Temporary Hiatus

Commandeered is on a temporary hiatus while I pursue other forms of artistic expression. It's not you, it's me. Thank you for your support and enthusiasm. I'm always surprised to learn who actually reads this babble. I'll leave you with this song that I can't stop listening to.

My Favorite Song of All Time

I'm pretty sure I should have been born in the 1970s.



More on KC and the Sunshine Band

Raspberries, Rye Rye and Iced COFFEEEEE

Team Robeson Floor 2 Circa 2010 reunited this weekend to raspberry pick at Smolak Farms. Luckily for us, other people either didn’t find or didn’t know what to do with the white raspberries. Holy crap, they’re delicious. It was totally worth the traffic, sunburn and $14 I endured to get three quarts of them. The super ripe ones taste like peaches and a lot of them were huge. We also went to Salisbury Beach and enjoyed some spectacular people and seagull - watching.

There is a tie for music of the week: Beyonce’s new album 4 has some winners on it and Rye Rye has released a mix tape, for free, which includes her bitchin’ cover of “Party in the USA.” There is some awesome dancing in the video below.

Even though I think driving is the devil, I must say that I love babysitting my little brother’s Cadillac. Even if it earns me $40 parking tickets, something my bike would never do, I love it because it affords me ample time to explore Boston’s radio offerings and sing at the top of my lungs. While rocking to some 90s classics on Saturday morning, it occurred to me that one great thing about 90s rock songs is the abundant use of the long, drawn out, or oft repeated “yeah.” When songwriters ran out lyrics, they’d throw in some dramatic “yeahs.” In some instances, this bridge of sorts is the best part of the song. It’s like negative space in art. When used well, it can make a masterpiece. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I find the “yeah” is notoriously absent in the repertoire of today’s indie hipster post-post-80s revival songwriters. Today’s music is like the opposite of negative space. Sometimes, maybe more so in pop music, it sounds like folks are trying to use all the crayons in the box and cover every inch of white space. I really hope the next wave of music involves a “yeah”-revival: a tribute to Counting Crows, Red Hot Chili Peppers and other masters of “yeah.”

While we’re on the topic of 90s rock, I should mention that I was sad to learn this weekend that Alanis Morissette was not saying “It’s not fair to deny me of the cross-eyed bear that you gave to me.” Oh man. Lyrics. What tricky little things they are sometimes.

Iced coffee. I'm addicted. I’ve been averaging 1.5 cups a day and Lordy, I’ve been paying for it. I normally try not to pay for coffee and I've decided I can’t let myself do it any longer. I’m in such denial that I’ve been rotating between three coffee shops to make it seem like I’m not a regular at any of them. Who does that? This girl. So, to remedy the situation, I’m trying the Pioneer Woman’s recipe for make it yourself iced coffee. She uses Café Bustelo, recently selling at 2 cans for $5.00 at Stop N Shop, so I am hopeful that I can fulfill my need to suck cold caffeine through a straw without needlessly sucking my bank account dry. I’ll let you know how it tastes/goes.

Here is Rye Rye's "Party in the USA" for your listening and viewing pleasure.

Song(s) of the Week

My iPod gained about 100lbs this weekend and is now fat with new music. The sudden influx of tunes, combined with the sleepy gray skies in Boston, are making me indecisive. So this week there is a four-way tie for best song.

1. "When I'm With You" - Best Coast

This feels very 90s to me and rekindles my long-held dreams of being a rock star.

2. "Hurricane Season" - Trombone Shorty
New Orleans' golden boy does it again.


3. Dance Yrself Clean - LCD Soundsystem
This is a video someone made with Kermit the Frog singing. It's pretty rad. LCD Soundsystem played what they announced as their final show at Madison Square Garden on April 2nd. I'm really hoping they will make a comeback, and ideally one that coincides with the inevitable collective millennial mid-life crisis. What could be better than a new throwback dance album (with cowbells) to get us through hard times?

BTW, the song comes from the album This is Happening, a swell choice for the gym.

4. "Came Out of a Lady" - Rubblebucket
I can't get this song out of my head. You can download the new Rubblebucket album Omega La La on their website for free if you agree to promote the band on your Facebook page and send the link to four friends. The music is not otherwise available until June.

I'm not as high on the whole album as I am on this song but perhaps it will grow on me.

Happy Earth Day and Happy Pesach to all my favorite Jews!

Tracking the "T" and New Workout Songs

To revisit my constant love/hate relationship with the "T," Boston's subway system, I wanted to share this great website that Wyatt turned me on to. It's called HowFuckedIstheT? and it will tell you the average wait time for the red, orange, green and blue lines.

I guess the silver line is too f-ed to be included. The last time I took it to the airport it took almost an hour to get from South Station to Logan. I could have limped there faster.

In other news, Veronica and I discovered that Outkast Pandora is pretty much the best thing ever. Great for the gym as well as the kitchen. It brings up Biggie, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and lots of other songs I tend to forget about.



