Picture me Rollin'

I don't have time to do it today, but soon I will make up a blog roll for all of you who somehow found your way to my blog but then the stench of terrible writing caused you to go into a cultural coma and now you can't find your way out. Kind of like going to a Fall Out Boy concert. This blog roll will assist you to greener pastures. Maybe someday, if I pay these bloggers thousands of dollars (or threaten them with being forced to smell my shoes) I will appear on one of their blogrolls. Don't tell them I led you there though, or else they will kick you out. It'd be like Lee jeans at the cool kids party in high school.

Title comes from the greatest movie of all time (or when I am in a immature enough of a mood to call it that) watch to the first 1:00 with the senior quote for seth green aka Special K. So many quotes, my head explodes. You can bail after that.

I have a chance to finish 3rd in two of my three fantasy football leagues and in 1st or 2nd in the other one. This is the first time I have had a chance at 3 medals. But that's just nerd talk....the best part of Fantasy Football Leagues is the team name. They are as follows "Whoa Whoa WEE WHOA!" "PoVegas Punishers" (lame, but its an old league and there is a legacy rule) and "Thundercats, HOOO!!" Pretty sweet names right? .......Pretty lame topic right? Moving on....

ALBUM REVIEWS
So I inadvertently heard on the radio that Rolling Stone gave TV on the Radio's "Dear Science" the "album of the year". I knew that they would get a high placing, but it really frustrates me that I can't get into them and I am rededicating to the cause. Probably shouldn't have mentioned that, and if you choose to ignore the rest of the list as pure poppycock, then I won't blame you.

14- The Airborne Toxic Event (self titled)- Of course I heard the single "Sometime Around Midnight" first. And I smugly thought to myself if I haven't heard of this yet, its because its a one hit wonder. Then I went back to smoking clove cigarettes, drinking imported beer, and cursing the overuse of auto tone/tune in hip hop these days. I forgot when I first got clued in, but around a month later I was listening to this album over and over. They remind me a little of another band I love; Pulp. The vocals are really gritty packed with loose cannon emotion just like rock legend and weirdo Jarvis Cocker used to do. They aren't quite as experimental and artsy as Pulp is, but even I think Pulp would go too far sometimes and I am a big fan.
"Sometime around Midnight" is a sucker song for me. I am better emotionally equipped to handle it these days, but back in the day this song would have slayed me (back in that day it was Motorcycle Drive By-3eB). Its got angry/depressed mix tape written all over it, I almost wish I had some girl to spring it on. (wait, you mean I would have to talk to her more than once? okay forget it then) This whole album is very good, but this song is by far the shining star and keeps it from being a mid 20 album to its current position. The other songs do a fine job of being original and the album features a good variety of hard rockers to poppy songs to power ballads. If you are a casual music fan, pick up this album. It is very fan friendly and easy to enjoy music. You'll like it a lot the first time through and I just hope these guys got enough juice for another album.

13-Girl Talk "Feed the Animals": This is the most unique album on the list and should be all the rage with the kiddies. You won't hear it on the radio though because it's somewhat controversial in that it is a pure "mashup" album. Basically, Greg Gillis (girl talk) takes a ton of samples and then mashes them all up in different ways to create new songs. They are super fun and super cool. From Lil John, The Band, Ace of Base, Jay Z, Kanye, and Rod Stewart. Its all in there! However, as you can see, no link to amazon because they don't carry it now for some reason. They did when I bought it, but perhaps there is some trouble with the licensing and copyrighting of this album.
The only problem with it is that it should be used sparingly. For me anyway, I get a little brain dead from listening to it too much as the undeniable nature of DJ'd material is a very rhythmic and unchanging beat and for some people that can get old quick! It obviously excels in a party atmospheres and driving in groups of immature people, but alone time or work time and it can be distracting. You should definitely check this out (if you can find it) to see if you can "smell what the Girl Talk is cookin'."

12-Foals "Antidotes": Dubbed as Math Rock, whatever that means, this album has a fun european sound. Maybe its because it makes you feel really smart and sophisticated. They have a real upbeat sound with quick strumming guitars and high pitched plucking. There is a quick stomping beat throughout and is a real toe tapper. The vocals are often repetitive with the beat and sung in a exasperated fashion with lots of the lyrics ending in mini gasps. A unique sort of style that I have heard before but can't put my finger on. Foals reminds me of a less electronic and more conventional version of LCD Soundsystem and they also remind a little of Spoon. I could be way off on that, but it's what I think. Plus, they look like cool dudes who know how to have fun being rock n' roll stars. Really like "The French Open", "Olympic Airways" "Two steps, twice"and "Big Big Love". Sweet album artwork too!

