Sunday, September 30, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 685

Today's song is...


Microphone

Is it just me or do I detect a hint of ukulele in the background of this song? Whoohoo! I really enjoy the instrumentation on this song in general. It is just a really nice mix of instruments and melody. And the lyrics are very Linnelian. A degree of anthropomorphizing physical objects. This may be a odd sentiment, but I find this song rather soothing. There is something comforting about it that I can not entirely explain. But it makes me happy.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 684

Today's song is...


Live Free Or Die

One of the down sides of going to my first TMBG shows before I was a real fan of the band, is that I barely remember hearing some really cool songs they played at them, some of which I have never heard again. This one is a perfect example. I was there for one of the performances of this song at The Stone Church, but I have no memory of the song itself. I have a slightly better than vague memory of Flans' introduction to the song where he was talking about license plates and the Venue Songs deal. I remember the fact that they played the song, but nothing of the tune or lyrics. And when I just went to refresh my memory with the NPR performance, it seems it has been removed from their website. So unless someone nabbed it from them before they took it down, I may be doomed to only have the vaguest of memories of this song forever.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 683

Today's song is...


Raleigh

Whee!! The venue song I got to hear at my 100th show!! We were speculating before the show on whether they would just use the same list of upcoming acts from the original song or if they would update it with the current list of upcoming acts. While we were standing in line outside the Lincoln Theater, which has big glass front doors, we saw Flans walk down to the front desk, pick up a piece of paper and walk away again. Shortly afterward, I realized he was collecting a flyer of upcoming acts to use in the song, and sure enough it was an updated version they performed. And it was awesome :-)

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 682

Today's song is...


Feign Amnesia

The only song off The Else the band has never played live, and for a long time I thought it was the only one I hadn't heard live too. Until the day I was shocked to discover I had never heard Climbing the Walls that is. This is a song that, in my brain anyway, blends in a with a group of other perfectly satisfactory but not particularly noteworthy Flans rockers. I enjoy it just fine, but not as much as other songs on the album.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 681

Today's song is...


The Summer Breeze

This one is just strange. I am not even sure I get what is going on but it sounds a bit like a Stephen King novel. Creepy.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 680

Today's song is...


Hey Now Everybody

Even though I know the tune this song goes to, every time I look at the title my brain sings it as if it was that song that Charlie's band plays on Lost. You know the one I mean? I can not seem to get the two unlinked in my head.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Song of the Day - 679

Today's song is...


The Nerd Voice

Man, I thought I had used all the Partly Cloudy Patriot tracks already. Obviously not. And a quick check shows this isn't even the last one. Maybe I should make it my goal to finally buy the CD so I can find individual tracks before the next (and hopefully final) track pops up.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 678

Today's song is...


Hi Honey I'm Home

This is another track for what I call the WTF file. Those songs that just leave you scratching your head and wondering what was going on when it was created. And as with all the others in this category, I love that we have access to these weird songs instead of them being locked away never to be heard by fans as they would be with many other bands.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 677

Today's song is...


Morgan in the Morning ID

I wonder how many of these type of radio station IDs there have been over the years that haven't been documented because they weren't released on bonus discs? I have to believe there must be a bunch.

Song of the Day - Day 676

Today's song is...


Am I Awake?

This is appropriate since I forgot to post this until late at night. This is one of my absolute favorite TMBG songs. One of the ones I never get tired of, no matter how many times I hear it. I just love the rhythm of it. The drums are fantastic and the mixing and programming are perfect. And it is lyrically brilliant. I find myself thinking these lyrics in my head all the time when I am driving to work super early in the morning or home very late at night. And the song also contains one of my all time favorite lyrics: "Is it that time again?/Wasn't it already then?/So does it have to be/the time is was again?" Honestly, that line always reminds me of one of my favorite parts of Spaceballs when they are fast forwarding the movie and getting confused about the time continuum. But seriously, sometimes I am stunned by how good this song is. And it is one of the few songs that I would actually prefer they didn't play live because I know they could never adequately replicate the production on the recording that I love so much.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 675

Today's song is...


The Sims 2 Free Time Theme

I think I actually heard this at some point but I can't locate it anywhere now and have no memory of what it sounded like. It was probably good. Most of the instrumentals are.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Song of the Day - 674

Today's song is...


No!

Sometimes I miss having the ability to say "no" as much as a kid. It is such a luxury that kids can get away with and adults can not. But at the same time, it must be a child's favorite and least favorite word. Because for every time they get to say "no" when they are told to do something, they are told "no" they can't do something at least as many. And that is a tough concept to handle when your brain isn't developed enough to understand why. And it is something I think this song captures perfectly.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 673

Today's song is...


Job Interview

Hey, it's the Sneaking Intro....no, wait... It's a Dunkin Donuts ad. Hmmm, which is it? But what I really want to know is did that lady ready consume her entire smoothie between the lobby of the building she was interviewing in and arriving at her interview? Or did she just walk in to her interview with a big DD smoothie? These are the important questions.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 672

Today's song is...


The Ballad of Davy Crockett (In Outer Space)

I forget this song is on Here Comes Science every time I listen to it because I always expect the HCS theme song to be the first one on the album and when I hear it, I automatically assume that my CD is repeating. On at least one occasion I had already taken the CD out of the player before I realized I forgot about this song.

That being said, I absolutely love this song. Such a clever update on the old tune. I very much want a robot dog named Copernicus.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 671

Today's song is...


Victorious Intro

I half expect some late night comedy show host to appear after hearing this intro. Good thing it is a prelude to something ten times better :-)

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 670

Today's song is...


