Monday, January 04, 2010

This is just a big tease, writing more than ONCE in a month.  Don't get used to it...

I took some duplicate records to Sonic Boom before going to yoga, this evening (Sonic Boom has moved down the hill to a much more convenient location for me.  Thank you, Sonic Boom!!) thinking I would sell them for some in store credit.  Ha.  They were even good titles and not scratched, but the exchange was not worth it and even though they weren't rejecting them I still had that moment of vulnerable embarrassment that my musical tastes were awful and the paltry sum offered was in direct proportion to their dislike for my likes.  This is not true.  I know this.  But it's a familiar feeling when selling clothes or music to resale shops.  (I have a friend who has a record player and two albums.  I'll donate these duplicates to him.  He needs them more than SB, obviously.)

KEXP had their 90.3 best albums of the decade--as voted on by their loyal listeners--today.  I caught most of it and had a swell time during the last two hours as I just lay down with the lights off (this matters in Seattle what with darkness closing in around 4:30 during the early part of winter) and had moment after moment of "O!  I love that record.  I haven't listened to that in ages."  Or, "Yup.  Definitely should at least be in the top 20."  

The usual suspects showed up: Arcade Fire (#1 with Funeral), Radiohead (4 times and I couldn't agree more), Wilco, The Shins, Death Cab, Built to Spill, Beirut, Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, Beck, White Stripes, Spoon, Interpol, Modest Mouse... no real surprises.  There was definitely some local pride going on, too.  Many, many NW bands were acknowledged for their excellent contribution to the decade's music riches.  It was a very satsifying decade in music, that is for sure.

I have no truck with any of the bands that made it onto the whole 90.3 list... ok, that's not entirely true.  There is one band on the countdown that I do not care for, at all, and another that I can take in very small doses.  And I may not have agreed that some bands should have every album that they produced on the list, thereby knocking off other very deserving albums, but that's alright.  I don't know if I could come up with a list that actually qualifies as "the best" albums of the first decade in the 21st Century, either.  They'd just be albums that I think are the best.  

Sunday, January 03, 2010

So Far, So Good...

Three days into 2010 and all is well.  Mostly.  Hm.  Perhaps I've spoken too soon?  Pshaw.  Let us be realistic, other than some emotional instability, a concern regarding rent $$ and a missing favored bracelet, I stand by the previous statement.  All is well.  And as far as the emotional instability, it's not actually unstable; on the contrary, it has been very stable.  Too stable.  I'm pretty much ready for it to evolve into a new emotion and/or a less melancholy one.  (Though I have made it a rule not to speak of anything too personal on this blog, I think it's safe to allude to this particular episode--as if any two people who might read this blog don't already know... this blabber about emotional stability/instability is in regard to my semi-recent evolution from long-term relationshipdom into singledom.)  

2010.  The year of Single Linnet.  I can dig that.  Been a long, long while so it's certainly a novelty and it could be fun.  Now, anyway.  Leading up to this point, "fun" would be an inaccurate description of the last few months of 2009.  Though fun moments were experienced, "fun" was decidedly not the overall tenor of this past fall.  Big sigh.  Hey!  But let's stop this fussin' and cryin', 'cause it's a new year and I've already detangled and separated out my jewelry!  Next thing you know, I'll be tidying up that scary closet and maybe even chucking out those things that I really and truly am not going to wear again.  Whoa, Nelly!  I'm gettin' crazy.

In case you're wondering, today's turntable listening consisted of:

Carmina Burana
Suites for Cello Unaccompanied, Nos. 3 & 4 (Played by Pablo Casals)
Saint Saens & Tchaikovsky cello and orchestra pieces, Paul Tortelier was the cellist.  (Side 1 had three Saint Saens pieces and Side 2 had to Tchaikovsky pieces.)
Pippin (Original Broadway Cast)
Godspell (Original Broadway Cast)