Something Sweet :: Acting Normal

Acting Normal
(in a line)...

This particular local group has become a new favorite of mine - mainly because my friend Susan Tanabe (last one on the right) is in it :P But also because they are REALLY GOOD! It has been a long time since I've seen a group of people that really just know how to jam and have a good time on stage, and these folks sure do know how to entertain! Accompanying the sweet vocal stylings of lead singer, Michael Valentine and Susan (standing next to each other) are a trap set, hand drums, a cello, keyboards, and guitar (with the occasional mouth trumpet - my personal fav!). I am very excited to go to more live shows by this group, but also to buy their EP when it comes out in March (hopefully!!!). Valentine and Tanabe's vocals blend very well together, and you can tell that this particular group experiences many moments of musical communion with one another.

Valentine's voice sort of reminds me a little of Death Cab For Cutie singer Benjamin Gibbard, specifically in that 'I can listen to this guy sing for a long time and not get annoyed because he's actually genuine rather than whinney, plus he's super cute and very talented' sort of way. :D What sets Acting Normal apart from most other local bands is that not only are they very talented musicians that work well together, they have a very tight sound. They are very well put together and not just your average thrown together garage band.

If you're ever in the Twin Cities area and can happen upon a show of theirs, (they've performed at Acadia a few times already this year...) you should totally make it happen.

Unfortunately, I can't embed any of their music on this site, so you'll have to click HERE to check out a couple of their songs - my personal favorite is the first one called Something Sweet. To find out more about Acting Normal, click HERE (I recomend checking out their site for all their funny promo pictures as well - they are funny!)

So, I hope y'all enjoy.
The end.

Love, Meggo.

(Me and Susan rockin Pirate faces and hooks.)

Chicago :: Sufjan Stevens

I've been on a bit of a Sufjan Stevens kick. I really admire how he arranges his music, I love his voice, and one day I would love to be badass enough that I can wear cardboard wings on stage and have no one be surprised or confused.
This particular song, Chicago, has a really beautiful arrangement, and I really enjoy the lyrics. One interesting aspect of some of Sufjan's music is a spiritual/theological underpinning to some of his songs. Another example would be "all the trees of the field will clap their hands." In "Chicago," the lyrics "you came to take us, to recreate us" kind of have a theological slant to them, even so I still really love the song.
My favorite verse of the song is
"if I was crying
in the van, with my friend
it was for freedom
from myself and from the land
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes"
I feel like as humans we all make mistakes, and admitting them is key to learning from your mistakes, and becoming better. In addition, I like the idea of if I was crying, it was for freedom from myself and from the land. I don't think it's ever possible to be free from yourself or from where you come from, but I can understand that desire.
Anyways. Disjointed post, but it's the last week of classes of my senior year of college so I think it's understandable. Happy trails!



I fell in love again
all things go, all things go
drove to Chicago
all things know, all things know
we sold our clothes to the state
I don't mind, I don't mind
I made a lot of mistakes
in my mind, in my mind

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
all things know, all things know
you had to find it
all things go, all things go

I drove to New York
in a van, with my friend
we slept in parking lots
I don't mind, I don't mind
I was in love with the place
in my mind, in my mind
I made a lot of mistakes
in my mind, in my mind

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
all things know, all things know
you had to find it
all things go, all things go

if I was crying
in the van, with my friend
it was for freedom
from myself and from the land
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
all things know, all things know
you had to find it
all things go, all things go

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
(I made a lot of mistakes)
all things know, all things know
(I made a lot of mistakes)
you had to find it
(I made a lot of mistakes)
all things go, all things go
(I made a lot of mistakes)

Boy With A Coin :: Iron and Wine

It was lovely to be graced with the presence of six of the regular posters to this blog in my living room on Saturday and I thought I'd show off my tune for the week. I was and am super jazzed about this song and the video especially. Then wouldn't you know it, when everyone was piled expectantly on my couch...the sonuvabitch wouldn't load. So here it is now, by golly.

After watching it once, I set out to learn who made the movie, cuz its subtle beauty blew me away. While hunting, I found out that this song has actually been out for months and American Eagle even plays it on TV screens in their stores. *Hurmph* I still haven't learned for sure who made it, but I DID learn that Sam Beam (stage name "Iron and Wine"...after a bottle for "Beef Iron and Wine" suppliment that he saw in a drug store once) is actually a film maker and a former professor of cinematography at Florida State University. He wrote and 8-tracked songs in his spare time and it was by someone else's suggestion that he started making EPs of his collected recordings, and then much later started doing albums in a studio.
So chances are, this film is his doing....which makes him even cooler.

