I'm sitting here listening to the first single from Coldplay's new album "Viva La Vida, or Death And All His Friends". The song is called Violet Hill. It starts with 40 seconds of noise... but after that, it's amazing... and it's track #1 on this week's Jalpuna Radio playlist.

Violet
05/05/08 - 05/11/08

1. Violet Hill | Coldplay
   
2. Mr. Richards | R.E.M.
   
3. Smoke Detector | Rilo Kiley
   
4. Something In That Mess | Justin Currie
   
5. It Beats 4 U | My Morning Jacket
   
6. Ode To LRC | Band Of Horses
   
7. Levels of Light | Sleeping At Last
   
8. Thick Black Mark | Andrew Paul Woodworth
   
9. Ghost | Rogue Wave
   
10. Wet and Rusting | Menomena
    
11. The Kids Don't Stand A Chance | Vampire Weekend

I'm really enjoying Justin Currie's album "What Is Love For" lately. That one took me a while to get into, but if you like the song posted above (...Mess) you'd probably dig it. For me, it's a recent iTunes purchase.

I'm also really hooked on Band Of Horses lately (thank you Multnomah County public library!)

The look on this cat's face is priceless. And, awe hell... as long as I'm posting mindless crap...

...this made me laugh out loud. I wish I could say I'm better than that. More sophisticated maybe. It doesn't matter because clearly I am not.

It's very late.
It's very dark.
City lights twinkle through open windows.
A cool breeze guides their way.
The world is quiet.
It sounds like this.

Worrisome Heart
04/28/08 - 05/04/08

1. Worrisome Heart | Melody Gardot
   
2. Lady | Regina Spektor
   
3. Today Has Been Ok | Emiliana Torrini
   
4. All At Sea | Jamie Cullum
   
5. Live Long | Kings Of Convenience
   
6. Lake Shore Drive | The Innocence Mission
   
7. Red Rabbits | The Shins
   
8. Sparks | Coldplay
   
9. Sideways | Citizen Cope
   
10. Flightless Bird, American Mouth | Iron & Wine
    
11. No, Surrender | Justin Currie
    
12. Caught in the Rain | Jay Clifford

Like a warm drink
it seeps into my soul
Please just leave me
right here on my own
Later on you could spend
some time with me
If you want to
all at sea

- Jamie Cullum, "All At Sea"

The playlist begins with Melody Gardot's "Worrisome Heart" which is still on iTunes as a free track today. If you haven't downloaded it yet, you really should.

In case you're not aware, iTunes offers up a free song every week, and very often they suck somethin' awful - but every now and then, the freebie is something special. This week's free song is by Melody Gardot. It's called Worrisome Heart. All I can say is wow.

Click. Listen. Enjoy. Then, go to iTunes and download it!

My home.

Anyway... it's Monday, which means it's time to post a new playlist. For no particular reason, this week's list features songs with wind instruments. Give it a listen. You'll get it.

Winded
04/21/08 - 04/27/08

1. Horn Intro | Modest Mouse
   
2. All The Money Or The Simple Life Honey | The Dandy Warhols
   
3. Wish I Was Skinny | The Boo Radleys
   
4. Heart In Me | Cordero
   
5. Can't Hardly Wait | The Replacements
   
6. Hard To Live In The City | Albert Hammond, Jr.
   
7. For Sure | American Football
   
8. Deathbed | Relient K
   
9. Keys Out Lights On | Jenny Owen Youngs
   
10. Ice on the Wing | Nada Surf
    
11. The Shining / Everybody's Stalking | Badly Drawn Boy
    
12. Spitting Venom | Modest Mouse

By the way - I really wish Reliant K weren't quite so heebie-jesus. Deathbed is a cool song, but they lose me towards the end. I'm always amazed by the things people actually believe in terms of religion. It's all mythology to me, and since I have no problem with enjoying a song about someone else's mythology, I have no problem posting one. So there you go.

I first heard of them when I started listening to Slacker last fall (if you haven't checked out Slacker yet, you really should. Bad name - great site). Thanks to the Multnomah County Library, I got a crash course on Black Rebel Motorcycle Club when three of their CDs in my hold list were available at the same time. GAH! Too much goodness to quickly absorb at once! Too much... too much!

I've been on a twang binge for the last few weeks, and loving every minute of it - hence this week's playlist.

Twangpuna 5
04/14/08 - 04/20/08

Devil's Waitin' | Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Hammer & A Stone | Seven Mary Three
Chasing Ghosts with Alcohol | Gomez
Best For The Best | Josh Ritter
The Man | Pete Yorn
Here We Are | Patrick Park
Fireflies (with Rachael Yamagata) | Rhett Miller
Stand Still, Look Pretty | The Wreckers
Two Tons | Dirty Martini
Crazy Mary | Pearl Jam
Mississippi | Train

If that Wreckers song piques your curiosity, consider yourself warned: the rest of their album is the worst kind of bubblegum country, and it even fails at being that. I had trouble just making it to the chorus of most of their songs before skipping to the next track. Lucky for me, I picked it up at the Library.

