No NMT today, but...

I am working on a Top 15 albums of 2010 list to post as soon as I'm finished deciding and writing. Also I'm in the midst of preparing for another physiology exam so thats another reason for it getting left out this week. However, here are some links/topics that might be interesting to people as something to either waste your time with or judge me for wasting my time on them!

-I recently found Audacity after I realized that I don't need to use any fancy mic's just to record simple ideas. With this realization I figured there has to be some sort of free audio editing software out there and Audacity is what I found. Pretty easy to use, and as long as you don't care that the sound quality from your computer's internal mic is awful, really easy to record and export as an mp3 for reviewing.

-After this find, I wanted to find a digital synthesizer for putting together some beats and rhythms to practice with. While I've found a program, I am awful with it. I found the FLStudio demo, which seems to be pretty in depth, but I am pretty much garbage when it comes to actually trying to come up with something that doesn't immediately give me a headache. Though, through all of this its made me think that taking an electronic music, and music production class at some point would probably allow me to really grow a bit and give me more confidence with what I do write. And I AM writing now. So watch out world. I'm not just talking about maybe-possibly-somehow doing it at some point in the near future anymore.

-Found a link from VGCats to this free game called Octodad the other day. Just watch the trailer and if you laughed as much as I did, you should go download it and try it out. Wacky and weird game.

-Oh and I saw the Dandy Warhols this past Sunday with Becca. It was pretty cool seeing live, but they were definitely visibly tired with this being the last show of their tour and Courtney just looking completely wiped. Zia kept up the energy though and it was nice to go to a rock concert that had people actually dancing and moving to the music, as opposed to the cool indie 'stand and look like you are above everyone' look. (And yes, I know everyone is dancing at the electronica and more dance oriented band shows).

Thats it for now, back to the books.

Oh yah, and if you haven't seen the stop motion Community, you need to.

NMT: Daft Punk's 'Tron: Legacy' Soundtrack

Now usually I start one of these reviews with a bit of my own personal background with the band and how I 'found' them and so on. But this is Daft Punk. Everyone and their mom knows them (including mine). My first album I owned of theirs was Discovery and I've been hooked since I was given it for Christmas of '01. That album has led to so many things ranging from arguments, dancing sessions, an inordinate amount of nostalgic conversations and good feelings.

Their other releases (Homework, Human After All, Alive 1997 & 2007) have similar good feelings and thousands of plays from my various audio devices. So needless to say, hearing word that Daft Punk would be involved with the score/soundtrack of the new Tron left me frothing at the mouth.

Now being familiar with their film work with Interstella 5555 and Electroma, I was fairly sure that this was not going to be a 'typical' Daft Punk album. Not that any of them have been typical when compared to their antecedent, its just that this was not going to be as much of an electronic pop album. Its the score to a film with appropriate drama and instrumentation to fit the epic visuals and feeling of a large scale sci-fi film.

Starting out with the overture, the album sets an appropriate tone for the rest of the album, with a somber and dark classical music styled progression with crashing symbols and a hint of digital distortion; coming off as a less bombastic 'Zarathustra' as seen through the eyes of the French electronic duo. This track sets the tone for the score which follows with amalgam's of digital effects and full outright orchestration, providing strong and moving soundscapes that I am sure will more than back up the film when it is released on December 17th.

The album works well as a mood setter and has particularly energetic 'stand-out' tracks such as 'Derezzed' (which has just received a new music video release), 'End of the Line', and 'Arena' which gives you a taste of what the albums most electronic and energetic tracks will be built upon.

My only criticisms come as a Daft Punk fan looking for individual tracks to pick out and play for friends and in the car, but I won't let those mar how I view this album. As the track 'The Game has Changed' is named, the album and music must be viewed differently. Daft Punk have always been something different in the pop music, dance and electronic scene. They are artists and this project is just further evidence that this duo can keep changing, and keep making memorable and forward thinking music. While I can't personally say its as enjoyable as Discovery (which is in my Island 5), it is of the par to keep it in the same league as the rest of their body of work and should not be dismissed like some music fans would discount Queen's 'Flash Gordon' soundtrack (though the theme song is SO catchy).

Daft Punk's 'Tron: Legacy' Soundtrack - > 4.5/5

Also an interesting fact; I saw an interview with Joseph Kosinski where he discussed how he asked Daft Punk to work with them, and they came to him with a full set of songs before even seeing any of the material. From the way he described it, the demos did not change very much and even ended up effecting the movie's production. These projects were developed in coordination with one another and I look forward to seeing how the music affects the pacing of the film in two weeks!

Is it just me or does the little Disney symbol kinda ruin the simple design of the cover?

NMT: Simian Mobile Disco's 'Delicacies'

This is the third studio album from the UK based electronica band and it definitely sets it self apart from the previous two electronic pop albums. This is sans-singing electronic album that sounds it best at loud volumes on headphones.

What you can take from the name and the names of the tracks is that this may have something to do with food, seeing as each track is named after some form of edible that at least some culture in the world would deem a 'delicacy'. Seeing that and keeping track of my foods as the album plots along let me really feel how these pieces all seemed to be composed with that particular dish in mind. Now without lyrics, how would you do that?

Well with track one "Aspic", the beat has a noticeably bouncy quality. I know. A bouncy beat and that is easy to bob ones head to. That sounds like electronica. True, but its particular bouncy-ness adds a bit of wiggle with some of the more interesting synth effects used. This only lead me to look up/remember what exactly aspic is. A gelatinous meat-salad of sorts. Needless to say, I laughed a bit and it only made me appreciate it even more.

The rest of the tracks follow this same sort of concept. If you pay attention to the title and keep mind of it, you'll be able to come to your own conclusions on how you see the dish in mind exemplified within the music. These are sonically interesting and full sounding and have no lack of thumping bass, thus this album shouldn't turn off old fans too much, though I could see how the lack of a more easy to pick out pop song could distract some listeners. It is definitely album thats more rewarding with the more thought you put into it, unlike many musical peers of the artist duo.

As far as the instrumentation goes, it is still as aggressive and dark as most of their previous work, just minus the pop-song structuring. Taking away the voices has allowed them to explore more as electronic artists and this is what Delicacies really is. An electronic music concept album thats succeeding at getting you to bob your head while simultaneously allowing them to explore their own artistic thoughts without having the pressure of delivering a new club hit like "Hustler".

