tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55333192008-07-24T05:43:13.744-04:00Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comBlogger186125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-70125114315775230752008-07-15T22:36:00.004-04:002008-07-16T17:21:40.931-04:00

Finally had a chance to work in this new MacBook a bit. Hopefully there'll be more to come, and hopefully not as much a rip of Tim Hecker next time... 7-15-08 - Brett Baxter

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-80100900363097753252008-01-15T21:15:00.000-05:002008-01-15T21:19:26.396-05:00

So, I'm not going to do a 2007 list. Seems kind of pointless at this juncture, I still like a lot of the albums, and lists are kind of goofy in nature, anyhow. Plus my life is getting busier and more complicated by the minute anyways. So after 187 posts, I'd like for you to turn your attention to Pinko Flamingo where I'll be doing the majority of posting forthwith. Feel free to check in here,

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-9185410452134841412007-12-19T20:20:00.000-05:002007-12-19T20:36:04.648-05:00

Down to 60. Tough stuff. Couple of notes: First, I forgot how damn good this Feist record is. I mean, it's kind of gotten tons of rubbernecking bloggers backlashing the crap out of it. Be aware -- to discount a record because it's available in Starbucks and in an iPod commercial makes no sense. She's got a beautiful voice, writes great songs and has created a great sense of space in her songs.

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-59776945637186193182007-12-16T21:12:00.000-05:002007-12-16T21:17:35.828-05:00

So, I've whittled the who-gives-a-shit best album list down to 76. I'm trying to get into the 20 range, but that's some tough stuff. I've already eliminated Freeway, Sloan, Jesu and Pig Destroyer -- all who had some great records this year worth your attention. Not sure why I'm even concerned about this though as there's already been 20+ that I've seen for '07 and every one of them has Arcade

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-8967113439304040042007-11-20T13:14:00.000-05:002007-11-20T13:18:33.888-05:00

From a post on Wikipedia referencing Adam Forkner's new White Rainbow album, Prism of Eternal Now: Prism Of Eternal Now is the most recent album by ambient/soundscape artist White Rainbow. Unlike Sky Drips Drifts, this album is not one continuous track, but rather a collection of shorter works that show the more recent loop-based phase of White Rainbow's music. Also, unlike ZOME, the album has no

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-57311017743535406402007-10-30T20:48:00.000-04:002007-10-30T21:09:38.189-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, I've been trying to decide where to take this whole backlog and move it into the future (like Steve Miller?). Seems a little unsure at the time. I have time, if I choose to use it: just can't seem to figure what to write about and whether that opinion/criticism is worth adding to the constant babble of the internet. After all, it's hard to disagree with Jess Harvell's points

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-64230555313418401882007-09-26T12:15:00.000-04:002007-09-26T12:16:23.620-04:00

I know it's not very indie of me, but the breakdown + exploding background makes the hair stand up on my arms. This song kicks ass. Foo Fighters - The Pretender (Video Premiere)Uploaded by Alisvideo

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-79197398282842983362007-09-19T20:09:00.000-04:002007-09-19T20:33:07.483-04:00

Just got a pair of these Sennheiser HD 595 cans above. Gotta say, I thought that money headphones were BS and all the things I was reading were all viral marketing. Not so. I can't speak for the other 5000 competitors to these (I'm sure some are better, whatever), but it's literally like someone wiped a layer of grime off of all my music. It's pretty hard to listen to Zep right now and not

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-32572629383961791482007-09-19T20:07:00.000-04:002007-09-19T20:09:08.979-04:00

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-25791688200717655342007-09-18T21:33:00.001-04:002007-09-18T21:38:02.326-04:00

I'm having a bit of trouble getting back into this. Every post I start begins "ever since I was young" or some goofball generalization. Sorry. Quality control - at least for the first couple since my last one. See you soon?

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-25026358037995371412007-09-16T20:43:00.000-04:002007-09-16T20:48:34.040-04:00

Yeah, it's been a while. Soon I'll be back with something more, but I'm alive. In the meantime, UGK's new one, Kanye's new one, and Scarface's old one are all amazing. And that's just recent hip-hop discoveries.

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-72495757690899084912007-06-21T15:42:00.000-04:002007-06-21T15:46:18.556-04:00

Seventh grade for most people is super-awkward. I was no different. While it’s tough to remember perfectly, I do recall it junior high to be a greatly uncomfortable time. And yeah, looking back on it, I was a huge herb. Sixth was cool: I wasn’t sexually aware yet, They Might Be Giants were my favorite band, I had my little brother do somersaults for my “Bring Your Pet to School Day”. But

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-61501537127659416532007-06-13T20:59:00.000-04:002007-06-13T21:02:41.242-04:00

From the first icy cool bass drum and oxygen deprived vocal snippet that graces From Here We Go Sublime, it’s clear that minimalism is at play here. I’m going to take that a step further and be honest: minimalism in house, (tech-house, whatever) in and of itself, is flat out boring. Electronic dance music was made for ecstatic moments. So when close to the 2:00 mark during this record, a weird

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-86185113556151825252007-05-14T20:20:00.000-04:002007-05-14T20:23:38.622-04:00

Yeah, I've been gone for a few days/weeks. Been busy: ran a 10-mile race, had a fiancee finish year 2 of law school, been in and out of NYC twice in the last two days. But yeah, I promise that I'm making an effort to write more, even with an irregular schedule. See you soon.

