The Letter K

I like this song, because it makes me smile.
Kyle Andrews - You Always Make Me Smile (Remix!)


The kooks are an English pop band that hail from Brighton, East Sussex. They have been making music since the early 2000's. They first came across my radar with their excellent acoustic cover of Gnarls Barkley's hit song Crazy. The band has ventured into many different genres but always retain that catchy pop sensibility. This is an alternate version of their song See The Sun. You can find the original on their 2008 album titled Konk.
The Kooks - See The Sun (Alternate Version)


I LOVE Kid Cudi! Awesome video.


I have known about this band since I became interested in music, and I hold them in pretty high regard. Karate (Awesome name for a band!) is one of the main reasons I got into indie music. At the time I was listening to a lot of emo and punk bands, as much as I loved those bands, they didn't offer much variation in sound. A friend of mine played this song for me and it was like a breath of fresh air. It was so different, yet still held that emo sound I was used to. This caused me to explore other more experimental bands like Joan Of Arc and Pavement. I especially love the jazzy laid back feel of Karate. The band broke up in 2005, however singer Geoff Farina has released a few solo albums, and been in numerous other bands. Definitely worth checking out.
Karate - Airport


A long time ago I was a subscriber of the BMG music club. It was a mail order CD club, you'd pay a penny for 5 CD's and then had to buy a few at club prices within a certain period of time. I remember countless Sundays going through the ad in the newspaper circling the albums I wanted. One of those albums I bought was the soundtrack to the movie Mortal Kombat. It was filled with techno and industrial songs which is how I came to know of KMFDM. If you have never seen any of the bands album artwork they mostly use the amazing work of artist Aidan "Brute!" Hughes. I am not a huge fan of this type of music anymore but I still really dig this song.


I found this band through South By Southwest or SXSW website. If you don't know what SXSW is, it's a music festival where lesser known bands can get their shot at getting their name out there. SXSW has branched out in recent years to not only music but also film and other forms of media. It's a really great avenue for discovering new media. I don't know much on the background of Kitten so I'll stick with what I know from the song. This song is fronted by a strong female voice, great lyrics, and a power punch of twinkly fuzzed out guitar and all kept together by tight drumming.
Kitten - Kill The Light


How about some indie hip hop? I use this as one of my "Get Motivated" songs. Great on a workout playlist. You can stream their album Eraser for free at their website.
The Knux - Bang Bang

2074

The progression of termination and reclamation

Great news sports fans! I got a job! After a year and two months, I finally nailed one down. I will be doing the same thing I did before, call center for a bank, only for 2 dollars more and I get out an hour and a half earlier. Oh yeah and I don't have to do sales! Noice! Today I decided that I am going to post some songs that sort of tell the story of the past year without a job.

I was let go pretty quickly, no advance notice. I mean, I knew I was hurting for sales and trying like crazy to get them, but I never thought that I would be leaving a few short hours after starting my shift that day. Unlike Fred Jones, I did not have the nostalgic time of clearing my desk and saying good bye to fellow employees. It was all done for me. I was pretty bummed about being fired and then on top of that I didn't get to say "Later" to my co-workers. Sucktastic, indeed!
Ben Folds - Fred Jones Pt. 2

After getting over the initial shock of being fired, I started to think about the job I was doing. I went through the "what if's", and "coulda, shoulda, waouldas". I also came to the realization that sales is not my strong point. I didn't like being driven by incentives or selling goals, over genuinely helping people out of the problem they were in. I felt shitty reflecting on what I could have done and didn't do, but in a way,I felt good about getting away from something I wasn't comfortable with. Not to up myself here, but I'm a nice guy, not a hidden motives guy with a nice guy covering. That might be bad, but it's the way I am.
Frightened Rabbit - I Feel Better

There was a while where I decided that I had to do it alone. I didn't need any help from anyone. I was too proud to let people do things to help me out. I didn't let my parents pay for dinner for me. When told that if worse comes to worse I had a place to live by my Sister and my Dad I would tell them that would not be needed, I'll be fine (which was true but still). I also had this complex that I was one step above the others who were applying for jobs. When things didn't happen I got angry, depressed, indifferent. "Why even try anymore? All the work I do, and I get no results. Of course I was knocked down quite quickly. I wanted to be alone, and when I finally felt alone it wasn't a good feeling.
Kid Cudi - Do It Alone

