Category Archives: music

Music Catch Up

Posted in concerts, music by

I’ve had The National’s new but not really new (it’s mostly covers, rereleases, and live tracks) album, The Virginia EP, for about a month now, but I just gave it a good listen for the first time today. Maybe it’s something about my mood; Matt Berninger’s melancholy voice makes me ache a little. Maybe the persistently rainy, gray weather fits the steady rhythm of the album. I don’t know why, but I’ve fallen in love with them again. Check out their MySpace page. Particularly listen to “Slow Show,” “Secret Meeting,” and “Daughters of the SoHo Riots.”

Mumford & Sons has also been making a steady appearance on my Recently Played playlist. They’re a delightful folky rock band that sounds a little like the Avett Brothers, and somehow a little like Iron & Wine. The album, Sigh No More, sounds familiar the whole way through. I love the way each song steadily builds and builds, vocals, sweet harmonies, and guitar becoming more powerful and frantic. My two favorites right now are “Winter Winds” and “Timshels.” You can find their album on their MySpace.

Sorry, I’m not feeling the YouTube videos directly on my posts today. Just do the extra work for these two bands. It’ll be worth it.

Aaaaand festival season is here! What’s on my schedule for this year? Well, Lollapalooza is looking somewhat unexciting this year. Their headliners make me a little sad. Lady Gaga? Really guys? I realize she’s popular and that she has this wow factor about her, but last year the Yeah Yeah Yeahs headlined. The Killers. Kings of Leon. I saw Death Cab there a few years ago. These bands make real music. Don’t get me wrong, I respect Lady Gaga for the fact that she can put on quite a show. She’s an entertainer. But not someone to headline Lolla. We also have Green Day, whose new music I don’t listen to. Nope. If I liked Soundgarden, I’d be excited for their reunion in Grant Park. Though, OK, now that I’m looking at the whole lineup again, I see lots of bands that I love, so maybe I’ll wait until the schedule comes out and buy a one or two day pass. I do love seeing live shows in the middle of downtown Chicago, especially after dark, with the bright skyline as a backdrop. Magical, really. I’d love to go to Forecastle in Louisville though. That one should happen.

Happy music Friday kiddos!

I Lurrrve You

Posted in cookies, mini trips, Mira, music, North Carolina, spring by

A list of my Right Now Loves

  • Conan O’Brien’s tweets, particularly “I just learned that retweets of my Bieber tweet mentioning Bieber actually help Bieber. Bieber, you’re a worthy foe. Bieber.” I also love Conan’s new beard. Oh what the hell, I LOVE CONAN O’BRIEN!
  • Spoon’s SXSW show (
  • Lady rocker Rachel Flotard and her band called Visqueen. Please take a moment to enjoy “Hand Me Down.” 
  • Spring having sprung! Warm weather is here, though who knows if she’ll stay. Windows are open, Mira is sunbathing in any and every sunny spot she can find, long walks are being taken, bike will be fixed up.
  • Six days until our Raleigh visit! I can hardly believe that two and a half years have passed since I moved from Raleigh back to Indy. This visit is long overdue. Hilary, Bette, and I will be reunited. Adam will enjoy North Carolina so much that we will not come home. (At least that’s how it goes in my mind…) I don’t have a whole lot of places to revisit or things I very much want to do. I just really want to see my friends, eat some Cookout, and go to a few choice bars. The fun I remember having the year I lived there really comes from just having really awesome friends.
  • Molasses chip cookies, which I would like to morph into cherry molasses chip cookies. (recipe to follow after jump.)
  • Plans to run the Race for the Cure this year instead of walking with the girls.

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Gotta Get Me Going

Posted in baked, music, pasta, work by

I’ve made it to another Friday! In a short nine hours I will be in Chicago with some of my favorite girls in the world. I cannot wait!! Sushi, Indian food, Olympics, girl time.

I haven’t cooked much this week. Last weekend was spent chiefly in the kitchen (much to my happiness I’ll add). Instead I’ve been trying to find the perfect morning pump up music. Driving to work is a chore, despite the cup of coffee I’ve already downed by then. I need good music to get me going for the day. Something that I can turn up, sing along to, or just listen to and feel motivated. Sometimes I just scream loudly, but that makes my throat hurt. So far, I’ve found these bands to be successful.

