January 2010
111 posts
glassanimal: (overheard @ the f.y.e. bargain bin)... →
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Programming Note
I’m going to be on vacation for a week so I may be a little sporadic in my posting. I just wanted to make a very quick follow up to Mike’s post yesterday about Surfer Blood.
In general I do like that this site stays away from overly condescending snark. If I could remove the hype from my reaction to the record I would probably like it a little more. There was a bit of...
glassanimal: It must be hard for a late career... →
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RE: SURFER BLOOD
Oh Ben, how long ago was it that Zach gave this blog his blessing? When he said The Big Opus would finally be a place he could read about new music recommendations from guys with expert taste and none of the snobbish cynicism of Pitchfork? THAT WAS LIKE SIX WEEKS AGO!! Look, I’m just as skeptical as you are about some of these new pfork/blog faves of the last few years, especially the...
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Ben Flash: Shuffle Says: Stay Cool by The Roots... →
Ben Flash: "Phoenix opens Cultural Olympiad with... →
glassanimal: Who's doing the @rpmchallenge this... →
glassanimal: Interested to read what... →
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Girls Night by First Rate People.
This song goes...
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Continued Genius?
Expectation can be a funny thing. In a lot of cases it just isn’t under your control. And the problem with expectation is that it almost always deadens the impact of the thing that you were anticipating.
I’m thinking about this because of Sheffield Inc.’s comment in my “Finding the Found” post:
I would wager that those bands that you were forced to wait for as...
Ben Flash: A MASSIVE Paste magazine article on... →
Ben Flash: Shuffle Says: Aquemini by Outkast from... →
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Finding the Found
Since I left my “hippie-kid” persona behind for the more rewarding “indie-snob” moniker my focus as a music fan has tended to be on discovering the next big thing. This is both a defense mechanism in case something I like becomes wildly popular and mainstream and a way for me to feel like I’ve got some special insight that separates me from the average music consumer. This is a well-worn and...
Ben Flash: Shuffle Says: The Mending of the Gown... →
Ben Flash: This Onion article pretty much sums up... →
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Why do I love all this stupid shit?
“All I Want” by a guy in Scotland called Unicorn Kid. I love this, and I feel this fact demonstrates either my extreme genius or my extreme stupidity. Or both.
glassanimal: dreamt that me and ben had a meeting... →
Ben Flash: MIKE! Curious about your take on the... →
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Super Munday: Finding the Time.
About six weeks ago Mike and I decided to do something on the blog that was supposed to be a weekly feature. It was to be called Super Sunday and it would involve us specifically taking time out from the blogging week to focus on our own music. This decision went against the initial spirit of the blog in that both of us had participated in blogs that failed under the weight of pressure and...
Ben Flash: Shuffle Says: Animal Tracks by Mountain... →
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glassanimal: "that guy is a piece of work! is he a... →
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glassanimal: RT @hipsterrunoff: wonder if I should... →
glassanimal: @cmgzine on Vampire Weekend: "Just... →
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Ben Flash: "So while we can assume the... →
Ben Flash: Shuffle Says: Put You on the Game by... →
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The Go-Betweens
Here is my favorite Go-Betweens song, “Streets Of Your Town” from 16 Lovers Lane (1988).
From what I can tell, the Go-Betweens seem to have been a huge critical success in the 80’s, based largely on the frothing fanship of one Robert Christgau, who called the group “the greatest songwriting partnership working today.” I had them in Rotation at WGSU and I saw...
Ben Flash: At least I got one good piece of news... →
glassanimal: Wouldn't it be hilarious and weirdly... →
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RE: Three Great Albums Released in January
One of the clients at my old company produced that Strokes album. For that reason, we listened to it in the office fairly consistently for the better part of a year. At first we all hated it, but I found myself walking down my old block one day singing some song to myself. “What is this song? I like this song!” … Lo and behold, it was from that Strokes album. When I went...
glassanimal: Just got a care package with new... →
Ben Flash: My nomination for most inane story ever... →
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Three Great Albums Released in January
The early part of the year can sometimes be a rough period for new releases. Mike and I have referenced the February/March period where it feels like you’re never going to hear another great record. But in honour of Spoon’s excellent Transference, which will inevitably take the edge off the March doldrums, I thought I would highlight three other really good records that came out in...
Ben Flash: These wikipedia pages for every year in... →
Ben Flash: Shuffle Says: Exit Music (For a Film)... →
Ben Flash: I'm almost sure I like this... →
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But how are you really doing?
I read this enjoyable interview of Kieren Hebden (aka Four Tet) in Pitchfork earlier today. I liked it. It’s good to check in now and then with a musician who has been consistently good, if not great, if not incredible these past ten years.
I find that interviews of new bands are often really similar — an excited kid with some neat new idea about how to do things a little...
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“Both (“Goodnight Laura” and “Trouble Comes Running”)...”
– From the pfork review of Spoon’s Transference, wherein the critic acknowledges the site’s consistent inability to give fair ratings to amazing records on account of the band’s previous work. Rating: 7.8
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Man, you mean if I want to maintain a blog that people actually go to I need to post something EVERY DAY!
Well shit. I ain’t gots no ideas today.
So here’s a link to Mike’s epic songs of the decade list which you only have a couple more weeks to come up with contributions too.
And here’s a picture of Neko Case, just cause.
(hey no one said the posts had to be...
Ben Flash: Transference! An early contender for... →
Ben Flash: Shuffle Says: Bombs Away by The Police... →
Ben Flash: They're using Spoon as the background... →
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A belated take on xx.
I recently acquired The xx’s eponymous debut album. It has taken me a while to come around on this band, whose early singles and individual tracks struck me as pleasant enough but not particularly worthy of the hype. I downloaded “Islands” through iTunes because it was their track of the week and it didn’t cause me to jump at getting the album.
However after another bout...
Ben Flash: Shuffle Says Vol 2.: A Life of... →
Ben Flash: Shuffle Says: Moving by The Seconds... →