Music To My Ears

So I just went on a major shopping spree. No, I didn't hit up any of the usual suspects, and my purchases did not come wrapped neatly in tissue and tucked inside a bag. My money was spent (or really not spent at all) on far longer-lasting investments: music. One of my favorite pastimes is scanning the ITunes Music Store; you can check out the hottest new downloads, best selling albums, and even peek into what the celebs are rocking out to these days. Usually, these playlists fall into one of a few categories: "pompous", "bubble-gum pop", "snoozers", or nothing i haven't already heard and either hated or already beaten deep into the ground. Recently I was excited to see that Drew Barrymore had posted a playlist. Expecting to see the regular spread of The Shins, et al., I was surprised and comforted when I actually really enjoyed the artists she chose. There was a whole schmorgesboard to choose from, but here are a few of my favorites:
(please note that I explored the artists' repetoires further and I have listed the songs that made the cut)



Har Mar Superstar - (DUI/Cut Me Up/Let Me Use Your Ride)
Mickey Avalon - (Jane Fonda/Waiting to Die/Friends and Lovers/Fashion Glam & Coke/My Dick)
Spank Rock - (Bump(thanks Drew)/What it Look Like)




Honorary Mention goes to:
Sia- Breathe Me
The Cure - Close to Me
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - The skin of my yellow country teeth

Moving on from celeb playlists, I went to the concierge of online music. Did you know that ITunes will actually make a nice selection of music it thinks you will like based upon what currently chills in your music library? It's amazing. Theres nothing better then lighting up and getting down to some music you'd never know about. Here are my recent finds:

The Muse - Butterflies and Hurricanes
Spoon- I Turn My Camera On
Bloc Party- Hunting for Witches
Nightmares on Wax - Survival/You Wish

I found two additional artists that I want to speak a little more about:

* Cut Chemist: The Audience's Listening



Following in a similar vein as the turntable/computertech/hip hop jams as crafted by musical ingenue RJD2 (Ghostwriter anyone?), Cut Chemist has come out with their first "non-mix-full-lenth" CD.
An excerpt from itunes... 'cause they can say it better than I can:

This incredibly diverse album tempers scratch-heavy feats of skill . . . with more musical numbers that offer plenty of substance once the "wow" factor has played itself out.

All in all, Chemist's got skills: the music is like looking at a collage: all little pieces pasted together to form one solid fluid track. beats, hooks, unique dialogues, and the like make each song unique and memorable. Check out the following to see what I mean:
(My 1st) Big Break
Garden
Spat
What'd the Attitude
Spoon
The Audience's Listening Theme


* The Weepies: Say I Am You/Happiness



I must admit that I was skeptical about this music at first. The band name alone made me cover the screen of my ipod when on the subway so as to avoid strangers thinking that I'm some weird angst-riddled emo headcase. But after giving the music a chance, I have to say that I came around. There are no gimmicks here, just folksy, pretty songs with interesting lyrics and velvety melodies. There are few things I look forward to as much as going to bed with The Weepies cooing from my speakers as I drift off to sleep. (cheesy i know, but seriously its really relaxing). At the same time, there is nothing better than jamming to these songs when i'm feeling just a tad meloncholy or when the weather is as shitty as it is today and all i want to do is wrap myself in a blanket and lie in bed. Anyway, enough of my rambling, check it out for yourself. here are some of my favorite tracks:

Gotta Have You
Painting By Chagall
All That I Want
Vegas Baby
Living in Twilight
Stars
Take It From Me

If you're in the mood for something cheesy, here are my top choices for when I need a pick me up / need to wake up:

The Pussy Cat Dolls (yeah yeah i know, but its good i swear!) - Beep/I Don't Need a Man
Timbaland feat. Nelly Furtado and J.Timberlake - Give it To Me
Diddy feat. Keyshia Cole - Last Night


Download, Upload and Enjoy : )