Oversight of the Decade

Ok, maybe that's a bit dramatic, but that doesn't mean I haven't been kicking myself any less. Check a few entries down and you'll see that I reviewed Under the Pavement by The Travelling Band for Twisted Ear. The whole time I felt like there was something I was missing. Well, the other night I was watching some footage of Crosby, Stills, and Nash singing "Sweet Judy Blue Eyes" when it it hit me that these guys are all over the Travelling Band album and somehow it went right over my head. Specifically, give a listen to "Sweet City." It's incredibly reminiscent of "Sweet Judy Blue Eyes." Bah. I wish I could add in a line to the review but that ship sailed. Oh well. I'm saying it here. As an aside, Under the Pavement gets better and better every time I listen to it and the fact that I'm still hitting 'play' weeks after turning in the review should say a good deal.

Odds & Ends as of Late

Nothing super important to report lately, just a few loose ends to tie or just mention, really.

Firstly, I just saw this on Pitchfork. The Kinks are releasing a box set entitled Picture Book on December 8th this year. It's 6 discs plus a 60-page booklet containing pictures, timelines, bios, etc. Looks pretty sweet, if you ask me. Though, I really don't want to see the price tag on that sucker. I think I'll just mop up the drool on my laptop and move on.

Secondly, it appears that the Fray are releasing their sophomore album, The Fray, Feb. 3rd, 2009. Why do I mention this? I was marveling at the fact that I don't really care, if that makes any sense at all. Recently it came to my attention that I didn't buy many albums this year and the reason is that I usually don't invest in a disc unless I think I might follow the band or singer in the future. Buying the kinds of albums that have less shelf life than a jug of milk only bolsters the record collection on a superficial level. Total waste of time and iPod space. When How to Save a Life came out in 2005, everybody bought it. They were plastered all over the place but when the hype died down, how many people continued to care? I sort of forgot they existed.

Thirdly, Stephen Colbert is releasing an accompanying Christmas album with his television special. I smell a new holiday favorite at the Musically Inclined.

Fourthly, I'm wondering why I haven't gotten into John Legend before. Both "Green Light" and Legend are about six kinds of cool. Happily, Legend will be on Colbert's special this Sunday.

Fifthly, is that a word? If not, it is now. The Killer's album comes out on the 25th. I'll buy it, but for some reason I'm preparing to be underwhelmed. We'll see.

Happy Friday

You Know You Love Falsettos

Two weeks back some friends and I came across this really infectious pop song called "Grace Kelly" by a British singer named Mika. We'd actually heard a cover of it and the guy that sang it had a falsetto that would Frankie Valli to shame, no joke. Anyway, we found the original. I'd heard of this guy Mika before but didn't really know anything about him. Especially after hearing the full album-- a fifty-minute sugar rush, I think I found my latest guilty pleasure. It's not bad, cheap, or shallow, Mika's just not the average inhabitant of my iPod. No worries, though. This stuff is an instant cloud-parter and couldn't have come at a better time. Check out the video. There might be a review to follow soon.

Best Buy-- Guess Not

I saw this article on CNET about how Best Buy is lowering its earnings forecast for the upcoming year, especially in light of Circuit City's bankruptcy. Now, I'd never rejoice in the misfortune of others, but it does make me a feel a bit better. Granted, their financial problems don't just stem from falling music sales-- there's the sucky economy to thank, after all-- but no one's safe and due to Best Buy's top spot on the TMI S*#% List, we're feeling rather smug. I guess those blue polos are getting expensive.

The Travelling Band on Twisted Ear

No, I didn't add an extra 'l' to 'travelling' because I felt like it. Check these guys out. They won the New Talent award at Glastonbury this summer. Think Shins combined with Nickel Creek. This is some really good stuff.

Coldplay Has Vestibular Issues

iTunes is currently offering the music video to "Lovers in Japan" free. That's pretty snazzy. The video is not too bad, the colors are deep and they write in the air like in that really cool Sprint commercial. It looks like they're writing with a neon light bulb. "Viva la Vida" should have been more along those lines. The only problem is all the spinning. The camera does flip after flip and it just fees like someone trapped Chris Martin in the dryer on tumble dry with a billion paper butterflies. It's dizzying. If you can control your stomach, it's worth a watch.

This is about the Garden State soundtrack. I can't think of a snazzy title.

It's been quite the week, so unfortunately I've neglected The Musically Inclined a bit. The upside is that it's Friday and I've cleared my schedule to do precious nothing tonight...or that's the plan at least. Lord knows I'll wind up getting roped into something and probably go very willingly. In any case, I was trying to think of something to post about. The most obvious thing music-related is that the other day I watched Garden State for the second time. It's really a terrific movie, the kind of that's got a perfect balance of heart, soul, brain, and weirdness. Unless you've seen it before, you've got no idea where you're going until you get there. That's fairly representative of life, I think.

Garden State has been out a few years and I distinctly remember being more interested in it for the soundtrack than for the actual movie, because that's most of what anyone talked about. A friend gave me a copy of the soundtrack last year and that's ultimately what spurred me to rent it. Some soundtracks are weak, only having a couple songs worthy of purchase, but what makes this one different is that it plays like that perfect mix tape that someone gave you. I guess these days it's more about the playlist, but the idea is the same. From Nick Drake, Frou Frou, Colin Hay, Coldplay, and of course the Shins, there's not a track there that doesn't perfectly encapsulate the feel of the movie. Most strikingly, I knew exactly what kind of tone to expect before ever watching it.

That's some serious mix tape skill. At the same time the soundtrack is so solid and rich, I listen to it sparingly. These last couple days though, it's been on loop in my head and I don't mind hearing that wistful, calm, yet cathartic backdrop to my day-to-day life.

If for some reason you haven't seen Garden State, good freaking grief, get your butt into gear and watch it. Now.