Movie Magic

So I've noticed a few things lately about my movie collection.  The first being that it is equal parts "traditional classics" and "silly stupidity".  I don't really have much in-between and thats ok with me.  Even my first blu purchases are representative of this condition.

First purchase: 2001 A Space Odyssey
Second Purchase: Hellboy 2

I love classics, for most of them I can see why they are revered.  2001 is a beautiful film that I can watch again and again and find new details to appreciate, new dialogue to interpret, and new messages to sift through.  The cinematography and music take my breathe away and its fantastic.  Hellboy 2? well this one was purchased more on a whim, but I certainly enjoyed its cinematography as well as its wise-crackin lead.  (don't worry reader, in this case I can chose the better film with ease...2001.  But there are a decent amount of classics versus camp that aren't so easy)

This pattern has continued ever since.  Recent extreme's have been Ernest Scared Stupid and...Life is Beautiful.   One being extremely juvenile, the other, uplifts the human spirit and makes me want to be a better person.  Speedracer sits alongside Dr. Strangelove.  Star Trek (great ideas and overall classic) alongside Firefly (lots of fun). (ok maybe you think those are BOTH silly... i'm a Trekkie, what can i say)

Anyways... the point of all this being that the best movies, and the one's worthy of owning are not only the classics that inspire, but anything that stirs excitement, laughter, tears and a good time.  Those are the two primary categories of movies I like and cannot generalize that one is truly better than the other...only that they serve on two different plains.  So yes, Army of Darkness and Beauty and The Beast (that link is the greatest disney song ever!) sit happily side by side on my shelf. (i'm a sucker for Sam Raimi's ingenuity and for Disneys Classic storytelling)

Cartoon Cartoon!

Or how Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network generated a veritable Old Faithful, oozing out classic after classic like clockwork (not orange).

Ah sixth grade, back to New York, new school, middle school awkwardness (which from my eventual escape of said awkwardness is still in question) and... cartoons :D.  Nicktoons... so good that i'm feeling warm fuzzies as i write this.  Started of course with the insanity of Ren and Stimpy, though I don't remember that being on a ton.  The era of Rugrats and Doug was a ton more innocent but nonetheless adventurous creative and tons of fun while teaching mini morals.  Doug had street cred when banging on a trash can with The Beets.  Tommy Pickles was leader among babies. The best parts of the shows were the imagination of the worst case scenarios of Doug in a moral or social pickle, and of course when the babies went on epic imaginary adventures.

That was the first round of Nicktoons, I remember the premiers of many of the later ones.  Hey Arnold premiered on SNICK and I was pretty excited for it.  Turns out it was filled with sweet Jazz, cool handshakes and amazing urban legends such as Stoop Kid.  My favorite of the second gen of Nicktoons however was KaBlam!  It was a lil comic book variety show with such classics as Sniz and Fondue (my favorite was the the previous link and the one with the Scorpion... Sniz's voice makes me happy)  Next favorite was Action League Now!  It was pure kid fun, and I loved the intro (and not just because the Flesh was Super Naked).  Prometheus and Bob asked the timeless question of what would have happened if an alien came to our planet in the cave man days to teach us.

Ok Ok i promised some Cartoon Network goodness here too.  Johnny Bravo, Powerpuff Girls, Cow and Chickin, and of course What a Cartoon,... i heart you guys but my real favorites were Courage the Cowardly Dog, Dexter's Laboratory and Two Stupid Dogs.  Cartoon network was really outlandish, epic and ridiculous.  Actually they still are, but they aren't "indie" anymore (same with Nick) {yes i went there, prideful hipsters unite}  The voices alone were amazing, the animation choppy (not always on purpose, but always unique).

Next post, more cartoons!

-Mr. James E Harrington

Hello Everybody

Hi Dr. Nick!

So its been a while my faithful reader. Its not from a lack of care, or concern for your entertainment needs. In fact, i've got fantastic... nay a creativity that needs to escape my brain (since its working overtime) and invade yours so without further fanfair, here's the latest and/or greatest.

So the new Arrested Development uhm, development had me thinking about my favorite shows of yore. So begins a TV collection of posts.

So TV and I have had a good relationship over the years, which is not to say it was always accessible. In fact, the France and Japan days were pretty sparse on content from the Etats-Unis. My only TV memories in France are of Nintendo so... that wasn't even worth mentioning. Sorry for wasting your time.

Japan was one step better with riveting international shows like "Danger Bay". MTV Japan was always a good time (its always great to hear a foreign language with random English band names inserted). Luckily Japan had a great video rental store. They not only introduced us to amazing indie movies, ala High Strung (there's some language in there, its one of those old school PG movies. We rented it because it had Jim Carrey on the cover and it was 1995... he was in it for like 4 minutes tops. Its a huge sketch comedy act, uber negative and ironic and over the top, but hilarious). Anyways, point is, my brother Matt introduced us to the X-files at the rental place. We rented the tapes, it was fantastic, I had nightmares and much trouble sleeping. I remember staying up past my bedtime and watching it from around the corner, then totally regretting/loving it. The show is still creepy and alien abduction and subsequent drop off in a dark forest still is one of the scariest notions to this, your humble author (though the giant mutant worm probably isn't as scary as it was back then). I haven't seen the show in many a years but I would love to revisit it again (preferably with a ladyfriend...well i guess i could use that qualifier on everything...so i guess its not really a qualifier then... again with the time wasting, sorry)

We only had a few American channels there, mostly just ran old reruns ala Remington Steel, Family Ties and Macgyver... good times for sure...but i wanted me cartoons :)

Throughout all this, we did spend summers in New York, and had a little bit of TV. 3 channels to be exact. So while my mom ended up watching the Trinity Broadcasting Network preachers, I was more interested in cool shows such as "Unsolved Mysteries"(i always liked anything alien related... and the theme song was fantastic) or local Poughkeepsie news. We also spent a week or so up in Vermont with my Grandma and cousins. This was TV heaven for us. She had cable! So I bonded with my siblings watching MTV, Nickelodeon and the like. Oh Ren and Stimpy... charming creatures really :)

Next post will focus on the move back from Japan to Hopewell Junction circa 1996 when our home officially got cable and never looked back... (well besides this past year when i didn't have cable :)

We'll meet again, don't know how... don't know when

Later my friends :D

James Elvin Harrington of Poughkeepsie township

Money

or how i used to have a lot of it.

