Posts By Aliza M
0 Bears. BEATS. Battlestar Galactica. – May 2nd, 2013!
Last show of the semester! Who else thinks finals came too soon?
We’re starting the show with a song that’s named after one of the only weather events we haven’t experienced in the last week. Hurricane by Bridget Mendler is one of the newest outputs from Disney Channel. It’s a great up beat and sunny song! What happens After the Storm? Mumford & Sons can tell us! One of the complaints I’ve heard about Mumford & Sons is that when they try to be reverent, they come off as angsty (and frankly, I can see that at times!), but they really can show off their talent in their songs and even stand out in their collaborations. One of my favorite Mumford & Sons collaborations is their song Learn Me Right which they performed with Birdy. Birdy is so incredibly talented that I was so happy to hear this song in the movie Brave.
I love collaborations between artists, so we’re going to listen to another collaboration. This one is called Wonderman by Tinie Tempah and Ellie Goulding. This song is definitely different than what typically gets played on this show. We’re going to follow that up with another song about a man. Man Like That by Gin Wigmore is one of my favorites that I’ve ever heard in a commercial. She has a husky and strong voice and she really makes an impression. Gin Wigmore is from New Zealand, just like our next artist, Anika Moa. Thinking about Tomorrow by Anika Moa is a wonderful song about new beginnings. It doesn’t have anything to do with their musical ability, but Anika Moa is openly gay, just like both the twins in Tegan and Sara. Tegan and Sara had a free download at Starbucks recently and that’s a song called Closer.
What’s the opposite of close? Far. We’re going to listen to a song called Dance Anthem of the 80′s off of Regina Spektor‘s album Far. What better to follow that up than an actual song from the 1980′s? Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes came out in 1983. All of the sunburned people on campus were probably thinking that they wouldn’t blister in the sun, but rather Soak Up The Sun like Sheryl Crow. Sheryl Crow and her contemporary Liz Phair have performed together before, so we’re following this up with a Liz Phair song. Phair has been criticized for her changing of musical styles, but she has always done incredible work. Never Said off of her album Exile in Guyville is one of the prime examples of her early musical style. Lily Allen takes a note from Liz Phair’s book and tells a guy that they are not exclusive, nor are they a thing in her song Never Gonna Happen.
0 Bears. BEATS. Battlestar Galactica. – April 25, 2013
Welcome to today’s show! We’re stating today’s show with love and progressing to reminders. Kicking off the show is Love Love Love by Of Monsters and Men. We’re going to follow that up with a song of the same name, Love Love Love by Tristan Prettyman. Love is such a common topic in music, but The Lumineers have an interesting outlook in their song Stubborn Love, in which they state that the opposite of love is indifference. I frankly think they’re right, but since most people think the opposite of love is hate, we’re going to hear about that in our next song. Hate (I really Don’t Like You) by the Plain White T’s is a clear example of love gone wrong. In the song, the singer wonders “what I liked about you” and tells the girl that broke his heart that she’s not that special.
Speaking of special, Ida Maria doesn’t think you’re that special either. I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked is a great song about lust. Interesting connection between this and the next song, both Ida Maria and Marina and The Diamonds mention cigarettes in their songs. Marina and the Diamonds also mentions that I Am Not a Robot. Regina Spektor isn’t a robot either, but she is hooked into Machine. Perhaps Florence Welch is the same and that’s where she came up with the name Florence + The Machine. Her song No Light No Light is one of my favorites right now. It seems true that when a light goes out there is darkness. According to The Smiths, though, The Is a Light That Never Goes Out.
