The National – Boxer

So yeah, fall is coming soon. It’s colder, everyone’s getting allergies, people start going through mood swings, football makes people bicker, work becomes a constant wear just to get by, life seems a grind that always seems to hurt, etc. OK, so maybe that’s just for some of us but nonetheless, this all feels interesting. The National are another fall band to take note of: swelling chords, a baritone vocalist, creative drumming and gorgeous progressions. Boxer was their breakthrough in 2007 that everyone still loves to this day – it’s affecting and moving and most of the time, breathtaking. I’m counting down the days before I see them live on Sunday at ACL but it seems too far away.

I mean, “Slow Show” still remains as one of my all time favorite songs – even just simply for that ridiculous coda. The lyrics are forebodingly mesmerizing and everything seems to just fall into place. While the strings come from the sides, at the core is this lulling, lifting, lovely melody about being with your beautiful lover and having fun spending nothing but each other’s time. You know, like hurrying home to her, cracking her up and just being near her and oh yeah, the ending I mentioned earlier: “I missed you for 29 years.” Here is a fan-made video to the song:


I wanted to post about “Fake Empire,” too, because this is an awesome rendition of it on the Letterman show. There was still a quiet buzz about this album before it hit the scene in 2007 but just through moments like these, it was all the more astounding. The growth of the song, the pounding of the drums and the way it all hits together is brilliant but even more so, the sheer cacophony of sounds at the end has to be worth something right? I mos def think this is some of the best music of the past five or so years, don’t you? I don’t know, maybe I’m crazy, maybe. – Bryan

Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz

It’s starting to get cold outside and fall is usually my favorite season but for the start of this one I feel a bit distant. I wish I could pinpoint it, for I know it’s something that should pass soon. Until then, there are always specific bands and artists who simply do it for me in the fall – Sufjan Stevens being one of them. His new album The Age of Adz was just sent to reviewers and is now available to stream at NPR. It’s a drastically different sound from his earlier “state albums” and mostly, an entirely new direction. Much of the inspiration comes from a schizophrenic artist that Stevens’ channels, while still drawing comparisons and references to his own life. In short, it’s pretty special.

“I Walked” is yes, your typical ‘love hurts’ kind of heartbreak song. He’s singing about walking because he has no other choice and mostly because she’s decided to walk, what else is he to do. I’m always amazed that musicians who make beautiful music could possibly be singing about some of the same things I’ve lived before; it seems suddenly surreal. When he sings, “I am sorry the worst has arrived. For I'm on the floor…in the room where we made it that last touch of the night,” you can envision him lying on the floor after he’s probably called her and begged her to come back. It’s incredibly depressing but the music is just so soothing, as if everything is going to be OK, even when it seems so hopeless: “I should not be so lost, but I've got nothing left to love.”

The title track is probably one of the most ambitious songs on the album and even that sounds unfair because most of everything that Stevens does is ambitious in some kind of form. This is an epic, orchestral, twisting and ever-evolving song that delves into huge, soaring highs. I love how everyone sings that “this is the age of adz…eternal living!” before going into wild horn lines and belting choral passages. I also think that this song is where Stevens’ shows off his newly confident and inspired singing voice. Personally, I love the words, especially the last line when he asks to be forgiving for having selfish thoughts, “It’s only that I still love you deeply, it’s all the love I got.” Mostly, “For what you see is not fantasy. It's not what it gets, but gives,” what a great message to rally behind, even when everything seems so coldly unsure. – Bryan

Radiohead – In Rainbows (Bonus Disc)

Back in October of 2007, Radiohead self-released In Rainbows, offering a ‘pay-what-you-want’ process for purchasing the album. You could put as little or as much as you wanted and still, you got the music no matter what. With that offer was a special little discbox (that isn't so little) that would include the album on CD and 2 vinyl LPs, artwork, a special edition case and a second, bonus disc. That bonus disc wasn’t released when the physical CD hit the shelves on New Year’s Day 2008 but it has some of the best songs the band wrote during the In Rainbows sessions.

