It's almost the end of the year and, of course, that means the obligatory year-in-review lists. As tiresome as these lists may seem, though, it's always interesting to look back on everything that's come out in the past year, because you really do forget sometimes how recently something came out. Case in point: Gnarls Barkley's "the Odd Couple." Maybe it's just because I've been listening to it a lot since it's come out, but it feels like way more than a year since it's release. In any case, though, it's always interesting to revisit everything from the past year to really give the year's music a solid evaluation.
I'll be working on putting together a best of 2008 list within the next few weeks, but in the mean time, are there any albums from this past year that stood out to you? Seriously, if you're reading this, comment. I'd love to hear other opinions.
11 December 2008
01 December 2008
Epilogue
Here I am, sitting in the B concourse of the Philadelphia International Airport, stuck between Minneapolis and Baltimore after one flight cancelation and two flight delays, and figuring now would be a good time to give my epilogue to the Obama campaign note I wrote before. (In fact, I'm writing this without internet and a bit inebriated, so please bear with if I'm a bit redundant). Anyway, here goes nothing.
To be honest, there isn't much that's changed in my mind since the campaign ended. I'm still in awe that I did a thing to change anything, or that anything has changed at all. Right now, I'm still waiting tables, earning shit wages; but I'm still hopeful for the future. Not just because we now have a candidate in office who's prepared to work for change, but because we now have a nation that's ready for change. Yeah, I know, we still don't see eye-to-eye on all (or even most) political issues, but we're at least unified on what needs to change. First time we've even had that in a while, in this country. How we go from here is still a mystery, but I still think we're at least one step closer to getting done what we have to.
In any case, I've still sort of skirted around summarizing my feelings on the campaign experience, so here it goes: Never underestimate the kindness of strangers, always be willing to contribute more than a vote to an idea you believe in, and never stop working after an election. It's just the beginning.
To be honest, there isn't much that's changed in my mind since the campaign ended. I'm still in awe that I did a thing to change anything, or that anything has changed at all. Right now, I'm still waiting tables, earning shit wages; but I'm still hopeful for the future. Not just because we now have a candidate in office who's prepared to work for change, but because we now have a nation that's ready for change. Yeah, I know, we still don't see eye-to-eye on all (or even most) political issues, but we're at least unified on what needs to change. First time we've even had that in a while, in this country. How we go from here is still a mystery, but I still think we're at least one step closer to getting done what we have to.
In any case, I've still sort of skirted around summarizing my feelings on the campaign experience, so here it goes: Never underestimate the kindness of strangers, always be willing to contribute more than a vote to an idea you believe in, and never stop working after an election. It's just the beginning.
11 November 2008
A Long Overdue Update
First off, let me apologize for the delay in writing my post-campaign entry. It took a few days for it to sink in (and a lot still hasn't), and for me to just gather the energy to go through everything that happened in my mind again. So, this'll probably be a ramble more than a chronicle, but if you read on, I promise there's at least a few good stories (and pictures) in here.
In telling this story (and I really am just telling this as a personal story, since there's more than enough election coverage out there already), it makes sense to divide it into three parts: acclimation, campaigning as usual, and the final days/election day. So, without further adieu:
I. Acclimation
As I mentioned in a previous post, this job really jumped out at me. I got the call to come out on a Thursday, left for Ohio Friday, and reported for duty Sunday. Though I technically spent that weekend hanging out with friends at Denison during our homecoming weekend, I quickly found myself spending all of my time during the day running around campus trying to scan/fax/print out a mountain of paperwork I needed to get in by that Sunday to become officially employed by the campaign. (Let me tell you, I've never been happier to have a scanned copy of my birth certificate/State Department certificate on my computer. Made this whole process infinitely easier). But anyway, I get a call on Saturday from the Columbus headquarters telling me I'm going to be sent up to Canton. Naturally, I take a few minutes to get directions from Google Maps to that area, and look up a few facts about the area just so I'm not jumping in completely blind.