Guster. Always Guster. Playing Lost and Gone Forever makes me feel home. It’s hard for me to recommend this band to you for any concrete reason other than they are awesome because they’ve just been my favorite for so long (10 years to be exact). I love how goofy they are, I love the drums, particularly the bongos of their earlier years, and how they’ve evolved with each album but not so much that they lose who they are. Here we have “Happier” from Lost and Gone Forever.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have also been good pump me up music. Karen O is their singer. She’s awesome. They played at Lollapalooza last summer (a last minute sub for the Beastie Boys) and I fell in love. I might put that show in my top five. Very high energy, and of course being in downtown Chicago on a gorgeous summer night never hurts either 🙂 I love Karen O’s voice – powerful without getting out of tune. That girl can scream. Two songs here.

“Maps” on Fever to Tell

“Zero” on It’s Blitz!

So what gets you pumped up when you need a lift? I’m always looking for recommendations to add to my morning playlist.

I’m also going to mention the Broderick, a band from dear Bloomington. Four dudes singing solid rock. Check them out, they’re up and coming.

Now onto food! Last Thursday I made a black and white cappuccino cheesecake for our cheesecake competition at work. It was very tasty and made my stomach scream out in protest of too much cream cheese. Cheesecake is a lot of work though, and I think only appropriate for special occasions. So I’m going to give you a better and easier sweets recipe: Meyer lemon bars, which I made Friday night. Meyer lemons are smaller than regular lemons and sweeter, which I like because normal lemon bars can be a bit too tart for me. Between the lemon bars and the leftover cheesecake Adam and I had good Valentine’s dessert. We also had magical dinners. Sunday we made au gratin potatoes, the recipe for which I’ll have to post sometime, Dover sole two ways, and snow peas (mmm I love snow peas for their crunchy sweetness). Saturday night was the real star though in my opinion.

lasagna mmmmm

Lasagna. In a Dutch oven no less. I think you should ideally use a large and deep casserole dish of some kind, but I don’t have one. The Dutch oven worked just fine. The lasagna was flavorful, filling, and cheeeeesy!

OK, so what follows, in case you missed it from all that rambling, is Meyer lemon bars and lasagna.

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Sick Girls Like Corn Bread

Posted in apartments, bread, music by

First of all, did you know Jewel has made like four or five albums since her first one in the 90s? Pieces of You was one of my first CDs (along with Dave Matthews Band, Crash). I recently heard Foolish Games on the radio and suddenly got a Jewel craving. So now I’m listening to that album on LaLa.com. But the song Pieces of You, kinda disturbing!

You know what I miss? Mixed tapes. Mixes on CDs just aren’t quite the same. There’s nothing quite like sitting by your boom box, waiting to hear a song on the radio so that you can hit the record button, and inevitably get some of the DJ chatter at the end of the song on the tape too.

The most exciting thing that happened to me this week involved my plumbing and pasta in my bathtub. On Tuesday the kitchen and bathroom sinks started to drain slowly. I then discovered that not only were they draining slowly, but they were draining right into my bathtub! SCORE! I tried Drain-o and plunging but no luck. Pretty soon my bathtub was a log of what I’d eaten in the past week. Good thing I don’t care much if I don’t get a shower ever day, or for three days.

Well, I’ve managed to get sick three times in the past month, which is pretty rare for me. Cold, Norovirus (which is the most hilarious and gross stomach bug EVER), cough/fever. (By the way Foolish Games does not sound pretty when sung by someone who is on the verge of losing her voice. Worst sound that has ever come out of my mouth.) I’m hoping for a healthy February. So not much cooking or baking has happened. I did make some black bean soup and corn bread earlier this week though. The soup was so so. The corn bread was fabulous. I want to make it again with chili.

The recipe calls for milk or buttermilk. I don’t drink milk and really only use it in baking, substituting soy milk most other times. And usually it works out fine. I’ve made some damn good gratin potatoes with soy milk. The only thing I’ve had trouble with is alfredo sauce. My body cannot handle all that heavy cream but oh good Lord I love alfredo sauce. Soy milk, in my experience, when heated up and subbed for heavy cream in this case, gets sweet, and alfredo sauce should not be sweet. Does anyone have any tips on cooking with soy milk or other dairy substitutes? Anyway, back to the corn bread. I didn’t have milk and was almost out of soy milk. I did however have heavy cream for some weird reason, so used that instead. No need to do that I’m sure. I’d stick with milk or soy next time.

