Friday, July 25, 2008

Night terrors





Friends, this is one of the very first times there is no passionate optimism. I haven't been sleeping well and I feel like I'm sleep-blogging right now. I'm in a very gray patch in my life. I just woke up from a very heavy sleep... I think. I'd only been asleep for about two and a half hours and I was having a terrible dream. I don't remember what it was about, but thank God I was woken up by a text from Jennifer. I guess it didn't help that I fell asleep listening to Grace (see above).

If you haven't figured it out, it's been a rough summer. I think that tonight was where everything sort of went overboard. I realize now that I'm different than before. I still don't know the extent really, but I'm definitely more easily tired and I'm burned out. I'm much more sad. I spent half an hour crying in the bathtub tonight. I don't really know why.

I'm just hoping that I don't become one of those people with extreme, uncontrollable night terrors. That would suck.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

A Summer of Discovery, Disappointment and Discombobulation (Things to watch out for)



About a week ago, I tried to start the "post your favorite album from each year since you've been born" meme on my blog, however I realized that if you looked at my list, you'd think I was a total tool. I don't fully disagree, however, I don't feel strongly enough about any one album to put myself out there in that way. I got up to about 1992 and I realized that nearly every single album was somewhere on Pitchfork's top 100 of whatever decade and immediately, I was disappointed in myself for my lack of creativity. Every other blog that posted the same thing tried to make themselves look a little more interesting than they actually were, entering late-era Neil Young, A Tribe Called Quest or obscure west coast hip-hop. Friends, that is not me. I will have you know that I included Social Distortion's self-titled masterpiece on my list.

Anyhow, I've been burned out on a lot of things for a long time. While I was at work on Friday, I finally took the time to update my iPod (in part). I put on albums that I've acquired over the past few weeks and just haven't had the time to listen to. Some of them were not as good as I had hoped (the new albums by The Walkmen, Lucky Dragons, High Places), however there were some wonderful discoveries as well. Here are a few:



Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
I have so many wonderful comparisons/RIYL laden language for this one, it'll make you sick. Jeff Enzor said that this was like Ted Leo minus about 15 years. I feel like this is the Walkmen album that all the Bows+Arrows fans deserve, or at least represents the path the Walkmen could have walked if they weren't fed a Steady Diet of Nothing, rather consuming Rum, Sodomy and the Lash. It's as if 17 year old versions of Canada's Fucked Up were raised in New Jersey, only listening to what the rest of New Jersey listens to (anything by the Boss). It's actually not out of place on the shelf next to the Desaparecidos album from a few years ago; energetic and wild, lo-fi as it can be and sung by a Conor-a-like. Anyways, it's wonderful and the album is a real crowd pleaser.



Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
This band comes from Baltimore and that's nearly all you need to know, considering the fact that Baltimore has been putting out some of the best new music in the last few years (see also: Whartscape festival). The band is a bunch of weird looking kids that listened too a few too many Japanese noise albums. They make joyful, experimental, razor sharp guitar songs that are screamed over with non-sensical syllables.



The Three O'Clock - Sixteen Tambourines
Unfortunately, I don't have a working link for this one, but if anyone wants it, I am more than willing to upload it. This is truly the pride of Carson, CA. The kid you see playing bass and singing was from Carson, but now resides in San Pedro (duh) and this is possibly the best discovery I've had in a while. Jennifer kept telling me about this band that I'd like, but I was totally turned off by the "Paisley Underground" tag. I never really got into The Who or the Velvet Underground, so what the hell did that mean to me? Nothing. That was until I saw the attached video. The Three O'Clock wasn't about anything more than hooks. If someone had told me that before, I would have been all over that like Justin Conway on the Internet.