Rule #6 In Music I Love:
A band doesn't need good lyrics, but it helps. A lot.

The Arcade Fire - "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)"
And if the snow buries my,
my neighborhood.
And if my parents are crying
then I'll dig a tunnel from my window to yours,
yeah a tunnel from my window to yours.
You climb out the chimney
and meet me in the middle,
the middle of town.
And since there's no one else around,
we let our hair grow long and forget all we used to know,
then our skin gets thicker from living out in the snow.

You change all the lead
sleepin' in my head,
as the day grows dim
I hear you sing a golden hymn.

Then we tried to name our babies,
but we forgot all the names that,
the names we used to know.
But sometimes, we remember our bedrooms,
and our parent's bedrooms,
and the bedrooms of our friends.
Then we think of our parents,
well what ever happened to them?!

You change all the lead
sleepin' in my head to gold,
as the day grows dim,
I hear you sing a golden hymn,
the song I've been trying to say.

Purify the colors, purify my mind.
Purify the colors, purify my mind,
and spread the ashes of the colors
over this heart of mine!

Death Cab for Cutie - "Styrofoam Plates"

there's a saltwater film on the jar of your
ashes: i threw them to sea but a gust
blew them backwards and the sting in my
eyes that you then inflicted was par for
the course just as when you were living.

it's no stretch to say you were not quite
a father but a donor of seeds to a poor
single mother that would raise us alone,
we'd never see the money that went
down your throat
through the hole in your belly.

thirteen years old in the suburbs of denver
standing in line for Thanksgiving dinner at the
catholic chuch. the servers wore crosses
to shield from the sufferance plauging the
others. styrofoam plates, cafateria tables
charity reeks of cheap wine and pity
and i'm thinking of you. i do every year
when we count all our blessings
and wonder what we're doing here.

you're a disgrace to the concept of family
the priest won't divulge that fact in his
homily and i'll stand up and scream
if the mourning remain quiet,
you can deck out a lie in a suit but i won't buy it.

i won't join in the procession that's
speaking their peace. using five dollar
words while praising his integrity. and just
cause he's gone it doesn't change the
fact: he was a bastard in life thus a
bastard in death.

--

Two examples.

Death Cab for Cutie tonight. (Adjectives to follow). Great! Awesome! Super-duper! Ben Gibb-irifc!

It’s a wonderful, wonderful, feeling to see a band you love. It’s like they’re playing for YOU. Not anybody else in the audience. But you. You sing every lyric, you feel every timechange, you experience the moment to the best of your abilites. You make it a memory.

I feel privilged and proud to have taken my girlfriend to her first great indie rock show. We’ve tried once or twice before, not as much as I’d like, but when you live in a corner of the country, the shows are scare. (And nothing compares to my six years in San Francisco anyway.) BUT! Finally. Tonight, we saw a band that I’ve loved for a year – and seeing for my first time – one of her new favorite bands. Also lucky enough to see a band at a relatively small venue while they embark on their journey upwards in recognition and audience-size. The audience was huge. And the venue was amazing. Well-air-conditioned, a modified club or bar of the past with multiple levels, a huge stage, and a lot of elbow room. The place is called Revolution, in Fort Lauderdale. I have a feeling we’ll be there again.

Finally, the show: It’s a rare thing (unfortantely) in these days to find a band with a consistent career. Death Cab for Cutie have four, high-quality CD’s with the odd weak song, but for the most part, a very large and very A-material catalog. Even their B-sides are great (Check out Death Cab’s bjork cover, “All Is Full of Love” for a real treat.) They played for about an hour an half, focusing mainly on their last two albums, one of which is huge in the vast-growing indie rock eruption. (Latins have explosions, we’ve got a slow, gradual, imbuing of awesomness in main-stream music (see Franz Ferdinand)). Lots of people really into the new stuff and though I think they’re best work is The Photo Album, the new stuff feels real modern and fresh. The finale of the night, the title track, Transatlantisicm, was sweeping and gorgeous. And I’m not exaggerating. The guitarist and Decemberists producer Chris Walla was strange, with his zombie look and Interpol-like-guitar-in-hand-dancing. Ben Gibbard, famous now because of the sublime Postal Service, was equally and brilliantly impressive. He sang with a ferocity over raging guitars and with quiet gentles on slower, heart-ier, tracks. Highlights: “Blacking out the Friction,” “Lightness,” “Why’d You Want to Live Here?,” “Movie Script Ending,” “Title and Regristration,” and “Transatlanticism.”

