Built To Break

(compiled October 24, 2011)

Spotify playlist (not all tracks show up…see full list below):

*

Houseboat babies– Reptar

To the Water– Colly Strings

Starfall– Michal Menert & Pretty Lights

We are the People– Empire of the Sun

Runaway– The Kooks (new album, Junk of the Heart)

O Valencia– The Decemberists

Changed– Faded Paper Figures

Built to Break– Colly Strings  (or acoustic version)

Into the Morning– Michal Menert

Blue Blood– Foals

Sunday– The View

Right with you– Rogue Wave

Pressure– Apparat

On the Bus Mall– The Decemberists

Stuck in My Id– Reptar

Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes (Paul Simon Cover)- Melodica, Melody, & Me

Good Morning– Rogue Wave

*all the songs are available for download in my dropbox folder (and also linked on my Spotify account!)

***********************************************************************************************************************

“Built to Break” definitely earned the spot as my playlist title. I could not get enough of this song’s energy and message. It became more and more therapeutic the more I felt like I was being tested, and somehow the urge to shout out “We’re all BUILT TO BREAK…” made the frustration fade away.

Aside from Colly Strings, Reptar was my new favorite discovery on this playlist. From the Athens-Atlanta-Asheville (Georgia) area, Reptar has been compared to The Talking Heads, Animal Collective, Prince, Marky Mark, Lake, Air, and the Jackson 5. The band is made up of Andrew McFarland, a Brazilian native, classically trained snare drummer, and sophomore at UGA, Ryan Engleberger, who currently attends Dartmouth College majoring in Jaco Pastorius’ fretless bass, Graham Ulicny, an African Soukous guitarist and AstroBio/ElectroPhysics student at the University of North Carolina in Asheville, and William Kennedy, a sophomore at UGA.

I saw Reptar when they opened up for Phantogram at Harlow’s in Sacramento (11/1/11) and they were AWESOME. I enjoyed them just as much as I enjoyed Phantogram (whom I had been following for quite a bit longer). They started off with some of their more mediocre songs, and then waited to the very end to play my two favorite songs BACK-TO-BACK: ‘Houseboat Babies’ and ‘Stuck in my Id’ (…the build-up to these le sweet songs was def worth it.)  Thanks to Hillary Davis and Vanessa Crouse for being such awesome company. Hillary had a 24-hr hospital shift in the next 5 hours but she still made it. Now that’s a ROCK STAR.

I love the beginning of ‘Houseboat babies’ with the “OH…I” sounds…Makes me smile every time. I also love the “Can you feel it? (Yes I can feel it)” chorus @~1:20 and the bubbly guitar part that sets it up. Such an overall FEEL-GOOD song that makes you all dis-oriented and silly. (Yes, that BOBBLE HEAD in the front up against the stage at the Reptar show was ME.)

‘Stuck in my id’ is my other Reptar favorite, and it was such a rush to sing along with the chorus (“And when I wake up in the morning…”) @1:20. SUCH A GREAT SHOW. I would definitely recommend seeing Reptar any chance you can. They remind me of a MGMT/Vampire Weekend/Foster the People medley that must not be overlooked! (see pics below…and more on ‘siiiiick snapshots-2‘ tab)

Reptar was at Austin Cit Limits (ACL) music fest this year (2011), and I can only imagine that they’re gonna be turning up at other music fests (Bonnaroo, Coachella, Sasquatch, Outside Lands, etc.) in the next few years. When I asked the singer of Reptar what the meaning behind their name was, he said that “Reptar was the name of his dead cat.” I replied that I had expected something a little more interesting, and he replied: “The truth hurts.”  (a solemn end to such an uplifting show…)

*

Colly Strings (formed in March 2010) is an alternative indie/rock band that I discovered when following Kowalski, another indie band from the same region (Bangor, Northern Ireland). With clever, rhythmic verses and deep hard-hitting choruses, their music has been compared to the likes of Biffy Clyro and Two Door Cinema Club. “Colly Strings fuse catchy guitar riffs and soaring vocal hooks which fall hand in hand with the pulsating bass and beat of the drums to form songs that are guaranteed to stick in the mind from the very first listen.” I REALLY like them…and so does my buddy Raudel Hinojosa, who wanted to hear more of their songs after listening to ‘To the Water’ and ‘Built to Break.’

‘To the Water’ is just such an awesome, high-energy song with an infectious chorus (“Run to the river, run. Run, swim swim swim. Let’s change this place from night to day”). I also really dig the guitar jam sesh at @3:00 min. Very cool.

I don’t know why exactly, but ‘Built to Break’ gets me emotional every time I listen to it. It’s got this strange way of stirring up my emotions (not in a bad way), and LOVE IT. The lyrics, song structure, vocals…everything. Aside from the epic chorus (“We’re Built To Break yeah, we’re all Built To Break…We’re Built To Break we are, we are), my favorite verse is:

“She’s speaks slowly, oh be honest will you swim this with me, it’s getting old. The truth it’s only she doesn’t know what’s taking over her body. She’s fighting more than water, she’s fighting more than me.” (I also just really like the singer’s voice.)

I MUST see them if they ever some to the states! I’m thinking they’ll maybe be at SXSW or ACL next year.

*

I love the beginning of ‘Starfall‘- makes me feel like I’m entering a different dimension. I love all the layering of sounds (chimes, saxophone?, etc.) and I can’t help but let myself “fall” into it.

‘Into the Morning’ is such a cool compilation of sounds (especially the strings) strung together with an catchy beat and a clever introduction:

“We as performers, share with YOU, our listeners, the creative best in our lives. You saw the performers in your own mind. You are not restricted by the boundary, but instead, painted your own biggest live version of each moment with that loving creative brush we call IMAGINATION. Just in case you’re out of practie, here’s a little test to demonstrate the power of your imagination.”

Michal Menert was born in Kielce, Poland while the country was under communist rule. Coming from a musical background of playing guitar, keyboards, and dabbling in a variety of other instruments gave Michal a unique approach to composing his own musical style. He grew up in Colorado with Derek Vincent Smith of Pretty Lights, and together they played in several bands and challenged and inspired each other as they developed their own unique production styles. He co-produced the debut Pretty Lights album, Taking Up Your Precious Time and has collaborated with Derek Vincent Smith on a handful of tracks since then. His solo album, entitled Dreaming of A Bigger Life was released on Pretty Lights Music in the spring of 2010. His sound combines obscure vintage samples from both Eastern European and Western vinyl with rich analog synthesis and organic hard hitting beats.