Right now I'm reading I Want My MTV, which is an oral history of MTV from 1981-1992. This book is so relevant to my interests it's insane. In some of the chapters they talk about specific videos, and despite my ridiculous memory for videos, I find myself wanting to watch them anyway. So here's a few that are mentioned in the book, from the parts I've read so far (I'm only to 1985):
Eurythmics- Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
Eurthymics- Love is a Stranger (I'd never seen this one before but it's one of my favorite Eurhymics songs)
Tears For Fears- Pale Shelter
Duran Duran- Hungry Like the Wolf
Billy Squier- Rock Me Tonight (I hate Billy Squier, but there's a whole chapter on this one because it's so special)
Typically at the beginning of the year I'm so burnt out on albums from the previous year from all my list making activities, I take a break from all those albums and listen to older stuff. Last year, I made a list of albums I wanted to spend more time with, which ended up being pretty nice (I never did get around to listening to the Bright Eyes ones though). So here's what I'm planning to listen to more in 2012.
R.E.M.: once the Bowie journey is over, the plan is to listen to all the R.E.M. albums from the beginning.
Destroyer- Trouble in Dreams: never got into this album when it first came out
This year, I listened to more new-to-me music than I probably have in a decade. Between new releases, going through David Bowie’s discography and discovering the awesomeness that is The Church, my ears have been busy. Not to mention starting the year by listening to every song on my mp3 player.
For new releases, this was the year of the grower for me. Out of all the albums I heard, only two I actually liked the first time I listened to them (21 and Kaputt). There were a number of albums I was ready to write off before giving them one final listen and having the songs click for me. I think overall this was a good but not great (or particularly deep) year for music. My top album is hands down the best album of the year for me, although I really love all the albums in my top 5
10. Bright Eyes: The People's Key Favorite songs: Haile Salassie, Shell Games
9. Okkervil River- I Am Very Far Favorite songs: The Valley, Show Yourself
8. Emm Gryner- Northern Gospel Favorite songs: Heartsleeves, Fast Exit
6. Adele- 21 Favorite songs: Rumour Has It, I'll Be Waiting
5. Destroyer- Kaputt Favorite songs: A Savage Night at the Opera, Kaputt 4. St. Vincent- Strange Mercy Favorite songs: Dilettante, Chloe in the Afternoon 3. Beirut- The Rip Tide Favorite songs: Port of Call, The Rip Tide 2. EMA- Past Life Martyred Saints Favorite songs: Red Star, Butterfly Knife
1. PJ Harvey- Let England Shake Favorite songs: The Colour of the Earth, In the Dark Places
Dishonorable mention:
Tune-yards: First, the alternating capitalization is just stupid, second, they're just a worse version of Vampire Weekend with a female singer.
I'll be posting my favorite
albums list next week. PJ Harvey released an album that may or may not be
my favorite of the year. In honor of that uncertainty, here's 5 of my favorite PJ Harvey songs.
I'll be posting my favorite
albums list in a couple of weeks. Sondre Lerche released an album that may or may not be
my favorite of the year. In honor of that uncertainty, here's 5 of my favorite Sondre Lerche songs.
Right now I'm reading Are We Not New Wave?, which is all about new wave in the late 70s to mid 80s. It's a pretty interesting read for someone like me who is a big fan of music from that time. The author goes pretty in depth in analyzing certain songs, which creates a sort of playlist to go along with the book. Some of the songs covered:
Been listening to and enjoying The Hurting, Tears For Fears' debut album, which got me thinking about other debut albums I love. I have a soft spot for debut albums, and not just because they might be the first album I heard from a band. A lot of the time debut albums are very different from what comes after. And there's something about that that I enjoy. So here are 5 debut albums that are better than everything that came after.
First up, a correction- The last show I saw was Grizzly Bear and Beach House, which was a few weeks after the Thom Yorke show. I forgot about that show because I was sick and almost didn't go.
The view from our seats:
Apparently The National is a wine and cheese event. Did not get that memo. So much wine. Shame they didn't play "All the Wine", would've been perfect. I'll spare you from my griping about the people there cause, screw them, it's about the music.
Neko Case was awesome as I expected and pretty amusing with her banter, which I didn't really expect. I got to hear 4 of the songs from my wishlist, including 2 of my favorites ("That Teenage Feeling" and "Maybe Sparrow") at the very beginning. She didn't play anything from before Fox Confessor, but it wasn't a full set. She played a few new songs which were pretty good. Here's hoping for a new album next year.
Setlist (approximate order):
That Teenage Feeling Maybe Sparrow Margaret vs. Pauline New Song Magpie to the Morning New Song Song I Didn't Know Vengeance is Sleeping Hold On, Hold On Don't Forget Me Star Witness
The National are freaking amazing. When Matt started singing "Runaway", I was just amazed at how fantastic his voice sounded. Not that any of this is a surprise to me, since I've seen them before, but I think at this show I was more dialed in compared to the last one. They played 5 of the 6 songs from my wishlist with a "Cardinal Song" teaser at the end of "Avaliable" (god, I love that song). Not to mention that St. Vincent (!!!) played with them on "Afraid of Everyone", "Sorrow", "Thirsty" (yay old songs!), and "Terrible Love".
Setlist:
Runaway Anyone's Ghost Bloodbuzz Ohio Slow Show Squalor Victoria Afraid of Everyone Conversation 16 Available/Cardinal Song Sorrow Abel England Thirsty Fake Empire Think You Can Wait Mr. November Terrible Love About Today
Shockingly, this will be the first show I've been to since Thom Yorke at the end of 2009. I'll blame a lack of good shows and money for that. And really, at this point I've seen almost every band I've really wanted to see at least once. So it takes a lot for me to get excited about a show.
Anywho, I saw The National back in 09, but I didn't make a wishlist for that show. So here goes..
Available (I've heard this one, but now I love the song even more)
Conversation 16
Afraid of Everyone
Runaway
Sorrow
Baby We'll Be Fine (heard this one too, but it's one of my favorites)
And songs I know I won't hear (a girl can hope):
Karen
90 Mile Water Wall (there would be some serious freaking out if they played this)
Slipping Husband
Then there's Neko Case. I've never seen her live, so my wishlist is long.
Like the Police, the boyfriend and I have also been going through and listening to all the Bowie albums chronologically. He's a pretty big Bowie fan, but most of his albums I haven't heard. So basically the opposite of the Police. We just moved on to Aladdin Sane this week which means, 5 down, many more to go.
1. Regatta de Blanc: Even after listening to all the albums, Regatta de Blanc is still my favorite. This is mainly because 2 of my top 3 favorite Police songs are on this album ("Does Everyone Stare" and "The Bed's Too Big Without You").
2. Synchronicity: Before
this, I didn't quite understand why people loved this album so much. I get it now. There are some excellent
songs on it. How come no one talks about how creepy "Tea in the Sahara"
is?* I'd rather have Mr. Every Breath You Take Stalker watching me than
being left in the middle of the desert TO DIE. Just saying.
3. Outlandos d'Amour: Overall, what I like best about this album is the raw quality to it. However, that's also its biggest downside. The songwriting (and production) improves so much after this. The band is not quite at their peak yet, but off to a great start.
4. Zenyatta Mondatta: I had the hardest time with this album, even though it's one of the ones I've listened to the most. I just couldn't get into it. I like all the songs but, compared to the other albums, there aren't as many really great songs.
5. Ghost in the Machine: Once my least favorite, always my least favorite. Now I've spent more time with it, I don't hate it anymore, but it's still the weakest of the 5 albums. They're clearly experimenting with a different sound and it's hit or miss here. On Synchronicity they get it right.
Side note: What do I have to do to get a copy of Regatta de Blanc on vinyl? I need to make this happen. Also, my copy of Synchronicity was one of my best finds, it's in good condition and only cost me 19 cents.
For the past month or so, the bf and I have been listening to all the Police albums in order. I got really into them a few years back but he doesn't know all that much about them. So he's learning to appreciate their greatness and I'm learning how to not hate Ghost in the Machine.
I'm currently working on some of my pages for the new site, including the collection page. Sometimes I forget what records I have. So here's 5 things I had no idea I had.
Tears for Fears- The Hurting
Depeche Mode- "People are People" 7"
Cornershop- "Brimful of Asha" 7"
Eurhythmics- "Here Comes the Rain Again" 7"
The Police- Outlandos d' Amour (which is why I now have 2 copies)
I feel like it's been awhile since I did a music list for Friday. Since day happens to be Canada Day, I'll put 2 and 2 together and make a 5 (see what I did there?). So here's a list of awesome songs by Canadians.
Back in January I decided to listen to every song currently on my mp3 player in alphabetical order. You know, just cause. Today after ~3000 songs (my mp3 player isn't close to being full and I'm lazy about adding things to it), I finally finished. Here's the last 5 songs.
For this one, I decided to be less ambitious than on the previous lyric stitch and something a bit more basic with just a border around the words. For the border and colors I wanted to go with something that was a bit darker than usual.
The lyric is from "Entertainer" by The Good Life. It's actually the very first line of the song.
The theme for the latest Phat Quarter swap was music, which is probably the best and most troubling theme ever since there are so many different ways you can go. Because of that, I used half of my 3 week stitch time just deciding what to do. Then it took me another 3-4 days to create the pattern, leaving me with less than a week to get the piece stitched and in the mail. It took long days of stitching to get it done but it gave me some purpose for a week, which is something you definitely lose when unemployed, so that was nice.
Anyway, here's the piece:
The lyric is from the Neko Case song, "That Teenage Feeling". The idea was to create something that looks like a teenage girl's doodles, using bright colors (my partner's favorites) and random doodle-y elements. When I doodle, I always draw arrows for some reason, so I included those.
I drew the original design by hand, then converted it into an Illustrator image (using my lousy Illustrator skills) and then imported into PC Stitch. That's why it took so long to make the pattern.
Overall, I'm happy with the way it turned out. I also got out of my 5x5 frame rut. This one's in an 8x8!
I forgot to do a Friday five last week because I forgot it was Friday. So this week is a double list. Here's 10 of my favorite songs. In no particular order.
Very promising start to the decade: 2010 had a group of solid albums (with the exceptions mentioned later on) and was overall far better than 2009. Lots of first timers this year.
Bit of housekeeping: 2009 only had 9 albums, and I said I'd add a 10th at some point. Well, I got lazy and never got around to adding that last album until now. I'm not going to get into revisionist history and reorder the list to add this album, but if I were to completely redo the list, it definitely wouldn't be 10th. 2009 updated!
10.LCD Soundsystem- This Is Happening:
I never know what to say about electronic music, so I'll leave it at that.
Favorite songs: One Touch, I Can Change, Dance Yrself Clean
9.The New Pornographers- Together:
I had to listen to this album a lot before deciding that it wasn't Challengers
Part II. I'm not really sure where the band is going musically and I
feel like they're on the verge of jumping the shark altogether. But this
album is pretty solid, with the exception of tracks 4-6. Listen to the
album while skipping those songs and tell me it isn't better. Really what I think I want to hear is a Dan Bejar/Neko Case album.
Favorite songs: Daughters of Sorrow, We End Up Together, Up in the Dark
8.Broken Bells- Broken Bells:
I was never a fan of The Shins. I thought they were overrated for what
they were. So I was surprised by how much I've enjoyed this album. Does
Danger Mouse make everything better (with the exception of The Black
Keys)? Maybe I'll have to go back and listen to The Shins again.
Favorite songs: The High Road, The Mall and Misery, The Ghost Inside
7.David Usher- The Mile End Sessions:
I've always thought that David Usher was at his best doing primarily
acoustic stuff. By far his 2 weakest albums are more pop-rock leaning with
questionable production choices. The bulk of the songs on The Mile End Sessions
come from those albums. Take away the crap
production and slow things down and the songs are vastly better. The best
songs, "Everyday Things" and "Kill the Lights", both
from his last album, are almost unlistenable in their original
versions. The one new song, "Fall to Pieces", is another highlight, and
hopefully a glimpse into what his next album will be like.
Favorite songs: Everyday Things, Kill the Lights, Sparkle and Shine
6.Spoon- Transference:
I'm surprised by how few lists this album is showing up on. I think
that it's not getting the credit it deserves because unlike Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga,
the band isn't doing as many new things (like using horns). But this
album is great from top to bottom, just like the last 4 Spoon albums.
They never have or will be the flashiest band out there, but no one does
minimalist groove driven indie rock better.
