I've moved! Find me at www.elielioh.com.

song of the day - 6.25.09: gavin rossdale - forever may you run

I generally am opposed to bashing musicians I don't like, and haven't done so on my blog yet, because I think they deserve credit for pursuing a musical path at all, and it's not like I can do any better. But I just could not resist with Gavin Rossdale.

The other day, I was telling my roommate about the No Doubt show that I went to recently, which turned out to be quite a satisfying concert experience, even from the very back of the lawn at Nissan Pavilion. Somewhere in the conversation, we got to talking about Rossdale (aka Mr. Gwen Stefani), pondering what he was up to these days, since he certainly wasn't making music. We laughed.

Then, the very next day, surfing the music video section of my On Demand service, who's name should appear but the great Gavin Rossdale, former front man of 90s rockers Bush? I pressed "play", not knowing what to expect, and definitely not expecting what I actually saw.

The song is a forgettable rock ballad, but the video is an unforgettable masterpiece of ridiculousness. This is probably the best unintentionally-funny music video I have ever seen. I want to describe it more, but you should just watch it. Just know that I was disappointed when he did not turn into a wolf. Enjoy.

song of the day - 6.22.09: the veils - sit down by the fire

My most recent song obsession has been "Sit Down By The Fire" by The Veils. I don't even remember how I came about this album, but it was just sitting there on my iTunes, so I figured I'd give it a listen. It reminds me of Echo & the Bunnymen, and Arcade Fire, but it deserves recognition for being just plain good songwriting.

father's day haiku

your stories like mine
have no beginning or end
father's son i am

Concert Review: The National - 5/25/09 at the 9:30 Club

The National are one of my top five favorite bands in the universe. Their last two albums, Boxer and Alligator are "go-to" albums on my iPod, and I've now seen them live three times. As much as I love them, I have to say, they're one of those bands that is better on a recording than live. Not that they aren't good live, but there's something missing in the live performances. Their cool, polished sound doesn't translate perfectly, and they don't have the proper instrumentation (even with nine people on-stage tonight).

Tonight's show featured an awesome opener, Colin Stetson, a saxophonist who also played in the horn section for the headliners. He did some things with a sax that I did not know could be done. I highly recommend giving him a listen. Also, the horn section added a lot to a few of the songs they played, like "Fake Empire" and "Squalor Victoria".

The National played four new songs as well (see setlist). My favorite of the new ones was "Runaway", with which they opened the set. Here's the very shaky, poor-sound-quality video I took of it:


They played 15 other songs, mostly from their last two albums. I was disappointed not to hear "All the Wine" and "Looking for Astronauts", two of my favorites, but I'm sure they had to mix up the setlists, since they played two shows at the 9:30 Club last night.

SETLIST
Runaway (new)
Start a War
Mistaken for Strangers
Brainy
Secret Meeting
Baby We'll Be Fine
Slow Show
Vanderline Crybaby (new)
Squalor Victoria
Abel
Ada
So Far Around the Bend (new-ish)
Apartment Story
Green Gloves
Fake Empire
-----------
City Middle
Mr. November
Blood Buzz Ohio (new)
About Today

song of the day - 5.22.09: peter bjorn and john - nothing to worry about

Peter Bjorn and John's new album Living Things has a lot of good stuff going on. It's an album worthy of year-end considerations. They've gotten a little more adventurous with their sound, and it's worked out just fine. Their Scandinavian charm is fully intact. My favorite track on the album is "Nothing to Worry About." This song rocks on it's own, but the video makes me love it even more. It's a mash-up of screaming children, hip hop beat, and PB&J's usual indifferent, dryly comedic vocals. Add the crazy Japanese dance/biker/Elvis gang from the video in the mix and you have a treat for all the senses! Ok, just sight and hearing. Those are definitely the top tier of senses though.

songs of the day - 5.15.09: feeling good

I love American Idol. There, I said it. Most reality competition TV shows make me want to gouge my eyes out with a spork, but American Idol holds a special place in my heart. Next week's Season 8 finale will include two of my favorite contestants of all time: Kris Allen and Adam Lambert. In the four seasons I've watched, I'm pretty sure the talent has been the best this year. Adam Lambert is the cream of the crop and maybe the best contestant Idol has seen... ever. 

However, even though his mad vocal skills and emo hairdo are the bomb dot com, I think Adam's gotten a bit of unfair praise from the judges. Paula is unabashedly in his corner to win the whole shebang, and it seems new judge Kara Dioguardi has joined her. One of the songs Adam was heavily praised for (on Rat Pack week) was "Feeling Good," written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the 1965 musical The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd, and probably most famously performed by the great Nina Simone.

Adam pulled the wool over the Idol judges' eyes on this one. The judges gushed about his original rendition of the song, but really, it was a straight ripoff of the version performed by Muse on their album, Origin of Symmetry. Too bad the judges have such limited record collections; they've probably never even heard of Muse (Randy definitely would've dropped the name if he knew). It's a trick Lambert's been pulling all year, like on his rendition of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" which sounded a heck of a lot like Gary Jules's version. David Cook copied covers regularly last year, as did Chris Daughtry in Season 5, and probably every other "rocker" on the show. (How do I know the judges have limited record collections? When Blake Lewis performed 311's "All Mixed Up," the judges revealed they had never heard of 311... uhh, WTF?)

But you know what? Who cares if he's covering covers? He sounds good. That's what counts in this competition. I don't really care if he wins or not. American Idol has a way of ruining talents by forcing them to put out terrible records, so I'm not holding my breath, but I have a sneaking suspicion and hope that Adam will transcend.

