SOTW : THE MICROPHONES : I FELT MY SIZE

the heat from the closeness of me tilting towards the sun
was storing up to ignite the night and light up
the coldness of the cave the billowy flames lit up my face
the thinning smoke hung in the branches waiting for wind
my front was warm, the cold backs of my arms
never felt the dawn, the night was long
when the real dawn came i saw it crawl over the hill
and i felt clean and shook my hair out in the light
i looked up and hurt my eyes on the painful powerful sky
i looked down and felt motion under me
i looked out across the freeway at the people flying by
and turned my head, i closed my eyes, i felt my size
i recalled my fire, and my lack of dawn
my one sided warmth, i just wanted more
but i’m small, i’m not a planet at all
i’m small, i’m small, we are all

116-the_microphones-i_felt_my_size

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

NOISECAST #2 – FOLK PUNK

I started this noisecast by trying to make a pop punk mix and failing miserably (the only track remaining is “Glendora”). I know that not all of these songs are “folk-punk” in the strictest sense, and you die hard folk-punkers will probably scoff at a bunch of my choices, but I selected these songs under the criteria that they all had something punk about them, and that they were acoustic, not because they were traditional anarcho-folk-punk jams (though you still get “Punx win!”).

Its loose, but I think it flows pretty well.

—

Bright Eyes – If Winter Ends

Rilo Kiley – Glendora

Defiance, Ohio – Grandma Song

Leftover Crack – Soon We’ll Be Dead

Violent Femmes – Out The Window

Mischief Brew – Punx Win! Electric

Okkervil River - Black

Against Me! – Joy

NOISECAST #2 ; Folk Punk

or get a zip of the individual files here.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

SOTW – Rilo Kiley – Ripchord

It’s said that Blake wrote this song about Elliott Smith after he died. The two were supposedly close friends.

pull the ripchord
the ship has lost its sail
your mama’s got a new man
your daddy always fails
and you’re eating again
at them
’cause nobody loves you

and even fancy things
have finally lost their charm
wine and diamond rings
they never get you anymore
you’re sleeping again
alone
’cause nobody loves you

they should have seen you
should have known you
should have known what it was like
to be you

so come on kid
look at what you did
I don’t know if you meant it
but you did yourself in
and I was even having a good day
when I’d found out we lost you

she said it was in the singing and the strumming
oh man I even saw it coming

Rilo Kiley – 04 – Ripchord

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

INTERVIEW: BATTLE FLAGS

I Recently got a chance to talk to Battle Flags main dude Jack Budd about his (mostly) solo project and recently released album, Color Engine.

Read the rest of this entry »

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

SOTW – Okkervil River – The Velocity Of Saul At The Time Of His Conversion

Loosen the wire, your time has expired
The only word left is goodbye
In my new dream the light’s shining on me
little needles of sodium unstitch the seams of the sky

Hold your head higher, the heavenly choir
Is settling in for the night
And where I had friends, I am left with loose ends
Four hours of vision exchanged for four hours of fright

But enough of “the fight”
Enough “you and I”
Enough of “prevail” or “walk in the light”
While the angels stand by I get high as a kite
I’m too tired to smile
Or know that I’m right
Am I right?

And all our best-laid plans, well, they crumbled in our hands
Our flags fell where they’d fanned
You held in your breath long after projections of death
You sat in the waiting rasping and gasped on dry land

But the audience is tired, we’ve had enough fire
We’re entereing the age now of ice
And I, feeling older, pull off to the shoulder
And wonder, with my head in my hands, should I call my wife?

And say “Enough ‘you and I’
Enough of ‘the fight’
Enough of ‘prevail’ or ‘walk in the light’
While the angels stand by I get high as a kite
I’m too tired to smile
Or know that I’m right”

Enough “you and I”
Enough of “the fight”
Enough of “prevail” or “walk in the light”

And when the spacecraft came down
I was left on the ground
Will you keep me around
Will you help me survive
After my time?

Okkervil River – The Velocity Of Saul At The Time Of His Conversion

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Song Of The Week – Bright eyes & Neva Dinova – Spring Cleaning

(Written by Conor Oberst, Performed by Jake Bellows)

Amy’s got a baby in her stomach
She took my hand, I felt it kick
So she’s crying and glowing
She’s 3 months and showing
Seeing her now makes me want to live

But her man’s got an angry mouth
He once told me to rot in hell
He’s poisonous, reasonless
Demons and Jesus
If he died it’d be just as well

So I’m having it out with the rain
It argues so long and so loud
It keeps tapping and talking
We’re walking forever on First Avenue headed south

And all the traffic lights blur
Into a bright bouquet
My heart is in mothballs
It’s been packed away
And I can’t get to it no way
Until the birds return for spring cleaning

All the traffic lights blur into a bright bouquet
I wish I could just turn and walk away
But I can’t do it no way
Until the birds return for spring cleaning

Neva Dinova – Spring Cleaning (jake version)

Bright eyes – Spring Cleaning (conor version)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Song Of The Week: Daniel Johnston – Worried Shoes

I took my lucky break and I broke it in two
Put on my worried shoes
My worried shoes
And my shoes took me so many miles and they never wore out
My worried shoes
My worried shoes
oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo
My worried shoes
I made a mistake and I never forgot
I tied knots in the laces of
My worried shoes
And with every step that I’d take I’d remember my mistake
As I marched further and further away
In my worried shoes
oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo
My worried shoes
And my shoes took me down a crooked path
Away from all welcome mats
My worried shoes
And then one day I looked around and I found the sun shining down
And I took off my worried shoes
And the feet broke free
I didn’t need to wear
Then I knew the difference between worrying and caring
‘Cause I’ve got a lot of walking to do
And I don’t want to wear
My worried shoes

Daniel Johnston – Worried Shoes

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.