#147 of 366: Your Mind Is Not Your Friend, The National, Phoebe Bridgers

First post from my phone! Let’s hope this works correctly. I’m in Addison after finally getting my Joanie going for the riding season! Michael and I have been hard at work putting new tires on and getting her buttoned up and today was the first ride!

My girl, Joanie

Looking forward to putting some miles in this summer/fall.

Anyhow, Michael’s partner Erin is like, the biggest fan of The National and their spoken word sound. She’ll be super stoked about this post.

“Your imagination is in an awful place, don’t believe in manifestation, your heart’ll break, don’t you understand, your mind is not your friend again, it takes you by the hand and leaves you nowhere, you feel it in your nerves, it’s choking out the sun, you try in vain to be persuaded that it’s nothing”

It’s easy to go down that rabbit hole of negative thought spiral. In The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck, author Mark Manson talks about The Feedback Loop From Hell.

Essentially, because we have the luxury to be able to think thoughts ABOUT our own thoughts, we can catch ourselves being anxious about something and then get even more anxious because we are thinking about how bad it is that we are anxious in the first place. It’s a bad place to be.

So, no one wants to be there. You can train yourself to avoid it, but it’s not easy and will take a while to understand how much control you really have over your own daily happiness. Once you do though…so much can change. Take control!

BGDG!

#146 of 366: Her (Remix), Kye Kye

Great little jaunt through some electronic-pop here! Gorgeous voice on lead singer Olga.

“Oh your hands, I cried when I lost them, tears falling, touching the surface, oh I’m afraid of losing the time, oh I can’t stay, oh can’t I stay, she has got me running, faster than the wind blows, sorrow without silence, built the walls that hid you”

The whole song, despite some of it’s intention dissonance, just feels smooth to me. I picture an oscilloscope? I’m picture then green screen computer thing that you see in movies measuring rhythm or even that old visualizer music player on PCs. YES! That’s it. This is the quintessential song to play on one of those visualizer screen-savers!

A kaleidoscope of sound.

BGDG.

#145 of 366: Grey, EXES

EXES uses the superior spelling of the word grey, and even manages to turn it into a beautiful verb. Sometimes I listen to these songs when I’m writing posts and just shocked with myself that they didn’t end up in the Top 100. This song is incredibly gorgeous, and a great listen.

“I thought I was alone, too lost to find a home, in someone else, with someone else, you’ve opened up my soul, set fire to my bones, and I can tell, you know me well, you got me head over heels, and I love how it feels, you’re the one I wanna stay with, you’re the one I wanna Grey with, and I’m safe by your side, when you kiss me goodnight, you’re the one I wanna lay with, you’re the one I wanna Grey with”

Ava’s senior Sectional meet was a roaring success, with her taking home three Sectional Championships. I couldn’t be happier, but I am exhausted. Goodnight!

BGDG!

#144 of 366: Start It Up, Lloyd Banks, Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, Fabolous, Ryan Leslie

I’ve already professed my being a superfan for Hip-Hop songs that feature 5 or more rappers. This song is the a solid hype song for my Ava Bean’s Sectional Championship today. LET’S START IT UP, BEAN!

Also, I love picturing my friend Mike listening to Hip-Hop songs like this at 5:45am! HAHAHAHAHA.

Let this energy carry you swiftly through whatever finish lines you’re racing toward today!

BGDG.

#143 of 366: Ledges, Noah Gundersen

I first heard Noah’s voice on his duet with Phoebe Bridgers, Killer + The Sound. See the P.S. at the end of this post for how much I love that song.

I love this song because it feels like it has a little bit of that country music heart, which is what I grew up on. But, I think I love it more because it also blends all that stuff together in a more indie way. This song will sound SO different from The Sound when you listen to it below! You’ll see what kind of range Noah has…and then you’ll be floored by Killer + The Sound. You’re welcome!

The entirety of North Cath is getting paved this week. It will be a daily exercise in patience for me. Join me in trying to be as Zen as possible regarding it. 🙂 That’s the intention I’m setting today. Like one of my all-time favorite people Alyssa Sample intoned to me once, “I will observe, not absorb”.

