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It's List Addicts Friday time - and today's topic is high school crushes and unrequited love. Why? Just because I'm in the mood for it and these two always go together.

High school has always been a memorable time for me - not because of the nice memories I've shared with my high school friends, but because of all the heartache, heartbreak and the tramautic experiences I've had dealing with members of the opposite sex. Despite the good intentions of the strict nuns at my high school, and my loving, yet overprotective father, I wasn't prepared to deal the enigma that were boys - high school boys at that . Despite this, I was able to go through high school  with my sanity intact. But then, to anyone who's ever had to deal with high school crushes and unrequited love, I don't think you'll ever leave unscarred.

1. Hello Saferide - Highschool Stalker

When you talk about unrequited love, there always an element of stalking involved.  In Highschool Stalker, Hello Saferide gives us the inside scoop of what it is to be a high school stalker. And because she dates herself by using Yahoo! and AltaVista to search, it would be circa mid-1990s (I myself used HotBot and Infoseek). I never did go as far as breaking into the dentist's office like she did in the song. However, does doing voodoo magic to make your crush notice you count as psycho stalker-ish? It did work though.

This isn't an EBTG post, sorry to disappoint, though it was that song that inspired me to make up this week's list. As an alumni of the Long Distance Relationships club, I have compiled many-a-song to my list of tunes to soothe the weary heart. A particular song that was on heavy play was Everything But the Girl's 'Missing' (also because, prior to the LDR club, I was a recovering pining-for-a-lost-love addict). I haven't added a song since, as it's been that long since I've needed one for my longing heart, but with my natural pre-disposition to sappiness and me being left alone while my bedside companion's away for three week vacation, it kind of got me to reminiscing. It got me to thinking about those type of songs that conveyed that feeling of yearning and missing. They may not be as dancey as EBTG, but in their own indie way, it'll be like how the deserts miss the rain all over again.

1. Coconut Records - West Coast

Yes, it's Max Fischer, only instead of directing, he's singing now. This song  reminds me of The O.C. - just because it's called West Coast and  it's Jason Schwartzman that's singing (who, by the way, was the drummer of Phantom Planet). Speaking of The O.C., I actually kind of miss it. It was a pretty good show. Also, you don't get a lot of Seth Cohen characters on TV nowadays. Honestly, I think we need more proponents of the geeky is sexy movement - the freaks are taking over with their sparkling pale complexion and and fanged teeth.

It's been a while, so I thought I shouldn't put this off any further. Yes, it's List Addicts Fridays once again, and today's theme is 'covers'. In the history of List Addicts, I have never made a covers post before, mainly because a lot of other blogs do. They even have weekly posts about it. Heck, some even dedicate a whole blog to covers. But hey, since mine's not a regular thing, this week's list is special - my own take of favorite covers from indie bands that have perked up my ears at one point or another. The idea actually came from watching Glee this week - a TV show that's based its success in witty writing and wonderfully executed song covers. One of their earliest hits was their rendition of Journey's Don't Stop Believin' which at first listen, I thought they were covering Petra Haden's cover of the Journey song. And with this, my list begins...

1. Petra Haden - Don't Stop Believin'

This one comes from the excellent 2007 all-covers album Guilt By Association . I came upon it checking out The Concretes cover of Take That's Back for Good, but found loving this track a whole lot more. A purely a cappella version, it brings a nice creative twist to the song (especially with that bit of Wilson Phillips inserted at the end).

They held a music video contest for songs in the album, and the video entry for this song was my favorite. The equally quirky music video told a love story between a sunny side up egg and a calculator, with tinkerbell in drag lip synching to the song. The video didn't win the main prize, but it made the song all the more unforgettable - undeniably a notch up from the Glee version if you ask me.

I don't know why it took me seven years to fully appreciate the allure of Canadian music. Probably because there's this underlying country music and folk influence in a lot of Canadian music that I can't seem to wrap my ears around. If you asked me a few years ago, if there were two kinds of music that I really can't stand, I would say that it's gangster rap and country music. Although, in the last few years I have slowly warmed up to folk - since it has this nice, simple, earthy kind of quality to it that I find so interestingly calming. There is that danger there, when you go on to liking folk, because there's a thin line delineating folk and country. Now somehow, I've gotten myself to appreciating a bit of country influenced songs as of late. I guess I'm just getting old, and being parent has mellowed me out. But hey, there's just something about the mixture of banjos, acoustic guitars and road trip inspired lyrics that warms up the soul. I still won't admit that I like country though - well, not the hillbilly type, I'd much prefer the sophisticated type of folk that Canadian musicians are really good at ;)

1. The New Pornographers - Challengers

The New Pornographers aren't a folk band, and most of the songs that they make are more of the pop and rock kind. Yet they made this song, and it's beautiful. Despite the hint of country with the use banjos, the allure Neko Case's vocals and the lovely melody makes 'Challengers' the type of song that would make anyone cross over to liking folk if they haven't done so.

