Woogy's first game

It seems odd that despite the steady rain, baseball season is pretty popular around Portland. A few weeks ago I decided to sign Woogy up for T-ball in a neighborhood league. He seemed more excited about playing T-ball than soccer, so I thought it was worth a try.
The kids named the team "The Cheetahs". Basically, if the kids learn the rules of baseball and have fun, that is all that matters.
I've been taking Woogy outside and teaching him how to catch and throw. He does alright and is throwing the ball in the right direction. He's actually a pretty good hitter.
Today was our first game in a long season (16 games). No really keeps score, and all the kids get up to bat. Woogy did pretty good today and scored two runs (I was counting). Even more importantly, he was able to keep focus on the game and not lose interest. We played for about an hour before it was over. That was enough for these kids. Over all, I was pretty proud of him.
I wish they had T-ball when I was growing up. I had to wait till I to wait till I was in fourth grade before I started playing. I remember I wasn't a hitter. I got up and hoped I got walked.

Here's Woogy at his first time up at bat. It was a single base hit.

Woogy at the pitcher's mount (he doesn't actually pitch). He enjoys be at the center of the action, but he really wants to player catcher because of the cool gear.

Woogy at first base. He was one of the few kids that ran when the ball was hit.

Since Wah-Wah has the flu, I took the kids to the Shriners circus tonight. This was their first circus and they both loved it.

March Music

After a slow start this year, music has been picking up this month. Got to get some new releases to get from REM and Foxglove Hunt, but here's what I picked up in March:

Muse Haarp When I first heard Muse, I thought what everyone else does: another "Radiohead sounding band", but as the band has grown in popularity, it's clear they are forging their own direction in progressive rock, drawing more influence from Queen mixed with some Jeff Buckley vocal style. Haarp is their second live album coming from their tour of Black Holes and Revelations (which is a great album). Sadly, I've never seen Muse live, which I hear is an experience. Anyway, Muse rocks and their songs sound great live. All their big hits are here.

Tango Alpha Tango Rebel Sons of Cowboys A friend of mine from Imago, Aaron and his brother are the founding members of this band. Aaron is a pretty talented singer and musician that has had several bands dating way back. When he was in a band called the Carolines, he got to open for The Presidents Of the United States. The Carolines had a pretty big local following before they split. Aaron's brother Nate, wanted to stay in music, so he and Aaron got together and started writing songs. The band is rounded out by Nate's wife on bass and a college friend on drums. I got to see them perform last month before they released their ep and was pretty impressed with their song writing. I ended downloading their album off itunes.

Counting Crows Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings I got this album primarily because of my loyalty to Counting Crows. It is their first album in over 6 years. I can't say I missed them terribly, but I did want to hear their new material. The concept of the album was originally suppose to be two eps. Saturday Nights was suppose to be the hard rocking album with Sunday Mornings a more acoustic somber ep. I guess the first half of the album is more up tempo, but not much to make it sound like two eps put together. Over all, it's alright, but not their best outing. I'm more curious on how lead singer Adam Duritz,deals with his clinical depression through song writing.

Moby Last Night Another concept album about going out to the clubs on Saturday night and the dealing with the morning after. Moby took some criticism from his last album Hotel because he lost track of his techno and club roots. Personally, I loved Hotel and admired him for trying something different. I thought Hotel was beautiful with it's adoring love songs. Last Night returns Moby to what his critics wanted--a techno album that sounds like it is from the mid 90's. Personally, I found it a pretty strong album, but noticed Moby doesn't sing at all on this album. Vocals are done with his usual "black gospel voice" lady he brings in on every album.

Minipop A New Hope A recommendation from A Forest last month that I found very impressive. I don't know why it was named after a "Star Wars" movie, but I'm sure the band has their reasons. This album is good old shoegazing the way shoegazing was meant to be--heavy swirling guitars, with a light female ethereal voice. It's like the two were meant to be together like peanut butter and jelly. No complaints here, I love it.

The Brother Kite Waiting for the Time to Be Right Another recommendation from A Forest that I was impressed with. I was playing this album at work and someone asked if it was Band Of Horses. At first I didn't draw that comparison, but then I thought about it and had to agree that The Brother Kite does sound a little like Band Of Horses but with heavier guitar. I still like it, so if you like Band of Horses, check it out.

