Five

Sunday was this blog's fifth birthday. Yay.

Not always certain why I still write on this blog, but it's fun. Something to do. Hope everybody else still kind of enjoys it too.

Missouri / Iowa

Spent last weekend back in Missouri. It'd been over two years since I'd been back home. Thought it'd be weird, but it was all fun.

Kirksville looked pretty good for the most part. We went touring past some of the buildings damaged by last month's tornado. That was pretty insane.

I've seen plenty of buildings damaged by tornados before, but seeing it in Kirksville made it more surreal to me. The majority of the damage is in a really nice neighborhood too. Pretty sad stuff.

The wedding itself was great. It was very nicely put together. The most worrisome part of everything was the rain. It had rained everyday I was there, and another line of storms was coming through at wedding time. We kept checking Zane's Blackberry and trying to stay positive, even though everything pointed towards disaster. Outdoor wedding.

Two small things got cut from the ceremony (a reading, or blessing, or whatever) to try to move things along. As we went outside to start the line on the radar was right on top of Kirksville. There were quite a few rumbles of thunder, and maybe a sprinkle or two, but it stayed dry. Afterwards everybody rushed to their cars when it suddenly really began to pour. Good timing.

Anyways, what else?

I think we did about everything we set out to do on our own. Visited KTVO. Ate a ridiculously unhealthy meal at the Shitty.

Delicious.

Went to Columbia. While touring Mizzou we happened to notice a gate open at Faurot Field. Not sure if it was exactly the right thing to do, but what the hell...

Also ate waaaay too much hummus at the International Cafe and picked a new Cardinals hat while in Columbia.

We spent a whole day on a whirlwind tour of Iowa.

Eldon looked great. Saw the Gothic House.

Yeah, that house. My parents bought a lot about couple of blocks away. They're going to build a house for when they retire.

Also went to Fairfield.

It'd been a long time since I'd been to Fairfield. It was much nicer than I had remembered it. I'd always known it to be just another cookie-cutter Midwestern town, but it was much more well put together than I'd ever noticed.

The Maharishi have a lot to do with that.

Vedic City was great. I'd only kind of been there. Not really toured it very extensively. I loved it though.

The houses were mostly nice.

Everybody was smiling and waving, even though we were invading their little commune. They were all blissed out and shit. It was nice...

...it was really nice. Like the way I wish I could be. Just all happy and thoughtful and worry-free. Like they only think about how to live...

...it was great...

...maybe I could...

...ah, probably not.

Anyhoo. Been back in Richmond since Monday night. Jonathan and wife were in town this weekend. The state of Virginia declared yesterday a celebration for his grandfather. So that was pretty sweet. It's been nice lately.

Sunless Shuffle (Home Sick)

Home sick today [coughcoughsniffsniff] so I may as well do a little catching up. It's nice to have a moment in reality like this as I lose myself in a haze of Sims 3 and Left 4 Dead. It's all just so fun, I can't help it.

I did get up to go vote today. Big difference at the polls from November. Of course, this is just the Democratic primary for governor with a little sheriff's race sprinkled in. I went with Creigh Deeds. I don't like that he's pro-gun (lack of gun control is one of the biggest problems in Virginia), but I think he can beat Bob McDonnell. That's pretty much my only motivator.

Ah let's see, what else...

I'm going home here in two weeks for the bro's wedding. It'll be my first trip to Kirksville in over two years. It'll also be Molly's first trip. It's weird because I have like no friends left in KV. Everybody left after I did. It's going to be fun regardless.

There have been a ton of great music releases lately. Right now is like the eye of the storm (except for today's new Dirty Projectors album, but my pre-order hasn't arrived yet), so it's a perfect time for some...

Current track count: 12674

1. Tom Waits: "Coney Island Baby" (Blood Money)
(Not exactly summer music. Tom Waits always sounds best when it's freezing cold outside, or at least cloudy with no leaves on the trees. Still his sound is always welcome in my ears. Never noticed before how much this sounds like "Innocent When You Dream.")

