3 posts tagged “music”
I should probably update more - goodness knows I've read a lot of books and even watched a few movies/television shows since the last time I updated - but I am in the middle of a move, and starting law school. I hope law school won't be so traumatic that it prevents me from any more reading and reviewing! :D
But hey, in short:
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (movie): Not as good as the rest, but definitely enjoyable.
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: AWESOME.
- The Tudors, television series: Pretty decent, enjoyable trash.
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Movie Film For Theaters: I can't work under these conditions. I want a diet water and my mommy right now. (- Meatwad)
- Smashing Pumpkins @ The Fillmore: HFS! AWESOME.
Have a good one, neighbors. If you're one of my livejournal friends, I'm still posting over there.
Years ago, I saw Pete Yorn open for Semisonic (yes, I know), and had one of those incredibly rare, "Wow, this guy's got something" moments as he played songs from Musicforthemorningafter and a cover of a Bruce Springsteen song. His act was one of the first opening bands I ever actually enjoyed.
Since then, he put out Day I Forgot, and now Nightcrawler. There is a place in my heart especially for Musicforthemorningafter that Day I Forgot didn't even come close to getting into (I don't know why, but it just never caught me the same way Music did), so I figured I probably wouldn't like Nightcrawler as much either.
Wrong. Yay!
I guess the best way to explain it is that as soon as it feels like the weather is changing from winter to spring, I pull out Musicforthemorning after and listen to it as the days get longer. It's mellow and bittersweet and it has always been my chill-out-and-write-in-my-journal album since I heard it.
Nightcrawler is just as good. There are some great songs on this album, especially For Us. This is Yorn's same old mellowed-out pop-rock with a little edge, but he's still an excellent songwriter, and there's something about his voice that's so... well, I would say "emotive" but that's awfully close to sounding like "emo," so, um...
The only thing I don't like about it is that he collaborates with Natalie Maines on one song - a) I can't stand her voice, and b) I can't stand her face. Incidentally, I can't stand the Dixie Chicks' martyrdom either, so The Man is one song I have to skip.
But I do really like this album. I love how his songs seem to tell stories, which is one reason Musicforthemorningafter makes such great music to write to. This one will go on repeat for awhile.
(Also, he's hot.)
I've rediscovered U2's October, which, incidentally, I still have on cassette around here somewhere. I bought it when I was about 12 (I'm 22 now - October was released before I was born) with all the rest of U2's albums. I just called them albums, oh god, I'm old.
This has never been one of my favorite U2 albums, mostly because of the extraordinarily depressing "Tomorrow" and the fact that I bought it while my grandmother was dying and I was stuck for months in a town with nothing to do and no friends. The music wasn't as easily accessible as War or Boy or The Joshua Tree, so I listened to it a few times and gave up, until a few months ago when I put all of their albums on my computer.
Who would've guessed? I really love this album. "Gloria" has always been a favorite due to their Live At Red Rocks video (on - gasp - VHS! archaic!), but when I started listening to various songs on "shuffle," I realized that I'm finally grown-up enough to appreciate this music.
I'm not a musician anymore, so I forget the technical terms for what I'm about to describe: bear with me. Either way, the echoing vocals, the delicate piano accompaniment, and the rhythm are very different from the rest of their albums, but at the same time are quintessentially U2. More importantly, this album is so enthusiastic in its output that I can't help but be sucked into it. When I listen to it, I see (maybe I have synaesthesia!) golds and oranges and browns, just like the title would imply. It makes for thoughtful road trip music - every tune is practically an anthem - and I like it even better on a rainy day.
October
And the trees are stripped bare
Of all they wear
What do I careOctober
And kingdoms rise
And kingdoms fall
But you go on...and on...
So if you've skipped over this in the past, give it another try. It's certainly worth the time you spend listening to it.
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