Saturday, July 31, 2004

An Hour I'll Never Get Back

I told you a few days ago about my nice new purchase from Dell. Well it came in over lunch yesterday and I rushed back to work to open the box and start tinkering. I was so excited to plug it in to start charging that it took me a while to notice that my USB cable was not in the box. I checked my order to make sure I wasn't crazy, and I was right. Then I pulled out the invoice and it wasn't on there. I called the customer service number and got a recording.... I hate those recording things. They always say it's for improved customer service, but that's crap. Anyways I put in my order number and it said it didn't recognize it. It asked if I wanted to try a different number. I said no and it said, "Thanks for calling Dell customer service. Call back anytime." Click. What?

Next I tried the website. I put in that I was missing a part of the order. It asked if it was on the invoice. Of course I said no. It replied that apparently I didn't order it and needed to order one for $20. What??

Now I was pretty upset and called back the customer service number. This time I used a roundabout way of my options and finally got a living person on the line. After she got all my information I explained the situation. She put me on hold to figure out what to do. Five minutes later she came back to explain that I didn't order it and have to reorder it. I said, "No, I've already paid for it once. If I have to pay for it again, I'm going to be pretty mad." She put me on hold again. Five minutes later she came back and said that they'll order me a new one free of charge if I hold for a few minutes longer. I was happy at this point, but being on hold for another fifteen minutes ruined that attitude. She came back and said, "I'm terribly sorry about this wait and you are being very patient, but our slow computers are causing this delay." Now we are dealing in the ridiculous and I replied, "I am on the phone with somebody from Dell and you are telling me your computers are being slow?! I'm glad this is customer support and not technical support." She very quickly put me back on hold, this time only for a couple of minutes to finalize the order.

Throughout, I never really got mad. Instead I just thought it was so ridiculous it was kind of comical. It'll be another week or two before I get the USB cable. So basically all I have right now is a glorified contact book and solitaire machine.....and of course that's exactly how I spent my Friday evening!
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Friday, July 30, 2004

This is Sportscenter?

Check out this great, however brief, article on that garbage pit known as Sportscenter.  What happened to this once great newscast?  They seem too focused on making a cultural statement with this circus clown act with losers like Stuart Scott.  Don't they realize they did that once before while also putting on an informative and entertaining show without losing a bit of journalistic credibility?  So now they're having music and sports week.  I'm seeing more music videos on Sportscenter than I do in a whole entire day on MTV.  That's about as disgusting as handing a nobody like Mike Hall a job with no credentials.  I can't believe I've resorted to relying on those morons on the Midwest Sports Report on FSN.


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Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Just a nice little day...

Today was pretty nice.  It started with an interview at work with one of my idols, Madeline Albright (oops, let me pick up that name I just dropped).  Then I had to go to the dentist, which I really don't mind doing (I know that sounds strange), and he didn't find any cavaties for the first time in a couple of years.

After lunch I scattered my day with several intense debates with some of our sad Republicans at work (of course, I came out on top again).  Then I made a nice little purchase at Dell.  It normally costs well over $250, but I got it at the outlet store for $135!  Plus I got a free USB cable and upgrade from 32MB SDRAM to 64.  Garbllleehiyth......sorry I was just choking on drool.  By the way, the outlet store sale ends this week so get your's now!

All evening I was once again watching the Cards crush the Reds (sorry John) and the DNC again.  I'll write about the convention tomorrow, I'm too worked up right now to make any sense of anything....in a good way.  So far, I'm just floored with how happy I am!  I was even too engulfed in that to watch the new season premiere of Mythbusters, one of the coolest shows on TV.  All this while downloading some great stuff:

John Vanderslice:  "Insound Tour Support #18" "MGM Endings"
Wilco:  DeKalb, Ill. 5/20/04 -- disc 1, disc 2

All-in-all, a nice little day.  Hopefully tomorrow will be just as nice....but I seriously doubt it.
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Oops, Sorry

Wow, over a week without a post.  Sorry about that.  I've either been too busy or just don't have anything to say.  Lately I've just been engulfed with the Cards or, starting today, the DNC. 

In case you were wondering, my birthday actually did turn out pretty nicely this year.  Much better than last year.  Even getting called into work for an Amber Alert after the bars closed didn't hamper things too much.

