10 Semi-Timeless/Somewhat Unorthodox Songs that I would put on a mix cd if I was going to a deserted island with just enough power to run a cd player

The problem I have with finding new music is summoning the desire to find new music.

Once I find a good song, I tend to listen to it for years and years, and it's such a burden to find "NEW" stuff that doesn't feel fluffy or utterly pretentious. Case in point: I have yet to find a St. Vincent Song that I like enough to convince myself that I'm not listening to her just because she's "indime"* pretty. ("Laughing With a Mouth of Blood" isn't bad). Getting recommendations from friends is usually the best way for me. I don't like wading through websites with either "popular" music, or "indie" music, because typically this includes either young people screaming, or the sound of a toaster slowed down to 1/10th speed underplaying a poem by Dylan Thomas read by a Somali Orphan...with guitars.

Ergo, here's a list of songs in no particular order that I think a lot of people can appreciate for just being entertaining:

1. Grounds for Divorce - Elbow
An old girlfriend introduced me to this band, and I subsequently discovered this song. That was the only good thing that came of our relationship. This song gets my blood boiling, and is probably the most infectious song I've played for friends lately, as I've heard many of them singing it. Yeah...this small victory feels good.
Preview and buy it here.

2. The Woman in the Wall - The Beautiful South
My brother KC, brought this band's cassette tape home with him from a church dance he was DJ'ing back in the day. He played a few songs for me, and not only did I think the album had some great hooks, but was also kind of funny, and quirky. It wasn't like anything I'd heard before. The album Welcome to the Beautiful South, has some very odd, and entertaining songs on it, highly political I'm sure, but I try not think about that. It was hard for me to pick one, but this is probably my favorite, but most of them are great. This one is based on the Edgar Allen Poe story, The Black Cat. I love the beat of this, and the fuzzy guitars towards the end. Be sure to pump this one.

Sidenote: I can't verify this, but apparently ex-Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page was said to be highly influenced by TBS singer Paul Heaton.
Preview and buy it here.

3. This Voice - Ane Brun
I found this one as a song that played over the opening credits of a somewhat lame, somewhat entertaining scary movie called "From Within". This song with its' surreal and haunting tone, subsequently made the movie seem much more effective than it actually was.
Sidenote: Be sure to get the right version of this song. There's a less effective version out there.
Preview and buy it here.

4. Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
I know there are throngs of people out there who worship Jeff Buckley even though he only made one album, and rightfully so. His vocal stylings are imperfect, dramatic and amazing. Buckley's version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah is of course the best out there. But Last Goodbye is the song that I have played and howled to in my car at the top of my lungs. Simply love it. Also, if you like Rufus Wainwright who did another stellar version of Hallelujah, check out his song "Under the Memphis Skyline" which is about Buckley's death from drowning. It's a scary beautiful song, when you know the story behind it, kind of like how you wish "In the Air Tonight" was actually about Phil Collins confronting a murderer at one of his concerts. This story is actually true though.

Sidenote: Be sure to get the right version of this song. There's a less effective version out there.
Preview and buy it here.

5. Swan Lake - Thomas Tantrum
I know nothing about Thomas Tantrum. I've never heard another song by them. All I know is I like how peppy this song is.

Sidenote: Be sure to get the right version of this song. There's a less effective version out there. No this isn't a typo, strangely almost all of these songs have mediocre versions of them.
Preview and buy it here.

6. White Daisy Passing - Rocky Votolato
Again...I know nothing about this guy Rocky. Except that this song is great. I know there are a lot of solo male guitar acts out there like this, and he's either one of two things: a really handsome dude who is popular because chicks love to watch him in concert, or he’s got a bunch of great songs. I hope it’s the latter. I realize how cynical that sounds. I'm going to go investigate his other music...right now.
Preview and buy it here.

7. Feeling Good - Muse
This is a cover of a song from a 1960's musical called The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd which is a horrible name for a musical. This song however is not horrible. Quite the opposite actually. This song actually inspired me to write a musical of my own.
Preview and buy it here.

