So I've been in Singapore (not China) for just over a year now. From the "karaoke" and delicious food to the bowels of boredom and never-ending diarrhea, it's been quite an experience so far! According to my contract, I have two more to go.
I've seen some strange toilets and some even stranger English translations. I've had to yell a lot, but only to get people to speak up and not because I'm American (I'm deaf/a bad listener). I've enjoyed working with people that I'd consider to be incredibly smart and great friends, which I could never say about my previous job. I've learned how to say "thank you" in mandarin, as well as "dearest little sister's breast milk." I've slept in a bed almost every night, which is remarkable. I've been to some sexy places and hope to explore even more. I've tried durian and stinky tofu, and can honestly say the flavors don't make up for the nasal bitchslap. I've been better about keeping in touch with people from home, but I'm still terrible at it. I have not been caned...yet.
Here's a playlist centered around my time in Singapore and Asia.
1 - Lifetime - Airport Monday Morning I left on a Monday, and arrived on a Wednesday. That was my first experience in time travel.
2 - Jets to Brazil - Chinatown Where I've been living this past year. I've seen some strange things and it certainly isn't the "glam" life, but I wouldn't pass it up for the cushiest expat condo.
3 - The Sounds - Fire It's hot. All the time. I was told I'd get used to it. I never will.
4 - Travis - Why Does it Always Rain on Me? When it's not hades, it's monsoon. Sometimes it switches from hades to monsoon and back to hades. Those are the worst days.
5 - Two Tongues - Dead Lizard Nothing makes me sadder than seeing dead geckos, even if they crap everywhere and are poorly represented by that Geico asshole.
6 - Elton John - Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting) More like Saturday afternoons, and some Sundays. The good thing about it basically being Summer all year is that I get to play soccer most weekends. The bad thing about it basically being Summer all year is that I look like a radish after every game.
7 - M. Ward - Chinese Translation "Hey how do I order a beer?" "Oh just say to the waitress, 'xiao mei mei, ren nai.'" (see above)
8 - The Shins - Australia I used to think most Aussies were big douchey drunks and that most northern Europeans were pretty cool and fun. Seems I had them mistaken for one another.
9 - Teddybears - Cobrastyle Snakes suck. I was worried that Singapore would be like Guam or pre-St. Patrick Ireland or an episode of Man vs. Wild, but I've only seen one snake since I've been here, and it was in the Botanical Gardens. They're not "falling from the trees" as Allison feared.
10 - Dj Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince - Boom Shake the Room The second song I heard in 2009 made up for the first in ways that I didn't think possible. Then again, it's not hard to beat "Sweet Home Alabama," especially when it's played in a bar called China One. That's how you want to ring in the new year? Seriously? This is my life.
11 - The Weakerthans - Reconstruction Site The construction never stops! And they're damn good at it. They would've finished the Big Dig in 3 months.
12 - Jimmy Eat World - Lucky Denver Mint 13 - The Get Up Kids - Out of Reach "Clarity" and "Something to Write Home About" celebrated their 10 year anniversaries since I've been here. This makes me feel like an old man since I wasn't all that young when these came out. I'm bummed that I've missed seeing them this year (as well as pretty much every other show worth going to). At least there's always Beyonce and Black Eyed Peas!!!!!!! I hope Nickelback can take time out of their busy schedules to make a stop in Singapore, too!!!
14 - Guster - Homecoming King I'll be back mothalickas!
A Places Mix I decided to pick my songs based on the places I've been. For the past three years, traveling has become a minor obsession of mine. Every time there is a long weekend, I try to plan a trip. Every summer I traipse off to places I've never been, because why not?! My goal is to see all fifty states and ten Canadian provinces before I turn thirty. I'm twenty-six now. I've got twelve states and one province left. This is entirely reachable.
(I only read Evan's introduction before I made my mix, so I won't know if we overlap until I post this.)
1. The Lemonheads - Pittsburgh Anyone who's been in the same room with me for more than five minutes probably knows that I'm a) from Pittsburgh and b) love Pittsburgh. People don't believe me when I say that Pittsburgh is one of the best cities in the country (and now that I've been to a lot of cities, I can say that with certainty). I'm trying to convince Evan to move there with me when he's back from Singapore. That is the best idea!
