365 dragonflys can't be wrong

i thought i'd let my final, proper entry stand as an explanation for the blogs name. in college i had a radio show called Arguments for Drinking, which in many respects i consider the blog an extension of as i'm simply continuing to share music. it was two hours of mostly melancholic pop music and i lifted the name from my answer to 'what is the most underrated album from the last ten years that nobody's ever heard of?" the band is called Long River Train and their first of two albums was released back in the fall of 1996 on dedicated. while the album is solid, top to bottom, i was always particuliarly fond of this song. in fact i even adopted the name of the song as my myspace profile name. in college i had a habit of becoming good friends with girls i was interested in, but felt i had no chance with. this song seemed to fufill the underlying sentiment that never went away from those relationships way back when.

Long River Train "Misgivings"

a big thanks to my brother josh who really has been the driving force behind A4D even though i was doing a majority of the writing. he's got a drive and focus that far surpases my own. hopefully somewhere along the way someone discovered something they liked while reading the website. that was afterall the goal.

On the Occasion of Your First Birthday and Impending Funeral

As a last act before starting to put the shutters up on this lemonade stand, I've finally recovered all of the posts that we lost when the original website crashed in November of last year and archived them here for future posterity. I found myself reading several of the old posts in the process and had to remark on Jay's uncanny ability to be the first person to write about some wonderful bands (Jose Gonzalez, The National, The Boy Least Likely To, Art Brut...).

As I remarked earlier this year in our interview with Muzzle of Bees, I don't know anyone who knows more bands or has more stories about his life with music than my brother. I know that was one of the reasons I thought that this website would be a really good idea. And looking back now it is definitely something I'm very proud of. There seems to be a backlash brewing against music blogging ("too many of them", "their influence is overrated") but I have to tell you- a thing like this requires A LOT of effort and is not to be discounted.

I was talking to someone about the website right after the aforementioned interview. They asked me why we kept things going in spite of the time and energy it took. With possibly the exception of the entry for Jose Gonzalez's cover of "Teardrop" we never drew a particularly large following- 350 people a day at one point and just under 200 recently. I told them that the core of our readers was in fact other music bloggers! There is in fact a very welcome communal aspect to music blogging that became very evident during South By Southwest this year. I'm not sure where we ever fit in but I can safely say the following: I hope that Audio For Drinking's legacy is like that of The Ramones and The Velvet Underground who didn't necessarily sell a lot of records when they were playing but did inspire everyone who saw them to start their own band.

Keeping in mind with our original mission statement of sharing music we like with hopes that someone else might discover it, the last thing I'd like to offer to you is from a friend of mine who asked me to listen to a song he had just recorded. Maybe a year from now someone will be writing about him.

"On A Bicycle Tire"/ Only A Fool

home movies

it would figure that i'd start pilfering out in the last weeks before A4D's one year anniversary (that would be tommorrow). these are likely the last breaths of the site being something i attempt to post in on a daily basis. it's been a bit of a challenge as i used to post in the evening until i started going to gym regularly at night and then my morning posts were squashed when i lost my internet access at work in the mornings. still not to pin the blame on one thing, it's been months that i've felt unable to find the time to do what i had once envisioned for the site and as a result it's more or less drudged along being fairly irrelevant.

today is another unconventional post. one of my favorite shows of the past few years was Home Movies. last month saw the release of the fourth and final season of Home Movies on dvd. it came with a cd that collected various tunes from the show and i am sharing a pair of tracks from my favorite episodes. once a staple of cartoon network's adult swim line-up, the show that was developed by brendan small and the production company that handled Dr. Katz is about three elementary school kids who are aspiring filmmakers. Home Movies was done primarily in poor flash animation, the shows stories ran slow and the fact that eight year olds seemed to carry the knowledge and experience of adults seemed to confuse some. as a result it kept getting buried on the networks late sunday night slots. still, it found its following; partly because the show is really about the slapstick humor and witticisms spliced throughout each half-hour, a majority coming from the kids primary authorative figure, and personal fictional hero of my own, Coach McGuirk. McGuirk is almost always drunk and offering such sound advice as "anything too hard in life is never worth doing." certainly worth the rental if you missed the boat on it. you can even peruse youtube.com for a few choice clips from the show.

