Homeland.

As I get older, I no longer have the eloquence to explain my obsessions.  However.  Holy shit you have to watch this show.  This thing hits all of the necessary nails on the heads.  Espionage. Terrorism.  Iraq.  Etc.

Start watching an you will be finished in a week.  Guaranteed.  We can have a discussion after that because I don't want to give up any spoilers.

Royal Headache

I listened to this album twice in succession today.  I may even listen to it on my drive home (Yes.  Yes I did).  I haven't done that in a long time.

I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was that made it stand out.  The ingredients do not suggest greatness (3 man garage rock).  But something about it suggests more than that.  Hints of greatness.  It's like you're listening to a classic rock station blaring out nameless 60's rock hits, but they've somehow updated it to modern standards.  I went and read the Pitchfork review and they put all of the success on the singers shoulders.  Perhaps that is it.  Regardless, have a listen.

Why Girls and that Creepy Adam Dude are Great

So.  We've been watching Girls.  And I wasn't sold at first, but it's really grown on me.  I can in no way explain this.  It doesn't seem to be a show written for me.

And as I look at the show, I realize that my feelings for the show have changed as my understanding of Creepy Adam have.  Them be spoilers.  Down there.

So, we start off with Adam being this weird dude that treats girls like shit and does creepy weird things.  He seems like a real asshole.  And all you can think is "Why would somebody sleep with this asshole?"

But then, she starts trying to date him.  Really pursuing him in, well, pursuit of a relationship.  And all you can think is "Why would somebody want to date this asshole?"

But then it all changes.  Suddenly.  His response to this sort of childish longing based on nothing is "You don't know me.  You don't know anything about me.  You've never tried to know me and you're in love with some sort of image of me."  Which seems entirely true and really insightful.

And then it's all summed up (paraphrase) in one statement made about this character: "Is he the deepest guy ever or just a total fucking asshole".  I'm going to go look that quote up right now.  Nope.  Here it is. "Is he like a great thinker or just a total fucking idiot?"  Much better.

And then as the show progresses, you start to see it.  Here is a guy that may be an asshole, but he's completely up front and honest about everything he is an asshole about.  He doesn't promise something up and not deliver.  He doesn't skulk around in the background screwing people over.  He just tells you exactly what he's about and you can either accept that or not.  And really, how can you possibly complain about that?

And then, he just seems completely and entirely aware of himself and what he is doing and who he is and, maybe not where he's going, but at least knows his direction.  And he can see through your bullshit and not accept it.  And that is why I think this guy is great.  He has a surety of self that almost borders on arrogance.  But it isn't.  And that's why I like him.  I admire the decisiveness.  Wow.  "Decisiveness".  Try spelling that correctly the first time.

And yes, he's still an asshole.  But, really, he's kind of awesome at the same time.

 

I watched this so that you don't have to - Real Housewives of Vancouver

So, a month or so back the hype machine of Real Housewives of Vancouver really hit.  And I will admit, it made me angry.  I think it was supposed to make me angry, so I guess mission accomplished.

Anyhow, I got a bit up in arms that they would glamourize the life of the wife of a should-have-been-convicted-of-murder gangster.  I can understand that they would want that notoriety.  But it still made me angry.  I had visions of watching this ridiculous shit so that I could cast shame down upon anything remotely attached to the show.  Luckily, I don't spend much time at Earl's or the Cactus Club, so it probably won't be an issue whatever happens.

So I watched this show.  And let's not fool ourselves, this show is shit and these women are idiots.  Just total fucking idiots whose redeeming qualities are buried way too far for television to see.

But I wasn't angry as I watched.  See, I think they want me to be angry.  I think they want all the rage and the "How could she!" and all the crap that goes along with it.  And the characters that these women play are just so superficially shallow that it's sad to watch.

Now, allow me to expand on that.  Yes, these woman are most likely a batch of tarts that I wouldn't wish to spend more than 5 minutes around.  But their TV character are even worse.  This show is just so painfully staged that it's hard to feel anything but sad for these ladies.  You can sense the producer off camera telling them that it's now time to argue.  You can see when he flips the switch and tells them to get drunk and act stupid.  And it's one thing for a poor loser to sell his soul for a television show.  But there's something much, much, much more troubling about a batch of people with more money than sense throwing their remaining shame away for the fame attached to a really crappy TV show.

So, I'm not going to let it bother me that these walking facelifts are poncing about town celebrating their 15th thirtieth birthday in a cloud of shame.  Just ignore them.  Please.  Ignore them.  And maybe they will go away.

Reddit Memes

I know.  I e-mailed you guys about this yesterday.  And you don't even care.  But it's just so funny and here it is again.

