via//chicago

np: "say yes! to michigan" - sufjan stevens

this album was one of the two albums in the Pitchfork Top 50 that i hadn't heard, so i figured i would give it a listen. that and the fact that a person from a messageboard i frequent, whom i madly respect when it comes to music, was hyping it to no end. i'm liking the sound of it so far, but i can tell its one of those albums i'm going to want to sit down and spend some quality time with. i enjoy records like that from time to time. and i gotta admire the guy's plan to record one of these albums for every state in the union. take that, 69 Love Songs.

speaking of Pitchfork, the latest year-end list has done its job and managed to stir up quite a bit of talk throughout the net - a good deal of it for the choice of album of the year, but more for what's lacking from list. the White Stripes were a quite noticeable omission, until you check back and see the 6.9 score the reviewer gave it. more striking was the fact that quite a few favorably reviewed albums failed to make the cut - Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Pretty Girls Make Graves, and the New Pornos to name a few off the top of my head. as far as The Rapture snagging album of the year - i don't agree with it being considered the best of the year, but at the same time i can almost see the reasoning behind it. Echoes was definately a major indication of the swing towards danceable indie rock that has been going down in the past few years, and thanks to "House of Jealous Lovers" it was also the most high-profile. i have a feeling that it's going to be one of those albums that is looked back upon as a touchstone in the shifting of the indie rock gears, for better or for worse. but when it all comes down to it i can't back it up as album of the year because, let's face it, there were some downright less than mediocre songs on there. and imho, several kick ass tracks and several weak tracks don't make for the best thing of any given year. just my two cents.

and with that, i'm out for the next couple of days. so i wanna wish y'all a happy holiday, whatever one you choose to celebrate. and even if you choose to celebrate none at all, enjoy your time off of work you heathen.