Tegan and Sara--It it was you
Jimmy Buffett--Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays
Soul Coughing--Irresistible bliss
Thursday, April 24, 2008
From a Friend of Mrs. Dude
Go give my friend, My friend Katie, some love at her new blog The Mystery Shelf.
If you're into mysteries, it's shaping up to be made of awesome.
If you're into mysteries, it's shaping up to be made of awesome.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Mrs. Dude's at-work playlist (Mon., April 21)
R.E.M.--Accelerate
Mike Doughty--Rockity roll
Mandy Moore--Wild hope
Indigo Girls--Despite out differences
Mike Doughty--Rockity roll
Mandy Moore--Wild hope
Indigo Girls--Despite out differences
Friday, April 11, 2008
What? Mrs. Dude likes the interwebs, too?
So, I've spend so. much. time. writing about music that I'm sure that the three of you who read this blog have given up hope of my ever writing about other things.
Lame, right? Or, as my favorite Top Chef-testant, Lisa, would say "weak."
So, just for the three of you...I dug deep.
Actually, what really happened is that I was looking on the interwebs for gossip about Top Chef and I found this awesome blog.
Potato/po-tah-to, I guess.
Anyway, you should go read the stuff on this awesome blog I found called TiFaux.
First of all, the name is brilliant. The dude and I have this fake Tivo that we call TiFaux. Obviously we didn't make that name up, but I have no idea where it came from.
Second of all, these people are more obsessed with TV than I am which, truth be told, is kind of a big deal.
See...I like television. More specifically, I love reality television.
I am currently watching:
Top Chef
Rock of Love II
Rock the Cradle
America's Next Top Model
Step it up and dance
Celebrity Fit Club
Shows that never end:
Animal Cops/Precinct/Police
What Not to Wear
I have also watched:
Real World/Road Rules challenges
Project Runway
Rockstar: Supernova
Top Design
Shear Genius
High School Reunion
Noticeably absent from my list is American Idol. I don't watch it. It just doesn't excite me, you know?
I've wrestled with admitting my addiction to reality television. I didn't want you to think I was shallow, after all.
Oh, wait...this isn't a post about my addiction to reality television. This is a post about TiFaux.
So I found this site, TiFaux, which has links and essays and rantings. Basically, if I wrote exclusively about television, this would be the blog I would aspire to be like.
Lame, right? Or, as my favorite Top Chef-testant, Lisa, would say "weak."
So, just for the three of you...I dug deep.
Actually, what really happened is that I was looking on the interwebs for gossip about Top Chef and I found this awesome blog.
Potato/po-tah-to, I guess.
Anyway, you should go read the stuff on this awesome blog I found called TiFaux.
First of all, the name is brilliant. The dude and I have this fake Tivo that we call TiFaux. Obviously we didn't make that name up, but I have no idea where it came from.
Second of all, these people are more obsessed with TV than I am which, truth be told, is kind of a big deal.
See...I like television. More specifically, I love reality television.
I am currently watching:
Top Chef
Rock of Love II
Rock the Cradle
America's Next Top Model
Step it up and dance
Celebrity Fit Club
Shows that never end:
Animal Cops/Precinct/Police
What Not to Wear
I have also watched:
Real World/Road Rules challenges
Project Runway
Rockstar: Supernova
Top Design
Shear Genius
High School Reunion
Noticeably absent from my list is American Idol. I don't watch it. It just doesn't excite me, you know?
I've wrestled with admitting my addiction to reality television. I didn't want you to think I was shallow, after all.
Oh, wait...this isn't a post about my addiction to reality television. This is a post about TiFaux.
So I found this site, TiFaux, which has links and essays and rantings. Basically, if I wrote exclusively about television, this would be the blog I would aspire to be like.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Mrs. Dude's at-work playlist (4/8)
R.E.M.: Accelerate
Tegan and Sara: The con
They Might be Giants: No!
Tegan and Sara: The con
They Might be Giants: No!
Accelerate by R.E.M.
I've been too busy listening to this album to actually weigh in on it.
Funny, no?
Look, I know that R.E.M. has gotten a bad reputation after the last few albums. Reveal and Around the Sun weren't well-received. In fact, whatever the opposite of well-received is, that's how they were received. I know all of this.
