The Contented Cynic

The Least Wonderful Day of the Year

2008-01-20T19:29:00.000-08:00

So according to the AP, Monday, Jan 21st is the most depressing day of the year in 2008. Caught in the bowels of SDD and couped up inside while the winter chill keeps us chained to our thermostats we sit and quietly wait, on the verge of tears, for either the sun or some epiphony that turns our lives around. Fuuuuuuck that. Im punching winter in the face, and i'm fighting fire with fire, or ice with ice, or some other bullshit that means im going to depress my self out of depression, and im taking you with me. Here you go, the most extreme sad mixtape to suck you from your frozen dispair

The Beatles - Yer Blues (!!! It seems this file is beat...I will make it up to you with an accoustic version very soon, sorry! TAV)

Damien Rice - The Blower's Daughter (accoustic)

Billy Holiday - Stormy Blues

Charles Mingus - Theme for Lester Young

Daniel Johnston - Tears, Stupid Tears

Eels - I Need Some Sleep

Elliott Smith - 2:45 am

John Frusciante - Emptiness

Nick Drake - Been Smokin Too Long

Robert Johnson - Whiskey Blues

Ryan Adams - Dear Chicago

SeBadOh - Magnet's Coil (accoustic)

Animal Collective HOORAY

2008-01-04T16:14:00.000-08:00

Saint Louis, 9/24/2007

It takes about seven seconds to forget there is a crowd in the foreground of this recording. I decided to go the route of less talk/more music. My ego can always use a curbing anyhow...ENJOY!

Dancer With Flowers in Her Hair

Who Could Win a Rabbit?

Material Things (House)

WEEN August 1, 2006 State Theater Minn., MN

2008-01-03T12:22:00.000-08:00

Depending on who you ask (or what songs you've heard from them), Ween is the most underrated or most overrated band in the world. Here is the first half of a set from 2006 that gives you a taste of them at their best and worst...

She Wanted to Leave

The HIV Song

Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)

Now I'm Freaking Out

Light Me Up

Ocean Man

no beer and cigs make Matty go...

2007-12-16T16:09:00.000-08:00

CRAZY? Don't Mind If I Do! Due to my appendix going coo-coo bananas on me and some strange apendages strangling my lower intestine I spent a week inside my apartment without leaving (or drinking...or smoking...) after getting discharged...well, monday to saturday anyhow. Several of those days I couldn't stand up without help from my wonderful dickens fox-y wife. In case you are wondering what it feels like to have your pre-pooper operated on, it sucks. You shit your self pain free for three days, then you gain rectal control and the pain begins. I won't go into more detail that I already have...confessing to repeatedly shitting my self makes me laugh though, so there you have it. The point of this tasteful rant was not for sympathy, but more to set the stage for you, to give you a physio-insight to precurse the mental one. This time alone sitting made for a lot of i-tunes organizing. All I wanted to do was make sure when I hit the category "JAZZ" I'd get some Monk or Mingus...Well that did not happen. When I hit "Mingus" I get categories like "UNDEFINABLE" and "BOP-SPIRIT-ACID." I know, I know...If I had obtained these classics legitimately I wouldn't have this problem, but he who blah no blah among you blah the first blah. Seriously, the categories and comments some of you f*ers put on your songs are just stupid, and lets face it you f*ing hipster freaks, the only reason you put it there (and the only reason you're wearing that outfit, for that matter) is to achieve the status of acceptance from someone else you think would just love it if they saw how aloof and unconventional you were. So, on that note, let me say: I ACCEPT YOU, hell, if you're reading this I probably know you and love you. Do me a favor, If you have a jazz song in your library, just let it be jazz. I won't judge you, I'll thank you.

Here are three of the greatest songs in mu universe:

The Halo Benders-Virginia Reel Around the Fount

Built To Spill-Distopian Dream Girl

Stephen Malkmus-Baby C'Mon

The IPOD Map of the Human Mind

2007-12-05T16:37:00.000-08:00

This morning I read about a group of psychologists who use the libraries and playlists of patient's ipods to deconstruct their personality and hopefully unravel some hidden psychosis. Being incredibly amused by this, I recorded every song that popped up on mine while it shuffled through its 5000 songs at work today. I'm tired and I have a paper to write, so I'll just leave you with the task of picking my brain apart. Enjoy!

Buster Rides Again-MMW-Tonic
Heard it through the grapevine-Marvin Gaye-Every great motown hit of…
You-Mustard Plug-Cinema Beer Nuts (comp.)
Pappy Check-MMW-The Wiltern 4/19/02 (live)
Mahna, Mahna-Cake-b sides and rarities
Baby, we'll be fine-The National-Alligator
Barely Legal-The Strokes-This Is It
Catch Hell Blues-The White Stripes-Icky Thump
Dope Sick Girl-Rancid-Let's GO!
Sex Packets-Digital Underground-Sex Packets
Summertime-Nina Simone-At Town Hall
Love Hater-Andre 3000-The Love Below
Stand!-Sly & The Family Stone-Funk
Oh, Darlin!-The Beatles-Abbey Road
What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 4)-DJ Shaddow-Preemptive Strike
Cheers Darlin'-Damien Rice-O
Snowflakes in the Sand-Trey Anastasio-Higher Ground 1999 (live)
Strawberry Wine-Ryan Adams-29

(out of coffee…)

