Project 2010

A quick refresher intro: Starting January 1st I've been listening to my iPod in alphabetic order by song (thus, Project 2010). I've been talking about certain songs or random thoughts that occur as I proceed through this project. At this point i'm pretty deep into the D's, and it's already looking like this will drag into 2011. Today I got to song 1,340 of 6,779.

Now to our regularly scheduled programming:

Every Indie Boy knows and loves Belle and Sabastian. OK, every 32 year old Indie Boy knows and loves Belle and Sabastian. Pretty early in the day I got to "Dirty Dream Number Two," which is a pretty respectable song by them. At some point I should do an all-out salute to them, but for today you'll just get this:



Not too much longer I got to The All-American Rejects "Dirty Little Secret." I have no shame about enjoying The All-American Rejects. They are poppy, hooky, and fun. In addition, I actually really like this video for some reason.



Lately, anytime I hear The Postal Service I think, "when will they come out with another album?" The answer keeps looking like never, which is unfortunate. Give Up was such a great album, and getting something else comparable would be welcome:



Did I mention that I had a ton of R.E.M. on my iPod? I do. I think barely a day goes by where I don't hear at least one R.E.M. song. Not that I'm complaining.

I will complain that I listened to Phish perform "The Divided Sky" twice in a row for almost a half hour (and I wonder why I'm not getting through a lot of songs). I didn't realize that the one 14 minute version was over, and that the 18 minute version began. It's a great jam, just not twice in a row.

Project 2010

So, today started with "The Difference" by The Wallflowers. It brought me back to 1996 and BELTING out the song while driving around, and I am a terrible singer. Terrible. Like so incredibly bad, but this song still rocks after 14 years, and I almost started belting it out in my cubicle.



I also really like The Mountain Goats song "Dilaudid." There are really intense strings:



Honestly, made very little progress today- hope tomorrow goes better.

Project 2010

Today I only got to song 1,303 of 6,779. I think I added more songs this weekend than I was able to listen to today, so I might be losing a bit of ground. I put Freestyle Whales onto my ITunes the other day and I am really enjoying their album.

One of the things I really like about this project is that it gives me an opportunity to find some songs that I may have overlooked, either because they are on albums that I didn't listen to much or because they were buried somewhere in an album where I was no longer paying much attention. One such song is Animal Collective's "Derek" which is off of "Strawberry Jam." I've listened to "Merriweather Post Pavilion" about 100 times and "Strawberry Jam" about 3 times. So, I was pretty happy with this find.



I love Bob Dylan, but at around minute eight of Desolation Row I'm ready for something else to be going on.

Another artist that I seem to have a lot of on my iPod is Beck. Almost every time I hit one of his songs I'm pretty happy about it. Definitely loved "Devil's Haircut" today.




Finally, I got to hear "Dialtone" by Saturday Looks Good to Me. Saturday Looks Good To Me is a Detroit area band that I saw several times when I lived in Michigan. They always put on a really fun show and were one of those bands that always seemed to be having a party on stage with a plethora of band members participating. I couldn't find a good version of "Dialtone" to embed, so here's a link:

http://www.last.fm/music/Saturday+Looks+Good+to+Me/_/Dialtone

Project 2010: Indie Crush: Sufjan Stevens

My last song for today was "Decatur" by Sufjan Stevens. I am in love with Sufjan. For those who are not familiar, Sufjan sings beautiful songs about love, loss, adventures, history, and places. I was able to see him last year at All Tomorrow's Parties New York, and it was one of the most amazing shows I've ever been to. He played his album, Seven Swans, from beginning to end, and the thousand people in the room were so quiet that if anyone spoke at a normal voice almost the entire room was able to hear them. His performance was hypnotic. This is "To Be Alone With You" which is on Seven Swans



Sufjan followed up Seven Swans with Michigan- an album about Michigan and then Illinois. Illinois is one of my favorite albums of all time. The stories he tells in his songs are so beautiful, sad, happy, and interesting. "Decatur" is one of my favorites- "Stephen A Douglas is the great debater Abraham Lincoln is the great emancipator." No one else in the world would fit that into a song about a trip with their stepmother:



Finally, this is Casmir Pulaski Day. Every time I hear this song I get really sad and happy at the same time.



So, there is my little salute to Sufjan Stevens. He deserves a lot more- but this is what I've got.

Project 2010

Today was a really great day of music. I made it through a ton of songs and hit on a bunch of songs that I really, really love. I'm now on 1,257 of 6,714.

I was surprised to find a really great cover of Phish singing "A Day In The Life" live. It was really well done, and you can hear the crowd singing along. It definitely put a smile on my face.

A discovery- I have two The Mars Volta CD's. Everything about The Mars Volta points to the fact that I should really enjoy them. They mix a lot of things in that I like about other bands- long songs with jams, horns, and interesting orchestration. However, every time I hit one of their songs I find myself just waiting for it to end. Right now I am litening to the 12 minute long "Day of the Baphomets." And. It. Just. Will. Not. End.

I talk quite a bit about R.E.M. I will talk about them even more as things go on. Today got to "Daysleeper," which is yet another amazing song by them.



Also, hit The White Stripes "Dead Leaves and Dirty Ground." The White Stripes are just an all around great rock duo and when this song came on it made me happy and bob my head. Nothing wrong with that.



"Dear Anonymous" by Juliana Hatfield came up today as well. I just find that interesting, because every time I hear her I think a little bit about My So-Called Life. I definitely like that show a little too much, and probably watch TV just a little too much.

Made it to "Debaser" by The Pixies which added to my good day of music- I really find myself digging the D's.



"A Decade Under The Influence" might be my favorite Taking Back Sunday tune. Lyrics like "Close your eyes, just settle," "My worst brings out the best in you," and "I've got a bad feeling about this" all (sadly) appeal to me.

Project 2010

I made it to the D's! So, that's pretty exciting.

Got to listen to "Dance Music" by The Mountain Goats. Really like them, really like this song. I couldn't resist watching a sock puppet perform this. I'm never sure if people have too much time on their hands or are just more productive with their time than I am. Who's to say?



Also, got to "Dark Too Early" by Mezzanine Owls. I really their sound a lot. I couldn't find that song, but here's "Coyote."



Finally, as I said before, I don't really like OKGO's new album- but who can resist a little Rube Goldberg? Not me!

Project 2010

Sometimes you just want to yell. Like really yell. Or at least listen to someone yell, and that is where Taking Back Sunday comes in. OK, they are not one of the best or even better bands to come around, but when I'm in the right mood I love listening to them. Today I hit "Cute without the E." It is probably the perfect example of what I love about them (but I can totally respect you not being into it at all).



Also today, Cuyahoga from R.E.M. Growing up in Cuyahoga County in Ohio, I always get a little bit excited about this song, and seeing R.E.M. play it live in Cuyahoga County was amazing. The crowd went crazy. Probably the only place on Eath that the crowd goes wild over that song.

honestly, didn't make a lot of progress today. I'm only on 1,162 of 6,714 but I did listen to the new Gorillaz album and the new Broken Bells album. I was lukewarm on both.