2009 Year-in-review Part II

April
Not a terribly eventful month. My iPod had stopped working after only 3 years of service in March and I took it to the Apple store. They said I would have to buy a replacement and it wasn't able to be repaired. Well, about a week later (in April, which is why this story is here), I was online looking how to open up an iPod and replace the battery and hard-drive, in one of the two concerns was the issue. Guess what. Just happened that a connector had come a little bit loose and a little un-plugging and re-plugging took care of it. Hmm...now, you mean to tell me that the representatives at Apple that they call "geniuses" could not have done the same thing? I think I was just told some crap in order for me to buy something.

May
One phrase sums this month up: New Car Month!!

That's right. I finally ditched the old money-guzzler car for something a little more reliable and somewhat newer; and did I mention a whole hell of a lot more fun to drive. This was my first experience actually buying a new car under my name. I think I got a bit "taken" on the loan, but I got it down where it was at my affordability. Anyway, the car is a 2003 Acura RSX Type-S. I don't imagine I'll be buying a Ford ever again. Also, the dealership where I purchased the car just-so-happens to not be in business any longer. I suppose the economy claimed another victim.

June
June. June. June....for the life of me, I can't recall anything major that happened in June. I usually have another blog to refer back to in times like these. However, it is empty for the month of June, because I don't write in it as much as I used to. Oh well, July, August, and September were pretty big. So, I'll have a pretty "meaty" entry next time.

2009: A Year-in-Review: Part 1 - By the Months

I know what you're thinking to yourself: "What the hell happened to the album reviews?!" Well, don't fret. They shall return. I wanted to deviate from them, due to two factors. 1. I like to do my year-in-review post prior to the turning of the next year as a way to cap it off. 2. I got a few more 2009 albums on Christmas that need a little more "sinking-in" time before I can properly do a review of them.

So, without further ado, I bring you Craig's Year-in-Review 2009 Edition: Part 1

January
New job. New Craig. New lifestyle. That about says it all. I began a new job on January 5 that basically turned my life around. I had grown so incredibly frustrated with my previous job, I could no longer function in my personal life without bringing the job-stress with me. Everything fell into place perfectly for this new career move. I feel as though I owe a huge debt of gratitude to those who helped make it happen. Granted, I still feel as though this job is somewhat of a stepping-stone to greater things. However, this is it. Life with a full-time job; and not a bad job either. I would go into a few of the details, but I feel as though it may bore some. Don't get me wrong, it's not a boring job, for the most part. It's about what I would want from an entry-level, full-time position. There were also some unforeseen growing pains of adjusting to a full-time schedule that I really didn't see coming and have finally, in the past couple months, got myself comfortable with. The things I keep in mind: Evenings are short and sweet; Sleep isn't as important to my daily life as I once thought; Weekends should be used to the fullest extent as they are the highlight of the week and really quite amazing.

February
More of the same. Holy crap it was cold this month! Probably have to endure similar conditions this coming year. The heating bill sky-rocketed. (I have the gas-company's asses kicked whenever the next budget re-evaluation is though. I was prepared this time!) I was offered an official position in the company where I work. Should have mentioned I started through a temp agency. I honestly can't recall much else happening during this month...just that it was cold and pretty shitty because of that. This may have been the month in which I had to enter my car through the trunk for about a week; because a whole team of dumbasses must have designed my car. The driver's-side door handle busted and the passenger's side doesn't have a key-hole. Genius!! I see so many benefits to that! *side note: most likely never buying a Ford again the rest of my life.

March
I think the weather got so bad early this month, that work closed down halfway through the day one day. My Mustang made it home, so nobody had the right to complain that day. The new U2 album also came out this month. It was a lot of excitement and a little bit of disappointment. I have gone over it so much in my weblogs that I don't think it's worth ranting about again. The biggest benefit of this month is that I can start running outside again by the end of it. Otherwise, I'm not a huge fan of Spring. I think that was everything of note that happened in March.

Well, looks like I'm going to do this in quarters, because just coming up with three months took me about an hour. So, more to come! Stay Tuned!

