Hey there studs! I come to you a changed woman this morning. Out of all of those shows that I posted about a few weeks back, the only one I actually made it to was Shpongle. And if I had it all to do it over again, I’d definitely make that same choice all over again.
I have waited to see Shpongle for several years so the anticipation was brutally high. But on Shpongleday morning, I came down with a horrific stomach bug. I was sick for six hours and could barely gather the energy to get out of my bed. As the day dragged on, things were looking pretty bleak. At about 2 p.m. I had given up almost all hope of catching them in Denver.
“Oh well,” I thought, “some other time.”
At around seven, I ran into Dave, one of the dudes that I’m staying with. He asked me if I was going, and when I replied that I wasn’t, he made a remark about catching them in a decade or so. I’m not sure what it was about that comment. I knew he was just messing around, but it made me determined to pull myself out of this funk (read: actual illness) and make it to Shpongleland, no matter what.
I pulled myself out of my jammies, ate a raw food bar, and slapped on a flowy dress and my Mala beads. Since I didn’t think I would make it, I didn’t talk to anyone about the show that day and ended up on my own which is totally cool.
Flash forward through a bottle of sake and some dancing to some Phutureprimative, a white cloth drops and Simon Posford appears through an opening in, what I can only describe as a futuristic ice cave spaceship.
The show was MIND blowing. Seriously. The energy in that place was magnetic. It was such a beautiful experience, and the music takes you on a magical exploration of self discovery. I walked home that night with a mind and heart that was more open. I frolicked and played. I contemplated stopping in to visit with a tattoo artist to plan a Shpongle inspired tattoo. I’m so glad that I didn’t wait another decade before I got to get Shpongled. I’d highly recommend it.
Hey entertained studs! I’m back! I know that this past month has been crazy boring for you guys, and for that… I’m sorry. Well, I shouldn’t say that. I’m really not all that sorry. I hope that you found ways to entertain yourself without my rambles. I was busy doing my thing, becoming a yoga instructor in Denver. It was a ton of hard work and I’m glad that it’s all said and done.
So over the past few weeks, I’ve been sitting down to plan out the festivals I would travel to. I was working on finding a home in Denver, putting down roots, and travelling from here. I looked, planned, fascinated, dreamed and so on and so forth. In an interesting turn of events, I ended up getting invited to stay on Colorado’s oldest organic farm today. It seems to be one of those “offer you can’t refuse” kind of offers. So, I may be packing up in a few weeks and heading over the rockies to learn how to cook seasonal organic produce, teach yoga and get my hands in the dirt. Say, what?! Yeah… right?
I knew I had to modify my plans if I was going to go. I knew I still wanted to see some shows before I hunkered down in the rockies. I sat down, once again, to check out what was playing in the next few weeks so I could get my music fix. In the next week, four amazing shows are going down in this town. Fun. has a free show on Thursday. Shpongle is playing on Saturday night. Good Old War is also playing a gig on Saturday night. And… wait for it… The Polyphonic Spree is playing next Tuesday. I don’t know if you know this about me (I’m positive that you don’t), but I’ve been waiting to catch The Polyphonic Spree live for the past four years.
I’ll let you know what I end up seeing these next few weeks. Do you know of any other music stuff going on in Denver this month?
This entertained student has been busier than she ever thought was imaginable in the past week and a half. She’s been getting up at 4 a.m., doing hours and hours of yoga, planning classes, scrubbing down her chakras, and putting Visine in her third eye. She’s so tired and busy that she’s given up on talking in the first person. It’s easier to have an out of body experience if you talk about yourself in the third person.
Well, that proves it, I’ve officially gone nuts. I’m training to be a yoga instructor, and it’s been suuuuper challenging as far as time and energy is concerned. We’re on day eleven and I feel like I’ve been in this training for six months. I haven’t had a spare minute to catch up on my Thursday night NBC comedies, SNL, or hilarious internet videos. I haven’t discovered any new games or music, and I haven’t watched any movies. I haven’t had time to read a single vegan recipe blog.
Even though I haven’t had time for my favorite forms of entertainment, I have been thoroughly entertained. Don’t worry. I’m not going to go on and on about how entertaining yoga is (it is!), but I will tell you that I’ve discovered a bunch of really interesting ways to stay entertained on a super cramped schedule. See if you can find the theme in all of these quick and fun activities…
Start a Thumb War
One. Two. Three. Four. I declare a the thumb war to combat boredom. If you’re a bit rusty, check out these official thumb war rules and challenge someone to a round. You’d be surprised at how much fun that game still is.
Play With Your Food
The only “down time” I’ve been getting lately happens to come at meal prep times. So when I’m waiting for something to cook, or blend, or come to a boil, I’ve been getting creative with my fruits and veggies. Again, you might be shocked at how much fun it is to cut your nanners into the shape of little hearts and your apple chunks into stars.
