DISCOVER 365: Day 359

Artist: Alison Krauss
Album: Now That I've Found You


Have you ever had a moment where you're watching TV and you zone out and then you realize you've been watching The Food Network for the last 45 minutes? If you haven't, we have nothing to talk about here. But if you have, you'll kind of understand where I'm coming from with this entry.

Alison Krauss has one of those amazing Bluegrass voices that seems to possess the twang you'd expect while adding a soul and sultriness that kind of sneaks up on you. Additionally, Krauss has the luxury of teaming up with maybe the greatest backing band in country music, Union Station, and its country-smooth lead singer Dan Tyminski and dobro legend, Jerry Douglas.And when you possess those qualities, your sound has the ability to make someone forget there's anything else in the world while listening to your music. It would never be the first album you pick up out of the stack, but it's never one you'll turn off if it's already playing.


Mixed with an unfair combination of vocal and instrumental skill, Krauss first made an impression on me with this 1995 album and it's collection of great songs from start to finish. The album was almost like a greatest hits and covers release, with The Beatles "I Will" and Keith Whitley's "When You Say Nothing At All" headlining multiple takes on other artists' originals. But rather than the tracks, it's Krauss' voice that truly shines on this album, especially in the way she can make even the saddest lyrics sound angelic. It's these songs that now get lost in her catalog, as her increased fame from teaming up with Robert Plant made everything prior to that album seem like it was from a different artist.

I'll always associate this entire album with lazy weekends and road trips with my parents during my pre-driver's license days and me and mom making fun of the way she sings the word "Georgia" in the Bad Company cover "Oh Atlanta."  On my way back to Juh-uh-did-juh. 

Year Released: 1995

# of Tracks: 12

Label: Rounder / Umgd

Best Lyric: "I read between the lines of words you can't disguise" - Every Time You Say Goodbye

Best Track: "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby" - Amazing cover of the Louvin Brothers original that tells the story of a woman realizing her man has another woman in his life

DISCOVER 365: Day 360

Artist: Various Artists
Album: Levi's Pioneer Sessions: 2010 Revival Recordings


I absolutely love covers. I will listen to just about anyone sing someone else's song. I especially love when it's a cover you don't expect, maybe because it's from an artist from a different genre or style or era. You'll notice this affinity for covers as the countdown progresses, as tribute albums are planned to be sprinkled throughout.

One place I never expected to find a great album of covers was from an album sponsored by a denim company. So imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon the Levi's Pioneer Sessions: 2010 Revival Recordings track listing. On it were familiar artists singing songs that, by title, weren't as familiar to the eyes but whose sound was very familiar to the ears.

Check out the track listing below:

Nas - "Hey Young World" by Slick Rick
The Swell Season - "Young Hearts Run Free" by Candi Staton
She and Him - "Fools Rush In" by Rick Nelson
The Dirty Projectors - "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" by Bob Dylan
Colbie Caillat - "Maria" by Blondie
The Shins - "Goodbye Girl" by Squeeze
Raphael Saadiq - "It's A Shame" by The Spinners
Bomba Estereo - "Pump Up the Jam" by Technotronic
Jason Mraz - "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum
John Legend and the Roots - "Our Generation" by Ernie Hines

This is not what you would usually expect from a blue jean company. Instead of Toby Keith covering "Sweet Home Alabama" or Creed pulling an extended version of "Free Bird," you're given tracks from the likes of Raphael Saadiq, Nas, She & Him, and The Shins. But as always, there was one particular track that caught my eye and captured my heart: a cover of Candi Staton's "Young Hearts Run Free" by The Swell Season.

Now I won't get into the greatness of The Swell Season too much, but they are the amazing group behind the movie, "Once", and the Oscar-winning song, "Falling Slowly." I'm sure they'll show up on this blog again sometime in the next 359 days. I was, however, lucky enough to see this song performed live at the Brown Theater and screamed so loud when they started playing it I'm sure some people wondered why I was actually there.


