Early Album Favorites for 2013

Below are some good albums that have already come out in 2013.

1. Amok - Atoms For Peace (Rating: 8.0)
Besides being annoyed that now when I have the urge to listen to Thom Yorke music I have to now search for both "Thom..." and "Atoms..." this is a very solid album.
I will say right up front that this album is not as good as Thom Yorke's 'The Eraser' (2006).  That album was semi-revolutionary in my opinion.  It was such a good laptop album.  By that I mean that in listening to it you feel like you're at the airport or something, peering over Thom Yorke's shoulder as he cuts, loops, repeats, synthesizes, etc. on his Macbook.  It was as if Thom Yorke himself were sharing a link with you to his very personal new record.
Now back in 2013 in this new incarnation of a full ensemble of the 4 or 5 band members of Atoms For Peace, I find that the music is still nice but it's almost overproduced to perfection, and feels slightly less personal.  I have to say though that the track, 'Ingenue', is likely to be the best song I'll listen to during the whole year.  I'm tempted to buy tickets to the concert when they come this way in September mostly because I love seeing these kinds of songs played live and being thrown for a loop when I see them performing these songs with real instruments and not just laptops and vocals.

2. The Invisible Way - Low (Rating: 7.7)
I love everything about this band these days.  They have such a good formula going for them with a very simple concept to their music of a tortured male voice harmonizing with a deep, angelic female voice, simple percussion, subdued guitar that continually threatens to scream its head off, and throw some bass and occasional piano in there.  My gripe with this album is that it's a little too soft and too similar from song to song.  Also the fact that Mimi (the wife in this husband-wife duet) has too much of a leading role when she's best suited to backing vocals with occasional lead when you just need to be moved to tears.  I point to a song like "Majesty/Magic" on their 2011 album, 'C'mon' in which you get a powerful and emotional buildup with some incredibly raw guitar and percussion.  There aren't really any songs on this album that have that strong emotional impact on me.  Regardless of all these gripes I'm discussing, the fundamental formula is in place for this album and it's a nice addition to their collection.  My favorites from this album are the opening track, 'Plastic Cup', and 'Holy Ghost'.

Best Albums of 2012

In my increasingly ignorant assessment of the music scene in general, 2012 was pretty weak.  No new artist discoveries to speak of.  Below are some of my favorites throughout the year.  (I'm beginning to feel like a grumpy old man.  Maybe the reason people get grumpy in their old age is because they become less skilled at keeping up with the times and therefore miss out on a lot of the good stuff that is out there.)

1. Wixiw - Liars (Rating: 8.8)
By this point Liars have put out an undeniably good catalogue of albums.  They sound great whether they're doing spacey, experimental stuff, or poppier, more accessible stuff.  This album belongs in the latter category for the most part.  'His and Mine Sensations' is my favorite from this record.

2. Valtari - Sigur Ros (Rating: 6.9)
I didn't get into this album right from the start and I thought I would with time, and that has turned out to be only partially true.  I think I might really fall in love with it if I listened to it on a trip that involved waking up before dawn and wearing my galoshes out in the wet grass and walking up to the edge of a cliff as the fog begins to recede.  But I haven't had that kind of trip so I can't say for certain.  Instead, I find that the songs are generally enjoyable and pleasant, but they don't have as much character as songs from their earlier albums.

3. Tempest - Bob Dylan (Rating: 5.5)
The opening track, 'Duquesne Whistle' had me hooked from the first time I heard it.  It carries the listener away to olden times industrial America in a nice way.  The rest of the album has a few good songs here and there but it generally doesn't live up to the opening track.




4. & 5.  Americana - Neil Young (Rating: 5.0); Psychedelic Pill - Neil Young (Rating: 4.0)
Having recently listened to the Neil Young autobiography, 'Waging Heavy Peace' I was in a good place to be once again immersed in the genius of Neil Young, and thought I would have a greater appreciation for his music now that I had a better sense of his process, and where he was coming from--all the experiences he had had and was recently going through that inspired his music writing.  Sadly for me, Americana was only fun, not enduring, and Psychedelic Pill was maybe a little too half-baked for me.  The latter was I think meant to be a project wherein Neil Young would remount "the horse" (Crazy Horse, his band) and go for a ride and just see where it would take him and what energy would be found there.  To me, and probably to most listeners, it wasn't very cosmic.  But it may have been for Neil Young--I hope it was, anyways.  Anyways, the autobiography was great.  Keep on Rockin', Neil.

