This Post Brought to You by the Letter B

#2 in my Alphabet Mix series.

1. Babylon...David Gray
2. Back Before You Go...J. Mascis And The Fog
3. Back In Black...AC/DC
4. Back Of Your Mind...Collin Herring
5. Battle...Wolfstone
6. Begin The Begin...R.E.M.
7. Behind Blue Eyes [alternate version]...The Who
8. Bend And Break...Keane
9. Best Imitation Of Myself...Ben Folds Five
10. Big Country...Edgar Meyer with Béla Fleck and Mike Marshall
11. Big Me...Foo Fighters
12. Birth Of Words...The Samples
13. Black Eye...Uncle Tupelo
14. Bliss...Phish
15. Blue Sky Mine...Midnight Oil
16. Bombs Away...Paris Texas
17. Boulevard of Broken Songs...Green Day vs. Oasis/Travis/Aerosmith
18. Box Full Of Letters...Wilco
19. Boys Don’t Cry...The Cure
20. Breathing...Yellowcard
21. Bye, Bye, Bye...Further Seems Forever
22. Broad Ripple Is Burning [Live]...Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s

Infrequent Flyer

Between my ever-crazy work schedule, my new commitment to working out (for the moment, anyway), and a long weekend in Minneapolis, I haven’t had much time to post lately. I’ve also been watching a lot of The Wire: Season One, so my movie-viewing has been curtailed. On top of that, I’ve been trying to read more instead of vegetating in front of the Idiot Box so much. As a result, lots of books and my usual eMusic haul, and not much else this week:


The Ruins, Scott Smith. A taut thriller by the author of A Simple Plan (great movie) about some kids vacationing in Mexico post-college who take a day trip into the jungle that goes horribly wrong. Bad idea. Moral of the story: Unless you’re Indiana Jones, stay on the beach and enjoy your margaritas.


Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein. In my constant search for good books to read, I came across this list of the top 100 Sci-Fi books of all time, so I’ve decided to read the 81 books I haven’t yet gotten around to. I started with Heinlein’s rather controversial novel about a cadet training for Earth’s infantry 500 years in the future (#5 on the list). Forget the terrible movie that resulted from this book. I thought it was a decent read once I got past Heinlein’s facism-lite ideas about how society ought to be run.


Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke. #1 on the top 100 list, this novel from the ’50’s imagines the arrival of aliens on Earth who bring about a utopia of peace and prosperity, but at the cost of any semblance of creativity from a human race with nothing left to struggle for. Clarke’s frightening anticipation of the increase in TV viewing and the increasing apathy of humanity in the 21st century is uncanny, and made me rethink how much time I spend absorbing rather than creating.


Children of Men. The one movie I did watch over the past two weeks also happens to be based on another sci-fi novel, P.D. James’ story of a dystopian future where humanity has become sterile, and the youngest person on Earth is 18 years old. Riots have overtaken every country on the planet except Britain, where Clive Owen gets caught in a power play between the government, rebels, and refugees. Director Alfonso Cuarón does a great job of setting the tone with the cinematography and color palette, giving the movie a gritty feel that accentuates the story and makes it all the more powerful when it reaches its climax. And the movie’s echoes of the Iraq War certainly didn’t hurt.


Steve Earle, The Revolution Starts… Now. I’ve never owned any Steve Earle, but I’ve been listening to his stuff for years, ever since the first time I heard “Copperhead Road”. Revolution showcases the more mellow side of his recent stuff, but it still contains some powerful songs. My personal favorite is “I Thought You Should Know,” a ballad in which Earle warns his new lover that if she’s planning on breaking his heart, she may as well leave now, because someone else already beat her to it.

Plus, I figured it was about time to give Earle a little love since I’ve been enjoying his minor role on The Wire.


