maybe this reasoning can help me put to rest my indecision around Swiss Chalet’s mysterious dipping sauce. i cannot decide whether i kind of like it, or really hate it. this obsession leads me to try it every single time in an attempt to have a moment of clairity. so… maybe i don’t hate it… so why does that feel so wrong?

my music-ploration has led to much awesome music and many cool bands. one of the more important (in my mind) has been Death Cab For Cutie. I started listening from the beginning albums and making my way forward in their discography. Things were going pretty good; i was starting to get into the music.

then one of my bandmates turned me on to Plans. that album changed everything. i could not, and can not get enough of that album. one of purposes for this blog is to review some of these more important albums. i guess i just added one to the list. anyway, recently i’ve discovered Transatlanticism which i also now love.

i’ve been eyeing their latest release Narrow Stairs since before christmas. i think i’ve been afraid that it won’t be as good as i want it to be. well no more fear, it’s sitting on my desk, it’s been ripped to my ipod, and it’s going in my ears tomorrow morning on the way to work.

i love really listening to an album for the first time; a little ritual. it’s a memory association–who i was with, where i was, where i was in my life for that matter. some albums remind me of road trips, others of sitting in my basement with all the lights turned out. so it’s memory making time–imprint away brain! i suppose this post commits me to a follow up of some kind. so be it!

it’s like someone came along one day and convinced everyone that instead of breathing air, they should only breathe recycled cigarette smoke sold by the canister. the people didn’t know any better as years of bush cuts to science programs had erroded their critical thinking patterns. so everyone started buying up all the “grey cloud” canisters they could get their hands on. businesses and governments started making large volume purchases. partnerships were formed with sports venues and restaurant chains that would pump the sludge through their buildings for the comfort of their patrons.

there was just one problem…

everyone was paying for the luxury of killing themselves!

this isn’t the 90′s anymore people, there is more than one option when you buy your next computer. what’s that you say? “i don’t know anything about that, i’ve always used windows”? well if you don’t know anything, then listen carefully to the following advice:

when you go out to buy your next computer head straight for an apple store and buy one imac and/or one macbook. full stop.

trust me one this, whoever you wrangle into helping you when you get your weekly virus or blue screen of death with thank their lucky stars that you’ve finally seen the light and put their computer support misery to and end. there are few things in life i loath more than re-installing another holed windows system. nobody ever has their license key, even if they do it involves a product activation. the drivers can never be found easily and you end up googling your sorry ass around the internet for hours just trying to get a sound out of your audio card. there’s always at least 2 hours worth of windows “patches” and “updates”–come on, how can microsoft still be fixing a product that was released in 2001!

so just spare yourself the pain and embrace the beautiful simplicity of a mac.

oh yeah, and don’t forget to install quicksilver. or i’m not helping you.

don’t get me wrong–i’m not a twitter-hater. i don’t have a need for it day to day but i’ve used it in the past during meetings and conferences to hook up with the free booze. it’s just that if i hear one more news report or internet story that regurgitates the first sentence from their wikipedia article i’m going to lose. twitterbaters….

there are many tips and tricks that i utilize when i’m brainstorming a drum part.

wrong! here’s the same example again (note the difference):

there are many tips and tricks that i use when i’m brainstorming a drum part.

correct! i’m not saying that the first sentence is grammatically incorrect…it’s just stupid. here’s what dictionary.com has to say about my wordy nemesis:

A number of critics have remarked that utilize is an unnecessary substitute for use. It is true that many occurrences of utilize could be replaced by use with no loss to anything but pretentiousness, for example, in sentences such as They utilized questionable methods in their analysis or We hope that many commuters will continue to utilize mass transit after the bridge has reopened. But utilize can mean “to find a profitable or practical use for.” Thus the sentence The teachers were unable to use the new computers might mean only that the teachers were unable to operate the computers, whereas The teachers were unable to utilize the new computers suggests that the teachers could not find ways to employ the computers in instruction.

wrong! on top of being wrong, this word sounds totally made up to my ears. like someone wanted to invent a more verbose and cerebral way of saying “use”. just don’t utilize this word anymore.

oh crap…

there’s no doubt these guys have their act together and they know what they’re going for. the production is slick and pro, the melodies are super sugary and catchy, and their hooks will linger in your mind long after hearing the song. in this way however, they don’t differ too much from our pal Britney Spears. wait, maybe that’s too cruel a comparison.

i think i can understand the genre roughly speaking: sort of a post-emo/pop-rock/punk/social commentary thing. the problem is is when i take a look at the lyrics i’m a little confused. gems like “i don’t care what you think as long as it’s about me” and “i’m in love with my own sins” abound here. there are some good moments: “i wanna scream ‘i love you’ from the top of my lungs/but i’m afraid that someone else will hear me”–works for me. what i can’t get is whether or not this is total sarcasm or if there’s a painful layer of honest truth that lies underneath. who knows, maybe under that layer of honest truth is some more witty satire.

and seriously, what’s that “Baba O’Riley” riff doing in shots section of “Disloyal Order Of Water Buffaloes”?? i agree with the allmusic.com reviewer:

They’re hyper modern, flitting through the past and present, taking nothing seriously and taking everything they can, cramming so many allusions into their overstuffed songs it’s impossible to tell what is intentional and what is accidental. (Are those crashing chords on “Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes” really taken from “Baba O’Reilly”? Do they realize “I don’t care what you think/Just as long as it’s about me” is from Nirvana’s “Drain You”? Does it matter?)

so does it matter? i don’t know, but it leaves me confused–and i don’t really like that. in the end i can’t say that i love them and i won’t say that i hate them. but damn, now i’ve a one of their riffs in my head. there you go…

the genius of last.fm is with  their technology called audioscrobbler or simply scrobbling. if you have a device or software that supports scrobbling–and virtually anything you can think of is already supported–your songs will be tracked and pushed back up to last.fm via your account. i mostly use itunes and an ipod which are both supported. when i sync my ipod back up to itunes at the end of the day, the audioscobbler software searches for listening activity on the device and then pushes it back to last.fm.

now all of this might seem creepy or downright scary to some of you. i think it’s one of the most interesting musical experiences i’ve ever had. think about it: you have a silent partner who is faithfully (and without judgement) taking down what you are listening to and then allowing you drill around in the resulting data. for example, i know that my most listened to artist in the last week was Faded Paper Figures, and my most listened to track overall ( since September 2008 ) is currently This Place is a Prison by The Postal Service.

anyway, i could go on forever about this, but if you haven’t looked at this yet (and i feel like i’m years late to the party on this one), you must try it out. they have signed deals with most of the large music labels and have access to over 3.5 million tracks. so, there is probably something for you…

i’ve been in love with music for as long as i can remember. and like any long term relationship you have peaks and valleys–periods of intense growth and discovery and times of just same-old-same-old. i think i’ve been in a peak lately and these tend to come around every couple of years or so (we’re still talking about music here…). the last few months i just want to listen, think and talk about music. i’ve been trying to decompose what i’m hearing and figure out what it is that i like. kind of silly? maybe, but you see i’m also a musician so i figure that’s part of the job description.

photography is another interest of mine. there’s so much technique and math involved in the creation of something so beautiful and organic. these digital cameras are the best thing since sliced bread, but the photo management afterwards keeps me up at night. not that i like most of what i shoot. for me there’s still sometimes this gap between ability and vision and it’s hard not to be deterred (watch this video by Ira Glass to see what i mean… he’s so right on the money).

so let’s see where this goes… i’ve got some ideas for content, it’s just a matter of execution…