Rosie in Portland

My favorite song bird Rosie Thomas, played a short, but sweet show Weds night in Portland at the Doug Fir (one of the main concert venues around here). Rosie has a gift of a hauntingly beautiful voice that outshines about every female vocalist I've ever heard. At her best, she can make a platoon full of marines start sobbing (OK, that comparison might be a bit of a stretch, but you get the idea). Her songs are personal and touch on life, family, love, searching, and God.

It is of no surprise when you look at her, you see she is a bit quirky and entertaining when she is on stage. She started off by telling us about her new "Suri" haircut named after "Tomcat's" daughter. Then she goes off and tells us how she just got back from visiting family in Kansas and watched Kirk Cameron movie "Left Behind" while she was there. I totally agreed with her when she said that the movie was so painfully bad that it was funny. Lastly she talked about her upcoming marriage to her guitarist.

As far as a set list, she played a couple songs from each of her four albums and closed with her cover of REM's "The One I Love." She could have played all night and I would have been happy. I don't see how I could ever get tired of her voice.

When to give up

I was looking through "Despair.com" the other day, and found this picture of the cat to be rather appropriate for my career ambitions.
Recently, I have been looking into working at DHS (Department of Human Services) as a Child Protective Service worker. You might ask "Why would anyone want that job?" The answer is in my field and education level, it pays the highest and the benefits are great. Sure it's high demand and often a thankless job, but it also has some mobility to move up in the world. Currently in my position, a opportunity for advancement comes around about as often as Halley's Comet.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate my job. I like my coworkers and I'm pretty cut out to work with marginalized kids in the foster care system. But every now and then, I dream of something better.
Following my pipe dream, I applied at DHS several months ago. I've been called for three interviews at 3 different locations, and so far nothing. They have an interesting hiring process where they interview about 10 applicants for one position. Usually, when you arrive for you interview, the secretary gives you about 5 situational questions and tells you they are going to ask these questions. 5 mins later, you are called inside and answer those questions to the people conducting the interview. Then they give you a chance to ask questions.
In case you don't know, I hate interviews. There is very little science to them. Often the best people don't get the job. My evidence is based on some pretty incompetent DHS workers that I have worked with. You think to yourself "Who did you sleep with to get this job?"
The first interview was before a panel of about 7 people. I hate big interviews, but thought I managed to pull off a good one. I discussed teamwork a lot since I've heard they like that. A week later a rejection letter. Interview number 2 was a few weeks later. This time, it was a just a couple of people (which I feel comfortable with). I even got in a few laughs in. A week later, another rejection letter.
This week, I had a third interview. This time it was a panel of about 9 people. My first thought was "Shouldn't some of you be out working, this is Child Protective Services?" Then I noticed half the panel was "man hating "lesbians. Now I don't want to sound prejudice (after all I am a social worker) but I tend to find that I don't get along with women who like women. Historically, they don't understand my humor at all and look at me in disgust. Most of the questions asked at me where to discuss how I work out disagreements with coworkers. At the beginning of the interview I stated that generally I have never had major disagreements with coworkers. In truth, I try to be as cooperative as possible. This of course made very short answers to their questions. About five minutes into the interview, I had pretty much answered everything. Then it was my turn to ask questions. After two other interviews, I really don't have any more questions, so I asked the same ones again and tried to act grateful when they gave me their answers. As I was shuffling out of the interview I wanted to ask "Can I have my rejection letter now? It will save you some postage."
Anyway, I haven't gotten my rejection letter yet, but I'll bet that it is on it's way. I'm wondering if I should just give up. It gets disheartening doing interview after interview and getting the same rejection letter. Is it possible that I just wasn't meant to work for the state and enjoy those nice benefits? Since I'm on their interview list, I'm sure I will have other interviews coming, but when is enough enough?