Favorite songs: Nobody Gets Me But You, Trouble Comes Running, Out Go the Lights
5.Janelle Monae- The ArchAndroid: It takes some serious talent and ambition to pull off as many different genres and styles as Janelle Monae does on this album.You listen to this album and you can hear the
showmanship that she is bringing to the table. Old school
showmanship that involves not oversinging, using real instruments and
quality songwriting.
Favorite songs: Locked Inside, Cold War, Tightrope
4.Emm Gryner- Gem and I: I've been waiting for this album for 3 years. In that time it went from being a "normal" Emm Gryner album to a duets album. I was a little reluctant at first because the pre-duet versions I'd heard were so good, but there was no reason to be. The collaborations are all solid and bring a wide variety of voices into the mix.
Favorite songs: Boy With an Affliction, Top Speed, Troublesome
3.The National- High Violet: At a loss for what to say about this album. It seems darker and almost more ominous than Boxer, which may be why I like it more.
Favorite songs: Conversation 16, Afraid of Everyone, Runaway
2.Beach House- Teen Dream:
When I first heard Beach House, their music seemed good but the songs
were almost indistinguishable from one other. On Teen Dream, they found
variety and lightened the mood enough to keep me from falling asleep while
listening. It still sounds like Beach House, just a better version of
Beach House. "Norway" was easily my favorite song the first half of the
year, partly because it reminds me of a kind of awful Fleetwood Mac song
that's a guilty pleasure of mine.
Favorite songs: Norway, Silver Soul, Zebra
1.Robyn- Body Talk:
This year, Body Talk was my go-to album when I couldn't decide what to
listen to. Full of well-crafted pop/dance songs from top to bottom, it
seemed that I had a different song stuck in my head every day. If the
general listening public had any sense, this album would be a massive
hit. Even the songs from the 2 mini albums that didn't make it to the
full length are some of my favorites from this year. The acoustic
versions of "Hang With Me" and "Indestructible" prove once again that a
well written pop song will still sound great even when it's stripped
down.
Favorite songs: Indestructible, U Should Know Better, None of Dem
Dishonorable Mention:
TheBlack Keys- Brothers: Of course they've become more popular than they've ever been after releasing one of their worst albums. It's all downhill from here.
Vampire Weekend and any company using their music in their commercials: DIE
Looking Forward to in 2011: Adele (loving the first single), John Vanderslice, PJ Harvey, Sondre Lerche
I'll be posting my favorite
albums list in a couple of weeks. The National released an album that may or may not be
my favorite of the year. In honor of that uncertainty, here's 5 of my favorite National songs.
Friday always comes so fast! I should really plan these posts ahead of time. Anywho, since it's the end of the year, I'll be posting my favorite albums list soon. David Usher released an album that may or may not be my favorite of the year (you can listen to it here). In honor of that uncertainty, here's 5 of my favorite David Usher songs.
The idea for this piece has been floating around for about a year ago when I signed up to do a NSFW swap and was looking for inspiration. I thought it would be a great piece if I had a male partner in the swap, but I didn't, so the idea went on the backburner. A few months ago, the idea was resurrected when I found a pattern I could use for the basis of the piece (it was a pattern for a Joy to the World Christmas stocking).
The phrase is a line from a Jim Morrison poem titled, "Lament for the Death of my Cock". The full poem is at the bottom. My brother was a big Doors fan and had a book of Morrison's writing that I took from him in high school. I also took his awesome Doors shirt that said "People are Strange". I wore that thing to death. Got so many WTF looks while wearing it (which was kinda the point). High school me was awesome. </sarcasm> I generally hate poetry, too much flowery crap and beating around the bush for me, but some of Morrison's stuff is entertaining.
Detail shot:
So for the piece I used the music for "Hello, I Love You", which is my favorite Doors song. Specifically, it's the "Hello, I love you, won't you tell me your name" part of the song, which I thought was fitting for the sentiment. For the colors, I kept it simple and used turquoise for the notes which was Jim Morrison's favorite color supposedly. So it's that and a lot of freaking backstitch, which is not my favorite, especially now. And with all the straight lines, I was constantly tying to make it look as perfect as possible. The OCD tendencies were definitely flaring up. Overall, I'm really happy with how it came out, especially since it's so different from what I normally do.
Lament for the Death of my Cock (Jim Morrison)
Lament for my cock Sore & crucified I seek to know you acquiring soulful wisdom you can open walls of mystery strip-show
How to get death One the morninaye show
TV death which the child absorbs
death-well mystery which makes me write
Slow train The death of my cock gives life
Guitar player Ancient wise satyr Sing your ode to my cock caress its lament stiffen & guide us
Lost cells The knowledge of cancer To speak to the heart & give the great gift words
power
trance
This stable friend & the beasts of his zoo wild, haired chicks each color connects to creat the boat which rocks the race
could any hell be more horrible than now & real
"I pressed her thigh & death smiled"
death, old friend death & my cock are the world
I can forgive my injuries in the name of wisdom
luxury
romance
Sentence upon sentence Words are healing.
Words got me the wound & will get me well
If you believe it.
All join now in lament for the death of my cock a tongue of knowledge in the feathered night
boys get crazy in the head & suffer I sacrifice my cock on the altar of silence
I had the idea to do this stitch over a year ago but struggled to come up with an idea for the pattern (what else is new). While I was in Seattle I picked up some new pattern books and was inspired....
I took the original pattern and changed the girls to give them more of a 60s feel- inspired by Mad Men. The green dresses are an ode to Joan. The blue/pink I took from the cover of the Doll Parts single. I left the shoes as is and imagine them being Doc Martens as a reference to the 90s. Overall, I wanted them to be doll-like but not in the obvious blonde/Barbie/Betty Draper type of way.
Note that the one with the scissors is left handed. Haven't decided who or what she's cutting.
I chose the song because I enjoy changing the lyrics...
It's been awhile since my last lyric stitch, mainly because I haven't been able to finish the patterns. I probably wouldn't have stitched another National lyric, but I thought this would be a good one. The design is partially inspired by the ever-popular Keep Calm and Carry On posters.
Interpol is one of the most difficult bands for me to judge. I always like their music more than I think I do, so they're prone to be over or underrated. But I think it's safe to say this is their best album.
Highlights: Obstacle 2, Say Hello to the Angels, Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down
24.Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea--PJ Harvey [2000]
PJ Harvey's sleekest, most produced album showed another side of the singer and the versatility of her talent.
Highlights: We Float, Kamikaze, The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore
23.If God Had Curves--David Usher [2005]
David Usher has had the daunting task this decade of trying to recapture the magic of a superb debut album. If God Had Curves is the closest he's come so far. More acoustic than his other albums, this album captures some of the raw qualities of Little Songs.
Highlights: Souring, See You Fall, Long Goodbye
22.The Photo Album--Death Cab For Cutie [2001]
I didn't know it at the time, but this was the beginning of the end of Death Cab as a quality band. Back in 2001 though, I loved this album because of it's wintry feel and everyday-ness of songs.
Highlights: Blacking Out the Friction, Debate Exposes Doubt, I Was a Kaleidoscope
21.On--Imperial Teen [2002]
A very solid indie pop album full of catchy songs and boy-girl vocals. A favorite of mine during the summer.
Highlights: Our Time, Ivanka, Baby
20.Amnesiac--Radiohead [2001]
Kid B for the win! That's right, I put Amnesiac higher than Kid A. I am a Radiohead blasphemer. In putting this list together, I realized that I actually like Amnesiac more than Kid A. Obviously they are very similar in sound, and while Kid A has some amazing songs, as a whole I enjoy Amnesiac more.
Highlights: Dollars & Cents, Pyramid Song, Knives Out
19.Uh Huh Her--PJ Harvey [2004]
Opposite in many ways from her previous album, Uh Huh Her is much more raw. I enjoy the rockier, edgier tone that the songs take on the album.
Highlights: Shame, Cat on the Wall, The Darker Days of Me & Him
18.The Con--Tegan and Sara [2007]
Diverse in sound, yet cohesive, The Con is full of catchy indie pop songs that easily get stuck in my head.
Highlights: Knife Going In, The Con, Back in Your Head
17.Help Wanted Nights--The Good Life [2007]
Storytelling is Tim Kasher's greatest ability, and on this album he weaves together the lives of bar patrons who I imagine live in a town where everyone has a story to tell.
Highlights: A Little Bit More, Heartbroke, Your Share of Men
16.19--Adele [2008]
The biggest omission from my 2008 list (rendering it obsolete), I spent most of 2009 listening to this album on repeat. The contemporary soul/jazz sound of the album is well executed and Adele's voice is mature beyond her years .
Highlights: Cold Shoulder, Melt My Heart to Stone, Best for Last
15.Pebble to a Pearl--Nikka Costa [2008]
One of those albums with great variety and depth. What I enjoyed most about this album were the variety of styles throughout. You get 70s funk, acid jazz, 90s R&B, blues, 60s soul...a little bit of everything, and it's all done well.
Highlights: Keep Wanting More, Pebble to a Pearl, Keep Pushin'
14.The Eraser--Thom Yorke [2006]
Thom Yorke is a treasure.
Highlights: The Clock, Harrowdown Hill, And It Rained All Night
13.Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga--Spoon [2007]
What I love about this album is that it mixes "classic" sounding Spoon songs with songs that incorporate elements from soul and R&B. You can hear where the band is going but you also hear where they've been.
Highlights: Eddie's Ragga, Black Like Me, You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
12.Middle Cyclone--Neko Case [2009]
Repeating what I said on my 2009 list...Another high quality album, still an amazing voice, hard to pick favorite songs. There's not much left to say.
Highlights: Magpie to the Morning, This Tornado Loves You, Vengeance is Sleeping
11.Twin Cinema--The New Pornographers [2005]
Polishing their sound from previous albums, Twin Cinema is The New Pornographers at their best. Excellent contributions from all the players. Well crafted quirky pop songs at their finest.
Highlights: Jackie, Dressed in Cobras; Falling Through Your Clothes, Streets of Fire
10.Black Out--The Good Life [2002]
Black Out is the story of someone who is dealing with a failed relationship and not coping with it particularly well. The relationship is the catalyst but not the whole story. The emotions throughout the album are complex and never cease to feel authentic. As Bright Eyes sings in "Nothing Gets Crossed Out", "Tim I heard your album and it's better than good."
Highlights: Drinking With the Girls, I am an Island, The Beaten Path
09.Time Travel is Lonely--John Vanderslice [2001]
For me, this is the classic JV album. It has most of my favorite songs on it, and really set the tone for his following albums. While his sound evolved over the rest of the decade, it's great songs like "Keep the Dream Alive" and "You Were My Fiji" that provided the foundation for what was to come.
Highlights: My Old Flame, Time Travel is Lonely, You Were My Fiji
08.Mass Romantic--The New Pornographers [2000]
The upbeat poppiness of this album is infectious from the moment it starts. You feel as though you're having as much fun listening to it as the band had while recording it. And while maybe not the most polished album, the potential for great things was clearly there.
Highlights: Jackie, Mass Romantic, The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism
07.Fever To Tell--Yeah Yeah Yeahs [2003]
The right mix of new wave and punk, the attitude of this album is what makes it go.
Highlights: Y Control, Black Tongue, Maps
06.Goddess--Emm Gryner [2009]
A near perfect album that captures winter as it was intended to. Of all the albums she released though the decade, Goddess feels the most natural. I think Goddess is the beginning of a wonderful new phase of Emm Gryner's career and I'm excited to hear what comes next.
Highlights: Killing Spree, Match, Die Evergreen
05.Alligator--The National [2005]
More approachable than Boxer, Alligator has a mix of cockiness and insecurity that makes it instantly engaging. Yet despite that, I really don't know what any of it is actually about.
Highlights: Karen, All the Wine, Baby We'll Be Fine
04.Fox Confessor Brings the Flood--Neko Case [2006]
Fox Confessor has a 40s/50s country (place not music) feel to it, which makes it stand out from her other albums. "Maybe Sparrow" has become one of my all time favorite songs, and solidified my opinion of Neko Case as one of the best voices and talents of the decade.
Highlights: Maybe Sparrow, That Teenage Feeling, The Needle Has Landed
03.Hail to the Thief--Radiohead [2003]
Most people's least favorite Radiohead album of the decade, is one of my favorites. While not a game changer like Kid A, Hail to the Thief takes that same sound and gives it more of an edge while making it less ominous.
Highlights:Myxamatosis, A Wolf at the Door, A Punchup at a Wedding
02.Gimme Fiction--Spoon [2005]
Spoon is one of my favorite bands, yet I've found it very difficult to pick a favorite album of theirs. However, the album that I seem to come back to more than the others is Gimme Fiction. Probably because some of my favorite Spoon songs are on this album. The simple bassline groove of "I Turn My Camera On" and the acoustic driven "I Summon You" highlight one of Spoon's most diverse albums.
