np: "the ocean's nerves" - songs: ohia
first and foremost, i apologize for the lapse in posting. i was out of town for most of last week, but that really doesn't account for missing almost the entire month of February. a quick few things that are on my mind.
i spent a good chunk of last week at a work conference in Madison, Wisconsin. decent enough little college town, i really liked the way the campus actually interacted with the downtown area rather than shunning it. such a huge change from the "we don't belong here" notion of the U of Illinois campus. great record shops down on State Street, specifically Ear Wax and B-Side. the latter of which i picked up the new Oneida, Sufjan Stevens, and the Pyramid Electric Co vinyl at. tiny store, but great selection and some of the better prices i've seen at an indie store in a long time. check it out if you are ever in the area.
Project AZ is continuing in full force, despite the little break tonight. this week so far has been all about the Beasties and the Beatles.
the new Liars album is fan-fucking-tastic. don't let the morons at Spin (F) or Rolling Stone (1 star) tell you any differently. i'm especially enjoying "Hold Hands and it Will Happen Anyway", "We Fenced Other Gardens with the Bones of Our Own", and "Broken Witch". well worth a spin or three.
my mom is hooking up my brother, sister, and i with Bulls tickets for this weekend so we can celebrate the bro's big 1-5 (shit, he's gonna be driving soon). unfortunately we're missing LeBron by one game, and instead we'll have to settle for watching them take on Golden State. at least there's a fair chance we'll get to see them win. i haven't been to a Bulls game since the dreadful 12 win season, so at least things can't possibly be worse than that time. won't be half as dope as getting to see Jordan's return game in Indy after the first retirement though. that was pure luck, and one of the most exciting games i've ever seen.
recognize my bowling skills. at least in the tenth frame. two games last weekend at Diversey River Bowl resulted in six strikes for me - all six in the 10th frame of both games. apparently i've only got game under pressure. that night was also notable for the first time i've ever see anyone bowl a full 10 frame game and end up with a 15. i didn't think it was possible.
a belated shout-out to USA for that excellent Traffic miniseries. shit was tight.
the last three days have also been witness to me seeing movies at the opposite ends of the cultural spectrum. Eurotrip on Saturday night and My Architect last night. Eurotrip was about 10 times funnier than expected, despite (or due to) nailing every European stereotype in the book. and you've got to give at least a little credit to a film not afraid to shy away from Hitler and Pope gags. My Architect was phenomenal, with some breath-taking shots of Louis Kahn's work and some excellent interviews with people brought to tears over his life's work. think architecture can't do that to people? talk to some of the people behind the Bangladesh capital, Kahn provided them with the best tribute to new-found democracy they could've asked for. it was also a treat to have the director on hand for a q & a afterwards. best of luck to you at the Oscars Nathaniel.
with that, i'm off to bed. gotta rest up for The OC tomorrow night.
Feb 25, 2004
Feb 4, 2004
np: "cherry blossom" - air
yes, Project AZ continues tonight with lots of AFI and some decent undie/backpacker hip-hop courtesy of my man Aesop Rock.
speaking of Aes, i picked up the new issue of Spin last night - the one with the mega-awesome picture of Justin Hawkins of The Darkness on the cover. it was the annual "bands to watch" issue, with a pretty decent list that contained some of the bands i've just been discovering lately - Franz Ferdinand, My Chemical Romance, and Snow Patrol (lots of good bands coming over from the UK these days). but the thing that pissed me off was the huge feature on undie rappers like Slug of Atmosphere, Aes, Sage Francis, and Busdriver. it was a decent article and props to Spin for bringing attention to some very worthy rappers. but why in the fuck did they have to introduce it with a huge splash-page introducing it as "emo rap"? seriously. does everything have to fit into some neat little marketing niche for them? i can just imagine how many people were turned off to that article just by seeing "emo" splashed all over it. way to fuck up an interesting feature.