We've started a tradition of musical themed weekday breakfasts. By that I mean, we've done it once so far. Our trial run was a reggae-themed blueberry pancake breakfast and it was a fantastic way to start the day. We may never get up early enough to do it again, but we have plans for Destiny's Child, Outkast Pandora and Black Keys breakfasts.

Album of the Week: False Priest

Though it came out last summer, I'm just getting around to listening to this most recent album from the Athens, Georgia's Of Montreal. False Priest is funky and features both Solange Knowles and 2010's it-girl Janelle Monae. I'm less into the first track "Do You Strutter" and the single "Coquet Coquette" but I love the rest of the album. In his usual fashion, front man David Barnes creates some pretty hot "Oh hell yeah" moments and his lyrics are as ridiculous as they are unusually honest and vulnerable. These are my favorite lines so far:

From "Girl Named Hello":

If I treated someone else the way I treat myself I'd be in jail.

And, in "Do You Mutilate?" Barnes is surprisingly assertive in his condemnation of religious fanaticism, a far cry from some of his older songs about hipsters, touring and party girls:

Everybody's searching for a cause
A reason to blow themselves up
Could be anything

When will certain people realize
An afterlife is nothing to live for
Nothing to die for, nothing to fight for
If those in this life are not sacred
Then nothing that's a part of it is sacred either

If you think God is more important than your neighbor
You're capable of terrible evil
If you think some prophet's words are more important
Than your brother and your sister
You're ill and you're wrong
You're wrong

In other Of Montreal news, David Barnes recently published an art book called What's Weird? which features, among other things, many colorful images of animal mashups and people with fruit for heads. The band's latest EP, thecontrollersphere, comes out April 26th.

An image from What's Weird?

I'll leave you with "Our Riotous Defects [feat. Janelle Monae]" off of False Priest

Soup and Soul

Spring is just rising its cute little head in Boston. It's enough to get me thinking about tomatoes and flip flops but, of course, it flurried today, so not too excited.

I've found that nothing kills the bad weather blues like Wyatt's roommate's sausage ravioli soup. Jim is his name and he uses lots of sausage and puts mozzarella straight in the soup. It's heaven in a bowl. I'm supposed to stop eating dairy so I made my own version without the cheese and used squash ravioli. It's not quite as awesome but still very satisfying.


Sausage Ravioli Soup with spinach, peppers and tomatoes.

On my buddy Norm's recommendation I've been listening to Fitz and the Tantrums almost exclusively. The band's website calls their music "familiar but distinct" and I'm not sure I can say anything more fitting than that. It's a little hokey but in an endearing way. Imagine the Scissor Sisters and Meat Loaf coming together as a neo-soul outfit. Listeners can expect some soulful voices, saxophone, and lyrics you can learn on the first listen. Fun facts: they've toured with Sharon Jones, they recorded their album Pickin' Up the Pieces in the band leader's living room, and the female singer is named Noelle. Noelle Scaggs.

"Money Grabber" Gold Digger 2.o

"Winds of Change"


This is definitely good music for the gym, by the way.

A Love Letter To Jeff Mangum

Dear Jeff Mangum,

Congratulations on the All Tomorrow's Parties gig. I was very happy to see that you're touring again. Selfishly, I'm excited by the chance to see you and I hope to score tickets tomorrow to your September show at Harvard. Less selfishly, I hope this means you are well and life has been better to you lately.

As I know is true for many others, your music means a lot to me. It got me through a particularly hard summer in New York, helped me bond with someone who is now a great friend, and has helped me run faster. If/when I go to the gym on Fridays, I like to start my workout with In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. Just the first few chords of "King of Carrot Flowers, Part 1" make me feel free, like it is finally the weekend and I can forget about all the bullshit of the work week.

I'm not sure why songs about semen, Jesus, and fetuses have added so much value to my life but they truly have. Thank you for making my life more fun and more meaningful.

Best of luck in your upcoming shows.

Cheers,
Noelle Janka
Jamaica Plain, MA

Introducing: Music for the Gym!

I am starting a new series on this blog about music to work out to. Personally, I would never make it to the gym if it wasn't for my iPod/iPhone. I'm not a huge fan of gym workouts and while I need them most in the winter, it can be hard to find the motivation to leave a warm house or office and trudge through the snow. Sometimes I'm able to trick myself into being excited for a workout simply by making a particularly fun mix that I look forward to listening to.

I'd like to share some of my favorite non-top-40 pump up music in hopes that it might help other non-meat heads do an extra rep or an another mile on the treadmill. Not that there's anything wrong with working out to top 40 but sometimes I get sick of Lady Gaga and Flo Rida and I want something different. I hope that you readers will use the comments section of the blog to share your own favorite workout tunes.

Lately, to switch it up and find some new material, I've been trying out different Pandora stations and listening to them on my phone. I've been getting good results with LaRoux radio. A electronic duo from the UK, LaRoux knows how to keep the party going. If you don't have it already, I recommend adding "Bulletproof" to your rotation. If you're looking to kick it old school, James Brown's album In The Jungle Groove is great from start to finish and a solid album to run to.

What's rocking your gym mix these days?

Stay tuned for music to do yoga to.