This is a blog where I write words about music and you read them. Feel free to let me know how I'm doing in the comments, Facebook, email (daniel.soskey@gmail.com), or on Twitter @soskwatch (see sidebar).
Before I start today's post, I'd just like to announce this blog has reached over 1000 hits! That's honestly pretty cool, since this project started really as a way for me to just write down some of the crazy music thoughts in my head. I appreciate everyone who helped me out by promoting and even just reading these words. Thank you. Now on to The Griswolds!
Be Impressive. That's a term that's been bouncing around my head for the past few months. After discovering their number one track back in the spring, I highly anticipated The Griswolds' debut album as titled above. At the time they had only released about five tracks. Unfortunately for me, I usually need more content than that to start writing a band. This meant I had to wait to talk about one of the best new bands coming on to the music scene right now. Yes, The Griswolds have been publishing music and playing together for two years now, but it has only been the last six months since they've gained major ground.
With the release of "Beware the Dog" (their current most listened track on Spotify), their popularity exploded and it caught my attention. Once I heard this song, I was convinced that The Griswolds are something special. Pay attention to them in the coming years. Their high energy rhythms backing incredibly deep lyrics position The Griswolds to reach incredible heights very soon. I look forward to what else they can bring to the table musically. Let's take a look at what they've already brought so far:
Beware the Dog (3:21)
Damn this song is catchy. The combination of the playful riff at the beginning and the awesome chorus means that you'll have this song stuck in your head for days. It's what personally got me interested in The Griswolds in the first place and been their most played song by far. Supposedly, behind the upbeat tone hides a sad story of losing a friend to a drug addiction.
Heart of a Lion (2:47)
This is my personal favorite by The Griswolds. It's got everything you love about The Griswolds' sound in its purest form (in my opinion). It's got a great beat, great vocals, and a killer instrumental energy that leaves you wanting to throw it on repeat. If I were to try to cover one song by The Griswolds, this would be it.
Red Tuxedo (2:00)
The last song I'll show you is a much different feel. It's still lighthearted like the rest of The Griswolds' tracks , but it's a lot more mellow. It's a pretty simple song, but it has a sweet message. To me, it's a story about someone's first date ever. Capturing the essence of that in a song so well is truly impressive and the reason why this song was picked.
I'm so glad the first Musician Monday back for Second Session was The Griswolds. What do you think of them?
As in music, some of the most important moments of life are the silences in between the noise. Take a moment yourself today to experience that silence in memorial of those who lost their lives thirteen years ago. To accompany you, I have provided one of John Cage's most famous compositions, 4:33.
WHALE by Yellow Ostrich is my favorite song of all time, and I personally think it is the best song ever made. There, I said it. Blog post over.
Oh, you wanted to know why? Okay, fine.
The title "favorite song" often gets thrown around by listeners from time to time. I'm sure I've said so in my past about one particular song or another. Taking a step back and reflecting on these statements, I realized I truly did not think it was my favorite song ever. People do this kind of thing all the time, saying "Oh my God, XYZ is my favorite artist ever. Nothing can get better than this." Then talk to them in a month and they haven't listened to that artist in three weeks. That's fine. It's understandable that people get excited about new awesome things and claim them to be their favorite. That being said, I am completely, 100% serious when I say that WHALE is my number one, hands down, favorite song of all time. Crazy, right?
Back when I first heard WHALE, I was enthralled. I stumbled upon it while scouring the internet for new, awesome music. I stumbled upon Yellow Ostrich and saw the single-worded title sitting comfortably at the top of the artist's played songs on Spotify. Immediately following the starting tone, it captured me. It started out with a simple, echoing drumbeat that hooked me. A few bars later, there was my siren's call. The harmonized "Oh-Oh"s brought Alex Schaaf's unique vocals to the forefront as he began WHALE's poetic verse. The drums pick up complexity and a tambourine shakes its jangly rings to create a truly awe-inspiring beat. The lead vocals combine with the soft background voices and some well-placed silence to keep my on the edge of my seat. After the single chorus, I was on the edge of my seat. What was this beautiful beast building up to? Only a moment of silence had passed when the whole theme came back with more energy and happiness than before. Never in my life had I felt such a powerful emotion channeling through me like this first encounter with this amazing song. I could tell I had found something special.
Despite my utter enjoyment for the song, I was skeptical. I knew it was good, but by then I had realized that such a bold claim of favorite song was not something I should throw around lightly. I gave it the old Spotify gold star and kept it in my current playlist and on my mind.
A month passed and I was invited to sit in on a new friend's radio show (shout out to Isaac for the invite). He and his co-hosts allowed me to play one song and to talk about it. I chose WHALE, and when I heard it go over the air and saw the look on everyone's face in the studio, that first rush of bliss hit me once more. I couldn't believe this song hadn't been more well-known, especially given that everyone who heard it enjoyed it thoroughly. At this point, WHALE had officially become my spring jam that I wanted to show everyone. Still I was hesitant to put it on the golden pedestal that was "Favorite Song of All Time and Space". I needed more.
I listened to WHALE often during this summer, and I really took it for granted. I always assumed I could rely on its upbeat sound and awesome vocals to cheer my day up after a shitty day of work. I continued to show people, never thinking once I wouldn't be able to enjoy Yellow Ostrich's best song. I even grew to appreciate most of their work on what seemed to be a similar level to WHALE. I didn't realize what this song meant to me until I went without it.
I went overseas to Europe this summer for a week and a half, but those eleven days were all I needed to understand the impact this song had on me. The only electronics I brought to Europe were my Ipod and a camera, and I hadn't updated my Ipod in over two years. This meant I couldn't listen to WHALE or show it off to the many friends I met during my stay in Holland and France. Halfway through I realized I missed listening to WHALE. I literally missed a song more than a lot of people I had left in the states. It felt like I physically depended on it, like it was an addiction. The first thing I listened to when I arrived back in Jersey was WHALE, and its sweet tunes felt like I had just caught up with an old friend. That was the moment I realized I had found the one: my favorite song of all time. And I now am confident that it shall never be overthrown from the spot where it stands.
I'm not too naive to see the potential future where I do, in fact, find a song I like better. So many talented musicians create so many amazing new songs every day, it seems like it's only a matter of time before I hear my new favorite song of all time and this whole post makes me look like an idiot. The crazy thing is, I don't think I will. WHALE has been my number one jam for six months without break. In music terms, that is forever. I have never even had a song that close to being my number one song for that long before, and WHALE still holds that title firmly for me.
Welcome back, everyone, to Season 2 of Soskwatch Sightings! I took a break over the summer because keeping up with the blog on top of my job was leaving me with little time to do what summer is all about: reuniting with old friends and spending time with the family. Now that I am back and fully situated as a Sophomore in college (Holy shit, where has the time gone!?) I will resume the blog. To kick this year off, I wanted to do something special. So unlike normal posts where I share three or four songs with the world, for this post I've decided to share 50! Below is a playlist recapping most of my summer in music as well as a few extra bits that hint towards future posts.
A short disclaimer: I'm using Spotify as the format through which I'll present large playlists. To listen, you'll need to sign up (it's free don't worry). And for those claiming I'm hypocritical for using Spotify, keep this in mind:
I am a poor college student. I can't afford all of the music I want to hear, so until I have the cash flow required to own all of my music, paying for Spotify is the next best thing I can do.
The format for the playlists is a lot more clean than YouTube and the player is easy to implement.
So without further ado, here is my summer in a musical nutshell:
