You've come to love me lightly

I've had a subscription to Rolling Stone since I was 13. When my current subscription expires in 2007, I'm going to look into getting a lifetime plan. They're not very expensive ($100?) and I like the idea of receiving the newest issue of Rolling Stone when I'm in a nursing home. All the old men will be my friend when there's some hot chick on the cover.

I think the magazine I've had a subscription to the second longest is Jane. I started reading it in college and the $10 a year fee is a small price to pay for a few chuckles. It won't change your life but it's a fun spin on all those How To Win A Man Cosmo type mags. The vaunted Jane of the title just left, though, so I'll get back to you on that.

Every once in awhile Jane falls in love with a musical act. They have a mention of them in every issue and they make them sound like the coolest kids in school. For a while it was the White Stripes (before everyone else had heard of them, of course) and then for a brief period it was the girl hip hop group Northern State. A couple years ago, Jane went bananas over Interpol.

Now my usual reaction to all this fawning is to do everything to avoid the group that they're all excited about. If I give in and check them out, I feel like an ignorant Midwesterner who is listening to the band "that's all the rage in New York." Well, New York, I don't need you. I have Bright Eyes!

And that's how I choose to ignore the White Stripes longer than maybe I should have. It's also why I didn't get my first Interpol album, Antics, until this summer (it was released September 28, 2004 according to Mr. Amazon).

Surprisingly, I feel similar about both groups. They do good music, but I'm not sure it's for me. Antics has some nice moments, especially the song "Evil", and I listen to it more than anything by the White Stripes. But honestly, New York, I'm not sure what the fuss is all about. You should check out this band called Bright Eyes . . .

**********

I think this is album number 43 I've listened to so far and if everything goes as planned I will officially be done with the letter A by next Friday. To celebrate that milestone and welcome letter B, I'm having a party. There will be B themed drinks (like beer and bourbon) and maybe some bruschetta. Anyway, I need some help.

I'd really like to get a video of the Sesame Street beetles singing their famous song "Letter B" to show at my party. If anyone out there in internet land can dig that up for me, I'll be eternally grateful. Email me if you have any leads.

It seems like yesterday

Do you remember how I said Texas was overrated back in September?

This is why I don't work for ESPN.

Stretched out on the tarmac six miles south of North Platte

Andrew Bird has a lot to say. He likes to try and fit it all into one song, too.

Hey, I'm totally one for lots and lots of lyrics, but sometimes Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs bombards me with so many words that I feel a little beat up. It's exhausting - and fun.

Andrew Bird's album was on a lot of people's top ten lists last year. When I found it at the library last week, I had to hear what all the fuss was about (he's another guy who played at the Southgate House last year that I missed. The list is endless). On first impression, I was overwhelmed by all the words. But on a second listen I'm really starting to like it. I might even have to make room on my own top ten list.

While you make pretty speeches, I'm being cut to threads

The other day I finally bought the fancy pants headphones I've been wanting for Declan and they dutifully arrived from Mr. Amazon on Saturday. Somehow, I felt they might change my life. Maybe I had not really been hearing music the way I should. Maybe things would sound completely different.

But actually things sounded pretty much the same - just more intricate.

The new headphones let me hear clicks and sighs, switches and breaths. The music sounds a little more organic. I can hear the people behind the tunes.

It took probably the most inorganic piece of music I own to help me realize that. Today's album, Amnesiac by Radiohead, can sometimes sound like it was made without human involvement at all. I don't know what goes on in the mind of Thom Yorke but it seems like a dark place where computers rule the Earth.

I've been a huge Radiohead fan for years but I have to say they lost me a little with the releases of Kid A and Amnesiac. Where they making crazy music just to see if the critics would still think it was genius? I don't know. All I know is that is always strange and often unlistenable.

So today was interesting. As I listened to Amnesiac with my new headphones, I got it a little. The sound was beautiful. There where whirrs behind my left eye and chimes in my right ear. Noises traveled around and Thom's haunting voice filled the spaces in between. Nowadays critics call it groundbreaking but what I really think they mean is "trippy."

So while Amnesiac will continue to be toward the bottom of the list of my favorite Radiohead albums, I will give it some credit. I'll be sure to bust it out when I want to take advantage of the full spectrum of stereo fun that my headphones can provide, and also when I want to feel trippy.

I'm practicing your name so I can say it to your face

2006 has been good for me so far and I hope it's been good for you. I've read more than one story about how 2005 really did kind of suck and I have to agree. It might be one of those years that we look back on with a cringe. Well, at least it's over.

