Monday, July 10, 2006

And We're Back...

It’s been a long time since I’ve been here – I’ve been busy with life changing decisions which are pretty damn exciting. My apologies to anyone that checks this more than once in a while. To you, I tip my hat.

I haven’t been into new music lately, other than that Brightblack Morning Light record, whose smoky psych is just the ticket on humid summer mornings. Mostly the last month has been a time for reappraisal and nostalgia.

1. Daft Punk – Discovery: Everyone will tell you that they love this record and they’re right. No dance record I’ve ever heard has the pacing and completeness of this. Not to mention, Discovery’s ability to capture my attention rather than have me slip into a K-hole. Conceptually complete and wonderful pop music for the robots in us all.

2. Archers of Loaf – All the Nation’s Airports: In particular, “Chumming the Ocean”. Eric Bachmann’s Crooked Fingers outfit (the first record, at least) is pretty much predicted in this stunning moment of serenity from the crusty college-rock punks. The rest is not as good as the other AoL records, but solid enough to work that angst out.

3. Chic – “Everybody Dance”: Talk about dance music – this could be where it might have started. From a pump-up intro into the groovy rollerskate jam verse, this is the complete package.

4. Man or Astro-man – A Spectrum of Infinite Scale: A great display of Steve Albini’s recording techniques. These instrumental surf-rock geeks use the heavy drums and reverb to their advantage, putting together paranoid, retro-future tubes.

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