With that thinking came the slow realization that I wasn't one step ahead. I had a good work history but that didn't mean anything without college. Even with college it was tough to get a job. So there I was, not king of the castle. Was it a tough thing to learn? Hell yeah. Was it all my fault? No, not entirely. Once I got a grasp on that I seemed to move on to accepting it and dealt with it accordingly. Doing what I needed to do to get by.
Herman Dune - Not On Top

I began to really see the economy as the shit hole that it was. I understood that I wasn't the only one with troubles. This was both a comforting feeling and also a scary feeling. I wasn't alone, but there were thousands like me going through the same crap. Most probably having it ten times worse than I did.
Lee Rogers - Troubles

You can only take so much rejection, so many days of feeling sorry for your self, and so many days of getting angry. One day you wake up and you just decide it's not worth it. By that I mean you go from feeling crappy about everything to feeling like there has got to be a change around the bend. That is when faith kicks in. It's different for everyone. For some it's family and friends urging you to keep your head up, laughter, a great day that just makes the week seem better, or religious beliefs. I am pretty sure I got to that point of saying "It's not doing me ANY good getting pissed off, or upset at the things I can't control. Lets take what hope is left and build upon that." Faith is a good motivator, a good anchor, and better than all those negative feelings. It's just a point of finding it.
Gene Allison - Have Faith

I chose this song because I think it really represents everything described above. It's a soundtrack to a long journey filled with snares and the unknown. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel and though it's a rocky trip, if you keep your eyes on the prize good things will come. Daniel Johnston wrote simple songs that knew exactly what to say.
Guster - The Sun Shines Down On Me (Daniel Johnston Cover)

Last but not least is the inevitable song. The song you rock out to when everything turns around for the better. The celebration, the weight lifted off your shoulders, high-fives, woohoos, and praises. The time when you can finally look backwards and say "Whew, glad that is done with."
Jackyl - Down On Me

On my soapbox making dedications to advancement, pain, and beauty.

So I just noticed it's been about 2 weeks and 3 days since my last post, which is way to long. I do have a good reason for my lack of updates, sort of. I have been busy with meetings, studying, and test taking. I am doing all of this because I am tired of applying for jobs and not getting hired. I'm tired of just sitting around all day doing nothing. Most importantly I'm tired of not making decent money. So I am going to go back to school. I don't think I am going to do the traditional college thing, but I am going to take some classes that will get me certified in I.T. In other words I want to be the "Computer Guy" people go to. It's what I am really good at and I like doing it, and there are tons of jobs out there in the field. I was originally going to go for journalism but I decided that I love music and writing more as a hobby. I don't want to become a jaded rock critic or end up hating having to write everyday. However computers I can handle, besides if I end up not touching a computer for a few days outside of my I.T. job it's not like it's a bad thing. It gives me the chance to get out of the cave and into the world. I'm in the process of getting everything straightened out for it. I have to jump through a lot of hoops in order for the state to help me out financially, but I am on it like flies on shit. I'm really excited. I also have been busy messing around with my dinosaur of a computer trying to get it running like a well oiled machine once again. My dad recently gave me not one but two of his old CPU's to mess around with which means that I have three computers. Well actually it's only two right now because I used one for parts to make the other two super computers. It's been a lot of fun, sometimes frustrating but it's also been VERY educational. I plan on building my own computer soon with the one I used for parts. I just need to save a little before doing that. I'm a nerd, but it rocks!
Plastic Operator - Folder

A few days ago I realized that I have not used my Wii Fit in a long time, 63 days to be exact. I broke out the old balance board and popped in the game and proceeded to get my sweat on, and I did. It felt really good and I felt like I actually did something good for my body for a change. at the end of the day I was surprised at how I didn't ache like I usually do when I haven't "worked out" in a while. Well my surprise turned into pain the next morning. Mainly in the abs region. It hurt so bad that I could not stand up straight without feeling like someone had tied my abs to a car and sped away. It hurt bad and 2 days later I still am feeling the burn. I need to use it more often but I will not be attempting it again until I can stand with out wincing. They say no pain no gain, but damn the pain sucks. This better be worth it because if I get up to heaven and they tell me that I would have lived to the same age if I had worked out or not I'm going to be pissed. Speaking of getting fit, I am making my 1,315,260th attempt to quit smoking. I have a quit date set and I am going to try to stick with it. My sister and brother in law are doing the same so I'll have a little support.
Goldfinger - Question