R.E.M. has been my favorite band since the time between when Automatic for the People and Monster were released. I was a freshman in high school. And while my contemporaries were listening to bubble gum pop or grunge, I was falling in love with a College Rock icon. In fact, R.E.M. was alternative before there was even a name for that genre of music.
It is for this reason that I was willing to find the good in murky, muddy albums of the late 90s and early 00s. Up had its moments--it gave us "Walk Unafraid," after all. Reveal was unfocused, but had some great hooks. And I even found something to love about Around the Sun, with its dark melodies and jarring vocals.
It was rumored, though, that Accelerate was going to be a return to hard-charging straightforward rock songs. In fact, those who'd heard the record before its official release date dared to invoke the sacred name of Life's Rich Pageant.
After hearing all of that, it was hard to listen to Accelerate with an open mind. Instead, I had all of my hopes and dreams on this album. Having so much faith in something would surely leave me burned, right?
Nah.
It was totally awesome!
The album starts with the defiant track "Living Well is the Best Revenge," where Stipe's anger and wit are channeled into a single song, and continues thrilling until the fun would-be throwaway track "I'm gonna DJ," which proclaims "Death is pretty final/I'm collecting vinyl/I'm gonna DJ at the end of the world." I say "would-be" because though the track is short, it might actually be the best track on the album. It's concise, like a good poem, and has a ridiculously big hook.
What's not to like?
In between are songs that all clock in under 4 minutes and which convey the intensity of a band trying to rage against the dying of the light.
Stipe, Buck, and Mills are political, satirical, and seem desperate to prove that though they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, their place in the music scene is not that of the retired elder statesmen of Alternative Rock. R.E.M. is, despite the past few albums, proving itself to be a thriving band with something relevant to say to those willing to listen.
The album lacked some of the polish that previous albums have had, and the rough-around-the-edges quality is what makes it so good. The whole album feels urgent, and that urgency is what makes it good.
In short, Accelerate met my ridiculously high expectations. It restored my faith in the future of R.E.M. It's as if the band members awakened from a slumber, not content to rest on their past accomplishments.
And, you know what? That's fine by me.
Funny, no?
Look, I know that R.E.M. has gotten a bad reputation after the last few albums. Reveal and Around the Sun weren't well-received. In fact, whatever the opposite of well-received is, that's how they were received. I know all of this.
R.E.M. has been my favorite band since the time between when Automatic for the People and Monster were released. I was a freshman in high school. And while my contemporaries were listening to bubble gum pop or grunge, I was falling in love with a College Rock icon. In fact, R.E.M. was alternative before there was even a name for that genre of music.
It is for this reason that I was willing to find the good in murky, muddy albums of the late 90s and early 00s. Up had its moments--it gave us "Walk Unafraid," after all. Reveal was unfocused, but had some great hooks. And I even found something to love about Around the Sun, with its dark melodies and jarring vocals.
It was rumored, though, that Accelerate was going to be a return to hard-charging straightforward rock songs. In fact, those who'd heard the record before its official release date dared to invoke the sacred name of Life's Rich Pageant.
After hearing all of that, it was hard to listen to Accelerate with an open mind. Instead, I had all of my hopes and dreams on this album. Having so much faith in something would surely leave me burned, right?
Nah.
It was totally awesome!
The album starts with the defiant track "Living Well is the Best Revenge," where Stipe's anger and wit are channeled into a single song, and continues thrilling until the fun would-be throwaway track "I'm gonna DJ," which proclaims "Death is pretty final/I'm collecting vinyl/I'm gonna DJ at the end of the world." I say "would-be" because though the track is short, it might actually be the best track on the album. It's concise, like a good poem, and has a ridiculously big hook.
What's not to like?
In between are songs that all clock in under 4 minutes and which convey the intensity of a band trying to rage against the dying of the light.
Stipe, Buck, and Mills are political, satirical, and seem desperate to prove that though they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, their place in the music scene is not that of the retired elder statesmen of Alternative Rock. R.E.M. is, despite the past few albums, proving itself to be a thriving band with something relevant to say to those willing to listen.
The album lacked some of the polish that previous albums have had, and the rough-around-the-edges quality is what makes it so good. The whole album feels urgent, and that urgency is what makes it good.
In short, Accelerate met my ridiculously high expectations. It restored my faith in the future of R.E.M. It's as if the band members awakened from a slumber, not content to rest on their past accomplishments.
And, you know what? That's fine by me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)