The Death of Enthusiasm

I realize I'm a not really a music critic (despite the authority that comes with writing for a college newspaper), but I felt like I wanted to make a year end top 10 list like the real grown-up blogs do. I don't receive free albums like actual critics, so much of what came out this year has not graced my ears.

If you see something you would like to hear, and haven't yet, just let me know and I would be happy to send you a copy. I'm cool like that. So, here are my favorite albums of the year, and why:




10. Neil Young: Live at Massey Hall 1971

Yeah, I know, how is this new music if it was recorded in 1971? Well, Neil has been sitting on it all these years, now letting us see a little of his early golden age material while it was still forming. The best part is that he prefaces all the songs with long, rambling explanations, letting us in on the inspirations behind the classics. "A Man Needs a Maid" is in his words, "A show-tune to his life." Also, it comes with a DVD of the performance, and he looks like a caveman wearing flannel.




9. Iron and Wine: The Shepherd's Dog

I wrote a whole review for this one, so I don't want to get too detailed here, but Sam Beam has now entered the "loud-ish folk band" category of artist as opposed to the "bedroom recording singer-songwriter" label, and it suits him well.





8. Jay-Z: American Gangster

I also reviewed this very recently, so just read that. If you like American Gangster, check out DJ Skee's mash-up called "American Godfather" where he uses music from the cinematic score of The Godfather to back the Album. Pretty cool, but not as cool as "The Grey Album."




7. Dan Wilson: Free Life

Dan Wilson is probably best known as the singer for the nineties alt-rock band, Semisonic. He is also an amazing songwriter, and he co-wrote most of the songs on the Dixie Chick's latest Grammy-winning album. This is his first solo effort, and it mostly sticks to soaring ballad territory, while verging slightly on alterna-cheese in some songs. Imagine Ben Folds with a more broad pop influence. Still, it's hard to fault such solid melodies, however, and I would recommend to anyone with a still functioning heart. Better these kind of songs from Dan Wilson than other hacks like The Fray. It would make great "wedding video" music, as it were.




6. Radiohead: In Rainbows

I kind of feel guilty not putting this in the top 5, I guess I don't like Radiohead as much as I should. I do appreciate the fact that you don't have to re-configure your brain just to understand this one.




5. The Avett Brothers: Emotionalism

I wrote about these guys like six months ago. They are the Beatles, if they played bluegrass instruments and wrote brutally sincere songs about getting drunk and then feeling guilty because they can't reciprocate the love of a pretty girl from Chile. Key lyric: "I'm a little nervous/of what you'll think when you see me/in my swimming trunks."





4. Wilco: Sky Blue Sky

My family and roommates know the outrageous depths of my fanboy-ism for Wilco, so many of you may have thought they would capture the top spot. No, it wasn't the album of the year for me, but it was very, very good. Songs like "Hate it Here" explored Jeff Tweedy's 70's rock, am radio, squonky guitar sound obsession, but "On and On" washes over like a cool breeze, and will certainly still sound good in 10 years.





3. Band of Horses: Cease to Begin

Band of Horses stands as my go to cure for musical boredom. Every time I play the song, "The General Specific" I am forced to at least tap my foot. Atmospheric, gentle, and rollicking all at once, "Cease to Begin" is better than most everything I heard this year.




2. Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha

A big thanks to Matt and Cate Sweeney for turning me on to Andrew Bird (and a great majority of the music I currently enjoy). Armchair Apocrypha is an album I have a hard time describing to people. "Well, he whistles really well, and ummm, he plays these violin loops, but it's really dense and layered..." Yeah, it doesn't make much sense until you listen to it. Andrew Bird makes music that is deeply soothing, and yet unsettled. That ambiguity (along with the lyrics) takes a while to sink in, but once it does, you'll never go back.



1. The Everybodyfields: Nothing is Okay

The Everybodyfields play a sad, reflective brand of country (or "Americana," if you are adverse to the genre) that recalls some of the great song-smiths of the 70's. Sam Quinn and Jill Andrews share songwriting duties, but their voices mesh in an incredible way. Quinn's high, plaintive voice is the perfect counterpoint to Jill's strong set of pipes. Every element of this band seems to be balanced just right, even with organ, piano, pedal steel, fiddle, lead electric, and bass jockeying for attention. While most melancholic country tunes are a specific sort of cry-in-your-beer loneliness, The Everybodyfields write universal anthems of human loss, and yet the melodies soar in a way that makes you forget the pain. My favorite album of 2007.



Also, I am kind of in love with Jill Andrews:




Honorable Mention:The White Stripes, Annuals, Blitzen Trapper, Arcade Fire, Spoon

Labels: music writing

Well, classes are over for a while, and I have gotten through another semester without flunking out, or going insane.

