Ah, Electric Six. They are the classic Friday fun song kind of band. I only own 2003’s Fire, but I figure that that’s about all I need. With songs like, Dance Commander, Naked Pictures (Of Your Mother), and Nuclear War (On The Dance Floor), you kind of have an idea where these guys are coming from. If not, check out their youtube videos:

Video 1

Video 2

I highly recommend Video 1, but I’m not sure if either are suitable for work.

I saw Electric Six at a small bar down the street from where I lived in Madison during college. There were probably about 50 people there and they put on a good show, music-wise. Personally, they reminded me of the kid in high school who was funny because he would do wacky things, or just stare people down until they laughed. Interesting concept for a band.

Anyway, today’s song is Danger! High Voltage, which is also the song in the second link above. Couple of things about this song. In it, I learned that “Taco Bell” rhymes with “gates of hell”. Also, if the second voice in the song sounds familiar, that’s because it’s pre-fame Jack White. No, no, that’s not true. Wikipedia cleared that one up for me:

‘What about the Jack White rumours? Who sings with Dick Valentine in the song?’ Surge responds, ‘No, no it’s a fan. We put a competition out, um and he won, he’s a mechanic, it wasn’t Jack White.’ Disco adds, ‘Yeah he was probably the only person that entered!’

In another interview, Dick Valentine said: “My attorney has advised us to neither confirm nor deny the presence of Jack White.”

Enjoy!

No, I’m not talking about a famous, forgotten song, or even In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by I. Ron Butterfly (little Simpsons humor there). I’m talking about a problem that I’ve been having recently. With all the music I listen to, I rarely seem to listen to a song long enough to memorize all the lyrics. So, when I’m riding in the car with Erin and singing along to a song I partially know, it goes something like this:

Nick (singing): “He get’s up late. He gets upset. And I waa the hoe ing bar da to de speh.”

Erin: “What was that? I couldn’t understand you. ”

Yes, Erin can speak in smiley.

Nick: “Big meanie!”

“But Nicholas, why don’t you just listen to more of less CDs? Then you could learn as many lyrics as you want.”

First of all, don’t be calling me Nicholas on my own web site. Second of all, without my lyrical sacrifice, this web site might not be possible. How would you like to be known as the person who killed noeviltwin? That’s what I thought.

Today’s song is from a band whose name I enjoy. They’re called Get Him Eat Him, and the lead singer sounds an awful lot like A.C. Newman, lead singer of The New Pornographers. Name dropping like crazy here, people. Anyway, here’s Just So. Now…

GET HIM EAT HIM!!!!

Hey everybody. So, I’ve got this friend who is a DJ and is the running to open for Tiësto, one of the world’s most famous trance DJs, at Myth in St. Paul. Go to this link and vote for David and Carr. Sweet. That should get him an additional five votes or so.

P.S. We’re really hoping to get the Korea vote, here. You know who I’m talking to…

Last weekend, Erin and I took a trip across Wisconsin to the state’s largest city, Milwaukee. It was one of those “my friend’s bachelor party is on the same day as my wife’s birthday, but his fiance said that she would take her out for me” kind of trips.

Since we were going to be in the car for four and a half hours I decided to make the modern version of a road trip mix tape – an on-the-go playlist on the ol’ iPod. With 70 songs at an average of roughly 3 minutes a song, we can listen for a good three and a half hours without repeat. Sweet.

Sidebar – there’s a decent amount of cow sitings throughout the state of Wisconsin. They seem pretty happy to me. Yes, I can tell when cows are happy. Either way, I’d just like to say that I can’t see how those stupid California cows can be any happier than the Wisconsin ones, and if you find a cow you think is happier, send me a plane ticket and I will personally come to California and punch that cow in the nose.

Ok, that was a bad sidebar. I doubt that I’ll ever punch a California cow. Well, unless it insults my mother. Then all bets are off.

Now I’m too busy thinking about a cow insulting my mother to finish this post. Today’s song is from the new Polyphonic Spree Album, The Fragile Army. Here’s Running Away, which I believe is their first single.

