In Rotation...

I busted out a few cd's I hadn't listened to in a while the past 2 weeks or so, and have gone back to some age old favorites. Here's a roundup of sorts...

Over the Rhine and Hem., both catalogues - This more than anything else has to do with me going down to Bloomington to see these bands Thursday evening. Every 5-6 months or so I go on a huge Over The Rhine kick where I listen to them for about 2-3 weeks nonstop. Then, I just need to put it away for a while. The songs and the themes in the songs, battling through faith, love, loss, etc...They all carry too much weight for me to listen constantly, even if Karin has one of the sweetest voices ever. Hem is just extremely literate soothing music. Somehow I guess it might fall into alt-country soundscapes. Whatever it is, it makes me want to just be sitting on a wide open porch. When listening to both these bands I find my mind drifting bck to the Canyon trip of a few weeks back. I don't know if it's the themes or the music, but it must be intertwined somehow, probably both.

Asobi Seksu - This is a band I heard through the Big Soccer musical grapevine. I then saw them play live in Broad Ripple 2 March's back and absolutely loved it. Layers of guitars and guitar trickery. Breathy vocals, some sung in Japanese I think. These cats are from Brooklyn, and I guess they fall into shoegazer mindset. If ever a band sounded like the cover to their cd, it is Asobi Seksu on there new one, Citrus. I guess you would need to listen to it for that to make any sense. Luckily there website has a Citrus jukebox. Please come back to Indy.

Old 97's - Wreck your Life - I'm not linking to Old 97's site, cause I am bitter. I don't know what really happened, but at some point in the past 4 years or so Rhett Miller decided he'd rather be a model than continue writing brilliant songs. Don't get me wrong, the new stuff isn't terrible. It's descent accessable pop. And I have no problem with that. I'll defend Kelly Clarkson and the Killers to the point of idiocy in the name of pop. But, the new stuff isn't anywhere near as good as the older stuff when there was a snarl and it seemed as if they drank a few cases of High Life and decided to go into the studio and record a sloppy good times country rock record. I miss those live shows, a lot. To this day Old 97's and Slobberbone at the Patio is one of the ebst shows I have ever seen.

June Panic - I don't even know how to describe one time Indianapolis resident June Panic, so I won't try. But I have been enjoying him a ton recently.

Also in rotation; the new Pearl Jam, Vigilantes of Love - Audible Sigh, Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger, and as always Depeche Mode and New Order.