But they aren't one to go down with an album that doesn't have something that is immediately applicable to playing in front of the wanting crowd, so the second disc (51 minute long 9th track on digital download) is a mix of Delicacies prepared properly for mass consumption.

Simian Mobile Disco - Delicacies -> 4.1/5

If you're interested in an... interesting video of theirs, watch this. Though if you're a vegetarian, you would probably prefer to not watch. It has one of those "I want to stop watching, but I keep watching for some reason" vibe. So yes, its a bit creepy and probably not safe for work unless you want some judgmental looks.

*Bonus* NMT: Smashing Pumpkins' 'Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, Vol. 2: The Solstice Bare'

The second volume of the Smashing Pumpkins' *cough* (Billy Corgan's), massive 11 volume project by the name of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope was released in limited edition vinyl and cd sets. This makes the overall title of the four song piece, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, Vol. II: The Solstice Bare. Yes. Thats a mouthful.

Only two of this collection have been released for free public consumption and downloading via their website ('Freak' and 'Spangled'), but it is possible to listen to the first and third tracks on YouTube.

Since there are only four songs I'll do individual reviews of each.

'The Fellowship' starts off this selection of four with an erratic keyboard riff that builds up the powerful chorus belting out "are you with us tonight?", which, thematically, is a pretty good way to draw the listeners in and get them excited for the rest of the package. Fortunately the song itself escalates enough in sound and presence to earn the songs title and chorus. Its appropriately bombastic and grandiose, similar to (but not nearly as epic sounding as Vol. I's first track, 'Song for a Son').

Following up 'The Fellowship' is the current single 'Freak' that has apparently been floating around. For those of you who did not thumb your nose at Zwan, you'll like this track. Its ability to be heavy and uplifting at the same time, coupled with Corgan's signature voice just immediately launches pictures of white backgrounds with rainbow guitars flying every which way. Not much to say other than 'Freak' could have easily been squashed between 'Endless Summer' and 'Baby Lets Rock!' on Mary, Star of the Sea.

'Tom Tom' starts off smoothly and flows into a chorus more along the vibes of that of Infinite Sorrow era Pumpkins, while not sticking to old formulas. Lyrically mystical and distinctly Corganesque, this is my favorite of the four. Hopefully a higher quality is available for download on the website soon? (I'm talking to you Billy. Streaming from YouTube doesn't do you justice.)

Rounding out The Solstice Bare is 'Spangled', whose harpsichord love song beginning sets you up for a music genre meandering song that borders on a medley of musical styles. Just listen. Strings come in and out, horns mutedly accent the pre-chorus and then it all ends in an intimate sounding, warmly distorted measure on the guitar. This is a well crafted song and a great pop piece that would appeal to a lot of different people.

Smashing Pumpkins' Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, Vol. II: The Solstice Bare-> 4.7/5

If you go to their site, you can download the 7 of the 8 total tracks off of Volumes I and II.

NMT: Röyksopp's 'Senior'

Röyksopp's latest album Senior is the follow up to last years fun, guest heavy, pop-electronica album Junior in more ways than chronology.

The Norweigan duo used Junior as a platform for exhibiting and displaying the raucous, energetic, all frills side to their music which has been present since the beginning. The addition of vocals and heavier, faster, danceable, and hook laden tracks showed a dimension that the duo had alluded to on past albums Melody A.M. and The Understanding. With those moods fully fledged and explored, they were aptly named Junior to exemplify the youthful energetic aspects of their musicality.

Where Senior comes in is as more of a counterpoint, than a follow up. A yang to Junior's yin. Where Junior was youthful and exuberant and sporadic, Senior is a carefully developed electronic soundscape virtually devoid of any of the dance beats and youth of the previous album. It is an example of a sound maturing not unlike (at least to me) the comparison of Brian Eno's work with Roxy Music, and his later ambient albums. Its not better or worse. Its an evolution. You can hear in the album, Röyksopp exploring with many of the methods they used on their freshman and sophomore albums. Applying their earlier sensibilities to the more developed Junior pallet, has their sound ending up sounding wiser. Slowed down, toned down, with hardly any hooks other than the retouching of Junior's 'Tricky Tricky' with 'Tricky Two'.

Another way you could compare these albums and thus understand Senior more as a whole would be to relate Junior to the first two thirds of a party. Its all energy, dancing, exciting, but it gets followed up with the more downplayed introspective end to the party. When most of the people have left and people are really sitting down and talking and getting to know eachother. Its cathartic and ends up feeling a bit deeper. This is how Senior feels to me. Its definitely meant to be ingested as a whole and leaves me feeling how I think Röyksopp meant for it to.

'The Alcoholic' at five minutes long, sounds as if it has been at least a bit influenced by the Boards of Canada, and that is not a bad thing. This track and 'Tricky Two' are the most standout tracks on the album, but that doesn't undermine its value as a whole. If you want an album experience that allows you to really think a bit introspectively, as well as wonder what their motivations and inspirations were, you will love Senior.

Röyksopp's Senior-> 4.4/5

Oh and the video for 'The Drug' is pretty interesting. Check it out.

Cold apartment? Time to bake.

In the interest of furthering my ever-behind culinary skills, I picked up some cake mix and icing mix at Trader Joe's about a month back. Then I wanted to make the cake. This was when I realized that I didn't have any cake pans, making me delay my baking expedition even moreso. Needless to say, after getting the pans and realizing I was not too worried about an upcoming test, and motivated to make something nice for Becca, I finally followed the instructions and made an actual cake.

For the first time.

Yes, taking a picture was an afterthought of chowing down.

Yes, I've helped people make cakes and cupcakes and muffins over time, but I've never really held the reigns and I was a bit intimidated coming into my first time doing so. I know. No biggie. But considering the love and lust I have for baked goods, let alone CHOCOLATE baked goods, you have to understand realizing that I have the ability to churn out my own morsels of happiness is an exciting thing. This is not the end of this. It feels like the floodgates have opened, and its honestly more exciting than cooking to me. While I like thinking of various sauces and experimenting a little with food, the sugary-baked things are just a bit more tantalizing to me than the cooking. This could change. But for now I'll blame my Mom. And my Dad for giving me all the trouble for not getting the cooking merit badge while I was in Scouts.