Here is a personal video for “Last Flowers,” a piano-driven ballad. This version is probably almost identical to the album version, with the most important factors being highlighted: Thom Yorke’s voice and the piano melody. “And If I’m gonna talk, I just wanna talk” is simply sung, as if that’s something we rarely receive. I think it’s better than the other piano-led stuff they left on In Rainbows (“Nude,” “Videotap”) but maybe that’s just me:


And here is the version of “Down is the New Up,” that appears on the bonus disc. It’s creatively strong and a superb song on all accounts. “What is up…buttercup?” is what Yorke asks on this one, I wonder what is up myself sometimes. A lot of the album was about distorted realities and how some people’s perception is really, their reality. Here, a new agenda is brought up, as if to question what we desire and in the end, it’s Radiohead's trademark blur of sounds and mastery that wins out. – Bryan

Prefuse 73 – Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian

We’ve got some really cool music coming to town in October. I just found out Ty Segall is playing in Marfa on Oct. 2, he’s terrific. That following Sunday, Prefuse 73 comes to El Paso for the first time and it looks to be an amazing performance. He’s been around for a while and his music is at the forefront of hip-hop-infused electronic music. I’ve even been fortunate enough to speak to him and everything about his music deals with spectacular beats. This is just his latest album, Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian, but definitely a good one to snatch if you are looking for a good entryway into Prefuse 73’s music.

“Regalo” which translates to ‘present’ or ‘gift’ in English is a Spanish-tinged, classic acoustic guitar mash of beats. The strong hip-hop sense is at the front with sparkling percussion and flamenco guitar at the soul. Before it a few one-minute quick hitters, after it a couple of 30-second beat grinds; “Regalo” is a sturdy near 4-minute song that is both ethereal and blissful. The ending almost lulls you to sleep with its dreamy demeanor.


I was going to choose one of his choirs but I opted for something a bit more beat-heavy in “No Lights Still Rock.” Featuring Dimlite, Prefuse flashes a strong bass line with atmospheric flurries. The playful melody that almost sounds like something out of a circus is definitely about having fun. I mean, even when the lights are out, everything can still get, well, interesting right? The entire album is 29 songs but this one and the aforementioned one are two of the ‘meatiest’ ones – all of it is awesome though. – Bryan

The Office///// The Ecstasy of Gold

This is my first entry into writing about something that deals with TV but I seriously do think this is, arguably, the best show on television. The new season starts this Thursday and though I’ll be working, I plan to keep up a lot more honestly. I remember really being into the show a few years back and even when it was in season 1 & 2 when my then-significant other couldn’t care less for it. I was stunned really and eventually, after parting ways, I got my Dwight Schrute bobble-head and watched all the seasons through a span of about a month. Anyway, I thought I’d share some funny moments I remembered in watching a few episodes tonight (the BRMC show was postponed )

Here is a scene where Dwight shows us how he strategically hides weapons in the workplace. I love the folder especially for Mr. A Knife:


Here is one of my all-time favorite opening moments where Michael calls in for help because he burned his foot on his George Foreman grill:


Finally, since I love music, I thought it’d be cool to include what I’m listening to now. So OK, it’s lame but music is awesome. I was listening to the second Kill Bill soundtrack and was reminded at how Tarantino wanted Ennio Morricone to score the entire film but he declined. They still used some of his previously used music and though it wasn’t used in the Kill Bill movies, “The Ecstasy of Gold” remains, probably, my most favorite work by Morricone. Check it here. - Bryan

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club\\\\\Getting PAID.

I received my first official monetary payment for the writing I’ve been trying to do since my high school days. Wow, I can’t believe that it has now been ten years that I have been writing about music in some form or fashion. I remember when I was in high school and writing for the distinguished Argus newspaper at BAHS and I would read reviews of music on sites like allmusic (which is probably my favorite if you wanna read some terrific, short, reviews and also, learn more about bands/artists) and be blown away at how well the writer wrote. I’d like to think I’ve gotten somewhat better and fortunately, there is a publicity company that feels my writing is worthy of a monetary payment.

Here is “As Sure As the Sun” by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: a stormy, retro bliss of atmospheric rock mastery. I’d say that these guys are some of the best blues revivalists of our time and still, they’re opening for Stone Temple Pilots? I love the all-encompassing tone and how everything is about these massive walls of guitars that fill the walls with heavy, substantial music. He’s singing about being hurt by her and how it's something expected, as sure is it is to know the sun will rise tomorrow: “And all the time, I thought your words were mine…you held me down, as sure as the sun.” The ending improvisation is especially awesome.


