September 2011
15 posts
4 tags
Post #1,696
To the Readers of The Big Opus,
In case it hasn’t been made clear by the dozen or so previous posts,
The Big Opus is announcing today that we’re shutting down our formal
blogging activity. In the spirit of stealing ideas from the bands we
love the most, let’s not call this the end. Let’s say, “indefinite hiatus.”
The music we love is changing at a...
4 tags
Because,
I recently acquired a mini-van, thus continuing inexorably towards cliched adulthood, but find myself listening to the top 40 station in 15 minute intervals. I now have very strong opinions about the awfulness of Rihanna’s “Cheers”*, and find myself humming “Moves Like Jagger” incessantly.
It has been instructive and infuriating, but mostly it feels like something...
5 tags
Because,
As the first sign of the apocalypse appeared in Olympia last weekend, the world will probably be over soon, and then who’s going to be around to read this?
Here, the incalculably talented Phil Elvrum, of The Microphones and Mount Eerie, slam dunks “Got Money,” by Lil Wayne.
2 tags
Because,
A user named sangennaro “liked” a post I did for The Big Opus. This is notable because sangennaro is the alias of Rjyan Kidwell, perhaps my favorite musician of the past decade.
What else am I supposed to accomplish, anyway?
2 tags
Because,
I got an electric guitar for my birthday - a cheap telecaster knockoff that sounds great. It’s more fun to play with than my computer.
2 tags
Because,
I came back from my recent vacation with six books, two CDs, one piece of vinyl, and a ukulele. Reading has been more interesting than writing. Playing has been more interesting than listening.
3 tags
Because,
It started being more fun to participate in creative projects, rather than play spectator.
3 tags
Because,
I saw EMA perform and it made most everything else seem contrived and stupid.
3 tags
Because,
if the blog goes on any longer I’m going to have to admit that Mike was right about Glee.
2 tags
Because,
try as I might I can’t juggle all the bowling pins. I sometimes feel like I’m becoming a cliche.Work, family, music. I have all of those things. What I don’t have, right now, is the time to contextualize it all in real time. I find my hours packed from morning ‘till night. And part of the reason I haven’t enjoyed music in the same way this year is every time...
4 tags
Because,
In Seattle Washington, I attended a Nevermind 20th Anniversary exhibit. On display, the Kurt Cobain drawing below, of his band Nirvana in its early incarnation with Chad Channing as the drummer. I remember talking with my friend Mike about this image when we were kids, which we saw in the Nirvana biography, Come As You Are, by Michael Azerrad. We appreciated the artistic license that Cobain took...
4 tags
Because,
The only music magazine I even removed from a shelf in Portland, OR was a copy of Yeti. And this was because my friend Eleanor (her music is released under the name Happy New Year) contributed a 12-minute-long (excellent) song to its accompanying CD. She also occupied the last paragraph of the last page of the book with the track summary, a page she shared with one of her own favorite bands,...
3 tags
Because,
At Amoeba records in San Francisco, I found a copy of Maxinquaye, the debut album by Tricky which I came very close to buying on eMusic several times, in a clearance bin for $1.95. I grabbed it like a cat snatching a toy. I carried it around for a few minutes until I came to the realization that there is no longer any reason for me to own a physical copy of this album.
With the current...
3 tags
Because,
I have subscribed to Spotify, the service that allows me unlimited access to 15 million songs directly from the site. The effect is identical to having spent $15 million in the iTunes store, along with the hardware firepower to store it keep all this at my fingertips, and the currently non-existent technology to make this staggering amount of storage small enough for my front jeans pocket....
3 tags
Because,
Los Campesinos! just announced their next record is arriving November 14, and I’m still too out of breath from the last one even to think about writing about the new one.