This was OK / fine for light reading. But the attempt at misdirection seemed way too obvious to me and it drove me nuts the entire time I was reading it that the quilt on the cover of the book was a sampler and not a Lover’s Knot, one of the main metaphors. Dear publishing house: when you’re publishing a book for the crafty market, these types of things WILL be noticed. Idiots.
I bought only two albums in December and a few random singles. Say wha? Definitely the least amount of $$ spent on music all year.
Absolutely Love & Adore:
Frightened Rabbit “The Midnight Organ Fight” – I think this album is outstanding but I don’t have that much more to say about it than when I mentioned it the first time. I listened to it over and over in December. The Vores described it as sounding like Counting Crows. OK, I’ll give them that. I would describe it as… let’s say a combination of Counting Crows with Snow Patrol (from their first album before they got soooo super cheesy and overdramatic in EVERY SONG) but with slightly better music, better lyrics, and better accents. “Backwards Walk” is definitely my favorite song but I’m not sure there’s a single one I don’t like. (“The Twist” may be my #2 fave. I know you wanted to know that.)
Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):
Other Albums I Liked:
Not really for me / but maybe for you!:
Nada!
Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can’t legitimately offer an opinion:
Nada!
We did find time–over the course of three (3) days–to watch The Big Lebowski. Wow. You wanna talk CLASSIC…………………..The Dude truly abides.
Bought:
Lance Armstrong: Done with stage 2. A tough, hilly course. Felt decent but not super. There’s definitely some fit guys in the bunch. Alan Davis won.
Duff: I am super tired.
Recently relocated to the U.K., Bill reports: “British TV sucks ass*… this is my sole source of entertainment”.
*I could’ve told you that! 🙂
Sashi 0
Duff 0
1) to gain more weight,
2) to drink a whole LOT more, and
3) to achieve a whole LOT less.
Per my friend Bill, via email
Lance Armstrong: Up and at ’em here down under. Stage 1 of the Tdu today. Profile looks pretty straight forward. Tomorrow’s stage is much harder, fyi..
Duff: Eating sour cream onion dip with a spoon.
The best movie I saw in November was Milk and it was EXCELLENT. My No. 2 movie for the year. So good.
The best book I read in November was “The Way of Shadows” by Brent Weeks. It was a slow month reading-wise but I did really enjoy that book.
The best gig I went to in November was….some gig that I didn’t go to! First month all year with no shows. Am I slowing down? I’m certainly feeling old and decrepit but it may just be I wasn’t paying attention to what was coming up so I missed out on tickets I would have wanted. Who knows!
My favorite tunes in November were new albums from Jem, and The Killers, and Matt White, and Vancougar, and Ryan Adams, and Pink, and Kanye, and Winter’s Fall and…some others. I bought a ton of music over the month (click on the link and you’ll see!).
Random personal highlights: HuffenCooper Halloween party; “HOLY FUCK OBAMA WINS!” is what it says on my calendar for November 4. Certainly a day that will not be forgotten; did some serious shopping in the burbs with Sara; I hung out with my nephews for the first time in ages; beers at Guthrie’s with Lauren; bought some cool shit at the DIY show; I visited my “second (or third, really) home” in Milwaukee for Thanksgiving; and Michelle was in town for a day. There was a lot going on (hence the aforementioned lack of reading!).
Lowlights? Fallout at secondary browsing location continued. Missed seeing Francine Prose & Anne Carson speak, both of which I had tickets to but I’m too dumb to look ahead in my calendar when the month rolls forward. Was very tired.
Absolutely Love & Adore:
Jem “Down to Earth” – There’s a lot to like here, even though this doesn’t sound like your typical Jem album. Actually sounds more like a set of remixes, and the dance-y backgrounds are a great backdrop for her voice. Love “Crazy”, “Keep on Walking”, “I Always New”, “Forever and a Day”. And “It’s Amazing” has gone on every mix I’ve made over the past several months.
Matt White “Best Days” – I tried not to love this album. And then it became all I listened to for days on end. Ah well. Particularly love “Moment of Weakness” and “Paradise”.
Ryan Adams & the Cardinals “Cardinology” – Doesn’t sound much like a Ryan Adams album to me but I really like it nonetheless. I love the folky swoons of “Natural Ghost”, such a romantic feel. And “Fix It” is another fave. (I could do without “Magick” however.)
Vancougar “Canadian Tuxedo” – I wish I could remember what made me check this out. I think it was a post on either Monitor Mix or the Three Imaginary Girls blog but I can’t seem to find it. They’re punk sassy girls (think the Go-Gos, before the industry prettied them up, and if they had already been musicians when they started), but every once in a while they throw in a total ’60s girlgroup vibe (listen to “Obvious”). Great album.
The Killers “Day & Age” – I never bought their second album so I hadn’t listened to these guys in a loooong time. I love the emphaticness here. It’s rocking. It’s all big and dramatic and overarching and it just sweeps me right along with it. Faves are “Spaceman” “This Is Your Life” and I love! the chorus on “The World We Live In”.
Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):
Other Albums I Liked:
Mixed Feelings
Not really for me / but maybe for you!:
The Kin “Rise and Fall” – Too arena rock/cheeseball for me. Although I dig “Together” (until the chorus) and “See” and “Romeo” aren’t bad either. There are some (need I even say scary) religious lyrics on here though (“Abraham”) and you know how that makes me run for the hills.
Chad Van Gaalen “Soft Airplane” – I like some individual songs here (“TMNT Mask” and “Bare Feet on Wet Griptape” the chorus of which sounds like old Rolling Stones to me) but overall I find this album so stylistically scattered that I can’t figure out if I’m listening to an album or shuffle when it comes on. (And I really don’t like “Frozen Energon” at all. Ick.) Sometimes falsetto, sometimes not, arrangements all over the place. I’ve seen mentions of this album lots of places but I just can’t find my way into it.
Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can’t legitimately offer an opinion:
Brendan Canning “Something for All of Us” – My general impression of this is a good one. But I really haven’t listened to it more than once or twice so far. The title track is nice, dark and dirty (like Joseph Arthur).