Sunday Shuffle #181

Tomorrow I start my summer schedule of being in the pool a lot more and taking a class. The class is a hybrid, so I only have to be on campus for 3 hours each week and the rest is done online. That will last 8 weeks. We'll see how it all goes. Right now, though, let's get to the music...

1. Rollin' Back/My Morning Jacket (1)

2. Malibu Gas Station/Sonic Youth (1)

3. Hang Me Up to Dry/Cold War Kids (1)

4. Forty Dollars/The Twilight Singers (1)

5. Un Dernier Verre (Pour La Route)/Beirut (2)

6. My Love Is True/The Broken West (1)

7. Ambuscade/The Broken West (1)

8. Open Eyes/Apples In Stereo (1)

9. Lord, Don't Pass Me By/The Ladybug Transistor (4)

10. Pride of the Yankees/Patterson Hood (2)

Heavy Rotation #10

As we head into June, I thought I'd mention the albums that got the most play in May...

The Beatles/Revolver - This is the other of my two favorite Beatle albums. John's "I'm Only Sleeping" is just a perfect marriage of lyric and music - that woozy, chuggy feeling of needing some sleep. Paul's "Eleanor Rigby" is famous, of course, and justifiably so with the strings and the sense of urgency to such a depressing song. All that, plus 12 other great songs too!

The National/High Violet - This is the newest album from the band and it's another winner. One could listen to "Bloodbuzz Ohio" or "Afraid of Anyone" over and over and over again and still be entranced on the tenth repeated play. I really should do a longer post on this one.

The New Pornographers/Together - This has everything you want from a New Pornos record. An insanely catchy song or five? Check. Neko Case working those pipes? Check. A brilliant Dan Bejar song that you have no idea what it means? Check ("Silver Jenny Dollar," in this case). Just another great album (their 5th) from a great band.

Matthew Sweet/100% Fun - I tend to think of this as Sweet's 3rd album (behind Girlfriend and Altered Beast) but it's actually his 5th. No matter the number, this is a collection of great songs of the power pop persuasion and a highly underrated album of the 90s. I have an idea for a series of posts and this one will definitely be covered more in depth.

Sunday Shuffle #179/180 (Memorial Day Edition)

I'd started a Shuffle yesterday but it got messed up and I deleted the post in frustration. Luckily, this is a 3 day weekend and I'm going to take advantage and make it double. Why not?

1. My Shepherd/The New Pornographers (8)

2. Blue Line Swinger/Yo La Tengo (1)

3. My Favorite Year/Destroyer (2)

4. The Stars Just Blink For Us/Say Hi (1)

5. The Things You Don't See/Canasta (1)

6. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song/Fleet Foxes (1)

7. Land of the Freak/King Khan and The Shrines (1)

8. Song For Mary/Clem Snide (7)

9. Go to Sleep/The Avett Brothers (1)

10. God Rest My Soul/Dawes (5)

11. Keep the Car Running/Arcade Fire (1)

12. Here's Lookin At You, Kid/The Gaslight Anthem (2)

13. So Much Water/M. Ward (1)

14. No One Here Knows Jane/Warren Zanes (2)

15. Black River Killer/Blitzen Trapper (2)

16. Lucky Ones/Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew (1)

17. People Think They Know Me/Sloan (2)

18. Keep You Inside/Frankel (1)

19. You Can Always Count On Me (In The Worst Way)/Superchunk (1)

20. Can You Tell/Ra Ra Riot (1)

Widow Talk

Sometimes you need to find the right book at the right time. After finishing Cory Doctorow's Makers (which I liked), I had two more books out from the library. The problem was that neither one was appealing to me at that moment. I took them back to the library and checked out Jonathan Tropper's How to Talk to a Widower instead. I'd really enjoyed his most recent novel last year and decided to check out his previous work. It's a decision I'm glad I made.

We start the story about a year after Doug Parker has lost his wife and he is still deep in grief and has cut himself off from the world. The book deals with him coming back to life with the help of his messed-up family. It's funny, dark, sexy at times, and just good. I recommend it.

It was the 10th book I've read this year, which is my slowest pace in quite some time. I am taking a summer class, so I probably won't read with the same ferocity as last summer but I do hope to step things up a bit.

Sunday Shuffle #178

Another week and nothing else posted. Oh well. I still love doing these Sunday Shuffles, so here's another one...

1. She's A Mover/Big Star (5)

2. Shivers Down My Spine/King Khan And The Shrines (1)

3. Number One/Lightspeed Champion (1)

4. We Were Born The Mutants Again With Leafling/Of Montreal (1)

5. Smokin from Shootin/My Morning Jacket (1)

6. OK/Higgins (1)

7. Butch Cassidy/My Morning Jacket (1)

8. Coffee/Aesop Rock (2)

9. People In The Sky/Sloan (1)

10. Mountain/Lucero (1)

Sunday Shuffle #177

I'm off to a later start today due to chaperoning prom and post-prom with my wife last night. Lots of things to do around the house today as well, so we'll get to it. I do hope to post some non-Sunday Shuffles in the coming weeks, so don't give up on me completely.

1. You Are A Light/Pavement (1)

2. People Think They Know Me (1)

3. Your Own Cloud/Portastatic (1)

4. True Or False/Bishop Allen (1)

5. Violet Furs/The Whigs (1)

6. Break It/Reigning Sound (2)

7. Bright Future/Bowerbirds (1)

8. Backwards Walk/Frightened Rabbit (1)

9. Die, Die, Die/Dr. Dog (1)

10. Act Surprised/Superchunk (1)

Sunday Shuffle #176

It's the last weekend of my semester and I have a paper to write and a Spanish final to study for, so I'm going to jump right into today's ten...

1. Happiness Writes White/Harvey Danger (2)

2. Andiamo/The Twilight Singers (1)

3. Rampage/Blair (3)

4. Take Courage/Andrew Bird (3)

5. The Twist/Frightened Rabbit (1)

6. Nothing Left To Make Me Want To Stay/Sloan (1)

7. Dignity And Shame/Crooked Fingers (2)

8. No You're Not/Spoon (2)

9. Take My Love With You/Eli "Paperboy" Reed (2)

10. Bottled In Cork/Ted Leo & The Pharmacists (8)