I'm heading to bed now, but I promise a new post tomorrow.  Seriously!
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Saturday, July 17, 2004

Happy Birthday to Me

Well I guess it's officially my birthday now.  Hopefully this one turns out better than last year.  We decided to have a big duel-purpose party for me and Ahrens' birthdays.  I took a couple of days of vacation just to rest up.  It didn't go quite as planned because the day before I started to get mighty ill.  The actual day of my birthday I woke up and could hardly talk and went to the doctor where I found out I had strep throat.  I came home to sleep when my phone rang.  It was my boss saying out character generator crashed and he wanted me to come in to do some graphic work for the news.  I was planning on coming in for a bit anyways because we had a meeting with our CEO who was in town.  I ended up basically pulling a full day, taking breaks to throw up.  Later I was way too sick to go to my own party.  Houser went and said it was awesome and they made banners for me and everything.  I ended up spending the next several days sipping chicken broth on my couch.  I got an ad for Papa John's in the mail and spent those days staring at the pizza and just fantasizing about how good it would taste.  The day I felt up to eating solid food, I called out for the pizza.  I think I did it too soon, however, because it tasted horrible and hurt like crazy going down.  I've had some crappy birthdays before, but I think last year's took the cake....so to speak.
 
So far this weekend is going nicely.  My new CD came in.  The Cards had an amazing victory topped off by one of the greatest catches I've ever seen.  My folks took me out to dinner at my favorite local restaurant and gave me a couple of sweet blazers.  I think Josh wants to take me out for a few drinks Saturday.  I figure I'll oblidge.
 
I had a really interesting conversation with Mike a couple of New Years Eves ago.  We were trying to think of what all birthdays are special for.  20 is nice because you can't be considered a teenager anymore.  21 is great for all the obvious reasons.  22 is the one-year anniversery of turning 21 so you feel like a pro at that time.  I don't think we ever figured out what 23 was good for.  24 we determined was that true stepping stone towards adulthood.  I usually thought 24 was the "settle-down" age while I was growing up.  Plus I think your organs stop growing at 24.  One more year for me and my car insurance goes down.  That's something to look forward to.  Then it's nothing special until 28, that's the limit of becoming an adult.  That's the age when you turn from just being young to just being sad, so long as you're still pretending to be young.  Then it's 30.  Boy this is depressing.
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Thursday, July 15, 2004

Find Your Own Fire

Are you spending the night bored and alone?  These are a couple of my favorite websites to kill time on....
 
Snopes is subtitled "The Urban Legends Reference Pages."  This has been one of the most informative sites I've seen in a long time.  They have tons of urban legends and weird stories that usually sound too good to be true, but sometimes aren't.  Next time you get some weird chain mail about helping the Nigerian king smuggle money from his Swiss bank account, getting free money from Microsoft, or some poor dude that got his brains eaten by maggots, make sure to reference this page before you pass on the misery to everybody else.  (By the way, one of those three is real).  Besides you can trust everything you read on the web, right??
 
Retrocrush, the World's Finest Pop Culture Site is simply one of the most random sites I've seen in a while.  Check out their archives.  Some of that stuff is just hysterical.  Come on, where else are you going to see lists like the Worst Halloween Costumes of All Time (I wanna go as Gabe Kaplan) and the Top 20 Male Reactions to Olive Oyl?  Now I'm one guy that usually thinks nostalgia is a little too old-fashioned, but when I see a whole article devoted to the sheer awesomeness of the Tron arcade game, well I can't help but weep a little.  Just a great site!
 
Still bored?  I guess you can hang out over with the Suicide Girls.  I read it for the articles....seriously.  It's punk rock Playboy.  I like their recent interview with Robert Smigel.  Now I know why there never was a second season of TV Funhouse.  Very informative!

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Lay Low for the Letdown

Well the year is halfway over and I haven't released my "favorite albums of the year, so far" list.  However, it's been a slow year.  Sure I've picked up three unbelievable releases in Modest Mouse, Now It's Overhead, and Wilco, and one extremely disappointing one (remember the rules: live albums, EPs, reissues, and compilations don't count).  But that's it!  That's a pretty lame list.  I haven't picked up some new ones like Iron and Wine, Robert Pollard, and John Vanderslice, but that's still a very short list.  Geez, last year had some of the best releases in years with Belle & Sebastian, Beulah, Death Cab for Cutie, the Postal Service, Songs: Ohia, and the White Stripes just to name a few (I know I'm missing plenty...go ahead and fill in the blanks).  The year before had Bright Eyes, Johnny Cash, Coldplay, the Flaming Lips, and Wilco.  Anybody heard anything else worthwhile so far this year?
 
