marino13

Point of trivia: I watched the most recent episode of the NBC run of Friday Night Lights tonight on the DVR, and was pleased to hear "Runaway" heavily featured in the closing scene. It reminded me, too, that the show also used "Start a War" earlier in the season (in the same episode that featured Son Volt's "When the Wheels Don't Move").

 

Listening for the soundtrack choices has always been one of the great pleasures of Friday Night Lights. Besides the numerous Wilco appearances in Season 2, I think my favorite was the Season 4 on-stage inclusion of Heartless Bastards in one scene.

I have DirecTV, so I have seen the entire final season. In the series finale, they used an entire Delta Spirit song during a key scene. I watched this shortly after I had discovered Delta Spirit and was solidifying my huge crush on them. One of my favorite shows of all time ending and using that song at that moment was perfect for me. So much great music on FNL over the years. Very sad to see it end, but at least it went out before it started to go downhill. Definitely need to own the DVD's someday.

So I gave Circuital my full attention last weekend while sitting on a dock by a lake, drinking a few beers and looking at the night sky. I must say that it worked for me then. And I gave it the headphone treatment a few days ago when I was laid up sick on the couch. Dug it again. I still don't like the use of the children's choir on "Black Metal," though. Felt like it could've gone without...

Not that it makes a huge difference, esp. if you don't like the sound of the choir in general, but it was actually a group of women in the choir, no children. I thought it was a group of kids also. Here are the actual singers from the recent webcast concert:

http://www.youtube.com/user/FCMahgeetah?blend=13&ob=5#p/u/0/35Ex--5pl4w

http://www.spin.com/articles/premiere-my-morning-jacket-cover-buddy-holly

Cover of Buddy Holly's "True Love Ways". Simply beautiful.

Gotta say I like this one much better than Evil Urges on the whole on first listen. There is nothing as good as "Smokin From Shootin", but not nearly as cheesy either. I am hearing a lot of The Who on this record, especially in "Outta My System". Not sure if it's a specific song it reminds me of or just in general.

As a kid I used to do elbow drops off the top of my dresser onto my bed imitating the Macho Man. Will never forget the Wrestlemania match against Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat.

This is way wrong. They may not be making the music you want them to make, but saying they've fumbled the opportunity is false. The band has only gotten bigger and bigger since Z, which seems to be what Jim's wanted all along. Look at the venues they're playing now. They didn't blow a chance at being huge. They are huge.

They are not huge. They would not sell out the UIC Pavilion for three nights like Arcade Fire just did, and I don't know that I would even classify AF as "huge" yet. MMJ is playing bigger venues the last couple of years, but I would argue that it is in spite of Evil Urges. They have gotten bigger based on their live reputation, and their live show is held up almost entirely by Z/ISM/At Dawn heavy setlists. I have been to four shows since the release of Evil Urges, and other than "Smokin from Shootin" and maybe "Touch Me 2" the Evil Urges stuff largely killed the energy in the room. Maybe they'll surprise me and the new album will sell over 100K copies it's first week, but I'm guessing it will be closer to 60-70K and drop off the radar quickly thereafter. They could have been much bigger by now with a good album to follow up Z.

I am more excited about the live box set coming out than anything else. Has anyone seen confirmation that it is for sure the 5 night NYC run?

I'm not sure where the difference lies between a JJ solo record and a MMJ record. I'm sure JJ has full creative control over MMJ and the band are there to realise his vision (I may be well off base here but I think that's the case). The 'weidness' is becoming increasingly apparent with recent MMJ releases. I do find his comments a bit to 'out there' for my taste but the record could still be interesting. I would say that Tennessee Fire is one of my favourite MMJ albums and that one was, from what I understand, pretty much solely the work of JJ.

 

...and did we every find out what a 'penutbutter pudding surprise' was?