Highlights: I Summon You, The Delicate Place, I Turn My Camera On
01.In Rainbows--Radiohead [2007]
Before listening to this album I never knew there were albums that made other albums sound almost unlistenable in comparison. The layers of sound create such richness and fullness that when I'd listen to something else it would sound thin and bare. Like the difference between a fully furnished room and an empty one. Luckily this experience was only temporary, since that would pretty much ruin music for me. The best example of this is "Nude", easily my favorite on the album and an amazingly gorgeous song. The understated nature of the album along with the sense of the band's cohesiveness make this their best album of the decade.
After a year long trek through the decade in music, it's finally time to post the results. I originally intended for this to be a top 50 list but decided that wasn't enough, and 100 was too many, so 75 it is!
I did use some very loose criteria to create the list, but unlike some other best of the decade lists, there were no limits on the number of albums an artist/band could have. Cause that's stupid, and kinda defeats the purpose of the list. Needless to say, there will be multiples. Suck it up.
And on to the show!
75.Rubber Factory--The Black Keys [2004]
Highlights: Stack Shot Billy, When the Lights Go Out
74.Meds--Placebo [2006]
Highlights: Broken Promise, Follow the Cops Back Home
73.Where Have My Countrymen Gone--The Sheila Divine [2001]
Highlights: Wanting is Wasted, Some Kind of Home
72.Mama, I'm Swollen--Cursive [2009]
Highlights: Cliquot, The Penalty
71.Romanian Names--John Vanderslice [2009]
Highlights: Romanian Names, Carina Constellation
70.Here Be Monsters--Ed Harcourt [2000]
Highlights: Something In My Eye, Wind Through the Trees
69.Duper Sessions--Sondre Lerche and the Faces Down Quartet [2006]
Highlights: (I Wanna) Call It Love, The Curse of Being in Love
68.Songs for the Deaf--Queens of the Stone Age [2002]
Highlights: No One Knows, Gonna Leave You
67.Sleeping With Ghosts--Placebo [2003]
Highlights: Special Needs, Sleeping With Ghosts
66.Can'tneverdidnothin'--Nikka Costa [2005]
Highlights: Swing It Around, On & On
65.The Ugly Organ--Cursive [2003]
Highlights: A Gentlemen Caller, Staying Alive
64.Murray Street--Sonic Youth [2002]
Highlights: The Empty Page, Plastic Sun
63.BLACKsummers'night--Maxwell [2009]
Highlights: Cold, Love You
62.St. Elsewhere--Gnarls Barkley [2006]
Highlights: Go-Go Gadget Gospel, Feng Shui
61.Youth and Young Manhood--Kings of Leon [2003]
Highlights: California Waiting, Wasted Time
60.Two Way Monologue--Sondre Lerche [2004]
Highlights: Track You Down, Two Way Monologue
59.Asianblue--Emm Gryner [2003]
Highlights: Symphonic, Young Rebel
58.White Chalk--PJ Harvey [2007]
Highlights: The Piano, Silence
57.Get Used To It--The Brand New Heavies [2006]
Highlights: Right On, I Just Realized
56.Unite Tonight--Those Peabodys [2003]
Highlights: Denim and Diamonds Forever; River Deep, Mountain High
55.Franz Ferdinand--Franz Ferdinand [2004]
Highlights: Michael, Cheating on You
54.Faces Down--Sondre Lerche [2002]
Highlights: Sleep on Needles, No One's Gonna Come
53.Addicted to Company Pt. 1--Paddy Casey [2008]
Highlights: Refugee, U'll Get By
52.Pixel Revolt--John Vanderslice [2005]
Highlights: Radiant With Terror, Continuation
51.Lifted, or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground--Bright Eyes [2002]
Time to look back on some of my favorite songs of the decade. I think trying to rank songs is a hundred times more difficult than albums, so I've put them in appropriate groups. To keep things from getting out of control, no more than 2 songs from a single album made the list.
MTV Division
"B.O.B."- Outkast (2000) "Cry Me a River"- Justin Timberlake (2002) "99 Problems"- Jay-Z (2003) "My Love"- Justin Timberlake (2006) "S.O.S."- Rihanna (2006) "Umbrella"- Rihanna (2007)
Even Better Than the Real Thing Division (Covers)
"For What Reason"- Emm Gryner (2001) "Straight to You"- Emm Gryner (2001) "Runnin' Out of Fools"- Neko Case (2002) "Number of the Beast"- Zwan (2002) "Mad World"- Gary Jules (2003) "River Deep, Mountain High"- Those Peabodys (2003) "Funkier Than a Mosquito's Tweeter"- Nikka Costa (2005) "Running Back"- Emm Gryner (2005) "Dearg Doom"- Emm Gryner (2005) "He Hit Me"- Grizzly Bear (2007) "Running Up That Hill"- Placebo (2007) "Let My Love Open the Door"- Sondre Lerche (2007) "Too Little Too Late"- Department of Eagles (2008)
One Trick Pony Division (Quality songs on otherwise sub-par albums)
"Smile"- Remy Zero (2001) "Amitriptyline"- John Vanderslice (2002) "Notes In His Pockets"- The Good Life (2004) "Myriad Harbour"- The New Pornographers (2007) "Arizona"- Kings of Leon (2007) "All You Ever Wanted"- The Black Keys (2008) "Neighbors"- Gnarls Barkley (2008) "A Little Better"- Gnarls Barkley (2008) "Permanent Scar"- O+S (2009)
The Rest of the Best
"How to Disappear Completely"- Radiohead (2000) "Half Sorry"- Emm Gryner (2000) "For What Reason"- Death Cab for Cutie (2000) "Whip the Blankets"- Neko Case (2000) "Haligh, Haligh, a Lie, Haligh"- Bright Eyes (2000) "Jackie"- The New Pornographers (2000) "We Float"- PJ Harvey (2000)
"You Were My Fiji"- John Vanderslice (2001) "My Old Flame"- John Vanderslice (2001) "Anything You Want"- Spoon (2001) "The Fitted Shirt"- Spoon (2001) "Blacking Out the Friction"- Death Cab for Cutie (2001) "Party At My House"- Those Peabodys (2001) "Hazzard Co."- Those Peabodys (2001) "Glass Danse"- The Faint (2001)
"I Am An Island"- The Good Life (2002) "Paper Tiger"- Spoon (2002) "You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will."- Bright Eyes (2002) "Lover I Don't Have to Love"- Bright Eyes (2002) "Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down"- Interpol (2002) "Harder Better Faster Stronger"- Daft Punk (2002) "Sleep On Needles"- Sondre Lerche (2002) "No One's Gonna Come- Sondre Lerche (2002) "Our Time"- Imperial Teen (2002)
"Special Needs"- Placebo (2003) "Myxamatosis"- Radiohead (2003) "A Punchup At A Wedding"- Radiohead (2003) "In This Light"- David Usher (2003) "Maps"- Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2003) "Y Control"- Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2003)
"White Plains"- John Vanderslice (2004) "Walking With a Ghost"- Tegan and Sara (2004) "I Won't Be Left"- Tegan and Sara (2004) "Cat on the Wall"- PJ Harvey (2004) "Shame"- PJ Harvey (2004)
"Radiant With Terror"- John Vanderslice (2005) "Jackie, Dressed in Cobras"- The New Pornographers (2005) "Falling Through Your Clothes"- The New Pornographers (2005) "All the Wine"- The National (2005) "Karen"- The National (2005) "Swing it Around"- Nikka Costa (2005) "Four Kicks"- Kings of Leon (2005) "Souring"- David Usher (2005) "See You Fall"- David Usher (2005) "I Summon You"- Spoon (2005) "I Turn My Camera On"- Spoon (2005)
"Maybe Sparrow"- Neko Case (2006) "That Teenage Feeling"- Neko Case (2006) "Queen of the Boys"- Emm Gryner (2006) "(I Wanna) Call It Love"- Sondre Lerche (2006) "Hymns for the Heathen"- Cursive (2006) "The Clock"- Thom Yorke (2006) "Harrowdown Hill"- Thom Yorke (2006) "Crazy"- Gnarls Barkley (2006) "Feng Shui"- Gnarls Barkley (2006)
"Nude"- Radiohead (2007) "The Piano"- PJ Harvey (2007) "The Penalty"- Beirut (2007) "A Little Bit More"- The Good Life (2007) 'Your Share of Men"- The Good Life (2007) "Eddie's Ragga"- Spoon (2007) "Now, Now"- St. Vincent (2007) "Knife Going In"- Tegan and Sara (2007) "Konichiwa Bitches"- Robyn (2007) "Phantom Punch"- Sondre Lerche (2007) "She's Fantastic"- Sondre Lerche (2007)
"Melt My Heart to Stone"- Adele (2008) "Cold Shoulder"- Adele (2008) "Bangers & Mash"- Radiohead (2008) "Hanging On Too Long"- Duffy (2008) "Rockferry"- Duffy (2008) "Keep Pushin"- Nikka Costa (2008)
"Killing Spree"- Emm Gryner (2009) "Match"- Emm Gryner (2009) "Zero"- Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2009) "Ready, Able"- Grizzly Bear (2009) "Magpie to the Morning"- Neko Case (2009) "This Tornado Loves You"- Neko Case (2009) "Donkeys"- Cursive (2009) "Save Me From What I Want"- St. Vincent (2009) "Easy to Persuade"- Sondre Lerche (2009)
To get this best of the decade party started, here's a list of some of my favorite shows. I have crazy amounts of crap from the early part of the decade, when I went to the most shows. Although most of it is stored away, if possible, I've tried to include "memorabilia" from the shows.
In chronological order...
Beck Austin Music Hall...Austin, TX...January 25, 2000
Second show of the decade for me, this was the first show of Beck's tour for Midnite Vultures. This show is mostly memorable because it's where I met one of my best friends who was with me at almost every other show on this list, and many many others that aren't. ......................... Death Cab for Cutie Emo's...Austin, TX...February 13, 2001
First time seeing Death Cab, so that was super exciting at the time. Even though it was in February, it was crazy hot during the show. The band looked like they were going to pass out, but they still put on a great show.
.........................
The New Pornographers La Zona Rosa...Austin, TX...March 2001 (SXSW)
First time at SXSW, had heard and liked one New Pornographers song, which was enough to get me to the showcase they were performing at. The schedule at SXSW is super tight, you get 30 mins and that's it. The band was pushing their time but Neko Case begged to do one last song, which happened to be with Ray Davies (who was the keynote speaker that year). They performed the Kinks' "Starstruck", which had never been performed live before. Shame I'd never heard the song.
The setlist is Mass Romantic minus "Jackie", omitted because Dan Bejar wasn't there.
.........................
John Vanderslice Emo's...Austin, TX...September 5, 2001
First show I was ever on the guest list for, this was the first of many many JV shows. Found out later that this was his first tour, which makes it even more special. Also, it's probably the only time I ever heard "Everything Changed", one of my favorite JV songs.
.........................
The Faint Emo's...Austin, TX...June 24, 2001
Interrupted my oh-so-exciting summer vacation to visit Austin for this show. Awesome awesome show, lots of fun and dancing. Turned my aforementioned friend into a Faint fan. This was the beginning of really feeling at home in Austin.
.........................
John Vanderslice Stubbs...Austin, TX...February 24, 2002
Second time seeing JV. Britt Daniel opened, JV was awesome and before and after the show we ended up chatting with him and his band.
......................... Death Cab for Cutie & The Dismemberment Plan (Death & Dismemberment Tour) Emo's...Austin, TX...March 5, 2002
One of my most anticipated shows, it lived up to the expectations. It was one of those perfect shows with 2 bands I really liked on the bill. It was the first time I saw The Dismemberment Plan. Sadly, I only got to see them one more time before they broke up.
Death Cab's Setlist:
......................... Spoon Austin City Limits Taping...Austin, TX...December 3, 2002
Even though this was a taping, the band played a normal set and were really on fire that night. Somewhere I have a crappy tape of the show when it aired (ahh, the days before YouTube). I can be seen in a few of the crowd shots.
Ticket:
........................ The Good Life The Glass House...Pomona, CA...October 28, 2007
Radiohead Hollywood Bowl...Hollywood...August 24, 2008 Emm Gryner Hotel Cafe...Hollywood...November 18, 2008
Starting today there's going to be a week of music related posts, starting with my favorite albums of the year. It's earlier than usual to make time for all the other fun stuff in the days to come.
