It Was a Really Crappy Day
You know the day, the one where everything in your universe goes wrong. A dot of red ink on the cream sweater. Project FUBARs. The crabbiest man this side of Mr. Wilson’s fence. Blogger crashing every couple of hours. Just a general argh, followed by a scan of the circus want-ads.
How did I deal? Maturely and sanely: I went CD shopping. After all, I want to be Ben Heller when I grow up.
I don’t go CD shopping much these days. I’m an MP3 addict, so I get most of my music from eMusic and iTunes — instant aural gratification, open twenty-four hours. But sometimes I need to wander the aisles, listen to something new, discover something I didn’t know was out. I grabbed my purse, hopped in the Beetle, and zipped down to road to Ella Guru, where I spent a glorious hour wandering and listening and discovering.
So what did I buy? On first listen, a damn good stack of discs.
The Decemberists: The Crane Wife. The Scriveners and I going to see The Decemberists on Friday, so it was imperative that I get the new album (which, surprisingly, has yet to be offered on eMusic). The album is brilliant; I’ve listened to it four times since I ripped off the cellophane. Very excited about the concert; the Northwest doppelganger saw them a couple of weeks ago and has yet to stop raving about the show.
The Hold Steady: Boys and Girls in America. The Connecticut beloveds are huge fans, and turned me on to The Hold Steady years ago. I didn’t know this album was out (I guess I need to call Renae and Greg) until I found it on the new releases shelf; getting a high thumbs-up so far. They’re a great Brooklyn-via-Minneapolis band; if you have yet to hear them, I recommend checking them out.
Badly Drawn Boy: Born in the U.K.. I love Damon Gough — his voice, his songs, his thoughts. On first spin, this is a worthy addition to my BDB collection. Will over at Will and Ben's Record Room wrote a very good album review last week (those two always do).
The Pernice Brothers: Live a Little. A great eMusic discovery from a couple of years ago, I enjoy Joe Pernice’s slice of indie pop and think he has a lovely voice. The new album is quite good. Hey, Atlanta and Atlanta-bound readers: The Pernice Brothers are going to be at The Earl in early December; anyone want to join me?
Lambchop: Damaged. I think Lambchop is recording some of the best alt-country music out there these days, and this album doesn’t disappoint. In fact, it’s quite good. Ben, I’m looking forward to reading your review later this week.
At least the lunch hour went well. Been a while since I bought a stack of CDs and really enjoyed each one. Maybe that’s a good sign for the rest of the week? There's a concert and a costume party this weekend, so hopes are beginning to soar.
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posted by Cup @ 2:48 AM
27 comments
27 Comments:
"2,176 vinyl albums and 4,723 CD albums"...Wow! I want to be Ben Heller, too!
I have closer to 1,200 on vinyl and another 1,000 or so on CD. But, that's just a guess. I need to count, I suppose. While I'm updating my b**tleg list (which is a must-have for music trading purposes), maybe I'll start cataloging my "officially" released stuff as well...
I've got the Crane's Wife, and I hate that I am missing the band tonigt? Are you going, Beth?
I had a friend who used to live near Ella Guru, and I loved going there. I'd always walk out with a stack of used CDs for ridiculously little money. These days I'm more of a Criminal Records kind of guy. It's closer.
I may be in for the Pernice Brothers in Dec. I saw them at teh Earl a few years ago, and it was a good show.
HAAHNSTER: I whittled down my vinyl to two boxes after several moves; just the b**ts and the most special ones are left. My CD collection has around 2,000 albums; my MP3 collection is nearing 20,000. We have to catch Heller!
DJ CAYENNE: I'm off to see The Decemberists tomorrow night; too bad you and Mrs. Cayenne can't make it; I'm going with a fun bunch. Maybe we can all hook up for the Pernice Brothers.
BEN: I always have affection for the excessives. Isn't the Lambchop submlime? Let me know what you think of The Crane Wife, and check back this weekend for the Decemberists' show review.
Some of us (and I'm one of those) have absolutely no musical talent, so grabbing a guitar and picking a few tunes isn't an option. And what's wrong with loving music? I feel sorry for you that you don't understand the sheer joy of hearing a new song.
