The Buffet

Let's revive this thing, eh?

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:42:13 -0500

thegretchentaylortimes: unbelievers. vampire weekend.

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:37:40 -0500

thegretchentaylortimes:

unbelievers. vampire weekend.

barackobama: Happy holidays, everybody.

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 10:28:48 -0600

barackobama:

Happy holidays, everybody.

Best Albums of 2012: 10-1

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:00:32 -0600

10. Joywave - Koda Vista

9. Ben Kweller - Go Fly a Kite

8. Passion Pit - Gossamer

7. The Tallest Man on Earth - There’s No Leaving Now

6. fun. - Some Nights

5. Japandroids - Celebration Rock

4. The Early November - In Currents

3. Sigur Rós - Valtari

2. John K. Samson - Provincial

1. The Chariot - One Wing

Best Albums of 2012: 20-11

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:00:45 -0600

20. The Shins - Port of Morrow

19. Regina Spektor - What We Saw from the Cheap Seats

18. The Lumineers - The Lumineers

17. Stepdad - Wildlife Pop

16. Say Anything - Anarchy, My Dear

15. Good Old War - Come Back as Rain

14. Oberhofer - Time Capsules II

13. Vacationer - Gone

12. Every Time I Die - Ex Lives

11. Everyone Everywhere - Everyone Everywhere

Best Albums of 2012: 30-21

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 12:00:42 -0600

30. Miike Snow - Happy to You

29. Netherfriends - Middle America

28. Two Door Cinema Club - Beacon

27. The Daredevil Christopher Wright - The Nature of Things

26. Miniature Tigers - Mia Pharoah

25. Jack White - Blunderbuss

24. Bahamas - Barchords

23. Reptar - Body Faucet

22. P.O.S. - We Don’t Even Live Here

21. Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal

Best Albums of 2012: 40-31

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:00:54 -0600

40: The Asteroid’s Galaxy Tour - Out of Frequency

39: Foxy Shazam - The Church of Rock and Roll

38: Toro Y Moi - June 2009

37: Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It

36: First Aid Kit - The Lion’s Roar

35: Shovels and Rope - O’ Be Joyful

34: Lazerbeak - Lavabangers

33: Tame Impala - Lonerism

32: Titus Andronicus - Local Business

31: Kishi Bashi - 151a

Best Albums of 2012: 50-41

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:01:01 -0600

50. Lambchop - Mr. M

49. Sea Wolf - Old World Romance

48. The Big Pink - Future This

47. M. Ward - A Wasteland Companion

46. Death Grips - The Money Store

45. Brother Ali - The Bite Marked Heart

44. Pond - Beard, Wives, Denim

43. Yellow Ostrich - Strange Land

42. Now, Now - Threads

41. Swans - The Seer

Best Albums of 2012 Coming This Week

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 12:00:42 -0600

My list is more or less finalized (or as finalized as it will get), and I’m itching to share it, so I’ve decided to go ahead and push it out this week.

This year’s list will be my to 50 albums. I’ll push out 10 a day, every day this week at noon. Because I think I’m some sort of big shot that can do things like that.

Even though I’ve been working on this project since June, I like to think of these lists as works in progress. There are a lot of albums that came out this year that I still don’t think I’ve had enough time to let sink in. So this list will be reviewed and revised in December 2013, just as I did for last year’s list.

I’ve also decided to use my supreme authority as author of this list and not write an explanation for each one. I’ll post one track with each submission, which will give a thumbnail sample of the sound of each album. I think that, paired with where it falls in the rankings, will give everyone a decent idea of what I may have put in paragraph form. I’m also thinking I might do a quick post at the end with some general thoughts to add to the mix.

And, as always, I welcome feedback. I’m excited to share!

EP of the Year

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 20:32:08 -0600

I can think of very few EPs that I listened to this year, so I’m just going to go ahead and declare the Person L / Weatherbox Split the champion. I don’t anticipate anything topping it.