2009 was better than 2008, but not as good as 2007. I think the year was really front-loaded. Hardly anything came out after June, making for a pretty sad second half of the year. Maybe bands wanted to be nice and give people plenty of free time to work on their best of the decade lists:) I opted for a top 9 instead of 10 because I really couldn't come up with a worthy 10th album I wouldn't regret 2 months later. Maybe down the road I'll add a 10th album.Edit: 10th album added!
10. Maxwell- BLACKsummers'night:
This album has a stupid title, but that's the worst thing about it. Well executed contemporary soul music, back on par with his debut album.
Favorite songs: Cold, Love You
9. PJ Harvey & John Parish- A Man A Woman Walked By: This album is almost like a collection of outtakes from PJ Harvey's solo albums, but you do get to hear PJ Harvey at her weirdest (this decade at least), so that's something.
Favorite songs: Sixteen, Fifteen, Fourteen, Black Hearted Love
8. Cursive- Mama, I'm Swollen: I enjoy this album, but I can't help feeling slightly disappointed with it because it feels like a step backward (sound wise) for the band. That being said, there are some very good songs, I was just hoping for something more.
Favorite songs: Donkeys, From the Hips
7. John Vanderslice- Romanian Names: I'm running out of things to say about JV. I like the direction the music is taking. That's all I got.
Favorite songs: Romanian Names, Carina Constellation
6. Grizzly Bear- Veckimest: This album is so rich and full with sound that it makes other albums sound bare (bear?) in comparison. The only other album I can think of that compares is In Rainbows. I personally prefer the Ed Droste songs on the album, particularly "Ready, Able", one of my favorite songs of the year.
Favorite songs: Ready Able, Cheerleader
5. St. Vincent- Actor: After the first few listens, I liked the album but I thought it might be too whimsical and weird for me to listen to on a regular basis. I was wrong. The more I listen, the less weird it got (and less whimsical). In some ways, St. Vincent reminds me of a female John Vanderslice, but mostly I just like hearing someone with a girly voice sing about things that are a bit twisted and not so "girly". Favorite songs: The Bed, Save Me From What I Want
4.Yeah Yeah Yeahs- It's Blitz: I love well done throwback-type music. You can hear the Siouxsie Sioux and Terry Nunn influences in Karen O's singing, but she always maintains her own unique voice (unlike many others). Mostly it reminds me of what female singers used to sound like before Lilith Fair turned everyone into Michelle Fucking Branch.
Favorite songs: Zero, Dragon Queen
3.Sondre Lerche- Heartbeat Radio: Where Phantom Punch was instantly enjoyable, this one took a few listens to really get into. But well done pop songs will always prevail. I really enjoy the 70s/80s pop feel going on (think Squeeze).
Favorite songs: Easy to Persaude, If Only
2.Neko Case- Middle Cyclone: Another high quality album, still an amazing voice, hard to pick favorite songs. There's not much left to say.
Favorite songs: Magpie to the Morning, This Tornado Loves You
1.Emm Gryner- Goddess: One of the few albums I can listen to start to finish without even considering skipping a song, it made an easy choice for number one. The three song swing of "Skating Rink", "Match", and "Killing Spree", is hands down the best I've heard in a long time. The slow build of "Killing Spree" is just amazing, and has made it probably my favorite song of the year. For an album that was completely unexpected (this isn't the album I've been waiting for the last 2 years), it was certainly a welcome surprise.
Favorite songs: Killing Spree, Match
Dishonorable Mention:
Placebo- Battle for the Sun: This album is just bad. There's not one even mildly decent song. They have screwed the pooch.
Girls- Album: If I wanted to listen to Elvis Costello, I'd listen to Elvis Costello.
Looking Forward to in 2010: Emm Gryner (finally!), David Usher, Spoon, The National
Tomorrow, it's time to get the decade party started!
So, there'll be no more monthly album lists. For the remainder of the year I'll be working on compiling the best of 09 list, albums of the decade and possibly songs of the decade. Haven't decided whether the album list will be 50 or 100, although I'm still leaning towards 50. Still have alot of albums to sift through, been slacking lately.
Last night I saw Thom Yorke and his new nameless band. It was one of those times that it's good to live in the LA area. I would have taken pictures but frankly, I'm lazy. When Thom came out, he got a standing ovation which was cool, and well deserved. They played The Eraser in its entirety and some various new tracks. The whole band was into it, particularly Thom and Flea (who isn't used to playing quality music as of late), There was lots of dancing and percussiony goodness, which made "Skip Divided" awesome, and the highlight of the night for me. I also enjoyed "And It Rained All Night", "Paperbag Writer" (a Radiohead B-side I've never heard because I suck), and "Open The Floodgates".
Setlist:
The Eraser
Analyse
The Clock
Black Swan
Skip Divided
Atoms For Peace
And It Rained All Night
Harrowdown Hill
Cymbal Rush
Lotus Flower/Moon Upon A Stick
Open The Floodgates
Super Collider
Paperbag Writer
Judge, Jury & Executioner
The Hollow Earth FeelingPulledApartByHorses
Opting to drive down to San Diego rather than go to LA is always a good move, particularly for smaller shows like this because the crowds are so much more pleasant and not full of themselves. Plus you have the excuse to go to Denny's at 2 am!
So, the show was really good and Sondre Lerche was very entertaining and chatty with the crowd. It was a pretty simple show, just him and his guitars (electric and acoustic). He played mostly songs from the new album which all sounded great and some older stuff, mainly from Faces Down.
Setlist (not in order):
Good Luck If Only Heartbeat Radio I Guess It's Gonna Rain Today Words & Music Like Lazenby Easy To Persuade My Hands Are Shaking She's Fantastic Two Way Monologue Dead Passengers Sleep On Needles No One's Gonna Come Modern Nature The Word Girl
And for those playing along at home, he played 4 of the songs from my wishlist, including the 2 I most wanted to hear, She's Fantastic and Sleep on Needles. Was really hoping to hear Phantom Punch as well though.
Seeing Sondre Lerche tonight. I haven't seen him since his first album was out way back in 2003, so there's lots of songs I've never heard that I'd like to. The new album is growing on me and I'm really interested to hear what some of the songs sound like stripped down.
2006 was a decent enough year. Neko Case and Thom Yorke were highlights. I forgot how much I liked Sondre Lerche's Duper Sessions.
This months' 2007 albums should be pretty easy, since they're so recent. I've listened to most of them in the last few weeks. I really need some new music to listen to.
Beirut- The Flying Club Cup The Good Life- Help Wanted Nights PJ Harvey- White Chalk Interpol- Our Love to Admire Kings of Leon- Because of the Times Sondre Lerche- Phantom Punch The National- Boxer (which is NOT better than Alligator) The New Pornographers- Challengers Radiohead- In Rainbows Silverchair- Young Modern Spoon- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Tegan and Sara- The Con David Usher- Strange Birds John Vanderslice- Emerald City
A little surprised that this is my first show of the year. But it's also the first of three over the next couple months. Everytime I venture into LA, I'm reminded why I don't very often. Particularly for shows, LA crowds are crappy. Although the crowd last night wasn't particularly bad (by LA standards). The National are very very good. They're definitely one of those bands who rock more live than on record, which makes seeing them live even better. They played 3 new songs which were all really good and a whole lot of stuff from Boxer. I think I have a new appreciation for "Squalor Victoria" and "Abel" after hearing them last night. I got to hear "All The Wine" and my other favorites from Alligator, with the exception of "Karen", which is apparently one of those songs they've never really played that much live. It was funny to see Matt Beringer get progressively more drunk as the show went on. At one point he got tangled up with the mic stand and the cord and fell over and almost rolled into the guitar player. It was an entertaining show on all fronts. Hopefully I'll be able to see them again after the album comes out.
Setlist:
Runaway Start a War Mistaken for Strangers Brainy Secret Meeting Baby We'll Be Fine Slow Show Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks Squalor Victoria Abel All the Wine Available Ada Apartment Story Bloodbuzz Ohio Fake Empire
Between being sick and vacation, I kinda slacked off on my '05 albums and still have a few to listen to. Luckily the list for '06 is fairly short.
Here goes:
Beirut- Gulag Orkestar Black Keys- Magic Potion Brand New Heavies- Get Used to It Neko Case- Fox Confessor Brings the Flood Cursive- Happy Hollow Gnarls Barkley- St. Elsewhere Grizzly Bear- Yellow House Emm Gryner- Summer of High Hopes Sondre Lerche- Duper Sessions Placebo- Meds Corinne Bailey Rae- Corinne Bailey Rae Silversun Pickups- Carnavas Thom Yorke- The Eraser
Been in a Sondre Lerche mood lately. Listening to Two Way Monologue a bunch. It's much better than I originally thought. Nice when albums surprise you like that. Definitely looking forward to the new album and the show in Sept. He's one of the artists I've been wanting to see again.
From the song "Plastic Sun" by Sonic Youth. Flight attendant on my way to Phoenix said it was hysterical. This was my first time using varigated floss and I did the 2 lines of the border separately to try to maximize the color differences and make it look more like water.
Also, I picked up a few cross stitch books which have given me even more things to work on. And went to a cross stitch store which was insane. So much fabric to choose from, I was completely overwhelmed but still managed to pick a few things out. Needless to say I'm going to be busy working on lots of new things.
Side note: Hello to anyone visiting from mrxstitch.com! Poke around and feel free to contact me (ponyinarope [at] gmail [dot] com) if you have any questions. I'm happy to share.
I imagine this is what it felt like when Elvis died...weird, surreal. You just kind of expect entertainment giants like that to live forever.
How weird is it that Elizabeth Taylor outlived Michael Jackson?
I watched a bit of CNN's coverage yesterday and had to turn it off because it was so sensationalistic, it was like watching Access Hollywood or something. So focused on the tabloid angle and the negative stuff. Practically nothing MJ did the last 10 years is going to be remembered, it's all about the music and entertainment legacy he's left. Nice to see other artists pay tribute to the talent that he was.
Top 5 Michael Jackson Songs (in chronological order)
Rock With You
Don't Stop Til You Get Enough
Billie Jean
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
Smooth Criminal
R.I.P.
Note to self: "borrow" sister's copy of Thriller on vinyl.
Latest project, appropriately called Electric Blue Squirrel. This came about after attempting to watch the squirrels that live by the train tracks where I work. Little bastards blend into the scenery, so I decided they should be electric blue so that I can see them, which is really kind of pointless because my actual office has no windows in it. Electric Blue Squirrel also sounds like the name of a 90s alt rock band along the lines of Dishwalla. Or maybe that's just me.
While stitching this up, I convinced myself that it's too big, especially for its intended recipient, the S.O. And since he's the main recipient of my work (the Kobe piece is now in his "man cave" with the l33t hax0r one), I may just keep this one for myself and take it to work. Then I can squirrel watch all day.
I'm having a bit of stitcher's block right now. I'm planning to make some gifts for friends/family for my trip back home next month, but the ideas just aren't flowing. So at the moment I've got nothing to work on...boo.
On a lighter note...I finally bought something from Etsy...
Presenting...Bun the Jacabunny! Kit Lane's work makes me happy. I pretty much freaked out when I saw him and snapped him up accordingly. Now I just need to clean my dust magnet desk and possibly find a better place for him. Even so, my desk just got much cuter.
So 2003 wasn't so bad, although it certainly didn't live up to the hype I manufactured in my head. These next few years (2004-06) should be interesting because I think they are hands down the worst of the decade overall. Not to say there weren't good albums released in those years, but the overall level of quality sunk to its lowest (particularly in '04). But here's the 2004 albums I'll be listening to:
Black Keys- Rubber Factory
Franz Ferdinand- Franz Ferdinand
Interpol- Antics
Keane- Hopes and Fears
PJ Harvey- Uh Huh Her
Sondre Lerche- Two Way Monologue
Sonic Youth- Sonic Nurse
Tegan and Sara- So Jealous
John Vanderslice- Cellar Door
Since I'm at the halfway point of the decade, I'll also be re-listening to some albums from previous years that I think require more attention (see below). And post a list of the albums that have been fed to the Smoke Monster so far.
Starting a new series of song lyric cross stitch projects. I've got the next 3 lined up but I'm hoping to find something from the 80s to stitch.
This first one is from "All The Wine" by The National, who are known around these parts (my house) as the Best Band Making Music Today Not Named Radiohead.
In honor of tonight's finale, I made sure to finish this in time.
