She Totally Confused All the Passing Piranhas

"Lump" is one of my favourite songs by The Presidents of the United States of America. Now keep in mind, if you want to look them up on Wikipedia, make sure to put "band" in brackets after the name, otherwise you get a list of American presidents.

Taste so Bitter, Bitter and Sweet

So the university that my sisters both went to has an annual choir show. I went to see it one year. The theme was "Climbing the Ladder of Eros." It was incredible. One of the songs was sung by a very good friend of mine. I had never heard it before, and it was simply breath-taking. The original version of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You" is also very good.

Coconut Schwartzman

Musician Jason Schwartzman has a solo act for which he calls himself Coconut Records. He has a really really good song that was on an episode of "The O.C." (unsurprisingly) called "The West Coast."

They Will See us Waving

Remember that UPS commercial that had this song?
Oh, and by "that song" I mean "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service. Iron and Wine did a cover of it, but I don't really like it that much.


And yes, that is Ben Gibbard, the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie. He's half of The Postal Service. I looked it up. On Wikipedia. Because I'm that cool.

At Least It's an Alright Song

Yesterday in my Greek Civ. class I discovered what the worst song to have stuck in your head during a mid-term is:
"Banana Phone" by Raffi.

Sucre Cannelle

Don't worry. "Sugar Cinnamon" by Portugal. The Man isn't a French song.

No, You'll Just Have to Wait

I've heard numerous covers of "You Can't Hurry Love" by Diana Ross and The Supremes. However, I'm fairly certain that the original is my favourite. My fave, as some annoying teenagers might say.

The Whistling Song

As it apparently is commonly known. When performing "Young Folks" at concerts, Peter Bjorn & John, or so I've heard, will sometimes pull an audience member up on stage to whistle and sing. Apparently at one show the guy they pulled up did the whistling well, but wasn't so good at the singing.


Also, it was on an episode of "How I Met Your Mother." That got me pretty excited.

Impeccably Choreographed Video

And no, I do not know it because of "Rock Band."


I knew OK Go's "Here It Goes Again" long before that.

This Boy's Life Among the Electrical Lights

I figure, since The New Pornographers are among my favourite bands, I should feature a song by them that isn't the origin of this blog's name. Ergo:
The title track of their... second? album:
"Mass Romantic"


I love this song so so much!!!

Never Had to Knock on Wood

"The Impression That I Get" by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.


I swear I heard this on an episode of "Friends" once.

When Times Get Tough! Oh, They Get Tough, They Get Though, They Get Tough!

Ah, The Manic Street Preachers. They're so much easier to write than to say, because I don't know how to say it. Well, on which syllable to put the emphasis. Are they The Manic Street Preachers, or The Manic Street Preachers? Are they Preachers of Manic Street, or are they Street Preachers who are Manic? Deep philosophical stuff here, guys.


Anyway, I love their song "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough." Not really the happiest sentiment to convey, but that, coupled with the upbeat tune, makes it so great!

Damned by the Existensial Moment

"You Don't Know Me" by Ben Folds feat. Regina Spektor. Such a great song.


The music video kind of weirded me out, but that's okay. What's not okay was that Regina Spektor isn't seen at all in the video.


Not okay, guys.

Right Lower Leg

The second song by The Shins for our The Shins Weekend is the first song by this band that I ever heard.


It's called "Phantom Limb." It reminds me of that one episode of "Pushing Daisies," when Ned gets arrested for murdering Molly Shannon's character's brother, and for Emerson and Chuck, the key to finding the real murderer lies in finding the person with a missing finger, which brought up the matter a phantom limb. Then, when the Piemaker's name (Ned) is cleared and he returns, he tells Chuck that she was his phantom limb.

Left Lower Leg

So, I wanted to do a song by The Shins, but I needed to decide which one. I narrowed it down to two, and couldn't pick between them, so I decided to have a The Shins Weekend. Yup, that's right! Two songs in two days. Saturday and Sunday.


Today's song: "Australia."

Turn on my Jukebox, Follow Me, We go Together Endlessly

So, a few years ago, there was this Maynard's candy commercial (I think it only aired in Canada) in which this girl buys a pack of Swedish Berries and starts walking down the street. Then a second her comes out with a different kind of candy and walks along behind her. Then, the original spins around a lamppost. As she continues walking, a third her with a third kind of candy keeps spinning, then follows. As number 2 makes some bright orange umbrellas open up, a fourth one pops out and starts to jump rope with some kids and a fourth kind of candy.


Then, they all go back in the original girl who, with a smile on her face and a hop in her step, continues walking as it says on the screen, "There's fun inside." All the while, "Rollercoaster" by awesome Canadian band Major Maker is playing. I've always love the commercial, since I first saw it, and I think the main reason is the song.

That's Why You Will Not Survive!

