Honorary Mentions of 2008

There were some albums that just didn't quite do it for us as a whole, but maybe they had that one really good song that we played on repeat. Here are (lucky number) 13 songs that we think deserve Honorary Mentions for 2008 (again in no particular order).

Polite Dance Song [mp3] - The Bird & The Bee (iTunes)
We couldn't stop blasting it everywhere, and although it technically debuted at the end of 2007 on the Please Clap Your Hands EP, it was put on the 2008 album Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future, so it still counts.
EDIT: So when I (lise) looked up this song on iTunes, the Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future was listed on iTunes with a release year of 2008, complete with song list and samples. Then I was reading Pitchfork's Guide to Upcoming Releases and was shocked to discover that that album is set to release for the first time later this month! Not believing my eyes, I immediately went back to iTunes and found that the Ray Guns album is no longer listed. So...either I was celebrating New Years really early without knowing it, or iTunes lies to us and then laughs fiendishly while we appear shame-faced to the rest of the world. Whatever. The song stays.

Be Mine Everyone [mp3] - Sam Champion (iTunes)
This catchy rock tune had everyone in the blogosphere talking (and dancing) this year. Em first heard the song when she saw Sam Champion perform at Prospect Park this summer and it still never fails to make us rock out.

Be OK (mp3 removed by request)  - Ingrid Michaelson (iTunes)
This song could've been another Hurt Myself-esque song, given different instrumentation and slower tempo, but Ingrid took these lyrics and made it a piece of upbeat catchy pop gold.

Kill The Lights [mp3] - Britney Spears (iTunes)
Simultaneously sexy and creepy, this is our favorite track off of Britney's rather fascinating, strange "comeback" album (personally, we liked "Blackout" better...)

Days Go On [mp3] - Greg Laswell (iTunes)
One of Lise's gfps, and a perfect example of how a song can carry a repetitious hook if it just keeps on moving forward.

A Song for Ellie Greenwich [mp3] - Parenthetical Girls (iTunes)
Parenthetical Girls brought in sounds from just about every era imaginable on their last album. This interesting single has stayed on our playlists since we got it in the summer.

Handlebars [mp3]- Flobots (iTunes)
This seemed to be the song that more people than you realized knew. All that needed to be said was "I can lead a nation with a microphone, with a microphone, with a microphone," and you'd hear someone else sing "and I can split the atom of a molecule, of a molecule, of a molecule."

Jager Yoga [mp3] - CSS (iTunes)
While it's no Alala or Music is my Hot Hot Sex, CSS still knows how to make a catchy dance tune.

The Stoop [mp3] - Little Jackie (iTunes)
We love our summer songs here at GFP, and this was definitely one of top. Nevermind that Little Jackie pulled in New York from Flava Of Love/I Love New York to do backup vocals (really?!?), this song is still great and makes us bob our heads along.

Losing Myself [mp3] - Brazilian Girls (iTunes)
We're not sure anything could top their 2006 hit Jique, but this is a fun, slightly dark, multi-lingual dance song anyway - Brazilian Girls' specialty.

Inside a Boy [mp3] - My Brightest Diamond (iTunes)
Haunting and dramatic. 'Nuff said.

White Shade [mp3] - Lukestar (iTunes)
This one took a little while to grow on us but now we're listening to it on repeat. Part breathy ballad sound and part sexy rock, this song has something for everyone.

Can't Shake It [mp3] - Kate Miller-Heidke (iTunes)
The relateable story of not being able to look gorgeous while dancing in the form of a wonderful pop-electronic hit from an Australian ex-opera star.

Dance Party - 8.10.07

A few things I'd like to say before I jump to the dance songs for the weekend. Number one, I would like a better name for this blog. So if you have any ideas, let me know. Particularly those of you reading this that know me. Because I would like it to kind of reflect me in some way, as well as having some connection to music and maybe (if possible) film. I'm kind of thinking something along the lines of "Guilt-Free Pleasures" because I like pop culture, and I often refer to it as a "guilty pleasure" because of all my indie friends giving me crap, but I've come to realize that no pleasure should be guilty pleasure and I'm not ashamed of liking popular things. Thoughts would be appreciated.