I agree, he no doubt has creative control in MMJ. More so than being checked by his bandmates, I think he is still somewhat constrained by the past history of the band and other people's expectations. MMJ has built a legacy and he doesn't want to ruin it. However, his solo album could be his true experiment where all of the bat-shit-craziness comes to the surface. Don't get me wrong, I'll still probably buy it on the day of release, I'm just falling a little more out of love with these guys with each new venture. After "Z" they were on the verge of being huge and they so far have fumbled away the opportunity. Maybe the "peanut butter pudding surprise" is what dribbled down the back of Jim's leg when he couldn't handle the pressure.

I'm preparing to cringe often during the upcoming VH1 Storytellers episode. Here is an example of what I'm talking about:

There is a certain feeling you get in your mouth when you drink water or milk; it's like your mouth knows that they belong there. They mesh right in. Now, I'm no scientist, but I feel the molecules in milk and water are more circular or soft, rolling, wave-like — more akin to the cells already existing in your body, far different from the triangular pointed saw-wave feeling you get when you drink a fizzy water or a beer or something bubbly that clashes with the body. A feeling that's not necessarily bad — sometimes that clash is fun. That's why we love those things, but we need the water and the milk to live. As we worked on Evil Urges, our last album, we strove to make the experience fizzy and jarring and disorienting, and hopefully in a way that was fun for the listener. But as life goes on and changes you, you change the music you make. As we were working on this new album, Circuital, I felt in my body and mind that its molecules were more easily absorbed in a natural and nourishing way. And hopefully, it will feel the same way to you as you listen.

Coming from a long-time MMJ fan that has loved them live several times, I think the JJ (or YY ) solo album has the potential to be incredibly bad. I've come to the conclusion that Jim is a weird dude that I just don't connect with at times. He has come up with some really head scratching interview comments and songs in the last few years. The thought of him having an unchecked creative outlet honestly scares me a little bit.

What other bands are playing at this?

If you preorder the album you get a three song digital EP. It's not bad at all.

How much is shipping? I tried to look but asked me to submit info before I got that far. I was thinking about ordering the cd and t-shirt.

There is some stuff on the album I really like and some not so much. However, with 32 reviews compiled it has scored an 88 on Metacritic, album of the year type reviews. As with the first album, I just don't understand the over-the-top gushing for this band. I admit this says more about me than anything, but this gushing makes me look at the band and their albums through a different prism, and it has an overall negative effect on my opinion of them. I basically had the same thing happen to me with Mumford and Sons (not from critic reviews, but from word on the street).

The time I saw them in concert Robin sat the whole time. There were long pauses between songs and he sat there and uncomfortably stroked his beard. Reminded me of a Bond villain petting his cat or something. Just a little awkward.

with this release i think the hype will actually be congruent with the actual album (unlike others this spring). these guys just like playing songs and singing. you can tell they love to hit every note. great vibe. wish they were headlining this spring though. i have no need to see brett dennon(sp?)

...or Bright Eyes, they are opening for him at the Pageant in St. Lou. Would love to see them there, great venue, but not as an opener for Connor. Took me awhile to get into these guys, but it is full-on now. I was looking for North Hills to blow my mind right away and I just needed to let it sooth my mind instead. Listening to that album for me is just so relaxing, just like putting on comfy clothes on the weekend and chillin' on the couch.

I know "fog of war" was used as an excuse for conflicting stories, but how many times can the story change before you finally call bullshit. Once again, I'm not saying he's not dead, just that they are manipulating the story for some reason.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42892575/ns/world_news-death_of_bin_laden/

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/05/osama-bin-laden-death-obama-story.html

"One compound resident pointed out Osama. Three compound residents died in the firefight. One man used a woman as a human shield. She was an Osama wife. They both died. She was only shot in the leg running toward a SEAL. She didn't die. Another woman did on another floor. There was no human shield. The Osama son initially identified as shot and killed may have been the other one.

The goal was to capture Osama or kill him if necessary. The plan was to kill Osama all along. He was encountered in a bedroom. He was given a brief opportunity to surrender. He didn't. Blam! He died instantly from gunshots to the chest and head, including a large one in the forehead over the eye. He was unarmed. But he resisted. You don't need a gun to resist.