They mentioned at the end of the show that they’d be back soon. Which could mean they’re touring around the country, possibly in support or preparation of new material. New album soon, I predict. Can’t wait.

Shout-out to Danya and Val, two girls with great taste in music.

ohhh yeaahhhh (The Truth About Cheney's Untruths).

smell that? that's the smell of change.

Go Kerry/Edwards. Keep keeping it real.

I'm still here. Are you?

Been busy and not bloggy lately. Started school. It's quite cool, surprisingly. Studying Lit and writing, for a change, and loving it. Went to California. Had fun in the old home town. Spending a lot of time with my girl. All these things and more = not much time online anymore. For the better, I think.

If I have words to spare, or news to shout (!), you'll find it here. In the meantime, go buy Interpol's new album. And then call me and say "Hey, Elad, how do you know what great albums to get?" And I'll say, "Cause I'm awesome."

:)

I was first introduced to Ted Leo and the Pharmacists through my Chilean indie-rock friend Carmen, who yelled at me (through text) that I hadn't heard him yet. I'd seen the high-praised reviews but it didn't seem to be "my thing." I was listening to a lot of Mogwai and The American Analog Set then and I didn't know if another indie-rock singer-songwriter with a "and the" in the band name was right for me.

I was wrong. I was so so wrong.

Ted Leo turned out to be exactly what I needed. The perfect band to start off a day (after coffee, of course). Huge load of energy, danceable melodies, speed-guitar that would make Jonny Greenwood proud, and verbose lyrics that tickle my writer's brain. I loved the band from the first song I heard, Heart of Oak's "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?" for it's ska-inspired rhythm and stretched-out-structure.

The new album, Shake the Sheets, due out in October, trades in the extra-credit outros and interludes of the previous albums for a more streamlined, more provocative, more exciting sound. The album passes in a heartbeat or a wink, so fast, so full, so quick, it leaves you wanting more (and more and more). Although I must admit I miss some of the more complex structures and stories of Heart of Oak and Tyranny of Distance, the songs here have a brief power like that of a short story or poem.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists are a wonderfully fresh, wonderfully fun band that raises the indie rock flag and waves it like no other. I'd go so far as to say if you don't find yourself nodding your head and smiling to the below songs, you should go back to your Mariah Carey records. Dork.

Counting Down the Hours One of the highlights of the new album. Jovial, memorable. Be warned: Once you hear this, you'll want to listen to it again and again.

Under the Hedge A great song off The Tyranny of Distance. Almost a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. A sweet harmonious love-letter.

Bleeding Power (acoustic) This song is from Ted Leo's "Tell Balgeary, Belgury's Dead EP" while a full band version appears on the new album. This little acoustic piece showcases perfectly the stark, simple beauty of Ted Leo's voice and his violent strumming ability.

(I guess these don't work. wow, i'm late in finding this out. Um, sorry. Really.)

Yeah but nobody searches,
Nobody cares somehow.
When the loving that you've wasted,
Comes raining from a hapless cloud.

And I, myself, may look upon your face,
Disappear in the sweet, sweet gaze.
See the living that surrounds me,
Dissipate in a violent waste.

Can't you see what you've done to my heart
And soul...?
This is a wasteland now.

We spies, we slow hands,
Put the weights around yourself,
We spies, oh yeah, we slow hands,
You put the weights all around yourself.

Now...I submit my incentive is romance,
I watched the pole dance of the stars.
We rejoice cause the hurting is so painless,
From the distance of passing cars.

But I am married to your charms and grace.
Just be crazy like the good old days,
You make me wanna pick up a guitar,
And celebrate the myriad ways that I love you

Can't you see what you've done to my heart
And soul...?
This is a wasteland now.
We spies, yeah, we slow hands,
You put the weights all around yourself.
We spies, oh yeah, we slow hands,
Killer for hire, you know that yourself.

We spies, we slow hands,
Put the weights all around yourself.

We spies, oh yeah, we slow hands,
We retire like nobody else.
We spies, intimate slow hands,
Killer for hire, you know that yourself.
We spies, intimate slow hands,
You let the pace slap around the self.

-interpol.

the Bush administration lied to us again. This shouldn't be shocking or angering to me at this point, but for some reason it is. (Why?) Is it because they're finding new ways to do it? They dug up some dusty information on obvious targets and tried to take the attention away from Kerry.

