Finally.

Aquaman's Lament // Mark Aaron James

A 'summer tone' song. The kind of thing you listen to in the sunshine or while playing volleyball. I have a hard time with these songs because I find myself trying to pay attention to the lyrics too much on the first few listens, so I don't actually know how I feel about the song until it's one listen too many. It's a pretty generic melody, nothing really sticks out. Singers voice isn't terrible, but isn't exactly original. The lyrics were pretty well done, though. I'd rather have read it as a poem. 

Lazywalker // Jaffa

Reminds me a lot Jamiroquai and Daft punk before the voice comes in. The voice is very Luther Vandross or Barry White. Deep and sultry. I like when the organ chimes in, but it needs to be dialed back a bit so you can still hear the bass/base beat.  I really do like the sound, but I find myself look at the time at 2 minutes 10 seconds and feeling worried that the marker hasn't made it to the halfway point. I'm wondering where this song can go to keep it interesting. I skim through the rest. It stays pretty repetitive. For the background in many types of movie scenes, this is a great tune. For listening in the car or while doing other things on the computer? Not so much. 

Tarbosh (Dancin' In The Light) // Entrain

Good beat. Wow, was not expecting the tuba..? Singer reminds me of a mix between Bradley (Sublime) and Shaggy. The song is definitely keeping my interest. Chorus is foot-tapping. Oooo a drum break. Far to short! I just realized he's... jamaica-rapping... 

Theeeere's a better drum break. And i actually think the classic-rock-guitar-solo feels misplaced. Pretty sweet song. I can see myself putting this on a random mix cd for myself or someone else. Very cool. Kind of gives me the vibe of that song from Save The Last Dance.... Murder She Wrote? Shut up, it's a good song. 

Dynomite, Novocaine For The Souls, Somnambulist

"Dynomite" Ima Robot
It really surprised me how quickly I got used to the lead singer's voice in this song. It grew on me quite quickly, which was odd since I was a little turned off by it at first. This song has a lot of bits and pieces that sound familiar in style to other songs I've heard. None of them, however, sound familiar together, almost like a discordant highlight-reel from an eclectic playlist on shuffle, not that that's a bad thing. This song is definitely, as they say, a toe-tapper. I can't say I really understood what the song was about, but I enjoyed it for what it was. B+

"Novocaine For The Soul" Eels
The lead singer on this reminds me, at times, of Blake Scharzenbach from the greatly missed band Jets To Brazil. I'm not sure entirely how I feel about this song. It was one of those odd moments in listening to new music where I understood why I would like this song, and I could see myself reccomending this song to people who like similar music to my own tastes. And yet, at the end of it, I wasn't really feeling much. The lead guitar has an ambling feel that almost grabs your hand and pulls you along the towards whatever end goal this song has. I guess I must has lost grip of his hand before we reached the end, because this song, as much as I understand why its a good song, and why I would like it, left me unscathed. I feel like after a number more accidental listenings, and a few months, this song will definitely grow on me.

"Somnambulist" BT
To be honest, I was a little disappointed when the vocals came in on this track. I absolutely love everything going on in the background, but the vocals really did little for me. They felt like ice in a glass of Coke from the fountain. The Coke came out from the fountain cold enough, and the ice is really just getting in the way and making it that much more difficult to enjoy the Coke itself. Musically this is fantastic, though, and I would love an instrumental version if one exists. That electronic-distortion vocal track on top of otherwise quite enjoyable electronic and hip hop tracks has lost its appeal for me. Vocals aside, though, this was a fantastic track.

Clash, Smells Like Teen Spirit (Cover), Time Is The Enemy.

"Clash" Junkie XL
One of the things I absolutely love about this song is the feeling of disconnect between each section of the song. There are moments where it almost seems like the song just stops dead with whatever its doing and goes off in a completely different direction. This song is a personal favorite of mine for driving on a nice day, or even more so, for a workout. It definitely gets repetitive towards the end, but its in a way that I really enjoyed. Whenever the song strayed from its main melody, I always got a little excited when I knew it was coming back. Almost like a game of musical peek-a-boo.

"Smells Like Teen Spirit (Cover)" Paul Anka
There is definitely a different feel with this lounge cover of an alternative rock song than there is with Richard Cheese. I don't want to say that Anka takes his lounge covers more seriously, because that could imply a level of pretension on his part that is definitely not there. Its more that he takes away the campy comedy-cover feel that Cheese has. Comedy music always has a feel of triviality; I feel it every time I hear Weird Al. Sure its funny, but that's about as far as it goes. Anka takes the lounge cover and turns it almost into something respectable. This isn't a funny rendition of a classic Nirvana song, this is Smells Like Teen Spirit as Paul Anka would have sung it, no more, no less. And it works.

