critically acclaimed

redefined and rediscovered

holy mackeral i'm back folks. i have been an ultimate slacker and not posted for over three months. now here i am in the new phase of my life. i'm in grad school in La Crosse, i'm a little bit older but none the wiser, and hopefully i have a lot to talk about. again like always i'm gonna try and redefine my blog to include the things you would expect from someone like me. so here it goes a run through of tons of things that interest me, bug me, and drive me.

Music Recommendations:
As i began moving my way through the year musically i didn't seem to find anything that struck me as outstanding or unbelievable. i thought this was in direct correlation to my apathetic nature of the past 8 months and a lot of that is true. but right now i have done a lot of searching into some of the current albums that are filtering through my ear drums that you should all get a hold of.
TV on the Radio- Return to Cookie Mountain
by far the most interesting record of the year so far. not an easy listen but so interesting and unique. this is one of those records you can place in the car for long drives but it works far better for doing homework or school reading. this record takes the more ambient jazz influenced sound of their last record and adds more straight forward pop song writing. i didn't think that i would enjoy the record as much as i did but i love it.
John Mayer- Continuum
yeah trust me i didn't think i would be talking about the John Mayer album. but i am thanx to the cheap price of the first week i picked it up and gave it a listen. well truth be told it is a nice record. nothing amazing but enjoyable enough to talk about. the blues influence that Mayer puts into this record instead of the cookie cutter adult-alterna that layered through his last albums. the song that is the most radio friendly isn't the best song on the album, with a lot of the slower to mid-tempo tracks growing on you the more you listen. like i said the world is ending i like a john mayer record but pick it up if you can get it cheap because it is worth it.

Albums of the Year Breakdown:
so here are my preliminary reports on the best records of the year in no order
Belle and Sebastian- The Life Pursuit
Bob Dylan- Modern Times
Bruce Springsteen- We Shall Overcome
Dashboard Confessional- Dusk and Summer
Rhett Miller- The Believer
Ray LaMontagne- Till the Sun Turns Black
Cat Power- The Greatest
Jenny Lewis- Rabbit Fur Coat
Neko Case- Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
and many many more to come......let's see who makes my list at the end of the year.

My Preview....the important records to come out in the next month
My Chemical Romance- The Black Parade
sorry i'm weak in this area but if their first single is any key into the rest of the album i'm excited for a Queen influence mall-punk brawlfest minus the Reding Festival bottle throwing incident
The Killers- Sam's Town
again like MCR the Killers lead off with an unbelievably infectous arena-rock lead single and hopefull the album will be of the same nature.
The Hold Steady- Boys and Girls in America
absolutely loved their last album of bar-rock and can't wait for this one. the only track i have heard is Chips Ahoy which sounds great and much like the songs off of Separation Sunday.

posted by critically acclaimed @ 12:13 PM