So being an auditor is actually kinda tough. After an Extreme summer year end audit, I needed some pick me up (calm down, i enjoyed the team and the client, just not the hours). So I rewarded myself by spending about what i earned that last month on 3 Hi-Fi speakers (2 CM 8's and a CM Centre) and another subwoofer. 2 of which are important for this discussion as stereo is the recording staple. Remember, this blogger has no apologies for bragging, in fact, i'm even more awesome than the aforementioned speakers, but as I have difficulty in expressing my own awesometasticness, think of these speakers as a metaphor of your humble author. Anyways, i progress... when the amplifier is set to Stereo, there is nothing between you and the music. As my mother mentions whenever we go to an orchestra or really any live performance, the music of the ancient masters is being brought back to life and the concert hall is effectively a reanimation hall. Its an interesting thought that the music can be brought to life again. I say this because the goal of any Hi-Fi system is to replicate reanimation halls. While recently listening to Ravel's phenomenal Daphne and Chloe, my dad noted that one could practically hear the instruments being plucked, banged, or bowed... as opposed to only hearing the end sound. It was as if you could hear the music being brought to life.

Anyways, i've been having heaps of fun reanimating my collection. Radiohead's Everything in its Right Place transports me to a postmodern computer isolated landscape like never before. I'm tempted to get the Beatles box set so i can get the best sound quality... ah come on, might as well get reanimated properly to the swingin sixties. Ben Folds stomping on his Piano...Jack White shredding the blues...Pinback with their perfectly crafted pop, Weepies for some mellow love songs... all this and more really do have an added depth now.

So moral of the story, i used to be rich :D now you all should come over and behold their beauty.

Summer Jams: or Now Thats What I Call Music #27:"Summer Jams"

First Day of Summer! well almost, but i felt that I should follow the Scout Motto so here we are. This is your one stop shop for all things chill, the uses of this post include but are not limited to:

-preparing mixtapes for pool/beach days

-'' basketball, baseball or volleyball at the park

-painting fences, general fix up house projects

-riding down route 9 to go to the galleria mall on your way to see Independence Day

ok ok i'll get to it eh. Songs have a way of getting into your head and setting the stage for memories. Some songs are totally summer songs for me just because thats when I listened to them. Sometimes its because i listened to them a ton, others are just associated with a particular event. On occasion, some songs just feel like summer and are categorized as such w/o a memory.

Some of my earliest summer songs stem back to the Poughkeepsie days (i can't remember, did we come back every summer from France? anyways, i'm placing these at about 1987-1992ish) Need You Tonight: so this song is a great example of the power of a sweet riff. I bet this was from my oldest bro Nate, though I think the whole fam liked it.

Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm Moving into the nineties, this song was more of an influence of my other bro Matt. I remember having this one on many a mixtapes. I thought it was profound when i was little (testament to the power of a melody) Now that i've had a few years on me, i still think its fantastic...but more from the hilarious lyrics and its association with Dumb and Dumber.

Lump and Peaches Now these songs have an admittedly more summer feel to them then the previous ones. These are just pure fun and always bring a smile :) see?

The Air Conditioned Nightmare speaking of smiles, dear reader...you must experience this song. This came out the summer we moved back from Tokyo. It has a strong association with cleaning out our Poughkeepsie home (specifically the basement dehumidifier for some reason) Also reminds me of baseball with the boys at the IBM country club, with ensuing big Gulps on the way home. The album was THE summer album so i best be linking a few more classics: "Golem II The Bionic Vapor Boy" and my personal favorite (title at least) "None of Them Knew They Were Robots" While crazy (seriously, they are nuts), these songs are genius and I think that Album (California) is rock solid summer music. They are from Mike Patton, the guy behind a far more famous band, Faith No More. They had some sweet summer Jams. The music video was a huge deal for defining summers back in the 90's. Epic was one such summer defining video. I remember always looking forward to Grandmas house in Vermont for the Lake and for cable...she had MTV and Nickelodeon! Needless to say this song, Ren and Stimpy...cough cough Beavis and Butthead were very much good summer times. Also, while i'm on the subject "We Care A Lot" also is very summerish. And another Summer Grandma's house song was the Offsprings finest song "Come Out and Play"

Now its middle School time, Fastball had The Way. I'll skip Spice Girls, Will Smith, sister Morissette and Eminem and head straight to The Wallflowers brilliant summer capturing device: "One Headlight" and "Heroes". So as most American kids, I wanted Godzilla to be as fantastic as Independence Day and rock me with special effects and mayhem. Unfortunately it did not, but the soundtrack did. I happen to like this version better then sir David Bowie's original.

Fastforward to now, the rest of these entries for your summer consideration fall under the category of chill. If you want a summer album for 2011, go back to Ivy's Apartment Life. Its from the mind of Fountains of Wayne writer (also a fantastic summer band) and is very mellow due to the swooning chic French frontwomen. (that last link isn't the official, its from Avatar but the songs there... ) I'm excited as there is a new album coming out soon and the first single already promises a ton more summer chillin.

Admittedly i'm leaving out some true gems, a beach boys greatest hits will always fit the bill, along with a Billy Joel Greatest hits. My personal favorite greatest hits for the summer would have to be The Cars... but thats me :)

So i'm tired and am gonna call the post good cause i'm lazy (its summer afterall)

Regards,

-James Elvin Harrington

Merenia B-Day Mix 2… The revenge of Kitty Galore!

