P1 Ohio State University

2009-01-31T17:46:00.000-08:00

THINGS BRIAN DOES WHEN HE GETS BORED

That's right kids, another themed post from your one and only Brian K. I plan to lay out a few things I do to pass the time, when I find myself idle.

(1) Read
If you've read my other posts, you'll notice that I enjoy a good read. I'm such a nerd about it that I kept track of how many books I read in 2008. Any guesses? 65. Since I was introduced to the many used book stores around Columbus, I have started picking up bargain books whenever I see a deal. Because of this, I have probably around 40 books that I haven't read yet. Even though I average slightly more than one book a week, I still buy them faster than I read them. This is becoming a problem because I'm quickly running out of space for my inventory. I've had to make a few rules too, such as: I can only have 2 unread books by the same author and I can only buy books once while reading each book, thus decreasing the amount of pileup. God, I now realize how big of a nerd I am. Oh well, at least I'm a literate nerd!

(2) Hang with the Homies
I have quite a few friends in quite a few different circles which is WONDERFUL. Anytime I'm feeling anything, chances are I know someone who knows what I'm going through or shares the same view. It also helps that Columbus is such a big city that I always have something to do. I've even started to locate my favorite places to do things:
-The Cup of Joe's in German Village makes the best coffee. However, no other Cup of Joe in Columbus makes a drinkable cup of coffee.
-The Brenen's Coffee House on High Street has great everything bagels and strawberry cream cheese.
-The amphitheatre on South Campus near Mirror Lake is the best place to read in the summer.
-Polaris has the best mall to spend money at, Easton has the best mall to walk around wishing you had more money.
-The Beir Stube is the best bar because their juke box has good music and not the crap you hear at other bars.
-Powell is the best area to drive around because the houses are so beautiful.
But anyway, I love to hang out with friends. We tend to do the same things, like eat at the China Garden in Graceland and shop at Half Price Books, but every once and a while we have great adventures.

(3) Surf
Over the years I've found a great many websites to love. Here are a list of a few of them:
Livejournal I've had my livejournal account (bkdeftones, I was an unoriginal high schooler, get over it) for 5 years. It's a great community where my friends and I keep in touch. Over the years posts have decreased as people got wrapped up in college and the real word, but I love that I can go to a specific day and remember exactly what happened (especially since I have a horrible memory). It also works wonders for recapping concert experiences. I know I'll never forget the first time I saw Thursday, the time when I was front row center and Geoff came off stage and sang to the crowd while grabbing my arm for support. However, I may not remember that I was able to get the Thursday polo I still have were because I found that fifty dollar bill between sets at Warped Tour '06.
Twitter I'm new to the whole Twitter thing, but I am addicted to it. It's horrible. I'm actually ashamed to have an account (theKovesciMan, follow me!). I mean, It's another good way to keep in touch with people, even more so than livejournal because you know what they're doing AT ALL TIMES, but it's also cool because I can follow bands I love (Thursday, Anthony Green, and the Silversun Pickups) and they'll make a post the instant things change (add new stuff to their merch site, their progress in recording their new album, promos they are offering). It makes me feel that much closer to them.
Facebook I hate facebook but I LOVE facebook. It's such an odd thing to know some people you have class with, know certain details about them, and never have seen them in person. Perhaps it's just that I'm a passive facebook stalker, but it's creepy, right? But I do love it because it allows me to keep track of things that are happening through the student activity clubs and it reminds me when people's birthdays are. It really does come in handy, and I'm pretty sure anyone who reads this will have a facebook profile, but still, it is a very cool and odd site.
Last.fm I love last.fm. If you've never visited it, I suggest doing so now. It's a band database website. If you download the widget, last.fm will keep track of the songs you listen to and make statistics based on them such as your most listened to song of the past week, month, year, ever, or the same thing for a particular band. It then goes on to list out recommendations for you, and let me honestly tell you that 95% of the bands they introduce me to I think are awesome. There is also an "Event" tab that lists out upcoming concerts in your town. If you go to a band's page, you can see a bio, album list, song list, videos, photos, and much much more. I'm telling you, it's a pretty sweet site for anyone who appreciates music.
Postsecret Everyone and their mother had heard about Postsecret. I've been following in religiously for years. It has become part of my Sunday routine. Actually, it's the first thing I do when I wake up on Sunday. It's amazing how touching some of them can be. I read my favorite postcard shortly after we had to put my dog down. It was really hard for me because he was my dog, and he was relatively young, but we think someone poisoned him because his health deteriorated and we had no other choice but to put him down. This all happened a month before I came to college. This postcard says everything I was thinking, and it felt good to know that someone else in the world loves their dog as much as I loved mine. I'll always have Postsecrets to thank for that.