Sunday, however, things change. As I'm leaving Denison, I call Columbus to check in and make sure my paperwork went through alright. The paperwork's fine, but it turns out I'm now headed to Akron. The sudden change threw me off balance at first, but then I realized I really had no familiarity with either Canton or Akron, so it made no difference where they sent me. After getting new directions and saying my goodbyes, I headed northwest to the Akron headquarters on the corner of Merriman and Market.
Despite being fully aware of the fact that I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into, I still had a few preconceptions of what I would be doing and the type of environment I would be working in (mostly drawn from my stint as an intern on the O'Malley/Brown campaign in '06). The Akron office, though not exactly as I had pictured it, came pretty close. It was your stereotypical storefront campaign office; with long tables filled with phones and volunteers, laptops everywhere with campaign stickers on the backs, and quote-filled posters on every wall. Walking in, I was getting pretty excited for the type of work I would be doing in this city.
After sitting down with our Regional Director, Max, however, my hopes and expectations were quickly shattered and replaced with more mystery. Turns out the Akron office wasn't my staging location, just the regional office I would be reporting to. My actual sphere of operation was further to the north, in a town called Twinsburg. So, after getting the phone number for LM, my Field Organizer, and Sharon & Steve, my host family, I once again drove off into the great unknown.
The first thing that struck me about Twinsburg was how it didn't just stand in stark contrast to other towns around it, it stood in stark contrast with itself. In terms of organization, it reminded me a bit of Columbia; subdivided into little "villages," each with its own shopping center. These villages, though, were a strange mix of golf-course condos mostly owned by retirees, average suburban single-family houses, blue collar neighborhoods (with no sidewalks and streets in poor repair), and even a projects community. I could tell this was going to be a difficult area to target supporters in.
After meeting up with Steve and Sharon (and their amazing dog, Biscuit) around 9:00 PM, I headed out once again to meet up with LM at our local office. Not having a specific address, Steve gave me the best directions he could; telling me to just drive down Rt. 82 and look for the house with
the "Barack Obama for President" banner in the front porch. I headed out and down Rt. 82, and didn't really realize until I had crossed county lines into Cuyahoga County that I had possibly gone too far. Long story short, though: I found the place, met with LM, and went back to Steve and Sharon's around 10 (the earliest night I would ever have on this job). Got up the next morning, headed back to Akron for a weekly regional staff meeting, and was officially introduced to the whole staff. After that, I went back to Twinsburg, and got to work.
II. Campaigning as Usual
First off, let me point out (if you didn't get it already) that the above title is a joke. There is absolutely nothing "usual" about campaigning. To chronicle everything I did leading up to the election would probably be ineffectual, unentertaining, and leave me with no motivation to finish this post, so I'll boil it down to the basics. During the days, I either ran odd jobs for LM, canvassed local neighborhoods, or worked on recruiting volunteers. At night, I ran the volunteer shifts out of our office. Before Get Out The Vote week (the final phase of the campaign, which I'll explain in greater detail soon), we only really had volunteers coming in from 5-9 and doing phonebanking. Basically, we had the volunteers calling undecided voters and "sporadic Democrats" (people who don't go to the polls that often, but vote Dem when they do) and just talking to them about Obama. After we stopped our calls at 9, my job was to tally all the numbers of the day - number of calls made, number of contacts made, and number of voters committed to early vote - and submit them to LM.
Ah crap, I missed a part of the story. Typical. Anyway, the reason LM couldn't just take these numbers himself was that he wasn't there anymore. Him and I were responsible for 3 towns, Twinsburg, Macedonia, and Northfield (another fact I forgot to mention. Sorry again), so he
started working out of Northfield and Macedonia as soon as I was hired, leaving me in charge of Twinsburg. Anyway, now you're caught up, so let's continue.
Last thing I had to do each night was enter the data from all the calls so we could print fresh lists the next day for our phonebankers. Because our "grassroots" (see: strapped for resources) office didn't have internet, though, I found myself leeching wireless wherever I could to get all the data in before the midnight deadline. For the first few days, this meant sitting in my car outside a hotel and using their unencrypted wireless to do the numbers. After a while, though, a local teacher's union gave us keys to their office, so LM and I could have somewhere indoors to do internet-related stuff from.
