Well, here we go again. It appears that keeping The Room going is not really viable and it is time to move on. But this time, it is a bit different. Rather than just stop blogging, I am shifting to a new venue to try my hand at blogging a bit more expansively and a bit more personally. Ultimately, trying to write intelligently about music, as was the goal here, simply took too much time. As Wobs pointed out when I talked to him about this "if [...]
Yeah, yeah. I know. Start the blog up again and then only a few months later can't even manage to eke out a post every couple weeks--and, really, this won't count either. It isn't that there has been no music in my life lately, but rather that life has been just too busy to find the inspiration to blog (no commentary on whether or not posts here in The Room are inspired or not please). Here are my excuses: I haven't picked up any new music in weeks and I haven't been [...]
When I first heard the Dodo's Visiter album last year, I, like so many others was impressed. It wasn't perfect, but it seemed to me that these guys were potentially on the verge of developing into something unique and special. And so I, like so many others, looked forward to their next effort. But if Visiter was a series of wonderfully fresh songs that served as the peaks of the album that were interrupted by a few notable valleys, their new album, Time to Die [...]
One way to judge a new album is by both the number of reviews it gets (attention) and the quality of those reviews (engagement). This is particularly true of a lesser known band since you can dismiss the assertion that everyone is reviewing the album because of the band's previous success. And so it is with the latest effort by The Antlers, Hospice , which has been receiving very solid reviews over at the big board --now holding a top ten placement for the year. When there are so many reviews (and so [...]
As I noted a couple posts back when I was talking about working to get more jazz into my life and into this here blog (note to self: go back and see what I am supposed to be doing), I mentinoed that I was developing a strategy (okay it is more of a hook really) for writing about "not new" music. After all, there is a ton of great music that isn't new that deserves some attention, right? So here is the approach. We are going to start up a new series of occasional posts called "Missing Essentials" in [...]
It has been almost a year since Meursault released it first album, Pissing on Bonfires/Kissing with Tongues courtesy of Song, by Toad , a little less time since I first heard and saw the band doing wonderful acoustic versions of their songs at Toad's house, and a few weeks since I actually got around to downloading the album which has pretty much been in nonstop play mode since getting it. The basic recipe here is one part traditional Scottish folk music, one part rock band and one part techno-dance mix. [...]
If you don't know about Daytrotter (or haven't visited in a while) you should get yourself over to the Horseshack and check it out. What happens there is that bands and performers of all stripes stop in, drop a few live tracks down on Sean and the gang that they then roll those original performances back out one a day. And the lists of bands who have stopped in to do sessions over the last few years is simply damn impressive. Still, I am not sure that justifies the level of self-righteousness [...]
One thing I have always wish I did better here in The Room is offer up a bit more discussion of different musical genres, particularly jazz. Sure, there have been the occasional post, but as I look back over the posts, this blog is definitely heavy in the indie-rock-folk-pop-etc. vein which does not necessarily reflect the balancing of listening that goes on here in the homefront. I think that is in part due to, at least, three things. One, I haven't found a good way to write about music that I have listened to for a [...]
Late summer. The air hangs close with humidity, the cicadas riot in the trees and the world seems overgrown from some sort of mad crush of production before fall arrives. A perfect time to talk about Frontier Ruckus. With songs that are thick with harmony, a full, backwoods acoustic folk sound and crammed full of lyrical poetry, this indie folk band from Michigan provides a bounty of sound and imagery that seems to revel in the physical and natural world while simultaneously worrying about the inevitable changes of season, spirit and time. The album [...]
Earlier, I hinted that you would be hearing about the album I thought was the find of the summer, but really all the credit goes to LD over at the The Adios Lounge who has been carrying the Dexateens torch and got me to pick up their latest effort Singlewide . I suggest that you do the same. First, a little background for those of you, who like me until three months ago, didn't even know this band. The Dexateens are based out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama [...]
