Boston Callinged

Went to Boston Calling on the weekend. What is Boston Calling? Only one of the better music festivals that our region has to offer, of course. It happens twice a year, once in the pre summer of May, and in September. Smack dab in the heart of Boston. A three day pass surely gives you the most bang for your buck. Easy to get to from the train, within walking distance of Quincy Market and several other popular Bostonian locales. Bring your water and your sunscreen, and your friends, and let the good times roll as it were. Dance your flippin’ heart out, see some of your favorite bands, and pick up a whole bunch of free shit along the way. This time the amazing headliners were Beck, Pixies, and My Morning Jacket, diversity enough right there if you ask me. Throw in some Tenacious D, Tove Lo, Marina and The Diamonds, Jason Isbell, The Lone Bellow, Tame Impala, St. Vincent, and Halsey, and you’ve got yourself a grand old time. Three days, lots of music, lots of free stuff, lots of fun, in Boston, what else do you need? And the September lineup is killer. Go Go Go!

Songs about Sex (or not)

1.Rumour Has It-Adele
2.Get Lucky-Daft Punk Feat. Pharrell Williams
3.R U Mine?-Arctic Monkeys
4.She Drives Me Crazy-Fine Young Cannibals
5.Howlin’ for You-The Black Keys
6.We Looked Like Giants-Death Cab For Cutie
7.You Shook Me All Night Long-AC/DC
8.Boom-Flight of the Conchords
9.Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?-The Beatles
10.Let’s Spend The Night Together-David Bowie
11.Rebel Yell-Billy Idol
12.What Would You Do-Bastille
13.Come Together-The Beatles
14.Love Removal Machine-The Cult
15.Tyrant-The Bravery
16.Exquisite Corpse-Hedwig And The Angry Inch
17.Enjoy the Silence-Depeche Mode
18.Locked Out of Heaven-Bruno Mars
19.If U Seek Amy-Britney Spears
20.Latch (feat. Sam Smith)-Disclosure

I’m buying more music

It’s sort of a problem with me, music junkie that I be, to see something really cheap and buy it up, no matter what I said about saving my money, or catching up on other things I have first, but really I can’t stop, and is it really a problem? Music is life, my life, and I’m spending way less money than everyone else on stupid shit right? right? Well now I can truly impose some new playlists upon y’all. Woot! Also buy the new Imagine Dragons album, it’s lovely, just lovely.

Latest playlist: My ride to work on 2/4

1. Congregation- Foo Fighters

2. R U Mine?- Arctic Monkeys

3. Do It With A Rockstar- Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra

4. Bite Down- Bastille and Haim

5. Immortals- Fall Out Boy

6. torn Apart- Bastille and Grades

7. One For The Road- Arctic Monkeys

8. Break the Rules- Charli XCX

9. Oscar Wilde- Company of thieves

10. I’m A Mess- Ed Sheeran

11. The Man- Ed Sheeran

12. Chocolate- the 1975

13. Crystallized- Young the Giant

14. These times- Walk off The Earth

15. I Can Lift A Car- Walk The Moon

16. Winning Days- the Vines

17. Volcano- U2

18. talking Body- Tove Lo

19. Everybody Wants To Rule The World- Tears For Fears

20. Text Me In the Morning- Neon Trees

Merry and Bright Part Two: Holiday Tunes

What better way to ring in the holidays, and what better way to accompany a major wrap session then with some amazing Christmas music. I find a good mix of traditional pieces, and more modern Christmas offerings really delivers the balance you need. So don’t make yourself pick between a Rock N Roll Christmas or carol singers, use both, and throw in all the jazzy standards while you’re at it. I discovered a surprising gem in regard to the jazzy standards in Seth McFarlane’s new Christmas album, Holiday for Swing. Yes, that Seth McFarlane. No funny business here, just plain old normal Christmas songs accompanied by an awesome orchestra. Check it out y’all.

