Central Village

It's great to be back

From the comments a few days ago:

please do not ever compare panic at the disco and bloc party ever again, bloc party is by far one of the best bands out there today while panic at the disco is a emo pop band that has no talent whatsoever. i do not know who you are, i was just searching for bloc party lyrics and found this borderline offensive comparison and had to comment on it. you really should be banned from typing anything on the internet ever again.

I guess I'll hold off on my remarks about how the new Forward Russia song they played last night sorta sounded like Thursday...

(not from last night's show, obviously)

The, Pitchfork, The

I find it amusing, and somewhat comforting when two geeky internet reading hobbies cross paths, such is the case with the Slate article on Pitchfork. While it doesn't really say much I or the people I regularly discuss the subject with don't already know, it's somehow comforting that the "Pitchfork conspiracy to discredit blogs and take control of deciding what's cool" exists outside of the 3am Rosario's conversations and mid-day blog browsing. Even if it takes a quote from The Music Slut to punch the point home.

But my father always taught me growing up that, the older you get, the more often you discover that Conspiracy theories aren't actually real. In my endless efforts to convince myself I'm older and more mature than I probably am, I usually take the 'Nah' angle on most theories presented to me. Pitchfork is no different. I don't believe the site, as a whole, is out to contradict blogs. I don't think Ryan Schreiber is overseeing the entire site with an iron fist, instructing his writers to write bad reviews about whichever band came on the radio while he was stuck in an infuriating traffic jam. I think the site is made up of around 50 or so writers who all have various tastes and approaches to writing about music. I would like to believe that, even if they take shots at "the blogs" or whatever in a review, these guys are stating their actual opinion. People are still able to have a personal opinion on music, right? Even with Pitchfork and Blogs mixed into the pool? The implication is often basically that alternative music critics either are unable to have any personal feelings towards music and only act on what other people are saying, or that these people secretly enjoy listening to a band, and they are consistently writing in contradiction to how they actually feel just because.

I say, that if you are reading these reviews thinking like this, you are far more guilty of reactionary listening than those you accuse. If you refuse to accept that something you like can be panned, using the scapegoat that the reviewer was basically somehow out to show you, personally, up by disagreeing, you then take on the qualities you claim to so much despise. You choose to read the review that way, and thus listen to the music that way. Sure, hype and playedoutness effects all of our opinions to a certain extent, and I don't deny that someone might be sick of a band before they even get to listen to them. That happens to me regularly. But I refuse to believe someone is only writing something negative to be negative. They must just not like the music. I'm sure my dad would think both Cold War Kids (5.0) and Joanna Newsom (9.4) are unlistenable, and I certainly don't doubt his intelligence or honesty. But it shouldn't take the lifelong trust of a loving parent to be convinced that music is a completely subjective medium.

So until I read the Pitchfork review that says, bluntly, "This album isn't all that bad, but I'm sick of bloggers sucking it off. 3.4," I'm gonna believe that these guys are actually stating their opinions, not simply reacting to mine and yours.

This is only fun for me

There's something to be said about timing in music. I often go on and on about the importance of timing and pacing in movies being the make or break aspect for me enjoying myself, but the same is true for a live show. Sure, a band can pull out all the theatrical stops to impress live, but when you've got a band like Texas is the Reason and every single song they ever wrote was a hit, all they need to do is play the songs as faithfully as they can. It's rare, but the songs take care of the rest. They dictate the crowd reaction, which in turn motivates the band to play even better. Few, if any bands can really rest on this, but Texas, after 10 years away from the game, playing their first live show in a decade and perhaps the second to last ever, nailed every moment they got. They played a perfect show. I knew and loved almost every song. That never happens in this era of disposable indie acts. There was no fluff, no new stuff they wanted to try out. All they had to do was play every song they ever wrote. Nobody could leave wishing they played this or that. It was a concert that could not have gone better. One that will not be replicated, and one that I am thrilled to have attended.