A pleasant benefit to the baking was its ability to act as another heater in the apartment. These are colder times in Portland, with the high this past weekend being 38 and tomorrow's high being 30! You know what that means? Snow. I finally live in a place with snow. Albeit its only supposed to be a couple inches, but rest assured I'm taking pictures tomorrow. It should be nice lighting too as its going to be partly sunny after the snowfall of the night.

Another pleasant side effect of a colder apartment are scenes like this:

Becca-made curtains in the back! Oh, and a cute cat and girlfriend.

Anyways, I'm glad to be trying to get this writing more consistent than just music reviews. Though I enjoy those too and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's new album. I'll be reviewing Senior, Royksopp's follow up to 2009's Junior (a personal favorite).

NMT: Stereolab's 'Not Music'

The last Stereolab album I had was Emperor Tomato Ketchup and it served up at least a few months of repeated listening when I first discovered it my freshman year of college. That was an amazing album that I would rate at about a 95%, so, with my limited knowledge of the rest of their work, that album will be my reference. Now I know this album is made up from the remainders of the recordings used to make 2008's Chemical Chords, but I'm aiming to look at this objectively as its own album.

Now I do like the general whimsical quality of their more standard tracks, I do get a little bored with the opening track, 'Everybody's Weird Except Me'. While I like Stereolab a lot already, hearing a song that sounds like their sound generalized and homogenized down into an odd summary of the sound just doesn't work for me. It sounds more like someone trying to describe their sound, than it actually sounding like them.

Moving past the negative part, the entire album is not at all in line with this.The second track is a bit tame until it evolves at the break down with a bit of Herbie Hancock-esque funky instrumentation. This is when the album really started to grab my attention a bit more. 'Silver Sands' is another hi-light of the album embracing a bit more experimental sound for them with some thumping synths sounding like it'd be at home in a TRON landscape.

While the album itself is definitely a pleasant listen, I have just had a hard time being 'wowed' by it. It has its high points that you would likely be different than what I notice, but as far as having a funkier, jazzier pop album to listen to when you're not really paying attention, you could do better and listen to one of their older albums. Its still enjoyable, but leaves me feeling a bit unfulfilled.

Stereolab's Not Music-> 3.4/5

But who knows, with the way things go for me, I could see myself coming back to this entry and adding that after numerous listens I realized my previous feelings were completely unfounded. Meh.

High Fidelity

Finally getting around to a life-related update as opposed to the impersonal NMT reviews I've been doing, here is an update.

Rebecca and I have been putting a lot of work into sprucing up our little downtown Portland apartment to really feel more like home so we've done a little IKEA-ing and a lot of simplifying and reorganizing. Highlights are Becca's beautiful curtains she made for the front room, some bought light-eliminating curtains for the bedroom (sleep tight :)), a much-needed bookshelf, wall hangers for my guitars, and a nice lamp for ambiance and such. Pictures of all of these changes and such will follow, hopefully with some pictures of the pretty fall colors before they're all slimy on the ground.

What this update really is more about is that I finally got to set up my record player that I bought a couple months ago. Along with that, I found the old poster sticky material I still have left over from the dorms for helping me lay the cables for the surround sound around the room. I have to say. Nice smooth vinyl sound through the well set-up (imho) surround system coupled with a good amount of hard surfaces makes for a decent listening room.

Record player. Cheap, but good old records. Becca's cool gold-painted stand. Good times.

A side effect of having the record player available for ready use meant that we had to go raid a local record store for more records. Luckily we found Everyday Music's bargain section. 50 cents a piece with Oregon's lack of sales tax makes collecting old beat up records not very harsh on my wallet. With my nine records for $9.60 and Becca's eight for $9.00 even, I'd say we did pretty well.

$18.60 worth of good decisions.

My purchases: 2001, A Space Odyssey score; Bad Company's 'Straight Shooter'; Jim Croce's 'Life and Times'; Dire Straits' 'Dire Straits'; The Doobie Brothers' 'Taking it to the Streets'; The Doors 'Strange Days'; Heart 'Little Queen'; Jethro Tull 'Aqualung'; Warren Zevon's 'Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School'

Becca's conquests: Donavon in Concert; The Best of the Lovin' Spoonful; Joni Mitchell's 'For the Roses'; Simon and Garfunkel's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'; Cat Steven's 'Tea for the Tillerman' and 'Teaser and the Firecat'; a collection of Renaissance instrumentals; Puccini

Overall a good haul and lots of good repeated listening times are ahead.

Oh. And here's a picture of the cat looking for attention when we were taking pictures.

Silly Samwise.

NMT: Invisible Hand's 'Invisible Hand'

New Music Tuesday has become just NMT, since I do it consistently enough, I deem it worthy of shortening.

This week I found an exciting new band's debut full album (not to discount their various smaller releases over the past couple years). Fronted by Adam Smith (heh heh, get it, Adam Smith and the Invisible Hand), this band hits me in pretty much all the right places. This good impression was improved especially when looking them up and finding they would love to be described as influenced by The Kinks (a personal favorite). Though I don't find too much to be similar in their sound, I can see the influence of the spirit of that mid-late 60's garage-pop-rock sound, mostly exemplified by the energetic band accompanying the much more modern sounding voice.

While I don't think I could venture out and say that this is 'the new sh*&', I am definitely happy with this album. Witty lyrics coupled with solid production and composition fills the album with the more experimental sounds arriving in the first half of the tracklist.

'Two Chords' starts off the album with an introspective tone, and is appropriately followed by the energetic 'There's Room In My Will', which lets you know a little more of the tempo and sound they seem to be the most comfortable with.

I could talk plenty about the rest of the album, but I think I can just save you the time by just suggesting the album to you in that this is a great rock album. Not rawk. Just good rock and roll with solid songwriting, melodic hooks, fun tempo changes, and some decent harmonizing. You'll do yourself a favor dropping the $10 or so on this.

Invisible Hand- 'Invisible Hand'-> 4.6/5

And as a suggestion. Try listening loudly through a surround sound system. Theres a lot of the production you will miss without the proper listening device.

New Music Tuesday: Brian Eno's 'Small Craft On A Milk Sea'

Brian Eno is one of those guys I've known about forever. Heard about forever. Probably even laughed at jokes about his ambient records and talent in recording an album with everyone ever. Hell, the only album I listened to with his name on it before was his 2008 project with David Byrne. I tried to listen to some Roxy Music, but it didn't pull me in right away.