Lazy College Senior
Engineering Professor

Best of

This is the year that I really started to feel a bit old when it comes to music.  Like it was an effort to keep on top of things.  Like the kids are listening to bands I've never heard of.  I don't really like that. 


Songs (that didn't have albums to match)

Wugazi - Sleep Rules Everything Around Me

When I first heard about the Wugazi album I just freaked right out.  I had higher expectations, as a whole.  Sleep Rules Everything Around Me shows the promise of this concept.

Yacht - Shangri-La
This is my favourite song of 2011.  It reminds me of the slow jams that I listened to throughout my childhood.  Radio NL, the greatest hits of all time.  It's a bit Afternoon Delightish.  Just an extremely catchy and beautiful song.


Albums (the obvious ones)

Panda Bear - Tomboy and Atlas Sound - Parallax

I listened to both of these a lot.  See?  Obvious.


Albums (the less obvious ones)

Louis CK - Hilarious
Did this even come out this year?  I really enjoyed this album as it made me think about a few things for a few hours afterwards.  I can't really remember what they were, but it really resonated at the time.

Fucked Up - David Comes to Life
I remember trying to explain to somebody a few years ago that a great album can be created in just a few moments.  The 5 seconds in the middle of a song that make you want to listen to the whole album.  Of course, you need an album to support those 5 seconds.  Without the album, you're just going to yell at BTO to get "workin' overtime".  To dig way into the past, I think the Unicorns were a band that really captured these moments.  The Fiery Furnaces as well.  This album, while not quite on that level, does a spectacular job of capturing moments and sprinkling them throughout.

Wu Lyf - Go Tell Fire to the Mountain
This is really the only thing this year that came out of nowhere (well...Pitchfork) and got me really excited.  I honestly didn't know what language they were speaking the first time I heard it.  I was worried that the live show was going to bring the whole thing crashing down but it actually made everything better (although I've only listened to the album once since then).

See what I was saying at the top?  That's a pretty sad list right there.

THE BEST!! of 2011

Okay Dave, for posterity's sake, a top five:

- Thee Oh Sees, Castlemania. I played the hell out of this record all summer. Their double EP in November was icing on the cake. San Francisco garage rock had a big year, and even though Ty Segall gets most of the accolades, these guys are probably what he puts on when he's microwaving burritos.

- Ty Segall, Goodbye Bread. But then again Ty deserves some accolades.

- Girls, Father Son Holy Ghost. So I should just to move to San Francisco? But this album—-unassailable. On every point.

- The Psychic Paramount, II. Oh hi there post rock. Where you been? It's like when Megatron sort of died but then came back as Galvatron, bigger and more unhinged. Sure he was still just a handgun, so a little one dimensional, but he was a pretty kickass handgun.

- Wugazi, 13 Chambers. Mashups are a tired gimmick? Yes. This album is still impossible to turn off? Also yes.

(I should mention that this isn't really a “best of” so much as a “I liked this and played it a lot.” There is a difference. I also liked new albums by old favourites (Wire, Deerhoof, Feelies) well enough, and got pretty enthusiastic about old favourites with new/newish names (Wild Flag, Obits), and a little less but still enthusiastic about new (to me) bands with new (to me) names (Iceage, Trash Talk); I heard a bunch of indie (or easy listening?) bands mostly stick to formula, which is fine when the formula's okay (Antlers, Radiohead, Lykke Li, Gang Gang Dance, Cults, Atlas Sound, Panda Bear, Wilco), but disappointing when the formula didn't used to be quite so easy listening (The Rapture, TV on the Radio); I listened to a bunch of hip hop I found either too predictable (Lil B, Jay-Z/Kanye) or else pretty interesting, but missing the mark for some reason or another (Tyler the Creator, Death Grips, Das Racist, Danny Brown); I tried to like some American (ie. “false”) black metal, but failed (Wolves in the Throne Room, Liturgy); I tried not to like some NPR-approved singer songwriters, but failed again (Tom Waits, Sam Phillips, Bill Callahan); I spun some overrated genre exercises (Washed Out, Destroyer), and an underrated one (Dirtbombs), and some that were highly rated and deserved it (Tune-Yards, James Blake); I smiled at some competent rehashing of 80s electropop (Handsome Furs, HTRK, Drive sountrack, Gotye, Ladytron, M83). And I found myself surprisingly unconflicted about cheering for Lady Gaga, even though I only listened to her album once, if that. But she took a brave and genuinely compelling stand against homophobia in the year it was supposed to get better but didn't. I'm disappointed that her Shania track “You and I” wasn't picked up by country radio. But she made a lot of people a shit ton of money this year, so maybe try try again, and eventually the bible belt will erupt into one giant John Waters freakathon.