"Get Happy" About Bowling For Soup

I’ve held back on today’s topic for about a month now, but today I discovered that Bowling For Soup’s new album Sorry For Partyin’ is coming out in about two weeks (October 13) so in honor of that, I’m writing about them, their latest EP My Wena, and the newest single (released Sept. 22) called “No Hablo Ingles.”

Bowling For Soup definitely makes my list of all-time top-five favorite bands, hands down. They probably come in at about 3rd place, after Relient K, but it’s a close call. This summer I read on their bio that they worked out mathematically the sad-to-happy ratio of lyrics in their songs, so that for every sad lyric they have so many more happy ones. I think that’s really clever (and it’s no wonder that lead singer Jaret Reddick has two college degrees and is such a phenomenal singer and songwriter) and I could not think of a happier, peppier, more life-loving band. Bowling For Soup’s songs are antidepressants, no exaggeration.

The My Wena EP came out August 7, 2009, and I got it not long after its release date. Normally I don’t buy EPs, or much care about them, but BFS is an exception. My favorite song on the EP is “I’ll Always Remember You (That Way)” because it’s about a guy and a girl looking back on their relationship, with the guy sung by Jaret Reddick and the girl sung by Kim Shattuck of The Muffs. They are each saying what they remember of their time together, but it is kind of funny how their perspectives differ:

GIRL: Do you remember the moonlight in my hair?
GUY: I remember pulling your hair
GIRL: I told my friends that it was love
GUY: I told mine you couldn’t get enough!

GIRL: I’ll always remember you
GUY: Always remember you
GIRL: The moon and the stars
GUY: The back of my car
GIRL: That song that was ours
GUY: The back of my car
GUY: The memories are different
GIRL: But we felt the same
BOTH: And I’ll always remember you that way.

I really love the realism in that. Everyone has a different view of how an event happened; nobody has the same memories, even in relationships. It’s kind of funny, because a lot of songs are all about “unity” in love, and thousands of songs say, “I’ll always remember you,” but Bowling For Soup takes it farther with the “That Way.” And it’s equally amusing because guys and girls really do have different perspectives, especially in relationships, and sometimes that’s the very thing that destroys them.

But I have to say, Bowling For Soup have REALLY outdone themselves on their newest single, “No Hablo Ingles.” It has the classic BFS humor and then some—basically the entire premise of the song is the joke that you can get out of any situation by claiming not to speak English. (If you can’t deduce that from the title.) Jaret Reddick and the guys are, as usual, off-handedly hilarious in their tone and use of lyrics, such as, “My teacher asked me where my homework was / And that's when I told her, ‘No hablo Inglés!’ / Policeman caught me doing ninety / And that’s when he pulled me over: ‘No hablo Inglés!’” And the chorus: “To make a getaway / It’s all you’ve gotta say! / (¡Cuatro! ¡Cinco! ¡Seis!) / ‘No hablo Inglés!’”

I really can’t describe all the humor of Jaret’s little spoken asides, though, so I really think you should just buy the single, or wait for Sorry For Partyin’ to come out on October 13th. (I can’t wait!!!) That’s going to be a very good day for me—just as Bowling For Soup intended. Because really, that’s what I love best about them: they just want everyone to be happy, and they make sure it happens with their music. (Just like they say in “Shut Up And Smile,” which by the title is probably a self-explanatory song.)

Happy listening! (Literally.)
Emily Noel

(Post title taken from "Get Happy" by Bowling For Soup. All reprinted lyrics copyright of Bowling For Soup.)

"I'm Leaving You My Legacy..."

This morning at brunch, my friend goes, “So how’s that music blog going?” And I said, “…It’s going. I’m working on it.” But as you can see, I am kind of a slacker in the blogging department. I could say I’ve been taking some “mental health days,” but if that’s really the case then this is rapidly turning into a mental health semester, and that isn’t what I want. So blogging it is. (So here you go, KDB—hope you see this update!)

