This guy is giving away a Wilco ticket!

And no one has entered his contest, yet! I saw Wilco in concert at the 9:30 Club on their "A Ghost is Born" tour, and it was amazing. Of course, I don't think Wilco could put on a bad show.

Good luck Prince of Petworth! If you don't get enough entries for your contest, it will cause me to lose more faith in humanity than if Mitt Romney were elected president.

Real Love

So, the song “Real Love” seems to be resurfacing, which I find totally nutty. It first came out in 1996, when I was at the ripe old age of 15, as part of the Beatles’ Anthology 2 album. Which I totally owned, by the way, because my brother and I were Beatles’ geeks even as teenagers. I’m pretty sure I even had a shirt with the Beatles’ Apple logo on it at the time. I also had a shirt with “The Kramer” on it, but that’s neither here nor there.

Anyway, even at 15 I was not so impressed by “Real Love.” It was a neat idea and everything, for the gang to get together and record with an old track featuring Lennon’s voice, but… enh. It kind of weirded me out. Like that recording/video of “Unforgettable” where Natalie Cole sings with her very much deceased father. Sweet, I guess, but still kind of creepy.

Back to the point. So recently, Rob and I went to see Regina Spektor in concert, and she performed a cover of “Real Love,” and it was pretty amazing, but that was probably mostly because she has an insanely gorgeous voice.

But then the song popped up again on, of all things, a JCPenney commercial. Anyway, I don’t know if it’s nostalgia for my teenage years or because this little girl is ostensibly building a rocket ship out of discount cookware and Arizona jeans—cause that’s the only tie I can possibly find to JCPenney’s in the commercial—but I am really digging this song. Like really digging it. I downloaded the Regina version and listen to it several times a day. I hum it in the car. I see the Apple logo in my sleep.

Here’s the commercial—one, for your enjoyment and two, because I think answering Laura’s yearnings for serious-ness on WBB by posting another commercial is the only response that makes any sense.

The New Wilco -- Let the Countdown begin!

So, as I've mentioned before, the new Wilco album, Sky Blue Sky, comes out on May 15! I can't wait. (And I may not have to. I hear Greg has an early release copy). Regardless, you can download the first single, What Light, thanks to MySpace. I think it's great. Check it out!

Life, looming death, and music

Mosh pits are scary. I should know--I was nearly crushed by a burly, large, drunken man yesterday on the outskirts of one at a Flogging Molly concert. The show itself was fantastic. It was full of Irish anthems for the recovering Catholic, with titles like Rebels of the Sacred Heart driving the largely Catholic-raised, tattoo and piercing covered crowd to rowdy dancing and pushing. A good time was had by all. But as I was sneak attacked by the drunken mass of sweaty man, I thought--Is this really just the practice round?

It's the practice round because a Flogging Molly concert isn't nearly as rowdy as the Dropkick Murphy's concert I'll be attending next Sunday. And, I wasn't actually pushed into the full madness on my first outing--a jump I've promised to try and take next week. So, if my first rowdy concert experience is any indication of what's to come, it's inevitable that this is my last week on earth. I will most certainly be crushed by a rogue crowd surfer.

With the impending doom looming, I've decided it's only fitting that I would die at a concert-- nearly crushed and taking a kick to the head during a raucous Irish jig. My life can be mapped with music.

Laura-- the early years

The first song I remember loving was Hazy Shade of Winter by the Bangles. I remember buying a 45 for my Fisher-Price record player at the Disc Jockey. I was so proud of it, and I got to show it off to my second grade teacher Mrs. Dunn, who just happened to be in the store at the same time. I think I listened to that record repeatedly for at least a year.

Other important songs of my elementary years included Kokomo by the Beach Boys, Walking on Sunshine by Katrina & the Waves, Cheeseburger in Paradise by Jimmy Buffet, and Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi.

Once I reached middle school, it was cool to like music--being that I was a weeble shaped child and not very cool, this is when I went through my country phase. I did love the New Kids on the Block and Vanilla Ice (mainly because you HAD to in those days), but I was deeply enamoured with Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Clint Black, Wynonna Judd, and so many more. A highlight of the country years was a 7th grade trip to Rupp Arena with my friend Amanda to see Clint Black and Wynonna during their Black and Wy tour. In a first experience with rowdy concert-goers, a drunk woman sitting behind me proceeded to braid my and Amanda's hair.

By 8th grade I was exiting my country phase and enjoying Salt-n-Pepa (yes, I still know all the words to Shoop), Aerosmith's Get a Grip album, and Warren G's Regulate the G-Funk Era.

Creating the Laura of Today

High School marked an important shift in my musical taste. It's the time I discovered some of my all-time favorites and learned about the joys of classic rock. During these years, Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage reigned supreme, with smatterings of Led Zeppelin (Over the Hills and Far Away is still my all time favorite song), Pink Floyd, Janice Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix. High School was the gateway to a tendency to explore the bands less known-- a tendency that lasts even today, and makes me want to attend numerous concerts at the South Gate House and 20th Century Theater.

I don't know exactly when I discovered my one true love--Jeff Tweedy and Wilco, but we've been together ever since, and I can't wait for the new album Sky Blue Sky to come out on May 15. Wilco is chill, mid-tempo indie rock music. The concerts fit my personality and my concert going style of absorbing sounds and dancing in my own space without touching others. I've been to concerts of all types over the years. I love live music. It's only fitting that a concert will be the source of my demise in more than a financial way.

If only I could see Wilco perform one last time. Start preparing your online tribute to my wonderfulness now. My estimated time of death is 10:45 p.m., Sunday, March 11.