But this. Wow. When I heard 'ambient' and 'instrumental', I didn't think of music that would be very volatile or moody. I thought of light, thoughtful soundscapes barely above the par set by those Target ambient CD booths. Obviously I'm an idiot.

The textures and sounds on this album are full and all encompassing, no matter what the mood is. While I enjoy the more whimsical beginning, I REALLY enjoy the descent into the darker moods in the title (and third) track. The album itself works as an emotional roller coaster with '2 Forms of Anger' being the emotional downhill speeding car. It builds emphatically from a tense thumping to a cacophony of sound and adrenaline at ~2:09.

The album works itself back to a greater, but suspicious calm with the immediately following 'Bone Jump'. The most I can say about this album is that each song elicits a specific and intended emotion and I love the way this 'background' music and influence the particular mood that I am in face experiencing. A very interesting album to drive with at a loud setting, and it definitely should be digested as a WHOLE. Not in single track snippets.

Brian Eno - 'Small Craft On A Milk Sea' -> 4.4/5

Listen to the whole album streaming here.

Fail Blog

Up until yesterday, I've been pretty consistent with my 'New Music Tuesday' bit. I've been wanting to do a bit more personal bits, as in, whats actually happening up here and that I'm not just focusing on music. Though it does pervade much of my time thinking...

Yesterday just didn't lend itself well to finding new music. I saw a few possibilities, but first of all: I didn't know that the new Keller Williams album titled 'Kids' would be a childrens music album. I know. You'd think I maybe could have thought of that beforehand, and while I enjoyed the tracks I heard, I didn't feel I could do a full review and be fair due to the only kids music I remember being some old Kenny Loggins or Rafi. So rather than compare 'Kids' to ringing banana phones and what not. I just didn't do it.

This last class (which is actually turning out to be more of a second to last class), needs more of my dedicated time. It just needs to be finished up, because the whole not working while Becca works 8-5, Mon-Fri is wearing on me. Not the most satisfying feeling like the bum at home all day. So I'm resolving myself to quicken my pace so that I can enter the workforce sooner than later and am looking into part time retail positions in the area. Also. Being inside the apartment all day just REEKS of cabin fever. Though I feel like I'm wasting my study time by taking walks or anything, and being a slight agoraphobe in a still-new city has been keeping me inside.

Becca's chair + neat lamp +guitar + window = VERY relaxing

Not to say I don't love it out there. Portland in fall is beautiful and not nearly as rainy as people are convinced it is up here. Its been in the 40's in the morning here, but the sun is still out and I am remembering again why I love fall so much. The colors. I did not realize until now that Santa Cruz had a dearth of deciduous trees. While I love the redwoods, I am loving the combination of the Pacific Northwest deciduous and evergreen trees.

We are fortunate enough to have a nice big old tree out of our second-story apartment for the view and blocking out some of the ugly buildings *cough* THE WELLS FARGO TOWER *cough*. The tree also draws a bit of attention from the local bird communities, which is tortuous, but entertaining for Samwise (our cat). Since I'm the one thats usually here during the day to watch his various antics, he frequently sits on the window sill staring up into the tree and doing that cat click-meow kind of thing. Anyways. Back to the books/pdf.

I think I've spent more time with pdf's and powerpoints in my entire college experience than with textbooks. Welcome to the future? Where is my hover board?

New Music Tuesday: Martina Topley-Bird's 'Some Place Simple'

I had a bit of trouble trying to find something to be interested in this week, searching my various sources for new albums this week. I'm pretty sure I listened to about 20 various new releases Myspace band pages that I would love to un-hear. Needless to say, I was very close to skipping this week's new release Tuesday.

That was until I found this. While I'm not even quite positive today was the release date, I don't really care at this point, because I was immediately drawn to Topley's sound.

The album's title is a perfect nomer (minus the mis-) with a toned down, simply orchestrated and beautifully vocalized collection of tracks.

In doing some simple research on her, I found her to be a collaborator on the first Tricky album, which would explain why her voice was a tid bit familiar. But rather, the tone she reminded me of, was of a slightly more subdued, yet sublime and more articulate Sia Furler (ala her album, 'Some People Have Real Problems').

All of the instrumentation are distinctly muted allowing MTB's voice to play center stage, which is perfect for overall sound. I don't have many albums that hit me fairly instantly as sounding this plain good immediately.

Interestingly enough, the album's architecture is part of what I find to be the most intriguing about the overall composition. The track titled 'Intro' is at number 7, letting me know that this whole time that the previous six tracks, MTB has been acting as her own warm-up act. And as promised and alluded to by the title 'Intro' its the beginning of a more upbeat and show stealing set of songs that treat the rest of the album as the main event.

Some highlights from this track set include the Nancy Sinatra's 'Bang Bang' inspired sound of 'Sandpaper Kisses', and the album finisher 'Harpsichord Kiss' sendoff track that leaves you feeling like the instrumental is pleasantly waving 'goodbye' and asking you to visit again sometime soon. Just an overall great album from an artist I'm glad to have just learned about today, and look forward to hearing more soon.

Martina Topley-Bird's 'Some Place Simple' -> 4.85/5

ADDENDUM: It turns out I didn't do enough research into her older albums to realize that this is a LIVE compilation album with just a few new tracks. However, considering it took me a while to find the information without noticing at all, I am even further impressed with the sound quality and clarity of the album.

New Music Tuesday: Belle and Sebastian's 'Write About Love'

Belle and Sebastian are one of those bands that I've heard about for years, had continually suggested to me, and even heard songs of and enjoyed what I heard. Yet, this is the first album of theirs I've actually really had a chance to absorb, so my history with them is the opposite of my review of the Mother Hips' 'Shootout'.

I did a little research ahead of writing in order to not feel completely ill-prepared to review an already successful and well received band's 8th album and was able to see all of the previous album covers. I was impressed with the similarly styled covers, letting me know that they seem to be consistent in image, which could definitely convince me to check out the rest of their discography if I really enjoyed this one.

And now to the music. The first track, 'I Didn't See it Coming' immediately draws you in with its simple but effective piano and drum accompaniment. But what really gets me here is the melody of the chorus in this song. I've been humming it the last couple days. Simple, but pretty and effective for an upbeat pop rock song. The song also has the chance to evolve in the bridge with some fun organ usage and noisy bits to make it really build up for its triumphant return to that hookiest of melodies decorating the chorus. Needless to say the album starts very strongly with this.

