Goals for just today

1. Go to the gym, do full shoulder AND chest workout.
2. Go to work, stay focused, finish Color By Attribute function.
3. Go to dance class, have fun.
4. Relax.

EP Finished.. for now

I totally reserve the right to repost this EP in case I decide it needs changing, but for now here it is...untitled EP.

Link

New Year's Resolutions

As I sit here typing this I have poison oak down both of my arms. That's what I get for trying to rescue my roommates' dog! Anyway, I have several New Year's Resolutions that I am going to try to implement this year, but for most of them I'm waiting for the poison oak to leave me alone.

1. Be more conscientious about the foods that I buy and where they come from.
This is a joint resolution w/ Shannon. We recently watched Food Inc. and it was quite the eye-opener. So basically we are going to try and find out where our food comes from and make sure people/animals aren't being taken advantage of beyond necessity.

2. Keep going to the gym
Towards the tail end of last year I started hitting the gym and I was doing a pretty decent job at keeping up with it. This year I'd like to continue my pace and possibly pick it up a little more. My shoulder needs all the strength training it can get. This one doesn't pick up again until the oak goes away.

3. Finish my untitled EP
For quite awhile now I have been working on a bunch of songs. Over the past year I've widdled them down to a core group and I am almost done recording and mixing them. I did a lot of work on it this past weekend but it still needs a few more tracks added and mixing taken care of. I will post it here when it has been completed.

4. Be better about writing here
I haven't been the best at keeping up with this blog, but I'm going to try and write three reviews a week from here on out. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain from tonight counts for this week!


Ok, those are resolutions. Hopefully posting them here will give me a little more motivation to get them taken care of.

Review #7 - Pavement

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain - 9.9
I know, this is my second Pavement review in a row....Sometimes I just want to listen to Pavement and nothing else, so why not be productive while I'm at it?
Crooked Rain is an incredible album. In my opinion, it is Pavement's first true masterpiece. Many would argue that Slanted and Enchanted is their first and also finest work, but I strongly disagree. Pavement really hit their stride here.
From probably their best album-opener in "Silence Kit" to all around great songs like "Gold Soundz" and "Heaven is a Truck," Crooked Rain is a very solid album. It also features tons of awe-inspiring moments as well: The opening hook to "Elevate Me Later," "Stop Breathin"'s spectacular guitar solo...
Arguably two of the band's finest tracks are also collected here. "Cut Your Hair" is probably their biggest single and closest brush with mainstream fame and success. Then you have "Range Life," which is their finest moment in my estimation.
The reason I took off .1 points and didn't make this album a perfect 10 is because side 2 of this LP features several throwaway tracks. I'm sure the band was going for experimentation, but I would have preferred more great songs instead of "5/4 = Unity" and "Hit the Plane Down."
However, those songs would still be above average moments on another band's album. They are surrounded by such greatness that they seem like a cut below here.
So many of Pavement's best songs come from this album, and it is probably almost universally considered their best album, with greatest going to Slanted and Enchanted.
One beef before I end this review...Rateyourmusic has Crooked Rain ranked as the third best album of 1994. How on earth did Nas and Portishead beat this album out?! "Glory Box" is a great song...but its just one song.

Review #6 - Pavement

Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Ed. - 10.0
Finally, I get to do a review of my all-time favorite band. It should also be noted that Brighten the Corners is one of my two favorite albums, the other being Wowee Zowee, also by Pavement.

When it first came out on CD I pre-ordered this reissue. I was thrilled with the quality of the B-Sides that somehow never made it to a proper Pavement record. Now that I have the vinyl version, I have to say, it is quite an impressive package: 4 vinyl LPs in a boxset-type presentation. It opens like a book, each page containing another record. Also inside is a 16-page book of photos and an essay talking about the writing of Stephen Malkmus' writing. The essay, by the way, is worth a read, but you will definitely not want to read it twice.

