Ramsayings

Can’t tell you how excited I am to hear Kanye’s new album. “Runaway” just blows me away. I’ve loved everything he’s done so far, so why should My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy be any different?

Feel like he really turned a corner with 808s & Heartbreak, which I felt was unfairly maligned in some circles as being too misogynistic. I thought it was a painful, hurtful, frightening breakup album. Loved it. So did Maura and Whiney. I feel like his next album is our sweet reward. Cannot wait.

I’ve listened to this about 1,000 times. Don’t know if it’s the go-for-the-throat vocals, the clever Springsteen ref, or the Dinosaur Jr. guitars, but I’ve been completely captivated by a band I wrote off after their debut. ‘The Monitor’ blows away anything I remember from ‘The Airing of Grievances,’ which isn’t saying much, since I remember about zero from the latter. I may need to revisit that one.

Forgive me for being turned off by a lackluster performance at Johnny Brenda’s once. There was a stretch where every hyped indie act I saw proved disappointing on any level. Pretty sure they opened for the Ponys. I’m still recovering from that experience.

Suffice it to say that I have a very sensitive BS detector when it comes to bands that fall into that category of new truth in indie rock, but Titus Andronicus have defied all expectations. Solid. I mean, who even releases a sophomore album anyone pays attention to anymore? Congrats, dudes.

I don’t know how many YEARS it took me to finally realize Einsturzende Neubauten were cool, but it took an awfully long time. And they were favorably compared to bands I liked all the while. So while it’s cheaper to download something today, it doesn’t mean people will instantaneously hit that tipping point, even if it’s free. Isn’t that the peril of the long tail in a nutshell?

Do you remember staring at the stack of CDs you found at the used record store, trying to figure out what you were buying and what you’d leave behind? Man, my stomach still turns just thinking about it.

I tuned out after Phantom Power. I know people loved “Inaugural Trams,” but I couldn’t get on board. (See what I did there?)

I listened to their albums so much and SO LOUDLY during grad school that I’d thought I’d go deaf trying to figure out what was happening in the background on “Rings Around the World.” Then, suddenly, like the New Pornographers, everything ended up being more or less mid-tempo. They’ve written some lovely ballads over the years, but I just didn’t expect them to ditch the fuzz pop altogether.

Can a case be made for Love Kraft and Dark Days/Light Years? Am I missing out?

Now that I’m not monitoring news feeds across the web for the latest breaking music news, I’ve been settling in with some old favorites. They’re beyond predictable, but I find it so refreshing to tune back in with music I was listening to nonstop when I first started getting interested in music criticism. Let’s just say I find it more rewarding than trying to figure out what people find so amazing about, say, Best Coast.

What am I listening to now? Here’s a quick list:

• The Byrds. There was a stretch there in the early part of last decade that I thought they’d get a critical revival from the freak folk crowd, but it didn’t really materialize. They opted for Crosby’s amazing solo work instead. Fair enough. Love the Byrds in all manifestations. Feel like they’re the American version of another of my favorite bands.
• The Kinks! Love this band so much and really haven’t listened to them much at all lately. Guess the last time I went totally crazy for their stuff was right around the time I caught Ray Davies at Irving Plaza in 2005. Going to see him in a few weeks. Cannot wait.
• The Rolling Stones. Watching Charlie dance to Exile on Main Street reminded me how much fun this band is. I know it’s quintessential dad-rock, but what can I say? I’ve been going back and checking out albums like Aftermath and Between the Buttons and loving every minute. Really need to pick up these reissues.
• Bob Dylan. Have to admit that Dylan’s a tremendous blind spot for me. I have a bunch of his albums, my favorite being Bringing It All Back Home, but I’m not exactly conversant. Now I can spend some time!
• Neil Young. It’s high time this old man took a life at his life, too. Have always loved Neil, not that that’s anything special, but feel like I was always scrambling to hear something new that crowded out my further appreciation of this living legend.
• Kate Bush, Vic Chesnutt, so many more. Long overdue.

There are plenty of other acts I’m leaving out. I’m not ruling out new music entirely, mind, but I’m so happy to have unplugged from the nonstop music PR circuit.