Texas is the Reason - Blue Boy (mp3)

Texas is the Reason reunion live Back and to the Left

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That missed sack

I gave up on the Giants after the Bears game. I'm not sure why, or what it was, but I just knew it was over. I never had much faith in them to begin with, despite all the "best team in the NFC" hype leading up to that game. Injuries are a part of the game, I know this. The Giants just got too many, all at once. This is almost an entirely different team. It just looks the same because Tiki, Plex, Shockey and Eli are still on offense, but without a defense and supporting cast, they are not nearly effective enough. They're like the Redskins at this point.

Anyway, my point is, and I'm only writing about this because nobody else has said it and it just doesn't make sense for a player to "quit" mid sack, but what I saw happen was an untimely mix between a Rookie scared of breaking the rules and an old playground basketball fakeout. See, Vince Young pumpfaked as he was in the grasp. Like when you are guarding a basketball player and they fake a pass over your head, you think the ball left the hands and you turn around to see where it went. When Vince faked the pass, the Rook (whose name I don't remember) pulled back, thinking the ball was released. Had it been and he continued to tackle, it would have been a roughing flag and a free first down. Surely, knowing Coughlin's temper and the Giants penchant for untimely penalties, he assumed the worst thing he could do on a 4th and 10 would be to give the Titans a free first down. In hindsight, it would have been the second worst thing.

It's the only logical explanation I can think of. It makes a whole lot more sense than the common TV commentator reaction of, "He quit! He just plain quit!!"

Anyway, I hope Pac-Man Jones celebrates his good play and the win by doing something awesome like beating up a homeless dude or smashing his Ferrari into a police station.

Gilbert Arenas is a once in a generation human being

Since any real Knicks fan is really hoping for the team to lose and rid ourselves of Isiah, I'm gonna pick the Wizards as a team to root for this year. All because of Gilbert.

A. The Esquire article is a good jump-off. If you are not fascinated by this man after reading this, I want to meet the people you hang out with.
B. He has a blog. From the looks of it, he's really writing it and really enjoys it. I just added his RSS to bloglines.
C. He's in a fantasy basketball league, and is stoked that people like Pam Anderson and Kid Rock are playing with him.
D. He's a real NBA fan. He speaks of and writes about other players like they're celebs. He says things like "Me and Marbury is pretty cool. I met him outside of basketball once at a carwash in L.A."
E. He is a ridiculous videogame player. The thing about NBA 2k6 in the Esquire piece (seriously, read it) is inhuman. He also runs a professional Halo 2 team. Such a thing exists, and he is involved.
F. He loves to buy shit he doesn't need. From his blog:

"I don’t know what I was thinking … I bought an 18,000 piece puzzle. The lady told me four years that it would take me to do it, and I was like, “yeah right, I can do it in a couple months.” I don’t think I’ve found two pieces that connected together yet.

G. He comes up with t-shirts like this:

and they get made.

Favorite basketball player is an understatement. Favorite person.

Record sales to metric scales

I don't love rap anymore. The last time I really considered myself a fan was ...6th grade? You know. I can listen to some good mainstream shit that has a good beat (T.I., Chamillionaire, Luda...I'm easy to please), but the one thing I hate more than anything is the in-the-know indie rap stuff. Aside from Murs and Atmosphere, it just really bores the shit out of me. And I've tried, numerous times, to get my head around it, but it really does nothing. I kind of figured Clipse would be more like that. Rap music that indie kids like is not particularly exciting (Surprise surprise.) Clipse is in a different universe tho. I'm really digging it. It's the only thing that's been able to get me off the Bloc Party record for more than 5 minutes the last few days.

It's rare for me to, only after a few listens, click with a track that's near the end of the record, but Trill just blew me away. It's the beat, really. It sounds like someone melodically waving a giant piece of sheet metal in an empty basement.

Clipse - Trill (mp3)

Bloc Party is about to release the best Panic! song ever

I hated this album the first couple listens through. Couldn't wrap my head around it at all. The third time, I decided that sometime, when I'd least expect it, I'd realize that I love it. The very next time through, this afternoon, it clicked. This thing is great. It's different...even tho it sounds at times almost like off key renditions of Silent Alarm songs. I can tell there's a lot in there.

I want to spend some time with this record. I haven't felt this way about an album in a really long time. Even the Bound Stems LP, which I absolutely adore, didn't take long to figure out. These days, music is moving too fast for me to soak it all up. But this one has managed to get my attention. The imperfections make it perfect. Make it worth coming back to. Beats and samples and rhythms and awkward handclaps that don't seem to fit, but work themselves out over the course of the song. Narrative lyrics that don't always seem to flow the way you'd like them to, but are able to create these massive images I want to experience over and over again. There's a lot in here. I've only scratched the surface, but I like what I've found so far.

'Song for Clay', the opening track of the album, is a Panic! at the Disco song. Straight up. Their illogical tourmates. It has that dramatic flair and flamboyancy. The tone and the lyrics are really not so different.

Bloc Party - Song for Clay (Disappear Here) (mp3)

I also keep coming back to this one:

Bloc Party - Uniform (mp3)

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Austin

This girl sums up Austin pretty well in my mind. Does anybody do anything there? Ever? Anything? Except react to buzz?

The top 40 blog list

Information Leafblower released his annual Top 40 Bands in America list, with 25 bloggers reporting in. I was asked to participate for the second year. This is what I had to say. 6 out of 10 ain't bad, right?

1. My Chemical Romance

Biggest band in the world, etc,etc. I also actually like them. A lot.

2. Bound Stems

Best album of the year.

3. Okkervil River

The recent EP was great, but this year I discovered their back catalogue, and have been listening to it for months and months since their show at Castle Clinton.

4. My Morning Jacket

Best live show I saw all year (maybe ever?) at Bonnaroo.

5. Girl Talk

Probably the hottest record of the year. Everyone who heard it was instantly in love and, oddly, singing along.

6. Dresden Dolls

Few bands make seeing them live so much better than listening to the record. Some of the best shows I saw all year.

7. Silversun Pickups

Great album, unrelenting live. Loved watching their rise to relevance between CMJs.

8. Voxtrot

Same sentiment as SSPU, except more deeply rooted. Enjoyed watching them go from a personal favorite to a national favorite.

9. Blood Brothers

Solid new album, consistently amazing live.

10. Rainer Maria

They were my favorite band for a few months earlier in the year, even if the latest album wasn't that great. Shame to see them breaking up.

Here were my picks last year. Only 2 bands made it over for a second year. Everyone always freaks out about this trend, keying it to the here today, gone tomorrowness of bloggers, but the fact is, it's really hard for any band to make a major impact 2 years in a row. More on this in a bit when I get a second to give the list a good look over

More on Lost

I was going to write a Lost followup to that other post, highlighting what particular questions were still hanging out there I needed answered before I'd start caring about anything else on the show, but it looks like IGN.com already pulled something like this together. Most frightening is I had completely forgotten about a whole bunch of these...and they've only listed 20 out of the 50 loose ends so far. The Adam and Eve with the stones? The cable leading into the ocean? Jack's possible secret sister? My big one I've always been hung up on is Hurley knowing the numbers. I know the numbers are probably a dumb red herring in general, but he got them from a crazy guy mumbling them in an insane asylum, who I always wanted to believe was once on the island working the hatch. Anyway, it's fun reading through this to catch up with all the big question marks from the last few seasons, but it also magnifies how completely fucked the show is. Even if they only follow up with, say, 10 of these 50 question marks, they have to make sure they pick the ones people care about or remember. Seriously, if there was some reference to the two skeletons recently, I sure as hell wouldn't have picked it up. Same with the Eye Patch guy and the glass eye in the box the tail-end guys found.

So, to reiterate, the show is stuck. They're got too much up in the air. This little feature shows just how much they really need to reel in for the audience to start caring again. I hope they get to it soon.