Get the Wiggles
When you’re losing energy because you’re bored or tired, start wiggling your body in every direction. Wiggle your arms, legs, and torso. You don’t have to be a good dancer to get your wiggle on (take it from me). Anyone can do it, and it’s sure to bring a smile to your face.
Play Pretend
If you’re spacing out, you might as well use your imagination. Picture your professor being arrested by a police officer for being a serial fun killer. Pretend that you’re in training to become an astronaut, or try to see everything going in slow motion. Just have fun with your mind.
So what do all of these 60 second or less entertainment ideas have in common? They’re all things that kids do. Thank you, children of the world for having such short attention spans and simply silly ideas.
What do you do to get entertained in a quick minute?
We all realize that the days of waiting next to your boombox to tape your favorite songs off the radio are over, but the ever changing ways of exposing yourself to new music can be a challenge to keep track of.
This is where I started. I thought (and still do) the idea of Pandora was amazing. Type in a band and it makes a custom station for you, playing songs from bands that sound similar. You can customize the station further by giving songs a thumbs up or thumbs down, as well as bo0kmark tracks and songs, which is quite lovely. After a few months of use, I had a list of over 200 bookmarked songs, most of which I had never heard before.
This came next for me. You can download the program and use it as much as you want for free on your computer, and if you want to use the app on your smart phone, you can to pay a monthly subscription. Spotify is unlike Pandora in the fact you can search for artists and albums and play specific songs as much as you’d like. You can make playlists and share them effortless with friends, and have an all around good time. What I ended up doing was making a Spotify playlist from all the new music on Pandora I had ever bookmarked. Awesome? Duh.
This is the newest addition to my musical universe. This is where your favorite artist (or anyone) can post streaming sounds. This often includes live sets. It’s free and has a smartphone app, which is shiz we can all believe in. If Soundcloud was running for president, it would have my vote for sure.
With these three simple programs, and the name of at least one band you like, you can make all your frienemies cower at your musical prowess and open your world to endless sound.
When a buddy of mine told me he was headed to see Kill The Noise in Denver this weekend, I’m pretty sure he abbreviated it KTN. My response was, naturally, “WTF?” Once he elaborated, I promised I would get in the loop, hop on Spotify, and check it out.
It’s always awesome to get little musical gifts from your best pals. One second, you’re regressing into daily John Denver sessions, and the next, your ears are filled with some brand new noise. This new noise is dubstep, drum and bass, that is super energetic and fun. Perfect Noise is a great track, as is Kill Kill Kill, but you can pretty much click the first song that comes up on Spotify and let it go from there.
What is Kill The Noise?
Sure their name might allude to the way your parents feel about dubstep. But don’t worry, you won’t need a forensic pathologist to crack this case. After listening to Kill The Noise for a minute, you’d do pretty much anything to keep the noise alive.
Jake Stanczack is the brains behind the beats, and he usually goes by the pseudonym Kill The Noise. Sometimes he goes by the name Ewun, but it’s been a few years since he’s worked under that moniker.
In A City Near You
Kill The Noise is on tour right now and he’s making stops in Denver, Detroit, New Orleans, San Fransisco and Las Vegas. If you happen to be in one of those cities, I’d bet good money that it would be a fantastic show. They’ll be back in Denver in a week or so, right after I land in the clean mountainous city. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to check them out, and let you guys know how Kill The Noise is live and in living color.
Prescribed Uses
If you can’t get out there to check out Stanczack while he does his thing, you can toss on KTN while you’re writing midterm papers, getting ready to go out, or taking a super long drive when you need to stay awake.
I’ve been on kind of a British TV show kick this past month. It’s not because I’m out looking for ways to keep my thoughts rolling in this English accent. It’s because Netflix keeps spitting them at me, and I really take whatever Netflix gives me. I’m totally Netflix’s b*tch.
Nevertheless, my thoughts do continue to roll on in a British accent. It’s no longer that posh and proper British accent from Downton Abbey that would make my thoughts sound smarter than usual. Nowadays it’s that crude and course Cockney accent that makes my thoughts sound really awful and hilarious. I tend to cuss a lot more in my mind lately, because there’s nothing quite like an East London F bomb.
The reason my thought accent has become less refined is a good one. It’s called Pulling. This fantastically raunchy show reminds me of the Office, but it stars three women who you rarely see in an office. Sure, it’s old. It was cancelled back in 2009 after only two seasons. But don’t let that sway you on how entertaining this show is.
It was nominated for a BAFTA in 2007 and the lead character/writer Sharon Horgan won a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Actress in 2008, the same year it was cancelled. It’s well written, and the best part is that the women in the show get to say funny things. It’s a shocker these days, because even though women are super liberated, we’re still deathly unfunny. That was sarcasm, of course, and the women in this show are unfathomably funny.