So after much care & thought, I’ve produced another mix worthy of being knighted “a lot”. This past year I’ve grown a lot and my mix is much more mature…Not! (not that my fist allusion gave that away) Actually this one’s much goofier but still packs a wallop when you least ‘spect it. That’s the old one-two right hook your mother warned you about. Its what I do.

So to start off, I figured a dreamy brit-pop landscape would introduce the cd with an introduction that says “ok the cd’s starting again”.

Badly Drawn Boy: Exit Stage Right

Next I move across the pond to a new hero of mine, movie star/musician Jason Schwartzman. Mainly I included this track because I’m like, in the west coast, also it has a cheesy but very catchy lil riff that could.

Coconut Records: West Coast

Next Stop, Andrew Bird. I had to throw a lil indie-ish stuff in here in honor of my glasses. The video is kinda creepy, the song is unique, and its fun (kinda like me?)

Andrew Bird: Imitosis

So my brit-pop introduction might have had more purpose than previously stated. My love for Blur and Parklife has raised them over Oasis w/o hesitation. So as such included the title track since its hilarious and over the top catchy fun. I love that guest “speaker”’s accent, fantastic!

Blur: Parklife

Again we take a trip back to magic America with some folksy kid rock… and not that the bawitaba dude. I showed this in the “music game” (a topic I should probably devote a post to) and think it’s a lot of fun…you know, for the kids!

Great Lake Swimmers: See you on the Moon

Next up, we continue with some Meowing and a lost cat it suburbia, but in a very oddly moving song. I described there album “Sumday” as Weezer goes through a midlife crises. Anyways its simple why I included this one: Meow J

Grandaddy: Where I’m Anymore

In order to keep things from being too heavy doc, I moved to some Classic Homestar

The Cheat: The Cheat’s themesong

Next I figured it was time for a dance party. The Strokes very own Julian Casablancas (fantastic name bytheway) fit the bill. I like this song a ton, mainly because it sounds lie a fusion of The Strokes with the 80’s!

Julian Casablancas: 11^th Dimension

For an American version of the dreamy intro I figured I’d throw in Mates of State. I’ve never seen the music video, but the songs nice. Its simple and that’s what was needed here.

Mates Of State: My Only Offer

Another Happy song, a lil louder. This time I have seen the music video, and it has ping pong in space… so I was smitten at hello.

Moonbabies: War On Sound

Insert Super Nintendo Mario Kart Sound effect here*

Ok, in an effort to reinvigorate the second half I needed something special. Of Montreal can always bring on the melody and the dancin’. So I decided on them for some fun. “When I feel like an ore, in a sunken canoe, all I gotta do is climb a ladder to you”

Of Montreal: Climb a Ladder

Now that the energy was up I needed to kick it into overdrive. Yay for Sleater Kinney. She has an amazing rock voice. She’s a punk rocker. I figured my sister would love her voice or hate it, either way I win!

Sleater Kinney: Oh!

Ok lets step back a bit, its time for indie again. Well sort of, its time to feel the Illnoise! I’ve recently come to think this album is about a 9.7 outta 9.8. Not quite perfect but pretty dang close. Its all about Illinois, who woulda thought. The transition between the first and second halves has a Cure feel to it. Anyways, its fantastic and who(m) ever says otherwise is lame.

Sufjan Stevens: Come on! Feel the Illnoise

In keeping some continuity from the last mix, I included some Weepies. No references to Sam and Libby, but I think it’s a nice cool down to the excitement hitherto felt.

The Weepies: Red Red Rose

Ok, lets not calm down too much! Lets bring back some Rawk with the White Stripes. I chose this one because it has rats! I figured that might appeal to the nephews :D

The White Stripes: I Think I Smell a Rat

Keep the energy coming…

The Hives: Inspection Wise 1999

I remembered Nia saying she liked an Interpol song from Rockband…I couldn’t remember which one. This one’s from Turn off the Red lights and is one of the first I heard from them… its got style. He knows how to sing-talk

Interpol: Obstacle 1

I needed something light and triumphant to start the encore portion. I chose another Of Montreal. This song is adorable and just makes me smile inside J

Of Montreal: An Eluardian Instance

Smile on the inside to a smile on the outside I enlist The Flaming Lips! Yeah Yeah Yeah!

The Flaming Lips: The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song

Insert Super Mario Kart Intro song here*

Super Mario Brothers: level complete fanfare to end it all off… nice!

-Love your lil bro

(ps that wasn't a command, just forgot the comma in order to make this ps)

Story of My Life

Story of My Life:

Or how Power Pop and The Flaming Lips describe my personal sine curve.

So everybody’s got that song that he or she can point to as an expression of his or her life’s battle royal. I’ve got 8. In listing them in blog form I realize that I’m revealing a ton. Feel free to speculate why these songs ring so true to me-self. Wild conspiracy theories and conjecture are not only welcome, but are what I’m aiming for you, the intelligent reader, to carry out.

-Side note, these aren’t necessarily my favorite songs of all time, though I certainly do love them. I also fancy story-of-other-people’s lives too!

Power Pop is a classification that often tells stories, which makes it naturally a Fountain spewing forth story-of-my-life kind of songs. And yes, the capitalization was most intentional…(note: other grammar items might not be intentional, so back off). So first batch of story of my life songs comes from Fountains of Wayne… no I’m not talking about Stacy’s mom :v. I’ve always loved these guys for their storytelling/slice of life style and now that I’m a “young professional” I can relate even more to their stories. Sick Day has been more relevant to me recently, “lead us not into Penn Station”, listen to all the fantastic lyrics. In fact I’m taking time off right now :D. Anyways I think the closest thing they’ve got to me is “Someone to Love”. Smart hip catchy, and hauntingly beautiful [ok maybe not that, but it’s very relevant to my life (even more so if I decided to work in NYC) with some more amazing lyrics] One song from them that is more a “story of the Harrington Family’s life” is New Routine. I think we’ve lived in most of the places mentioned and are always restless for the titular theme.

