Thursday, October 28, 2004
Speaking of the Posies (who have a new full-length, their first since the first attempted "breakup" in '98, in the can and due out on Rykodisc in 2005; I'm so hyped...the Posies are the fake-retirement Jay-Z of power pop), compare the first few seconds of their "Apology" off of 1990's Dear 23 to the first few seconds of "The One Who Got Us Out" off of the new Ted Leo album, Shake the Sheets. Not identical, but kind of an uncanny similarity.

BTW, I'm really not trying to hear this shrugging reaction to Shake the Sheets. I've only had it since I was able to buy it in a store last week, after 3 months of listening to downloaders poo-poo it, so I haven't been able to settle into it yet, but I have no complaints. Meanwhile, I had plenty to complain about Hearts of Oak's obnoxious bass tone and underwhelming production (it's the same limited tolerance for conspicuously indie production and rhythm sections that has kept me from getting into Chisel). This album delivers the level of fidelity Ted deserves and the insistent tempos he sounds best over, although it may not be his best set of songs (which for me is still The Tyranny of Distance). My friend Jeffy described "Heart Problems" well as "the catchiest song you'll ever hear about healthcare woes" (although "Treble In Trouble" is pretty catchy too). But what I'm really feeling are the disco hi-hats on "The Angels' Share" and "Little Dawn", which was my favorite of the new songs last time I saw Ted over the summer, and remains my favorite on record. But maybe more than anything else I'm grateful that my girlfriend likes Shake the Sheets, because I've made her into a serious Ted Leo fan over the past year and it was perfect timing for his new album to come out the same week as her birthday, so I'm glad she wasn't disappointed by the gift.

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7:06 PM

Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Woah: in this interview, Queen Latifah gives a shout out to one of my favorite bands, the Posies. Apparently there's also an interview with Movieline where she talks about listening to "Coming Right Along" to get ready for her death scene in "Set It Off". I don't really care if the only thing she knows by them is a song that was on the Basketball Diaries soundtrack, just the fact that Queen Latifah has repeatedly given props to a power pop/grunge footnote like the Posies has made my day.

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10:53 AM

Monday, October 25, 2004
Attn: Baltimore heads - a band I play drums for, Zuul, has a couple shows coming up: a kinda-Halloween show at the Sidebar this Friday the 29th, opening for a Misfits cover band; and a show at a fucking Knights of Columbus hall in Odenton, Maryland, wherever that is, the next Friday, November 5th. It's going to be ridiculous, especially the Sidebar one. We're going to be wearing costumes and playing a bunch of bizarre cover choices we've been working on that I won't spoil. We're a terribly disorganized band and every time we have a show to get ready for we end up either almost breaking up or having some other sort of crisis, and this time has been no exception. But the set is starting to come together and I'm really excited now. I'm the only member of the band that doesn't really have any kind of background in the kind of music we play (which would be Faith No More/Mr. Bungle style weirdo metal), and I get a lot of shit from them for not having a double bass pedal or a floor tom, but whenever we manage to get our shit together for a show it turns out to be a lot of fun, if terribly embarrassing for everyone involved. My roommate is working on engineering some kind of exploding pumpkin stunt for the show.

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11:27 PM

Sunday, October 24, 2004
So apparently, I have a problem. A year ago I wasn't a 'blogger' and didn't have any urge to become one. Now I'm starting my 2nd blog, just as an outlet for the run-off stuff that won't fit on Government Names, the team rap blog I started back in May. I'm only responsible for a fraction of the content there, so I don't think my modesty is on the line when I say that we do good work over there, I'm really proud of it. But I actually do listen to things other than rap (which seems to be a common misperception, especially on ILM, because those are usually the only threads I'm interested in starting or posting to). So this space will probably be about a lot of indie rock and stupid pop culture stuff that every other lame blog is about.

This address was my first choice for this blog, but it's already being used by someone who only posted on it twice back in early 2002 about 'sentence structure and paragraph coherence'. I thought about e-mailing them and asking if they'd give it up, but the page is kind of amazing as it is just for the bizarre example paragraphs they use. I direct you to this excerpt:

The reader needs to understand that in the cockfighting arena more than just the cocks are fighting, but also the pride and emotions of the men are doing battle in the same arena. Balinese men see themselves through their cocks, the cocks playing the role of a real life metaphor. The metaphor is reflected in their language and their treatment of the animals. While most other animals are mistreated and resented by the Balinese, the cock is given respect. Not only does the Balinese man recognize his ideal self and his penis through the cock, but it also provides an outlet for his violent and aggressive tendencies.

OMG, WTF!!! So anyway, hopefully this will go well. I pretty much picked the worst possible time to give myself another online responsibility, in the middle of the semester, a lot of things going on in my personal life. But I probably won't be able to stop myself from posting. It just might be a while before I get links and stuff in order and decide on a permanent template (suggestions welcome).

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8:35 PM