Number two, I realize I have a lot of trouble putting my thoughts about music into words. I know that might make this semi-stream-of-consciousness blog hard to read, but hopefully you're here more for the music anyway. The thing about music for me is that it's such an internal thing and it's really hard for me to explain (or even know for that matter) what specifically I like about songs. That's why you'll often see me talk about a band's energy and performance if I go to a concert, more than the actual music they play. This is going to sound cheesy, but music has always pulled more at my heart than at my head, so it's hard for me to explain things sometimes. It's more about feelings. So there's a lot of "this song is funny, this song makes me want to dance, this song is haunting" in my blog because it's hard to verbalize those feelings past that kind of vague level.

I think you'll find that I approach this blog more as if I was DJing than if I was writing about music. I post songs that I like that I think are appropriate for whatever the purpose of the entry is and that I think other people will like. It isn't all brand spankin' new or stuff you've never heard before, but it's also stuff that you haven't listened to in a while, or a lesser known song by an artist you already love, or even a really popular song of the moment that I love along with everyone else. And I'm probably one of the most eclectic people you'll find on the internet. Just look at the list of labels on the left and see all the different artists I've posted about in my one month of having this blog My tastes vary in range from Britney Spears to Atmosphere to Simon & Milo to Julius C to The Pierces to The Hard Lessons to Regina Spektor to The Beatles to Mozart. So hopefully, if you read this blog, you appreciate the variety of songs that I post, even if you have already heard of the artists.

Ok, so now for the music. Some dance tunes to get you grooving this weekend:

Alala [mp3] - CSS - "Cansei De Ser Sexy" (iTunes). Because when I wrote about their concert at Studio B on Monday, I had for some reason forgotten how much I love the song Alala and didn't post that one. I think this might actually be my favorite of theirs. Oh, and if you tried downloading Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above from that entry and it didn't work. I apologize. I fixed it, so feel free to go back and get it again.

Defcon [mp3] - Supersystem - "Always Never Again" (iTunes). This song is a frenzy of energy that never lulls.

Creepin' Up the Backstairs [mp3] - The Fratellis - "Costello Music" (iTunes). This song has an old feel to it. Maybe 1940s/50s? Not that I know how to swing dance or jitterbug but I imagine some type of dancing along that line would be fitting for this song. But at the same time, it has an updated rock twist. I'm a fan. In fact, this is rapidly climbing it's way up my list of favorite songs of all time.

And a music video, just for fun (MIA's new Jimmy, originally a Bollywood song apparently)


So there you go. Hope everyone's weekends are off to a great start. Tomorrow I will post a concert review of last night's Celebrate Brooklyn (The Teenage Prayers, The Big Sleep and The Hold Steady), which luckily didn't get rained out. Tata dahlings.

Shout Out Out Out Out Out Out Out Out Out Out...

Friday night was a free concert at Studio B. The bands playing: Dirty on Purpose, Shout Out Out Out Out, and CSS (Cansei de Ser Sexy - Portugese for "[I] got tired of being sexy"). Because it was a free concert, the line was a million miles long when I got there at like 9:15. (Doors were supposed to open at 9pm, and I had my friend Amanda's goodbye party to go to beforehand, plus I got a little lost in Williamsburg...). Now, Studio B is a nice venue and it's fairly big but it holds 1000 people and 3000 people or so RSVPed online. Luckily, a friend of mine who is super cool got me in VIP style (the same friend who embarrassed me at Anni Rossi, so maybe that makes up for it) so I didn't have to wait in line behind 500 or so people like I thought I was going to have to. Regardless of that, though, Studio B was packed.