Anyway, that was the skeleton structure for my average (if you could ever call it that) day. Random events would come up, such as Michelle Obama speaking at a highschool in Akron, that I'd take time off to go and help work. Until Wednesday, October 29th (the Wednesday before the election), though, I mostly stuck to that routine.
III. The Final Days/Election Day
As I mentioned before, our last coordinated campaign effort was called Get Out The Vote (GOTV, for short). At that point, we were working out of the office all day every day, sending canvassers out to talk face to face with undecided voters. This leg of the campaign really embodied the whole philosophy of the Obama campaign, which was to have local supporters talk to local voters to show that this election was about their own communities, and not just some singular blanket effort to win over voters with tactics such as robocalls or attack ads. Getting back to the point, though, the canvassing was the backbone of what we were doing. And, since our regular volunteers were mostly older women who didn't fancy lots of walking or interacting with total strangers, I had a lot of new volunteer recruiting to do. I succeeded modestly, but there were still days where we had almost no volunteers. During those days (such as Wednesday, when it started snowing for no goddamn reason), I had to go out and canvass on my own. I really met the full range of individuals while doing these routes; ranging from the old guys who threatened to rip my Obama/Biden button off and shove it down my throat to the WWII vet who, after having a half hour conversation with me about his genuinely undecided vote (as opposed to those who are too apathetic to vote but too lazy to come up with a decent reason why), told me it was young people like me who gave him hope for the future of this country. That one really stuck with me, and does still. Also, it seems that all the interesting stories come from old people. Younger-to-middle-aged voters really just tell you their opinion and close the door. Older people really let loose when you ask their opinion, and regardless of how they feel, it always makes for a better story.
Getting back to the point, though, the canvassing of undecided voters ran from Wednesday until Sunday. After that, the campaign figured it wasn't worth our resources to continue to contact these undecideds, and instead focused everything on mobilizing our base. Monday, we spent the entire day putting door hangers up on the doors of local Democrats, telling them where, when, and what to bring to vote. Though that was easier to recruit volunteers for (since there was no interaction with strangers), we were still short-handed. I wound up doing 2 precincts by myself until about 10 PM. After getting back to the office, I had to quickly run out and print the maps for election day canvassing (where we would be knocking on every supporter's door and making sure everyone voted), so I left Sharon to close up shop for the night.
Now, whenever I closed the office for the night, all I had to do was lock the front door, turn off the lights, and make sure the back door stayed unlocked. You see, we didn't have a key to the place, so locking the back door was a pretty bad idea for us. And Sharon did just that.
By the time I finished all my prep work for the following day, it was around 1 AM. Though some sleep may be better than none, I had no choice to be up and ready to at 4 AM on the big day. To make things more disorienting, the state office - who had the phone numbers of every staffer in the state - woke us all up at 4 with a robo-wakeup call from former president Bill Clinton. Waking up to a phone call from that guy has to be one of the strangest ways to start a sleep-deprived day ever.
Getting to the office and finding it was locked, I quickly narrowed my options down to one: break in. Now, our office was right off a pretty major road; a road that had become infested with cops in the days leading up to the election. Since the only open window was on a side of the house that faced the road, I first made sure to call LM and let him know what I was doing, and to call the Sheriff's station and post bail if he didn't hear back from me again in 10 minutes. Thankfully, though, I got in just fine.
Election day in itself was just too chaotic to describe, but I will say it was a mad rush right up until the second the polls closed. My day basically started with me chasing Republicans, who were giving voters wrong information about where to vote and who was eligible, out of the projects area, and ended with me being driven around by a madman after dark to knock on the doors of supporters who had already voted just to make sure. Hey, that late in the game, I didn't really have enough dignity left to care what people thought. But 7:30 came, polls closed, and I cracked open a beer with the other canvassers.
