Thanks, iTunes for the catchy title that I just ripped off. Apparently this lapse in blogging and my recent head-first plunge into Corporate America has sucked out all of my creativity. My life may be lacking an appropriate creative outlet at the moment, but it is certainly not lacking in fantastic tunes! It's been the summer of diversity here at A Musical Snack...my playlist has ranged from Passion Pit and Local Natives to Eli Young and Lady Antebellum! I guess that's what it means to be indie in Texas...but I do hate to label.
A very cool find for Dallas folks and web streamers alike is the new KXT radio station. A blend of cool music and the always trendy, yet old-school NPR world news, KXT's tagline is "Music to the Core" which you have to love. I still surf the airwaves for a morning dose of Alejandro, but it has revitalized my daily commute and made my cubicle life a little less droning and cliche by introducing fun, local bands and playing those artists that you never get to hear in a public setting.
Another sweet and budget-friendly find came to me from a little facebook birdie! Levi's brand has introduced a new concept they are calling Pioneer Sessions, where current artists re-craft unforgettable hits in their "Revival Recordings". Each week a new artist is posted with a remix of a classic and all are available as free downloads. When you get offered a free download, most people naturally assume a no-name artist butchering a song that you never really liked to begin with, but I'm talking She & Him covering "Fools Rush In", Passion Pit, Colbie Caillat, The Dirty Projectors, John Legend with The Roots, etc. etc. My personal fave is Ryan Bingham (you know, wrote the song for Crazy Heart) singing Otis Redding's "That How Strong My Love Is"...swoon.
"These recordings celebrate the most important part of music: The song, its influence and the inspirational effect on the generations that follow."
Go check out the site, read the stories, see the pics and download your favorites. Who can argue with that?
Spell check is trying to tell me that saling is not a word, but that's not going to stop it from being one of my summer favorites. I'm not usually one who is willing to rummage to find a bargain. I do enjoy my cheap stores, but places like Ross and TJ Maxx always overwhelm me instantly. However, this summer I discovered the art of garage saling. Or maybe I just learned to appreciate the thrill of the chase. Either way, I have some sweet new furniture that cost me next-to-nothing...and I learned how to use a power sander, so lookout.
Exhibit A:
When I found this, it was a dusty cube dressed in a bad '60's woodgrain with a piece of tape declaring its $6 value. Diamond in the rough, people! I stuck a "sold" sign on it before any of my fellow church fundraiser shoppers could snag it, and dropped it off at my brother's garage. A quick lesson with the power sander, a couple days' worth of stripping and staining and now this retro gem is my nightstand and book storage cabinet. (Also for your own future reference - wood stain will stain lots of things besides wood; shoes, shorts, grass, hands. Consider this my public service announcement for your own "fixer-upper" success. )
Exhibit B:
My desk, in all its Pottery Barn glory. After a long hard morning of garage saling with Kristen and Bailey (I'm talking up with the sun here) we made an unplanned and half-hearted stop by a garage sale we just happened to pass. It was after 9:30, which everyone knows is on the downhill side of a good garage sale, and we stumbled upon this piece hidden behind an ugly chair. I paid a total of $25 for it and didn't have to do a thing to it! Of course the inside of the drawer has the name "Audrey" carved into it in no less than 25 places, but that is a secret between me & Audrey, because no one else has to know.
Exhibit C:
A splash of windex and the swipe of a silver polish cloth can work wonders. This fancy little bathroom tray cost me all of 2 quarters...enough said.
By now I'm sure that you are well aware that nothing makes me happier than live music. Although I don't have pictures from all of them, here are my summer concert favorites.
Coldplay
Greg Laswell
I can't say enough about how much I love Greg Laswell's music. He's also a fellow Twitterer. Being the super fan that I am, I happened to notice early one morning that he had offered up some free tickets, via Twitter, to his Dallas show happening that night. I retweeted his message and sure enough, I was magic #15 which equaled jackpot! Not only did I get a personal tweet thrown in my direction, I also got my name on a VIP list with a plus one attached. The rest is history...this photo was taken on my iphone - no zoom needed for the concert-going elite like myself.
