As French as fries or toast

Very Boring.
Very American.
Great music, but only 15 seconds at a time.
Half-way through the film I was ready to operate the gillotine myself.

Midlake "The Trials of Van Occupanther"

Hans kept talking about this band, MIDLAKE, and then made me a mix cd with 3 or 4 of the songs on it. I was sold. Went out and got it on Monday and my iPod has been playing it non stop. I've even considered clearing my iPod of everything but Midlake.

The way this CD really got me is well described below in my previous post. I liked it, but there were really some things I hated about it. One of these things was when lead singer, Tim Smith, sings out the line, "I'm Van Occupanther! I'm Van Occupanther!" I thought, "That's lame sauce! How sucky! How obvious!" But after a few listens, I found myself on my bike, head back smiling, whimsically singing along to those very same lines believing that I, myself, was Van Occupanther!

A truly great album is one that you start out saying something like, "It's OK, but their drummer sucks! He ruins the album for me." And a week later, you're like, "That drummer is revolutionary! He's a visionary! He makes the album!" And that sort of epiphany happened for me when getting into this album, but it was more about some of their artistic choices that rubbed me the wrong way at first, but then I realized they were strokes of genius.

I think Van Occupanther is a real piece of genius, high art, greatness, what have you.

One of the greatest things about these guys is that they did not just hire some orchestral instrumentalists to back them up, these guys played the flute and the bassoon themselves throughout the record and it really colors things. And I love love love the synthesizers!

Hey, don't just take my word for it, check out what Earl says about Midlake:

"The Trials of Van Occupanther is now one of the most important modern records I own. In an age of overly-used irony and disconnected nonchalance, this record actually means something, and Midlake should be forever hailed for their unique and genuine approach to music. Simply put, Van Occupanther has backbone, and the fact that you don't feel cheated by it gives one hope that sincerity can still exist within modern alternative music."

Jason Lee, Star of My Name is Earl and Midlake Cohort

What makes a FANTASTIC record?

After over a decade of music fanboyism, concert going, magazine reading, and record collecting I have finally unlocked the secret to the timeless mystery: "What makes a great album?"

Here it is: If after a few listens the things that you hated about the record are now the things you love about the record- then it is officially FANTASTIC!

My work here is done.
Beam me up, Scotty!

New Pernice Bro.s Record Out

I got my Pernice Brothers CD in the mail yesterday PLUS my special fanboy pre-order bonus CD that was hand screenprinted and hand signed by Joe Pernice. On my sleeve the screenprinting was a little smeared and next to the smear he wrote"(shakey hand)". It's gonna be our little nest egg when I sell it for a million bucks on ebay. Not really. The Bonus CD is alternate mixes and demos. I thought the demos would be, like most, Joe with an acoustic guitar singing the songs into a 4track. The 4track part is correct, but it's a weird drum machine, a lot of electric guitars, and him just singing, "Da tee dum dum daaaah" through all of each song. So weird. I was kind of pissed. The alternate mixes are OK. They are mostly just the band pulled out of the mixes so it is just Joe, piano, and the orchestra. Also- they gave me hella stickers in my order! Dissapointed with the bonus fanclub disc, but the sleeve is pretty cool. I can feel your jealosy.

The album is pretty good. Not their best. Need more time with it. For now, here's a cool video for their single. It's kinda funny: