Suffered a Swift Defeat, I’ll Endure Countless Repeats; The Gift of Memory is an Awful Curse…
Tuesday. It has been another busy day here. First, two of my fellow co-workers are out today, and I have had to pick up the slack there. Second, one of those two people was supposed to lead a teleconference this morning. With only about an hour to prepare, the big boss lady asked me to lead the meeting in her absence. Well, I did my best, though I don't think they are going to promote me to executive management any time soon. My main objective was to not come across as completely inept in front of the big boss lady and the customer, so hopefully I pulled that one off at least. Other than that, the usual joys of spreadsheets and order approvals.
Today I started a new book, Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis. This book just came out about a month or so ago, and I am totally pumped to read it. I loved all of Mr. Ellis' other works, so I hope this one doesn't disappoint. By the way Billy, thanks again for letting me borrow the Speer book. I'll send you my thoughts about it in a separate email.
Ok, as promised a Death Cab for Cutie review! I know you all couldn't sleep last night in anticipation, and I apologize again for having to postpone. Anyway, Plans is DCfC's first release on a major label. While this has struck fear into the hearts of many a DCfC fan, I don't think that it was that big of a deal for them musically. They have been able to preserve their usual sound, which could be seen as a sign of respect from the label. However, those who desired for DCfC to evolve past the sound displayed on their previous albums may be disappointed. This is not a radically new Death Cab. This is the same Death Cab with higher production values. I am somewhere in the middle. I like Death Cab, but stagnation can be just as dangerous as radical change. I would have liked to hear something a little different, but yet still familiar. But, hey, I'm just some guy, so what do I know.
My favorite Death Cab for Cutie tidbit is that singer/songwriter Ben Hibbard writes all of his lyrics in complete, grammatically correct sentences. I know I mentioned this before in my review of Transatlanticism, but it bears repeating. I can't even promise complete sentences in this blog, much less try to set them to music. Now I can tell my junior high English teaching mom that rock and roll isn't completely full of illiterate degenerates. It is just mostly full of illiterate degenerates...
Anyway, this album is pretty good if you dug Death Cab's early stuff. If you haven't heard Death Cab before, give them a shot. Despite the insinuations of their name, they play the slow, mellow, alternative indy-rock so popular with the young hip kids today (apparently their name is derived from an obscure Magical Mystery Tour reference, but I've been a huge Beatles fan since I was like 10 and I've never picked up on it before). Most of the songs on this album attempt to tackle the big thematic elements of love and death. The single off of the album, Soul Meets Body, is ok but sounds a bit too much like Depressed Mode to me. I recommend Crooked Teeth, I Will Follow You into the Dark, and Someday You Will Be Loved.
Today I started a new book, Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis. This book just came out about a month or so ago, and I am totally pumped to read it. I loved all of Mr. Ellis' other works, so I hope this one doesn't disappoint. By the way Billy, thanks again for letting me borrow the Speer book. I'll send you my thoughts about it in a separate email.
Ok, as promised a Death Cab for Cutie review! I know you all couldn't sleep last night in anticipation, and I apologize again for having to postpone. Anyway, Plans is DCfC's first release on a major label. While this has struck fear into the hearts of many a DCfC fan, I don't think that it was that big of a deal for them musically. They have been able to preserve their usual sound, which could be seen as a sign of respect from the label. However, those who desired for DCfC to evolve past the sound displayed on their previous albums may be disappointed. This is not a radically new Death Cab. This is the same Death Cab with higher production values. I am somewhere in the middle. I like Death Cab, but stagnation can be just as dangerous as radical change. I would have liked to hear something a little different, but yet still familiar. But, hey, I'm just some guy, so what do I know.
My favorite Death Cab for Cutie tidbit is that singer/songwriter Ben Hibbard writes all of his lyrics in complete, grammatically correct sentences. I know I mentioned this before in my review of Transatlanticism, but it bears repeating. I can't even promise complete sentences in this blog, much less try to set them to music. Now I can tell my junior high English teaching mom that rock and roll isn't completely full of illiterate degenerates. It is just mostly full of illiterate degenerates...
Anyway, this album is pretty good if you dug Death Cab's early stuff. If you haven't heard Death Cab before, give them a shot. Despite the insinuations of their name, they play the slow, mellow, alternative indy-rock so popular with the young hip kids today (apparently their name is derived from an obscure Magical Mystery Tour reference, but I've been a huge Beatles fan since I was like 10 and I've never picked up on it before). Most of the songs on this album attempt to tackle the big thematic elements of love and death. The single off of the album, Soul Meets Body, is ok but sounds a bit too much like Depressed Mode to me. I recommend Crooked Teeth, I Will Follow You into the Dark, and Someday You Will Be Loved.
posted by john at 3:13 PM
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