(Note: Erin was asked to write a post today since tomorrow is her birthday. She refused. This is my attempt to write what she would have written)

Hi everybody! I’m twirling my hair right now while I type because it helps oxygenate my medulla oblongata. That’s my brain, sillies! Nick sure puts some weird music up on his web site, doesn’t he? But that’s ok, I figure that the time he spends on his web site is less time him annoying either me or the cat.

I love my kitty. He’s got extra toes, you know. That’s why we call him Toed. Nick calls him Toeders and doesn’t like that he licks himself a lot, but that’s what kitties do. He doesn’t like that that cat licks himself, not that Nick licks himself – although I’m sure he’d lick himself if he thought it was funny….

I decided that today’s song should be Energy by The Apples In Stereo. I remember Nick listened to this on the way to church one Sunday morning, and I didn’t like it at all. He told me that the name of the band was The Apples In Stereo and I couldn’t help but think of that apple chair I made in college. Then I thought about slicing off part of my finger creating that apple chair and realized that I should hate this band. Ouchie. But then, Nick wouldn’t stop listening to it and I realized that I liked this song. It’s in a Saturn commercial!

I realize that I should use this platform to talk about more important things, so here’s my opinion on global hunger… Ooo!! Pretty Color!!!

The End. Pretty accurate, don’t you think? Happy birthday, Erin!

In the latest issue of Spin, there is an article called Rock Star! in which the author questions whatever happened to the stories of debauchery associated with rock and roll. In it he tells a wild story about Tommy Lee trying to get to a Nine Inch Nails show. I’ll let you read the article if you want to know the entire story.

Anyway, within the article, the author states, “Who wants to see a lucrative chance to play a song in a commercial or on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy fall through because of naughty behavior?” Good point.

Today’s music scene is as much marketing as it is musical talent. Take Maroon 5. As catchy as their tunes are, lead singer Adam Levine has issues hitting a lot of the notes he appears to hit on the album. Take American Idol season 5 winner, Taylor Hicks. The American Idol season finale had 36 million people and yet Taylor Hicks has sold less than 700,000 copies of his debut self-titled album.

Obviously, marketing execs want a good return on their money. And hiring the “screw you” rocker is a riskier investment than, oh, I don’t know… let’s say John Mayer. And, no, I’m not insulting John Mayer. I just wish he would stop it with the whisper-singing. Anyway…

Where am I going with this? I think what I’m trying to say is that because major labels are not willing to take the riskier investment, that a lot of bands are falling through the cracks. It’s why sites like pitchforkmedia and emusic are popular. They allow you to find this music. It’s why I started this humble MP3 blog.

Anyway, today’s song comes from a band that could have probably used some time on the voice modulator that Adam Levine was hogging. Ok, not the best recommendation, but the album has some bright points. Here’s Come My Sunshine by The Comas.

“I can see why you like it.”

That’s what Erin says whenever I’m listening to something cool that she doesn’t particularly like. It’s usually preceded by “I don’t like it, but…” I think it’s her way of telling me that I can listen to it for a little while longer, but to try and find something else soon.

Albums in the “I can see why you like it” category are usually upbeat, but have something strange about them that would generally keep them out of the mainstream. Usually, I can keep them playing for longer than expected if I sing and dance along. They’re the songs that show up on this blog, but not on her iPod.

Today’s song comes from one of these albums. I got the new Battles CD in the mail last Wednesday. On the same day, I picked up Erin from the airport where the dreaded, “I can see why you like it” was said. The song starts with a simple drumbeat followed later by two “voices” that play off of each other.

While listening to the song, pretend that you’re watching a split screen with me on the left and you on the right. Now, picture me singing and dancing for the low voice, and you can sing and dance for the high voice. Trust me, it will make the song that much more enjoyable.

P.S. Yes, in my head, I am both on the left and the right.

Oh yeah, here’s today’s song, Leyendecker.

Sorry, people. I don’t have much to say today except that it’s the third Friday in a row that feels like it should be a Saturday. Slightly depressing. It’s hot here. I drove to work this morning with my windows down, listening to the new Battles CD at level three. Read Monday’s post if you don’t understand the level 3 comment.