2. The Promise Ring - The Jersey Shore I put "The Jersey Shore" second on my list because I spent a week there nearly every summer growing up. I used to know Avalon, NJ, like the back of my hand. I haven't been in years, but I miss my summers there.
3. The Wombats - Moving to New York This concept is currently ruining my existence in Boston. One of my closest friends here is moving to New York this fall, and I couldn't be sadder about it. Honestly, I don't see the appeal in moving to NYC. It's expensive, a billion other people are all trying to do the same thing as you, and people are fake as shit. It's also a nonstop tourist nightmare. Sorry, I'm never moving to New York.
4. Sun Kil Moon - Carry Me Ohio Pittsburgh is only an hour or so from the Ohio border, but that doesn't mean I went there often. In fact, I can think of only three times I've been to Cleveland: 1. In high school with my friend Ashley to see the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland right after it opened (her mom drove, I bought an Our Lady Peace CD in the gift shop. 2. In college my brother and I drove to Cleveland to see The Get Up Kids at the Grog Shop (we were nearly carjacked). 3. This summer the Rowland Family drove to Canton to see the Football Hall of Fame and onward to Cleveland for my second visit to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. Really no need to ever go to Ohio ever again.
5. Editors - Munich My first trip to Germany happened the summer before my senior year of high school. My high school German teacher was the leader of the trip, and all I remember doing was walking from dawn until dusk and never eating. Never eating because German food is the worst. I survived by hoarding the breakfast rolls in plastic bags and sneaking off to McDonald's for McFlurrys whenever I had the chance. I bought The Get Up Kids' Something to Write Home About in Munich. Because it was the international release, it had four extra songs on it, which made me feel really cool and awesome when I got back to the states. I am a nerd.
6. Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa My first experience in New England was Cape Cod. I came up with my college boyfriend to meet his family and then check out Boston. You know, to see if it was a viable place to live once I'd graduated. What's weird is that a few years later, I found out that I have a half-sister. Who lives on Cape Cod. About five minutes from the house of my (now) ex-boyfriend's family. My life is full of weird.
7. The New Amsterdams - Idaho I just went to Idaho! You might think it's a myth that Idaho is all about potatoes, but it really is! I might have only been in the state for all of three hours, but I saw so many potato-related things. Including the World Potato Exposition. There was a lot of road construction. I did not like that part of Idaho.
8. Band of Horses - The Great Salt Lake And from Idaho, we drove to the Great Salt Lake. Let me tell you about the Great Salt Lake. That is, let me lower your expectations: The Great Salt Lake has a "shore" that is chockfull of sharp rocks and shell bits that you have to walk across to get to the water. This "shore" at low tide was nearly the length of a football field (ouch!). The Great Salt Lake has been overtaken by mosquitos. They're in the air. They're in the sand. And they cover the surface of the water. I'm itching just thinking about them! The Great Salt Lake smells like shit. Seriously - like a big, fresh turd. But the awesome things about the Great Salt Lake is the floating. It is pretty awesome to literally SIT in the water.
9. The Get Up Kids - Campfire Kansas I also went to Kansas this summer. Stopped in Topeka. Saw the state capitol building. Saw the Westboro Baptist Church. Saw a street corner where there was supposed to be a giant meat cleaver. Got back in the car and drove onward to Kansas City, MO.
10. Bishop Allen - Oklahoma You'll never believe it, but in addition to seeing Idaho, Utah, and Kansas on this summer's journey, I also made time for Oklahoma. It's pretty flat there.
11. Desaparecidos - Greater Omaha I thought Omaha was going to be my mecca for tall, skinny, moppy-haired boys. Maybe we went to the wrong places, but there were few good specimens. We did go see Saddle Creek Records. Rob bought vomit-flavored jellybeans. And I also bought a t-shirt that read "emOmaha" with the state of Nebraska shedding a tear. I should have bought that fucking t-shirt.
