• I’m listening to Minus The Bear’s remix album, Interpretationes Del Oso for the first time and: it is awesome. Seriously, listen to this immediately. Indie/rock remixes are usually pretty hit and miss (as opposed to trance/house/etc, which are usually good), but this is a definite hit.

• I’m trying out fantasy basketball for the first time this year. I’m in a Yahoo! rotisserie league, and I’ve found it’s been a huge factor in getting me involved in the league. I’ve always kind of hated the NBA, but now that I have an excuse to get immersed in the stats, I’m totally into it. And, wtf@Lebron’s pitiful 15 points tonight. I hate you, Lebron. I should mention I’m still in second place despite him, though.

• My newest addiction (well, for the last month or so now) is Franchise Football at simgalaxy.com. It’s an insanely addictive simulation game that pits you as an owner of a professional football team. You make all the financial decisions, sign players, trade and everything else. You play against other real owners. I already have three teams going in different leagues.

• My other newest addiction is a web-based island warfare/civilization role playing game at inselkampf.com. It’s horribly designed, disgustingly slow, and altogether just bad, but still has managed to completely immerse me.

• My new favorite Subway sandwich is a 6″ oven-broasted chicken breast on parmesan oregano toasted with swiss cheese, lettuce, mayonnaise, and yellow mustard. Mmmmm, so good. That doesn’t mean I don’t hate Jared, however.

• The Shins’ Wincing The Night Away is far and away their best album to date. I just keep putting it on. Again, and again.

• After over a month, I finally got my brand new Guild acoustic in the mail from Musician’s Friend yesterday. It’s been far too long since I’ve owned a guitar, and my fingers are well aware of it already.

• I stumbled upon an old interweb friend’s blog tonight. Go to it, he likes good music and is more intelligent than me. He’s also the guy who turned me onto The Microphones, My Morning Jacket, Idaho, and others. It’s located at studiomoustache.com.

• Anders Parker (of Varnaline fame) has a new album out. I am listening to it for the very first time as I write this. It’s already outstanding. Recommended for any fans of good folksy indie rock.

• Frank Caliendo was on Letterman recently as part of Impressionist Week. He has always been a genius, but this trumped everything he ever has, and ever will do. I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything this funny in my entire life.

• The Royal Tenenbaums is still the greatest movie ever made. Actually, The Life Aquatic is better. actually, maybe Bottle Rocket is the greatest movie ever made. Whichever the verdict, Wes Anderson is probably the greatest human alive and I need his new movie very soon or I will cease to exist. Also, The Squid And The Whale is almost as good. Sometimes I wish I had a machine that could erase my memory of a movie after I’ve finished watching it so I can watch it again for the first time :( On a related note, I love how Owen Wilson basically plays the same character in every single movie he does, but it always makes the movie a million times better, and even makes crappy mainstream movies worth watching (You, Me and Dupree).

• 30 Rock, starring Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan is my new TV obsession. Watch it, it’s hilarious.

Brand New
The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
[2006; Interscope]
ok. brand new’s new album has finally leaked and i am insanely excited to listen to it. deja entendu is one of my favorite albums. i will listen and write down my thoughts on each song separately. there are no pitchforkisms taking place here. you do not have to worry. here i go!!

track 1- sowing season (yeah)

the beginning reminds me of the intro for the last album. there is soft whispering and quiet strumming. i am ready for music though, not a quiet kumbaya.

hooray he sort of just yelled and a sweet guitar riff is being played

adrenaline and tears are forthcoming.

the song is getting strange though. it seems to alternate between brand new, and like, some other band.

oh hells yes the bridge is awesome

track 2- millstone

this album does not have the awesome-as-hell song names that deja entendu had. these song names are lame and boring :(

this song will be good for drinking at night alone, that is for sure.

some sweet harmonies going on, i am totally loving the depressing minimalist marilyn mansony guitar going on in the background

i can definitely imagine having a good cry to this song :’(

track 3- jesus christ

this song totally sounds like it is from deja entendu

the ah-aha-ha-ah reeero vocal+guitar inflection remind me of a modest mouse song.

this is the best song so far.

very mellow and sad.

track 4- degausser

holy shitballs what an awesome beginning. omfg! it is exploding with restraint.

it is totally reminding me of early stone roses.

damn this song is so understated. holy crap i can imagine just insanity plus slow motion plus driving around on the freeway plus 4am plus listening to this.

whoa crazy church chorus type thing going on.

whoa awesome guitars and sweet yelling..

whoa it just keeps getting better

whoa@this song’s awesomeness

holy omfgical

track 5- limousine

another quiet beginning. they always start their songs so damn quiet.

it is livening up a bit here

it reminds me of a good my chemical romance song now.

it is a relaxing song, probably best fit for a romantic ride on a ferris wheel, at night, with cotton candy and possibly a giant lollipop. and of course probably some fireworks off in the distance, and all the while obviously this song will be played at a low volume and randomly mixed louder when there is not really any talking going on

track 6 - you won’t konw

another sweet intro, that reminds me of the sad 80s post-punk i used to listen to when i first moved into my old basement dungeon 3 years ago. i would sit on the steps with a 40 of icehouse and listen to the silence of rural iowa at 3am. this song would have been perfect to listen to back then.

oh sweet it just got loud.

this song can definitely only be listened to late at night.

oh double sweet, that awesome intro just came back into the mix. the guitars right now are pwning MY BRAIN!!!!!!!

track 7 - welcome to bangkok

O. M. G.

@

the straight-outta-the-crow-ass-kicking-sweetness of guitars going on to begin this song.

holy shitballs i can just imagine brandon lee murdering everyone in sight while this song is BLARED AT THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE VOLUME EVER and then when it’s over, there is brandon lee standing amidst a sea of dead bodies

track 8 - not the sun

this song is moderately boring.. probably the worst on the album. he does that boomerang vocal thing that radio bands always do.

you know where they sorta bend the word ?? yeah that

it’s ok, though. i guess.

track 9 - luca

some groovy fingerpicking acoustic action to begin this one..

whoa gettin into the falsetto a little bit here.

this song is pretty good though.

i don’t know what it reminds me of. oh i know, like a good mars volta song (before the mars volta sucked).

track 10 - untitled

wtf @ untitled song. uhh dudes, do you not remember that you rule at naming songs? wtf?? please refer back to last album

this song kind of sounds like the music that was on those oldschool nature films you watched in 4th grade about the volcanoes in alaska or the glaciers of the arctic or something. or penguins mating and butterflies and cocoons and other such natural amenities.

track 11- archers

pretty decent guitars.. and decent other stuff. but boring compared to what i know they are capable of. but it is ok. and probably gets better as more booze is consumed.

so it is kind of boring, but kind of ok too. this is kind of the musical equivalent of a 9-7 nfl team that barely misses the playoffs, but no one really thought they’d make the playoffs anyway, so it’s basically ignored.

not really much else to say about this song.

track 12 - handcuffs

pretty rad ending song. some sweet reverb going on in the mixing of the vocals. i am definitely digging the vibe

it goes on for awhile and makes me think about: basically nothing.

but that’s good.

In closing: this album is totally rad. not as good as deja entendu, but awesome nonetheless, and probably won’t leave my cd player/ipod/itunes for the next week or two.