the emeticmedic

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Ah, the fresh breeze of freedom is upon me once again. The end to another semester, and the opportunity to lay around in a robe, watch films and scratch...well you get the picture. Okay, so I do still have to go to work, but after this fall, that is a piece of cake. It has been incredibly draining, but I did accomplish a fair amount.

I needed a break from all this to gather my energy once again, but I'd like to try to keep posting, if nothing else, for myself, to keep those creative juices flowing.

Heading to Puerto Rico in a few weeks for a much needed vacation. I do hope to take a lot of photos while I'm there. I have a direction, but we'll see what actually comes out of it. Until next time, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to those of you who celebrate. enjoy, and be safe. Do things that i wouldn't do, and take pictures of it. Don't forget to post them!

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Music

Grizzly Bear- Veckatimest- This is one of those indie bands with an odd name that you might just overlook, but after downloading the popular single "Two Weeks" I was hooked. From the opening piano notes and the fantastic vocal harmonies, the sound is unique from the get-go. These days, it seems the sky is the limit with all kinds of digital tools at ones fingertips, but it still takes a certain talent and ingenuity to make an album stand out in the sea of music that we're inundated with. I loved that first taste so much, I had to have more, so I picked up the rest of the album and was not disappointed. There are a few tracks like "Southern Point" and "While You Wait for the Others" that immediately stand out, while the rest needs time for you to properly soak it up. It's definitely worth the time.
The Who-Who's Next- As part of this process of reclaiming the music of the past, I occasionally add something I once had on vinyl or cassette, or just remember listening to in the days before ipods, and capturing it digitally for the ease of listening. I recently added this classic album to the my iTunes playlist, and of course, there's not much more that you can say to describe it besides just calling it a classic. Unquestionably one of the best rock albums of all time, even nearly 4 decades later, it doesn't feel the least bit dated to me. The sounds from Pete Townsend's driving guitars, to Keith Moon's explosive percussion and Roger Daltrey's iconic lead vocals, not to mention the experimentation with synthesizers (in a good way), there is nothing else quite like this in the Who catalog, or in any other band's catalog before or since.
The Swell Season- Strict Joy- This just came out a couple months ago, and I caught the song "Feeling the Pull" on the All Songs Considered Podcast. It hooked me immediately and stayed in my head for a few days, so I checked out the rest of the album from Frames' founder Glen Hansard, who collaborated here with Once co-star Marketa Irglova. The rest of it is as strong as the song that hooked me, though understated in today's landscape of layered, electronic pastiche. There is a lot to sink your teeth into here, and with the saturation of music out there, that isn't always true.
Blakroc- I've been into the work that the Black Keys and Dan Auerbach have been putting out for a while, but this is an interesting new direction. Black Keys sound, with hip-hop artists like Q-Tip, Mos Def and Raekwon dropping rhymes over a bluesy mix, it has a very eclectic sound that is right up my alley. A lot of the rap music world turns me off lyrically, with the glorification of drugs, violence, misogyny and homophobia, but musically I'm very drawn to the sounds that are coming out the genre. It just so happens that it all comes together here, with some of the few hip hop artists whose work I really enjoy, collaborating in a really inventive way with some talented musicians from a totally different world.