Year Released: 2010

# of Tracks: 10

Denim Company Sponsoring Album: Levi's

Best Lyric: "No martyr is among you know whom you can call your own; but go on your away accordingly you know you're not alone" - I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine - Bob Dylan (covered by The Dirty Projectors)

Best Track: "Young Hearts Run Free"


I don't know how many of you choose to remember the Leonardo DiCaprio/Claire Danes version of "Romeo & Juliet," but as a middle school kid at the time of its release it was a pretty big deal. It was produced by MTV for God's sake and MTV has never been above showing a commercial for their product between, and sometimes during, each video played on TRL. I can't recall if we really understood the "modern" take on the Bard's tale, but we continuously watched the movie hoping it would fire up our significant other enough to make out. My favorite character in the movie was Mercutio, played by Harold Perrineau. As an added bonus, this role did not require Perrineau to narrate prison rape scenes from a wheelchair nor continuously shout "I just want my son!" on a lonely, weird island. Unfortunately, the role did require him to dress in drag and lip-sync "Young Hearts Run Free" in a drug-fueled scene that tipped the strange scale in the movie and burned itself into my brain, while simultaneously summarizing teenage television in the mid-90's. It's why The Swell Season version was such a refreshing, yet familiar, song for me to find again.

DISCOVER 365: Day 361

Artist: Various Artists
Album: "Up In The Air" Soundtrack


There are days when I dread going into work. There are days when I wish I had nothing to do. There are days I truly take for granted how lucky I am to have a stable job and paycheck. And then there's the movie, "The Company Men."

I had seen the preview a few months ago and thought it looked promising, but I never gave it a second thought. Critics seem to rip everything Ben Affleck has done since Good Will Hunting and Tommy Lee Jones has seemed to play only a slight variation of his character from "The Fugitive" and "U.S. Marshals" for the last 15 years. But "the girl" decided it would be worth a watch and I spent the next two hours thanking my lucky stars for everything I have in this world. Like my "Barney's Version" recommendation from a few days ago, I highly recommend this film if you have two hours to kill watching it and two hours to be slightly depressed after watching it.

The central plot of "The Company Men" reminded me a lot of the Clooney-driven "Up in the Air" - another great movie with an even more amazing soundtrack. The key track of this soundtrack is "Help Yourself" by Sad Brad Smith, an artist's whose name is a good indication of his sound. Because Youtube didn't come through with a clip of the scene, you'll have to watch it yourself to truly appreciate what we have here. But in the meantime, enjoy the shared video below to get a highlight clip of the movie set to this wonderful song.

Besides Smith's amazing track, the soundtrack also boasts well-placed selections from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (I require them as a quartet), the late Elliot Smith, Graham Nash, and Dan Auerbach. Additionally, there's an extra funky version of "This Land is Your Land" from Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. It's worth checking out, but I truly ask you watch the movie first.

Year Released: 2009

# of Tracks: 14

Label: Warner Music

Best Lyric: "I know you'll help us when you're feeling better; And we realize it might not be for a long, long time" - Help Yourself - Sad Brad Smith

Best Track: "Help Yourself"

DISCOVER 365: Update

I owe three days of posts and by the time I believe I'll have time to do it tomorrow, it will be four posts. I'm mad at myself for getting this far behind, but 'tis the season.

Some thoughts after only a few initial posts:
1.) I'm stuck somewhere between making this a countdown and simply making it about a great album that I was reminded of during the day
2.) The Nina Simone post made me realize there's a lot of great music out there that I don't own
3.) Going through all my albums in hopes of making it some sort of countdown made me realize how many things I've bought and never listened to or simply made me wonder why I ever bought it in the first place.
4.) It's amazing how entertainment (TV and movies) tie in so closely with music
5.) I'm concerned about the redundancy factor if any artist has more than one album on the countdown
6.)  It's hard to remember all the albums you've owned prior to/outside of iTunes.
7.) If this is some sort of true countdown, I would says albums 365-200 could all be interchangeable. Same for albums 199-100 and albums 99-51. The Top 50 would definitely be ranked in some semblance of an order.
8.) You sometimes forget how much larger than life you consider certain artists to be . . .then you see their name listed next to Nelly's. Gone, gone, the damage done.
9.) Someone told me they'd really been enjoying these posts so far and it truly made me want to see this thing out.

