That's about how many hours of sleep I got last night due to a) drinking too much coffee whilst DJing and b) being plagued by dreams where I was under surveillance by squirrels for possible legal infractions involving the bribery of certain government agents connected to highway development.
Yeah, I don't get it either.
I'm going to see Dinosaur Jr tonight so I reckon that as long as I can stay alert at work today, the sheer volume of the band should take care of perking me up tonight.
Frappr Attack!
I am stealing this lock, stock and smoking barrel from Rob...right down to paraphrasing him!
By adding yourself to my Frappr map, I get a visualization of where all of my visitors are from. It's fun and completely painless, I promise. The whole thing will be done in seconds and there’s no need to enter e-mail addys or any crap like that unless you want to. After a few folks have jumped on-board I think you’ll get the idea.
So make with the clicky already and add yourself already. Stand up and be counted!
By me.
A few quick thoughts on newly released musical albums.
First, who here has heard the new INXS disc Switch? I didn’t understand the band’s choice of JD over Mig originally, but now that I’ve heard the album I finally get it…JD can almost perfectly mimic Michael Hutchence. I will painfully admit that the opening song had me a wee bit excited – almost in that, "well, maybe after all these years off the guys have finally collected an album’s worth of material" way since the bands last few discs (even with the charismatic Mr Hutchence at the mic) were less than captivating – and that hope actually held out (albeit weakening song by song) until it was finally smashed by the laughable "Hot Girls" and the rest of the disc’s unstoppable slide into drab workmanship.
Again, the way the vocals have been laid down, along with layering breathy basso notes over the slightly vibrato tenor melodies, does not so much revive the memory of Michael Hutchence as it does remind you just how much his presence helped elevate a band that was primarily a really successful rock/funk pub band.
On the other end of the spectrum is The Darkness’ One Way Ticket To Hell…And Back! which is exactly the sort of disc I had hoped it would be. Instead of the group suddenly trying to build some masterwork to prove that their success is built upon some actual artistic merit, the band instead takes the road rooted in greater self-confidence by merely building upon the strengths they already had going for them. So what does that mean in plain English? There’s a bunch of songs here for everyone to sing along too whether they’re careening down a winding highway in their cherry Camaro or whether they’re passing time tapping their feet under the desk in their cube.
Actually my primary complaint has to do with the choice of their producer and the way he layers on the backing vocals at points in such a way as to scream “We’re trying to be Queen!”
Oh wait, the producer actually was Queen’s producer on their classic albums?!¹ Hmm...well, at least that explains that. The whole thing is too much fun to let such minor points dull the party though so feel free to guiltlessly indulge in this one.
Speaking of other guiltless indulgences, file the new Madonna in that category. But skip the "I Love New York" song since it’s so bad it threatens to overtake the danceathon hopping happily all over the rest of the disc.
So, uh, yeah. That just about does it for today.
Oh wait, I almost forgot this!
I’m so glad my nephew is progressing quite nicely along the road to rock and/or roll attitude despite being stranded in the icy plains of Canada.
¹Yes, I already knew that. I'm just being a snot.
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