John Stompio's Greatest Hits

This is such a pity

MP3 - Weezer - This Is Such a Pity

So what do you think of the new Weezer album? I've heard a lot of mixed reviews, but mostly the people who have said good things have said them in defense of all the hordes of negative comments. Myself, I was very underwhelmed, and I wasn't expecting much. I would have settled for being whelmed and moving on. Nothing really seemed to jump out and announce itself as a special song. Weezer has a very basic, simple sound, but they've always been great at making their songs special in spite of that. Right now Make Believe stands as a disappointment in that category. Still, I mean, there's not much "bad" about the album, and who knows, in a few years it will probably have that fine wine quality where it grows on you just a tiny bit every time you accidentally catch a few seconds of it. It could end up being the "cool" Weezer album to like. It's worth a shot.

This song however is one that took very little effort to fall in love with. Again, it's nothing outside of the norm from Weezer, but the norm can still be pretty darn good by my standards. I'll check back on the rest of the album in a few months to see how well its aged.

P.S. I just remembered that so far, the lyrics for these songs look really, really bad.

LINKS:
Visit Weezer's official site here.
View the lyrics for this song here.
Buy Make Believe here.

I only feel alive when the view is flashing

MP3 - Of Montreal - The Party's Crashing Us

I tried my very best to go as long as I possibly could without any artist reposts, but alas, the sunny days of May and the equally cheerful ambiance of this love song were too formidable of a duo for me to battle against. I throw in the towel, but rest assured, it's a bright green beach towel with big orange flowers. As I mentioned in my first post a little ways back, Of Montreal is a pretty special band, and while they're good at everything they do, they really seem to have the whole "happy" thing down especially well. If you could somehow liquify Of Montreal and put them in a bottle, there would be no need for caffeine, or Prozac for that matter. Coke & Pepsi would be out of business. The entire genre of emo music would be wiped out, forcing Conor Oberst to become a flower salesman. Paul Thomas Anderson would stop making movies and become a traveling banjo player. Ah, it would be a beautiful world indeed, but for now, we'll just have to buy CDs.

LINKS:
View the lyrics to this song here.
Visit Of Montreal's official site here.
Visit Of Montreal's PureVolume profile here.
Visit Of Montreal's MySpace profile here.
Buy The Sunlandic Twins here.
Buy more Of Montreal LP's here.

All you need is a gun and a car

MP3 - Beulah - Emma Blowgun's Last Stand

Ah, another conquest. This is one of several songs that catch the ear above a number of conversations at a party, and instantly you know that this can not be the least time you hear this song, no, you won't allow it to be. I left a social gathering a few nights ago with only an overheard band name, the infectious trumpet line, and two words in my head.

"goodness knows goodnessknows goodnessknows goodnessknowsgoodnessknowsgoodnessknows..."

Thankfully, somebody invented this thing call THE INTERNET, and I'm glad to say I've added this wonderful tune by Beulah to my list of recovered gems overheard at random places. Let it be known that if you ever find yourself wondering what that song you just heard is, all you need are a few words and some Google power.

LINKS:
Visit Beulah's official site here.
Buy When Your Heartstrings Break here.
View the lyrics to this song here.
Watch the video for this song here.

Bring me back to life, bring me back to love

It's only until school lets out for three wonderful months that you begin to realize that dial-up internet is an awful, awful idea unless you in fact somehow live in the year 1996. If you DO, might I suggest you go see The English Patient as it looks pretty good, and put some money on the Yankees, because they're on fire.

But back where I come from the technology is strikingly sluggish. I have to estimate that it took me more than a half hour to upload this song. How can this be!? We live in the future!!

MP3 The Doves - Snowden

Still, those 33 minutes subtracted from my lifespan are menaingless when considering the amounts of musical joy I'm sure any viewer of this page is sure to experience. I was all set to write up another song, a shiny bright happy tune to ring in the summer, and then it got to about 45 degrees and suddenly that became very inapropriate, but thankfully this loving tribute to apathy by Great Britain's own indie demi-gods The Doves came along to save the day. Snowden appears on The Doves' latest, Some Cities. It's also made me realize that if I could have a few people follow me around playing the bells, I'd probably be a happier person. Any volunteers? The Doves have been making fine music for half a dozen years now, and if you like this, you'd do well to check out their other releases.

And now, in the spirit of honoring apathy, I think I'll stop writing and go to sleep for about 14 hours.