While on this subject of fountains of wayne I need to mention “Michael and Heather at the Baggage claim”(an unlikely title to one of the greatest love songs of our time). I be keen on this song, it feels like you are people watching and spotted a couple at the airport after a long trip. Also Red Dragon Tattoo makes me happy, though I only relate to the sentiment of trying to impress a lady cooler than me. (a universal theme in music)

Next up, Weezer

I know, I’ve had a lot of weezer on this here blog, but…well never mind that train of thought, I make no excuses and brake for nobody. Strangely enough, Make Believe holds most of the story of my life songs. Perfect Situation is pretty spot on, though The Other Way is my choice. (again, the pattern here is listen and conjecture)

Now its Ben Kweller time, Don’t Know Why… (actually I do)

Ok its time to delve into psychedelic space rock, something that I totally relate to (???) Most particularly I wanna talk Flaming Lips. Frontman Wayne Coyne is pretty crazy, but hits at some heavy topics through simple allegory, by way of spiders, messengers from the future, robots learning love, ambulance drivers, fights, autumn transformation and scientists racing for the prize and so much more.

But relating back to the topic at hand I submit these two as story of my life songs. Feeling yourself Disintegrate, the simple life themes/message is combined with such a lovely tune. I feel I relate to it somehow, but I don’t know why. Lastly I submit Ego Trippin, again I say conjecture.

I leave you with this beautiful instrumental, please comment folks, tell me your theories/your songs.

Thank you, you’ve been a lovely audience, its certainly been a thrill …I’d like to take you home with me,

Affectionately yours,

-James

On Broadway…

or “Now for something completely different”

So last weekend my parents treated me to a show in San Francisco called “Rain”. I start with this observation because this must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.

A Christmas Carol references aside, I wanted to catalogue all the wonderful shows that my folks have taken me to over the years, which not so coincidentally usually happened around Christmas time. You see I was raised for the most part in the great state of New York (recently made famous by Jimmer). As such, I was able to partake in the happenings of the city with that state’s namesake. The capital of the world/universe (not to be confused with the capital of the federation of planets…San Francisco) is not only a financial center, but a cultural cornucopia of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Broadway shows ensued…

Admittedly, my memory is terrible… in fact, me-pops, told me I left out Steely Dan in my supposedly complete listing of concerts in an earlier post. So I’ll need similar reminders from yall. I do not attest of completeness and accuracy or timing, only existence and valuation. (audit joke… hardy har har)

Ok ok, I’ll get down to business. I historically have always acted as if I didn’t like musicals…only because some people in the family tend to play the same song over and over, but alas I digress. Truth is, I actually like, nay, love a good musical (though it’s also good to finish them instead of skipping the Nazi part in The Sound of Music like the aforementioned family member… sound oddly specific? Indubitably). Some musicals are better than others (some are winning! Duh!)(that’s my topical reference of the blog…). I’ve seen most of the classic movies, but seeing them on stage is another thing entirely. It elevates some of the mediocre movie versions to be something special.

Oklahoma: I went in thinking it was gonna be boring like the state, but it was entertaining.

Thoroughly Modern Millie & Annie get your gun: Great fun, but not lifechanging.

Flower Drum Song: I’ve seen it twice, very funny (more so than TBS)

The King and I: Can’t remember if I saw it live, mom? If I did, it was fantastic I swear. I mainly have memories of going to Siam…err Singapore and thinking about the movie.

Beauty and the Beast: So I recently acquired the blu ray and remembered how it’s a perfect movie. All the elements are there including comedy, drama, and most importantly for this discussion: a perfect musical score. (that I submit is the greatest Disney song, so many themes the interweave throughout the movie, and a great introduction of the characters) So I already knew I was going to love it before I saw the broadway version. But dang, they didn’t disappoint. Gaston was fantastic, hearing the music live was a treat.

Les Miserables: Unlike Beauty and the Beast, I did not know much about the music or the story. I knew it was classic, but up until I saw the show I was, well ignorant n such. My what a wonderful show, its classic for a reason. It’s story is inspiring and appeals to the better angels of our nature. Its music? Wowsa (I knew some of the songs from me madre singing them but didn’t know they were from this show) (also don’t click on this if you don’t like songs to be stuck in your head)

Phantom of the Opera: I knew more about this one going into the show. I likes me the music of the night. This show for me is made a step above the rest by the score. Again, nothing like live music.

Jersey Boys: So this one was out of left field. I had never heard of it before but well, I knew all the songs. It’s the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Very entertaining, fantastic harmonies, though it swore up a storm (whatya expect, they are just a couple of kids from Jersey). Loved it.

Rain: So its basically a Beatles concert, whats not to love! They go through all of the stages, connect them with historical footage and play a great gig. Hearing I am the Walrus, Sergeant Pepper, and A day in the Life live? Yes please J.

I probably missed a few, but this probably a good majority of the shows i've seen that are somewhat Broadway Proper, as opposed to Ballet, Opera, Plays, Pride and Joy etc.

Yours Truly,

James Elvin Harrington

Rock (w/o the roll)

This blog is really a conglomerate of two genre’s of Rock. None of this roll business, just straight up Rock and the subgenre, blues based rock(which is misleading since all rock is blues based...i just mean it wears that influence on its sleeve)

As I write this, I’ll be tempted to reference alt, prog, metal, and any number of genres. The intent however is to throw my Rock into a musical centrifuge and separate the purest form of rock from the genre’s it inspired. There will be plenty of time to go into the materials that ended up away from the center later on…

So we start with rock. I mean the hard hitting stuff, the kind of rock that needs to be played loud and annoy your neighbors, parents (mine would enjoy it, but you know what I mean).

I already talked about The Doors, but hey, they rock and I needed an early example so back off! Flash forward to now(ish) and listen to this my friends. Even their name evokes the Rock gods... its just pure Rock, from concentrate. It’s the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club or BRMC when they wanna be alt. They sometimes get close to the Metal line, but never cross it. Hence they came out of the Centrifuge under 100% genuine full grade rock. I consider Baby 81 one of the greatest modern rock albums, it always pumps me up. Those crunchy guitars are pretty much gifts from above(or below I suppose) Even still, they did an acoustic album that actually rocks in a more Oh Brother Where art Thou fashion.

