It's 6am and i'm all messed up

I really need to be writing an extremely long final paper for my sociology class, but I just can't concentrate. I keep listening to Brandi and it just isn't helping today. I got this song from my friend yesterday that's called Malt Liquor. I keep putting it on repeat. The melody is just so sad and the message is just....

I'll give you a nickel for your quarter
Malt liquor for your water
I'll leave you drunk up on the rooftop
Whoa, I'm dancing with the moon
This song is for our salvation
And if you sit here long enough
On this root under this tree
I swear, I will sneak up right beside you
Unlock your heart and set you free

This song to me fits my mood. It's lonely, its aching, it's kind of like a heart breaking in slow motion. Who will sneak up up beside you and set you free? Maybe its not supposed to be deep,or ambiguous, but to me there is a sense of ambiguity here. But it seems like this person (the singer, the subject, etc.) is striving for someone or something that they can't have, or can't help.

There's a quote by Rainer Maria Rilke that I really like. It goes "Do not assume that she who seeks to comfort you now, lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. Her life may also have much sadness and difficulty, that remains far beyond yours. Were it otherwise, she would never have been able to find these words" That pretty much sums up how I've been feeling lately. But then I feel guilty that I couldn't do more. I wish I could heal the hurt, calm the storm and wipe away the tears but sometimes I just can't. But I also can't help but keep thinking that it is selfish of me not to try.

It snowed today!

It snowed today :) I love the snow. I'm a Minnesota girl through and through and the snow just makes me smile. Yesterday was my birthday (21!) so waking up today to a light dusting was fantastic. I love the way the air feels when it is snowing and the way everything seems to go in slow motion.

One of my favorite things to do is to walk outside when its snowing in the dark and just watch how everything slows down. Did I mention that winter is my favorite time of year? Well it is. I started out my winter right, I got my first tattoo :) I can't really believe I went through with it! I have been wanting one for a really long time and I finally got one. I got it on my wrist and it is a lyric from my favorite song. It looks great. A couple of my friends came with me and I'm afraid I might have crushed my one friends hand I was holding it so tight! But it came out amazingly.

Tomorrow I'm going to the airport. I don't know where I'm going because its a surprise. I'll write more when I get back (which I don't even know when that is). I'm working on my perfect winter playlist because tis the season to listen to great music. Well it's always the season but this time of year especially.

-kb

take your hat off boy when you're talking to me

I've had a song stuck in my head all day and I finally figured out what it was. Sometimes I just have the melody playing through my mind all day which was the case today. The song is Feed the Tree by Belly.

I had no freakin idea where the heck I heard this song but I looked on 89.3's playlist and sure enough it was there. It's a fun little ditty about....well I really don't know what it is about. There are songs that are very existential, songs that are mystical and deep, profound and beautiful. I'm not convinced that this is the case with this song. But hey, the chorus is really catchy, it goes

take your hat off boy when you're talking to me and be there when I'll feed the tree

I don't get it, but its a fun song. I was listening to this song and immediately after on my itunes Girl with a Coma comes on. This band is growing on me. I downloaded a bunch of their stuff and im still waiting for a specific song to jump out at me. So far my favorite song I have heard by them is Road to Home. Its got another killer chorus that gets me.

One band that I have neglected to mention this far is Florence and the Machine. I am a fan of every song I have heard thus far. I love the song Are You Hurting the One You Love, and also the Drumming Song. As well as Rabbit Heart. That is a fantastic song.

All right well, maybe next time the post won't be as scatter brained as this one, but I'm not making any promises.

-KB

It feels like a Radiohead kind of day

I just have to talk a little about Radiohead. I absolutely love them. Here's why.

They are epic. All I Need, Optimistic, Exit Music (For a Film) etc. etc. recently I just cannot get enough of them. For a long time now I have admired everything about the band and am completely enamored by Thom Yorke's voice. His is one of only few that can actually get me to weep.

There is no one else like them. Sure there are a few bands that rely on them for inspiration and have some qualities similar to Radiohead, but they are one of a kind in my mind.

Karma Police is a fantastic song. Enough said.

Reckoner. This song gets me every time. I listen to it when I need to ground myself in the moment, when I am having one of those "I just can't seem to make myself get out of bed even" days and when I need a release. Thom's voice on this one makes me turn into a moth to a flame. If I hear this song I will stop what I am doing so I can again appreciate the amazing-ness of this song. Sometimes if I put this song on repeat, I can get so lost in it that a half an hour or more will go by before I realize it.

Radiohead has been an inspiration to me for years. They opened up my world to a whole new kind of music that has lead me to discover amazing talent. They have also led me to discover things within myself. In essence Radiohead makes me want to meditate, breathe slowly and watch the world in slow motion.

-kb

Mecca for Minnesota Music

So this past weekend a friend and I went to this amazing record store called the Electric Fetus. I had heard about this place from friends and the radio, but I never checked it out before. Boy am I glad we did! It was amazing.

I was super excited to find a place with so much hard to find music and especially the quantity of Minnesota Music. I was really excited though when I found the new(ish) cd by Caroline Smith and the Goodnight Sleeps. I hadn't been able to find it anywhere and was resisting the urge to download it because I wanted a hard copy.

Did I mention that this place is Amazing? I saw so many of my favorite bands and a few new ones, I didn't know where to start. Everyone was there. Radiohead to Elvis Costello. I even saw some Kid Cudi and Kid Dakota there. Trampled by Turtles, Roma di Luna, Haley Bonar, Brenda Weiler, Chris Koza, good lord it was awesome.

I walked out with a cd and a vinyl which was so worth it. I can't wait to go back and am regretting that I didn't go sooner. The people there were great, I even got to take a promotional poster of Brandi home (for free!). I have a feeling that much of my future paychecks will be going there. But it will be well worth it.

-kb

Touching the Ground

So this past week was extremely hectic, but throughout it one thing stayed constant: the song playing in my car.

Brandi Carlile released her third album a couple of weeks back and since then I've listened to it every day. The song Touching the Ground is currently my favorite.

"You could sing an army of angels to sleep, with songs that could cause the devil to weap". I feel exactly the same about Brandi's voice. This woman sings so well and with so much passion that if she sang on the phone she just might be the one to get the telemarketers to shut up.

"Now those eyes are fillin' with rain, bringing me misery givin' me pain". This is my second favorite lyric of the song. I absolutely love this song. Its mellow without being boring and it flows along so well that when its over I immediately have to go back to the beginning.

Clearly my infatuation with Brandi Carlile and her music is not going away anytime soon, but for my next post I think I'll talk a little about my newest music discovery; William Fitzsimmons. Until then I highly recommend going out and getting Brandi and the Boys' new record. It will be a window into what music can really be.

-KB

Carlile Inspired

This being the first post in Carlile Inspired I think I'll explain it a little.

Music is the center of my soul. I want this blog to be a place where I can talk about what music is currently on repeat and what I draw from it. The name of the blog comes from the amazingly talented Brandi Carlile Band. Brandi Carlile has the best voice in music today (Paste Magazine agrees). I have never heard another artist that has inspired me as much as her. Along with the extremely talented Tim and Phil Hanseroth and Josh Neuman, the band is complete. I could go on and on about this incredible team of musicians and probably will in the future. I wanted the name of this blog to be witty and catchy. In the end I decided I needed to dedicate this blog about music to the person who has been my window into what music can be.

I don't know who will read this, but if anyone does I hope they look up the artists I talk about and give their music a chance. I'd also like suggestions about artists that I should be listening to. It is my goal to post at least once a week, and hopefully someone will become inspired by the amazing talent in the world today, like I have.

-KB