the picture below pretty accurately depicts my life:

free trolleys are a good idea

no external hard drive = no access to my music = no May music reviews (yet). but the (unrelated) good news is that I found out that there's a free trolley that goes from Union Station to the NU downtown campus area. thank you, city of chicago for saving me from unnecessary exercise.

Milwaukee Domes

my external hard drive is probably f**ed and will cost hundreds of dollars to fix it. contents: thousands of songs, saved emails, original music, writing samples, class notes, resumes, photos of my life over the last several years - basically, digital memories of everything that's happened to me for the best 5 or so years. gone. the "computer guy" told me to try putting it in the freezer all night and then plugging it in in the morning. seriously? did he go to school for this? because this sounds like something I'd make up. next he's going to tell me to spread peanut butter all over it and then throw it down the stairs.

what music looks like + cat

minneapolis

accomplished this past weekend:

1. attended another (yes, another) shaky hands show (great)
2. visited the walker art museum and some other big art museum in minneapolis
3. boat riding
4. relaxing
5. read the ginger man by j.p donleavy
6. the consumption of great amounts of food and gary's ice cream
7. got a sunburn

delays

...shutting down my computer; turning off my phone; leaving to-do lists unchecked, dirty dishes in the sink, and emails unanswered...and trying not to think about the gas prices...

wrinkled

accomplished today

1. cleaned my apartment
2. saw the shaky hands at the high noon saloon
3. completed law school

thwarted

how I felt today

April album reviews

the rosebuds "night of the furies": this is a really f-ing fun, high energy (yet nostalgic and melancholy) album. really great catchy melodies. listen if you like 80s music (and even if you don't)... best album of the month for sure - I can't stop listening to it.

lost in the trees "time taunts me": strange combination of styles of music and singing, and at times not really integrated very well. but I really like it. it sounds like it should be the sound track to something.

bright eyes "cassadaga": conor oberst's lyrics have really matured. I've always liked his music, but thought his lyrics were a bit too melodramatic...he's toned down the melodrama, though, so I actually kind of like this album.

the twilight sad "fourteen autumns and fifteen winters": love the accent, but the songs are a little boring.

cloud cult "the meaning of 8": I had hoped they'd finally get it together and put together an album of a reasonable length. 19 songs is too many to digest. but don't be put off by that, there's some good stuff in there: mostly I'm referring to the music, the lyrics need a bit of work.

thee more shallows "book of bad breaks": I'm ambivalent; this album constantly wavers between creative and cliche. in its better moments, it sounds like a cross between the flaming lips and john vanderslice.

dr. dog "we all belong": good example of pitchfork messing up on the ratings. one wonders how dr. dog could get such a low pitchfork rating, while joanna newsome...

stars of the lid "and their refinement of the decline": well, I'm not sure that this really qualifies as music - it seems like it should be in thrown in a category with the calming sounds of rain or babbling brooks...the short of it is that I could probably fall asleep to it. maybe that's what they were going for?

the new york times reports....

"Mstislav Rostropovich, a cellist and conductor who was renowned not only as one of the great instrumentalists of the 20th century, but also as an outspoken champion of artistic freedom in Russia during the final decades of the Cold War, died in Moscow today. He was 80 and lived in Paris, with homes in Moscow, St. Petersburg, London and Lausanne, Switzerland."

wait, he was still alive?!? well, at least we still have yo-yo ma and lynn harrell

23

quick comment on the new blonde redhead: it's good, but they've sort of lost that "edge" that I love in their older albums. They've also lost some of the noisy crap as well, which I'm not complaining about. but the new album sounds a bit too polished and controlled (a pity: I had such high hopes). though, I have to say this is consistent with their trajectory

fox confessor

neko case show last night at the barrymore: neko case is a very good live performer. specifically, she's very good at making subtle changes to her songs without ruining them (unlike andrew bird who sometimes sings the harmony rather than the main melody, so if you don't know the song, it just doesn't make any sense and if you do know the song, you're just disappointed).

February/March Album Reviews

do make say think "You, you're a history in rust": good instrumental stuff. sounds like tortoise and the sea and cake. recommended.

field music, "tones of town": upbeat, neat piano lines. new pornographers-sounding vocal lines and harmonies. but, no one song was extremely memorable. still, nice stuff going on musically. sort of confusing though : the vocal lines don't seem to go exactly with the character of the instrumental stuff.

papercuts, "can't go back": voice sounds like billy corgan's. first song is really good, but then its all down-hill after that. kinda boring.

postmarks, self-titled: album starts out slow, but gets much better in the second half. these songs really grow on you. the song "you drift away" is especially good.

explosions in the sky "all of a sudden I miss everyone": another solid album from explosions. no surprises (in a good way).

apples in stereo "new magnetic wonder": ok, I just sort of find apples in stereo annoying with the exception of the song "the benefits of lying (with your friends)," which might be one of the best songs ever. unfortunately, that song wasn't on this album. but still, the great melody lines keep me from completely writing off this band (that and my respect for the elephant six collective)

dexys midnight runners "projected passion revue": kind of fun, but not really that good.

andrew bird "armchair apocrypha": expectedly good. I cant imagine andrew bird actually putting out a bad album at this point, though I was hoping he'd step it up and do something surprising.

panda bear "person pitch": might be secretly good, but every time I listen to it, I end up daydreaming or paying attention to something else. so, I guess what I'm saying is that it might be good background music - it just doesn't hold my attention.

air "pocket symphony": very good, but maybe not quite as good as the last two albums.

eluvium "copia": pretty forgettable, but I still do like it. I think most would say that it's perfect study music; nothing distracting in it, and it has a very calming effect. I especially like the prelude. I will say this, though: the perfect place for a mediocre composer is in the indie-rock music world (though it's completely derivative, it's at least derivative of music unfamiliar to the rock world)

low "drums and guns": usually I don't like low, but this album deviates (in a good way). it's a bit slow in the beginning, but the last half of the album is actually pretty enjoyable.


P.S. tap tap is a band I sort of missed...pretty good, worth listening to. sorry I missed it when it came out.

up and coming albums worth buying/listening to: blonde redhead and voxtrot

L'Etoile

finally made it to L'Etoile - a french restaurant in Madison that has been ranked one of the top 50 restaurants in the nation. the food was great, although, I do wonder how they rank these restaurants...there have got to be at least 30 restaurants in Chicago that are at least as good (I imagine...really, I have no idea since I'm not in the habit of wining and dining in such a(n expensive) fashion). some pictures of the eats below: