1 post from June 2008

I'm testing out the new Blog It iPhone web app--I have nothing much to occupy me on my 90 minute bus commute, so I might as well post blog updates that I never seem to have time for otherwise. Lately, I've noticed a distinct slowdown in my music acquisitions this year--I think I've only bought three albums this year, and one of them is Ted Leo's The Tyranny of Distance (2001). The current ones, for what it's worth, are DCFC's Narrow Stairs, and My Morning Jacket's new album (the title escapes me just now).

By this point last year, I had new albums from Feist, Of Montreal, Modest Mouse, Arcade Fire, Deerhoof, Bright Eyes, and Apples In Stereo--and those are just the good ones. So why the slowdown? I have two explanations--the first is that early 2008 releases have been much lower key--sure, Bon Iver and Black Mountain have put out interesting albums, but few have been that compelling to me. The Hold Steady has an album release coming up, and I'm certain the back end of 2008 will see some great surprises, but I'm willing to assert that 2007 was just a remarkably good year for indie music releases.

My other theory is that I'm in the midst of a couple artist kicks, which I think everyone has once in a while. Lately, I've been getting a lot of rotation out of Stars, a band whom I've been aware of peripherally for a few years, and never cared for. When I was planning my excursion to Lollapalooza 2006, I acquired a significant amount of music from two bands I was generally uninterested in--Stars was one, Wilco the other. The night I was packing, in fact, I put A Ghost is Born on as my soundtrack, and had one of those rare and beautiful epiphanies about music--"Hummingbird" made me a fan, compelled me to rabidly consume every Wilco song I could get my hands on. Stars' Set Yourself On Fire sat neglected, and I missed their set at Lolla. Two years later, I had my epiphany about them while listening to "My Favorite Book," and since then I've just been digging deeper into their discography.

My other kick lately has been Ted Leo, a musician I've actually liked quite a bit for some time. What launched Ted Leo from a guy whose music I like to a guy I must see play before I die or get to old to be in mosh pits is a subtler process, but I think it was "Biomusicology" that really forced the shift. I really regret that it took me this long to appreciate Ted Leo, since I could have been listening to him (in Chisel) in high school. Then again, if I'd had my Sleater-Kinney epiphany before The Woods, I could have probably seen them more than just the one short show they played at Lollapalooza before their hiatus.

I've so far managed to avoid more than just snippets of the new Weezer album, which I think is damned lucky. I've heard enough though, that I have instead chosen to listen to Blue and reminisce about the album, which (along with Pinkerton) I would call "adolescence-defining." Blue in particular is one of those albums which serves as a cultural touchstone for people my age, and I think will live on for us in spite of its weaknesses. However, I'm starting to think of Rivers Cuomo with the same feeling of resentment I have for Michael Jackson--both are trouncing on my love for their earlier music with appallingly bad decisions.