12. The Decemberists - Los Angeles, I'm Yours Los Angeles, I'm not yours. In fact, I hated you. I have never been to a more vapid or traffic-riddled place. I shall never return. (Though I must admit, having a picnic and watching a '70s horror flick in a cemetery was pretty tops.)
13. Matt Pond PA - This is Montreal Ahhhhhhh, Canada. I love you so! Quebec, I kind of like you the least. Maybe it was the shitty hostel we stayed in, or the fact that I was tired beyond belief by the end of a 21-day train trip around North America. I love your poutain though! Why hasn't some enterprising Canuck brought that into the forefront of American food movements?
14. Ryan Adams - Chicago I've only been to Chicago once. And my trip was only four days long. But - WOW. That is a city I could move to tomorrow. I've never been so quickly enchanted by a place. The lake, the culture, the neighborhoods! Of course, I was there in July when the summer is sweet and sweaty. Maybe I should visit in the winter when people are miserable and cold.
15. The Magnetic Fields - Come Back From San Francisco San Francisco is another city I could fall madly in love with tomorrow. They've got steep hills and pet cemeterys. Honestly, what is not to love?
16. The Japandroids - Rockers East Vancouver I've been trying to find an excuse to put a Japandroids track on a playlist since Sad Songs. I fucking LOVE THIS BAND. They make me feel like I'm seventeen again and back in a sweaty venue bouncing all of all the energy in the room. They're from Vancouver, which automatically makes them awesome. Vancouver rocks. It's beautiful, progressive, and F U N. I cannot wait to go back. And I cannot wait to see these guys play Great Scott. Holy shit. Cannot wait!
17. Bloc Party - Kreuzberg If I could move tomorrow to anyplace in the world, it'd be Berlin. More specifically, to Kreuzberg. We stayed at a hostel right on the edge of Kreuzberg, right next door to an anarchist squat. Kreuzberg feels like South Oakland in Pittsburgh or Allston in Boston, but completely bombed out and restarted. This song is perfect and reminds me of a glorious five days back in the summer of 2007. Please, everyone, go to Berlin. It's the best place.
18. The Walkmen - Lost in Boston This is literally how I feel. Where I will go next? (Oh yeah, Quebec City. Next weekend. I told you I take advantage of every four-day weekend that comes around!)
Thanks for listening! If you happen to live in the following places and want me to sleep on your couch or floor or backyard (I have a tent now!), please let me know!! - Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Lousiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Maine, Wisconsin, and Newfoundland/Labrador
I've been looking forward to this one for a while. These are songs about places. Or, at least, they're songs with some place in the title. Pretty straightforward.
Allison and I actually talked about doing this one first, but we decided to be all morose and go with the Sad Songs. I'm not saying it wasn't a great decision, but we probably should've kicked things off with a bang rather than a razor blade. My apologies to our 3 followers!
Pack your bags mothalicka, cause I'm takin you to the baddest places on the planet.
1 - the clash - london calling joe strummer is a legend. great first track. one of the best albums of all time. these are all facts.
2 - they might be giants - istanbul years after i saw istanbul on tiny toons, i discovered they might be giants were behind this brilliance. they've never disappointed since.
3 - suzanne vega and dna - tom's diner if we ever did a "songs that get stuck in your head" list, this would definitely be number 1.
4 - harry and the potters - platform 9 and 3/4 if i ever saw Platform 9 and 3/4, i'd probably get a concussion trying to get to the Hogwarts Express
5 - toto - africa everything about this song is perfect, especially the video. aside from the aids and malaria and civil wars, makes africa sound like a pretty great place to visit.
6 - the hold steady - joke about jamaica the more i listen to this one, the more i think it's hold steady at their best.
7 - bad brains - banned in dc i'd like to thank jesse tremblay for bringing this into my life
8 - beastie boys - live at pj's i had this as the first track, and it's definitely first track worthy, but london calling fits the list better.
9 - neko case - never turn your back on mother earth this is one of those alt-country throwbacks that totally works.