In November, I'm sure this country will shout as loud as they can, "No more." No more lies, no more loopholes in a already-pock-marked system. No more political deception. It's ruining us.

On the recent episode of Bill Maher's HBO series, Michael Moore said this race is not "neck-in-neck" as the media would have you believe. Data from "Polls" can't be trusted. And neither can "news" between corporate-sponsored-smiles. This Election Day, millions of people who never would voted before (like me) will add our voices to the cry. Finally.

Hey! Once again, I must apologize for the random hiatus while I went Internet-less for awhile and then returned with a faster, better, connection than I've ever had before. (If you could see how fast I just filled my hard drive, you'd be amazed.)

I've been having a very enjoyable, very relaxing time, job-less, car-less, in South Florida. Mostly thanks to my girlfriend, Shawn. Without her, I'd be bored senseless and stuck in the same loneliness meets depressive stupor that I was in the last year or so. (or decade or so). I've been happy! Which is a weird, unfamiliar emotion for me. I'm like Homer in that bright-colored world of chocolate (or was it donuts? chocolate donuts?), unsure of the reality of the situation, but still willing to indulge in my surroundings by taking a bite of everything and just enjoying myself.

I'm looking for a job. Either a 9-to-5 computer thing or maybe some kind of teaching. I'm not sure which I'd prefer but I'm about the point where I'd take anything dangled in front of me. Go on. Dangle something. (Please.)

Music-wise, the new Interpol has been leaked and is pretty damn good. It hasn't hit me like Turn on the Bright Lights, but then again, it took me awhile to truly feel that album as well. I'll get back to you when it's offically released (september. ha!)

This weekend, during a trip to NYC (my first in awhile), I'll be attending the Siren Festival at Coney Island. Looking forward to it a lot mainly to see one of my favorite new bands, TV on the Radio. I've seen them a bunch of times over the last year and they never fail to enterain and amaze. I'm wondering what they'll do with a festival setting (like a few thousand more people than they're use to playing in front of) but I expect great things. Also, the Fiery Furnaces will be there and I just d/led their new album which is a pyschadelic orgy of piano, guitars, and harmonies. A fascinating piece of music that blows away their previous release, in my opinion.

Reading-wise, I've been enjoying the heck (the hell! the fuck! the arse!) out of A.L. Kennedy's Everything You Need, a book that I think all writers (especially the aspiring variety) should read. Unlike her other books, it doesn't end around page 200 and that's like a gift and a half! The characters are extremely well shaded, the relationship tensions are sometimes heartbreaking - sometimes exciting. Very curious to see where she goes with it. Kennedy is easily the most interesting new writer I've read in awhile. (Thanks, as usual, to Chris.)

And, some linkage:

Hilarious Franz Ferdinand Article

SciFi.com are making themselves cool..uh, for once! New season of SG1! New Stargate spin-off that looks great! Earthsea series! And the Ronald D. Moore Battlestar Galactica on the horizon. Who said Science Fiction TVwas dead?

Best Show Ever

Second Best Show Ever

I guess it's time for me to (briefly) weigh on the big debate of the year: Wilco's A Ghost Is Born.

It's good. Not as good as Yankee Hotel Foxtrot or Summerteeth but better than what most people are listening too. (trust me, I've watched some MTV the last few days.) Like Radiohead's latest, it's uneven, a little full of itself, and overly long - but these are little criticisms we can forgive because we're talking about Wilco here.

Is that fair? Should a band be given more room to fuck up because they've accomplished brilliant things in the past? We do that for directors and actors and other "mainstream" things, why not weird indie bands?

To answer: No, it's not fair. Yes, we should. And, yes, mainstream is apparently synonymous with suckiness and therefore, by lower standards, this album is brilliant.

I just watched one of the best Tennis matches I've ever seen. You've heard about it already. Karolina Sperm, nineteen years old, unseeded, first time in Wimbeldon, defeating, in straight sets, two-time Wimbledon champion, two-time runner-up Venus Fuckin' Williams.

I've been a loyal Tennis watcher for close to a decade now and I haven't seen a match that tennis, dramatic, and eventful since...a very long time. The Women's Australian Open final of 2002 comes close (battling severe heat) and the classic Man-In-Black Sampras v. Agassi match of the US Open.

The big Chair Umpire mistake during the second set tie-break is going to cause big controversy, but take it from me, Sprem would have won anyway. She saved four (count'em - four!) set points over the course of the match. Lost her confidence once or twice, came back, forced Williams into errors and desperate maneuvers that just doesn't happen. Even the best in the game - Davenport, Hingis, Capriti - can't cause Williams sister that much grief.

I am in awe.

Reminds me of the first time I saw Justine Henin-Hardenne play and was blown away by the most gorgeous backhand I've ever seen.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love the Williams sisters. I hate when they play against each other in Finals because they obviously dislike it but I usually love watching them kick the crap out of any opponent. But I was rooting for Sprem here. She won me over almost instantaneously with a rousing opening few games that clearly showed an incredible player. I don't know if she's "the next big thing," frankly I don't know if she's going to win her next match; it doesn't matter. Her achievement today, stepping onto Centre Court, arguably the largest most watched tennis stage, and beating a Williams sister (that should be in double-bold, with gold-plated highlights) is easily the most amazing thing I've seen in Tennis. Wow.

(And the added bonus of the umpire mistake is going to be like LSD-dipped-candy to the English press who will go to sleep tonight dreaming brilliantly colored dreams.)

Woo-hoo, I got reviewed. First time for everything. A really nice, long, write-up on the chapbook. Thanks to Amber for the heads-up.

More, please.

:)

Ever have a day that's a theme?

Today my theme is "Firsts, Again." First time I've been behind the wheel a car for eight years. Last time was my driving test when I was sixteen. I know everyone fails their first time, but it really depressed me. I'll be honest - I didn't want to drive that much anyway. I was a teenager in NYC, obsessed with the subway system and being an unconformist, I thought I would rebel even more by not getting a license. Also, the driving instructor lady (think a black Ursula from The Little Mermaid) scared the shit out of me. But, I drove today and it was cool and I didn't kill myself (or anybody else) and I even parked well. I'm still not a huge fan of driving - and personally believe that cars are the single most destructive element to our environment - but I realize I need to drive to live here in Florida and I'm willing to do that.

Second, I watched Wimbeldon! Yeah. My favorite Grand Slam, the BEST fortnight of the year for any true tennis fan, and the first time I've had a TV and been able to watch for a loooong time. And, in true Wimbeldon tradition - the home of traditions - rain delays up the wazoo! I think we're at five separate rain delays at the moment. And even though it kinda sucks and they're repeating a lot of the same matches, it means (as always) chaos during the next few days as Second and Third matches will overlap and probably having more tennis being played in the coming week than usual, which is great for fans! After watching some of the French Open a few weeks ago, I am primed and ready to follow my favorite event of my favorite sport (barring actual work). Cross your fingers for me. :)

Also, another tradition, over the next two weeks, I expect to spend a lot of time here.

Apologies for the silence!

I thought Blogger hated me and would just not let me publish an entry. I wrote up a big thing (right below) almost entirely twice. finally, today, I tried again, and it worked. I'm on a crappy AOL connection; forgive me.

By the way, I'm having a great time in Florida. :)

"Here I am, Just a man, Is this light flattering?"

Hey everybody! Apologies for the lack of updates. I've been as occupied as a plane lavatory on an 18-hour flight.

First things first: I'm enjoying the bright blue skies and beaches and bikinis of Florida. It's taken me a little while to lose the jeans and get use to the heat but I'm definitely in vacation mode. Got my computer fixed (thanks UPS for ignoring the Fragile signs), got "fun stuff," and just settling into living with my mom. In a month, if all goes according to plan, I'll be going to Israel with a one-way ticket and..well, I don't know what will happen after that. I may settle, get a job, find myself an Israeli beauty, and live in a country stricken with unholy violence but amazing beauty and history. In the past, everytime I've set foot in Israel, I've felt as if not just my surroundings but my life was totally upturned. It's the country of my parents and my people and is a great source of inspiration and clarity. I'm looking forward to it.