Nibbles and school

Personally, I'm feeling a little vindicated now. As I have always said; "I know my daughter."
Ever since the beginning of this year, Woogy's preschool teachers have been asking me when I'm going to sign up Nibbles for school ? I've told them on several occasions that I don't think she's ready for preschool. She will be 3 in a few months, but she doesn't talk or is potty trained.
Week after week, Woogy's teachers have said that the sooner I get her in school, the sooner she will start talking and develop some social skills. They even said they are holding a spot for her. I can see their logic, but I said that I can't even leave her in Sunday school, much less for 4 hours in school each week.
This week, Woogy's teachers then offered me to bring her in to the 3 and 4 year olds to see how she does. I thought their was no harm in that and it would just prove my point that she isn't ready for school. This morning, I took Nibbles into the classroom. Nibbles was excited for about 2 mins, but then when the other kids came up to her, she got scared and hid behind me (this is pretty typical for her). I'm sure it was overwhelming for her too. I then tried to get her a little involved in some painting. At that point, Nibbles ran out the door and to the car saying "Home!"
I drove Nibbles back to her sitter and felt a little vindicated. Sure, Woogy's preschool teachers have background in early childhood development as I do, but I know my daughter too, and she is not ready for school. We held Woogy back a year for preschool because we just didn't feel he was ready despite his teacher wanting to put him in the older class. We insisted and things at school have turned out pretty good for Woogy at school. In hindsight, I think it was the right thing to do. I've worked in child welfare now for close to a decade and I always work on the assumption that nobody knows their kids better than the parents. Hopefully, this will be the end of the Woogy's preschool teachers pushing Nibbles into school. I want to give her another year.

Febuary's Music

Since I kind of had a slow start to the new year, I've spent this month trying to catch up with some of new Cd's.


The Mary Onettes This has been one of my best new finds in a long time. They were recommended to me from itunes, which sometimes has some good advice. If you love 80's alternative rock that mixes Echo and the Bunnymen's and Joy Division's foggy atmosphere, with New Order guitars, then this is the album for you. The Mary Onettes are from Sweden and have been trying to get their music out for years, but had a lot of record deals fall through. One of the most retro sounding outfits out there.

The Smiths This Charming Man EP Finally, I have every last song recorded by The Smiths. The Smiths were one of the greatest bands of all time. They had a profound impact on my life and really opened my eyes to alternative music, way before the 90's hit. They were a band worth collecting, since their b-sides were as good as their singles. Most of those b-sides found their way on to compilation albums, but the three b-sides on This Charming Man never found a full album to fit onto. Consequently, the three songs here Jeane, Wonderful Woman, and Accept Yourself have been sought after by "die hard" Smiths fans (like myself) for over two decades. I don't know if I'd say that these three songs were worth waiting two decades for, but they are better than anything Morrissey has done lately.

The National Alligator Like everyone else who reads "Paste" magazine (and takes their music collection seriously) I loved The National's latest album Boxer. So I thought I would try one of their earlier albums. Alligator took a few listens before I started to like it. There are some good tunes here. I think it hints at the creative genius to come on Boxer.
The Editors The Back Room (Bonus Disc). Another band I truly love are the Editors. I really love their debut album, The Back Room, so I was pretty surprised to find a bonus disc floating around on the Internet. These are 6 new songs that didn't make the final album. These are not B-sides, but songs that are just as good as the final album. Wherever they came from, they are pretty good and are a extra treat to have.
Kate Nash Made Of Bricks After receiving the approval of her friend Lily Allen, Kate Nash hit it pretty big in the UK and is slowly making her way over to the states cussing up a storm. Vocally, she has this "posh English" voice that swears more than sailors in a bulk of her songs. Not an album for the faint of heart. Kate sings about truly dysfunctional relationships where she's been hurt or taken advantage of. She has some "choice" names for the men that have betrayed her in her songs. Musically, it is pretty easy to take in, with it's poppy alternative sound.
Radiohead In Rainbows (Bonus Disc) Another great disc I found floating around on the Net. This is a must for us "die hard" Radiohead fans. Everyone knows In Rainbows is a great album, but the unreleased bonus disc makes it better. These 8 additional songs are in the complete In Rainbows package with all the fancy art work. This is offered through the website at a reasonable $80. I didn't feel like spending that much, so I obtained it through other means. Some of the new songs are just "fillers" but others like "4 minute Warning" and "Last Flowers" should have been on the regular album.
Glen Phillips Mr. Lemons I loved Toad the Wet Sprocket (the "Walk on the Ocean " band) but Glen's solo career has been a lot of "hit or miss". His first solo album sucked big time, but his second album Winter Pays for Summer is a masterpiece that out does a lot of Toad albums. Mr. Lemons is sort of a step backwards for Glen. Not a complete bust, but not his best or worst work. I only got it because I found it for a good price. Includes a unrecognizable cover of Huey Lewis's "I Want a New Drug" that I would rather forget.