Speaking of light, Slow Lights by Sin Fang is a song we’re going to listen to for the first time together! A lot of things in life are slow. The Kills point out that the Future Comes Slow. The Future is something that a lot of us think about a lot, including Five Knives! When some of us are living in the future, others are living in the past. The Past and Pending by The Shins is one example. We need to live life day to day though, like Past in Present by Feist. Rounding out the show, we’re going to have one final song by Feist. 1 2 3 4…
Speaking of light, Slow Light is
0 Bears. BEATS. Battlestar Galactica. – April 18, 2013
Welcome to today’s show! We’re starting off today’s show with something off of the new Paramore album. Last Hope is one of my favorite songs off of heir new self-titled album. Because of all the crap that goes on in our world, we all need a little bit more Hope, so we’re going to play that song by Jack Johnson (who is one of the more socially aware song-writers out there). Speaking of socially-aware songs, Adele‘s song Hometown Glory is a fabulous tune. It begins with a gorgeous piano piece (the non-radio edit has a more extended piano piece), which is a theme in more serious music. Birdy uses a piano to open her song People Help The People. As long as we’re talking about people, we’re going to go into a song called People Got A Lot Of Nerve by Neko Case. One of the first lines in that song mentions an elephant, which brings us to Elephant Love Medley from Moulin Rouge. Moulin Rouge uses Elton John’s Your Song prominently through the movie, so we’re going to go with the Ellie Goulding cover of Your Song.
How about a second Ellie Goulding song to start a count-down? Figure 8 is one off of her album Halcyon. What comes after 8? Seven Devils by Florence and the Machine. Six Weeks by Of Monsters and Men is following up in our count-down to the end of the show. What about five, you ask? We’re doing All Fall Down by Five Knives! What’s Up by 4 Non-Blondes is up next. If you were alive in the 90′s and didn’t like this song, I’m disappointed in you. 3 AM by Matchbox 20 was also a 90′s song that you have to like. Rob Thomas wrote it about his mother when she was ill. Let’s keep this 90′s theme going with Two Princes by Spin Doctors. We’re rounding out the show with One Week by Barenaked Ladies, which happens to be how long you’ll have until another hour and a half of BBBSG!
Thank you folks, and goodnight! 
0 Bears. BEATS. Battlestar Galactica. – April 11, 2013
We’re starting today’s show with a new song by Lissie called Shameless. This song is a bit more rock & roll than her previous songs. Lissie tends to be a bit more folksy and tends to actually sound a little more like Pure Prairie League on her last album. Speaking of, we’re going to go with their song Amie. How about a nerdy connection for our next song? We’re going to go with a song called Clara by Punch Brothers because Amy and Clara were the last two companions on Doctor Who. Punch Brothers were added to my musical collection last Thursday and they weren’t the only good music added this past week. Paramore has a new self titled album that was recently released and it really re-defines their musical abilities. Hate to See Your Heart Break is one of the most different songs on the album. Speaking of heart break, Will Hoge tells us to keep on dreaming, Even If It Breaks Your Heart. I don’t really stop dreaming, much like Frou Frou, so it’s occasionally hard to tell what’s real or not, as the song Must Be Dreaming suggests.
Frou Frou singer Imogen Heap got a boost for her US career when her song Hide and Seek was used in an episode of The OC where one of the main characters kills someone to protect another main character. Since we’re on the topic of killing, we’re going to play the song My Boy Builds Coffins by Florence + the Machine. I never knew there were so many songs about coffins! We’re going to go with a song now called Coffin Factory by the Mumlers. The next logical step after coffins seems to be the Graveyard, so we’re going to play a song of that name by Feist. On Feist’s Wikipedia page, it lists the band Placebo under associated acts, so we’re ding a song by Placebo called Running Up that Hill. That song was featured on Bones, just like What’s in the Middle by The Bird and the Bee.
0 Bears. BEATS. Battlestar Galactica. – April 4, 2013
Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant is starting the show for us today. You’ve probably heard both artists during their other ventures (with Union Station and with Led Zeppelin, respectively), but my first exposure to Alison Krauss was the soundtrack from O’ Brother Where Art Thou. She’s featured prominently on the album because of her amazing voice. I’ll Fly Away, a duet between Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch, is one of the best examples. The word fly, as part of the English language, which is the biggest pain in the butt ever, has multiple meanings. Either way, though, the word fly is used in both I’ll Fly Away and Summer Fly by Hayley Westenra.