Catch-up day coming tomorrow. Good night!

DISCOVER 365: Day 362

Artist: New Kids on the Block
Album: Merry, Merry Christmas


This one's going to be short and sweet, but no less influential or worth checking out. New Kids on the Block were my first musical obsession, the first band I bought every album that came out. I also went as far to rent a few of their VHS performances at the old Video Vault next to the hospital. I have no pride or shame.

Besides the "obvious" hits like "Step by Step" or "Hangin' Tough," I was also a proud owner of the New Kids' Christmas album, Merry, Merry Christmas. If you're having a hard time remembering exactly how awful the late 80's/early 90's truly were when it came to taste, simply check out this album and realize this was the most popular band on Earth at the time. They were The Backstreet Boys and N*Sync all rolled into one. So big that songs like "Funky, Funky Christmas" were allowed to make it onto an album.

Along with a Sony Walkman and MC Hammer's Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em, this casette was stolen from an unsuspecting, schoolbus-riding, flattop-wearing 7-year-old prior to Christmas in 1990. I was devastated. But looking back, continuing to allow this type of music to shape my preferences could've had even worse repurcussions. But it is so much fun to look back on and somehow remember the lyrics to "This One's For the Children".

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Year Released: 1989

# of Tracks: 10

Label: Sony

Best Lyric: "He said you left the fire burning and I burnt my butt; So now I 've learned you've got to turn the fireplace down so Santa won't get burned" - Funky, Funky Xmas (those are seriously the actual lyrics)

Best Track: "Funky, Funky Xmas" - only because it's so, so awful and I remember loving it so, so much.

DISCOVER 365: Day 363

Artist: Nina Simone
Album: Silk & Soul


On the eve of Christmas, I was doing my best to come up with an album with something close to a holiday spirit. Unfortunately, nothing stuck out initially so I had to play six degrees to Christmas with my collection. Walk with me.

Over the past two days, I've watched a movie called "Barney's Version" almost two whole times if you count all the starts and stops. The movie stars Paul Giamatti as a television producer and follows him through three marriages and all the years, friendship, and family that overlapped. It's a really great movie that I fully recommend if you have a few hours to kill and aren't looking to feel good for the two hours after. Giamatti has this way of coming across so believable no matter what type of character he's playing.

So we start with the movie I've been watching and we move on to a song inside of it, a version of the song "Turn Me On" that I had never heard before. I'll fully admit that I'm very partial to this song because of the way Norah Jones makes it seems so innocent and so sexual all at the same time in the version she placed on her debut album, Come Away with Me. However, this take on the song in "Barney's Version" was something like I had never heard before - it was bluesy and raw and I wasn't even sure if all the notes were being sung in key. But the simplicity in the delivery made the simplicity in the lyrics make even more sense and you just felt like you could understand exactly what the original author of these lyrics was feeling.

That delivery was also a mystery to me. I'm not afraid to admit my lack of expertise in both pre- and post-Civil Rights era soul music, as I always seem to be amazed by some track I had never heard before and am always surprised that an abundance of this style that I love so much could exist without me knowing all about it: Donny Hathaway, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, etc., etc. Thanks to Uncle Google, I was able to pin down that the singer was actually a woman and was a name that I had heard before as an influence of many other artists: Nina Simone. As I stated in the initial post, albums bought prior to the post can qualify for this countdown so I purchased her 1967 Silk & Soul that included this wonderful version of "Turn Me On." 


This album is racially charged while staying as smooth as you could imagine. These kind of albums make you realize why vinyl record players and Sunday afternoons are allowed to exist simultaneously - you just want to drop the needle and let the record make you feel like a smarter person. From the key track, "Turn Me On," to the familiar Burt Bacharach track, "The Look of Love," to the segregation through the eyes of a child song, "The Turning Point," this album seems to feel like a great sample of how almost every great soul album of this time was blueprinted. It's impressions like this that usually lead me to owning more than one album from an artist.

