Music Review Part 1
Many of you have been unrelenting in your pursuit of my thoughts regarding the musical landscape these days (actually, no one has, but that first sentence makes me feel nice.) So I'll seek to impart some learnings I had while on vacation this past week.For those not familiar with my taste in music, I'd sum it up with this...I heart GOOD music. Not crappy music. Good music. Music where someone is actually singing and playing their own instrument. Music that actually communicates a thought or feeling with some level of insight and/or brevity. Good music. It's pretty simple.
So a couple of weeks ago I asked a friend of mine whose taste in music I trust to give me a recommendation. THere's wisdom in that for those of you who complain "but I can never find new bands..." Ask cool friends. That's why they're around. Without hesitation he (Ben) said "Check out The National." That's The National, sports fans...not the nationals. Singular, not plural. His quick reply left me intrigued, so I hopped on iTunes and downloaded their latest. Boy was he right.
The National have a sound that brings to mind all sorts of people, but none that I can really pinpoint. Leonard Cohen, Crash Test Dummies, F. Scott Fitzgerald...it's all very dizzying. One caveat...diction is not one of their fortes, but man is it worth wading through the mumbles to comprehend the depths.
So here's the best part...they're from Cincy and are playing 30 seconds from my house on June 15th. Yes! So pull up iTunes right now, download the album, be enthralled and then let me know that you'll see me at the show. I promise you won't be disappointed.
Labels: The National
July 16, 2007 at 4:52 PM
hello, droopy (? - steven calls you this name, it might be rude or overly descriptive of something, some apendage you'd like to leave without a nick-name?)
i am listening to the National right now. the "aligator" album and i love it. i will soon be acquiring "boxer" on your recommendation and that of my other kick-ass music loving friends.
thanks for this.
first a christian pacifist and now this, we'd get on famously i think, but i live in texas so that isn't in the realm of possibilities. top
July 16, 2007 at 4:54 PM
if you want to be included in a rather elitist circle of friends who used to frequent pepe's blog, you should e-mail me and say so or talk to stevie about all that.
pepe.the.guzman@gmail.com
i could send you back issues upon request. top
July 19, 2007 at 9:30 AM
I think you need this shirt, Andrew:
http://www.threadless.com/product/917/I_Listen_To_Bands
- amo top