Guest Post #5: Felicity's Desert Island Discs

(While Brian takes another week off from the blog to work on Book Two, Felicity fills in once again.)

Hey, so, yeah, I'm back. Can you believe it's been over a month since I last filled in for the guy who normally writes this blog? Actually, to be honest, I could've used a little more time off - I mean, c'mon, it's summertime - but, well, whatever, I guess. He promised that he'd have the latest draft of "Book Two" (again, I have no idea what that is) done by early August and that afterwards, he wouldn't bug me and Joel again for a while, so I'm gonna hold him to that.

Okay, so I really had no idea what to talk about today. When I asked that dude for suggestions, he said something about "Desert Island Discs," which, I guess, is like a list of albums that you would want to have with you if you were stranded on a desert island. I think that idea came from a radio show on BBC, or maybe even a place called "Tower Records," but, well, who really cares, right? The bottom line is that it gives me something to ramble on about for a few paragraphs so that I can get this post over with and go back to playing Portal 2 - um, I mean, doing some random girlie thing, like, uh, I dunno, shopping for shoes, I guess? Ick. Anyway, here we go....

DID #5 - Strung Out, Blackhawks Over Los Angeles

Okay, if you guys haven't heard of this band, you seriously need to check them out. They're kind of technical, meaning they're really good musicians, and I know that people are sometimes turned off by that kind of thing (the people who like simple 3-chord stuff), but believe me, the songwriting is really good, too. Their earlier albums were kinda straight-up hardcore punk, but as they went along, they added a lot more melodic and metal elements, which really helped to define their sound and make them a band that is totally worth listening to. No sarcasm there, honestly.

DID #4 - Iron Maiden, Piece Of Mind

Yeah, all right, I like Maiden, just like Joel. But, I mean, can you blame us? C'mon, who doesn't love "The Trooper"? But it's not only that song, this whole album seriously kicks so much butt. Along with everything else that this band produced. At least, up until their eighth album or so....

DID #3 - The Crash Engine, Extravagaria

I actually discovered this album by accident one day when I was snooping, I mean sifting, through Brian's CD collection. Did I really just call him Brian? Anyway, this is apparently some local Portland band that he played a show with a few years ago when he was in some other band called Council Crest, and when I listened to it, I was kinda impressed. Very strong songwriting that you don't hear a lot these days. I mean, anyone can be an awesome musician with so-so tunes (coughMarshallBylecough), but it takes some actual talent to produce music that connects with people on a real, honest emotional level. When I asked the blog-dude about them later, he mumbled something about going to see them at a local club and that they didn't play his favorite song so he was kind of put off by that, but who cares. Still a really good CD.

DID #2 - The Dambuilders, Encendedor

Joel actually turned me on to these guys. Something about they were a band that was originally from Hawaii...or, at least, two of their members were, and then they moved to Boston or something and got signed, and, well, anyway, this album is really pretty cool. I love the violin player and her singing/screaming deal, it's awesome. I don't understand a lot of their references, though. Like, what the heck is "Slo-Mo Kikaida"? Anyway, on to disc number one, which is...hey, you know, I just realized that this whole backwards countdown thing is totally something that Joel would do - I think I might be hanging around that guy a little too much.

DID #1 - In This Moment, The Dream

I can just listen to this album over and over and over again. It's heavy, but melodic and emotional, and...I dunno, I don't have the right words to describe how freakin' awesome it is. Maria Brink is the best frontman ever.

So there you have it, my top five Desert Island Discs, or whatever, at least for this week. By next week, or maybe even by tomorrow, they may change, who knows. But at least I did my job and filled up some blog space - um, I mean, let you all know about some great music that you might not have heard of before, so go and check these albums out. Until next time, I'm Felicity Smith, and you're not.