Dirty on Purpose was... boring. And I hate to say it because they seemed like nice guys and their music was even decent. I'm sure I'd like listening to their recordings. But, as performers, they looked bored. Or maybe really really really high. But, by my criteria, if you're performing live, you'd better not look bored (high or not). Because that makes me bored. You have to look like you're having a blast and you need to have energy. The band member with the most charisma was the drummer (who was also kinda the lead singer I think) and I thought so even despite the fact that I couldn't see his face most of the time due to an inconveniently placed symbol.

Shout Out Out Out Out was actually quite enjoyable. While I knew I would like their music, I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of performance. I've never really seen any electronica band perform live, and I didn't really think it would be all that entertaining due to the repetitive nature of electronica and the fact that so much of it is often done on a computer. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of energy and fun they brought to the stage. As I suspected, some of the band members didn't always have that much to do, but they just danced around stage and had fun, so I was still quite pleased with them. I liked when they were like "this song goes out to anybody with student loan debt." That made me happy. Unfortunately, the lighting sucked so I couldn't really get any decent pictures (plus my camera sucks, which doesn't help...).

For the first two bands, the crowd was relatively tame (and therefore pleasant). A little moshing that spilled over into our area occasionally, but mostly everyone danced and had a good time and chilled. During CSS, however, all that changed. The mosh pit grew and spread, people were crowd surfing, and I got separated from my friend. Nothing like an obnoxiously rowdy crowd to ruin a good concert (for me). CSS was still good and had a great energy, but it was so hard for me to even pay attention to them as I was focusing on not being knocked over or kicked in the head. I'd much rather just dance in my own minuscule space and enjoy the music than mosh. I really don't understand the appeal of moshing. (and yes, I gave in and used flash... but I hate these pictures).

CSS is a Brazilian band, composed mostly of girls (which makes me happy because there aren't enough girl rock bands). The annoying thing was they took forever to set up and get ready. They covered the stage in balloons, which normally I might think was cool, but it made them start so late and so I didn't even get home until almost 3am (and I had to get up early the next morning). Anyway, they had a pretty awesome energy and it was great dance music. The lead singer crowd surfed at one point. And I don't know what possessed her, or how she even put up with it but she started out wearing a flannel shirt, two spandex body suits and then something underneath that. Periodically she would strip down a layer. I must've gotten stuck in the mosh pit between one of her costume changes because all of a sudden I looked up and I was like "that's not the same spandex body suit she was wearing before..." and I was a bit confused. But I don't know how she did it at first. It was so hot in that place. I can't even imagine wearing two spandex body suites. She is gorgeous though and she had awesome charisma. I kind of wish I was as cool as her. The guitar player also had really great presence. Once I got out of the mosh pit (which just seemed to keep spreading to engulf me no matter where I went), I enjoyed it a great deal.

I apologize for only having CSS, but you can listen to the other bands online with the links I provided you. I also apologize for not realizing that the link for the song Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above didn't work... I have reposted it for you guys. So here are a few songs by CSS:

Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above (mp3) - CSS - Cansei De Ser Sexy (iTunes)
Music is My Hot, Hot Sex (mp3) - CSS - Cansei De Ser Sexy (iTunes)

In other news, I auditioned for a game show today. Yup. Little ol' me who has no desire to be in front of the camera and have her 15 minutes of fame. But I want to win lots of money, so I did it. I am not really sure how it went. I did well (I think) with the physical audition part - which is ironic since that is the part I was most worried about - but there was a written test too, which I bombed. So we'll see. Either way though, I had nothing to lose by auditioning, so I went in just thinking "screw it." And I'm glad I did it. It's a story to tell and it was a good opportunity to challenge myself. Unfortunately I missed the free Blonde Redhead and I'm From Barcelona concert/pool party (and it was the perfect weather for a pool party too...). Oh well. Que sera sera. Tata dahlings.

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