Pick Of The Crate - Your Funny Moods & 3 Minutes 2 - Hey Girl

I have a lot of great records to throw up here in this series, so I am going to start with two of my favorite finds. Both records are bass-heavy, soulful pleas from a heartbroken man to his lady.


The first track is by a Washington/Baltimore group Skip McHoney and the Casuals on DC International Records. Here Skip pleads with his lady to understand why he has to go. Ultimately it is her nasty attitudes and her funny moods that drive Skip away. It is also a result of one of my favorite lyrics, "You don't want a man, you want a robot." The track is driven by a smooth bassline, lush string sweeteners and backing vocals by the Casuals. This track apparently caused some problems between the band members (who broke up shortly afterwards), because up until this point they were simply called the Casuals and did not want an individual name out front, but the label chose to list the artist as Skip McHoney and the Casuals on the 45.


The second track is by George Kerr, a former member of the Escorts and the Serenaders, on All Platinum. Opposite to the first track, here George is pleading with his lady to stay after he makes some unfortunate comments to another set of ladies. The track starts slow with a spoken conversation, but merges into the meat of the song with a drum and piano build-up. The track grows in power and emotion as George runs through a stream of consciousness lyrical approach after realizing the implications of not having his lady sets in. I haven't seen a lot of George Kerr solo releases, but he is responsible for penning tracks for the Escorts, the Moments and Linda Jones among many others.

Who I'm In Love With Today - The Ladies Of Ladytron

I have been a huge fan of Ladytron for some time now and after doing a disc-to-disc marathon of Ladytron albums today - it is official that I am in love with Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo of Ladytron. For a period of time, I was removed from female-fronted groups due to a lack of quality - *MAJOR footnote here - don't get me wrong, Bjork, Natalie Merchant, Beth Gibbons, Kate Bush and Annie Lennox were all releasing albums at this point in time and they are all on my list of voices I wish I had if I were female, but overall the quality in female-fronted bands in the early to mid 2000s weren't at the caliber they could have been.

It wasn't until I heard 604 in 2005 (I know, I am late in the Ladytron-game) that a new love of the female voice emerged for me. Since then I have proclaimed my love and hand in marriage for both female factions of Ladytron. Please keep up the good work ladies (and men who accompany them.)

Records That Time Forgot - You're My Best Friend

Two's company. Because three would just look ridiculous.

Otis Redding - You Left The Water Running

It's hard not to fall in love with the simplicity of the title and the concept. It would be nice to be able to charge folks for the pain they've caused you. It also doesn't hurt that this song was sung by one of the best soul singers in the history of everything.

If I could counter-charge Verizon for the torment they have put me through, I'm pretty sure I'd break even and not have to pay for my cable, phone and internet. I called them the other day, wrestled past the robot that insisted that she could handle my issue, only to be hung up on by her and instructed to please try the whole process again later for another chance at a real person. It would be bliss to send them a confusing and poorly organized bill for $49.13 for my time wasted on the phone, that they would have no choice but to pay (preferably on auto-bill).

So like I said, simple concept. You left. You made Otis cry? Fine, if that's the way you want it, but just wait til you get your water bill to pay.

Shame on you.

Who I'm In Love With Today - Felicia Day

Being naive and easily persuaded - I tend to fall in love with people very easily. The majority of these people are conveniently enough, people I will never meet. So, I will use this blog to express my affection for those people I have made a special place for on my pedestal in my mind.

Today, I am completely in love with Felicia Day. I first saw her on the Cheetos commercial and subsequently have ran through several Laundromat scenarios in which we match rogue lost socks over the hum of the detergent machine.




Then I saw her in the excellent, and highly recommended Joss Whedon web-movie, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" whereby she jumped rank to mild enamoration.

She was interviewed today over at The Onion and it turns out she is a gamer. Now, to clarify, I am not into World of Warcraft, so I don't completely understand "The Guild" videos, but the simple fact that she is a gamer has elevated her to pedestal status. Some of you who know me have heard the story of when I was a freshman in college and Tony Hawk Pro Skater came out. Basically, I lived and breathed THPS and was given an ultimatum by my then girlfriend to chose Tony or her. I chose Tony. So it's refreshing to know that there are some ladies in the world who accept excessive nerdation. You can read the full story here.

The Onion Interview


So here's to you Felicia. I hope you enjoy the temporary status of the person I am in love with today.

Fallout 3

I am a rabid consumer of media. I love to learn from all sorts of things. One thing I have always enjoyed learning from, even if only a few small lessons, has been video games. So, here, I'd like to bring them up. Lest we get to thinking that this blog can only be about music (which I am also a big fan of, to be sure), I want to talk about a video game- and a PC game at that.

Recently, a game was released to great fanfare. This game utilizes a celebrated engine and design from a celebrated company that is just a few scant miles from my home.

Bethesda Softworks, makers of the amazing Elder Scrolls series, have created Fallout 3. I'm not going to review the game in it's entirety. I've only completed about 1/10th of it so far. I don't know if I will ever finish the whole thing. I may never see every stitch of it, despite working hard to complete almost every game I've ever owned. 

The problem isn't with my resolve (hah! of course not...). It's just that the game is almost too big to play in it's entirety.

A trend that has not worked well for all games.

But I cannot find fault in Fallout 3 for this. The game is immense in proportion and frightening in it's prescience. But alluring and interesting. It is well designed and well thought-out. It smacks of reality while showing a terrible fantasy.

The characters are alive and realistic, despite being made so obviously of pixels, even at an amazing high 1920 x 1200 resolution (high definition has always had better resolution than real life for me).


And while the experience is so amazingly and obviously simulated, I can't help but find myself wanting to come back for more.