SOUNDTRACK: MOXY FRÜVOUS-Bargainville (1993).
I first heard Moxy Früvous on an NPR weekend morning show. They performed “Johnny Saucep’n” (a tongue twisting a capella marvel) live and it blew my mind. And, lest I forget, these 4 guys do AMAZING a capella. Amazing. Their harmonies are simply magnificent. I immediately went out and got whatever their latest album was (Live Noise, I expect). And I worked my way back from there.
Bargainville is the band’s first disc. It is youthful and silly and is a good mix of their folky sound and their silly songs. Comparisons to Barenaked Ladies abound as they are both Canadian and “funny”. The Früvous funny is more witty than silly, although silliness definitively crops up.
I think of Früvous as one of my favorite bands because, without question, they have written some of my favorite songs. And yet, not every song is a favorite. But even the ones that don’t blow you away are solid and good.
I don’t have anything bad to say about this disc. In fact, it’s a great disc to put on with friends, and pick out the occasional great couplet. But I’m not certain that the disc will blow you away.
There are some outstanding tracks on here. “River Valley” is a beautiful acoustic track about saving the river alley and its drinking water. “Stuck in the 90s” is catchy as all get out” “Fell in Love” is a great song full of sweeping vocal moments. “The Lazy Boy” is another one of those great a capella moments that amazes. Its also a very silly song with references to Charlie’s Angels (the blonde one, the third one). In fact this whole section of the disc is fantastic. “My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors” is an amazing track about, well, books and authors. What’s not to like. See how many authors you recognize! It’s also amazing how catchy one can be with literary rhymes (Who’s pounding the ouzo? Mario Puzo).
“The Drinking Song” is one of their more serious songs and it is terrific. Substance, sadness, superb And, amazingly moving. “King of Spain” is silliness beyond belief. And yet, seeing this song live is a treat and a half. Plus how many songs get to rhyme “zamboni?” The disc ends with “Gulf War Song” an a capella song that is quite serious and very passionate. A fantastic ending to this disc.
Future discs would be a bit more serious, but this is a great start.
Oh and if anyone has a copy of the Indie Tape they’d like to copy for me, I’d love to get “Green Eggs N’ Ham,” which I hear on the radio from time to time but have never seen anywhere. Thanks Kids Corner for playing this track on WXPN in Philadelphia!
[READ: June 23, 2009] “The Crow Procedure”
This issue of The Walrus is the Summer Fiction Issue. It seems to be dedicated to “genres” specifically. Each story is devoted to a genre (and there’s even a genre fiction contest this issue). This first one is science fiction.
The twist seems to be that although the stories are in genres, they move beyond what we normally consider genre fiction. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: MP3 Radio Transmitter
I was looking for a solution to my broken CD Player and I recalled that there are these mini transmitters that broadcast your MP3 player like a radio station. The broadcast range is pretty weak, but it’s usually strong enough to go from your player to your car radio. In theory this allows for everyone to be their own tiny radio station which I find utterly cool.
SOUNDTRACK: Radio New York, WNYE, 91.5FM.
SOUNDTRACK: The Core: WVPH, 90.3 FM.
SOUNDTRACK: WRSU 89.7 FM.
Coming straight out of Rutgers University in New Brunswick (my grad school alma mater), this was the first station that I happened upon while I was scanning the lower numbers on the radio station.
I hadn’t heard of this book, although actually I’m sure I had–but I ignored it. Roy Blount Jr is on 
SOUNDTRACK: 89.5 WSOU.
This station is one that I used to listen to quite often back at my old house. It comes from Seton Hall University and it is an excellent resource for heavy metal. I haven’t tuned them in in about five years, and I was delighted to hear that they are still around and still rocking.
SOUNDTRACK: WRFF 104.5 FM & WRXP 101.9 FM.
The CD player in my car died. I have been listening to the radio these last few days. At first I was a little 
excited at the thought of listening to these stations that I so recently discovered. But let me say, when working outside in the yard, you don’t mind what the stations are playing as much as you do when confined in a car.
I had read this short book about six months ago, but decided to read it again before posting on it. The second time through was a much more satisfying read for some reason.
SOUNDTRACK: ——-
The CD player in my car died.
I also have 2 CDs in the player, and they won’t play or eject! The one disc is no biggie, Sabotage by Black Sabbath, easily replaceable and for cheap too. The other one, however, is The Tragically Hip’s Live from the Vault Vol. 4 which came free with their new album, 
We Are the Same. I don’t think it’s available anywhere (not even on their website yet). When I go in for my 60,000 mile tune up next month, I’m going to hope they can rescue it.
SOUNDTRACK: AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT-“Sometime Around Midnight” (2009).
I’ve been hearing this song on the radio a lot lately (WRFF especially seems to play it a lot). But they never said who it was! I liked it, but I was sure it sounded like an old song. Ack, but what was it? I kept coming up with a band called Dear Mr. President. And then I heard the truth. It was the Airborne Toxic Event.
SOUNDTRACK: BILLY IDOL
Billy Idol plagues my existence. Ever since he popped up on the scene (my first exposure was “White Wedding”) I thought he was kind of goofy. He has some kind of claim to cred and fame from being in Generation X, and yet I have never heard a song by Generation X and I never hear them mentioned anywhere except as being the band that spawned Billy Idol.