Sloan, One Chord to Another. Another band that I’ve listened to for awhile, Sloan has been making great power pop for years, but is one of those foreign bands (in this case, Canadian) who have never been able to match their international success here in the States. Sad, because they are worth a listen, but most Americans have probably never heard of them.


Godspeed You! Black Emperor, f#a# infinity. GY!BE was one of the earliest post-rock bands, influencing lots of music I’ve been listening to lately, like Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai. With a nearly orchestral-sized lineup (3 guitars, 2 basses, drums, keyboards, various strings, and some cleverly placed samples of dialogue), the band created amazing soundscapes in epic-length compositions. This album is three songs long, with the shortest track clocking in around 16 and a half minutes. Sadly, they haven’t recorded anything since 2000, but they left behind some amazing music.


Elvis Perkins, Ash Wednesday. I saw Perkins open for My Morning Jacket in January, and I was impressed by his stage presence. His album is a bit of a downer, but in a good way. In some ways, it reminds me of Damien Rice’s O, another stripped-down, low-key album of hauntingly beautiful songs. I think it’s going to take me some time to get into Ash Wednesday, but the songs I’ve heard so far have been a good start.

Alphabet Soup

My brother Doug had the fantastic idea to go through his iTunes library and make 26 mixes of songs beginning with each letter of the alphabet. I love this idea so much, I’m ripping it off. Aside from forcing me to make some really hard choices about my music library (for some letters, I have to cut down 100+ hours of music to fit on 1 CD), it’s also been a good excuse for me to go out and photograph some of the amazing signage around Denver for the CD covers (see above). So, kicking it off from the beginning, here’s the tracklist for my “A” mix.

1. Autobiographical (dialogue from High Fidelity)
2. American Idiot…Green Day
3. A Girl Like You…The Smithereens
4. A Lifetime…Better Than Ezra
5. Above The Clouds…Turin Brakes
6. After The Gold Rush…Neil Young
7. Ahead by a Century…The Tragically Hip
8. Again I Go Unnoticed…Dashboard Confessional
9. A Slow Fall…Riverside
10. Always Feel This Way…Tristan Prettyman
11. All I Want [Remix]…Toad The Wet Sprocket
12. Alleluias…Solar Twins
13. Apply Some Pressure…Maxïmo Park
14. Action…Clem Snide
15. Any Road…George Harrison
16. Answering Bell…Ryan Adams
17. And I’m Aching…Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
18. Always On The Run…Lenny Kravitz
19. Angels of the Silences…Counting Crows
20. Amazing Grace…Sean Kelly
21. Alright For Now…Tom Petty
22. All Night Thing…Temple Of The Dog
23. Always With Me, Always With You…Joe Satriani

The Week in Review

Since the daily post thing just isn’t happening anymore, I’m going to shoot for a regular wrap-up of all my entertainment for the previous week. Here it is:
I Am Legend, Richard Matheson. The best “vampire plague brings about the end of the world” novel ever written, not to mention an inspiration for some of the biggest names in horror —including Stephen King. I wanted to revisit this book before the upcoming movie with Will Smith sullies its good name.
Fountains of Wayne, Traffic and Weather. A somewhat disappointing fourth album from one of my favorite bands. The whole album feels like a retread of the lamest songs from their previous albums. Uninspired, and nowhere near as catchy as their last disc.
Kings of Leon, Because of the Times. On the other hand, this album is a big leap forward for these southern rockers. Clearly, their recent stints opening for bands like U2 and the Rolling Stones has brought them some new maturity, and it shows here in a rich and well-crafted third effort.
DC United at Colorado Rapids. The bad: My dad and I stood in the sub-freezing temps and blowing snow to watch United lose. The good: 16,000+ other people showed up too, and went home happy (if slightly frostbitten) after seeing the hometown team open their spanking new stadium in style. Despite its horrible name, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is a fantastic venue, and I’m looking forward to going back. The Rapids looked good, and I’ll have no problem supporting them when they’re not playing DC.
HBO’s Sunday lineup: The Sopranos and Entourage. Completely justifying the extra $8 a month on my cable bill.