8. How It Should Be (ShaSha) - Ben Kweller
I love this kid. (Ben Kweller will always be a kid to me...Sorry Ben) He's got such simple pop hooks, and yet his music is never boring. He messes around with a cool time signature here too, which I always enjoy when it works. This is from his debut album which is cruelly underrated.
Preview and buy it here.

9. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
Though I get a little tired of their uber-pretentious social commentary at times (especially on this album), I love Arcade Fire. Let's be honest, if I couldn't learn to separate the political statements from the entertainment value of the bands I love, then I wouldn't be able to listen to anything these days. I'm also not a huge fan in general of the retro return to electronic pop of the 80's, but it's here that I make the exception. This song is like the best 80's song never written. It's what songs in the 80's should have been. I also can't help but think of growing up in Almaden in the 80's when I hear this, and being so upset about losing the beautiful field behind my house to ugly stucco mini-mansions.

Preview and buy it here.

10. Effington (University A Capella Version) - Ben Folds
I love the sheer madness of this song. I've never wanted to start an a capella group...

more.
Preview and buy it here.

ALSO RANS:

THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH
I think the Beautiful South deserves special attention here. Like Elbow, this band seems to be one of those bands that was pretty darn popular in the UK, and Europe, but completely unheard of in the US. Probably because they have a pretty dark sense of humor, and are pretty quirky. Apparently they sold 6,500,000 records worldwide. Some of the other songs I love on their first album: Sail This Ship Alone, From Under the Covers, Girlfriend, and of course there are one or two other songs which I would recommend skipping.

*indime (pronounced In-Dee-May) - A specification joining the terms "indie" and "anime" which combines the notions of indie pretty, and anime pretty. Ie....girls that look like anime characters who also abide by a strict indie fashion regime. This is a very specific designation. See Annie Clark of St. Vincent

Buy this whole mix tape right now at Amazon. I dare you.

Ten Classic Movies Remade as Dog and Cat Films

YouTube runs the world now, and everyone knows that what runs YouTube is funny pet videos. The trend in Hollywood of course is classic films being remade, and because YouTube trends and stars have of late started to make the transfer to the big screen, inevitably the trend will hit Hollywood that famous films will be remade with dogs and cats as the stars.

In that vein, here is my slate of classic films with pet stars:

1. Apocalypse Meow

2. The Bark Knight
3. The Wizard of Paws

4. Raging Bull-Terrier
5. The Ma-Trixie

6. Litters from Iwo Jima
7. Indiana Bones and the Kennel of Doom
8. The Hunch-bark of Notre Dog
9. Furr-lock Holmes

10. Biter-man

Also Rans:

Saving Private Lion
You've Got Meow
Bone with the Wind (Left off the list for fairly obvious reasons.)

I couldn't stop thinking of "bark" titles:

Barking Dawn

Broke-bark Mountain
Bark to the Future
Paranormal Bark-tivity etc...

Titles for those on the kennel club circuit:
Bichon the River Kwai

Empire of Dachsund
My Big Fat Greek Sheepdog
Seven Years in Tibetan Pug...
ET: The English Terrier
Citizen Cane Corso Italiano
The Hunt for Redbone Coonhound

Pretentious Attempts:
Eric Von Stroheims "Breed"

A Billion Dollar Pet Remake Franchise:

Hairy Paw-ter and the Sorcerer's Bone
Hairy Paw-ter and the Chamber of Meow mix
Hairy Paw-ter and the Prisoner of Azka-bark
Hairy Paw-ter and the Dog Bowl of Fire
Hairy Paw-ter and the Order of the Fleas/Ticks
Hairy Paw-ter and the Half Poodle Mix
Hairy Paw-ter and the Deafening Howls

Ten Scary (Not Gory) Halloween Movies

So I LOVE Halloween. Don't ask me why! One of my favorite pastimes this time of year is getting a group together to watch a scary movie. Of course...it's not always easy to do that, and not alienate some member of the group. I've always enjoyed less is more filmmaking. So here are 10 GENUINELY scary films, that don't rely on (too much) gore, or cheap scares to bring the genuine screams:

1. Black Sabbath click title for more

Forget the cheesy looking/sounding voice dubs, and the fact that it was made in a cheesy period in horror. This movie contains one of the scariest sequences I've ever seen. It's a trilogy of scary tales, but you don't even have to watch the other two segments. Just watch the first one if you like.
Available on Netflix Instant Play - watch it now!.

