Writ Medium (Skye only sues on Fridays)

VS.

Sometimes smaller is better

Thank god for small (er, medium?) pleasures. I'm feeling a bit funky, despite being unemployed for all of one day (yay!), so here are a couple of nice pick-me-ups.

1. See above picture. I dunno, it just makes me laugh. So similar, yet so not obviously a rip-off. For the record, I've perversely enjoyed Avril getting some serious PHONY allegations thrown her way, despite their dubiousness (both the Rubinoos lawsuit and the Chantal whatsername dis in Performing Songwriter mag). Meanwhile, Skye keeps quietly chuckling to herself and forgetting to call me so we can get this project kickin'. Institutional resources, people, get 'em while they last! Still belatedly signed the Skye Soldier petition to get the album released, tho.

2. Great Big and Rich article by Edd Hurt in Stylus this week. Glad they gave this its deserving weekly feature space -- makes me want to dig into just about everyone mentioned. Doesn't engage with people whose dismissive opinions aren't worth engaging with (must take notes), shows depth of knowledge of the local scene in indie and mainstream contexts, without disrespecting either. Reminds me to do some research on teenpop originating from Nashville that is not nec. country-sounding (one of the RD incubatees went to Nashville to be a country singer and emerged an R&B singer, forget her name but I think she was on the Aquamarine OST).

3. Found new Gogol Bordello album on the side of the road. Will probably make the top ten -- most dependable band currently working, and I might like this one more than Gypsy Punks, which was my #3 of 2005, IIRC. Going to their show on the 19th.

4. Ordered the Target version of Disneymania 4 in the hopes of getting the secret Skye bonus track (damn, feels like S. Friday 'round here), will see how this pans out.

5. Listening to the second half of Autobiography to match my ambivalent sorta mood. From "Love Makes the World Go Round" onward. Still can't figure out what the hell "Giving It All Away" is about ("smoking up your sorrow"?) but refuse to google the lyrics for some reason.

6. Just got the bonus Aly and AJ tracks. Real-time review:

"Careful with Words" (excerpt): they're not kidding..."no more flowers at my door/ I've started to ignore/ the smell of molded petals/ Must confess you're desperate to get my attention/ Shoppers we are closing please go home/ I shoulda been careful with my words" followed by some stuff I can't understand in their trademark sol-mi, sol-mi, sol-mi syncopated pattern (as in "joy to, the world," etc. in "Greatest Time of Year"). A potential great one, will actively seek the whole thing.

"Tears": Also loving this one! Damn. Spare piano track and a surprisingly emotional vocal performance, joined by some low-key eerie harmonies, like "Carol of the Bells"-style, halfway through. Beautiful, really wonderful.

"Blush": Nice piano ballad, better than any of the ones they included (though those aren't bad, either, generally liking the ballads more than their snotty pop-rock except for "Bullseye"). Hm, might comment on this one later, but they're articulating themes from "Slow Down" much more eloquently. "Go ahead, say it, even though it makes me uncomfortable/ If you must make me blush...I will only let you go so far/ It can be a secret/ You know what our boundaries are." HOLY SHIT THEY ACTUALLY WROTE "PLAN A"!!!! But not really. Xhuxk says it could be about an S&M safe word, and uh, he's right! I would love to hear an earnest song about an S&M safe word (the song title would be the safe word...heck, "blush" works just fine. For some reason my brain is going with "Flabbergast" -- "if you think we're moving way too fast/ if you think the boundary's been passed/ If that sensation isn't merely gas/ ...Flabbergast").

Hm, might have to Play God with this album immediately. No doubt in my mind that their most affecting tracks were actively held off from the album; they made a smart move. Still pissed off at 'em, though.

7. Other Playing God project, the Mostly Wanted Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus project, went pretty well. Added some Skye tunes at the end to pad it out (future pressings will also include "Imaginary Superstar"), since you can't (even charitably) condense Miley's oeuvre into more than forty-five minutes. But that's about as much sustained Hannah as I can take in a given sitting. Not chaffless, but gettin' there. Maybe she'll have a decent comp. once we hit OST #4 in like eight months.