via//chicago

Listening Soundtrack 12.05.11-12.12.11

I knew it'd been a long time since my last paltry update around these parts, but I was stunned to see that it had nearly been four whole months! Life has been pretty busy and I'll not be making excuses this time. The birth of our son back on the 7th of September certainly changed our priorities significantly and, truth be told, it was no contest when I chose between holding him and updating a blog that no one reads. Anyway, I hope to be around a little more regularly in the future - both here and over at another new blogging project that is just getting underway (I'll link when the dust has settled over there). I'll be putting up my usual year in review stuff in the coming weeks as well, so there's that to look forward to. In the meantime, with nothing much better to write about today, how about a look at what I've been listening to over the past week?

Blut Aus Nord - 777 Sect(s)
Autopsy - Macabre Eternal [2]
Graveyard - Hisingen Blues
Husker Du - Land Speed Record [2]
Husker Du - In A Free Land EP
Girls - Father, Son, Holy Spirit
Husker Du - Statues/Amusement 7"
Morne - Asylum
Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne
King Krule - King Krule EP
Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness
Husker Du - Metal Circus [2]
The Black Keys - El Camino [3]
The Roots - undun [3]
Bitch Magnet - Star Booty +
Husker Du - Everything Falls Apart
Blood Ceremony - Living with the Ancients
Absu - Abzu
Crystal Stilts - Radiant Door EP
Husker Du - Eight Miles High 7"
The Decemberists - Newport Folk Festival 2011
Office of Future Plans - Office of Future Plans [2]
Killer Mike - Pl3dge
Bob Dylan - Planet Waves
Cave - Neverendless
Main Attrakionz - 808s & Dark Grapes II
Katy B - On A Mission [2]

As you can see I spent a lot of time listening to early Husker Du, thanks to Andrew Earles' (ultimately a little disappointing) recent book on the band. I don't feel like I learned a whole lot of new stuff about the band, other than what Earles thinks of their albums and how much he dislikes "thrash metal". Anyway, it was still a good reason to dig into an era of the band I've sort of glossed over in the past. Lots of catching up on 2011 metal releases that I had missed, thanks to seeing the names popping up in various year-end lists. I'm really a fan of that new Autopsy record and that Graveyard is some of the best pseudo-Zep I've heard. I also returned for some more time with that Katy B record, turns out I like that a lot more than I thought I did.