Back From the Void Part 2: The Explanation

Okay, I had this whole other thing written out about The Legends' new album "Over and Over" (hence the pic of the album) and how good it is, as well as mentions of the new ones from YACHT, The Dirty Projectors, God Help the Girl, and Fun, but stupid blogspot is only posting what I wrote on Outlook and not what I actually wrote on here. I have no idea how to fix it. When I edit it, what I wrote is still there, it's just not showing up in the final, published version. I call horseshit. You'll just have to guess what was written. Look at it this way, a little mystery will keep our relationship interesting and fresh.

Regardless, I hope everyone had as happy, as safe, and as fun of a 4th as I did!!

Back From the Void

Note: If this entry looks weird, it's because I began writing it at work on Outlook, emailed it to myself, and then copy and pasted the email to here in order to finish it up. Lord only knows how jacked it's going to appear.

Wow, have I been lazy about posting or what? It’s been 2 months and my last post was merely a heads up to everyone about a show. A ton has happened in the last few months: getting myself in shape, getting my heart broken for the umpteenth time (you damnable females), the Magic nearly going all the way, Liverpool coming #2 in the Premier, the US somehow beating Spain and going up against Brazil in our first ever shot at getting a FIFA cup (still trying to wrap my head around that one), my baby nephew not being in the best of health but still fighting the good fight (he is Irish and a McNulty, after all), trying to catch up with my comic books, getting sucked into Crackdown, Oblivion, and Ghostbusters on 360, Roommate and I up to scandalous deeds, getting ready to go to St Pete to do some recording, working 50-60 hour work weeks, drinking and partying way more than I should (going in to work still drunk is so not fun, yet that seems to be my regular thing now every Monday and Friday), etc, etc, etc. It’s been a friggin crazy time. So, yeah, I’ve been a little pre-occupied. Still, I've been reading about Octohawk's adventures in Colorado in her Pejorative Jinx blogand Pacing the Panic Room's blog about his adorable, increasing family and in comparison, my life seems pretty god damned dull and pointless, despite the insanity. BUT, that is another blog for another time.

Let’s talk music!

I love rediscovering music. I’ve been listening to a lot of the MC5 lately, whom I haven’t listened to in ages. Not since I went through my Wayne Kramer/listening-to-old-punk-rockers-somehow-gives-me-validity phase as a kid. God damn that was a good band. They really need to have a reunion. Are they all even still alive?

There has been some seriously good stuff that’s come out lately. First off, we’ve got Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest. So far, I’m pretty certain this is my favorite album of the year. It’s absolutely stunning and you can definitely hear the band growing into themselves. They’ve always been pretty unique, so it’s kind of stupid to say they’re “finding their own sound,” but something is definitely going on there. I could make a metaphor about flowers blossoming, but that’s gay. I’ve heard people say this album is poppier. I don’t know if I’d use “poppy” to ever describe Grizzly Bear, but it definitely isn’t quite as gloomy as Yellow House or Horn of Plenty. If you haven’t had a chance yet, I implore you to watch Patrick Daughters’ video for “Two Weeks.” In fact, give it a couple of watches. I swear I spent an entire day watching this video over and over when it was first released. My life is sad and empty. Standout songs: Two Weeks, Ready, Able, About Face, While You Wait For the Others, and Foreground.

Next up we got Au Revoir Simone’s “Still Night, Still Light.” Man, I adore these girls. This album really isn’t much different from their last 2. Their music is still keyboard laden beauty fronted by gorgeous vocal harmonies, just a little more layered now. Basically, if you like their other stuff, you’ll friggin love this record. I regret having missed them at Anti-Pop. The weird thing is they actually play this CD at Barnes & Noble. Strange. Great for the band, but strange. Standout songs: Shadows, Knight of Wands, Only You Can Make You Happy, and Anywhere You Looked.

Speaking of shows, Black Moth Super Rainbow is coming to town at the end of the month. So, if you live in the Town of O, you should definitely check them out at Backbooth. You should also check out their new one, “Eating Us.” Like Au Revoir Simone, there’s not much different in this release from past albums. It’s just really, really good. I can’t say enough good things about this group. Standout Songs: pretty much all of them.

Here’s an album that changes things up: Phoenix’s “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.” Seriously, that’s one of the worst names for a record ever. Thank Baby Jesus the album isn’t nearly as bad as it’s title. The airwaves have been thick with their single “1901.” I don’t really mind this since it’s a great song and damn near impossible to not dance to. Phoenix has always been good about that. It’s funny I had to be coaxed into listening to this release. I saw them perform “1901” live on some late night show and thought it was fucking awful. Let me just say it translates much better on CD. One of the things I like about Phoenix is the fact that this album sounds very different from the first. The style of their music and the vocals have changed quite a bit and they seem to try to keep that going from record to record. I like bands who aren’t afraid to try different things and keep their sound fresh.Standout songs: Lisztomania, 1901, Fences, and Armistice.

One more album I'd like to mention is the new one from The Legends, "Over and Over." Sweden's big indie label, "Labrador Records, has put out a lot of good ones lately from Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, The Mary Onettes, and The Radio Dept (FINALLY), but the problem there is that they are all sigles and EP's, never reaching past the 4-song mark. "Thankfully, "Over and Over" is a full 12 songs. To make matters even better, Johan has left the keyboard-laden pop behind of the last couple of albums (which I actually do like a lot) and has returned to the fuzzy shoegaze-ish twee foud on the first record, "Up Against The Legends." Standout songs: Monday to Saturday, Dancefloor, Something Strange Will Happen, and Touch.

There have been some other good things that have been released recently from the likes of Yacht, The Dirty Projectors, the new Belle & Sebastian side project God Help the Girl, and one of the guy's from The Format's new band, Fun. However, I have already written enough and I am ready to do other life-fulfilling things. I ust have to figure out what they are.