^^^^^^^^^^^
Now with RSS & XML! Whatever those are!
And an About page! Written six years ago! Alongside e-mailing capabilities (youlookgoodinblack at yahoo.com)!
(Elsewhere: shortpantsromance, am, deadaesthetic, understandish, subinev, movingfloor, herjazz, philipsherburne, infiniteregress, monitormix, 17dots, SOYA, tmshine, thescowl, tangzine, g-g, toastier, bobnanna, lefsetz, pizzasaurus, blackyellowblack, twopointscollapsing)
Monday, August 11, 2008
30

Crap.
7:09 PM :
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
2008 Catalog: Part 6

So the unending test of writing down each and every music purchase of mine for the year 2008 continues. I'm getting far behind at this. Let's blame the heat, the dog, and riding my bike. On Tuesday's 20 mile ride, I realized that Portishead's track "Machine Gun" absolutely rules when listened to at the 13 mile mark in 90+ degree heat. We'll get to that album soon enough.

Bob Marley & Lee Scratch Perry "The Best of the Upsetter Years"

Where and Why Did I Buy? From emusic. Because I needed some music suitable for the beach. This excels at that job.

Do I Enjoy? Yes, thoroughly and completely. Unlike all of the rest of the student body at the University of Delaware (circa 1996), I did not own any album featuring Bob Marley. Actually, I detested reggae at that point of my life. Since I'm grown now, I admit that was a mistake. I like the dub.

Quiet Village "Silent Movie"

Where and Why Did I Buy? From emusic.com. I'd read good press about this band from the AV Club and thought this would be up my alley since it mentioned them meeting up at a Metalheadz party in 1995.

Do I Enjoy? Not really. It's actually boring. Incredibly so.

Pele "Realize It" ep

Where and Why Did I Buy? Through the emusic.com. I support anything and everything members of Pele involve themselves in.

Do I Enjoy? I celebrate their entire catalog. Even 2 track eps that I've never focused on intently such as this one.
8:42 PM :
Thursday, July 10, 2008
A PSA From Your Friendly Neighborhood Website

Friends, Family, & Countrymen,

In a valiant attempt to get some exercise and help out a great cause in the process, I signed up for the City to Shore bike tour that occurs in late September of this year. It entails riding 75 miles in one day from Cherry Hill to Ocean City, NJ and raising donations to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. I've been training quite a bit for it and have already proudly rode more miles in the past two weeks than I have in the past two years.

So viewers of the glorious internet, I'm hoping you can find a small, spare piece of your wealth to donate my way. Any and all contributions to this great organization are thoroughly appreciated.

Here's a link to my donation page.

All donations are tax-deductible. Void where prohibited. Have your pets spayed or neutered.

Thanks for what you do.
11:11 PM :
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The Horror

I just received a painful e-mail from ticketmaster stating that the band, Live, will be touring alongside Blues Traveler AND Collective Soul this summer.

The armageddon will start immediately following the second encore.
7:41 PM :
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
2008 Catalog: Part 5

So the vast plan of chronicling each and every music purchase of mine for the year 2008 continues below. Here's some additions from April:

V/A "Submit: Philadelphia Electronica"

Where and Why Did I Buy? On cd and on a whim at Long in the Tooth.

Do I Enjoy? I haven't listened to the entire compilation since it spans two discs of local electronic artists from the late 90's that I've never heard of. Some are decent though.

The Breeders "Mountain Battles"

Where and Why Did I Buy? Also on cd from the always friendly, Long in the Tooth.

Do I Enjoy? Surprisingly very much so. It's got some haze going. For some reason, I revisited the past one day by listening to "Last Splash" (always a fan of "Divine Hammer") and then searched to see if they had a new album out soon. It turns out they did, the very next Tuesday. I then heard some online and bought away. Will probably rank among my favorites at the end of the year. "Bang On" rules.

Nine Inch Nails "Ghosts: I-IV"

Where and Why Did I Buy? Purchased on cd along with above album by The Breeders at the same store on the same date. We were heading to Florida shortly thereafter and I needed some music to distract me from my dislike of flying through the air (via aeroplane).

Do I Enjoy? Even though it's all instrumental and not all the songs are that memorable, I still enjoy. I think when listened to in bulk form (instead of just one or two), it forms into an unstoppable machine. Sort of like an angry Voltron.

Let's Wrestle "In Loving Memory Of..."

Where and Why Did I Buy? Through emusic. I read a post somewhere on their 17 Dots blog that mentioned the greatness of it.