"Time Is The Enemy" Quantic
One of the things I absolutely love about this song is that I have no recollection of where or when I got it, or how, for that matter. I don't own any CDs that this would have possibly been on, and neither "Time Is The Enemy" nor "Quantic" are things I might have searched for and accidentally gotten this. Either way, its one of my favorite chill out songs. This song gives me a feeling of a last shot, a last attempt at something greater, a last chance to escape. Long shots, quick cuts. Feet pounding on ground, lungs pounding in chest, rain pounding on head. A sense of being lost in a compeltely familiar area, like when you approach an intersection from a direction you're not used to and suddenly you have no idea where you are. Almost a level of peaceful and dutifully earned desperation. One of my favorite aspects, and its such a small one, is that the lilting piano in the background bounces back and forth from the left channel to the right channel. I didn't even notice it until I listened with stereo headphones, but its there.

Clash, Smells Like Teen Spirit (Cover), Time Is The Enemy.

"Clash" Junkie XL

This song makes me think of a LOT of things. A lot of different influences. The first thing I thought was "The Go! Team." quickly followed by The Flaming Lips, followed by the background of some pop-princess' catchy-as-a-bastard song. (In fact, now that I listen, the back beat is pretty similar to "I Kissed A Girl" by Kate Perry) And then that Blur song they always played at hockey games. I definitely get the 'would go over well in a sports arena' feel. Not a bad thing by any means. I get a lot of electronica vibes that I like, but I can't seem to bring any specific artists to mind. This one did get a little too repetitive to it's detriment at the end. I think it may have done better if it was a little shorter with an extra bridge. 

"Smells Like Teen Spirit (Cover)" Paul Anka

I don't know as I have ever heard anything by Paul Anka before, I've just heard my mom say he is one of her all time favorite singers a million times over. Andy had mentioned a covers album he did that he had to send me -- one that even I would enjoy. He was right. This song in particular achieves something that I always feel Richard Cheese lacks. The musicality of the lounge instrumental in the background is a lot more pleasing and complex than that of any lounge cover of a popular song I've heard thus far. Anka's voice is pretty similar to Cheese though. Nothing out of the ordinary there. 

"Time Is The Enemy" Quantic

Apparently Andy was listening when I was babbling about instrumental hip hop-esque music last night. THIS is the kind of ambient, electronic, dance-hop I love. The kind you could easily wiggle around a dance floor to, or just simply chill on the couch

or drive in the elements with. I find I tend to dig trip-hop ambient style sounds when they have piano and a slow moving toe tapping beat in the background. This has what I like. At it's very worst it gets a teensy bit repetitive at one point, but otherwise, kudos. 

A new direction.

Andy and I are going to try and change gears here at Sweet Fancy Jesus. Finding it hard to come up with controversial topics to banter back and forth between, we're going go in a different direction. 

This time around, we will send each other 3(ish) songs every week or so and give our opinions on them. We're giving it a shot anyway.

Scene Kid With A Katana

Topic #10: The Spark That Makes Life Interesting

I thought that for our 10th topic, we could go a bit off the beaten path and discuss something a little more philisophical, and a lot less interesting. This was basically a rant I had running through my head for a while, so I figured I'd write it out and see how it panned out. Afterwards, it seemed like it could be interesting for our little experiment here, so I'm posting it. Enjoi, Aerin, and hopefully you can find something to respond to in here.

See, I've been thinking. There's always been this fascination in my mind with the human condition, and our natural and immediate responses to any and every situation. Its always been a little pet of mine. See, if you take a thousand people, and you put them all through the same rigors, they'll all, for the most part, respond in the same general manner. Sure the actions conveying it could be different. A laugh instead of a smile. A frown instead of a tear. Accosting instead of insulting. But the general feeling and reaction is always there, and almost always identical.

And that's boring. Interacting with people on a level like that would be infinitely dull for someone like me. You know me, I like to play my games. I like to experiment and manipulate situations with complete strangers. A sociological experiment, if you will. But as I've described so far, that experiment has dreadfully boring results.

The thing that makes it interesting isn't the 999 in 1000 that all smile. They're useless. Its that less than 1% who surprise you. The frown instead of a smile. The laugh instead of a tear. They're what make everything worth it. If we all went about our daily rigors without any real difference to those around us, life would be a real drag, no?

But its those surprises. Those people who catch me off guard. The waitresses who actually give me more crap back than I give to them. The lady in the supermarket who smiles and curtsies when I tip my invisible hat and smile. They're the ones that make it interesting. Those completely unexpected retorts to my intangible witticisms.

