New Fleet Foxes

The Album is called Helplessness Blues, and it was released sometime this month. Pretty enjoyable on the first listen (which doesn't bode well for timelessness), but it is about what you'd expect, which is pleasant. Very harmonic / melodic / nice instruments. Not sure what ideal listening situation for this is, maybe breakfast music, maybe mellow cocktail hour, maybe dinner background.

Listening to Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes on Rhapsody. Check it out!

The Boss

I don't what started it last night, but I felt like I really needed to hear some Bruce before I went to sleep. Started with "I'm on Fire", then "Rosalita", and "Growin' Up". Continuing today with the whole of "Greetings from Asbury Park" (incidentally, one of the first cassettes I owned) and the rest of Rhapsody's top tracks. I'm particularly partial to "Lost in the Flood" and "Spirit in the Night", and oh man, "Thunder Road" just started. That song is awesome too! It contains one of my favorite classic rock lines. Could anyone else get away with saying "You ain't a beauty, but hey, you're alright!"

I added "I'm Going Down" to my list of favorite Bruce songs last fall after hearing Vampire Weekend cover it at the Greek Theater (best concert I went to in 2010, hands down). Sometimes that fresh take helps you really appreciate the original, though the VW version was pretty sharp too.

New Direction

So I've decided to repurpose The Owl's Nest as a music blog. Obviously hadn't put any entries in here since my Best of '09 post over a year ago and I thought this might be a good place to collect my thoughts on music and share them with others.

I may occasionally have diversions into technology, but I'd like music to be the main focus here.

(and yes, that is a Glee reference in the title)

--P Dub

New Gorillaz

Listening to The Fall by Gorillaz on Rhapsody. Check it out!

Best of '09

Sorry I'm a few days late. In departure from years gone by, I am not going to restrict this year's list to the length of a standard audio cd or one song per artist. Also I am no longer using Lala to embed songs, because they got bought by Apple, and I'm more disapointed than Hitler in the iPad, so screw them! I'm just going to put the list out there, it's up to you figure out how to listen it (though I highly recommend Rhapsody).

Without further ado, and with fancy new headings:

The Albums I Bought Before Listening To (i.e. the Indie Songs You Heard)

1. "Wilco (the Song)" - Wilco, Wilco

Great band, good song, great tour.

2. "My Girls" - Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion

This song reflects my own desires to leave behind my material excess and live a simple life

3. "The Privateer" - Andrew Bird, Noble Beast

Gotta love songs about the sea, you may have heard this on Facebook

4. "Sleepyhead" - Passion Pit, Manners

I used to think this wasn't as good as The Reeling, now I think it's better. Check out this video on Pitchfork

5. "The Reeling" - Passion Pit, Manners

I think this was in a super bowl commercial. It's my default ring tone,

6. "Lisztomania" - Phoenix, Wolgang Amadeus Phoenix

Just cause it was in like 5 car commercials, doesn't make it any less awesome. btw, how great is the current Mercury line of automobiles?

7. "1901" - Phoenix, Wolgang Amadeus Phoenix

Chorus about bars = winner, former ringtone

8. "Zero" - Yeah, Yeah, Yeah's, It's Blitz

The 2 best songs on this album are both really good. YYY's just plain rock.

9. "Heads Will Roll" - Yeah, Yeah, Yeah's, It's Blitz

This was in a commercial for SciFi channel's Alice in Wonderland, which made me want to watch it a little more. The SyFy re-branding made me want to watch less.

10. "Big Booty Woman" - Black Joe Lewis & the Honey Bears, Tell 'em What Your Name Is!

I bought this in Austin a few months after SXSW, and the music store was still buzzing about their performance

11. "Love Letter to Japan" - The Bird and the Bee, Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future

"Oh, oh, oh, oh..." Catchy, half haunting

12. "Meet Me in the Garden" - Dent May, The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele

Dan's brother's blog mentioned this, and I loved it. Stef and I saw him at the Independent. Best indoor show we went to all year

13. "26 Miles (Santa Catalina) - Dent May, The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele

As mentioned above, I'm a sucker for songs about the sea

14. "Daylight" - Matt and Kim

Awesome video, great follow up to Yeah yeah

The Songs I Heard on Rhapsody (i.e. the Indie Songs You May Have Missed)

15. "Little Kids" - Deerhunter, Microcastle

Definitely a little more indie, less pop; "To get older still...", lots of catchy choruses this year

16. "Walkabout (w/ Noah Lennox)" - Atlas Sound, Logos

Gotta love Panda Bear, "What did you want to be, when you grew up"

17. "Sheila" - Atlas Sound, Logos

"You'll be my wife, you'll share my life", rings a bit in my ear right now

18. "Silver Moons" - Sunset Rubdown, Dragonslayer

Unfortunately, I found out this band isn't from the sunset district of SF. But it's still a great song. "Maybe these days are over, over now" Seems a fitting way to end the decade.

19. "Black Swan" - Sunset Rubdown, Dragonslayer

Sounds kind of medieval or something

20. "Surf Solar" - Fuck Bottons, Tarot Sport

Hard driving, really cool beats, etc. This is what I wish was playing at lounges and dance-y type places.