I have been listening to my favorite female artist a lot lately—Katy Perry. (Though for a side note, I have to say that I used to be a huge Avril Lavigne fan in 8th grade and high school. I still love her first album, but as of late I feel like she tried to change her style too much, just to fit in. Maybe she wanted the change—I don’t know. But I didn’t like her most recent album The Best Damned Thing. It didn’t have the same spunk and fighting spirit of Let Go or even Under My Skin.) Anyway, nowadays Katy Perry is my absolute favorite female singer. Her songs are so down-to-earth and real, but fun and “sing-able.” Obviously she has the standard radio hits “Ur So Gay,” “Waking Up In Vegas,” “I Kissed A Girl,” and of course “Hot N Cold.” Last fall, I was all about “Hot N Cold,” but all of her songs are so upbeat and catchy that you can’t help loving them. I was once addicted to her music video for “Hot N Cold,” and I still really love it—because really, who wouldn’t chase her husband-to-be around town for ditching her at the aisle? My favorite line is, “Someone call the doctor, got a case of the love bipolar / Stuck on a roller coaster, can’t get off this ride” because it sums up the very essence of commitment-fearing guys. Her playful use of words is what makes her songs so believable and fun.

I don’t just love her hits, either—I invested in her debut album One of the Boys and discovered that there is not a single song I dislike on the entire album. No song-hopping for me when it comes to Katy! My favorite non-hit songs are actually two of the more serious ones—“Lost” and “Fingerprints.” If you don’t have the album, you probably will not have heard them, but they’re very heartfelt and emotional. “Lost” is about being out on your own but feeling like you don’t belong anywhere: “So sick of this town pulling me down / My mother says I should come back home / But can’t find the way ’cause the way is gone / So if I pray, am I just sending words into outer space?” And then the refrain: “Have you ever been so lost? Known the way, and still so lost?” Those are words that I can really relate to, and I think it might be a feeling that a lot of young adults can sympathize with—once you get out on your own, you realize that freedom can be a lot harder and sometimes a lot more lonely than you ever anticipated.

“Fingerprints” is nowhere near as somber, but definitely has a note of seriousness to it, if only because it carries such distinct tones of defiance and pride. It is basically about being put down and told that you can’t make it and do what you want with your life, but rebelling and going for it anyway. (I do not know if it is a personal statement from Katy Perry in that way, but it’s relatable nonetheless.) Obviously, there are thousands of songs with the same message, but Katy’s catchy music and playful wording make it different somehow. My favorite line is, “’Cause I’m worth more than this / So stop writing prescriptions for my Ritalin / I can’t focus my attention,” because it really puts some individuality in there. The entire song, underlined by the refrain of, “I wanna break the mold, I wanna break the stereotype / Fist in the air, I’m not going down without a fight” and “I want you to remember me…I’m leaving my fingerprints on you,” is saying, “Don’t tell me what I can’t do, just watch and let me prove to you that I can.” I really like messages like that, especially in songs. Songs like that are really uplifting and empowering; even when you feel down, they make you think that maybe there is a reason to fight for what you want, no matter how hopeless it seems or how many people tell you can’t do it.

Now go out and buy One of the Boys—it’s so worth it! I love you, Katy Perry!

Thanks for reading!
Emily Noel

(Disclaimer: Credit for the post title - Katy Perry's "Fingerprints." All lyrics are copyright of Katy Perry.)

Emily Noel's Music Video Judgement

In honor of tonight's MTV Video Music Awards, I'd just like to show you all the official worst music video ever, which I first saw at the Hard Rock Cafe in Cardiff, Wales this winter. Putting aside my personal dislike of Bono's music, I have not yet met anyone who enjoys this music video; it has no story arc whatsoever. If you do, please tell me why because I think it is the worst piece of visual art I have ever seen and yet it is continuously hiliarious to my friends and I.

And just for amusement, my all-time top-five music videos are:
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
Helena - My Chemical Romance
Apologize - OneRepublic
All That I've Got - The Used
So What? - Pink

Hope you all enjoy the VMAs!
Emily Noel

P.S. - I just flipped on the VMAs and saw Kristen Stewart from Twilight advertising the upcoming sequel New Moon. And then Beyonce came out half-naked, and I stopped watching. Especially because one of my roommates told me that Kristen Stewart is playing Joan Jett in an upcoming film. Why would anyone give Stewart a role of importance?! She was good in Twilight, but I can't see her playing that kind of role. Get Zooey Deschanel, at least! She could do it, I bet. But maybe I'm just biased.