Year Released: 1967

# of Tracks: 12

Label: RCA Victor

Best Lyric: "My hi-fi's waiting for a new tune; and my glass is waiting for some fresh ice cubes" - Turn Me On

Best Track: "Turn Me On"

Anyway, back to the Christmas connection. The song "Turn Me On" was not only on Norah Jones' debut album, but also part of a great, but slightly awkward, scene in the what-I-consider-to-be-a-Christmas classic movie, "Love Actually." A quick rule as a sidenote: Don't EVER compare Love Actually to Valentine's Day or, what I can only imagine is a heap of garbage, New Year's Eve. They don't exist in the same dimension. Their only similarity is a big cast and a holiday. And the following people are not in Love Actually: Jessica Biel, Queen Latifah, George Lopez, Katherine Heigl, or Jon Bon Jovi. The prosecution rests.

This connection allows me to link to the great scene in that movie that put a little bit of hope back in the heart of every out-of-luck guy out there and a scene that I feel cements the movie as the classic it now is. Who hasn't used the line, "It's Christmas and at Christmas you tell the truth" after watching this movie? And, as an added plus, it's kind of rare to see Keira Knightley in a movie set in the present and the guy from "Walking Dead" not wearing a deputy's uniform and chased by dead people:

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!!

 

DISCOVER 365: Day 364

Artist: Pete Droge
Album: Skywatching


This selection represents many different lessons when it comes to discovering music. On one front, it's a perfect example of how sometimes an album turns you onto a certain song, while sometimes a certain song turns you onto a whole album. On another front, it's a prime example of how much greater a song can become by simply how it's used in a movie or TV show. Finally, it's a perfect encapsulation of an album that has one song so great, the remaining tracks really didn't have a chance.

Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous" ranks as collectively high on the list of our group of friends as probably any other movie out there. It came out during a time when most all of us could dabble with at least three chords on the guitar and during a time when knowing all the words to Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" wasn't as mainstream/borderline douchey as knowing all the words to Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" is today. We all wanted to be somebody in that movie, from the lead singer of Stillwater to Penny Lane to even Lester freakin' Bangs.

I'm not going to try and summarize the true greatness of the film, but the moment it truly takes off for me is at the hotel when all the different bands rendezvous at "The Riot House" and proceed to do exactly what you would expect rock bands to do back then. To this day, whenever I hear the chords to "Melissa" by The Allman Brothers, I always start out singing the words to Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air" that plays at the beginning of the hotel room scene. Check it out for yourself and notice some of the pre-superstar talent this movie possessed: Sookie with her vampire hymen still intact; Kate Hudson prior to completely ruining Chris Robinson; and Jason Lee just being awesome:

Around the time of this same scene in the movie, the main character is shown walking through the hallway and stumbles upon what, based on what I have always read, is supposed to be Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons simply sitting across from each other singing. The song they duet on is beautiful and I spent many countless Google searches my first few years in the accounting industry trying to figure out what the hell the name of that song was. They all came up empty. For a taste of how great the scene actually is, click here to see a DVD extra from the director's cut of the movie that actually stays in the scene for much longer than the actual film does.

Finally, in the last year, I was able to track down that the song was not a duet by the two back in the early 70's, but was actually a song called "Small Time Blues" by Pete Droge and was probably written in the late-nineties. To say I was disappointed would most likely be an understatement, but I found the strength to break through and appreciate it for what it was. The album referenced tonight contains both a normal and acoustic version of the song, and trust me when I say the acoustic version kills it. It's like the acoustic version was pulled from a completely different artist. Accompanying songs on the album have a lot of promise but some, such as "She Got the Potion," sound like they could be playing during a scene of Dawson's Creek in which Pacey practices looking cool in front of a mirror before a date with an older woman. Yes, I can actually be that specific in my placement of the song on Dawson's Creek.


This will probably be the first of many times over the next year where a single song lands an entire album on the countdown, but sometimes it's truly worth it. We now live in a world where singles carry an assumed "worth" of 99 cents, but that doesn't mean a lot of us wouldn't still pay full album price for access to one song. 
 