Speaking of summer, Regina Spektor says that Summer in the City means cleavage, cleavage, cleavage. Thinking about that, it’s kind of true. I love songs that point out the odd things about cities. Hello City by Barenaked Ladies is one of those songs, too. Going back to the word connections, we’re moving to a song called Hello Monday by Gaelic Storm. So what comes after Monday? Tuesday by Jessica Teich, of course! Teich’s blusey tune goes through the days of week, much like Paolo Nutini goes through the days in his song New Shoes. Nutini is of Italian heritage, as his name suggests, but is actually 4th generation Scottish. He was one of the acts to perform during the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, much like the next Irish/Scottish band, Snow Patrol. Snow Patrol stole my heart years ago, so we’re going to listen to one of my favorite songs of theirs, Just Say Yes.
Gary Lightbody, the lead singer of Snow Patrol sometimes performs with the band The Reindeer Section when he and the other artists in that group have time off. Your Sweet Voice is one of the best Reindeer Section songs (and, on a side note, the band has some of the greatest album covers ever). Speaking of sweet, Lenka points out how being sensitive in a relationship can be Dangerous and Sweet. You know what else is dangerous? Explosions. I’ve been listening to Halcyon by Ellie Goulding repeatedly since I bought it two weeks ago and this is one that definitely sticks out to me. Ellie Goulding was an artist I got into during the summer of 2011, just like Lissie. The two are actually good friends in real life, which makes me think that listening to them at the same time was oddly fortuitous. Lissie has a more folksy sound, which can be heard in her song Little Lovin’. Lissie’s powerful pipes have been compared to Neko Case and Cat Powers. Neko Case has more acerbic lyrics than Lissie, which can somewhat be heard in her song for the Hunger Games, Nothing to Remember. Another artist featured on the Hunger Games soundtrack is Punch Brothers. When my favorite band, Nickel Creek, disbanded, singer Chris Thile formed Punch Brothers. I love the folksy tunes they have and the vaudeville feel of Patchwork Girlfriend.
1 Bears. BEATS. Battlestar Galactica — 21 March, 2013
Today it’s a BBBSG double-shot! You get two songs from each artist for the price of one! Stay tuned for tunes.
We’re starting the show with Birdy‘s cover of 1901 by Phoenix. I love the depth of Birdy’s voice and her ability to transform a song so it matches the depth of the lyrics. She turns 1901 into a bittersweet love song and turns Young Blood (originally by The Naked and Famous) into a nostalgic anthem. Much like the next artist, Birdy and her amazing talents come from Great Britain (and they both have songs with Blood in the title). Ellie Goulding writes composes and sings the majority of her songs. She has an airy, but emotive soprano and she uses that to full effect in her song My Blood. Her first hit in the US was a song called Lights and it’s the song of hers that made me check out the rest of her music.
Since we’re on the topic of lights, we’re going to play Yellow Light by Of Monsters and Men. I love the way Of Monsters and Men uses their male and female vocalists to both harmonize and to create a call and response type of song. If you’ve heard them before, you definitely know what I’m talking about. The band from Iceland has often been compared to Arcade Fire and The Lumineers, but they have a style all their own that has range within itself. In contrast to the large, ominous sounds of Yellow Light, King and Lionheart is bright and peppy. “I’m a lionheart” is a prominent line in the song and that connects to Florence + The Machine’s Rabbit Heart when she says that she needs to become a lionhearted girl.
Florence + The Machine has some of the best lyrics that I’ve heard. She’s the Virginia Woolf of song-writers to Regina Spektor’s T.S. Eliot. In Rabbit Heart (Raise it up) you can hear allusions to Alice in Wonderland, the story of King Midas, and many other stories. Her music is strong and her lyrics are meaningful. Her song No Light, No Light uses metaphor and simile to full effect and creates a vivid story. Florence Wech of Florence and the Machine has vibrant red hair, just like one of the DJs in the Swedish duo Icona Pop.
0 Bears. BEATS. Battlestar Galactica. – March 7, 2013
Today, I feel like this octopus:
Today is the BBBSG spring break playlist! All the songs that I’ll be listening to over spring break have been collected into one awesome playlist!
