SO many La, La, Las

Here's a beautiful way to start your weekend. In honor of a pre-murderous Phil Spector, The Morning Benders perform their song "Excuses" with choir of their friends. It's just that their friends all happen to be a who's who of the San Fran music scene. We got the Nicest Guy in Indie Rock (TM), John Vanderslice, plus the guy from last years breakout band of choice, Chris Owens' of GIRLS and the Mumlers. Together they call themselves the Big Echo Orchestra. Basically your ears will be in heaven for the next six minutes. Enjoy!

Yours Truly Presents: The Morning Benders "Excuses" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

BOO! A Mystery Mix!

Here's your trick-or-treat, dear readers! A fresh mix tape by Yours Truly with some surprises. The following stats will give you some hints:

22 Tracks
1:19:41 (yep, fits on 1 regular audio CD!)
shortest track: 1:31
longest track: 6:31

3 covers
1.5 spoken word tracks
1 instrumental
1 live version
1 mash-up
1 old skool rap
1 song from VK's namesake artist
1 song for all you WRIMOS starting tomorrow (good luck!!)

oldest song: 1976
newest song: October 20, 2009
60% of songs from 1980-1999

I didn't make this song with any particular type of person in mind, but let's just say that those with an appreciation for 80's new wave, punk, and hipster irony... with a Jersey upbringing... will have the most possible appreciation for this mix. Or not.

1. Dashboard Confessional - El Scorcho (Weezer cover).mp3

2. Pixies - Wave of Mutilation.mp3

3. Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street.mp3

4. The White Stripes - It's True That We Love One Another.m4a

5. Beck - Last Night I Traded My Souls Innermost For Some Pickled Fish.mp3

6. Bright Eyes - Devil Town (Daniel Johnston cover).mp3

7. Ace Of Bace - Don't Turn Around.m4a

8. Elvis Costello - Every Day I Write The Book.m4a

9. Billy Joel - Vienna.mp3

10. Tor / Sufjan Stevens - I Like The Tallest Man (feat. Grad Puba).mp3

11. the Mountain Goats - Houseguest (live cover).mp3

12. Lyle Lovett - Here I Am.mp3

13. They Might Be Giants - Don't Let's Start.mp3

14. Islands - No You Don't.m4a

15. John Vanderslice - Promising Actress.mp3

16. Holcombe Waller - Anthem (Will I Forgive Myself If I Can't Help You Anymore).mp3

17. Skee-Lo - I Wish.mp3

18. Daniel Johnston - Etiquette.mp3

19. Crash Test Dummies - Keep a Lid on Things.mp3

20. Tom Waits - Bad Liver & a Broken Heart.mp3

21. Gunnar Madsen - This Must Be The Place (Native Melody) (Talking Heads cover).mp3

22. Tenacious D - Friendship Test.mp3

Top 9 Every-men (and Woman) in Rock

Now don't get me wrong, I love the mysterious aura of an eagle-winged Sufjan or the sexed-up disco fantasia of Of Montreal, but sometimes it's refreshing to see a band composed of all-around average guys. Guys that could live next door to you without a hint of pretentious weirdo-ness. These are the rock stars we love that are kinda like us. Sometimes they're unassuming, sometimes they're modest but they always, always wear jeans on stage.

9. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco
Ok, disregard the killer migraines, the past addictions, the diva-licious falling out with bandmates and you have a really average guy who writes songs that are anything but. Also remember that scene in I Am Trying to Break Your Heart where he asks his wife for money to feed the kids while waiting in line at Wendys. That alone puts him on this list.

8. Jens Lekman
Do guys get more humble then this? His shy smile and aw-shucks demeanor, not to mention all-inclusive after parties put him on this list. Following their concerts, how many pop stars invite the entire audience to a house party in Brooklyn? By putting fans first he essentially denounces his celebrity and affirms his every-man status. Plus we get to dance the night away at the same time!

7. John Vanderslice
By far the happiest, friendliest, sweetest guy on the list. Like Jens he obliterates the line between artist and audience. Chances are if you've seen him live you've also been hugged by him. Just an unbelievably down-to-earth and cheery stand-up dude.

6. Eddie Argos of Art Brut
Just listen to the lyrics of "DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshakes". Nuff said.

5. Bruce Springsteen
Ok, so he's a mega-superstar BUT he somehow maintains his working class cred by touring his ass off and maintaining his New Jersey roots. We should thank him for showing the kids that real rock stars aren't assholes.

4. Ted Leo
The political punker totally rocks, but he's also totally humble, appreciative and downright right ordinary when it comes to his personal life and dealing with fans. Just check out this photo of him and VK's Lizzie. It pretty much says it all:
3. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver
Dude lived in a cabin in Wisconsin and endured a shit-ton of heartbreak. That's about as every-man as it gets.

2. Ira, James and Georgia of Yo La Tengo
These Jersey natives are completely unassuming and completely ageless. They could be your next door neighbor. Hell for some of you young'ens they could be your parents. So causal and so casually cool, they wear jeans and striped t-shirts on stage. Except underneath their ultra-normal exterior lies their secret power - the power of rock. And rock they do.

