Following the weather is a little on the nerdy side so it should be no surprise that the GSD Staff is thrilled that geek rock legends They Might Be Giants and Fountains of Wayne have released, or will be releasing, albums in 2011.
In early August Fountains of Wayne put out their first album since 2007, and it's all very familiar territory. And no one's complaining at staff headquarters. Familiarly unfamiliar characters, subtle narratives, and toe-topping pop tunes have become the norm not the exception for FoW, and we're all the better for it. We absolutely love "The Summer Place" and strongly urge you to star it in Spotify or download it immediately. [By the way, another fun feature of Spotify that we've just discovered is the ability to check out the hot tunes in other countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden, and Great Britain. Fascinating!]
TMBG's album is even better news. They've gone over to the children side of the fence (quite successfully) in recent years (quite successfully), but we're glad they're back making intelligent tunes for adults. The return of TMBG will put a pep in your step, and you can hear two of their new tunes by watching their Tiny Desk Concert at NPR (below).
Long live geek rock! Fountain of Wayne's CD is available now, and TMBG's will be out in September.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
August 7: Grouplove
Maybe we're a few months behind the curve on this band, but one viewing of Grouplove's "Tongue Tied" on KCRW's Morning Becomes Electric and we can see this band is a bouncy ball o' alt rock fun. We're more than happy to get on board the Grouplove party wagon immediately because it's going to be a fun ride. Lead singer Christian Zucconi's rasp borders on the edge of out-of-control (he sounds like a less rangy Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins), and Hannah Hooper's spunky little rap solo midway is the kind of unexpected twist you may come to expect from a Grouplove song.
Their self-titled EP (which debuted in January of this year) is strong top to bottom, and we highly recommend you Spotify "Don't Say Oh Well," "Naked Kids," and "Get Giddy." These upbeat songs are perfect for summertime cruising to nowhere particular with a car full of your best mates.
We see a huge splash for this band when their full-length album Never Trust A Happy Song is released in September. And it looks like you'll have to wait until then to get your hands on "Tongue Tied," as you can't get it on iTunes or Spotify at the moment.
Their self-titled EP (which debuted in January of this year) is strong top to bottom, and we highly recommend you Spotify "Don't Say Oh Well," "Naked Kids," and "Get Giddy." These upbeat songs are perfect for summertime cruising to nowhere particular with a car full of your best mates.
We see a huge splash for this band when their full-length album Never Trust A Happy Song is released in September. And it looks like you'll have to wait until then to get your hands on "Tongue Tied," as you can't get it on iTunes or Spotify at the moment.
August 7: Trendy Trend -- Lifetime Checklists
Trolling the web the other day, the GSD Staff came across this little gem of a story. Seventy-five-year-old Karl Hoepfner and Carol Hoepfner, 73, of Rockland, Texas have made it their life ambition to visit every Whataburger restaurant--all 722 of them--before their time on Earth expires.
Our first thoughts were 1) how about dovetailing in visits to every Planet Fitness as well?; 2) ah, just look at the opportunities idleness in retirement presents!
On second thought, though, we admire the Hoepfners' ambition. They've made it to 223 of the Southern burger chain outlets and--mercifully for their arteries--they don't eat at every one. Maybe their pursuit lacks the glamor of, say, climbing the 46 peaks of the Adirondacks or golfing in all fifty states, but no one should begrudge the Hoepfners the source of much joy in their lives. Plus, Karl sounds like a good old soul as he used $7,000 from the Whataburger essay contest he won to buy a thousand $7 dollar gift cards to give to the homeless.
So, what's your checklist? We suggest having short term checklists and long term ones. Watch all five seasons of The Wire; read the six Jane Austen novels; become a connoisseur and try every cream soda you can get your hands on. For the long term checklist, go big or go home. Visit as many countries as you can. Swim in all the major bodies of water of the world. If you have the resources, go for it.
We'd love to hear about your checklist in the comment section below.
Our first thoughts were 1) how about dovetailing in visits to every Planet Fitness as well?; 2) ah, just look at the opportunities idleness in retirement presents!
On second thought, though, we admire the Hoepfners' ambition. They've made it to 223 of the Southern burger chain outlets and--mercifully for their arteries--they don't eat at every one. Maybe their pursuit lacks the glamor of, say, climbing the 46 peaks of the Adirondacks or golfing in all fifty states, but no one should begrudge the Hoepfners the source of much joy in their lives. Plus, Karl sounds like a good old soul as he used $7,000 from the Whataburger essay contest he won to buy a thousand $7 dollar gift cards to give to the homeless.
