I alluded to this album coming out a couple months ago when I reviewed “Beard. Wives. Denim.” by Pond—a band sharing many of the same members of Tame Impala. I’ve only listened to this album once through, but it made a very favorable impression. It uses lots of samples and even more reverb. It seemed like a lot of the sound was focused on the ebb and flow of the synthesizer, exploring different emotional aspects through music rather than lyrics. I do think I’ll keep this album handy and give it several more listens.
I was born in 1990. As such, my musical enlightenment didn’t occur until the early 21st century. Ergo, I don’t think I can be fairly blamed that this is my first real exposure to Swans. I’m finding that regrettable because this is a remarkable album. At over two hours long, it’s an expansive and haunting journey through sonic space less travelled. As the opening track, “Lunacy” sets the tone for a bold and unapologetic work of art.
Bob Dylan is perhaps the greatest (or at least most influential) musician of all time. I have a ton of respect for him, and it seems to be a small miracle that he is still creating and performing music. Simply by virtue of what he’s done and how long he’s been doing it, I feel to some extent unworthy to pass judgement on his music. Here’s my two cents on this album: his iconic voice will make or break it for you. Also, the album is quite long.
They managed to find a sound that works, and stick with it. There is very little variation across songs in the album, but I still greatly enjoyed listening to the whole thing. It’s sort of like a heartfelt dance album.
I love this band, and I’m prepared to overlook one little misguided record. Just please, please, don’t do this again. ”Mirage Rock” is actually a good descriptor of the album, just not in a good way. Everything is so thin and hollowed out that the whole album may as well be a mirage. The strengths of their earlier albums depended in part on their simple, succinct and earnest lyrics juxtaposed with a much bigger, richer sound. It’s clear to see the direction the band tried to take when they hired producer Glyn Johns—a reversion to a simpler time of AM radio and stripped down Americana rock—in essence striving for the simple and earnest while abandoning the bigness and richness. It just doesn’t work for them though.
Simón Vélez, architect and pioneer in the contemporary use of bamboo as an essential building component. He invented a new method to build foundations and roofs, which transformed one of the world’s oldest building materials, namely bamboo, into a modern resource.
The preceding line to Romney’s quote is “[M]y job is is not to worry about those people.” While I think in the narrow sense of this statement, Romney simply meant that his campaign is focusing on swing voters to win the election, rather than trying to win over Obama supporters. And that makes total sense. But while Romney the campaigner doesn’t particularly need to worry about those people, Romney the president does; and the following sentence, presented in this image, is revealing and genuinely startling.
I just spent 3 hours writing an incredibly long post on the Romney video leak, which included a detailed explanation of the tax code in question, the theory behind it, the empirical realities of tax demographics, Republican dogma, social justice, and the politics of the whole shebang. It included a video, numerous quotes, a half a dozen links, and like 10 charts and graphs.
Then, with a few unfortunate keystrokes in the last paragraph, I lost 85% of it. I’m mad, but I want you all to know that it was really good. I never blog about the thing I know best (politics), because I am afflicted with the curse of knowledge and I end up getting really wonky and long winded and no one cares.
But this post was different. It was long winded, but I was really proud of the time I took to explain everything. I think you would have found it informative.
Do you think I should write more about current events and politics?
![barackobama:
Don’t boo—vote.
The preceding line to Romney’s quote is “[M]y job is is not to worry about those people.” While I think in the narrow sense of this statement, Romney simply meant that his campaign is focusing on swing voters to win the election, rather than trying to win over Obama supporters. And that makes total sense. But while Romney the campaigner doesn’t particularly need to worry about those people, Romney the president does; and the following sentence, presented in this image, is revealing and genuinely startling.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_maizc7oLR81qzhkvho1_500.png)
