A whole lot of first listens

Note to self: Get a full night's sleep. Take whatever drugs necessary to make this possible. If drugs, books, clubbing yourself over the head and/or screaming in frustration into your pillow don't work and you have to carry on your life without a full night's sleep, just remember that the lack of sleep makes you angry at the world. It's not that your problems are worse than they were the day before or that people are stupider than yesterday; it's the lack of sleep. Remember that.

Note on the note to self: Failing remembering, buying new music helps. A lot.

Yesterday was officially proclaimed a Stacks Day. It's a day when the New Music Tuesday gods opened up the cornucopias and flooded the world with some long-awaited new releases, meaning that I carried home a stack of CDs to put in the stacks at home. See? Stacks Day. Ancient Norse holiday. Look it up.

These are the selections I took home with me last night:

Fiona Apple, Extraordinary Machine
Jukebox selection: "Tymps (The Sick In The Head Song)"

Fiona Apple's getting tons of press these days, so it's not like I could write much new about it. The Jon Brion version was decent, with one amazingly brilliant song ("Extraordinary Machine"), and on first listen, it seems like the re-recording fixes a few of the problems with that earlier version. It's just a little sharper and a little easier of a listen (though not easy listening).

I can't wait to dive into the lyrics, though. I find myself daydreaming of the lyrics to "Extraordinary Machine", and my amazement over the rhythm, the cadence and the sentiment of the lyrics has never subsided:

He'll hitch a ride with any guide
As long as they go fast from whence he came
But he's no good at being uncomfortable
So he can't stop staying exactly the same

"So he can't stop staying exactly the same"?! SO GENIUS!

Franz Ferdinand, You Could Have It So Much Better
Jukebox selection: "This Boy"

It's always funny to me that people will complain about a band doing the same style of music. Yeah, sometimes you get that "Heard it!" feeling, but isn't that sound and that style the reason you started listening to them in the first place? The new FF album is definitely a case where they're doing almost nothing new (it's funny when a group is really stretching their boundaries by doing a couple slower songs), but they're just doing it better. I loved the first album, but on first listen, this new one blows it out of the water.

As a side note, if anyone ever asks you if you'd like to hear Franz Ferdinand's version of Pulp's "Mis-Shapes", say no. You may be curious, but I guarantee that you'll find it so painful that you won't finish it, and it'll just remind you that the original is so mind-blowlingly brilliant that no amount of off-key warbling could ruin it, and you'll pull out your copy of Different Class and listen to that song 20 times in a row, thinking you'd follow Jarvis to even a certain death when he raises his voice to sing, "And brothers, sisters, can't you see? The future's owned by you and me!"

Sorry...got distracted there.

Ladytron, Witching Hour
Jukebox selection: "High Rise"

Ladytron is one of those bands that will never, ever top their debut album. The thing is, it doesn't sound like they're even trying to recreate the sound of that album, as they are stretching themselves stylistically. Not only has their sound gotten more effected and gauzy, but their songwriting has moved away from the more straight-forward pop of 604. The first listen to this album was really rewarding. I can't tell if it's one of those albums that I'll like but never listen to, or if it's something that will find its way into heavy rotation, but I likes.

The Go! Team, Thunder, Lightning, Strike
Jukebox selection: "Huddle Formation"

It's not really a new album, since it was released a year ago in England, and I've had a digital copy since I ripped it off of Xtian the night that Carolina won the championship, but it gets a whole new American life. It's one of the most fun and unique sounding records I've ever heard. Cheerleading? Handclaps? Spazzy gang drumming? It's the sound of a hyperactive third-grader. It's no wonder at all that Sarah's kids love it.