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Bits n Pieces

Posted in music, random by
Today has been relatively unproductive because I’ve been browsing various food blogs and Etsy is continuously posting awesome things on their Twitter. I discovered this blog that way and spent a good half hour reading past posts. I like this elephant I found there.

He’s so full of happy colors that he’s blowing them out of his trunk. He can’t even contain them!

This item though, I question.
There is no joy exploding out of it anywhere, unless you count the possible poop explosion out of the butt. This is a drop crotch jumpsuit. Please please don’t get me wrong, I will sacrifice fashion for comfort any day. I wear a boys onesie around my apartment frequently, and trust me, it’s not flattering. The jumpsuit, however, has multipleproblems. One, the name. Why in the world would you put the word “crotch” in the title of something you are trying to sell? What does the word “crotch” make you think of? High fashion? A piece of clothing you’d wear in public? I think of, well things that are honestly grossing me out a lot. I’m not going to play the what word do you think of next game with the word “crotch.” Better to do it with the word “elephant.” Anyway, I also wonder why a drop crotch is a good idea on a garment when it makes the butt look like a very full diaper. I don’t know, that’s just me, and I know very little about what’s in as far as clothing goes.
Next is Train Song. I think a lady named Vashti Bunyan originally wrote it in the 60s. Feist and Ben Gibbard do a really nice cover of it on the Dark Was the Night compilation. Today I like songs that are a little sad and a little filled with longing. I like this line
but suddenly now, I know where I belong
It’s many hundred miles, but it won’t be long

OK, so then NPR posted a free download on Second Stage of John Heart Jackie, a very nice and mellow and folk-y duo. They cover Train Song too, but you’ll have to go to their MySpace page to listen to it. (and while you’re there, listen to their other songs too!!)
Righto. Have to still post the Oma Macaroni. Also made banana bread last night, but in the form of muffins and with chocolate chips and cranberries. SOOO GOOD I might die. Made an epic fail soup. By Sunday you will have the two epic un-fails.

Edward Sharpe (for real this time)

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I just realized that my last post included “Edward” in the title and I did not deliver. I had all these plans to write an entry about Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes and also about Edward Cullen (swooooon) and the New Moon premiere that I attended with my Twilight work girls. Epic Fail (in the words of one Carol Prince). OK so now I’m going to get down to business. Music recommendations. Go.

Wait, first does anyone know how I can put a song on here? For now I’m going to go with a YouTube video. (oh my lordy [says my mother…] YouTube does not show up as a misspelled word in my browser.)
My first new favorite band is Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. (listen aqui http://www.myspace.com/edwardsharpe) The first time I put this album on (OK I wish I could say that and mean it, but I did not actually “put the album on.” Oh for a record player. I just double clicked in my iTunes.) and heard the first song, I almost cried. “40 Day Dream” sounds oddly like a long lost cousin of the Beatles “Magical Mystery Tour,” and let me just remind you of how much I love the Beatles and how angry any copying of this band makes me. I’m incredibly glad I struggled through that initial song though because this band is awesome. It’s mostly a girl and guy or just Edward singing. It’s very clear and crisp and light sounding. And a little bit old school, like maybe even 60s. This song “Home” makes me think of Johnny Cash and June Carter. I love it.
I also have an irrational and intense love for the Avett Brothers (http://www.myspace.com/theavettbrothers) these days. I can literally listen to I and Love and You on repeat all day. Their earlier albums are a bit more bluegrassy, which I love. Here’s one of my faves, “Laundry Room.” (I also love “January Wedding.”)

A Sadness Runs Through Him

Posted in music by

Good God I am bored at work.  The sad reality is that I have work to be done.  This is obviously more important.