Next on our tour, we come to a quick collection from the 90's. We Care A Lot! Got to have a shout out to my brother Matt's band Faith No More. Since my bro was a drummer and a pure dude, I was apprenticed in the ways of rock under his tutelage. Another of his rockin bands that unfortunately didn't really hit the big time was the Hellacopters. They always rocked with fun. Foo Fighters! David Grohl outdid himself on the album "One By One". It starts off with one of the coolest intro's to an album ever. Smashing Pumpkins...Zero, speaks volumes (turned up to 11)

Part 2: The White Stripes

When I think of modern rock, its hard not to contemplate the raw awesome that was the White Stripes. They come from a great tradition of blues based rock. I could start almost every post with The Beatles and trace that lineage to a current band or genre. So for the White Stripes, i'd pick Yer Blues. I'd trace it through Led Zeppelin (the obvious choice I know, but still very accurate) And then finally to Mr. Jack White's band. The started with a bang, had a fantastic go and ended with a bang. So much sound from just two people, they were weird, funny, and knew how to Jam. I like Jack White and think he will continue to rock throughout the rest of his career.

Also, there are some fun new bands w/ similar styling. Check out Band of Skulls. They definitely have potential...

Moral of the story lets turn to the wheel of Morality... "wheel of morality, turn turn turn, tell us the lesson that we should learn...." todays lesson is: listen to more BRMC and White Stripes and your life will be enriched.

Cheers and Love,

~James

last year's infinite playlist

I've been making mix cd's for a while now. I feel i'm fairly good at predicting other folks tastes. Of course the job is infinitely easier/harder when the recipient is someone who appreciates the good stuff. Add to that, the opportunities of listening are basically in the car with my lil rambunctious nephews (i don't know that i've used "rambunctious" in casual conversation :)

Anyways, the point is, last year after refining a playlist I developed for Emily Clay... to meet Mallory Manning's tastes, I finished the job on what may be my most important accomplishment at least of 2009: My sister's birthday mix! (i love making a grand dramatic scene on this here blog).

I discovered most of the songs on said playlist on podcasts. I would listen to them a good amount my junior year at BYU and find a few gems here and there. During my internship with KPMG I actually discovered a bunch of the songs on my way to Disneyworld. Sadly my podcast days have kind of ended. But i wanted to make the point that I was cool and hip those days B).

Note: this is the extended cut of the playlist, includes the songs that didn't make the CD due to space issues,

Anyways here is the playlist:

ok ok, DO NOT, i repeat DO NOT click on these first 3. The three songs (and all of the songs on the playlist) are clean and don't swear, but these first three are by a group named Star#%$@#$.

Click on them and avert your eyes from the title of the video as it includes the #%$@#$ from the band name. You've been warned... please click on them though, the songs are amazing 3:)

1: Pop Song by Star#%$@#$

2: German Love by Star#%$@#$

3: Medicine by Star#%$@#$

4: Stay by Small Sins

(the harmony is like 80's metal, but the song is real chill, the contrast makes me laugh)

5: Rotten Love by Levi

(this song speaks to me... again very chill)

6: Night on Fire by VHS or Beta

7: White Daisy Passing by Rocky Volalato

8: Cold World by The Electric Soft Parade

(live version, isn't the best but gets the point across and is fun)

9: Peace and Hate by The Submarines

10: You Push, I'll Go by Baby Dayliner

10.1: Raid by Baby Dayliner

(ok this wasn't originally on the playlist... but i couldn't help myself, its just that awesome)

11: Grave Situation Part 1 by The Burning H-E-double hockey sticks

(i'm surprised i found this online...the kids loved it, its pure comedy)

12: Help Me by the Mommyheads

(power pop at its finest!)

13:Hurt Feelings by The Flight of the Conchords

(didn't make the cut, but awesome way to celebrate our NZ heritage video pulled for copyright...lamesauce)

14: The Best Thing By Ivy

(powerpop, by way of Fountains of Wayne guitarist and pretty french front girl)

15: Neon Beanbag By Stereolab

(another french girl, but its less powerpop and more electronica bliss)

16: Hideaway The Weepies

(tried to sell it as a modern folky version of The Sundays)

17: Takes so Long The Weepies

(makes lil Sam angry at the line about Sam and Libby...oh the controversy of the cooties)

18: Hey Julie Fountains of Wayne

(describes my life, with out the Julie part...also, the video is amazing!)

19: Harmony Clinic

(didn't make the cut...too heavy for a birthday mix)

20: Crash The Primitives

(dumb and dumber soundtrack is one of the best)

21: Yankee Bayonet The Decemberists

(can't remember if it made the cut, I love these guys)

22: Don't Know Why Ben Kweller

(don't think it made the cut...though i love it, it makes me sad there is no good version online)

23: Pot Kettle Black Wilco

(had to try to put wilco in, don't think it was a hit though, I picked this one as its main riff is very much like The Cure's in between days)

24: Little Ghost The White Stripes

(hilarious, to complement Grave Situation)

25: Lobsters in a Bucket The Aquabats

(Don't think this made it either...but not for lack of trying!)

And so, now I face the task of this years mix...

Love,

-James

Control Alt Country*

So I listened to Whiskeytown while I was auditing up a storm and decided it was high time I wrote about Alternative Country. Yes you read that right, me, James Elvin Harrington, absolutely with no apologies, loves a genre that has "country" in the title. But here me out, and click the links this time (i know you always click the links, but do it this time for sure. I plead because most of my blog material is familiar to you 7 followers(8 including me :), but not so with Alt country. I aim to enrich your life.)

The genre kind of got a false start with the Eagles but they were more Country Rock... the band that is credited with the true start of the very specific genre is Uncle Tupelo (see wiki article). In fact the alt country magazine is named No Depression, after Uncle Tupelo's first album.