Do I Enjoy? I very much do. New, British, post-punk bands really aren't my thing, but this ep packs several punches and one head-butt. Also contains my favorite lyric of the year in the first line of "I Won't Lie to You", which goes:
"No matter how many records I buy, I can't fill this void."
That's one for the ages.
8:01 PM :
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Paging Mr. Huseynov

Although I've never met him or visited the Fizuli region of Azerbaijan, I'd like to give a formal shout out to Sarvan Huseynov for repaying his loan to the nonprofit Kiva organization. They do some good work over there. Kudos Mr. Huseynov. My next loan will be to this gentleman and his soft drink store in Tajikistan. Good luck.
9:43 AM :
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
2008 Catalog: Part 4

The grand experiment of chronicling each and every music purchase of mine for 2008 continues. Here's my additions in April:

Paul McCartney "McCartney"

Where and Why Did I Buy? On vinyl at Marvelous. Had to complete more of the Paul collection.

Do I Enjoy? As of last November, I owned a total of zero albums by Paul McCartney and/or Wings. As of today, I own the good, early ones and I probably paid a grand total of $10 for them all. If you hang out at our house for an evening, I guarantee I will put on one of his albums then drink a beer. It'll occur.

Christian Vogel "Rescate 137"

Where and Why Did I Buy? On cd at Marvelous. I owned an earlier album of his and really enjoyed it.

Do I Enjoy? Not this one. As much as I'm into electronic music, this doesn't click with me. There's not much focus and the bad sections drag on far too long. Sadly, one for the sale pile.

Calamine "s/t"

Where and Why Did I Buy? Through emusic. They did the theme song from Sealab 2021. C'mon, that's one gold theme.

Do I Enjoy? I've only listened to this once and actually only downloaded it because my 40 songs were about to expire, but I'm into it. Anything that sounds vaguely like Velocity Girl while listened to in the middle of May is good with me.

Blood on the Wall "Liferz"

Where and Why Did I Buy? Through emusic. I liked the name and had heard good things.

Do I Enjoy? Decent stuff. Take some Sonic Youth: stir and shorten. The song "The Ditch" rules.

Future Sound of London "Lifeforms"

Where and Why Did I Buy? Through half.com. A memorable album from high school that I've never owned.

Do I Enjoy? It's much denser and more industrial sounding than I remembered. I thought this double ambient disc was all floaty and serene. I actually may unload this one back to the half.com, I think the memories are better than the actual album.
10:34 PM :
Monday, May 19, 2008
2008 Catalog: Part 3

So my experience of detailing my music purchases for 2008 continues unabated. Most of this stuff is from March:

She & Him "Volume One"

Where and Why Did I Buy? Through emusic. Zooey Deschanel's performance in "Elf" sold me.

Do I Enjoy? Yeah, but it doesn't really feel like a true album. Just a bunch of breezily recorded songs, but that's a good thing. I really didn't think I'd like this album as much as I do, especially the first half.

Jawbox "s/t"

Where and Why Did I Buy? Through emusic. I actually had this album on tape (via Mr. Bob C.) from years back. It's time to update and live in the now.

Do I Enjoy? Most definitely. Probably one of the most important bands I first heard early in high school that changed how I thought of music. Everything changed after hearing "Savory" from "For Your Own Special Sweetheart".

The Evens "Get Evens"

Where and Why Did I Buy? Through emusic. Their first album took a year to really grow on me.

Do I Enjoy? This second album may take longer.

The Ventures "Play Telstar"

Where and Why Did I Buy? On an afternoon stroll around our neighborhood, we stopped by Sweet Jane for the first time. Besides buying this because of the greatness of The Ventures, I felt the need to support a local establishment.

Do I Enjoy? It's not possible to dislike The Ventures. Plus they cover "Tequila" on here. Open the windows in your house and add this album to the turntable. Gold.

Ladyhawk "s/t"

Where and Why Did I Buy? Through emusic. I read an interview on Monitor Mix with them and thought they'd be a band I could visualize myself downloading to listen to and actually listening to.

Do I Enjoy? Yeah, track 2 ("The Dugout") is excellent. If we go camping this summer, this will be played.

Terranova "DJ-Kicks"

Where and Why Did I Buy? Through my monthly purchase from half.com. I have a long term goal of acquiring every album from the "DJ-Kicks" series. I now have several.

Do I Enjoy? Actually, not as much as I thought I would. Lots of dark hip-hop, which is usually cool, but I'm just not into it at the moment.
7:58 PM :
Thursday, April 24, 2008
A Helpful Hint

Dear Person Who Programs the Music at the Daytona Beach International Airport,

In the future, please refrain from playing R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" over the loud speaker as I board the aircraft to leave your seaside city.

While a great song, it's not really a good airport tune. As an alternative, perhaps go with a selection from Brian Eno's album "Music For Airports". Mr. Eno's soothing tones don't conjure up any possibility of a fiery crash or an ironic end of days. I'm sure Michael Stipe and company would agree.

Thanks.

-Me
9:40 PM :
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Make It Go Away

A genre of music that should no longer exist: Contemporary Blues. Whenever you've got Steven Seagal aboard your musical train and laying down a mean blues guitar, it's time to eliminate your genre. Although he does apparently have a song called "Talk to My Ass" included on the above album. That's some horrible imagery there.
7:28 PM :