Sometime soon I'll getting around to writing an epilogue for this, both about what happened after the polls closed and the memories that stuck with me. That's for another time, though. Even just attempting to retell this mess has gotten my head in a spin, so I'll try to collect my thoughts so I can leave you with a much more concise and oriented conclusion. To leave you with something to summarize this mess, though, I'll just say this: I've answered more requests with "hold on, let me put my pants on" in those two weeks on the campaign than I probably have in the rest of my life.
In telling this story (and I really am just telling this as a personal story, since there's more than enough election coverage out there already), it makes sense to divide it into three parts: acclimation, campaigning as usual, and the final days/election day. So, without further adieu:
I. Acclimation
As I mentioned in a previous post, this job really jumped out at me. I got the call to come out on a Thursday, left for Ohio Friday, and reported for duty Sunday. Though I technically spent that weekend hanging out with friends at Denison during our homecoming weekend, I quickly found myself spending all of my time during the day running around campus trying to scan/fax/print out a mountain of paperwork I needed to get in by that Sunday to become officially employed by the campaign. (Let me tell you, I've never been happier to have a scanned copy of my birth certificate/State Department certificate on my computer. Made this whole process infinitely easier). But anyway, I get a call on Saturday from the Columbus headquarters telling me I'm going to be sent up to Canton. Naturally, I take a few minutes to get directions from Google Maps to that area, and look up a few facts about the area just so I'm not jumping in completely blind.
Sunday, however, things change. As I'm leaving Denison, I call Columbus to check in and make sure my paperwork went through alright. The paperwork's fine, but it turns out I'm now headed to Akron. The sudden change threw me off balance at first, but then I realized I really had no familiarity with either Canton or Akron, so it made no difference where they sent me. After getting new directions and saying my goodbyes, I headed northwest to the Akron headquarters on the corner of Merriman and Market.
Despite being fully aware of the fact that I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into, I still had a few preconceptions of what I would be doing and the type of environment I would be working in (mostly drawn from my stint as an intern on the O'Malley/Brown campaign in '06). The Akron office, though not exactly as I had pictured it, came pretty close. It was your stereotypical storefront campaign office; with long tables filled with phones and volunteers, laptops everywhere with campaign stickers on the backs, and quote-filled posters on every wall. Walking in, I was getting pretty excited for the type of work I would be doing in this city.
After sitting down with our Regional Director, Max, however, my hopes and expectations were quickly shattered and replaced with more mystery. Turns out the Akron office wasn't my staging location, just the regional office I would be reporting to. My actual sphere of operation was further to the north, in a town called Twinsburg. So, after getting the phone number for LM, my Field Organizer, and Sharon & Steve, my host family, I once again drove off into the great unknown.
The first thing that struck me about Twinsburg was how it didn't just stand in stark contrast to other towns around it, it stood in stark contrast with itself. In terms of organization, it reminded me a bit of Columbia; subdivided into little "villages," each with its own shopping center. These villages, though, were a strange mix of golf-course condos mostly owned by retirees, average suburban single-family houses, blue collar neighborhoods (with no sidewalks and streets in poor repair), and even a projects community. I could tell this was going to be a difficult area to target supporters in.
After meeting up with Steve and Sharon (and their amazing dog, Biscuit) around 9:00 PM, I headed out once again to meet up with LM at our local office. Not having a specific address, Steve gave me the best directions he could; telling me to just drive down Rt. 82 and look for the house with
the "Barack Obama for President" banner in the front porch. I headed out and down Rt. 82, and didn't really realize until I had crossed county lines into Cuyahoga County that I had possibly gone too far. Long story short, though: I found the place, met with LM, and went back to Steve and Sharon's around 10 (the earliest night I would ever have on this job). Got up the next morning, headed back to Akron for a weekly regional staff meeting, and was officially introduced to the whole staff. After that, I went back to Twinsburg, and got to work.II. Campaigning as Usual
First off, let me point out (if you didn't get it already) that the above title is a joke. There is absolutely nothing "usual" about campaigning. To chronicle everything I did leading up to the election would probably be ineffectual, unentertaining, and leave me with no motivation to finish this post, so I'll boil it down to the basics. During the days, I either ran odd jobs for LM, canvassed local neighborhoods, or worked on recruiting volunteers. At night, I ran the volunteer shifts out of our office. Before Get Out The Vote week (the final phase of the campaign, which I'll explain in greater detail soon), we only really had volunteers coming in from 5-9 and doing phonebanking. Basically, we had the volunteers calling undecided voters and "sporadic Democrats" (people who don't go to the polls that often, but vote Dem when they do) and just talking to them about Obama. After we stopped our calls at 9, my job was to tally all the numbers of the day - number of calls made, number of contacts made, and number of voters committed to early vote - and submit them to LM.
