5 CDs a Week, week 4

CDs of the Week, in no particular order:

1. Fathead, Boundless
2. Moxy Fruvous, Live Noise
3. "Barney's Get Psyched Mix: How I Met Your Corona, August 12,2008" by Christine Wilson
4. Santana, Supernatural
5. "Priceless Jazz Collection: Louis Armstrong"

I was grabbing CDs as I needed this week, so of course, I had to pick a couple last night to make sure I got through the week--I'm such a slacker! The one thing that I was incredibly surprised about this week's listening was that I did not have to change the batteries in my portable player once. I was using it every day for my walks to work, and by the time I got home tonight, it was still going strong. Good job, rechargeable batteries!

On to the music!

I first got into Fathead around my sophomore year in college. Being up in Ithaca, I'm sure, contributed to my love of their mix of progressive rock, jazz, and rap with a twist of socially conscious lyrics. On top of that, their track "I'd Rather Be" wound up on Y100's Philly File CD. Boundless was their third studio album, but it was the one that came out just after I got into the band, so I swooped down and picked that up pretty quickly. I think my favorite track on the album is "Trees", mostly for the long jazzy instrumental middle with gradually increasing sound effects of the city--cars driving by, people on the street, and the gentle wind that seems to blow along the trees on the sides of the street. Some of their other tracks have catchy lyrical hooks that you'll find yourself randomly singing along to after a listen or two. "I'd Rather Be" will probably get stuck in my head for the next week, guaranteed.

"Barney's Get Psyched Mix: How I Met Your Corona..." was a mix put together by my sister Christine for my sister Sharon's birthday. The inspiration for the mix was, of course, How I Met Your Mother's "Get Psyched" mix by character Barney Stinson, with the goal of having a mix that was "all-rise". Chris managed to look up all the tracks used on the mix made for the show. On it, you'll find such great pump-you-up songs like "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground, Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", and The Scorpion's "Rock You Like a Hurricane". I was listening to this on my walk into work today, and there was some so utterly awesome about going the pace I was going and hearing Joe Esposito belt out "You're the best, AROUND! Nothin's gonna ever keep you down!" The best part of these mixes, I should add, is that Chris doctors the photos on the cover of the mixes, routinely taking the faces of friends and family and superimposing them on the faces of characters in the pictures for the shows or movies she used. It's sheer brilliance at every turn, and I'm glad I got a copy!

I got the Louis Armstrong CD when I was still in high school. I remember this because I know that I was using songs from the CD on mixtapes I made for a trip Meg and I took up to New England to see her extended family and visit colleges. I used to listed to WPRB out of Princeton on the weekends, Sundays to be exact, and I would sit in my room and listen to the jazz show. I can't remember the name of the DJ that was there, but he had the voice of someone you knew knew jazz. He had just the right mix of age and rasp in is voice to keep you interested without worrying here or there, "What did he just say?" I listened to him a lot while I sat and wrote in my purple notebook or just looked out the window of my room to the porch outside and the yard beyond that. I knew that it might be a wise decision to actually purchase a jazz CD, and somehow I knew that I should start with a classic voice--Louis Armstrong. It's a great CD, full of his notable songs--"La Vie En Rose" and "What a Wonderful World", as well as duets with Bing Crosby and Ella Fitzgerald. A few years ago I thought I had scratched it up, maybe because of how some of the songs transferred to my computer--really, I'm not quite sure why I thought it was scratched up, because as I listened to it today at work, it seemed to be playing smoothly. Maybe it was a fluke and I should check it again, or maybe my thoughts of a scratch were mistaken. Either way, it was nice to be reminded of all the great songs on the CD once more.

Here's the thought process I've imagined when Carlos Santana thought about making Supernatural: Hmm, it's about time I made a multi-platinum album. What's the best way to do that? Oh! I know! I'll collaborate with every artist in the Top 40! The best of the bunch make the album, I'll get lots of radio play because even if people don't know, or remember me that well, they'll definitely know the people I'm playing with, and they'll be sure to buy the album! I'll admit, there are a lot of good songs on the album, but it feels like a majority of them are featuring a big name or two from 1998. If he didn't have the collaborations, would the album stand on its own? Probably, but I doubt it would be platinum 15 times over. The one thing I will say about listening to it this time around was that I didn't realize before that Cee-Lo was on one of the tracks. I didn't know much of him prior to his days in Gnarls Barkley, but it was cool to go back to something I've listened to what seems like ages ago and feel like I've discovered another layer, if only because I'm paying better attention this time around. I think that's going to happen more than a few times as I go through this project.

I can't remember exactly when I got Moxy Fruvous' Live Noise, but it's been an album I always love listening to. I think I first remember listening to Fruvous with Meg in her car, either in her car or on a trip, and I really dug their sound. It was a shame that I didn't get into them before they broke up, because I know from stories of a few friends that they put on an awesome show. Many of my college friends were also into the band, and that only encouraged my love. There is one good story I'm reminded of every time I listen to this album, and it's a little bittersweet.

One of the songs on the album, "Fly", is about that point in time when you realize that the person you're with, someone you truly care about and love, just isn't right for you anymore. A couple weeks after I graduated from college, Bill came down for a visit before he was to start working at a summer camp. It was a little strange that he came down, since we had broken up over a year before, but he wanted to get out and do something before working all summer, and I said, "Sure, come on down for a visit!" One of the days he was here we went to see A Mighty Wind at the movie theater (a great movie in itself, if you haven't seen it yet). He happened to have Live Noise on in his car, and on our way back to my parents' house, "Fly" came on. Without much talking, we both listened quietly to the song at first, and then started belting out the chorus, "Hold on tight. Let's get it just right. We'll take our last flight, you and I." To me, that moment was perfect. I felt like it summed us up. We didn't have to talk about us, what went on in the past between us, or what was going to happen next for either one of us. We were there, together, in that moment, and it almost felt like that was our goodbye. I didn't know when or if I'd see him again, and I knew, I knew, that I wouldn't have a moment quite like that with him again, possibly ever. It's hard to let that first love go, but to have that moment when you know you can and you'll be okay, you'll really be okay, is beyond words.

Oddly enough, I'm not as tired as I was last week when I was writing about everything, but I think it's because I was a little jazzed up with all the political talk today. Current events and elections seem to really get my blood pumping. But that's for another entry for another time. I'm just happy I've been sticking to my deadlines! Until next week, happy listening!

Battery tally: Still 4 sets! Woohoo!