1. Craig Finn (and really the rest of the members of The Hold Steady except for Franz Nicholay's mustache)
Do dudes get anymore dude-ier than them? I mean they formed a band as an excuse to jam once a week, down a few beers and escape the wives. And in turn wrote some of the best straight-up rock albums this decade. For that we salute you.

Now some songs:
Flume - Bon Iver
Me and Mia - Ted Leo
Fetal Horses - John Vanderslice

New John Vanderslice

NPR is now (and by "now" I mean May 11, so you might have to wait a few days) streaming the entire new John Vanderslice album Romanian Names (out May 19th). Hooray for NPR for reminding us it's way more then just our parents' fave news source. Listen here

Also let us remind you JV is the long-anointed "nicest man in indie rock", as if you didn't know that already. I've never seen a singer give out so many gracious post-show hugs to fans. I kid you not.

And here's a preview track for download:

Too Much Time - John Vanderslice

John Vanderslice @ 92Y Tribeca, NY 10/18/08

The "nicest man in indie rock" John Vanderslice played an awesome show as part of the opening night of the brand new 92Y Tribeca, an arts, entertainment and cultural center in downtown New York. During which, the analog-obsessed, singer-songwriter did little to dispel his moniker. He enthusiastically gave home-baked cranberry almond cookies to the audience and even went so far as to hug quite literally everybody in the room (yours truly included). He also raffled off gummy vitamins (yes, such a thing exists) to whoever could answer a trivia question about your favorite political pawn/plumber, Joe.

The set also included several new tunes, including one about a Romanian orphanage that was inspired by the Olympics. Apparently the songs were the result of a very good friend who challenged Vanderslice to write 24 new songs this year. We have a sneaking suspicion that friend is John Darnielle. Though that's purely our speculation it seems exactly the kind of thing he'd do.

After he performed, Vanderslice proposed what only seemed a natural way to follow up his set of quiet, lyrically-thoughtful, acoustic songs –a dance party with an emphasis on the new Lil Wayne album. Cue the DJ! And yet the odd transition was a perfectly complete way to end the night.

Exodus Damage - John Vanderslice
White Dove - John Vanderslice

Psychopharmacology & Rock n Roll

A hedonistic lifestyle practically prescribes sex and drugs, with rock n roll bringing up the rear. It seems these three activities combine well: Case in point, I Googled "psychopharmacology" and this image came up on the first page. Songs about sex seem almost as popular with rockers as having sex on drugs... while listening to rock. Anyway you slice it, the sinful trifecta of pleasure had been done.

But what of songs about drugs? Not nearly as many as about sex, and they have always tended to be more cloaked in mystery than in outright bragging joy. Out of curiosity I compiled a mix of songs when I noticed that so many particular drugs were mentioned by name--which seems to be a relatively recent development, far as song writing goes.

These are listed in chronological order. In general, there's clouded discussion starting in the late 1960's and 1970's to the well-known illicit substances at the time. With poetic metaphor, description and nicknames for the drugs of the era, acid (LSD), cocaine, marijuana and heroin were sung of in terms of various degrees of love/hate relationships. Should the topic of a song be called into question, it could all too easily be passed off as a cryptic tune about a lover.

As we progress into the 1980's, we see the appearance of those old standbys come out as more boldly spoken about, especially in the context of getting rehabilitated for addiction. "Angel dust" (PCP) peaked in popularity in the early 1980's so it should be no surprise that this song was written then (imminent to the group's disbandment).

In the 1990's, however, the drugs get more complex, as do the songs about them. Newer, "designer" drugs (Ketamine, Ecstasy) and commonly abused name-brand prescription drugs, most commonly painkillers, (Thorazine, Dilaudid) make their rise in music. The question is, is this a reflection of a rise in the use of said substances, or just a commentary on a culture that more openly tolerates discussions about it? (Perhaps, if you can answer this question, you deserve the Master's degree and not me.)

Finally, in most recent years we see a longing to return to the days when drugs were just the medicine in great-grandpappy's medicine kit. Morphine? Codeine? I'm waiting for a song about whiskey being used as a toothache cure before the year is out.

The Beatles - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.mp3

The Velvet Underground - Heroin.mp3

Black Sabbath - Sweet Leaf.m4a

Peter Laughner - Amphetamines.mp3

The Ramones - Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue.mp3

Odyssey - Angel Dust.mp3

Nirvana - Lithium.mp3

Eels - Novocain for the Soul.mp3

Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire - Tea & Thorazine.m4a

The Magnetic Fields - Take Ecstasy With Me.mp3

Jolie Holland - Old Fashioned Morphine.mp3

Placebo - Special K (Timo Maas Remix).mp3

the Mountain Goats - Dilaudid.mp3

John Vanderslice - Tablespoon Of Codeine.mp3

Sia - The Girl You Lost To Cocaine.mp3

Finally, one for the namesake of this post:
Firewater - Psychopharmacology.mp3

Another quick cover

A most adorable/heart-breaking duet:
Yeah! Oh Yeah! - John Vanderslice & St. Vincent (Magnetic Fields cover)