Look Out Below

This morning as I was dropping Woogy off at school, I got out of my car for a minute to talk to the teacher. Suddenly, I heard a huge SPLAT! and saw what appeared to be a massive amount of bird poop on my car. The first thing I thought was "I'm glad that wasn't my head." Its a case of karma since I was parked in a handicapped spot (just for a minute). Ironcially, I had just washed my car a few days ago.

Weekend adventures

After several months of cold rainy weekends, the sun and pleasant weather returned this weekend. As always, we tried to make the best of the weather and travelled up the gorge to Bridal Vail falls and then to Mt. Hood for some more sledding.

Here's Mt. Hood near the top. A lot of skiers and snowboarders around. I truely regret never having learned to snow board or ski. It looks pretty fun.

Here's Bridal Vail Falls. This is around the same area of a lot of the other waterfalls, but it's kind of hidden around a corner. It was a pretty easy hike down to the falls.
The family by the falls

Here's a little clip of me going down a pretty steep hill. It was a little rough, but I'm alright. I'm not as young as I used to be. That's Monty chasing me down the hill.

Editors in Portland

Last Wed, one of my favorite bands--The Editors were in town. This would be their second visit to Portland in less than 6 months, but I'm not complaining. I'm really loving these guys and they are quickly raising on my list of "favorite bands of all time." I also thought they had the best new album last year with "An End Has A Start."

Sure, they have their critics and get accused of ripping off Joy Division, but I think they improve on that gloomy alternative sound with glass shredding guitars that Joy Division started years ago. They also get some comparisons to Interpol, but I think with their last album, the Editors surpasses Interpol on every level.

The Editors played a pretty intensive show mostly drawing from tunes on their new album and hardly stopping or letting up for almost an hour. Tom Smith (lead singer) is a great performer and the closing song "Smokers in the Hospital Doors" achieves the heights and granduer few bands have matched. Since this band is still pretty young, I'm excited to hear what they will do next.

Bono Fatigue: A Place for Bono Vox Detox

I was going to blog about the incredible Editors concert I went to last night, but I thought this would be more funny.
I found this link on Larknews.com and thought it was pretty funny. I'm not sure if I have ever suffered from this. I've been a loyal fan for over 20 years and don't feel I need a detox. Maybe I'm just blind to the symptoms.

www.BonoFatigue.com // A Place for Bono Vox Detox

From site host Andrew BillingsThis site is for U2 fans suffering from Bono Fatigue as a result of an over-consumption of U2 music, Bono interviews, Africa-related relief ideas etc. (BF can manifest in many ways. If you don't have it, you'll know it when you get it.) Since people at this site are recovering from BF, and are hoping to work through it and re-introduce U2 back to their lives, please do not post band photos, art or quotes unless absolutely necessary to your comment. Give others a chance to walk through this at their own pace. Thanks! Heal and enjoy.

Here's some of the postings:

First, thanks to Andrew for creating this safe haven! My Bono Fatigue started shortly after "Atomic Bomb" was released. I listened to the enhanced CD for 302 hours straight, even while sleeping. It was a total binge and I knew better. I also read that book of interviews with Bono, "Conversations," about six times.During that same time I got "hooked" on the Africa cause really bad. I made myself feel sick about AIDS and poverty, to the point where I couldn't think about anything else. I OD'ed pretty bad and got the biggest case of BF. I couldn't even hear Bono's voice without feeling totally self-righteous and prophetic. I thought I was way hipper than all my non-U2 loving Christian friends. I even quit going to church and listened to U2 music on Sunday mornings as my "church."I finally realized I had a problem, so I went cold turkey for 5 months, then weaned back onto their stuff. I have earned my family and friends back, and now I moderate my U2 intake. BF can be beat, people!
Audrey464always

I guess I'm in the middle of some bad BF. I dreamed last night that Bono, Bono's wife, Bob Geldof and the Edge were hiding around every corner and jumping out to frighten me and play "I'm gonna getcha" while pinching and tickling me. It was awful to have my favorite band in a nightmare! When I ran away from them I felt guilty, like I wasn't doing the "right thing."The weird thing is, I don't even know who Bob Geldof is. It must have come into my head subliminally. Is he the Live Aid guy? Or Band-Aid? Even typing the word "Aid" is bringing on symptoms. Agh!