One of the reasons I flipped when I first saw it is cuz flamenco dancing really tugs at my gut strings. I got to see the troupe of Maria Benitez perform in Santa Fe a few years ago and it felt like we were witnessing a conjuring or some kind of miracle because the intensity and fluidity of everything about the music and movement made me believe that they were making something happen to the world by dancing that way. And this video drove home the idea that God might just be a flamenco teacher - fiercely beautiful and worthy of my stillness - just to witness her grace and how it turns the earth and whatnot.

To my lovely drag-ballers....MAN it was great to see you!!! XOXOXOXO

A boy with a coin he found in the weeds
With bullets and pages of trade magazines
Close to a car that flipped on the turn
When God left the ground to circle the world

A girl with a bird she found in the snow
Then flew up her gown and that’s how she knows
That God made her eyes for crying at birth
Then left the ground to circle the Earth

A boy with a coin he crammed in his jeans
Then making a wish he tossed in the sea
Walked to a town that all of us burn
When God left the ground to circle the world

Break Me Out :: The Rescues

sometimes, there are just artists out there who you can get enough. most of the time, if you dig an artist, you buy all their music, go to their shows, spread the word about them, and enjoy them on a daily basis.

sometimes, there are artists out there who can't enough of makin music. i dig these kinds of artists...because it means that i get to listen to their solo stuff and their band stuff...it's double the pleasure, double the fun...almost as much fun as doublemint gum.

anyway, that's what my new favorite singer, Adrianne, did.


she got together with two other people:
Gabriel Mann


and Kyler England


and formed the band: The Rescues.


i really dig this group. they have great vocals and harmonies, and instrumentals. what i enjoy most about this song is its ability to make your pulse race and your feet movin...it's a song that i think a lot of people can really relate to the feeling of wanting to just get away. sometimes you just gotta break out and run and do something different...

anyway, below is a acoustic version of my favorite song from The Rescues...they're jammin.

so, enjoy!
the end.
<3,
meggo.


Break Me Out::The Rescues

my empty room
crowded too soon
i look for the fire escape
i picture myself
runnin like hell
makin my getaway

there was a cavin in with no warnin
the ship is sinkin
i gotta swim for it
i'm runnin out of air

break me out tonight
i wanna see the sunrisin anywhere but here
come with me, oh, this could be
the only chance we get
we gotta take it
if we don't do it now, we'll never make it
lose this crowd
oh, break me out

stare at our feet
sneak down the street
some kind of secret race
they'll carry on
won't notice we're gone
so easily replaced

there was a cavin in with no warning
the ship is sinkin
i gotta swim for it
i'm runnin out of air

break me out tonight
i wanna see the sunrisin anywhere but here
come with me, oh, this could be
the only chance we get
we gotta take it
if we don't do it now, we'll never make it
lose this crowd
oh, break me out

there was a cavin in with no warning
the ship is sinkin
i gotta swim for it
i've got a feelin we're better off anyway
i don't care what they say

so, break me out tonight
i wanna see the sunrisin anywhere but here
come with me, oh, this could be
the only chance we get
we gotta take it
if we don't do it now, we'll never make it
lose this crowd
oh, break me out
break me out!

Jetpack :: Jill Sobule

As I write this I am moments from heading to the airport fly to Ecuador to visit a friend. Travels are clearly on my mind. Thus, in honor, although my means of transportation will be the airplane, I thought I'd post a song about a more unconventional means of traveling. This song is a favorite of mine and Meghan's and is from Jill Sobule's 2004 album, Underdog Victorious, which is an all-around fantastic record. At any rate, this song is deliciously ridiculous in that we all know we've wished for a jetpack at some point in our lives...

The video is a slide show that I'm guessing a fan made, accompanying a live acoustic performance of the song. Enjoy.



Jetpack :: Jill Sobule
If I had a jetpack the first thing that I would do
Is fly above the gridlock and come to you
I'd peek into the windows on 5th ave.
to see how the other side lives

And if I had a jetpack I would strap it on
I'd get out of this one room and I'd be gone
To where they're real houses and big front yards
If I had a jetpack

I'd take you up with me
at least we'd both be free, past the statue of liberty
In my jetpack

If I had a jetpack, I'd fly over the bridge
I'd wave to all my friends who thought I'd never rise again
I'd fly over the stadium to watch my team win, watch my team win
And if I had a jetpack, I'd bust into your door
take you by the hand to the Jersey shore
and underneath the moonlight, you'd want me even more
cause, I'd have a jetpack

I'd take you up so high
If I dropped you, you would die
but I want you by my side, in my jetpack

I don't have a jetpack. I don't even have a car
I just have this token and a head full of stars
I wish you didn't live up town so far
cause I don't have a..........jetpack

She Gives Me a Feeling :: Nat Jenkins and The Delmars

I decided I would hop on the "music I found on myspace" blogging train along with Meggo and Brenda. Unfortunately, if you want to listen to the song I'm blogging about, you'll have to actually go to myspace to listen to it. I know, it's a lot of work. If you go to Nat Jenkin's Myspace Profile you can listen to several of his songs, but in particular I'm blogging about the song "She Gives Me a Feeling," so if you are so inclined you should go listen to it.