So even though it was doing well in its first two seasons, the show got the axe. Why? Both Sharon Horgan and Dennis Kelly (co-writer) say they have no idea. They even claim that they “cried and threw ourselves at their feet” asking for another season. Can someone say chauvinistic conspiracy? According to Horgan, the BBC said “they didn’t cancel it, they just continued on another form… by cancelling it.”
Anywho, there are still two seasons that do exist and a special to boot. Check it out.
Have you seen Pulling? Do you talk to yourself in British accents?
Oooh man. It’s been awhile since we’ve brought you a good ole “band you’ve never heard of ” post. You know, as I was typing out the headline of this post, I realized what a hipster thing that is to say.
“There’s this band you’ve never heard of, they’re called Fitz and the Tantrums and they’re from LA. They’re like the Black Keys with more soul,” he said as he twirled his mustache, leaned up against his fixed gear, and drank his PBR.
I don’t have a mustache (mainly because I’m a woman), and I really don’t think of myself as a hipster. I mean, I do hang out in hipster haunts. I’m at one right now as a matter of fact. But I wear too much tie dye to be considered a hipster (As a matter of fact, I’m doing that right now too). As I sit in this hip coffee shop, I wonder how many people here would say something like, “Fitz and the Tantrums? They’re okay but they’re not as good as [insert indie band I've never heard of here].”
There was this great study that Harvard did that decoded hipsters. Beyond the beards and beanies, and big glasses, there’s a defining factor that all hipsters share. It’s a disdain for something that anyone else likes. This is even true for friends and other hipsters. If you couldn’t tell, by being in a hipster coffee shop/bar/neighborhood, hipsters crave to be different. Anything that’s remotely mainstream, even if it’s mainstream in the underground, liking it would make you the same as someone else. If everyone else on the earth were “hip”, they’d be the quiet and beige home health nurse that nobody notices, but they’d really try their darndest to go unnoticed.
So, I’m sorry if I’ve offended any of you by sounding like a hipster deuche in the title of this series. But, if you’ve never heard of Fitz and the Tantrums, all I’m saying is that you should. If I were a hipster, I’d stop liking them as soon as you got on board so I could stay cooler than you, but I promise, I wouldn’t do that to you. Call me unhip…
What do you think about hipsters? What do you think about Fitz and the Tantrums?
Downton Abbey is a show produced by the BBC as part as their Masterpiece series. Are you already snoring? Wake up! I understand that this might not be the kind of show that you would naturally gravitate to.
It’s said that we’re the “Jersey Shore generation”. That was a really weird sentence to write. You realize that that’s how older generations judge us, right? The popularity of that show has given them all of the ammunition to say that the future of our nation has gone down the toilet.
Here’s your chance to prove them wrong. Watch some Downton Abbey. I can’t quite pinpoint why this show isn’t a snoozefest. I can’t tell you why it’s surprisingly addicting. I’m at a loss to explain why it’s one of those shows that you’ll want to watch episode after episode. And I certainly wont be able to give you back the days you spend watching both seasons, back to back.
All I can tell you is that it’s enthralling in its own right. Add the classification ‘historical fiction’ to the show, and it jumps over into the astoundingly enthralling category.
I’ll admit that it took a minute to win me over. It came up on my suggested queue on Netflix, and it just happened to be a cold and gray winter’s day. I figured, why not try to pretend to be a little cultured. The first few minutes were a little slow. Being in the Jersey Shore generation, I almost gave way to the ADHD inspired idea to switch it off, and go cook something for my vegan recipe blog.
I’m really glad I didn’t. I had a great time devouring the first two seasons of this show, and I didn’t gain the weight that I would have devouring an entire vegan cake. Even so, I can’t really tell you why I enjoyed it so much. I mean, it’s a fierce drama (think Pride and Prejudice) but it’s funny in the way that only British dramas can be (think Sense and Sensibility). The acting is fantastic (Professor McGonigall, from the Harry Potter flicks, plays a backwards, mean spirited, but endearing aristocrat flawlessly). The story lines are intricate, moving and dramatic. It also depicts the hierarchy that was still in place at the turn of the century in England in a perspective enhancing way.
Check out a few episodes and let me know if you can figure out exactly what makes this show so addicting.
Don’t worry kids. YouTube should still be up and running in the morning so you should still be able to watch Nyan Cat for the billionth time tomorrow. But beware, there are tons of other sites going down. As a matter of fact, you won’t be able to get your Nyan from the source because nyan.com has joined in the protest as well. The site says, “No rainbows. No cats. No Nyans.”
I’m sure you’ve probably heard all about SOPA and PIPA and what’s happening with those bills. If you haven’t, here’s the run down: The internet doesn’t like SOPA and PIPA, because of intense lobbying from giant multimedia corporations, congress LOVES SOPA and PIPA. So today, January 18th 2012, the internet is showing people what congress is up to in hopes that congress will get scared of the people and knock it off with the whole SOPA and PIPA thing. It probably won’t go down in real history, but it might get on your nerves if you have standing Wednesday plans to surf around English Wikipedia all day long.