L.E.S. Artistes by Santigold
Young Blood by The Naked and Famous
Gives You Hell by The All-American Rejects
I Know What I Am by Band of Skulls
Rollerblades by Eliza Doolittle
Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve
Blister in the Sun by Violent Femmes
Lonely Boy by The Black Keys
When I’m Alone by Lissie
Glad You Came by The Wanted
Man Like That by Gin Wigmore
Sun Of A Gun by Oh Land
Dangerous And Sweet by Lenka
King And Lionheart by Of Monsters And Men
Heartkiller by Kat Graham
Green Eyes, Red Hair by Gaelic Storm
Gold Mine by Breanne Düren
Ride This Feeling by Kate Miller-Heidke
Dance Anthem of the 80′s by Regina Spektor
Say You Like Me by We The Kings
Wild Ones (Feat. Sia) by Flo Rida
Us by Regina Spektor
Heartlite by Ruby Velle & The Soulphonics
Island In The Sun by Weezer
Just What I Needed by The Cars
Paris (Ooh La La) by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Ho Hey by The Lumineers
Sleepyhead by Passion Pit
Silver Lining by Rilo Kiley
Help I’m Alive y Metric
Don’t Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas) by Regina Spektor
I Vampiri by The Impalers
Hotel Song by Regina Spektor
Amie by Pure Prairie League
Brighter Than The Sun by Colbie Caillat
Bourgeois Shangri-La by Miss Li
1901 by Phoenix
Down By the Water by The Decemberists
The Calculation by Regina Spektor
Don’t Look Now by Far East Movement
Punching In A Dream by The Naked And Famous
White Nights by Oh Land
I’m Shipping Up to Boston by Dropkick Murphys
We’re Going to Be Friends by The White Stripes
Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The General by Dispatch
Cups by Anna Kendrick
Hysteric by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
My Oh My by Tristan Prettyman
I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift
That’s Not My Name by The Ting Tings
Clarity (feat. Foxes) by Zedd
Cuckoo by Lissie
Fader by The Temper Trap
Shark In the Water by V.V. Brown
Never Said by Liz Phair
Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? by She & Him
Pool Mashup: Just the Way You Are / Just a Dream by The Barden Bellas
What’s Up? by 4 Non Blondes
Pack Up by Eliza Doolittle
Gimme Sympathy by Metric
Black Sheep by Gin Wigmore
Stubborn Love by The Lumineers
Don’t Trust Me by 3OH!3
Put The Gun Down by Zz Ward
Quit You by Tristan Prettyman
Sunshine Of Your Love by Cream
1 Bears. BEATS. Battlestar Galactica. – March 1st, 2013
Welcome to #BBBSG! Below you’ll see a wonderful .gif of my sister and me! (or maybe it’s a cat and a bunny, I can’t tell.)
Happy March! We’re rocking out to begin the show with a song called Alive with the Glory of Love by Say Anything. The song from 2006 was one of my favorites in middle school and is about the idea of love keeping you alive, even in dark times. Speaking of being alive, Metric has a wonderful song called Help I’m Alive, which is totally going on my spring break playlist! The only downside of being alive is that eventually people have to die. Maybe that’s why Dawes has a song called When My Time Comes. Apparently it’s not too morbid to sing about your own death because The Band Perry has a song called If I Die Young and Smith Westerns seems to think that All Die Young.
Being young is a state of being that’s idolized in our society (though the smart societies idolize their old). The Naked and Famous point out that we’re naive when we’re young in their song Young Blood. I’m a huge proponent of legal free downloads for finding new music, which Young Blood and our next song happened to be. My Name is Trouble by Keren Ann has great lyrics and a great beat to it. And let’s face it, who doesn’t want to get into a little trouble once in a while? Lenka is on the same page as me, seeing as Trouble is a Friend of hers. Friends, like many things in life come and go. The Dandy Warhols know this well and sing about it in the song We Used to be Friends. If you’re a TV junkie like I am, you probably heard this song used as the theme song for Veronica Mars. ( I miss that show, despite hating the season when they all were in college.) TV themes are amazing and wonderful ways to show what your show is about in two minutes or less. True Blood has a great theme song and opening sequence that establish a feeling for the show. Bad Things by Jace Everett is the aforementioned song.