I relapsed last night and listened to the first three songs of Achtung. By the time The Fly rolled around I was back to thinking Bono was Elijah. It's amazing how long it takes to get over distorted thoughts. I can't wait 'til my detox is done and I get back to regular listening. I miss U2, but I can't have them right now!

U2 3D

Over the weekend, I finally had my opportunity to go see U2 3D. It was as I predicted--totally mind blowing. Coming from U2, I would expect anything less. They haven't let me down in over 20 years that I've been a fan. This was about 80 mins of pure 3-D joy with U2 on stage during their Vertigo Tour. By the time I bought a IMAX ticket, popcorn and a drink, I realized that I spent half as much if I went to a real U2 concert. In a way, this was about as close as you could get to seeing U2. At times I had to ask my friend Aaron "Shouldn't we be standing?" I also caught myself almost clapping. That's how real it felt.
The movie really did U2 some justice. It was clear that U2 was using this movie of spreading their agenda for tolerance and coexistance. The art work flashing on the screens and Bono's performance were consistently a plea for nonviolence and peace. With the exception of a few songs, U2 played most of their policitally charged anthems including my personal favorites "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and a heart felt verison of "Pride"(Bono actually fixed the lyrics to be historical accurate of the time MLK was shot). Anyway, the movie is nothing but uplifting and like all U2 shows, you leave with a sense of hope. I really loved the animation being played during "Yaweh" at the end of the film. U2 3-D accomplished it's mission if it set out to capture U2's message.
Unfortuately, hundreds of teenage girls got a totally different message in the next door theather that was playing "Hannah Montana in 3-D " to sold out crowds. That's OK, I didn't want them in my theather anyway.

january's music

I found this to be a rather slow month for music. Didn't find a lot of inspiring music this month, so I went back and picked some albums I missed last yearArcade Fire Neon Bible I became fixated on buying this album after it topped nearly every music critics "best of..." list. I'm glad I did, it was just the kind of "big rock" sounding album I was looking for. I found it pretty refreshing since I had been listening to a lot of slower, softer music recently. Neon Bible has drawn a lot of comparison's to Bruce Springsteen. At their best, Arcade Fire rely on the same melodrama Springsteen uses to achieve their grandeur sound. It works pretty well for them.

Stars of Track and Field Centuries Before Love and War Portland has a pretty happening music scene. Portland music fans are proud of The Dandy Warhols, The Decemberist, and most of all, The Shins. Honestly, I never really liked any of these bands, but now I finally have some local heros. Portland's Star of Track and Field are quickly building a name for themselves around here for fans of more "ambient rock." They combine a lot of old rock styles (like jangly guitar) with new atomosphereic (electronic--Radioheadish) beautifully. Dreamy at times, and granduer at others. I'm doing my part now to support local music.
Ride Waves A complation of their sessions at BBC and with John Peel. Ride was one of the most successful bands to come out of the "shoegazer" movement of the early 90's. They were everything I love in a band. Their sound was a wash of guitars of swirling distortion. Dreamy, ambient, and with a real pop sensibility. I love the begining of this album when they were true shoegazers (their later material tended to be less noisy and more psychidelic towards the end of their career). Anyway, they only got a few stabs at recording the material for BBC, so what comes across is a real raw experience (shoegazers used a lot of studio equipment and editing to get their sound).
Bill Mallonee Permafrost Itunes finally released this album for digital download this month. Permafrost has been on Bill's website for a while, but I had a bad experience downloading from his site so I put off buying this one. It's a shame I did, because it is a great album. I usually go on about how unfair it is that Bill is such a unrecognized talent in the music industry, but it doesn't do any good to complain. It's other people's loss not to hear Bill. I would rank Permafrost among some of his best recordings.

styles of worship

Last night we had a good discussion at home group about different styles of worship. This was a pretty good topic of discussion to help to get to know one another better. Think of it like the learning styles theory. It also reveals what are our strengths and diversity as a community.
The styles that were brought up and discussed were:
1. Nature and Beauty (Someone who appreciates the beauty of God's creation)
2. Thinker (Someone who spends time in thought and prayer)
3. Contemplate (Someone who takes time and rationalizes worship)
4. Aesthetic (someone who worships through touch, feel, sight and sound)
5. Caregiver (someone who worships through caring for others in need)
6. Activist (someone who worships through social causes)
7. Enthusiastic (someone who is just always energized to go out and win over followers)
8. Ritualistic (worship through rituals)
(There might have been a few more, but this is all I can remember)