10 - electric six - gay bar i was trying to find my gay power hour today and realized this would be a great fit for the places list. let's start a nuclear war!!!! (the official video, jam-packed with gaybe lincolns, is censored for some reason. here's some spastic asian shit...still works i think)
11 - peter gabriel - solsbury hill again, youtube has failed to provide a non-cartoon studio version. whatever. this one kinda fits, too, but i don't like it. this cartoon seems totally retarded. kids these days don't know what they missed out on in the 80s and 90s.
12 - dead kennedys - holiday in cambodia going to cambodia next week with mullen. figured this was very appropriate/inappropriate. if i weren't going, i probably wouldn't put this on the list.
13 - the doors - alabama song (whisky bar) just like "africa," this one makes alabama seem pretty pleasant. that is if you like moons, whisky, and little girls.
14 - the misfits - hollywood babylon jpk showed me one of the greatest things ever last year. check it out below the hollywood babylon vid.
danzig and his book collection
15 - beatles - back in the ussr i love how if you replaced "the ussr" with "surftown usa," this could totally be a beach boys song. you'd obviously have to change other stuff, like "comrade," but you get the point.
16 - last lights - u.s. out of new england rip dom
17 - get up kids - mass pike too much love for guk recently? never enough! plus this is highly relevant
18 - bon iver - blood bank i always get mixed feelings when i'm donating blood. on the one hand, i'm pretty happy that i'm doing a good deed. on the other, i'm already mad knowing how many times the fucking red cross is going to call me for the rest of my life.
19 - bayside - montauk favorite bayside song...favorite news story of the past 5 years
I had my first big musical awakening during my senior year of high school. All of the necessary elements were in place:
The Internets came to life with streaming media and everyone’s favorite illegal downloading tool came to be: Napster.
The Rock Shop opened in little ol’ Bethel Park, PA. Our very own indie rock record store! The Rock Shop was owned by the nicest, most approachable guy in the world: Mike.
I started dating a boy who would become the archetype for all boys thereafter. Not only was he tall, skinny, and moppy-haired, but he made me mixtapes. And that has made all the difference.
Music I listened to before these three things came into my life = not good.
Milana and me in NYC during our senior year.
I was a high school senior between August 2000 and June 2001. These are ordered by date. Unlike Evan, I did not cheat. (In some instances, I may prefer a different song from another album. When that occurs, I’ll let you know.)
Elliott – Blessed By Your Own Ghost - False Cathedrals - August 22, 2000 The Roboto Project in Wilkinsburg. What a place. In the middle of what was then a really shady neighborhood in Pittsburgh, there was a place for all the punk and indie rock kids to put on mostly local shows. National acts were frequent, but they were not widely known ones. I saw Elliott open for The Weakerthans in a performance space no bigger than my Boston apartment. The place was a sweat factory in the best way. I love this song. (And I’m pissed that by following the rules – unlike Evan – I’m missing out on The Weakerthans Left & Leaving by a month and a half.)
Jets to Brazil – One Summer Last Fall - Four Cornered Night - August 29, 2000 On one of the boy’s mixtapes. The best part of this song on the mixtape was that it cut off early because the tape ran out. When I listen to it now, I always anticipate the cut off. You’d think after nearly ten years of listening to the actual track from the album that I’d get used to the “full” version. I don’t think I ever will.
Brandston – Boys Lie - Trying to Figure Each Out EP - August 29, 2000 Brandston is one of these bands that I think everyone knows, and then it turns out only I do. I wouldn’t have picked this song. I wouldn’t have picked this album. But it’s all that came out when I was a senior. The best choice would have been “Summer in St. Clair” for all the personal reasons I won’t go into here. But “Boys Lie” is a great song, and it definitely does what it needs to do for this mix: throw me right back into my 17-year-old self.
The Juliana Theory – If I Told You This Was Killing Me, Would You Stop? - Emotion is Dead - August 29, 2000 The day this came out, my friend Milana and I drove to The Rock Shop when it opened and each bought a copy. We drove around the South Hills listening to the newest album from a band with a lead singer we were both ridiculously (serious – ridiculous!) in love with. We had lunch and Panda Garden and I went to work at Hollywood Video afterward. It was an awesome day to be seventeen. (I also wrote the lyrics to this on a note I gave a boy I was mad at once. Because that’s how you communicate when you’re a burgeoning indie-rock dork.) KUDOS TO WHOEVER PUT THIS WITH NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS!