Now the other problem is I don't know what all to look forward to for releases.  I know that the Flaming Lips, R.E.M., and Weezer are in the studio but no release dates have been set.  The only ones I know are confirmed are Guided By Voices (August 24--their last one, if you still want to consider them a "band"), Cake (October 5), and Jimmy Eat World (October 19).  So far I've spent the year replentishing my back catalogue and getting into bands I'd been too lazy or poor to check out.  Keep your ear to the ground and tell me if there are any other releases to be excited about.

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Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Beulah Mania!

As I mentioned earlier, my Beulah orders came in. I picked up "Handsome Western States" and "When Your Heartstrings Break" directly from the band. These are their first two albums that are out of print. I could have bought them from eBay or Amazon, but it probably would have cost me $30-40 a disc. Instead I ordered them here. It took a lot longer because I had to send them a check instead of the convenient online form. A month of waiting, to be more accurate, but it was worth it.

I just have to say that Beulah is probably the best summer music out there right now. In fact, they are like a modern Beach Boys. It's like the Beach Boys meets Cake meets Weezer with a touch of symphonic Asian folk. If singer Miles Kurosky wasn't in Beulah, he'd either be Al Jardine or Rivers Cuomo. This guy writes some of the most beautiful pop songs on the planet. However, he can't seem to do it alone. All of their albums are like this, but "When Your Heartstrings Break" alone features 18 guest musicians. Beulah is interesting anyways because they always record on an extremely limited budget, but everything turns out like a masterpiece. The music is so smooth and engulfing. It sounds like the soundtrack to a nice long dream.

Beulah is an original member of the psychedelica-revivalist Elephant 6 Recording Co. The low-fi E6 trademark is most evedent on "Handsome Western States." However, "When Your Heartstrings Break" throws that sound out the window that continues throw last year's "Yoko." However, "Yoko" was an album of foreshadowing. It is their most emotional effort due in part because of divorce and breakups. The guys in Beulah are interesting because they never quit their day jobs since forming the band. Now all the stress has finally caught up with them and their days are numbered in less than a month. Does the name "Yoko" make sense now? Only four albums into a brilliant career, it's over. Definitely check this band out. They are just amazing.
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Monday, July 12, 2004

Another Great Indie Sampler

A good way to learn about new indie music is to get a nice little sampler. Usually they are pretty cheap and are chocked full of awesome music. The best example I can think of is Saddle Creek 50. I finally got a new one in the mail today....

"The Amos House Collection Volume III" is full of great unreleased songs from bands like Emily Sparks, Spoon, Richard Davies, Her Space Holiday, Wheat, Elf Power, Super Furry Animals, The Good Life, Wilco, Azure Ray, and a tons of other artists. A few of these bands I haven't heard of. The one that really stands out that I haven't heard is James William Hindle....very Songs: Ohia meets Neutral Milk Hotel.

These songs aren't throwaways either. They are very good, even if it is a demo. Everybody should check it out. Besides, it's for charity! You can read more about the Amos House here.

All-in-all this is a great day for new music because not only did this CD come in, but my Beulah orders came in too. I'll post something on them after I hear them.
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Two Years of Idiotic Pain...and Counting

Last year in our opening weekend of company softball, I had the wonderful idea of sliding on the sandpaper-like dirt into second....in shorts. Of course, my knees and right leg were mangled for the whole summer. At least Houser did the same thing the same game, so I didn't feel too stupid. We spent the remainder of the summer covered in peroxide and ointment.

So far this year I have been relatively injury-free, save a bad groin pull a few weeks back that nagged me for a full week. Injury-free until today, that is. I was standing on second base with another runner at third with two outs. The batter hit a line drive into left field so, of course, I took off running. Well the runner at third (who shall remain nameless) could not decide whether to score or not and kept running back and forth between home and third. By the time I noticed I was already at third. So I ran all the way back to second, but the outfielders had thrown the ball back in to second leaving me in a rundown. I decided to play a little game of chicken figuring the fielders would panic if I just barreled to third. However, the thirdbaseman got the ball with ease and poised to tag me out. I had invested too much in my speed and decided not to go down with a fight. I dove into third on the sandpaper-like dirt....in shorts....again.

