A beaming face stood out
We took notice, took a walk
Theres a caravan with a stamp on it
Don't get in line, it's our fame, our stakes are low
The bar  lowers from the top of the rainbow
A dream interupts all the realty
A fashion show steels our attention
Man, I had a wish around here somewhere

As I turn my favorite phantom into my number one fan
I watch the sun dip below the field of amber grain
I catch a glimpse of the things he had hoped I would invent
The steam driving us into the future, the dream falling over the furniture
These darkening highway trees brace for our impact
We hold back, giving space to the sky above

The lying down is the dying crowd
A new bone in the pavement gleams
It's the most dangerous thing around
We could have sworn, we could have sworn
We should have done all the above

 

 So sometimes, less is more.   That's what I've found with Aceyalone's All Balls Don't Bounce.  It's just too much music.   It's a generally good album, with way too many remixes at the end.  I just wonder if this EPish stuff at the end was promotional or part of the plan all along.   A lot of these remixes are absolutely fantastic (up to 4 stars), and would be welcome in a mix type situation, but this album by album thing has me more sensitive to the flow of playlists.  This album woke me up to the fact that "the album" is not at the center of everyone's universe, sometimes a collection of singles is welcome, "I just put it on shuffle" is a mindset most rampant in our days of librarys in-pocket.  I like to hit shuffle, but some recent albums-Decemberists, I'm looking at you-have made me realize how incredible it is when a group dares to tell a complete story over the course of an album, not neccessarily a concept album, but just a consistent sentiment.  It's a waning breed, I'm afraid.

Next up in the alphabet is Yeasayer with All Hour Cymbals.  Whoa, wow, man. This one is a doozy.  It's an incredibly dense piece of music, and I was suprised (thanks again to the star system) how much of the music I had not really paid attention to.  There were entire tracks I couldn't rightly remember.  I listened to this album a couple of times before I started rating things.  It's great, you just don't know what side of the world they're going to take you to from track to track, sometimes a few at once.

So, I was unable to post yesterday, so I went ahead and kept playing. 

Alligator by The National is a favorite, but I was still suprised at how high I was rating a majority of the songs, I think I had two three star songs, that's a "Like it" on the Netflix scale. But it was either "Really like" or "Loved it" for the rest.  The thing about those two ratings, there'only one distinction between the two for me, and that's an either intangible element or very specific sentiment that takes something over to love.  But I guess that goes for most things.  "I think I'm like Tennessee Williams, I wait for the click, but it never kicks in", I have no idea what it means, but it gives me this emotional jolt everytime I hear it, and I end up singing it in a loop for days, that's love.  Anyway, great f'ing album. 

The Decemberists have been busy this year, and their three Always the Bridesmaid EPs are something to be reckoned with, these tracks aren't as grandeous as most of the other Decemberist tracks I love, and I think that has to do with the shortness of context on the EP format, like I said earlier, The Decemberists make albums, and great ones at that.  So, not being able to build into each other, these tracks stand alone, but they stand tall.  Check them out please. By the way, The Decemberists new album, The Hazards of Love have made going through my iPod very difficult, I spent most of the weekend with it on repeat. Now that's an album!

I also listened to Spiritualized's Amazing Grace, but I'm still not ready for it.  I'll keep working at it.  I have to break the membrane!

Can we talk about that for a minute?

What an incredible, and rare event it is when you listen to an album, know you kinda sort of like it in some way, but can't quite bring yourself to articulate or fully commit an endorsement.  Then one day, your sitting there, and you happen to listen to an instrument or follow the flow of the vocals, or anyother element that just makes then entire thing click.  I think that's happening here with Spiritualized, it's all a fuzz in my brain, a warm and fuzzy fuzz, but one I can't quite digest yet.  I pray for enzymes.