Next: WISCON. Man, that was fun! I'm not a big fan of conventions, too much socializing or quasi-serious discussions, for me, it's always been about the people I could meet. The writers and editors and fans that remind me why I even do this whole "writing" thing. Thankfully, I met a lot of great people for the first time, reacquainted with old aquatinences, friends. Despite feeling a little like a teenager in an R-rated movie, everyone was really nice. Shout-outs: Chris Barzak! Have we ever met in the same place? Seems like everytime we chill it's in a different city and that just adds to the coolness. Next stop? Japan. OKAY. Kristin and Alan! As always, wonderful to see you both. You two are like the coolest set of parents a 24-year-old could ask for me. Kind, considerate, and hard-working. THANK YOU for the awesome party (sorry I didn't sing.) Barth! Nice to briefly see you again. Cute kid! (not barth, the little one.) Worthy of your attention. Thank the four of you for the awesome chapbook, once again, and for NOT being bastards or rats just friends. To the "tall and friendly pro crew," Gavin, Kelly, Richard, Barb, Christopher R., Gwenda; big high-fives for being cool and especially Gavin and Kelly who do a wonderful job at Small Beer Press. Lots of great free stuff behind that link!

More (boring) shoutouts: David Schwartz and Ben Rosenbaum! Two great writers I was honored to share a small room with. I will wait with bated breath to read any next piece by either of you guys. (People who aren't them: be SURE to check out Ben's brilliant "Other Cities" chapbook which I screamed through on one of the delayed plane flights on the memorable day of May 31st AND Shwartz has got a whole bunch of stories in every single small press mag out there (apparently) and also started a really cool, really interesting new mag called The Dogtown Review.) Tracy and Jennifer! Great to see you two again. Despite popular belief, friendly people do not grow on trees so I appreciate reallly friendly people. Dela and Gremlin! My smoking buddies. Thank you for keeping me company on my many sojourns outside to smoke and catch a well-needed break from the swarms of people. Kevin Kage! Always great to see you at these thingees. Keep up the singing, man, and be sure to inform me when you've got a CD out, cause I want it! Haddayr Copely-Woods! Great to meet you and read a little of your work in the previous Ratbastards book. See you again? Yeah? COOL. Lomax! Been tooo long. Sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye (ooops), it was great seeing you again. And a whole bunch of other people I'm sure I'm forgetting but will remember next time I see you.

Highlight of the con was definitely Saturday night. The wild Ratbastards party, signing a couple chapbooks, attending a great, great reading and just enjoying the hell of a night. If only it didn't have to end so early.

Also, bought all kinds of books! Going through them slowly. Already mentioned Ben Rosenbaum's "Other Cities." I am LOVING Kalpa Imperial by Angelica Gorodischer. Breaks all the rules I ever heard about writing but glorious and warm and totally, totally engrossing. I love how the author just talks to the reader instead of the cold shield that sometimes separates the two. I've wanted to incorporate a more "conversational tone" into my own stories for awhile; this is like my new bible. Translated by Ursula K. LeGuin and wonderfully, but! once again, my mind goes: "you need to learn Spanish!" New goal in life; and then I can read this and One Hundred Years of Solitude in the original prose. Got a Carol Emswhiller collection I've been looking for awhile as well as a bunch of other chapbooks and the latest issues of some cool small mags that are chock-full of brilliant stories.

Finally. The chapbook I am honored to be in, the new Ratbastards: Petting Zoo. (which you should buy!) I was thrilled when I read the TOC, now i'm positively ecstatic. These stories are great. You read them and then wonder why more stuff like this isn't published in the genre? Mary Rickert's horror-ish sculpture tale, "Art is Not a Violent Subject" starts off the rollercoaster ride. My friends from the Academy of Art who love this piece. Not only is well-written, it's fucked up in the most amazing way. John(zo) Aegard's "The Golden Age of Fire Escapes" is hilarious (!!) comedic SF. I don't understand this guy! Back in '98, I was amazed (while rolling on the floor laughing) at his ideas and imagination. With this new story, his prose, his characters, and his over-active imagination just really gels. Love the imagery, the titles, the characters. Four stars, yo! "Five Irrational Heroes" by David Moles (who I only just met so have no reason to be nice too) is a little gold-gem of a story. The title would have you believe I'm talking about some sort of long, revionist, epic, but in fact, this is a tight, sometimes subtle, fascinating, well-researched, look at humanity. No, really! Love the PKD reference at the end.

