Flashback Friday: Rogue Wave, Rilo Kiley, Nada Surf!

Guess what! It's...

FLASHBACK FRIDAY!!!!!

Song of the Day: "Endless Shovel"

I was, per usual, listening to JOSIAH on my drive home from work this afternoon and he played a little Rogue Wave to end my workday. I downloaded this song 6 years ago (!) when it first came out--thanks to some link from a Warren Miller filmsite. (I was tracking down music to ski to, obvs).

It's one of those tracks that I'm always pleased to hear and it's one of those songs that I always associate with a specific time and place in my life: racing (alpine), training, racing, and some more training. My musical tastes at that time veered from Incubus to Modest Mouse to some lingering affection for BBMak; Rogue Wave provided a soundtrack to my freshman year of high school as well as a pretty chill introduction to indie rock.

That same link (was I on a K2 equipment site??? Jesus...) also took me to Nada Surf and Rilo Kiley--two bands I therefore associate closely with "Endless Shovel" and face shots.

Happy Flashback Friday!

*This post has nothing to say about Lebron James except that I hope people end up here via my false-advertising tag: "lebronjames"

Song of the Day: "We Used To Wait" ~ Arcade Fire

Can't Wait for Arcade Fire? Try this on for size:

And in case you already forgot how great the other tracks on the upcoming “Suburbs” are, here’s a reminder:

Song of the Day: "Pull My Heart Away" ~Jack Penate

(He sort of reminds me of the hot English teacher on Pretty Little Liars. NOT that I Tivo that show or anything... Ha. Ha.)

This is another one of those tracks that's been around for awhile but HEY I didn't have time to blog about it before. I heard this other YACHT track today on XMU (natch) and it reminded me that I love this track waaaay more.

I know this band is weird, like, really weird. But this song is honestly a love song to me. A love song to everyone and everything that makes you feel loved and complete and whole and...well, loved.

I mean, let's go over this:

I used to live

in a heartbeat city

I swear I'd fall in love every minute on the street

You might be walking around the corner

and our eyes might meet

"Where you been darlin, darlin?

We've been holding this moment for you;

I told you your dreams would come true."

Furthermore, the song gives me this lovely, giddy, nostalgic feeling similar to the one brought about by the first Toy Story film. I like to imagine that the things I love, all around me, lead their own secret lives and somehow manage to fit me into them so neatly and subtly that I don't even notice.

I might be washing up the dishes

and the kitchen might SAY

Hang around baby, baby

Hang around baby, baby

We'll be baking a cake for you.

So here's to you and all of the voodoo cities surrounding you.

Song of the Day: "Fireworks" ~Drake

Song of the Day: "Fireworks" (feat. Alicia Keys)

This is about as patriotic as I get. Mostly, the holiday provides a great excuse to brag on Drake's new album, Thank Me Later.

(Which is fucking great. For real.)

Song of the Day: "This Orient" ~Foals

So there's this band, Foals, and they're awesome. I first fell in love with a track of theirs, "Spanish Sahara" off their latest album, Total Life Forever. Then I heard this song which, aside from the repetition, isn't anything like "Spanish Sahara." I didn't even realize it was the same band at first.

I love how the song begins; I love the voices at different pitches. They don't sound human exactly, almost like the blips of an incredibly musical radar. It actually took me a couple of listens to fully appreciate the track; I was so emotionally invested in the sweeping despondence of "Spanish Sahara" that I wasn't fully prepared for something so light and optimistic. I wanted to feel heavier.

Instead, I've had this refrain stuck in my head all day (when I'm not humming "The Suburbs" that is):

It's your heart; it's your heart

that gives me this western feeling

oh and do you know

you give me; you give me this western feeling

Truth be told, I have no idea what "this western feeling" is but considering the track is entitled "This Orient," I have to think it's a song about change, positive change. And probably coming into yourself through someone else: moving from east to west and settling with the sun.

Here, of course, is "Spanish Sahara."