Week 3

Somewhat random mix this past week:

9. Sufjan Stevens - Come on Feel the Illinoise

I'd still like to know when Sufjan is going to get on the next state in his "50 States" series. I don't think it's actually going to happen, but it should. I think he realized he didn't know enough about all 50 states to make this happen. But what a great reason to learn! Come on Sufjan, man up and stick to your promises!

Anyway, this album is really really good, even 7 years later. I forgot what a beautifully creepy song "John Wayne Gacy" is. This album isn't exactly a feel-good experience from beginning to end, but it does have its moments.

10. The Best of Badfinger

Badfinger reminds me of the early days in my relationship with the BF. We both really dig this band and the first several songs were in heavy rotation for a while at our house. Badfinger was formed as somewhat of a Beatles spinoff, but I think that they really did hold their own. At times their sound reminds me of Big Star too, which is always a good thing.


11. Best of Crowded House

I don't think that the album cover to the left is actually the one that goes with this CD, but I have long since lost the cover so I really have no clue what it looks like. At any rate, this is a great album. The Finn brothers write some of the best songs around, and after listening to a few "sad bastard" albums lately, it's nice to have some feel-good music to drive to. I let this one start over a few times before I went on to the next CD.




12. Local Natives - Gorilla Manor

I discovered this band one night when flipping channels. They were the musical guest on Craig Ferguson's show, and I think this album had just come out. I rarely enjoy bands on late-night talk shows anymore, but these guys had my attention. I immediately went to Itunes to download the song that they performed on the show. When I sampled the other songs on the album, I realized that there wasn't a bad song in the bunch, so I downloaded the whole thing. That just doesn't happen much these days. Some might say that the harmonies are too cliche' and easy, but I think they feel right and sound awesome. Sometimes music doesn't have to be complicated.


13. Dave Matthews Band - Crash

Ok, I'll admit it. I was a HUGE Dave-head in college. Up until a few years ago when I got my new car, I still had a Firedancer sticker on my back window. Yeah, I know.

I had not listened to any DMB in a long time. I lost interest in the mid-late 2000s because I felt like the latter albums that the band released were just... meh. Not the same music I fell in love with as a 20-something. Going back to the music now, I have to say that a lot of it doesn't have the staying power that I once thought it would. Maybe I'm stuffier and older now, but some of the lyrics are just bad. "I have no lid upon my head/but if I did/you could look inside and see what's on my mind..." Ugh. Really?

I'll always have a soft spot for Dave in my heart, but now I look at him and the band almost like old college boyfriends. They were cute at the time, but it was never going to last beyond a couple of road trips to music festivals together.

I still really like the first song on the album, "So Much to Say." And I still say that Carter Beauford is in my All Time Top 5 Drummers, along with Stewart Copeland and Keith Moon. I guess I'm just glad we've all grown up and kinda gone our separate ways now.