2009 Album Review #8: Porcupine Tree - The Incident

Even on their tenth studio album, Porcupine Tree shows no signs of growing stale with age. This is a band who has taken the progressive style to a new level. "The Incident" was an album that took a little while to grow on me. Don't get me wrong, I liked it from the start; but it got so much better upon each listen. When it was announced the album would be one 55-minute song cycle, I didn't know how to feel. I figured it would be too difficult for the casual listener and that they wouldn't gain too many new fans this time around. Once you get a good listen to the album, however, you realize that the case is not that it is one long song; rather 14 songs or "bits and pieces" that are fitted together so they flow together as a complete album. This means it's actually quite easy to pick out your favorite tracks and just go back and listen to those without missing anything, if you're that type of listener. After seeing the band perform the entire first disc (yes, there's a second disc that I haven't mentioned yet) on stage, I realized just how great these songs are as a whole, rather than just in their individual forms. To get the full picture, you really need to go through this album start to finish at least a few times. To give you a little more of the idea, the album's title, "The Incident", comes from the notion of an occurrence in a person's life in which they know nothing will ever be the same again going forward (in the case of this album, a car-wreck seems to be the "incident" of choice). It's a beautiful work full of very talented musicians creating music that has power, drive, and feeling.

When talking about Porcupine Tree, it is difficult not to mention their drummer, Gavin Harrison; who is so good at what he does, I don't know if he ever falls into a pattern. It's as if he makes each phrase unique; and in some of the more interesting time signatures that the band plays in, this is no easy task.

Okay, I will mention the second disc of "The Incident", which seems to be the leftover tracks that didn't quite fit into the grand scheme of things. Two of these tracks are great; "Bonnie the Cat" and "Remember me Lover". The other two are good, but don't really leave a lasting impression. Still, I am a firm believer that if you're even considering throwing in some extra material, there's just no reason not to; and that this second disc was worth the extra effort.

Overall, the album is among the band's best.

2009 Album Review # 7: Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

Kasabian is a band that plays outside of the lines of any style, simply by defining their own. There is a definite "Kasabian sound" that has formed over the band's three albums, though. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing as a band that maintains certain signature sounds is still capable of using them in new and interesting ways. This album is example of such. As with all Kasabian albums, there are high points and low points; and this one is about a 70/30 split in favor of the former. I don't want to say that Kasabian doesn't quite know how to put together a good slower-paced tune, but they miss the mark on almost every down-beat, slower-tempo song on the album, with the exception of "Thick as Thieves" and the odd "West Ryder Silver Bullet" (unless we're counting "Secret Alphabets" in that category, because that is a great song). Needless to say, the fast-paced rockers are where it's at on this album. "Fast Fuse", "Vlad the Impaler", and "Fire" all amazing songs; even despite "Fire" following a similar formula to "Empire" from the band's previous album. On "West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum" (which I believe could use one less word in the title), Kasabian does not push the boundaries of their own sound, but remain in their own realm of creativity; and they have come up with some of their best material in the process.

2009 Album Review #6: The Adrian Belew Power Trio - e

Adrian Belew - the man has redefined guitar playing, as far as I'm concerned. He is more than just a guitar player, however. He has a rather large catalog of solo work and collaborations with other artists and has played just about every instrument you could imagine in doing so...either that, or he has figured out how to make his guitar sound like every instrument (or animal) imaginable. The most recent release from Belew, titled "e", is more than a solo piece. It is a work by three musicians; the other two of which are equally as skilled as Adrian himself (you have to be in order to keep up with the man). The other two musicians are Eric Slick on drums and his sister Julie Slick on the bass. What the three of them have put together musically for this release is nothing short of impressive. This music is not for everyone, that's for sure. This is somewhere in the instrumental-progressive category. The piece, which breaks into 5 smaller parts (a,b,c,d, and of course e) is a frantic, frenzied venture. It is all apparently based off the chromatic e-scale, which is played in different variations by Belew, usually as a loop, to act as sort of the rhythm guitar of any given part of the music; which he'll then play more melodic guitar lines over-top of. The Slick siblings provide a terrific rhythm section to all this, in order to keep it all in whatever-the-hell kind of ridiculous time signature it happens to be in at any given moment. "e" works best when listened to all the way through start to finish, and rarely lets up. The weakest section is right in the middle; the piece entitled "c" seems to resemble more of a three-piece group warming up by playing scales, yet it still helps tie it all together and there is a decent drum-beat going for that section (you'll also hear the only vocals in the entire album during the playing of "c", when Adrian yells out "Yeah!" in the background because of how excited and impressed he is by his fellow musicians.). As much as I immensely enjoy the work known as "e", I do hope that Adrian gets back a little more into some "songs"; by which, I mean I hope there are some more of those Beatle-esque pop-rock tunes he's created in the past to come. Don't get me wrong, these are never the "dime-a-dozen" pop songs we hear on radio. They are done only the way Adrian can do them; with a strong dose of originality and a style all his own.

