i’m in a great mood today because i’m working on some really fun and interesting stuff this week (challenge is good, i tell myself), and it’s a sunny friday afternoon. also, by not thinking about how jessica is having fun in vegas without me, or how i don’t get to see her most of the weekend. the best answer to absence making the heart grow fonder is to stay busy doing your own stuff so when the absent party returns, it’s like a nice surprise.

here are some good cd’s i’ve been listening to lately:

portastatic – bright ideas – 3 stars

i’ve always liked mac’s voice, and the man knows his way around indie/power-pop tunes. every time i listen to this cd, i enjoy it quite a bit. my only complaint is its somewhat short list of really punchy hooky moments. that means when i’m not listening to it, i don’t particularly wish i was. don’t get me wrong, ‘i wanna know girls’ is fantastic, and i bought the cd based solely on the strength of that one song. BUT, that one song i’ve had for free from the internet for a long time, so the rest of the album could have been a bit more full. one of those ‘really good cd i wouldn’t rush to recommend’ kind of situations, you know? like i’m sure in 6 month’s time, once it’s outgrown the stack of shiny new music that sits right next to my disc drive, i’ll put this on the shelf and quite possibly never pull it out again. then again, if i only ever bought timeless classics my collection would be pathetic, now wouldn’t it, so i can’t blame the album for my own limited attentions.

parts & labor – stay afraid – 5 stars

now THIS is what i’m talking about. just when i’m afraid i’m listening to a bit too much soulful writerly stuff — i think i OD’ed on jens lekman in april — this comes along to save the day and keep me awake. generally speaking, bands that stray into the category known as ‘noise’ i tend to roll my eyes at, but that’s because they have a tendency to stop making songs that i want to listen to in favor of sounds they want me to hear. or in some cases i would use the phrase ‘subject me to’.

this album is great, so so great, because it’s maybe a half-hour of noisy noisy songs instead of plain old noise. it reminds me slightly of trail of dead’s source tags & codes in its volume of sound, if with much less musical articulation. the vocals are blurry and yelled through a haze of drums and feedback, but who needs to sing along when you can just ROCK. the first track, ‘a great divide’, was what really sold me on them and you can get that from their downloads page. to be super nice and encourage you further to check them out if you like loudness, i’m going to slap up the cheerfully titled track death as well for a new pay day song.

i was pretty disappointed they had to go and have the worst booking agent ever, who placed them on stage at the echo the friday night before coachella. nice work in ensuring anyone with a few hundred dollars and inclination for good music had NO chance to see them play, buddy! i still faithfully look forward to their next less inconveniently planned outing. besides, with all the upcoming shows coming down the pipe — futureheads!… streets w/lady sov!!!… flaming lips at the bowl!!!… THE MOUNTAIN GOATS AT THE TROUBADOUR!!!!! — i think i will survive.