2. Phosphorescent: "Pride" (Pride)
(Well that transition didn't work. I love this track, but it only counts with the prior track tacked on.)

3. John Vanderslice: "Forest Knolls" (Romanian Names)
(Good god, my iPod LOVES JV!!)

4. Johnny Cash: "Waiting For a Train" (Unearthed: Who's Gonna Cry)
(There's that Johnny Cash I was waiting for last time.)

5. Mark Eitzel: "Seeing Eye Dog" (The Invisible Man)
(The sythesized Eitzel album. Still sounds great, but it's weird to hear. I love Mark Eitzel. Quite possibly the most underrated songwriter alive.)

6. Jay Farrar: "Drain" (Sebastopol)
(That's a hell of a transition. Perfect. By the way, new Son Volt coming out in a month. Just thought I'd share for the few people that still care about Son Volt.)

7. Kevin Drew: "When It Begins" (Spirit If...)
(Another great transition. This is becoming a great playlist. So we have the slower acoustic center with a loud conclusion. Now we need something more exciting to keep it moving...)

8. Decemberists: "The Rake's Song" (The Hazards of Love)
(Yeah, I'd call that a success. Not my favorite Decemberists, but for the sake of this playlists it's works perfectly. Actually it might work better than in the original album.)

9. Half-Handed Cloud: "The Famine's Hard" (Thy is a Word & We Need Lamps)
(I'm laughing right now. Seriously, listen to the previous song and follow it up with this one. My iPod is on fire!!)

10. Johnny Cash: "I'm So Lonely I Could Cry" (Now, There Was a Song!)
(My iPod can read. I'm getting a little creeped out right now. In all seriousness, this song sounds best after dark. Not in the middle of the day.)

11. They Might Be Giants: "For Science" (Miscellaneous T)
(Fail.)

12. Beach Boys: "Wendy" (Endless Summer)
(I was looking for an appropriate closing track for this list. Beach Boys win! Seriously though, throw out the Phosphorescent and They Might Be Giants tracks and this playlist is great.)

Jay Bennett

Jay Bennett's whole story is pretty sad, so the premature ending almost seems fitting. I definitely felt sorry for the poor guy. I met him twice during the Being There era of Wilco and he was incredibly nice.

Very sad.

re: Love For Destroyer

So after I express my love for Destroyer, he lays this one on us.

A Destroyer disco EP? A disco about the Bay of Pigs??

You know what though? I'm going to get it. For sure, I'm totally going to get it.

Love For Destroyer

So I was whining about how I don't seem to appreciate music like I once did. Maybe it's just the way I listen to music. I was typically only listening to music in the car. Not good.

A few weeks ago I decided to just completely surround myself in music. I started using my breaks at work taking walks around the Fan listening to my iPod. I have also been listening to music at work more. And also when I'm just sitting around on the computer. Listening more like I used to.

Of course, I buy so much music that I was listening almost exclusively to the new music in my collection. Last week I started on a project to get me back deeper than I had in a while. Just listen to everything by some of my favorite artists. Starting with somebody I absolutely love but might not appreciate the whole library, Destroyer is where I began. Overall, this was a completely successful project.


We'll Build Them a Golden Bridge

Destroyer's worst? Sure. It's his first though. As ridiculous as some of this music is, so much of it shows how great this music will become. It's more avant-garde than the more structured songs he'd be writing years later, but the lushness is still there under the noise.


City of Daughters

Lyrically this is Destroyer's first great album. As great as the music is, some of the sudden breakdowns into electronica or the synthesized horn instrumentals don't seem to make a lot of sense.


Thief

The perfect compliment to City of Daughters. Very similar musically, but still a step forward. "Mercy (We Had the Right)" has to be his best song up to this point in his career.


