Sunday, January 25, 2009

Latest cd of the week purchases

i ended up buying up 2 cds to cover through the month. At first, i figured that would be the best way to go about things, especially if i end up ordering cds online, but now i'm thinking that it's too long of a wait for someone impatient like me. Plus, it will allow me to really soak in just the one album instead of multitasking like i'm so prone to do.

These weeks albums:
1) Modest Mouse - Good News for People who Love Bad News
i wasnt planning on buying it when i walked in but i love that Float On song and i just couldnt resist. My opinion of the cd is that it really wins with some songs and really loses with others. Float On and The View and Bukowski and The Ocean Breathes Salty are amazing cuts, but i dont think the rest of the album does it for me.

2) Mae - Singularity
i thought The Everglow was pure genius so i thought i'd give this one a try too. i dont like it as much as Everglow, but i'll allow some time for the album to soak in. i didnt hear as much of the creative and different drumming that i'm used to from the Mae drummer, but there were a few songs that reminded me why i would consider buying a Mae album. i think there's great writing on that cd.

i'm not sure what's up for the next purchase. i've been bouncing back and forth between whether or not i should plan or be spontaneous. Up til now its been a mixture of both.

The other day i listened to World Cafe and they played an Animal Collective song (that i'm not sure how i felt about) and then said that people are saying it's of Pet Sounds proportions. That's quite a claim so i have to admit that i'm super curious about that kind of hype. But i found this "My Girls" song on youtube and i think it's pretty impressive. It's grown on me, despite that i lack a fondness for more electronic-type music.

huh... maybe i'll give it a shot next time.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

tics in my eyes

The past three days i've had a tic in my eye (is that how i spell it?)

My left eyelid twitches and twitches and twitches. My mom says it's from stress. Funny... i dont do anything these days. But, well, i can understand how i might be stressed.

Is that how that happens? Stress?

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Music is Joy

For me, i'm realizing how much joy music brings to my life. After experiencing so much loss lately i've needed a good way to cope. i'm not sure how i feel about coping, but i will say that sometimes, i just cant deal anymore with my overthinking of things and music just seems to be the healthiest escape for me.

Lately i've loved listening to Stevie Wonder's Pastime Paradise. The production on that song is incredible. i dont know anything about production, but i noticed it on that cut. And that says something.

So this year i've decided will be a year of music and finding joy in it because it seems like that is one of the few constant sources of joy in my life and to carry out my year of music i've decided to buy an album a week. Expensive, but right now (even though it's a vanity) the thought of buying a little bit of peace seems like it could possibly pan out this time. To quote Tobias,
"No, it never does. I mean, these people somehow delude themselves into thinking it might, but...but it might work for us.
Well, it might just work this time for me.

So to start i bought Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited and Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. Now whenever i hear the song Highway 61 Revisited i think of Joaquin (sp?) Phoenix in Walk the Line wandering crazily around his room blasting it. That's pretty much what i look like when i listen to music i really like.

As far as Kind of Blue goes, i'm not sure what i think. As a self-proclaimed Miles Davis fan i have to say i'm partial to his Gil Evans collaborations (such beautiful melodies and simply epic arrangement), but i know that Kind of Blue was an album that turned the jazz world topsy-turvy. Honestly, i just dont understand it. i figure it's kinda like reading On the Road. Today it seems plausible that someone would meander all over the place, but back then it was novel and special and that much crazier.

So what albums are next? i'm not sure. i've had a mental list for years, but limiting myself to two now that i've given myself permission to actually buy something feels like just a tease.

Right now i'm thinking about picking up some Wes Anderson film soundtracks. Or Pink Moon. Or some more Stevie Wonder. Or maybe some Led Zeppelin albums. Or perhaps that Mae cd i always wanted but never seemed to get around to picking up. Or maybe something that i've never even heard of before?

There's too much to keep track of these days.

Stay tuned for more album posts. It'll give me a good reason to blog consistently, even though the blog boat has blown by. In that case, maybe i'll just twitter everything so people will actually read all the way to the bottom.