Put your iTunes on shuffle.  Write down the name of the song to get your answer for each question.  
If someone says, “Is this ok?” You say…
Give It Up or Let It Go, Dixie Chicks
How would you describe yourself?
Your Savior, Temple of the Dog (well that’s a little pompous.  But it’s true.)
What do you like in a guy/girl?
Nowhere Fast, Incubus (that’s shockingly accurate at this point in time, and I don’t mean that in a bad way at all.)
How do you feel today?
Halfway Home, Jason Mraz
What’s your life’s purpose?
Satellite, Dave Matthews Band
What is your motto?
Highway, Ingrid Michaelson
What do your friends think of you?
Nature Boy, David Bowie (I’m a BOY?!  shit.)
What do you think of your parents?
The Pretender, Foo Fighters (ouch, I do not think my parents are pretenders)
What do you think about very often?
From a Buick 6, Bob Dylan
What do you think of the person you like?
Rich, Yeah Yeah Yeahs (heh, I’m sure he’s rich compared to me!)
What is your life story?
The Show Must Go On, Queen
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Bare, Matt Nathanson (I want to live in a nudist colony?)
What do you think of when you see the person you like?
Looking for Astronauts, The National (I mean he likes space and NASA…)
What will you dance to at your wedding?
Love Song, Sarah Bareilles
What will be played at your funeral?
Can You Feel the Love Tonight? Elton John
What is your hobby/interest?
Dear Doctor, The Rolling Stones (if it’s a hot doctor, then yes, that would be an interest/hobby of mine)
What is your biggest fear?
Shame, Matchbox Twenty
what is your biggest secret?
Exit Music (For a Film), Radiohead (haha, cue the exit music, I won’t be tellin biatches)
What do you think of your friends?
Fireflies, Faith Hill (mmm I love this song)
What will you put as the title?
A Sadness Runs Through Him, the Hoosiers

New Music Thursday

Posted in music by

I love love love that I can listen to music basically for free on the internets. I mostly use Rhapsody, on which I have two accounts plus the “you don’t have to sign in” account, which equals 75 free plays a month. MySpace is pretty good as well, though until recently, artists only posted a smattering of their music. I logged in today to discover that MySpace Music is getting a facelift. Artists will be posting entire collections, every album they’ve recorded, on their pages. YAY! I realize that all this free music floating around on the internet could be worrisome in that now fans won’t be as inclined to buy the actual albums. Unless you’re awesome and can figure out how to get files off of MySpace, etc and onto your computer, then you still have to buy the music to actually have it. I like having the stuff I listen to online on my iPod also. It transfers better to the gym and into the car than my entire computer. So I think the music industry is safe. For now:)

More free music was aquired this weekend from some of A’s friends. Included are Cold War Kids, Ghostland Observatory, MGMT, Silversun Pickups, The Black Keys, Vampire Weekend and The Hold Steady. On the way are The Shins. Plus, PLUS, a dj friend of A’s recently lost his job (radio station got shut down I think) and he got to take the station’s entire library with him! That is 27,000 classic rock type genre songs friends. Holy my goodness.

Last thing, a mention of one of my favorite musicians, Matt Nathanson. Marnie, Sam and I went to a small Howie Day concert at IU (OK now I’m not sure if it was Howie Day…regardless) and this guy with a guitar, a cello player and a great sense of humor opened for him. So began my love affair with Matt Nathanson. Four years later he’s still rocking my world and finally getting serious radio play. Maybe you’ve heard his single Come On Get Higher. But did you know that he released his first album in 1993? That’s right, 15 years ago (I did my math correctly, right?). Granted I think it was one of those during college albums, but still. How a guy like him manages to float just below the mainstream music radar for so long is beyond me. He’s one of VH1’s You Oughta Know artists right now, and yes, you oughta know (says Alanis Morisette). So please go check him out. He’s even going to be at the Music Mill here in Indy on Sunday night.