I of course found out about them because of Jeff Tweedy, of current fame as frontman of Wilco. But his first Album came out in 1990 and was very different from anything else...err genre defining and such. Its opener Graveyard Shift took Q's from punk rock and country to basically make me happy and not just because of the cowbell. As a context, this was the early nineties...when grunge was king, so they definitely went a different direction, hence the "alt" part i suppose. They went on to move toward more folky sounds and away from punk, but always interesting lyrics. One of my favorites in this transition is Gun. Here's Jeff singing it in an acoustic set 15 years later (Acoustic is a much better live recording, but you can feel the energy of Uncle Tupelo in the first link). Anodyne, their last album is a love letter to the genre and is my favorite example. No Sense in Lovin' is actually very country sounding, but the lyrics elevate it to another level. A Wilco post will be forthcoming. (it is forthcoming actually)

Back to what inspired the post: Whiskeytown. Their album Strangers Almanac is very much beautiful. You folks might know the lead singer Ryan Adams since his solo career has been very successful. His voice on this album is just about perfect. The opener Inn town is a good showcase for it. Dang youtube for not having it. A more country oriented song on the album is Excuse me while I break my own heart. Love that voice. Here's an interesting live one, storytelling songs are fun.

Another great band of the era is the Jayhawks. My dad introduced me to Hollywood Town Hall before I showed him Wilco. Driving from Provo to Cupertino always made me happy going through Nevada California.

So if you take Jeff Tweedy and add Jayhawks you get Golden Smog. Ok Ok I'll try to put more effort into finding versions of these songs from all these bands that isn't Jeff and a guitar :) Dang it thats the only link to an album version and guess what its just him and a guitar... oh well I love the more folksy Alt Country too.

Another band I've enjoyed is The Minus 5. In fact Jeff has a role in one of their albums as well. I hesitate in putting them in this post because they have some pop-ish songs, but they certainly were influenced by alt country in that song. Also listen to the lyrics in this song...hilarious.

Also so i love the Decemberists. But guess what? his first band was very alt country! Check out out Tarkio's excellent Keeping Me Awake.

Anyways, sadly the story of Alt country kind of ends with the break up of Whiskeytown, though its influence is felt in the recent folkish revival of bands such as Mumford and Sons, and more. And of course, I'm happy that Wilco moved on, but hey...their first album continued that alt country tradition and I love it almost as much as the experimental awesomeness that was Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

Almost started into the Wilco Post...but i'll save that for some future age. Next topic? i'll take suggestions in the comments section :D (again, i aim to please :D)

New Wave (or how we went back to the basics and established something different)

Now, stand back...for your own safety!!! We are about to delve into a style of music that always makes me smile. Its new wave baby! Kind of a musical relative (ancestor?) to power pop so of course I like it :) Recently the Cars have gotten back together...how cool is that? 93% cool 7% ice cold. Anyways I have to say that Touch and Go has been gathering fame in my mind... i love the shift into the galloping guitar... so fun. The guitar solo must have been an influence on my boy Rivers. Just what I Needed has been a staple in the family. Anyways, Fountains of Wayne, Weezer and many others have a lot to owe to these folks.

New wave also had much stranger stuff. It earns a bunch of comedy points. got to love those hats, funny thing is Weird Al's parody of the style was actually a great example of it.

A related movement in the 80's was goth. Now I grew up on The Cure...mainly because of Nia. As I mentioned previously, her and Matt always faught the war of influencing me with thier music. I do say that on the many battlefronts of said war, The Cure triumphed. Quiet Desperation is the English Way, and so these were true Englishmen. Like new wave, they brought things back to the basics at times, but with darker subject matter. Unfortunately, Goth has kinda a bad name these days, associated with emo, but these guys were before Hot Topic so they be exempt from lame. (side note, hot topic was and sometimes is sweet...though too Twilighty nowadays, hopefully they will find thier way again) Anyways, Robert Smith soundly defeated Mecha Streisand so he's good in my book. He's even making some pretty good music now. Any ha-ways, to the Cure, here's links to a bunch of sweet songs. (and here's a sweet covers from mr. Ben Folds)

Going back to me, {since we all know the purpose of blogs is thinly veiled self praise [I had to get some aquabats in... (kind of a nerdy new wave feel to em)]} Some of my memories of the Cure include hearing the Fruity Loops version of "A Forest" and (inspiring?) me to make some sweet techno from Fruity Loops back in 1998ish. The program was sweet, though mostly made of samples. One of these days i'll post all the songs i made (there's like 30! they are all very...educational I even sold a few... for lunch money :). Also, I love how Matt and Nia went to each others concerts...Nia rocked out to Iron Maiden and Matt enjoyed him some Cure. Also the back and forth to the Living in a Bubble lyric. Almost as infamous as the "And Hairy" vs "And Heavy" banter from Nightmare Before Christmas dialogue (speaking of Santa Clause).

There it is folks, The Cars and The Cure... next topic?

So where were we... again?

ah yes the 70s... these were dark times. full of studio glitter pop. Well i guess that can be said of any decade, heck even the sixties had it. Oh well, i'll dwell on the stuff i would have liked back then if i was there...as evidenced by what i like now from then.

Something happened in 1973 that pretty well changed the landscape of rock. Recorded so well, and imitated and redone many a time to this day. I'm talking of course of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Consistently on the top 100 best selling records even to this day. Its a standard that music lovers buy again and again for every format that comes out in order to test the new fangled technology. I have many a memory of this record, everything from a sweet laser show in a hawaii imax theater, to listening to it on my first Sony on the way to and from school in second grade lol. More on those mix tapes later...they are surprisingly still pretty awesome mixes that i still listen to from time to time. Anyways its as timeless as they come.