 Back in the mid 80’s there used to be show called Video Hit Parade in one of those Marcos owned TV stations. It was during those times that I first saw Aha’s Take On Me, Rick Astley’s weird yet strangely appealing hair dance and the heyday of the New Wave movement. I was hooked! After that it was MTV, this was during the early 90’s and cable television was in its infancy. We all wanted to become Danny McGill and have Nonie as our girlfriend/sex slave. We loathed Mike Casem and his freakish younger sister. Alternative music ruled MTV and filled our consciousness. Aeon Flux was so amazingly fucked up, Charlize Theron made a live-action version of it and tanked! It was during the mid 90’s that we had an influx of Filipino made music videos, albeit proletarian paved the way for budding directors such as Marie Jamora (big fan of the E-heads), Quark Henares and Pancho Esguerra. These are some of our local music videos  that have earned my utmost respect…and I have impeccable taste in music and a bloated ego. Check out my list below…

We take a break from the usual List Addicts Fridays to make way for some amazing stuff from Buffetlibre.

If you haven't heard the news yet - Buffetlibre and Amnesty International Catalunya has teamed up to form the first music atlas on the web. Called PEACE - it's a project that unites artists from all over the globe in support for Amnesty International. The site offers a compilation of over 180 unreleased songs from your favorite artists from different parts of the globe. As a sampler, we've got a couple of songs posted here from the compilation from The Antlers, Patrick Wolf, Crocodiles, Plushgun and our own favorite, Ra Ra Riot.

The 180 song compilation can be downloaded after making a donation to Amnesty International Catalunya and the collected money will be used for Amnesty International’s investigation and action campaigns aimed at preventing cases of Human Rights abuses around the world. Starting from 5 euros, you can get the full compilation, info sheets about the artists (for all the music geeks like me out there), as well as a chance to win tickets to some of the major music festivals around the globe. I've included a full list of artists right after the jump, and you can also go straight to the PEACE site to know more about it.

To anyone who's ever cared to read the About Us section of this site, you would know that part of the reason why I made this site was for my son Paolo - who loves indie music, as well as surfing on the net. Another cool thing about him is that he's autistic. When I say cool, I don't mean to take autism lightly here - believe me, we've had our ups and downs with his condition, but to borrow Dr. Temple Grandin's words (who's a famous autistic person herself), it's also a gift.

Autism, to define it briefly, is a neurological developmental disorder that affects a person's social and communication skills and, to a greater or lesser degree, their motor and language skills. It manifests differently from one individual or another - since it is a spectrum disorder, so some may be on the lower end of the spectrum (non-verbal, extreme difficulty with motor skills) or on the higher end (highly verbal, but still laking in the social and communication skills department). 

In films, one of the more popular portrayals of an autistic person would be from the 1988 film "RainMan". Dustin Hoffman (who won an academy award for it), actually based it on the famous savant from Utah, Kim Peek. Not to generalize that all autistics are savants though  - my son does struggle with grade 2 math - it's a nice movie to see if you want to get an idea of how the autistic brain works. Also, if you haven't seen it yet, another excellent film is the HBO movie based on Temple Grandin's life - who which I was quite relieved to know, also had great struggles with math as my son did (as her science teacher would explain, she was more of a visual thinker, and math, like language, is quite abstract).  To note, for new movies released about people with autism, I wouldn't care too much for Adam (released last year) - it's more of a date movie and a new version of Say Anything than anything else -  only replace John Cusack with an autistic Hugh Dancy. A few minutes into it, my husband had to stop from watching, since it portrayed a man with Aspergers, struggling on his own, his parents dead and him just recently being sacked from his job -  the nightmare of most parents with autistic children.

I'll stop with the movies here, since it might be a list for a another time. So to move on to today's List Addicts Fridays, and in honor of April 2 being World Autism Awareness Day, I present a couple of songs that Paolo has marked as his favorite at one time or another (apologies, if I've listed some songs in other lists on the site before, my son does love to go here and click on stuff). To note, some of these songs have made my ears bleed - as the non-neurotypical boy that he is, Paolo loves to listen to things over and over and over again - 

The Friday list comes on during Saturday again. I blame it on the migraine - which has slowly been killing me over the past years. Migraines aside, in this week's list, we go a bit spiritual (I think)  - since it's Lent, and something in my Catholic upbringing thinks this is going to be fun.

Today, our featured artists will be ones that have songs that have a Christian bent or have that unique Christian influence. But don't let that turn you off though - these artists are more than your run-of-the-mill Christian bands. First of all, they don't sing ska, and second, they produce songs that some of you might think, can't be related to anything Christian at all. Here now is my top five artists that have answered that calling to spread the good news through music...in their own odd-sounding way -

1. Good News for the Pus Pickers by Danielson

Your eccentric Christian band list would not be complete without including the Danielson Famile on the list. Their unique brand of caterwauling and screechy vocals might make you cringe, but that won't stop you from listening - it'll make you curious all the more. They may not be singing praise yous or allelujah's, yet it's seeing their whole live act that makes you feel like wanting to go to mass the next day.