Not all those who wander are lost

Posted in music, North Carolina, wandering by

I made the decision to start using Pandora again after a break. My stations had been playing the same songs over and over again because I hadn’t added any new music in awhile. In light of my recent music renaissance though I added two new stations and settled into an afternoon of music fun.
My first new station is all Lollapalooza music. I’d kind of zoned out until a vaguely familiar song came on. I switched to the Pandora tab on my browser and discovered a band called Ratatat playing. They’re kind of rock/electronica, instrumental. Tim, who worked at the coffee shop in Raleigh, liked them and consequently, when I worked with him, they would make it onto the playlist.
This moment is really completely insignificant, or would be except that I’ve been feeling incredibly restless or something like that lately. I’d also like to throw the word apathetic into the mix of my feelings vocabulary. I realized that being here in Indy for almost a year is the longest I’ve stayed put in one place since I went to college. While at IU I moved between Bloomington and Tuxedo. By the time May rolled around I would welcome the change of scenery and happily go running to the mountains. Once I graduated, I picked up pretty quickly, I think it was October, and moved down to Raleigh. And then of course that summer was camp again. By the time I got back to Raleigh after camp, that restless feeling bubbled up again. And it’s not like I wasn’t happy there. I really was. Anyway, that’s when I moved home. And here I am, almost a year later, not having gone anywhere. I’m really mostly happy here. I mean, my job could be better, but really, if that’s all I have to complain about, I’d say I’m doing pretty well. So why do I feel like crap?
I do not want to end up being one of those nomads who can never be happy in one place for very long. I want to settle down somewhere and make a real life.
My friend is getting ready to “pull a Julia” as she described it. She’s a recent college grad who moved back to her parents house and was working a crappy job. Next month she’s moving to a new city to live with a good friend who has an extra room in her apartment. Sound familiar? I’m incredibly jealous of her. Starting completely over and fresh in a new city is so promising. I love that feeling.
Maybe if I didn’t have so much holding me here I’d pick up and move again. That would probably be a very silly and rash decision so it’s a good thing I do have that so much in my life at the moment. He’s good at keeping me in the present and keeping me from doing ridiculously crazy shit like moving for no good reason.
I need to get rid of my itchy feet.

Hippies, hipsters, and rock n roll oh my!

Posted in 717, mini trips, music by

Lollapalooza 2008.

Sam, Marnie, and I spent the weekend in music heaven. We’d talked about going for a couple of years and this year we’re finally all in the area at the right time. So we got our tickets and personalized our band schedules on Lollapalooza’s website. Generally speaking, when I have incredibly high expectations for something, especially a mini trip, I am usually disappointed. This weekend proved me so very wrong. I had the most amazingly wonderfully time with my two beautiful friends. We talked ourselves out about boys, old friends, gossip, work and tons of other random things. On top of the fabulous company, we had fabulous music. Two days of band hopping in the most incredible setting. Every time I looked up at the Chicago skyline that surrounds Grant Park, I was amazed. This festival full of dirty, music loving people plopped down in the middle of a huge city. It’s pretty cool. Prime people watching. Plentiful tattoos and dreds.
Friday night Sam and I got into town just in time to meet Marnie outside of her apartment and book it to Grant Park to see Radiohead. They’re a pretty diverse band and I was very impressed with the show. (as a side note, I’ve never listened to a lot of Radiohead.) We then met up with Jannson and some of his and Marnie’s friends plus Meredith and spent the night dancing and singing at a bar called the Hang Up. We didn’t get to bed until 5AM. When the girls of 717 party, we do it right!
Saturday morning we woke up with a little bit of our voices gone (what happens when you try to talk in a really loud bar) and kinda hungover. On our way to the park we stopped at Walgreen’s where Sam bought Bounce sheets, which are supposed to work like bug spray when rubbed on your arms and legs. Not sure if they kept the buggies away but they smelled really good:) Our Lollapalooza line up for the day was as follows
Dierks Bentley (yeah country at Lolla!)
MGMT
Explosions in the Sky (OK, kinda, we heard them as we stood in line for the bathroom/ice cream)
Okkervil River
Broken Social Scene
Wilco
Wilco was great. Also really enjoyed MGMT and Okkervil River. Despite the hangovers and minimal hours of sleep the day was still good. Thank God we went to bed at a decent hour that night. It made all the difference on Sunday I think.
Sunday morning we had breakfast with Marnie’s old roommate (most amazing cheese grits I’ve encountered in the north!) and then took off for the last day. Line up
What Made Milwaukee Famous
The Whigs
John Butler Trio
Amadou & Mariam
Iron & Wine
Gnarls Barkley
The National

I really enjoyed all the bands we saw on Sunday. What Made Milwaukee Famous was a really great accidental find. John Butler Trio absolutely blew me away with incredible guitar picking and jamming. The National, well they’ve been my new favorite band lately and they did not disappoint. Unfortunately Sam and I had to leave to get home and missed Kanye West. Even more unfortunately we screwed up the I65 detour and ended up driving all the way to South Bend on I80/94. Awesome.
I’m dragging a bit today thanks to getting to bed at 4AM on top of all the walking and sitting out in the sun we did, but it was all so very worth it. I can’t wait to really investigate all the new music I discovered. Yay for my ever expanding music collection! Can’t wait for Lollapalooza 09 ladies!!