Sick day redux.

I would like to ay I’m sick over, well, pretty much most of what’s going on in the world right now.

Come to think of it, I am! But I’m also still just sick as in immune system breakdown.

Sick day.

I would like to ay I’m sick over the monumental mix-up at last night Academy Awards only I am not because the sight of Moonlight taking he wind out of La La Land’s sail was just deeply satisfying on a whole bunch of levels.

Nope. I’m just sick as in immune system breakdown.

The (reconstituted) New Constitution

The New Constitution was a Chicago band that showed a lot of promise in the early aughts, only to break up before their time due to (lack of) label issues. With heavy Brit influences and that kind of manic Mod energy of the late '60s crossed with some heavier '70s power-pop tendencies, it's no wonder I was a fan.

They're reuniting for a single evening at Subterranean this Saturday, so I highly recommend you get out of the house and catch their show if you're in Chicago. It's taken them 12 years to play another show and it could be even longer until the next one, if there ever is another one.

Spin through their only full length and and their final EP below.

Sometimes I can be a jerk.

I've mentioned I keep a spreadsheet of albums I listen to with brief nots and such so I can keep track. Just came across this little beauty that I forgot I wrote.

I swear I'm not usually that mean!*

Click to enlarge for easier reading.

*But come ON, I have a point.

Is shoegaze-pop a genre? I think Kestrels proves it is.

Of all their promo shots, this was the sunniest. Is there no sun in Halifax?

Here’s another on the “2016 albums I didn’t really get to fig into in 2016 but wish I had” list of entries. I should’ve guessed Kestrels would be pretty great. They’re from Halifax, NS—as is one of my favorite bands of all time Sloan—and it is common knowledge there is something in the water of that town that creates really great bands.

Is shoegaze-pop a genre? It is now, and it applies to this trio. Their new self-titled album is actually their third, but as seems to be the case when bands name an album after themselves, it really does seem like it coalesces all their influences into a mission statement that defines the band. And that mission statement is, “let’s write songs that you could sing along to in the shower or at a campfire and then throw loads of reverb and mind-melty guitars all over them while pushing the drums into “punch through the haze” mode.

It’s great stuff. The sort of thing ‘80s college rock kids, ‘90s Britpoppers, ‘00s indie hipsters, shoe gaze nuts—aw, hell, pretty much anyone—can dig into and enjoy.

Sadly it looks like the trio never really makes it down into the states (looks like they only played Chicago once, and that was at Township which, while I think it’s a groovy venue, might not have exactly resulted in a huge crowd or welcome for their set) but after finally giving this album a couple proper listens I hope that changes soon.

Stream Kestrels below and feel free to buy it and download onto your favorite mobile listening device.

This music is so happy and uplifting I'm Crying.

Crying, photo by Adam Kolodny

Been digging through a couple 2016 releases that trickled in after I finished my list, and stumbled across the new album from Crying, Beyond The Fleeting Gates. I have no idea where it came from—I just scoured my inbox trying to figure out who sent it to me but there is no sign of the original email that accompanied the album—but hey, you can take that as proof that I really do try and listen to just about everything sent my way regardless of who the band knows or uses as a publicist!

So this album I a blast. It is really bouncy power-pop, and while the employ a healthy dose of synths, the guitars are big and monstrous on just about every song. I mean, the whole thing is unexpectedly solid and fun, with sweet vocals that immediately won me over (and had just a touch of that same combo of innocence and experience that Damone channeled a few years ago). At time the tunes are a little over the top, but in all the right ways.

And thank goodness I stumbled across this when I did because as luck would have it the band is actually on tour now (and hits The Metro in Chicago on on March 2)!

Stream the album below, and as usual if you like it as much as I did I think you’ll happily throw the band a few bucks to download it.

Well, hi there!

Click the image to embiggen.

Above is the 404 page for the -ist network. It doesn't come up often, but every time it does it brings a smile to my face.

Happy Monday.

Not a rant, just some advice.

It's been almost a month of what I don't think anyone would argue is not a pretty chaotic period in the U.S. And i admit I am one of those people who has found it difficult to step away from the firehose of news around the current administration. But I have been trying. I'm trying to avoid the non-stop deluge and check in on the firehose less often.

First of all, if you're constantly plugged in it is impossible to be able to gain any actual context around events so you're just reacting instead of understanding. And dire as things seem, understanding and putting things into context is important if people are going to resist the more catastrophic tendencies manifesting themselves in politic right now.

I'm also thinking non-stop consumption is getting to be pretty dangerous as far avoiding a fatalistic worldview. When all you're processing is terrible, horrible news your brain will never get a chance to step away and notice just how many wonderful things are going on in the world right now. Both wonderful in the sense that people are drawing together and wonderful in the sense that life in general is just awe inspiring when you open your eyes to it.

Of course I've long been told by people that I give great advice to others, but I am not so good at following my own good advice. But in this case I'm gonna try.

Sink into the vintage vibe with Chicano Batman.

Photo by Josue Rivas

Softly psychedelic, warmly recorded, and gently funky; the new album from Chicano Batman Freedom Is Free feels pretty comforting right now.

The whole album feels like a throwback, right down to the sounds of the studio, and it could have turned out pretty cheesy, but I find the results to balance well between a wink and a hug.