We then needed to discuss which of these styles we were most comfortable in with the idea that we should do what ever brings us closer to God. After doing a little self analyzing, I felt like I was a little of everything except enthusiastic (most people felt the same way). This may sound bad, but I've not very good at showing my enthusiasm toward the Lord (at least to others). I attribute some of this to the fact that I was brought up in a Catholic Church were ritualism is important than enthusiasm. However since breaking away from the Catholic Church, I feel I've been pretty harsh on it. Now that I'm a little older (and hopefully wiser) I can really see the beauty in some of the rituals and how for some people can find that can be comforting.

The rest of the worship styles I feel I can fit into pretty well. I feel that I lean heavy towards the aesthetic worship style. Weather it is in the beauty of a painting from Monet or Van Gogh, or a beautiful song that hits the right chords, sight and sound can be a window into God's creation. You can hear the beauty of God in a quiet Over the Rhine song, the sound scape of Sigur Ros, the genius of Radiohead, or a spiritual charged u2 concert (which I've always said is as close to a spiritual experience as you can get).

I've found some spiritual meaning in my work with children as part activist and caregiver. Other times, post from Shakedust or Pastor Rick's sermons turn me into a thinker or contemplater. Most recently, I can really get closer to God through nature. This is largely due to the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. When our group was talking this, we took a minute to listen to the wind blow through the pine trees outside. It was quiet beautiful to listen to the pines sway in the cold wind outside. Many people compare it to a whisper. Seeing some of the waterfalls around here, you realize that God is the greatest artist of all, and he takes time and detail with his work. You can travel to the top of the Columbia Gorge and take in His majesty or go down to the ocean and see His fury.

I think the real danger is getting pigeonholed in one style. If all you are is about sensory worship, do you miss the opportunities to help those in need? If all you are about is worshipping through helping others and being an activist, do you miss the chance to worship the beauty of God's creation? Does it do good to over think God's wonder that we loss all enthusiasm towards Him. If we are overly enthusiastic is it realistic to never question God? I think ideally, we need to be strong in all areas of worship.

Sledding at Mt. Hood

This weekend, we took a little afternoon trip to Mt. Hood (about an hour east of Portland). We wanted to take the kids for their first sledding experience. Believe or not, in 7 years, we never went sledding in Kansas or Iowa. The conditions at Mt. Hood are perfect for winter activities. We ended up just buying a couple of sleds when we got there and found some free places to ride down. Everything was fun at first, but Wah-Wah and Nibbles had a rough landing at one point and called it quits. Woogy and I went on and did a few more and slides. Since Nibbles didn't seem to enjoy herself, I might just take just Woogy back sometime. It's a nice escape from a rainy Portland afternoon.

Best of 2007

Here's my chance to play "music critic" with my list of the best new albums of 2007 (In my humble opinion).


Radiohead In Rainbows The more I listen to it, the more I hear the genius of Radiohead . It doesn't hurt that I practically got this album for free and legal. This album is way ahead of it's time, not only in sound, but the way it was distributed without a record label. This could be the future for the music industry.

The National Boxer Paste's magazine record of the year as well as many other critics. This album is smooth sounding and different sounding from anything else out there.
Travis The Boy With No Name Fran Healy named the album after his unborn son who is now named "Grant" (so I guess the boy does have a name). This is such a great return to form for Travis after their last album. "Battleships" is one of my favorite songs that recognizes the struggle of relationships under the stress of modern life.
The Brothers Martin The Brothers Martin With Jason and Ronnie Martin combining their skills, it's impossible not to come up with anything but gold. This fantastic album combines Ronnie's pop sensibilities with Jason's indie style. Every track is single worthy. It would be nice to see the two brothers work together more often.
Stars In Our Bedroom After the War A wonderful follow up to their last album Set Yourself On Fire. It kind surpasses it in many ways with a lot more catchy tracks and vocal swapping between male and female leads.