My first sign that 2006 will bring good things was today's album from Declan. At first, American Pie: Music From the Motion Picture might sound like a dud, but it's really very good. This is not really the season for it (it's the perfect goin' to the beach album) but I had fun dancing around the house and listening to it (while I imagined I was goin' to the beach).

The soundtrack is filled with great tracks by bands that I would probably never buy a whole album from but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy one of their songs. My friend Jeff points out that while "Laid" by James was featured prominently in the trailers for the movie it is absent from the soundtrack. Sad but true. Don't worry, Jeff, there's a catchy little Goldfinger song on there for you instead!

**********

I'm late posting this because I just got back from seeing The Producers. I saw it mostly because I wanted to go to the movies but didn't want to see anything sad. This time of year that can be difficult but I just didn't have the energy for Munich.

Anyway, The Producers was great! It was way more fun than I imagined and I liked it a lot more than the original (which I saw for the first time last week). I'm a big fan of Nathan Lane so that helps. Just go see it, you'll have fun.

It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks

I hoped Declan would let me leave 2005 behind with some happy tunes. Alas, that was not to be. He left me with good tunes, but necessarily happy ones.

American IV: The Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash is probably best known for its cover of "Hurt". The video for the song was nominated for all sorts of awards, and it makes me cry every time. The rest of the album doesn't really cheer up from there.

American IV is filled with covers of songs that might have made Cash a caricature. He makes songs like "Personal Jesus" and "Desperado" his own, though. They never sound like a gimmick.

So that's my prayer for 2006. Let's all work harder to make things our own and avoid gimmicks. That's as good a resolution as anything else.

I'm bored with the same old lines

I haven't been writing very long posts lately but Declan seems to be in a bit of a slump. All the albums he's been giving me have been pretty mediocre. I need something awesome to come up and give me a kick in the pants. Unfortunately, today's album isn't it.

American Hi-Fi by (you guessed it) American Hi-Fi was a total impulse buy. It might as well have been a tin of Altoids or new pair of socks. I heard "Flavor of the Weak" once on Mtv and found the album on sale at Target for $8. That's all it took.

I wasn't expecting anything life changing in the album. I was merely hoping for some fun punky power pop a la Blink 182. I got neither. The whole thing is full of sappy self-important tunes (with the exception of the still delightful "Flavor of the Week"). You can imagine how thrilled I was to see them open for Elvis Costello on his 2002 tour. I got to see them three times. A freakin' dream come true.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed your time in the sun, American Hi-Fi because I doubt you're long for this iPod. I have more mediocre music waiting to take your place.

Had seven good years 'till I noticed they were looking at me

Hey Everybody!

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and got all the presents you wanted. I am the proud new owner of an iPod Shuffle which I will use at the gym without the constant fear of dropping or stepping that haunts me when I take Declan there. Does the shuffle have a name? Why yes, his name is Sheldon and he's full of rockin' tunes.

So on to today's music...

I'm a sucker for soundtracks. I sit at the movies and listen to all the good music and I have to rush out and buy the soundtrack.

But somehow when I sit in my living room listening to my new purchase, it just sounds like a random collection of songs.

Today's album is no different. American Beauty: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack seemed like a good idea at the time. It does have a couple of really nice songs, but it fails to conjure up images of midlife crises and teenage temptresses. Maybe that's not such a bad thing.

There's got to be a hero somewhere

Today's album: America Town by Five For Fighting.

Why: Yeah, I don't know either.

Verdict: I've already taken it off Declan's playlist (I had to make room for Illinois). Mostly it just
makes me feel boring.

So you think that you have seen her when you're lying in between her

I sometimes feel like there are too many tribute albums out there. You know, (insert hot new bands here) plays the music of (insert old, beloved musician here). When I stumbled upon today's album, Almost You: The Songs of Elvis Costello, at the library a few months ago, I still had to check it out.

My biggest complaint about tribute albums is they tend to be too reverential. In an effort to pay homage the artist, bands start to sound exactly like them. If I wanted to listen to the original, I would. So the best thing about Almost You is that the musicians take a few risks. They aren't afraid to slow things down or speed them up. There are steel guitars where there used to be acoustics and acoustics where there were electrics. Best of all, by having a little fun with the music, the artists show how versatile Elvis Costello's songs truly are. That's the best tribute of all.