Revisiting Wisely

You know when you buy an album because you really like the single that was released and then you find out that the rest of the songs aren't as gripping/iconic/wonderful?

Yeah. I feel that way about Wisely's self-titled album, but for whatever reason I'm giving the man (hereafter called Wisely since there doesn't seem to be a wikipedia article about his music- shocking! Does he really exist?) another chance. Plus Covenant would be analyzing his song "Cracked Worldview" all up and down. It helps that I just finished reading two chapters of Andy Crouch's book "Culture Making" and worldviews/mindscapes were discussed.
The world is not changed by analyzing alone; culture must be made. I like how Crouch emphasizes the practical over the theoretical but at the same time gives some theory as background for the more dealing-with-material-stuff measures he encourages.

Also, the lovely "Pam" (her name escapes me...oh...Jenna Fischer! yeah!) on The Office loves Wisely--and (sadly?) this is another reason why I bought this album.

If you have a minute you should look up "Through Any Window" from this album.


Oh, and I start learning to record for WKLT tomorrow! Yay!

Songs I fell in love with this summer.

Certainly going to play these on some show, sometime in the future:

Carina Round - Backseat
- a Brit with a lovely voice; this song is a departure from her other albums that have more of a Patti Smith feel. The sound of the song is Spektor-esque and the piano+choir is absolutely wonderful.

Arkells - John Lennon
- Canadians. Can't look at Canadians the same way since reading IJ but this song has 1. an infectious chorus, 2. John Lennon references, 3. sweet keyboards. YES.

Electric Owls - Magic Show
- Xylophone+ the use of the word "clairvoyant" in the first verse = love

Queen - Don't Stop Me Now
- Really, I blame the wedding music video on this one. Particularly the /"I'm a tiger"/ segment.

Nada Surf - If You Leave (OMD Cover)
- I love the original song because of Pretty in Pink; I love this song because of the laconic feel.

Fleet Foxes (all of their songs)
- After seeing them in concert, this feeling is completely justified.

Pete Yorn - Lose You, EZ
- So why did it take me this long to get into Pete Yorn? I like sad songs.

The Darkness - I Believe in a Thing Called Love
- And I missed this when it came out back in high school. The lead's falsetto makes me laugh.

The National - like, all of their songs, but especially The Geese of Beverly Road, Start a War, and City Middle
- As another music-lover once wrote, "The National is no secret."

The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize?? and Fight Test
- The first song is now the official rock song of Oklahoma (the Flaming Lips' home state) and the second is simply delicious.

MGMT - Electric Feel
- Ridiculous lyrics+dance music. ("/I said ooo girl/Touch me like an electric eel/")

Michael Jackson - Baby Be Mine
- Glad to have been a fan before he passed away this year, but I hadn't listened to the whole Thriller album (!! awful of me, yes).

Sufjan Stevens - To Be Alone with You
- Haunting, simple, beautiful.


As a side note, I definitely don't claim to be on the cutting edge of music. There's just too much out there to keep up with (for me, anyway). Nevertheless I love sharing the songs that I find or others sharing new/old music with me.
For instance, a friend of mine is now a fan of Death Cab for Cutie and Fleet Foxes (she came with me to the concert) thanks to some rather vigorous encouragement (me and another friend). We were absolutely shocked that she hadn't really listened to DCFC, not so much concerning Fleet Foxes.
But that has been remedied-- hurrah for friends who contribute to your musical education.

All the pretty girls on a Saturday night

Currently streaming the debut album of fun. "Aim and Ignite" over myspace. I never did use myspace when it was super popular, but it seems to have evolved into some kind of music-dissemination+networking tool.

I was really sad to hear that THE FORMAT broke up; I did hours and hours of math homework singing aloud with Nate and Co. (I think his name was Ruess or some such). Nate's found a different Co. (including a full orchestra) and a different sound (which, thanks to the orchestra, is lushly thick and delicious) but he's still singing about love and belting out his clever word games.

The link for listening is here: fun.
So far, "Benson Hedges" and "I Wanna Be the One" are catching my ears. I probably should list all the tracks I've listened to so far; so far this album is golden.

Pick up THE FORMAT's albums "Dog Problems" and "Interventions and Lullabies" for some background information and general awesomeness.