Top 5 Artists I Happily Stumbled Upon

You know how you think you know all the cool music that's already out there and then one day--BAM--you hear something that just blows your mind?  I'm not talking about new stuff that is played on the radio or is featured in People or whatever.  I mean music that has been around and you were so smug with your current tastes that you didn't know it existed.  A happier alternative is that it is a little-known artist and YOU DISCOVERED THEM!  Without any help from the radio or People!  These are the top 5 artists that I discovered somewhat accidentally and have been crazy enamored with them since.


5. Yeasayer
www.yeasayer.net
They had a brief mention in an issue of Nylon magazine so I made a playlist with other bands they mentioned (see #1) and voila!--Yeasayer!  They are a super awesome band that combines pop, electronic, and god knows what to create this moody, beautiful music.  Odd Blood is the album that got me hooked and remains my favorite (though their others are delightful).  My favorites include "Madder Red" and "I Remember."

4. The Two Man Gentlemen Band
http://www.thetwogentlemen.com/
While browsing Grooveshark one day, I got to thinking about presidents named after presidents that might be out there.  One of the best I found was "William Howard Taft" by The Two Man Gentlemen Band.  Needless to say this song is genius.  The band combines old-style Americana ragtime with a love of American History, and this song is a perfect example to highlight Taft in all his beefy glory.  Some of their other songs include: "When Your Lips Are Playing My Kazoo," "Me, I Get High On Reefer," "Heavy Petting," and "Stuff Your Ballot Box."  I can't help but laugh when I listen to these songs, which prompted my mom to ask me last night "What are you watching out there?"  My reply: "Nothing, just listening to something and laughing to myself."

Oh, William Howard Taft
Had a great big smile and a great big laugh
A great big belly, great big thighs that
Slapped together when he walked by

Measured in clean at a quarter ton
Made the oval office just fit for one
Oh, you can't squeeze nothin' past
William Howard Taft

Oh, William Howard Taft
Got himself stuck in a bath
It took the Secret Service and the police to
Pry him out with a tub of grease

He had a steak dinner for the King of Spain
But nobody got a thing to eat
Because you can't sneak nothin' past
William Howard Taft

3. Kate Miller Heidke
www.katemillerheidke.com
She was opening for Steven Page when I first saw her.  Usually people show the opening act a modicum of attention but she just electrified the crowd.  Most known for "The Facebook Song," her repertoire also includes the heartfelt "Caught in the Crowd," the quirky "Can't Shake It," and the ethereal "Last Day on Earth."  After she was done, the lobby was crowded with people waiting to buy her albums and get her autograph.  Not too bad for someone that most people probably hadn't heard of it 45 minutes earlier.

2. Wanda Jackson
www.wandajackson.com
I bought the soundtrack to Rock n Rolla when Borders was going out of business for, like, $2.00 because The English Beat was on it.  Along with a killer song by The Sonics, I happened upon "Funnel of Love" by Wanda Jackson.  Eager to see what else this rockabilly mama did, I discovered a treasure trove that is her catalog and was hooked.  I love her high-pitched voice, her growl when singing something naughty, and her "women kick-ass" attitude that must have been shocking when it was released in 1956.  Other goodies include "Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad," "Riot in Cell Block No. 9," and "Fujiyama Mama."  In recent years, this gal has released other albums including The Party Ain't Over which is amazing and only goes to show that attitude and greatness does not age.

1. Shuggie Otis
shuggieotisofficial.net
Also found while reading Nylon, I instantly became addicted to Shuggie.  Made while he was in his teens in the 1970s and son of legend Johnny Otis, Shuggie is a talent that is, in my opinion, unmatched by any of his age at the time.  "Strawberry Letter 23" is what hooked me, but tracks like "Sweet Thang" and "Freedom Flight" left me searching for every Shuggie album I could get my hands on.  He recently re-released his album Inspiration Information along with his first new material in years and is playing Austin City Limits this summer.  So if you want to mellow out and have your mind blown, drop the needle on an album by this fly cat and enjoy.


You're welcome.

Top 5 Weird Presidential Facts

Our former presidents have been a lot of things: badass, wussy, handicapped, genius, and just plain nutso.  So, relax and enjoy these delightful tidbits of presidential knowledge.

5. President Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender and co-owned a saloon in Springfield, Illinois.
As if this dude needed to be cooler.

4. President Grover Cleveland was the only president to serve as a hangman. 
As the sheriff of Erie County, New York, he had the delightful pleasure of hanging two poor souls.  Way to represent Western New York, Grover.

3. Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams are vandals.
While visiting Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-Upon-Avon, they both took knives to one of the bard's chairs in order to have a little sliver of wood as a souvenir.  Though if anyone is going to do this, it may as well be two of the greatest legal writers in American history.

2. President Ulysses Grant smoked at least 20 cigars a day.
He died of throat cancer--no lie.  Also, his name was Ulysses, which is pretty damn cool.

1. President Warren G. Harding liked to do it...in small spaces.
Apparently Warren liked to make the beast with two backs with a young girl in a White House closet.  The Secret Service even had to stop Mrs. Harding from breaking down the door once while they were in there.  Makes Bill Clinton look like a saint...almost.

Five Great Quotes from Five Great Movies

5. "High Fidelity" (1999) Starring John Cusack (Rob) and Jack Black (Barry) as record store owner and employee, respectively.
This is the movie that has provided the lovely topic of my blog: Top Fives

Rob: Just c'mon. What would it mean to you, that sentence - "I haven't seen Evil Dead II, yet"?
Barry: Well, to me it would mean you were a liar. You've seen it twice: once with Laura - Oops! - and once with me and Dick, remember? We had that conversation about the guy making Beretta shotgun ammunition offscreen in the 14th century.

4. "Seven Psychopaths" (2012) Starring Christopher Walken (Hans) and Sam Rockwell (Billy) as dog-nappers.

Hans: An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind, I believe that wholeheartedly.
Billy: No it doesn't. There'll be one guy left with one eye. How's the last blind guy gonna take out the eye of the last guy left, who's still got one eye! All that guy has to do is run away and hide behind a bush. Gandhi was wrong, it's just that nobody's got the balls to come right out and say it.

3. "Help!" (1965) Starring The Beatles (as themselves) and Victor Spinetti as Professor Foot, a mad scientist.

Professor Foot: With a ring like that I could - dare I say it? - rule the world.

2. "Lost in Austen" (2008) Starring Jemima Rooper (Amanda) and Tom Riley (Wickham) as two outsiders in Regency England.

Mr. Wickham: Miss Price, I fear that your life with Mr. Collins may be short of gaeity. If you find yourself nonplussed by the anticipated pleasures of married life, call upon me and I shall redress the deficit.
Amanda Price: Full marks for trying, George, but I wouldn't have my deficit redressed by you if you were the last man on earth.


1. "In Bruges" (2008) Starring Colin Farrel (Ray) and Brendan Gleeson (Ken) as hit men in Bruges, Belgium.

Ken: Coming up?
Ray: What's up there?
Ken: The view.
Ray: The view of what? The view of down here? I can see that down here.
Ken: Ray, you are about the worst tourist in the whole world.
Ray: Ken, I grew up in Dublin. I love Dublin. If I grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me but I didn't, so it doesn't.