Just A Little Movie Reviewing

So Tim Burton’s 9 came out on Wednesday, which besides being a huge Burton fan, I am rather indifferent about, but Coheed’s single “Welcome Home” was in the trailer which I was SUPER EXCITED about…but it’s not in the movie, unfortunately. In other news, I am switching the blogging schedule to ONLY Monday and Friday. Mid-week is not my best time, which is why I skipped the actual 9-9-9 blog date.

Anyway, yesterday I re-watched one of my all-time top favorite movies, Almost Famous. It is basically a movie about how I wish my life would play out: a 15-year old kid who writes for local underground music magazines is hired to work for Rolling Stone and tours with a band called Stillwater. It’s a really incredible movie (with Kate Hudson and Philip Seymour Hoffman) and I never get tired of watching it. And it is also really amazing the way the music works within the story—like how his older sister (Zooey Deschanel—one of my favorite actresses—and by the way, does anyone else agree with me that she looks almost EXACTLY like Katy Perry? I swear they’re the same person) leaves home to become a stewardess and explains it by playing Simon and Garfunkel’s “America” to her family. I love that. Music is the best way to explain an emotion, sometimes. You just have to be open to listen. You can really learn a lot about a person by what they listen to or what they try to play for you.

Anyway, the music from the film (aside from including a lot of Elton John, who I can only take in low doses) is perfect. For instance, Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” pretty much sums up Kate Hudson’s character, the stunning Miss Penny Lane, sometimes-girlfriend of Stillwater’s lead guitarist Russell Hammond. I believe Ms. Hudson is really the sparkle behind all the emotion of the film, in addition to the astounding choice of music. The lyrics “Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band / Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man” could not describe Penny Lane any better—she is in love with Russell, she is the soul of Stillwater and their biggest fan, yet taken for granted somewhat because of her groupie status. I would venture to say the movie is really as much about her as it is about William Miller, the boy journalist (played by Patrick Fugit.) The film isn’t just about William Miller’s journey across America and his adventures with the band, nor is it simply about the politics and trials of the music industry—it’s really about the undying love and loyalty of fans to their favorite bands. Long story short, I could not recommend any film more (except for High Fidelity.)

Happy watching & happy weekend!
Emily Noel

Mixing and Matching

On the same day that I discovered the Vitamin String Quartet, I also found this really fantastic workout music. They are iTunes albums comprised of dance and techno mixes by various artists. There are songs adapted from movies called Fit Flix Workout Music and pop music workout mixes categorized by year; for instance, I bought a few tracks off of the 70’s and 80’s Pop Workout Music 2 album. There are lots of different ones to choose from though, and some of them are specifically designed just for cardio, like walking and running mixes. Occasionally I’ve made my own workout mixes for walking and running, but it’s really neat that they come pre-made on iTunes. If you’re looking for new workout music, definitely check them out.

My favorite is the Fit Flix Workout Music 1 album (136-148BPM Music for Moderate-Fast Paced Walking, Jogging, Cardio) which has 8 tracks of well-known songs from movies, such as “My Heart Will Go On” from Titantic, “Eye of the Tiger” from Rocky, and the closing theme from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl—all set to techno. I also got “Sugar Baby Love,” “Baby I Love Your Way,” and “Lay All Your Love On Me” from 70’s and 80’s Pop Workout Music 2, which are also set to techno, of course. I think these are really funny and clever and I cannot wait to put them to use in my workouts. Interesting music always makes working out more enjoyable for me; it’s almost like setting a goal of how much awesome music I can listen to before I’m exhausted or it’s time to stop.

While I am on the subject of interesting music medleys, I can also mention one of Girl Talk’s albums, Feed The Animals. This very intense and creative mix was introduced to me by a friend on the way to a Coheed and Cambria concert a few months ago. The entire album is made up of parts of rap and hip-hop songs woven together with old rock classics. I am generally not a big fan of rap or hip-hop, but I can definitely respect the effort and planning involved in creating such mixes. For example, in the track “Play Your Part (Part 2)” Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” is backed by some of the guitar parts of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge,” and then “Pop, Lock, and Drop It” is set to Journey’s “Faithfully.” Feed The Animals made me think about what sort of songs I would mix if I had the proper software and knowledge to do so. It is really fun not to cheat by looking online for the parts, but rather to try to pick out the songs on your own and then check to see if you were right. But if you would like to see what songs the tracks are made from, you can see some fairly accurate lists on Wikipedia’s Feed The Animals page. (Found here—though I do not condone using Wikipedia as a trusted web source.)