This time proved to be a double-whammy because the thirdbaseman, a cute girl I had been flirting with all game, wasn't expecting this situation and jumped just at the last second. However, she didn't jump early or high enough and I flew into her legs. From what I could see from the ground, she flew a great deal and slammed down hard on her back. She was okay, but it took her a minute. I felt like such an idiot. I apologized profusely to her for the rest of the game. Now my legs are once again mangled and I had to pull the peroxide and ointment out of retirement. I have new scrapes over the scars from last year's scrapes. But guess what....we won! In fact we won the game from last year's sliding fiasco. I'd like to say that it's in part to my sacrifices, but I make the third out both times. Oh well.
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Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Styles of the Old Times

A worrying trend that I've noticed in recent years is that many of my favorite musicians from high school just don't seem to give a crap anymore, or perhaps have gone in a more unpopular direction. I've already mentioned my thoughts on Jay Farrar. Another biggie of my youth that has followed this trend is Yo La Tengo.

YLT has released two albums since their masterpiece "I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One." Their follow-up, "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out," was released when I was in college in Milwaukee. I couldn't be any more thrilled to check it out considering the brilliance of their last album. However the rhythmic feedback of their last album and earlier on "Elecr-O-Pura" and "Painful" was replaced with cutesy percussion and jazzy instrumentation. It had its moments, but overall was disappointing. Even guest Mac McCaughan of Superchunk and Portastatic couldn't save it.

Last year YLT released "Summer Sun." I rushed out to pick it up, but was disappointed once again. Unlike "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out," "Summer Sun" did not have hardly any memorable moments.

In October YLT released the EP "Today is the Day." After being disappointed with their last two releases, I did not rush out to get it. Even though their previous two EPs, "Danelectro" and "Nuclear War," were pretty interesting, I was in no rush to pick it up. However, when I noticed how cheap it was on Amazon, I figured I'll give it a shot, at least to polish off my YLT collection. Well I got it yesterday.

Very surprising, to say the least mostly because it freaking rocks. It really recaptures the earlier garage sounds of the band. Take the organ out of "Painful" and this is what you get. I don't know if this is the direction they are moving in (or back to) or if this release is more of a pat of assurance to their disappointed fans, but I love it. It's the sound I've been missing. However, always being ironic, they had to put a joke in to close the disc. The only rocker from "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Out," "Cherry Chapstick," they had to perform acoustic and make it the softest song on this EP. Weird.

Lunch is over. Back to work. I wasn't hungry, so I decided to rant instead.
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More Like a Lamb

If you haven't heard any Pedro the Lion yet, you should really check them out. I just got into them recently and am really digging it. Do NOT let their name fool you. This music is not cutesy at all. I just got their EP "Progress" in the mail today. These four songs are just SOOOO draining (it doesn't sound like it, but that is a good thing). It is perfect nightime music. The only comparison I can come up with is a cross between American Music Club, Death Cab for Cutie, and Sorry About Dresden. The only other Pedro I have is their album "Control." It is also very good. Check them out. You'll like it....or you'll hate me for making you waste your money.
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Tuesday, July 06, 2004

I Knew It!

I was right!!

Okay, so not the biggest accomplishment. I'm satisfied imagining that our future President is reading this blog.
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Checking in on Old Friends

I don't know about you, but I'm always comforted when the Beastie Boys and Cake are around. Sure both bands are very different musical spectrums, but for some reason new releases by both always seem to spark something nice in my life. So far the Beastie Boys haven't necessarily lived up to the fun Hello Nasty launched, but there is time. Also mark it down on your calendar....October 5th! Come through for me McCrea! Somehow, Cake always makes me feel great. If I'm ever down or bored or uninspired, Cake is always the band that brings me out of my funk.
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Monday, July 05, 2004

Ahhhhh.....This is Nice

I hope everybody has had a nice holiday weekend. I've really enjoyed mine. You know why? Because I hardly did anything at all....and it has felt great. Saturday was my nephew's second birthday and we had a barbeque for him and I got to see a bunch of family that I don't always get to see. We had to combat the rain most of the day, but it all turned out great. Yesterday the weather was perfect so I finally got off my butt to mow the lawn and get some groceries. I polished off the evening by eating mango sorbet on my front porch watching fireworks. I also got to watch the Cards sweep the Mariners. Right now I'm watching the Cards take on the stinking Reds. I'll enjoy it while I can because it's back to the grindstone tomorrow. I hope everybody else enjoyed their weekends too!
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Saturday, July 03, 2004

Tough Choice For the Easy Choice

If you happen to glance at the sidebar, you may notice that I am a life-long democrat and staunch John Kerry supporter. This is a very exciting time for somebody like me with the DNC coming up. Also I've heard many news reports saying that Kerry is planning on announcing his Veep on Tuesday. I'm not sure I believe it but it has sent people scrambling.

