What's Playing, Volume 2
by Michele Christopher

Second in our new series: What Are You Listening to Now? Which is kind of like a challenge to us and all of you to be completely honest about what's in your player at the moment. Me, I play it like musical Russian Roullette by hitting shuffle and writing about what song comes next, so one day you just may see me being completely honest and writing about Air Supply. Play it how you want it. But we're being honest with you (sometimes, like today, it works out ok for both of us), you do the same. What's on in your world right now?

Turtle first:

Hah!

Once again we came out lucky. We just hit play on the machines and wondered what we were listening to last. Well for me, it was last night. See, what alot of you don't know is I try to sleep when Michele does to be up with her. Call it romantic or call it weird. Idunno. But sometimes that doesn't happen. I can't sleep. Or slept too much. Or need cheap tacos. Or I need to get dog food. Or she has to take her daughter and get coffee while drinking water.

*I just made fun of her accent*

And when I can't sleep, and she is sleeping, I type up other things on this site and cruise around on other sites. I just try to get tired. Try to wear myself out. And it works. But playing music at one in the morning really loud just doesn't happen. It usually is really soft.

So you guys get a story and I get to sleep. So it kinda works out. I've been limiting myself to writing at night to midnight, so this is just all background music. Just something to wear me out and put me down. Something that is soft and makes me wanna quit writing before midnight. The best part of my day is when I wake up, talk to Michele, then hit play to find out where I was the night before. It's kinda like the surprise out of a Cracker Jack's box.

You know it might suck. But you needed to find out what it was.

When Michele says whats on now. It's truth time.

The Business - Suburban Rebels (download)

What the hell was I listening to last night? I sit here and say how much I want to sleep then put this on? The hell am I thinking?

"Got lots of mouth when you're in a crowd
But when you're alone you don't speak loud"

Jesus.

Nice threat there.

Must have been a rough night for me. Gotta see if my dog is still around. That's the kind of stuff I listen to when I sleep? No wonder I am always speaking about jellied eels. But anyways, I got lucky. This is a great song about being from a ghetto, albeit an English one, and hating the upper class kids who thought they were like you. English ghettos. That sounds funny. I wonder if they have deep fried jellied eels and their dads all wore funny hats and cleaned words off the wall every night in their pub. Hersham 1969 still won't come off from that last night hooligan with a pen.

There is something about this song. Class warfare? Hating something you weren't in? Someone who thought they were better then you? I don't really know. But, it is something so angry that it always reminds me of growing up and being made fun of by the rich kids who were the same kids who bought drugs from me. Yeah, you can yell at me with five of your friends, but if you're alone and I see you, you seem to just duck your head. Where are the yells? Why aren't I a cocksucker anymore? What happened? Where did you go? You fight like Hell's Angels? The fuck is up? Yell at me! Dammit. Jeez. Pussy.

This is just about being someone who shouldn't be where he was. Getting called names when you couldn't do anything cause you would get your ass kicked. It looks like that gang bullshit that filled most of the California scene for too many years. I guess was the same scene in England.

*Stuck an obscure reference in there. See if you can find it!*


I guess the moral to the story is....

I listen to some weird music to sleep to.


So what are you listening to?
-- T

I don’t have access to my massive library of music here at work and that’s just as well, as there is less chance I will land upon one of those really embarrassing songs when we play this game. And my iPod seems, once again, to be dead (have I mentioned that I think iPods are pieces of crap?) so there’s no chance I will end up having to explain why the theme to St. Elmo’s Fire is in my rotation and that’s a good thing. For today’s “what are you listening to right now” challenge, I load up my smallish iTunes library and get......

Queens of the Stone Age - "Mosquito Song" (download)

Well this is kind of weird and maybe an omen of some sort? See, last night I dreamed about mosquitos. A swarm of them were buzzing in my ear. I woke up and my phone was vibrating under my pillow. Turtle calling! So maybe it’s not so much on omen as a coincidence, but if I come across any mosquitoes today I’m gonna be mighty suspicious.

This is the hidden track on Songs for the Deaf, which is the greatest album by one of the greatest bands ever. Yea, I’m kind of schizophrenic about my music. I’m all about the punk rock. And metal. And stoner rock. Yea, and 80's film soundtracks. But, Mosquito Song.

