ziggy and his pocket full o' stardust.

Good, good, good friend of the blog. How long has it been since we last spoke? I don’t know either, but gees, it feels like it’s been forever and a day. And I’ve missed you. I hope the same is true for you missing the blog. I really love having you around.

Anyhow, let’s settle right on into it, just like we’ve never left. And I thought, what better way to kick off the first o-fficial post of the summer then by me telling you about some of my current obsessions. Some of them are new and some of them are resurfacing from obsessions past. I think you’ll enjoy hearing about them. If not, well, I guess that’s just too bad.

OKAY. Here goes.

1. Zippy (not to be confused with Ziggy)
Zippy is the name I have given to my new ipod shuffle. That’s right. My old shuffle was never found and I’m actually really surprised that I never did find it. It’s quite the bummer. HOWEVER. My new shuffle is pretty stellar. Its name is Zippy because it looks like a mini Zippo. Which makes perfect sense.

2. Best Buy
Have you ever shopped for compact discs (disks?) at Best Buy? Well, you should. A few months, (weeks?) ago, I bought some incredible tunage. Which brings us to number three…

3. BROKEN BELLS.
Well, I heard them a good little while ago, and they have been featured on the blog’s line-up of important music for quite some time now, but I finally got my hands on the actual cd. And holy moly. It’s quite spectacular. Broken Bells is the fusion-groovy-hybrid of James Mercer of the Shins fame, and Danger Mouse of just flat-out awesome fame. Anyhow, it’s great. Go check it.

4. High Violet
I know I’ve talked a lot about The National’s new album, but I’m probably not going to be able to quit. If you haven’t done so already, I really want you to hear it. I am in total love.

5. Fleet Foxes
I also picked up the album by this awesome band at Best Buy. Now, Fleet Foxes aren’t really new news. I had heard “Blue Ridge Mountains” a while back, but now that I have their album, I’m gonna tell you that it’s important for you to own it as well. Especially a little ditty called “White Winter Hymnal.” HELL’S BELLS. That’s all I got to say about that one.

6. PANDORA (not be confused with anything Avatar-related)
Now, I have discussed this incredible application before, but we’re gonna do it again. Because it just deserves it. I entered “Bon Iver” into mine and so now, I have “Bon Iver Radio.” It’s true what they say. Dreams really do come true. And it bumps constant Bon Iver, Iron & Wine, Tim Fite, Andrew Bird, Joe Purdy, Alexi Murdoch…whoa, it goes on and on. And it just gets better.

7. BPM-CURRENT DANCE HITS
XM/Sirius has done it again. Holy smokes. This station features some boss little remixes. For instance, there was a nice little David Lei Brandt remix of Jay Sean’s hot groove “Down.” That’s good music, kids. This station comes to you from the blog with a high recommendation, cause that song gots down like the economy. And then they played a Kaskade remix of Telephone. That was super-cool. PLUS! Kylie Minogue is back, bitches.

Alright, here comes the big finish:

8. ZIGGY STARDUST
Okay, speaking of satellite radio, you know how much I love The Coffee House. And, it had been a while since I had the extreme pleasure of hearing this song by the wonder that is David Bowie. So, therefore, this song is now on that groovy little listing of videos on the right of this ground-breaking blog. And, let’s talk about it for a little bit:

Lyrically, it’s one of the saddest songs I think I’ve ever heard. So, when you listen-in, listen-in for the words. They’re boss. I think Ziggy Stardust is going to be my new alias. Probably shouldn’t have told you that.

Seriously, though. David Bowie can kind of do no wrong. I mean, in Under Pressure, right there at the end, that lyric that starts off with “love’s such an old-fashioned word…” Holy Toledo. You can’t deny that kind of greatness. He is awesome. And Ziggy Stardust really is his best. That’s what I think, anyhow.

DAVID+BOWIE=FLAT-OUT, FULL-ON COOL.

PLUS! There are a few more new songs available for your auditory bliss. So, I don’t really know what you’re waiting for. Grab those handy-dandy earbuds and groove around for a cool little minute. That line-up of impressive videos is patiently waiting. And just know that all of those songs are obsessions that swim around in my brain 24/7. Groovin’ is what we do.

