Nomination for greatest band of our time

How could Limbeck not be considered for the greatest band of our generation? This wonderful bunch of dudes introduced me to the idea that life is REALLY AWESOME and that we should be pretty stoked on that, no matter what.

Do you remember?

Good god. Ever have one of those days where you just want to skank and forget about everything? Today is totally one of those days. My roommate is screaming at his computer in the most violent way possible and I can't seem to get away.

I was offered an internship with Michael Levine tonight. If you don't know who he is, just think about who spins for your favorite stars or check out his website. He's overseen lives like Prince, Bowie, Clinton (the good one) and so many more important names.

It's nearly 5 in the morning and this is night twelve (I think) of sleeplessness. When it gets this late, not only do I feel very alone, but sometimes I feel like I just want to go back to when things weren't like this. The attached videos are for one of the bands I listened to from the age of 11 to the age of 13 or 14. Third wave ska was on its way out and I was all over it. Ska was such an appropriate listening choice for a boy my age; it was a great soundtrack for carefree days, for adolescence. Only this many waking hours would make me want to go back to that.

Where do you run to?

I am so glad that Adrian Tomine doesn't just draw Weezer posters and exclusive graphic novels, but also for New Yorker. No, not that hip magazine throwing parties with the guys from The State and Of Montreal, but the stuffy, not-so-funny one. As J. Peterman once said, "IT'S A ZIGGY!"

Besides the fact that Adrian Tomine is one of my favorite artists, I like this illustration because it reminds me of one of my favorite new bands, Vivian Girls. Yeah, they sound like New York. They sound like the Brooklyn girls that Tom Waits sings about. They open up for Sonic Youth. They look like they read Salinger on double decker buses, but that's sort of the wonderful part about them.

The album plays short like a KRS-era grrl band, but the music is much more hazy, more loose. There are wonderful harmonies that are 60s informed, but nothing that screams "trying too hard" and there are great hooks, especially in the centerpiece of the full length, "Where Do You Run To?"

via ill-formed: Vivian Girls - s/t
A full Vivian Girls show on their wonderful blog.

Will I see you tonight?

Over the past few days, I've had the strangest sensation. If you've read any of these entries, you know what trouble I have sleeping. I slept hard this weekend, especially on Saturday, however the few waking hours I had that day were spent listening to records I hadn't listened to much yet or hadn't listened to in a long time. I stumbled upon Tom Waits' album Rain Dogs. Some days, I'm glad I can't listen to more Tom Waits because I'm pretty sure I'd slowly drink myself to death, however it just clicked. When I got to "Downtown Train," I got that feeling that I get in the middle of the night when no one else is awake.

Rolling Stone said that Rain Dogs was the "finest portrait of the tragic kingdom of the streets." There's a strange calm loneliness that washes over the majority of Waits' music, however Rain Dogs is particularly desolate. I find this to be particularly true after you've been up for more than 20 hours and you don't know what to do with yourself. I've just about done it all (besides what I need to do, that is). I have no idea what time I started this post, but it is definitely 3am now and I can't seem to sleep, even though I had the opportunity to. I only have one question for you: will I see you tonight?

Hospitals, headaches and another day.

It's been a hell of a week so far and this is only my second day of class. Thank god I only have one more day after this. I have had the hardest time focusing these last few weeks. I haven't been to bed before 4am once this week. The issue isn't that I feel tired or anything really. I've just been struggling. When I was swimming yesterday, I couldn't help but feel so small. I got beat by the low tide. Absolutely pounded. There were two lessons I drew from the experience, but I can't decide which is right. Either I am meant to feel helpless, to know that I can't change the tide or it was just some sort of huge wake up call; as if God were trying to beat me into getting it together.

Last weekend, Jennifer and I went to Fuck Yeah Fest 5. It was pretty great but I was completely disappointed to have missed Off With Their Heads. I've only recently been introduced to their music, but I know it's for me. It's anthemic, it's depressing and the singer sounds like a pirate. Punk photographer Mark Beemer (also founder of the Syrentha Savio Endowment) is from Minneapolis, as is Off With Their Heads. He always described Minnesota punk as being so far behind all other major scenes, except for Dillinger Four. It was never a place I wanted to even think about. After hearing Off With Their Heads' first EP Hospitals, I knew that I really wanted to be there, just to be closer to the places they sing about.