Supernatural elements are a huge theme in True Blood and bad things are often associated with the devil, which makes Green Eyes, Red Hair a great follow up song, as the girl being sung about has a “devil inside her.” Gaelic Storm paints a great picture about the girl being sung about. This isn’t the only sing in which Gaelic Storm mentions the devil, though;. Devil Down Below is one of multiple others. As long as we’re going down, we’re going to go Down by the Water with the Decemberists.
0 Bears. BEATS. Battlestar Galactica. – February 21, 2013
We’re staring with an iTunes free download today called I Cry for Love by Carrie Rodriguez. Rodriguez sings about her strengths, but also about how she cries for love in the song, which is a bit reminiscent of the character of Katniss in the Hunger Games, so what better song to follow it up with than a song from “The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 And Beyond.” Lover is Childlike by The Low Anthem is a wonderful song that again juxtaposes strength and child-like feelings. The song to follow this one is one that has a child (and a mannequin) represent a lover in its music video. Kimbra‘s Settle Down is a song about a love gone wrong, which seems to be a theme for her, as she’s featured on Gotye‘s Somebody That I Used to Know. While we’re on the topic of not knowing someone, we’ll ask the question: could you Spit on a Stranger? Apparently, Chris Thile of Nickel Creek could. Strangers are actually a popular topic in songs, so we’ll listen to one more song about the topic: Stranger by Katie Costello.
What’s the opposite of being a stranger to someone? Knowing them well. Lotus Child knows a girl named Kate well, according to the song of the same name. Freelance Whales has a great song with a female name as the title and that song happens to be called Hannah. (Additional little connection: Hannah and Kate are the names of two of my best childhood friends.)
0 Bears. BEATS. Battlestar Galactica. – 14 February, 2013
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! ♥ ♥ ♥ Although, here at Bears. BEATS. Battlestar Galactica., we’re spreading independence and Anti-Valentines day fun! Enjoy songs that have little to no connection to love! Stay tuned!
Hate by The Plain White T’s (“Hate is a strong word, but I really really really don’t like you.”)
When Did Your Heart Go Missing by Rooney (“When did your heart go missing? It was here just the other day!”)
That Don’t Impress Me Much by Shania Twain (“Oh, you think you’re something special Oh, you think you’re something else. Okay, so you’re Brad Pitt.That don’t impress me much.”)
These Boots are Made for Walking by Nancy Sinatra (“One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you.”)
She’s Not There by The Zombies (“Well, no one told me about her, what could I do? Well no one told me about her, but they all knew.”)
Take Me to the River by The Commitments (“I don’t know why I love you like I do after all the changes you put me through. You stole my money and my cigarettes.”)
Never Said by Liz Phair (“So don’t look at me sideways, don’t even look me straight on, and don’t look at my hands in my pockets, baby,
I ain’t done anything wrong.”)
Man Like That by Gin Wigmore (“The pretty little thing lying there beside you better take off my wedding ring.”)
Enid by the Barenaked Ladies (“I could get a job, I could pay the phone bills, I could cut the lawn, cut my hair, lower my cholesterol, I could work overtime, I could work in a mine, I could do it all for you, but I don’t want to.”)
Quit You by Tristan Prettyman (“So maybe, we weren’t meant to be…”)
Sooner or Later by Michelle Branch (“Sooner or later, you’re gonna wish you had me… It’s a little too late for that.”)
Bulletproof by La Roux (“Been there, done that, messed around, I’m having fun, don’t put me down. I’ll never let you sweep me off my feet.”)
I Look So Good (Without You) by Jessie James (“Now baby my body’s lookin’ better than before, ain’t biting my nails since you walked out of that door. I realize now I deserve so much more.”)
Forget You by Cee Lo Green (“And although there’s pain in my chest, I still wish you the best with a ‘F*** you!’”)
According to You by Orianthi (“But according to me: you’re stupid, you’re useless, you can’t do anything right.”)
Don’t Trust Me by 3OH!3 (“Don’t trust me.”)
Smile by Lily Allen (“At first, when I see you cry, it makes me smile, yeah, it makes me smile. At worst, I feel bad for a while, but then I just smile.”)