Tina Turner, David Booey, Van Heelin, Madonna...
So I've been sick for most of the week, unable (and unwilling) to leave the house for anything but seeing the doctor ("You don't have strep, you have some virus." Thanks doc!). This interesting twist of fate resulted in a de facto vacation of sorts, a throwback to the lazy, friendless life of years past.
Amazingly enough, this is exactly what I needed to regain my perspective. As much as I enjoy wearing sweatpants that Fatty Arbuckle would find too big, watching movies and playing online poker, doing just that for three days straight is extremely draining and boring. By Friday, I couldn't wait to go back to work. I think I just might be cured from my work-related lethargy, but there is no way of knowing until I go back to work on Monday. At the very least, I am eaggerly looking forward to it, which hasn't happened since the first week.
To cheer myself up a bit, I decided to download Morrissey's upcoming offering, Ringleader of the Tormentors. If you can't tell from the title of the album, this is supposedly Morrissey singing about the happier things in life. Well that's what he said in an interview, at the very least. It bears noting that in the title, he is on the giving end of the tormenting, and maybe those are truly happy thoughts for Morrissey. So keeping with the happiness, the first single appears to be "You Have Killed Me". Despite the silly lyrics (including the greatest/worst one-line rhyme: "Piazza Cavour, what's my life for?" ), the song is actually very catchy. I'm not quite sure yet, but I think I like the album. It's not because of the lyrics because they are consistently awful. It's not because of the music because it doesn't really stand out very much here, as opposed to You are the Quarry. It's not because I love everything Morrissey because I haven't been able to force any serious effort to listen to any of his pre-comeback solo stuff past Viva Hate. I think it is the idea of Morrissey singing -- with the greatest sincerety -- these awful lyrics as if they mean something. I can just imagine him swelling up with pride as he came up with the title for the gloomy "Life is a Pigsty". The only reason this album is good is because there is nothing fake about it. After all, it comes from the man that penned a painful opus decrying animal cruelty and then proceeded to defend his choice to wear leather shoes because they are comfortable.
So after listening to all that "cheerful" Morrissey, I needed something to really cheer me up and I took a chance with a Pitchfork pick. I downloaded Mylo's Destroy Rock & Roll and braced myself for some meandering electronica, having only read the first few words of the review. To my dlightful surprise, it was actually awesome. It feels like the soundtrack of a great summer day, with lots of driving and strutting. The title track sticks best in my memory, sampling some sort of religious announcement that lists off musicians that are corrupting our youth.
And as usual, I have no good conclusion. I promise a return to my cynical self soon.
Amazingly enough, this is exactly what I needed to regain my perspective. As much as I enjoy wearing sweatpants that Fatty Arbuckle would find too big, watching movies and playing online poker, doing just that for three days straight is extremely draining and boring. By Friday, I couldn't wait to go back to work. I think I just might be cured from my work-related lethargy, but there is no way of knowing until I go back to work on Monday. At the very least, I am eaggerly looking forward to it, which hasn't happened since the first week.
To cheer myself up a bit, I decided to download Morrissey's upcoming offering, Ringleader of the Tormentors. If you can't tell from the title of the album, this is supposedly Morrissey singing about the happier things in life. Well that's what he said in an interview, at the very least. It bears noting that in the title, he is on the giving end of the tormenting, and maybe those are truly happy thoughts for Morrissey. So keeping with the happiness, the first single appears to be "You Have Killed Me". Despite the silly lyrics (including the greatest/worst one-line rhyme: "Piazza Cavour, what's my life for?" ), the song is actually very catchy. I'm not quite sure yet, but I think I like the album. It's not because of the lyrics because they are consistently awful. It's not because of the music because it doesn't really stand out very much here, as opposed to You are the Quarry. It's not because I love everything Morrissey because I haven't been able to force any serious effort to listen to any of his pre-comeback solo stuff past Viva Hate. I think it is the idea of Morrissey singing -- with the greatest sincerety -- these awful lyrics as if they mean something. I can just imagine him swelling up with pride as he came up with the title for the gloomy "Life is a Pigsty". The only reason this album is good is because there is nothing fake about it. After all, it comes from the man that penned a painful opus decrying animal cruelty and then proceeded to defend his choice to wear leather shoes because they are comfortable.
So after listening to all that "cheerful" Morrissey, I needed something to really cheer me up and I took a chance with a Pitchfork pick. I downloaded Mylo's Destroy Rock & Roll and braced myself for some meandering electronica, having only read the first few words of the review. To my dlightful surprise, it was actually awesome. It feels like the soundtrack of a great summer day, with lots of driving and strutting. The title track sticks best in my memory, sampling some sort of religious announcement that lists off musicians that are corrupting our youth.
And as usual, I have no good conclusion. I promise a return to my cynical self soon.