Alright, those were my eight current obsessions. And eight’s a good number. We could even call this post “Kate Plus 8.” Too soon? Perhaps.

At any rate, you know how much I love you. Do I need to say it again? Well, just to reiterate, and never to belabor, I do love you. In fact, you’re my number nine on that list of current obsessions.

Yours in extreme obsession,
katie beth

WAIT. There’s more.
I can’t leave without telling you how obsessed I was with the second installment of SJP and the ladies of Sex & The City. I mean, really. I felt like I had already seen the movie before I ever even went. But then, in true SATC fashion, I hadn’t seen anything yet. It really was the best sex yet. AND I have one word, four letters: LIZA.

In fact, I liked that movie so much, I might even put a ring on it. Again: too soon? This time: definitely.

Also, the soundtrack to the movie is quite impressive. I can really get down to the Bali-Wood-esque vibe. Plus, that Empire State of Mind can do no wrong. And as much as I love Jay-Z, this song just gets better with only Alicia Keys. It’s like an effing revival at the church of cool. Be sure to check it out.

Anyway, go out and see the movie. We’ll talk more about it later. I don’t want to ruin it for those who haven’t seen it yet.

Okay, this time this post really is over. At least until we meet again.

Now go get obsessed. And, as always, feel free to fall in love. And do it with a sweet disposition. See how I did that?

REPRESENT.

xmu > coffee house.

How is it honestly going, good reader of the blog? I sure do hope that things in your life are going well. And I really mean it. Your happiness means the world to me. And, speaking of happiness, the camper is back-in-action.

That’s right. Last night, I once again reconnected with my sleeping bag and let me tell you something: we have really missed each other. It was high time that we got back together.

Anyhow, what I’ve really come here to tell you is that I am listening-in to a new radio station, by way of those satellites. Though I am still in complete love with the Coffee House, it was time for a change. It started to feel like they were playing the same stuff, and it wasn’t the stuff that I really liked. There was this one song called “Magic Marker” by Monsters of Folk that they kept-on playing for what seemed like every single damn second. Don’t waste any minute of your life looking that song up. So not even worth it.

But, anyway, it was time for a change. So, I bumped a few stations down and got real-into a station that they call Sirius XMU. The U may or may not stand for University, and I think that’s what it really does stand for, but it should really stand for Ungodly amounts of greatness. This station is receiving the official stamp of totally and completely boss.

So, I can’t just sit around and enjoy all of these songs that I am currently feelin. I had to share some of them with you. And it’s really exciting to know that I can actually listen to these people outside of the internet and i-tunes. Whoever said that radio is dead needs to turn their ears on over to XMU, because it’s there that they will find a righteous revival.

Alright, I have listed below eleven songs so that you can get a vibe of what I am currently enjoying on this station, on the radio. That’s right, people. ON THE RADIO. It’s incredible that actual good music is getting a little well-deserved air-time. Suck on that, FM.

Okay, here they are:

11. "Cold War (Nice Clean Fight)" The Morning Benders

10. “Quiet Little Voices” We Were Promised Jetpacks

9. “Shadow People” Dr. Dog

8. “81” Joanna Newsom

7. “World Sick” Broken Social Scene

6. “A Little Lost" Arthur Russell

5. “Diplomat’s Son” Vampire Weekend

4. “The High Road” Broken Bells

3. “What a Drag” Bear Hands

2. “Go Do” Jónsi

1. “Bloodbuzz Ohio” The National

Okay, I hope you liked my list, cause I worked real-hard to bring it to you. Actually, not hardly, but I do keep a stack of orange post-its with me, so I can write down the names of songs that I really like. So far, listening to this station for the past three days has successfully filled-up four of those post-its. And that’s pretty impressive.

Now go forth and listen to some of the ones that I posted for you over on that video list to your immediate right. I would have put all of them on here, but that list is starting to get obnoxiously long. I’m gonna have to take some of those off of here. It’s getting to be ridiculous. But you can feel free to go look up the others on your own. They would totally deserve your attention.

Alright, now go get into them. Also, Jónsi is from Iceland. I know, it’s completely awesome.

Yours through the frequencies,
katie beth

wait, there's more: did you like the number one song on that list? Well, get excited because that album (High Violet) is gonna drop into your atmosphere on May eleventh. And here's what it's gonna look like: