Staff Infection: Lazy Labor Day

Although Labor Day was first celebrated in New York City on September 4, 1882, the holiday wasn’t nationally recognized until 1894. Over a century later, not only does this day mark the final lazy day of summer, but it also celebrates the official kickoff of NFL and college football. Fútbol is more my speed than football, but I can’t think of many things that are more American than a bunch of sweaty guys in spandex making millions of dollars to run around and bear hug each other. Plus, as a University of Michigan graduate, I may as well put in a plug for the boys in maize and blue…even if there’s a chance I’ll be crying into my foam fingers in three months. With that said, enjoy the day off from the daily grind with family, friends, and my favorite songs inspired by the good ol’ USA:

Spoon, “Chicago at Night” from Girls Can Tell
Ryan Adams, “New York, New York” from Gold
Mott The Hoople, “All The Way From Memphis” from Mott
The Anniversary, “The D in Detroit” from Designing a Nervous Breakdown
The Replacements, “Portland” from Don’t Tell a Soul
Randy Newman, “I Love L.A.” from Trouble in Paradise
Foals, “Miami” from Total Life Forever
Katy Perry, “Waking Up in Vegas” from One of the Boys
Bruce Springsteen, “Youngstown” from The Ghost of Tom Joad
R.E.M., “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” from Reckoning

Each Monday a different Green Light Go staff member will let you in on what songs have infected their ears for the week, while giving you the opportunity to share in the experience yourself.

This week: Lauren Roberts, Green Light Go Talent Coordinator
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Staff Infection: Mapology Mixtape

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been on a proper adventure, so I felt especially lucky when I had the opportunity to see a handful of old friends while traveling through the East Coast over the past two weeks. I met my best friend in New York City, where we drove down to Philly for a day trip to see historical things (the Liberty Bell was especially cool) and eat something the locals call “water ice.” From there, we shot straight back up to New York to say a proper goodbye to the Big Apple. As a lover of pop culture (and closet watcher of MTV's Jersey Shore), I may or may not have fist-pumped my way over the New Jersey border. The next morning, we headed up to the open air mall of Burlington, Vermont and saw more Sugar Maple trees than we could count. We arrived in Lebanon, New Hampshire as the sun was setting and crashed with our old friends, The River City Rebels, before trekking down to Boston for the weekend, the birthplace of life, liberty, freedom, and The Cars. Once our friends clued us in that “The T” was not a beverage, Boston became a little easier to maneuver and we spent a few days roaming around Harvard Square. We took the long way home to hit our last stop on the trip, Providence, before making our way back to Detroit. To pass the thirteen hours we spent in the car, we alternated between listening to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies on tape and these little traveling ditties:

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Maps” from Fever to Tell
The National, “Runaway” from High Violet
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, “Walking To Do” from Shake the Streets
Grand Archives, “Sleepdriving” from Grand Archives
Neutral Milk Hotel, “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea” from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
The Thrills, “Just Traveling Through” from So Much For The City

Each Monday a different Green Light Go staff member will let you in on what songs have infected their ears for the week, while giving you the opportunity to share in the experience yourself.

This week: Lauren Roberts, Green Light Go Talent Coordinator/Publicity Client Scout

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Get Down and Get With It

Photo by Nicole Szalewski

Welcome GLG's latest Guest Blogger, our "Electric warrior with a soft side," (I can't stop using that quote), Neil Nathan. When Nathan decided what his guest blog would be about – bands he loves that the rest of us need to know about – the title hit us, Get Down and Get With It. The name of this column is also a song by the kicking glam rock band Slade. Perfect! And now...

Get Down and Get With It

"I Wanna see everybody get up off your seats, I want you to clap your hands and stamp your feet! And get down and get with it!"

This is hip-shaking, sweat-drenched Maximum R&B. The kind that gets jaded Williamsburg hipsters up and dancing, despite their cooler than thou exteriors. This is power-pop with lush vocal harmonies that stick to your brain like candy-coated crazy glue. This is rough and humble garage rock with a sensitive psychedelic swagger. It's OK to cry man. Now go beat down that asshole hitting on your woman at the bar. Just make sure you're wearing a finely tailored suit and your shoes and hair are perfect. That's right, perfect. This people, is The Above! And the debut album (self-titled) from these Brooklyn Mod sensations is the best 60's golden nugget this side of The Naughts! As lead singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer/engineer/director/debonair extraordinaire David Horowitz says at the onset of "West End Supermarket," "We gonna have a party!"

"I wanna see everybody get up off your seats, I want you to clap your hands and stamp your feet! And get down and get it!"

"Keep on rocking,"

Neil Nathan

quotes used without permission from Noddy Holder!

The Above-West End Supermarket

The Above-Bollywood Woman

The Above-It's Good

The Above-Special Somethin'

Find The Above on MySpace


The Above - "Don't Believe in the Light" from David Alan Horowitz on Vimeo.

Each Wednesday (well, you know how musicians are, so maybe every other Wednesday....) the GLG blog will treat you to a Guest Blogger pulled from our creative group of artists who have a lot to say. All the time. We love them for that. Click Here to Read More..