Do you see what I'm getting at here? The key to it all. The only thing you can really count on.

The only real entertainment... the only real fun... is in the true, unscripted chaos. It's the moment the storm hits and you can feel the electricity in the air. Lightning is going to strike, but damned if you know where or when. You look for it, you scan the horizon. But its never right in the center of your vision. Always off in the periphery. Barely in sight, barely in reach. Those moments of real brilliance and uniqueness.

It's not the standard fare of people dressing and acting like complete ponces to emulate some sense of originality. It's not the kid in Hot Topic clothes in the mall. It's the kid walking on the side of Hebron Ave, at noon, dressed in Hot Topic clothes, carrying a katana. I saw this kid a few weeks ago, and it really put it all into perspective for me.

I don't know why he was carrying a katana. Don't know what he was going to do with it, or where he was headed. All I know is that this 16 - 18 year old blond male was walking down Hebron Ave at lunch time with a large Japanese sword in hand. It was a beautifully surreal moment.

And that's what I think this is all about. Every breath just killing time until the next waitress unexpectedly gives me crap. Every little fake persona and white lie to coerce another smile when someone should be frowning. Every day trying to pull the strings and coerce into existence another scene kid with a katana.

I would have let you, it if you had just asked first

Topic #9: Immigration and the US of A

Immigration is a tricky subject, and quite controversial. I know this because whenever they mention it on local and national talk radio programs, they’re always kind enough to preface it with “Immigration is a tricky subject, and quite controversial.”

It’s difficult to discuss an issue so massive that affects so many people without using a term that I personally coined that goes a little something like this: “Moral Blackmail”. Any time a subject comes up that affects people in any way shape or form, if you spend enough time, you can find someone who makes the whole issue, no matter how apparently simple and clear-cut, seem the complete wrong way ‘round. 

Take prescription medication, for example. Every year billions of dollars are spent in research and development for medication that is being developed for the simple purpose of putting on the open market for people to purchase, ingest, and relieve whatever ails them. Even a drug that only affects one in a million people, still affected that one person. And if you put them up on the podium to tell their horrifying story of how they were just trying to live a healthy life, and how those bloodsucking prescription drug companies gave them a drug that gave them heart failure and anal leakage, suddenly any logic or reason goes out the window. “How can you tell this little boy that what happened to him was ok?” they’ll ask you. And you won’t have an answer, because if you do, people with hearts so bleeding they wear only red will beat you with rhetoric and sticks.

What does this have to do with immigration, you ask? Hold your damn horses, I’m getting to that.

It’s so easy for anyone that’s pro-immigration to make a few short documentaries about a family that snuck across the border from Mexico to try and make a better life for their family, subsisting on nothing but Wal-Mart food and good intentions. But the fact of the matter is that they’re cheating, they’re not following the rules, and in America (pronounced A-merh-i-cah) we frown upon that.

We have a system in place for people to immigrate legally into this country, become American citizens, and live a lifestyle in harmony with their work-ethic and abilities. Thousands of people every year come into this country legally and, through the proper channels, enter the workforce and actually live that American dream we all hear about in video-picture films.

I know it’s not a fun idea to think about the people whose lives would be changed negatively by their illegal immigration being punished, but that was a risk that they took when they crossed the border illegally. If I rob a convenience store, whether I use the money to buy drugs, or to feed my starving family, I’ve still robbed a convenience store. It’s not the intentions that matter, but the act itself.

Illegal immigration is making it easier for corporations and private business owners alike to hire workers below fair-market wages. Now I’m about as “pro” minimum wage as I am pro-eating my own foot, but in a situation like this, allowing outside laborers to come into the country illegally, and work off the books for under fair-market wages is anti-capitalism. It hurts supply and demand, and that hurts everyone.

Sure they’re taking jobs that most Americans don’t actually want, but that’s irrelevant. Imagine there was no illegal labor. And imagine that Americans still didn’t want those jobs. Either those employers would have to offer better wages for those jobs, making them more attractive to potential employees, or they’d have to go out of business. Guess which they’d probably choose. That’s how an economy works, jobs that are unattractive and pay poorly don’t get staffed until they’re more attractive, or until they pay better.

Yes, we’re all immigrants to some degree, for the most part. And yes there are some illegals that are making important contributions to society in some way or another. But, again, that’s not the issue. The issue is they’re violating the law. We’re not asking them to say The Pledge every day at dinner, and we’re not asking them strap American flags to their porches. America (pronounced Awesome-Land) is like any other kick-ass club, you don’t need to become a clone of every other member, just pay your monthly dues, follow the rules, and sign the guestbook when you get in.