avril lavigne

The Dunce Cap’s Third Year Thirty: Day 2

in: due time

Jen and Brad.

Aug. 23, 2010:

day 2: eschew responsibility.

Only for a day, duh. Barring the loss of of a job, the failure of a class or immediate danger, take a single-day stay-cation. Breakups are emotionally taxing, and a girl deserves a day of rest. Especially a girl who doesn’t really recognize the Sabbath. Oops.

My day didn’t consist of much, honestly. I didn’t have to work, so I slept in late and spent the afternoon on the couch in my pjs, heating up microwave dinners and watching Buffy. Few things help more than drooling over an ages-old vampire… Wait. I think I just lent credence to Twilight. Aw, shucks. I didn’t mean to.

Mostly, though, I rummaged through my old stuff for something I hadn’t really needed in quite some time. And I found it: an old CD-R with Sharpied handwritten titles, “BREAK-UP CD/TAKE 1/<3 SAM AND COCO.” I know this one’s a winner – it’s got Avril on it not once but twice. Pop punk and girrrrrrl power aplenty!

Basically, today was a solid day of nothing. And it felt like a reprieve.

The track listing from this exemplary piece of mixtape, circa summer 2005:

1. “Time Turn Fragile” – Motion City Soundtrack
2. “Move Along” – The All-American Rejects
3. “Love and Be Loved” – Charlie Mars
4. “Paper Rock Scissors” – JamisonParker
5. “On My Way” – Ingram Hill
6. “Since U Been Gone” – Kelly Clarkson
7. “Good Will Hunting By Myself” – Ludo
8. “My Happy Ending” – Avril Lavigne
9. “Too Little Too Late” – Barenaked Ladies
10. “Grenade Jumper” – Fall Out Boy
11. “Dammit” – Blink 182
12. “Life After Lisa” – Bowling For Soup
13. “Complicated” – Avril Lavigne
14. “Song for the Dumped” – Ben Folds Five
15. “I Will Survive” – Cake
16. “On My Own” – Don’t Look Down
17. “Laid” – James
18. “Bitch” – Meredith Brooks
19. “Find Comfort in Yourself” – Midtown
20. “A Year on an Airplane” – Daphne Loves Derby

And today’s track, something a bit more grown up:

The Flaming Lips, “All We Have Is Now”

Book Club: May music

in: on queue


“You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift cover)”

Tomorrow. Tonight, rather. Butch Walker. At House of Blues. Beyond thrilled. This will be my fourteenth (approximately) Butch Walker live show, and I’ve seen him through the various stages of his career, from Marvelous 3 to the Let’s Go Out Tonites to his stint with American Hi-Fi, and I cannot wait to take part in his newest endeavor with the Black Widows. To be frank, this whole blog endeavor could read as an endearing love letter to Walker.

Walker is hilarious and has a unique and captivating on-stage persona. He recently appeared on stage at the 52nd Grammys with Taylor Swift (and Stevie Nicks!) to perform her “You Belong With Me,” and the teen pop star attended Walker’s show in Minneapolis Friday. He’s renowned in the industry for his production and co-songwriting abilities, but I’m familiar with his independent musicianship, as he is a good ol’ hometown boy (“You say you’re from Cartersville/God, don’t say that too loud!”), and I’m so proud of all that he has accomplished. He’s had a slew of hits for bands such as Bowling for Soup, SR-71 and Weezer (he co-wrote their shockingly awesome track “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” and produced their seventh album, “Raditude“), as well as for tween queens Avril Lavigne and LiLo.

In Nov. 2007, Butch’s Malibu home, which he was renting from bassist Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, was ravaged by a wildfire. The home, located in Southern California, is the namesake of his album “Sycamore Meadows,” so named for the street it was located on. All of his possessions, including the masters to every song he had ever recorded, were destroyed. He’s since experienced a rebirth musically, experimenting with glam-rock throwbacks, winding chord progression and homages to Uncle Tupelo‘s alt-country. The result is a gloriously catchy sound which fits perfectly into the growing retrospective which is Walker’s ever-burgeoning musical career.

I’m really thrilled for a night of legal debauchery with The Duckster & the only man I have ever proclaimed a “Rock God.” A video of Butch’s non-musical antics is below. He offered a variety of pre-order packages for his new album, “I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart,” and the result of a ludicrous (and likely joke) $25,000 package is this video, a collaboration with Panic at the Disco (sans exclamation point)’s Brendon Urie.