One of the great perks to the Texas lifestyle adjustment has been having a car! It's so nice being able to jump in, run your errands and enjoy a little personal space at the same time. And by enjoying personal space, I mean turning the music up as loud as I want (without annoying the person 6 inches from my face on the B train) and convincing myself that I could totally audition for American Idol if I only had the guts to sing like this in front of people. Because that's what everyone does when they're alone, right?
Right.
So in continuing with my favorite summer things countdown, it only makes sense that I would let you in on what I've been using to release my inner rock star.
4. Kings of Leon - Only By the Night I know what you're thinking - I bought that album last year; they won a grammy for it like 8 months ago; yada yada yada. Truth is, I've had this cd since January of this year - and I listened to the couple of songs that I knew, but I never fully bought into it. However, early on in the summer a group of friends talked about getting tickets to their summer tour. Never wanting to miss a concert, or risk being the one who doesn't know the lyrics, I popped the cd into my car stereo. And I haven't taken it out...in about 4 weeks.
It started with an obsession of the song Frontier City. Then I slowly branched out to Revelry, Manhattan, and Be Somebody. (Because Sex on Fire is so 2008.) The whole cd sounds great with my busted car speaker in the backseat. It might even be to blame...I'm not really sure how that happened.
My summer countdown would not be complete if it didn't include weddings. This weekend marked the end of wedding season for me this year. My whole Texas summer social calendar has been dictated by my blonde buddies’ wedding schedules. We’ve had parties and showers galore, but nothing compares to the thrill of the big day…even if you’re not the one taking the leap!
Mrs. Ali Schmid
Mrs. Stephanie Chapman
We kicked off the big events with a joint bachelorette party with a surprise spin...a spin around a pole that is! A great bonding experience for a group of innocent and out of shape friends. Let's just say that it's much harder than it looks and we left with an equal amount of bruises and laughs.
As usual, Robbie let the DJ know early on in the night that he would be the one calling the shots. From when to play "Disturbia" to the right time to dim the lights, Robbie always brings his A-game to make sure his friends have the most fun and memorable wedding ever.
I have to admit, it’s been a little difficult to keep up with my pursuit of new music when I’m not pounding the New York City pavement everyday with my earbuds. I’ve also had KISS FM radio to brainwash me into believing that there are only 10 songs out in the world right now; 25% of those being by Lady Gaga. You are wrong Kidd Kraddick, you are wrong.
That’s my short list of excuses for not keeping up with A Musical Snack this summer. And since I’ve woken up to realize that it’s mid-August and summer is nearly over, I've decided to give you a recap of all the things that I’ve loved this summer but was too selfish to share with you. In no particular order...
1. (500) Days of Summer
Love, love, love this movie. It's the perfect blend of romanticism with a heavy dose of reality. Throw in a great soundtrack that mixes Indie with 80's and I am sold! Unlike my usual self, I've only gotten to see it once (as I write this, I'm watching 17 Again for the fourth time), but you better believe I'll be buying it as soon as it hits the Red Box. It will charm your socks off.
2. The Time Traveler's Wife
Look out Twilight, there's a new love story in town...and it's a lot steamier. They say you learn something new everyday, and I've learned that I apparently have a weak spot for sci-fi romance novels. There's something so romantic and tragic about this story, and it's just downright creative. I'm a little embarrassed that I never know about these books until they've been made into movies, but brace yourself Nicholas Sparks, because this is the next Notebook. I'm about 80 pages away from being done and I'm stretching it out as long as possible...I'm always a little sad when I finish a book that's grabbed my attention as much as this has. But consider yourself warned - it can be a bit graphic...that's all I'm going to say.
You didn't think I'd lay out all 10 things in one post did you? I haven't blogged in over a month, give me a little credit for at least getting back on the saddle. And stay tuned, more witty and exciting entries to come...
No, I'm not referring to Christmas...I'm talking about summer concert season. It's the hap, happiest season of all!