I fell in love with this song a long time ago, but got reacquainted with it last summer when I went through a hardcore Songs for the Deaf stage. I would get to the end of the CD and just keep hitting repeat on this song. Something about it. Something secret and dark and foreboding. The words. The music. His voice. Oh, his voice. All of us food, that hasn’t died. I had this CD in the car when I drove to upstate NY for a family vacation last August. Again, hitting repeat on this one song, driving through the dense mountains and winding roads of Roscoe, NY just as it’s about to get dark, the words perform a fitting tribute to the sounds that play over the music - a constant buzz that is not just one bug, but thousands and thousands of all different breeds of insects waiting for a body to pounce on, a dead animal to feast on. They come in from the waters when the lights go down, hiding from the bats that have come out for dinner. You roll up the car windows to drown out the sound, and to keep out anything that might be lurking in the woods because we all know that things lurk out here at night.

Fat and soft, pink and weak
Foot and thigh, tongue and cheek
You know I'm told they swallow you whole
Skin and bone
Cutting boards and hanging hooks
Bloody knives, cooking books
Promising you won't feel a thing
At all

This song is a horror movie waiting to be written.

So tell us what you are listening to now and hey, don't forget to go over and leave your suggestions for the most offensive punk song list.

Comments

Number Of The Beast - Iron Maiden

...I love Iron Maiden.

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misfits -- all hell breaks loose.

no surprize there. my playlist at work consists today of the misfits, the partisans, sister morphine by the stones, and the beatles why don't we do it in the road.

pathetic, in it's own way...

but.. uh... ya my whole world is kinda breakin loose here lately.

"all hell breaks loose. yeah my heart is a-breaking loose. yeah my whole world's breaking loose and evil is as does and who yea, but who but me could write this book of cruel..."

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Sugar "panama City Motel".

I gotta say i never got into Sugar like i did Husker Du. I think i have to have a fat buzz to really dig this particular song, too. I haven't listened to it in ages. Just loaded all my shit into winamp, hit shuffle, hit play.

It puts me in a certain time and place though, definitely. I lived in Phoenix when this album came out. It belongs to my Smart Half. But at that time, Phoenix was suffering through the throes of their very own Gin Blossoms (ok. Tempe. Same fuckin thing), and it sort of seemed like everything sounded like them.

But then all is alright, because next up is L7 and Joan Jett doing "Cherry Bomb" together.

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You can never, ever go wrong with Maiden.

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except when maiden covers slayer... then that's not so much fun...

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Currently in rotation: Damage Control - John Petrucci live at G3 in Tokyo. My work list isn't anywhere near as extensive as my home list but I do have about 3 and a half gigs here."

I love this tune. Petrucci's playing is very easy to pick out, he has a distinctive picking style and if that doesn't give it away his chord progression choice will.

At about 3:30 the song really kicks in gear and shows you why he is one of the planet's premiere guitarists.

And speaking of DT, their Maiden covers are very good.

(Just in case you couldn't tell I love Dream Theater and every member of the band.)

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I just can't get into Dream Theater, but I will always give props to Petrucci for being one of the best guitarists out there.

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If you can't get into DT for same reason as most people (the singer) I would suggest checking out Liquid Tension Experiment. It's John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy (DT drummer), Jordan Rudess (DT keyboards) and bass god Tony Levin.

They play all instrumental progressive metal jazz stuff. Amazing music.

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I don't see how one can pay attention to a Dream Theater song. Don't they have an album that's 80 minutes long with four songs?

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That's kinda my problem with Dream Theater and most prog rock. Back in the day I had the attention span for those epic songs (think Genesis, Supper's Ready), and that was probably just because I was too stoned to move.

Nowadays, I get bored with prog rock. You ever listen to Opeth? One time an Opeth song came on the XM station on my way home from work. I got stuck in traffic and stopped at the store and when i finally got home, the damn song was still on.

It's probably still playing.

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Happened to me once with a live version of Freebird. Eeeeeeee.

Maiden and Black Sabbath are the only metal bands I can take. And Dragonforce in small doses, cool music but the words are so cheesy.

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Just hit shuffle and got: The Last Gunfighter Ballad - The Man in Black

That's a good one! Nice job iPod.

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