Spring Cleaning

The windows are open, the sun is shining, and it’s time to clean out the clutter. In that spirit, here’s a bunch of stuff I’ve been meaning to review but just haven’t gotten around to:
iConcertCal. This plugin for iTunes has become one of my favorite technological advances of recent months. Install this puppy, enter the city where you live, and it will look at all the artists in your iTunes library and tell you when any of them are playing nearby. Unlike some other concert calendar plugins I’ve tried, this one actually covers all the major (and nearly all the minor) venues in Denver and Boulder. It’s also a timesaver, since I don’t have to go through and manually enter artists I’m interested in, and I no longer have to constantly browse multiple websites in search of shows to see. In the two days since I downloaded iConcertCal, it’s already led me to upcoming shows by Bloc Party and Rush (at Red Rocks!). Sweet.
The Wire: Season One. It’s taken me a while, but I finally started listening to everyone and their brother who have been telling me how amazing this HBO series is. You were right, OK? It’s a great show, and it’s eating up all my free time lately. I hope you’re happy.
Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. Johnny Marr (formerly of The Smiths and The The) climbs on board for the latest (and poppiest) Modest Mouse album, and the result is a rollicking rock album that makes me want to dance every time I listen.
Citizen Kane. I picked this special edition up at Costco for the criminally low price of $8.99. It had been a long time since I had last seen this movie (universally accepted as one of the greatest films ever made), and this crisp restoration gave me a new appreciation for it. At first glance, the movie seems to be full of clichés (lighting, storytelling, camera moves), until you realize that in 1941, nobody else was doing this stuff. At the time, Orson Welles’ masterpiece was incredibly groundbreaking, and set the template for decades to come. (Apparently, the making-of documentary on the second disc is pretty good too, but I haven’t gotten around to watching that yet.)
Conan, Volumes 1 and 2, Dark Horse Comics. When I was a little kid, my dad used to tell me stories about Conan to put me to bed. I’m not sure what his source material was, but as far as I can remember, they always followed the same basic pattern (Conan comes to a village, a beautiful woman/village leader asks for his help from the monster/bandits/tyrant threatening the village, Conan defeats them, gets his reward, and continues on his way), and that since I was 4 or 5 years old at the time, they were about as G-rated as a Conan story can get. But thanks to Dad’s stories, interest in the barbarian’s adventures always stuck with me, and I’ve continued to read and watch Conan’s various incarnations through the years, mostly with differing levels of disappointment. So when I saw that Dark Horse was going begin adapting Robert E. Howard’s original stories in comic book form, I was a little skeptical. After all, Marvel Comics’s ongoing series in the 70’s and 80’s left a lot to be desired. But Kurt Busiek and Cary Nord have done a masterful job with this current incarnation, and have treated Conan rather faithfully to Howard’s original vision: A thief and a warrior, a lover of wine and women, at heart a bit of a country boy often confused by civilization, but never afraid to let his sword do the talking. More than any other version since Howard’s original stories, this series is truest to the spirit of Conan, and the gorgeous art only helps to make it an enjoyable read.
Hellboy: Blood & Iron. I’ve said before that Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy is one of the most underrated comic book movies ever made. Thankfully, a sequel is in the works, but until then, I’m happy to watch the latest in a series of animated movies from Cartoon Network starring the voices of nearly all the actors from the live action movie. For a “cartoon,” this movie (featuring a host of vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and the goddess of death), is pretty damn creepy.
It’s Superman!, Tom de Haven. A reimagining of the Superman origin myth, set against the backdrop of 1930’s America (no “Metropolis” here, only real cities and cameos from plenty of historical figures). I’m not sure I agree with all of de Haven’s characterizations (Clark Kent as a intellectually “simple” farmboy?), but it was an interesting revisionist take on how Clark, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor came together for the first time.