Sometimes I just need some good old fashioned country in my life, and Tuesday morning was one of those times. This is the only Brooks and Dunn album that I own, and I do sometimes find myself lamenting that it's not the later "#1s... and then some" (2009). I know this is very odd but I kind of have a little ritual with that album; for some reason I always listen to it on Air New Zealand's very good in-flight entertainment system, at the end of a long haul flight landing back in New Zealand. I don't know why, but it's kind of become a habit. So anyway, in a strange way I'm rather attached to #1s...
I always find the beginning of the Greatest Hits album a little slow in comparison with #1s, which has much more of an upbeat honky tonk vibe to it - tracks like 'Hillbilly Deluxe' and 'Honky Tonk Stomp' are just hard to beat. But the Greatest Hits album starts to hit its stride around track 4, the excellent 'Boot Scootin Boogie' (which, incidentally, also features on #1s...) and carries on with a number of other quite stellar tracks; I'm particularly fond of 'Rock My World (Little Country Girl)'. And, happily enough, once you get far enough into the album, there's a couple of of cross over tracks with #1s... including 'She's not the Cheating Kind', and 'Brand New Man'. It's Hicksville central, but it's a good listen.
In other, not entirely unrelated news, it's nearly a year since my massive Outrageous Fortune six-seasons-in-about-as-many-weeks binge. Is it really acceptable that I still kind of have a girl crush on Aurora? Can lace stockings and studded cowboy boots ever be classy? I hope so, otherwise I've unleashed a little bit of trash at work today....
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
My American Idol Obsession
I've been trying to figure out why I'm so obsessed with American Idol this season.... No doubt to be the subject of a later, much longer blog post. But my short answer is that this is the first season that I have seen real, genuine talent that I would pay good money to see live, and whose albums I would buy. I'm still with Scotty McCreery for the win, but just can. not. get. enough. of this version of the CCR classic by the insanely talented Casey Abrams.
Random musings on Sundays, and why The Black Keys are officially forgiven
If I had to pick, I'd say Sunday is my favourite of all the days. Part of it - also the reason I'm very fond of Saturday nights - is that, regardless of timezones, the rest of the world is also having a weekend, so there's less chance of work coming in from overseas. I seldom have more than a handful of emails to deal to on a Sunday morning, and that's a delight in and of itself. And Sundays always contain brunch, king of the meals. I do love brunch. I could write screeds about brunch. Yesterday it was pancakes and coffee at the beach with an old, cherished friend. Followed by shopping for a bridesmaid dress for the wedding of an older, no-less-cherished friend. A long run, a yoga class, and a cup of tea with another friend later, I was ready for the serious business of chillin'.
That's what I love about Sundays. I live a charmed, almost disgustingly unencumbered little life, where - at least on Sundays - there's always a little bit of time for whatever takes my fancy. And yesterday, my fancy was taken by a long, loud, session with The Black Keys. Three albums in a row - Attack and Release, The Big Come Up and Brothers - of that beautiful, rocky blues.
Attack and Release (2008) remains my favourite by far of their albums. It has a certain je ne sais quois - like a really raw, almost angry edge to it, but it's polished and professional and beautifully put together. It grabs you from the start - the opener, 'All You Ever Wanted', strikes me as blisteringly emotional, while simultaneously gentle and somehow resigned. It vies for favourite with the similarly intense "Lies" - less gentle, more combatant, no less brilliant. From start to finish, this album manages to be both intense but also somehow benign, a manageable listen. I suspect this album would sneak on to my (as yet unpublished) Desert Island List.
I confess, it has taken me this long to forgive The Black Keys for the Big Day Out abomination. I was irrationally hurt and devastated and betrayed that they cancelled that tour. They were to be the highlight of my summer and - as one of their followers on Facebook - I'm afraid I wasn't convinced by the "exhaustion" argument... activity did seem to continue rather unabated after the cancelled tour.
But here's the thing: it's all about forgiveness. I've been mad at them for a couple of months, but at the end of the day I need that dirty guitar-driven blues in my life. I love them too much to exist without them. So on Sunday afternoon we had a rough, loud, distinctly emotional make-up session. It was beautiful and cathartic and seriously satisfying. In fact, it was so good, we did it again this morning before work.
When it comes to The Black Keys, at least, all, it seems, is forgiven.
That's what I love about Sundays. I live a charmed, almost disgustingly unencumbered little life, where - at least on Sundays - there's always a little bit of time for whatever takes my fancy. And yesterday, my fancy was taken by a long, loud, session with The Black Keys. Three albums in a row - Attack and Release, The Big Come Up and Brothers - of that beautiful, rocky blues.
Attack and Release (2008) remains my favourite by far of their albums. It has a certain je ne sais quois - like a really raw, almost angry edge to it, but it's polished and professional and beautifully put together. It grabs you from the start - the opener, 'All You Ever Wanted', strikes me as blisteringly emotional, while simultaneously gentle and somehow resigned. It vies for favourite with the similarly intense "Lies" - less gentle, more combatant, no less brilliant. From start to finish, this album manages to be both intense but also somehow benign, a manageable listen. I suspect this album would sneak on to my (as yet unpublished) Desert Island List.
I confess, it has taken me this long to forgive The Black Keys for the Big Day Out abomination. I was irrationally hurt and devastated and betrayed that they cancelled that tour. They were to be the highlight of my summer and - as one of their followers on Facebook - I'm afraid I wasn't convinced by the "exhaustion" argument... activity did seem to continue rather unabated after the cancelled tour.
But here's the thing: it's all about forgiveness. I've been mad at them for a couple of months, but at the end of the day I need that dirty guitar-driven blues in my life. I love them too much to exist without them. So on Sunday afternoon we had a rough, loud, distinctly emotional make-up session. It was beautiful and cathartic and seriously satisfying. In fact, it was so good, we did it again this morning before work.
When it comes to The Black Keys, at least, all, it seems, is forgiven.
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