Archive for music
May 26, 2009 at 7:13 pm · Filed under music
Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix; The National: Alligator; Jars of Clay: The Long Fall Back to Earth; Dark Was The Night (Red Hot Compilation); Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha
Five of my more recent acquisitions are listed according to how much I’ve listened to the albums, which is not to say the order of their worth because that can certainly change over time.
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December 4, 2008 at 5:58 pm · Filed under music
I love Christmastime. Three ways this love is manifest:
- I tie an awesome small wooden Santa around my neck with a green string.
- I watch four movies: It’s a Wonderful Life, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Elf, and Love Actually.
- I listen to a lot of holiday music.
The main purpose of this post is to discuss the third point, holiday music. When it comes to finding quality holiday music, I find myself on the fence that separates festive from compulsive. The search began in the days of free napster when I had no scruples about downloading and distributing pirated music. Though financially strapped I had blank CDs, a CD writer and a lot of time so I decided to spread holiday cheer by making a delicious compilation of Christmas songs from contemporary artists for my family and friends. The aptly titled Merry Xmas Mix was a hit; five years on and we’re still listening to it while eating Chex mix and chocolate covered coconut balls and playing Scrabble around the dining room table. Read the rest of this entry »
February 14, 2008 at 12:01 am · Filed under music
Jack Johnson’s latest album Sleep Through the Static is an easy listen. The familiar combination of simple arrangements and a mellow singing style produce a hummable delight. The album’s lyrical content is a bit more socially and morally pointed than his past endeavors but any bitterness or anger is softened by a subtle, unimposing delivery.
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January 14, 2008 at 9:38 pm · Filed under music
Last weekend I saw the Jason Reitman comedy Juno. It was superbly funny, honest and endearing. The characters are refreshingly genuine, the dialog sharp and a potentially polarizing storyline is delicately presented without pretense. It is a comedy along the lines of Best in Show.
Ellen Page plays Juno and is undoubtedly the star, though all the film’s actors performed excellently. JK Simmons is particularly funny as Juno’s father; Jason Bateman is a convincingly pathetic yuppie in the midst of 2/5-life crisis, married to a suburban stereotype well portrayed by Jennifer Garner. Juno’s brazen words and actions provide most of the humor. When Bateman’s character first meets Juno and innocently asks, “Juno, like the city in Alaska?”, Juno simply replies “No,” and offers no platitudes to soften the moment. Not all the humor is uncomfortable or abrasive. It comes hard and fast and will make the film worth watching a second and third time.
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January 9, 2008 at 2:01 pm · Filed under music
Sufjan Stevens: Illinoise, Red Mountain Church: This Breaks My Heart of Stone, Red: End of Silence, The Shins: Wincing the Night Away
My favorite gift to receive is an itunes gift card. I love buying new music and having an itunes gift card gives me no choice but to do just that. Thanks to my generous friends and family I am able to start 2008 checking out lots of good music. The fun is often in the search. I came across the four enjoyable albums pictured above in four different ways.
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November 27, 2007 at 10:28 am · Filed under music
When I received an email announcing the new Christmas album by Jars of Clay, I immediately pre-ordered it; Jars of Clay is my favorite band and I am a sucker for Christmas music. Part of my excitement was fueled by Jars of Clay’s Little Drummer Boy single, which remains one of my favorite Christmas songs. Each year I buy at least one Christmas album to supplement my itunes Christmas playlist. I was so excited about the album that I broke my rule of not listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving so I could sample the album when I first received it. To my dismay I was disappointed at first listen. The album seemed overly somber. The two most traditional songs on the album, “O, Little Town of Bethlehem” and “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen” do not resemble the songs we sing in church each Advent season. A month later it was still the first album I got out to listen to as I prepared blueberry pancakes the morning of Black Friday.
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October 19, 2007 at 10:52 am · Filed under music
Join the ticketmaster live group on facebook and big, bad ticketmaster will gift you five itunes song downloads. The easy part is joining the group; the hard part is picking the songs.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/020707-ticketmaster-itunes.html
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