Summer TV sucks! It's either reality TV or talent shows non stop in the evening. Frankly I am so sick of this trash TV it makes me want to puke. Of course there is one exceptions to the rule, Biggest Loser. The other night I had on Americas Got Talent which I normally try to avoid like the plague, but I wanted something on while I was waiting for my computer to reinstall windows (which takes a while). There was a girl on there who did a really cool piano version of Poker Face by Lady Gaga, which I didn't know was so popular because I never listen to the radio. In fact I just heard the real version a few minutes ago. My verdict is that it's alright but I like Just Dance more. I did however know Lady Gaga sang the song because a few months ago I found this great remix. I just love the beat!
Kid Cudi (feat. Kanye West and Common) - Make Her Say (I Poker Her Face)

I am an avid movie watcher and occasionally I try to catch a few documentaries as well. The other day I picked up An Inconvenient Truth. You know the Al Gore movie where he talks about global warming, and somehow incorporates how he lost the election (yeah it sucks, and I feel bad for him, but come on. Not in a movie about global warming) I saw it at the library and it was free and I remember people telling me that it was pretty interesting so I picked it up. I watched the whole thing even though it was a lot of charts and graphs and his voice makes me want to fall asleep. I thought it was really good, aside from all the feel bad for me propaganda. I posted on my facebook that it was a really good movie and thought other people should see it. Well I got a few responses, one about how he's making big money from the carbon credits, and another flat out questioning why I believe anything he says. I feel I need to "clear the air" here. First of all I am not anywhere near being a fan of politics and I don't pay that much attention to it. Don't misunderstand me, I do keep track of some things but I'm not a junkie. Call me ignorant, I don't care. I have the mind set that I never trusted any politician and I never will. I think they are all crooked and soulless to some point. I am more anti-government than anything, and I can't even say I am that because I think there needs to be some form of authority. I think it comes from the punk/anti-establishment music I listened to growing up, and from the people I hung around with. Again I'm not saying that I hate the Government but I think there is a lot of shit wrong *coughpatriotactcough* but I digress. I liked the movie only for the simple fact that someone realizes that there is a problem going on with pollution that is starting to take it's toll on the earth and is speaking out about it. There is no way it can be denied that nothing is happening. If people in China (or wherever it is) need to wear a mask to filter their air then there is a problem. If we are ripping a hole in our ozone, there is more than likely a problem. I can't stand it when people tell me there is nothing wrong and we don't need the change or that global warming is a myth. I may be ignorant, but that is just plain stupid. Why would you not want to use things like solar and wind created energies, or cleaner and fewer carbon emissions, or even recycling products that will cut back on using natural resources. Like I said I'm not a fan of politics but I do commend Al Gore for at least coming out and saying "Hey, we need to do something here." I have to admit that I never recycled before I lived with a roommate who demanded we start. I know I am part of the problem, but after seeing that movie I want to become a part of the solution. However if it's not making dollars then it isn't making sense, right? I just wish people would put all political bullshit aside and say you know what lets just do it because it's the only planet we have. *steps down from his soapbox*
Sesame Street feat. Ernie - I Don't Want To Live On The Moon

As I am sure anyone who reads this blog knows by now that I am a closet fan of a lot of music that isn't necessarily cool. I know I recently posted a cover of a Taylor Swift song but I am going to do it again. It's sort of funny because my sister introduced me to Taylor and I thought man this is pretty good music. Then I saw her play on a few music award shows and she didn't lip sync and she actually played guitar, and played it quite well. I liked her even more. Then the other day I was at my sisters house and she played some videos of hers and they were clever and now I can say that I am a fan. Would I buy a CD by her just yet....um no. However if she keeps on impressing me and doesn't go all Britney I just might have to drop some cash for her. This is a instrumental mashup/medley cover of Love Story (which is becoming one of my favorite songs. Got to love that melody) and Viva La Vida by Coldplay. What results is a beautiful arrangement. When listening to this I started to sing the lyrics to Private Eye Alkaline Trio. If you have not heard the song Love Story I would recommend giving it a spin.
Jon Schmidt - Taylor Swift Love Story/Coldplay Viva La Vida

The last song today I am going to dedicate to my good friend Jake. I was at his house a while ago and we were sitting around watching football and he asked me if I would like a drink. Of course I said yes and then he asked if I ever had a Bloody Mary. I told him I never had but I didn't like tomato juice at all. He said well I'll make one and let you taste it first. He proceeded to tell me that he has become a big fan of them. I tried the drink and I did not like it at all. If I am going to drink juice it has to be sweet and not taste like a glass full of ketchup. To each his own I guess. I picked this song because I know Jake likes Johnny Cash and I would hope he likes Willie. So Jake this ones for you.
Willie Nelson - Bloody Mary Morning