Streethawk: A Seduction

This is Destroyer's first masterpiece. This is why this project has some validity for me. When I bought this album, I didn't listen to it too much. Now after this listen, I realize just how amazing this album is. The most complete Destroyer album to date.


This Night

The Destroyer slacker album. It sounds like Destroyer backed by Pavement, or maybe Modest Mouse. Maybe his most underrated album. Or even his most overrated. It’s loved by some, and hated by some. I never really paid much attention to this album (too long), but with this listen I feel like I appreciate it for the first time. Further validation.


Your Blues

Oh, the midi album. How does one write an album full of songs with the melodrama turned to 10, then redo everything using mostly midi, and make it great? True genius.


Notorious Lightning and Other Works

Six songs from Your Blues re-recorded with Frog Eyes. Just unbelievably good. Like really, really good.


Rubies

Destroyer’s best. No comparison. This is simply one of the greatest albums I have ever heard. Years after I first heard it, it still sounds incredible. I wanted to make a list of my favorite Destroyer songs, but that’d be pointless since most of them are on Rubies. This should be an essential album for any good record collection. It’s a perfect album in every sense of the word.

Trouble in Dreams

It’s nearly impossible to follow up your masterpiece with another, but damn Destroyer comes close here. It took me quite some time to really get into this album, and I still don’t feel like I completely appreciate it. It is an amazing album though. Every song is very intricately layered, and the music sounds as emotional as anything Destroyer has released.

Destroyer is one of those musical experiences that many people will likely hate. Dan Bejar just sounds really weird. However if you get it… if you really understand how perfectly constructed his music is recorded, and how heart-wrenching his lyrics are, you can easily find yourself wrapped up in some of the greatest musical experiences you’ll ever have.

Favorite Destroyer Albums:
1. Rubies
2. Your Blues
3. Notorious Lightning and Other Works
4. Streethawk: A Seduction
5. This Night
6. Thief
7. Trouble in Dreams
8. City of Daughters
9. We'll Build Them a Golden Bridge

Buy them in this order:
1. Rubies
2. Streethawk: A Seduction
3. City of Daughters
4. Thief
5. Your Blues
6. Notorious Lightning and Other Works
7. This Night
8. We'll Build Them a Golden Bridge
9. Trouble in Dreams

Ghost

From 1988 to 1993, five years when I was a kid I lived in a haunted house. Not just some “oh a noise I can’t explain” haunted house, but “oh shit why is there an old guy walking down the hallway in the middle of the night” haunted house. Legit stuff.

That’s a different story though.

A few weird things happened at our apartment in the last week. Eleven months we have lived here without anything weird happening. Then last Saturday after we got back from the bar, I was putting my glasses on the end table before laying down to sleep. As I did that, the fan on the table fell onto my arm then to the floor. I don’t think I touched the fan. Okay, granted, maybe I did touch it or hit the table causing it to fall. However, the fact that I specifically had to say “I didn’t cause that” made it a strange experience. Not too strange however. I did have a few drinks in me.

Then the next morning I was turning on my laptop on my coffee table. I reached for my wireless mouse under the table, when suddenly my checkbook came sliding out from under the table onto my foot. My checkbook close to the mouse, but not exactly right next to it. It was another of those “I didn’t cause that” moments. I really don’t think I touched that checkbook. It seemed to just come flying out from under the table. Again, maybe I did hit it or something.

Then Monday evening we were in our living room when we heard a big crash. We live in an apartment building, so that’s not uncommon. It really sounded like it came from our place though. We wandered around searching out the cause, when we came to the bedroom closet. Our humidifier that was on the top shelf was now on the ground, and water was spilled everywhere. Now I definitely didn’t touch that! Maybe somebody was jumping on the bed below us, or there was some kind of vibration that suddenly went through the building, or something.

It just seems really weird to have three weird experiences in three days. Am I nuts here? Or am I on to something?? I hope not. I think I’d rather be nuts.