Album Review: "The Hazards of Love" by The Decemberists

Anyone want to hear about some music? Remember when I used to write about music regularly on here? Those were the days. It's not like I haven't been listening to new stuff or thinking of old favorites that I'd like to share with my friends on the interweb. I just got it in my head that I didn't want elispersonalstash to be a music blog. But when I wrote about other stuff, I ended up getting some crazy people all riled up about what God told them to tell everyone else they can and can't do. Those people are lost causes, so I'm back to writing for my people: music nerds, plus my friends and family.

Today, I'd like to introduce you to the album most played on my ipod in 2009: The Hazards of Love by the Decemberists. I'd never been a huge fan, though I liked the song they wrote about me, "Eli the Barrow Boy." This album changed my perception of the Portland indie rockers, led by Colin Meloy. They managed to put together a concept album that tells a clear story that actually also sounds good. In fact, it rocks out at some points.

The story of the album is about two lovers, Margaret and William, and the attempts to keep them apart by William's crazy jealous adoptive mother, the Queen of the Forest. Yes, there's magic. Yes, there are ghosts. Yes, there's a dealmaking river.

The story is good enough that it would totally hold up as a musical or rock opera or something. But that's not what makes it a great album. Meloy and company weave a few recurring melodies and themes throughout the album, which makes it flow better than most albums these days, which are more collections of singles. The instrumentation is really creative... banjos and slide guitars one moment, buzzy reverb and shredding the next. The guest vocalists on the album are superb, and Meloy can sing too. His singing is almost as good as his unabashedly nerdy lyrics (pull out your dictionaries!). 

The album starts off kind of slow, and definitely focuses on exposition more in the early going, sacrificing on the musical end a bit. The album really picks up at track 8 and never looks back. What's track 8, you ask? It's a little ditty called "The Wanting Comes In Waves / Repaid." OK, so the title isn't great. But the song really is. If this song was played out on the stage, William would be on one side singing about his longing for Margaret, and the Queen would be on the other side singing about what an ungrateful pain in the ass William is. William's song is folksy and very Ren-faire-y. The Queen's song is badass blues. The transitions are smooth, and the track works quite well, though probably better in the context of the whole album. 

Track 9 is a little guitar interlude, which just calms you down for a bit before they blow your mind with track 10, "The Rake's Song." The Rake is the nasty villain of the story, and this song is our introduction to his evil ways. It's kind of odd to listen to a singer going on about killing his children, but since it's in the context of a fictional story, it works, and it's richer for its provocativeness. There are some awesome rhymes in this track, and Meloy is at his best vocally too. You can download "The Rake's Song" for free from the Decemberists' site.

If you are even the slightest bit inclined to enjoy the musical theater format, and if you like good rock music, then get this album. Read the lyrics as you listen so you get the whole story. Enjoy!

Russ Merva Emerges to Confirm His Ignorance

Shortly after the November 2008 elections, I wrote this post about Prop 8, and singled out a man named Russ Merva, who was pictured holding a sign in support of the successful (in that it passed) measure.

Well, Ol' Russ Merva Googled himself and found my post. He left a comment which is really worth reading if you ever wanted to be terrified at a person's stupidity. Here's what he had to say:

WOW- what a honor, I have a blog dedicated all to me! Yes, I'm that guy on the picture, just for the heck of it I Googled myself and- Vuala! -here I am... and a blog... addressed to me.  Well, I'll seize the moment and will try to answer some tough questions you're asking me, Eli. Ready?! Here I come: Even if gay marriage happens it will not last long, why you ask? Well, because: 1) it is not natural, and as a result there are consequences, to start with: AIDS, and other freaky illnesses that follow this kind of lifestyle 2) there are many more reasons, but the main reason would be because... Yes Eli you guessed it(not that you guessed, but because you knew it deep inside..., where nobody sees or hears you, yeeees deep inside...) GOD will judge GLBT people from turning away from him. Some things are true whether you believe or not, and God is True. Up until 1963 or 64 American Psychiatric Association was considering Homosexuality a mental disorder, but then again because of threat of being murdered, poor doctors "switched" their minds and changed definition to a "love between two same sex partners". Eli, I now that you are a smart man, needless to say confused - can I recommend you this site- http://www.conservapedia.com/Homosexuality. Please don't get me wrong, I do wish you the best and may God open your eyes, so you don't end up..., therefore read it, there is a lot of good information. May God save you. P.S. Enlightened Human Being as you like to refer to yourself, let me enlighten you on what happened to society, empires if you will, that were (may I use this phrase again...- yes, thank you) Enlightened Human Beings that you are? I'll be more specific: Great Empires like Greeks, Romans, Byzantine tell me Eli what happened to them? Went down in ruins. Why? MORAL DEGRADATION P.P.S. USA DESTRUCTION 101- Ignore your conscience, spit on morals.

I'm not going to respond to everything he says. What would be the point? He will in all likelihood die a bigot. Also, he didn't bother to answer the question of what the gays ever did to him, and why it's so important to him that his bigoted views be enforced on people he has nothing to do with.

I kind of feel bad for the man. He clearly has no capacity to think for himself, and to top it off, he probably sees the writing on the wall: Prop 8 was the turning point. Prop 8's passage was a devastating loss for truth, fairness, and justice, but America recognized it as such, and is not going to let it happen again. I'm sure it's been a bad few weeks for Russ, what with Iowa and Vermont joining Massachusetts in allowing gay marriage. Russ and his fellow willingly-ignorant Bible-thumping sociopaths, are losing this fight, and he must be pretty sad about it.

Here's a video that I think sums up the gay marriage debate pretty well. Watch it Russ! It's full of truth, unlike your Conservapedia article (which carries the laughable tagline: "The Trustworthy Encyclopedia"... HAAAAHAHA).