"The Bear" Station
I saw this on the back of a shirt at the Radiohead show I went to last August. I never saw what was on the front, but Lost + Radiohead = win in my book.
Apparently most of the Dharma station names are related to Apollo. His twin sister, Artemis turned one of her nymphs, Callisto, into a bear.
Favorite Lost characters:
Desmond
Daniel
Sawyer
Locke
Juliet (Because she wants Kate to die almost as much as I do)
Least favorite Lost characters:
Kate (I was REALLY hoping the Others shot her in last week's ep)
Jack
Sun (Living off the island didn't do her any favors)
Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, which is basically what it sounds like...the zombie apocalypse in 19th century England. Normally I'm not interested in the bastardization of my favorite book, but most of the original text (thus the plot) is intact, so it was an interesting reimagining of the story. I can't wait until they turn it into a movie.
Listening to: Pearl Jam (who I've come to like in my old age), Live, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth (who I need to spend more time with cause they're pretty awesome), The National (Alligator, which I definitely enjoy more than Boxer).
Watching: Slowly making my way through the Best Picture nominees, so far I've seen Slumdog Millionaire and Frost/Nixon. Also watched Rachel Getting Married, which is like Margot at the Wedding but FAR better.
TV shows...Castle and The Unusuals which are both growing on me and will probably be cancelled. Dollhouse, which is seriously being held back by Eliza Dushku's total inability to be versatile. And of course Lost.
Making: I hurt my hand which has prevented me stitching as much, but I'll post a picture of what I'm currently working on tomorrow.
2002 was a pretty damn solid year for music. I enjoyed everything I listened to and all the albums will most likely make the list. I especially enjoyed listening to the Long Winters first album again. It has that debut album magic that is hard to replicate on future albums.
Up next, 2003, the year I've most been looking forward to for some unknown reason.
Got up early yesterday to make the trip to Rhino Records for Record Store Day. Most of the RSD exclusives weren't particularly interesting to me, but you say Cursive 10" picture disc and I'm there. It worked out nicely because I hadn't been in awhile and the BoyCrab's birthday is fast approching. Plus everything was 10% off. I got there right before the store opened and there were actually people waiting outside, which I should have expected. Limited edition + vinyl lovers = heaven. However, there seemed to be a large number of people who were just buying one of everything, no doubt to sell the stuff on ebay. That kind of pisses me off because it goes against what RSD is all about....supporting record stores. And it means that someone who actually wanted that item may not have gotten it because of some wannabe dealer. RSD is a great idea and I hope it continues to get bigger and bigger because record stores can use all the help they can get these days.
Since my purchases may or may not be birthday gifts, I won't say what I bought until next week.
Finished my latest project....Donnie Darko inspired (and also the name of a John Vanderslice album). It happened to be on tv when I was working on it one day which was fun.
I opted not to change colors when I started over, mainly because I couldn't find anything I liked better. I think the color looks good though. I may do it again using backstitch at some point.
I'm currently working on 2 Lost related things.
I'm no country afficionado by any stretch of the imagination, despite being from Texas. Most of my experience comes from being exposed (by my sister) to Alan Jackson, Sawyer Brown, Garth Brooks, and various other artists popular in the early to mid 90s. In the late 90s, the genre had mainstream pop success thanks to Shania Twain and Faith Hill. From that point, the genre became more image conscious and hipper, although musically the I-got-a-bbq-stain-on-my-white-t-shirt mentality never really left.
So I've been listening to Neko Case quite a bit over the last few months (227 plays and counting according to last.fm), and while she's typically categorized as "alt country", her early albums have a strong throwback country sound to them (see "Whip The Blankets" from Furnace Room Lullaby). The first time I heard one of her songs ("Twist The Knife"), my initial thought was, "This is country". Her sound is more true to the legends of country than probably anything you'd hear on country radio these days. And while she's moved away from those strong country sounds on her 2 most recent albums, I listen to them and think that this is what country music should have evolved into rather than what is out there now. Maybe I don't know enough about the progression of country music from Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash to Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood, but it just seems like something went wrong along the way. I don't mean to say current country music is bad, it's probably not any worse than anything else these days, I just think the quality level could be much higher. Country music used to be a well respected genre with legendary voices who wrote classic songs. Now that's all but disappeared. In many ways it reminds me of what has happened with rap the last 20 years, going from urban poetry about life in the inner city to all about bitches and bling and no actual substance or quality. So maybe it's just the way that the music industry as a whole has evolved. But as I listen to Neko Case I can't help but think that this is what all country music should've sounded like in 2009.
This decade has been pretty lousy for music, which doesn't come as much of a surprise to me, but I really thought that the early years were much better than they actually were. The stupidest realization I've had during this process is that hey, there's a reason you haven't listened to some of these album since they were new....THEY ARE CRAP! Imagine that, some rhyme and reason to my listening habits. 2001 was filled with albums from bands that just went to hell afterwards, and in some cases, on that particular album (I'm looking at you, Remy Zero). I was going to post my original best of list from 2001, but frankly, it's embarrassing. Let's just move on to 2002.
Bic Runga- Beautiful Collision
The Black Keys- The Big Come Up
Bright Eyes- Lifted....
Neko Case- Blacklisted
Emm Gryner- Asianblue
The Good Life- Black Out
Imperial Teen- On
Interpol- Turn On The Bright Lights
Sondre Lerche- Faces Down
Long Winters- The Worst You Can Do is Harm
Sonic Youth- Murray Street
Spoon- Kill the Moonlight
Queens of the Stone Age- Songs for the Deaf
Not too much for 2002, luckily there have already been a number of solid albums released this year so far, the Emm Gryner, Neko Case and Cursive albums are current favorites of mine.
I
thought 2000 had too many boring albums. Too much middle of the road,
non-offensive music for my taste, but I think that's all the UK was
producing the first few years of the decade. Hopefully 2001 will be better. This is what I'll be listening to.
The new U2 song is pretty bad. They sounded like a band trying
too hard to make a comeback. Sadly, I don't think Bono can write songs
anymore
You could definitely tell Whitney Houston has been out of the spotlight for awhile, she didn't know what to do with herself.
Simon Baker's intro for U2play was obviously supposed to be for Radiohead, Transcendant? I don't think so.
Way
to go Chris Martin, you out Bono-ed Bono! Their costumer couldn't have
given him a longer shirt? I'm glad they apologized to Paul McCartney.
Kid Rock...don't sing...ever.
Is it me, or has Robert Plant lost his accent?
Wow,
the Jonas Brothers are actually worse than I expected. I'm glad the
Grammy people were nice enough to pair them with Stevie Wonder, no one
should have to look at those toolboxes.
I'm glad I got my Best
New Artist pick wrong. I didn't really think people would be stupid
enough to pick the Jonas Brothers, but I couldn't see anyone else
winning. Good job picking someone with actual talent Grammy voters!
The "Rap Pack" was a total mess.
Gwyneth
Paltrow totally wishes she married Thom Yorke. I wish I was in the USC
band. Playing with Radiohead at the Grammys= able to die happy. Nice of
U2play to give them a standing ovation. They should also give Radiohead
all the Grammys they've won tonight. Just saying.
There are WAY
too many performances, it should really just be those artists nominated
in the major categories with maybe a couple of tributes. Most of the
performances aren't even that good, trim the fat people.
I went 2 for 4 on my predictions, so not horrible. The Robert Plant- Alison Krauss songs sounded interesting
I'm actually interested in this year's Grammy's. The nominees are
actually pretty decent, Radiohead is performing, and MIA might give
birth on stage. It might actually be an interesting award show! Here
are my crack predictions for the some of the awards
Interesting thing to note, the last 2 years, one artist has won 3 of the 4 major awards.
Record of the year:
Viva La Vida because I think it's going to be a Coldplay night, but I
wouldn't be surprised if one of the other songs won, except Chasing
Pavements.
Song of the year: Viva La Vida, with slim odds to American Boy
Album of the year: In Rainbows should win, but I'll go with Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends or Raising Sand
Best New Artist:
this one is a crapshoot, most of the nominees weren't all that
successful, and based on recent winners, it's always someone
successful, so I'll go with Jonas Brothers (yuck)
Recently, it was brought to my attention that 2009 means best of the
decade lists. So of course I jumped at the opportunity to anguish over
another best of list, only this time, it can be drawn out for the
entire year! Luckily I have a partner in music snobbery who is into
this as much as I am. So a very long list was compiled of all albums
from 2000-08 that are currently owned (211). Some initial cuts were
made, because let's face it, beautifulgarbage should not be
on anyone's best of the decade list. So that leaves approximately 90
albums for me to listen to throughout the year, along with whatever
comes out this year and the possible addition of other albums I may
have missed out on the first time (suggestions very welcome). All to
create a top 50 albums of the decade list.
To break things up a
bit, I'm taking it one year at a time, of course starting with 2000. So
for the rest of Jan until the end of Feb, I'll be listening to the
following albums:
Bjork- Selmasongs
Bright Eyes- Fevers and Mirrors
Neko Case- Furnace Room Lullaby
Coldplay- Parachutes
Cursive- Domestica
Death Cab for Cute- We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes
Nelly Furtado- Whoa Nelly!
Emm Gryner- Dead Relatives
The Good Life- Novena on a Nocturn
David Gray- White Ladder
PJ Harvey- Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
New Pornographers- Mass Romantic
Placebo- Black Market Music
Queens of the Stone Age- Rated R
Radiohead- Kid A
Travis- The Man Who
John Vanderslice- Mass Suicide Occult Figurines
Some of these albums are a lock to make the list, but some I haven't heard in so long I really have no idea.
As expected, 2008 wasn't a great year for music. 2007 was just the
right mix of established and new acts releasing good music, and 08 was
just all the leftovers. So unlike 07 when I had too many albums to
choose from, this time I had too few, and even fewer legitimate
options. I found many of the albums to be flawed and others just ok.
almost all of the new stuff I heard I didn't find all that interesting.
Too much bad singing and bad 80s techno ripoffs. But there were some
bright spots, and hopefully there will be a whole lot more in 09.
5. Kings of Leon- Only By the Night:
when I heard that Kings of Leon was going to release an album so soon
after the last one, I was worried that it wasn't going to be very good.
Some bands can release albums in quick succession and keep the quality
at a high level, and others can't. I think this album shows some growth
from Because of the TImes, but there aren't any really great songs on
it like with the previous album (see: "Arizona"). It's more of a
consistent sounding record- nothing is great but nothing is bad. I
think they're easily the best mainstream American band right now, but
Americans are too stupid to realize it.
Favorite Songs: 17, Sex on Fire, Closer
4. Beck- Modern Guilt:
better than The Information and Guero, this album is a nice mix of
Beck's "crazy" stuff and more mellow "sad bastard" stuff that I have
ignored. It feels more mature without losing what makes Beck so
interesting. I'll be interested to see where he goes after this.
Favorite Songs: Youthless, Modern Guilt, Gamma Ray
3.Duffy- Rockferry: after
hearing a few of the songs from this album, I couldn't quite put my
finger on the appropriate comparison until I saw Duffy compared to
Dusty Springfield, then it was like a lightbulb went off. The 60s
sounds on the album are modernized nicely and work well with Duffy's
voice. And it's always nice to see a mainstream album where the hit
single isn't the best song on the album.
Favorite Songs: Rockferry, Stepping Stone, Hanging on Too Long
2. Paddy Casey- Addicted to Company Pt. 1:
I would call this the surprise album of the year because I really had
no idea it was coming out. I was a big fan of Paddy Casey's first
album, but when his second album was never released in the US, I kinda
forgot about him. The label marketed this album as his debut for some
reason, and the first single was actually a song from his real
debut album. Label idiocy aside, this album is really good in a quiet
kind of way. There aren't any songs that really jump out and grab you
instantly, but all the songs are good, and the subtle mix of genres is
interesting.
Favorite Songs: Refugee, U'll Get By, City
1b. Nikka Costa- Pebble to a Pearl:
easily my most played album of the year, it's one of those albums where
your favorite songs change every time you listen to it. What I enjoyed
most about this album were the variety of styles throughout. You get
70s funk, acid jazz, 90s r&b, blues, 60s soul...a little bit of
everything, and it's all done well. It feels experimental in comparison
to her older albums, but at the same time it's very comfortable and
natural. An easy pick for #1. Favorite Songs: Keep Pushin, Pebble to a Pearl, Keep Wanting More
1a. Radiohead- In Rainbows: last year I said that if 08 sucked, In Rainbows would be on my top 10
5 list. And since it's far better than anything that came out this
year, it gets to be #1. I'd also like to note that hearing In Rainbows
live has basically ruined almost every other Radiohead album for
me. Way to go guys.
