i said it just 'cause i meant it.

i said i'd do a better update when i wasn't frantically finishing an online final.
well, here it is. i'm not promising anything better than what i would've written, but at least i'm following through on a promise.
and not just a song and a promise.

adele's sophmore release '21' is something of an inigma. normally, i can't help but distrust second albums. chances are, the album sucks. there's always that concern of trying to be 'better than they were' and 'growing as artists' when really they mean that 'i spent all of my good creative energy on the first go round and am now a piece of creative shit.'

but adele proves that theory (albeit my own) completely wrong. 19 was a strong debut and 21 is even better. there's a subtlty to the strength of her writing. i don't know if she's writing the songs herself of has a crack team of writers doing it for her, but the songs are written to perfectly suit her voice. she's got strength in the instrumentation. i'm nothing if not a musical accompaniment snob, and the backup band she's got with her is a solid powerhouse of driving, bluesy beats, big band brass and a solid accompaniment to adele's powerful cabaret-esque voice.

to say that i'm in love with the whole album would be a blind faced lie. i'm not a huge fan of it all-- while doing my listen-through as a powerhoused cleaned my room last week, i definitely skipped through a few of the songs. though, i digress, i just simply was not in the mood to listen to the dulcet tones of her voice. i wanted upbeat, driving, danceable songs. and a lot of them are more like ballads, or melodic jazz tunes reminiscent of nina simone or ella fitzgerald. i'd go so far as to compare adele to a white, british billie holiday, but that would be a slight to both adele and billie.

and let's face it, there's only one billie.

give 21 a good listen-- i assure you that you'll fall in love with at least four songs on the comparatively short album. and if you don't... you have no (fucking dirty hipster) soul.

my quick picks for 21:

someone like you
rolling in the deep
set fire to the rain
rumor has it
turning tables

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april showers...

welcome to spring! although here it doesn't look too much like it-- there's still snow everywhere and we're supposed to get 10cm over night.

i hate canada. just throwin' that out there.

i gotta make this quick since i have to finish a paper that's due at midnight, but i wanted to get the bulk of this down before i forgot, put it off... made out with my beareded, skinny jeans wearing boyfriend and rode my huffy with a peasant skirt and see-through blouse.

well, not in this weather. but the possibility is there somewhere on this godforsaken earth.

anyhow, for those of you who are enjoying warm weather and spring showers, i bring my rainy day weather suggestion for april.

well, that's a lie-- i have two suggestions this month. one is because i'm behind the times and took forever to get the damn album, and the other was released on tuesday and i have been jizzing like a filthy fucking hipster all over that shit.

my first recommendation is adele, 21 because really folks, if you haven't ever heard adele croon to you in your ears, you have no soul. the soulful balads break my heart; the tales of love and loss are just ungh. i fell in love with 19, and now i'm doubly in love with 21. she's got a better, bigger, fuller sound in this that i'm really loving. big band-esque backup that only serves to enhance her vocal range. i feel like i'm listening to a modern day etta or billie (without the oppression and drugs, of course). i'll wax poetic on this album in a separate post when i'm not on a time limit.

my second recommendation is tv on the radio, nine types of light. if there's one band that i'm perpetually in love with, it's tv on the radio. 'wolf like me' makes me want to do amazing things, mostly just run for a really long time on a tredmil. or play hockey (ironic because i hate hockey).
when i read the critique in the paper (i hate the paper; i hate music critiques) i was skeptical. i listened to maximum balloon this summer-- i was pleased. i listened to return to cookie mountain-- i was pleased. i listened to dear science-- i was displeased.
they've hit the nail on the head with nine types of light. currently frantically writing this paper to it as we type/speak.
it's a return to what they're good at-- none of this epic instrumentalization overtop of the tracks, none of the harmonic. it's dirty, it's raw, it's original and it's them. i am in love, like, for realz yo.

so, i have an hour and a half to finish this paper and cite sources so i have to run, but if you're going to be a douche nugget, here are my quick picks off of nine types of light and 21

21
rolling in the deep
someone like you
rumour

nine types of light
no future shock
will do
second song
caffeinated consciousness
repetition

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currents

10. already home - jay-z ft kid cudi
9. daddy fat sax - big boi
8. contact high - architecture in helsinki
7. cala cola - the smiles
6. her sinking sun (atlantic at pacific remix) - coma cinema
5. k is for kelson - bibio
4. little by little - radiohead
3. castles in the snow (twin shadows remix) - sacred animals
2. civilization - JUSTICE
1. love out of lust - lykke li

'... rather die in your arms than die lonesome. rather die hard, than die hollow. the higher that i climb, the deeper i fall down. i'm running out of time so let's dance while we're waiting. we will live longer than i will; we will be better than i was. we can cross rivers with our will; we can do better than i can. so dance while you can-- dance cause you must; love out of lust. dance while you can. rather live out a lie than live wondering how the fire feels while burning. for life is like a flame and the ashes for wasting. so honey don't be afraid to dance while we're waiting. we will love longer than i will; we will be better than i was. we can cross rivers without wind; we can do better than i can so dance while you can. dance cause you must-- love out of lust...'

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march madness

we are not losers, we are lasers.

the first time my friend from the big apple said this to me, i wondered what the fuck she was taking and if i could hit it. (without ruining her integrity or mine, i'll just say that there was no drugs taken to afford me the learning experience. we're better than that.)

then i clued in.

lasers is lupe fiasco's new album, and the catchy 'we are not losers, we're lasers' bit was his promo for the longest time. i'm still unsure of what it means, if anything, but i do know that it holds some sort of symbolic title around the dirty, grimy streets of NYC. as does lupe, though from what i can gather he's from chi-town.
whatever.

this months recommendation is lupe fiasco's discography, particularly lasers which was just released last week.

i'm not a huge hip-hop fan. i dabble in my share of kanye, jigga's my homeboy at times. i saw drake in concert (YOU KNOW WHO AUBREY GRAHAM IS?!) and i found myself immersed in the seedy underbelly that i didn't even know my city posessed. yet there it was, right before me in all of it's hood-rat glory, listening to AUBREY GRAHAM talk relentlessly on releasing lil wayne. yet there i was, listening to the beats that pounded through the speakers.
normally i'm a wishy-washy indie kind of gal, i like my melodic crooners. i do however detest top 40, so there's some redeeming qualities to my musical tastes.

but here we are, march and i'm totally pushing a hip-hop album. new york has ruined me.

if you're going for a quick listen, i highly recommend:

all black everything
i don't wanna care right now
till i get there
never forget you

but seriously folks, just listen to the whole thing.

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