Two Weeks | Grizzly Bear

From their newest album, Veckatimest, the track Two Weeks is one of the best songs, with an enjoyable, upbeat melody, and a fast pace, it’s a great song to listen to to cheer your moods. And after a great summer ending for me, this album is perfect to lighten me up. You can download it from iTunes here.

Last Flowers | Radiohead

Truly one of the best tracks on In Rainbows, and truly one of the most beautiful alternative rock tracks out there. As a big fan of Radiohead, as musicians and as people, their newest album is one of my favorite albums of all time. From the beginning to the end, Last Flowers takes the listener through a death, and how even with an end brings new beginnings, new love, and new memories. If you haven’t bought this album yet, my only question is: why not?

I’ll be honest: before buying this album, I wasn’t exactly sure who Modest Mouse. Of course I knew they were an indie band, and they played a type of alternative rock, but other then that, I only knew their name.

So, figuring that I knew absloutly nothing about the artists, I decided to look online:

Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in the Seattle suburb of Issaquah, Washington by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy.

The band has attained significant mainstream success since being signed to Sony’s Epic Records in 2001 and have been one of the leading bands in the commercialization of indie rock, beginning with The Moon & Antarctica and Good News for People Who Love Bad News, which have been certified gold and platinum by the RIAA respectively. They have gone on to sell over three million records since. (via Wikipedia)

Reading over this, with many mentions of the band’s success, you’d have to wonder how this lone eight track album would hold up to their others. After all, No One’s First and You’re Next consists of tracks that were to be released with Modest Mouse’s best-selling albums, The Moon & Antarctica and Good News for People Who Love Bad News, but didn’t make the cut. Why were they held back? Would this album be trash, and not worth listening to? Nonetheless, I deciede to listen, and, to my enjoyment, Modest Mouse did not disappoint.

Within No One’s First and You’re Next, memories feel to be reawakened, memories of enjoyment, pain, sorrow, loss, and love. These emotions can be found, expressed to the fullest, in tracks such as Autumn Beds and King Rat, two of the strongest songs on the EP. And with catchy, cryptic lyrics, intriguing melodies, and mystical beats in every track, the album easily can relate to anyone.

Easily a EP, Modest Mouse’s choice to release these forgotten tracks was a plus for them. If you’re interested in listening to No One’s First and You’re Next, you can purchase the album on Amazon, and on iTunes. And, though this EP is great, Modest Mouse has many other great, full-length albums available online, which you should also check out.

So, the final verdict? No One’s First and You’re Next is strong, and very enjoyable new release from Modest Mouse. It’s not the best that the band could produce, but it’s a great album to introduce and interest new listeners. I can’t help but wonder what’s next, but there’s no doubt in my mind that whatever it is, it’ll be a great for Modest Mouse.

Readers of the blog may remember I talked about Taking Leave last week, more specifically about the fact that the whole album was on YouTube in it’s entirety, for free. However, since then, I’ve gotten my hands on a physical copy of the album, and here’s my verdict: Taking Leave is one of the best albums I’ve listened to in a long time (and it’s not even a full-length album.) Tom Milsom’s awing vocal abilities, along with Alan Lastufka’s beautiful poetic lyrics are a match made in musical heaven.

The most intriguing part of this album is that neither Milsom or Lastufka had metbefore earlier this month. For seven months, Taking Leave was produced by two men with miles in between their locations. Milsom recorded all the tracks in London, England, while Lastufka worked in rural Chicago. All communication and work was received over the Internet, which is also how Milsom and Lastufka met. And for those who thought the distance would make the album feel somewhat empty, Taking Leave says otherwise.

Throughout Taking Leave, you get an idea of romance, and relationship. Whether it be in the feelings of true love, or the heartbreak of loss, you’ll understand what’s trying to be expressed through the lyrics and vocals. The songs go in a somewhat chronological order of relationship, and show the feelings of both a man and a woman, and how their love slowly breaks apart, and how, after they leave each other, they rethink what could have been. This romantic timeline shows, especially in tracks like Can’t and The Wind.

Both Milsom and Lastufka have made a masterpiece, there’s no questioning that. If you don’t believe it yourself, you can listen to the album for free on YouTube, as I said above. Check it out and see if you enjoy it. And if you end up falling in love with the poetic lyrics, and wonderful vocals, you can buy Taking Leave here for six dollars.