Favorite Songs: Nude, House of Cards, Videotape
Partially Honorable Mention:
Gnarls Barkley- The Odd Couple:
while the album as a whole is only so-so, "Neighbors", "A Little Better", and "Who's Gonna Save My Soul", are all very very good songs
that I enjoyed a lot.
Dishonorable Mention:
David Usher- Wake Up and Say Goodbye:
I have to admit, I haven't actually heard the full album, but from what
I have heard, it's Morning Orbit 2.0, and since Morning Orbit is hands
down his weakest album, this doesn't bode well.
Vampire Weekend- Vampire Weekend: go away, please.
Looking forward to in 2009: Emm Gryner x2, Neko Case, Cursive, David Usher (acoustic album), John Vanderslice, PJ Harvey
Been feeling craptastic the last few days, so I'm behind a bit on updates.
Novemeber recap:
The Autour de Lucie album has held up pretty well over the years. I should
listen to it more. The New Radicals album is still not something I
would want to listen to very often, but the songs are interesting. as I
listened to it more, it seemed that he was going for a subversive pop
angle, which given the time period in which the album came out, is
interesting. Although I'm not sure that it holds up very well in 2008. Great pop songs always stand the test of time.
December's album:
Remy Zero- Villa Elaine:
This is one of the very few albums I loved from the first time I heard
it. Probably because there's a nice bass line starting things off, and I'm a sucker for bass lines. So it was an instant favorite of mine. It's still my favorite RZ album, but it's been some time since I've
listened to it. It'll be a nice way to end this crazy little project of
mine.
Last night I finally got to see Emm Gryner live and it was fantastic. I
enjoyed the new songs and of course the old songs were great. The Hotel Cafe was nice, although I can do without the too-cool LA crowd. I hope
that she plays here more often now.
Oh, and Emm is really tiny. She walked past me before her set and I was just like "woah". She was shorter than I expected.
Setlist:
Almighty Love Blackwinged Bird Running Back (a capella) 89 Days of Alcatraz Summerlong Symphonic and 4 new songs
As I've mentioned before, I'm a big Emm Gryner fan, and through 10 years of fandom, I've never
had the opportunity to see her live. She's the last artist on my
(nonexistant) list of artists I have to see live, now that I've seen Radiohead. Well, next week, I am FINALLY going to get to see Emm Gryner
live. I knew living in socal would pay off eventually. When I saw the
show announcement, my brain shut down for 20 minutes easily. The news
was very unexpected since she's not really touring right now. But i'm
definitely excited. I have no idea what to expect, I have no frame of
reference for what songs she might play. My dream setlist would look
something like this....
Half Sorry Queen of the Boys Phonecall 45 The Good You Make Seranade Your Sort of Human Being Case of Tornados Tevenge This Mad
Covers: For What Reason Running Back Straight to You Dearg Doom
Time changes make me particularly lazy. I find that when you don't know what time it is, it's better just to do nothing.
October recap:
Nothing particularly new or interesting came from listening to This is Hardcore for a month. Before These Crowded Streets
on the other hand...some days those songs bugged me and I just couldn't
listen to them. Listening to the album as a whole was much better,
although I think the song "Halloween" is awful and ruins the momentum
of the album. It's one of those songs best left to the end of the album
where it can be easily ignored. I still think "Crush" is the best song
on the album, and Alanis Morrisette's background vocals I still enjoy
as well. but I won't be listening to this album again anytime soon. However, i may listen to Crash sometime.
This month is
the last 2 album month, as I will be spending December listening to
albums that actually came out this year and trying to compile a best of
the year list.
Autour de Lucie- Immobile This
is an album entirely in French. I don't speak French. not even a little
bit. But when I first heard the song "Chanson Sans Issue", I instantly
loved it and listened to it over and over and over (and over). Despite
not knowing what any of the songs are about, I enjoy the album quite a
bit. It's really just poppy/mellow music in French. and at the time I
was just starting to broaden my musical horizons and listen to bands
and artists no one had ever heard of. So I was a sponge to all things
new and different.
New Radicals- Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too On
the other side of the coin, you have the New Radicals who were pretty
mainstream for the 5 minutes they were around. And while I have been
mocked in my own household for owning this album, there are actually a
number of good songs on it. Although I will say that overall, it's
probably not that great of an album, so it was never something I
listened to a lot. But a good pop song is a good pop song. And there
are plenty of successful bands who are only good for a few good songs
per album (namely, the singles) and the rest is just crap.
Internet has been spotty today, thus the delay....
September recap:
I enjoyed listening to the Cardigans more than Nada Surf. Not really sure why though. Could be that The Proximity Effect isn't
standing up to the test of time. It's supposed to be my favorite Nada Surf album, but listening to it, it didn't feel that way. Listening to Gran Turismo made
me briefly consider buying some more Cardigans albums, but then i
realized I've been down this road before and decided just to stick with
the one album. I think some bands are like that. One album is good
enough, any more may be pushing your luck.
This months treats...
Dave Matthews Band- Before These Crowded Streets This
album came out during my brief DMB phase in 97-98. Since then, I
probably haven't listened to this album more than 2 times, and
certainly not in the last 5 years. I always liked DMB's first two
albums (particularly Crash) more than this one. If I remember
correctly, there are some more experimental types of things going on I
didn't particularly care for. But I do think that "Crush" is very good
song and most likely the highlight of the album.
Pulp- This is Hardcore I bought this album on the one cd shopping trip I ever took with one of my brothers. I liked the title track and its video,
but more specifically the song that it is sampled from. That song
actually helped me memorize the Hamlet ("to be or not to be") speech. I
mostly listened to the album when trying to fall asleep, so it became
familiar through osmosis. I knew the album so well that I had no clue
that one of my favorite songs from the movie Great Expectations ("Like
a Friend") was on the album until after I'd bought the soundtrack. In
the past few years I've been listening to both this album and Different Class quite a bit. they're quite different albums, but equally as good I think.
Also been listening to...
Tegan & Sara- So Jealous (enjoying quite a bit) Destroyer- Trouble in Dreams (jury's still out) Little Jackie- The Stoop (just got it, too soon to say) Sondre Lerche- Faces Down (forgot how much I like it)
Avoiding listening to...
David Usher- Wake Up & Say Goodbye (the single worries me) Nikka Costa- Pebble to a Pearl (I'm trying to avoid listening to anything
from the album before it comes out so it's all new to me)
PJ Harvey- well now I have a better idea of what's on Is This Desire versus To Bring You My Love. Kinda. I can name 4 songs from To Bring You My Love
and now have no idea the other songs that populate the album. I'll
listen to it at some point though. That being said, I enjoyed listening
to Is This Desire and finally getting a feel for it. Apparently it's
one of the few albums I enjoy from top to bottom (another list I should
make). Not a bad song in the bunch. Although, it only has a couple of
my favorite PJ songs on it (Catherine, No Girl So Sweet)
Other PJ favorites
We Float A Place Called Home Shame Cat on the Wall Send His Love to Me C'mon Billy The Darker Days of Me & Him The Dancer
Jude-as I expected, this album hasn't really withstood the test of time for me. It just reminded me of a time before Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz and John Mayer. I found myself wondering why I loved the album so much when it
was current. I think the songs that are good on the album (I Know, Battered Broken, Charlie Says) are ones that are a bit darker and not
so much about LA jadedness. I think the latter are a bit of a waste of Jude's talent. I got sick of them after awhile, so I'm glad the month
is over and I can move on to something else.
September's albums.....it's one hit wonder month! more specifically, the album after the one hit album.
The Cardigans- Gran Turismo
Like PJ Harvey, I was only mildly into the Cardigans when this album came
out. Although I really liked "Erase/Rewind" and "My Favourite Game"
when they came out and was going to get the album. It's been a couple
years since I've listened to it though. I used to listen to it quite a
bit on the way to work when I was barely awake. not too peppy, but not
slow enough to put me back to sleep. From what I know about the Cardigans pre and post hit, this album was where they changed their
sound and got a bit darker. Granted, compared to "Lovefool", almost
anything is darker. I'm not too familiar with the albums after Gran Turismo, but I do like the change they made to their sound. I think it
fit very nicely.
Nada Surf- The Proximity Effect
Since September is birthday month, I gave myself veto power and switched
another album for this one. This album actually reminds me of my
birthday because it was around that time I first heard it. I was a
pretty big Nada Surf fan when "Popular" was a hit, so I was really
excited to have the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of their
second album. I instantly loved it and couldn't wait to get my own
copy. Then they got dropped by their label and the album never came
out. So I paid way too much for a promo copy on ebay and in 2000 the
band self-released the album. It's been a year or 2 since I last
listened to it, but I still think it's the best Nada Surf album.
Saw the Black Keys for the second time last night at the House of Blues
in Anaheim. Apparently I forgot to recap the show back in April March. (edit: apparently my recap consisted of the following sentence-
"Saw the Black Keys last week. good show, but too short. I'm liking the
new album."). So this will be a comparison piece. This show was smaller
than the first one, and not as good in almost every way possible. The
sound was awful. easily the worst sounding venue I've ever been to and
it's a freaking House of Blues. It was way too bass heavy, on most
songs you could barely hear the guitar, which sounded really muffled
when you could hear it and you could barely make out anything Dan was
saying. So that really tainted the whole show. The crowd was ok,
probably 50% actual Black Keys fans and 50% people who just happened to
be at Downtown Disney at that time. After going to a show in Hollywood
followed by a show in Orange County, I think the best crowds are in the
black hole area where I live. More actual fans who appreciate having
shows in the area. The only thing redeeming about the show was that
they played some songs from the new album. At the first show (which was
right after before the album came out) they didn't play any new songs. Here's some of the songs they played...
Have Love Will Travel Set You Free 10 am Automatic Stack Shot Billy Girl is on My Mind When the Lights Go Out Just Couldn't Tie Me Down Your Touch Just Got To Be I Got Mine Strange Times Psychotic Girl Same Old Thing
I FINALLY got to see Radiohead and it was awesome. Hands down the best
band of the last 2 decades (at least). Started out in the 6th row
(although waaaaay off to the side) and ended up switching with some
other people to move up to the 4th row (still way to the side). Security was pretty loose so I was able to bring my camera in. Since
this is probably the only time I'll ever get to see Radiohead live, I
figured I should do it right. The setlist was great, although as a Bends lover, I would've liked to hear a couple more Bends songs, as
well as "Bangers and Mash". Damn you Vancouver! Thom wasn't too
talkative, other than when he forgot the words to "Street Spirit". The
whole band looked like they were enjoying themselves. The crowd was
pretty good. although there were plenty of too-cool-for-words LA types
which is to be expected. I missed my first celebrity sighting (Ellen Degeneres) because I wasn't paying attention.
My major score
of the night was getting the setlist. The guitar tech was nice enough
to throw it to me and I managed to catch it and not look like a fool.
Tonight is the Black Keys and while they're good live, nothing compares to Radiohead.
David Usher- Little Songs
is just fantastic. It's almost sad that his debut is so great because
everything after kind of pales in comparison. Not to say that his other
albums aren't good. If God Had Curves has a few songs that hint
at the rawness of that first album. I'm interested to see the direction
he takes his new album...just under 2 months to go.
Emm Gryner- it was great to listen to Public again after so long. Definitely made me want to listen to more, So i've added Science Fair to the mix. I'm also trying to resolve the debate in my head as to which album is better.
August's albums....no random theme this month, unfortunately..
PJ Harvey- Is This Desire? This
album is a wee bit of a cheat since a)it's not mine and 2)I never even
heard the album until about 2002. However, I do remember hearing "A Perfect Day Elise" back in 98 and I did like it, I just never got
around to listening to more of the album. But I have become a PJ fan
since then. My "thing" with this album has been that I've never been
able to differentiate it from To Bring You My Love because I
heard them at the same time. Which is why I added it to this little
experiment of mine. I know I like the album, but i really don't know
how much. So I'll be spending the month thinking "This song is on this
album? Who knew?" A lot.
Jude- No One is Really Beautiful Way
back when, I was really into this album and probably would've said that Jude was my favorite male artist. Now i'm not so sure I'll even enjoy
the album outside of "I Know", which I still think is a great song. so
this should be interesting.