I thought the two of them really summed up the day before and after a move.

Moving out is the worst. It's filled with sadness and introspection. Good times were had in this apartment, not to mention how gorgeous the apartment is. This was the most amazing looking home I've ever had, despite its problems. I'll miss it.

Moving *IN* is the best! It's a time to create a new home and celebrate the opportunities and possibilities that come with a fresh start. I couldn't be more excited!

My day tomorrow will be an exhausting combination of the two.

Whoooo...

...and with that final thought, I shut down my Mac, unplug and untangle cords and then pack pack pack the rest of my stuff up.

Goodbye for a few days!

Oh, and who found who's hair in whose bed?
I'll tell you that it told me more of you
Than you did

That's track #11 on this week's Jalpuna Radio playlist.

Honey Diction
04/07/08 - 04/13/08

1. Honey And The Moon | Joseph Arthur
   
2. Split Needles | The Shins
   
3. King Sized Doubt | Gingersol
   
4. Slow Fade | Wheat
   
5. Gimme Diction | Christians & Lions
   
6. We're Not Alone | Dinosaur Jr.
   
7. Throwin' Shapes | Minus The Bear
   
8. If You Talk Too Much (My Head Will Explode) | People In Planes
   
9. Am I Only | Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
   
10. Aqueous Transmission | Incubus
    
11. Who Found Who's Hair In Who's Bed? | Owen

The other real gem this week is Honey And The Moon by Joseph Arthur. Thanks to the Multnomah County Library, I've become hooked on his stuff, not to mention Black Rebel Motorcycle Club... and so many others.

I have a neighbor who considers the grocery store to be an endless source of culinary inspiration. I've caught her browsing for christ sake. Her fridge loves her dearly because she constantly brings it all sorts of fridgeable treats. It greets her with a soothing hum, as if to say "Store a wedge of cheese? And some sausage too? Don't mind if I do!"

My fridge makes more of a hubbubbubbub sound when I'm around because it's pretty much empty. Why would I collect all sorts of things to refrigerate when the grocery store across the street already does that for me? This logic is lost on my fridge.

"Hubbubbubbubbub..."

In case you haven't figured it out already, hubbubbubbub is fridge speak for "hhhhmmmpt!" I actually tried to teach it to say "hhmmmmpt!" since I thought that might sound more like an enthusiastic fridge-hum, but my GE Spacesaver saw right through that plan.

The beauty of moving to a new apartment is that I get to start a whole new relationship with a different set of kitchen appliances. Believe me, I won't make some of the mistakes I made with this fridge.

My first mistake was naming it Buck Rogers. "Get it? It's because you're a space-saver. A SPACE saver. Get it?"

"...hubbubbubbubbubbubbub."

"Your manual also says something about you being Low Profile. Does that mean you're supposed to be incognito? ...I ask because you're not."

"...HUBBUBBUBBUB!!!!"

That joke was mistake #2.

I realize refrigerators are cold by nature, but personality-wise, this one is particularly cold.

God do I love the internet. Everything I could ever want to know is on that thing, and it's all 100% accurate. It has to be - it's written down for chrissssakes.

Today's marvelous find which inspired the above post: a modified version of The Periodic Table:

It's the Table of Condiments That Periodically Go Bad.

Awesome!

Navigating
03/31/08 - 04/06/08

1. Walcott | Vampire Weekend
   
2. Kid Gloves | Voxtrot
   
3. It's About Time | Barcelona
   
4. Canister | Elephone
   
5. Screendoor | Illinois
   
6. Fountain of You | The New Amsterdams
   
7. Clean Breaks | Dashboard Confessional
   
8. Confessional | Raine Maida
   
9. Alphabet Soup | Bell X1
   
10. Left And Leaving | The Weakerthans
    
11. Navigating The Stars At Night | Mike Doughty

I'm posting another old Bell X1 song this week. Their 2006 album "Flock" is finally being released here in the U.S.! (Typography question: am I supposed to include the second period there? The one after the "S" but before the exclamation point?)

"Alphabet Soup" is from their even better 2004 album Music In Mouth.

Cheer me up!
Cheer me up!
I'm a miserable fuck!

...no - no I'm not - but I'm listening to this week's playlist as I type this, and Voxtrot's "Kid Gloves" is on. Ooh, so catchy.

Cheer me up!
Cheer me up!
I'm invisibly stuck!

And speaking of catchy... if "Screendoor" by Illinois doesn't have you singing "Well HELLO All my baby babies" there might be something wrong with you. Seriously.

By the way, I should note that while writing this, I found out who Walcott is. God I love Wikipedia.