Year Released: 2003

# of Tracks: 12

Label: Puzzle Tree Records

Best Lyric: "You count it off and we start; We know this number by heart" - Small Time Blues

Best Track: "Small Time Blues"

DISCOVER 365: Day 365

Artist: Childish Gambino
Album: Camp


First of all, let me please request you not be too surprised that I'm actually going through with this endeavor. I'm now 24 hours into this commitment, meaning it's tied for thirteenth for the longest I've ever committed to something in my life.

Secondly, let me give credit where credit is due and disclose that Rog meant to post on this topic more than a month ago but never finished off the idea.

Finally, I hope that this first post gives you an idea of just how broad the spectrum of music will be that I hope to cover over our last 365 days together before millions of weirdos are disappointed that the world is still spinning.

Childish Gambino is the rap alias of Donald Glover, the young comedian who is probably best known in the entertainment industry as Troy from the underrated NBC comedy, Community. On the show, Glover plays a former high school jock who gets the opportunity to find truly find himself when surrounded by a group of people he would have never hung-out with in high school. What he becomes is the epitome of "nerd cool," as he joins Danny Pudi's character, Abed, as one of the greatest (and strangest) bromance's in television history.

I'm not exaggerating at all when I say I've been on the Community bandwagon since the pilot episode, and, like so many others who have been on since day one, am truly disappointed that NBC's archaic dependence on the Neilssen ratings may ultimately lead to the show's demise. I don't know if there's a smarter show on television, if you define smart as an unusually complex comprehension of Dungeons and Dragons, alternate timelines, and how to turn Alison Brie's nerdy character into a sex symbol. It was on the Christmas episode a few weeks ago that I first heard Glover's character truly bust into a rap and I've watched it about twenty times since. While this isn't included on the album referenced, it is the reason I was drawn to it. See for yourself:

Once I'd truly processed the greatness above, I looked deeper into Glover's Gambino and found his newest release, Camp. I listened all the way through and called Toe to ask the last time I'd recommended a rap album of any kind (needless to say, it was over a decade ago and that album will definitely be on this list). While "hardcore" rap fans may not appreciate Glover's topics or may even feel like he's too nerdy, anyone who can appreciate witty lyrics, random pop culture references and true self-awareness will be pleased. And those expecting a rap version of Weird Al Yankovic will be completely turned off, as the production and skill of Glover are much better than one would expect if only given the description of who he is.

Through the very first listen I was able to pull out references to Krang from the ninja turtles, "You've got it dude" from the Olsen twins, and Land Before Time toys from Pizza Hut that I can still remember playing with. But what else would you expect from a fellow member of the Great 28 club? But while listening to this and hoping for a reference to a part of your childhood, you have to remember this dude pulls no punches and a loud speaker listen at work could get you in trouble. He's not trying to be a novelty act even though some of his lyrics may be punchlines.

Year Released: 2011

# of Tracks: 13

Label: Glass Note


Comparison: The self-awareness to make him rap's version of Vampire Weekend with a lyric style that meshes Kanye, Eminem and Kid Cudi. (Notice the absence of the oxford comma)

Best Lyric: "You're not not racist cause The Wire's in your Netflix queue"

Best Track: "That Power" - Not necessarily because of the traditional hip-hop track at the beginning of the 7:00+ song, but because of the spoken letter at the end of it that starts out as a WTF moment and turns into this mesmerizing weirdness that you can't afford to skip. And because you may have a moment of realization that's very similar.

You've Only Got One Year to Make Shit Happen

Going into October 22, 2011, I told myself that my 28th year on this planet would be great. 28 Great. Great 28. Whatever you want to call it. It's the last year your age on paper can still be interpreted as young. 29 kind of looks smug, likes it bracing for what it knows is coming.

So far, my prospects for pulling off my pledge of greatness are coming through, as long as you define "greatness" as "life-changing". But one thing that hasn't taken off as I wanted it to has been both the velocity and volume by which this site sees new posts. I've let myself and all those involved down. I'm still waiting for it to hit this point of content where I gladly refer people to it rather than just mentioning it as an idea.