yes, Project AZ continues tonight with lots of AFI and some decent undie/backpacker hip-hop courtesy of my man Aesop Rock.
speaking of Aes, i picked up the new issue of Spin last night - the one with the mega-awesome picture of Justin Hawkins of The Darkness on the cover. it was the annual "bands to watch" issue, with a pretty decent list that contained some of the bands i've just been discovering lately - Franz Ferdinand, My Chemical Romance, and Snow Patrol (lots of good bands coming over from the UK these days). but the thing that pissed me off was the huge feature on undie rappers like Slug of Atmosphere, Aes, Sage Francis, and Busdriver. it was a decent article and props to Spin for bringing attention to some very worthy rappers. but why in the fuck did they have to introduce it with a huge splash-page introducing it as "emo rap"? seriously. does everything have to fit into some neat little marketing niche for them? i can just imagine how many people were turned off to that article just by seeing "emo" splashed all over it. way to fuck up an interesting feature.
Feb 3, 2004
np: "hole in my soul" - aerosmith
why am i listening to this pretty unremarkable in any way song? well, it's part of my new project for the new year. Project AZ as i like to call it. after hearing person after person tell me that i probably have more music than i can possible ever listen to, i decided to find out just how accurate that is. well no, because i know i really don't have THAT much music. i just decided it was time to go through my collection and listen to everything, from A to Z. it's not going to be a straight through, listen to nothing else until i'm done kind of thing though. i'll still spin my new purchases and listen to other things now and then, but for the majority of the time i will be working my way through my collection in order.
today was day 1, and i learned a couple of things. first of all, does anyone ever need to listen to two Bryan Adams albums back to back? i think not, not even when one of those is the greatest hits collection. to be fair, getting through those two was not as painful as i thought it was going to be. he's held up surprisingly well compared to some of the other '80s male singer/songwriter types. but 18 Til I Die was a clunker, on the real. it was fun to follow him up with Ryan Adams though. seriously, Ryan should give up his issues and go ahead and start covering some Bryan tunes. especially since "This House is Not For Sale" has a guitar lick that sounds suspiciously like something off of Bryan's "Let's Make A Night to Remember". very interesting.
other than the duelling Adamses, today has been filled up with !!! and more Aerosmith than any person should have to hear in one day. i've got a weak spot for the boys, but small doses work much better.
this should prove to be an interesting project, so i'll continue with updates as i go along. although i'm starting to really wish i hadn't gone through such a huge Black Crowes phase several years ago, those couple of days are going to drag.
why am i listening to this pretty unremarkable in any way song? well, it's part of my new project for the new year. Project AZ as i like to call it. after hearing person after person tell me that i probably have more music than i can possible ever listen to, i decided to find out just how accurate that is. well no, because i know i really don't have THAT much music. i just decided it was time to go through my collection and listen to everything, from A to Z. it's not going to be a straight through, listen to nothing else until i'm done kind of thing though. i'll still spin my new purchases and listen to other things now and then, but for the majority of the time i will be working my way through my collection in order.
today was day 1, and i learned a couple of things. first of all, does anyone ever need to listen to two Bryan Adams albums back to back? i think not, not even when one of those is the greatest hits collection. to be fair, getting through those two was not as painful as i thought it was going to be. he's held up surprisingly well compared to some of the other '80s male singer/songwriter types. but 18 Til I Die was a clunker, on the real. it was fun to follow him up with Ryan Adams though. seriously, Ryan should give up his issues and go ahead and start covering some Bryan tunes. especially since "This House is Not For Sale" has a guitar lick that sounds suspiciously like something off of Bryan's "Let's Make A Night to Remember". very interesting.
other than the duelling Adamses, today has been filled up with !!! and more Aerosmith than any person should have to hear in one day. i've got a weak spot for the boys, but small doses work much better.
this should prove to be an interesting project, so i'll continue with updates as i go along. although i'm starting to really wish i hadn't gone through such a huge Black Crowes phase several years ago, those couple of days are going to drag.