2009 Album Review #5: Doves - Kingdom of Rust

What a great band the Doves are. The way I always explain their music is it sounds like music from long ago, but from a different planet. So, what can I say about the Doves 4th studio album? It's good. It's true, the first two Doves albums are their best, but the only thing that is lacking in the later two albums is that they just don't have a "whole" album feel to them. The songs are just as good as previous efforts, but there is a flow to the first two albums that just makes them bigger than their individual parts. "Kingdom of Rust" is a slight improvement from the third release, but not by leaps and bounds. There are some great highlights here, including the title track which is reminiscent of "There Goes the Fear" (possibly the band's most popular song); There's the driving, funky "Compulsion", which is a fantastic song and may be the best on the album; there is the ever-building grand finale song "Lifelines", which is great if you're feeling kind of down, or need that extra motivational boost or whatever; There's "Spellbound" which has a nice 3/4 thing going on. That is just to name a few. The songs are there, but much like U2's latest effort, I'm not so sure the "vision" is; luckily, for the Doves, this doesn't hurt them too much and still keeps in the spirit of their experimental space-rock style. A solid effort that is just out of reach of being amongst their best.

2009 Album Review #4: Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King

Dave Matthews Band, what can I say? This is a group I've fallen in and out of love with on several occasions. The new album "Big Whiskey..." was one that totally surprised me. I did not have high expectations, but there was just enough interest there to still give it a chance and go out and buy it. I am sure glad that I did. First of all, the band's previous effort "Stand Up" was just okay at best. Secondly, with the death of their saxophone player, LeRoi Moore, I couldn't see this being more than a futile attempt at recapturing some magic that had long faded away. I learned that most of this album was completed with Moore's saxophone parts, and I heard a few samples of songs. So, I went out and made the purchase. The album is definitely a "grower"; it took a few listens to get used to the sound. This is a new, fresh sound for DMB. It's like they took the best of what they did in the past, then added some heavier electric guitar and a lot more brass. It works very well. A lot of these songs are pretty rockin'. I can't say enough about the song "Seven", which to say is amazing would be an understatement. The opening track, "Shake me like a Monkey" is pure energy. Other highlights include "Squirm", "Alligator Pie", and "Time Bomb". I also have to point out how fantastic a drummer Carter Beauford is; I have no clue how he drives these songs the way he does and still fits in some really great fills. The only drawback I can point out with this album is that as far as the radio singles go, they really selected the wrong ones. "Funny the Way it is", "Why I am", and "You & Me" have all been getting a little radio play, but in my opinion, are not a good example of what the album really has to offer. Also, I feel like Boyd Tinsley, the violinist, did not get a chance to shine at all on this record. All in all, a real surprise. This is a new, modernized sound for DMB and it strikes all the right chords. The question now will be, where do they go from here? How does a band carry on without one of their most talented musicians? I suppose we'll find out in time.

2009 Album Review #3: Bob Dylan - Together Through Life

Bob Dylan is an artist who I feel like has aged well...until now. You should understand that type of Dylan fan I am. There is very little about the "classic" Bob Dylan catalog that I actually enjoy. Aside from "Lay, Lady, Lay" and "The Man in Me" (which I attribute liking it to The Big Lebowski), there really aren't too many Bob Dylan songs from prior to 1997 that I really enjoy or even like to an extent. Granted, I've never really dug deep into his material. It is when I hear the amazing work he has done in his later years, that I find it somewhat hard to believe this is the same Dylan. Starting with 97's "Time out of Mind", Dylan has released three really fantastic albums. They are all a perfect mix of that American blues/rock sound, Bob's gruff and well-aged voice (which yes, sounds ten times better than his voice in his younger days), and his cleverly written lyrics. Unfortunately, on "Together Through Life", the energy and spirit just aren't there. Aside from the first track "Beyond Here Lies Nothing" (which is almost an appropriate description of the album itself) there isn't much here to really go crazy about. Dylan's voice no longer just sounds gruff around the edges, but almost somewhat damaged. The songs aren't as lively and fun throughout. There is simply something lacking about the entire record that the previous three had. I would say that I hope it's not the start of a trend, but to be honest, the fact that we got three strong releases from Dylan at all is already more than I could expect.