Nat Jenkins and the Delmars are from Britain, and I don't even know if they have any recordings for sale anywhere. I've looked online but I have failed. As such, I also haven't found any lyrics online and I don't really have time to listen to the song over and over trying to figure out every lyrical nuance of the song right now.

I enjoy all of the songs they have on the myspace page, but "She Gives Me a Feeling" just got my attention. I think part of it is the backing singer/accordion player, Natalia Tena. You can gaze on her lovely visage in the image to the left. I'm gonna out myself here, and admit that I'm a bit of a Harry Potter nerd. The books were integral reading in my adolescence, and they are also one of the few things my sister and I still have in common aside from genetic material. Nonetheless, Natalia Tena happens to play the character Tonks in the movie "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." As you can imagine, when I found out that she not only acted, but could play the accordion, sing beautifully, and also play the guitar, I was impressed.

Aside from the excellent inclusion of Natalia Tena in the band, I enjoy the folk tune touches that the violin and accordion give their songs, without going overboard and ruining the overall indie rock vibe of the music. While I already gushed about Natalia, her harmonies are excellent additions, especially to "She Gives Me a Feeling."

Anyways. If you've got time and are interested, check out his myspace page and give it a listen.

Great Divide :: Hanson

Last Saturday, December 1, was World AIDS day. Perhaps I should have written this post last week, in advance of that day. However, I wasn't quite ready to come out of the musical closet, so to speak. Dylan and I sometimes like to joke about this when we talk about our appreciation of this particular band (Sorry, Flunker – I'm outing you, too). We like to say, "You know, there are just some things that you can't share with the people around you – things you have to keep secret from your friends, and from your family... This is one of those things..." And then we'd usually launch into some entirely absurd cover of "MMMBop."

But right now, I'm not interested in a flashback to the 1990s. Like I said, Saturday was World AIDS Day, and since most of us who write for this blog are passionate about music and about social justice (often simultaneously), I thought I'd take a moment to talk about the song "Great Divide." Last year, on World AIDS Day 2006, Hanson released a new single that they'd recorded with two children's choirs in Mozambique and South Africa after becoming interested in the movement to fight global AIDS. The song is available on iTunes – and here's the best part - all the proceeds from its purchase go to the Perinatal HIV Unit at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, South Africa. In addition, while on tour this fall to support their new album, The Walk (2007), Hanson has been making speeches and organizing barefoot walks in every city they've played in, to raise awareness about global poverty and encourage people to become involved in AIDS activism.

Let me take a break for a moment. I imagine some folks are having trouble digesting all of this. Social justice, global AIDS awareness, activism, and Hanson!? I was as surprised as anyone else. But, then, it appears that Hanson, despite being three silver-spoonfed white boys from Oklahoma, aren't the strangers to social activism that we might presume them to be. In fact several years ago, after becoming disgusted with the corporate music industry and the massive media mergers that occurred in the late 1990s, Hanson left their major label and started their own, independent record label. They made a documentary about the experience, called "Strong Enough to Break." It's a far cry from "MMMBop."

So, in honor of World AIDS Day, in remembrance of the 25 million people who have died of AIDS since 1981, and in solidarity with the 22.5 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa who are currently living with HIV or AIDS, I am posting the song "Great Divide" and encouraging folks to download it and spread the word.

More information on the global AIDS epidemic: http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm ; http://www.fightglobalaids.org/

More information on HIV/AIDS in Africa: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/africa/2000/aids_in_africa/default.stm; http://www.avert.org/aidsinafrica.htm

More information on the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, where the proceeds from "Great Divide" go: http://www.chrishanibaragwanathhospital.co.za/bara/index.jsp



Great Divide
The earth is shaking under siege
And every breath will meet its fate
Still we hunger for a moment of freedom
Even though the hour's late

I find hope and it gives me rest
I find hope in a beating chest
I find hope in what eyes don't see
I find hope in your hate for me
Have no fear when the waters rise
We can conquer this great divide

When every eye is on the fortune
It can only breed contempt
They say blood is thicker than oceans
Still we box our brothers in

I find hope and it gives me rest
I find hope in a beating chest
I find hope in what eyes don't see
I find hope in your hate for me
Have no fear when the waters rise
We can conquer this great divide

And we're gone
And we're gone
And we're holding on
And we're holding on
And we're holding on

I find hope and it gives me rest
I find hope in a beating chest
I find hope in what eyes don't see
I find hope in your hate for me
Have no fear
Have no fear when the waters rise
We can conquer this great divide