02.15.06
Posted in music, introspective, music tuesday, ben folds, Glen Phillips, hangover, iTunes, love, mp3, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Valentine's Day at 4:45 am by admin
It’s Valentine’s Day. Even when I was in a long-term relationship I didn’t really do much to celebrate this day, because my ex and I always felt like it was an overly commercialized holiday. Besides, to me, the elements that really make up abstract concepts like “love” are far more complex and rooted in the things that happen every single day in my life.
To me, love is…
- Spending the entire day cleaning up the vomit that your partner conveniently left in the bathtub while throwing up drunk the night before, all while nursing his hangover between plunging and Drain-O sessions
- Knowing when something isn’t right before he says it and being a source of comfort even when it’s not requested
- Sitting next to him all day as he is pumped full of electrolytes at the hospital to rehydrate him after a bad bout of food poisoning
- Learning to appreciate even his quirkiest, least desirable features, simply because they make up part of a larger whole that wouldn’t be complete without them
- Considering how every decision you make in your life will affect him
- Staying with him the entire day at the airport when he misses his flight, just so that he won’t have to wait for the next flight alone
Candy hearts and flowers are all fine, I suppose. But love isn’t necessarily as easy to define as a Hallmark card. It isn’t always pretty, it’s rarely shiny, and it certainly doesn’t always taste or smell good.
Love is a measure of what level of discomfort you’re willing to put yourself through for the sake of someone whom you care about so much that it hurts.
As my own little tribute to that intensity, my recurring Music Tuesday series features a track by former Toad the Wet Sprocket frontman Glen Phillips. The track is called Easier (mp3), and I think it really conveys the almost physical pain and desperation that love can cause:
And if you said you were going away
I would run on the tarmac and I would lay down in front of the plane just to get you to stay
The track is from Glen’s amazing 2005 album Winter Pays For Summer, available through iTunes (link: 
). The album has lots of other really thoughtful and well-written songs, and includes guest backing vocals on Courage from my favorite piano-wielding genius, Ben Folds. Do me a favor — if you like the tracks I feature, please consider buying the album on iTunes (or clicking an AdSense link!). The tiny affiliate checks just might pay for the hosting. 
And that could be one more definition of love — caring about someone enough to finance his web hosting.
Err… maybe not.
Tags: ben folds, Glen Phillips, hangover, iTunes, love, mp3, music, music tuesday, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Valentine’s Day
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02.07.06
Posted in music, depeche mode, iPod, music tuesday, iTunes, mp3, alphaville, crystal method, devo, download, echo and the bunnymen, erasure, howard jones, INXS, morrissey, new order, new wave, remixes, review, richard x, synthpop, the cure, tiga, yaz at 10:24 pm by admin
Okay, I will admit it. I’m a remix fiend. Some of my favorite versions of songs by the artists that I love are remixed. However, I’m pretty picky about the remixes I like.
For instance, if you’re going to remix Into the Groove, don’t waste my time by just looping Madonna saying “…and you can dance!” over and over again. The measure of a good remix, in my opinion, is whether it maintains enough of the original song to be recognizable, and whether it is musically engaging. Placing a cappella Cher vocals over a tribal beat does not qualify. However, take those same vocals and rework them over some Spanish flamenco guitar, and we might just talk.
Future Retro, a compilation that was released today, is a pure synthpop new wave masterpiece. It is one of the rare discs that follows the magic formula of combining amazing artists (Erasure, New Order, Depeche Mode, Morrissey), songs that were great to begin with (A Little Respect, Bizarre Love Triangle, Suedehead), and retooled versions by remixers who are actually talented (Tiga, Richard X, The Crystal Method).
The best part of this album is that the remixes are very true to the synthesized new wave roots of the songs. Instead of awkwardly forcing these classic gems into awful uptempo Dance Dance Revolution-style Europop mixes performed by boring stock vocalists (case in point: DJ Sammy’s Heaven), these productions, many of which are down-tempo, feel organic and natural. There’s none of that frequent feeling of disappointment I get with remixes: “I really like the song, but it just wasn’t meant to be remixed!”
Standout tracks include the synth-heavy Jaded Aliiance remix of A Little Respect, a totally glam rock remix of Book of Love’s Boy, and a minimalistic (yet still melodic) remix of New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle.
For your listening pleasure, here’s a sample track from the album, which can be purchased through iTunes.
New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle (Crystal Method Extended Mix)
Track List (from Amazon)
1. Walk (Infusion Mix) — The Cure
2. Situation (Richard X Remix) — Yaz
3. Lips Like Sugar (Way Out West Remix Edit) — Echo and the Bunnymen
4. Need You Tonight (Static Revenger Mix Edit) — INXS
5. Shake the Disease (Tiga Remix) — Depeche Mode
6. Little Respect (Jaded Alliance ‘Electrospect’ Remix) — Erasure
7. New Song (Peter Black & Hadrock Striker Mix Edit) — Howard Jones
8. Forever Young (Hamel Album Mix) — Alphaville
9. Bizarre Love Triangle (Crystal Method Extended Mix) — New Order
10. White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It, Elite Force Mix) — Grandmaster & Melle Mel
11. Girl U Want (Black Light Odyssey Mix) — Devo
12. NoWhere Girl (Adam Freeland Mix) — B-Movie
13. Boy (DJ Irene Rockstar Mix) — Book of Love
14. Suedehead (Sparks Remix) — Morrissey
Tags: alphaville, crystal method, depeche mode, devo, download, echo and the bunnymen, erasure, howard jones, INXS, iPod, iTunes, morrissey, mp3, music, new order, new wave, remixes, review, richard x, synthpop, the cure, tiga, yaz
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