Melody Freak’s Summer YouTube Jukebox

Now that I’ve been liberated from my yearly university entrance exam project (I never seem to get rid of entrance exams!) I’m able to write more often here. Even though I’m still not quite sure if this blog really is particularly useful, I will most certainly continue blabbing about my extremely subjective opinions/experiences. There are so many awesome music things yet to be told (and like a certain Mr. DeYoung once said, I can hardly wait..).

This time I’ll put here something a bit different. In order to brainwash people more effectively, I’ve been collecting videos from YouTube. Then I’ve linked them to my Facebook site so that my friends might notice them. I’ve had different hidden agendas but the most important has always been giving people music tips, spreading the word: “Why not listen to this? You may like it…” This is what I’m also going to do with you, blog reader!

So, if you’re bored or don’t have anything to do, consider watching some of my music video picks. You probably already know most of them but there is a chance you might find a nice new song to enjoy. I’d say all these songs have something to do with power pop (or jangle pop.. or at least pop). And they’re all from the 90s and 2000s.

Watching a nice video every now and then is a joy. Also, if you happen to have forgotten to take good music with you when you’re not home, you can check if there’s anything familiar on YouTube that would make you feel more comfortable - unless they have removed your favourite video due to some copyright problem. The thing with “The video you requested is not available in your country” - I don’t get it. What’s the point of music videos if music fans are not allowed to watch them?

The Videos
The Apples in Stereo: Energy
Tal Bachman: She’s So High
Brendan Benson: Metarie
Brendan Benson: Tiny Spark
Candy Butchers: You Belong to Me Now
The Churchills: Sometimes Your Best Isn’t Good Enough
Delays: Nearer Than Heaven
Gigolo Aunts: Mrs. Washington
Gigolo Aunts: Where I Find My Heaven
Hellogoodbye: Baby, It’s Fact
Locksley: Don’t Make Me Wait
Roger Joseph Manning Jr: Too Late For Us Now
The Mockers: The Emperor Strikes out Again
Lisa Mychols: Gonna Get That Boy
Nada Surf: Always Love
The New Pornographers: Sing Me Spanish Techno
Of Montreal: Requiem for O.M.M. 2
OK Go: You’re so Damn Hot
Rinaldi Sings: Come Fly With Me
Rooney: Popstars
The Rosenbergs: After All
Silver Sun: Last Day
Supergrass: Mansize Rooster
Toad the Wet Sprocket: Good Intentions

Kool-aid, Sandwiches and Chips for All the Shoulders

Jellyfish is one of my all-time favourite bands. Although they weren’t a very long-lived band, they created something uniquely fresh that will continue influencing pop music for a long time. Jellyfish’s music is happy and timeless pop of high quality. I also have to give Jellyfish credit for guiding me towards listening to more psychedelic-sounding pop (and power pop generally).

I find it impossible to decide which one of Jellyfish’s two albums is better. They are so different from each other. Spilt Milk (1993) is astonishing with its awesome, polished sound, hilarious Queen-references and huge instrumental variety. On the other hand, Bellybutton (1990) always appeals to me with its better-balanced appearance and great songs. If I had to pick some favourite tunes from these albums, I would have to say “all of them”.

Also, when I found Jellyfish in August 2004 I found my #1 favourite singing voice, and that, of course, belongs to Andy Sturmer. I was very convinced about this state of facts until I found a band called The Sun Sawed in ½. Since then, I’ve been slipping towards passing the status of favourite singer to Sun’s lead singer Doug Bobenhouse, and I’ve actually already passed it to him, but listening to Jellyfish always makes me have doubts over my choice. I guess I should just keep two #1 favourite singers. It’s quite difficult to compare Andy and Doug, although their voices bear some serious resemblance..

Also, where on earth is Andy Sturmer? He has surely been doing lots of music-related things, but, I mean.. Where is his solo career? As far as I’m concerned, I think a person with a singing voice like that should be singing all the time, recording that singing and releasing it. A cappella would be just fine..

Geez! Andy really seems to have come up with some solo material, e.g. a cartoon theme for Transformers. I'll check that out right away.

I’ve surely checked out Jason Falkner and Roger Manning’s solo work, The Grays, and a bit of all kinds of other Jellyfish-related music. A huge majority of that stuff is awesome. But, something important post-Jellyfish material is still missing..

The recent Jellyfish tribute album might also be worth checking at some point. The most important thing is, though, that Jellyfish always sounds fresh and new when I listen to it. That’s not something that happens with all bands and albums. When I haven’t listened to Spilt Milk or Bellybutton for a while and listen to them again, I’m always amazed how fresh they sound.

I wish there could be a Jellyfish reunion someday.

Jellyfish at MySpace