Statesmen Gone Wild: Free Speech Plundered Over Porno Pirates

This post relates to pornography, but does not link to or show any actual pornography, so it is safe for a hidebound killjoy like MD State Senator Andy Harris (R-Baltimore and Harford) to read it. Yesterday, Harris painted a cross on his chest and crusaded against the evil heathens at the University of Maryland (which I'm proud to call my alma mater) because the school's student union scheduled a screening of "Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge," apparently the highest-budget XXX-rated porn in history. 

Harris ignored the facts that 1) no state money went toward the screening, 2) IDs would be checked at the door, 3) Planned Parenthood was invited to lead a discussion about safe sex practices before the screening, and 4) no one was putting a gun to anyone's head to attend the screening, and he proposed an amendment that would have cancelled ALL state funding to the school if they showed a XXX porn. Skittish University officials forced the cancellation of the screening. Good for you Andy! Now the world is free of porn... except for being a few keystrokes away from any person with an internet connection. 

I'll try to refrain from injecting my own opinions about pornography, but last I heard, it is legal, and I do believe there's this thing called "free speech" that's supposed to prevent legislatures from meddling (censoring) when something "inappropriate" but legal is going on. But Andy doesn't care about that. There's boobs! We can't show boobs to adults who want to see boobs! That would be terrible! And definitely worthy of shutting down the flagship university of the great state of Maryland after 155 years of service!

Here's what Senate President Mike Miller, who said he would have supported the amendment, had to say about it:

• I don't believe in censorship, but at the same time, I don't think that film was appropriate in a state building on a state campus. . . Yes, the amendment was overkill, but at the same time, it would have passed because it forced legislators to either vote for hardcore pornography or university funding.
  

It's a nice little quote, but it makes no sense. A "nay" vote on the amendment = porn and funding remain. A "yea" vote = no porn and funding remains or yes porn and no funding, but the Senators are in no way voting on whether the school is allowed to show it... perhaps because they have NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER to do so. They are just legislating the morality of porn by threatening the purse-strings of one of the most important institutions in the state. Legislators wouldn't have been "forced" to do anything at all. Just like students are not "forced" to see the movie. They totally reached beyond their powers on this one.

And my very own State Senator, Jamie Raskin (D-Montgomery), did me proud by saying just that:

• The proposed amendment was a direct affront to freedom of speech. . . The Supreme Court has been clear that student groups enjoy First Amendment rights. It's not the movie I would have chosen for myself or my kids, but that's the beauty of the First Amendment: People who want to see it can go, and those who don't want to don't have to.
  

Well put, Senator Raskin (that's him on the right, Harris on the left). I'm so thankful that my representative in the State Senate understands that he has not been elected to legislate what is "decent" or "appropriate" to be shown to consenting adults.

I would love to see the University call the Senate's bluff and show the film anyway. Any court would strike down the Senate's actions, and the public outcry against closing down the University over such a trivial matter might put the Senate back in its place. Also, I hate to see my supposedly liberal state behaving in such a backwards way. It's not like UMD was going to be the first school to show it. UC Davis showed it without incident, as have other schools.

Sadly, an (unscientific) poll in the Baltimore Sun shows 60% of voters think the University did the right thing by cancelling it. Apparently we still live in such a puritanical society that we'd rather give up our rights to freedom of speech than allow some college kids to watch a porno.

The Murse Revolution

Recently, I was at a party, and a friend of mine spilled some pasta salad on his neatly pressed khakis. No problem, I have a Tide-To-Go pen for ya. That'll come right out.

A few months ago, my girlfriend's car overheated, and we had to stop at a gas station to peer under the hood. It was night-time. No problem, I have a headlamp!

Just about every single day, I commute to work on the Metro, and some loud-mouth jerk is yapping away on his cell phone about some nonsense. No problem, I'll drown that noise out with my iPod and Shure Sound Isolation headphones. 

Unless the cell phone conversation is really interesting. Then I'll break out the digital voice recorder. Or maybe I'm inspired by some comment to write a poem or plan a blog entry. I have my Moleskine notebook and multiple colors of Pilot pens for that. Or maybe I want to distract myself by defacing an anti-choice advertisement on the train. I have my red Sharpie for that.

Whatever I need, I've got it with me, because I carry a murse. Yes, a man-purse. It's technically called a messenger bag, but let's face it, it's a bag with a strap filled useful things that one carries around daily. It's a purse (or murse). I'm not ashamed of it either. I like to be prepared for things. Why should my being a man preclude having all of these items with me at all times?

Here's a look at the contents of my murse on a typical day: 

Also, you might find my lunch, some mail, sunglesses, a water bottle, ibuprofen, or a camera (not pictured, duh). Of course, what makes my murse much more useful is the fact that I have a tiny Acer netbook that fits in one of the external pockets.

Sadly, men are still uneasy about carrying murses because of their perception as a women's accessory. In this classic Seinfeld episode, Jerry is ridiculed and called a girly man for carrying a "European carry-all" with him instead of a wallet. 

But the episode clearly illustrates that pockets and wallets do not suffice! Poor George starts having back problems because of his enormous wallet, and eventually loses its contents in a gust of wind. If he'd had a murse, he would never have had such problems.

Why should women have all the fun and convenience of being able to carry a book or a handheld videogame or a sock full of nickels at all times? It's unfair. Downright sexist. So I hope that the murse revolution is coming.

