Loquacious Music

I bought Charlie and the Chocolate Factory today. I didn’t necessarily buy it for the movie, although I enjoyed it. I bought it for Danny Elfman’s score, particularly his main title. The combination of music and visual makes me want to spring out of my seat and start bouncing around the room. I really can’t explain it. It just does.

N.P.: Chris Stamey | “Fireworks”

I pay Charter so much money for their high-speed internet service. Today, it was very “low speed.” In fact, it made the old 14.4 modem that came with my Macintosh LC seem fast.

There are 14 kids who live on my dormitory. 12 of them are sick. Hmmm. Do you think I’ll get sick, too?

I have tomorrow off, so I’m going to do some work (or “a lot of work”). I’ll be on AIM all day, so stop by and say “hi.”

N.P.: Living Colour | “Vivid”

I just picked up Sufjan Stevens’s album “Come On Feel the Illinoise!” I can’t decide whether or not I like it. I think it’s a bit too precious for me. J Kaufman at Kevchino gives it a 9 out of 10; I’m not sure that I agree. I mean, on one hand, the concept of writing songs about states has been done before (by John Linnell, for example, whose songs were as catchy and as quirky), and this whole idea of the “50-album cycle” is just nonsense. No one can do that. Well, Robert Pollard could do that, and he’d probably do it faster and better than Sufjan. And what kind of name is “Sufjan,” anyway?

I must say, however, that the first track, “Concerning the U.F.O. Sighting Near Highland, Illinois”, isn’t too shabby. In fact, it’s very pretty. A little proud of itself, but very pretty. (These song titles — come on. Give me a break. I’ll bet ol’ Sufjan spends a lot of time listening to “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before,” “Such a Little Thing Makes Such a Big Difference”, “The Last of the Famous International Playboys”, and “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me”.) I know I’m being a bit rough on Sufjan, but he’s just asking for it. Not even Ben Gibbard is Ben Gibbard anymore.

Meanwhile, the kids are driving me crazy. They seem to think that I have no duty whatsoever to protect someone whom they consider to be a bully. I went spastic tonight when one of them actually said, “Well, you never say anything when ********* picks on other kids!” Of course I do. I say something every time it happens. How dare they question my impartiality!

Aargh!

N.P.: Hangar 18 | “The Multi-Platinum Debut Album”

Which Britpop Band Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

You are Blur. Youre daring, fun, and a breath of
fresh air. Some people may find you
intimidating, but generally youre well liked.
You have a tendency to speak without thinking,
which usually comes back to bite you in the
arse but you have a good heart and everything
you say should be taken with a pinch of salt.

***

Good thing I’m not Pulp. Or Suede. Or Oasis.

John Harris’s book Britpop was the highlight of my winter reading last year.

N.P.: Pulp | “His ‘n’ Hers”

Here’s what the Washington Post wrote this morning in an article titled “White House Gambles That Boosting Kilgore Will Pay Off For Bush”:

On the other hand, analysts said, if Democrat Timothy M. Kaine beats Kilgore in a state that solidly backed Bush twice, it will feed into a widespread perception of weakness afflicting the president and those associated with him. With the troubled response to Hurricane Katrina, the failed Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers, the indictment of a top White House official in the CIA leak case and continuing violence in Iraq, Bush’s approval ratings have sunk to some of the lowest ever for a second-term president in modern times. And with Democrats likely to win the New Jersey governorship, the only other major race on the ballot, Bush can find little good news to seize on.

Now it’s this evening:

“Democrat Kaine Wins Va. Governor Race” (via BreitBart)

Now maybe Bush understands: we’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore!

N.P.: Randy Newman | “Bad Love”

My Pernice Brothers review is the featured review at Kevchino.com!

I’m lovin’ it…!

I just received my copy of Talking Heads’ Brick today. It has a zillion good points: the sound quality is unbelievable, the packaging is gorgeous, and the included extras are well worth the price of admission. However, I have a HUGE bone to pick with this stupid “DualDisc” format. Because the disc is a DVD on one side and a CD on the other, it is noticeably heavier than a plain, old CD. When I put Talking Heads:’77 into my 100-disc CD changer, it proceeded to go THUNK. Then the whole bastard jammed up and I had to pry it open with my fingers.

This is not technology at its finest.

I finally figured out that I had to place the CD gently into one of the numbered slots in order for it to feed properly into the playback mechanism. It still makes a terrifying THUNK, but that’s better than it not working.

And did I mention the sound quality?

UPDATE: Here’s my review of Brick at kevchino.com.

N.P.: Talking Heads | “More Songs About Buildings and Food”

I’m back in the indie review-writing saddle! Yee hah!

I’ve been accepted to join the reviewer staff at Kevchino.com. I should be getting my first discs within a few weeks. That’s what life is all about.

In other news, I’m also back in the “being-sick-and-having-a-cold-and-staying-home-from-work” saddle. That is less cool. I woke up this morning with a fever. Bummer.

UPDATE: Fever’s down; ear infection seems to be subsiding. And here’s my first review on Kevchino.com! It’s for the Pernice Brothers’ album “Discover a Lovelier You,” and you can read it here.

N.P.: Crash Test Dummies | “God Shuffled His Feet”