"Wild Nights, Wild Nights"

1. "Wild Nights, Wild Nights" - Robert Creeley

2. Dance Yrself Clean - LCD Soundsystem

3. Jen Is Bringin' the Drugs - Margot & the Nuclear So and So's

4. Neverending Math Equation - Sun Kil Moon

5. True Love Will Find You In the End - Daniel Johnston

6. Three Miles Down - Saves the Day

7. Get Up - Sleater-Kinney

8. No Culture Icons - The Thermals

9. Resilient Bastard - RVIVR

10. Hurricane - The Coathangers

11. Wet Hair - Japandroids

12. Mind Glow - Dinosaur Jr.

13. We Suck Young Blood - Radiohead

14. Knife - Grizzly Bear

15. In the Dirt - S. Carey

16. Human Nature - Vijay Iyer

17. Civilian - Wye Oak

18. Wade In the Water - Fannie Lou Hamer

19. Summer In the City - Regina Spektor

20. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want - The Autumns

21. The Star You Left Behind - Quasi

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"A Million Open Windows"

1. Bit Part - The Lemonheads
2. War Against! - The Nerve Agents
3. Youth Knows No Pain - Lykke Li
4. Life Will Never Take Us Alive - My Epiphany
5. We See Stars - [Blank]
6. Dancing In the Dark - Mirah
7. Mama You've Been On My Mind (live) - Jeff Buckley
8. Crying - Roy Orbison
9. Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver
10. Can Your Monkey Do the Dog? - Rufus Thomas
11. Save Your Generation - Jawbreaker
12. Early In the Morning - Buddy Holly
13. Bonito - Manu Chao
14. Lucifer - Jay-Z
15. Summertime Blues - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
16. Pay To Play (demo) - Nirvana
17. Babelogue - Patti Smith
18. Savory - Jawbox
19. God's Gonna Cut You Down - Johnny Cash
20. Down There By the Train - Tom Waits
21. Oh My Sweet Carolina - Ryan Adams
22. No Good - Liza Kate
23. Let's Move To the Country - Smog
24. Cotton - The Mountain Goats
25. 4 Minute Warning - Radiohead

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"I Dreamt You Were Smiling"

1. Get By - Talib Kweli

2. Oh My God - Ida Maria

3. Boy Lilikoi - Jónsi

4. Good Ones - Cara Beth Satalino

5. The Desperate Kingdom of Love - Giant Sand

6. Sing Sing - The Bones Of J.R. Jones

7. Spirit In the Night - Bruce Springsteen

8. Flushed From the Bathroom Of Your Heart - Johnny Cash

9. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend - The Ramones

10. A Devil Among the Tailors - At the Drive-In

11. whitesburg, kentucky - Trophy wife

12. I Ain't Got No Home - Woody Guthrie

13. I Love How You Love Me (Live) - Jeff Mangum

14. Cry In the Dark - Juliana Hatfield

15. Wang Dang Doodle - Koko Taylor

16. Attitude - Bad Brains

17. In the Mouth a Desert - Pavement

18. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll - Bob Dylan

19. Drifting - Pearl Jam

20. Eclipse - João Gilberto

21. Transatlanticism - Death Cab For Cutie

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"I Go To Pieces"

At the request of Feliz Molina...





("I Go To Pieces" by Peter & Gordon/Del Shannon, as interpreted by The Feverfew)

"The Reservoirs of Our Idiot Tempers"

1. Save Me - Aimee Mann

2. Black and Blue - Louis Armstrong
3. Enjoy Your Worries, You May Never Have Them Again - The Books
4. We Belong To the Sea - Aderbat
5. Pocket Knife - PJ Harvey
6. Vein of Stars - The Flaming Lips
7. My Girl the Horse - Fences
8. God, Make Up Your Mind - Cold War Kids
9. Gimme Danger - The Stooges

10. I Go to Pieces - Peter & Gordon
11. It's In Our Hands - Björk
12. Fever Sleeves - Q and Not U
13. Lana Turner Has Collapsed! - Frank O'Hara
14. You're Pretty Good Looking - The White Stripes
15. Big Road Blues - Tommy Johnson
16. Nobody's Darlings - Lucero
17. Soon Enough - The Constantines
18. A Case of You - James Blake
19. Little River - The Tallest Man On Earth
20. Rin del Angelito - Violeta Parra
21. Flying a Kite - Joanna Newsom

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"It Is Best To Keep It All Inside"

For the sweet and solemn of March...





("It Is Best To Keep It All Inside" by Johnathan Rice, as interpreted by The Feverfew)

PJ Bond on "F*****g! Viv"

I met PJ Bond through mutual friends sometime in the early 2000's. At the time, he was playing guitar and singing for the New Jersey emo/indie bands Outsmarting Simon and Marigold, just as I was starting out as a solo artist trying to find my niche New York City. Despite our sonic disparities, we loved each other's music and over the years our bands played many shows together throughout New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. As a result, a great friendship formed. We spent many nights discussing our work, always with a great appreciation for one another's input and advice. He is someone whose artistic opinion truly matters to me, because I know that he is passionate and dedicated to what he does: writing and developing honest songs about his experience.

Since those early days of our friendship, I've followed PJ's career closely. I've watched him front many diverse bands. I've seen him develop as both a songwriter and as a performing artist. His lyrics are thoughtful and provocative. As a performer, he is engaging, witty and, occasionally, fragile. His debut solo album, "You Didn't Know I Was Alphabetical," is a chronicle of his many years on the road (touring and traveling) and the strange characters with whom he has crossed paths. Conceptually, it is posed as a sort of dark love letter to his demons, requiring several listens before one can really grasp the intricacies of the album. PJ’s choruses are commanding and contagious, and there is always a hint of sadness in his voice, so that even the seemingly "happy" songs ring bittersweet. 

