The best times are yet to come.

Friday. This blog will be updated on Friday every week. Or at lest, that's the goal. I've done a piss poor job of it so far, but hopefully that will change. Until then, bide your time and hold out hope.

We're getting close to Halloween, It's Halloween, so the obvious thing to do here would be to give you a compilation of Halloween and/or autumn related songs. Being the blandly predictable person I am, that is exactly what I am going to do. Sorry to disappoint you, bored readers looking for a twist. However, I will give it just a hint of a twist. Rather than giving you basically the same post as two weeks ago with different songs, I'll just give you the songs with a line or two about each of them and then focus on something completely different. Ok?

Download here:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/w96zhoh8pbfjk96/%5BLIJ%5D%20Mixtape%20%232-%20Autumnsongs.rar

Track 1) Jethro Tull- Heavy Horses

“Bring me a wheel of oaken wood/a rein of polished leather/a heavy horse and a tumbling sky/brewing heavy weather.” Need I say more?

Track 2) Ryan Adams- Halloweenhead

This should be obvious just from the title. The not so obvious part is that Ryan Adams is 'country' and I don't like country. Even if you don't like country, listen to Ryan Adams. Simple as that.

Track 3) Manic Street Preachers- Autumnsong

Another obvious title. I'd also mention though, that Send Away the Tigers- the album this track comes from- is a great autumn album in general.

Track 4) Tarkio- Slow Down

It was tough not to include every song from Tarkio's Omnibus as they all sound perfect for an autumn afternoon. Slow Down is one of the more spirited tracks and that's the only reason I chose it over the others.

Track 5) Aeroplane, 1929- A Nervous Whistle To Keep My Courage Up

This song is a newer one in my library, but it's quickly become a fall favorite. Clocking in at just short of five minutes, it's a bit longer than I'd usually put on a mix. Then again so is Heavy Horses; proving that if the track is good enough, I'll make an exception.

Track 6) Sea Wolf- Leaves In the River

This song is perfect. It's a story about Halloween and the sound effects in the background really pull it all together. If you've never listened to Sea Wolf, you're missing out.

Track 7) Iron & Wine- Lion's Mane

Iron & Wine is perfect any season music. In fall it sounds like fall, in summer it sounds like summer.

Track 8) The Decemberists- Red Right Ankle

See what I did there? It was so hard to pick just one Tarkio song, so I threw in a Decemberists rack too. Yes its the same guy, but Colin Meloy is possibly one of my favorite indie singers. This one comes on recommendation of my roommate.

Track 9) Sufjan Stevens- Romulus

This track was also selected by my roommate. He's got good taste; you can trust him.

Track 10) Jon Foreman- Southbound Train

I had to throw in a sad song. Autumn is a time of death in the same way that spring is a time of rebirth. Just be glad I didn't pick The Funeral by Band of Horses. (Which you should listen to if you haven't already.) Also, its the guy from Switchfoot if you're into that.

Bonus Track) Iron & Wine with Calexico- Sixteen, Maybe Less

As a bonus I threw in another Iron &Wine song. This has always been a late fall song, so it might even be a little to early right now. Regardless, its a great song.

Now for the unrelated half. I say unrelated because none of these songs are in the playlist I just gave you; but that doesn't mean they don't fit with the theme. I didn't include any of the songs I'm about to talk about because the band already did that for me. Scott Allbright of Poor Bailey has decided to try a really cool project this month. He has decided to release one song a day, every day until the 31st. Called The October Project, or A Song a Day to Keep the Demons Away. The songs are being released on http://happydead.com/  for a dollar each. Now, over the course of a moth you will end up paying $31 for this album, but the beauty of it is that you can preview the songs first. Now I don't mean 30 sec iTunes preview; they let you hear the whole song before you decide to purchase it. That way you can pick and choose which songs you want and tailor the album to your specifications. For a dollar each, I'd say this album is totally worth it, and it gives you something to look forward to every day, right? I wish I had discovered these guys earlier, because what they're doing is really pretty neat. At this point you can preview/buy the whole album. If you like Bright Eyes, this is a must hear album.

On a completely unrelated note, I'd also like to announce the Love Is Jargon Logo Design Competition. Anyone who would like to design a new version of the heartbox logo can send a 133x133 jpg file of their design to loveisjargon@gmail.com.