Ah crap, I missed a part of the story. Typical. Anyway, the reason LM couldn't just take these numbers himself was that he wasn't there anymore. Him and I were responsible for 3 towns, Twinsburg, Macedonia, and Northfield (another fact I forgot to mention. Sorry again), so he
started working out of Northfield and Macedonia as soon as I was hired, leaving me in charge of Twinsburg. Anyway, now you're caught up, so let's continue.Last thing I had to do each night was enter the data from all the calls so we could print fresh lists the next day for our phonebankers. Because our "grassroots" (see: strapped for resources) office didn't have internet, though, I found myself leeching wireless wherever I could to get all the data in before the midnight deadline. For the first few days, this meant sitting in my car outside a hotel and using their unencrypted wireless to do the numbers. After a while, though, a local teacher's union gave us keys to their office, so LM and I could have somewhere indoors to do internet-related stuff from.
Anyway, that was the skeleton structure for my average (if you could ever call it that) day. Random events would come up, such as Michelle Obama speaking at a highschool in Akron, that I'd take time off to go and help work. Until Wednesday, October 29th (the Wednesday before the election), though, I mostly stuck to that routine.
III. The Final Days/Election Day
As I mentioned before, our last coordinated campaign effort was called Get Out The Vote (GOTV, for short). At that point, we were working out of the office all day every day, sending canvassers out to talk face to face with undecided voters. This leg of the campaign really embodied the whole philosophy of the Obama campaign, which was to have local supporters talk to local voters to show that this election was about their own communities, and not just some singular blanket effort to win over voters with tactics such as robocalls or attack ads. Getting back to the point, though, the canvassing was the backbone of what we were doing. And, since our regular volunteers were mostly older women who didn't fancy lots of walking or interacting with total strangers, I had a lot of new volunteer recruiting to do. I succeeded modestly, but there were still days where we had almost no volunteers. During those days (such as Wednesday, when it started snowing for no goddamn reason), I had to go out and canvass on my own. I really met the full range of individuals while doing these routes; ranging from the old guys who threatened to rip my Obama/Biden button off and shove it down my throat to the WWII vet who, after having a half hour conversation with me about his genuinely undecided vote (as opposed to those who are too apathetic to vote but too lazy to come up with a decent reason why), told me it was young people like me who gave him hope for the future of this country. That one really stuck with me, and does still. Also, it seems that all the interesting stories come from old people. Younger-to-middle-aged voters really just tell you their opinion and close the door. Older people really let loose when you ask their opinion, and regardless of how they feel, it always makes for a better story.
Getting back to the point, though, the canvassing of undecided voters ran from Wednesday until Sunday. After that, the campaign figured it wasn't worth our resources to continue to contact these undecideds, and instead focused everything on mobilizing our base. Monday, we spent the entire day putting door hangers up on the doors of local Democrats, telling them where, when, and what to bring to vote. Though that was easier to recruit volunteers for (since there was no interaction with strangers), we were still short-handed. I wound up doing 2 precincts by myself until about 10 PM. After getting back to the office, I had to quickly run out and print the maps for election day canvassing (where we would be knocking on every supporter's door and making sure everyone voted), so I left Sharon to close up shop for the night.
