Discovery of the Day: My Brightest Diamond

I discovered "My Brightest Diamond" online today while I was listening to "The Hype Machine." The singer has a very distincitve voice. She reminds me slightly of Tori Amos. That same off kilter, wood nimph vibe going on. Very much girl in a fairy tale which is nice once in a while. We all need to escape sometimes.

Speaking of which today I had a vacation day and escaped myself into the woods. Mind you I did NOT have on a pair of fairy wings nor did I have a guy with bull horns chasing me...though that would have been a good story on Monday. After spending the morning running around I realized that I just could not deal with people today. So I grabbed a book and my camera and spent a lovely afternoon surrounded by trees and birds and breeze. There are times when nothing else can compare. If only to refuel before you jump back into the wilderness of modern life.

Discovery of the Day: The Stache is Back

Weezer just came out with a video for their brand new song "Pork and Beans". Great song. Great band. Pretty cool video. If you like Weezer chances are you are slightly nerdy but think you are cool. If you are slightly nerdy and think you are cool chances are you watch a ton of YouTube videos. If you watch a ton of YouTube videos and like Weezer you will be in a state of giddy delight over this video.

Despite all that is going on in the video though I can't get over Rivers Cuomo's moustache. How can you not be transfixed by it. Seems like more and more cool guys are sporting staches (Brendan Flowers from the Killers, Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords). I ask you this seriously gentlemen. WHY?!? Is it supposed to be ironic? I appreciate the commentary but I have to say, the staches are pretty repellent. Please do us a favor and bury this new fad. You are geekishly cool just the way you are.

Discovery of the Day: New Flight of the Conchords Video

Happy Day! There's a new video from my favorite New Zealanders, Bret and Jemaine. The guys are sporting some old school roller skates and kickass polyester in a new version of "Ladies of the World". How could any lady resist a man who can do a split on wheels? Even though Jemaine looks a little too effective as a 70's dude with that big mustache and fluffy hair I still think he's motherflipping adorable. Love em!

Discovery of the Day: Coldplay Doesn't Suck Live

I've had my doubts. I've seen clips of Coldplay live before and have gauged them high on the cringe factor. There's something about a sensitive singer/songwriter with a high voice that really can go either way. If it's good, it's good. If it's bad I want to put my head in the oven and spare us both the humiliation of hearing more. I've been on the fence with Coldplay as well. I really like some of their songs and others..well..I just kinda want to sit Chris Martin down and tell him he doesn't have to use a rhyming dictionary when he writes his lyrics. Then again, I'm a broke librarian and he's rolling around in piles of money so what do I know. I have to say though, this clip from their 2003 Live DVD is very addictive. Nice and simple...and not TOO rhymey (is that a word? And what does IT rhyme with? Limey? Get on that Mr. Martin.)

So I tip my hat to Coldplay today. You don't suck live. Kudos.

Discovery of the Day: I'm Movin On

As opposed to Movin' Out by Billy Joel. Though I must say, I saw Billy in concert a few years back and he's still the man...despite the fact he kept humping his piano all night long. Not sure what that was about.

Anyhoo..I digress. My discovery of the day is that I have officially moved on. I met a group of former coworkers last night for drinks after having left my workplace earlier this year. Previous to leaving, I had fallen into that rut that we all get into after working at any place for a long time - talking about work whenever more than one person is gathered as your blood pressure rises and your heart races and you get progressively more pissed off over such things as a faulty postage machine. It got to the point prior to leaving that if I thought about some things too long I thought I might actually spontaneously explode. As I walked out the door my final day, I wondered how I would feel about the place that had taken up so much of my time for a good portion of my adult life. Sitting at the table watching former co-workers carrying on with the same old conversations I realized that I officially don't care. Not that I don't care about the place or the people. The place and (a few of) the people will still hold a special place in my heart but it no longer belongs to me. I've moved on to a whole new bunch of people and places and undoubtedly future problems. And I love it!

So go ahead and rock out with your fro Billy cause I'm raising a glass to my former frustrations. May they rest in peace.

Discovery of the Day : The Books

Sometimes when wandering aimlessly through the ever odder side trails of YouTube world you can run across some pretty amazing stuff. Today, I stumbled upon some videos from a band called "The Books". Being a librarian I felt it my duty to check them out (no pun intended). I can't say their songs are good. I can't say their songs are bad. In fact, I can't say their songs are even songs. Or music for that fact. But I was so intrigued that I went to their website (http://www.thebooksmusic.com/) and just spent about an hour in a Pink Floyd like trance listening to their recordings. Happy. Peaceful. Fish. Ahhhhh.....

THE MESS HALL: Keep Walking

Crush of the Day: Lead Singer Dude from "The Mess Hall"

So I've been spending a little too much time then I should lately tracking down good music (as opposed to the music played on pretty much every single station on the radio). I've come across some good finds by chasing down leads on Virgin Radio (http://www.virginradio.co.uk/) - because I love my British music - and The Hype Machine ( http://hypem.com/) - because I love my indie bands.

Recently I came across a band called "The Mess Hall". It's an Australian duo with some great heavy rock beats mixed with an alternative indie vibe. I pretty much fell in love with their music right away. Then I tracked down their videos on the great time sucker that is YouTube and discovered a happy accident. The lead singer just happens to be freaking hot. Now, granted, I only saw him for about 30 seconds in one video to determine the hotness but..really...isn't that all you need. Perhaps he does look a smidge like James Blunt (aka "Moody Smurf") but I won't hold that against him. Because he has a guitar. And some tight pants on. And he looks like he probably hasn't showered in a few days. And in "Theresa's World" those are all good things.

Congratulations Lead Singer Dude from "The Mess Hall". You are my Crush of the Day.