Lets see, the seventies introduced us to a most wonderful genre...no i'm not talking about disco, i be talking about something that is used as a modern description of awesome. Its totally punk rock. Its glory days started in this decade and once and a while is revived. New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, the Clash, The Ramones... good stuff that is still "relevant" today. (what a snobby music critic thing to say...) Its basically stripped down fast rock. Sometimes based on just 2 chords, its not the most complicated stuff, but its fast and fun. I was listening to the Hives the other day and was pleasantly surprised that they have kept this up since the wonderful garage/punk album Veni Veni Vicious. Punk is sometimes about partying, sometimes about politics, sometimes angry, sometimes happy. Here's to punk, still rockin all these years later.

Anyways, Clash time... So I need comments on this, Combat Rock vs. London Calling? Who shot the shot? I have to admit, I'm more than a little biased toward Combat Rock. Its what I grew up with, again going back to the tapes I had in Japan... I absolutely loved Inoculated City (what a strange kid I was). And of course, the family band played Should I Stay or Should I Go all my life. Recently I'm lovin this one. Now i'm finally starting to discover what the fuss is about with London Calling. Its strongest is its title track which stands up to the best of Combat Rock. Also Spanish Bombs makes me happy. Ben Folds recently did a cover of Lost in the Supermaerket, which also made me happy. Anyways... i still say Combat Rock despite them critics. OK OK Arcade Fire just won Album of The Year Grammy, couldn't ignore that. I think that album was influenced by both of these records...save that discussion for another time.

Oh man, almost forgot, another titan of the 70s... Led Zeppelin. These guys rocked hard, got terrible reviews in their time but are now widely considered well, awesome. They have a crunchy guitar sound courtesy of mr. Jimmy Page and a very bluesy based rock...which was genre defining. Nowadays, well, recent yesterdays i guess, The White Stripes continued this tradition. If you haven't yet, go watch It Might Get Loud, I got in on blu so come on over, come on over baby. (please don't click on that link...you know what it is anyways)

Next time: perhaps new wave and goth? sounds good to me till then, goodbye loves!

Concert Review

So after many a day, its time to get back to blogging. I started this mess and I sure's heckfire gonna finish it. OK maybe not, imma take another tangent. This one will be my very brief history of all the bigger concerts i've been to. It may come as a surprise that this author's first concert actually was when he was 22! Well... again i mean big concert, and not one where I was cough* cough* on stage . I won't go into the full detail of the bands of these concerts and how i discovered them, thats for another blogpost, but I will tell the stories and the experiences/ratings.

First Concert: Now we turn back to that magical August Eve in Berkeley's Greek Theater. It had been a good summer working at Symantec. I had saved some moolah and even bought me my Taylor guitar. But the summer ended with a bang. Sky Blue Sky came out and Wilco was touring like mad (like they always do). I realized they would be in town and quickly introduced my dad to the band. He liked what he heard but hearing them live truly made him a fan. The venue was perfect, the acoustics were amazingly clear. Though the opening band sounded a lil rough, Wilco's roadies are professionals. Every little sound in "I'm trying to break your heart" was crystal clear. (that link doesn't do it justice, but no youtube link could). The crowd was a great mix of young and old, all great music fans. Many of whom had already seen Wilco and some even who had seen Uncle Tupalo. Jeff Tweedy has a great stamina, they played for 2 and a half hours! The concert spanned their career and my dad said during California Stars "it doesn't get any better than this."

Well since i'm on Wilco, I might as well share my other concerts with them. First sidenote, my cousin Sean got to play on stage with them, consider me jealous/proud of the fella. Anyways, the following summer I looked at their schedule and noticed they were in Idaho right after my next internship was over. I drove to Provo from CA. Then picked up Andrea Dahle and we left for the concert. It was fun introducing eachother to bands on the way. She can be credited for introducing me to the decemberists...thanks Andrea. Anyways, i was kind of sick so unfortunately I didn't hear the best that day. The venue was very small, it was at a winery. Despite being sick it was pretty classy. Also the opening band was Fleet Foxes who sounded amazing. Anyways, after another great and long show, we drove back to Provo (yeah we were crazy).

And so the next year My pops and I returned to Berkeley during my Internship with KPMG (my current employer) and saw them as the were touring for "Wilco:the album". Another Triumph, and i can't wait to see them again.

Moving on... I'd say my biggest "pop" concert was Coldplay. I went one summer in CA with my friend from freshmen year Spencer Kimball to see them at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View CA. I remember being very impressed with them. They deliver live. They, like Wilco evolve their old songs throughout the years when they play them live, but do it in a way that still pleases fans of those songs. Funny story about this concert, my dad's boss sat pretty close to us (in the upper decks). Coldplay did a few neat things too, for instance they came out and played an acoustic song or 2 on the opposite side of the amphitheater so those far away could be close. I thought that was classy.

Most bombastic/weird concert: easy, Primus frontman Les Claypool's tour that included my bro Matt's band Secret Chiefs 3. There's no doubt that Mr. Claypool has genious talent with the Bass. Fun concert, very crazy. Perhaps someday The Flaming Lips or Of Montreal will take over this category :)

Most smile's concert: I'm gonna go with Flogging Molly. I'll give them the most energy too. I had a smile on my face the whole time, such a fun loving band. I really only knew a few songs going in, but somehow sang the chorus's along with the crowd. The frontman looks like Conan O Brian and his banter was hilarious. Also, they didn't seem to take many breaks, each song led into the next. They must burn a ton of calories up there. The opener Fitz and Tantrums were actually quite good too.

Close second to the above category: Weezer. I love Weezer, River's Cuomo is pretty much the greatest man that ever lived. I was smiling a whole lot there too. Their music wasn't quite as technical as many of the other concerts i've been to, but it sure made me happy. I saw them with Josh, Andrea and some more from the Raintree crew. Angels and Airwaves opened up for them, not my favorite, but they had a cool light show at least.

Most Chill concert: Jack Johnson. Don't get me wrong, i'm actually not even that huge of a fan of the guy, but it was a nice atmosphere when he played, and he put on a good show. Very different from all i mentioned before. It also was nice to hang out with my sister and her husband that night. I'm sad we only got to hear one song from the opener Rouge Wave.