Kissing the Lipless-The Shins-Chutes too Narrow
The Ritual-Saul Williams-The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust
My Name is Mud-Primus-Pork Soda
Bring You Down-Moe.-No Doy
Entire Concert-Miles Davis-Sweden 11/24/73
I Wonder-Blind Melon-Blind Melon
The Thrill is Gone-BB King-Delta King
Wishlist-Pearl Jam-Yield
Moonlight Mile-The Rolling Stones-Sticky Fingers
Closer You Are-Guided By Voices-Alien Lanes
Velouria-The Bad Plus (Pixies Cover)-Give
Spoonman-Soundgarden-Superunknown
Trav'Lin'-The Modern Jazz Quartet-The Complete Last Concert
Handsome Johnny-The Flaming Lips-Finally, The Punk Rockers Are Taking Acid
I Shall Be Released-Wilco-Live
Unchained-Johnny Cash-Unplugged
The National Anthem-Radiohead-Kid A
Boo-Wah-The Bad Plus-These Are The Vistas
My Baby Quit Me-Leadbelly-Good Morning Blues
There Is No Greater Love-Etta James-Blue Gardenia
I Need Some Sleep-Eels-Divers
Children's Story-Black Star-Black Star
Take Meta Mars-the Harvey Girls-Our History Is Your Kitsch
Lounge (Closing Time)-Modest Mouse-The Lonesome Crowded West
Starman-David Bowie-The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
Vaseline-Stone Temple Pilots-Purple
Glad-The Wood Brothers-Ways Not To Lose
Not For You-Pearl Jam-Vitalogy
dance the night Away-Cream-Those Were The Days

Built to Last-Sick of it All-Fat Music Vol. 7
Garbage Grove-Sublime-Second Hand Smoke
Rap Promoter-A Tribe Called Quest-The Low End Theory
Pink Eye (On My Leg)-Ween-The Mollusk
15 Step-Radiohead-In Rainbows
We're Desperate-Pennywise-Punk-O-Rama Vol. 11
Zissou Society Blue Star Cadet/Ned's Theme (Part 1)-Mark Mothersbaough-The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
True Men Don't Kill Coyotes-Red Hot Chili Peppers-The Abbey Road E.P.
Long Distance Drunk-Modest Mouse-The Lonesome Crowded West
The Seed 2.0-The Roots-Phrenology
Harrowdown Hill-Thom Yorke-The Eraser
My Body is a Cage-The Arcade Fire-Neon Bible
Lost in a Lost World-The Moody Blues-Seventh Sojourn
Nick Drake-Cocaine Blues-Demos
Mother-Blind Melon-Demos
Sledgehammer-Peter Gabriel-So
Rush-The Pharcyde-Plain Rap
Planet Earth-Devo-Dev-O Live
It Might Just Be A One Shot Deal-Frank Zappa-Son Of Cheap Thrills
Tangerine -Led Zeppelin -III
Serenade in Blue-Charles Mingus-Live at the Bohemia
It Kills-Stephen Malkmus-Face The Truth
Grinnin'-The Black Crowes-Lost Crowes
Boo Boo-Leftover Salmon-Links Club 3/21/94
23 Go Into End-John Frusciante-Shaddows Collide
Freezer Burn/I Wanna Be Your Dog-Sonic Youth-Confusion Is Sex Plus Kill yR Idols
The Loft-Ben Lee-Grandpaw Would

Tired of homework, science of a beat

2007-11-11T14:05:00.000-08:00

tic toc tic toc..
it's time already.
momentarily frozen in the downbeat.
elastic impulses.

interrogated synapses.
snapping transmitters.

nope, not yet.
every time.
vices erode.
empathetic high hats.
read it down, you down?

only sounds?
nothings shocking?

yesterdays vibrations.
oscillating E strings.
under heavy skies.
rip that tone in two.

slip between sevenths
idle blues
deal me up
everything. dig?

Billy Martin- Double Game
Mingus & Monk-It Don't Mean a Thing...
Herbie Hancock- Dolphin Dance

Playing Hookey

2007-11-08T09:16:00.000-08:00

Alright, so scheduling a day off from work might be a little different then calling your boss from a bar bathroom at 1 am trying to sound like you're squeaking out words between dry heaves, but it's still a Thursday and I'm still not there. Having cleared that up, let's take a quick tour of my life for a brief introduction to this blog. I am a 28 year old, happily married, vegetarian, music loving analyst for a large corporation. I don't really understand how I got here...I was a lit major for two years, and failed out of school all four of those semesters. Turns out as much as I might love romantic era poetry and transcendentalist credos I'm much better at writing algorithms for insurance company metrics, go figure.

Did I mention I really really love beer? I know from driving out west that north Cali makes some ridiculously great beer, but I still love my east coast brews. Periodically I'll throw up some reviews of brews I think are exceptionally great (or terrible...Harpoon, why do you break my heart every year with your winter warmer emetic?). This is a nice sampling of east and west, and in celebration of drinking before noon I offer you a fantastic tune by the Oregonians the Harvey Girls, called Good Morning, Bubblegum. Brush your teeth after listening though, you might get a cavity from the syrupy sugar pop goodness.

The Harvey Girls-Good Morning Bubblegum

This picture was taken on my friend's farm in VT during an early morning dog walk. The Flaming Lips came out with an experimental album a few years ago where you had to play 4 cds at the same time to get the whole song. Someone in cyberspace was kind enough to melt the four discs together, allowing us without four ghetto blasters in our living rooms to hear the album. This song is about Wayne's dogs, and it is fantastic. ENJOY!

The Flaming Lips- Big Old Bug is the New Baby Now