Because it was so important to have photos of a dead Osama to head off evergreen Elvis-lives conspiracies, the gruesome big-hole-in-the-forehead photo has not been released -- and might never be.

This is because a ghastly dead OBL photo could offend the "sensitivities" of Osama's insane supporters who have been trying to kill Americans for 15 years anyway, still are, will be but didn't seem to mind photos of thousands of people dying 10 years ago inside burning, crumbling skyscrapers or leaping from them."

so, i like the album (prolly would give it a solid 7/10)... and probably better than Evil Urges overall, but def would put it 4th or 5th in their catalog.

 

really love tracks 1, 3, 7 and 8. kind of a bummer that it ends on 2 downers (esp. Slow Slow Tune, not a big fan of how Jim sings on that one).

 

would have liked at least one rocker though

No rockers??!! So is the title track the biggest rocker on the album? Is the slow stuff schmaltzy like on Evil Urges ("Thank You Too", "Sec Walkin" etc.)? Sounds like I'm going to be very disappointed once again.

Oh I was definitely dissapointed by your initial lack of response. What I got from your comment was motive aside Bin Laden is not as evil as America cause he killed less statistically. Did I misconstrue?

I'll bite. Bin Laden would have killed billions if left unchecked with our resources, because he was a madman. But that's also what makes it so easy to dismiss him as just a single lunatic. For me, it is far more disheartening that we have a large group of individuals, with a system a checks and balances, that is responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people, and a country full of people that elected them there that are either fine with it or choose to ignore it. It's easy to be ignorant to the atrocity of war when it hasn't been fought on your turf since 1865.

I'd much rather we went to all special ops (like with Bin Laden) to fight the terrorists vs. bombing. It would greatly reduce collateral damage and would cost us trillions less.

Which one brought the nudie mag with them back from the john that they had to blur out?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theenvoy/20110503/ts_yblog_theenvoy/in-aftermath-of-bin-laden-raid-new-intelligence-shifting-accounts

Yeah they watched it in real time, yet they can't figure out if there were one or two women there. I can just see it now:

"...wait, we said Osama's wife identified him, and we also said Osama used her as a human shield. Dammit!! How are we going to fix that one? Well, let's just say there were two women there and blame it on confusion over how fast everything went down."

Agreed, and I'm no staunch defender of Fleet Foxes by any means. I thought their first album was good, but I don't seem to like it as much as most people do. I also had a very average concert experience with them. However, I do really like what I've heard of the new album and I'm going to pick it up over lunch today.

http://www.nme.com/reviews/fleet-foxes/12024

If you want to read an alternative point of view to all of the glowing reviews of the album, check out this ruthless piece of work. Looks like we better put on something else if we wanna get some, if you know what I mean.

Let's say a U.S. based Christian terrorist group carries out an attack on another country. That country has intelligence that a cell of this group lives in your neighborhood. They send a missle into your neighborhood, killing the cell, but also taking out five houses full of innocent people surrounding the cell, including some of your family members. They got the evil ones, so it's okay that some of your family members died as well, right?

It amazes me how we can sometimes discount the loss of innocent life if it's not an American life. This is not pointed at anyone in particular, just food for thought.

It's Muslim tradition to bury a body within hours after death. They're trying not to alienate the borderline Muslims, who can't decide to be peaceful or aggressive, plus now they don't have to deal with the logistics and difficulties of a funeral for a man like that.

It's an even bigger Muslim tradition to bury the body in the earth, so their argument is a weak one. I understand not wanting it to be a shrine, but that was not given as a reason during the press conference this afternoon.

I never heard that bin Laden was the one hiding behind her, just that she was killed in the raid due to being used as a human shield.

In the press conference, counter terrorism guy Brennan said it was his understanding that it was Bin Laden's wife and they used her as a shield to protect him.