April 30, 2010: Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds

Artist: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Album: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
Year: 2008

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Nick Cave is the kind of singer you don't hold expectations to. After his long, long catalog of work with both the Bad Seeds and as an independent artist, you still can't predict what the guy is going to do. Perhaps inspired by his work with Grinderman, "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" is probably the rockiest and most sonically innovate album he's made in a long time. The song's title track is proof of this, as a nasty guitar riff introduces Cave as he spins a tale of... well, something. Check out the video below. Really. The whole album is full of chaos, managing to be incredibly catchy yet somehow incredibly unsettling at times as Cave trounces through all of it with his trademark swagger. Title track and "We Call Upon The Author" are stand-outs.

Hear it for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBAYr73mlTk

Well, it's about time I add some pop music, isn't it? Tomorrow's album will be The Format's "Interventions and Lullabies". While this isn't their masterpiece album (see: Dog Problems), this is one of the catchiest, most infectious albums of this generation. See you tomorrow.

April 29, 2010: Ted Leo And The Pharmacists

Artist: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Album: The Brutalist Bricks
Year: 2010

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Decided to start this thing off with something recent and something I haven't heard before. Ted Leo has always been that guy I've always meant to listen to but never got around to, and since we're all about new beginnings why not leap right into it? So I did just that, and I have no shame in saying this is the first album added to my new music collection. I've listened to this album about three times so far and found it quite enjoyable; Leo's songwriting contains the slyness and intellect that I value in music so much. "The Mighty Sparrow" is one of the best openers to an album I've heard in awhile, showing the mix of socially-conscious indie punk and clever powerpop that Leo is so well known for. "Bottled In Cork" is a stand-out and I highly recommend taking a listen to it if you haven't heard his music before.

Hear it for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoOZn3x7Smk

So far, so good. I'm getting ready for tomorrow's album, which is a doozy. This is an album I already owned, and one of the ones I miss the most: "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Yes, I'm continuing the trend of guys with a name and band moniker format, as well as artists that have been around for some time. Check in for some crazy schizo post-punk done by the master himself.

How The Tables Have Turned!

This whole experiment I have undertaken was actually inspired by my brother Adam, who is doing a very interesting movie challenge with his wife Kimberly and blogged so:

http://kimandadamsmoviechallenge.blogspot.com/

So I called him to tell him about my idea, and he threw me a curve ball when I started talking about taking recommendations. He and Kim wanted a day, a day to choose what album I listened to. Brilliant, I thought! Wouldn't it be boring to follow a man simply adding albums he liked one-by-one to his music library? I realized that I was doing it all wrong. I had the wrong tone. I extended this invitation to my parents, and to my close friends and fellow music loving twins, Laura and Beth. In fact, I worked out a schedule as such:

Monday: Reserved for albums I haven't heard before. Will heavily consider blogger recommendations here, as well.

Tuesday: Reserved for Adam and Kim. Should certainly be an entertaining day, as they have pre-picked their first week selection: Ace of Base's "The Sign". Yep.

Wednesday: Reserved for Laura and Beth. Laura will finally make me listen to Thrice, and with Beth onboard I at least know I won't have to manually pick "Deja Entendu".

Thursday: Reserved for my parents. Should also be interesting, as I can expect music from anywhere between 1963 and 2010.

Friday: Reserved for Brian and possibly David, depending on whether or not he still listens to music that doesn't involve people talking about computers.

Weekends are free choice. Because, let's face it: I'm probably going to need it.

So, I'm currently going through another nostalgia run of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!". You'll be sure to hear about it tomorrow.

The Beginning

Oh man, this is scary.

After compiling an relatively large music library (around 50 gigs, all in subpar 128 kbps to save space), I decided to undertake finding some way to organize it better and see what of it I do like and don't. My taste in music has changed over the three or four years I've gathered this collection, and I'm sure some portion of it would be long beyond me.

However, this process would have taken me years.

So I did the next best rational thing: I deleted all of it. With extreme prejudice. Not a single song or album was spared, and the next thing I know (actually around an hour later, because it took a long time to clear all that music) I'm staring at a blank iTunes screen, ready to start over.

It's absolutely terrifying.

But this time I am not going to let it get out of control. I am going to monitor it. How? By being much more careful with what I add. In fact, I'm only going to add a single album a day for the remainder of the year and possibly beyond.

The album I choose will be based on three criteria: first, if there's something I really miss and really want to listen to, I will add it. Second, if there's something new I really want to hear, I will purchase it and listen to it. Third, I will be taking recommendations from friends and readers.

The day after I add them, I will fill in a short review of what I added, why, and my experience with the album. I will also post the album I have added for that day. Feel free to leave recommendations, comments, whatever you like.

Today's album? Ted Leo And The Pharmacists' "The Brutalist Bricks". Check back tonight.