Also rans:

S. Carey - Hoyas

Kate Nash - Death Proof

But I am a little disappointed in myself for not being on top of the EPs this year. Anyone have any suggestions?

Best Albums of 2011 Revisited

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 21:07:32 -0600

In preparation for my 2012 list, and after a year of thought, I’ve revised my Best Albums of 2011 List. For posterity, here’s the original list. I’m only going to republish a new top 10. Long story short—pop punk.

10: The Dear Hunter—The Color Spectrum

9: Astronautalis—This is Our Science

8: Bon Iver—Bon Iver

7: Manchester Orchestra—Simple Math

6: Youth Lagoon—Year of Hibernation

5: Portugal. the Man—In the Mountain, In the Cloud

4: All Get Out—The Season

3: Mansions—Dig Up the Dead

2: Into It. Over It.—Proper

1: The Wonder Years—Suburbia, I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing

“O’ Be Joyful” by Shovels & Rope Yes.

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 11:00:46 -0600

“O’ Be Joyful” by Shovels & Rope

Yes.

“Local Business” by Titus Andronicus This...

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 09:11:48 -0600

“Local Business” by Titus Andronicus

This one’s getting quite a bit of hype, so I figured I’d jump on with my stamp of approval. It really is a great album, especially if you’re down with that classic punk vocal sound.

“Threads” by Now, Now I feel as if the indie/dream...

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 19:13:12 -0600

“Threads” by Now, Now

I feel as if the indie/dream pop market is pretty saturated this year. Nonetheless, I rather enjoyed listening to this record by the young Twin Cities trio.

One Month Left for Best of 2012

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 18:41:47 -0600

As the year draws to a close, I am honing in my “Best Music of 2012” list. Unfortunately this involves making some hard choices. I only regret that I cannot possibly listen to EVERYTHING enough to give it a fair chance. But I shall do my best!

In which Felix Salmon and John Carney solve the debt-ceiling problem over IM

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 19:34:29 -0600

John Carney: Am I the only person in the world who likes the debt celing?
John Carney: I can't find anyone else defending it.
Felix Salmon: Oh, stop being all #slatepitchey
John Carney: I'm serious. I think the debt ceiling is actually a necessary thing. Getting rid of it would be terrible.
John Carney: But I do think we'll get rid of it
Felix Salmon: OK, let me spell this out for you
Felix Salmon: Every time we hit the debt ceiling, there's a low but non-zero chance that we will default
Felix Salmon: We hit the debt ceiling quite often
Felix Salmon: Therefore, statistically speaking, eventually we're bound to default. Sooner or later.
Felix Salmon: For no good reason
Felix Salmon: This is sheer idiocy
John Carney: One: we're not bound to default since the United States won't exist forever. So the time span isn't infinite.
John Carney: But, seriously, having the debt authorized by Congress is important because that makes it Our Debt and not Obama's Debt.
John Carney: Bonds issued in defiance of a congressional majority would provoke a crisis.
Felix Salmon: The US is the only republic in the world that has a debt ceiling. All the others seem to cope just fine without the legislature signing off on every bond issue.
John Carney: So, here's the thing, you can't get around Congressional authority on this entirely because its in the constitution. So you're stuck with giving congress a say. The question before us is whether the president should have the power to raise it even if a congressional majority rejects the rise.
John Carney: That's what Geithner has proposed. In which case, we could very easily have the Treasury issuing bonds that have been rejected by a congressional majority.
John Carney: That has never happened before in US history. It's not something that I'm aware has happened, in fact, in any developed country.
Felix Salmon: Look, the easy thing to do here is to just have Congress pass a $100 quadrillion debt ceiling.
John Carney: Sure. That sounds like a better idea, actually, than attempting to move the debt ceiling into the White House.
Felix Salmon: Yay! Thesis, antithesis, synthesis! We solve the world through IM!
John Carney: Don't we always?

