Creating a playlist of 14-16 different, new, upcoming artists is really difficult when all you can do is listen to one of your favorite artists. I promise, this week's playlist will be different. Minus one Frank Turner song. But just one. I swear! He's just too awesome to not play. I mean come on, look at him (and his band The Sleeping Souls!)....
And here's a bonus for you all! At 1:28, the single most exhilarating moment of my life: crowd surfing at the Bowery Ballroom show last November, shouting the words to the last song of the set, Frank looking right back at me. That was probably one of the top five best nights of my life so far.
I have made it official, March is now declared Frank Turner Month on Discover the Undiscovered, therefore blogging about Frank Turner is acceptable and relevant to the show.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
And just because I love this guy so much, here is me and Frank Turner after my 8th time seeing him live. I really hope you all listen to him.
Discover the Undiscovered is generally aimed towards playing artists that are lesser known, but the last show was a bit different. In honor of the fact that I was seeing one of my favorite musicians this past weekend, I made a playlist of some of my favorite songs. I also had my good friend Calie Richards, hailing from Concord, New Hampshire as a special guest! Here's us lookin' snazzy in the studio.
And while I will still post a review of the playlist, I just want to take a moment to discuss how much I love my favorite musicians. I honestly do not remember what life was like before I had all of them in my life. Right now I am referring to Frank Turner who Calie and I saw in Atlantic City opening for Dropkick Murphys on Friday and I saw once again headlining at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn last night. If I had to pick a genre I would say he is punk, folk, rock, if that makes sense. But you really have to listen to him. At the show last night I was talking to a man in his early 30s. He basically confessed his love for Frank to me, sounding like a 14 year old girl, but not in a bad way. It just shows that amazing musicians who work their asses off and love what they do can have fans of all ages who love them equally. Standing in front of these musicians live and just watching the way they hold out notes, run around the stage, jam out on their guitars, drums, basses, and keyboards and the overall energy they have, just shows how much they love what they do. Watching Frank last night, I just couldn't get the smile off my face, I shed tears of happiness, I literally feel the warmth in my stomach of that happiness, and I thought about how I want to be surrounded by these beautiful people for the rest of my life. I know that not all musicians are like Frank, but it's the types like him that I want to surround myself with. Anyway. I could seriously go on about this forever, so I will leave you with the playlist for show #5, some of my all time favorite songs and artists:
Roses by The Rocket Summer is my adventure song, by one of my other favorite bands who I also love to death and could go on about for ages.
The Real Damage by Frank Turner. Frank just has a way of writing a beautiful song that makes you want to sing along, dance, and laugh at the same time. Seriously, if you listen to the lyrics this song is actually sort of funny. It's a true story!
Stutter by Marianas Trench. This song cannot be listened to quietly. I blast it in my car quite often. I just love songs that make you want to dance and scream your lungs out.
She by Green Day. My first favorite band since I was 14, this band always has a special place in my heart. This is one of those songs that I was whatever about for a few years, but once I saw Green Day live (I think I'm up to 14 times now?) I gained this great appreciation for this song when I realized Mike Dirnt, the bassist was staring me down as I was having the time of my life.
Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas by Brandon Flowers. The Killers are also on my top 5 favorite bands. As I've mentioned before, I went to Vegas to see Brandon Flowers play a solo show last April. I basically listened to this song on repeat during the flight there. I'm sure I will be again when I return to Vegas at the end of this month for Spring Break!
Gives You Hell by All American Rejects. Whill AAR aren't one of my favorite bands, I really do love them and represent a good chunk of what I listened to in grades 8-11 (not that I didnt listen to other music also). This song came out just at a time when I was super bitter about my ex-boyfriend who treated me like crap, and it felt so great to hear this song and sing along to it.
This River Is Wild by The Killers. I first heard this song when my best friend, who is the reason that I love The Killers sent it to me in the Spring of my senior year of high school. We had just met online, started talking and decided to be roommates our freshman year of college right away (and yes, it was a great choice). She told me that she thought I would love this song, and she was right. It always makes me think of her.
Me and Mia by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. I've loved this band since I was 15 also. Not exactly at the same level as my top 5, but Ted Leo (who sometimes plays solo) is most definitely up there. I've seen him 4 or 5 times and every time was spectacular. He's another musician who works his ass off and is still one of the sweetest guys I've ever met. I actually saw him and Frank back to back, 3 days in a row last year which was awesome.
Schizophrenia by Jukebox The Ghost. A band I just recently discovered a few weeks ago, but I cannot stop listening to them. I really want their CD but I can't find it in stores and I refuse to buy a full CD on iTunes, especially when it's a band that I really love. They need to come back around to New York so I can see them.
