Yes, you are already very aware that I love Muse. But sometimes you just have to vent or share and this is one of them.

I was feeling so downish while I was cleaning up after lunch today.  You spend the time to make a meal, you get it all ready and on the table, people come eat it, they leave, and you are left alone to clean it all up and get everything shiny again.  Then you know you just have to do it again in a few hours.  Also lingering in my thoughts was the dread of taking the kids school supplies shopping later today (not fun).

During all of this my iPod was on shuffle, then came those lovely little flitting notes followed by guitars and it was like smelling a rose on a warm summer night.  Everything in my body went into happy easy breathing mode.  “Glorious” by Muse may have actually changed my chemical makeup.

When this song is playing, I can’t tell you what time it is or if we have to be somewhere later, I mostly just crank the volume and drift along to it.  Do any of you have a song like that?

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I am married to the man of social media.  He (unlike me) writes on his blogs daily, usually more than once even.  His NewCommBiz blog is where he writes about social media and all things connected to it, and how it connects to all things.  I came across this post today and had to share with all of you how he related business to indie music.

Check it out

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It sort of feels like my brain has been probed. Its either that, or Mew created new songs that everyone is addicted to and craving constantly,humming and dancing to all the time.

Isn’t it great when you already love a band, they are already one of your favorites, and then they somehow improve when you didn’t think it was possible? That’s how I feel about Mew’s new EP “No More Stories.”

In particular are the songs: “Introducing Palace Players” and “Repeaterbeater” which you can listen to here.

On a side note, I learned on facebook that Brian of “Brian Scary and the Shredding Tears” is going off to pursue other things musical.  Good Luck to him, and I am so bummed that I will never see them live now.  Oh well.

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While Tac was living in WA in the bachelor pad, the kids and I were still in ID for about a month & 1/2, so they could  finish school and I could get the house ready for moving out.  I had zero spare time for fun stuff like finding new music, but Tac had a bit of time to do as he pleased.  Graciously, he spent some of that time at the music store and he came back to ID to pick us up with a Matt and Kim CD.

I had never heard of them before, but that should mostly be attributed to the fact that I never listen to radio stations or any thing of that nature.  I know that I am missing out on some good stuff, but the rest of it is so putrid,vile and ordinary that I can’t stand it.

Matt and Kim is way cool, its like really good breakfast cereal.  Naturally sweet, a little crunchy, doesn’t get soggy too quickly, and you generally want another bowl, knowing that you will most likely be having some for a snack later in the day as well.  (I hope that analogy worked for you, even if your’e  not addicted to cereal like I am)

Maybe this video will help if the cereal didn’t.  Seriously can’t get enough of this, thank you Tac!

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OK,  here’s the situation (my parents went away on a weeks vacation…Will Smith) Ha ha, I have no idea how that just happened, but it really did, please tell me I’m not the only old person who actually remembers when that song came out.

Actually the real situation is that I am kind of a slacker and haven’t blogged in a wee bit, partly because we moved to the Seattle area this month.  Issaquah to be exact.  The whole moving thing is never fun, but we are starting to get back in our normal life groove and I actually had time to blog.

I am happy to be writing again. 

Our new house

I wrote about Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears 2 years ago, or so (if you followed that link I just made I hope you are listening to “The Zero Light” right now, what a fabulous song!).  Since then they have made another album called “The Flight of the Knife.”  I never wrote anything about it because I had just blogged about them, but we have been listening to that album at least once every day for weeks now.

Our house essentially turns into the stage for a musical when they are playing; singing, dancing and overall cheerfulness.  I don’t think I want to try and describe the music, you can figure it out yourself, and I hope you do because it has several of the best characteristics of different types and ages of music all in one, however it DEMANDS and DESERVES a second listen.

The kids favorite song is “Purple Rocket” because 1) its so awesome 2) we are reading a book called “Georges Cosmic Treasure Hunt” by Stephen Hawkings and his daughter Lucy, that is all about space and rockets n’ stuff.  This book has “blasted” Bryan Scary into our daily music fun.  I very much recommend this book and the one before it to any parent looking for something to read their kids this summer.

I somewhat obsessively check Bryan Scary’s concert dates hoping so very badly to see them live someday, so far they seem to stick to the east coast, but I’m comforted by the fact that Seattle offers me a much better chance than Boise ever did.

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Basically at this point it has been so long since last I posted that I am doing a big blogging faux pau, and writing about all kinds of stuff at one time. Tac, my social media expert and husband will not totally love it, but what are you gonna do? Besides, he’s too nice to say anything.

So much has been happening in the land of music! I haven’t been writing about it, but I’ve sure been thinking about it a lot. I feel overwhelmed at the thought of trying to play catchup and making separate posts for all this, hence the all at once.

Image via Wikipedia

First of all, I love White Lies and their new album To Lose My Life. Of course Scary Larry told me about them. Tac and I both have listened to then a ton. They are best loud, but quieter works too.

