Here is how The Black Keys have gone for me.
In like 2004, Chuck and I saw them at the old Sokol Underground here in Omaha. It was a tiny venue. They played their instruments really loudly. My ears rang for like 5 days after. It was probably the loudest show I have ever attended. But it was also a little repeptitive, and I don't remember wanting to buy an album afterwards.
Then I didn't listen to them for a really long time.
Fast forward. My co-worker Erin told me their show at the fancy new Slowdown was sold out in 2009. I was shocked. I had no idea they were so well-loved. So I got that album. Attack and Release. I liked the first song and a few others. But I couldn't listen to the album beginning to end, because it was too repetitive.
Then Dan Aurbach put out a solo album which was supposed to let him do stuff that was outside the confines of The Black Keys. The first song sounded exactly like The Black Keys, so I figured I didn't need any more of that.
2010 brought Brothers. Finally an album for Brent. Extra instruments. Extra parts. More variety. Terrific. I saw them again that year. But this time it was outside, and I know this is going to sound crazy, but I felt like they were kind of channeling early Elvis Presley that night. Which I'm pretty sure was almost entirely because I was reading "Last Train to Memphis," Peter Guralnick's biography about Presley's early career. Either way, it felt otherworldly, in the way I think of early Elvis.
So I thought maybe The Black Keys and Brent were finally getting it together. Chelsey liked the singer, I liked the drummer, so if we decided to double-team them, there would be no quibbling.
And then they put out this piece of crap called El Camino. I didn't really listen to it that much last year. It came out late, and I was trying to listen to a bunch of other music by the end of the year. But it really doesn't bear additional listening. It's just bad. Repetitive as all hell, and for some reason they've added female backup vocals.
Let this be a lesson for all of you. Alterna-blues rehash is only going to get you so far. Even if you are pretty good at it. But female backup singers are always a bad move. Always.
killing my memory problems
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
Saints Start Playoff Run
1) When they played the Lions earlier this year, they were helped out by a long list of Lions penalties and they didn't have Ndamukong Suh playing.
2) The Saints played really really bad in their playoff opener last year.
3) In interviews this week, the Saints keep talking about regaining their 2009 form. Whenever they did that in 2010, they lost the following game.
4) It's hard to beat the same team twice.
5) I recently discovered that I project my own mental fragility and nervousness onto the teams I cheer for, which means that I assume they are in a fragile and nervous state right now.
Last year I got major super drunk during their one and only playoff game. I'm really going to try and do better this year. But if they start to go downhill, I predict that resolution to follow right after.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Kent and Brent's Top 20 Tracks (kind of)
So Kent and I make two lists. We make a list of 20 songs that doesn't allow us to repeat artists more than once. And we make a list of 50 songs where we can repeat artists as much as we please. Kent also has some weird weighting that he does, like if we list two songs from the same artist - even though they aren't the same song - they get a bonus since we both listed them. This is the composite list of our no-repeat lists.
I'm sure no one cares about this but Kent and I. But at least you can easily listen to them...
I'm sure no one cares about this but Kent and I. But at least you can easily listen to them...
Monday, January 2, 2012
Brent's Top 20 2011 Tracks!
In handy mixtape form! Thanks Leslie for the Everyone's Mixtape tip.
TOP 20
TOP 20
Name Artist Album
1. Rolling In The Deep Adele 21
2. Go Outside Cults Cults
3. My Mistakes Eleanor Friedberger Last Summer
4. The Words That Maketh Murder PJ Harvey Let England Shake
5. Sadness Is a Blessing Lykke Li Wounded Rhymes
6. Wicked Games The Weeknd House of Balloons
7. Two Cousins Slow Club Paradise
8. We Need a Myth Okkervil River I Am Very Far
9. The Last Goodbye The Kills Blood Pressures
10. Dirty Mister Dirty Generationals Actor-Caster
11. Lovers Lane Hunx & His Punx Too Young To Be In Love
12. Serve the People Handsome Furs Sound Kapital
13. Would You Say Stop? Acid House Kings Music Sounds Better with You
14. I Miss My Friend Madeline Black Velvet
15. Shangri-La YACHT Shangri-La
16. New Year's Eve Tom Waits Bad As Me
17. California EMA Past Life Martyred Saints
18. Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out The Antlers Burst Apart
19. Tina Said Those Darlins Screws Get Loose
20. Mr. Know It All Kelly Clarkson Stronger
TOP 50
Name Artist Album
1. Rolling In The Deep Adele 21
2. Go Outside Cults Cults
3. My Mistakes Eleanor Friedberger Last Summer
4. The Words That Maketh Murder PJ Harvey Let England Shake
5. Sadness Is a Blessing Lykke Li Wounded Rhymes
6. Wicked Games The Weeknd House of Balloons
7. Two Cousins Slow Club Paradise
8. We Need a Myth Okkervil River I Am Very Far
9. The Last Goodbye The Kills Blood Pressures
10. Dirty Mister Dirty Generationals Actor-Caster
11. Love Out of Lust Lykke Li Wounded Rhymes
12. Lovers Lane Hunx & His Punx Too Young To Be In Love
13. Serve the People Handsome Furs Sound Kapital
14. Would You Say Stop? Acid House Kings Music Sounds Better with You
15. I Miss My Friend Madeline Black Velvet
16. Hanging from a Hit Okkervil River I Am Very Far
17. Shangri-La YACHT Shangri-La
18. Ten-Twenty-Ten Generationals Actor-Caster
19. New Year's Eve Tom Waits Bad As Me
20. California EMA Past Life Martyred Saints
21. Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out The Antlers Burst Apart
22. Parentheses The Antlers Burst Apart
23. Bumper Cults Cults
24. Tina Said Those Darlins Screws Get Loose
25. Mr. Know It All Kelly Clarkson Stronger
26. Rich Kids Blues Lykke Li Wounded Rhymes
27. Do I Have Power Timber Timbre Creep on Creepin' On
28. Most Wanted Cults Cults
29. Bury Me Standing Handsome Furs Sound
30. Get Some Lykke Li Wounded Rhymes
31. Victory Dance My Morning Jacket Circuital
32. You Know What I Mean Cults Cults
33. I Promise Generationals Actor-Caster
34. Let England Shake PJ Harvey Let England Shake
35. Someone Like You Adele 21
36. Two Lovers The Rural Alberta Advantage Departing
37. Your Past Life as a Blast Okkervil River I Am Very Far
38. No Widows The Antlers Burst Apart
39. Under Cover of Darkness The Strokes Angles
40. Damn These Vampires The Mountain Goats All Eternals Deck
41. Where I'm Going Cut Copy Zonoscope
42. Shake It Out Florence & The Machine Ceremonials
43. You Say It Too Generationals Actor-Caster
44. The Curse of Being Young Hunx & His Punx Too Young To Be In Lo
45. Inn of the Seventh Ray Eleanor Friedberger Last Summer
46. Goshen Beirut The Rip Tide
47. Holdin' On To Black Metal My Morning Jacket Circuital
48. Wake and Be Fine Okkervil River I Am Very Far
49. To Have in the Home Woods Sun & Shade
50. Tell Me Tom Waits Bad As Me (Deluxe)
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