It's been a long slow collision...

Well, after being horrendously busy for a while, then taking a vacation, I'm finally getting around to posting another entry. I will make no excuses for this late entry and would like to apologize to anyone who actually checks this blog. In return, please accept this offering of girls singing awesome songs:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/pfyg95vg9zymf98/%5BLIJ%5D%20Mixtape%20%231-%20Girl%20Rock.rar

I've been listening to a lot of songs and bands with female vocalists lately, and so I decided to compile a sampler of some of my favorites to share with all you lovely readers. After all, just because I've been busy doesn't mean I haven't been listening to music. Now, while I've entitled this mix “Girl Rock”, it is not necessarily “Girls who ROCK”. Most of these songs are really more Alt Rock and Folk, but don't hold that against me. I plan to compile a more rocking one later. But anyway, I wouldn't expect you to just pick this up without any explanation, (but if you would all the better) and this wouldn't be much of an entry. I should also mention that the files I've included are for trial purposes and if you like them, you should support the artist. To the artists: if you object to having your music in this compilation, feel free to email me at loveisjargon@gmail(dot)com and I'll remove it. Now that that's out of the way, here are the reasons I picked what I did:

Track 1) Rie Fu- Voice

Rie Fu is quite possibly the greatest bi-lingual girl rocker I've listened to. Now, that being said, I haven't heard many bi-lingual girl rockers... Still, I feel this has to give her some credibility. Rie Funakoshi (Rie Fu, for short), is a Japanese singer-songwriter, but she is also fluent in English and records in both languages, frequently in the same song. The track I've included however, is entirely in English because not everyone is keen on listening to songs that they can't understand. Shame on you uncultured music listeners who do this... (I kid, to each their own). Her songs are generally poppy, catchy, and upbeat. In terms of why you should listen to this, I really don't have much to say. Its kind of hit or miss with the Japanese parts, so if you like this track, look up some of her other songs and decide for yourself.

Track 2) Amy Millan- Headsfull

I love Amy Millan's voice. If you're listening to the mixtape while reading this, you'll begin to hear a clearly discernable pattern of what kind of female vocals I tend to like somewhere around track 5... Though I usually prefer her duets with Torquil Campbell, I couldn't ignore this track from her solo release Honey From the Tombs. Its fast, short, and leaves me wishing she had recorded a few more tracks with the same feel as it doesn't exactly match the rest of the album. If you're as infatuated with her voice as I am, try the more ethereal sounding songs with Campbell on Stars' albums, or the very indie Broken Social Scene. Stars and BSS being favorites of mine, I suggest you listen to both.

Track 3) The Delgados (Emma Pollock)- Everybody Come Down

The Delgados were a four piece Scottish indie band fronted by the lovely Emma Pollock. Their 2002 album Hate was both humorous and dark, as are many of their other songs. I love them for the same reason I love Amy Millan's work in Stars; many of their songs follow an interesting structure or incorporate unique instruments or are just plain beautiful. Though my all time favorite songs are “The Light Before We Land” and “Woke From Dreaming” off Hate, “Everybody Come Down” off their 2004 album Universal Audio is much more upbeat and shows off Pollock's voice just as well. Universal Audio is the happier of the albums, but in my opinion Hate is stronger.

Track 4) Kate Nash- Mouthwash

And now for something a bit different: piano driven rock. Kate Nash is talented, occasionally profane, and very much English as far as her accent goes. I suppose the best way to escribe her is spunky. “Mouthwash” is a great example of just what she can accomplish with a piano. I included this track rather than something by Sara Bareilles or Regina Spektor because, while I like both of them as well, you've probably heard a few of their songs already. If not, that's your homework. Bareilles' debut album, Love Song's title track was everywhere for a while and Spektor has plenty of catchy radio hits to choose from. Pick up any album of either of theirs and see how you feel.

