Category: Music

I heart music

Posted on

iHome We got this iHome iPod speaker at Office Depot yesterday on sale for $30.

We’ve been looking for something like this for awhile but I don’t know about you, most of the units being sold are ugly, not to mention expensive. My brother paid nearly $200 for a speaker for his iPod which I think is insane. We didn’t need anything fancy, just something small for the bedroom and this fit the bill nicely.

The remote is especially useful. No more getting out of bed to skip tracks! ;)

Oh and did I mention it charges the iPod too?

Yay or Nay

Posted on1 Comment

I called in sick today because my stomach has been doing flip-flops ever since yesterday afternoon. I don’t think it is food poisoning since I’ve only eaten my own food which Joe has also eaten and he’s fine. Perhaps it’s a stomach bug? Or can iodine give you issues? I had a CAT scan with contrast on Friday. Would it take that long? I drank plenty of water as advised.

In any case, I “slept” until 9:30-ish this morning when my director called to check on me since apparently my boss had called in sick and no one was sure if I had as well. I’m sure I will have a heck of a time sleeping tonight now, but my stomach wasn’t allowing me to sleep well last night either so I was exhausted. Getting up every few hours to…. well, you know, isn’t fun.

So that would be a nay for the stomach issues.

But here is a yay: Scrubs returns on January 6th, but on ABC. I’m not sure if this is the final season, but if so, at least we should get some closure.

Nay: The State DVD set still has no release date. I really can’t wait for it; I just hope it’s as funny as I remember.

Huh?: These are the best albums of 2008? Well, either I have poor taste, or this magazine doesn’t have a clue.

Nay: Pownce is no more as of December 15th. It’s too bad, because although I didn’t use it much (because friends weren’t on it), I did like the concept.

30 Seconds to New Music

Posted on1 Comment

This weekend I actually purchased a few CDs from the used book store. I got 2 double cd sets, 3 regular cds, and 3 singles for $12. Not too shabby, although so far one double set has proved to be disappointing. But I still enjoy having a physical CD as opposed to downloading tracks, particularly if there’s more than two songs I want to hear.

That’s why I love the library. It’s try before you buy. And when I was there the other day I was playing a little game where I pick a CD from a band I’ve never heard of before based on the cover art being interesting. This one just happened to be “A Beautiful Lie” by 30 Seconds to Mars. I started listening to it today and I’m really getting into it. I recognized the song, “The Kill” from the radio, but the real excitement was the track “Was It A Dream?”. It reminded me of another band… and then the following track contained the lyrics “Maybe tonight we can forget about it all. It could be just like heaven.” Gee, you think they’re Cure fans?

The Nightmare Before Cure-mas t-shirt   Robert Smith?

Speaking of The Cure, their new album comes out tomorrow. I’ve been itching to order it from Amazon.com but didn’t want it shipped separately from a few other items I’m planning on getting so that order will be placed tomorrow. I can wait to hear it because quite frankly after buying and listening to all the singles my expectations are low. I’d love for them to prove me wrong, of course.

My music recommendations for the week:

A Beautiful Lie by 30 Seconds to Mars
4:13 Dream by The Cure
Enter by Russian Circles
Big Beach Boutique II by Fatboy Slim

Stories of The Cure

Posted on2 Comments

Awhile back one of the Cure fan sites I visit was asking for submissions from fans on how they got into The Cure. I submitted mine and quickly forgot about it.

Today the fan site linked to a blog where everyone’s stories have been posted. It’s called Secrets – The Cure Fan Special. Here’s my story, but be sure to check them all out!

I’m 32 years old and I’ve been into The Cure since I was 15. I remember the very first time I ever heard a Cure song – My high school boyfriend and I were at the local Wendy’s and he asked me to listen to Just Like Heaven. I recall not being entirely thrilled with it, but he insisted I borrow Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. I agreed to give it a chance and took it home. It quickly grew on me and in no time I was completely obsessed with this brilliant band. My boyfriend made a few copies of his cassettes while I slowly built my own collection by asking all my relatives to buy me nothing but Cure albums for Christmas and my birthday.

I still remember the thrill of getting a new-to-me album and the shivers I’d get from a particularly engaging song (such as Mixed Up’s version of A Forest). I currently own all their albums (on cd now, of course), as well as some bootlegs and collectible vinyl, and I’ve seen them four times in concert so far (once at Wembley Arena in England which was a dream come true). Even after all these years they are my #1 favorite band and I can’t foresee that ever changing. That being said, I’m not a blind fan – I feel some of their albums are weak (Wild Mood Swings) while others are quite solid (Faith). I will always have a soft spot for their earlier work, although I’m really looking forward to their new album as well as seeing them live next month in Chicago.

