In the spirit of the upcoming Inauguration, I'd like to post a song by one of my favorite random purchases of all time as well as one of my favorite bands.

In 1996, a few of my best friends and I went on a school trip to Washington DC to, among other things, attend Clinton's second Inauguration into Office. After BC's big day, the organization threw a HUGE "Inaugural Ball" for all the students from around the country participating in the program. They had rented out some hotel and turned each of its three different ballrooms/halls into parties with different themes. There was a hip hop room, a country/western room, and a live concert room. They had also turned the parking garage into an all out rave with DeeJays and lights, etc.

At the time, my buddies and I were really into the rave scene, so we spent the entire time grooving with other tecnnoids from around the nation. At the end of the night, we met up with the rest of our class in the hotel lobby. One of my classmates mentioned that he had spent his time in the live concert room. He showed me the CD he had purchased after the concert and how he had gotten it autographed by the whole band. It was still a few minutes before we had to leave, so I gave him five bucks and asked him to buy one for me and to have them autograph it as well. He did!

The trip ended, we flew back home and the CD sat on my shelf for a couple weeks. Finally, I saw it sitting there and decided to pop it in. That CD was "Sing, Earthboy! Sing!" To my surprise it was some kick ass rock music full of electric guitar, catchy beats and a keytar which melded the music and drove the energy of the band. The crazy thing was the vocalists were rapping. Their lyrics, nerdy and hilarious. The truest definition of the term "rapband." We're not talking Lymp Bizkit crap. This is high energy, happy-happy music that can make anyone get up and dance.

I've since become one of their biggest fans, traveling the country to see their amazing live shows. They had one somewhat of a hit song in the early 2000's with "718"; a song about moving from borough to borough and as a result getting a new area code. But this song "Meadow Blaster" is a great example of their music and playful lyrics.