Paper Jam

I'm guessing rejected (or possibly just seldom heard) Dunkin Donuts jingle. But boy, I can sympathize with the desire to walk away from the paper jam, especially being the person who usually gets called on to fix such things.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 669

Today's song is...


Camp Campingston URGR8

I don't know. From what I have seen, Camp Campingston isn't that great. Though having the Johns as camp counselors would be awesome.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 668

Today's song is...


Memo To Human Resources

I think this may very well be the song I have heard live the most times (20 to be exact), to which I am most indifferent. I feel like I have to apologize for not being a fan of this song, just because I know so many people who love it. I don't dislike it. I just have no particular feelings on it one way or another. I get bored with it pretty quickly and have a bad habit of zoning out when it is played live. But I did get to witness the hilarious instance in Atlanta earlier this year, when Linnell misread the song on the setlist as Mr. Me, instead of Memo. So the rest of the band started playing this song while Linnell started playing Mr. Me. Which sounded both awful and awesome at the same time.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 667

Today's song is...


King Weed




I just realized, watching this video, that I had no memory of the end of this song. I am sure I must have watched the video before but nothing past the half way point sounded at all familiar to me. I wonder sometimes, what people watching this series thought of the musical interludes. Did they find them out of place? Or were they fun breaks from all the talky science stuff? I find this one highly entertaining, more so for the video than the song. I actually think the band has other songs that are better at delivering scientific information and being musically interesting. But I personally did not know that the sparrow was so resilient so I did learn something. I also learned that Flans looks great in that hat (but then I think I knew that already from previous viewings).

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 666

Today's song is...


Taking It To The Bridge (We Reinvented the Remix)

I am typically not a fan of remixes in general but this one is kind of cool.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 665

Today's song is...


Complete Paranoia

Without a doubt, my favorite part of this song is the end, where Linnell starts singing narration of what is happening in the video. Cracks me up every time. Which is never hard since I am usually already laughing at the M.C. Crybaby part.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 664

Today's song is...


Space Krickets

Even though this intro was before my time, I am still fond of it because the crickets remind me of my beloved Stompy Intro. It still makes me nostalgic. *chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp*

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 663

Today's song is...


I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You

The tonal quality of Flans' vocals in this song is very soothing. And the drum beat reminds me strongly of playing around with the pre-programmed beats on a friends old keyboard at a child. Flans has excellent taste in choosing old songs to cover that really suit his voice and this is a prime example.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 662

Today's song is...



After Hours Party At The Insect Hospital

Tired of posting comments about songs I had never heard, I actually went and tracked down a live recording that contained this song, just so I could listen to it before writing this. I am nothing if not dedicated. For some reason, the song reminds me of Employee of the Month. I just get the same vibe. I am curious though, why this song went from being the title track on a live album to virtual obscurity.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 661

Today's song is...


Stand On Your Own Head

This is a song that I didn't pay much attention to for the longest time, probably until about the point when the band announced they were going to be doing Lincoln shows. Because I pulled out the album again at that point to give it a good total listen and discovered that this is actually on of my favorite songs on it. The lyrics are great and I enjoy the drum beat, but really I am just in love with the banjo part. I would say I am a particular banjo fan, but right here it really works for me.

The first time I saw the band perform Lincoln, at Mohegan Sun last November, this was one of the two songs I was most excited to hear. And it ended up being one of those show moments that is preserved in my brain like it was on film, because it made such an impression on me. Just before the song started, I watched Dan take a piece of paper he had torn off of something and fold it up into a strip and then weave it into the strings on his guitar. Not being much of a guitar buff, I didn't have a clue what he was doing, but apparently it had something to do with making the guitar sound more like a banjo. I had been wondering how they were going to handle the banjo part, and they handled it by having Dan play it on guitar. And I was transfixed. I could not believe how fast his fingers were moving. I don't think I looked at anyone else the whole song. At one point, I nudged Heather, who was standing beside me, and indicated that she should be watching Dan and then we both stood there, staring, until the song finished. Afterward, someone else told me, it wasn't really that impressive. Just a picking pattern. But damn, it looked (and sounded) impressive to me.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 660

Today's song is...


Finished With Lies

This is one song I am so glad got updated from early versions they performed live. Back then it was so slow I got bored with it before I was finished listening to it. Not anymore! Though this is a song I tend to like more for the lyrics than the whole package. Another in Linnell's series of songs about people who are kind of nuts but do not realize they are nuts. I wonder if a plausible argument could be made that they are all about the same character? Have to look into that.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 659

Today's song is...


Leave Me Alone

Admit it. On bad days you feel like just screaming these lyrics at everyone.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 658

Today's song is...


It's Spare The Rock

I love the hint of techno/electronic flavor that begins this song. It's a contrast to the main melody, but there is just enough electric hidden in the background to tie the whole thing together. Side note: the Ella mentioned in the song was my concert viewing buddy at the Northampton show this past March, and she is one nifty kid. Rock on girl!

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 657

Today's song is...


Candy Stripers

This music is not at all what I think of when I think of candy stripers. The guitar melody is very reminiscent of someone practicing a musical phrase over and over again. There is something oddly comforting about this tune that I can't quite explain.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Song of the Day - Day 656

Today's song is...


To The Bubblecraft!

This is one of my favorite "silly" songs. The ones that are just complete nonsense and yet they exist anyway. Awesome lyrics. Even the title is great. I think "Park next to the station wagon" is my favorite line. I sort of picture the Bubblecraft as being a bubble-domed car ala The Jetsons. I kind of want one.