Music that I am currently enjoying:
The Postal Service. The more I listen to this the more I like it. The song "Nothing Better" actually gives me chills sometimes. It's very moving in that get-over-it-already kind of way. It's kind of sad to begin with, but having two points of view in the song makes it even more so. This has moved to the top of the list for me on this album. The early entry was "Such Great Heights," which is probably the catchiest of the batch. It's a great song, but since the first time I heard it I can't get over the fact that verse lyrics are sung exactly like the first part of Chicago's "Hard to Say I'm Sorry." Has no one else noticed this? Maybe I've just been overexposed to that particular Chicago song, as, growing up, I had to listen to more than one of my siblings butcher this song on the piano. Also, the Shins do a bang-up cover of "We Will Become Silhouettes." Not a huge fan of the Iron and Wine cover of "Such Great Heights" however. Anyway, if you can get it, as I did, for free, I highly recommend picking up this album. Hell, I might've even bought it.
The Apples in Stereo. I've had a ton of Apples in Stereo mp3s taking up space on my iPod for months now but never really listened to most of them, despite the fact that every time one would randomly play, I liked it immediately. And as they were one of the core Elephant 6 bands, I don't know what I was waiting for. It seems that the E6 bands are finally getting some notoriety, albeit from the unlikeliest of sources- commercials and network tv shows. Perhaps music supervisors are catching on to the...um, catchiness. Or fans of the E6 collective are getting cool jobs as music supervisors or at ad agencies. I've heard the Apples in Stereo on a number of Road Runner highspeed internet commercials, which was a bit surprising. And then I heard Beulah on a couple of Nissan commercials. And then, wouldn't you know it, I was sitting down to the O.C. a few weeks ago, and the opening song playing is Beulah's "Popular Mechanics For Lovers." If you wanted to find a batch of snappy tunes, the Elephant 6 collective offers up an almost endless source. Even the moodier Neutral Milk Hotel is begging to be bought up. I'm sure "Holland, 1945" could move a lot of units of something. That is, if you're one for selling out. And really, why not? It's not like they'd lose any fans. I personally am just happy that they're getting some long-deserved exposure. My one problem with the Apples in Stereo is trying to reconcile Robert Schneider's voice with his appearance. There's no way a large, bald, bearded man like him should possess such a high voice. I expected to see a little Spike Jonze/Vic Chesnutt looking guy. But he looks more like Kyle Gass or something.
I finally received my MIDI keyboard yesterday, after weeks of painful searching. With the arrival of this keyboard, I am now officially out of excuses. I now possess every instrument, recording device, and computer program that I could ever want. I have drums, guitars, synthesizers, and various computerized instruments at my disposals. So there are now only one or two reasons that I should not be creating more music than I have been. First and foremost, simply, is laziness. With the advent of GarageBand, it's never been easier. Really- play, record, drag, and click. That's all there is to it. Not to mention the fact that in Miss Charming Melodee I have a partner who is a more than competent musician in her own right. So really, we are all out of excuses. Also, in the corner rumpus room is a rather nice, new easel, and around that are several newly-purchased canvases and a lot of paint. So we should really be doing a lot more than we have been. So now it's just a matter of will and talent. And I still don't which would make me feel worse for want of.
Last night at my trivia-writing night job, I had to watch a show where the son, who was working as his school basketball team's statistician, was demoted to team mascot. So one of questions was "What happened to Brian after getting in trouble with the basketball team." The real answer was of course "Demoted to team mascot." My first fake answer, which amused me to no end was "Forced to wear shameful team ascot." Get it? Mascot? Ascot? Really, I laughed out loud at that for quite some time. And made sure to tell Miss CM all about it when I got home. I also provided a detailed and funny-only-to-me recap of just about the entire show, "Still Standing," which was surprisingly funny (though apparently only when viewed, not described).
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