Saturday, April 26, 2008
 

A lot of bloggers out in old Blogland will claim their reasoning for entering the overpopulated world of internet music writing is find a forum where they can share their opinions with like-minded music fans.  And certainly that is a noble effort.  To step forward and help you, the consummate music fans of the world, sort through the turd-piles of music that litter our journeys, to find those delightful kernels of goodness for you to audibly feast on.  Yes, indeed it is a noble goal, a noble goal almost entirely composed of bullshit.  Not to harp on those who claim it because we are all seeking some form of legitimacy in this dog-eat-dog world, but instead to draw attention to the true goal of the world’s bloggers:  FREE SHIT. Free film, free concerts, free music, free swag – the final goal, the end-all-be-all destination for us, the critics of the blogosphere is free shit.  Okay, I don’t know if truthfully that is the average bloggers’ aim, but it is certainly a perk of this pseudo-profession.  To entice the writer to say something, anything about their work, often times record labels, bands, PR firms will lube us up with vast amounts of shit.  Albums are a mainstay, but oft times you’ll be plied with t-shirts, posters, tickets, hell I’ve heard stories about writers getting actually getting virgins from The Virgins (those sick bastards).  I’m new to this game, but I’m already compiling a sweet little pile of albums on the “FREE” corner of my tiny desk, and before I relegate them to the “RIPPED and FORGOTTEN” section of my garbage can, I wanted to just write a little something about each. I appreciate you free stuff senders of the world!  A note, John doesn’t let me shit on anyone here at SOTO, but I want to talk about it all, so I’ll creatively describe everything in the most positive way I can muster.  Enjoy my first edition of AROUND THE DESK.

:Annuals - Sore:  This was the first free album I received and I planned to write something, anything about the first album someone actually gave me for free.  Luckily, this EP from the Annuals (a split with Annuals-related band Sunfold) is absolutely stunning.  Especially this single Sore, a swelling journey that takes us from a soft delicate intro into a bombastic sound-plosion rife with drummer boy style drum beats.  I enjoy the Annuals part of the album more than Sunfold’s section.  Annuals have a new album coming out, er, soon or something.

:No Age - Eraser:  I didn’t think I was going to like No Age.  It’s this sort of strange post-punk genre that’s been flitting about in the hipster circles – music that toes the line of art and music to the tee.  So, lo be it my surprise when I turned on Nouns and really enjoyed myself. Sure, it isn’t receiving heavy rotation right now (if I want heavily rotated post-punk I prefer my Parts + Labor) but it certainly gets a spin now and then.  Eraser is wonderful because it starts out like a beach where you have to check the sand for needles, breaks into a chaotic din of barely-heard vocals and sonic noise, briefly hits the beach again, before fading in to the albums next track Teen Creeps.  These guys are a pleasant surprise, not one I’m gracing girlfriend’s weekly mixtape with, but nonetheless something I’ll keep my eye on.

:Flight Of The Conchords - Hiphopopotamus Vs Rhymenoceros:  Everybody loves these guys.  EVERYBODY.  But seriously: the best part of this whole album?  The packaging.  The cover is the gents from NZ lost in some sort of psychedelic back yard paradise and when you open it, their ink sketched faces pop right up out of the packaging.  Bret and Jermaine, just staring right at you in all their foreigner glory.  I thought about cutting the pop up off and gluing it to my desk, but after staring at it for a while their inquisitive stares became sort of judgmental and I don’t want to be judged, especially by cardboard.  So, I scratched that idea.  Oh wait, the album?  Yes, yes, very funny.  Though for some reason I feel as if I’ve heard everyone of these songs six hundred times already, oh wait, I have.

:Tally Hall - Taken For A Ride:  I’ve written “Well, it’s nice to see these gentlemen having such a good time” three times now as a creative way to not say anything about them. But then I keep getting distracted by how this album is actually pretty good.  It’s a little over-the-top-poppy, but there’s a real earnest love for the material present, and goddamn if it is at least, er, bearable for a couple listens. Stick to Taken For A Ride… please.

- Noah Sanders -



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