Speaking of Battles, I finally got their CD and it’s tasty. Here’s some other music I’m chowing down on:

• Blonde Redhead – 23 – Maybe it’s because it was the only CD in my car for a drive to the cities, but this CD has hit me in the right way lately
• White Rabbits – Fort Nightly – The featured artist from last Wednesday’s post, a.k.a. the squirrel post. The drum work on this CD is what really brings it to the next level. Good beats.
• Cold War Kids – Robbers & Cowards – Why didn’t I listen to A.C. Newman when he told me to check them out last August? In the genius words of Nelson from The Simpsons, “That’s like asking the square root of a million – no one will ever know.”

Oh, hey, the schedule for Lollapalooza 2007 came out this week. I’ve got full days Friday and Saturday, but Sunday’s looking a little sparse. Take a half day to tour the city, or try and check out bands that I haven’t seen? I dunno. We’ll find out, I guess.

Today’s song came up on shuffle on the ol’ iPod this week and I thought it would be a good Friday fun song. It’s by Styrofoam and features Bent VanLooy. I don’t know who that is, but now I’m curious. Maybe I’ll give an update on who he is on Monday. Anyway, here’s Anything.

Oh Ashley Simpson, thank you for following Avril’s musical formula in your song, la la. Actually, the link goes to the Elite Beat Agents level featuring said song. Agents are go!

Anyway, today I thought I would give a review of a web site that’s been getting a decent amount of press lately. That web site is lala.com. And by decent amount of press, I mean I actually saw a thirty-second clip on the Today Show, meaning it’s gotten pretty big. For those of you who thought it was time to bash the lesser of the Simpson daughters… my bad. Some other time, maybe.

So, lala.com… what’s there to say? It’s an interesting idea. Originally set up to be a place where users could buy, sell, or trade used CDs, version 2.0 adds a little more. Now, similar to the now defunct business model of mp3.com, la la allows you to upload your music catalog to their web site to be able to play anywhere. Once your music is uploaded, you can create custom playlists to share radio stations with others.

On top of that, there were promises of “on demand” full length tracks for certain albums. The ability to fully preview an album before buying it? That’s what I was looking for. Unfortunately, it appears that because of the site’s popularity, the servers are a little stressed, and those full-length clips are nowhere to be found.

So, lala.com, you get an incomplete. I’ll probably review you again once you’re fully up and running. Especially once the digital download service is up and running. Until then, I’ll probably just set up a playlist and advertise it here (assuming I can do that).

Speaking of a decent amount of press, today’s song comes from the new Matthew Dear album, Asa Breed. I’ve read a lot about this experimental electronic CD, and recently got around to picking it up. Here’s Neighborhoods.

Before we start… last night I learned why you should always wear a shirt while cooking bacon. Mmm… bacon. Anyway, grease splatter is not comfortable if you know what I’m saying.

Stop thinking about me cooking bacon with my shirt off!

If any of you have ever seen me cruising down the road in my Ford Focus, you’ll probably see me singing. Except at stop lights. I’m a little self-conscious at stop lights. Maybe I’m just not ready to be discovered by Rochester’s only record mogul who I’m pretty sure doesn’t exist.

The volume control on my car’s stereo is funny. Apparently somebody at Ford thought that they would make things very simple for me an gave me one of four options when it comes to volume levels.

1. Level 1 is for when I have people in my car and want to strike up a conversation while still keeping an aura of cool with my sweet background tracks
2. Level 2 is my typical volume. It’s good for keeping your music to yourself. Or, at least keeping it soft enough that someone listening to me singing from outside of my car window thinks I’m making this stuff up on the fly.
3. I like to listen to level 3 before or after a soccer game or a particularly stressful day at work. This is the point where conversation stops so everyone in the car can groove on my fresh tunes.

There was actually one time that I dared to turn the radio up to 6. That was when I got the M.I.A. CD and went cruising around like an idiot. Well, cruising around in a direct route from point A to point B. Like an idiot.

Anyway, one song that I like to turn up to four is Saeglopur by Sigur Rós. They are from Iceland, so if you’re expecting English, lo siento. Oh, and don’t expect Spanish, either. Just because I write “lo siento” doesn’t mean any Spanish is showing up. Try Icelandic.

Coincidentally, Saeglopur is today’s song. I gotta say that there’s nothing better than cruising down a country road on a clear night, listening to this song. This song, when combined with the clear, country sky leads Nick to his happy place. And happy Nick equals happy world. You can thank me later.