O Yes....

I know this came out over a year ago. But I'm still in love with this song.

And the video isn't half bad either.

Whoops!

I probably should have added this:

Album Art & Tour Dates = The Beginning of A Countdown to May 13

Death Cab for Cutie released it's album artwork this week. You can find the pre-order information on iTunes and Bestbuy.com.

I already pre-ordered mine. :)

Along with the album artwork for Narrow Stairs, they released some tour dates, as well as the official track listing. Unfortunately they aren't coming anywhere too close to me, but I've always wanted to go to Boston...

In the month of May we've got:

9 - Providence, R.I. @ Providence Piers
10 - Boston, Mass. @ Bank of America Pavilion
24 - Bend, Ore. @ Les Schwab Amphitheater
28 - Morrison, Colo. @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre

In the month of June we've got:

9 - Columbia, Md. @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
13 - Cleveland, Ohio @ Plain Dealer Pavilion
17 - Grand Prairie, Texas @ Nokia Theatre

We've also been blessed with a complete and set track listing! Horray!

1. Bixby Canyon Bridge
2. I Will Possess Your Heart (available online at amazon.com and iTunes)
3. No Sunlight
4. Cath…
5. Talking Bird
6. You Can Do Better Than Me
7. Grapevine Fires
8. Your New Twin Sized Bed
9. Long Division
10. Pity and Fear
11. The Ice Is Getting Thinner

I hope that they realize that this isn't making my wait any easier...

Pretty. Odd...And I Mean That In A Positive Way.

So honestly, Panic! At the Disco's new CD threw me for a quite plesent loop since yesterday. They've seemingly managed to completely change their sound from jittery emo-pop to....well, indie.

I'm a little bit shocked, to put it bluntly. This wasn't exactly the career move that I predicted from them.

However, I've been listening to the CD on Youtube, which is suiting me just fine for now, but I'm pretty sure that I'll have to add this one to my collection of favorites sometimes soon.

Check a song or two out for yourself.

William Tell Isn't Just An Overture Anymore...

Okay, so honestly the first thing I used to think of when I heard 'William Tell' was the famous overture. I don't however think of the former guitarist for the band Something Corporate. So wasn't I amazed a few months ago when I saw that he too started a solo project endeavor like those of band mates Andrew McMahon and Brian Ireland (by way of joining the band Streamline as their drummer).

So why exactly should you care?

Well, mostly because I'm telling you to, but mainly because most artists with actual talent don't seem to get the recognition that they rightfully deserve. Tell's CD entitled You Can Hold Me Down was released March 13, 2007, and unfortunately (for people like me) most of us knew nothing about it. I didn't find out anything about his solo release until I was looking up information on his previous band, Something Corporate, on Wikipedia.

Thus further prompting further investigation on my part to see (or hear, if you please) what on Earth this could sound like.

And I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised. Although it doesn't quite compare to the solo debute by McMahon, it is original and edgy in it's own right. With it's pop-piano sound slightly similar to that of Something Corporate but with Tell's free range on the lyrics and guitar, it is blended together to create the California style that I'm quite used to hearing. Notable tracks include 'Slipping Under (Sing Along to Your Favorite Song), 'Fairfax (You're Still the Same)', and of course the track from which the CD gets it's name, 'You Can Hold Me Down'.

With seven other tracks to add to the list, there is definately something for everyone to bob their heads to in delight. See below for a youtube video (by a fan) of a live performance of 'Slipping Under' or visit his myspace page for more songs and extra information.

Dear DCFC,

It is currently 12:31 am on March 18, and your single is supposed to be available for me to download. However, I'm sitting here impatiently waiting and it is nowhere to be found. I'm disappointed and I'm going to bed.

Love (but not really until I get my single),
Brittany

P.S. I'll be updating later today.

Update No. 1: It's 7:31 am and the opening notes of 'I Will Possess Your Heart' are filling my ears...what a good feeling to have some new Death Cab music in my ears.

Surprises?! I Love Surprises!

So I'm trying to cut back on my myspace usage, I really am. But after today there's clearly a reason that I surf this site a little bit too much. John Ralston, who yes, I realize I wrote a blog about a mere 19 days ago, is just too amazing that it would be horrible for me not to give him any attention. But back to the main point (as I assure you there is one) this little EP entitled White Spiders was released March 11 on iTunes and March 4 on eMusic.

And the five songs for a price tag of $2.99 on iTunes is cheaper than normal, which works out quite fine for my budget, not to mention my ears. Since this EP is only available online, I had no choice but to go digital for this purchase. White Spiders has a much lighter tone than Ralston's previous albums, and the tracks bounce along on this little acoustic wonder.

The title track, 'White Spiders' opens this disc with a sound that is slightly in tune with that of The Shins, with a pure acoustic sound. The lyrics are great as well, ending with; 'sky writers are writing white smoke on blue/ they were building an empire out of me and you.' 'Blood Thirsty' is a short and sweet little number that bounces along with a simple percussion part that speaks of 'blood thirsty angels bouncing around the room.'

'Don't Go to Sleep' is the third song on the 13 minute album and is again reminiscent of The Shins, boasting lyrics in it's chorus stating, 'just don't go to sleep/ don't go to sleep/ I need you to be here looking after me.' The longest song on the album, 'Jenny With the Long Dark Hair' is the summer fling love song that nearly everyone can relate to in some way or another. 'Room With a View' is another Ralston classic in the making. The song goes on to talk about a relationship in which he nkows he will never be able to be there for the other person.

Overall this surprise EP is addicting to the ears and proves that once more John Ralston has won me over with his mere simplicity in sound and amazing lyrics.

