Every now and again, I’ll do my best to let you know what I’m listening to that I think you’ll enjoy. No promises on how often I’ll do this, but I’ll aim for Mondays so I can call this segment “Music Monday.” Clever.
These segments will not be too long, but will put a bug in your ear for music you may not have heard yet (or may have and just needed to remember). Occasionally, I will include other artists to look up if you like the recommendation.
Let us begin.
If you’re looking for some good electronica with enjoyable beats, catchy synths and alluring vocals, I recommend Eleven:Eleven. I enjoy listening to them while drinking black French roast coffee and writing. Who knows what you’ll do while enjoying them.
You can download some of their songs for free on SoundCloud. See links below for more information.
Bonus recommendations: If you enjoy Eleven:Eleven, I also encourage you to check out Hands by Little Boots and Sound Kapital by Handsome Furs (unfortunately, as of 17 May 2012, Handsome Furs are disbanded).
Several weeks ago, my friend Marci told me I should start including music to listen to as a part of this blog. This one is for you Marci.
As a child and young adult (hell, even now), I was plagued by self-doubt, self-recrimination and all around low self-esteem. I sought comfort in the Christian god. I found comfort to an extent, but also saw my constant failings as a human brought out in front of fellow, judgmental Christians and an all-powerful, albeit fictional, deity.
I jumped into music, especially Metallica, and found emotional release in the blistering riffs of Kill ‘Em All. Then, I decided I wasn’t dedicated enough to god (after watching one of those Christian “documentaries” decrying the inherent Satanism of all rock music) and dove fully into Christian music. I did find some wonderful stuff, including Five Iron Frenzy and Switchfoot. However, I wasn’t quite satisfied. Eventually, I would step away from my evangelical Christianity and the “songs that made [me] smile and the songs that saved [my] life” would no longer be relevant to me. I needed something else.
Along came graduate school and, finally, the discovery of You Are The Quarry. I had never heard the sweet, melancholy croon of Morrissey before this time, but I was instantly ensorcelled. As soon as track three, “I Have Forgiven Jesus,” played, I knew I had met the musical love of my life. Since then I have devoured the music of Morrissey and The Smiths.
I was incredibly riled up and excited to see Morrissey in concert at Utah’s E Center Ford’s Theatre for the first time. As much as I loved Morrissey’s live performance, I was even more fascinated by that raucous opener KRISTEENYOUNG.
Prior to the concert, I picked up two of Ms. Young’s singles which included the tracks “Kill The Father,” “Life’s Not Short, It’s Sooooo Long,” “London Cry” and “The Dawn of My D-Day.” My musical life would never be the same.
[Kill The Father by KRISTEENYOUNG]
Kristeen Young’s lyrics and music spoke to my deep need to be bold, irreverent and simultaneously worship and disdain those who came before me. When I saw her perform, I knew the lyrics to most of her songs and belted them out as passionately as I could muster. The crowd seemed antsy for Morrissey to appear. But I hoped he never showed. I wished desperately for Kristeen and her drummer, “Baby” Jef, to play all night and for eternity.
[I'll Get You Back by KRISTEENYOUNG]
Today, I urge you to listen to KRISTEENYOUNG and buy all of her music and see her any chance you get.
In this last episode before summer holiday, Joey Cougar of Joey Cougar & The Starfish took over and shared some of the band’s songs.
Be sure to check out the episode today. It is my favorite one to date. It is also my favorite one to just fool around with on occasion with no pretense of commitment.
And if you like it, please share the show with your friends! You can even follow @JoeRichardsShow on Twitter for the latest news and updates.
A semi-regular item on my Twitter feed is Quick Review Friday. It’s a terse way for me to promote what I like at the moment. In case you missed today’s reviews, here they are.
12:00 PM – Attention! It’s time for that semi-regular hit Friday classic, Quick Review Friday. This week covers rap, TV and college radio. #QuickReviewFriday
12:03 PM – I’ll have a longer review of @KelleeMaize’s album on my #CringinglyPersonal blog sometime next week. Now, on with #QuickReviewFriday
12:05 PM – Sci-fi show, @Weird_Girls – I don’t know much about it yet, but it looks like putting fun in a box. Then opening that box. #QuickReviewFriday
If you follow my main Twitter profile, then you will know I promised that if I reached 101 followers I would give away a personal item and a special gift.
Last night, I reached 101 followers. I’ve already discussed the contest on Twitter, but here, for your convenience, are the rules for the 101 Followers Contest.
Personal Item
To win a personal item used by yours truly, simply tweet your favorite tweet of mine. Yes, I’m slightly narcissistic. In fact, I can never do cocaine because I get distracted by my reflection. Be sure to use the hashtag #101Followers
Example tweet: “Just learned the Utah Jazz made it into the 2012 #NBAPlayoffs How many teams went bankrupt and ceased to exist this year?” #101Followers
Or, if you can’t fit in the #101Followers hashtag, just retweet your favorite tweet of mine. All tweets retweeted today will count for the contest.
Special Gift
To win the special gift, tweet at or direct message me with whatever you want to say. Anything interesting, or funny or evil or rude or whatever. Be sure to use the hashtag #101Followers
Example tweet: .@mentalmacguyver I think you smell like the finest silk mixed with residual, burning carbonite. #101Followers
Duration
The contest will end at midnight (Mountain Time), at which time I will pick a winner in each category. I will announce the winners this Friday (tomorrow) and work on getting your prizes to you.
Any questions? Just comment here, talk to me on Twitter or email me – josephpatrickrichards (at) gmail (dot) com
While going through journal entries, I found an attempt at a joke and an explanation of that joke.
20 May 2004
-Random “joke”: What’s black and white and blue (blew) all over? Yesterday’s Chicago Tribune
The paper blew (past tense) all over because Chicago is The Windy City and some careless environmental desecrator left her copy of The Tribune on a park bench (I’m assuming Chicago has parks [or at least park benches] because I’ve never been there).
I have since been to Chicago and noticed a park and park benches. I have not, however, improved my joke writing one iota.
It’s time again for another entry from my past journals.
This gem comes to us eight years ago, in April of 2004. I lived in Athens, sold “ladies’” shoes and frequented a tea bar called Infusia (now, sadly, called The Buddha Bar).
I was also just getting out there and playing acoustic guitar and singing covers and my own songs. Apparently, I tried to combine my public music persona with my love for Infusia. Observe. [Note: The song titles you don't recognize are probably my originals. It really just depends on how many song titles you recognize.]
26 April 2004
I talked to Katie about possibly playing at Infusia. That would be so cool, but I realize I would need some mellow stuff.
List of possible songs:
Jumper
One more tomorrow
Just friends (It’s so hard to be)
How do you Do-Ken?
Best of my love
Lost cause – Beck
Pink Triangle
The Renee song (Because of you)
Wonderwall
All apologies
Vertical Horizon
Radiohead
Roll and fall (For her) – Miranda’s song
2 X 3 = 6 (But you times me is perfect) – Not written yet