"I'll Race (Reprise("
"The Wizard's Baker Rock Opera (Medley)"

Baseball

Congrats to our buddy Ben Henry whose website has made Entertainment Weekly's 100 Sites to Bookmark in this week's issue. This follows his being mentioned on both ESPN and Deadspin as well as being a Yahoo pick of the day. I guess we'll all have to pick up the pace.

Check out his site here: The Baseball Card Blog

Also in baseball related news, yours truly has had a relatively firm grasp of the top spot in the Bloggerball fantasy baseball league. Jay has picked himself up from the bootstraps, lifting his team out of the cellar and into a 2nd place tie.. Muzzle of Bees remains in 4th and So Much Silence counts the hours until Roger Clemens is activated while in 7th.

distinct charm (d.c.)

for cat -

if things never quite find a way to work out, i will have at least inherited some organic shampoo and a dress i never saw you in.

Jr Corduroy "Strange Empty Hollow"

World Cup Songs

Here are the two wonderful tracks featured in Adidas' just as wonderful "Impossible Team" adverts airing during the World Cup this year. check them out HERE. I've been watching a lot of the games- I've been especially rooting for Portugal.


De L'alouette by RJD2
Eanie Meany by Jim Noir

first love, last rites

a week (or maybe two) ago one of the blogs did a bit on underrated soundtracks (i think it was stereogum). anyway, i thought i'd chime in with one of my favorite soundtracks that i'm pretty sure not very many are aware of. partly because the movie it represents did very little and was criticized as an atmospheric film lacking a cinematic-worthy story. the soundtrack for 1997 release First Love, Last Rites was arranged by Nathan Larsen of Shudder to Think and includes collaborations with a number of notables including Jeff Buckley, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, John Doe of X, Low, Liz Phair, Nina Persson of the Cardigans and more. the film was directed by ex-Lemonheads bassist Jesse Peretz and so it was no surprise music would figure in heavily. through the film. the female lead spend parts of the summer listening to a collection of 45s as her youthful relationship is whiltled down with the passing summer heat. the songs respresent styles of rock music from several eras where vinyl was a tad bit more predominant. dubbed "pro-oldies" by the band, Larsen tried to stay true to not just the production, but the writing style in trying to make the tunes authentically retro. after this soundtrack Larsen went on to score many films including High Art, the Woodsman, Lilya 4 Eva, Boys Don't Cry and a number of other both indie and mainstream films.

i choose the Stax/Volt inspired Jeff Buckley track. Buckley briefly toured as a bass player for Larsens side project, Mind Science of the Mind, though was never officially a member of the band. nonetheless the two had some kind of music relationship that led to this splendid collaboration.

Shudder to Think feat. Jeff Buckley "I Want Someone Badly"

Zack Attack

Hey everyone. The trailer for the Zack Braff's film Garden State was even better than the film itself (still a pretty darn good film). Most of this was due to great use of tracks from Frou Frou and Postal Service. The soundtrack of course did gangbusters. Zack's got his another film, The Last Kiss, a remake of foreignerL'ultimo bacio, on the way. Check out the musically inclined teaser trailer at his site, along with what he's been listening to and a picture of him with Borat!

[UPDATE: Someone wrote me to let me know that, unlike Garden State, this film is not directed by Braff but rather Tony Goldwyn- the actor who also directed the very underrated A Walk on the Moon. I guess I should have checked the IMDB. What can I say- I only look at my own entry. Braff does have a foreign film remake to direct in his future though- and I'm sure it will have a kick-ass soundtrack. Go watch Scrubs in the meantime. Also, because everyone else wrote asking, the song in the trailer in "Chcolate" off the last Snow Patrol album (not the new one).]

i took the day off from work yesterday while they arranged new cubes. i came in this morning to discover i no longer have access to the hub i was connecting my powerbook to. as a result i have an entry for today, but no means of uploading the corresponding mp3. thus i'm afraid today's entry won't go up until this evening. not that anyones reading this.

these fangs

A4D favorites Say Hi To Your Mom have unleashed a preview mp3 from their forthcoming fourth album, Impeccable Blahs. the album is due to drop in late july and is bound to contain a great deal of indiepop filled with witticisms and adoration of robots and perhaps some lighthearted analysis of young brooklynites. a tour in support of the new album has already been planned and thankfully a show in denver is on the agenda.