The Voice

So the Voice finale was on last night, and every time one of these competition shows rolls around, I sometimes wonder about the American public’s taste in music, and the ultimate result was certainly not an exception to the rules. And no, it’s not because he’s country, I’ve kind of gotten over my loathing for country music, as deep-seated as it was. And no, I’m not opposed to him winning because he has the same name as me. Us Craigs gotta stick together after all. But on a show called the Voice, you are voting for who has the best Voice, and Craig Wayne Boyd surely doesn’t have a better voice than Damien, Matt McAndrew, and Chris Jamison, who all seem to have more mass appeal as chameleon artists, than Craig does sticking to one type of thing. But that is also not a problem. But what is strange is that Matt McAndrew topped the download charts on Itunes at the time of the finale last night. So apparently the most popular person on the show still can’t win. Oh well, all four of them got to drive off in brand new Nissans, and each of their new singles are phenomenal, and better than what I have come to expect from finalists on this show, as much as I have loved a few contestants here and there in the past.

New playlist: The Maddeningly Awesome Mixtape!

Part I

1. The Driver- Bastille
2. Changes- Bowie
3. Gold Dust Woman- Fleetwood Mac
4. Shiver- Maroon 5
5. Habits(Stay High)- Tove Lo
6. Never As Tired As When I’m Waking Up- LCD Soundsystem
7. Starships- Pentatonix
8. Good Looking Man About Town- Morrissey
9. Marilyn Monroe- Pharrell Williams
10. It’s Thunder and It’s Lightning- We Were Promised Jetpacks
11. No One’s Here To Sleep-Naughty Boy featuring Bastille
12. Glory and Gore- Lorde
13. Out of My League- Fitz and The Tantrums
14. These Things- She Wants Revenge
15. All The Things She Said- T.a.t.u
16. Aubergine- Lady Lamb The Beekeeper
17. Car Crash- Matt Nathanson
18. Decisions-How To Dress Well
19. Latch- Disclosure ft. Sam Smith

My take on U2’s new free album

“Songs of Innocence,” is by no means their best album, and in the 20 plus years since the amazingness that is Achtung Baby, they have had their shortcomings album-wise, but have always had a few gems here and there. I had hoped their previous album would be even more a return to form, for these four Irish lads, now middle aged men than many of the tracks on “How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb,” were. It wasn’t as good as it could have been, but it did have a few really good songs, like Magnificent. But this album, the songs stay with me, I like most of them a lot, and it feels way less gimmicky than songs like Vertigo, or Elevation. Back is some of the simplicity found in their first album, the maturity of The “Joshua Tree” and the fuzzed out instrumentals of Achtung Baby. The band is as tight as ever on their 30 plus year run. Don’t complain to get an actual decent album for free. Best tracks: The Miracle(of Joey Ramone), Iris(Hold Me Close), the raga tinged songs of Volcano, Raised By Wolves, Cedarwood Road, Sleep Like A Baby Tonight.

New Music!!

So I started a bancamp page using the band name: Darth Brooks, loved the punnyness and all, but turns out I wasn’t the first, and although it didn’t seem to matter, I decided to make a change, and go with my backup name for the time being: Naturally Occurring Sheep. But anyways, long story short, you can now stream, and even buy my music without getting off of your ass. Soul Windows was very fun in process, and I’m very satisfied with our current end result. And for 50 cents how can one go wrong?

Let me know what you think, and if you love it, just get yourself a copy that you can bring everywhere. 🙂

https://darthbrooks2.bandcamp.com/track/soul-windows

Ch-Ch-Changes….

I sit here with my beer, in front of my computer screen. And I do my best to bring a new entry to life. I know I have slacked, but thus i life, we lose sight of things sometimes. Which is why my life has gone through lots of changes in recent time, most are positive changes of course. But sometimes, when we take a chance, even though, it’s the right choice, even though you know it will pay off, it’s sometimes easy to escape reality, and forget for a minute, that everything is finally okay, that the one thing you thought you couldn’t get, the one thing you wanted so much is about to finally happen, the pieces are about to fall together. Change is great, change is good, change is right, it’s part of life, it’s the universe’s way of saying, “hey, get off your ass.” Everything changed so much over the course of the last couple months, within me, within other people, and a couple weeks ago, I knew there was one change that I could only take care of myself, and so I did. Was I happy about it? Of course. Did I feel like shit? Of course. But did I overall feel really good about the future, about the new chapter that my life was now at? you bet. And all I can say is, the best change is still around the bend.