Here is a list of events that happened in the month of April:
- We finished up all our housework and put our house on the market.
- I coached Eliot's YMCA soccer team through their 6 sessions. It was really low key.
- We continued to take Ewan to his soccer clinic althought there were quite a few rainouts.
- I was selected to contribute a piece of art for the "Genesis 15" exhibit for the Imago Dei art center.
- I made my way down to Wichita to be an evaluator for visual arts, film, and design for the Kansas Fine Arts Festival. This is for junior and high school students.
- For work, I made a day trip up to Chicago to tour a facility. We had some extra time, so we traveled north to Kenosha, Wisconsin to visit the Jelly Belly factory. Later, for dinner we ate at Bob Chinn's Crabhouse Restaurant.
- We had two solid weeks of showing our house, which meant we were kicked out about every day for 2-3 potential buyers to look at our spotless house.
- I did the dishes every night during this period.
- We sold our house for more than we thought we'd get.
- We spent a few days with our realtor looking at houses meeting with bankers, etc.
- Finished up a set of permit drawings and got them off to the city. The last two weeks of this took a lot of my time.
- One week after selling our house, we found one and made an offer. The accepted for less than what we thought we'd have to pay.
- And now we are packing furiously.
...and I manged to pick up a few albums...thanks in part to a "gift" I received for being an art evaluator. (I'll try to make this quick.)
R.E.M. - Accelerate
Listen here.
I know a lot of critics have been saying that this REM's comeback album and a return to rock - which is true. Overall the album is pretty good, but I am not sure I am a big fan of REM's rock. I think their strength lies in the mid-tempo. The album starts out with it's rock, but then settles into what I think is the better part of the album.
Moby - Last Night
Listen here.
I like this album - it is just good fun. It is suppose to be celebrating a night out in NYC - from the upbeat to the chill-out. Some have criticized it for sounding like Moby in the early '90's. I don't get why it is okay for new bands to blatantly be stealing from the '80's or '90's but when an established artist (who was part of the creation of that scene) creates something a little retro, that is a no no.
The Foxglove Hunt - Stop Heartbeat
Listen here.
Brilliant!!!
It is hard to seriously take some of these new bands that are borrowing they '80's sound from some of my favorite bands. I mean, they like dropped out of high school two years ago to join a band and their musical canon is only 6 years deep. There is a difference from listening to a few New Order records and growing up and being immersed in the culture that created those sounds. I am happy to say that Rob (Fine China) and Ronnie (Joy Electric) are products from the '80's and understand the elements of creating good synth pop music. Afterall, they are about my age or older. It's is getting harder to trust young bands.
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Listen here.
I don't know what possesed me to buy this album. I don't have any of their previous music. I saw an add in the paper for $7.99. Something told me that this would be a good album. I love it. Sonically it is amazing- a great studio album. It is a "whole" album that must be listened from beginning to end and some of the most beautiful songs that I have heard in quite some time. On the back page of the booklet, I see TurnMeUp.org Basically, this album was recorded with the intention of quite parts and loud parts. The website talks how most modern music is recorded to be at the same volume level (loud), well you should check out the website if you care about the info...
M83 - Saturdays=Youth
Listen here.
A new album from my favorite French digital shoegaze band. M83 is mostly seen as an electronic band, but with this record they seem to take on the structure of a rock band - and a good one. The focus of this album is to capture the nostalgia of youth.
Portishead - ThirdListen here.
I have been waiting for this album for a long time. It does not disappoint. Gone are the trip-hop beats replaced with experimental, yet it sound like the same band and different from any other band right now. I have been listening to this quite a bit. It is challenging and there are quite a few layers to uncover.