Off a different album, Howl was what really pulled me into Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and I was lucky it was. The album is a lot more laid-back and far bluesier than their first two and it really alienated a lot of fans. This was mostly the band just finding their way, exploring with different sounds and crafting gorgeous compositions out of it. “Howl” is probably one of the most-perfect songs I have ever, personally, heard and it’s the epitome of what a stunning, memorable rock song is. It’s bitterly honest (“I give you all that I have but you don't see”) and it’s bluntly clear (“I just want to be one true thing that don't fade”), the chorus is downright awesome, the organ swells throughout and the words? I mean, I could sit here and simply write out the entire song but I won’t.


My fantasy teams went 3-0 this weekend with my tightest victory coming in the waning seconds of the 49ers-Saints game. If you’re playing Goodbye Blue Monday! or Dynamite Money in any of my leagues, look out! Tomorrow will be the BRMC show and I just got paid for writing about music? I’m feeling pretty good I’d say. -B

Interpol – Interpol

It’s been a slow month here, again, and not because I haven’t been busy with other stuff. But I had to come and devote at least 20 minutes of my time into Interpol’s latest, new, brilliant album. I had heard some bits and pieces and was initially, a bit disappointed. I knew I would still buy it no matter what so when I finally put it on and gave it time, Interpol blew me away. It’s a dark and gloomy album and at times, depressingly realistic but on switching back to Matador, I think they’ve captured some of the magic the first two albums had. Don’t get me wrong, Our Love to Admire had some soaring highs but like the year 2007, those highs had to end. The new one is stunning and is most definitely, one of the best albums of the year. So here are two songs that I dig a lot.

“All of the Ways" is basically a bitter, broken and battered old soul reaching out to his long and now, lost, love. He asks, “Does he make you smile? Does he fully embrace the way…who is this guy?” as if he has some kind of right to know and beyond the fact that it’s a staunch nostalgic reminder of what can happen when love breaks down, the song is filled with a tremendous amount of sadness. There’s the recurring piano theme that first appeared earlier in the album, there’s pounding chords of dissonance and it’s a vast cloud of darkness. It’s creepy and intensely jealous, as if he is obsessed with her, he sings, “I know the way you will make it up, make it up for me.” Sounds like Interpol all right:


I wish I could fine one that mixes them in because that would have been heavenly to hear how they just melt into each other on the album – sorry. But “The Undoing” is like the misty, hazy next morning that finds you scratching and clawing yourself out of bed. Red-eyed, alone and “chasing my damage,” the song bends into Spanish lyrics! I mean, for a moment, if you bliss out to the music (clashing chords of strings that are utter beauty, ominous swelling and a drum pattern that is jagged and still, pacing) you forget that he is singing about God and Satan. Depicting Lucifer’s plight and struggle to move past God, the title of the song is sung in Spanish, “I’m used to losing, losing to ‘the undoing’ (desahcer)” and “Al puro perder el ganar no compara (Victory does not compare to utter defeat),” eventually “Sobreviviré” = “I Will Survive” and in the end, he’s asking us to “please place him” and to tell him where he is now, hell. Leave it to Interpol? Yeah, it’s pretty dark. – Bryan

The Bear

We used to camp alot when I was younger. We'd go about three hours north to Ruidoso; usually make it in about two and half, the way my dad drove. To be honest, it was hardly camping - no fishing, no hunting, no camping, even - but that's what we called it. We always stayed in the same second-story condo overlooking a patch of firs and a shallow end of the lake. It was natural, but convenient - everything home wasn't. I don't remember much from those times, as often as we went, but I do remember how silencing the darkness was. It could stop trains, and leave you deaf to your own thoughts. Besides the drive over, that's what I anticipated the most - the silence.

I had the house to myself tonight. Not as quiet as I remember the woods being, but enough to take me back. I thought it'd be more pleasant.

I'm standing there, in the patch of firs below the balcony, looking into the condo below ours. It's abandoned, the door mangled and loosely hanging from the hinges. My uncle's somewhere behind me pissing. He said it might have been a bear...maybe just some kids with an axe, fucking around. At this point its close to dark, maybe ten minutes from it. My brother's on the balcony looking down. He starts throwing wood chips, being the little brother he is. I remember why I'm not looking down with him. The ribs. We'd tied a couple of half-eaten ribs from last night's dinner to a string and planned on hanging them from a tree limb nearby. Maybe we'd see a bear. The sun's nearly down and my uncle's a little deeper in. I can see the stars. Even now they're more visible than in the city.

I have work in the morning and a test on Monday. Passed up on some friends, even. Shouldn't have. I remember what it is about this kind of silence that I can't stand. You can still hear your thoughts.