All jokes aside, this is a pretty big deal. Never in the history of the internet has there ban a digital boycott protesting legislation before. So why are Wikipedia and many other sites shutting down tomorrow? We’ll let Wikipedia answer that one:
Wikipedians have chosen to black out the English Wikipedia for the first time ever, because we are concerned that SOPA and PIPA will severely inhibit people’s access to online information. This is not a problem that will solely affect people in the United States: it will affect everyone around the world.
Why? SOPA and PIPA are badly drafted legislation that won’t be effective in their main goal (to stop copyright infringement), and will cause serious damage to the free and open internet. They put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won’t have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn’t being infringed. Foreign sites will be blacklisted, which means they won’t show up in major search engines. And, SOPA and PIPA build a framework for future restrictions and suppression.
There was buzz yesterday that SOPA and PIPA had been defeated and that the strike would not go on. However, lawmakers have only temporarily shelved the bill and will reopen the bill for discussion in early February, when people have forgotten all about this whole thing. They’ll probably even rename it and attach it to a bill regarding walnut season statutes and grants for people who save puppies. That way, nobody has any idea what’s going on.
Viva le blackout kids! Wait! What will you do to be entertained?
Go outside.
Or if you really want to be entertained, send a little note to your congressman and let them know that you won’t be the intermediary between this one and the one in 1984.
Nippletainment? How does this word not exist in the English language yet? Does now!
So kiddos, let’s start this off with a little censorship warning. If you’re not over the age of 18, you should probably cover your ears, or since this is the written word, it would work a little better if you closed your eyes. At any rate, this is a grown up post. Okay, it’s not going to be that grown up, but I might use words like tittie tassles and nippletainment (is too a word!). This entertainment story happens to be about boobies. So if you don’t want to read about boobies, if that kind of thing offends you, then you should come back next week when the post wont be so booby-centric.
Anywho, last night, I went to a super entertaining extittieganza (coining that one too) at a little theater called Gorilla Tango in Chicago. It was called Star Wars: A Nude Hope and I think the title alone speaks volumes about the show’s awesomness.
The show began with a sexy, Dita Von Teese version of C3P0 shaking her golden cans all over the stage, whilst making Battlestar Galactica jokes. There’s also a sexy wookie, sexy sand people, a sexy Obi-Wan Kenobi, and a hilarious chick that plays Luke Skywalker who is also… you guessed it… sexy. If that’s not touching your inner nerd in a way that makes you feel a little tingly, I don’t know what will.
The show was hilarious and fun filled. If you’ve never been to a burlesque show or if you’re thinking of taking a girl to one, this is a great, playful way to dip your toe into the nippletainment waters (I can feel that word catching on already).
If you’re a Star Wars fan, and you’re into girls, and you live in Chicago, I’d suggest that you push pause on WoW, drag your pasty a** out of your moms basement, and head over to the Gorilla Tango next weekend to check it out for yourself.
Have you ever been to a nerd burlesque show? Were you nippletained (I promise that will be the last one)?
What? You didn’t know that you happen to house a jazzy robot brain in that head of yours? Well, I’d love to break it to you… You do.
I understand that electronic music isn’t for everyone. It wasn’t for me at first either. Perhaps you had a bad experience. Perhaps you were turned onto the genre by someone who sucked. Perhaps you were once dragged to an dubstep show with a dude who put blinking lights in a pair of gloves who wandered around the entire night asking people if they wanted a “light show.” Those things are possible. And coincidentally, they’re impossible to get out of your mind.
But, then if you’re lucky, someone like Bassnectar or Paul Lansky comes along and you realize that computer generated music has the ability to tune into your brainwaves allowing you to create a different song every time you hear a piece by deciding what your ears are going to rest on.
We could go in a super pretentious direction and use a lot of big fancy words to prove that we’re smart and dub step is too, but that would just make us look like dub-step-loving D bags, with a capital D. And the world might need a lot of things, but it definitely doesn’t need any more D bags. It could use a little more dub step and a few more good looking fellas with tattoos.
Dub step is high energy. It has the capability to fill your bones with bass and allow your mind to expand without the use of drugs. It’s awesome to wake up to, get ready to, shower to, and work to. If you’re typing out a paper, dub step can help you stay energized and focused. You might think we’re giving it too much credit, but nay. Dub step will make your life better. It will make you more productive. It will turn on the jazzy robot part of your brain and make you electro-funky. Sure, it’s an acquired taste. And it’s something you won’t want to shout from the rooftops when you do acquire it, but beware, once acquired, you wont be able to shake the dub.
Here’s a list of some popular dub step. Be prepared to get in touch with your inner dub bot.
