5 Things on Both Sides

Ricky was out of town this week, or on vacation, or something. And I don't post on holidays. And everyone had off on Friday, right? If you didn't have off on Friday and you were looking for a Friends Recommends post I am very sorry. I don't know who you could be, but I am sorry. Also, I was in Buffalo/Ithaca for wedding things all weekend and hadn't thought much about F.R. So while we are being honest, this is a pretty off-the-cuff kind of post.

Here are Five things I've been enjoying a lot lately (in no particular order). And here are Five things I have been checking out, but not enjoying so much lately:

5 Things I Like:

1) Dirty Projectors--Bitte Orca--I already wrote a blog post about this one. But I checked it out another time coming back from Ithaca to Baltimore today and it only gets better. I really recommend this one.

2) Blond Redhead--Misery is a Butterfly--I've had friends try to get me into Blond Redhead a couple of times in the past. Initially I thought they were terrible, and then with some Huff recommends I started liking them. Then another friend very recently recommended this album and I've gone from tolerance to being a legit fan. Certainly worth the time.

3) Arrested Development--OK this should have been a number one. Good thing this list wasn't in any kind of order. I had really liked Arrested Development before (having seen random episodes here and there) but only when I watched the entire series all the way through did I really appreciate it to the fullest. This is comedic genius and could very well be the funniest thing I have ever experienced. I was sad to see the last episode but can't wait for the movie.

4) Igor Stravinsky--Currently rediscovering my favorite classical composer, and finding new things to love about it in the process. For newcomers to Stravinsky's music The Rite of Spring and The Firebird are often recommended classics (rightly so) but try something like Symphonies of Wind Instruments for a very short but great introduction (I think the whole piece is under 10 minutes). Youtube clip:



5) Pavement--Quartet Offensive is doing a Pavement cover show at the end of August at The Ottobar, so we've been listening to a lot figuring out what we want to play. I don't get tired of them, especially Brighten the Corners.

5 Things I Haven't Liked So Far:

1) Of Montreal--Skeletal Lamping--Ugh, I should have listened to brotherHop about this one. What a disappointment after Hissing Fauna. I'm not sure what it is (maybe I sort of am) but I don't like it.

2) Eels--Hombre Loco--In it's defense I have only listened once. But this thing got pretty rave reviews, and I've been an Eels fan in the past. This one just isn't doing it for me right now. Hopefully it could grow on me.

3) Xiu Xiu--The Air Force--That's all I have to say about this one. Didn't get it. Tried hard, but still didn't get it.

4) Running With Scissors--Augusten Burroughs--Well, it's been over a year since Heather and I listened to this book on tape on a trip to and from Ithaca. I was trying to think of the last book I hated, and this was it. Sorry, not so recent.

5) It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia--I definitely won't say that I hate this. I'm not even in a position to say that I don't like it yet. But it is a show that was talked up to me so much by so many people that when I saw a couple of episodes I was really disappointed. I have the first two seasons on DVD sitting in the shrink wrap, so maybe once I watch a full season it will turn around. Right now it is a pretty big fail, though.