Not quite safe for all audiences, but terribly funny! Anyone who has been married for more than, say, 10 years (maybe less maybe more) will understand. This isn’t the version from the album, but pretty close. He tends to improvise .
If you want to find the song to download so that you can listen to is again and again and again, visit this link. Enjoy.
Bob Dylan’s new release this year, Tell Tall Signs, is #8 in his bootleg series. It’s a series ofrare and unreleased songs from his work between 1996 and 2006. He never ceases to amaze me how he can put so much meaning and feeling into song after song.
One example is the song, Most of the Time. The original version is good, but the alternate version on Tell Tale Signs is incredible. What I love about this song is his ability to say one thing but mean another.
It’s an incredible album, one of the best of 2008.
100 Year Picnic, one of my favorite independent bands has released their newest full length release, Tales of a Modern Splash. The album is full of great songs; multi-layered and perfectly textured, each song has it’s own story to tell.One of my favorite songs on the new album is Looks Are for Free. It, like a few other songs on the album has properties that remind me of the Beatles, though to call Jeff Greeneberg and Edwin Pierce another John and George would be to misunderstand their motives. 100 Year Picnic’s music is mostly based around their families that they both love and tolerate, and this can be seen in their songs.Another favorite from the album is Isolation, an alt country ditty that paints a picture of a run down yard and a neglected relationship. The chorus is full of truth:
She said, you and your isolation,What are you trying to escape from,Can’t stand to walk away,So let me back into your life,It takes two to make one wrong thing right.
Don’t miss the song, Come On. It’s about living life to its fullest. It’s wonderful. I’m sure that I’ll have Tales Of A Modern Splash on my mp3 player quite a bit this year.BTW: one of my all time favorite songs is also by 100 Year Picnic, It’s called Mary Faye Tucker. It’s the story of an annoying sales-person selling resort timeshares.Enjoy! Life’s a 100 year picnic…
I can’t put my finger on who Helio Sequence remind me of, but that is a good thing. I suspect it is because they have a unique yet familiar sound that is immediately appealing. There is something very Flock of Seagullsish about the title track, Keep Your Eyes Ahead. And close to the end of the album in Broken Afternoon you can hear Bob Dylan’s influence. It’s very beautiful and very transparent.
But my favorite song on the album is the first track, Lately. Listen to the song and think of each line as a fib, as if the singer is trying to convince himself that his words are true. It’s a very powerful song.
Helio’s lyrics are understandable, literate and interesting with enough vagueness but not too much to be meaningful.
This is my favorite album so far this year. I won’t be surprised if it ends up on my 10 best for the year.
Artist: The Helio Sequence
Album: Keep Your Eyes Ahead 
Label: Sub Pop Records
Download: Keep Your Eyes Ahead (Linked from their website…go check it out.)
Cornelius is the stage name for Keigo Oyamada, a highly creative Japanese artist who chose his name in homage to the movies of Planet of the Apes.
His newest album, Gum, is ears candy with nutrition, not just empty calories. It has the depth to satisfy the heart as well as the ear. It’s a fascinating journey, or as I like to see it, as enjoyable as a day at an amusement park.
Cornelius, by nature is experimental, but he provides just enough traditional pop/rock footholds to make the album approachable, even if you have never heard him before (assuming you are in the mood for something a little out of the ordinary).
As someone who has spent time in Japan and enjoys Japanese Pop/Rock and even the use of hard to understand and sometimes nonsensical English, this album doesn’t strike me a cheesy like so many uses of Japanese English. The use of English, Japanese, and in some cases voices for sound’s sake are reasonable, interesting and fun.
Every song on this album is enjoyable. My favorite is “Music”, both the English and Japanese versions, remind of me Manhattan Transfer. Kling Klang is as Zen as it gets. Linked here as an mp3 download is “Gum” the title track that I really wonder if the Japanese sounds mean something in code as they switch from one ear to the other. Listen and see what I mean.
Artist: Cornelius
Album: Gum 
Download: Gum (mp3)
Buy album at Napster
Ten Story Relapse has been a indie favorite of mine for a long time. They just put this video on Youtube. It’s a great song with a great message from their newest album, Antidisestablishmentarianism. Yeah…that’s a mouth full. Enjoy.