David Lomax's "How to Write an Epic Fantasy" contained more than a few laugh out loud moments. I'm not a reader of epic fantasies but I still enjoyed the hell out of it (and, of course, now if I decide to write one, I don't have to read one.) David, also, has a hilarious style that mimics his personality (yep. they're Canadians) and it really works here. Not over the top, not too short or thrifty, but extremely well-balanced. I kept wondering how many rewrites it went through. I'll skip over "Ophelia and the Beast." It's alright. Finally, Amber van Dyk's "Storyville," in my opinion, the highlight. One word. Okay, two. Fucking wow! I fell in love more times reading this story then when I spent the whole day wandering around the London Underground one time. These sentences (these epic sentences) are pieces of art. They should be sold for thousands of dollars each! I've read some of Amber's work before online but this drops a bomb on her previous stuff and incinerates it. Extremely, extremely, impressive use of language and alliteration. Amber, you were sincerely missed at Wiscon. Oh. And editors and publishers of the world, can you make this woman a celebrity? Please?

And that's my gush-filled, totally biased, review! :)

So, like, I graduated. It was cool.

pictoral evidence:



I'm making some kind of stupid-looking face (common in pictures but not in reality) but my mom looks good.

:)

As usual, LOTS of great stuff at Zen Weasel's Place of Paradox and Illusion. Don't miss the biting political humor. I mean it!

Yeaaaaaah. I've been lazy getting to those reviews. (Sorry.) Finished school and awaiting graduation. I feel like I'm in an "off-screen" part of a film. You know, like, where's Elad? He's between scenes.

I've been watching movies, making good use of my new DVD player. Just saw Tim Burton's Big Fish. I enjoyed the message (obviously) and a lot of the visuals but I felt any real character work was lost amidst the fantasy elements. I felt like they could have been used more to illustrate character like in American Beauty. Instead the characters came off one-dimensional and I didn't really care about any of them. Still, pretty flick. And I'll watch anything with Helena Bonham Carter and those bedroom eyes.

Watched a slightly better looking and tiny-bit-longer widescreen version of the classic Conan the Barbarian. What a film! A true epic adventure, wreathed in fantasy, but told like a history. You can't rave about the performances (James Earl Jones lets his eyes do all the work) or the special effects but yet here's a brilliant fantasy film before there was fancy effects. Maybe it's just me, but I love these dirty versions of cinema. I'd trade the gloss and finish of the new Star Wars films for a chance to see Luke and Han in action again in a millennium Falcon that looks like it's about to come apart. Or remember when Star Trek films were good?

Also: Ethan Hawke's Hamlet. Which I actually enjoyed, surprising myself. Ethan Hawke's slept through the role like a true stoner but the supporting characters really nailed it. Great choices for The King and Queen, Julia Stiles totally underused as Ophelia, Bill Murray mumbling Shakespeare! Liked some of the tricks (Hamlet's an amateur film-maker) and a lot of the cinematography. Better than you'd think.

Next up: The Coen Brothers' The Man Who Wasn't There. I'm a sometimes fan of their work. Okay. I'll admit it. The only reason I rented it is because Scarlett Johansson is in it. I've got a crush on her the size of a small continent.

Oh. And lots of Stargate. I should do a rant about how awesome Stargate is. Maybe later.

(I've also started a new little story where I'm stretching my poetic muscles. Or at least trying too.)

hey, loyal readers. many apologizes for lack of updates lately. after the long ordeal of my latest story, i've been recupping my word supply (read: staring lazily at clouds, lingering on pretty female faces, etc, etc). but i plan on practicing for a future in music reviewing, so except some needlessly long reviews upcoming.

"Classic" Music count for the last week or so:

Oasis - What's the Story (Morning Glory)
Oasis - Be Here Now
Oasis - The Masterplan
Nine Inch Nails - And All That Could Have Been..
Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile
Tool - Undertow
Tool - Aenima
Tool - Lateralus
Tool - Salival
R.E.M - Monster
R.E.M - New Adventures In Hi-Fi
Radiohead - The Bends
Radiohead - OK Computer
Dave Matthews Band - Listener Supported
Dave Matthews Band - Under the Table and Dreaming
Dave Matthews Band - Before These Crowded Streets

and some records that are always near me but have been sadly neglected:

Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
The Decemberists - Castaways and Cut-Outs
Mogwai - Rock Action
The Notwist - Neon Golden
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

yeah. been fun. "Personal Classic Week." try it for yourself.

Finished it!

Thank the Heavens and, you know, the Earth, and the clouds. The sea, the sunshine, the trees, the leaves, the grass, and the steady stream of inspiration thanks to movies, books, music, tv, and all the people in this world.

:)