Recommendation of the Day #25

Recommendation of the Day: The Hold Steady

Last night was supposed to be one of those nights where I come home after work, cook dinner, and veg the entire night, playing guitar or rotting my brain with TV DVD box-sets and video games. Instead, I got a call from one of my friends at about 9:30, who excitedly says, "dude, The Hold Steady is playing at The Fillmore tonight, and you can get tickets from scalpers for like 10 bucks". Never one to turn down a rock show, I immediately booked it down to Irving Plaza for what ended up being one of the best concerts I've ever been to.

The band was as tight and crisp as any I've seen live, and the fact that none of the band members (except maybe the drummer) used in-ear monitors speaks volumes about their cohesiveness. That, coupled with their positive and friendly attitude - at one point, lead singer Craig Finn went into his "there is so much joy in what we do up here!" routine - made it a great experience.

Check em out.

I have fairly "poppy" and melodic tastes in music, so I've never been a big fan of The Chariot, but I love the packaging they're doing for their upcoming album Wars And Rumors of Wars, out in May.

For some reason, the HTML code that MySpace is giving me isn't working, so just click on the link.

Hand Stamping the artwork of WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS

Recommendation of the Day #24

Recommendation of the Day: Coheed & Cambria

I picked the new Coheed & Cambria Neverender: Children of the Fence live DVD tonight after work. Four albums into their career, the band recently performed their entire discography from front to back over 4 nights at NYC's Terminal 5 and released an awesome hi-def DVD of it. Over 300 minutes of prog-rock goodness, and one of the best live music DVDs I've ever seen.

One thing I love about the music business these days is the choice that fans have when it comes to purchasing their music. For most new releases, there's usually a sub-$10 version at Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, iTunes, etc. with all the basics, then there's the "premium" version for 15 or 16 bucks that has more content in the form of demos, music videos, interviews, extra tracks, and also nicer packaging. If you're lucky, Amazon MP3 will offer the new release in one of their MP3 daily deals for less than 5 bucks.

As I've said in the past, I'm someone who is willing to pay more for a premium product, because for me, unless I can get an amazing deal online, I like having the full package. Thus, I'm almost always wanting to pay for the nicer edition. In the past, nobody had any choice but to pay 20 bucks for the basic bare-bones CD + liner note combo. Coheed & Cambria, for their last album, even had the option for fans to buy the full CD in a basic cardboard sleeve for $6. For fans who wanted the physical CD, but didn't want the excess packaging, it was cool to have a cheaper alternative.

Ok, back to watching basketball.

Recommendation of the Day #23

Recommendation of the Day: Thoughts on Twitter

Since joining Twitter a few weeks ago, I've been going over in my head again and again how I want to use it. It's become a complete phenomenon over the past 6 months or so, and I swear that I read a new article on it every single day, in addition to "appearances" on The View and Oprah. From my perspective, the thing that makes Twitter so great is that there are very few rules, and every day, people are finding out new ways to use the micro-blogging service. For some people, it's a way to keep friends and family updated on their life ("I got into college today!" or "I just got a new job!").

For others, it can be a type of self-promotion or an attempt at internet stardom. Looking at some of the most popular people on Twitter, you can see that people who were "nobodies" before Twitter now have hundreds of thousands of people following their every move and wait with bated breath for the next update. And in a lot of ways, I think that's really cool, to see lawyers, doctors, journalists, and businessmen admired in that kind of way, for posting about their daily lives, however mundane they may be. Traditional Hollywood celebrities will always have people interested about them, but consider that Agent_M, a Marvel comics editor and writer, has over 208,000 people following him. Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh is another Twitter celebrity (his most recent update? "Enjoying one of my favorite meals: hot Reuben sandwich, chicken noodle soup for dipping the sandwich in, and a pickle of course")

But all of this transparency can come at a cost, I think. In a world where we all want to share what's on our minds and appear funny, witty, or interesting, the concept of "tact" has gone out the window. Just last week, a woman tweeted

Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.

Tim Levad at Cisco saw the Tweet, and tweeted back:

Who is the hiring manager. I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.