The Hood Internet: Bringing Indie and Rap Together for Some Seriously Fierce Mash-ups

Since March 2007, two extremely creative guys have teamed up to create the website known as thehoodinternet, which mixes indie rock and rap together to make some really awesome and completely original sounds. Aaron Brink (known as ABX) and Steve Reidell (known as STV STL) work separately to mix their songs, but post and update their site on a daily basis for listeners.

Since they began a year ago, the two have released three CD (The Hood Internet Mixtape Volumes 1 and 2, The Hood Internet vs. The Pack Mixtape) and have also released 137 single tracks for public download. While the word of the website is slowly starting to spread, another thing that makes this website unique is one amazing factor:

Everything is free.

Yup, that's right, I said it. Everything is free. You can preview and download every album or single track, and you won't be charged a single penny for any of it. All you have to do is select one of the three file sharing sites that you want to download it from, and the site takes care of the rest. After the download is complete simply open the file with your music player of choice, and the files are loaded in complete with album art and all.

So even if you aren't a big fan of rap, you might as well give this site a try and be amazed over some of the stuff they mash together for our ears. After all, the only thing you might end up losing is some space on your hard drive.

Oh I'm Sneaky...

So while surfing songmeanings.net I found a link to a Youtube video for a song off of Narrow Stairs, entitled 'Cath...'. See below:



And it's amazing. The link to songmeanings.net takes you directly to the lyrics for the song. But for some fun I decided to include Ben Gibbard's rant on the Black Eyed Peas. (PS. There is some adult language in this one! Cover the kids ears!)

With Spring Right Around the Corner, Rumors of New Releases Are Blossoming Everywhere

After a seemingly long winter with few releases to make note of, plenty of artists are coming out of the woodwork to announce their new releases for the spring and early summer of 2008. Here are two that I'm eagerly anticipating to bring me into the summer months.



The Glass Passenger
Jack's Mannequin
Release Date: April 22, 2008

With a release date finally confirmed by AP.net, the growing crowds of impatient JM lovers can rest a little easier. After being featured as Alternative Press' Most Anticipated Albums of 2008 (January '08 issue), the disc is expected to include 10 tracks with a seven minute long song that came out of a hospital stay (Andrew McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia three months before the release of Everything in Transit in 2005). McMahon seems to be keeping most of the details on the CD a secret, as many of the tracks have names that are to be determined, and pre-sale information is nonexistent.

And for anyone in the Lancaster/Lebanon area, JM will be playing a set at the Chameleon Club on April 15, 2008.





Narrow Stairs
Death Cab for Cutie
Release Date: May 13, 2008

With it's first single "I Will Possess Your Heart" set to be released on March 18 and distributed to radio stations on March 24, the DCFC crew is on their way to releasing what fans hope to be another steller album to follow Plans (2005). With talks of a much darker and creepier sounds then previous albums, critic James Montgomery of MTV said that it is 'unquestionably the best thing they've ever done.' Kicking off the album will be a nine-minute long 'Bixby Canyon Bridge' and will be followed by ten more tracks. One thing is for sure, the second week of May will not come soon enough.

Girls and Boys...I Give Thee Ingrid Michaelson

For lovers of the hit shows Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill, hearing cuts off of Ingrid Michaelson's sophomore release of Girls and Boys is really nothing out of the ordinary. Her songs are perfectly placed at pivotal and emotional parts of both shows, with her soft lyrics and piano based instrumental parts to match. Since being released on September 18, 2007, it has peaked at number 64 on the Billboard 200 charts, and gained her plenty of national attention on Good Morning America, Live with Regis and Kelly, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the Carson Daly Show.

Notable and well known tracks off of Girls and Boys include "The Way I Am," "Breakable," "Overboard," and "Corner of Your Heart." "The Way I Am" has been featured on campaigns for Old Navy and used on both Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill. The song, although a short 2 minutes and 15 seconds long boasts adorable lyrics about how the person she loves takes her for how she is, even if the things she does may be seen as small and insignificant: 'You need a light, I'd find a match.../If you are chilly, here take my sweater./Your head is aching, I'll make it better.' The title of the CD comes off of the lyrics in the track "Breakable" which opens with fantastic lyrics: 'Have you ever thought about what protects our hearts?/Just a cage of rib bones and other various parts./ So it's fairly simple to cut right through the mess./ And to stop the muscle that makes us confess.' The song goes on to talk about her regret in not being able to love her significant other back as much as he loves her, and how every one of us are 'breakable girls and boys.'

"Overboard" is probably my favorite song off of the disc. Michaelson starts off with a sassy attitude about all the things she can do by herself, and that people can stop treating her like a little girl, but when she falls in love still wants to be caught by the person she's fallen for. It gives perspective on today's lifestyle, how girls are expected to be smart and solve all these probems but refuse to fall and rely on someone else to catch them. But by the end of the song she realizes that it might not be so bad to fall, even if she eventually has to pick herself up alone. Finally, "Corner of Your Heart" is a haunting song about how she would do just about anything to have just a piece of this guy's heart. 'There is room beneath your bed just for me.../I will leave this man just to occupy one minute of your day.../ Just to stay in the corner of your heart.' Those lyrics show the lengths that she would go to and the almost desperate attempts that she would go to just to win him over. To go along with the haunting lyrics, the repetitive piano part in the background adds to the mystique of the whole song.

Other fantastic songs include "Glass" and "Starting Now," although all eleven tracks bring something different and refreshing to the table. For a quick listen of some of her songs see the music player below or click the link for the video of "The Way I Am" found out Youtube.

SeeqPod - Playable Search