The meat nunchucks are dangling about three feet above my head. My uncle said the higher the better. I look back up to where my brother was and just like that I'm immersed in darkness. The balcony light is off and the sliding doors are shut. My eyes forget to adjust I guess, so when I turn back to look for my uncle I see nothing. This is where the silence hits me like a train. But this time I don't lose my thoughts.

I'm on the couch now, the same one we found my grandma laying on. It's weird the shit people hang on to. That day I tore the door off its hinges, I was hoping my eyes wouldn't adjust. I was hoping it would be like the night in the woods - darkness upon darkness, silence upon silence. But it wasn't. I saw the couch first, then heard the cries, then saw the bear. He came back for me. Maybe because we teased him.

I want to say I love this time alone, but I'd be lying. Someone once told me solitude is where we find ourselves. He must've read it somewhere, because he didn't know what he was talking about. I used to despise people who couldn't be alone. Always thought they would make horrible wive's and husband's, but I didn't know what I was talking about. Most of the time, I don't. But I'm sure of this.

I don't want to be alone.

Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

I’ve been down and out for a while now and I realized that I didn’t have a heart to write on here. I’m not sure I still even now but there’s too much good music to talk about that even when times seem down and out, there’s too much gorgeous stuff out there to find. Either way, Big Boi’s album, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, has been something I’ve been digging for the past few weeks now. The most recent time I mowed the lawn, I put this on and it drove me to a memorable experience – or at least as ‘memorable’ as mowing the lawn can be. But I was floored at how great it sounds; Andre or not, the name of Outkast is still music royalty and Big Boi is still one of the best MCs around.

I dig the smooth vibes of “Turns Me On” for various reasons: it’s about getting it on and finding out what turns you on, no matter how freaky or not it is. But it’s also about “DAMN…that turns me on.” Kind of like when you see a beautiful woman that you’ve been scoping for quite some time and she kind of just walks by but lets you know – just enough – that she noticed you too. So yeah, a lot of it is aesthetic proportions and bias but then you have this sultry organ, a low-smoke of a hook (sung by Sleepy Brown”) and a driving snare to back everything up: damn.


And then there was “Back Up Plan,” which is very simply about making sure that you always have a back up plan, with women. No matter how confident it all may seem, no matter how bad-ass she seems, always make sure that you have a back up plan in case it all falls through. I love how Big Boi details how grimey and intense the situation got but still, “I knew I was wrong for thinking that she cared…that’s why I stay prepared.” The chorus is easily one of the album’s best (brisk, bumping and booming) and it’s an upbeat kiss-off to the evilness of women – as beautiful as they are. – Bryan

a depressingly interesting fact

I've sat through Inception twice already; it's gorgeous. Nothing more need be said... at least until you find out it took Christopher Nolan ten years to complete an INCOMPLETE draft version of the script...then nothing more CAN be said because you're left absolutely speechless. Ten Years! Is this how long greatness takes? Is time the key ingredient to the recipe of success. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe fuck myself. Either way, I can't let go of the thought. Christopher Nolan is a top tier director, British or not, and his name alone is enough to draw an audience. And even with his greatness, something held him back for ten years. This excites me, because although I'm most definitely sure it was not because of procrastination, I'm most definitely sure that it very well could have been. And the thought of someone successful procrastinating is humbling beyond any wake-up call I've ever encountered. If they can put something off and be productive, then what am I doing wrong?

MIA, but now here for the STAY

Time has a funny way of bringing us back to the things we love; I'm just thankful Time realized how much I loved writing for this blog. Anyway, these past few months have been filled with way too much to try and recount... but I'll try my best anyway. Aside from work weeks to drive a slave to tears and a school schedule begging for financial aid, my Grandmother passed away, and for that loss I'm eternally regretful because, as a strong American-Mexican Woman full of culture and love, she was a strong influence to many; you will be missed Gramma.
With Summer releasing its torrid grasp on the Sun City, I've found comfort in the breezes that tease ever so lightly, carrying with them the memories of yester-fall and offering hope for the memories that are a shade of chuco's finest orange away. Overall, August came and past and ended up being a pivotal month for me. I made new habits and dropped old ones, not necessarily bad ones or good ones in either case, but hey, us humans love our vices. This fall will be a good one, nonetheless.
As far as my refound presence on this blog, we'll see just how present I am. I'm sure I'll write, though...especially because of some exciting new ideas Bryan and I have been spitting around. It'll definitely be lots of fun reading for you guys.
Beyond that, I can only say, "Glad to be back".