Happy Labor Day!
Emily Noel

Happy Fall 2009

Happy Fall 2009! And no, I did not cop out on updating the blog – I’ve just been uber busy moving into my new apartment at college for the Fall 09 semester, unpacking, and going to classes. So now I’m back on track, and unless some huge assignment or something throws me off, I’m going to stick to it.

Today’s topic is one that I’ve wanted to cover since I started the blog because I discovered this group on the day I started it. The group is not actually one group, it is a number of groups that make up the Vitamin String Quartet. From what I understand, there are several string quartets in Los Angeles, all of which produce covers of well-known groups, such as Abba, the Beatles, the Killers, My Chemical Romance, and many others. (Full lists can be found on iTunes, or if you just Google search the quartet.) The reason I discovered them was because they did a cover of Coheed and Cambria’s In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 album and I had to get it, of course. I was elated because In Keeping Secrets is my second-favorite Coheed album, and it was so interesting to hear the tracks without the vocals, synthesizers, and drums—just string instruments. When I listen to the cover of In Keeping Secrets I can almost hear the vocals overlapping the instruments, but it evokes a totally different feeling to the song. When Claudio Sanchez (Coheed and Cambria) sings, he injects a lot of emotion into his words. Some of the depth of emotion is lost without his vocals, because the instrumentals on their own make the mood sound more upbeat when Claudio’s lyrics make the song so much darker. It’s a really interesting and creative concept, so I highly recommend checking if the Quartet has done tributes of your favorite artists. It really puts an interesting spin on the songs, almost as if you’re hearing them for the first time all over again.

The album was so fabulous that I had to find out more about the Vitamin String Quartet’s tributes. I also got their covers of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” and Relient K’s “In Love With The 80’s (Pink Tux To The Prom)” because they both sounded really cool in purely instrumental form. “Don’t Stop Believing” is such a classic that I enjoy hearing it any form, but I had never heard it without the vocals before, obviously. The tune is clearly recognizable but the lack of vocals makes it a lot less upbeat and inspiring. “In Love With The 80’s” is still just as catchy, though, even if it does lack the beauty of Matthew Theissen’s voice. I plan to buy more of the Quartet’s tributes eventually because they’re so phenomenal.

Enjoy!
Emily Noel

Music from Travels in England, France, and Scotland

When I was abroad last semester, I discovered that American artists are extremely popular in Britain. I had hoped to gain some new music while over there, but in a London souvenir shop on my very first weekend, I found myself listening to Enrique Iglesias’s “Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song).” In pubs and on the radio, I’d often hear hit singles by The Fray or Kelly Clarkson. I did come across some “native” British music. There was a guitarist in Covent Garden in London playing Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” and a few radio advertisements for Morrissey, a British singer and songwriter I happened to discover about a year before going abroad. (You might be familiar with him from The Smiths. He also recently released a new album.) On one of our last weekends, my friends and I heard one of Coldplay's old albums playing in a pub in Salisbury. It was one of those depressing ones where all the tracks sound the same. (Until “Viva La Vida” I was not a Coldplay fan, so my apologies to any Coldplay fans. They are not my taste.) But although I know those bands are native to England, I was still disappointed that I didn't hear anything radically unfamiliar. It seems that America and England have done an equal trade in band popularity.

But one of my theatre/literature classes led me to discover an intriguing medley of music in the play The Convict’s Opera, which is a modern adaptation of John Gay’s play The Beggar’s Opera. It was one of the first ballad operas of its time (circa 1728.) But The Convict’s Opera, which I was fortunate enough to see in Oxford, uses such modern day songs as “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers and Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” the latter of which included lyrics such as “With one eye in the looking glass” instead of “With one eye in the mirror.” But interestingly enough, my professors had never heard of The Proclaimers or of their one hit single. Maybe some of you have never heard of it, but it was a popular song in its day, and it even earned mention on Family Guy, albeit in a cut-away gag. I really loved The Convict’s Opera because it mimicked John Gay’s plot while including a modern twist, featuring prisoners on a ship bound for New South Wales who must put on a performance to keep up morale on their voyage, which is where the ballads come in.