Well, I'm pretty tired, and I keep blowing my nose every few minutes because I have a stupid cold, so I think I'm going to bed. Wish me luck on my tests this week! I hope you all have a good one.

Listening to: Explosions in the Sky

BLAM

2009-01-29T15:17:00.000-08:00

This doesn't count as a post, I just want to give Animal Collective props. I've heard from countless sources recently that their new album Merriweather Post Pavilion is utterly fantastic.

It could be my elitist mentality, but whenever I hear from other people that something is great without hearing about it myself first, I tend to be hesitant, and I was definitely hesitant about this. Today, after class, I had 2 minutes to kill when I was waiting for my bus, so on the way to my stop I meandered into the House of Music, my favorite indie record store in the world, and picked up the CD. I rarely pick up new CDs on a whim, but very reliable sources like it, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I am so glad I got it because it's great.

Anyway, go back to your lives.

Listening to: Animal Collective

What's your favorite new album that came out in the last 3 months?

2009-01-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

I can't answer that question so I'm going to tweak it a bit so I can:
What's your favorite new album that came out in the last 5 months?

I'm not going to lie, I haven't been on the music ball lately, so I'm not sure what's going on now musically. All I know is that no one I really care for is coming to Columbus, and none of my favorite bands have released albums within the past 3 months. This is why I have to change the topic a bit. The last time I made a trip to a music store for a specific new release was in September when the latest the Sounds of Animals Fighting CD was dropped. Therefore, I choose

The Ocean And The Sun by the Sound of Animals Fighting

This band is an experiment that tries to unite several art forms into one entity. Their live shows consisted not only of live music, but also artists making paintings on stage, poetry reading, and performances by masked and costumed individuals. None of their albums sound alike, and neither do any of their songs.

This is TSOAF's third studio release, and you can definitely tell they've had experience in the recording process. In this album, they continue to pay attention to the detail of the music by way of interlocking different time measures and instruments, but they also produced the hell out of it, making it sound a lot smoother than their previous releases.

They do plenty of odd things that really make this a unique album. The album starts of with the reading of a poem, but the poem is not in English. I had to look up the lyrics for the English translation (and the poem itself is both beautiful in its original form and in the English translation). You can listen to a song 5 times and still not understand the timing structure because they tend to change the tempo and measure counts frequently. Just pay attention to the drum beats in "The Heraldic Beak of the Manufacturer's Medallion" and it becomes painfully obvious that they are in a level all their own. The album should not be labeled underneath one genre category because within each song you can find clear influences from several different types of music (including music foreign to English-speaking music fans). Listening to "Uzbekistan" proves this because the vocals in this song sound reminiscent of old-fashioned music our grandparents listen to. However, pay attention to the rest of the song and you notice the modern use of the synthesizer and drum beats, and the guitars are pure distorted and layered 80's rock. Sprinkled in the middle of the song are whispers and the sounds of pages turning. Extra sound clips, whispers and speeches such as these are common throughout the album, making the listener realize that this is a different league of band whose goal is not to be on Billboard's Top 100, but rather to make beautiful and unique music.

The album as a whole is a piece of art. I hope people give this album a chance because it is special.

Listening to: The Sound of Animals Fighting

BAM!

2009-01-24T20:24:00.000-08:00

I had everything set up to go to the Cursive show. Everything was perfect; I got out of class at 7:18 and the doors opened at 8, there were no Ticketmaster tickets so I'd just pay at the door, the venue was 2.5 blocks away from my house so I could drink and walk... the planets aligned for this event. HOWEVER, as it turns out, tickets were secretly being sold at an indie record store in the Short North and they sold out. OH, WELL THAT'S JUST GREAT! I got angry and drove to a friend's house to cool off. I had the whole evening planned and Magnolia Thunderpussy (the record store) ruined everything! As I admitted to my room mate, I only have one of their albums (The Ugly Organ), and off that album I only really love one song ("Some Red Handed Slight of Hand"), so I wasn't crushed but overall disappointed. I could have seen a band I enjoy (okay, whose one album I have I enjoy {okay, out of which I really enjoy one song}), for relatively cheap, but it wasn't meant to be.

I left my friend's and got home around midnight. Figuring that was not terribly late for a small venued show, I headed over there in hopes of perhaps picking up a CD for $10. When I got there, a lot of the crowd was outside smoking so no one noticed when I walked in. And who was on stage? Cursive. They were in between songs and when they started playing again what song did they play? "Some Red Handed Slight of Hand." I couldn't have asked for better timing. There is no way this could get better, so I picked up a CD and left.

From my perspective, the cosmos were perfectly aligned this evening. I'm not terribly into Cursive and probably wouldn't have enjoyed a full set. I probably would have been bored with the local openers. I didn't have any company so I would have nothing to do between sets. I didn't end up paying for a ticket. I didn't spend money at the bar. I drove (the 2.5 blocks).

I can't tell you how pleased I am with this evening. I felt I needed to support Cursive (and I wanted to give them another shot) so I picked up the Storms of Early Summer: Semantics of Song for $10.

How awesome is that?

Don't push me, I am not okay (those are lyrics, I'm not really upset)

2009-01-19T18:33:00.000-08:00

I haven't been to a concert since October. I usually go to 20+ concerts in a year, and I feel like I've been missing out. Columbus has hit a dry spell; there hasn't been anyone worth seeing since October. Therefore I feel obligated to see Cursive on Wednesday.

Having said that, I am a little skeptical about the venue Cursive is playing at. It's a bar about 4 blocks from where I live, and I'm worried because I thought Cursive was bigger than a small dive bar. There are so many better venues in Columbus, why this crappy bar? Oh well, I have to suck it up and go to this show because I miss the show scene. AND tickets are only $12.

So tomorrow, if I have time, I'll go pick up a ticket at a Ticketmaster outlet. I foresee a fun time. I wish I had someone to go with :(

As is the life of an Indie kid without an Indie friend :(

Enough of this self-pity crap. I'm going to go watch some more Arrested Development.

But first, did you see Fox won the battle against Warner Brothers and the Watchmen movie will come to theatres on March 6th? I'm excited.

Listening to: Rage Against the Machine, Kill Hannah, the Black Keys, Sleater-Kinney

You put the weights all around yourself

2009-01-13T11:11:00.000-08:00

Since I first heard Interpol I've been a fan. Over the years, my tastes have changed. I used to swear by TURN ON THE BRIGHT LIGHTS. It was their first album and a great on at that. It had such powerful and emotional songs with sweet bass lines, complimenting guitar riffs, haunting vocals and great lyrics. However, as I said, over the years my tastes and preferences have changed. I now love ANTICS a hell of a lot more than before. I don't think it flows as well as TOTBL, but its songs are better by themselves. This is odd because I usually hold that exact argument against certain bands' albums. For some reason, I put Interpol in a different league (probably because they are one of my high school bands that I'll always love but constantly reevaluate).

Anyway, enough blabbing for one day. I'll go somewhere and read more Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It's a good read, it's just so LONG so I don't get the satisfaction of completion like I do with smaller books. I like to constantly read new things, and it seems like more of the same thing (or at least more of a similar thing) with this book. Like I said, it's good, and I do enjoy reading it, but after a while, I start thinking, "oh, yeah, that again."

Later y'all

Listening to: Interpol

I, the Swan

2009-01-06T15:00:00.000-08:00

So we're back to the same old crap again. School started, snow fell, homework was assigned, and the cold is unavoidable.

This quarter I need to read Newsweek for one of my Marketing classes. I was VERY skeptical about it. Afterall, my parents read Newsweek! I'm 22! I still subscribe to AP Magazine! Well, I gotta do what I gotta do. Today I picked up Newsweek and for some miracle I can't put it down. I NEVER would have pegged myself as one of THOSE people. Anyway, long story short, I think I'm going to subscribe so I don't have to shell out $5.95 every week to feed my new habit.

Oh, and I saved a butt-load of money by switching to Amazon for my textbook needs.

Last thought: I can't get enough of the new the Sounds of Animals Fighting CD. Really readers, go buy it. If you don't like it, you're wrong. You like it.

Listening to: the Sounds of Animals Fighting

2009-01-02T19:20:00.000-08:00

This guy is not ready for Winter quarter to begin.

Listening to: Tortoise

Break or Bust

2008-12-20T14:12:00.000-08:00

There is less than a week left until Christmas and I've already pissed away a week of break. I've had a set of cornhole boards in pieces throughout my house since summer with the intention of eventually painting the tops, but since then I've been:
(1) lazy, and/or
(2) without time.
Yesterday I decided on a design. How about the cover of Thom Yorke's solo album, half on one and half on the other? I think it's a boss plan. The black will be painted black and instead of painting the white background white, I'll leave the wood bare. It'll look damn fine.

So I think I'll go make some baked potatoes and start sketching on the boards.

My other goal is to tackle Catch-22 before the end of break. I started it and... eh. If I didn't promise myself I'd get through it I would probably put it down now.

Anyway, my printer is done so I need to go sketch. Later.