Koufax – Out Of Your Element - It Had to Do with Love - September 5, 2000 I walked into Club Laga for a Get Up Kids show and these guys were on stage. I remember stacks and stacks of keyboards and dudes climbing over each other to get to different keyboards all over the stage. It was awesome. I’m a sucker for a synth. And as a result, these guys definitely sucked me in that night. Sadly, that’s the first and last time I’ve ever seen them. (That night was also the first time I heard The Anniversary, a band a formed an intense love for over the years. If they had released an album during this time frame, they’d be a top feature of this list.)
At the Drive In – Invalid Litter Dept. - Relationship of Command - September 12, 2000 I like the first At the Drive in record so so so so so so so much more. It was an album more in line with my senior year than Relationship of Command. One night in particular comes to mind when I sat in a car in an empty lot at 3 a.m. listening to In Casino/Out. I may or may not have been alone. So, this will have to do.
Hot Rod Circuit – This is Not the Time or Place - If It's Cool With You, It's Cool With Me - September 19, 2000 The most un-HRC of the HRC songs I could have picked. This is the first HRC song I heard though (because it was on a mixtape), so I feel like it’s only right to include it. I listened to a lot of HRC those days, because they were the boy’s favorite band for a long time. I love this song. I wish I was still 20 going on 21.
The New Amsterdams – Never Treat Others - Never You Mind - September 19, 2000 IF I HAD MY WAY, “I’M A LONER DOTTIE, A REBEL” WOULD HAVE BEEN ON THIS MIX. (The New Amsterdams will have to do.)
AFI – Morningstar - The Art of Drowning - September 26, 2000 Remember when AFI didn’t suck? That was pretty awesome, huh? Black Sails in the Sunset was an incredible album! The Art of Drowning was just OK. You could start to feel the slippy slope they were on. I would have put “The Last Kiss” on here a billion times if I could. We anticipated The Art of Drowning though. Waited and waited and when it arrived, we pretended to be excited about it. I can see through all of that now.
New Found Glory – Eyesore - s/t - September 26, 2000 Two words: Warped Tour. Taking the trolley from Bethel Park to Station Square in downtown Pittsburgh. Goofing and running around the crowded car and annoying all the commuters around us. That memory is the only reason I didn’t flip a shit about a dozen times when I took another jam-packed trolley downtown this summer to see the Penguins Stanley Cup victory parade. I just kept saying to myself: YOU WERE THOSE ANNOYING LITTLE FUCKS TEN YEARS AGO – SO CHILL.
The White Octave – Style No. 6312 - Style No. 6312 - October 17, 2000 This is a song from a mixtape from the boy. I would listen to these mixtapes from him over and over and over and look for the hidden messages he was trying to send me. Verbalizing emotions or feelings was never the kid’s strongest suit, but these mixtapes made up for every bit of that. The tapes also made me fall in love with discovery. I’d never known a world of music so vast and untapped before. Every mixtape was a litany of bands I’d never heard of and songs I’d grow to love. I might not know any other songs from The White Octave. Because the only one that could ever matter to me is this one.
Dashboard Confessional - Shirts and Gloves - The Swiss Army Romance - November 14, 2000 Ahhhhhh. Dashboard. Here we have the first artist ever searched for on Napster on the Rowland Family computer. It was the boy who introduced me both to the magic of Napster and then to Dashboard. I could have picked an angrier, more upbeat track off Swiss Army Romance, but this one has a secret little nod to Dawson’s Creek, which makes me giddy. Can you find it? No? “So make sure that I’m up to date on TV night / I hate to miss out / I think I miss you most Wednesdays and Saturdays.” Figure it out.
Rainer Maria – Thought I Was - A Better Version of Me - January 23, 2001 I have a confession to make: I didn’t start listening to Rainer Maria until I was a freshman in college. BUT – they did play an important role in my senior year. I was playing in the Bethel Park talent show – Telerama – for the second year in a row, but this time I was going solo: just me and a guitar. The boy was supposed to come to the show, but at the last minute decided to go to the Rainer Maria show downtown instead. I was crushed. After almost a year of dating! Needless to say, this was pretty much the beginning of the end of first love. And it is all Rainer Maria’s fault. (I love them now; hated them then.)
