Temporary Soundtrack #2

Red House Painters - Songs for a Blue Guitar

Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt

The King Khan & BBQ Show

Dirty Projectors - Rise Above

Temporary Soundtrack #1

Why am I still awake? The Descent into Late Afternoon...

Sage Francis - Personal Journals

Jens Lenkman - Night Falls Over Kortedola

A Very Sufjan X-mas

Today is Christmas.
Let's do that right: today is CHRISTMAS!!!!!
Santa blessed me with many things this year, but Christmas cheer was not one of them. For that, I've had to turn to Sufjan Steven's Christmas Songs for Christmas.

Quite nice. 20+ Christmas songs may seem like overkill, but his easy-going mid-tempo style allows me to drift in and out whenever I please. The song are not quite up to Illinois levels, but no ones asking that much out of a holiday album. Just enough to get through a day of greedily opening gifts, politely ignoring relatives, and blissfully catching up on unread Sunday Times.

I give it 3 glasses of wine out of 5

Tartit Makes Me Anxious

I'm struggling to think of a good use for this trance-like music. Should I study to it? I've already drunk lots of coffee so it's bugging me out somewhat.

This gets to the heart of a world music conundrum. It's often hard to honestly enjoy artists like Tartit because of an ingrained need to appreciate them for their foreigness. I'm lost in a cloud of unknowning and it's all Tartit's fault!

Top 5 Sleater-Kinney Albums of All Time

1. The Woods

2. The other CD of theirs I own

3. I hear good things about "All Hands on the Bad One"

4. Ummm

5. Oh no

The Woods is consistent top-to-bottom. More than a year later and it's still melting my face.  It may be PANTHEONesque.