Be good, do good.

P.S. You NEED to listen to this song. The cool part? Killer, and The Sound, are separate songs by Phoebe, and Noah respectively.

All three are distinct. The combination of them creates one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard in my life. They are joined on this song by Noah’s sister, Abby, and I’ll think you’ll see why it rates so highly for me. But listen to either song separately first, and then the combo.

#142 of 366: Work, Gang Starr

Short one tonight as I am straight exhausted! Spent a great long day working on Joanie, my motorcycle with brother from another mother Michael Hollis, avid blog reader/listener. He’s our biggest fan. We’re pretty fond of him too. His partner, Erin, also is a fantastic cook and one of the kindest souls I’ve ever come in contact with. Love them both to death and beyond.

Anywho, as for Gang Starr, I was stoked to discover them last year. They were from somewhat before my Hip-Hop discovery courtesy of Ben Joyette. I’ll forever be thankful honestly because it’s still a passion of mine and he is man who introduced me to it.

I also just love:

“Boy, what is it you wanna do when you grow up?”

Still asking myself that…always learning. When you start looking at every day as a lesson, you can’t help but improve.

BGDG.

#140 of 366: Evergreen, PVRIS

“I think I felt God strike me from the top, humbled my ass real quick, I thought I had it all, but it went wrong, felt like an acid trip, bite my tongue, right my wrongs, but I don’t wanna deal with it, came to peace with my ego slipping, I can’t help, feel like I’m a little alone, it’s no use to try, what’s the point if I still just feel like I’m a little alone”

In my opinion though, the lyric to highlight is:

“I don’t care what they say’ bout me, yeah, I’m gonna be evergreen, gonna be evergreen”

Emphasis that of Google, I happen to like both thank you very much.

What an intention to set. Remaining green and functional no matter what the environment throws at us.

A daily goal of “retaining freshness or interest? Yes, please.

Here’s to whatever it is you do today that keeps things fresh. Perfect time of year for something like that.

Be good, do good.

#139 of 366: Bend, Middle Kids

I thought maybe it was too soon for another Middle Kids song, but honestly, this song kicks ass, and it’s too good not to share. I’m a little miffed at myself that it didn’t make the top 100 honestly, but there are literally 518 songs on the playlist. That’s a lot of bonus tracks for you! Middle Kids are quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

“The line is very fine, between free and paralyzed, and I’m riding it all the time, my breath is my life, but my mind’s a parasite, and it’s eating me alive, I am on bend away from a break, I am one stop away from the precipice of crazy, I am holding all the pieces in place, but maybe you’ve got to break me to see what I’m made of, I am one bend away, I am on step away, I am holding all the pieces in place, but maybe you’ve got to break me to see what I’m made of”

What a fucking battle-cry for the downtrodden and depressed. Lead singer Hannah Joy Cameron has a fan-friggin-tastic voice.

So if you’re feeling either of those feelings there, let this be the anthem that begins your upswing. Love ya. The world needs you. Be good, do good.

PS. Here’s the link to that other Middle Kids post!

https://wordpress.com/post/everything-etc.com/2463

#138 of 366: Ridiculous Thoughts, The Cranberries

The late, great Dolores O’Riordan, ladies and gentlemen. Bearer of maybe the most distinctive sounding voice on the list, she kills this one.

“We should of lied but I cried so hard, the ridiculous thoughts, ah, we should have lied, have lied, have lied, but you’re gonna have to hold on…”

I remember a girl in my school doing a gymnastics routine to Zombie in a talent show, and I was enthralled by the interpretation of the music in the movement. I remember thinking she was pretty cool for doing that in front of the…I guess it would’ve been middle school. I’m not sure how it took me until last year to come into contact with this song.

Her voice still hits now. I really enjoy Now, which I’ll post the link to at the end, but of course Zombie is an all-timer and seems…fairly poignant right now. Personally, I’m terribly disillusioned with our government and terrified at what’s going on in Palestine. I feel helpless and more scared than I’ve been in a long while.

BGDG…the world might depend on it.