2. The Others click title for more

I love this movie. Even knowing the ending it's still a classic.
Available on Netflix Instant Play - watch it now!.
Sidenote - Another scary film with a similar sounding name? "The Other".

3. The Changeling click title for more

I LOVE this film! It still scares me. Not a ton of people know about it. I think this is the film I would recommend the most for a fun group Halloween movie experience. It's the one I'm showing to my friends. (though I might change my mind 4 more times).

4. The Haunting click title for more

Just a plain old creepy classic from the guy who made The Sound of Music. This is almost as scary as that film. Classic less is more, old fashioned scares.
Sidenote: Don't be discouraged by the fact that the 1990's remake of this sucked!

5. Ghostwatch click title for more

Oh wow. This was a totally by chance film that I found trolling through IMDB forums a few Halloweens ago. It's a British film set in the form of one of those Mock-News Report shows from the 80's and 90's (ala' War of the Worlds). Give this one a bit of time, and you won't be disappointed. The ending still sticks with me. Apparently it caused QUITE a stir in Britain when they first showed it on the BBC in 1992. Read more about that here: The Ghostwatch Story
Sidenote: Good luck finding a copy though! YEESH! The first time I saw it I had to borrow it from a friend who downloaded it (a method I highly discourage). I recently found a copy on Amazon, and bought the last used (ie. not $99) DVD copy from a company in the UK. If you know me, I'll let you borrow it.

6. The Lady in White click title for more

Now I know this isn't a masterpiece, but it still has some genuinely creepy parts to it, and I enjoy it almost strictly for nostalgia sake. If you haven't seen it, I think you'll like it.
Sidenote: I must say I have high hopes for the completely unrelated film: "The Woman in Black" which is coming out soon.

7. Poltergeist click title for more

Even though this might seem a bit of a worn out cliche' as a Halloween movie, it is still really SUPER creepy, and shouldn't be discounted around Halloween time! The mirror scene...the clown...yeesh!
Sidenote: The chair scene was shot without cutting! Fun Fact!

8. 1408 click title for more

I feel like as with a lot of the films on this list this is one of those "love it or leave it" types. I happen to love it. One of the only mainstream modern scary studio movies.

9. Wait Until Dark click title for more

Of course. Gentleman, if you have a date on Halloween, show her this. She will cuddle...there will be cuddling. Not supernatural, but still super spooky.

10. The Innocents click title for more

Just recently watched this one. Wow....It was trippy. Whenever I feel like modern movies fail to scare me, I go back to films like these.

Sublist 1: Honorable Mentions (or stuff that just would have made the list way too long).

1. Burnt Offerings click title for more

This film scared the heck out of me as a child. Still has its creepy moments now. It's a 1976 made for TV movie, but let's be honest, can't a lot of us say that some of the scariest stuff we saw as children was made for TV. (The first half of "IT" anyone? ).

2. What Lies Beneath click title for more

I still get the heebyjeebies (sp) from this film. Great!

3. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (original version) click title for more

I didn't see the remake, but this one was creepy in the same way "Burnt Offerings" and "Black Sabbath" were. Old, a little bit cheesy, but still good.

4. The Watcher in the Woods click title for more

A Very creepy movie that was made for children, but...is really not for kids.

Sublist 2: Films I would not recommend watching with a group:

1. Audition click title for more

Too disturbing. Seriously, your girlfriend will hate you. I honestly don't remember who made me ever watch this in the first place but I hate them...oh actually I remember now. I hate you Paul.

2. The Exorcist click title for more

I regret the day I ever watched this by myself late one Halloween night. And that was just the TV version on AMC. I don't like movies about Satan. For some reason, I also did the exact same viewing experience with The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Watched it at 2am by myself. Ugh.

3. The Omen (Original Version) click title for more

Oh gosh, I saw this as a child, and it scared the heck out of me. Probably cheesy now, but still...I was utterly non-nice disturbed.