So I realize that I haven't been bringin the love lately on the albums I have reviewed and I had every intention of posting about what has been my favorite find of the summer tonight (and promise I will in the next couple of days), but truth is it just wasn't in the cards today. I just returned from taking the family up to Cleveland this weekend where they are going to hang a few days before we head up for vacation on the big lake and had to return for a few more days of work and [...]
The new Son Volt effort, American Central Dust , has me thinking about driving across Nebraska in the summer time (and I don't mean the short way, I mean east-to-west or west-to-east). Here's the deal. I have driven across Nebraska in the summer, both directions, a few times. There is no way to get around the fact that it is a long drive and as you make your way, you can't help but be amazed at the sameness as you pass mile after mile. There are wonderments along the way, like the [...]
Summertime isn't necessarily a heavy jazz-listening season for me, but I have had Mike Clark's 2008 effort stacked up in my potential blog posts for a while, so I thought we would switch gears for a minute here and talk a little jazz. So first off, I am going to bet that the name Mike Clark is not all that familiar even to jazz listeners--at least it wasn't to me until this album. That is probably for two reasons. One, I am hopeless about attending to who plays on what album [...]
Craig had some awful nice things to say about me in his introductory post . I do like to think that I have a good ear for music and that my understanding of it has evolved past the Beavis & Butthead binary of "this rocks/this sucks." I think it's fair to say that my appreciation of music mirrors my appreciation for beer - I have a palate for all of the various incarnations, I have an understanding of the processes that go into producing each type, I can intelligently discuss the subtleties, and, of course, I can [...]
For all you little birdies down on Jaybird Street who love to hear that tweet, tweet, tweet, we are trying a little experiment here at The Room. We have added a Twitter feed (really, look over there on the right). The idea is since while there might be days between posts (we are busy people after all), we are always listening and checking in on music. So this will be a way for us to keep a little stream of interesting tidbits about music streaming here (and occasional bad musical references in relation to other events). [...]
So here is an ongoing internal question I have. Since this blog is intended to be about the love of music and sharing that music, should we include reviews of albums with which we are, let's say, less than impressed. My first reaction is to stay focused on the positive, but then I realized that that might make me write reviews that were a bit misleadingly positive ( this one comes to mind) in my effort to be supportive. And then, I keep imaging this discussion between me and a good friend. [...]
I have a stack of music to write about, but I haven't quite settled in enough with any of it to actually compose a coherent post. On top of that I am in a crabby mood and I figure it isn't fair to write about a disc in that state, so let's see if we can look at a few random items designed to lift the spirits a little. First up, if you hadn't noticed the new little badge down there on the right side, we are now subscribed to Review Shine , which [...]
Some big news here at The Room. As of today, The Room officially has a new contributor. For all of those of you who fondly remember The Medulla Noodle with its regular PRM installments or were fans of Organizing Grievances , then you will know that we are lucky to have Wobblie join us here at The Room. Personally, I am excited, because it is in no small part because of Wobs joining me as a colleague at work that I got refocused on music. I had a [...]
I know that while Wilco (The Album) has already been reviewed about a gazillion times in the first two weeks it has been out, everyone is waiting for The Room to weigh in. And for good reason. I am not a "true Wilco fan." The evidence: I didn't own any Wilco or even really know about the whole Uncle Tupelo/Wilco/Son Volt complex until only about a year ago. We will wait while you take that in (and hope it doesn't mean you will never return). [...]
Here is another artist/band that got some heavy listening to ( thanks to Payton ) while I was temporarily off-line. Samantha Crain and her band, the Midnight Shivers, have put together a very solid first album, Songs in the Night , released earlier this year. The first thing to comment on is Crain's voice which is as unique as any out there these days. It is also hard to describe. Yes, she is from Oklahoma so it has a certain drawl to it, but it is more [...]
The Tuning Room
James Blake – Live Album
Childish Gambino - "Heartbeat" (Official Music Video)
Circo Voador anuncia shows de The Kooks, Foster The People, Friendly Fires, Gogol Bordello e mais
Gang Colours – Fancy Restaurant
