensive, but these are really the only people I knew, so forgive me Aussies. When I return, I will know more about your music, I promise.

So, in honor of my hopeful study abroad location, as well as the handful of international readers of my blog, today's song of the day will be......

Back In Black- AC/DC



It was a difficult decision, but 90's pop week wasn't too long ago and I don't want you to hate me too much. I do love Savage Garden though.

Purple Haze- Jimi Hendrix

Title explains it all.

Army- Ben Folds

I know I haven't done Song of the Day in more than a week...but whatever, I am back (for now anyway). Maybe during the school year we should switch to song of the week. Anywho, I really enjoy this song. It's the second SOD (you like that?) by Ben Folds but what can I say, he deserves it. I would not consider myself a big Ben Folds fan by any means but I have seen him perform twice, and he is quite good. So, SOD is Army by Ben Folds. Oh, and speaking of Mr. Folds, he will be performing at The Mann Music Center on September 6th, with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Tickets are sold out, I believe, but that's pretty sweet.

Come See The Hustle

I love this band. I went to a show about a month ago with a friend and we were discussing the awesomeness of The Hustle. They somehow appeal to all audiences and upon further reflection, we realized that there really is nothing bad to say about them. Some cynics claim that hip-hop isn't "real music" (whatever that means), but they also have a sick vocalist. Plus, they play their own instruments. So chill let's just face it, you can't knock The Hustle.

So- now that I have hopefully convinced you, you should come see The Hustle live, tomorrow in Rittenhouse...FOR FREE! Yes, free music- doesn't get much better than that. See you there!

Also, pick up their EP, 4,5,6