Dub Step For Beginners:
A Brief Tutorial to Dubstep Production- Dubba Johnny
RU Ready- Drumsound, Bassline Smith
Got to know- Flux Pavilion
Cracks ft. Belle Humble (Flux Pavilion Remix)- The Freestylers
Woo Boost- Rusko
Bass Head- Bassnectar
Bangarang- Skrillex
Pro Nails (Rusko Remix)- Kid Sister
Machine Gun 16 bit remix- Noisia
Welcome Reality- Nero
Moving On- Cottonmouth
Sunsets- Borgore
There you go kiddies. How did all of that feel? Jazzy? Robotic? You took the words right out of my mouth. Hey! I wan’t those back!
Do you have any Dub Step tunes you’d like to share?
I’m sure as soon as I finish writing this post, these songs will not be cool anymore. This is the nature of being hip. Everything is transient at an exponential rate. So, four hundred words later, these songs will be so lame that they can never be spoken of again. In the meantime, they are the coolest songs that anyone has ever heard.
What I’ve done to create this post is pretty revolutionary/lazy. I’ve been listening to a playlist on Spotify that’s so hip that it’s being inserted into your grandmothers socket as we speak. Then, I did a google search for “Hipster music” and compiled this list from those two things combined. All of this music just sounds so cool. You’re brain transforms into a cool, young, fashionable, city dweller as you let your brain chow on this ear candy. Everything this world is funky synth distortion.
Now, I’m not exactly what you would call a hipster. Because, obviously, the first rule of being a hipster is that you can never, ever, under any circumstance, even let a knowing glance slide that would indicate that you are aware of your hipster-ness. With that said, I’m really not a hipster. I’m learning more about being hip every day though. The north side of Chicago is just crawling with people who would never admit that they had even heard the word hipster before today.
Unless, of course, you can trap them by using it in reference to one of their favorite places.
Non- hipster: “Hey, what’s the name of that super hipster coffee shop in Wicker Park?”
Hipster: “Oh, the Wormhole? That place is my favorite! They make the best latte art. I ride my fixed gear bike there every day.”
Non-hipster: “Gotcha!”
Just kidding, the Worm Hole is the most amazing place on the planet and is nothing to be mocked. Their latte art and vegan donuts rock my striped biking socks off. I think the first step in becoming a hipster is making fun of hipsters… so… about that… here’s some hip a** music.
Starfucker- Pop Song
Wintercoats- Working on a Dream
We Are Young- Fun.
Something Good Can Work- Two Door Cinema
Santa Fe- Beirut
January Hymn- The Decemberists
English Music- Destroyer (let’s pretend this isn’t from 2010 for a moment)
Sound Capital- Handsome Furs (the entire album)
Your Past Life as a Blast- Okkervil River
The Breakup-The Rural Alberta Advantage
Keep Your Heart- TV on the Radio
So there you go, kiddos! If you want to take the hipster up a notch, here’s an article on how to become an artist. No need to thank me. We’re both too cool for that.
David Lynch is a renaissance man. This is an understatement. David Lynch is a renaissance man that spans direct influence on three generations and has revolutionized the way we will perceive art, small towns, darkness, entertainment, creativity, and now music, until the end of time. Now that’s some amazing pretentious declarative skills for you this morning.
Maybe I was the last person on earth to realize that David Lynch, the artist and director made famous by the films Elephant Man, Mullholand Drive, and Eraserhead, is now making music. He also directed the critically aclaimed Twin Peaks and his critically doomed Dune.
He also was one of the ushers for John F. Kennedy’s inauguration.
He also makes furniture for his own sets.
He also is an Eagle Scout.
Plus, he ate at Big Boy in L.A. nearly every day for eight years in a row.
And his favorite band is Rammstein. Yeah, the “Du Hast” guys. That makes sense.
Okay, those last two may not technically make him a renaissance man, but they do allude to how dimensional and awesome the guy is.
One thing that does qualify as an all around, creative genius, is his new role as a noisemaker. His slow and distorted electronica music is crawling all over college radio and he’s gained an underground following with young hipsters. All of this in spite of his role as a senior citizen.
There’s just no denying that this guy is as cool as it gets and that his vision is never convoluted. Here’s Good Day Today from his upcoming album Crazy Clown Time. Viewer discretion is advised.
Lynch hasn’t made a video for this one yet, but here’s hoping that he does. This has been my favorite David Lynch find today (aside from the Eagle Scout thing). At 3:17 things get really David Lynch-y and at around 5:30 it gets downright hilarious. If you’ve ever let your mind metaphysically wander and found yourself at a ridiculous assumption about humanity or the future of humanity or about teeth, then you’re going to love this.
What do you think about David Lynch’s music? What will he do next? FBI Agent, President, Log Roller? What’s your bet?