I appreciated the immediate chip tunes sound of the synth in the follow up track, 'Come on Sister'. While not quite as strong on its own and brain stealing as the hook in the previous track, it serves as a good B side to 'Coming's A side sound.

The next real standout song of the album would be 'I Want the World To Stop', coming in after the pallet cleansing 'Calculating Bimbo' (slow jam pop song akin to the 'Sun King' by The Beatles in vibe). 'I Want the World To Stop' would sound fairly natural on the next Broken Bells album, with Stuart Murdoch's voice sounding like he has a vocal brother in James Mercer. Also the beat and production of the piece sound exactly like what Burton was aiming for with Broken Bells' debut album earlier this year. Yet, I have the feeling that since this sounded so natural for Belle and Sebastian, and I do not have the benefit of knowing their previous albums to make a correct call, I'd bet Broken Bells were more inspired by B & S than the other way around.

Now I have a habit of falling for the more upbeat songs on albums before the quieter and more understated songs such as 'Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John', but they just don't stick out very much to me, especially when sandwiched between 'I Want the World To Stop' and the excellently executed 'Write About Love'. I definitely prefer the songs with both the female and male vocals on this album.

'I Can See Your Future's horn intro and walking bass line creates a fun pop experiment with the beat being periodically dropped and the airy female voice being accompanied by even more orchestra work. You can tell the band was really having fun with this, and that can only make the listener have fun with it as well.

Overall the album is a fun 11 song modern pop rock album that could do without a song or so to feel complete. Again, as someone not familiar with the rest of their work and not sure where it fits in with their other pieces, I am seeing this as a stand alone album. And by itself I see a well executed album with some definite standouts and unfortunately some more forgettable tunes, but giving a full listen will not leave you disappointed.

Belle and Sebastian - 'Write About Love' -> 4.1/5

If you haven't seen this video about the making of the album and some interviews with the band, check it out. Its fun and gives a bit more insight into where it came from.

The Mother Hips - 'Shootout'

What can I say? I'm excited to finally have the last piece to the puzzle of the Hips' discography finally in my grasp. I've been able to get all of their other albums either in the store, or via download, but this one has eluded me for years. I did have all of their collection once when the Ruckus music program was still online and let me tell you, when the site went under, my Mother Hips collection was sorely missed. This was four years ago, but I finally ordered it used from a vendor on Amazon.

This is the sound. As said perfectly on 'Honeydew', where they can really just let their trade off jam solo's and smooth vocals really take hold. I'm probably a bit jaded knowing that the live version is much more satisfying due to the four times I've seen them live.

For the most part the album feels new to me, since I did not really get a chance to absorb it all when it was available to me before. Aside from a few like 'Honeydew' that I recognize as being more common live, the album is filled with plenty of new Hips songs for me to digest and enjoy.

This is the album that led to their release from American records due to it not being the commercial success they had expected (as far as I understand), and while I understand that in 1994 this may have not been the sound to sell the numbers needed for economic success. However, for me I believe artistically and melodically, the record is quite satisfying and successful in these regards.

'Mother Hips' is an amazingly melodic and well put together piece that should only be able to mellow you out with clever lyrics and smooth guitar and some fun soloing near the end. Usually its a bit difficult, I think, to perform a song named after the band in question, but they succeed in making it not sounding trite in trying to define them. Similar to the way that Wilco started their most recent self-titled album, with their self-titled song. They both work in a way I wouldn't have expected.

Coming at this from more of the perspective of someone that is already very sold on the Hips and all that they do, this review is probably more of just my comparing it to other albums of theirs and enjoying it rightly so.

Soundwise, it seems to fit pretty rightly between 'Part-timer Goes Full's higher production value and the alt-country melodious 'Later Days'. 'Single Spoon' is a perfect example of more of their sound to come in their next album, while the follow up, 'So Much', would have sounded more in line with the material from 'Part-timer Goes Full'.

Basically the album is meeting and surpassing all of my expectations for it, in it being the last Hips album to round out my collection. I'm going to enjoy it being nestled in between 'Part-timer' and 'Later Days' when I do my chronological listen through on their albums every few weeks or so. Their sound is just something between the Beach Boys, Neil Young, and the Eagles to name a few, yet none of those comparisons feel satisfying or give these guys enough credit. They are their own, doing what they've been doing, better and better for 20 years and I look forward to the successor of 'Pacific Dust' and seeing them up here when they're in Portland.

Mother Hips - 'Shootout' -> 4.3/5

Birthday Cat

So, I was trying to think of something nice to do for my family's cat that is turning 15 today, as I can't be there to give her some nice petting and appreciation for the day. Here goes...

Happy Birthday Zoe Selene!

I know I won't be able to see her soon, but she's just been a great cat since we got her when I was in 3rd grade, and its been admittedly sad to see her less and less since leaving home for school in 2005. I miss her being used to wake me up in the morning for school since she has a penchant for the kneading on my chest and purring in my face behavior. Anyways, I figure this is as best a way as any to express missing a pet right? Even if she did end up adopting my Mom moreso than she was supposed to be my pet. But lets face it, a third grader with borderline ADD is probably not going to remember to change the catbox or feed the cat every day consistently. I'm mostly glad she's just made it through some of her tougher times and I look forward to seeing her again, so happy birthday Zoe!

Love,

Kyle

New Music Tuesday: KT Tunstall's 'Tiger Suit'

Now in looking at the releases this week, I saw a whole lot of 'meh'. Not to say that there aren't some great albums that came out this week, I just didn't find any to be excited about and when looking at the others that I did not recognize and testing out some songs, nothing really screamed "review me!!!". Anyways, I remembered kind of liking Tunstall's 2004 single, and breakout hit, 'Black Horse and the Cherry Tree' mostly due to the creativity and realization that acoustic looping and one-(wo)man-band could be well received by the greater public. I loved this mostly due to my obsession with a certain Keller Williams (who comes out with a new album 'Kids' in a couple weeks that will most definitely be on this blog). But I digress.