Now, whenever I closed the office for the night, all I had to do was lock the front door, turn off the lights, and make sure the back door stayed unlocked. You see, we didn't have a key to the place, so locking the back door was a pretty bad idea for us. And Sharon did just that.
By the time I finished all my prep work for the following day, it was around 1 AM. Though some sleep may be better than none, I had no choice to be up and ready to at 4 AM on the big day. To make things more disorienting, the state office - who had the phone numbers of every staffer in the state - woke us all up at 4 with a robo-wakeup call from former president Bill Clinton. Waking up to a phone call from that guy has to be one of the strangest ways to start a sleep-deprived day ever.
Getting to the office and finding it was locked, I quickly narrowed my options down to one: break in. Now, our office was right off a pretty major road; a road that had become infested with cops in the days leading up to the election. Since the only open window was on a side of the house that faced the road, I first made sure to call LM and let him know what I was doing, and to call the Sheriff's station and post bail if he didn't hear back from me again in 10 minutes. Thankfully, though, I got in just fine.
Election day in itself was just too chaotic to describe, but I will say it was a mad rush right up until the second the polls closed. My day basically started with me chasing Republicans, who were giving voters wrong information about where to vote and who was eligible, out of the projects area, and ended with me being driven around by a madman after dark to knock on the doors of supporters who had already voted just to make sure. Hey, that late in the game, I didn't really have enough dignity left to care what people thought. But 7:30 came, polls closed, and I cracked open a beer with the other canvassers.
Sometime soon I'll getting around to writing an epilogue for this, both about what happened after the polls closed and the memories that stuck with me. That's for another time, though. Even just attempting to retell this mess has gotten my head in a spin, so I'll try to collect my thoughts so I can leave you with a much more concise and oriented conclusion. To leave you with something to summarize this mess, though, I'll just say this: I've answered more requests with "hold on, let me put my pants on" in those two weeks on the campaign than I probably have in the rest of my life.
23 October 2008
Hiatus
So it's looking like I'm going to be taking a break from the blogging for a while. Just found out the campaign here is really strict about blogging from its campaigners while under their employ, so I've gone ahead and removed all the posts I've made from the trail and am going to stay off here until November 5th. The last thing I'll say is this: VOLUNTEER! If you're around the Summit County area, give me a call for sure; and if not, give your local Obama office a call. This election won't just be determined by the efforts of the candidates, but also by the efforts of the volunteers.
16 October 2008
Whirlwind Changes
It's looking like this blog, and my life, are going to be shifting focuses for the next couple of weeks. As of yesterday, I was a new hire at Pizzeria Uno's, and planning to take the weekend off to go visit Denison for homecoming this weekend. Now, it's looking like I may be putting that job on hold until November and staying out in Ohio. Here's why:
Today, I got an e-mail from someone with the Obama campaign, offering me a position starting immediately out in Ohio. After I called back to get the details, I found out it's actually a deputy field director job (location tbd), and I'd basically be spending the next two weeks working 14 hour days for little to no pay and sleeping on the couch of local Obama supporters. Ironically, that actually sounds fun for me. So, my only dilemma is how to balance these two jobs. Since I'm leaving tomorrow for Ohio, my plan is to go into work tomorrow, explain the situation and ask for a three-week hiatus. And if that doesn't work, beg. And if that doesn't work, quit. Hell, it's just a waiting job. I'm sure I can find another one somewhere.
Since I'm going to have to make this decision within minutes of heading out to Ohio, the next post in this blog'll have to be from the Buckeye State.
Today, I got an e-mail from someone with the Obama campaign, offering me a position starting immediately out in Ohio. After I called back to get the details, I found out it's actually a deputy field director job (location tbd), and I'd basically be spending the next two weeks working 14 hour days for little to no pay and sleeping on the couch of local Obama supporters. Ironically, that actually sounds fun for me. So, my only dilemma is how to balance these two jobs. Since I'm leaving tomorrow for Ohio, my plan is to go into work tomorrow, explain the situation and ask for a three-week hiatus. And if that doesn't work, beg. And if that doesn't work, quit. Hell, it's just a waiting job. I'm sure I can find another one somewhere.