The '59 Sound by Gaslight Anthem. I really got into Gaslight last year and they basically were the soundtrack to my first semester at Purchase last Spring as a first semester sophomore. I bought my best friend and I tickets to Bamboozle solely to see them and Frank Turner and it was so worth it. All of the money spent and hours traveled for concerts always been worth it even if they were short sets. Nothing compares to live shows, seriously.
Reoccuring Dreams by Coyote Campus. I'm so happy to have such great artists on my own campus that I can actually see for free and book on my own to play. As I mentioned, Coyote Campus played at The Stood two weeks ago and this song was just a massive singalong. It was magical, seriously.
Highway 101 by Social Distortion. I'll admit that I really only know a few of Social D's songs, but I absolutely love this song. I listened to it on repeat driving from San Francisco to Sacramento when I went to California for the first time when I was 16. That's one of those moments in life that I will hold close to my heart for years to come.
Spitting Venom by Modest Mouse. I wasn't always a huge fan of this song. My ex boyfriend who I mentioned previously had "dedicated" it to me while we were dating and because it wasn't such a good relationship, after we broke up it actually upset me to hear this song. But years have passed since then and I eventually realized what a beautiful song this is. Actually the entire album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank is amazing.
Worse Things Happen at Sea by Frank Turner. And in honor of my Frank filled weekend, I ended the show with another one of his songs. Calie actually has this one tattooed on her ankle. Everything this man writes is just so wonderful and I really hope that you all take a listen to him after reading this. Just in case you're one of those people who are too lazy to look him up, here's another one of my favorite songs by him. Hope you enjoy!
This past weekend was the best weekend I have had this year so far and I say this thanks to some super talented musicians at Purchase.
Let's get started...
•The first song on the playlist was All The Money Or The Simple Life Honey by Dandy Warhols. I've liked them for a while now and this just seemed to fit as a great opening song.
!!! The next three songs are from Purchase bands that played at the Stood on Friday !!!
•The second song played was Sweet Nothings by The Bearing, a band made up of two guys named Mark and Joe. They're cool dudes looking for a full band to play with so if you play drums or bass or something like that, hit them up!
•Chelsea Lynn sings the song You & Me. She played with her band, Chelsea and the Sea on Friday. Spoke with her after her set and she told me that she was going to contact me about having her music played on the show after I handed out some flyers in her class. To her surprise, I'd already done so!
•Greg's Wine by Coyote Campus. I have played this band a few times before on the show and they've recently become one of my favorites. I even had my friend who is a senior in high school singing along and dancing at the show after she'd only been listening to their music for two days. Check out some pictures I took of them!
•Once again, I have a great appreciation for well done pop music and this Canadian band, Hey Ocean singing Make a New Dance Up literally makes me want to dance. They also remind me of Metric, so the next song is....
•Front Row by Metric.
•Can't Speak by Lost In Society is more alternative rock. I've noticed that over the past few years I've began to lean towards more indie pop and rock and gone away from listening to alt rock. Whatever those genres mean. But I still love all of it.
•Dawn Metropolis by Anamanaguchi was a request from my friend April... she fell asleep and missed the first half of the show. WAY TO GO APRIL. NEVER PLAYING REQUESTS FOR YOU AGAIN. Just kidding. But really.
•Light & Day / Reach for the Sun by The Polyphonic Spree, you may recognize from the soundtrack of The Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. That movie is absolutely amazing and it's not surprising that it's got a pretty great soundtrack too.
•Camilo (The Magician) is by another Canadian band called Said The Whale. Why does everybody hate on Canada? CANADIANS ARE GREAT.
•Let's Go by Paul Otten is next. I'm currently helping out another musician with promoting himself and social media work. One of the sites I work on with him is a site called Taxi which is great not just for musicians to promote, but for people like me to find bands I'm interested in.
•Pretenders by LESANDS is another Freeindie.com band. God, I love this site. And this song. But I don't really understand why their band name is in all caps...
•It's A Beautiful Life, a cover by Jukebox the Ghost. They are just so freaking good I couldn't resist but play another one of their songs.
•I Ain't Tryin' to Die (It's Just My Style) by The Strumbellas... once again Canadians! I played another one of their songs on my first show but I've gained a lot of listeners since then, so I thought I'd replay them.
•Shake It Out by Florence + The Machine. Yeah, I know everybody knows Florence + The Machine, but this song was used at the end of a super dramatic recent episode of How I Met Your Mother and it was so perfect for the scene that I couldn't help but play it.
•Young Glass by Hey Rosetta! I found on Grooveshark. I felt this was an appropriate ending song. I really need to get more of their music too.
WELL THAT SHOW #4 OF THE SEMESTER. TUNE IN THURSDAY AT 8PM FOR ALL NEW MUSIC!