Bad Astronaut – Greg’s Estate - Acrophobe - February 6, 2001 The best thing about having friends who are all a year older than you: college parties when you’re a senior still stuck in high school. My friends moved out of the dorms and into their own house (their own house!!) during my senior year. I’d go down to South Oakland on the weekends for parties and ruckus-raising of the teenage variety. This album was a soundtrack to those parties. We’d listen to it through at least once – sometimes thrice – a night. Man, those were the days when property destruction never made one pause and think, “This is WRONG.”
Weezer – Islands in the Sun - Weezer (Green Album) - May 15, 2001 Oh, to go back to the days when Weezer didn’t totally shit on their albums with ridiculous titles (Raditude?!)… Weezer Green was such a big deal my senior year! My friends in college went on elaborate road trips to see their reunion shows (The Get Up Kids were the openers for that tour and they played gymnasiums decorated like a school dance!), but I had to stay home and go to high school like the high schooler I was. Oh well. Hip, hip.
Travis – Flowers in the Window - The Invisible Band - June 11, 2001 Travis is one of the only bands on here that I discovered for myself. And I did it by watching that terrible MTV show Twelve Angry Viewers. Do you remember that? Where they sat twelve popular-culture-only minded people in a room and had them watch three or four music videos (ON MTV – I KNOW!) and then they voted on them. The ones with good scores went into heavy rotation. The ones with bad scores would never been seen again. The only episode I ever watched from beginning to end had Travis’ “All I Wanna Do Is Rock” on it. And it was PANNED. That’s when I knew something was starting to change: I wasn’t thinking along the same prepackaged, canned lines as the majority of the people my age anymore.
Well, there you have it. My senior year. I would go back and relive the whole thing - beginning to end. Til next time...
I never made more mixes than I did in high school. I probably made one a week senior year. Everything from mixes for friends, girls, soccer, baby-making, driving and eating, I made it all. I still find some of them kicking around old CD wallets and pop them in for a bit of nostalgia. They're usually scratched to shit, but who cares...Glory Days!
Allison said we should do a "Senior Year of High School" playlist. I got excited in ways that I'd rather not share. The rules are simple: pick songs from albums that were released while you were a senior in High School (for me, that's August 2001-June 2002). They don't necessarily have to be songs you listened to in high school, although most of mine are.
When we were talking this idea through, Allison asked "can we do the summer after graduation?" and I said "no way this is a challenge!" Still, it was pretty easy. After making sure albums fit into the date range, the only hard part was deciding which songs would make it to the list.
Also, I bent the rules a bit.
1 - andrew wk - she is beautiful there's no situation where awk isn't appropriate. roadtrip to montreal after senior year to drink at 18? sure. afternoon pantsless dancing in your friends' NYC living room at 25? nothing could be more appropriate.
2 - wilco - i'm the man who loves you arguably the best album to come out during this time period, but i'll never admit it. still...sick track
3 - death cab for cutie - blacking out the friction for some reason, this one always reminds me of late fall / early winter in new england.
4 - the roots - the seed 2.0 white kids love the roots because they play instruments, and more recently because of their 2girls1cup reaction video. i like this song cause it goes well any time on just about any list. senior year of high school was the last year i kept up with hip-hop. phrenology is probably the last album of the genre i really loved. i'm sure some great shit has come out since, but you only have so much time.
5 - avril lavigne - sk8r boi this was another fixture on the canada road trip mix. to this day, we sing along just as intensely as zach, brian and i did through the backroads of winchendon and southern new hampshire. so hardcore.
6 - hot water music - bleeder this is a fantastic cover off the alkaline/hot water music split. can't believe i forgot it when considering the covers.
7 - thursday - understanding in a car crash i never really thought this album was all that special, but "understanding" is legendary.
8 - blackalicious - blazing arrow gift of gab is ridiculous. at least i think so. someone who knows better, please drop some knowledge on me. please.