Anyways, Ms. Tunstall is not the most familiar artist to me other than that first single and I think I've heard clips of 'Suddenly I See' all over various TV shows and movie trailers. It has that kind of generic stock-photo quality of song that saturates media lately. Its not bad, but it also doesn't really stick out. Well now that you know about my prejudice to her work based on the little I've heard before, I'd like to say that when I did actually get the chance to listen to her album, I was pleasantly surprised. For the most part.

She definitely has the tendency to fall back on that stock-photo singer songwriter pop-ness between much better, solidly executed cousins to those filler songs. She really hits her stride when she embraces the beat a bit more. It seems that her voice gets more motivated as well to let a little bit of the gritty tones through that give the music a bit of a more unique feel than when she stays subdued, as heard on 'Push that Knot Away'. This track is one of the strongest with the same kind of foot stomping beat and acoustic guitar strumming that gave 'Black Horse' that sound I liked before. Also the thumping bass that drops in the bridge could make anyone at least be tempted to attempt their best air bass while bobbing their head. If I were her I'd keep exploring and working with this overall tone and sound than the bleached out electro-guitar pop of 'Glamour Puss'.

This is a difficult listen for me only in the sense that I know that I just want to keep hearing songs more along the lines of 'Push', 'Golden Frames', 'Come on, Get In', and 'Madame Trudeaux' where Tunstall seems more comfortable than maybe the more radio and MTV friendly sounds of '(Still a) Weirdo', her first single from the album.

Overall, I know theres a lot I like here with the more alt-country rock dancy songs beating out the more pure dance-guitar -pop-electronic ventures she seems to be split between. She just doesn't seem as comfortable with the latter as when she gets to have some fun with her guitar. She thrives when she gets to be herself as that floor stomping, guitar riffing, and soulful voiced songstress; unfortunately she only gets to do that for a handful of songs on the album.

KT Tunstall - 'Tiger Suit'-> 2.8/5

Watch her performing 'Madame Trudeaux' live to see what the album could have been if it hadn't been so distracted with less stand-out filler songs.

Bachelor of ?

Exam 1 of my last undergraduate course (of 4) was a success, and this has jump started a more focused work ethic since I am now aware of the procedures of this particular class (as this is my first online course). I have to admit, using a java based program to point and click at pipettes and going through the virtual motions and tasks of a lab is quite odd, though surprisingly helpful. For those wondering, this is the University of New England's online Medical Physiology course. I've been doing some thinking about what to do when I finish this course, I see a few options.

A: Just get my damn degree and get the BA.

B: Find one more class (either online or somewhere local) to get the BS and NOT get my degree until that is over.

C: Can't I just be done?

In talking to various advisors, relatives and friends, the BA doesn't look like it will hold me back very much, save from one area where it might give me some difficulty, a career in the actual sciences and graduate school (for topics other than teaching). This assessment should make it clear that a BA will be fine and better for me as it will allow me to be finished and move on to the next step and just find a job. After all, I want to teach, and supposedly the BA should not hurt me, though I don't know what kind of message it shows getting a Bachelor of ARTS in Biology? Nothing against art (in fact I probably would have preferred studying art or music, but that is besides the point), but its hard not to feel like people might get a bit judgy on the title. Also, in the interest of just exploring my options, I've been looking at grad school requirements for topics along the lines of geology and volcanology. These are wanting a BS in a relevant science. I have the grades in the core physics, chem, and math classes, but would a BA really kill the possibility? Maybe this writing practice I'm getting could be leading to me penning the 'Catcher in the Rye' of application essays (though that wouldn't necessarily help me towards my goal, skillwise).

Enough parenthesis and such, there's more physiology to focus on for now. Then maybe more BS later.

New Music Tuesday: Ben Folds & Nick Hornby's 'Lonely Avenue'

I'm just some guy on the net, but I don't think Ben Folds sucks, even though I have my own blog. 'A Working Day' starts out this project combining the whimsical and honest musicality of Ben Folds with Nick Hornby's... whimsical and honest writing? The song immediately starts the album off strong with the wit that those familiar with either are familiar with.

These two complement each other greatly due to both of their innate 'vibes'. Just hearing about the album's concept of Hornby writing everything while Folds 'adds music and melody' to these words. Its hard for me to tell sometimes if its just Folds' ability to take any song and deliver it in a way to make it sound like his own (ie. 'Bitches ain't Shit' from 'Songs for Silverman', and 'Video Killed the Radio Star' off of 'Whatever and Ever Amen'), or if in fact the both of them have a very compatible writing style. I'm going to go ahead and assume its some combination of the such, which saves me from making any decisions.

Anyways, this album sounds and reads like a Ben Folds album. Aside from lyrics relating to London and such, its not a confusing listening process trying to discern the difference of the Hornby's words and Folds' composition. The music itself is full of plenty of Folds' piano mastery, and some of the fuzzier distortion more present on 'Way to Normal'. These have a much more full presentation to them though. Perhaps with Folds' focusing on just the music, it helps him to really create full musical landscapes, with each song feeling fully realized. 'Picture Window' reminds me of how he should leave the string arrangements not just for extra tracks like he did with the strings version of 'Landed'.

Playing well to both Hornby and Folds' humorous, yet oddly emotionally honest abilities, 'Levi Johnston Blues' has some fun with the Levi/Bristol Palin drama. Since, Hornby is a novelist by trade, and Folds' a composer, these songs are the most story feeling/sounding songs of Folds' career. They just feel very whole for the most part and border on having an almost rock opera feeling. I find myself imagining ways to connect the songs together somehow in an odd meandering plotline.

Both Hornby romanticisms shine through the various textures that Folds' assigns fairly appropriately to the songs subject matters.

Favorites of the album are the opener, 'A Working Day', 'Levi Johnston Blues', and 'Saskia Hamilton' with its driving beat that just makes you imagine Folds' being only able to play the song while standing and pounding the ivory.

As someone who is already a fan of Ben Folds and Nick Hornby, its hard not to be a little jaded, but if you are someone that can imagine what this partnership would sound like, you will not be disappointed.

Ben Folds & Nick Hornby - 'Lonely Avenue' -> 3.8/5

New Music Tuesday: Frankie Rose and the Outs' Self-Titled Debut

Frankie Rose's latest band actually gets her out from behind the drums and in front of the mic, which turns out pretty well for listeners. I first heard of them a few months ago after a friend shared some demo's with me, so when I saw that their album was coming out today, I was pretty excited to see exactly what was in store.

