Saturday, January 31, 2009

Thanks Grandma.

Hard work helps the time go by. Hard work helps the time go by. - Paul Baribeau's "Hard Work"

My roommates are drinking awful scotch whiskey. We had a discussion about where is came from. I said Scotland but my roommates were thrown off by the inclusion of scotch and whiskey in the title.

Some excerpts:
"Whiskey is only brewed in America. If it's not made here, then it's bourbon."
"This smells terrible."
"Where did we get this?"
"Alex's grandma gave him like 6 bottles of booze."

As it turns out Inver House Very Rare Scotch Whiskey, is made by a Thai company. But Scotch whiskey is whiskey made in Scotland. You be the judge.

I've been looking at tons of internships. I can't wait to not have a job. I'm pretty sure my dad is still hoping I'll be a doctor. I've been feeling pretty overwhelmed with everything that goes into to eventually finishing college. Paper work, health insurance, hopefully not living at home. I wonder why I couldn't just go into something more sensible but then I remember that at least being a writer is a rewarding kind of misery. I submitted a piece I wrote for class to another publication. Waiting to hear back now.

The perfect song for this entry just came on. Yeasayer's "2080"

I can’t sleep when I think about the times we’re living in,
I can’t sleep when I think about the future I was born into


Yeasayer reminds of what a more focused Animal Collective would sound like in a future where they don't want to fuck with you. Much more straightforward. Less wankery. I mean Animal Collective is good but come on. Sometimes you want to know what a band is saying to you. Gotta love all the yelping they do though. Anyway, "2080" is all about the future not being everything you thought it would be. But I guess you just have to give it a shot despite that. I think that's something that we can all relate to: nothing living up to our expectations and preconceived notions.

That's all today.

Goodnight, cool world.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The things I love all have one thing in common

I really enjoy talking to Josh about music. We don't understand each others' tastes sometimes but we can usually have pretty intense discussions. After his show the other night we had one such discussion that began because of his band's complete lack of respect for the trailblazing and quintessential sounds of At the Drive-In and the search for a reasonable definition of post-hardcore.

I'm still completely dumbfounded that his bandmates give The Used any credit for anything that isn't managing to use chains in a song (See: That John Lennon song they covered) and being to blame for all the mall punks. Meanwhile, they have the nerve to say that At the Drive-In sucks. I understand that I'm a little too obsessed with music history and stuff and I understand that one of the original points of hardcore was to forget all the music that came before and create something new but not for nothing all these post-hardcore bands sound kind of samey. So I don't think they should act above a band that really paved the way for them.

I got a little off track there. Josh ended up talking about how he doesn't think he could ever have a meaningful relationship with a girl that doesn't appreciate Saves the day the same way he does. I'm glad that I have enough people in my life that I share music and ideas with that that isn't a specific criteria for a life partner for me. But I know EXACTLY where he's coming from. What's the point of spending your time with someone that doesn't absolutely love certain things the same way you do? Sure, opposites attract but is attraction enough?

I always get bummed out when someone doesn't like a song or band I recommend to them. Unfortunately, we can't force everyone we meet to see through the green glasses of our own Emerald City. But if you can't come with me to see Japanther and have fun or you can't listen to the Weakerthans' Left and Leaving without it breaking your heart or you refuse to understand why a band like At the Drive-In works me up into a frenzy of air guitar moves, jumping off shit and drooling all over myself because my mind is just completely blown each and every time, then I don't know why we even speak to each other. The things I love all have one thing in common: they are mostly impossible to explain to everyone I meet and at the same time I cannot stop talking about them.

My favorite feeling in the world is someone saying to me "Hey man, I checked out X Band and I love Y Song. Thank you so much. I get it now." Usually it's not in those exact words but you get it.

There is a flip side though. I hate letting people I'm the biggest fans of in on my little secret. Which in and of itself is a ridiculous sentiment to harbor but you know, certain things are ours. Certain things we consider a part of us. Why would I give someone I don't like an arm or a kidney?

That's preposterous but everyone is like that about something.

Time to sleep. School might not be canceled tomorrow.

Monday, January 26, 2009

I'm awful at this. I never blog.

So I didn't do a best of 08 list this year. (Last year? Whatever. I'm still writing 08 after all my dates)

As far as disappointments go. I didn't have many. Japanther let me down a bit. But Skuffed Up My Huffy is probably better than anything they'll ever release. Fuck. I don't even remember what else I listened to.

No Age was good. The Mae Shi was good. My friends Frat Dad put out some phenomenal demos. I was feeling The Black Lips, Parts and Labor, Jay Reatard and Times New Viking. Lots of loud, noisy boy music. Deerhunter put out three good releases.

The last album I bought was Q-Tip's The Renaissance. It mostly made me want A Tribe Called Quest.

Los Campesinos! put out two albums I really liked. I even really liked The Black Kids album because that didn't want to be anything more than just a pop record.

In 2007, I gave album of the year to Lifetime's self-titled comeback album.

This year, I'll give it to The Gaslight Anthem. Springsteen punks.

Yeah.