21. "Intro" - The xx, The xx

It's not even a real song, but it is really awesome

22. "Basic Space" - The xx, The xx

It just oozes sexy, not a whole lot more to say

23. "Lust for Life" - Girls

Finally, a SF band. They shot their other video in Dolores Park, but this one is ok too. I wish I had a pizza and a bottle of wine.

24. "Two Weeks" - Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest

It sneaked into a VW commercial and almost made me want my Jetta back. And then I got my insurance refund check today. Getting rid of the car was the right call.

Songs That I Heard on the Radio, but were too Good to Ignore

25. I'm on a Boat - The Lonely Island

It was on SNL so it goes in the pop catgory, here's the video on Hulu

26. "Panic Switch" - Silversun Pickups

I tagged this on my phone with Shazam. It was basically the perfect use of the app, hear a song I really like, let the internets identify it for me

27. "Tik Tok" - Ke$ha,

Great video, greater parody

28. "Party in the U.S.A." - Miley Cyrus

I know, I know, but it's super catchy, and it inspired the gayest video ever

29. "Halo" - Beyonce

I drift into dreams of killing the Flood every time I hear this song. Master Chief would be so proud.

30. "Day 'N' Nite" - Kid Cudi

Great beat, catchy, only draw back is the implication that stoners are lonely

31. "Dead and Gone" - TI feat. Justin Timberlake

TI, J. Tim's, awesome

32. "Hard" - Rhianna

She's so cool. This song is just plain cool. Until about the 50th time. Then it gets a little less cool.

33. "I'm Yours" - Jason Mraz

It's sweet, and it's the chart toppingest song of all time

34. "Uprising" - Muse

Feels like it should be a workout song, but it's also kind of inspirational

So there it is. Comments? What did I miss? How much did I nail each and everyone of those songs?

NFL Sunday Ticket in SF

As a fan of a football team from the other coast, I struggle every Sunday with my responsibilities. Do I owe it to the team to leave the house at 10 AM every Sunday and head to find somewhere to watch the game? Do I also owe to the team to wear my jersey and hat every time I do make it out?

Today I decided it was not worth the effort, that following Kevin Kolb's first start online would provide me sufficient frustration. (Saints just scored again off the Kold pick). Where to go when I do need to watch the game? For example if it was Jeff Garcia's first start of the season? Or next week for Mike Vick's first start?

(warning: this list is focused on SoMa, particularly on places I can walk to)

SF Places With Sunday Ticket

Places I Go / Places I have been

MoMo's - Is my regular spot. Decent bar and brunch menu. It is across from the ball park and gets crowded when the Giants are in town

Pete's - I think this is the same owner as MoMo's, a little more crowded, a little louder, definitely a bar atmosphere (definite aroma of stale beer). Higher fun potential, higher no-fun potential

Zeke's - Is right across the street. TV's are kind of small, but it is family run. A lot of Packer fans, and the food is only so-so, but generally a good atmosphere

4th St Bar and Deli(?) - The bar next to the Mariott at 4th and Mission has Sunday ticket. 2 years ago, I watched the Birds crush the Lions (63-0 at the half) .

Kip's (Berkeley) - This was where I watched the Birds when I lived in Berkeley. Perfectly serviceable food, reasonable beer prices, and a few other Iggles fans.

Places I Should Try This Season

Bloodhound - I've been meaning to go to this bar at night. But I guess I could check it out during the day

Kezar - Pretty well known as a sports bar, and I've heard it's a big spot for Eagle's fans. But it's on the other side of town. Would you go to a sports bar in the north-east just to watch a game? Having gone to Chickie and Pete's for Monday night, I'd have to say, Yes, Yes I might just go way out of my way to watch a game.

Ted's - I just saw this on a Yelp search. It's pretty close to home.

What I'd Really Like to Find

Good brunch (not just bar lunch), big TV's, regular height tables, wifi - in that order

I'd really like to find a Dim Sum resturant with Sunday ticket.

Any other suggestions? Places I missed? Places I should try?

What's lacking here?

So I'm finding myself a little bored at work and feel the need to increase my blog reading list. It's gotten so bad that I'm actually writing to kill time. While the photo blog is nice, I'd like more words.

I harbor no illusions about the uniqueness of my identity. I think 2/3 of SF is capable of creating content that I would be interested in, and even if the percentage of people drops on a national scale, there should be sufficient web content to keep me entertained.

I guess what I'm looking for is recommendations of blogs to read. Laughing Squid is great, I like Mission Mission and SFist, but what else is out there? I find Sartorialist kind of dull (not the lack of link), and Gizmodo has been too militantly pro-mac too often for me to take them seriously. Any good recommendations for cocktail themed blogs? Or woodworking blogs? I think I'd prefer amateur content to professional, but will read anything a few times.

Also, I heard Whit's blog is huge (as in very popular), but I'm not sure what the url is. Any ideas?

And finally, is anyone reading this? Or will the lack of comments echo back to me like a shout in the uninhabited wilderness?