The album starts appropriately with 'Hollow Life's sweet organs setting the tone for the upcoming wall of sound that follows in the rest of the album. Being a fan of albums that are composed and assembled as something that is supposed to exist as pieces that all work together, I love that this is not a collection of singles. To me it feels much more like an album experience, that needs the whole picture in order to feel whole. I know I won't be coming to these songs just looking to listen to one song and move on to another artist. Not that the sound and style is anything similar, but its status as a whole album to listen to reminds me of when I listen to 'Lola vs. the Moneygoround' by The Kinks. The songs are varied enough, but carry enough similarity in tone that it all comes together as a tryptych would form an overall piece.

Now to get the pieces. While a fan of some of the more subdued songs on the album, I can't help but be excited by some of the more poppy and energetic tunes. 'Candy' pops out immediately as the second track and sucks you into its mid 60's mood that you can immediately imagine the girls of the band with their beehive updo's. Its danceable, but in that slow shimmy and shake style that just makes you think about the dancing extras on the Ed Sullivan show.

'Memo' is probably my favorite of the bunch just with the warm tremolo tone of the opening guitar bit. Its not complicated, but it portrays a depth of understanding for the feeling of a well timed and accented riff. It almost reminds me of the beginning of Nancy Sinatra's 'Bang Bang' until the song picks up with a more modern distortion and pace, only to return to it. Great song and amazing tone. (It just makes me want to go replicate it with my own setup)

'Don't Tred' is a great example of why they could be likened a bit to The Cramps. Just listen. The song has a fun build up and I imagine would be one of their best songs live. Just the thrumming of the guitar and bass on a repetitive but ominous "dunnah dunnah". Also those drawn out chords and distortion make me think Frankie must be at least a little bit of a fan of Link Wray. Its the kind of track that makes it sound like a good candidate for being in the next Quentin Tarantino or Guy Ritchie film.

Frankie Rose & the Outs - 'Frankie Rose & the Outs' -> 4.1/5

Have a listen to 'Don't Tred'

New Music Tuesday: Chromeo's 'Business Casual'

I'm hoping that this is the first in a long line of Tuesday new music reviews for me. While I don't want for this blog to be strictly music oriented, I think my extensive past obsessing on the subject and want for discussing the specifics of new albums.

Chromeo's 'Business Casual' is actually pretty exciting to have first as it is an album that I've been excited for a few months, since hearing that a follow up to 2007's 'Fancy Footwork'(a funky and energetic sophomore release) was planned for today's release.

Where 'Fancy Footwork' improved and focused the duo, 'Business Casual' seems to have brought them into maturity. Its all distinctly Chromeo, but the beats, synthesizers, and grooves have grown up in their application. These are succinct and artfully crafted funky pop songs that do everything to remind me of what Motown was pumping out in the 80's. This is a good thing.

I'm not going to lie, but the first track's title 'Hot Mess', and its opening few seconds made me afraid that they were going to give in to the more current pop pitfalls lyric-wise (ala ke$ha). I can't stand that term personally, but luckily the song quickly shuts me up as I realize I will not be hearing about the petty exploits of an alcoholic glittery mess of a person. Instead, Dave One's neo-retro romanticism's are still prevalent with the wit still intact. Not to neglect that Pee Thug's well punctuated talk box makes the experience whole. This is dance synth funk at its best (not that I can think of many peers to them). These guys are great what they do.

There are definitely some songs that shine brighter than the others. Specifically, 'Hot Mess', 'Night by Night', 'Don't Turn the Lights On', ‘J’ai Claque La Porte’ and 'Grow Up'.

'Night by Night's crisp intro riff pulls you into a song that really just reminds me if 'Eye of the Tiger' had an illegitimate love child with the vibe of Flashdance.

'Don't Turn the Lights On' has that walking beat that can only keep reminding me of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. This song just makes me feel like these two must have some serious admiration for Quincy Jones. Also, the video is by far one of my favorites of the last year. Its fun, doesn’t take itself too seriously and has a pretty fun gimmick. Take a look:

'J'ai Claque La Porte' is a pleasant romantic change of pace with string accompaniment and, of course, some smoothly delivered vocals. While I do not speak French, I'm assuming Dave One is keeping up his usual wry charm and wit in these lyrics.

Finally, the last song 'Grow Up' sounds like it could be a cover of a MJ and Stevie Wonder collaboration from the mid 80's that somehow didn't make it out of the studio until now. Overall, very light hearted, sweet in tone and a great tone to end the album with.

The only reason this doesn't get my full marks is that the album is a bit front heavy, with the later tracks kind of blending together as not exceedingly memorable. If it had been as consistent for all 10 songs as it was with the first 5, it would have received my full marks. Don't let that deter you though. This is still a great album and most songs on it would deserve a place in a dance music or romantic situation playlist.

Chromeo - 'Business Casual' ->

Having fun isn't hard...

... when you've got a library card.

I'll explain that in a bit.

I finally got to get to the Multnomah Library on 10th to get my card. This is an activity that has happened once before in my lifetime, and I remember it quite clearly. It was probably a Sunday and I was around 6 or 7. The place was the Walnut Creek library and I can clearly remember awkwardly being pushed forward by my Dad to ask the Grandmotherly looking librarian about ascertaining a membership card (and knowing my father and his propensity for saying words that are far too complex to me as a kid, he probably did say ascertain). I remember its flimsy orange quality, and hands-down the worst signature of mine on its back. This was before learning cursive and right about the time that my printing was still fairly awful if it was not at least an inch tall and especially if there were no top, middle, or bottom guidelines. So it became what I thought at the time all those grown up signatures I thought were. Complete scribble. Well, two pieces of shaky 6 year old scribble running of the tiny white section of the card. I used that same card for ten years. I think its still in my desk at my parents with other various old membership cards, but wow, I don't think any of them held the weight and importance that this little orange piece of plastic did. At the time, it was a complete "now you're in the big kid club" moment. You've got people of all ages in this yellowed old library and all these books on shelves way too high with all these weird white tags on the spines with numbers on them. At the time I figured it was something that would always be beyond my understanding, but at this point, I'd like to think I've mastered the Dewey Decimal system. (I immediately thought of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZHoHaAYHq8 when I wrote that).