Blog Log: The Carolinas (Part III)

Raleigh (12/31/12)

After some drama about who would make the effort to get out to the Richardses' for New Years (see photo below) we descended on their humble home in time for dinner and the putting of the children to bed/floor.  The latter was trickier than might be expected as various social norms were breached in our children's minds--namely, Rose learning that night that little children do indeed sleep on beds, and Rae learning (probably scared out of her mind by a Rose sneeze or a sniffle or something) that little children sometimes sleep in the same room as you--sometimes on the floor.  Another difficulty later arose when we heard some rapid-fire stomps on the carpet from the floor above and soon learned that Wally, in need of some nighttime potty relief and unsure of its whereabouts took to lying on his back and pounding his feet on the floor.  Luckily that crisis was averted.

The Lamberts' waffling and the Lewises' dedication to their bloodline had them both in the doghouse.

So with the kids soundly asleep we all sat down to some food (once again graciously provided by the Richards) and good company.  The menu was a Martha Stewart grilled cheese sandwich bar, chips and dips, fizzy drinks (along with a bevy of familiar sounding sodas with the unfortunate appellation of "zero"), and an assortment of macaroons from a Charleston confectionery.  During dinner we shared some of our experiences in Charleston, and the Richardses (recently returned from a trip there of their own) joined in with some of their own experiences.  Then we started to rekindle an old contest that stems from Emily's and my one-upsmanship of our various travels abroad.  We would share a factoid about Charleston, and then the Richards would share one.  And then we and then they, and so on, with the factoids gradually becoming more obscure, and neither couple willing to let the other have the last contribution to the discussion.  All the while the Lamberts looking more and more likely to go take a pre-midnight power-nap while we finished our silly game.

Dinner behind us, we made our way to the living room and the evening took a nostalgic turn when Todd (not known to be at all sentimental) surprised us all by producing a college memory book (with a slight nod to Paul and Verlan) and a childhood memory book (with a slight nod to me).  (I think Emily must have put these books together.)  We had a good laugh looking through the Paul/Todd homoerotic years and reminiscing about such college staples as the 'Blind Date' TV show--Paul and Todd were impressed that I could remember the theme song (the catchy bass line); the ladies were not.  Then we took a look at some pictures of Todd and me as kids which were funny for several reasons, but the unexpected reason was because I seemed to have my shirt off in over half the pictures--I have no memory of my exhibitionist phase.

Then we watched some YouTube clips before taking a break to enjoy some delicious egg nog--of which everyone partook, even if only through a 5/95 nog/milk ratio (Joelle).  Then we realized we only had about 40 seconds left (according to Ryan Seacrest Eastern standard time) to crack open the Martinelli's and pour 6 glasses.  Luckily we made it in time and were able to celebrate with Ryan, Bobby Brown, and Gangham Style right there in the living room with us.

What would New Year's Eve be without you, Ryan

Soon after, we all went to bed but in our case were awoken by a crying child at 5:00am so we decided to just dart like thieves in the night and get a head start on our drive back home.  We silently crept through the house and left only memories... and a blanket and a stuffed animal.

Appendix

YouTube clips:
DEA Agent Shoots Foot
Pinky the Cat
Boston Fan Bon Jovi

Blog Log: The Carolinas (Part II)

Charleston (12/29/12 - 12/31/12)

We arrived in time to take a quick stroll in the beautiful White Point Garden park (pretty cold and windy unfortunately) before heading off to beat the evening crowd for dinner at Glass Onion ($$; *****).  We then made our way to our hotel at the centrally located Comfort Inn ($80/night thanks to Priceline).

The next morning we went to church before brunching at the popular (1-hr long wait) Hominy Grill ($$; ****) where we had shrimp & grits, biscuits & gravy, eggs & cheese, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and ginger nut bread.  Then we spent the whole afternoon in the Boone Hall Plantation which was actually very cool, though a little hard to manage--what with the cold winds and our youngsters in tow--touring through antique houses and such.  The plantation was actually the site of the recent blessed union between Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, and is also home to the famous spot where the hunky Ryan Gosling jumped into the river on 'The Notebook'.