(From: Nicole, USA)

Cure Concert

Posted on1 Comment

What a fantastic show (not that I expected anything less)! 3 hours of Cure-filled goodness.

Here’s the setlist. I bolded the songs I enjoyed.

Plainsong, Prayers For Rain, alt.end, A Night Like This, The Walk, The End of the World, Lovesong, Pictures of You, Lullaby, The Perfect Boy, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, Hot Hot Hot, Sleep When I’m Dead, Push, Friday I’m in Love, Inbetween Days, Just Like Heaven, Primary, Never Enough, The Only One, Wrong Number, One Hundred Years, Disintegration

1st encore: If Only Tonight We Could Sleep, The Kiss
2nd encore: Lovecats, Freakshow, Close To Me, Why Can’t I Be You?
3rd encore: Boys Don’t Cry, Jumping Someone Else’s Train, Grinding Halt, 10:15 Saturday Night, Killing An Arab.

Total = 34 songs.

Once again, I got screwed out of my Seventeen Seconds encore, but more on that later.

I was peeved on the way to the venue after seeing this, but once we got there and I saw where our seats were, I quickly got over it. For some reason I thought we were higher up and further back than we actually ended up. Our line of sight was quite excellent (other than the red-head who danced the whole time a few rows ahead, but I ended up sliding over to the empty seat on my left so I could still see Robert). We were close to the aisle too which made my frequent trips to the bathroom easier. I also gave into the evil that is Allstate Arena concessions and got a $4.50 bottle of water (which they put in a plastic cup, thus being even more wasteful) and $3.75 pretzel.

Oh and before I forget to document this, it is fucking FREEZING inside the arena. I almost felt sorry for the hootchie girls in their tank tops and capris, but not really. Who wears heels to a concert? Seriously. I had on jeans and my beloved Let’s Go To Bed t-shirt that Joe bought me when we were first dating after I lamented how I hesitated buying it from The Clubhouse the one time I saw it and the next time I went there it was gone. I’m not sure I’ve ever actually worn a Cure shirt to a Cure concert before so that was kinda cool. But I digress.

Even though dear Robert did NOT play my favorite song in the whole world, A Forest, which he played at the majority of the other shows, I still really enjoyed myself, particularly when a group of their faster more pop-like songs began with Friday I’m In Love. First off, the hearts from the single’s cover that spun around on the screens were so cute and they seemed to dance along to the music. Secondly, everyone was singing along even more so than any other Cure show I’ve been to (and this marks #5). The energy was just amazing! Check out this video someone posted over at YouTube.

That being said, I was a little disappointed in the second half of the show. Don’t get me wrong, it was still good, just not as good as the first half. Plus Robert completely butchered Disintegration. I mean, it was god awful. Clearly the worst song of the night and I love love love that song! After the song Robert said some words to the effect of something being “fucking awful” but I can’t make out a word that man says so I’m not sure if he was referring to the song or his voice since I read that he was having vocal problems. Wrong Number wasn’t too hot either and I don’t know why he seems to always play If Only Tonight We Could Sleep because that is one of my least favorite songs of the band’s and didn’t they realize I was there? ;)

The encores were a bit disappointing too as I was hoping for the classic Seventeen Seconds lineup – Play For Today, M, and my beloved aforementioned A Forest. I don’t get all the hub-bub over Lovecats but I seemed to be the only one as the audience went ape-shit over it. Once they got to the third and final encore, which were songs from Three Imaginary Boys and Boys Don’t Cry, I knew I wasn’t going to get my wish. Jumping Someone Else’s Train was pretty bad-ass, though!

Despite my moments of “what the fuck?” and slight disappointment, I’d still say it was an amazing show. The light effects alone were awesome and really tied well to the music. Their playing was impressive considering they no longer have a keyboard player. I love The Cure live and as long as they keep playing, I’ll keep paying Ticketbastard insane prices to see them.

—

Side note: We managed to avoid the hour-long trying to get the fuck out of the parking lot fiasco by parking in the back away from where everyone else was directed to park. I believe everyone used the South entrance while we used the North. I made my last trip to the bathroom during 10:15 Saturday Night and we stood in the concourse to listen to Killing An Arab. Once Robert said goodnight, we high-tailed it out of there and were one of the first cars out of the lot, nearly behind what we think might have been The Cure’s tour bus! It had a police escort and was headed to the airport so I can’t imagine who else it was. If it was in fact them, I’m impressed with how quickly they got out of there.