Thoughts on the Recession

Did you know there's a recession going on?! Of course you did. Even if your job hasn't been affected at all, you noticed, because it's everywhere. I noticed too. Here are some of the things I find interesting:

+ Most marketing and advertising is still as shameless as ever: It seems like every tv commercial and internet ad out at the moment mentions the "tough economy" in some way or another. They emphasize that, in these tough times, it's important to be wise with your money, so you really should buy ABC insurance or XYZ pickup truck. We're supposed to be bailing out these jerks? They have jobs. Could they be any more insincere in their advertising?

+ To be fair, there are a few examples of companies behaving well: I saw a commercial that said Hyundai is selling their cars with a guarantee that if you lose your job in the next year, you can return it. That sounds like a winner of a proposal to me. The company looks good, like it cares. Not that I'm in the market for a car, but it makes me more likely to buy Korean.

+ I thought I noticed a change in retail service. It looked like service was getting better, with people working just a little harder so they're not the next one to be laid off. Then I got really crappy service at Eggspectations, and kicked some dirt on my theory. Still, I'm very curious to see if, as the unemployment rate increases, people will start taking their jobs more seriously. I recognize that there will always be the odd jerk out there serving you coffee with a scowl to whom you'd like to say, "Hey, I ALSO worked all day." Hopefully now there'll be less of them.

+ Partisanship is alive and well in Washington. I don't think it's Obama's fault. Republicans need to come up with some idea that is not tax cuts. They also need to drop the hypocritical cries for less government. I wish there were more sane Republicans for Democrats to reach out to, but it seems they've all been replaced by Democrats, and we're left with the radicals that come from the reddest of red states.

+ You know what would be great for the country right now? If those AIG execs who got the money just voluntarily gave back their bonuses. If ever there was a chance to cash in on changing the public's opinion of the financial system, it is now. They don't need that money! They're rich folks. And it's not like they're giving it away. They ARE buying something by giving the money back: public backing, the good will of a nation. AIG is toxic now. I doubt they did anything that was at all uncommon in the industry, but it's extremely popular to harp on bonus-giving at the moment, on both the right and the left. It won't do any good if they're forced to give it back. It has to be a grand gesture of voluntary support for a nation in need of such grand gestures from everyone, not just the president. That's what change is, people!

It's an interesting point in our nation's history. I'm not satisfied with the news we get from traditional sources; it's just too narrow in scope, I think. I hope the internet cultivates some bigger, more radical ideas for charting the course of the nation's and world's future. But I'm not holding my breath.

Sleep Apneopoly?

I went to the doctor's office the other day to see if I could get tested for sleep apnea. I'm almost certain I have it. It's an annoying sleep disorder that makes me stop breathing in the middle of the night, then have a jolt as my body panics from lack of oxygen. It makes it so my sleep isn't as restful as it should be. Everyone who's slept near me says I have it. 

The appointment started with answering what seemed like hundreds of versions of the same two questions on a handheld computing device from the '80s (do you get sleepy a lot during the day? do you snore or stop breathing a lot in your sleep?). Then, another lady and I watched a 19-minute educational video (that's VHS) about sleep apnea, complete with overly dramatic re-enactments and testimonials. This other lady had it bad. Her regular breathing sounded like the average person's snores after a night of heavy drinking. She actually fell asleep during the video, which I found hilariously appropriate. 

After the video, the lady in charge (I don't know what she was, a nurse, a technician, a specialist, but not a doctor) came in and gave a spiel about treatment options. There's surgery, a mouthpiece, or the dreaded CPAP machine. This doesn't include behavioral changes like weight loss, restricting alcohol intake, and sleeping on your side. So, to my surprise, most insurance, including my own, does not cover surgery or the dental piece, because they are not proven to be effective, but they do cover the CPAP machine, because it's a sure thing, or so the nice lady said. It costs about $600, not including the recommended humidifier attachment before insurance.

So nice lady took snore-breath lady to another room to talk individually, and I was left to wait. In the room where I was waiting, I noticed that all the posters on the walls, all the pamphlets, and all of the devices laid out had the logo "ResMed" on them. This is the company that makes the CPAP machine. I don't like being marketed to in my doctor's office. It seems like there should be no place for that when my health is at stake. It seems this is too much to ask, though. When I got my turn with the nice lady, she told me I'd be scheduled for a sleep study, and that my insurance would cover the breathing machine if I needed it. So that was that. I left the doc's.

Now, something does not sit right with me about this whole CPAP machine thing. The lady who saw me seemed more sales rep than medical professional. All the obvious branding and single choice of CPAP brand set off my corporate bloodsucker alarm. The fact that insurance companies don't cover the options that don't involve selling me an expensive machine just because the other options aren't proven to work made me more dubious. Doctors hand out stuff that they're not sure will work all the time. That's like half their job. Trial and error.

So, don't get me wrong. I'm gonna try it. None of the cost comes out of my pockets, and the potential benefit of getting a completely restful night's sleep for the first time in my life is pretty appealing. I'm definitely NOT excited about sleeping with an ugly, uncomfortable-looking mask on my face every night for the rest of my life (especially since I'm an avid cuddler ... TMI?). I'm just concerned at another possible example of insurance and medical supply companies treating me with the most profitable method, and not necessarily the best. I can't wait for healthcare reform, man.

song of the day - 2.27.09: violent femmes - waiting for the bus

Anyone whose daily commute involves a public bus knows the frustration the Violent Femmes are singing about in this song. Why, this very morning, as I waited about 15 minutes for a bus that's supposed to come every ten, this song was playing on repeat in my head (and then on my ipod). The Violent Femmes'  indifferent slacker sloppiness and deadly catchy melodies are what makes them so likable. This song is hilarious, yet so true. It will always play in my head during a particular life situation, just like "I'm So Tired" by the Beatles plays when I'm so tired. Admire the simplicity:

Hey mister driver man, don't be slow,
'Cause I got somewhere I gotta go.
Hey mister driver man, drive that thing fast,
'Cause my precious time keeps slipping past.