Another of my musical discoveries abroad was a real attraction to French pop music. I spent Easter weekend in Paris, and on our first night my roommate and I took a walk to a corner pizzeria not far from our hostel. While our (very delicious) pizza was being made before us, I walked over to listen to the radio playing in the corner and take a peek at the stack of French CDs beside it. One problem: I don’t speak or read French, so I don’t know what the CDs were and I don’t know what the radio DJ was saying about the songs. Whatever those songs were, though, they were extremely catchy. I don’t care that I don’t understand a word of French—music is music. I still got the general idea with the beat and tone of voice. I have taken to searching for French pop music on iTunes, but with little luck so far. I did look into the French artist Camille, who did the single “Le festin” for the 2007 Disney/Pixar film Ratatouille. I have several of her albums now but (of course) have not yet managed to listen to them in full.

But the gem of my musical discoveries abroad is an album I bought in my favorite country in the United Kingdom—Scotland. I first heard this album in a souvenir shop in Edinburgh just across the street from our hotel. As I was flipping through racks of plaid hats, kilts, and flags bearing the crests of Scottish clans, I realized that I knew the tune playing—though it was only bagpipes. I turned to my friend and said, “Doesn’t this sound like ‘We Will Rock You’?” And she agreed that, yes, it did. I wanted desperately to know where I could find a bagpipe rendition of “We Will Rock You,” but I didn’t know how I would go about that. Maybe, I thought, I was just missing America and merely imagined that those bagpipes sounded like “We Will Rock You.” That was until the next song sounded suspiciously like “Eye of the Tiger.” I couldn't have mistaken both, despite the bagpipes.

Yes, it turns out that Scotland is home to a very wonderful band called the Red Hot Chilli Pipers (with two L’s in “Chilli”) who play such famous American hits as those I’ve mentioned, as well as Deep Purple’s “Smoke On The Water” (which incidentally is the first song I learned to play on guitar.) The next day in the Edinburgh Castle gift shop, I heard those familiar bagpipe songs again, and this time I was able to find a rack of CDs and was ecstatic to buy the Pipers’ Blast Live album, which features the American cover songs as well as some Scottish songs, such as “Hills of Argyll” and “Celtic Bolero.” It’s an interesting medley, but endlessly creative and delightful to listen to. For weeks after I returned to my college in Oxfordshire, I would sit in one of the libraries and hear from various other rooms the strains of bagpipes playing “We Will Rock You”—it seems that many of my fellow classmates discovered and loved the Red Hot Chilli Pipers as well. Even if you don’t like bagpipe music (and frankly, before finding the Pipers, I wasn’t too fond of it) you should check out their albums, which are also available on iTunes.

Happy listening,
Emily Noel

“My Theory Isn’t Perfect, But It’s Close”

First, I’d like to give a shout-out to one of my best and long-time friends who left tonight for a semester abroad in Italy—bon voyage, mia ragazza! Party it up, take lots of pictures and, oh yeah—study, I guess. You’re going to have the best time of your life! Love you!

Secondly—yes, I know it’s technically a Tuesday entry, not a Monday, but it would have been on Monday except I was out late and then my laptop had a little bit of a meltdown and I couldn’t post in time.

So the other day a friend called and while we were talking I could make out music in the background, which I identified as the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It turned out to be their latest album, the double-disc Stadium Arcadium, which I acquired last summer. Unfortunately, I am sorry to admit that I have not listened to all of it. I have to admit a terrible flaw when it comes to music: after listening to an album all the way through for the first time, I tend to only focus on a few songs that I am instantly attracted to and ignore the rest, which is a constant source of annoyance to a lot of my friends. “How can you do that?” several have asked more than once. I don’t have an answer for this; I guess I just figure why waste time on songs that don’t really grab me when I can spend more time with the ones I love? It’s not a conscious decision; it’s just something I do. Of course, I will occasionally stumble upon these “reject songs” later, sometimes on the radio or played for me by a friend, and I’ll say, “Wow, what’s this? I love it!” And when I am told the song and artist, I say, “Oh, I have this album!” I usually get the knowing look: She’s had this song for years and never bothered to give it a second chance. Again. I generally don’t have this problem with EPs or short albums, but on one as extensive as Stadium Arcadium, I regret to say I have not given it all the attention it deserves.

But overhearing my friend’s background music led us to indulge in one of my favorite pastimes—discussing music! I love it so much and yet this happens to rarely with people that I really don’t know why I don’t actively try to engage people in the topic. Instead, I often bore my mother with long-winded descriptions of songs or bands or my idol, Claudio Sanchez, the front man of Coheed and Cambria. But it happened the other night, and I was very pleased. My friend told me how much he loves the Chili Peppers because their lyrics are often so in-depth and can be interpreted in a number of ways. He said you really have to give them a careful listen and pay close attention to get all the meaning. I definitely agree with that, but for me the Chili Peppers have such an easy-going beat to so many of their songs that I tend to just write them off as background music without paying much attention to the lyrics. Of course I know the old RHCP classics (because who could forget “Don’t Stop” and “The Zephyr Song”?) and about four years ago a friend gave me a number of RHCP albums. But, of course, I just picked out a few favorites, like “Don’t Stop,” and forgot about the rest.

So yesterday, keeping in mind my friend’s conversation, I made a point of giving the Red Hot Chili Peppers another listen. It seems that whenever a Chili Peppers song comes on, pretty much no one has to stop and wonder, “What band is this?” I think this is primarily because of Anthony Kiedis’s distinctive vocals, but also for that mellow melody I mentioned before that is such a trademark of many of their songs. As my friend said, they have a very unique sound that I have not heard elsewhere. I am not going to go into a RHCP back-story, because I know virtually nothing about their history as a band, other than that (I believe) they began in the early 80's (circa 1983) and are still going strong. But I do find it interesting that they have been able to uphold their own style for over 20 years without deviating too much in style, especially when so many of today’s bands can be mistaken for one another with sound-alike vocals and lyrics. And frankly, a lot of modern bands lack creativity. (I won't name names, but you might know what I mean--the pop boy bands or the screaming emo bands with uninspiring songs of unrequited love.) The Chili Peppers have held on to their own voice, and that is really something.

After listening much more closely to them yesterday, I have to concede to the talent of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. If you had asked me before this weekend what I thought of them, I would have said they are a decent band but not to my taste. I would have admitted that they are unique, but not extraordinary, in my opinion. But now I have come to think that they have been able to create something really amazing in their songs. One of my favorites off of Arcadium (skipping over the obvious hit-singles like “Snow (Hey Oh)” and “Dani California”) is “Wet Sand.” (And okay, yes, I am guilty AGAIN of skimming over a lot of the songs on Arcadium even yesterday—but hey, it’s a twenty-eight track album, and I’m definitely going to pay a lot closer attention to this band from now on.) Focusing on “Wet Sand” called to mind some of their older singles, again with the lulling melodies and the tapestry of lyrics that seem so simple at first-listen, but on reflection are actually a lot deeper than I originally thought. “Wet Sand” is actually a really beautiful song when you focus more on the use of the words, rather on just the simple phrases themselves—and to be honest, I am not even going to pretend that I understand it all. But the line, “I saw you there so unaware / Those hummingbirds all in your hair,” creates a beautiful mental image, and what about the lines that follow it? “The disrepair of Norma Jean / Could not compare to your routine / Balarama beauty goin’ toe to toe.” I really admire the ideas behind all the imagery in this song.

AND THEN! And then, as if the lyrics didn’t turn out to be fantastic enough, it really picks up at the last stanzas: “You don’t form in the wet sand / You don’t form at all / Oh, you don’t form in the wet sand – I do!” And it ends with a really fantastic guitar part that only adds another dimension to the Chili Peppers’ talents. If you have not given “Wet Sand,” Stadium Arcadium, or the Red Hot Chili Peppers a good listen, I definitely recommend that you familiarize yourself with them. Give those lyrics a good second look-over—you really might be surprised. Or, maybe you just aren’t as dismissive of spectacular artists as I am.

Goodnight, music-lovers!
Emily Noel

[Credit for entry title: lyrics taken from “Wet Sand” - Red Hot Chili Peppers.]