Cover of Tale to Tell

The Mummers have turned their EP “Tale to Tell, part 1″ into a full length album. Seriously, if you haven’t, please listen to them and feel the love, and if you didn’t like them the first time TRY AGAIN! They added 4 wonderful songs, of which I am so impressed with all four. When I am in the mood for pure beauty and magic I turn to them.

My daughter got an iTunes gift card and I was so proud when she bought some more Relient K (her favorite band) and an EP from HelloGoodbye (the one with the avocado on the front). She is adorable.

Jimmy Chamberlain left The Smashing Pumpkins! And, I’m totally excited about it too. Why not be happy about it, since its that or be upset. I am entirely hopeful that Billy Corgan will just crank out some wonderful things with a new creative juice or something like that. I also wish the best for Jimmy, he is amazing, I love his work with The Pumpkins, but like I said earlier: I choose optimism over sadness and despair right now. Plus, I really love Adore, and that was done without Jimmy for all you non-pumpkin nerds.

Image via Wikipedia

The Silversun Pickups have a new album, Swoon, and it has made me very happy. One of my favorite songs is called “Growing old is getting old.” My brother Adam is turning 30 today, so I am dedicating this to him. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM!!!! I am saying this is going to one of the albums on many people’s “best of 2009″ lists. I just keep listening, and it gets cooler every time.

If you are still reading: “hey thanks.”

And Happy Late Birthday to you, Larry!

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Say Hi’s new album “Ooohs and Ahhs”  has been played a lot at our house this last week.  Say Hi is one of the bands that validates to me why I can’t live happily without  having the music playing.

(What a difference from the band featured in my last post; Tinted Windows, who have some talent but choose to use it poorly and not find a better singer, not to mention the superficial lame lyrics.)

Say Hi appeals to everything in me, in a soft melting all over you and leaking inside the cracks way.  The music doesn’t interrupt or enter abrasively, but it gets into your head all the same.  The lyrics are sometimes hard to understand, you have to really be listening to understand them, but the cool thing is that every once in a bit you finally figure out what he is saying and its one of the wittiest things ever.

How can the lyrics keep being so genius, and original?  That is what I was asking myself while buying this latest album, slightly worried that it couldn’t be done.  Yah right, “Oohs and Ahhs” is pretty much supercalifragilistic.

Also, Say Hi is touring right now and BEST OF ALL, I will be seeing them next month!  I am thrilled.  Please see them here for their concert schedule if you would like to see them, or listen to “November was white, December was Gray” from the new album.

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This is kind of a short post, mostly I just wanted to see what you think about it.  James Iha formerly of  The Smashing Pumpkins is finally in another band: Tinted Windows.   I just listened to their new song, Kind of a Girl, here.

Over all I would say they are musically talented for sure, but the lyrics? (to this song anyway)  Not so much.  It was too bubble gum for me, but that is what they were going for I guess, so they did a good job.  I was hoping that it would be better, so James could feel cool too.  He’s kind of like the ex-girlfriend that wants to look super hot and be all that, next time she sees her ex-boyfriend (Billy Corgan) at a party.

Prediction: Kind of A Girl, will surely end up on the soundtrack of a Disney-type tween movie.

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About 5 years ago our friend Nick recommended the band Sparta to me. I bought their album Wiretap Scars; listened to it, liked it, but never took it beyond that. I always really liked the album, but didn’t play it all that regularly.

I absolutely love to play my ipod on “shuffle” and just let it randomly pick the songs. Its such a great way to hear all your music, and I get kind of excited to hear whats coming on next. Every single time Sparta plays I get that naggy feeling of “why don’t I listen to these guys more?” So I did. Even better, I found out that they have three other albums I didn’t know about. I’m really looking forward to checking them out more.

Sparta on David Letterman

Cut Your Ribbon video

I’m pretty sure Rich Taylor is a fan, how about you Scary Larry? Anyone else? Hope you likeee.

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How many of you saw the Super Bowl commercial featuring The Smashing Pumpkins new song “FOL,” (Feel Our Love)? I didn’t see it during the actual game, but still I watched it several times.

You can download the whole song for free here, if you’d like. I love it, there is some real energy in this song, you do kinda “feel it.” And you end up singing it repetitively, maybe that’s what happened (Billy got his own song stuck in his head when he wrote it). Seriously though, I was a little nervous when I heard the new song would be released through a car commercial, I can’t really even think of a logical reason why.

After hearing it, and it is straight up Pumpkin goodness, I realized how silly that was. Because its actually really cool; I just got a great song from Billy for free. Take that Corgan nay-sayers, he was creative and managed to get paid for his work, but his fans didn’t have to be the ones to do it.

After listening to that one song many times, today I listened to a shuffled mix of everything Smashing Pumpkins (yes, Billy, I do listen to entire albums) and at once my super fandom was totally validated when “Bye June” came twinkling out of the speakers. That was followed by “Rose March” and I was as happy as I was the first time I listened to Siamese Dream.

(Below) enjoy some “Bye June” accompanied by some wonderful pictures taken in Scotland.

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