Over the past few days, Portland has flung just about everything imaginable at my windows. Rain. Sleet. Snow. Hail. Poo.

Are the windows asking to have these things flung at them? Are they trying to put on a show - as if to say "You'll miss us when you're gone!"

I can only wonder.

By the way, did I say big? Something huge? I meant GIANT!

The crap-splatter easily stretches over two and a half feet long! And since I'm on the 4h story with no openable windows in that part of my apartment, it's not going away unless the rain washes it away.

Yucko!!!

Thanks a lot bird. What did I ever do to you?

I'm in a difficult mood tonight.

I had to give notice to my landlord today, letting him know I'll be moving out next month. Some way to spend Easter, eh? Well, I've had four or five colds during the past twelve months plus a case of bronchitis, and that's more illness more than I normally experience in a period of years. I believe these are related to a flood my building experienced a year and a half ago (and the high humidity my place has had ever since... and mold?).

Luckily, I found a new place to turn into a home. It's a bit cheaper than where I am now and has a wonderful view, but it's not as sexy as the loft I'm now renting. The decision to give up such a gorgeous and creative space was very difficult. There were so many pros and cons to weigh, but really, the pros are appearance and the cons are health related. I put off making the decision to move until the absolute last moment, and that moment is tonight since I'll be signing a lease on a new place this coming week.

Enough about that... I'm sure I'll go into it in detail later. Now it's time for a new playlist, so... are you on my side? (see track 4)

bones possessed
03/24/08 - 03/30/08

1. The Sound Of Settling | Death Cab For Cutie
   
2. Face | Bell X1
   
3. Kiss Kiss | Yeah Yeah Yeahs
   
4. Are You On My Side | Rogue Wave
   
5. See These Bones | Nada Surf
   
6. The Moneymaker | Rilo Kiley
   
7. Erase You | DJ Shadow Feat. Chris James
   
8. Degausser | Brand New
   
9. A Single Explosion | Matthew Good
   
10. Parting Of The Sensory | Modest Mouse
    
11. I Will Possess Your Heart | Death Cab For Cutie

NOTES!

Hey hey hey... there's a new Death Cab For Cutie CD on the way. It's called Narrow Stairs and it'll be released on May 13th. I can't wait. OK, I can, but that's only because I have to. This week's playlist opens with a track from my favorite Death Cab album, 2004's "Transatlanticism" and it closes with the first track released from Narrow Stairs. Check it out. The album is getting rave reviews, but time will tell.

Another favorite this week is "Face" by the amazing Irish band Bell X1. I've been posting their songs here for two years, and FINALLY, their 2006 album "Flock" is getting released in the U.S., which means they're working singles I've beaten to death for two years. GOD! I'm so ready for something new... but since they've got nothing new, I'm posting something old. "Face" is from their hard to find 2002 album "Neither Am I."

And one more worth highlighting - the ever so difficult "A Single Explosion" from Matthew Good. His latest album "Hospital Music" is suuuuuuuuperb.

Blood...

...great.

"Did you have a cut in your ear?" asked the person holding the pair of scissors that unexpectedly contained my DNA.

"...you mean, before just now?"

Lesson learned: Haircuts are $21, but ear cuts are free.

I didn't get my haircut, but I still ended up in the chair for what felt like an eternity. Even better, I'd even waited a half hour for the opportunity.

...great.

The bloody shirt goes in the wash. The bloody ear goes to Urgent Care.

"You're going to feel a prick" said the doctor as she poked a needly containing a tetanus shot into my arm, "and then later you're going to feel like you got punched."

"Yeah, well I don't usually fight Mike Tyson."

"It won't hurt that bad!"

I explained that I was referring to the ear wound. File that joke under Humor For One.

All I wanted was a damn haircut - which, by the way, I never got. Three snips of scissors was apparently one too many.

I'm not bitter. Accidents happen. I just wish this particular one hadn't happened to me. I can't help wondering what the next person waiting for a haircut thought as he watched me bleed in the chair that would soon be his.

...hhhhhmmmmmmm.

Basically, a song caught my ear and I decided to build a playlist to follow it. That song in question is... well... click the playlist. Within five seconds - literally FIVE seconds - you'll know where I'm going with this one.

Songs For Houses Of Cards
03/17/08 - 03/23/08

1. Broken Levee Blues | DJ Shadow
   
2. House Of Cards | Radiohead
   
3. I Never Try That Hard | Crash Test Dummies
   
4. Give Me A Sign | House Of Freaks
   
5. Dirty Magazine | Joe Henry
   
6. Casual Walks | Matthew Good
   
7. Green Gloves | The National
   
8. Gone Away From me | Ray LaMontagne
   
9. Fault Line | Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
   
10. Moon | Dada

The title to this post is taken from the song "Moon."

The night before the moon died
you realized
You had your chance to make it right
You had your chance to change your mind
You had your chance to save your life
but you never did