State of the Blog

Okay. It's gotten to the point where I don't have as much time to blog anymore as I would like. Thus the whole still posting about media from 2012, and STILL not getting around to posting my year-end music list (let alone not even having it ready yet, on January 13th).

So, here's the deal! I'm just simply going to not blog nearly as much anymore! Over the next week or so, I intend to get my year-end music stuff posted. Then, beyond that, I'll probably just post here and there about the "older" records I'm listening to (the Emotional Listening posts), maybe still do the baseball and football predictions, and not post about new music until the year-end stuff. And maybe some other random stuff every once in a while, but we'll see.

It's been fun intensely blogging over the past two years. I'm just sick of not having as much time for other more fun things (reading, video games, watching sports and movies). Commence the scaling back!

Heavy Liquid/How to be Good/Portnoy's Complaint

Heavy Liquid - Paul Pope (1999-2000)
A very awesome, mysterious sci-fi story with interesting, but not the most lovable, characters. Which is fine by me. I am digging Pope's visuals, and bonus that he can write a hip, curious, futuristic plot that is completely unique and enjoyable.


How to be Good - Nick Hornby (2001)
While I absolutely love High Fidelity, I loathed About a Boy and wasn't too stoked on Hornby's latest, Juliet, Naked, either. So, needless to say, I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed How to be Good. Touching on subjects like love, family/marriage, morality, social justice, joining a faith and/or cause for selfish or simply the wrong reasons, etc. In just over 300 pages, Hornby really covers a surprising amount of ground, and his simple prose really worked in this particular instance. The characters were quite detestable, but in really fun ways. This is some good satire, and I'm glad that I read it!


Portnoy's Complaint - Philip Roth (1969)
This was AWESOME. Perverted, disgusting, hilarious! Another novel full of detestable characters. I guess that is my jam. Portnoy's Complaint is pretty much about a young man's addiction to masturbation and sex due to familial events that unfolded in his childhood, and how he dealt within the constraints of his Jewish upbringing and despite his lack of Jewish faith. Unsurprisingly, there are plenty of ridiculous references to penis and vagina. Roth's prose here is wonderfully original, reading as a confessional to a therapist. The passion and intensity displayed is both sad and made me laugh out loud (the first time a book has done that to me in a long time). It felt like an early Woody Allen movie, or one of the best Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes. Without question one of the absolute best books I read in 2012.

Birdfeeder EP/Let's Get You Somewhere Else/Dripping/Ships/When I Couldn't Breathe

Birdfeeder EP - Big Awesome (self-released, 2012)
Pretty great poppy, yet intricate emo. Crisp production, clean guitars, upbeat tempos, nice melodies. There's some subtle guitar noodling thrown in for good measure. What this has over a lot of the excellent emo releases from 2012 is production. If I had discovered this earlier in the year, I think it would have hit me a little harder. Had I discovered it in high school, it would have completely ruined me in the best way.


Let's Get You Somewhere Else - Luther (Chunksaah, 2012)
A nice cross of 90s alt rock, pop punk, and a tiny bit of emo. This record is like a faster, more complex Cheap Girls, and sometimes I think it's better than their wonderful 2012 LP, Giant Orange. Melodies, musicianship, song structures, chord progressions: they all rule. So many great moments. You should definitely listen to these guys.


Dripping - Pile (Exploding in Sound, 2012)
This is some gnarly, jagged 90s inspired indie rock. Very dynamic: intense at moments, very chill and mysterious at others. There are a few outright bores here, but the highs are very high, namely the first two tracks. Good distorted guitars, loud drums, quirky song structures. This recording could have been amazing if it was consistently loud.


Ships - Prawn (Topshelf, 2012)
Very pretty, twinkly emo with some blatant nods to post-rock (delayed guitars, epic and triumphant sounds). The production is awesome. Due to my high school (and never-ending) love of The Appleseed Cast's Low Level Owl, I can definitely dig some parts of this record. It's not really very exciting, though. I guess I just prefer my third wave emo fast and furious.


When I Couldn't Breathe - Sundials (Asian Man, 2012)
Here's another 90s alt rock styled album with pop punk leanings. I came across this and Let's Get You Somewhere Else at the same time, and have virtually spent the same amount of time with each, so it's pretty much inevitable that they will forever be companion pieces to me. When I Couldn't Breathe doesn't really have any emo and is less pop punk, but it's still a very upbeat record, and boy does it have some jams. I think I prefer Let's Get You Somewhere Else, but not by much.