Say Hi To Your Mom "These Fangs"

one last thing to share: the George Michael cover, "Faith" that Boy Least Likely To have been playing on their tour is available on their website over here.

mic checkas

self-proclaimed nappy, underground rappers from the sewer Das Efx emerged from brooklyn onto the rap scene in the early ninties. their nonsensical, rapid-fire delivery of over-the-top pop culture references caught the attention EMPD who signed the band on as part of the Def Squad after sensing the pair (Skoob aka Books and Crazy Dazy aka Dre) were onto something. their debut album, Dead Serious, went platinum and made an immediate impact on the industry. remaining an important album in hip-hop lore, their style quickly emerged as the patented sound of hip hop from that era. it made the duo instant innovators, but just as quickly led the band to obscurity as they fell behind their many immitators. the Def Squad suffered through an EMPD break-up that further held back the groups attempts to stay relevant and they eventually found themselves amidst a lengthy hiatus when three follow-ups failed to have the same kind of success. Das Efx attempted a comeback ten years after the release of their '92 debut, but faltered terribly by releasing an album diluted by raps current topical cliches rather than putting forth the type of rhymes that put them in a brief limelight. still, Das Efx and especially Dead Serious, maintain cult-like status and you'd be hard-pressed to find a fan of hip hop that doesn't own the album or at least recall it fondly. the group has even become a pop culture reference themselves, with the "igity" laden non-sensical words found on their album becoming a frequent joke on the dave chappelle show.


Das Efx "Mic Checka"

my definition of a boombastic night of vintage hip hop

a bit of an unconventional entry today following my brief vacation. last night i had every intention of uploading a song and writing an entry for today. instead i got sucked into watching old music videos on YouTube. i subscribed to the videos of someone using the moniker of ShockG, a reference to the frontman of Digital Underground, who has posted over two-hundred music videos of eighties hip-hop, early ninties alternative hip hop and even some old soul acts. there's really not a bad one in the bunch and you could get lost in there for hours. here's a few choice select videos:

Dream Warriors - My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style
Kwame - The Rhythm
GangStarr - Who's Gonna Take the Weight
K-Solo - Your Moms in My Business
Dana Dane - This Be a Def Beat
De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring
Kool Moe Dee - I Go to Work
Del the Funkee Homosapien - Mistadobolina
Digital Underground - Doowutchyalike
Tribe Called Quest - Bonita Applebum

feel free to use the comments to share some of your favorite findings in the bunch.

Margot & The Nuclear So and So's Want to Be Your Friend

I'd say that about about 20 bands a week want to be my friend on MySpace and I pretty much am having nice to say about any of them. Except one: Margot & The Nuclear So and So's. First off- what a name! Who knows what it means but it sure sounds great rolling off the tongue. The band is an eight-piece indie rock collective hailing from Indinapolis, Indiana. I can only assume they wanted to be my friend after realizing my undying love for orchestrated pop such as that of Harry Nilsson and the latest offerings of Mercury Rev and Starlight Mints.

You can find their MySpace site located here. Their debut album is available for like 9 bucks new or 2.50 used on Amazon.com right now so do yourself a favor and go get it. I've been listening nonstop since I got mine.

"Skeleton Key" Margot & The Nuclear So and So's

Me, Mew and Everything I Know

A few years back I was at a listening station in the Virgin Mega Store checking out various imports when the first 20 seconds I heard off one album made me shell out twenty-six bucks. The band is Mew and the song is titled "Am I Wry? No" The album Frengers was one of the best I heard that year. It's dreamy and bombastic: a mish-mash of the band's admitted influences: My Bloody Valentine, Pixies and Dinosaur Jr.