Anyways, all library nostalgia aside, I've been wanting to get back into reading for a long time and getting this card now is definitely seeming like a good step. I can't believe it was college that killed my will to read for fun, but I'm beyond letting that be an excuse anymore, and having a nice big city library within walking distance from the apartment is quite nice. I'm also a fan of the architecture and vibe of the place, while I haven't been to too many, I didn't really appreciate the UCSC libraries, the Walnut Creek one hadn't been fixed up yet, and I've really only been to the San Francisco city library after its resurrection (not a fan). This library has the nice classical architecture, mixed with the bricks and just has the right atmosphere for wanting to find a stack of books to bring home.

Cozy and scholarly looking huh?

Well back to the quote at the beginning. "Having fun isn't hard if you've got your library card".

When thinking about what to write about today, I was thinking about the card and I just kept hearing a song in my head, only to realize when I looked it up on youtube, I realized why it felt like an obscure song.

Arthur. Arthur and his sister DW and that pesky rabbit friend, Buster. I know I was a little old for watching for when this was popular, but when you grow up without cable, and are bored as hell at the age of 12 whose only form of entertainment was PBS, you become familiar with this aardvark. Anyways. I'm not too embarrassed about it now, but at the time if you'd ask if I had even heard of it, you would gotten an "Arthur? You mean the King?". But I'm actually kind of proud now and completely understand why this kind of stuff gets made. The adults that made it must have had fun thinking about the exciting things about that age and that a library card was indeed an exciting thing to have. I mean with all the other media they have there as well as books, its no wonder kids would probably still actually be that enthralled. Even if they can only focus on something for about 30 seconds.

Travellers in Space and Time and Nostalgia

.

This is the album I was talking about, incidentally. The one that said 'Hey. Kyle. Stop sitting and thinking about doing things and just DO something. Do it while smiling and skipping and staring at the clouds'.

Positivity just emanates from this album, which I can attribute to many of the songs (especially 'Dream About the Future') just screams out ELO. Also Mr. Blue Sky is my all time 'happy song', used to make good situations better, and bad situations less dire. So for me, anything channeling that energy is automatically entered in the memory banks as fun and happy tunes.

Along with the good energy, the bright and sunny lyrical musings of Robert Schneider cry out as being a guy that would be perfect to have around when you need a pick me up. Something about imagining him (and then confirming through seeing interviews with him), conjures a picture of how I feel most people would either pretend to want to be like, or pretend to hate out of jealousy. This guy is happy. He is happy and he sees what is good out there and thats all that he focuses on. And I'm glad that he doesn't feel that he needs to brood for music credibility. It is still possible to write a fun, sunny pop song that doesn't have to suck. It may seem like decades since that has been what was actually getting radio play, but people in general could use more of this kind of music.

Song Highlights:

Dream About the Future- Just listen to the chorus. Screams ELO, but not in a bad way. In a, 'I wish this was still on the radio all the time', way.

Hey Elevator- Nice swinging beat, another nice piano and synth pop song. My girlfriend's favorite from the album.

Dance Floor- The first single from the album and for good reason. Fun, good beat and gets instantly stuck in your head. If you haven't seen the video with Elijah Wood, do so. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C66yhRwpt7s

Dignified Dignitary- Fun bass and cowbell heavy song

No Vacation- Another ELO nod. I love me some 'oooo OOOOO ooooo's

Nobody But You- Ok yah, I know I've said it a lot, but try to hear the first 5 seconds and not think that Jeff Lynne got the Orchestra back together and picked up Schneider as their singer to keep it fresh.

And seriously. Don't you want this guy as your best friend?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVmadXT70uY

I don't have a rating system yet, but I'll tentatively go with the 5 star format for now:

The Apples in Stereo- Travellers in Space and Time ->

Any start is something right?

So, I technically started this blog about a month and a half ago when Becca and I had just finishing moving up to Portland from Santa Cruz, but... Yah it has been quite hard to start. Unfortunately I tend to put a lot of pressure on expressing myself and such, but I think I'm ready to dive headfirst. Listening to music that is not only bouncing with a happy vibe, but also has pleasant and nostalgic feelings attached to it can have that inspiring effect on me.

Well the whole point of this was to be sort of a personal journal/music/food/beer/travel blog of sorts and you know what? I think its time to get crackin'.

To sum up the events that led to this point and also address the blog's 'title', I have recently moved to Portland, Oregon after deliberating and finally deciding to do something and get out of California, the womb of my childhood/young adulthood. Portland had always been nice to visit, having my Uncle and his family up here and being a fan of GOOD beer, knowing this is Craft Beer City USA is a definite plus. Admittedly also music was a great draw due to my finding out that Blitzen Trapper was indeed from up here, as well as older favorites Sleater Kinney (though yes, I know they're defunct). I could use a musical climate that might help to catalyze my own musical growth. The combination of these reasons, the city's great food, its nice people and being encouraged by my lovely wanderlusting girlfriend, it just made an exciting sense.

Since moving up here, we've been living downtown with our occasionally savage and always adorable Siamese snowshoe point cat, Samwise. He's one of those 'I'll even look cute while I chew on your hand and try to rip you apart', and I still get too tempted to bug him when he's napping all day.

Becca has been working, and I've sent out a few resume's but have mostly been absorbed in my final class that I'm taking online. Medical Physiology online from the University of New England. Just this and then finally the Biology major will be all finished. I am really excited to work though, even if it ends up being some company I completely disagree with. Thats just one of those young 20 something experiences that I'm fine with having. I know I'll find something eventually that will match up better, like when I start teaching, but I know I do NOT have the maturity for that yet. Just in reading up on it and my experience in Education class let me know, I know how to talk about educating and what SHOULD be done, but knowing and practicing are different. While I'd love to be a young relatable teacher, I'd rather be a little bit older and be able to actually focus well enough to be a solid teacher and not just scoot by with strictly adhering to content standards.

Incidentally, the whole point of this first entry is to be that crazy rambling one that virtually no one will have the patience to sit through. Its cathartic for me, especially considering I haven't really made any friends up here yet. I'm like a hose thats just been let loose from being pinched off; that means tons of thoughts spilling all at once.

Summary? Living in Portland with amazing/psycho cat, amazing/sexy/sweet girlfriend, and trying to live up to all of those "what I'd do with my time when school was done" life goals; including recording, making more art, and writing. Well at least I'm working on the last one.