15 rock albums that shaped my taste over the years (part III)

See also: Part I (Nos. 1-5) and Part II (Nos. 6-10)

11. Sigur Ros - ( )

I heard about Sigur Ros from one of the unlikeliest of sources: my blue-haired roommate Colin who was, at the time, pretty much exclusively into punk rock. He'd read about them in some music mag that said something extremely complimentary about it. He liked it, so I gave it a listen, and I fell asleep. Actually, this is probably the best album I can think of to fall asleep to. The words are some jibberish combination of English, Icelandic, and made up sounds, so there are no lyrics to occupy your mind. The tempo is slow, and the mood is dramatically mellow. This is night-time, headphone music. I have no idea what they're saying, but I think it's better that way, because the singer's voice acts as just another beautiful sounding instrument along with the reverbed guitars played with violin bows and the synths hovering idly on whatever note or chord would be most likely to stir up some sadness and awe. Getting into Sigur Ros opened me up to ambient sounds like SOAD opened me up to metal.  

12. Dismemberment Plan - Change

The Dismemberment Plan embody the "grower" label for me. I love all four of their albums, but it took a lot of listening to each one until I "got it." I got into D-Plan's discography in a backwards manner, literally. I started at the end, and worked my way to the beginning. Change was the DC band's last album, and their most accessible work too. It was a good starting point. Songs like "Time Bomb" and "Following Through" kept the CD in my car stereo long enough to let songs like "The Other Side" and "Pay for the Piano" settle into a comfortable space for my ears. This was, and arguably still is, my favorite band. They're a bit too weird for most people, but the mix of indie/emo/post-punk/prog sounds is right up my alley. The lyrics are clever, sometimes deep, sometimes funny, and the eccentricity of lead singer Travis Morrison really shines through in all of their best work. Sadly, the band broke up before I ever knew about them. They played two reunion/charity shows at the Black Cat two years ago, and the first one of those still ranks as my favorite concert of all time.

13. Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Neutral Milk Hotel represents the first band on this list that I was not told about by someone I know personally. I just found them based on reviews online, which seems so obvious to me now that I'm kind of obsessed with this stuff, but reminds me that the internet has made such a difference in every area of life. I'm sure I gravitated to this album because of an existing affinity for bands like the Flaming Lips and  Modest Mouse, who I think owe at least some of their inspiration to this great but short-lived band. This album is the work of what I think must have been some sort of mad genius. All the best musicians are a little mad, but NMH almost flaunts it. The genius part is what makes it so interesting though. The music and lyrics represent timeless songwriting. The crazy sounds you hear may irk you at first, but they all come together to paint a surreal, dreamlike picture of love and loss, or at least that's what I think it's about.

14. Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium

Just when I thought I'd fully swayed from prog to indie rock, Mars Volta came along and called me back. This album blew me away on first listen, and still blows me away every time I listen to it. I think this album is one of the most amazing things to come out of rock music in the aughts (...hmm future blog post?). This album incorporates some of my favorite features of prog bands like Rush and King Crimson, classic rockers like Pink Floyd and Zeppelin, with some of the smoothness and class of Latin music, and the edge of post-punk. High praise, I know, but this album and their next one, Frances the Mute, definitely warrant it. It didn't bring prog-rock back to favored genre status for me, but it reminded me how unimportant it is to have a favorite genre, because there are always going to be exceptional bands and albums that defy the boundaries and just sound like damn good music.

15. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand, The Faint - Danse Macabre, The Rapture - Echoes

I know, I totally cheated here. It bothers me a little, too. I don't think I would put any of these albums on here on their own on this list. I got into all of them around the same time, and all three of them together contributed to get my ass on the dance floor. Until not too long ago, I was one of those guys that refused to get up and dance. Then, the infiltration of dance beats into my favored genre of music got me wanting to move my feet. It's unfair to the bands to lump them together like this, but in my life, these are the songs I put on at parties to get people moving, even though it usually ends up being me alone.

Honorable Mention:

Beatles - Abbey Road

Dream Theater - Scenes from a Memory

Yes - Close to the Edge

Cake - Fashion Nugget

Fiona Apple - When the Pawn...

The Walkmen - Bows + Arrows

Sufjan Stevens - Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State

The National - Boxer

cupid max

My cat, Max, was in the V-day holiday spirit.

my friend and guitar teacher, aaron geller, playing michael brecker's "delta city blues" on guitar

15 rock albums that shaped my taste over the years (part II)

See also: Part I (Nos. 1-5)

6. Pink Floyd - Animals

Around the same time I was experimenting with illegal internet downloading, I also started experimenting with mind-altering substances. And what better way to appreciate those substances than to rock out to some Pink Floyd at their trippiest. It's not like I hadn't heard Dark Side of the Moon or The Wall by this point. I liked them, too. But Animals was the one that made me love Pink Floyd and psychedelic music in general. It's a concept album with five songs, including two short versions of the same song, "Pigs on the Wing" as the album's bookends, and three epic (10 min. plus) tracks, "Dogs" (my favorite Floyd song of all time), "Pigs", and "Sheep" in between. The songs have many parts, and many weird sounds, but they flow incredibly well, especially after a few hits off our dorm room's trusty apparatus, Sub-Zero, in the glow of a fiber-optic Christmas tree in April.