Bill Richardson has already dropped out of the running. I like the man and his extensive resume, but I'm not too upset considering the long list well-qualified candidates. Matt Drudge reported this week that the pick will be Hillary Clinton. The problem is that that idiot Drudge is about as reliable as the Enquirer. Sure he was the first to report the Lewinski scandal, but if you spend years making stuff up perhaps one yarn you spin will be accurate. I'll admit it, I'm a Hillary fan. I actually like her better than her husband. My biggest problem is that the country is so evenly divided right now that it may be problematic for such a polorizing figure such as Hillary. I have no doubt that she will and should be an important factor in American politics, but now may not be the best time.

There are several other candidates, but three more stand out as the front-runners: John Edwards, Richard Gephardt, and Tom Vilsack. Vilsack is an interesting choice and is pretty well-liked in Iowa, but he may be too anonymous outside this part of the country. Too bad because he's a hell of a nice guy. It's hard for me to judge Gephardt since I am such a homer. He's like the new Truman here in Missouri. That could be very important in such a major swing-state as it would surely put Kerry over the top here. Gephardt is not anonymous across the country and has been very visible in Washington for many years. I guess the biggest knock on him is that he has a tendency to be known as a bit of a softy. That leads me to Edwards.

John Edwards definitely does not have a reputation of being a softy. He did the unbelievable task of going from a nobody to a major factor in the primaries. That gave him the exposure that he needs for such a prominent position as Vice-President. He's a likeable guy, but can also turn into a pitbull when needed. Sounds a bit like our last Vice-President and current President in exile Al Gore. Plus his kindly grassroots nature will be a great contrast to the off-putting secrecy and pure grumpiness of Cheney, and I believe Edwards will destroy Cheney in the debates. Sure Edwards has no ties to the Midwest, but HE was THE person that knocked Howard Dean out of the primaries, not Kerry. And he did it mostly back home and starting in the Midwest (he's who I chose in the primaries). Edwards is my choice for Vice-President. Kerry-Edwards in '04! However, any which way Kerry goes, it obviously won't affect my vote.

I know I did not write much about the political philosophy of the candidates, but I believe that simple electability is what will be important in this election. I'm not the biggest poll reader, but that is where they are leading and it was the major indicator that gave Kerry the nomination to begin with.

Well the Cards rain delay is over and the repair guy just got here to fix my sink so I'll stop my rant. Everybody else needs to discuss now!
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Friday, July 02, 2004

Spent on Rainy Days

It's rainy and I'm kinda bored and was thinking about my Bright Eyes post from yesterday when I mention this awesome site with a ton of Bright Eyes downloads. I figure instead of just the one suggestion, I'd make several for everybody to download. I downloaded all of these songs over a month ago and burned them on a disc. The disc has not left my car sterio since, seriously. Anyways, download these songs:

"Jetsabel Removes the Undesirables" from Fevers and Mirrors (import)
"Soon You Will Be Leaving Your Man" from Blood of the Young
"Motion Sickness" from Blood of the Young
"I Won't Ever Be Happy Again" from Don't Be Frightened of Turning the Page
"Mirrors and Fevers" from Don't Be Frightened of Turning the Page
"I Will Be Grateful For This Day, I Will Be Grateful For Each Day to Come" from I Will Be Grateful For This Day
"When the Curious Girl Realizes She is Under Glass (Again)" from I Will Be Grateful For This Day
"Drunk Kid Catholic" from Drunk Kid Catholic
"I've Been Eating (For You)" from Drunk Kid Catholic
"Hungry For a Holiday" from Album Leaf split
"Bad Blood" from Album Leaf split
"Amy in the White Coat" from There is No Beginning to the Story
"Out on the Weekend (live)" from There is No Beginning to the Story