9 - taking back sunday - cute without the e (cut from the team) given the theme, this is one of those tracks that has to be on here.
10 - stephen kellogg - anthem of our discovery yea this song is kinda cheesy, but whatever. i think stephen kellogg makes some great music, and this one made it to at least 2 girlfriends' mixtapes over the years, so there.
(can't find a good version of it...here it is off a later album)
13 - the streets - weak become heroes with his stripped down beats and talky-singy delivery, it's awkward to place any Streets song on a playlist. and that's what makes it so great.
14 - get up kids - overdue i thought "on a wire" sucked when it first came out, but it's really grown on me over the years. overdue stands out.
15 - desaparecidos - the happiest place on earth this deserves a place on any 4th of July mix. [note: i was checking the release date on this one (@www.saddle-creek.com) and it made me realize what a ridiculous run saddle creek had in the early 2000's]
16 - something corporate - cavanaugh park this song always brings me back, but the nostalgia is short-lived. this song ultimately brings me down. some things never do change
17 - new found glory - forget my name we've only done a handful of playlists, and some bands have appeared 2, 3, 4, 10 times. yea...we have favorites. however, some bands just make music that fits almost any playlist theme. NFG is one of them.
18 - jimmy eat world - get it faster i'm kinda cheating on this one. "Bleed American" came out july 01', but on a technicality, I'll claim this is off "Jimmy Eat World" (re-titled after 9/11). This was the album of my senior year, so it has to be included. "Get It Faster" is the best track of the lot.
19 - brand new - soco amaretto lime one way to stay 18 forever is to put together a "senior year of high school" playlist. dork.
20 - doves - pounding allison usually likes to end with something mellow, and i could've ended with soco amaretto lime or cavanaugh park. that would've been pretty nice and pleasant and fucking depressing, right? there's nothing wrong with that, but i don't really like to do it. i'll stick to the mellow -> encore format. i prefer shows to end on a high note, and my playlists tend to follow suit. power hours are a different story, though. i especially like to end with the debaucherous "slow motion" to remind me that i'm a degenerate drunk and, more importantly, i'm a loser for doing a power hour in my bedroom by myself.
I can almost feel the pounds shedding, and the hair growing back.
Let's make one thing clear: The thing I am worst at in the world is seduction.
1. Phil Collins - In the Air Tonight Here's how to definitely not freak out a boy. Take the records Face Value; Hello, I Must Be Going; and No Jacket Required and place them above your bedroom and closet door. Innocent sounding. Until you realize one night that THREE Phil Collinses watch every move you make in your bed.
2. The Kills - No Wow The Kills are sex. Alison Mosshart is intoxicating. This song makes me want to do it.
3. M83 - Kim & Jessie The synth is the most seductive instrument. Hands down.
4. Grizzly Bear - Knife Even I'm puzzled by my own choice here. I've been trying to explain this one for at least a week. I can't come up with anything. But every time I hear it I think: Yes! This makes me totally want to jump into the sack! It's certainly not the words. I think it's in the feel of the song and the way he sings everything so desperately drawn out. There you go boys: the secret to bedding any girl is to put on "Knife" and make a move. I promise it will work.
5. Bat for Lashes - Daniel If you haven't figured out my position on this blog yet, I'm the one who's 100% in support of all lush '80s tones making their way back into music. With results as sexy as this, who wouldn't be? What a voice and what a delivery! Pretty much all any Daniel should ever need to get going.
6. Metric - Collect Call Emily Haines... To be you for just a day. I've been listening to the new Metric album nonstop over the past month. I knew I would include her on the list somehow, and I thought it'd be Combat Baby. But this feels more honest. Is seduction honest? Who knows... (I have no idea what I'm talking about.)
7. Bjork - Possibly Maybe Other-worldly. A little off. But somehow completely turned on.
8. Denali - Function When I was in college, my girl boner was for Maura Davis of Denali. The only time I ever saw Denali I stood there with my jaw on the floor. Jealous and enthralled. I can't find "Function" on YouTube, so "You File" will have to be a suitable fill-in.