You were our first online music love. We remember the very first time we laid eyes on you. You were so pretty, like a smooth virtual jukebox that didn’t require any quarters. You were a cheap date, and we really liked that about you. But that’s not the only thing we liked about you. You were always there to broaden our musical horizons. We’d tell you what we liked and you were there with a hundred other songs that we might enjoy. You opened our eyes to completely new things. We loved that about you. Without you, we may have never given dubstep a fair shot. Without you, we probably would have crashed long before we could finish our term papers. Without you, we wouldn’t be the easily distracted music fans that we are today.
But let’s face it, we had our problems, and as soon as the honeymoon was over, the deal breakers started to surface. If we liked a song, you wouldn’t let us listen to it again. That was really sh*tty of you. If we just wanted to listen to the same artist for a few hours, you wouldn’t allow it. To put it bluntly, you’re a control freak with ADD. Sometimes we secretly compared you to the Kim Jung Il of online radio. We’re sorry for having those nasty thoughts about you, but it’s how we feel. So that’s why we’re writing this letter to let you know that this just isn’t working for us. It’s over, Pandora. It’s over.
Whew. It’s a relief to get that over with. Thank goodness we didn’t get that I Heart Pandora tattoo that we were always talking about. That would have made this much harder.
We’re sorry to have to break it to you this way right after we end everything, but we’ve found someone else. Her name is Spotify. Spotify knows what we like, but she doesn’t force us to try new things all of the time. Sometimes it’s okay to get into a comfort zone and listen to the same artist, same same album or same song over and over again. Spotify gets this. Spotify gets us.
So Pandora, we can still be friends. And every once in awhile, we’ll stop by with a bottle of wine and try to see if we can re-connect, but let’s face it… it’s probably not going to be the same between us. Sorry.
In the last post, I mentioned that I was taking a journey to Panama and that I was going to be here for a few weeks. Looking back at the last post, I realized that I haven’t listened to any of the albums I put on the international playlist. It’s not that they’re not all fantastic and wonderful and travel-friendly… Because they are. My recommendations are always spot on (and my double negatives are always doubly negative).
It’s just that I’ve been hopping, skipping and jumping around this country and my playlist has followed suit. I’ve started giving some music on my list a second chance. Here are two of the stand up, knock out winners: Bassnectar and Fleet Foxes. If you’ve heard these bands before, as I had, and they just didn’t click for you, it’s time to give them another shot.
I’m pretty sure this is the first time these two musical acts have been put in the same category. Sure, one is an electronic legend, the other one is an underground alternative powerhouse. Does that mean they can’t be friends?
Bassnectar
I love Bassnectar. The man in charge of the bass, Lorin Ashton, puts on a hell of a live show at summer festivals. Outside of the grassy fields, the only album I’ve ever really connected with was Mesmerizing the Ultra. I heard it back in the day when I was in high school and loved that shiz.
Bassnectar’s entire discography has been on my musical device for ages, but I never thought it was made for my day to day listening pleasure. Fortunately, I’m not too proud to admit when I’m wrong. I threw the Bassnectar on shuffle during this trip and it’s all proved to be great roaming music.
The energy is perfect for wandering around a new city, trying to stay awake during long flights, and for cross country jaunts. Divergent Spectrum is a fantastic album. So is Cozza Frenzy. Ooh and Kyrian Bee Bop on Underground Communication is the perfect song to listen to when your plane is taking off.
Fleet Foxes
Wow. Changing the album from Bassnectar’s Underground Communication to Fleet Foxes‘ Helplessness Blues is like stepping into a different country. So I guess it’s totally fitting.
This album is perfect for reflecting in the sun while swinging in a hammock. This is the only album of theirs I have, but I’m pretty excited to get everything they’ve got. These guys paint an amazing picture of uplifting and progressive personal growth through travel in “Montezuma”. I could write something similar about most of the songs on this album. So many of the tunes on Helplessness Blues qualify as perfect rambling music. Helplessness Blues, the title track, is a perfect song in my humble opinion.
Check it out.
No? Not your thing right now? Maybe you should give it a second shot.
What are your favorite bands that needed a second listen?
Well, hello entertained studs! Studs might not be the proper abbreviation for students, but it’s shorter and it sounds sexier, so we’ll go with that from here on out. Speaking of here on out, the entertained student is hitting the road once again. Did you just roll your eyes?
Don’t worry, we’re not going to regale you with more tales of another really exciting journey around the Midwest (although, you have to admit, it was awesome). We’re heading out to foreign climes this time around, so the next post will be notably junglier and beachier (and possibly afternoon drunk-ier) than this post.
This journey is a lot longer than the last one, so this kind of travel calls for a super long and comprehensive playlist. I figured the best thing to do would be to create more of a travel discography instead of the usual song-by-song playlist. The flight is from Chicago to Panama City, Panama and it’s about ten hours long. Then, we’ll be trekking around panama for two weeks before another ten hour flight. We need to make sure there’s enough tuneage, otherwise we might come down with a bad case of jungle fever. That can mean two different things, right?
