Hieroglyphics - Full Circle

January 30, 2006


Well, this CD was unimpressive at first listen, i thought. But I had a strange itch to hear it again today, for the first time in months.... I don't know how I wasn't impressed the first time! Del sounding less goofy and more awesome than ever? Check. An awesome stuttering chorus rivaled only by "my generation" by the Who? Check. A Bjork sample used prominently and awesomely? Check. I know you don't read this, Hieroglyphics, and I know this will never get back to you, but I apologize anyways for not immediately liking this album on first listen!

(btw, this CD gets my award for being one of the few hiphop CDs with no low points at all. Solidly good all the way through.)


Madvillain - Madvillainy

January 24, 2006


i was tempted to just write a simple one sentence description (madvillain = madlib + mf doom!!!!!!!!!!!!) but i figured i'd say a little more about it. i've been liking MF Doom more and more lately. and i've been liking Madlib more and more too. and this album is my favorite thing either of them have touched. it might be my favorite hiphop album ever, actually. a perfect mix of weirdness and headnod-ness (i think i view those as the two extremes of the hiphop that i like).


Gossip - Standing In The Way Of Control


when we first got this CD, i thought it was going to be girls screaming a load. so i put it on (i like girls screaming a load sometimes) and was pleasantly surprised to learn it was nothing like i expected. it has peppy (maybe even dance-able) rhythms and the girl sings more than screams. its definatley a rock-type singing, but i think i can hear some nicely repressed tinges of soul in there. the songs are quite energetic (especially the title track)...


Orb - Okie Dokie It's The Orb On Kompakt


whoah! a fairly recent electronic release that i like?! this album is mostly awesome electronic dub. real chill. its completely different from Pole, too. i havent been able to figure out how, though. all i know is that i really like this CD and the chill vibe it gives me. does anyone know if any other orb CDs are like this one? i've heard some of the earlier orb stuff, but its not like this.


Spacemen 3 - Playing With Fire


some of the spacemen 3 stuff touches on the britpoprock or shoegaze thing, but only from a distance. with a real long pole. it mostly stays over in the psychedelic droning trance area. and thats a really good thing. my favorite spacemen 3 songs (which are, in fact, all on this album) consist of lots of droning or repeating riffs and very very sparse drums, if any. sometimes theres a little bit of never-overpowering chanting/singing also. you could say this is a precursor to pharoah overlord's stuff, but from more of a rock place, instead of from the groove place that pharoah overlord comes from. anyways, i think i'm going to be so bold as to say that this is one of my most favorite CDs ever.


Cat Power - The Greatest

January 23, 2006


with each listen, i like this more and more. some of the songs are definately better than the others (especially the last song. thats the best one), but its all pretty good. not a "buy this" type of good. but definately a "download and keep the tracks you like" type good.


DJ Muggs & GZA - Grandmasters


i've never been much of a wu tang fan (or popular hiphop in general), but this cd is pretty cool. not "super awesome must go out and buy it right now" cool, but a "i dont mind when it randomly pops up on my computer or ipod" cool. theres a couple songs on it that really truly are super awesome, too, but even the worst of this cd is still pretty good. its hard to find albums like that anymore.

(oh, and its a mathmatical fact that this CD is 1 million billion times better than the new 9th Wonder/Nas CD.)


Morningwood - Morningwood


guilty pleasure... no no no.... REALLY guilty pleasure. in the same way that Andrew WK was a really guilty pleasure.. i would totally love to go to a Morningwood show (well, for free, that is. no way i'd pay for that), if it weren't for the fact that i know it would be full of screaming 12 year old girls. just like how i would have loved to see Andrew WK at his peak if it werent for the fact that it would have been full of screaming frat guys. this cd has some genuine rocking moments, and its almost like the crappy moments make those rocking moments even better.


First Post as Foreword and Foreword as Manifesto

ok, ok... first, i want to mention that i'm using this blog as an information dissemination tool, not as a journal. i'm going to try to keep it from becoming a journal, too. but i'm not making any promises. the information i'm disseminating is my opinions on CDs that catch my interest. see, a few of my friends always ask me to let them know about "new" and/or "cool" music, since i listen to loads of it. do i listen to loads of it to know about it, to be able to brag about it, to be a music nerd? no. do i listen to loads of it to stay on top of trends, to appear "cooler" than others? no. do i listen to loads of it because i really like music, because i couldn't live without it? no, again. well, maybe. probably not, though. well, no, maybe. i dont know. i just do. i like some of it. i dont like other bits. i like some popular stuff, some not-so-popular stuff. some musical tangents i'll know loads about, but others i dont know at all (yes i mean you, reggaeton). sometimes i'll know a bunch about a genre, but have huge glaring holes where i've never listened to stuff thats considered "essentials" of the genre. whoops.

with my music-listening stuff out of the way, i'll say a little bit about my writing.... i'm a very "practical" person. or perhaps thats just "lazy." either way, you'll notice that i dont capitalize correctly or punctuate correctly a lot. thats no stylistic choice, really. its just me being practical (speed/convenience reasons) or lazy (pretty self-explanatory reasons). i've managed to convince myself over time that its more train-of-thought this way, and more honest and real, and to a certain extent, i guess it is. but i think i'm merely psychologically reinforcing my laziness. who knows. anyways, its the way i do, and i'm sticking with it, for now. (i am actively trying to get into the habit of dealing correctly with quotes and punctuation marks. for instance: [George said, "I'd like that."] instead of [George said "I'd like that".] the inccorect way makes so much more sense logically/programatically... oh well.) (i'm also trying to cut down on my use of parenthetical expressions, especially when they occur inside parentheses. i do, however, really enjoy the fact that i admitted that in a parenthetical expression inside of parentheses.)

oh, i also forgot to mention my extreme rambling (but if you're this far into this, you've probably noticed). hopefully its not longwinded, but just rambling. i like the distinction. i think i'm trying to cut down on my rambling. but we'll see if thats at all possible.

hahaha! i just found a little note i wrote about the rules i was considering for this blog. this will be a nice conclusion for this post:

1)dont talk about work. thats boring, and will undoubtedly turn to complaining about work, also boring. (initial post is exempt)
2)dont specify where i work, beyond "record shop"
3)dont specify who i am. (mystery is fun)
4)try to mention pitchfork as little as possible (i have to read it for work. yuck.)
5)first post = a huge disclaimer/introduction (maybe consisting of these rules?)
6)1+ images per post! (i like images!!)

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