Tangent Thoughts

I have decided that I need a structure to this blog and so I'll be writing every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If I turn out to have less to say or one of those days ends up not working out, I'll change it, but for now that is the plan. Unfortunately for me, today is a Friday and that of course means I have to blog. But if I give up on the second day then I guess I'm not that serious about a career in writing about music. (Dream career: working for Rolling Stone or other music magazine.) But I am serious - I just have to prove it to myself this semester.

Fortunately for me and this blog, I have recently made several music discoveries. I won't discuss them all today, otherwise I'll probably run out of topics. But first, I'd like to give you a little bit more insight into what sort of music I like and what music means to me. (That kind of sounds like a 3rd grade essay: "What Music Means To Me." Oh well - the blog is kind of like an assignment, anyway.)

If you know me outside of this blog and you are not a random reader (which I assume you're not, actually, because I don't imagine that many others will stumble across this insignificant piece of arrogance) then you probably know that my all-time desert-island favorite movie is High Fidelity (John Cusack, Jack Black; a must-buy if you haven't seen it - don't even rent it, you will fall in love forever) because of its attitude toward music. It is based on the novel of same name by Nick Hornby, a British author who actually is coming out with a new music-themed book this September, to my ever-lasting joy. (Side note - I picked up several of his other books while in England; I highly recommend him, as well. He is extremely clever and funny.) Anyway, as much as I can't get enough of Hornby and as fantastic as the novel version of High Fidelity is, I have to say that John Cusack is what really gives the story a personality, or rather, makes Rob Gordon (the main character) come to life. He is a regular guy; he is that guy who sucks at love and relationships, which is pretty much every guy ever in my opinion. (Not that I can talk. Although I am a girl, if I haven't made that clear yet.)

But he also cares about music in a way that, until I saw this movie, I thought only I was capable of. (Not to be conceited, it's just that I have never met anyone who gets so into it.) I was unaware that there is this whole mass of people who will spend their afternoons tracking down old vinyl albums and still have record players and are into all that stuff. It's like they're tracking down lost memories, is what it sounds like to me. My dad has a record player that doesn't work and I want him to fix it. I think we sold most of our records at a garage sale like nine years ago, though, but I really like the idea from High Fidelity where Rob Gordon has shelves and shelves of records everywhere in his apartment. (I'm that way with books, though.) We also have a Victrola, which for those of you who don't know or are too young to know is the next step up from a gramaphone. It's this big wooden box that plays records just like a record player, though it only plays a certain kind. It won't play modern records. It's volume control are these two doors in front and the sound gets louder or softer depending whether you open them and how widely open them. Actually, I really hate the Victrola because the songs it plays are so, so old and tinny-sounding. But I think it's an interesting piece of musical history; without it, I wouldn't have my iPod. Besides, it's nearly a hundred years old and it still plays--I'll be lucky if my iPod makes it until next Christmas, and it's only two and a half years old.

Anyway, I'm getting severely off-topic. (Can you imagine if I was really trying to write for a professional music magazine and I lapsed off on a tangent about Victrolas? Fired much?) Back to High Fidelity. So Rob Gordon (John Cusack) is all about music. And I'm not going to give you a plot summary, you just really need to watch it and then watch it again because you might not fall in love with it the first time. I didn't, in fact, I can't even take credit for wanting to watch the movie of my own volition the first time I saw it. It was on some movie channel like TBS or AMC or something one day, and I only watched it because a friend once told me that it is a really excellent, really funny movie about relationships.

But to me, it is also more than that. Rob Gordon has this thing where he makes an all-time desert-island top-five list of everything--books, movies, songs, albums, artists, ex-girlfriends. Top-five break-ups, the ones that hurt the most. (I would so do that, if I had enough exes, which I don't. Although one of them would certainly be enough to fill all five spaces.) And his philosophy is that "it's not what you ARE like that matters, it's WHAT you like." I have to agree. Books, films, and music are really an excellent way to judge people in life. I'm not saying that's really all there is to it; obviously personality counts for a lot, too. But what if two people have ABSOLUTELY nothing in common? They're doomed, I think. But if they have ABSOLUTELY nothing in common EXCEPT a favorite band or book or film, then they could be saved. Maybe that one thing could hold them together. (I don't know from experience. But I like to think that it's true.) In High Fidelity, Rob and his girlfriend both love music, but his girlfriend starts to drift into the real world and become more focused on a "real job" as a lawyer. (Rob is the owner of a record store called Championship Vinyl. Did I mention that's another of my dream jobs?) But Rob says that their entire relationship is based on Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On." Personally, I think that would be really great if I was in a relationship based on a song or a love of the same band or book. It sounds dreamy and stupid to more practical people, I guess, but I never said I was practical.

