Obzest 2-28-09

I like making mix CDs. Partly because it's nice to have a continuous 80 minutes of good music, and partly because they are like little time capsules. When I was in college I made one just about every week to use for my radio show, so I have tons floating around. They would be new songs I liked, old classics, bizarre songs I thought were funny, or just random things I would pull off Kenster or the demos that record companies would send us. After my show I would give them away or just let them pile up. Now, when I know I'm going to be driving to any distance I grab a few to see what I was listening to at any given weekend (almost all of them are dated). I hadn't made one in a few months, so I figured it was time, especially considering there are a handful of songs out that I really like. I've fallen out of the habit of keeping up with music and tracking down really good bands that nobody has heard of yet. I mostly listen to the radio, and I keep up with a number of bands who have long been favorites. So this weekend I sat down with my digital music library and an iTunes gift card (I really miss Kenster, by the way) and downloaded a handful of songs that have recently been in my head and mixed them with older songs that I already had and am eternally in love with. The end result is 80 minutes of music bliss. I am going to share a few of the highlights with you here, in video form. I think music can be really powerful, and paired with video, even more so. Linking music and images, especially if it is well done, can make me like a song a lot more.
Here are a few great songs with decent to great videos:

MGMT- Kids
This isn't the official video, but it's really well done and a really great song. It's eerie, and you can sing along, and they lyrics are cryptic. Wonderful.

All American Rejects- Give You Hell
Even 15-year-old Colleen would be embarrassed to admit that she likes this band. 23-year-old Colleen is still embarrassed, but over it- she can play it off as ironic if need be. But this song is awesome. It's catchy, it's snarky, and I love a song that stops and lets a huge chorus of people sing the refrain. And the video is great. It's colorful, fun, and hilarious (I'm sorry, a guy playing guitar at night while standing on top of a moving riding lawnmower is really funny to me).

Talking Heads- Burning Down the House

This song has been in rotation on the radio station that I listen to, and every time it comes on I turn it up and sing along. I think the live version from Stop Making Sense is waaaaaaay better than the studio version (which is odd for me, because I usually don't like live recordings as much, but Stop Making Sense is one very important, across the board exception. It's probably one of my top 10- maybe top 5- albums of all time. But now we're getting off topic). It's a classic that I'm sure all of you have heard, and for good reason. If you don't feel like dancing when you hear it, you might not have a soul. Just watch this video: there are probably over 10 people on that stage and they all look like they are having a blast. I would recommend you buy this album, learn all the words to at least this song, and start having a blast yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtUI5MC9tVM

MGMT- Electric Feel
I couldn't embed this video, but please, go you youtube and watch it. I've been really into MGMT lately. I bought the CD, which is the first CD I've bought since November (I am a recovering CD-buying adict). This song should also make you want to dance. I think the vocals are great, and the lyrics are smart and entertaining. As good as the song is (and that little description does NOT do it justice), the video is even better. It's trippy and colorful and fun. If you look close you can see the two kids from the Kids video that I posted above. That video got so popular that they were invited out to the set of this video to be in it. This song just makes me happy. As far as I'm concerned this song secured MGMT's right to be called the second coming of the Scissor Sisters, and that's a good thing. And by the way, if the animatronic looks familiar, its because it is from the Rock-afire Explosion, a.k.a. the animatronic band that played at Showbiz Pizza (now called Chuck-E-Cheese's), where I had my 5th birthday party. Ask my parents about this party and how my sister Katie lost her shoes in the ball pit.

Silversun Pickups- Lazy Eye
To be honest, I can't really put my finger on why I like this song. It's not typically my taste in music, but I really like the vocals. They are sweet and gender ambiguous. This song makes me want to run. Not like, put on sweats and go for a run, but break out into a run- preferably through a field or down the middle of an empty street.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUWXcIJC7Q0

Nirvana- Man Who Sold the World
Sorry, I can't embed this one either. It's no secret that I'm a huge David Bowie fan (that's an understatement). When he did this song it was eerie and beautiful, but 25 years later when Nirvana covered it, they took it to a place even more eerie and even more beautiful than Bowie could, and that's really saying something. I really think this song can speak for itself.

So there you go, a small spattering of what is in my CD player right now.