I said I WANT the UNUSUAL

So try as I might, I could not locate a YouTube broadcast of the 1980s Dr. Pepper ad in which a humanoid enters a Star Wars-esque cantina demanding "the unusual," and turning away beverages of unique shapes and sizes only to be satisfied in the end by a bottle of Dr. Pepper.

But that ad, if any of you remember it, expresses my feelings about music right now. This isn't a statement about music today, or yesterday or whatever. It's just me sitting in front of my iPod clicking through looking for something a little different. Something new and exciting, and I'm not finding it right now.

So I'm here to see if anyone can coach me towards a band I've never heard of, or one I've heard of but never gave a proper chance, and maybe I'll find something to delight my bored ears.

Obviously Andrew Bird, Petra Haden, Final F... er... Owen Pallette (he almost got me there), Iron & Wine and the Pipettes are disqualified from this list. Not that they aren't unusual, but I need some variety, and unfortunately my listening habits push these guys into overwhelming dominance.

Hook me up people! Give me something new! I said I WANT the UNUSUAL! Post anything you've got in the comments box.

Vicki Brown

So I've been called "old" by someone for discovering music via NPR. I'd like to point out that this individual that SOME would call a "sibling" which is a French word meaning "big stupid idiot person" has been doing New York Times crosswords for a good 5-plus years now. Fogie.

But, that said, I discovered NPR's Open Mic program and discovered some nice music from it, one album of which I may seek out and purchase.


Vicki Brown's fiddle stylings appeal to me quite nicely, as do many who don the horse hair instrument, namely Owen Pallette (who has a band name I avoid saying), Petra Haden and someone who is named far too often on this blog.

Although each of the above initially grabbed my interest by their choice of instrument, each showed in their own way that they had far more to offer than the fiddle. Owen Pallette with his obscure and atheistic lyrics over chamber music style pop, Petra Haden with her vocal harmonies and her brilliant idea to transform famous pop songs into vocal orchestras and the latter unnamed for reasons far too oft-cited on this blog.

Though I have yet to fall on my knees and worship the ground Brown walks on (having only heard a handful of her tracks) she's got my initial interest, and her take on sound seems to be instrumental ambience in a very experimental folk sort of way. It's all very pleasant, without being uninteresting.

Check out her music at that news agency for old people or on her MySpace Page. I'm particularly fond of "Take Flight."

Sibling... you can skip all that and just go here.

Updates

Miss Courtney has once again attempted to pull me out of the blogger void. Yes it has been some time, and I really should be here more considering my lack of writing.

The fool even said I could write about Andrew Bird, and believe me with a new live album out, and being featured on four tracks of Dosh's new album The Lost Take not to mention having seen him live twice last month, there was much to write about.

But I think I'd be more interested in seeking out other topics. But in the meantime, a wee update.

I'm working at an organization called the FaithTrust Institute as an office temp. They are fully aware of my journalistic ambitions and I'm keeping them in the loop on my application and interview process, and are ready for me to up and leave for something new. It's a great place to be in the mean time.

I'm pursuing four different things in the journalism world, one writing arts for a nearby newspaper. We're keeping our fingers crossed. I've expanded my search to include radio opportunities and internships.

Megan has not yet gone completely insane from working so hard, but I'm quite convinced that she's meandering close to that line. But it's all getting much easier.

That's the news from Lake Woe-be-gone. I'll have some more interesting updates coming this week.