Like most music enthusiasts, my friends and I start making summer concert arrangements early...very early. Thursday night I kicked off the season under the stars at the Dallas Arboretum with a great cover band, Emerald City. Any band that can pull off Journey and Black Eyed Peas in the same set has my undivided attention.
Already purchased and inked in the calendar for this year:
- The long awaited No Doubt comeback tour featuring Paramore. I'll be there with all the high school emo kids just hoping for a guest appearance by Kingston.
- The Fray. We saw them in college at a small venue before they blew up...I'm sure it will be twice as nice the second time around.
- The American Idols tour. Because who doesn't want to hear tiny Kris Allen sing Heartless in person?? Love him. I'm also excited about Scott, because we all know he was my favorite.
- Coldplay. Ah, Coldplay. My junior year in college, I waited in 108 degree weather for about 10 hours at the Austin City Limits Music Festival waiting for my first brush with Chris Martin in the flesh. SO worth it. For a band that has most of my mellow favorites, they put on a surprisingly energetic and thoroughly entertaining show.
- Taylor Swift. The concert actually sold out in presale, but I'm bound and determined to find a way to see her this summer. (I'm also tivoing her Dateline special!)
My devotion to the summer concert season runs deep. Last year, Robbie and I set out for the much anticipated Counting Crows, Maroon 5 and Sara Bareilles combo show at Jones Beach in New York. We left work early and braved Penn Station rushhour to catch our train. Loaded with our favorite gossip mags and beverages of choice, we checked the board (all New Yorkers know the rush of checking the board at Penn Station) and darted for the appropriate track.
In our giddiness we hadn't even noticed that most of our car was snoozing in business attire - which would have been a great hint that this was a commuter crowd, not a concert-going crowd. An hour into the ride, we looked up as the Conductor announced that we were arriving in Farmingdale and that it would be the last stop. To this day, neither of us is sure how we ended up on the wrong train, but however it happened, we were in the middle of nowhere. In a panic that we were going to miss Sara Bareilles' opener, and considering that we were lost somewhere on Long Island, we opted for a $55 cab ride to our destination. A tad frustrated, but glad that we were beating the clock, we jumped out at the gate as it started to drizzle over the water-front stadium. We raced to the ticket taker and high-fived each other for making it, when the guy stopped us abruptly and said "Dude, these tickets are for last night's show."
After further inspection we realized that yes, indeed - our ticket agent had sent us the wrong tickets and we were not being allowed beyond the gate. If ever there was a time that either of us was at a loss for words, it was that moment. We drug ourselves to the ticket window, misty eyed, to be told that there was nothing we could do but purchase 2 new tickets, twice the original price, for seats in the nosebleeds. We painfully forked over credit cards and finally entered what turned out to be a $200 concert.
All in all it turned out to be a great night and we've had lots of laughs about it since then. We may have only been able to see shadowy figures from our seats, but this moment alone made it all worth it:
As we crossed over from February to March this week, my mind also crossed over from winter to spring. Unfortunately, that pseudo transition was ushered in with 8 inches of snow and a temperature drop to the mid-teens.
I will not be discouraged.
In fact, I can’t think of a better time to set off for spring break!
Yes, I still feel entitled to a spring break. And as Kristen reminisced, our college spring breaks set the bar pretty high. The corporate world isn’t really on board with the whole “adult spring break” idea, so we’ve come to a compromise which consists of 1.5 vacation days and a red-eye flight. Thankfully, one of my best pals lives in sunny San Diego and was thrilled at the idea of spending a long weekend driving me around and putting me up on her couch! I’m excited to get out of the city and to be somewhere warmer, but mostly I’m excited about spending a weekend with Jordan and AJ!
As I'm counting down the days, my to-do list includes a mani/pedi, a white strips session, digging up my flip flops and busting out some upbeat spring jams. Something fun, beachy and very California…which is a big departure from the serious winter tunes that have been in heavy rotation for the past 5 months! Here’s what I’m thinking…
Also, if you’re taking a little A.S.B of your own, check out the prix-fixe iTunes spring break shuffle. And leave your spring suggestions in the comments – there’s still snow on the ground, so I haven’t really gotten in the groove yet.