Most Virtuoso esque: Ben Folds. Unbeknownst to me at the time but knownst to me now, this was my first concert with Emily Clay. She became my concert buddy afterwards and we realized that we were both at this one. My brother Matt and I went to the Great Saltair. Interesting Venue in the middle of nowhere. Ben Lee came on first and was pretty excellent as a one man show. Ben Folds came on last and really rocked hard. My goodness that guy can tickle them ivories like no other. He really is a master at his craft, and his voice is spot on.

Good but not my favorite award: Modest Mouse: let me explain myself gosh! While I love the band, and liked them a lot live, I realized that i didn't know much of their backlog before "good news for people who like bad news". They did a fine job, but as they played too many older songs for me. So where as most of my concerts i'd give a 10 out of 10, this one was more like an 8. (Emily Clay went to that with me as well and is probably gonna kill me here)

Most spiritual concert: ok ok, so i went to this one on a Sunday... but i swear it was a clean and dare i say spiritual concert. I'm talking of course of when i saw Sigur Ros. I went up with an old friend from the New York days Flora Hardy. It was nothing short of magical. It was funny too since I met up randomly with my aforementioned cousin Sean and with some Raintree peeps. Anyways, the show was very different, and had a very uplifting mood. It ended with confetti! :)

Overall most amazing Concert: alrighty, like i said, most of these concerts were 10 out of 10 quality. But since I like to turn it up to 11, I gotta hand it to... Spoon. The opener Deerhunter was pretty cool too. My goodness, I gave Spoon my album of the year and now i'm giving them my concert award. I was gonna give them my best indie award, but then realized they needed more than that. The lead's voice? unbeatable. Technical skill, all there. Groovy, fun, oozing of cool, every song was amazing. I had just got the album they were touring for, and the new material was just as enjoyable as listening to their "classics" They totally blew me away with "the beast and dragon adored" I can't recommend these guys live more. Emily knows what i'm talkin about. Jeff Tweedy said that people write music because the human languages are inadequate. I need to write music about how great Spoon was live :)

Anyways, thats a listing of all the bigger concerts that i can think of. Some of the smaller "concerts" such as various classical, ballets, broadway, or local bands have enriched my life and will be the subject for another day.

the tall tales of sir Matthew Stuart Harrington

This is the story of Big Fish. If you recall, the aforementioned Tim Burton tall tale relates the over the top adventures full of hyper-bole storytelling with a big heart. Yup, my brother Mathew Stuart…so unlikely to be one of the greatest liars of our time. This is a collection of some of mine and my fam’s greatest memories concerning his stories.

Note that none of these (with the exception of perhaps the lie to the cat…more on that later) had actual malice but were filled with good intentions. It is important to note that most of these fibs were bent on getting others excited for something that matt liked. Now after many a year, these stories make for great memories, and without further ado…

Ok so lets go back a long time and start with the first one I know of. This happened a long time ago, when I was dead (before February of 1985). In an effort to get my sister Nia excited for school, Matt informed her of a very exciting attribute of the school bus: Every seat had a steering wheel. It was a shameful lie that must have been quite disappointing when discovered by my sis. The design of such a bus is pretty fantastic and it’s easy to see why the story has been passed down for generation.

Not sure if this is before or after I was born but our next tale takes place in Vermont (oh Larry Daryl and Daryl:) . Again the story involved my sister, but this time with a twist. The victim of the lie was an evil cat my grandma had at the time. The Siamese cat was always bad news, but for some reason Nia was able to tame the lil guy for a bit. Matt naturally got jealous and went to extremes. You see the cat was accustomed to fine dining (wet cat food), and knew the sound of the can opener (an object that Matt always liked). Anyways, after some quick thinking, Matt turned on the can opener. The result was fairly instantaneous…the cat jumped of Nia’s lap and ran to the kitchen only to find out he had been the victim of a great deceit. As I mentioned, the cat was evil, and Matt paid the consequence. A very angry cat cornered my bro and there might have been tears involved. But I’ll end it there J

Ok fast forward a bit. Besides scaring me by saying sharks could come out of the bath faucet, another lie comes pretty high to the top of the list. Jaws was not only a great and terrifying movie, it was a huge franchise in our family (well with Matt and I anyways) We enjoyed the movie along with the good sequel (with the powerline electrifying the poor shark), and average 3 (was it a bomb that killed him then?) and the terrible Jaws: The Revenge "this time its personal" (less said the better). Again we enjoyed them all and loved the Nintendo game even more. The game was sweet, full of submarines, lil sharks, rays, jellyfish, and of course the great white shark himself. With 0 basis whatsoever, Matt got me excited for what I thought was an inevitable sequel to the game (turns out the rest of the world didn’t love the video game, a true shame since it still holds up today as a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, but I digress…) The key feature he hyped up: hammerhead sharks! Haha, yup never a sequel, but I still want to play Jaws 2 to this day J

Alrighty, moving on a little bit. I won’t retell the excitement hyped up for Battlefield Earth since that wasn’t really a lie, but I will tell the tale of The Elder Scrolls 3. Arena: The Elder Scrolls 1 was a fantastic game. It was huge, had a well developed mythology and was a groundbreaking rollplaying game. The sequel Daggerfall might just be the most played game in the Harrington family (competing with Civilization 2) since Nate Matt and I played it for hours on end. Upgrading to Ebony or Daedric armor and weapens, casting powerful magic, joining the thieves guild, roaming the countryside… all classic times. You could even buy a house and have a horse. Anyways, it was awesome. But Matt knew what the Elder Scrolls 3 needed: ride-able flying fire breathing dragons. Yup I fell for that one too. But jokes on him: fast forward 15 years and the Elder Scrolls 5 might be the ticket. One can only hope…

Anyways, I'm sure there are plenty more where these came from... I just wanted to start the discussion and document the ones that came to my mind. Please comment and add more if you remember any more lively tales. (also this was a big detour of the usual subject matter, i'll stay on target next time)