Falling in love (slowly) with the new Airborne Toxic Event album

A couple weeks ago, I saw pop culture writer Rob Sheffield speak at NYU. One of the topics he discussed was the absurd pace of music criticism these days. We’re all in such a rush to post our opinion that we don’t get a chance to truly soak in the record first.  I’m guilty of this too. While I may not be writing for Rolling Stone, I often judge an album after one or two listens, and if I’m disappointed, I’ll dismiss it and move on to something else. Rob decided to shake this trend by writing his review of the new My Bloody Valentine after listening to it 100 times. And I decided to give his method a try.

As anyone who reads this blog already knows, I absolutely adore The Airborne Toxic Event. But for some reason, their albums always take a while to click with me. Eventually I come to love the songs so much that I can’t understand what took me so long to appreciate them. But there’s always that initial listen where I feel mildly disappointed.

So when their new album, Such Hot Blood, came out two weeks ago, I expected to be a little wary at first. And that’s exactly what happened. I liked it—but I wasn’t wild about it. Not yet. But I was inspired by Rob’s talk, and I was determined to love this album, damn it. So all week, I’ve had it on repeat, waiting for the magical instant when everything becomes clear. And it’s finally starting to pay off. Yesterday at work, I found myself pausing to enjoy “This Is London.” On the train, I started craving yet another listen to “Bride & Groom.” And today I’m listening to the whole album on repeat because I actually want to. This album and I are still getting acquainted, but I think things just got a whole lot friendlier.

Here’s to slowing down and enjoying the music.

Long time, no post

Phew, life has been keeping me busy lately. Thankfully, I've had plenty of multimedia to entertain myself with, and some of it is so good, I need to recommend it to the world (a.k.a. all of you fine people). Here are some books, a movie and the music that has been helping me get through my long commutes and my first real business trip to Portland, Oregon.

1. "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll

Right now I'm checking out a lot of classic authors in the hope that by the time I'm retired, I might actually be sort-of well-read. (There are just way too many must-read books out there). Anyway, "Alice" was one of the first ones I took on, and I absolutely adored it. Lewis Carroll was much wittier than I ever expected. I even bought a special edition with lots of footnotes and explanations, so I could understand the cultural jokes that I never would have picked up on on my own (plus, as you can see above, the cover is just really pretty). A special shout out goes to the Borders cashier who assured me I would enjoy this book. He was so right.

2. The Lady Killer by Cee Lo Green

I wrote about this in my last post, but I am really loving this album. One night I came back to my fancy-schmancy hotel room in Oregon to find that housekeeping had turned down my bed and turned on some Cee Lo for me to come home to. (Another shout out goes to the Nines Hotel, because that place is ridiculously awesome. If any of you have tons of money to blow and happen to be headed to Portland, stay there for sure).

3. "Changing" by The Airborne Toxic Event

That's right, they're baaaaaack! After announcing that their second album will be released in April of this year, the band released their brand new single, "Changing." It feels louder than any of the tracks off of the band's self-titled debut, but don't let the name fool you - they haven't changed that much. This song is so catchy, I have to have a mini-dance party every time it comes on my iPod.

4. Blue Valentine

I finally saw this movie, and it seriously drained me emotionally. It felt like Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams were ripping my heart out of my chest and stomping all over it, yet somehow I still enjoyed myself. Also, as a sidenote, whoever did Gosling's hair, make-up and wardrobe deserves awards, because I did not realize it was possible to make such a beautiful man look that gross. Well done. (Just please, don't do it again for us ladies' sakes).

5. "Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest For True Love and A Cooler Haircut" by Rob Sheffield

I've always enjoyed Rob Sheffield's columns in Rolling Stone, and I also celebrate National Duran Duran Appreciation Day every year (August 10th - Google it, I didn't make this up). So naturally, I had to read this book. It's all about 80s music and culture and made me laugh out loud every few pages. Sheffield makes many interesting points about music - one of my favorite quotes: "All summer long, the songs were the only souvenir from the night I could hold on to the next day - remembering all those sensations was overwhelming in sunlight, so I would hum the tunes to myself." I love the idea of songs as souvenirs. You so smart, Rob Sheffield.

Finally, while I'm on the topic of books, I just started a GoodReads account. If anyone also uses the site, add me as a friend so we can talk about books even when I don't have time to blog.