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February 28, 2006

Let's get ready to rumble.

So, Vince Chao has challenged me, or us, or whatever, to DMs Songwriting March Madness. He wants to write a bunch of songs, eventually culling them down to the final four best songs, in the month of March.

I am very worried about it. I really, really like challenges and normally perform best under pressure, but I am nervous -- because I seem to have lost my touch. The brilliance just ain't coming to me like it did before. I am going through all sorts of gyrations in my car every day, singing weird sequences and trying out new ideas, but I miss those experiences where some turn of phrase would occur to me and I would just sit down and write a whole song about it. I doesn't help that I have been on a music-buying spree lately and keep listening to the all this stuff over and over again thinking: "I wish I wrote that."

Onward and upward, though. I have to do it.

Posted by The DMs at 03:03 PM

February 23, 2006

Womenfolk are the best folk.

We're so thrilled to point you in the direction of Womenfolk.net: The song blog dedicated to women in music. Ahem. And not just because they just did a profile on The DMs as part of their This Woman's Work series.

The site is a great resource for musical discovery -- I have spent not a few dollars on new CDs as a result. The diversity of the artisits they list is what keeps me coming back. Click around and listen to the clips they make available, and learn about your new favorite artists. The design is really lovely and impressive, and we are extremely flattered and excited to be featured. (Be sure to click the links in the entry profiling us to see further information... that you already know, yes, but is supercool cool to look at.)

Posted by The DMs at 03:31 PM | Comments (3)

February 20, 2006

Winners, please don't let this harvest pass.

The winners, chosen by the randomest of drawings, of The First Annual DMs contest of any kind but, in particular, Valentine's Day, are as follows:

Joy

Then he asked me to the winter dinner dance. I accepted, and we talked for a while, and when he left, I hauled ass back to the dorm, put the tape in my stereo, and the first song on the tape was “Love Song” by Tesla.

SaturnCat

Anyway, some of my girlfriends took it upon themselves to dedicate "Every Breath You Take" to my crush and me, but, sadly, he wasn't in the gym at the time.

Jessica

I listen to the Pixies now, because of him. And X. And Fugazi. And Bad Religion. And we are getting married October 15th.

They were all so good, I'd like to send CDs to everybody. (To the guy that submitted "Slow Ride," by FogHat, I salute you. I absolutely wept over that one.) But do not fret, Valentines, this will not be the last DMs contest. We'll just have to figure out the best way to do the next one, and will let you know.

Thanks all you sweet and tender hooligans! Three winners listed above, please e-mail your mailing address to us (even you, J.H., because we don't have it) and be on the lookout for your prize. If you happen to already own a copy, feel free to pass the old one on to your favorite person.

Posted by The DMs at 06:09 PM

February 13, 2006

Contestify

Friends, Lovers, All You Fools:

Valentine's Day is upon us, and whether you feel it is a made-up, money-grubbing, stupid holiday or not, we here at DMs HQ are all about celebrating love in all its forms: Bad Love, Good Love, True Love and Seventh-Grade Dance Love. They're all there, and we've all endured them.

Remember that time you were in your dorm room and that guy you had been staring at for an entire semester called and was like "Hey, Al, do you want to grab some dinner tonight? There's something I want to talk to you about?" So, you turn to your roomate singing aloud about the greatness of life and spend the next thirty minutes trying to craft the perfect "I was just lounging around, so why not?" outfit. And remember when you went to meet him and he was all "I feel like I can tell you anything," and then the thing he told you was that he wanted to date... your roomate? REMEMBER THAT? HUH, JONATHAN? DO YOU?

Oh. Sorry.

Or, hey, remember that OTHER time you were on a date and you were doing something random like walking to the car and it suddenly hit you that you were in love? "Really?" you asked yourself. "THIS guy?"

Are you remembering? So, what I want to know now is the name of that song... you know the one. The song that, when you hear it today, takes you right back to the time where you felt love at its peak. Maybe it was about to crash around you, or maybe it was going to keep going up, but either way, there was a song playing and when you hear it, you remember everything.

Hit the comments with your best shot. Tell us the story of your most significant love song (for once, I don't want to hear songs about being dumped and getting revenge, though I do love those songs), and we'll do a drawing of everyone who contributes between now and the end of the week and give out a signed copy of our CD. (If you can't wait to get a copy, you can always grab one here.)

Posted by The DMs at 02:28 PM | Comments (25)

February 10, 2006

"It's a lonely, lonely feeling when your Valentine is wrong."

You know what the modern woman loves for Valentine's Day? The Damn Millionaires. Sure, all our love songs are about people drinking or houses burning, but that's real love. Y'all don't know.

Wait a second. I-35 and Brand New Year are legit love songs. I get so wrapped up in sad writing sometimes, that I forget that those two are pretty, happy songs about living, non-alcoholic people who actually love each other.

Of course, if you're sitting around hating everybody on Valentine's -- and I'm sure you've got your reasons for it -- we've got you covered there in spades. No song suits the anti-romantic better than Salesman, for example, and if you can't take it anymore and are considering going off somewhere to escape from love, The DMs have practically provided you a soundtrack.

I know on the surface, it seems to be all about sinning, but Be Sure... is all about loving, plain and simple. If we can't break your heart this Valentine's Day, no one will, so... get on it. Order today for a timely delivery!

Will it help if we hit you with our best come-hither glances?

Come ON! We're so romatical, we're even setting off the Fox Alarm in this picture. How can you resist?

Coming soon: Who's writing a new album? Oh, that's right. Us. But by GOD, we're gonna sell the rest of these.

Posted by The DMs at 01:44 PM | Comments (1)