SONGS. OF. ASCENT.

IS. HAPPENING.

June. 2010. School will end. I will be happy. Songs of Ascent will be released. I will be even happier.

Eyes Open

I'm getting a little sick and tired of music critics and indie elitists. They tout the same names over and over again (Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear for example), and though I agree with them on a lot of the bands they go gah-gah over (TV on the Radio and Radiohead, who are two of their poster children, happen to be two of my favorite bands), lately I've found myself defending some great artists and great albums against scathing reviews and back-and-forth mudslinging on rateyourmusic.com. One of these artists is Snow Patrol, and in particular, their 2006 album Eyes Open.

But I don't feel like writing about how a lot of the "brains" in music are wrong about this album. I want to use this time to give this album it's proper praise.

Maybe it does nothing for you. Maybe you saw that "Chasing Cars" is actually on it and decided to walk away. But as I've realized lately, there is something about Eyes Open that keeps it sounding fresh even today. Oasis's Definitely Maybe may still stand alone as the album where I find every single track to be an absolute gem, but Eyes Open is one of the handful where all but one track is incredible (sorry "Headlights on Dark Roads", even though you're not exactly terrible). Even the bonus track, "Warmer Climate" is an amazing song, and at one point, was my favorite one on Eyes Open. Listening brings me back to spring of freshman year, but unlike other memory-evoking albums, has lost very little over the past three years.

If you can only listen to one track, listen to "The Finish Line." And listen to it when you're relaxing, or when you're about to go to sleep. Technically the final song on the album (for those editions without "Warmer Climate"), it brings everything to a standstill. There's no percussion, and there may not even be a guitar there either. The only way I can describe it is through one of Gary Lightbody's lyrics in the song: "I feel like I am watching everything from space." It'll be worth it, I promise.

This is NOT an overhaul of the chips and snacks industry...

"While the census is very important to AZ, we shouldn’t be wasting $2.5 million taxpayer dollars to compete with ads for Doritos!," McCain said via Twitter.

"The census happens every 10 years. Everybody knows it happens," McCain said, before questioning why the government would spend millions on a commercial when families across America are tightening their belts. "It's shameful."

Get your head out of the sand, Mr. McCain, and look at the stats. The poorest communities in this country have the lowest census return rate out of anybody, and they need government funding the most. Maybe it wouldn't be such a terrible thing to use the most televised event of the year to ensure that the public is aware of the census. Maybe, Mr. Mcain, it might be helpful to air one less ad for Doritos or Pepsi or Budweiser, things that are fattening up our nation's youth (Budweiser absolutely included - let's just say adults may not be the age group Anheuser-Busch targets most), and substitute it with a 30 second spot about a very important event for all US citizens. Just because, from your political record, you'd rather see obscene chunks of taxpayer money go towards defense and the military than to local projects and initiatives doesn't mean you just slam the government for every penny they spend otherwise.

The Disintergration Loops

Here's an album you've never heard of before: William Basinski's The Disintegration Loops. It has two tracks on it, one of which goes on for 63 minutes. You may be thrown off if I tell you that in addition to clocking in at over an hour long, the track is basically a continuous loop. I have not brought myself to listen to the entire track (entitled D|P 1.1), but have done a sort of "listen for five minutes, skip five minutes" thing and gotten the same effect.

Read this article, and go and download even just the first track (the 63 minute one). The context adds incredible substance to an already majestic piece of music. If you just go ahead and listen to the album, I promise it won't be as rewarding. Entire essays can be written on The Disintegration Loops, and if I had wanted to, I could post my own right here. But the Pitchfork review does a fantastic job. Check it out.

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/577-the-disintegration-loops-i-iv/

... I complain about clam chowder, though

"In New York, Wall Street is Main Street," Paterson told a receptive audience at the Museum of American Finance in December. “You don’t hear anybody in New England complaining about clam chowder. If you say anything about oil in Texas, they’ll string you up near the nearest tree. We need to stand behind the engine of our economy in New York and that engine of economy is Wall Street.” - David Paterson

Andrew Cuomo '10 - Because the guy he's up against can't seriously be saying this shit...

RUSS FEINGOLD for PRESIDENT, 2016

I'm going to start it up... This guy should be the 45th President of the United States, or at least the Democratic nominee in 2016. So what if I'm thinking ahead?

In Memoriam: Howard Zinn

"You can't be neutral on a moving train"

RIP, Howard Zinn. I'll be reading A People's History of the United States over the summer in your honor (and because my reading it is long overdue).