So, what's your checklist? We suggest having short term checklists and long term ones. Watch all five seasons of The Wire; read the six Jane Austen novels; become a connoisseur and try every cream soda you can get your hands on. For the long term checklist, go big or go home. Visit as many countries as you can. Swim in all the major bodies of water of the world. If you have the resources, go for it.
We'd love to hear about your checklist in the comment section below.
Monday, August 1, 2011
August 1: Read "Getting bin Laden" by Nicholas Schmidle in The New Yorker
A fully detailed book-length account is sure to surface in the very near future, but in the interim Nicholas Schmidle's August 8th article in The New Yorker gives us a fascinating and detailed account of the before, during, and after of the raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden.
The narrative is tailor-made for a film, and Schmidle's details about the risky mission that almost went totally wrong are gripping. The best part of the article is the description of the post-mission meeting at Fort Campbell in Kentucky that President Obama had with the men who pulled off the attack.
The narrative is tailor-made for a film, and Schmidle's details about the risky mission that almost went totally wrong are gripping. The best part of the article is the description of the post-mission meeting at Fort Campbell in Kentucky that President Obama had with the men who pulled off the attack.
August 1: Spotify
Many services are pushing their way to the forefront on the inter-webs these days that will get you in touch with the newest, oldest, coolest, obscurest and bestest music known to humankind. You've got Pandora, iTunes Genius setting, Turntable.fm (which sounds incredibly cool if you have a more creative ability with music), Last.fm, not to mention the music channels on your XM receiver or as part of your cable television offerings.
So this week, the GSD Staff hunkered down and gave Spotify the ol' wheel kick and test drive. And, as it turns it, it's worth the MBs of space it'll take up on your laptop. It's not as slick as iTunes and it's not as surprising as Pandora can be, but what it offers is great. What Spotify gives you that the aforementioned do not is the ability to put together a playlist without buying a single song. GSD strongly believes that artists need to be compensated for their amazing work and that all songs added to your iPod need to be paid for, but, if you're sitting at the computer and you'd like to play a little music, why not put together an All-Time Greatest Hits compilation of your absolutely favorite songs without spending a dime? If you really love a song, you should purchase that song and, by doing so, support the artist.
Just the other day in the office we happened across the Billy Squier classic, "Lonely Is the Night." We'd forgotten about how much this song rocks, so we looked it up on Spotify, there it was, and -- bam! -- we added it to the starred playlist. We tried a few other obscurer tunes -- The Mountain Goats' "Pigs Ran Straightway Into the Water, Triumph Of" (2005) and "Reckoning Day" by The Rainmakers (1989) -- and sure enough we found them, too. We're not entirely sure yet if you can create playlists within the starred song playlist (our guess is "of course"), but does it really matter? Not in the mood for the song on the playlist? Hit the double arrows button and off you go to your next "Greatest Song of All Time." It's that easy and the price is right.
Spotify is only available right now by requesting an invite. The GSD Staff's invite came within 48 hours. Go to Spotify now. It'll take a day or two to get used to if you like iTunes and Pandora, but learning the ropes will be well worth it.
So this week, the GSD Staff hunkered down and gave Spotify the ol' wheel kick and test drive. And, as it turns it, it's worth the MBs of space it'll take up on your laptop. It's not as slick as iTunes and it's not as surprising as Pandora can be, but what it offers is great. What Spotify gives you that the aforementioned do not is the ability to put together a playlist without buying a single song. GSD strongly believes that artists need to be compensated for their amazing work and that all songs added to your iPod need to be paid for, but, if you're sitting at the computer and you'd like to play a little music, why not put together an All-Time Greatest Hits compilation of your absolutely favorite songs without spending a dime? If you really love a song, you should purchase that song and, by doing so, support the artist.
Just the other day in the office we happened across the Billy Squier classic, "Lonely Is the Night." We'd forgotten about how much this song rocks, so we looked it up on Spotify, there it was, and -- bam! -- we added it to the starred playlist. We tried a few other obscurer tunes -- The Mountain Goats' "Pigs Ran Straightway Into the Water, Triumph Of" (2005) and "Reckoning Day" by The Rainmakers (1989) -- and sure enough we found them, too. We're not entirely sure yet if you can create playlists within the starred song playlist (our guess is "of course"), but does it really matter? Not in the mood for the song on the playlist? Hit the double arrows button and off you go to your next "Greatest Song of All Time." It's that easy and the price is right.
Spotify is only available right now by requesting an invite. The GSD Staff's invite came within 48 hours. Go to Spotify now. It'll take a day or two to get used to if you like iTunes and Pandora, but learning the ropes will be well worth it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)