The woman was not offered the job because of what she (truthfully) wrote on Twitter. You certainly can't blame CISCO for rescinding the job offer, and the girl was operating under the assumption that nobody but her friends would read it. I guess this whole issue reflects a lot of the problems with the Internet and social networking sites in general.

Nothing you ever write online will ever truly go away, and you never know who is watching (or reading), and I guess for me, I've been really conflicted with Twitter and this whole privacy thing. While I absolutely love my job and everyone there, there are bound to be certain things I don't like on occasion, and I'm having a hard time figuring out what Twitter means to me and how I will use it. And while it's certainly easy to say now that I'll always show restraint in talking about my personal or professional life, certain unforeseen circumstances may make it tougher. Everything I've posted so far has been totally innocuous, I've always been a pretty honest person, and I find great relief in having nothing to hide. Still, the possibility that someone will see something they shouldn't will always be there as long as anyone can see what I write.

One of my biggest passions is finding new music and turning other people on to it, and the idea that people would want to read what you write is an exciting and intoxicating possibility for anyone. In that way, the idea of having a "public" twitter is exciting. On the other hand, it's nice to be able to have at least some semblance of control over who sees your tweets by making it so that people have to request to follow you.


I don't even know where I'm going with this anymore. I could talk/write about this forever, and I'd never come up with a cohesive thought in my head on the subject.

New guitar - Fender Standard Tele'

As I lie here in my bed watching Planet Earth on Blu-Way - which is stunning, by the way - I'm trying to enjoy and savor the last few hours of the weekend before getting back into the routine tomorrow. It was a good weekend, but way too short, as usual. The highlight was picking up this guy from Guitar Center today:





Pardon the picture quality. The photos taken with my iPhone camera have a certain "darkness" to them.

I would have definitely preferred to get the guitar (which still needs a name, btw. Any suggestions?) at a local shop instead of the big-box chain, but I got a great deal that was too hard to pass up. Now all I've got to do is practice my butt off. Even after half a day with it, I can feel the blisters start building up on my fingertips.

Recommendation of the Day #23

Recommendation of the Day: The Wire

It's a total cop-out for me to post a duplicate here, but I just started watching Season 4 of The Wire and the premier episode was dynamite. I finished Season 3 about a month ago, and could never find the time needed to get back into it. Now that things are slowing down a bit with my schedule, I think I'll have enough time to watch an episode or so per night until I finish the season.

I wasn't totally wild about the first couple seasons, but everything seems to be coming together, and it's awesome to see the payoff from things set in motion in the earlier episodes. Can't wait to see what happens in these last 2 seasons.

The Legendary Roy Burgundy Everybody!!!

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This guy clearly has no idea who Will Ferrell is and comes off like a total jackass who can't take a joke.

Recommendation of the Day #22

Recommendation of the Day: The Early November / Ace Enders

The Early November was one of my favorite bands in high school, and when they broke up a few years ago (I've realized that broken-up bands seem to be quite common in my Recommendations of the Day. It's completely unintentional, for the most part), I was pretty bummed. That said, the band seemed to have run its course, and rumors spread that the band members were all looking to go in different directions, totally understandable coming from a bunch of guys who had played in a pop-punk / indie-rock band together since their early teens.

Fortunately for me, and all other TEN fans, frontman and main songwriter Ace Enders has continued to make music under the name Ace Enders and a Million Different People. The new stuff is quite a bit more mature than any of TEN's stuff, but is musically similar.

Ace is also high on the list of musicians I'd love to meet some day. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders and has recently started a record label with his wife. Pretty impressive for a 26 year old guy with 3 full-length albums and close to half a dozen EPs under his belt. He's the kinda guy you want to root for.

Check out his new solo album "When I Hit The Ground" out March 17th. Catchy pop-rock that you can't help but smile while listening to.

Kind of in a music slump. So much music I could be listening to, but nothing appeals to me at the moment.

Fender Road Worn

Hmmmm, not sure how I feel about this

Watching art evolve

In case you can't tell, I'm trying to draw this blog-posting laziness out as long as I can by posting cool videos in lieu of substantive posts about cool stuff I like or my life. Hey, it's better than nothing, I suppose.


MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

emag llab eht ot tuo em ekat

I've been super busy this week, so haven't really had time to blog regularly. While you're waiting for another post and Recommendation of the Day (probably coming tonight), check out this guy. I posted Part I a ways back, or maybe on my old blog.

See more funny videos and Music Videos at Today's Big Thing.

Oh man, I want this.

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Recommendation of the Day #21

Recommendation of the Day: New Found Glory

Not a whole lot to say about these guys. Simply one of the first bands that got me into music in a big way. They've never released a bad album, and in my opinion, are one of the best live bands out there today. One of the first shows I ever went to was NFG w/Finch at the State Theater in Detroit (now called the Filmore, I believe) way back during my freshman or sophomore year in high school. Since then, I've seen them 2-3 times and have been more and more impressed with their sound and energy every time.

Although I'm not into the whole "pop-punk" scene as much as I used to be, New Found Glory will always be a band I hold in high regard. They're also one of the only bands I can think of where I will buy everything that they ever release (btw, I fucking HATE writing that type of sentence. I never know if I'm grammatically correct, and it always comes out sounding awkward, no matter what. Am I supposed to put a comma somewhere?).

Finally, their new album, Not Without A Fight (out today) is fantastic. Check it out, and I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

I realize that quite a few of my recent posts and Recommendation of the Days talk about how I "don't listen to a band all that much", and I'm not sure how that comes off. To be clear, I've always been into finding new bands and chasing the dragon. As hokey and corny as it sounds, music acts as a bit of a drug for me, and I'm always chasing the next fix, which is why I'm almost always listening to something new (at least new to me). If you look at my Last.fm profile, my most-listened-to band only has about 330 plays, which, compared to a lot of people, isn't all that much.

As I've said before, I have A LOT of music on my computer and iPod, 98% of which I've bought or gotten through legal means. As a result, I tend to burn out on bands fairly quickly in my quest to find the next thing to listen to. I feel like I never have enough time to fully devote to everything that comes my way. Ah well, such is life.

Recommendation of the Day #20

Recommendation of the Day: No Motiv (they don't have a MySpace page. What's THAT about?!?!)

A lot of my recent Recommendation of the Days have been bands that, while I don't listen to them a ton, hold a special place in my iTunes library and are always nice to come back to every once in awhile. No Motiv is one of those bands. Whenever I come back to them, it always feels like I'm listening to the first time; a rediscovery of sorts.

It's hard for me to describe exactly what No Motiv sounds like. I first heard "Give Me Strength" in the background of some shitty surfing video game way back in the day and was immediately intrigued. It just wasn't the kind of music I was used to hearing every day, certainly not in movies, on TV, or on the radio. After finding out who it was and buying Diagram For Healing, I was hooked.

On paper, they're not much more than a pretty generic alternative/indie/pop-punk band, but there's something about them that really appeals to me. They've definitely got a certain vibe to them that I really like.


I had never seen this video in my life, but it's almost exactly as I expected. Their second album, Daylight Breaking is uber dark.

Back into the blogging routine tomorrow. I flew back "home" to Michigan on Saturday morning, spendt yesterday and today with Caitlin, and have a routine CT-Scan tomorrow. Only been away for a day and a half, but I'm already looking forward to going back to NYC. It's definitely home for me now.

Recommendation of the Day #19

Recommendation of the Day: Limbeck

I'm not really sure how Limbeck became my most-listened to band on Last.fm. Since rebooting my profile in the summer of 2006, I've listened to them 332 times, while my #2 band, Down To Earth Approach has 323 spins. While the number of listens obviously indicates some level of interest and fandom on my part, I don't think I would ever put Limbeck among my list of favorite bands. But maybe that's why I love them so much. When I'm staring blankly at my iPod thinking of something to listen to, they're almost never at the forefront of my mind, but when they are, I get sucked in for days at a time.

A mix of alt-rock, pop, and country in the vein of The Format, Limbeck always feels fresh and new to me. With groooovy grooves and infectious choruses, it's almost impossible to be in a bad mood while listening to these guys. It just has that awesome spring / summer vibe to it.

I'm not sure what the band's up to these days (they're last album was released in 2007), but I hope they've got some exciting plans for 2009.

