If pressed to name something that doesn't suck about dial-up, I suppose I could credit this short bus-slow connection for my rejuvenated appreciation of the full-length album.
Stripped of the ease and frequency with which I was heretofore able to raid the mp3 blogosphere (thank you Hype Machine and Elbo.ws), I've taken a step back in time and am actually buying CDs again. Remember when people used to do that?
And save for the money thing, I must say I am enjoying myself. I've missed music as a tangible medium, and it's been fun to revisit some of my new-CD idiosyncrasies; like the How-Many-Discs-Can-I-Unwrap-Between-The-Register-And-The-Car game.
In all seriousness, the internet will never keep me or any real music fan away from the record stores. Albums are albums, and are recorded to be absorbed as such. But when one can instantly shave the meat off any brand-new release with nothing more than a high-speed connection and some well-pointed search savvy, it can also be easy tempting to use the instant gratification of cyberspace as a crutch.
But now I'm on dial-up. Gone, for the moment, are the glory days of lazily snagging one or five free mp3s of a new release and telling myself I've heard the record. Instead, I'm driving to the store, buying the sumbitches and listening to them straight through, in their entirety. No ipods, no song shuffle, but albums. I love it.
Anyway, here are some quick, vague notes on my latest crop...with sample mp3s, of course.
--
Amos Lee - Supply And Demand
Soulful folk crooner's second release on the Blue Note label. I'm still not quite sure how he's on that label, but somehow it makes the songs on this disc sound even cooler. Especially impressed by the balladry on this record, where he sounds like a down-to-earth Ryan Adams with some soul. This is one of the more upbeat tracks.
--
John Butler Trio - Sunrise Over Sea
Great guitarist. Funky Australian folk/rock. Somehow his music just sounds Australian...and it's not his accent (he doesn't really sing with one). Men At Work?
John Butler Trio - "Treat Yo Mama"
--
The Black Crowes - Amorica
When this first came out in 94, I remember being pissed off that it didn't sound like the Black Crowes I had grown to love on Shake Your Money Maker and The Southern Harmony And Music Companion. To me, at the time, it was simply "that shitty new Crowes album with the controversial cover." Recently -- thanks to the new Lost Crowes release -- I revisited it with a more mature ear. Brilliant.
The Black Crowes - "Nonfiction"
--
G. Love And Special Sauce - Lemonade
G. Love is finally starting to sound a little more like his early-90s self again. The sometimes-cheesy Jack Johnson/Ben Harper/Donavon Frankenreiter consortium is still sort of in effect, but he makes up for it with tracks like this one.
--
The Scissor Sisters - Ta-Dah
Not as many hits as on their debut, but still a fun, funky, genre-defying throwdown. This song is humorous; in a strange way.
Recent Comments