Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Sounds and Funny

Roadtrip music, traditionally, is well known, pre-established music. People like to rock out to their favorites, car dance, sing-along etc. But when I roadtrip I like to listen to new music. Frequently when I listen to new music at home I get caught up in this-that-or-the-other and may not notice if I’m digging the music at all.

This most recent road trip I listened to about a dozen albums I’ve been sitting on for months. I also listened to about a dozen new comedians, for variety sake.

It’s the time of the week when I rank things: Top 5 albums I listened to last week

(facebookers, the blog is chock full of videos so I'd recommend you head over there)

5. Free Energy – Stuck on Nothing

No commentary really, just a fun album. Give it a try. Kind of like Weezer and Cheap Trick had a baby, with Spoon as the godfather. Okay, a little commentary.



4. Ellie Goulding – Lights

I’d heard a couple Ellie Goulding tracks already, Starry Eyed and Guns and Horses, but neither had really stuck out for me. The album as a whole though shows some neat variety, dipping into electronic, folk, rock etc. I’m a sucker for any British female vocalist, but you should definitely try Ellie out.



3. Scott Pilgrim vs The World

I’d listened to it a couple times before seeing the movie, but afterwards it is so much better. I can’t decide whether I like the Sex Bob-omb or Beck versions of the songs better.



2. VV Brown – Traveling Like the Light

A British female vocalist. Not technically true as I had her single Crying Blood on my ChrisMix last year, but she released her full album, and it has a bunch of winners. Shark In The Water would be on this year’s ChrisMix if it weren’t disqualified.



1. Anais Mitchell – Hadestown

I have no idea how I came upon this album. I think Anais may have hacked my computer and put it on there herself. But it’s awesome. It’s a blues/folk opera. Yes, awesome. It’s the story of Orpheus, as told during the Great Depression, with help of such folk as Ani DiFranco, Petra Haden, Bon Iver and the Low Anthem. It’s awesome, in case you missed that.









The time of the week, after that first time of the week, when I rank things: Top 5 new Comedians

(contains spicy language)

5. (Tie) Eugene Mirman / Brian Posehn

I put these two together because they only made me laugh half the time. But they have such bizarre jokes that it was surprising that I laughed at all. Odd stuff, but funny.



4. Louis C.K.

I’ve seen Louis C.K. here and there on tv, but never heard his stand-up. It’s good.



3. Nick Swardson

Turns out that I’ve seen Nick live. He was at a comedy tour I saw a number of years ago. He also plays Terry on Reno 911. None of the comics I’ve listed are terribly mature, but he’s the least mature of the bunch.



2. Todd Barry

I can’t find a single good video of Todd Barry. So you’re just going to have to trust me that he’s funny.



1. Maria Bamford

Maria is not my cup of tea. She does a lot of impersonations and “funny” voices. It’s generally the kind of broad schtick I avoid. But turns out, she’s got enough personality to pull off the slapstick. Maybe I was grinning more than laughing, but I was grinning a lot. Plus she's got OCD, depression and anxiety symptoms, but is never a downer. That takes some skills.

1 comment:

katilda said...

i swear that VV Brown chick played LaFonda on napoleon dynamite...