http://piccsy.com/2010/09/soup-anyone/

It's like looking in the mirror.

http://piccsy.com/2010/10/reader-owl/

Down the Rabbit Hole 
http://piccsy.com/2010/08/inception-16ok/

http://piccsy.com/2010/08/stop-being-sad/

blunderbuss

I woke up this morning with an idea.  Blunderbuss.  I don't know why I thought of this particular word, but it kept nagging at me throughout the morning.  A blunderbuss is a firearm that was commonly used by pirates throughout the 1700s. What made this weapon so popular was the fact that you could load into the muzzle anything that you wanted and the gun would turn those objects into deadly projectiles. You did not need bullets for this gun, everyday items found around the house could be your bullets.  This really stood out to me.  My biggest flaw in life can be analogized with a blunderbuss.  Just when I think I am safe, BOOM,  shrapnel hits me in the face.  I am knocked to the dirt, completely demoralized and there seems to be no hope of recovery.  Everyday things that the average person would ignore can become a weapon against me.  Some days are harder than others, but I would love nothing more than to erase that part of me.  I just want to go back to the time before this was allowed to creep into me.

I don't want people to get worried about me,  I will be fine.  This was just something that was weighing on me for quite a while.

Rambling Man

For those that know me they know that I am a hardcore Bob Dylan fan.  Since the age of 16 I have listened to and consumed everything in the man's discography.  The feeling that I get when I listen to The Freewheeling Bob Dylan is something that I was never able to find in other artists, that is until I heard Joe Pug's debut album The Nation of Heat.  Joe Pug has all of Dylan's strengths and none of his weaknesses.  His writing is spectacular and the timbre of his voice resonates with me in a way that is both very similar to Dylan yet very different.  Since first purchasing the Nation of Heat, it has been on continuous repeat on my Ipod.  I don't know what it is about folk music or Dylan's and Pug's music that sticks with me so much, but my heart craves it and I could not imagine a world without these sounds or these artists.

As of this post I have yet to see Joe Pug in concert. While he has toured heavily since his debut album,  he has not to my knowledge every played a show in Memphis, TN, instead playing several shows in my hometown of Nashville, TN.  I know what you are thinking, "Nashville is only 3 hours a way, so why haven't you gone to see him?."  In response to your question, I can only say stop rubbing it in.  I am a law student during the school year and all of my free time is spent attempting to recover the goop that has become my brain, I don't have the time or the money to travel to see a show.  All of that has changed now that my wife and I have moved to Nashville for the summer. Pug is playing a concert on the 14th of July at the Basement and I plan on being in the front row.  Mr. Pug is a wonderful upcoming artist, who loves giving back to his fans, so if you are in Nashville on the 14th of July please go see him in concert, I promise that you won't be sorry that you did.

Ratatat's LP4

Let me just say to start off, that I am a huge fan of Ratatat.  This band has consistently delivered amazing records and LP4 is no exception. While the album consists of  leftover songs from the band's previous album, LP3, it is a completely different experience.  Since the recording of LP3 two years ago, producer Evan Mast and guitarist Mike Stroud have reworked these leftovers by trading in electronic beats for live percussion instruments. LP4 is somewhat of a chameleon in that it starts off as more of a dance album, but upon further listen the duo incorporates more natural sounds into the mix. 

The songs that stand out to me the most are Bilar, Drugs, Bob Ghandi, Sunblocks and Bare Feast.  Out of these five songs Bilar and Drugs sound the most like LP3.  These songs take heavily from the dance beats created in LP3, while still giving a little taste of what is to come later on in the album.  The song Bob Ghandi showcases the band's ability to incorporate live percussion, while still maintaining the dance sound that they are known for.   The songs Sunblocks and Bare Feast are by and far my favorite tracks from the whole album.  Sunblocks gives one the feeling of being at an outdoor dance party, with its use of cricket chirps in the background and Bare Feast just oozes fun.  Bare Feat is the gem of the album and I dare anyone to not dance while listening to it.

If you are interested in hearing the album for yourself, go to NPR's First Listen, where they will have an exclusive stream of the album until its release on June 8th.