Just now I was looking for a picture of a crazy sleeping homeless man for my profile picture (some of you may think that using photos of actual homeless people as "mascots" for my blog is cruel...and you're probably right), and I came across this website.

It truly creeped me out.

I then spent waaaaay too long reading the various "success" stories, looking at the creepy gallery of beards, and then my personal favorite, the "beard blog" where important questions like, "should you have natural neck and cheek lines on your beard?" are discussed.

What strikes me as funniest aspect of the site is that they are so earnest in their "mission," that is, the promotion of manly and awesome beards for all mankind. They want to support you in your own life-changing, beard growing journey.

Also, the whole site reeks of homo-eroticism, just look at some of the pictures.

Here is part of "Dave's" success story; it sounds like they are talking about surviving breast cancer or something:

How do you like being a full-bearded man?

I love it. It has changed my appearance in a very positive way. Everyone is so supportive of my growth, and a lot of people are very excited to see how big my beard is going to get. I feel a lot more comfortable with a full beard than I did with a shaved face. I also noticed that the skin on my face is as healthy as it has ever been since I have had my beard. I don't have one thing to say negative about being a fully-bearded man.

How have people reacted to your beard? How do you feel about their reactions?

I have received mostly positive reactions. Everyone thought I was crazy for starting my beard during the hot month of July. But now even those people who just shook their heads like my beard and are looking forward to its growth.

Did he just say,"even those people who just shook their heads like my beard and are looking forward to its growth"???? Who "looks forward" to anyone's beard growth?

I will leave you with this singularly disturbing photo of someone's neck-beard:

Labels: beards

HOW SOMEONE WITH
AN AMERICAN PUBLIC-
SCHOOL EDUCATION WHO
DIDN'T REALLY PAY
MUCH ATTENTION IN
CLASS BUT LEARNED JUST
ENOUGH TO PASS EXAMS
IMAGINES THE FIRST
THANKSGIVING.

BY MATT PASSET

- - - -

PILGRIM: Happy First Thanksgiving. Thank you for having us to your tepee.

INDIAN: How!

(The INDIAN holds his hand in the air with his palm facing out.)

INDIAN: That means "Hello" in Indian.

PILGRIM: We came here on the Mayflower. It is that big ship over there. It has nothing to do with the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. That is something else completely.

INDIAN: We are having a powwow; it is like a meeting.

(PILGRIM takes a bite of food.)

PILGRIM: This is good. What is it?

INDIAN: That is corn. It is also called maize.

PILGRIM: Yes, like a labyrinth.

INDIAN: (Mumbles something inaudible about David Bowie.)

PILGRIM: Thank you for introducing corn to me. This turkey is good, too.

INDIAN: We hunted it. We are hunters and gatherers.

PILGRIM: Excuse me one second; the buckle to my shoe has come undone.

(PILGRIM bends down and buckles his shoe.)

PILGRIM: This is a nice neighborhood.

INDIAN: It is called Plymouth Rock. It does not refer to one single rock. We are not eating dinner on some large rock sitting by the water, even though people might one day think that. We just moved here. We used to own Manhattan, but sold it for $24. They paid us in buttons and arrowheads.

PILGRIM: (Sarcastically.) Wow, $24! That, uh ... sounds like a good deal.

INDIAN: We have casinos and sell cheap cigarettes.

(INDIAN lights a peace pipe, adjusts his feather headdress.)

PILGRIM: I have a buckle on my hat, I think for no reason.







Note: I know we are past thanksgiving, but this made me laugh. A lot.

Labels: humor

Everyone please read and respond to the following question:

You work in an office, performing a job you find satisfying (and which compensates you adequately). The company that employs you is suddenly purchased by an eccentric millionaire who plans to immediately raise each person's salary by 5 percent and extend an extra week of vacation to all full-time employees.

However, this new owner intends to enforce a somewhat radical dress code; every day, men will have to wear tuxedos, tails, and top hats (during the summer months, male employees will be allowed to wear gray three-piece suits on "casual Fridays"). Women must exclusively work in formal wear, preferably ball gowns or prom dresses. Each employee will be given an annual $500 stipend to purchase necessary garments, but that money can only be spent on work-related clothing.

The new regime starts in three months.

Do you seek employment elsewhere?

Labels: questions

Jay-Z review here.


Also, yesterday Dan and I played at the "Smile on Your Brother" benefit concert here in Logan, along with some terrible hippie bands (sorry, they just weren't very good). A big shout out to those who attended including my Aunt Jackie, my parents and sister, and several friends and co-workers.

I don't have any pictures of the event, but just imagine a school cafeteria and some Christmas lights, plus me playing a banjo (there is no evidence of me actually knowing how to play the banjo, but I did anyways).

Labels: concert, music writing