two indie rock giants i had neglected

one: guided by voices – human amusements at hourly rates – 5 stars

guided by voices is one of those bands i always read about in interviews as so-and-so’s influences, or heard about yet another of their new cd’s coming out, and yet i persisted in never picking up any of their music. i think i was just so intimidated by their catalog i didn’t know where to start, so i lived in GBV ignorance. lucky for suckers like me, they just released an excellent workshop course in pollardism in the form of a best-of cd. yeah, it’s not as cool as owning all the lp’s, but fuck you, this cd is an amazing buy for a novice with 10 dollars. that’s right, ten dollars! and almost every song on here is great — so just leave my cred alone while i catch up on this stuff, okay?

ps: this week’s pay day song is off this very cd, so check out motor away if you haven’t already. i won’t tell anyone.

two: stephen malkmus live at the el rey, 12/1/03 – 5 stars

holy shit. i have a few pavement cd’s, which i love, but i’m sorry stephen, i had been slacking off since you went solo. i downloaded a few mp3’s at some point and they’re okay, but i must not have been listening or something. or maybe it’s one of those all-or-nothing things where the album is better than the sum of its parts. but i apologize profusely, because you slapped me around and taught me a lesson last night at that show. i can honestly say i’ve never heard such an expressive guitarist live in concert. over the course of a few songs you became one of my favorite guitar players, songwriters, whatever else you do that i might not have even noticed. but you were good. very good. i felt every different place you took me with that thing, and i liked it. as soon as christmas shopping season is over and i can start buying material things for myself again, guess who’s making a special trip to amoeba in your honor? okay don’t guess, it’s me, i love you.