Since I'm going to have to make this decision within minutes of heading out to Ohio, the next post in this blog'll have to be from the Buckeye State.
11 October 2008
Some Music I'm Digging
I've recently realized that me continuing to try to give real reviews to albums on this site is pretty pointless, since I'm only really going to bother with albums which I'm going to give good ratings to in the first place. So, in lieu of giving album reviews, I'm just going to periodically post a blurb about music I'm currently digging. That's what I really started this blog for anyway (to share music I'm getting excited about), so this'll just be a more upfront and honest way to go about that.
Anyway, here's a quick rundown on what I've got on heavy rotation at the moment.
TV On The Radio - Dear Science:
This is TVOTR's third full-length album, and is easily their best. The album as a whole has a much higher production value, and the songs range from catchy to infectious to haunting. What ma This is the newest album from TVOTR, and just dropped on September 23, 2008. This is theirkes me like this album even more is that it's another one of those albums that's being released on vinyl with a free mp3 download. I got my copy off a third party seller on Amazon, but as the mp3 download code is packaged inside the sleeve, you can get the download anywhere you can find a vinyl copy.
Great on album, TVOTR is also an amazing live band. I saw them for the first time headlining in Columbus, OH in 2007, and again recently in Columbia, MD opening for Thievery Corporation. Both shows were amazing, never leaving you disengaged from what was happening on stage for a second. If you ever get a chance to see them live, be sure to capitalize on the opportunity.
Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations:
This album has been out for a while, but I've recently been rediscovering it. It's the most recent work from Mark Oliver Everett, more commonly referred to as E, and is actually a two disc compilation of songs recorded in E's house over the past seven years. As E puts it, Blinking Lights is about "God and all the questions related to the subject of God. It's also about hanging on to my remaining shreds of sanity and the blue sky that comes the day after a terrible storm, and it's a love letter to life itself, in all its beautiful, horrible glory." Almost every emotion that you could associate with that statement is hidden somewhere in this album, which makes it definitely worth checking out. Bonus fact: Tom Waits actually performs as a member of Eels on a few of the tracks in Blinking Lights.
Girl Talk - Feed The Animals:
I reviewed this album a while ago, but as it turns out, I was reviewing a forgery. Having had time to dissociate my impressions about the fake from the real thing, I finally got around to giving it an honest chance. Listening to it with new ears, I couldn't put it down. Simply put, it's a great hour-long party dance mix. Half of your attention will be focused on trying to identify the flurry of throwback samples, while the other half is just getting down with the beat. Right now, it's really one of those albums I don't have a problem listening to on repeat for a while. Bottom line, check it out if you like rap, 90s music, and music you can have a dance party to.
Okkervil River - The Stand Ins:
This is the follow up album to the widely-successful and highly-acclaimed 2007 album, The Stage Names. It's sound picks up right where The Stage Names left off, which makes sense seeing as how the two were originally going to be released as a double album. Like the last album, the second track off this album, "Lost Coastlines", has quickly become one of the most
listened-to tracks on my iPod and turntable. It's just freakin infectious.
In conclusion, the same themes are present, both musically and lyrically; so if you like The Stage Names be sure to check out The Stand Ins.
Aside from the contents of the album itself, this is one of those albums that's great because they're selling it on vinyl with free mp3 downloads. Okkervil's record company, Jagjaguwar, even gave the download code away pre-ordered the vinyl on the album's immediately to anyone who drop date. The last thing I'll mention about this album not related to the music is that the cover art of The Stage Names and The Stand Ins were designed to go together. If you look at The Stage Names above The Stand Ins, you get the complete picture that the band had thought up for the two albums. Seen above on the right, this image is supposed to give the idea that The Stand Ins is depicting what's going on just beneath the surface of The Stage Names. Interpret as you will.