9. Mandy Moore - Wild Hope I'll tell you something about Mandy Moore: She's fucking perfect. (You can all roll your eyes in unison now.) She released an album a couple years ago. I think twenty people besides me listened to it. Which is too bad, because it was such an earnest collection of songs. I love her. Everything about her is seduction to me.
10. Stars - My Favorite Book This sounds sickly sweet at first, but I promise the seduction is there.
11. Snow Patrol - Make Love to Me Forever It was difficult to admit that this needs to be on my list. This song is mostly damaged goods for me now, but I think it warrants a spot. (Hell, if for no other reason than it WORKED on me at one time.) Gary Lightbody has a voice that I want to wrap around me.
12. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps I hate this band. This song though? This song does it for me. Does it do it for you?
13. Broken Social Scene - Lover's Spit Ditto to everything Chris said. And then some. Everyone should have sex to this song at least once in life. Thank you, Kevin Drew.
14. Mazzy Star - Fade Into You Does this require an explanation?
15. Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough To be honest, there is no greater seduction method (and this is coming from someone who does not know how to seduce someone, so be sure to take copious notes) than dancing. In my warped world, this is the ultimate seduction song.
16. Sigur Ros - Staralfur Cause after all that seduction, you'll need something to wind down to. Perfectly post-coital.
There you have it. Songs you should play if you're aim is to never seduce a person. Good luck out there.
If you view my playlist as awkward, sporadic, underwhelming, and mildly uncomfortable, then you are most perceptive. Also, I'm not gonna kid myself by making this thing anywhere near 80 minutes in length.
Don't judge me.
1. Prince - Sexy M.F. "come here baby...yeah...u sexy mothafuckahhhhh." gets em every time.
2. Kenna - Hell Bent i didn't think this song was very seductive at first. man...was i wrong.
3. Bruce Springsteen - Fire I am pretty serious about this one. If we're not gettin it on by this point, it probably won't happen.
4. D'Angelo - Cruisin d'angelo takes an otherwise cheese love song and makes it loin-meltingly sexy.
5. Third Eye Blind - Deep Inside of You i don't really care what this song is actually about. i know what it sounds like it's about.
6. Sigur Ros - Hoppipolla this song is pretty sexy.
7. NIN - Closer at this point in the list, i have no problem being cheesy and cliched. that's what it's all about, amirite?
8. Howard and the Heartbreakers - Synth Madness i learned everything I know about seduction from this movie. howard really knows how to set the mood with some sexy music. and nothing says "score" like when a girl invites you to bed saying, "come on...let's watch David Letterman!"
9. Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone if shack hadn't mentioned top gun, i probably would've forgotten about this. between the shirtless Apollos and the thrust of the jet engines, how can you not be turned on?
10. Sick of it All - Clobberin Time so much passion. this one always reminds me of my friend zieba.
11. Clay Aiken - Build Me Up Buttercup such a heartfelt rendition of a classic
12. TAWP - Only a Woman one of the most artistic and truly tasteful love scenes i've ever seen on film.
Greetings everyone! I believe this is my first foray into blogging, and I want to start off by thanking Allison and Evan for asking me to contribute a theme for a playlist. So without further ado, I present the latest playlist challenge theme: Seduction.
My list:
1. Portishead - Glorybox
What is there to say about this song? The elegant string arrangement, the kinky guitar solo, and the heart-felt vocals of an angel....this song moves me.......in my pants.
This song came out in '91....I'm still turned on by the video.
7. Flunk - Play
Angelic, sultry vocals with a slow to mid tempo electronic beat? Yep.... seduction material.
8. Nine Inch Nails - Piggy
My apologies for the terrible video, but if you close your eyes and blindfold yourself while listening to this song, you will realize that this song should be played at every strip club in America.
9. Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg - Je t'aime moi non plus
This song came out in the 1960's....I challenge you to find a more erotic song.
Allison lives in Boston. Evan lives in Singapore. They both love music and found another mutual love in putting together playlists of all sorts, shapes, and kinds. Here, they challenge each other with a theme, both come up with a mix of songs clocking in under 80 minutes, and work together (er, fight?) to come up with the ultimate playlist for that theme based on their suggestions.
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