Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Music Break...

Yes, another non-food, non-beer post. I'm working on a food related post that should be up in a day or two, but for now, my legions of loyal subscribers (all 2 of you) will have to be happy with this.
I've been on a music binge lately, getting a number of new albums in the last couple of weeks. It started when I got the new Arcade Fire album (Neon Bible). Ok, it was new to me. I really liked their previous album, and had enjoyed all the tracks I heard on Sirius, so I figured this was a no-brainer. Unfortunately, I'm really not digging it. I think what's turning me off is that the production completely stinks. Most of the songs sound very muddy, and it's keeping me from getting into it. I listened to it a couple of times after getting it, and then put it on the shelf. Maybe I just need to give it another listen. I dunno.

Then I got the new Raconteurs album (Consolers of the Lonely), which is a pretty darn good album. It's a little less power-poppy than their previous (which is both good and bad), and it's kind of eclectic. It's a good album, but man, I'd hate to be in a band with Jack White. I mean, he's a great musician and everything, but it seems like the Raconteurs are less of a "super group" and more of "Jack White + 3 other guys no one's heard of", and the album definitely seems to reflect his vision.

We all have guilty musical pleasures, and one of mine is metal. I love loud music in general, and sometime the only kind of music that will do is just heavy heavy metal. So, my next purchase was Mastodon's Leviathan. This is one heavy album, and it's basically a musical version of Moby Dick. While that would ordinarily sound like something to poke fun of, in this band's hands it gets carried off pretty well. It doesn't hurt that they have one kick-ass drummer. I mean, the guy just whales on the drums.

Finally, I got the new My Morning Jacket album, Evil Urges . I loved their last album (Z), and I really like this one too (give me a couple of weeks to fall in love with it). It's not quite as "jammy" as Z was, but it's still a great album. Occasionally, I will play music for the kids, and they'll just click on a song (like the time I played "Super Bon Bon" by Soul Coughin; man they loved that song). They definitely "clicked" on "Highly Suspicious", and it is one catchy, weird song. Good stuff.

Finally, I got some music a while ago from a friend of mine, and one of the albums he gave me, which I really didn't give much of a listen to, is Bright Eyes' Cassadaga. I guess the intro to the title track (which was also the first track) left me cold, because I just didn't get it at all. Fortunately, for whatever reason, I decided to give it another listen, and I'm glad I did. I don't know if I'm going to be joining the Conor Oberst fan club or anything, but it's a good album.

That's enough about music. I'm working on a post about chicken, and hopefully I'll have it done tomorrow or the next day, so stay tuned.

No comments: