Updated Indie Playlist

One Song Per Indie Artist That I've Been Listening To. Enjoy.

Favorite Musicals

List of Musicals I've Seen Live In A General Order of Preference (Excluding high school performances):

1. Assassins - "Everybody's Got the Right to be Happy"
Ballad of Booth w/ Neil Patrick Harris:


2. Hedwig and the Angry Inch
3. Rent
4. Avenue Q

5. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (with Sebastian Bach)
6. Urinetown
7. Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (It's quite new)
8. Phantom of the Opera (several times)
9. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
10. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
11. 9 to 5
12. Side Show
13. La Boheme (Opera produced by Baz Luhrmann)
14. Cats
15. Spring Awakening
16. Movin' Out
17. Wicked

18. Jersey Boys

Favorite Musical Movie:
Fiddler on the Roof

Musical I Most Want to See:
Les Miserables

Worst Musical Movie:
High School Musical

An Afternoon at the Gym

I haven't been going to the gym as much lately as I would like. I need to go back to my schedule of going every other day. Usually when I go to the gym, I go straight to the weights. However, I look forward most to jumping on a treadmill, putting on my headphones (almost always with Set Your Goals playing), and just concentrating on the music and getting out of my own head. After 30 minutes or so, I start my walk back to the dorms and enjoy the runner's high.

Today, however, I couldn't get out of my own head on the treadmill. I couldn't help but focus on everything that's been on my mind the past few days whenever I got a few moments alone. I started walking up the hill to De Neve, enjoying the endorphins being released in my brain, and noticed the beautiful sky. I stopped by LATC to stare at the sunset, but it started going out of view so I continued my walk to De Neve.

I felt great from the run but still a little unsatisfied because my mind had been working too hard. I decided to walk into the De Neve quad to get a better view of the sunset. The buildings were obstructing my view a little, so I kept walking. I ended up walking all the way past Veteran, just trying to focus on the beautiful sky while still allowing myself to reflect a little. Aware of the combination of exhaustion and endorphins runnings its toll on my brain, I just kept walking in pursuit of the perfect view of the sunset. However, no matter how fast I walked, I couldn't keep up with the setting sun. I needed this time to myself, but I just wish I could experience this more often.

I didn't mean for this blog to always be about music, but it's hard when so much of how I deal with events, feelings, and thoughts are connected to music. Here is the Weatherbox song I listened to a couple times on my walk that helped bring me a short-lived sense of clarity.

"10 picket fences for 10 perfect houses
with green little gardens lined up in a row
I walked past the gardens and into the trees
And I found myself rather lost
And I picked a nice clearing I dropped to my knees
I said I will get home at any cost

But they found me in the snow, Icicles on all my clothes
Surrounded in the splinters of 10 picket fences for 10 perfect houses
There shattered and scattered all across the road
I stand and I look at the wreckage around me, I whistle and turn
I start walking home

And it's back through the gardens and through the same trees
to the clearing I passed out in before
And I threw up my hands to admit my defeat
When the chemicals erupted once more
And the clearing grew and began to bend
And all the sun light started pouring in
And you walked up, all bathed in white
And you stripped me naked
You held me tight

But they found me in the snow
Icicles on all my clothes
Surrounded in the splinters"

Tortures of the Damned

"I'm Burnt Out at 22"

"I've made mistakes, but I'll find my way. No explanation for the things I've failed at before. They can't hold my hand. It just hurts to be a man, through the tortures of the damned."

The Dreams

I put the Weatherbox record on today after Aaron J. mentioned it. Sometimes this record really takes me away to a different place, while other times it just helps me dwell on my day to day existence. One of my favorite lines on this record is from the song "The Dreams" (sidenote: I've also been having some really weird dreams lately).

"I can't abide by rules which are not my own"





Lyrics | Weatherbox - The Dreams lyrics

Random:
Beautiful HDR Photography

Indie Playlist I Made

Say Anything Recording New Album

It should come as no surprise that Say Anything is still my favorite band. I have so much respect for lead singer Max Bemis. He wrote quite possibly my favorite record of all time (listen to the whole thing here by clicking on the album cover) and he is also a song-writing machine. He wrote 120 personalized songs recently for fans who sent in a couple of paragraphs about what they wanted Max to sing about. He charged $150 for each song. He also wrote a record with his musical hero Chris Conley of Saves the Day. The project is called Two Tongues and the recently-announced release date is February 3rd. Max announced moments ago that he is about to go into the studio to release a new album next year. Below is his announcement and is just another reason why I love him:

Say anything WILL be putting out a new album next year. we'll be recording it in L.A this winter and the record will be called "Say Anything." yes, self titled. the nature of the record has changed since we intended on calling it "this is forever", also these two dj guys put out a record called that and would probably sue us.

if any person has followed our band, they understand our albums tell the story of a simple dude (me) and his evolution in life. this is the part where, having gone through his "idealistic--yet-furious-virgin" phase (baseball), young "drunk-angry-pukey-sex" phase (is a real boy), his "reaping - the - benefits - of - years - of - self - abuse - by - being - stuck - in - a - terrible -relationship" phase (in defense of the genre), he is finally confronted with the question of what the point of all of it was. what is the moral of the story? why be in a band? why try to "get" the girl? you spend years bitching or hurting yourself and others until you realize there is really something to fight for and something to fight against and being a man means drawing the line. that, my friends, is where the real adventure begins.

this album is self titled for a reason; it will take all the musical and lyrical themes of every say anything song, and attempt to resolve them and infuse them with something pure and direct. i am not going to " brandon flowers it" and say this is going to be the record that saves rock n' roll, or makes pitchfork.com finally admit we had it all along. those things are not only pre-packaged indie rock nay nay but are also pointless and fleeting. i don't know how far our album will get us commercially or even if all of you amazing ap.net friends will show up the day it comes out, say it blows, and change your " fatty max bemis with a cigarette" icon to a "hot picture of first-button-undone anthony green" icon. however, if my opinion matters to you, i promise that i love these songs to death. I REALLY hope you do too and that's all i can pray for. For those who thought in defense, while cool, was too long and serious; i see this next outing as more darkly humorous and concise. for those of you who dug is a real boy but appreciate our later maturity, such as the addition of real singing to the drunken sailor routine; this record looks like it will be even more of a step forward, without giving away too much.

We are so thankful for your love. I am constantly humbled before your appreciation and I never thought we'd get this far, so we NEED to pay you back with a cool album or we'll be doing carnival-cruise-line-emo-nostaglia tours with jefree starr by the time you guys are forty. We will work it to the bone to not let you down. Recording begins ths winter in Los Angeles, California.

Thank you.

Max


Max Bemis Playing a New Song "Ahh Men" for the First Time Live at a Chain Reaction Show I Attended. It Should Be on the New Record.