My entire life I've always had to do things as a total overhaul in order to be motivated by the final product. If I wanted to organize some baseball cards, I wanted to organize EVERY baseball card. If I wanted to build something with Legos, I wanted to use EVERY Lego to build it. It's why I have to have things get real dirty before I do a thorough clean. It's why things in my life have to get completely out of order before I decide to do something about it. It's why 5-team teasers are my go-to instead of 2-team teasers. I need to see a recognizable difference in the After picture than what it was Before. And it's why, in order to get myself to post more frequently, I'm going to make a commitment to post everyday rather than just say I'm going to post "more often."

I was rummaging between Kardashian and Tebow stories on Yahoo! today when I ran across the fact we are 365 days away from what the Mayan calendars predict to be the end of the world. Now don't get me wrong, I don't believe the world will actually end that day but it's interesting to think about. What if we only had one year left to do everything we wanted to do? And we were able to pull everything off without breaking the bank so bad we couldn't afford for the world to continue? Bucket list on a budget. And what if it wasn't backpacking in Paris or climbing a big mountain or reaching our 29th birthday, but it was simply about making sure you had musically experienced everything you could possibly like. I'll give you that's probably impossible. But if this blog can turn one person into an avid fan of one artist, one song, one album, or one style, then it has truly done its job.

So ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you the most overzealous project in the history of lazy writers:

Discover 365: 

An album a day before we're all blown away

I will be posting an album a day that everyone should check out or rediscover before nothing happens on 12/21/12. The key criteria:

1. I have to have owned the album at some point in my life (which could include the future if I buy it between now and writing a post about it)
2. I have to have reasons why I like the album
3. They don't have to be good reasons
4. As of 12:22 on 12/22, they will not be listed in any order

This will totally fall through. But the build-up will be exciting.

The Greatest Pleas

Band of Horses—No One’s Gonna Love You

We’ve all said it. He means it.

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova—Falling Slowly

Few words beg more for a shift than “we’ve still got time…”

The Avett Brothers—November Blue

“I sing songs of sorrow, because you’re not around”

Simplicity sometimes offers more than clarity.

John Lennon—Jealous Guy

Who would voluntarily tag the green monster to his name, admit insecurity, and apologize for it all the same? The most honest song ever sung.

Mumford Cover

Ran across this on YouTube and it's actually not that bad.

One Last Job

Just like in all the great heist movies, this is it. The last big score before we all retire, with out pockets fat we make a clean getaway. Well, if you are big into betting NFL, or bowl games, or soccer at 2:30am, maybe this is not the last big score. But, the last week of regular season college football it is.
Today we are going to do a little two for one action, first pick Mich St.
I know, I know, Mich St. has look questionable at some points, Notre Dame, Nebrsaka,etc. But, this is the first ever BIG 10 CHAMPIONSHIP. Look for this to be a game, 10 pts is way to much. Pick two, Oklahoma +3. Let's face it, OK st will always be to OK what Louisville is to Kentucky, little brother play second fiddle. Google most historic football programs of all time and guess who will show up...Oklahoma. Give me 3 points and Oklahoma playing for a BCS game I will take it all day. Gotta go.


Pick - Michigan State +10
Prediction - Wis 28, Mich St. 23

Pick - Oklahom +3
Prediction - Oklahoma 41, Ok St. 36
Record (3-1)

Toe & Beez Show - Episode 2

After a great week of sports and an exciting month of November, Toe and I are back to sum it all up and lay down our biased, unqualified opinions. Tonight's topics included:

1. The Return of the NBA
2. Something about baseball that turned into something else
3. Louisville shattering the Nielsen Ratings
4. If Kentucky's win over Tennessee will do more harm than good long-term
5. Why Oklahoma State still has a chance
6. UK v UNC including predictions and a weird Cam Newton tangent

Enjoy!

Toe and Beez Show - Episode 2 - 12-1-11