Last thing I'll bring up is this video I recently re-discovered. The song is "War Photographer" from Jason Forrest's album "Shamelessly Exciting." It's pure awesomeness, plain and simple. The song itself is comprised almost completely of samples, including stuff from Earth Wind and Fire. The easiest way to describe the video itself is basically the duel from "the Devil Went Down To Georgia," but with Vikings. And horn sections. And zords like the ones from power rangers. Just watch it and figure it out for yourself. I promise you won't be disappointed.
Anyway, here's a quick rundown on what I've got on heavy rotation at the moment.
TV On The Radio - Dear Science:This is TVOTR's third full-length album, and is easily their best. The album as a whole has a much higher production value, and the songs range from catchy to infectious to haunting. What ma This is the newest album from TVOTR, and just dropped on September 23, 2008. This is theirkes me like this album even more is that it's another one of those albums that's being released on vinyl with a free mp3 download. I got my copy off a third party seller on Amazon, but as the mp3 download code is packaged inside the sleeve, you can get the download anywhere you can find a vinyl copy.
Great on album, TVOTR is also an amazing live band. I saw them for the first time headlining in Columbus, OH in 2007, and again recently in Columbia, MD opening for Thievery Corporation. Both shows were amazing, never leaving you disengaged from what was happening on stage for a second. If you ever get a chance to see them live, be sure to capitalize on the opportunity.
Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations:This album has been out for a while, but I've recently been rediscovering it. It's the most recent work from Mark Oliver Everett, more commonly referred to as E, and is actually a two disc compilation of songs recorded in E's house over the past seven years. As E puts it, Blinking Lights is about "God and all the questions related to the subject of God. It's also about hanging on to my remaining shreds of sanity and the blue sky that comes the day after a terrible storm, and it's a love letter to life itself, in all its beautiful, horrible glory." Almost every emotion that you could associate with that statement is hidden somewhere in this album, which makes it definitely worth checking out. Bonus fact: Tom Waits actually performs as a member of Eels on a few of the tracks in Blinking Lights.
Girl Talk - Feed The Animals:I reviewed this album a while ago, but as it turns out, I was reviewing a forgery. Having had time to dissociate my impressions about the fake from the real thing, I finally got around to giving it an honest chance. Listening to it with new ears, I couldn't put it down. Simply put, it's a great hour-long party dance mix. Half of your attention will be focused on trying to identify the flurry of throwback samples, while the other half is just getting down with the beat. Right now, it's really one of those albums I don't have a problem listening to on repeat for a while. Bottom line, check it out if you like rap, 90s music, and music you can have a dance party to.
Okkervil River - The Stand Ins:
This is the follow up album to the widely-successful and highly-acclaimed 2007 album, The Stage Names. It's sound picks up right where The Stage Names left off, which makes sense seeing as how the two were originally going to be released as a double album. Like the last album, the second track off this album, "Lost Coastlines", has quickly become one of the most
listened-to tracks on my iPod and turntable. It's just freakin infectious.In conclusion, the same themes are present, both musically and lyrically; so if you like The Stage Names be sure to check out The Stand Ins.
Aside from the contents of the album itself, this is one of those albums that's great because they're selling it on vinyl with free mp3 downloads. Okkervil's record company, Jagjaguwar, even gave the download code away pre-ordered the vinyl on the album's immediately to anyone who drop date. The last thing I'll mention about this album not related to the music is that the cover art of The Stage Names and The Stand Ins were designed to go together. If you look at The Stage Names above The Stand Ins, you get the complete picture that the band had thought up for the two albums. Seen above on the right, this image is supposed to give the idea that The Stand Ins is depicting what's going on just beneath the surface of The Stage Names. Interpret as you will.
Last thing I'll bring up is this video I recently re-discovered. The song is "War Photographer" from Jason Forrest's album "Shamelessly Exciting." It's pure awesomeness, plain and simple. The song itself is comprised almost completely of samples, including stuff from Earth Wind and Fire. The easiest way to describe the video itself is basically the duel from "the Devil Went Down To Georgia," but with Vikings. And horn sections. And zords like the ones from power rangers. Just watch it and figure it out for yourself. I promise you won't be disappointed.
03 October 2008
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