So with Baseball season starting and the NHL and NBA playoffs (finally) starting and The Pale King being released (early) and a lack of Apple products (besides the iPad 2, which is a fantastic device, worth selling the first iPad for, and also doublespeak-worthy, in that is really is everything you/I loved about the first iPad, except better), and settling into reading 10 or so submissions a week for PANK Magazine, and tinkering with Whitney (actually doing a draft I called 2.1, since I made some changes, but only to three chapters), and then sending that out to some more agents, and after also deciding I needed to "finish" a new short story, I've been busy.
And with Twitter acting as an outlet for my in-the-moment snark, frustration, and literary quotes, and with Tumblr allowing me to post single pieces of media, I've realized that this blog platform falls strangely in-between--deserving of more attention, but not too much attention. Edits, but only one or two. Pictures, but not focused-on pictures.
To focus, to focus.
At the moment, there is an abundance of new music to keep me distracted, via an old favorite, a newer favorite, and an even newer favorite, all fresh offerings, and all, in my singular opinion, worthy of your time and money.
First is the latest from Atmosphere, their seventh album, The Family Sign. This is a really solid release. I've listened to it four times and each time wound up liking it more and more. It's a hearty, mature record, which, when combined with Slug's ever-increasing comfort in his own skin and something always bordering on braggadocio, makes for an interesting combination. A fuck-you-this-is-the-record-I-needed-to-make-regardless-of-what-the-me-10-years-ago-would-think vibe that I, as I go through similar life changes, can really appreciate.
This link provides a bunch of places to purchase The Family Sign from, and here's a couple of videos that have already been released of the songs She's Enough (one of my favorites) and Just For Show, respectively:
To be fair, the next two albums I haven't actually listened to yet. Just haven't had the time, but from all the reviews I've read, and historically-speaking, both are incredibly solid and again, deserve your money.
First is TV On The Radio's latest, Nine Types Of Light. There's all types of stuff to collect from this release--the album itself, iTunes-only bonus tracks, the film that accompanies all of the music on the album:
which is a just-shy-of-60-minutes never-ending music video, and don't forget the concert that they did for Letterman. Considering how good everything else TV On The Radio has ever put out is, I don't expect to be dissapointed.
Then, there's the latest release by Animal Collective artist Panda Bear, entitled Tomboy. If you don't have PB's '07 release Person Pitch, get that too. I refuse to link to PB's MySpace page, so just search for it in the iTunes store. This is next-level music that never fails to inspire me. I always want to use the word "lush" when I hear it.
And as a bonus, because I am always in a rush to go back and understand the music that came before what I think now is just the cat's meow, I've been digging through The Rolling Stones' catalog over the last two months. I have only begun to realize just how great of a band they are. Just because Let It Bleed is where I'm currently positioned, here's a tiny sliver of a sample:
If you're interested, start with the really early Stones stuff, like England's Newest Hit Makers and 12 X 5.
And as always, feel free to get at me with thoughts on my recommendations, and anything you might have.
