AliThinks

I've Let Myself Get Behind

When I last blogged, I was still all high from the English Beat concert (and no, I don't mean that kind of high).

This past Thursday night, I said to Allan, "I feel fortunate to live here." We were driving back to Lexington from Berea, where we'd just seen Habib Koité and Bamada perform. Allan replied "It's amazing how much great music we've heard in the past week." And he was right. It was a banner week for Lexingtonians Who Love Music. Here's a recap of what we saw:

Friday, April 17: Ellee Ven and Big Fresh at Give Into The Groove.

Saturday, April 18: Robert Schneider, Chico Fellini, Ben Sollee, The Sundresses, and Attempt (a Trevor Tremaine creation, and I can't find a specific link for Attempt), all at CD Central for Record Store Day.

Sunday, April 19: The (English) Beat at The Dame.

Thursday, April 23: Habib Koité (link in French) and Bamada at Berea College, Berea, Kentucky.

I've got photos of all the events, but most of them are just hanging out on my hard drive. I did make a Flickr set for Record Store Day. Here's a photo I've posted of Habib Koité.

Allan was right: we've seen an amazing amount of music in the past week.

Music is a balm to my soul; it soothes this savage breast (apologies to William Congreve).

I feel fortunate to live here.

Edit: April 26 also marks the day in 2003 when I decided to stop lurking at the internet radio station I'd been listening to for four months, so I created an account and started commenting. Hoo boy, the website was waaaay different back then. But the important thing is the music. And that's six+ years of aural goodness in my life, and let's not forget that balm thing. Or that soothing thing. 

Texting With My Brother

Last night The Rudies opened for The (English) Beat, and during their set I sent a text message to the older of my older brothers, the one whose utter coolness, along with early MTV, helped mold my musical tastes.

Me: We are about to see the english beat. Wish you were here..

Nate: Can u save it for later?

Me: Lol. Don't think so. I just can't stop it.

Nate: Roger. It ranks right up there. Specially when im wakeling up.

Me: Every saturday when you're window shopping? By the way, have you met jeannette? 

OK, so maybe he and I found it funny, and you don't or won't. But if you are a fan of the Beat, I hope you'll get a chuckle out of it.

Even More Microblogging

J'avance doucement et je rase
les murs de la boîte de jazz*.

*apologies to Michel Jonasz, who wrote and sang those words.

Earworm

Some of you reading this are aware that Allan and I are currently in France. We're in Paris with my kids for their fall break.

In the mornings we take our time getting ready. My daughter turns on the TV; there's cable in the apartment, so she flips around the various video channels and I roll my eyes and think of my mother, who was quite vocal about my watching MTV back in the day.

And if you know me, you know I don't listen to Top 40 or commercial radio. Ever. At home it's streaming radio; in the car it's Sirius satellite radio. So I'm out of the loop of what's popular as far as music goes.

Thank goodness for the video channels. Between them, it's possible to hear the same song three times in the course of however long it takes us to all get ready. I've compiled a list of the catchiest tunes out there. One of them I already knew and liked, and I'll leave you to figure out which one that is. In no particular order, here's what's going through my head, all day every day. The links are to the videos of these songs on YouTube, and they will open in a new window — and that's my disclaimer: click at your own risk. Don't blame me if you get any of these stuck in your head.

Rihanna - Disturbia

Madcon - Beggin'

Kenza Farah - Au Coeur de la Rue

Erik Prydz - Pjanoo

Coldplay - Viva La Vida

Britney Spears - Womanizer

How To Beat The Blues When Your Kids Return To France

1) Meet up with friends at a downtown bar.

2) Go next door to The Dame to see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

3) Enjoy the music fully.

4) Say hello to Michael Been of The Call, father of Robert Levon Been of BRMC, and sound man for the band.

5) Resist singing "Ya ya ya ya ya ya ya" to him.

6) Sing it anyway, because it's a fucking great song. And then take a crappy cell phone picture with Michael Been. (Because HELLO, STARSTRUCK!) 

7) Go back to the bar next door and have another beer or two.

8) Flirt a little with Peter Hayes of BRMC while he plays darts. (Because HELLO, STARSTRUCK! And also, ADORABLE TINY ASS!)

9) Think about the fact that I gave Michael Been and Peter Hayes my MOO card(s).

10) Hope that they see this blog entry. Hello, fellas! Thanks so much for coming to Lexington!

11) Thank the Internet Gods for helping me find Radio Paradise five+ years ago, because that's where I first heard (of) BRMC.

12) Smile wistfully, because my kids are now safely back in France.

Sofa King Random

My favorite expression these past few months has been "sofa king." Anyway, I went to the grocery store to get a few things—shrimp, red bell pepper, garlic, and fresh ginger—for dinner, and on my way home I heard a song on First Wave that made me say "I have GOT to keep a running list of songs to play at our wedding reception." (No, there's no date set yet.)

I told this to Allan when I got home, and he said "You should blog about it."

Then his eyes got all twinkly, and he added "You know, to get some tongues wagging."

I'm pretty picky about music. There will be no "love ballads" played at our wedding. We will not dance to the "I like big butts" song (I don't even know the name of that song! But I was out of the country during the 90s, so I'm excused).  I'm not sure we can learn to dance to "Thriller" in time. (I'm not opposed to having that played at the reception, though.)

Anyway, if you have a cool song you want to share in the comments, I'll take note.

No promises that I'll let it be played at the reception, however.

Oh, and the song I heard on the radio? It's below the fold. Don't you judge me. I came of age in the 1980s.

C'est Grave

Internet radio is more threatened than ever.