2009 Album Review #2: Steven Wilson - Insurgentes

Steven Wilson (frontman of Porcupine Tree) created a solo album every bit as beautiful, haunting, and rockin' as a Porcupine Tree album. It is in that where the only flaw of this album lies; it sounds like a Porcupine Tree album (which is to be expected, as PT started out as just Wilson seeing what he could come up with way back in the late 80's /Early 90's). It's very rewarding to see Tony Levin (of King Crimson fame) in the credits. Some highlights are the extremely spacey "Veneno Para las Hadas", which sounds like a more spaced-out version of PT's The Sky Moves Sideways. Also very interesting are the seemingly Adrian Belew/King Crimson inspired "No Twilight Within the Courts of the Sun", which has an extremely progressive flavor; the addictive "Only Child", and the menacing sound of "Salvaging". It feels as if this is the material that Wilson may have wrote intending it for the band (PT), but ended up using it as his own because it didn't fit in with any of the "concepts" that the band's recent albums have had. A definite win for Steven Wilson; shame that most likely the only ones that know about this album are the Porcupine Tree fans.

2009 Album Review #1: U2 - No Line on the Horizon

As I stated in my previous entry, I'm going to do a series of "Mini-reviews" of albums that were released in 2009 that I own, ending with a decision on what my personal favorite Album of the Year is. So, without further hesitation, here is the first in the series:

U2 - No Line on the Horizon

- I have too high of expectations for my favorite band, I guess. This so-called venture into experimentation turned into an album that really doesn't know what it wants to be. There are songs that hint a little at experimentation, but they are laced with typical U2 guitar sounds care of the Edge, Larry's straightforward drumming, and Bono's lyrics about the triumph of the human spirit (*yawn*). Other songs are just blatent attempts at having another huge hit, which the band is usually great at, but it's all treading over the same old ground. Too much focus on what their next hit is going to be and I don't think they'll ever be able to pull off anything truly innovative again, because the idea of being a "hits" band has been their focus for almost ten years now. There are many highlights on this album, however, and some true moments of genius. One man has pulled through and continues to improve and shine on every record: Adam Clayton. This album has produced a few of the bands best songs ("Magnificent" and "Unknown Caller" are fantastic), but for the most part this is amongst their least-effective work.

Are we approaching that time again?!

2009 is just about coming to a close. My next post will most likely be the Year-in-review like I have done the past 2 years in a row. This time, a new added feature will take place where I post a bunch of mini-reviews of albums I have bought that were released throughout the course of 2009 and pick one stand-out winner of "Craig's Album of the Year 2009". This may turn into a multi-part series that I may begin fairly soon. I don't believe there are too many more 2009 albums that I am going to wish to acquire; and if there are, I will save those reviews until last. This will be in addition to the month-by-month review of events in my life and the section to follow on lessons learned and resolutions for 2010. I enjoy doing this as sort of a way to gauge where I've been vs. where I am vs. where I'm going.

So, brief preview of what's to come in my Year-in-Review. For starters, it's once again been a huge year in my life...professionally and personally. I'm sure I'll have a section regarding the most important and the best job I've had yet (one that probably saved me from a mental breakdown). I'll also speak pretty straightforwardly, but not at length, about the infamous "breakup"; mainly discussing briefly what happened and the strength it took to make it through and finally put it behind me. I say that I won't talk at length about it, because A.) It's no longer deserving of giving much thought to anymore; B.) Some scars and wounds are a little too personal to discuss on a weblog, but if you want to know my deep (and yes, somewhat dark) feelings about the topic, you can ask me privately; and lastly C.) I'm only concerned with getting far away from it and moving on at this point. The reason I will even briefly discuss it is because (to borrow from one of my favorite bands) in this point in my life, my breakup has been my "incident", that is to say that one moment or event that happens in your life where you know that nothing will ever be the same from that point forward. Aside from all that, I have some stories about vacations, finding myself when I didn't think I would need to, getting a new car, going to concerts, etc.

There is still a month and a half to go! Who knows, the best may be yet to come. See you soon!