7. King Crimson - Red

Here's where my tastes started getting kinda weird. My sophomore year of college, my roommate Andrew introduced me to King Crimson, based on my positive feelings for Yes and Dream Theater, two of prog-rock's giants. I liked those bands, but there was always something inherently nerdy about them that kept me from total adoration. KC, and specifically Red represented an unnerdy prog-rock band that I could fully get behind. Now, don't get me wrong, the members of Crimson are definitely nerds. But a few times in their nearly 40-year existence, they've put together the right formula for a technically brilliant album that has soul. Kurt Cobain said Red was one of his major influences, and is quoted in various places on the interweb as saying it is the best album ever made. The closing track, "Starless," is 12 minutes of brooding, blues-prog-jazz-rock mastery. It remains one of my favorite songs of all time. 

8. Radiohead - OK Computer

Duh! What list of significant albums would be complete without Radiohead's OK Computer? After all, it's their OK Computer! Ahh how I amuse myself. I got on the Radiohead bandwagon about a decade late. I'd heard "Creep" and "Fake Plastic Trees" and even "Karma Police" when they were first on the radio, but never bothered to get any of their albums until just before Hail to the Thief came out. Then I kicked myself for having missed all the bandwagony goodness of Radiohead's prime. Better late than never, though, right? Actually, I think they're still in their prime, and that In Rainbows is their greatest success, and the The Bends is a better album than OK Computer, but for the purposes of this list, this is the one that started it all for me. It opened the doors of "indie" music to my prog-rock-obsessed ears, and I have never turned back. An oversized poster of the album artwork is prominently displayed in my bedroom, but it keeps falling down onto my bed because it's too heavy for the many layers of poster tape I have used to secure it. Yes, OK Computer is so good, it even haunts me while I sleep.

9. System of a Down - Toxicity

I never thought I'd like metal. I was wrong. System of a Down proved me wrong. In a dimly lit dorm room in Ellicott Hall, when I should've been doing homework for that class I failed that cost me my scholarship, I first heard "Chop Suey" on MTV2. Yes, MTV2 used to show music videos, late, late at night. SOAD made metal very hip in my mind. Metallica are douchebags as far as I'm concerned. They can suck it. They killed Napster, after all. Also, their music never appealed to me beyond their technical proficiency. Other metal groups with the screaming and the hair ... not for me either. But SOAD brought a little extra something, with that Middle-Eastern vibe and Serj's crazy vocals. Their songs are exciting and fresh. Also, seeing them live was one of the greatest musical moments of my life. They bring the energy like a metal band should, but they don't take themselves so seriously like a lot of metal bands do, unfortunately.

10. The Strokes - Is This It?
Those late-night MTV2 videos introduced me to the Strokes too (as well as this obscure English group called Coldplay). "Is this from now or the 70s?" I asked my roommate as I watched Julian Casablancas wail away on "Last Nite." Turns out it was "now." Or 2002 anyway. There was definitely something vintage about the sound, but I couldn't buy the simplistic explanations of, "Oh, they just sound like the Velvet Underground." Uhh, no they don't. If anything, a closer approximation might be Television, but even that comparison is missing something. I thought long and hard about it, and decided that, despite a sound reminiscent in instrumentation and production quality, these were very modern types of rock songs, more similar to early Weezer and Nirvana in their effortless expression of the language of pop.

Stay tuned for Part III in the coming days.

15 rock albums that shaped my taste over the years (part I)

I often think about the scene in "High Fidelity" where John Cusack's character, Rob, explains to Dick his new organizational scheme for his record collection: autobiographical. I have no desire to organize my entire collection in this way, nor can I think of how, given that it's mostly in digital form. But I am posting here the next best thing: a list of 15 albums, arranged chronologically in terms of my awareness of them, that shook up my music taste when I first heard them. (FYI: This is not my list of 15 favorite albums of all time. That will come sometime between "later" and "never.")

1. U2 - Joshua Tree

I'm pretty sure this is the first complete album I ever consciously listened to in its entirety. I was about four, and I fell completely in love with "With or Without You," which my four-year-old brain was somehow convinced was sung by the bearded dude on the cover (not Bono). It's funny to think that my long and twisted journey into rock music fandom started with a band that, in retrospect, was already nearing the end of its serious musical relevance, yet is still producing "hit" records that I would never in a million years pay money for. Nevertheless, Joshua Tree's anthem-rock odes to the American West will always hold a special place in my heart. 

2. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik

This was the first CD I ever owned. I'm pretty proud of that. A lot of people I know wouldn't want anyone to know what their first CD was, but I stand by mine 100%. I asked for the album for my 10th(-ish?) birthday from a group of friends, one of whom chided me that I had poor music taste. Ha, if only he could hear what I listen to nowadays. Coincidentally, the Chili Peppers were also at what I now consider the end of their creative relevance with this album, and they too continued to make mainstream "hits" that I would never buy. But this album was and still is fantastic. It was right at the crossing point between their spastic funk and chilled out alternative periods, a phase I wish would've lasted longer.

3. Weezer - Weezer (Blue)

I'm starting to notice a trend here. The first four albums on this list are all by artists who have gone majorly downhill in recent years, yet have the mainstream backing that allows them to sell out stadium shows with ease. Weezer's self-titled debut (the first of three self-titled albums... jerks!) was a staple of my middle-school post-grunge alternative diet. I was a little too young and perhaps not yet angry enough to fully appreciate grunge when it first came out. Bands like Weezer, Beck, Green Day, Blur, and Oasis dominated my interest in those formative years. The Blue album remains in my top ten(-ish?) albums of life to this day, and has one of my favorite songs of all time too, "Say it Ain't So." Also, on a personal note, in 7th grade, when I was dating Elain Szu, "our song" was "Buddy Holly." 