The famous Oak Avenue with 88 oak trees lining the entryway to the mansion.

That evening we got a bunch of sides to takeout from Barbara Jean's ($; ***) and ate it at our hotel.  The patrons at the takeout bar were eager to make small talk with me and demonstrate how silly & drunk they were.  I responded by acting nice and courteous.  They probably laughed at my foreignness once I left.

The following morning--our last day in Charleston--we hopped on a carriage to be treated to a 1-hour tour by mule of one of three randomly selected (to avoid carriage congestion in the small streets) routes of the city.  We got lucky by getting the "waterfront" route, where we got to see such things as a dueling alley (where Andrew Jackson was known to get into trouble), some fascinating home architecture [$1- to $10-million homes with such features as ornate piazzas (or porches), pastel stucco facades (to conceal the stigmatized brick construction), and manual cranks used to restore toppled walls after an earthquake], some historic churches, and original cannonballs from the civil war siege.

Then we grabbed lunch at Husk ($$$; ****), which was delicious. I can't say enough about the ease of finding a good, decently priced, Southern restaurant in Charleston.

Before our afternoon departure we made sure to stop in at the Calhoun mansion--an impressive 24,000 sf mansion we had taken note of during our carriage tour.  This place was incredible, and lavishly decorated with original artwork galore.  But, unfortunately, I only got to see the front room of the place because as the tour guide was in the middle of his presentation Eli started crying and then Rae kept repeating that she wanted a drink, and the tour guide had had enough and he asked his assistant to return my ticket stubs to me and demanded that I choose the child that I wanted to escort out of the tour and get my refund at the ticket counter.  I grabbed Rae and headed for the exit and said "thank you" (I have no idea why) on my way out.

Two Meeting Street.  This house was a wedding present from the owner of the Calhoun Mansion just down the street. 

Then we grabbed some little trinkets and desserts before departing "The Holy City" and heading back to Raleigh for a New Year's Eve celebration.

Blog Log: The Carolinas (Part I)

In the spirit of the Cross-Country Blog Log of Jan-2008 (http://twainfectas.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html) I am taking this opportunity to log the events of the recent (and mostly impromptu) trip that took us to North and South Carolina for the 2012/2013 New Years break.

Raleigh (12/28/12)
With Val heading to the Seven Corners Cafe Rio to pick up the Richardses' order [Two steak salads, no beans, extra rice three ranch dressings (1 extra)] and me watching Rae and baby Eli at the park [tasked with achieving the delicate balance of exhaustion for the one and tranquility (through the use of striclty mandated constant stroller motion] for the other], we rendezvoused at 2:15pm and set off for the 4-hour drive to Raleigh.  We had hoped that this early workday departure would allow us to just cruise down I-95 S, but quickly came to find that demand for Raleigh sleepovers must peak around this time of year, and we were delayed by a full 2 hours--even in the HOV lane.  

Rejuvenated by a bag of Munchies (which has replaced Chili Cheese Fritos as my new road-trip go-to) and a bottle of Cherry Coke we pressed on and arrived at the Richardses in Raleigh at about 8:15pm.  We all enjoyed some only slightly stale Cafe Rio--with Todd subbing in for Patty circa 1994 and scolding me for only eating about half of my salad--and followed it up by watching some 'Comedians Getting Coffee [sic]' and enjoying some Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream--a staple of the Todd and Pace late 80's / early 90's diet.

Currently ranked #1

I'll also add that the group thought it was funny that, during our short stay, I played the role of Todd by causing Rae to get splattered directly in the eye by a spicy salsa take-out container mishandle, and later, by toppling over their son Parker's favorite snowglobe; which, in my defense, was perilously perched atop a small pile of night-time kids books.  When I came downstairs to fess up to the latter Todd and Emily didn't grasp the extent of the breakage of the snowglobe; believing that when I said "broken," I meant that it didn't properly wind or something.  I ashamedly clarified that it was "really broken", and again, "like, the glass is destroyed and the liquid stuff is on the carpet."

After an excellent night's sleep on their state-of-the-art blow-up mattress we awoke to celebrate Emily's birthday by eating the Panera spread that Todd put out for everyone and by taking turns enjoying Todd's recent wiring of a blue-tooth operated shower stereo system.  Then we made for Charleston...