LINKS:
View the lyrics for "Snowden" here.
Visit the official site fo The Doves here.
Sample more tracks from Some Cities here.
Buy Some Cities here.

Don't stop, get it, get it...

MP3 Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.

Here's that song you have stuck in your head. The Gorillaz' newest is being featured in new spots for the iPod, and inevitably will be all over the airwaves, engraving itself directly in your brain 30 seconds at a time. It was with me today when I woke up, while I was playing baseball, in the car ride home, while I watched TV, while I ate, and as soon as it had faded away, there's the commerical again. Much like Stereogum, I'm prepared to be sick of this track, which is a shame because it's quite wonderful. Until that day, sit back and enjoy the ride.

LINKS:
View the lyrics for "Feel Good Inc." here.
Visit the official site for the Gorillaz here.
Watch the commercial here.
Buy yourself an iPod here.

The sun that I see is just an illusion

Oh dear. My brothers and sisters, I apologize for the extended absence, but do rest assured that it will not become a habit. Like many of you and many across the globe I'm stuck in between school and summer in those 2 delightful weeks of the year where teachers have saved up their favorite assignments to give to you all at once. And then once you've hit Friday, they say "congratulations my lad, you've done it! look what you've won! why it's an entire week of testing worth 25% of your grade! and a blender!"

Note: you may or may not receive blenders. It varies by school.

But for any of you who could use 5 minutes and 2 seconds of relaxation, I've got just what the doctor ordered.

MP3 - Alpha - Back

This is the musical equivalent to morphene. I listen to this and it's like I'm stuck in a dream. A wonderful dream. Floating on a sea of cotton balls kindly accompanied by a warm breeze and soft lighting.

So please, let's just minimize Microsoft Word for a moment... Put that notebook down, your notes suck anyway. No, you're not going to read nine chapters by 10:00 tomorrow, so the least you can do is sit back in your chair, massage your temples and listen to this song.

I live and die for that high-hat. Alpha is described as "trip-hop", and while I can't say I'm a connoiseur of the genre, (or an adequate speller for that matter), I can definitely see how that fits. This track is off their 1997 release Come From Heaven.

LINKS:
Visit Alpha's official site here.
View the lyrics for "Back" here.
Buy Come From Heaven here.

April Rundown

Thanks to everybody who visited this month. Since most files are now outdated I've decided to repost the April selections into permanent links so that anyone who came here looking for something will be able to find it. I've also added in a few goodies related to earlier posts.

MP3 - Aimee Mann - That's How I Knew This Story Would Break My Heart
MP3 - Of Montreal - So Begins Our Alabee
MP3 - Belle & Sebastian - Your Cover's Blown
MP3 - Sigur Ros - Avalon
MP3 - Matthew Good - Running For Home
MP3 - The Wrens - She Sends Kisses
MP3 - Apollo Sunshine - I Was On The Moon
MP3 - Lasse Lindh - Stuff
MP3 - The White Stripes - Blue Orchid
MP3 - The Go! Team - Huddle Formation
MP3 - The Go! Team - Bottle Rocket
MP3 - The Go! Team - Junior Kickstart
MP3 - Kenna - Hell Bent
MP3 - Ozma - Restart
MP3 - Jeff Buckley - Eternal Life
MP3 - Sufjan Stevens - Come On! Feel The Illinoise!

BONUS MP3 - Allison Crowe - Running For Home (Cover)
A beautiful interpretation featuring a piano and Crowe's beautiful voice.

BONUS MP3 - Apollo Sunshine - I Was On The Moon (Live)
This live version may or may not have been the version I originally posted. To be safe, I'm posting it again.

BONUS MP3 - Jeff Buckley - Eternal Life (Road Version)
The road version is significantly harder and faster. It's a good thing.

BONUS MP3 - Our Lady Peace - Eternal Life (Live Cover)
I do love the way they kick in to this. They did take some liberties with the lyrics that seem odd after listening to the original 6,000 times.

BONUS MP3 - Sebastian Bach - Eternal Life (Live Cover)
Apparently he's playing this at Disneyland? Sebastian Bach got a gig at Disneyland? If you've ever wonder what Sebastian Back thought of Mickey Mouse and the Easter Bunny, well wonder no more.

To download these files:
1. Click the link
2. Scroll to the bottom
3. Click "Free"
4. Download

LINKS:
Visit Allison Crowe's official site here, and download more of her beautiful music.
Visit Our Lady Peace's official site here.
Visit Sebastian Bach's official site here.