I think most of the songs available are great, but these are definitely the best. What's great about Bright Eyes is that even a little three song EP sounds as good as a full album. Saddle Creek seems to be great for EPs like that. I'd also suggest Azure Ray's "November." That EP is so intense that I'm exhausted after its twenty minutes. Anyways, download these songs. I'm very curious to hear some feedback. My only other Bright Eyes buddy now lives back in Omaha and I'm starved for Bright Eyes conversation.
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You'd Think It's a Holiday or Something

I had a pretty rotten day at work today (six hours of proofreading does that) and I was excited to come home not only to begin a three-day weekend, but also because the CDs I ordered are due in today:
V/A "The Amos House Collection, Vol. 3"
Pedro the Lion "Progress"
Yo La Tengo "Today is the Day"
I rushed home only to find an empty mailbox. Is today considered a holiday? Is that why there is no mail? It'd better not be because I won't get my CDs until next week. I can buy music in this town, but for the most part I live in a fairly sparse music buying town so I usually order my stuff online. The problem is that I'm a pretty impatient person and especially hate waiting on mail. Oh well, I guess I could just settle on watching the Cards on TV and playing MVP 2004.....just like always.
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I'm Your Friend You Haven't Made Yet

I know the Suitcase doesn't have too much of a following yet, but now everybody can talk back under the comments section. Please do too! You can hold it in as best you can, but you have no more excuses.
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Thursday, July 01, 2004

Man's Got an Angry Mouth

While I'm at it, Bright Eyes recently released a new split disc with fellow Omahaians (Omahans? Omahaweegans?...People from Omaha.) Neva Dinova called "One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels." By the way, that's a great title for a split disc. I admit I've never really listened to Neva Dinova, but I've heard them described as being like Coldplay but cool. That's not exactly what I would say. They are much more country than Coldplay would ever dream of sounding.

"One Jug of Wine" is good. Not great, but good. It's very different from any other Bright Eyes split because this is less of a split and more of a collaboration. Both Conor and Dinova bounce back and forth and make a nice little collaboration. However, as weird as this sounds, it's easy to get bored during this EP. Sure the first and last songs are great, but they bookend four forgettable tracks.

All-in-all it's a nice effort, but it does not even compare to Bright Eyes' brilliant splits with Son, Ambulance and Britt Daniel. While I'm such an EP kick, I also suggest Bright Eyes' EPs "Every Day and Every Night" and "There is No Beginning to the Story." Also check this site out. It's a goldmine of Bright Eyes rarities and out-of-print EPs. I highly, highly, highly suggest downloading the songs from "Drunk Kid Catholic." Actually I highly suggest all of them. Enjoy!
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Driving the View

So the Suitcase is a major work in progress and not too pretty right now, but I figure that while I work on that I could go ahead and boost the content a tad more.

Quick tour---to the above and right you see the "Ears" section. These albums listed are the last few that I have bought, hence likely the albums I am currently digging. I tend to buy a couple or few new discs per paycheck so I will be cycling that list as time passes. In fact, just today I got a new disc in the mail and it's reminding me of something I've wanted to say that I haven't had much of a response from my No Depression brethren.....

I've seen Jay Farrar live twice now (once with Son Volt in '97 and then again with Canyon last October, I was never so lucky to see Uncle Tupelo). When I saw him in '97, he seemed extremely bored. His music was brilliant, but it looked like he'd rather sleep then play. Then when I saw him in October, it was like a total opposite. He seemed relaxed and actually opened his eyes, smiled, and said a few things. Granted it wasn't like some of those early drunken Wilco shows, but it was a stark contrast to the earlier show. I was excited when I saw that he was releasing a live album a couple of weeks ago. Sure enough, the album is great. In fact, I was at several of the shows included on the disc. Now let me say, I am not a big fan of Jay's solo material. He seems to be bored, confused, or pretentious (but not in a Wilco way). However, there is a nice atmosphere on this live album that has been missing for the last couple of years. Jay seems to actually give a crap.

If you don't believe me, or have no idea what I'm talking about, I suggest checking out Jay's "Live EP" that was released the same day as the live album. The EP is solo Jay, while the album features Canyon. You may have to go out of your way to find it in stores due to the limited release, but you can purchase it here. It's pretty commitment free because it's cheap and I ordered it Tuesday night and just got it today. That's service! Definitely check it out.
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