Late last year Mew followed that album with And The Glass Handed Kites which I was very excited to receive as a birthday gift. It's a decidedly harder rocking affair but still just as good if not better in some instances. I love moments when you try to turn up the stereo and realize it can't go up any higher...that's rocking out at its best for me. This album certainly fits that bill. It is chock full of sharp, jagged sounds and stories both nightmarish and operetic. Still, there is plenty of pop buried under that intricity- this is the rare band that I think could be equally appreciated by both fans of proggy metal and the whimsy pop of Belle and Sebastian. Hmmm, maybe a more mature version of MUSE?

The band, which hails from Denmark, has found plenty of success in Europe and elsewhere- just not here...yet. I was only just recently speaking to the manager of an A4D favorite and asking why a band signed to Sony and doing so well hasn't even been given a chance here yet. Well it would seem that time is now. It's been announced that the band will tour in support of Bloc Party (see below) this summer and, having recently received a review copy of the disc, I can only assume it's finally going to see release here in the sub-twenty dollar department. [Update: I hear the release will come in August.]

Below check out samples from each of these albums that have made Mew one of my absolute favorite bands.

Am I Wry? No (from Frengers; I have to admit it was a long time before I realized it was a man singing)

Apocalypto (from And The Glass Handed Kites)

Tour (w/ Bloc Party)

July 2006
28th: Boston, MA (Bank Pavilion)
29th: Brooklyn, NY (McCarran Pool)

August 2006
1st: Anaheim, CA (The Grove)
3rd: Los Angeles, CA (Greek Theatre)
4th: Berkeley, CA (Greek Theatre)
9th: Houston, TX (Warehouse Live)
10th: Austin, TX (Stubbs BBQ)

dumb fun

back to back three-day weekends is never a bad thing. a three-day weekend with a Voxtrot show stuffed in the middle is that much better. a lot of times i will have the album of the band in my car for sometime before they come through town, getting myself excited for the show. not this case this weekend as i've been driving around to the Pretty in Pink soundtrack and Versus. strangely it works if you think about it.

the new-york based Versus were an indierock mainstay of my nineties listening habits, releasing records on teenbeat, caroline and merge, before they splintered off into several groups following their final release (an ep for insound) in 2001. they've emerged as one of my favorite bands to listen to while working out. i imagine that would be a strange compliment for a band. while a lot of fans would direct you towards Dead Leaves or the smoldering Secret Swingers, it's their 1997 release, Two Cents Plus Tax, that's my poison. their first album recorded with a reasonable budget, it's a quite a departure from the band's suggestively darker tones; high energy and contemplatively heartfelt at times. Richard Balayut and Fontaine Toups take turns unraveling highly literate reflections of relationships gone wrong and harsh self-analysis. one such song, today's "Dumb Fun," always stuck with me because of the obvious, but easy to connect to line "i thought i'd always be with you, but we know that never came true."

Versus "Dumb Fun"

the science fiction

with a recently released "best of" album and a forthcoming, two-disc collection of forty-three unreleased songs, entitled Catfight, it seems as good a day as any to finally get some Hefner up on the A4D. Hefner technically began in 1995 though it wasn't until two years later that frontman Darren Hayman pulled together drummer Antony Harding and bassist John Morrison to form the groups core. dubbed "urban folk pop" by the press, the trio arguably won over a majority of their fans by Hayman's penning of tunes about smoking, drinking and fucking with a geek chic that would hijack the familiar sentiments from the rock scene. signed by Too Pure, Hefner released a pair of fairly lo-fi albums for the label, Breaking Gods Heart and the Fidelity Wars, as well as an unusual amount of singles and eps. Boxing Hefner, the collection of many of those singles may be the groups most popular album with fans and is the source for today's track. Hefner's highmark may be 2000's We Love the City. the album does an amazing, and frequently humorous, job at permeating the disenchantment of the clumsy, self-involved twenty-something set that reserves its passions for the most mundane and trivial things in life while finding love in a setting onlookers would only see trouble. the follow-up, and their final album, was Dead Media, which saw the band persuing an interest in electronic music that didn't strike a chord with those who had become fond of the group's previous efforts. last year Hayman won an ugly battle with their previous label to get the rights to their catalog and in-between releasing solo albums he hopes to rerelease their previous albums with bonus tracks.

Hefner "the Science Fiction"