The first song on the EP, "Die Today," has been attached above. The video is Off With Their Heads playing live at the Triple Rock, the club co-owned by Dillinger Four. "I'm not gonna go to work today/I wanna feel the sun shine on my face/and pretend like everything's okay/I won't let anything get to me/.../I just wanna fucking cry today/cause nothing ever goes my way/I spent all my money on cocaine/and I still have rent and bills to pay/everyone's so fucking pissed at me/the reasons why are so obvious to see/I don't care about anyone when the dealers are paid and gone and the pain is relieved/I'll tie it around my neck and kick the chair out with my legs/because I wanna fucking die today!" I haven't heard anything this startling and beautiful in a long time from a punk band. In short, I've seen the light.

Sometimes, I have to be beat into remembering that life isn't so bad. Sometimes life does suck us dry. Sometimes headaches make you want to die. Sometimes, something beautiful happens. It doesn't happen that often, but songs like "Die Today" make the wait worth it.

Off With Their Heads - Hospitals

Two-thirds of the way through the year and where are we?

Today is September 1 and there are 121 days left in the year. Eight full months have passed and that leaves me wondering where we are. This is convention season and it seems a good time for a state of the union, of sorts.

As pictured above, the Autumnal Equinox is on the way, which means days are going to get shorter. It seemed like the days were so insanely long during the summer. I really love late sunsets, but I love when it starts to get really dark at night. Fall nights are wonderful times for fall albums. There weren't any particularly stand-out Summer albums, which means that fall is going to be wonderful. There are a few already (see below):


Andrew Jackson Jihad - Only God Can Judge Me
Sean and Ben have consistently put out some of the most astonishingly honest, smart music and they keep the train moving with this EP. As Conway says, they're able to say all the things we wish we could say. "Growing Up" is one of the best songs this year, for sure.


Beck - Modern Guilt
Of course, I have my problems with this album, but I think it definitely has a place on this list. It is immaculately produced by Danger Mouse, who has redeemed himself from the job he did on the Black Keys last album. Beck's songwriting has changed so much over the years; some of it worked and some of it didn't. I won't mention any era in specific, but this album is definitely a comeback. It's a very svelte album (10 tracks, 31 minutes) and it not only has spunk, but it has that elder statesman feel to it, which makes it that much better.


Okkervil River - The Stand-Ins
As I mentioned last year, Will Sheff is one of the new, great American songwriters. He put the first part of the two disc set out last year (The Stage Names) and it was wonderful. The Stand-Ins is a very understated release comparatively, however that isn't to say that it's any better or worse than The Stage Names. Of course, the first two songs resonate the most with me because they sound like Smiths and Morrissey songs respectively and "Pop Lie" has that spark that every great Okkervil River song has. All in all, this is a wonderful fall album that's great to walk down the beach thinking of.


Final Fantasy - Plays to Please/Spectrum, 14th Century
Straight talk time: Owen Pallett is one of the most interesting musicians of our time. It seems ridiculous to praise individuals like Sheff and Pallett, however these EPs are the proof. There were already two great Final Fantasy full length releases (Has A Good Home and He Poos Clouds) and several 7"s/compilation tracks that absolutely rule and these EPs just put the cherry on top. The first Arcade Fire album was Pallett's initiation and he's only improved his individual songwriting since then. The Plays to Please EP is a tribute to Alex Lukashevsky of Deep Dark United and employs a 35 piece orchestra that contains Andrew Bird. What else do you need to know? The second EP is equally genius as it is made up of fake field recordings with members of Beirut. "Blue Imelda," the second song on the Spectrum EP is definitely going to make it to the top of my year end list. Amazingly gorgeous.


Annie - Don't Stop
I really don't know what to say about this album quite yet, although I've listened to it once and I know already that it's the best straightforward pop album this year. It's totally danceable and has great hooks. It's a great fall album because of its Norwegian roots. Scandinavian pop has this wonderful dark quality to it, no matter how sugary the hooks are, just because of the nature of Scandinavia.


Hellsongs - Hymns in the Key of 666
Now, right off the bat, this isn't the most appealing album, and I still have my issues with it, however it is a very well crafted album. Hellsongs is a collective out of Sweden that claims to be a "loungemetal" act. Basically, they do folk-pop covers of metal classics. This edition contains versions of "We're Not Gonna Take It," "Run To The Hills," and a wonderful cover of Slayer's "Seasons in the Abyss." These covers are wonderfully fall-friendly because of how gentle they are.


Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
Why is this a fall album? Well, for God's sake, this album is being released in a few weeks. Of course, I know it's meant to be a summer album, just by the nature of it being a Brian Wilson album, but the album is a sort of retelling of the Beach Boys story. Again, why is this a fall album? This retelling of the Beach Boys story, along with the fact that Brian Wilson doesn't do much "music" anymore, signals the "end of the summer," if you catch my drift. All in all, "Southern California" is one of those songs that just screams classic album closer.


Algernon Cadwallader - Some Kind of Cadwallader
This album brings back fond memories of the fall of senior year of high school. I had just delved deeper into the world of the mid-1990s Midwest and discovered the world of Kinsella. Cap'n Jazz and Braid quickly became two of my favorite bands. Algernon Cadwallader has put out one of the most Midwest inspired albums of the last five years; even the vocals sound like a Kinsella. Algernon Cadwallader is playing at the Hickey Underworld on November 16 and I am so completely excited.


Paint it Black - New Lexicon
Dr. Dan has put out another genius album. That's like five in five years or something. I was reminded of what a wonderful dude he is the other night when I got to hug him. He had just gotten off stage from performing one of the most intensely negative Paint it Black sets and he was still dripping sweat, but he was gracious enough to stop and talk for a minute. Paint it Black has been slowly wading in the water towards melody and this is their most melodic album yet. Basically, I just can't get enough.

"Rather Be Dead" and wishing for change

Day three of school just beginnning and I've been meditating on the phrase "Rather Be Dead," just like the Refused song. I'm sitting in class, thinking about it all day. I figure something can't be healthy, however it forces me into a certain place where all I want to listen to is late 90s/early oughts post-post-hardcore or post-emocore/screamo or whatever you like to call it. My professor is talking about dairy farmers and how they make the cows produce more milk by forcing them to listen to music. She's totally a Chinese lady who lives in Monterey Park. She said, "Maybe some of you grow up in rock and roll... maybe that relax you."

I've really changed over the last few years. I used to fall asleep listening to Poison the Well's The Opposite of December. I actually used to relax listening to "A Wish for Wings That Work." These days, I listen to music that normal people listen to, but there's still some part of me that loves that stuff.

"Rather Be Dead" is probably where this movement started. Refused put out two wonderful albums: Songs to Fan the Flame of Discontent and The Shape of Punk To Come: A Chimerical Bombation in 12 Bursts. These albums are often cited as the heirs to the throne that The Nation of Ulysses left as well as the last great punk albums of the century. The Shape of Punk to Come was released in 1998 and started a revolution that made its way to the United States in the early 2000s. Bands didn't just want to be brutish hardcore dudes anymore; they wanted to be complex and have influences that came before 1982.

Curl Up and Die was one of the first metalcore bands in this era. They had math parts and breakdowns and all the formulaic nonsense, but they referenced Starship Troopers and had wonderfully perplexing parts in their songs that confused your everyday FSU dude. Their first EP called The Only Good Bug is a Dead Bug came out in 2000 and wasn't completely revolutionary, but was a great first release.

In 2004, DC band A Day in Black and White put out one of my favorite EPs in the genre to date called My Heroes Have Always Killed Cowboys. The sound is beyond raw in a way that you wouldn't imagine. I've even imagined that the sound of these recordings was a step up on Albini, however that is just plain ridiculous.

Following in Albini's mean sounding guitar steps, OXES put out an eponymous EP in 2005 that is intended to blow minds and eardrums. Basically, all you need to know is contained in the cover.

2005 saw the release of the last Cave In album, Perfect Pitch Black. This was a perfect swan song for a band that has had so many different "sounds" in so few years. This album brings their late 90s-Converge-copycat-Boston sound forward and merges it perfectly with their space rock/Failure/Catherine Wheel sound and even bits of their MCA era-modern rock radio aspirational hooks. The first song, "The World Is In Your Way" is a great example of this.

I've grown tired of this. I was thinking about posting like 25+ albums, but you'll just have to wait. None of you will download any of these anyways.

I guess I've had time this week to reflect on what's changed and what's the same. It leaves me feeling like I need to change something. I don't know what it is yet, but if someone figures it out, let me know.

The Summer Ends

I don't quite understand myself. I'm tired out of my mind, and yet, I'm not ready to sleep. Tomorrow is my first day of class for the semester and I am looking forward to listening to this song (see embedded video) while walking to class way more than anything else about the first day of school.



As a matter of fact, I will be listening to that song pretty much all day tomorrow.



Yes, summer is about as over as the 90s. Side note: can you believe this song came out in 1997 and not 1993?