Summer

Long time, no update.

Here's the deal. The semester is over, hard work paid off, and Baltimore hasn't warmed up to summer standards... yet.

I've still been doing some heavy listening though. Not necessarily to really new stuff, but I've been familiarizing myself with the shit load of music I have acquired over the past year.

That being said, there is now a massive wish list of albums that anyone should want spinning in their ipod or car. Well researched stuff...

We'll see what the audio phile can get his hands on. In the meantime, here's what's gonna happen:

This blog will most likely become a vehicle for recording my work with the Summer Undergraduate Research Fund that I was awarded at the end of the semester.

The work I will be doing will focus on the cultural and social politics of the 2008 Broadway season. Seems like that's out of left field, right? Not really. I love the performing arts (Hello? Concerts anyone?), and I am in fact an English major (could I be more stereotypical right now?).

Regardless, I'll be updating the blog with the happenings of the project and my research. In addition to the self-centered and academic postings that will most certainly come to fruition, with them, there will be either a song or a playlist or both to accompany the seemingly off topic project oriented ramblings. Of course, the music will correspond to the work I'm doing. So, it'll be like the Research Fund Mix Tape. Enjoy!

Here's my present wish-list (Heard almost all of it, but I want to own the damn records, baby) followed by my projected top 31 albums so far:

Battles - “Mirrored”
The Tough Alliance - “A New Chance”
The Forms - “The Forms”
Okay - “Huggable Dust”
Shearwater - “Palo Santo”
Jose Gonzalez - “In Our Nature”
Fennesz - “Endless Summer”
White Rabbits - “Fort Nightly”
She and Him - “Volume One”
Dodos - “Visiter”
Los Campesinos - “Hold On Now, Youngster…”
Hilotrons - “Happymatic”
Sebastian Tellier - “Sexuality”
Wolf Parade - “At Mount Zoomer”
Sally Shapiro - “Disco Romance” (both orig and remix)
Dan Friel - “Ghost Town”
Tunng - “Good Arrows”
The Streets - “A Grand Don’t Come For Free”
Foals - “Antidotes”
M83, Portishead, Karftwerk, and MSTRKRFT from other people
Dizzee Rascal - “Boy In Da Corner” and “Showtime” and “Maths + English”
French Quarter - “French Quarter”
Tokyo Police Club - “Elephant Shell”
Tapes ‘n Tapes - “Walk It Off”
Man Man - “Rabbit Hats”
Death Cab for Cutie - “Narrow Stairs”
Coldplay - “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends”
Santogold - “Santogold”
Cut Copy - “Bright Like Neon Love” and “In Ghost Colors”
Hercules and Love Affair - “Hercules and Love Affair”
Mates of State - “All Day” and “Rearrange Us”
Annuals - “Be He Me”
Peter Bjorn and John - “Falling Out”
Menomena - “I Am the Fun Blame Monster”
Architecture in Helsinki - “In Case We Die”
Datarock - “Datarock Datarock”
Talib Kweli - “Quality” and “Reflection Eternal (with Hi Tek)”
The Islands - “Return to the Sea”
Deltron 3030 - “Deltron 3030”
The Books - “Thought for Food"
The Cool Kids - “Bake Sale” EP
Blood on the Wall - “Awesomer”
Seabear - “The Ghost That Carried Us Away”
Mission of Burma - “Obliterati” and “OnOffOn” and “Vs.”
Tom Waits, Frank Zappa, Crosby Stills Nash & Young discographies (along with BB King’s “Hummingbird”)


TOP 30 SO FAR -

1 okay - huggable dust
2 wolf parade - at mount zoomer
3 evangelicals - the evening descends
4 the dodos - visiter
5 death cab for cutie - narrow stairs
6 cut copy - in living color
7 french quarter - french quarter
8 the ruby suns - sea lion
9 hercules and love affair - hala
10 bodies of water - ears will pop and eyes will blink (and probably their new one)
11 crystal castles - cc
12 no age - nouns
13 beck - modern guilt?
14 re-up gang - we got it for cheap vol. 3
15 vampire weekend- vampire weekend
16 man man - rabbit hats
17 beach house - devotion
18 portishead - third
19 hilotrons - happymatic
20 m83 - saturdays=youth
21 los campesinos - hold on now, youngster...
22 dan friel - ghost town
23 tokyo police club - elephant shell
24 santogold - santogold
25 she and him - volume 1
26 sebastian tellier- sexuality
27 coldplay - viva la vida or death and all his friends (guilty pleasure)
28 foals - antidote
29 high places - anything they release
30 matmos - supreme balloon
31 el guincho (i'll stop here)

lil wayne will be good too right? as will my bloody valentine? radiohead doesn't count