Okay, back to topic—High Fidelity is pretty much my music Bible; it taught me that it’s okay to be an appreciator of music and not feel like a total poseur because I don’t play an instrument (although I have a Silvertone acoustic guitar that gets messed around on when the mood strikes) and I can’t read music and I haven’t even sung for an audience in over two years, and that was just for chorus in high school. High Fidelity made me realize that music can be a lifestyle without being your occupation. I am not going to be the next Jimi Hendrix or Joe Satriani and I don’t want to be—I’ll leave that to some of my very talented musician friends. Yes, I do dream sometimes of what it would be like to be able to play guitar on stage for a huge screaming audience, and it wouldn’t even be my own song, it would be something fun and upbeat from Bowling For Soup, or a great hit single that everyone loves, like Journey's “Don’t Stop Believing” or Blue Oyster Cult's "Burnin' For You" or—my biggest desire—something by my own desert-island all-time favorite band Coheed and Cambria. I could write several books on Coheed and never say all that I want to about how much I love them, so I’ll save them for another entry, or several other entries. Actually, they will probably crop up a lot in this entire blog, and if you don’t like them I hope that doesn’t turn you off this blog because I think that if anyone gave them a serious listen and delved deep into those songs you would fall in love with them, too, because they are all perfect. But more on that another time.

My point is, I know I will never live that dream of covering my favorite songs on guitar with a band in front of a huge audience at a concert. Even if I learn to actually play the guitar, I know deep down it is not my calling. I’m a writer, and that’s all I’ve ever been, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still be a music critic. Sure, I have a lot more to learn about it, and I don’t even pretend to be an expert. But I’d have an opinion and frankly, my idea of a soul mate is, on some level, someone like the character of Rob Gordon who I could discuss and argue music with from the moment I wake up until the moment I fall asleep, and it wouldn’t even mean anything, because what do individual opinions matter in the grand scheme of things? But it would mean something to me, because all I really want to do is discuss music. So, instead, I’ll talk about it in this blog, and probably no one will ever see it except maybe my mom and a couple of friends. But it’s a project and that’s what I really need right now…so whatever.

I guess that’s all for now. I’m already getting LOTS of ideas for this, more than I’d originally anticipated. I kind of went off on a tangent that I didn’t intend to with High Fidelity, but at least that provided somewhat of a back story to this blog in general.

Ciao,
Emily Noel

The First Day

This is something that I have wanted to do for awhile and today I finally just decided to go for it. I figured, new semester, new challenges. Hopefully this will be a constructive writing project to complement my academic challenges in the Fall 2009.

On that note, a bit about myself - I am a junior in college majoring in Creative Writing. I have just returned from a semester abroad in Oxfordshire, England studying literature. The purpose of this blog is both a creative vent/mode of inspiration for my often-writer's-blocked mind as well as an outlet for my obsessive passion for music. I am aware that there are probably a million music blogs out there by emo teenagers and pop fans, but I hope that this can be more than that. I can't promise that I won't lapse into angst-filled rants occasionally, but I will definitely try to stay on topic. This is not an outlet like LiveJournal where I'll talk about boys and school and parents. Basically, I want to tie the two biggest passions of my life: writing & music.

Anyway, I'm getting off-topic already. Let's just hope I don't cop out and forget about this thing. My mentality for this semester is all about ACCOMPLISHMENT. That means "finishing tasks." For instance, I've written an entire novel (takes a bow) but I have yet to edit it. This semester is all about dispelling that kind of complacency.

So, if anyone is actually reading this, I hope you'll stick with me and are at least vaguely interested.

Happy reading (and listening, if you choose to follow along with the music I'll be talking about.)

Cheers!
Emily Noel