The 50th blog entry

Yes, yes,

hold your applause, you can all stop the celebrations now.

Unfortunately I'm not offering much of a celebratory blog today. I was going to do one of those half assed "Best of stroll in the Parks" and just piece together a bunch of excerpts that no one found funny except me... but then I thought better of it. Really its just too much work, otherwise, rest assured I would have wasted the time doing something mindlessly self indulgent like that. There would be humor in it, don't you agree?

I'm not going to mention my day at work.

After work I went to Borders and chipped away at my gift certificate by picking up "Sun Kill Moon's Tiny Cities". This CD is essentially a Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters) quasi-solo project. Tim Hayes, a college friend from Saint Joe's introduced me to Red House painters, or saturated me with them would be the more accurate description :D. "Tiny Cities" is comprised completely of Modest Mouse covers, although to the casual Modest Mouse fan, only one song from "Good news for people who love bad news" was included. The song, "Ocean Breaths Salty" was one that I do not believe was a single, although that CD did get quite a share of air play. "Tiny cities made of ashes" off of "The moon and antartica" is probably the next most recognizable song here. I've seen "Everywhere and His Nasty Parlor Tricks" a couple times in stores... which of course doesn't contain any of this CD's selection. Once I saw "Building Nothing Out Of Something" however I think it may be tougher to come by. Even this CD of rarities and re-releases will only buy you a few more of Kozelek's choices which reach deep under the couch cushions to find some tracks from Modest Mouse's earliest days.

Anyway, much like Sun Kil Moon's prior effort, this CD is stellar. The really amusing thing is two years ago on Christmas I lent my friend Eric "The moon and Antartica" and Sun Kil Moon's "Ghosts of the Great Highway".... and now they've been combined.
I've listened to "Tiny Cities" once, and of course it is excellent.

Additionally I picked up a new John Vanderslice album, a singer songwriter who's been around a bit, but is new to me. The album is called "Pixel Revolt". Its an excellent collection of tunes. Thus far I've been repeating a track called "Exodus Damage".

Read this pitchfork review, it is pretty good. I would draw some comparison to some of Elliot Smith's more "polished" sounding work, such as "Figure 8" or the post mortem effort "From a basement on a hill".

John Vanderslice: Pixel Revolt

This weekend I bought Supergrass's "Road to Rouen". (Yes Kate I found Borders on route 9 without getting lost... good directions>> swanky malls BTW, a Bloomingdales & Tiffany's?! I thought that was reserved for Newbury St.) Supergrass's "In it for the Money" and "Supergrass", were both great. I never really got into "Life on other Planets". I anticipated its release too much, and I was rather disappointed when it came out because I thought it lacked some or the energy of the prior two. I've never heard much of their first album, save that single that they had on the "Clueless" soundtrack. "Road to Rouen" is also more subdued, however at first listen I find that I will likely end up enjoying this one quite a bit. I find immediately that it seems to have an emotive quality, a soul so to speak, that "Life on other Planets" lacked.

Tomorrow I will get the new Strokes album. "Room on Fire" was a huge disappointment to me after their first effort "Is this It", however the first single off of "First Impressions Of Earth" is full of energy, and most importantly a sound that advances over past efforts.

One band I don't see redeeming itself is Coldplay. X&Y probably would have been better if Gwyneth were singing lead with apple, at least it would have been original.

Anyway... I'm tired, and I've typed too much now so... off to beddy bye.

Have a Terrific Tuesday!