Thanks for coming to our defense, Ben. I was trying to be a gracious blog hostess, but Jeremy ticked me off; there are plenty of blogs for musicians he can frequent. And I can't stand comment chickens, either.
wow, I was just going to say something about the HOld Steady and then I see that this Jeffrey has a problem with people listening to music.
Frankly, I'd rather listen to a good tune than dig myself and my ego further into the false belief that I am separate from everyone else.
I'm thrilled that there are people who feel their connection to the universe by going to China and then those who feel connected by engaging popular music and then those who feel connected by meditating for six hours a day.
The universe is so big and so open and so inclusive that we all fit.
So Jeffrey, show us your joy and passion--let us celebrate it. And I'll tell you how great it was to see the HOld Steady in the basement of the Masonic Temple in Monroe, CT with a small but dedicated group of young kids and middle-agers like myself. It was their first gig in the tour and the release party for the CD. What a great time.
"jeffrey," you are a troll of the 1st degree. Your simple-mindedness is quite pitiful. One of the very best ways to learn to play a guitar is to play along with your favorite songs. Also, I must be better endowed than you (in many ways, I'm certain), in terms of multi-tasking ability; I often pick up a book and read while listening to music.
And, as for a flight to China, well that's got headphones in conjunction with a good book written all over it.
But, you weren't really making a reasoned argument were you? So, you win. I fed the troll (you).
You guys are being a little hard on the Jeffster. I, for one, see the error in my ways. I'll be selling off all of my albums, CDs, iPod, and books (plz come to my garage sale! you materialist swine). With the proceeds I can buy a schweet 12-string and a plane ticket to China. Of course, I will have no culture of my own to share with my new friends, but whatev...I'll be there, man.
beth - yay for your music purchases!
jeffrey - t'est vraiment pathetique. restez au chine - tu ne sera pas manquer!
BEN: Thanks, dear.
RENAE: See, you need to blog and share the joy of moments like that basement concert (and I'll call you this weekend; I promise).
HAAHNSTER: You go, well-endowed one!
DJ CAYENNE: Be sure to send me an invitation to that garage sale. I embrace my materialist swineness.
BRAT: They're very good.
On days like that is when we usually head to the Borders by our house, grab some coffee and walk around. We usually grab a stack of magazines, read most of them while we drink coffee, and then buy one or two that bear further reading. And we ALWAYS go through the discount CD bins in the music section upstairs.
I can spend hours in a bookstore. The ex and I used to spend nearly every Saturday evening in our neighborhood bookstore, then head to a movie. Good times.
Beth,
Won't you miss the fun of wandering through book & record stores once they've all been wiped off the map? I love the convenience of Amazon.com...but, I've always preferred shopping in person, especially with a friend or too along for the ride. Alas, it appears to be a thing of the past...
I love Amazoning, too, Haahnster, but I also prefer shopping in person ... something about spending all that time just wandering the aisles, picking up and putting down ... flipping through the pages ... standing at a listening post ... I hope they don't go away ... but our locally owneds are dying here.
Ah, dear Jeffrey, you amuse me. Full of disdain for our love of music (in particular, my love of R.E.M.) … and yet you can’t stay away. Two hits in a day? Seven-plus minutes on my page? I think you're harboring a secret crush … or there just ain’t much going on in Astoria today. It's cute, in a grumpy old man sort of way.
I LOVE Badly Drawn Boy and The Decemberists (Crane Wife 3 is an amazing song isn't it?) I haven't heard the others, but that will change :)
I'll try to remember this weekend to upload some samples on Bolt, Mellowlee.
That would be simply amazing, thanks Beth! Bolt is on the fritz today. As someone pointed out earlier, ( i think it was Barb ) they must be in kahoots with Blogger, cause it was being a bitch too. *heavy sigh* Those damn free services eh? Get us all hooked and dependant, then make us suffer...I bet they do it on PURPOSE ...totally, evil buggers.
Blogger has been a real b*tch this week. A lot of comments I've tried leaving have just floated away ...
Hey-- there was a time when REM was our little band in college...