4. Dave Matthews Band - Under the Table and Dreaming

I had a long love affair with DMB from late middle school until early college. It'd be easy for me to say that I'm embarassed of this period, since I don't really like them anymore, but I will not. In my defense, this was before the days of downloading music, and the rock music on the radio in the late 90s was a steady stream of garbage (Third Eye Blind, Matchbox 20, Blink 182). During this dark period of mostly boy-bands and bling-bling hip-hop, DMB's fun, mellow songs were the best of what was around. Appropriately, the opening track on this album was called, "The Best of What's Around." Anyway, even though I no longer consider myself a fan, I still contend that DMB's first three studio albums were all pretty good, including this one, which had their first big hits, "What Would You Say?" and "Ants Marching." Also, interestingly enough, the second (and final) time I dated Elain Szu, in 8th grade, "our song" was "Satellite."

5. Dispatch - Bang Bang

This one is sort of cheating, because I never listened to Dispatch songs in album form, and had to Google their discography just now to figure out which album I should put on here. Why? Because to me, Dispatch = Napster. My freshman year of college coincided with the peak of illegal downloading on Napster. Dispatch was one of the bands that benefited the most (at least in terms of fame) from Napster, because their popularity spread like this: friend > AOL Instant Messenger > me > Napster > CD Burner > Discman. Yes, the process has been streamlined in the last decade, but this band, and specifically songs like "The General" on this album, were the prototype for peer-to-peer music sharing over the internet. Their jammy songs were pretty good too. Yes, they lacked depth, but back in the early aughts, we weren't looking for complexity. We were looking for things that were free. When the RIAA took Napster to court, Dispatch held a benefit concert for the cause, attended by Napster founder Shawn Fanning, in his ironic Metallica hat. I met the band at that gig at the 9:30 Club, and then I was one of 110,000 people to attend a free reunion/farewell concert in Boston a few years later.

Stay tuned for Parts II and III in the coming days.

Album Review: "The Crying Light" by Antony and the Johnsons

At first listen, Antony and the Johnsons' The Crying Light probably isn't for anyone but the most morose among us, freshly off being dumped by the loves of our lives. After subsequent listens, it probably still isn't for most people. It's so very unconventional. But for those open-minded enough to allow Antony Hegarty's irresistably weird voice to do its magic, there's the bountiful reward of a stunning collection of songs making up his third full-length album. His quivering, almost operatic singing style is unlike anything else out there on the rock scene. It might even be a stretch to call this rock music. That's neither here nor there. The only classification that matters to me is that it's beautiful music.

The Animal Collective album is the 2009 release getting all the attention so far, but this one is my pick for album of the first month and six days of year. Not that Merriweather Post Pavilion isn't very good. It is, and deserves any attention it gets. But The Crying Light is so direct and sincere in its appeal to the sad boy or girl in you without being cheesy that you have to recognize it as a rare piece of art.

Video for "Epilepsy is Dancing" 

Concert Review: Andrew Bird - 2/3/09 at the 9:30 Club

The slacker blogger is back with another concert review. If not for my unsustainable addiction to concerts, this blog might have died long ago.

Last night, Andrew Bird brought his enormous bag of tricks to the 930 Club and wowed a full house for about an hour. It is truly unfair how much talent this man has. Don't hog it all! This guy is probably the best violinist in rock music (by a large margin). He might be the best whistler in the universe. He's got a silky tenor voice that hits some tough notes with grace and ease. He writes probably the most intelligent music out there (you'll need a dictionary to understand what the songs are about). And he's a passable, if not amazing, guitar player. One of his skills that I didn't know about before the show was his live looping prowess. I'd read somewhere that his shows included a lot of looping, which made sense, considering there are often a lot of violin parts layered over each other. But he pulls this effect off live with the same ease with which he shows off all of his other amazing skills. He'd play a few notes on his fiddle, then some harmonies, and pretty quickly, there's the dense, rich sound of a chamber string group.

Now, here's the problem: For all his talents, I think Bird should be better than he is. I think he's coasting. By almost any other musician's standards, his latest two albums would've been triumphant, career-making stuff. But I'm not buying it for him. His songs border on becoming boring, which is shocking given his many talents. He's not a bad songwriter. He's just not as ambitious as I would like. He should be pushing the envelope with crazy stuff on a regular basis, but he only does on a semi-regular basis.

A lot of the show blended together for me, as I'm not as familiar with the individual songs on the last two albums as I am with those on Mysterious Production of Eggs. He only played one song from that, my favorite of his albums, "Fake Palindromes," and I wish he'd just not bothered, because his rendition last night was annoying. He pulled the "I'm-gonna-change-every-single-note-of-this-song" trick, making it impossible to even recognize except for the sweeping violin riff. My favorite song he played was the first encore, one that I think is not on any of his albums (called "Why? / Somedays" on the setlist), but I'm not sure. He went super-bluesy with it, and it worked well. I think he was trying to act like a drunk. He should do that more.

So, perhaps I'm being unfair by criticizing Bird for not being as amazing as I think he can be. It was really worth it just to see his mad skillz at all things musical. But I still hold out hope that, one of these days, he's gonna come out with something that's equal to his limitless talents. I can't wait.

Setlist (according to NPR anyway, though I know it's missing at least "Fake Palindromes"):

Instrumental from Soldier On EP
Water Jet Cliche
Masterswarm
Oh No
Effigy
Natural Disaster
Tenuousness
Nomenclature
Not A Robot, But A Ghost
Privateers (formerly The Confession)
Plasticities
Anonanimal
Fitz and the Dizzyspells
Imitosis
Souverian
Why? [Encore]
Tables and Chairs [Encore]

For some pictures that don't suck and the concert recorded in full, visit NPR's page for last night's show.