Listen to the title track below and order the album if you like it. The band is currently on tour too, including a Chicago stop at Lincoln Hall on April 7.

Humpday is back!

Workin on my fitness... 🐫 #myhumps #humpday

A post shared by Michelle Kopeny (@shellster129) on Feb 15, 2017 at 2:41pm PST

Our wandering friend took a week off, but now he's back in action!

Oh, it's that day again.

I’m not a big celebrator of Valentine’s Day. This year Mich and I are just ordering in and watching a movie—nothing fancy. And I usually don’t really care about it one way or the other. But this year I worry a little about single people who do put some sort of value into this “holiday” since this is not a good time to fell like you are “alone.”

So if anyone is feeling that way, even if you don’t have a “Valentine” you are not alone. We’re all in this together and I’m thinking of you, no matter who you are.

Our emo POTUS.

You know what? I need some levity. And this did the trick. You might need some levity too.

Ancient history.

For giggles I looked in my drafts folder for this blog to see what has been sitting dormant or didn't make the cut, and the earliest draft is from January 21, 2005.

Wow. Blast from the past indeed!

You know you're getting old when...

I have no idea what is happening here, so it must be new since I last saw the show ... in 1997.

...you are going to see Blue Man Group for the second time in your life and you realize the first time you saw it was almost 20 years ago. What?!

I can't remember precisely, but we saw it right after it opened in Chicago because my friend Bernie made it to one of the final auditions as a drummer for the troupe—but did not get the final gig—and they either offered him free or deeply discounted tickets right when it opened in Chicago. I'm gonna guess if they cost money Photogal paid for them because at that time I would've still been cobbling a bunch of jobs together in order to make enough money for rent, food and beer.

I will say this about that memory: I still can vividly envision segments of that Blue Man show and am curious to see which bits are still in there two decades later. I'm seeing it because it just underwent a pretty major revamp, including a new finale, but I'm sure I'll recognize a good portion of the show.

Early '80s space disco from Latvia? Yes, please!

I simply can't keep this to myself when it could be improving your life too! Jam out to Zodiac!

Grown up stuff.

House hunting is stressful! I am certain many of you out there that have already bought houses are heartily laughing at that statement while throwing knowing winks my way.

Mich and I have entered the exploratory stages of house hunting. We love our current place, and our current location and our current landlord but it’s also getting to be that time when we’re shining of raising kids and settling down and all the adult stuff most folks started doing when they were 15 years younger than I currently am!

There are a few things we refuse to do. We won’t enter into a bidding war. We won’t pay more than list price. We won’t move to the suburbs. And we won’t buy some place that results in mortgage payments that forceus to live on a shoestring budget for the next 30 years.

SoI think we’re setting ourselves up for success in the long run, but it doesn’t make the actual hunt any less stressful. We’ve already felt the heady rush of deciding we like a place and then realized it was already off the market, or had something else pop up that got in the way. I’m trying to keep a level head and not get too attached to any place, but of course that isn’t always easy.

So, wish us luck!

Here is something life affirming.

Take a break from the news. Rock out. Bathe in the obvious joy these folks are channeling.

Think I can talk them into touring?

Comic books, Pink Floyd and David Bowie.

I've noticed a renewed interest in myself for all three.

I'm guessing it's a self-defense mechanism.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, say hello to B-Rad.

I needed this video so badly I didn't even know it.

How much new music did I listen to in January 2017? Let's find out!

Oh, those omnipresent earbuds.

So I’m going to start a regular check-in to share how many new albums I’ve listened to each month. I keep track of these in a constantly growing spreadsheet and think it will be fun to share my progress and select tidbits about what I’m listening to.

For the purpose of this list I am only counting albums that are or will be released in 2017. So it’s not really everything I’m listening to, just the new stuff. The other requirement is that I had to have listened to the entire album from start to finish.*

I also rate the albums to help me make my year-end list, so to give you an idea of how that works, a 5 is a solid album. It’s the kind of record that I wouldn’t skip if it came up again on shuffle or I was in the right mood for it. So it’s not really “average” it’s more “this is a solid piece of work.” Many, many discs are 5s.

Going up the scale increases in difficulty. There is more space between a 9 and a 10 than there is between a 6 and a 7, you know what I mean? It’s incrementally more difficult to move up the scale so there are very, very few 9s or 10s, if any.

Same applies for going down the scale. A 4 isn’t terrible, and might be kept on if it pops up on the radio or something, but 3 and below means it’s probably nigh unlistenable as far as I’m concerned. But it could also mean it’s just not my thing too! It’s not a judgement on a band, it’s a measure of how I enjoy (or am challenged) by the music. So my 2 could very well be an 8 to you, right?

Anyway, here is the list for the past 31 days!

Total number of new/upcoming releases listened to in January 2017: 82

Number of those releases that rated 7-10: 4

Number of those releases that rated 4-6: 68

Number of those releases that rated 1-3: 10

Highest rated album: Dude York - Sincerely

New band I’d never heard of that caught me off guard: I was going to say Dude York before I realized they were also the highest rated album on the list! So I'll give it to runner-up The Courtneys' The Courtneys II.

Most surprising discovery: Bell Biv Devoe - Three Stripes (Who even expected them to ever release an album again???!!!)


*I still work under the notion that if a band is going to take the time and / or money to send stuff my way, if it makes it into my queue it deserves at least a full listen.