Heard "Radio Free Europe" on the car radio today on the way to work and was reminded of when and why I just fell in love with the band. If someone held a gun to my head and made me pick a favorite, I'd make them wait while I decided between "Gardening at Night" and "Rockville."
Yes, they probably should have given it up in the early 90's. So should a bunch of bands-- prominently U2, the Cure, and a bunch of others. On the other hand, despite their being seduced by the dark side of corporate rockdom, there is nothing like my memory of dancing with some girl at my college to Gardening. The play between culture and commerciality will be nonstop and relentless until that great Marxist heaven on earth occurs.
If you were to peruse my itunes, you'd find a band called the Uptown Rulers. They were a ska band from the farm town in central Illinois that I went to college in. They were just the fuckin' shit-- good tunes, good politics-- and of course put out two records on a tiny label and disappeared. When the Clash started actually selling a bunch of records, people started bitching about it. They were unrepentant. They said that they had no regrets about their message and they wanted to get their message out. That meant selling records. Were it not for the Clash, I don't know what I'd have done. So if having an audience is a crime, talk to any musician you know. Ask them if they want to sell fewer cd's or songs on itunes. Ask them about selling out; if they bitch about selling out, ask them what the sell-out point is. Expect a long silence.
I'm reminded of the old joke: A guy walks up to a woman and asks her if she'd have sex with him for a million dollars. She smirks and says "Well, of course." He then asks her if she'll have sex with him for 20 dollars. She haughtily says to him "What kind of woman do you think I am." He replies "I think we've ascertained that; we're just haggling over price now."
Johnny Yen
aaaarrrrggghhhh
Why is it that the seemingly well-intentioned story by Johnny Yen really annoys me? Could it be that, like in so many tales of the human condition, the woman is labeled a slut for how she uses her body and sexuality while the man is labeled clever for his? Could it be that the assumption is that the woman won't enjoy the sex while the man will or that the woman doesn't like to have sex while the man does? I look at that story and go, "Stupid man, you would have a better chance of having sex, and really good sex, with the woman for free if you only treated her with respect, love and kindness."
Maybe I'm annoyed because I first heard this story while working as a secretary in a big corporation and dealing with constant requests for kisses and blow-jobs by all the "respectable" men who worked there.
Sorry but I just couldn't let this one go by without expressing myself.
Yes, Jeffrey, your latest comment was deleted. You can bash me and my taste in music all you want ... but when you write childish, mean, high-school level things about my friends and readers, I'll delete you every time. Have a good weekend, Jeffrey ...
Beth,
That Jeffrey dude from Astoria Oregon? You want we should send out someone to teach him some manners?
Jello Biafra also released a spoken-word 7" single called "Die For Oil, Suckers." The odd thing about that is vinyl records are a petroleum product. Life is full of those little contradictions.
It's kind of like someone littering the comments of a blog, as if they were going to persuade the blog's author to suddenly abandon her R.E.M. albums (already purchased, anyway, mind you).
LEAD US, "jeffrey"!!! You are obviously a wise, wise messiah. Lead us all away from the evil temptation of Warner Bros. I worship you, "jeffrey."
ohmygod!!! this is so funny...i love that a bitter old guy, who hates moveon.org, is completely out of touch with people and apparently couldn't make it as a musician is ragging on a bunch of people he has never met.
this is rich!
damn beth, i think you are right. jeffrey does have a crush on you! otherwise, why would he keep coming back...
jeffrey,
i actually have an amazing life. i have a great job, where i make a difference in this crazy world. i am lucky enough to be able to travel the world. i also have wonderful friends who i love--and they love me.
but you are right--my grammar "is suck". but at the end of the day--i can really say that i enjoy my life. i don't need to act like a pathetic little man to get attention.
i am off to listen to the latest decemberists cd. it is really good. you should stop your self-imposed cultural exile, and join the living. you might actually smile.
Jeffrey, if you're going to mock the writing style of others, be sure to first check the spelling of each word you use: Decemberists, dear. And if you mock any of my commenters again, I'll start deleting every comment you leave. This is one staying because M does have an amazing life, makes a real difference in the M 9-to-5 existence, and thinks you're a silly little goof.
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