Using Music to Learn Vocabulary: Part 3

Part 3 of After The Show’s “Using Music to Learn Vocabulary” has arrived!

If you’re not familiar with this series, check out Part 1 and Part 2 first.

1. Vagrancy: “Difference is Time” by Jason Boesel / Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band

Vagrancy is the state of wandering the land of an itinerant person without a home or regular employment.

2. Apocryphal: “Smarter” by Eisley

Apocryphal means erroneous or fictitious; of questionable authorship or authenticity; false.

3. Jonestown: “Highs and Lows of Being Number 1″ by Jenny and Johnny

Jonestown, or the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, was a cult led by Jim Jones. In November 1978, 918 people in Jonestown died in a mass-suicide / mass-murder.

4. Garish: “Get Well” by Noise Addict

Garish means obtrusively bright and showy, loud, or gaudy.

5. Watershed: “Watershed” (an unfinished, unreleased demo) by Hanson

A watershed is a ridge of high land dividing two areas that are drained by different river systems; a critical point that marks a division or a change of course; a turning point.

Clothing Songs: Part 1 of 2

Here’s the first part of a two-part collection of some good “clothing” songs:

“Shirt” by The Belle Brigade:

“The Emperor’s New Clothes” by Sinead O’Connor:

“My Sarong” by Noise Addict:

“Famous Blue Raincoat” by Leonard Cohen (cover by Z Berg):

“Tight Tee Shirt” by Benji Hughes:

“Somebody Else’s Clothes” by Rilo Kiley:

“New Shoes” by Paolo Nutini:

Noise Addict

“Back In Your Life” by Noise Addict (an adapted cover of the Jonathan Richman song) is Song of the Day.

This song was released on Noise Addict’s album Young & Jaded, which came out January 1, 1995.

Month Songs

ATS featured songs with “June” in the title here. What about the other 11 months?

“Here Comes September” by Waikiki (now called Howling Bells):

“April Skies” by The Jesus and Mary Chain:

“August” by Rilo Kiley:

“November” by Azure Ray:

Not on YouTube:

“March Ate Me Alive” by Noise Addict

“Mid November” by Johnathan Rice (listen here)

“7 September 2003″ by The Elected (listen here)

Noise Addict

Here’s an old, rare Noise Addict song called “Mouthwash.”

Old and New Music

Today’s Old Music is the 1995 song “Mouthwash” by Noise Addict:

New Music is “Holding On,” which will be on Rooney’s new EP:

Same Title, Different Song

Below are a collection of good songs with the same title — while they may share a title, these songs are definitely different from one another:

“After Hours” (Velvet Underground cover) by Rilo Kiley:

“After Hours” (Acoustic) by Phantom Planet:

“Dance With Me (Tonight)” by The Wonders:

“Dance With Me” by Uh Huh Her:

“Thinking of You” by Hanson:

“Thinking of You” (Acoustic) by Katy Perry:

“Give a Little Love” by Noah and the Whale:

“Give a Little Love” by Rilo Kiley:

“Goodbye” by Asobi Seksu:

“Goodbye” by Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris:

“Goodbye” by The Spice Girls:

“16″ by Noise Addict:

“16 (Going on 17)”: The Sound of Music

Free Album Download: Ben Lee’s Noise Addict

As a young teenager, Ben Lee recorded grunge-rock music and released a few albums with his band Noise Addict. After 14 years, Lee has released a new Noise Addict album, called it was never about the audience. Click here to download your free copy.

Featuring 15 songs, this lo-fi album is a great antidote to slick, overproduced records that value Protools over talent. Lee collaborates with Dinosaur Jr.’s Lou Barlow and longtime friend/backing musician Lara Meyerratken (check out her band El May).  Lee discusses the very indie nature of the album: almost all the songs were recorded quickly, after they were written, in a bedroom.

The best songs on it was never about the audience are “Hey Baby,” “Faster Side of Normal,” “That’s How It Goes,” and “Do I Know You.”

For those of you who are familiar with Noise Addict’s work from the 90s, it was never about the audience is much softer, more mature sounding than the teenage anthems of Noise Addict’s past.

Ben Lee as a 14 year old on the far right