Track 5) KT Tunstall- I Don't Want You Now

Remember that song from a few years ago, “Black Horse & The Cherry Tree”? It was on the radio quite a bit. Did you like that song? Well forget everything you know about it. If you liked it, that's great. If not, don't worry, Miss Tunstall has a fairly wide range of musical stylings. Her music is generally acoustic Alt Rock (not that 'Alternative Rock' really means anything...) with a lazy Sunday morning feel, but she also has her fair share of Rock. This track is one of them. 'I Don't Want You Now' comes from her 2007 album Drastic Fantastic. Normally, if I was recommending tracks from Tunstall's discography I would use songs from my favorite album, her 2005 release Eye To The Telescope. But for this playlist, I chose the more rock oriented Drastic. If you're looking for Rock, this is the album to pick up; tracks like “Funnyman”, “Saving Face”, and “I Don't Want You Now” are great examples of Tunstall's ability to compose catchy energetic tracks. KT's got a great voice and no matter what sound she employs, I always enjoy the album, and on top of that she's pretty cute.*
*(See: http://www.last.fm/music/KT+Tunstall/+images/2127485)

She also has a new album out that I'm ashamed to say I haven't picked up yet...

Track 6) The Cardigans (Nina Persson)- I Need Some Fine Wine And You, You Need To Be Nicer

The Cardigans are another great currently dead band, active for about as long as The Delgados were. Fronted by Nina Persson, the Swedish band recorded and toured for a good twelve or thirteen years and achieved a fair amount of popularity outside of their home country. I chose “I Need Some fine Wine” for the sole reason that I like the title. My favorite song with Nina doing vocals is actually her duet with Manic Street Preachers' frontman James Dean Bradfield in “Your Love Alone Is Not Enough” but I felt I should use a song that focused more on her own vocals. As with the other songs I've mentioned in passing above, “Your Love Alone” would go on a bonus disc for this mixtape were I to make one. She also really seems to like Black Sabbath and does some interesting reworked covers of “Iron Man” and “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” on First Band On the Moon and Emmerdale respectively.

Track 7)Lissie- Record Collector

If you can't tell by now, Lissie is a recent favorite of mine. If you want more reason to pick up her album, click the link at the end of the Led Zep article.

Track 8) Ellery (Tasha Golden)- Where It's Going

Ellery... What can I say about this band? I have the utmost respect for both Tasha and Justin Golden and am sorry that I missed what I'm sure was a great concert last night in Bowling Green's Arts Village. Having seen them twice there, in the most intimate home-y feeling concerts I've ever been to, I am in absolute awe of their talent and friendliness. Their music is very folk oriented and Tasha's vocals are a little bit country sounding. But if you're not a country fan, don't let that drive you away. Think of it as the musical equivalent to a nice warm home cooked meal on a cold day. The duo is very talented and they are quite possibly two of the nicest people I have ever met. “Where It's Going” comes from their latest album  This Isn't Over Yet, an album that is not only great, but also has the name of yours truly mentioned in the liner notes. If that isn't a reason to purchase it, I don't know what is. Watch and support these two, they really have a lot to offer. (And a big shoutout to both of them if they ever happen to read this!)

Track 9) Lucy Schwartz- I Don't Know A Thing

Lucy Schwartz is only 20 and has already released at least three albums and a few EPs. And if that doesn't impress you, her voice will. Her talent as a songwriter and performer really shines through on “I Don't Know A Thing” off her 2007 release Winter In June. Surprisingly insightful for her age, “I Don't Know A Thing” is a beautiful shrug of the shoulders and confession of her own fallibility. Her résumé is already packed and she seems to just keep going, getting other big names to play alongside her on songs. Definitely check out Winter In June.

Track 10) Ingrid Michaelson- You and I

I will always remember my friend Madeline when this song begins playing. Every single time. She introduced me to Ingrid Michaelson's music one day by playing “You and I” on her ukelele and it has since become something of a signature song of hers. I encourage you to listen to whichever version you can. Though Ingrid's version is infinitely more accessible to the rest of you, if you know Madeline you know what I mean when I say her version is undoubtedly the best.

BonusTrack) Lissie- Bad Romance (Lady Gaga Cover)

I don't know how you feel about Lady Gaga. I, for one, think she is either crazy or brilliant or quite possibly both. I enjoy her music and feel she may be unjustly discredited for her eccentricity. But I'll leave that for another entry. Instead, have this cover of Bad Romance performed by none other than Lissie. (I swear, I'm not obsessing. I just had one more track I felt needed to be shared.)