Though it often changes, my current favorite song on Alphabetical is "Fucking!Viv". Here is what PJ had to say about this self-proclaimed "scathing" track:

The song "Fucking! Viv," is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek take on my distaste for certain aspects of the current state of music, and it is featured on my 2009 Black Numbers release, "You Didn't Know I Was Alphabetical." In late 2008, I was staying with my parents for a few weeks and working on songs every night after work. My goal was to write 30 songs with hopes that I'd end up with 10 awesome ones to make a quality full length, but even that seemed daunting at times. The thing is, when you're in a band you have friends to constantly push you, to suggest things, to help you hone your songs; however, when you're writing alone, it's easier to settle, or not push things to their fullest. I ended up spending late nights sitting on the couch in my parents' guest room hashing out song after song, trying to force myself to write more, better, stronger. Being alone with my songs and a few bottles of scotch, I often questioned whether all of this was pointless. Would anyone hear these songs? Would anyone care? Did I care anymore? Of course I did, but it can be pretty easy to get disillusioned sometimes. During this time I heard some songs from a band comprised of people I'd known from my early 20's. They were not particularly talented, and as far as I was concerned, they'd not really invested all that much time in music or learning their instruments. But, they were attractive, hip and they moved to a cool neighborhood. Next thing we all knew, they were hot and skyrocketing. I was amazed by the farce they'd built, the metaphorical wool they'd pulled over the community's eyes. I got stupidly upset over something that not only didn't matter but didn't affect me. I felt angry at myself for being angry. I realized how stupid it all was. So, in a few simple chords I put down my displeasure with the way it seems things worked. It's equal parts self-deprecation, silliness, annoyance, hope and jealousy.  

When you get down to it, none of what happens to other people changes what we are, but it's hard to remember that at times. It's easy to point fingers, to blame, to hate, to insult. The truth of the matter is that we just need to make the best we can in our own lives, we need to be happy with ourselves and our actions, and all of the other things will fall into place. "Fucking! Viv" is a constant reminder to me that I need to do well for myself, and forget whatever else is out there.  

If you'd like to check out more music by me and my friends, please visit http://www.theblacknumbers.com or look for my stuff on iTunes. Thanks for checking out the music. I wish you all the best.


- pj bond

Here's another one of my favorites off of Alphabetical, called "Grow Your Smile Wide" :




To purchase a limited edition vinyl copy of "You Didn't Know I Was Alphabetical," visit: the Black Numbers online store.


You can also keep track of PJ Bond on his tumblr, here: http://pjbondmusic.tumblr.com/

"Resistance From Here Looked So Lame"

1. Broken Headlights - Joey Ryan (featuring Sara Bareilles)
2. Temazcal - Monsters Of Folk
3. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow - Hurricane Bells
4. Shape Of My Heart - Noah & the Whale
5. Jailhouse Tears - Lucinda Williams (featuring Elvis Costello)
6. Mexico - Cake
7. Sylvia Plath - Ryan Adams
8. Our Kitten Sees Ghosts - Califone
9. Aim For A Smile - Slowblow
10. Eloise - Des Ark
11. Song For Dennis Brown - The Mountain Goats
12. Things the Grandchildren Should Know - Eels
13. Where Is My Love - Cat Power
14. Heartbeats - José González
15. Scorpio - The Dutchess & the Duke
16. F*****g! Viv - PJ Bond
17. My Baby Shot Me Down - Adam Turla (of Murder By Death)
18. When the Levee Breaks - Memphis Minnie
19. You and I - Wilco
20. safe word - a stick & a stone
21. It Is Best To Keep It All Inside - Johnathan Rice

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"Sad People Dance Too"

1. Easy - Thao With the Get Down Stay Down

2. Parentheses - BLOW
3. Psychic City (Voodoo City) - YACHT
4. Braincrush - Zombie Dogs
5. Dirty Boots (8 Track Demo) - Sonic Youth
6. Down - Pash
7. Baby, Let Me Take You Home - The Animals
8. Sinister Kid - The Black Keys
9. Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare - Matt & Kim
10. Kids - Sleigh Bells
11. Long Lean Queen - Bear Hands
12. Ghosts - The Hundred In the Hands
13. Harmless - Gregory + the Hawk
14. The High Road - Broken Bells
15. Lovesick Teenagers - Bear In Heaven
16. Island, IS - Volcano Choir
17. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi - Radiohead
18. He Hit Me - Grizzly Bear
19. Crimson and Clover - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
20. Change of Time - Josh Ritter

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"We Were Strangers Many Hours"

1. Hell's Bells - Cary Ann Hearst
2. Home - Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
3. The Funeral - Band of Horses
4. Silver Soul - Beach House
5. We Did It When We Were Young - The Gaslight Anthem
6. Oscar Wilde (acoustic) - Company of Thieves
7. Wolverine - Sufjan Stevens
8. Beach Baby - Bon Iver
9. Possibility - Lykke Li
10. Ashes to Ashes - Warpaint
11. Crystalised - The xx
12. I Am Always the One Who Calls - Pedro the Lion
13. Swift Coin - Land of Talk
14. All Of the Lights - Kanye West
15. Crazy - Patsy Cline
16. Learning - Perfume Genius
17. Telling the Hour (Live) - Mount Moriah
18. John the Revelator - Son House
19. The One I Love (Belongs To Somebody Else) - Dean Martin
20. Bartender - Regina Spektor
21. I Miss You - Kimya Dawson

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