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.