Avant Gardener

The paramedic thinks I'm clever cause I play guitar.
I think she's clever cause she stops people dyin'.

-  Courtney Barnett

Katherine's bedtime song to her brother

Charles sometimes yells or laughs instead of relaxing and going to sleep at night.  Tonight his sister thoughtfully tried to help him drift off to sleep with this impromptu lullaby:

Sleep when I sleep.  Sleep when I sleep.

I'm not afraid of the dark.

Aaaah...

Sleep when I sleep.  Sleep when I sleep.

Sleep when I sleep.  Sleep when I sleep.

I'm not afraid of the dark.

(ad infinitum)

Though well intentioned, sadly these dulcet strains did not have the desired effect.

Quote: Back to the Party

In the middle of the pouring rain she said,
"I'm gonna leave him and he'll never see me again."

I said,
"But you never really know.
"We didn't build this city, we didn't paint this town.
"Seems like we spent half our life standing around
"Wanting somewhere else to go."

- Pushstars, Back to the Party

Baby Cakes - The Role Play Tournament (Be Aggressive)

Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time! - Sufjan Stevens

Cute little video.

I first heard this song on an AMC commercial. The band seemed familiar but was shocked to learn it was Sufjan. Didn't think think it sounded like him before looking it up.

Once Upon A Long Ago - Paul McCartney

Syrupy sweet song and animation, but it moved me.

The Owls

Heard some songs by this group called The Owls awhile back and liked 'em:

Baby Boy
(Kind of a sad song. "Cat's in the Cradle" style.)


Channel


Afternoon song

The lyrics to this song can be found here. Apparently they were written as part of the Songs From Scratch project by an MPR station in which various groups wrote and preformed songs based on this poem by Stephen Burt.

Guilty Pleasures: Lewd Rap

Not that I espouse the ideas these songs suggest, but sometimes the lyrics or delivery are so over the top it almost makes me chuckle to hear it. It makes me wonder if writers and performers are really serious about what they're singing or have to stop themselves from laughing while they're recording.

Cases in point:

Control Myself - JLO & LL Cool J
(a.k.a. "The ZZZZZ Song")

Jenny needs a scrunchy to keep that hair out of her face. Also keep an eye out for the snoring at 3:10 and girlfriend slam-dunking his head into her crotch at 3:28.

Sexy Back - Justin Timberlake

For one thing this is a Timber double feature (both -lake and -land). For another, until I looked up the lyrics just now I could have sworn that the refrain (or hook? or bridge?) for this was "Like your sexy back!". But apparently this song is actually about regaining one's "sexy" rather than an attractive posterior. There's a throbbing intensity to Sexy Back that really speaks to animal hunger, but something about it just makes my eyes roll of their own accord.

Baby Got Back - Sir Mix A Lot

Don't know if this one should count since it's clearly intended for humor sake. But almost two decades later I still find it amusing. See also Jonathan Coulton's rendition.

My Humps - The Black Eyed Peas

I have no real commentary on why I find this song amusing except to add that Alanis Morisette's self-deprecating version is also a blast.

Taylor Swift

Apparently I'm a closet Taylor Swift fan . . . or at least, I gradually came to like these songs, and Google just revealed to me they were both sung by Taylor Swift:

Mine


Love Story


Or it could just be that I like traditional, sappy stories of love triumphing over adversity and ending in an enduring relationship. Still, I get this awkward feeling that I'm pretty far from the demographic these things are aimed at.

The video for You Belong With Me also deserves honorable mention simply for trying to pass Taylor Swift off as the Pretty-Ugly girl. Never has the transformation been so amusingly transparent and predictable since Strictly Ballroom:


.

Sleepwalk(in')

I never realized it until recently but the song Sleepwalkin' by Modest Mouse appears to actually be based on Sleepwalk by Santo & Jonny:

Sleepwalkin'
Modest Mouse

Sleepwalk
Santo & Johnny

Can't Tell Me Nothing - Kayne West ( w/ Zach Galfianakis & Will Oldham)

With Zach Galifianakis & Will Oldham.

Funny story.

Rebecca Pidgeon - The Raven

The Raven


Army Brat

May not be a huge fan of her acting, but Rebecca Pidgeon can string words together in a pretty melodic fashion.

Scott Dunbar One Man Band - Billie Jean & Tin Foil Hat

Billie Jean


Tin Foil Hat

Fan Death - Reunited

The song's pretty nice, but I especially like the sort of retro 1980s cult movie/video thing they have going on here.

Whitey's Lindy Hoppers - Hellzapoppin'

Version with the clearest image.

Extended Version


Version with different music.
Makes it seem more intense somehow.

Nuit Blanche

Via Videome, via Boing Boing.

.

The call to literacy goes out

Read a Book: Messages I can certainly get behind.

IIRC Annmarie Aymer pointed this out.

Joe Christmas (Scrabble Girl, etc.)

Joe Christmas was one of the standard bands I played as a DJ on WXAC in the mid-to-late 1990s. Scrabble Girl in particular was my fave, caught the idea of a sweet, burgeoning relationship well. Just the thing to listen to while pining away with unrequited infatuation (fortunately not an issue anymore, but . . . those bitter-sweet memories).


Coupleskate is pretty good too.

Bourgeois Shangri-La (Miss Li)

The commercial:


The "I version a CD to Youtube" version (probably soon to be gone):


Neat tune. One of the singers voice reminds me of the woman from the Noisettes.

Treat or Goblins

Song: Treat or Goblins
Sung by: Hayashibara Megumi & Mamie D. Lee
Music by: Sagisu Shirou
Anime: Abenobashi Mahou Shoutengai (opening music)

Lyrics here (mostly in Japanese).