Today is the third annual Record Store Day (it's basically like Christmas for music nerds). I've spent the past three Record Store Days in different states. In 2008 I was at Mr. Cheapo in Mineola, New York. While visiting Newport, RI with Rachel in 2009 I was able to visit Music Box (on Thames). This year I'm in Chicago for graduate school and I decided to visit three record stores to celebrate RSD 2010.

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/5057/recordstoredayapril2010.jpg

Last night I stood in line at Permanent Records, which was kind enough to open its doors from midnight to 2am. I was the…

What makes a good Christmas song?

Here's a list of my favorite and least favorite holiday songs. What's yours?

My Favorite Christmas Songs
1. Christmas Wrapping - my favorite, Rachel hates this song, and that makes me love it even more. You can't beat that opening guitar riff, combined with Blondie-esque vocals and brass section.

2. Fairytale Of New York - this is great! Every December this song climbs the UK charts. Good visual of a couple's argument during a New York winter. Great song along at Irish pubs.

3. Feliz Navidad - captures the holiday spirit in Spanish, could…

This is taken from http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2009/03/captain-beefhearts-10-commandments-of-guitar-playing.html

Captain Beefheart …what a character.

1. Listen to the birds.
That's where all the music comes from. Birds know everything about how it should sound and where that sound should come from. And watch hummingbirds. They fly really fast, but a lot of times they aren't going anywhere.

2. Your guitar is not really a guitar Your guitar is a divining rod.
Use it to find spirits in the other world and bring them over. A guitar is also a fishing rod. If you're good, you'll land a big one.

3. Practice in front of…

Just watched a 12 minute clip of Coldplay on 60 minutes.

I know people bash Coldplay, for being "boring" music, but they're one of those bands that's hard for me to hate. Of course it's Michael Phelps that gets caught with a bong in hand, not Chris Martin. The only thing I can accuse the man of is doing a terrible job at naming babies (his children's names are Apple and Moses).

Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends is a terrific album, and I wished they won more Grammys (sorry Robert Plant). (Although I think the…

I just got home a few hours ago with a big cardboard box. Inside the box sat the Pioneer PL-990 turn table that my girlfriend bought for me for an anniversary gift. Easily one of the best presents I've ever received.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41CMNYSDBWL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-PL-990-2-Speed-Automatic-Turntable/dp/B00009QORL

My house actually has a record player that the previous owner, Mr. Leiberwitz, had left. It's a little dusty, but still works. It's connected to a tube amplifier, probably from the 50s, which then leads to crappy speakers which were, and still are, wired to the den (downstairs) and the living room (ground level). Pretty cool sound…

So I'm here studying for my abnormal psychology final, which is tomorrow, and I'm also listening to music. Being a huge music nerd, I thought to myself, what if I combined the two?

Songs about or related to psychological disorders and mental illness…

1. Schizophrenia - Schizophrenia (duh)
2. 21st Century Schizoid Man - Schizoid Personality Disorder
3. You're So Vain - Narcissistic Personality Disorder
4. Paranoid - Paranoid Personality Disorder
5. Manic Depression - Manic Depression (Bipolar Disorder)
6. Paranoid Android - Paranoid Personality Disorder
7. Brain Damage - Psychosis
8. Lithium - a treatment for people with bipolar…

http://modernmask.org/images/stoppard1.jpg

Last night I went to see Tom Stoppard's play Rock 'N' Roll at the Jacobs Theater with my girlfriend and best friend. I had read Stoppard's play beforehand and thought it was pretty good, but seeing it performed was pretty amazing. The play takes place in Cambridge and Prague over a number of decades, and a political and social commentary of Czechoslovakia in the 70's and 80's. Unfortunately, the play is closing on March 9th and has about 20 shows left (at the time I'm writing this).

Obviously, from the title, rock & roll plays a central motif in…

Found this awesome cover of Radiohead's Paranoid Android, this band, The Section Quartet does a lot of covers and they've done an entire OK Computer tribute album. Paranoid Android is available to listen as a full stream…here: Paranoid Android.

Starts off slow and lo-fi, but then it turns into a furious swarm of strings. Beautiful.

I'm doing a school project on
The Plastic People Of The Universe and their influence on the Velvet Revolution (when communism was in the country). I need Czech speakers to help me translate a song. I really appreciate your help. I can't even find a good Czech to English translation website. :(

Půlnoční myš

Když k půlnoci dům nebes jest
Bez měsíce beze hvězd
Dvanáctkrát pádí jím v svou skrýš
Půlnoční myš půlnoční myš

Píská si malou tlamičkou
Ve snách pekelný herky řvou
Svůj úkol plní však tím spíš
Půlnoční myš půlnoční myš

Její pán velký bílý duch
Právě té…

So I'm back home on Long Island and and I've decided to check out my local library because it's got a pretty damn good collection of records…

This is actually how I discovered The Velvet Underground, Oasis, and Bob Dylan in high school.

Looking through the dusty stacks, I was actually surprised to see newer releases, like the Arctic Monkeys. I was also surprised to see the library carry something like 6 or 7 copies of X&Y. Also, Barbara Streisand does not deserve to have an entire fucking section of the shelf devoted to her. Fuck…