A picture above is good ole Daniel Smith himself - the band's founder, dressed in his tree costume in one of their live shows. If you're a devout Christian, you might be able to recognize the significance of the nine different fruits on the tree as representing the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, you can always dismiss Bro. Daniel as a complete whack-job. Crazy or not, no-one who's seen them perform can deny that this is a group who is dedicated to their calling - a calling to spread the good news via their avant garde music. The group originally composed of the Smiths siblings, were raised in a very religious environment - their dad a composer of praise music (some of his work you might even find in your Sunday hymn books). What started out as a thesis project for the eldest Smith sibling evolved into a family band and the indie icons that they are today. To fully appreciate the Danielson sound - I highly recommend watching the documentary "Danielson: A Family Movie" - which to me, is one of the best and most entertaining band documentaries I've seen in a while. Check out the end of the trailer where a couple recalls 'clapping for Jesus' in one of their concerts and realizing how awkward it was because they were Jewish.

Not counting last week's robot T-shirt design post (since it wasn't even music-related), it's been a while since I've posted a Paolo related music post. If you've been keeping tabs, the last song he got obsessed with was Who Left the Lights Off, Baby. Now, I'm happy to report that this has changed. It was hard pry him away from his fixation on the Guillemots, but I have finally succeeded :) Not only that, I also lowered my burnout rate on songs that Paolo listens to repeatedly, by introducing him to two versions of the same song. It's still the same song, but played differently - thus lowering the chance of me getting sick of it after five consecutive plays. How brilliant is that? I have gladly reached a compromise with my habit addicted, favorite music fixated, non neurotypical little boy...for now.

This week's Friday's list is inspired by songs that have two versions. Despite the distinct variations, both the original and the second version, are equally nice to listen to:

1. Too Too Too Fast by Ra Ra Riot

This is the song that broke the Guillemots obsession. Now, I just have to battle out this Ra Ra Riot fixation since Paolo tries to sneak in playing this song at the start of our car ride and times it so that the song also plays before the trip ends. It has now become a habit for him during our weekly trips to the therapist. Not that I mind though, I'm quite obsessed with the song myself. The original 'drum version'(as opposed to the 'piano version' as Paolo would call it) is my favorite, since it gives me that sudden urge to clear off the dust from my sticks and hit the skins on the old drum kit.

John Pike, wherever you are, you make really awesome drum grooves :)

Too Too Too Fast (Say Hi Remix)

2. So Kind, Stacy by Carol Cleveland Sings

I've featured this before in one of the Lyric of the Day posts as well as in my earlier posts in this blog. It's one of those songs that was great originally, and got successfully reincarnated with a fuller and richer sound later on. The first version is off the Songfight.org site, where The Spinto Band had its early start as Carol Cleveland Sings. The song didn't win the songfight, but that didn't deter the band from creating more songs - which led to the current Spinto Band sound, as well as the more popular version of So Kind, Stacy.

So Kind, Stacy  by The Spinto Band

I know, this post isn't at all indie - it's going to be more retro than indie. But then, in my defense - it's the sort of music that most of you guys reading haven't heard of, since these songs came from an era where you were still a twinkle in your parent's eyes.

I blame it all on the John Hughes tribute at the Oscars on Sunday, as well as JJ's Spandau Ballet serenade on Skins last Thursday. It gave me this really big urge to post an eighties themed List Addicts Fridays. The scariest part about this is, the songs that are pushing me to do this are the type of songs that my friends would squeal at when heard at the high school dance (yes, back in the day).

To JJ, your ukelele version of True impressed me - if I was the girl, I would've married you on the spot. But although 'True' might be the quintissential song of the eighties - and hearing it always transports me back to that sweet sweet time of my youth, it's been in a tad too many shows about the 80s. On this note, if any of you guys are planning on making an 80's themed movie or TV episode, why not sample these eighties staples that were overplayed back then, but aren't getting any action like what Spandau Ballet's 'True' is getting now.

Indulge me, I promise we'll go back to our regularly scheduled indie lists next week and never speak of this again...

1. Seona Dancing - More to Lose

Hello Ricky Gervais, your pop music past has come to haunt you again.

I don't know why he tends to shy away from the subject when this fact comes out in interviews. The group wasn't really a tremendous flop - this song was huge...in Manila that is. Nonetheless, now that the song has become pop music history - and not at all a bad song, maybe some of the new generation of music lovers can appreciate it - and regale in how Ricky Gervais actually sounds amazing as an eighties pop singer.

2. The Care - Whatever Possessed You

I've always wished this was featured in a cult teen movie and had the same notoriety that 'Don't You' had because of The Breakfast Club. Maybe somebody out there can make that true for me - I'd sure see love to see this song put into film - and please, no covers.