Concert Review: Frightened Rabbit - 1/19/09 at Rock and Roll Hotel

First off, let me say, I'm not very good at taking pictures, apparently. I need some better skills and/or a better camera. Or just get to shows earlier or something. Anyway, I resolve to improve the quality of photos on this blog. This right here is just poor.

So, on with the review.

This is the second time in three months that, on the eve of a massively significant day in our nation's history, a foreigner has driven home the importance of the occasion. Billy Bragg came by the 9:30 club just before Election Day to tell DC how much our votes meant to him and the rest of the world. When Frightened Rabbit came on the last day of the Bush presidency, the significance of the day was not lost on them either. The Scotsmen said there was no other place in the world they would rather be right now than in Washington, DC  for this occasion.

Their enthusiasm showed in their performance too. At least I assume it did, even though I figure these guys are the type to go balls-to-the-wall for all their shows. Most of the songs were from the new album, Midnight Organ Fight, one of the best albums of 2oo8. They played one track from their first album. Check back later for a setlist once I get my shit together.

Anyway, I really like this band, and their show, though not quite as powerful as the recording, was another treat for this very exciting long weekend. Ok, it's late, and I'm starting my Inauguration day trek into the wilderness of Obama-crazy masses in less than two hours. See you in the Obama Era.

Concert Review: Department of Eagles - 1/17/09 at Johnny Brenda's (Philadelphia) **setlist included**

Too bad more people don't know Department of Eagles. Maybe if they did, their tour would've come through the nation's capital. I had to go up to Philadelphia to see the band that earned the highly coveted prize of my #1 album of 2008. That would be In Ear Park (read my review). I love that album. I think it's a masterpiece. I also think their first album, The Cold Nose, was very good too. Apparently even the band members themselves think that one was bad, though.

Fred and Dan, the two official members of the band, were working the merch table at the venue, a nice little spot called Johnny Brenda's that I liked quite a bit. I had an embarassing little chat with each of them where I mumbled something about loving them and wanting to have their babies, or something like that. Anyway, I never know what to say in those situations.

So this show was only the 3rd time they'd played as this band, but for most of the show, I wouldn't have been able to tell that. They were pretty tight. Fred and Dan were joined by the bassist and drummer from Dan's regular band, Grizzly Bear. They're solid pros. Apparently, quite a bit of arrangement was necessary to make those songs from In Ear Park performable live. They didn't manage to arrange my favorite song, "Herringbone," though.

They played most of the rest of the album, along with one track from Cold Nose, "Sailing by Night," as well as two or three new numbers and a cover of JoJo's "Too Little Too Late" as a pretty entertaining encore. Yeah, that JoJo. Both of the new tracks featured some awesome looping of vocals by Dan. He can really sing. He has a raspy, sweet voice that keeps pitch really well. Very faithful to the album. Guitar work was good too. Dan even broke out the banjo for one song, "Balmy." I'd have liked some more of the electronic effects worked in there. Still, it was a darn good show. Totally worth the trip.

shameless pepsi ads

There are a lot of people making money off Barack Obama-related merchandise and marketing. Here's one particularly ambitious attempt. There are countless shirts, hats, and pins graced with his name or likeness. I don't particularly like it, but insomuch as it indicates a greater participation in and awareness of politics and government, I'm ok with it.

But there's a line. I walked out of the Metro at Union Station the other day to this sight: 
This is DC's train station, a landmark of the city, and it's plastered with Pepsi ads that blatantly capitalize on the Obama campaign's message of hope for this struggling nation and world. We are in the midst of the worst economic crisis in generations, coming off of eight years of the worst leadership this nation has seen, and we are on the verge of taking our first breath of some badly needed hope... and Pepsi has to stick its ugly corporate logo on it and cheapen the whole damned thing.

There's no "O" in "we" so Pepsi had to make a slight modification. Disgusting.

song of the day - 1.8.09: frightened rabbit - the twist

"Song of the day" is back in full effect after a month of slacking! Ok, it wasn't all slacking. A lot of that month I spent working on my year-end top albums list and year-end compilation. While I was working on those, I came across a band I can't stop listening to these days: Frightened Rabbit.

I saw them on a top album list on eMusic, and the blurb said the album, The Midnight Organ Fight, was produced by the same guy who produced Boxer by the National. That was enough for me. I downloaded the album, and it's been on pretty constant repeat for the past month (along with Jay Reatard's 2008 Matador Singles). This album is a "go-to," to steal a term from roommate Ed. The one your fingers will navigate you to on your iPod without even thinking. It also ended up at #5 on my top albums list of 2008.

Today's song, "The Twist," is a good example of what's so awesome about this band. First of all, it's helpful to know that the whole album is basically the dude's reaction to a break up (as so many great albums seem to be). The genius of this album is the simple, catchy rock hooks, the singer's Scottish whimper of a singing voice, and the incredibly clever lyrics. He has a way with words, for sure. He's one of those song-writers that can really make you feel what he's feeling with his words. He uses lewd language and profanity really effectively too. He doesn't hold back. Here's a sample from this track:

Lets pretend I'm attractive and then
You won't mind, you can twist for a while
It's the night, I can be who you like
And I'll quietly leave before it gets light

So twist and whisper the wrong name
I don't care nor do my ears
Twist yourself around me
I need company, I need human heat
I need human heat

Oh, and guess what. DC folks are in luck. Frightened Rabbit is playing at the Rock & Roll Hotel on 1/19 for a mere $12! I will see you there.