11-Blitzen Trapper "Furr": This is a late pickup (3 weeks old), and I might be a little too over-juiced about it to be fair. But whatever, I am not a pro and I don't get paid to critique albums, nor do I get them free ahead of time. So I like what I like when I like it. This album has an old time 70's folk-rock feel, but is surprisingly well modified to modern tastes. They remind me of country rocked Death Cab for Cutie. Awesome wood panelled cover art! Lots of cool harmonica and good percussion. Good harmonizing too! I think these guys should tour with Black Mountain. They would be an awesome show. Their lyrics are impressively vague, fun, and well written. Songs about being a farm animal (Furr) a confused serial killer (black river killer) and a resentful lover (not your lover anymore). The tracks have a good amount of variety and the lead singer has a great way of modifying his style to match the tempo and mood of each one. If you like bands such as The Band, The Allman Brothers, Crosby Stills and Nash, and Okkervil River; you will probably really like these guys.

Albums number 10-5 tomorrow. Stay Tuned!

incoming dark clouds.....that play music

It's that time of year for all you hangers on to YFYB. The time of year where you take a look at your inner soul and question if you have the mental fortitude to handle another barrage of posts regarding S.Vincents "20 Best Albums of the Year". I was surprised to see that I have listened to over 120 albums this year. Of course all of them were not 2008 releases, probably around 50% are, but there is a ton of music I have listened to in the past year and its going to be tough to narrow it down again.

Last year turned into a pretty big debacle, but in S.Vincents defense, it got YFYB through some rough times when I didn't have much to post about. It was cold, the holidays were over, and I was rowing, working, rowing, lifting, sleeping every weekday. Plus every weekend, I was away in some of the northeast's most boring and desolate locations for rowing races. The strangest thing was; I got the most hits per week during that period then any other period this year. YFYB was averging about 350 hits a week back then, as opposed to around 100 a week now. I think that was due to some of the labeling I used, I dunno, maybe people really like music

But this year there is going to be a change in format. For one, I am going to start it next week. I am really busy this week otherwise I would start it now, but I want to try to get mine out before I am influenced by the opinions of all the other lists and then see how mine compares. There may be some follow up posting on others opinions if I get bored, but lets cross our fingers that something cool happens to me instead. Like....finding a girl who is willing to follow me around and we can laugh about her behind her back before she finds out how much of an internet nerd I am, and dumps me and then goes to therapy or gets an eating disorder.

For two, there will MUCH less description. I am going to try to knock out 5 albums per post with 1/3 of the drivel that I rambled about last year. I think most people just want to see which albums I picked and not hear about why I like the music that they have never heard of. Maybe thats just me though.....NOT. If they want to know more about the album they can just send me a compliment. There will also be less video examples per album. Just one song if I can find it for the album. I wasted too much time on that last year.

So there we go, get yourself ready and turn your RSS feeders on to FULL BLAST or OFF. It's about to get a little noisey in this piece. As a teaser, SVTV is featuring a song from one of the top 5 candidates that I have rocked once a week since it came out in the early summer. I have no idea why it is not gigantic. Every pop-music idiot I know should LOVE this album.

Speaking of noise. I was recently re-connected with the best headphones I have ever owned and since it is christmas and many of you are scouring for gifts for your loved ones, I will tell you a little about them. I got these headphones in a splurge period when some money was burning a hole in my pocket about 2.5 years ago. The Shure E2C's. About a year and a half ago, I lost them at the gym and figured that the I could get something at least close to as good in a smaller price range. Wrong! at $85 bucks these headphones are the best I have tried and worth at least 150 dollars. And they are cheaper now! The quality of sound is a big thing to me, so I wanted a set of headphones that could deliver, without being 300 bucks. The earbuds that come with the iPod are trash I feel. They don't stay in your ears, only deliver moderate sound, and don't block out any. The Shure E2C's are the opposite of that, they are locked in your ears and the wires wrap around the back of your ears out of sight like a Secret Service agent. The sound is crisp and clear with great bass delivery, and the best part is that they block out a TON of outside noise. Perfect for city dwellers and other loud environments.

The cons....they can be a little uncomfortable at first and for longer periods of listening (2 hours+), but they come with a bunch of different silicone attachments that helps. But mostly, I have found that when they are new, the silicone takes a little while to break in and soften up as well as the cord which will be zig-zagged for a little while from being locked in the packaging. But once they do, they are super comfy and don't budge even when your ipod falls out of your pocket. It will be hanging from your ears! Rare for any headphones.

So if you or someone you know really loves music and is someone you are going to spend more than 50 bucks on. Get them these headphones....like NOW.