The only question that’s left is, what’s next? Milsom is already working on his next album, set to be released through DFTBA Records in early 2010, and Lastufka is working on his next album, with vocals from Raven Zoe, and collaborating with many other musicians known on the Internet, also to be released with DFTBA Records. So, rest assured, this talent won’t be going to waste, and this won’t be the last of Lastufka or Milsom.

Sharks are so badass./They can eat cats in seconds./SHAAAAAARRRRRRRK.

• Sharks don’t leave dead birds on your doorstep.
• You don’t have to clean a shark’s litterbox.
• Sharks actually are dangerous. THEY CAN EAT YOU.
• Sharks have a whole week devoted to them on Discovery Channel.
• Sharks don’t just lay around the house and sleep. SHARKS ACTUALLY DO SHIT.
• Sharks aren’t afraid of the water.

• Where did we come from?
• What is our purpose?
• Is their life out there?
• Why didn’t the Trix rabbit just get any Trix?
• Is it infected?
• Did you really do my mom?
• Why is questions spelled with a “z” in the title?
• Can you stop writing this post? Please?

“You do anything long enough to escape the habit of living
until the escape becomes the habit.” 
-David Ryan

I’ve been using technology a tad too much, I feel. To the point where it’s done with no point, just used as an escape to nowhere, nothing to accomplish. So, for at least the next seven days, I’m going sober online. (With the exception of a few tweets here and there.)

Over these next few days (or weeks), I’ll be reviewing many things. I’ll be reviewing this blog, how I post, what I post, and how my sense in the Tumblr community is played out. I’ll be playing around with how this tumblelog is, from it’s themes, to it’s morals, to it’s design, to it’s title (and of course, it’s content.) In order to get better, I believe, you must step back, and see what you’ve created.

I’ll also be looking at myself. I’ll be seeing how I use technology, how I can change it, and how I can still have an active presence online with spending less time online (oxymoron, amirite?) Everything I’ll be looking over will help me, and this website, and my whole presence online, hopefully grow and get much better.

So, how long will this hiatus last? At the least, I’ll be offline for five to seven days. However, at the most, I’ll be offline until September (probably somewhere between those two points. Don’t worry, I won’t be gone too long.)

So, don’t unfollow me on here, or online anywhere. This break is only temporary, and I’ll still be around here and there, just not as often as I would be normally. If you need to contact me, reply me on Twitter (and, if it’s urgent, direct message me).

Thanks for all you guys do, whether it be contributing to my websites, or just simply reblogging with nice input. I hope you understand where I’m going with this, and where I’m coming from. The Internet is a tool, but not to be an addiction. I’ll try to break the habit as best as I can. And, if I know you guys well enough, thanks in advance for the support.

Out of curosity, how many of you know who Paige Railstone is? I think alot of my followers would like her DJ-ing, because God is it magnificent. When I was linked to one of her YouTube videos (since removed), I knew her music was awesome, and I needed to hear more. I was one of the lucky few people to get the album pre-ordered before it sold out. According to her label, the album should start selling again soon. There’s no real way to describe her music, because it’s so original and mind blowing, you have to listen to it yourself (which you can soon, hopefully.)

She has a website, a Twitter, a Facebook, and even a Tumblr, so go add her on those fun places. And if you can find some of her music online, be sure to listen to it, because it’s amazing.

So, apparently, this blog is one year old today.

And apparently, I’ve reached 430 followers.

And apparently, you guys are all awesome.

i AM NEW TO THE INTERNET AS I HAVE JUST INSERTED MY aMERICA oNLINE DISK AND DIALED ON THE INTERNET AND HAVE NOT HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF OWNING AN ELECTRONIC MAILBOX. SOMEONE PLEASE RESPOND TO ME SO I GET ELECTRONIC MAIL DELIVERED TO ME AND BE ASSIGNED AN ELECTRONIC MAIL BOX BY THE ELECTRONIC POSTMASTER GENERAL.

I’m seeing it tonight with friends, and the reviews seem mostly positive, but I’ve been hearing somewhat mixed reviews. Is it good? Is it good for kids? Is it too much of a romantic comedy? (I don’t like romantic comedies much.) Review it in the comments, or on Tumblr.