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-88638423775937657682007-05-14T20:15:00.000-04:002007-05-14T20:19:43.500-04:00

Kicking off their last album, Guided By Voices have pretty much everyone’s highest expectations to live up to. It’s fitting then that it’s one of those perfect, mid-fi Bob Pollard tunes that doesn’t smack you in the face, but slowly, deliberately makes you reach for and raise your lighter. Everything’s intact here: jangly guitars, Who worship, well enunciated lyrics, that slight yet fake

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-34508290300855870432007-05-01T21:18:00.000-04:002007-05-01T21:19:40.859-04:00

Coming up on the start of the show, there was a peculiar calm over the Black Cat that I’m unfamiliar with. Most concerts I’ve seen where there’s a high level of anticipation, it’s like the roof on the venue is about to blow off. People can barely contain themselves, sporadic shouts pepper the atmosphere. Last Friday, the Black Cat was seriously tame compared to, shoot, the Lightning Bolt show

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-71094997306030971042007-04-26T21:40:00.000-04:002007-04-26T21:44:03.995-04:00

Yeah, been missing lately, but for good reason. Been seeing a ton of shows, some more are on the way. Saw Spoon last Sunday, Lightning Bolt yesterday, going to see the Dismemberment Plan reunion tomorrow and LCD Soundsystem in a couple of weeks. Once I'm back, "D" will be devoted to the D-Plan. Cheers!

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-37159476659768189372007-04-21T08:57:00.000-04:002007-04-21T09:00:05.667-04:00

I was thinking about doing "D" on the Drones, and I still might, but here's some videos in case I don't. This band kills. "Sharkfin Blues" solo: "Jezebel" video:

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-26577105341841844182007-04-19T21:16:00.000-04:002007-04-19T21:45:42.353-04:00

For a band that’s come from a perennially uncool city (Atlanta), these mothers have been drudging up some pretty heavy hype. Rightfully so, one tends to cast a shifty eyeball on any art that comes out of nowhere to near unanimous praise. It seems unfounded, unwarranted, unearned. But backlash for backlash’s sake is shit (see the smart review of the new Klaxons album on Pitchfork, which isn’t

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-91235122790374190412007-04-15T16:44:00.000-04:002007-04-15T16:47:50.134-04:00

I read somewhere that everyone goes through their Led Zeppelin phase, no matter how old or for how long. To paraphrase the text I’m not going to be able to reference or describe eloquently, you could be a 15-year old awkward teen or a 30-year old stockbroker, but Zep takes hold and it’s all you want to hear. Like, nothing sounds better than “Black Dog” or that incredibly massive riff in “Moby

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-57275575288655902782007-04-11T20:51:00.000-04:002007-04-11T20:54:29.715-04:00

I was gonna do "B" tonight and write about Black Flag, but it's pretty painfully obvious that I don't need to add much to the discussion. What I do know: this picture rules. Hope to see you tomorrow with something.

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-56655359428229693442007-04-10T21:56:00.000-04:002007-04-10T21:58:57.497-04:00

A: Amon Duul Krautrock is as good as people say it is. It served a great purpose in the development of music: a simple, motorik beat repeats ad nauseum while minimalist melody unfolds over top, for often a 10+ minute duration of the songs. And apart from that, some of this stuff was just plain great – just try to not love Can’s “Oh Yeah” at about the half-way point. Without krautrock,

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-39508667193143120482007-04-10T18:32:00.000-04:002007-04-10T18:47:40.429-04:00

Driving back from Northern NJ today for work I came up with a wonderful idea to give myself some more initiative to post on here. While lifting an idea from Sue Grafton is probably a horrendous idea, I'm going to anyway to give myself some parameters to write. Essentially it'll be A: (band name/genre/city that begins with A), B: (band name/genre/city that begins with B), etc. It'll give me

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-82315261620329596442007-04-09T21:31:00.000-04:002007-04-09T21:55:48.121-04:00

The Beta Band broke up to very little fanfare sometime in the last two years. For a band that had a hugely promising focal point in a great movie (High Fidelity), it was strange to see such a unique and, let's be honest, agreeable band disappear. I remember the first time my (now reformed) Banana Republic sporting ass saw and heard "Dry the Rain" on the big screen. All those moments of trying

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533319.post-52500389856986546752007-04-04T20:13:00.000-04:002007-04-04T20:47:32.824-04:00

Thanks to the folks at Pitchfork for the heads up on Drag City's post of Bill Callahan's (Smog) newest song, "Sycamore". I'm not a huge fan of listening to stuff on the internet (getting used to it), but, shit yes, I am a big fan of Callahan's. From what it sounds like, we've got a step away from A River Ain't Too Much To Love and the sparse acoustic sound. Here, Mr. Callahan and crew favor a

Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411892517797800390noreply@blogger.com