I heard "The Underdog" first as a single, and I loved it. Then, I heard it no more, and that made me sad. And I sort of forgot about it. But then I discovered that my brother had downloaded it! Huzzah! And I remembered how great the song was, and took it for myself! Muahahahaha!!!!
Man, I love Spoon!

House and a Boat and a Great Shiny Car

iPod has such good commercials, with such awesome songs! The latest, for the new iPod Nano, which takes videos, is this great up-beat song called "Bourgeois Shangri-La" by Miss Li.

Tes Enfants sont Partis...

Herly Crerp!
So, I was on the iTunes store (getting more legal in my downloading; w00t!), and I felt like searching The Arcade Fire, just to see if they had any song I didn't already have.


I was scrolling through the list when I came across an artist that wasn't them. It was Vitamin String Quartet.

Yeah, there this string quartet that does covers of contemporary songs. I downloaded (among others) "Haiti" and "Rebellion (Lies)" by the above. Man alive, are they ever incredible!

No Father Father, Though

This is an awesome possum song! Plus, I downloaded it after hearing it as a single, and then discovered that there was a whole part of the song I had never heard! It's called "Body of Years" and it's by this really good (Canadian) band, Mother Mother.

"There's People in the Floorboards," Said the Mouse!

"Because We're Dead" is such an awesome song, by this great British twosome, Slow Club. It's a really upbeat, happy, and quite random song.


I chose this picture because it reminded me of the show "Pushing Daisies." I'm so sad that show got canceled.

Gravity's Rainbow, the Axis Here is Still Unknown

"Atlantis to Interzone" by Klaxons is such a great. Song. Sorry, I forgot to finish that sentence.


They make good use of the DJ setting on their keyboard.

Brain Hungry Zombies!

I love Sufjan Stevens so much! His music is so amazing! I also very much enjoy his very long song titles. You know, like "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbours!! They Have Some Back From the Dead!! Ahhhh!"



Now, I realize he's American, so he probably spells it "neighbors," but I'm not, so I won't.

Local Awesomeness

So, these guys are local. Ish. For me, I mean. I think originally they were from around where I live, and now they're based near where I go to university. And I think I know people who know them. Maybe.
Anyway, they're called To Tell.


I was able to find them on iTunes, but not Limewire. They're really good. I especially like their song "Closer to You."

And the Love is Gone!

This is an older song, but it's still awesome. Now, I first heard it as a Gnarls Barkley song on the radio. Then I heard another version of the song, and I was all, "What the butt is this? Is some band trying to do a sucky cover of "Gone Daddy Gone"?" Then I found out it was The Violent Femmes,



and I realized it must be the original (obviously). Before long I warmed up to it, and now I like it better! Sorry Gnarls Barkley.

For You-ou-ou-ou ou-ou-ou-ou-ou!

It's likely you already know this song; I mean, I know it because of an iPod commercial. What can I say? They have good music! And even if I hadn't already known "Bruises" by Chairlift, it's on the CD mentioned yestaerday, so I would've heard it eventually anyway.

RAA

"Don't Haunt This Place" by The Rural Alberta Advantage. I know it from a CD my sister's old roommate made for her. It's good. Listen to it. Enjoy it.

It's not that I Have News to Bring; I Just Want to Make Your Telephone Ring

Okay, so I know "Sleepy Tigers" by Her Space Holiday from a SunRype commercial. I don't even know what SunRype is, but it's a freaking good song, so it deserves recognition. Here's to you, SunRype!

The Greatest Voyage in the History of Plastic

So, I think "Musicbox" by Regina Spektor is about how she washes the dishes, drinks some soapy water, then dies. I don't know. Maybe she was high when she wrote it. But it's awesome!


Look at her... Isn't she adorable?

Comin' Out Your Grandfather's Radio

So, I don't really remember much about when I first heard this song or whatever. Wait! I do! I was listening to the radio, and the DJ was saying how she want out... somewhere to the east of here... to pick up a friend, who was coming back home to Ottawa. On the way back, he was all, "Yo, you've got to listen to this CD." And they did. Twice. And she loved it. Then she played, from it, "The '59 Sound" by The Gaslight Anthem. It's so good! The whole album is, really. And you don't understand how thrilled I am that they actually put the apostrophe in there.



I tell you. Punctuation is a dying art.

And We'll All

I once was in the city, and I was alone, on my way home. On my trip, I figures, I've got a bit of time, so I stopped by Wal-Mart. Whilst there, I happened the brand new Rock Band 2. Now, I only have a GameCube, so I don't actually own any Rock Bands or Guitar Heros. however, I have played them. Personally, I find Rock Band far superior to Guitar Hero; not only in a wider range of instruments, but also in a much better song selection. So I read through the list of songs on the box, looking for songs that I knew and liked. I almost died (not literally, of course) when I found out that, when I played Rock Band 2 for the first time, I would be able to sing "Float On" by Modest Mouse!