We'll always have Canada

While I've lived in the South for a good chunk of my life, I'm actually a midwestern girl. I spent about half of my life in Nebraska before moving to a bunch of southern cities. Truthfully, I remember very little about life among the cornhusks, but it does hold an idyllic place in my memory. Listening to bands from the mid-west takes me back to nice people and mid-western accents, flat land and freezing cold winters.

Some of my favorites:

Maritime: James

Maritime "formed out of the ashes of the Promise Ring and the Dismemberment Plan" back in '03. They're from Milwaukee (that's mid-western, right?) and really upbeat and fun to listen to, in a totally mid-western kinda way.

Troubled Hubble: 14,000 Things to Be Happy About

Troubled Hubble is from Illinois. Their website claims that they are "proof that relentless good cheer, mountains of hard work, and a knack for pop hooks don't always lead to disappointment, shattered dreams, and office jobs." I never really thought good cheer, hard work, or pop hooks lead to shattered dreams or office jobs, but I think you'll get the appropriateness of that description after listening to them.

The Good Life: Album of the Year (acoustic)

Tim Kasher, like me, is from Omaha. He started The Good Life after Cursive. He has become somewhat of an icon for disillusioned mid-western youth (although clearly not as much as Conor Oberst, with whom he was in Commander Venus when they were wee little boys). Although Cursive got to tour for the Cure, I still like The Good Life better because 1. they mention Omaha a lot more, and 2. they manage to be every bit as angry and sad as Cursive without sounding like it.

There are a lot of other Saddlecreek bands I could mention, like The Faint, Bright Eyes, Azure Ray, etc. etc. etc. I appreciate them all a lot, but they don't quite remind me of the mid-west of my childhood in the same way that The Good Life does. Granted, Omaha has changed a lot since I lived there as a 9-year-old, and I'm not suprised that it produced so many expressions of desperation and desperation.

In West Coast news, Asian Man Records as a deal right now where you can get 25 random CDS for $25. They did something similar with LPs a few years ago and it was awesome. Check out the catalogue here and order the cds from the main page. Support Mike Park, one of my favorite people in the world, and get a bunch of CDs in the process!