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It's my birthday today, and I'm having a huge halloween party at my house to celebrate... and this song will definitely be in heavy rotation, as it should be at any halloween party this year. Check it out.
Car Stereo Wars - Hip Hop Halloween Monster Mashup
So I copped the recently leaked Shins album, 'Wincing the Night Away' and spent the entire day listening to it on my ipod between classes waiting for my life to change, but nothing happened... I wasn't approached by Natalie Portman, or even the Scrubs guy, I got a B+ on my cell bio test, and showed up late for a test in my Psychology class, all in all a pretty underwhelming Monday. I consider myself an optimist though, so I won't blame the Shins or the Scrubs guy, but Natilie Portman better show up at my doorstep (yes, wearing that) within the week or I'm never listening to 'Wincing the Night Away' again. Ever.
On a serious note though, the new album is pretty slick, and off the bat you can tell that Sub-Pop forked out the big bucks for the increased production quality (presumably due to the fact that every time the Shins change someone's life, Sub-Pop gets some extra coin... kind of like how God kills a kitten every time you... Nevermind, you get the picture)-- a far cry from the reverb-filled stylings of their first album. That being said, in my opinion I think it's a fairly safe record for them (they still sound like the same old Shins), but it's a solid effort from the best thing to come out of New Mexico since... uh, this?. Highlights include the Beck influenced 'Sea Legs', the upcoming single 'Phantom Limb', and my personal favorite; the mellowed-out, 'A Comet Appears'. Be sure and pick up the album when it drops on 1.23.07 (damn, is 2007 really that close?)
The Shins - Phantom Limb (link removed at artist's request)
The Shins - A Comet Appears (link removed at artist's request)
In other news, I just decided to go see Islands in Vancouver at UBC, with one of my good friends from home. The last time I saw Islands was crazy, let me tell you-- they bring the party, add that to the fact that I'm legal to drink in Canada, and you have the recipe for awesomeness. Can't wait.
I apologize for the length of time between posts about the Sufjan concert, its just taken me that long for the awesomeness of the night to finally sink in. But seriously, the performance at the Paramount was one of the best (if not the best) concerts I've ever been to.
It was the first time I had ever been to the Paramount Theatre, which I was a little bummed out about at first because I think that a general admission show is the best way to see music in a live setting. After everything was said and done Sunday night, however, I realized that the Paramount was a nice change of pace (dare I say classy?).
We arrived midway through opener, My Brightest Diamond's set, having never heard her before (aside from some myspace streaming), I was pretty blown away by her vocal ability, and her performance really set the crowd up for what was about to happen. Sufjan came out after a lengthy intermission (that's what those civilized theatre-goers call it, right?), and played an awesome set that included selections from Illinois, Michigan, Seven Swans, some new material, and even a Christmas song. This was the last stop on the tour and it sounded like it, the backing band (or shall I say orchestra) was flawless, and Sufjan had a slightly hoarse voice (which was only evident when he was speaking in between songs). One thing that surprised me about Sufjan's live performance was his onstage banter, listening to his albums I had always figured him as more of a soft-spoken individual, but this was definitely not the case. He rambled on telling some pretty off the wall stories, some of which either went nowhere, or were used as song introductions. One example was a story about a plastic owl that was placed on a stool next to him that was stolen outside of a Perkins restaurant in Columbus Ohio... totally random. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not criticizing Sufjan's stage banter, it was actually really funny, and quite entertaining-- a good change of pace, after you've heard an entire song about a serial killer.
Highlights of the set included a solo acoustic performance of John Wayne Gacy Jr., a slightly more uptempo rendition of The Predatory Wasp (with a minute long piano/guitar freakout at the end), Jacksonville, Lord God Bird, Majesty Snowbird (also with an extended freakout session not heard on the previously posted mp3), and of course, the encoure, Chichago. My only beef with the setlist was that he didn't play 'That Dress Looks Nice on You', one of my favorites from Seven Swans (hey, there's always next time). In all, it was a great night of music, one that will be hard for me to top in the future, and I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I'm pretty excited to see what Soof comes up with next.
Here's the original Christmas song Sufjan performed: That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!
be sure and check out the 5-disc Christmas album from Sufjan and friends when it comes out November 21st.
On another note, fuck the police. Seriously.