Recommendation of the Day #18

I was trying to think of what I'd put as my Recommendation of the Day today, but I totally drew a blank. I listened to some of the new Cursive album today (just meh) and was listening to P.O.S. album at work (wonderful), but nothing stood out to me as important or good enough to blog about. I've already written about P.O.S. in a ROTD, so...yeah. I guess maybe I'll just do a broad one tonight.


Recommendation of the Day: Podcasts

I listen to podcasts. A lot of them. From This American Life to the AltPress Podcast to the IGN Podcasts to SModcast, I would say that during some stretches, I listen to more podcasts than music. On my morning to commute in the morning, which tends to be about half an hour, they're the perfect accompaniment. For as much music as I have (57.46gb), I tend to get bored sometimes and fall into a music rut. Podcasts definitely help cure that and give me something to listen to during the day on my way to, at, and on the way home from, work. I'm always looking to get into new stuff, so please post comments with any new podcasts I should check out. Thanks!

Cursive's new album

I mentioned this on my twitter last night, but wanted to expound a little bit in a format that isn't restricted to 140-character "tweets":

Cursive is about to release their new album Mama, I'm Swollen on March 10th, and I'm really digging the pricing structure they've worked out. The album hit the internet airwaves a few days ago, and in response to the "leak" (I think it was sent out to people who had pre-ordered the album), the band and their label, Saddle Creek Records, decided to make a high-quality digital copy available to everyone. Anyone who wanted to hear it could already easily find it on the internet for free, so I think it's awesome that they gave people a convenient and cheap way to get it.

Starting yesterday, March 1st, it was only a buck, and the price will increase by a dollar every day until it's official release on the 10th. As I mentioned, I've never been a huge fan of Cursive, but for $1, I'm willing to check out pretty much anything, so I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised. That, and I want to support artists, especially when they're helping transform and innovate in this changing industry. Check it out today for only $2 and get your hands on a copy before it gets more expensive.

http://saddle-creek.com/

Recommendation of the Day #17

Recommendation of the Day: The Giver

The New York Public Library has become my best friend since moving here in October. With more than a dozen "neighborhood" libraries in addition to the huge Mid-Manhattan one, I can go online and order ANY book in their city-wide catalog and have it delivered to my local branch, 3 blocks away. Since getting my handy-dandy library card, I've taken the opportunity to both read new books and reread old ones. One example of the latter is The Giver.

I remember reading The Giver back in middle school and really enjoying it, but the book is that much more poignant now that I'm reading it as a 22 year-old. Frankly, I'm shocked that they allow kids to read it; it's that dark and scary (I mean that in the best possible way). That said, it's the most "important" book I think I've ever read for school, so I'm not sure how to reconcile those two viewpoints.

I urge everyone to reread this modern classic. I think its message is as important as ever and will certainly spark thought and discussion. I just finished watching Taxi To The Dark Side (fantastic documentary about the War on Terror and the torture at US prisons), and my mind frequently drifted to the messages in this wonderful book. Get on it.

"He might make the wrong choices."
"Oh." Jonas was silent for a minute. "Oh, I see what you mean. It wouldn't matter for a newchild's toy. But later is does matter, doesn't it? We don't dare to let people make choices on their own."
"Not safe?" The Giver suggested.
"Definitely not safe," Jonas said with certainty. "What if they were allowed to choose their own mate? And they chose wrong?"
"Or what if," he went on, almost laughing at the absurdity, "they chose their own jobs?"
"Frightening, isn't it?" The Giver said.
Jonas chuckled. "Very frightening. I can't even imagine it. We really have to protect people from wrong choices."
"It's safer."
"Yes," Jonas agreed. "Much safer."

"Because I've been a little selfish. I haven't given any of it to you. I wanted to keep it for myself to the last."
"Keep what?"
"When I was just a boy, younger than you, it began to come to me. But it wasn't the seeing-beyond for me. It was different. For me, it was hearing-beyond."
Jonas frowned, trying to figure that out. "What did you hear?" he asked.
"Music," The Giver said, smiling. "I began to hear something truly remarkable, and it is called music. I'll give you some before I go."
Jonas shook his head emphatically. "No, Giver," he said. "I want you to keep that, to have with you, when I'm gone."