Still working on Atonement, last week I took a break and re-read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,
which I've really enjoyed both times I've read it. It's a mystery told
from the perspective of a 15 yr old with Asperger's syndrome (or high
functioning autism)
No work today, so I was able to
watch quite a bit of Wimbledon finally. Of course they didn't actually
show Federer's match, But i got to see both Williams sisters' matches
even though I already knew the outcome. One of them has to win, I can't
imagine anyone else winning. I find it amusing that the top women's
seeds have all lost. I think it just proves how inconsistent they all
are. I think there will be lots of different top ranked players for
awhile. Oh, and I've been impressed by Andy Murray. He totally crushed Tommy Haas the other day. It was like watching Federer play Roddick (or Hewitt). Total domination. I haven't seen him play all that much cause
he normally loses early on, but it seems that he might have gotten his
shit together. I hope he beats Nadal. preferably like the way he beat Haas.
Got Wii Fit yesterday, I suck at everything except hula hoop. Go figure.
Watched
the first season of Californication. There are alot of boobs in that
show. But David Duchovny is funny. Also saw Be Kind Rewind, pretty
good, definitely better than The Science of Sleep.
Before i get to this month's albums, a quick recap of June's picks (Something About Airplanes- Death Cab for Cutie & Songs For Polar Bears- Snow Patrol). It was nice to listen to both albums after such a long
time. It actually took me a listen to remember all the songs again. Took me another 3 or 4 listens to stop wondering what the hell happened
to Death Cab. But now I want to listen to We Have the Facts & We're Voting Yes. Snow Patrol was a little different because they went "downhill" quicker, so I wasn't as into them. So I just enjoyed hearing the songs again.But moving on to this month's albums...
July
is Canadian month apparently, fitting that July 1st is Canada day. Both
of these albums are mortal locks to be on my personal classics list
that I am sloooooowly compling for my own music nerd purposes. I'm
also looking forward to new albums from both these artists this year.
Public- Emm Gryner Back in the summer of 99, I had to stop listening to this album for a
week because I was absolutely killing it. That being said, it's
probably been a couple years since I've listened to it. someone I
hardly knew gave this album to me back in 98 because they thought I
would like it. I listened to it once, thought there was something weird
about emm's voice and didn't touch it again for months. Inexplicably I
pulled it back out around the end of my senior year of hs and fell in
love with it. So that's what the album reminds me of. It's still my
favorite Emm album, really because it was the first I heard and it has
a bunch of nostalgia attached to it because I listened to it so much.
Little Songs- David Usher Since moving to California, one of the best things I've had the
opportunity to do was to see David Usher live a couple of years ago. His albums aren't released here so he never plays in the US, but he
played one show in LA at a tiny little club which was awesome. One of
the songs he played was "St. Lawrence River", which is one of my all
time favorite songs (I'm a big believer in getting to hear your
favorite songs live because it's always special), so that made the show
perfect. I listen to this album fairly often, although it's probably
been close to a year since I last heard it. This is my favorite David Usher album, and I think it's an example of how great and special debut
albums can be. Great debut albums capture the rawness of the artist
that can never be duplicated. Before there are any expectations, before
songs get overproduced, before drugs and booze become legitimate
problems, etc. Little Songs is one of those albums- acoustic, recorded
in a kitchen, raw. not to say his other albums aren't good too, but
there's definitely something special about this one.
This is bear #4 in my series of Radiohead bears. It's done in the
colors from the In Rainbows cover. I may do a glow in the dark one
next. Cause everyone wants to see a mutant bear staring at them when
they turn off the lights.
Finished Rant
last night. I enjoyed it, although there was some pretty messed up
stuff going on. But from what I know about Chuck Palahniuk that's par
for the course. I'll be starting Atonement this week.
The best part from the otherwise boring spelling bee
Yet again, new month means new albums. I enjoyed listening to
both Placebo and Spoon. I had some serious nostalgia going on while
listening to A Series of Sneaks. That album reminds me of Austin so much. Without You I'm Nothing, even
though I can remember when I bought the album, doesn't remind me of
anything else. Nut listening to it for a month reaffirmed that it's not
my favorite Placebo album. Since those albums have 2 of my favorite
album covers, I thought i'd make a proper list..
In no particular order...
Joe Jackson- Look Sharp!
Placebo- Without You I'm Nothing
Keane- Under The Iron Sea
The Police- Ghost in the Machine
Spoon- A Series of Sneaks
This month's albums are similar because I used to really like these 2
bands and then they started to completely suck and sadly, I've
abandoned them to the point that I don't even listen to their good
albums anymore. So this month I'll be constantly wondering what went
wrong and thinking how good these bands used to be. I've actually been
looking forward to these albums.
Death Cab For Cutie- Something About Airplanes I'd
guess it's been 6 or so years since I listened to this album. I gave up
on death cab around the time Transatlanticism came out and Ben Gibbard
did all that horrible electronic crap known as The Postal Service
(which in my opinion is what ruined his ability to write good songs). But way back in 98, I was just hearing about Death Cab and for 3 albums
they were really fucking good. So it's going to be hard to listen to
this album without wanting to curse the music gods for turning Ben Gibbard into a complete toolbox. No doubt I will like it as much as I
did back when it was new.
Snow Patrol- Songs For Polar Bears Um....I last listened to this album maybe 6 years ago as well. Unlike Death Cab, I think this is Snow Patrol's only good album. Their second
album had some good songs on it, but overall kinda sucked. And then
after that they decided they wanted to turn into Coldplay (who now
wants to be U2, go figure), changed their sound and got successful. For
the record, it's not the success that bothers me, it's the turning into Coldplay. Anyway, I think this first album is pretty good, and it's sad
they've changed so much from what they used to be.
Lakers-Spurs game 2 is tonight. There's already been some trash talking
going on between my house and my mom's. I'm staying out of it because
frankly, I'm a traitor, and I would prefer not to be disowned or thrown
out of my house.
Pitchfork has an interesting article about favorite albums.
"Like a lot of kids I would spend time in my room making lists of
favorite this and that but it was always with one mind's eye on the
social world: getting my ideas straight before they were tested." That
was totally me in high school, although I don't think i've ever had
just one favorite album at a time. That requires too much loyality and
commitment to one album. But I can fairly easily spit out a list of
favorite albums. I don't like to be limited to just one favorite.
The
new Gnarls Barkley album has grown on me quite a bit. I think unlike
the first album, this one is much more of a grower. Right now my
favorite song from it is "Neighbors".
My latest project...
I need to get a better picture, the light was crappy since it's been overcast all day. Oh well....it's still making me hungry.
New month, new albums. but I did enjoy listening to Madonna and Bic Runga. I was surprised at how many of the Ray of Light songs I still like,
especially considering how long it's been since I've heard them and how
my musical taste has expanded since then. Granted, I still won't be in
any rush to listen to the album again any time soon. But it was
something different for a month, which is part of the point of this
whole flashback thing. Listening to Drive again was nice as well, and I
might listen to it again soon, I do really like the album. But this
month I'll be listening to...
Placebo- Without You I'm Nothing I
believe it's been about 2 years since I listened to this album last,
simply because it sounds crappy in my car. This is the album that got
me into Placebo and has one of my favorite album covers. It's probably my 3rd favorite Placebo album (don't ask what the top 2
are). I remember the first time I listened to the album, I started to
fall asleep and then the beginning of "Scared of Girls" woke me up and
kinda scared the crap out of me. I've listened to Meds and Sleeping
with Ghosts fairly often the last few years, so it'll be nice to listen
to a different Placebo album for awhile.
Spoon- A Series of Sneaks It's been a few years since I've heard this album because it's not
compatable with long drives (it's a short album). It's not the first Spoon album I heard but it has some of my favorite Spoon songs on it
(The Guestlist/The Execution, Reservations, Car Radio, Metal Detektor)
and has my favorite cover
of all the Spoon albums. I must own it on vinyl so it can be framed and
appropriately admired. Too bad it's hard to find and fucking expensive
when you do. This album reminds me of the early days of my Spoon fandom
and my time in Austin. before they became critical darlings and when
they actually played these songs live all the time. So yeah, it's not
going to remind me of 1998.
Also, since I'll be starting summer
school next week, I get to catch up on my reading. So here's my reading
list for the next 3 months...
Thank you Kansas and Memphis for ruining my chances at winning either one of my tournament pools.
Saw the Black Keys last week. Good show, but too short. I'm liking the new album.
I think XTC is one of those bands I think I should like more than I actually do. I've listened to
'Skylarking' a bunch of times, and I do like some of the songs, but
it's just not doing it for me overall. I definitely hear the influence
the album had on Blur's 'Great Escape'.
It's almost vacation time!
Some
thoughts after a week of listening to Bic Runga and Madonna (see last
entry)...I remember why I liked 'Drive' so much, and how much I like Bic Runga's voice. 'Ray of Light'.....you can definitely tell it's Madonna's "motherhood has changed me" album. There are some songs I
still like though. But it got me thinking about my favorite Madonna
songs...in chronological order....
Material Girl (this is
mostly for sentimental reasons, when this song was out, pink was my
favorite color, so the video was like heaven to me)
Watched 'Atonement' earlier tonight....what a downer that was.
Listening to Air for the last time before I add April's albums
to the mp3 player. Air and Brian Jonestown Massacre made for an
interesting combination, since BJM is very 60s sounding and Moon Safari
has a mellow 70s feel. Definitely good to listen to as the day is
winding down. Or when you want something you can easily ignore if need
be. I enjoyed listening to BJM, maybe I'll listen to it again in
another 6 months. It's a good album, but not something I'm in the mood
for all that often. Anywho...this month's albums...
Bic Runga- Drive Last
listened to this album 3+ years ago(???), although I listened to it a
whole bunch back when it was current. Probably one of my favorite
albums from 98. It'll be interesting to have this in the rotation since
right now I'm in a Replacements/Clash mood and Bic Runga is the exact
opposite of both those bands' sounds.
Madonna- Ray of Light The
one and only Madonna studio album I own (that isn't on vinyl). It's
been probably 9 years since I listened to it. For some reason this
album reminds me of the spring break I went to Alabama. when I got back
home, I was dying to listen to this album. I don't think I like half
the songs on it, but it's been so long, who knows anymore. I have no
doubt I'll be reminded why it's been so long since I listened.
As a bonus I'm adding Rufus Wainwright- "April Fools".
It's been awhile since I've had a "proper" update, so here's some random stuff....
Watched "Margot at the Wedding"....uhhhhhhhhh....was the point of the movie to show how well Nicole Kidman plays a nutjob?
Bought
a bunch more cross stitch supplies, finished my latest project
(pictures soon), hope to finish my newest "masterpiece" before Monday
I can't believe how much baseball is already starting to dominate sports
shows/sites. granted, I can't believe the season is about to start
either, since it feels like it ended only a month ago. Give it a week
and the daily Yanks/Sawks stories will have arrived
It's
almost March Madness time, that time of the year when I give a shit
about college basketball in hopes of winning some free meals. yay!
(seriously.....when did I become such a sports freak?)
Lost
was goooooooooood this week. The Desmond episodes are always
interesting because they pull things out of left field...first he's a
precog and now he's a time traveler?
Since it's March, that means new 1998 albums. All I have to say is thank god. I was never really in the mood to
listen to Massive Attack, and Garbage seemed too fresh in my mind, but
not entirely unpleasant. Anyway, this month's albums are Moon Safari
(Air) and Strung Out in Heaven (Brian Jonestown Massacre). I haven't
listened to Moon Safari in at least 3 years, but I was listening to it
practically everyday the first 3 or so years after it came out, so this
will be a real walk down memory lane. I'm excited to hear they're
releasing a 10th anniversary edition
next month. I will definitely pick that up. If I ever made a list of my
personal classic albums, Moon Safari would be on it for sure. I last
listened to Strung Out in Heaven about a year ago(?) after I saw Dig! It's a good album, it's just never been one of those that really sticks out that I want to listen to frequently.
The start of a new month means 2 new albums for my 98 flashback,
and not a moment too soon. I am definitely sick of Prolonging the Magic. Listening to it one last time was painful, I couldn't wait for
it to be over. and yet, I like the album. From the Choirgirl Hotel
never got old though, maybe because it had been so long since I last
listened to it. Anyway, this month's albums are Version 2.0 (Garbage)
and Mezzanine (Massive Attack). Version 2.0 was an instant favorite of
mine when it came out and I had a major Garbage phase there for awhile. It's been awhile since I've listened to it though. I'll probably hate
it like Prolonging the Magic by the end of the month. Mezzanine is the
complete opposite, I've barely listened to it since I bought it. I
vaguely remember liking it though. I anticipate wanting to watch a lot
of House (yay it's back) this month.
Speaking of tv, Lost was
pretty good, although watching last season's finale on Wed was pretty
annoying with all the stupid comments popping up. It was like Lost for
dummies. If you don't know what's going on, get the dvds! The season
premiere though...I kept thinking of the Suicidal Tendencies song
"Institutionalized"....I'm not crazy, you're the one who's crazy.
In an effort to (1) get some different
stuff on my mp3 player, (2) hopefully rediscover albums/bands and (3)
reminisce about the "good old days", I'm going to add 1-2 albums that
came out in 1998 to my mp3 player every month. Some I've listened to
more recently, others probably not since 1998, so that will be
interesting. Also, they'll be randomly selected so I won't be tempted
to play favorites.
For the first month I'll be listening
to...Tori Amos- From The Choirgirl Hotel and Cake- Prolonging The Magic. I haven't listened to From The Choirgirl Hotel in forever. It's
the only Tori Amos album I will touch since she's batshit crazy. It always reminds me of getting ready for school though. Ahh,
high school.
This was the best year for music in
a long time. I can't remember the last time I really had to think about
what I would put in my top 10 and what I'd leave out. Established acts
released albums that were actually good (for the most part), and I got
into a lot of new bands for the first time in a while. Sadly, I don't
expect 2008 to be nearly as good.
On to the list...
10. David Usher- Strange Birds: This album mixes the low-key feel of If God Had Curves with the subtle electronic touches of Hallucinations, basically taking the best parts from each. It makes for a solid album, although it doesn't have the high points of either one.
Favorite Songs: Science, Ugly is Beautiful
9. PJ Harvey- White Chalk: This
is a challenging album for me as a PJ fan because I enjoyed Uh Huh Her
so much. this album is so quiet and delicate in comparison. I didn't
know what to make of it. plus it's really bad car music. After I took the time to really listen to it and get comfortable with PJ
singing in a higher register, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Although I still hope she goes back to the guitars on her next album.
Favorite Songs: Dear Darkness, The Devil
8. Beirut- The Flying Club Cup: One
of the new bands I "discovered" thanks to some friends. I instantly
took to the old-world Frenchie style songs that make up this album
because the sounds were so different from anything else I'd heard. and Zach Condon's voice fits in perfectly with it all.
Favorite Songs: The Penalty, Cliquot
7. Silverchair- Young Modern: This
is the part of the list where I ruin my "indie coolness" and pick an
album by a band that everyone's actually heard of. I've always thought Silverchair had the potential to make good albums once they started to
find their own sound. The album is diverse, interesting and unexpected.
unexpected in a "this is Silverchair?" and "I think I kinda like this
song" kind of way. But it is a good mainstream sounding album that is
better than most mainstream modern rock bs you hear today.
Favorite Songs: Mind Reader, Those Thieving Birds (Part 1)/Strange Behaviour/Those Thieving Birds (Part 2) -yes that is 1 song
6. John Vanderslice- Emerald City: While I don't think this album is as good as Pixel Revolt, it still has
some great songs on it and almost everything you love about JV, the
exception being songs about bunnies, corrupt cops, or something equally
as random.
Favorite Songs: White Dove, The Parade
5. Sondre Lerche- Phantom Punch: This
album was my hands down best of the year until about July and then it
got run over by 4 other albums. Of all the albums this year, this was
the one I was most anxious for, especially after hearing the title
track. I wanted to hear what a rockier Sondre Lerche album sounded
like, and it didn't disappoint. While there are more electric than
acoustic guitars on this album compared to his others, all the hooky
indie-pop songs are still there, getting stuck in your head.
4. Tegan and Sara- The Con: Filling
the spot desgnated for female Candian artists this year (usually
occupied by Emm Gryner), is the album with the most earworms. as i
write this, "The Con" is playing in my head, which has been par for the
course with this album. So many great songs, so many things to get
stuck in your head. such diversity in the sound but still making a
cohesive album. It was really tough to pick my 2 favorite songs. I'm
known for being pretty anti-female singers because 9.5 times out of 10
they're annoying, whiny and/or trying to rock when they can't. this is
the other .5. Viva Canada!
Favorite Songs: Knife Going In, Like O Like H
3. Spoon- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga: What I love about this album is that it mixes "classic" sounding Spoon
songs (Don't Make Me a Target, Don't You Evah) with songs that
incorporate r&b and Motown horns (You Got Yr Cherry Bomb, The Underdog). and like what I think a great album should be, this album
has layers to it. There were songs that I instantly liked the first
couple of times I heard them and then as I listened more, there were
other songs that would get my attention as well. I really like the
direction they seem to be going in. This is probably one of my favorite Spoon albums.
Favorite Songs: Eddie's Ragga, Black Like Me
2. Radiohead- In Rainbows: I
wasn't expecting to have a Radiohead album in my top 10 this year, but
here it is. and if 2008 sucks, I'll put it on next year's list too
since the official release is Jan 1st. For the first time since OK
Computer we have a Radiohead album that feels like a Radiohead album.
and not just because it's less experimental than their last 3 albums.
It feels like it was more of a group effort and there's more emphasis
on lyrical content. This is one band I have faith in to not put out an
album full of crap.
Favorite Songs: Videotape, House of Cards
1. The Good Life- Help Wanted Nights: I was a little bit apprehensive about this album just because the last
one was not very consistent- the good songs were really really good but
everything else was blah. So when I first heard this album, I wasn't
sure what to do with it. nothing stuck out as being good or bad the
first few times I listened. But as I listened more, I went from
thinking, "this song isn't bad" to "this song is great". Basically a
grower album. And really, I'm a huge fan of Tim Kasher's storytelling,
so I couldn't not love this album, and eventually I had every song in
my head, much like with the Tegan and Sara album. This album is good
from start to finish and the songs are some of my favorites of the year.
Favorite Songs: A Little Bit More, Your Share of Men
Dishonorable Mention:
Chris Cornell- Carry On: go back to Soundgarden and let the Beast out. New Pornographers- Challengers: half the songs are decent, the others....bleck. They totally screwed up the female vocals on the album.
Looking forward to in 2008: Emm Gryner, Black Keys, David Usher
Last night I finally got to see The Good Life. They were nice enough to
play at my "local" venue and not just LA. Got there early enough to get
a really good spot....off to the side but on a platform so I could see
everything. I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of the crowd since
this is Tim Kasher's side project, but there were almost as many people
there as when I saw Cursive last year. Anyway, I completely ignored the
first band as they had a female singer and I don't do female singers in
rock bands. The second act was better, more country though.
The Good Life was really really good. They played a great set with almost
all the songs I wanted to hear. They started off with "Lovers Need Lawyers" so I was definitely happy with that. And they ended the encore
with a badass version of "Notes in his Pockets", which was the #1 song I wanted to hear. And Tim made fun of people dressing up for Halloween. Good times. Got the setlist (see below) and left with a nice concert
high. Which is probably why I feel like ass right now- concert
hangover..boo.
I love the new album, I definitely like it more
than the last one, although I think the best songs from Album of the Year are better than the best songs from Help Wanted Nights. I may
change my mind on that though.
A couple weeks ago I went up to Salt Lake to visit a friend and to
see John Vanderslice play in Provo and SLC. I wish I'd taken more
pictures, but I generally suck at remembering to take pictures....
Friday:
Arrived
in Mormon country, drove down to Provo (hardcore Mormon country), hit
thrift store #1, grabbed some food and proceeded to the venue. Had to
wait in line awhile because the doors were pushed back cause the
opening band was late getting in and needed food. In the meantime,
there were plenty of LA-area douchebags around to remind me of home,
further reminding me why i don't go to JV's LA shows and opt to go to San Diego instead. Finally get in, find a good seat with a nice view of
the stage, good for taking pictures.....if I hadn't left my camera in
the car (strike 1). The venue was pretty cool, reminded me of a smaller Mercury (aka the Parish) in Austin. JV was great as always....played a
similar set to the San Diego show, including...
Kookabura White Dove Time To Go Tablespoon of Codeine Numbered Lithograph Angela Dear Sarah Shu Trance Manual Exodus Damage The Tower Up Above the Sea Pale Horse Underneath the Leaves
and for the "encore" Keep the Dream Alive unplugged in the crowd.
After
almost everyone had left, JV took to the streets outside the venue and
played You Were My Fiji by request since the band didn't know it. Yet
another opportunity for pictures (strike 2).....THEN he went down the
street to a gelato place and played Nikki Oh Nikki. I think the
employees were really confused as to what was going on, but JV brought
them business. He still had to buy is own gelato though. Oh...and yeah, another chance for pictures (strike 3, I suck).
On the way back to SLC, we picked up some Krispy Kreme doughnuts (which are hard to come by out there)...yummy
Saturday:
More thrift stores....picked up a polo, sweater, 2 belts, and a chain
for the bear charm i got the last time I was in town. Jason's Deli for
lunch...mmm......COME TO CALIFORNIA. I miss that place. I had
greek food for the first time....yummy stuff. Then it was off to the venue for
the show. This time I got in free as part of JV's merch crew. Hung out
a bit before the show chatting with JV and selling stuff. After the
show started I went to try to take some pictures. I had a shit angle,
so this was the best i could do....
Another
great show....basically identical setlist to the night before, except
he played They Won't Let Me Run instead of some other song, and did Keep The Dream Alive and Nikki Oh Nikki as the in crowd "encore". I
really wanted to hear The Parade again cause that's one of my favorites
from the new album.
Handled the post show merch rush pretty
well. Got a tote bag for myself. After, JV and Daniel Hart went to record
a Daytrotter session, so I watched that from afar. I'll post a link
when it's available.
From the merch table...
Sunday:
Went
to the ghetto mall or the San Antonio mall as my friend likes to call
it. It was actually really cool. it reminded me of the way malls were
when I was younger and didn't despise them. Back before it was all Gap, Aberchrombie, Victoria's Secret and all the other bs. When the food
courts were all random places instead of fast food chains. Had some
yummy chinese food for cheap. SLC is pretty lousy on sunday because
hardly anything is open. Went to Costco and got a churro and drove
around for awhile before going to the airport.
It was lots of fun, especially seeing JV 2 nights in a row. reminds me of old times.
Spent the evening making and discussing top 13 favorite songs by various bands.....here's some of mine...
(In no particular order)
INXS
never tear us apart stay young need you tonight to look at you kiss the dirt taste it by my side everything disappear i'm just a man the stairs faith in each other devil inside
Smashing Pumpkins
thirty-three ava adore saturnine tonight tonight drown stand inside your love in the arms of sleep obscured muzzle let me give the world to you cherry everlasting gaze xyu
Radiohead
street spirit fake plastic trees the bends just black star how to disappear completely no surprises karma police let down punchup at a wedding myxomatosis there there sulk
Emm Gryner
this mad acid phonecall 45 the good you make your sort of human being july seranade big day revenge half sorry doomsday stereochrome queen of the boys
John Vanderslice
everything changed my old flame radiant with terror continuation me and my 424 time travel is lonely you were my fiji amitriptyline up above the sea they won't let me run trance manual keep the dream alive letter to the east coast
PJ Harvey
shame long snake moan the dancer send his love to me no girl so sweet the garden we float cat on the wall a place called home the slow drug the darker days of me & him the whores hustle and the hustlers whore you said something
Spoon
the guestlist/the execution reservations anything you want the fitted shirt paper tiger i turn my camera on the way we get by the delicate place the two sides of monsieur valentine i summon you my mathematical mind take a walk jonathon fisk
From my rough estimation, I've seen JV 6 or 7 times since 2001, but the
last time I saw him was 2003 which I regret now since his shows are
always good.
I chose to go to the San Diego show instead of the LA show because it was on my day off and I think I like san diego
crowds better. Of course the downside is the 2 hour drive each way. The
show was at the Casbah, which reminded me a lot of Emos....same
type of atmosphere, good crowds, etc. I'm sure if I lived in the area, I'd go there a lot, but of course I don't, so I suck.
Here's some of the songs he played:
Angela Up Above the Sea Underneath the Leaves Keep the Dream Alive Time Travel is Lonely Letter to the East Coast (guest singer) Trance Manual Exodus Damage Dear Sarah Shu White Plains Nikki Oh Nikki Do You Remember? My Old Flame
The JV/ Dave on drums combo was cool, nice to hear the songs a bit stripped
down, wish he played "Radiant With Terror" though. someone asked if he
was going to play "Speed Lab" (from his 1st album) and he said that
they didn't know it, I found that funny because from the first time I saw JV, there's always been a song someone requests that they don't
know.
Definitely looking forward to the new album in July and seeing him again in the fall.
