Time to Get Going

I will be leaving Seattle next Wednesday for SXSW in Austin, an accredited music festival. I will be staying with a woman that goes by the name Karen. She is a manager at SXSW in some aspect, I'm not sure how exactly. I found her through craigslist after putting out an ad saying I'd pay 300 for an 11 night stay as I was having trouble locking down people on couchsurfing.com/hostels. The funny thing is I got offers from both right at the time I sent Karen a portion of her money.

This should be a great festival, I've actually talked to a lot of people that have visited Austin or have lived there recently and they all say I'm going to have a blast.

So to get things in order, I'm going to try and catch some Seattle bands going to the festival. Say Hi has some great recorded material and I'd like to mingle with them. I do know a dude in Mount St. Helens Vietnam Band, another band playing there and going to SXSW. We'll see what happens.

A closing line of original poetry:

Not having written poetry in a long time, I am not ready to write as well as I can. But how good is that if I am just a man? Good enough.

Ree Ree

Okay, I had some thoughts about my last review of the MGMT's, Oraculer Spectacular, album. And I decided I wrote it in a spit of malice, as I had been quite depressed about my stupidity. So, I am now re-reviewing the album (adding the parts I left out and editing some previous thoughts), since I've had ample time to hear it a couple of times.

The work starts with "Time to Pretend", entrusting to the listener that a vain life is a good life (it's not, right?): "Let's make some money/Make some music/Find some models for wives" - an odd way to follow such an upbeat and accredited introduction. In a later verse, the narrator pines for childhood, but retreats again in the succeeding chorus to pretend - hide about the way things really are. Yeah, this is a great song.

One song I did not mention in the previous post was "Kids". I guess it sort of talks about growing up but staying a kid at the same time - (the sound of kids on a playground), then, "Control yourself/Take only what you need from them." If you don't like the song sitting down, try standing up and let the song tell you what to do.

And as for the whole album, I said the last half was not nearly as good as the first, starting with the track "4th dimensional trans". Though the track is strange compared to its predecessors, it is a nice break from the disco-like beats up to that point. The end of the song reminds me of the music in Diablo, a computer game with really cool 12 string guitar music.

"Pieces of What" is simply a good song, with a placid Oasis quality. It could easily drive a montage of a sad sad breakup in a movie like American Pie. But, sadly, it does not. So get that dream out of your head. But do listen to it.

I also said that "Of Moons, Birds & Mon" was a bad song. Now while it is my least favorite song on the album, I think an album needs a shitty song sometimes. Especially this one, because the other songs are so damn brilliant. The last half of the song starts to change its mind however, and starts to pick itself out of the mud, with a gnarly noise jam. Eh.

The album DOES end a bit departed from the brilliance of lyrics in early songs, but it does end the way it started: upbeat. Though, this time, winding upward and outward in "Future Reflections"; a good way for a thing to end, I think. I like it.

Take that, previous post.

On and On

Well, I said I'd get Sasquatch Sunday and Monday stuff up, but it just feels so long ago right now. Here's some pictures though.

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So I'm moving ahead. To a sweet new band from Brooklyn called the MGMT. I found them in the most blogged artist's section on hype machine, so I guess I will be stating what others have already said: "This is good music."

"Electric Feel" is a psychedelic documentary on the sexuality of aquatic animals mixed with a simple dance beat. Oo baby girl/Shock me like an electric eel. That pretty much says everything. Unless you want to listen to the song, because that would tell you more.

Another song that grabs me is "Time to Pretend". The opening (nod to "Teenage Wasteland") makes me feel like I'm going to learn something important about life, particular to things you learn as a teenager. Like things not to do when you're dating a girl. Yeah, time to learn...but hey check out this cool video.

The album, Oracular Spectacular, as a whole may strike most people as 'weird' but sorry folks thats where music is going these days. Into total and utter weirdness. Just say that title out loud. That's not to say non-weird people will not like this music. All right. This is getting weird.

You know, as I'm listening to the album right now, the first half is much better. I get lost on "4th dimensional trans" and a particularly bad track, "Of Moons, Birds, and Mon". This bad song just loses the love groove laid down by previous tracks. Though some shards of light come through at the end of "The Handshake".

The album ends somewhat fed up and distracted from its own initial high energy and lyrical prowess. Stick to the good stuff, yeah?