Over the Rhine The Trumpet Child Influenced by the loss of New Orleans, Over the Rhine incorporate more jazz and brass into their palette with great results.
Blonde Redhead 23 Another critical favorite, this is the closest to "shoegazer sound" that I've heard all year.
Editors An End Has a Start I'm declaring this my favorite album of the year. Sure, Editors don't hide their Joy Division influence, but they improve on it. This album was produced by Jacknife Lee who I have concluded is a producing genius after his work with U2, Snow Patrol,and Bloc Party (He's now working with REM so I'm looking forward to see how he improves upon their sound). Anyway, Jacknife's style is to polish the sound and bring guitar's to the forefront. On An End Has A Start the guitars are polished and as sharp as shards of glass. This really brings the Editors sound to the stratosphere and elevates the listener. They were great live as well.


Bloc Party A Weekend In the City Another Jacknife Lee produced album that I developed an interest in after seeing Bloc Party live in KC. Less experimental than their debut album, but more accessible and tuned for the masses.

December update and music

After a little blogger break, I'm back and on a new computer. Our home computer crashed on New Year's Day (great way to start a new year), forcing me to take a little break. After attempting to recover some info, it became clear that we needed a new computer. I still don't know what I am going to do about my lost itunes however. It make take a while to reload 6,000 songs I had on it.
Not knowing what to ask Santa for this year, I ordered the remaining Over the Rhine albums I didn't have off the band's web site. It goes without saying, that I've been listening to a lot of Over the Rhine lately.
Over the Rhine Changes Come A live album taken from their Ohio tour a few years ago, this CD captures a brilliant concert performance. Most of the songs highlight their album Ohio. Over the Rhine is a great live band. They seem comfortable and laid back yet a very intimate performance. This is a great disc to experience Over the Rhine live.
Over the Rhine Live From Nowhere Vol 2 The second disc in a yearly tradition of Over the Rhine releasing highlights from their performances from over the past year. Live from Nowhere has got some great songs and covers not available on any other album. I liked the Changes Come disc a little better. I like my live albums to come from a single or couple of performances. Live From Nowhere jumps around a lot from performance to performance. This gives the listener a little less continuity than a single performance (in my opinion).

Beck Sea Changes It might surprise some that I like Beck since I've never mentioned him before and he has been around for a while. I got his latest album The Information last year and liked it. I found it innovative with lots of musical styles that seemed to blend together pretty well. I picked up Sea Changes based on the singles "Lost Cause" and "the Golden Age". This is Beck's break up album (he supposedly made this album right after a rough break up). Most of the songs are pretty sober compared to what else he has done and don't have the mix of urban and hip hop beats. In their is no rapping at all. Beck just sings in a stripped down fashion with some pretty moving results.
Ryan Adams Easy Tiger Here is another artist I generally haven't paid much attention to. I got this one based on the single "Two" which has been getting some air play. I thought the song was absolutely beautiful. It was one of those "I need to buy that album to get that one song." Luckily the rest of the album is worth keeping. Ryan sings short-sweet "alternative country songs". He's about as "country" as I like.
Over the Rhine Eve Over the Rhine's third album and pretty hard to find. Eve captures the band still growing and changing right before they made their masterpiece "Good Dog, Bad Dog." Probably my favorite out of their early albums.
Over the Rhine The Darkest Night Of the Year I opened this X-mas present a little early this year since I lack seasonal Christmas music. I thought this would be a good disc to crank up for driving around looking at Christmas lights. I found this to be a very dark sounding Christmas CD (which is what it was intended to be), but over all, it lacks the Christmas feel and joy that much of their latest Christmas CD-Snow Angels has.
Over the Rhine Amateur Shortwave Radio One of Over the Rhine's "fan only" albums, this is a collection to celebrate Over the Rhine's birthday. The album opens with a beautiful rendition of one of Over the Rhine's first great songs "Like a Radio" and then goes into a effective version of the Stones's "Ruby Tuesday".

Over the Rhine Cutting Room Floor (not pictured) Yet another "fan only" album of songs and demos not found anywhere else. You can't complain about a band that truly is appreciative towards their fans and releases albums geared especially for them. These "fan only" albums are not to make new fans, but reward the old ones. That's a nice change every so often. Cutting Room Floor is a great example of this. The closing tune "Helpless" (a Neil Young cover) is pretty effectively delivered when Karen puts in the context of post 9-11, when it was performed.