Personal Therapy

I had a lot of time to burn today. I accompanied my wife to school and waited outside each of the classrooms and played on my ipod or listened to music. During her last class, I was sleepy and relaxed and her class lasted around an hour fortyfive, so it felt like a good time to get into a set of really good songs. As usually happens when I have the chance to really focus on a bunch of music, I usually switch from Radiohead song to Radiohead song, takingin the unique majesty and genius of each composition. I have yet to meet anyone else in my life who loves this band as I do, so often I feel as though I lack a proper outlet with which to share my thoughts and feelings on their oh-so-miraculous tunes. This is a band that has shifted styles in a big way over the years, from the early inverted arena-rock feel that turned the popular U2 sound on its head, to the progressive dub-step sound they seem to be leaner toward these days. And yet I still manage to fall in love with each of their albums.

Along come bands that seem to be the next big thing. The bands that really seem to "get it" in ways that seem illusive to most other similar groups. These are the U2s, the Nirvanas, the Metallicas that are typically embraced publicly and critically. Not only do they practically redefine popular music by creating new genres, but they make it look so effortless. Radiohead has continuously remained a part of said group since 1994 by releasing a remarkable stream of superb albums the likes of which hasn't been seen for decades. They're like the Pixar of the music world. When a new Radiohead album comes out, it isn't a question of whether or not you should buy it, but how quickly and efficiently you can get into your hands and coming out your speakers.

In honor of this band that continues to astound me and the music world, here's a link to my favorite "live" performance ever. It's just a live recording of Radiohead playing in the studio, so there's no audience. But it's live in that there are no second takes or post-processing or any of that nonsense that tends to remove some of the magic.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8byXSML4bY

The Birth of a Blog (and its subsequent evolution into what it is today)

Sleigh Bells

When I decided to start blogging again, my intention was to simply create an outlet into which I could pour my thoughts and feelings about everything. I tried this in the past, semi-successfully creating a blog which contained around two posts per month, each one written with the finesse and passion one would expect from an undergraduate research paper. The problem was that I started said blog during a time in which blogging was not only fashionable, but necessary, at least according to the perception of the trend-setters of the day who were busy riding the wave of social networking, youtube, and DIY everything.

And so I couldn't remain committed to a project that I didn't fully believe in. As interested as I was in being on top of what was new and hip at the time, ultimately I can only commit myself to endeavors that I have a passion in. Examples: my wife, my education, writing (only if I like what I'm writing about), etc. You get the idea. Yet even though I considered writing to be one of my primary talents and passions, my familiarity with the world of blogging was based on what I saw in the blogs of family members. A lot of people in my family had blogs, so I mainly considered a blog to be a kind of web journal, sometimes personal, sometimes familial. So when I began my blog I felt constrained to write about deep thoughts, and books, boring daily dealings, all because I thought it needed to be a varied selection of snippets from my life.

I'll even admit that when I started this blog I enthusiastically thought to myself it could be my thoughts on amazing entertainment (i.e. books, music, video games, movies). But even that made me feel a bit constrained and often I wanted to write about some amazing album but I decided against it because I had way too many posts on music and not enough on movies. And so no one got anything. Lately, however, I've decided to simply write to my heart's content and completely ignore any sort of restrictions in terms of content. I'm throwing any resemblance of a framework out the window in favor of a more free-flowing, passionate blog. As has been the trend of late, I expect that most of my posts will be about music. Because honestly, there isn't really anything in this life I want to drone on about.

Take, for instance, the photo I added at the start of this post. Awesome photo, right? That's literally the only reason I added it. It's an amazing band that gots an amazing photo, and I wanted you to see it and read on, only to be disappointed upon realizing that the post has nothing to do with the picture. (Muahaha)

Thoughts: King of Limbs

While music enthusiasts the world over seem to believe firmly that some sort of stop on musical creativity is in international effect, depriving us of anything worth listening to, I think they aren't looking in the right places. Creativity and musical genius is rampant, but a lot of it doesn't fit neatly within the framework of what we're used to calling "good music." So it may come as a surprise, especially given my background of generally obsessing over every scrap of Radiohead music, that I don't find the King of Limbs to be a particularly breakthrough record, at least compared to previous Radiohead records.

I've listened to the King of Limbs a few dozen times now, and I can't help but compare my initial listening experience and my subsequent reaction to that of their previous album, In Rainbows. Yet so eager I was to capture that 2007 one-of-a-kind listening experience that I continued listening to the album over and over in order for "something" to click. That "something" that so often clicks with me once I realize I've discovered a truly remarkable album has yet to occur. I really really enjoy the King of Limbs, especially its sublime second half, but at the end of the day I'm still under the impression that I'm listening to a sort of half-baked project. Either a half-complete project or a project without the same depth as other Radiohead projects, I guess the difference is irrelevant. The songs fit neatly into Radiohead playlists and such, but taken as a whole it only has the completeness of a Thom Yorke side project. And any Radiohead fan knows that while Thom Yorke may be the creative center, Johnny and the rest of the crew comprise the heart and soul of the band.

This is a very listenable record that showcases some of the best production of any Radiohead album, but ultimately it will most likely go down in the band's history as one of their "worst." It's clearly made from the same genetic material as the other albums, yet still lacks the quality and substance of its brothers.

8/10

Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact

Not sure what the band's name means, but it sounds awesome. And not only does the band name sound cool, but luckily the music follows suit as well. I haven't actually listened to Gang Gang Dance's previous work, but I've grown rather fond of the most recent album Eye Contact which doesn't even come out until next week but is being streamed for free here for who knows how long.