I won't say too much here about the original album (which is housed completely in the first record) except this: it was transcendent. If you haven't heard it before it is required listening. The lyrics and the soundscapes are both at the top of the list. Highlights include "Transport is Arranged," "Old to Begin," "Type Slowly," "We are Underused," and album closer "Fin."
The real reason for getting this album are the extras included here. A lot of these songs that I hadn't heard before have come to be mentioned in the same breath as the most classic of Pavement tunes. "Westie Can Drum," "Birds in the Majic Industry," "Harness Your Hopes," and "Winner of the" are all great. "Roll With the Wind," despite being incredibly cheesy, seems like a tongue in cheek homage to one of Malkmus' biggest influences, Creedence Clearwater Revival, who appear to be name-checked in the album's title.

Explore further and more gems are uncovered. Several versions of Terror Twilight's "The Hexx" are featured here, as it was originally planned to be Brighten the Corner's album opener. My favorite version is the wah-drenched interpretation found at the beginning of Side 7. And if you didn't know, Pavement appeared on an episode of Space Ghost, providing two versions of a theme here. Theme I is laughable (here is a great clip of them on the show) but Theme II actually provides a pretty slick riff and appropriate album closer. Live versions of other songs are also here, highlights being "Painted Soldiers," "Type Slowly," and Wowee Zowee's "Grave Architecture."

Nicene Creedence is certainly quite an undertaking, but for a dedicated fan there are more than enough rewards to make this worth the (VERY) steep purchase price of $79.99. I was lucky enough to get it for significantly less. This album has so much to offer it is a shame for any fan of Pavement to not hear it in its entirety.

New Records

Ok, so its been quite awhile since my last post. One of my New Years resolutions is going to have to be to get better about that. But since it has been Christmas I have a crap load of new records. I've gotten them for gifts, from the flea market, and in a shipment from ADA music.
So, here are the new ones in no particular order:

Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Deja vu
NOFX - S & M Airlines
Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding
The Lively Ones - Surf Rider
The Rolling Stones - Some Girls
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Pig Lib
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Elliott Smith - s/t
Pavement - Brighten the Corners (Nicene Creedence Ed.)
Elliott Smith - either/or
Pavement - Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
Dr. Dog - Fate
Silversun Pickups - Carnavas
The Microphones - The Glow pt. 2
Girls - Album


A lot of these albums I am very familiar with so I will try to post reviews on them soon.. That should hopefully get me out of my blog posting slump.

Review #5 - Steve Miller Band

Anthology - 8.4

Coming into listening to this album I had listened to the Steve Miller Band only through the radio. I knew about "The Joker," "Fly Like An Eagle" and the rest. But that's it.
Anthology really opened my eyes to the eclectic skill of the SMB. None of the songs featured here on his early career's best of are prominent songs that I was familiar with. But from the opening guitar, harmonica, and vocal harmonies of "I Love You" it becomes clear that SMB is far from a two or three trick pony.
Side one of this double LP starts of with dual down home country tracks with "I Love You" and "Going to the Country." The side hits a bit of a mis-step with "Baby's House," a long ballad that allows the listener to lose focus on the album. "Kow Kow Calqulator" has a nice groove and finishes the side on a high note.
Side two finds SMB in more of a soul groove. The country twang and harmonicas have been ditched for a Memphis-style organ that suits the band very well. The harmonica returns however on the side-closer "Living in the U.S.A.," which is a definite album highlight.
The entire album shows the different sides of the band, but despite changing styles, the music is always consistent. "Journey from Eden" is a quieter song, but just as solid as anything else presented here. The only low points are the sometimes cheesy lyrics, like on "Seasons" and "Celebration Song." However, the melodies of at least "Celebration Song" remain strong.
All in all, without knowing much about Steve Miller Band, this is a great entry point to the band. Without surviving on the strength of singles this shows that the band put together quite a few other quality pieces along the way.