Every Monday morning. Music so good… it must be shared.
This week: “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” — Neil Young with Crazy Horse, off the album, “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”
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Writing for Writing's Sake
On the Road
On God’s Son, Nas has a song titled “Book of Rhymes.” On this track, he supposedly rifles through an old book in which he has written a bunch of random lyrics, and he regales us with his findings. Most of the time his musings are unintentionally comical. These nonsensical short bursts (“How can I trust you, when I can’t trust me/picture me an old man, an old G”) are often followed by sound effects of him crinkling paper and throwing it into a trash bin. At one point, instead of rhyming, he begins acting like he’s stumbled upon a page featuring the phone numbers of several women. He is surprised, saying, “Oh shit, Tina. I’ve been lookin’ for this bitch’s number.” Later, he will complain about a lack of values regarding our treatment of women. In short, he pulls off the common rap achievement of sounding terribly unoriginal while also disrespecting women and then sounding hypocritical by calling others out for disrespecting women.
Nonetheless, this song has inspired me. I’ve had it stuck in my head all morning, and it’s made me want to copy its style and retell my road trip from Dallas to State College “Book of Rhymes” style, Continue reading
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Cereal: Frosted Toast Crunch
When I was younger, maybe five or six years old, my mom refused to let my brother, sister and I eat sugary cereals. She reasoned we ate so much sugar during the day, during the rest of our meals that an added significant dosage at breakfast would make us grow up to become bank robbers. This might have been a fair argument. But we were young. We didn’t know any better, and those damn commercials with cartoon rabbits and the fluorescent glow of cardboard boxes perpetrated our minds, alluring us to the sugary side. We begged nonstop.
#MusicMonday: Weezer
Every Monday morning. Music so good… it must be shared.
This week: “Undone (The Sweater Song)” — Weezer, live on the John Stewart Show
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Unsolicited Endorsements XXVII
Because sometimes you just want friends to tell you about cool things… the Brew House team offers up its weekly mix of author-supported goodness.
Album: “In My G4 Over Da Sea” — Neutral Bling Hotel
In February 1998, Neutral Milk Hotel released “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea”, a seminal concoction* of lo-fi indie rock.
*If you’ve never listened to the blown-out guitars on “Holland, 1945″, well, do so right now.
After the release of the album, Neutral Milk frontman Jeff Mangum more or less disappeared for the next decade. He stopped releasing music and only showed up to play live shows within the last few years.
The library, Euro 2012 and how soccer explains my world
When I was in the second grade, maybe 8 years old, that beautiful age when you finally start to formulate your own thoughts, my grade-school class would spend two days a week at a period entitled, simply, “Library.”
You probably had something similar. Most kids did. At Nall Hills Elementary, we spent those Library periods learning about the Dewey Decimal system, how to navigate the card catalogue (what an effing waste of time) and checking out books (think Goosebumps, the Berenstain Bears chapter books or the Illustrated Classics… Three Musketeers!!!).
For me, though, I spent nearly every minute of Library class in the sports section: One wall dedicated just to sports titles. For an 8-year-old kid, this was about the coolest thing in the world. I remember checking out a 200-page, hardbound book about the history of basketball. It was old and faded, big and yellow… and it told me that John Wooden was nicknamed the Indiana Rubberman when he was schoolboy legend in the Hoosier State. I can remember checking out a book called “Baseball’s Greatest Games” — a perfect little introduction to men like Kirk Gibson and Carlton Fisk and Harvey Haddix. And here’s the coolest part: I can remember that our little elementary school library had a series of books chronicling the history of every single MLB and NFL franchise.
Marathon (Pt. 2)
When I wrote this a few months ago, I intended it to be a one-off appreciation of the New York City Marathon — the way it boils down sport, human nature and the complications of this city to something simple, pure and moving.
Turns out that was just Part One of what will be a three-post series. Last month, I registered to run the 2012 New York City Marathon. It will be my first marathon and most definitely not my last.
#MusicMonday: The Lumineers
Every Monday morning. Music so good… it must be shared.
This week: “Ho Hey” — The Lumineers, from their self-titled debut album “The Lumineers“
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Unsolicited Endorsements XXVI
Because sometimes you just want friends to tell you about cool things… the Brew House team offers up its weekly mix of author-supported goodness.
Song: “All My Friends (London Session)” by LCD Soundsystem
You might have heard “All My Friends” by this point. It’s the seven-plus-minute centerpiece of the most highly regarded album of one of the past decade’s most respected bands. But you haven’t really heard the song until you’ve listened to the version taken from LCD Soundsystem’s London Sessions, a 2010 collection of pristine-sounding live recordings that stands as a tidy wrap-up of the band’s catalog.
Jazzmatazz (Way Overdue)
I should have written this post two years ago.
Somehow, I didn’t realize until today that Guru died. He died of cancer in April 2010. Guru, with counterpart DJ Premier in the duo Gang Starr, rarely appeared on MTV and never transitioned into the mainstream, but for some reason he was one of the first rappers I listened to, way back in fifth grade. Continue reading
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