So, this post is basically going to be about our favorite albums right now. Expect a lot of overlapping from previous posts. Spoiler alert: We’re still into Mumford and Sons and Wookiefoot. Maybe our music could use a little kick start, but packing takes precedence over new tunes… unless you’ve got some travel music suggestions.
1. The Black Keys: Thickfreakness
Every Black Keys album is fantastic, but there’s a rawness about Thickfreakness that really speaks to a vagabond’s sensibilities. Plus they do a Sonics cover on the record, Have Love Will Travel, and that pretty much says it all.
2. The Dresden Dolls: Yes, Virginia
I’m going to step out of the guise of talking in first person plural for a moment and let you know that I’m a woman. Are you shocked? I use words like precious… Anyway, I’m a woman and I’ll be travelling alone. So, I feel the need to have some bad a**, crazy woman music in order to survive. The Dresden Dolls are a little more crazy than bad a**, but they’ll do.
3. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros: Up From Below
This album is uplifting, upbeat and travel friendly. It’s got that hippie-ish communal feeling but it’s not as cultish as The Polyphonic Spree.
4. The Polyphonic Spree: Together We’re Heavy
Who am I kidding? I’ll drink the cool-aid. I remember listening to this album on a road trip long ago and starting to see the world in a whole new light. It’s coming along for this journey as well.
5. Elephant Revival: Break in the Clouds
I’m a huge fan of this mellow bluegrass album. It’ll be great for getting some work done (it’ll happen), looking for some medical billing and coding schools (it’ll totally happen), or relaxing in a hammock somewhere (I can guarantee that one).
It’s been awhile since we posted about new music so here’s another freaking awesome band in our Band You’ve Never Heard Of series. Not to be confused with Mumford and Sons (I wonder if they get that all of the time now), Mumford’s is a kick a** band out of Ames, IA that puts on one of the most entertaining shows you’ll ever witness. You think that’s an exaggeration, huh? Check out this performance…
I know, right?
Lead singer, Nate Logsdon, is a wild man. Plus, you have to appreciate a band with a horns section these days. And that song is just fantastic. So much to love. While Cooking Day is probably one of the best modern lyrical narratives about meth, it might make your neighbors think you’re a drug addict if you blare it daily and sing it at the top of your lungs (that’s speaking from experience, folks).
The first time we were lucky enough to catch these guys was a pretty magical evening. After a mini-festival in the middle of a small plot of land, in the middle of some corn fields, in the middle of nowhere, got rained out for a few hours, these guys took the stage and jazzed up everyone in attendance. Logsdon was constantly on the move. He wwas jumping off of the short stage, hoola hooping while playing the trumpet (seriously) and doing his signature dance move (see video). It was a sight to behold. There’s something about his free-spirited performance that grants you the freedom to dance like a crazy person.
They released their newest album, Triple Trinities, in July. Here’s a track from the new record…
You can learn how to play the harmonica. You can pick up photography. Then you can take pictures of your harmonica! Entertainment at it's finest!
People are watching less TV these days. Well, studies say that they’re not really watching less of it, but they’re watching it in different ways. Now, even if your satellite or cable goes out, you can watch TV on your computer, on your phone or on your tablet. Endless entertainment, right? Right!
But what if you’re trying to spend a little less time watching TV? What if you’re taking a break from your regularly scheduled programming for awhile? All of those alternatives just make it easier to veg out and catch up on Parks and Rec. The trick to leaving that ole American past time in the dust is to keep yourself entertained away from the boob tube.
These suggestions aren’t completely new (we’re not going to tell you to turn off the TV and hit up Facebook), but they’re a good jumping off point for you to begin your unplugged life.
1. Make a Reading List: Reading is a great diversion if you can find something that you absolutely love. Usually when you tell others that you’re going to give up TV, people start pushing the books “YOU HAVE TO READ“. Instead of diving into those, make a list of books that you’ve always wanted to read. Heck, it doesn’t even have to be books. If you’ve been meaning to catch up on some Psychology Today, add that to your reading list.
2. Take up Cooking: If you don’t already cook, there’s no better time to learn then now. You have all of that extra time and you’ll undoubtedly find that cooking your own meals is deeply satisfying. If you already cook, notice the difference when you experience cooking without the TV on in the background.
3. Pick up an Instrument: Don’t just pick it up. Play with it. Even if you don’t consider yourself the musical type, a simple harmonica jam session can open your eyes to a whole new creative outlet.
4. Space Out: You don’t need TV as an excuse to zone out. It’s completely healthy to have a little space-fest. Stare off into the distance. Go into your own little world. Meditate. Whatever you want to call it, it’s an acceptable way to spend your time. Just make sure you have a notebook and pen around to record any ideas you might have during your space out. Some of the best brain children are born out of those staring contests with nothing.
