Sunday, June 29

[Tennessee]

At long last I've got hold of a copy of Arrested Development's 3 years, 5 months and 2 days in the life of... album. I've owned Zingalamaduni for ages, so it's about time I picked up a genuine copy to replace my crusty tape.

Annoyingly, the version I bought (second-hand for $5, no less) is the one where they censored out every occurrence of the word 'nigger'. I'm not sure what legal processes led to this, but the context of its use was, in my opinion, completely inoffensive and it annoys me that I can't listen to the music without irritating silent patches in the vocal track.

They've done this sort of thing to Lauryn Hill albums too, but it's such arbitrary and inconsistent censorship, and makes no sense to me whatsoever.

posted by pete at 19:13

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Friday, June 27

[Put the kettle on]

My most recent addition to the CD stack is Zero 7's Another late night compilation. In the same vein as the splendid Groove Armada Back to mine disc, it's a wonderful mix of slow beats, cool hip-hop, gorgeous soul and lush string-driven orchestral music. Oh so laid back, perfect for a winter's afternoon! :)

posted by pete at 15:33

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Thursday, June 19

[That I might see]

It's probably a good thing that I didn't go out and buy a whole bunch of Mazzy Star CDs on a whim. Whilst they certainly wouldn't have fallen into my Hall of Shame (unlike another recent spur-of-the-moment purchase), I just wouldn't have derived that much enjoyment from them.

I've listened to a couple of titles now, and while they are lovely, I also find them to be a little bit nondescript. She hangs brightly is definitely a better album than Among my swan, and all the music floats along nicely, but it doesn't really engage me. Possibly if I put in a little more effort I'd get right into it, but now is not the time.

Maybe sometime in the future.

posted by pete at 15:45

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Wednesday, June 4

[Barcode]

Anyone who has ever lived on government benefits (or on a government grant as I like to think of it) will know about the joys of public libraries. So much free stuff!! Well my local is the Prahran library, which lies on the corner of Chapel and Greville Streets – a junction of so many wondrous things and a short stroll from my house of positive thinking.

I visited the lovely old building today and borrowed the following CDs: Mazzy Star's Among my swan; Vika and Linda's Two wings (there's something wholesome and fun about these girls, and they're splendid to see live); Badly Drawn Boy's Have you fed the fish?; and finally, Belle and Sebastian's Fold your hands child, you walk like a peasant.

So there's a bit of listening pleasure for the term of my three-week loan.

Also, I recently said that in general I prefer Emily Saliers' songwriting to that of Amy Ray... but I'm not so sure anymore. Amy writes grittier, edgier tunes that are perhaps more in line with what I'm into at the moment. But I don't want to have to choose a favourite Indigo Girl, so I won't!!

posted by pete at 22:36

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