“Wildlife Pop” by Stepdad For whatever reason, I...

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 18:10:07 -0600

“Wildlife Pop” by Stepdad

For whatever reason, I never wrote about this album. I still don’t know if I have much to articulate about it, except that it’s a helluva lot of fun.

“One Wing” by The Chariot It’s 2012 and a...

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 21:09:20 -0600

“One Wing” by The Chariot

It’s 2012 and a hardcore album will again be high on my list. ”One Wing” is one of the best ones I’ve heard in a long time. It’s not just that they are so on point with their usual frantic sound, it’s that they managed to couple it with totally new and unexpected elements, and make it work beautifully.

So good.

barackobama: What 20,000 fired-up Iowans look like. Wish I...

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 07:17:26 -0600

barackobama:

What 20,000 fired-up Iowans look like.

Wish I was there!

It probably goes without saying, but this humble writer endorses President Obama for a second...

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 20:23:47 -0600

It probably goes without saying, but this humble writer endorses President Obama for a second term.

There are many reasons why I support him. His tax plan is fairer, and will both do more to encourage short term growth and keep long term debt in check. An Obama administration is more likely to see progress in addressing climate change. An Obama administration is also more likely to tackle immigration reform. I want ObamaCare to be implemented because it is cost effective, and because everyone deserves access to proper health care. Women should be treated fairly including in the workplace and in the doctor’s office. Reproductive issues are medical issues, not political issues. They should be between the woman, her family, and her doctor to make. Furthermore, I want to be able to attend all of my friends’ weddings some day, not just the heterosexual ones.

I hate to admit to partisanship, but modern political realities are such that this is all just voting party line. The two parties have become so polarized these days that if you feel pretty strongly one way or the other on any given issue, you don’t have to look much further to see how to vote. A happen to have several preferences that align with the Democratic Party.

In many ways, it is the parties themselves that drive the nation’s agenda. In almost all respects, people tend to vastly overstate the powers of the President. The recession was much bigger than American politics, and would’ve happened no matter who was in charge. The recovery was tepid largely because the downturn was global in nature. Even though we made off better than most places, continued slumps in Europe and China were a real drag on our own recovery. As the global outlook continues to improve, it is likely that we will see a stronger recovery regardless of who sits in the Oval Office.

This brings me to perhaps the biggest reason why I support our president. This election falls at an important inflection point in our global economy, wherein the next 4 years will likely vindicate the last 4 years for which ever party comes out on top of this election. If the Democrats do better, the next four years will make the stimulative measures of the Obama administration look better. If Republicans win, it will justify the calls for austerity and brinksmanship of the House Republicans of the last year. While it isn’t correct thinking, enough people buy into the pseudo-omnipotence of the American government to make it meaningful. This is completely unacceptable to me. This election needs to send a signal everyone that we will not accept reckless politicking. That’s a huge reason why I support our President.

The job of the president is, in this day and age, to manage his Congress by being the strongest voice in policy debates. If you strip away the ideologies of Romney and Obama, you are left with a remarkably similar person. Both are pragmatic and capable leaders. Regardless of who is president, it looks as if they will have a Republican House and a Democratic Senate. A Romney presidency will perhaps draw a little more consensus, but his policy agendas will largely be set by Republican leaders who don’t trust him, and he will feel the need to earn their good graces. An Obama presidency will likely be plagued with further Republican intransigence. But, heading into next year, Obama holds the better hand with the fiscal cliff, and will likely be able to force a compromise.

While I like Obama (a lot) better than Romney, I don’t think a Romney presidency on its own would be the end of the world. My real problem lies in our House of Representatives, and what this year’s election means for the House elections in 2014 and beyond. I fear that unless we have a clear Obama win, we will be stuck with the same House leadership into the foreseeable future, emboldened with the sense that the public likes the choices they’ve made.

That’s something I’d rather not see.