5. Study More: “Say what?!” You heard us. Take this opportunity to become a better student. It will behoove you to take your studies to the next level (see, we used our non TV time to learn new words like behoove). Don’t just study more. Become more engaged in all things school. Join some clubs and groups, apply for some full ride scholarships for next year, get your work study on. This may not sound like entertainment, but consider it an investment in your entertainment future. You want to be able to afford the blow up big screen TV for your in-ground pool someday, right? Maybe that was a bad example for this subject…
What do you do for fun when you’re not watching the tele?
The Occupy protests continue to rage on in New York, and 900 cities around the world! And the Republican debates are charging on into what is sure to become the most ridiculous American presidential election circus of our time. When you watch a few clips of those guys arguing, you can see how it’s easy to get sucked into the negativity and anger of a good (see: completely meaningless) debate. This kind of stuff usually turns into many people’s entertainment.
It’s easy to flip on Fox News or MSNBC and let all of the noise wash over you. You can be reaffirmed and confused by everything that MSNBC throws at you. You can throw your coffee at the screen when Ann Coulter comes on to throw out some nonsense about Occupy protesters having the same message as the Nazis. Sure. These are all options for you. But aren’t you feeling a nap coming on?
Fess up. What is watching all of this coverage really doing for you? I know you like to sit in your jammies for days on end and feel angry or sad or disenfranchised while you yawn your life away. I know you love to talk mad shit about corporations as you eat your Tyson chicken nuggets.
But if you’re not getting off of your ass and doing something for this country, you might as well be entertained by it. So turn off the 24 hour news networks and turn on something that will make you laugh.
We’re lucky enough to have folks like John Stewart and Stephen Colbert around to make us realize what all of this posturing and mindless media commentary really does for us when we treat it like information… Nada. But it can be hilarious and thoroughly entertaining.
“I’m not saying that you don’t have the right to peacefully assemble. I’m just saying that the police have the right to disassemble you into pieces,” quips the satirically inclined Colbert.
Check out these hilarious videos by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert for some funny-as-hell commentary on the media commentary on our citizen’s commentary on our country.
But you know what’s really entertaining students? Joining your fellow man (and woman) and getting together to use your voice against a broken system controlled by corporations and banks. It’s entertaining to entertain(!) the idea that together we can build a different nation, one in which our children won’t be jobless, homeless and saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt while wall street CEO’s get to sit on a heaping cushion of our tax dollars. It’d be nice to live in a future where you didn’t have to be a paralegal in order to understand the back of your credit card statement.
Holy shit! Did watching a Jon Stewart video just make me say all of that? My god, they were right. That guy is a hypnotist. Wait? They call him a communist? Oh, well, that’s what I meant.
This video was posted a few days ago and I wonder if anyone has sent this kid some friggin Pokemon cards already. Do you think he feels like a jackass now that 70,000+ people have witnessed his crazy? Is it wrong to call a ten year old a jackass?
It’s one thing to throw a temper tantrum in public, but over Pokemon cards? Those still exist? Oh man, I never understood Pokemon, but that kid is making it look really freaking awesome. Now I waaaaaaaant iiiiiit, tooooooooooooooooo.
I’m going to use fine opportunity to wag my pointer finger at crappy parents. There’s something wrong with kids these days and it’s all your fault. Your kids could probably all use a good kick in the teeth warm glass of milk and to be loved a little more. Seriously though, have you ever been to one of those toy stores for genius kids with hippie parents where all of the toys are education related? The kids in those stores never act like this little ass hat. Why do you think that is? Is it because they don’t have TV? Is it because they have better opportunities for early childhood education? Is it because they have parents who pay attention to them more than Facebook? Is it because those toys are lame and made out of wood? Who knows. I’m just saying. Those kids are like little children of the corn cultist saints in comparison to this kid. And by that, I mean better.
But who am I to talk? I never had any kids, unless you count all of those dumpster babies (that’s where you build fake babies out of trash you find in a dumpster, right?). I’m waiting for my ovaries to dry up before I start having sex. I think the next time things start getting steamy between me and a manfolk, I’m just going to put this video on a loop.
And if things really get romantic, I’ll follow it up with this one…
Is it just me, or does that kid sound like he’s communicating with the underworld?
Do you have any ridiculous videos of young boys? Ewwwww. No, not that kind… Like the kind where they freak out because they don’t know what testosterone is yet.
Hey entertained studs! I’m back! I know that this past month has been crazy boring for you guys, and for that… I’m sorry. Well, I shouldn’t say that. I’m really not all that sorry. I hope that you found ways to entertain yourself without my rambles. I was busy doing my thing, becoming a yoga instructor in Denver. It was a ton of hard work and I’m glad that it’s all said and done.
We all realize that the days of waiting next to your boombox to tape your favorite songs off the radio are over, but the ever changing ways of exposing yourself to new music can be a challenge to keep track of.