Listening to: World's End Girlfriend, Mono, Gifts from Enola, the Samuel Jackson Five, Red Sparrows

Bringing the Quarter to an End

2008-12-09T10:55:00.000-08:00

EXAMS!

I hope none if my friends mind not seeing me until the end of the week because I've resorted to locking myself in my room with my notes, textbooks, snacks, computer, and cat.

If you don't have it I suggest you get an account with Last.fm. If you download the package, you will have a tracker in your toolbar where you can type in an artist and a radio station will pop up and play like-artists. It's really an amazing thing considering I've listened to my 4 Explosions in the Sky albums at least times 40 each all the way through and I would like new music. I've found over 50 new post-rock instrumental bands that are just as entertaining as EitS.

Anyway, back to Operations Management. Good luck with all of your finals.

2008-11-07T15:37:00.000-08:00

OU, be warned:

HERE I COME!

I want to be part of their family.

2008-11-03T19:06:00.001-08:00

Hey Brian, what is your favorite movie of all time?

Thank you for asking. Hands down, my favorite movie of all time would be The Royal Tenenbaums. It's the amazingly dry story of a dysfunctional family and how they find peace with each other.

Things I like about the movie:
1. THE CAST. Anjelica Huston, Gene Hackman, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Danny Glover, Bill Murray. Need I say more? I'm not a huge fan of Owen Wilson, but he played his part very well.
2. THE PLOT. All the characters hate each other (okay, well most). The father of this family (Royal played by Gene Hackman) announces that he's dying and would like to reunite his family. What follows is a reunion in the Tenenbam household. Pasts are remembered and inner demons are confronted.
3. THE HOUSE. This is my most favorite buildings in any movie. You'll just have to watch it for yourself to understand. I really love all the paintings on the walls in Richie's room.
4. THE NAMES. Margot, Richie, Royal, Chas, Etheline, Raleigh, Eli.
5. THE SOUNDTRACK. The first time I saw this movie was the first time I heard Elliott Smith and also Nico. On top of them, the unorthodox use of a classic Christmas tune fit amazingly well.

If you haven't seen this, I would suggest stopping whatever it is you are doing now to find your way to a Blockbuster to rent this flick. You honestly might not like it the first time you see it. You have to get used to their acting style to really understand the beauty in this movie.

If you have seen this, I would suggest stopping whatever it is you are doing now to watch it again. If you didn't like it the first time, give it another chance. I didn't "get it" until the second time I saw it, then I was hooked.

What a Not-So-Wonderful Day

2008-10-20T17:21:00.000-07:00

TOP 7 SONGS OF THE MOMENT:

1. "Turnstyle Blues" by Autolux from the album Future Perfect
I had a friend in high school who was my source of new music. He is responsible for my love of Muse, Deftones, Death From Above 1979, Explosions in the Sky, Radiohead, Placebo, and even the Beatles (to an extent). My only other source for new music was VH1's morning show I'd watch before school every day, so my friend's contributions were a major impact on my underground music scene. He once played Autolux for me but it didn't work for me at the time. We had a little falling out in high school near the end of senior year, so in college it's been up to me to find new music. At one point, I started to give his old suggestions a second chance. I picked up Future Perfect at Half Price Books and absolutely loved the first track, "Turnstyle Blues." The rest of the album hasn't really grown on me, but that song is A+ work in my book. I'm sure my high school friend would be upset that I'm starting to like other shoegaze bands (sneeze My Bloody Valentine sniffle sniffle), but whatever. We don't talk anymore, so eat that.

2. "Dawn of the Dead" by Does It Offend You, Yeah? from the album You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into
This album is crazy. I wouldn't even call it listenable, just crazy. I'm still not sure I would suggest this band to my friends for fear of them making fun of me. However, the one golden nugget of redemption lies with "Dawn of the Dead," one of the best keyboard/synth songs of 2008. There isn't anything amazing about it, but all of the instrumental elements are.... not ordinary, but together they sound great.

3. "Act One: Chasing Suns" by The Sounds of Animals Fighting from the album Tiger & the Duke
I'm a huge fan of anything Anthony Green does, and that includes the extremely experimental anonymous act The Sounds of Animals Fighting. I'll admit, this is not my favorite song of theirs, but it is a great song of the moment. This past weekend I went to Akron, and on the return trip to Columbus I listened to this album and really enjoyed it. They have a great way of producing unconventional music you can't find anywhere else, and it's a great thing.

4. "My Moon My Man" by Feist from the album The Reminder
I approach Feist albums like I approach Beatles albums; I get one, listen to nothing else for a month, realize I may be killing that album for myself, then move on with a deep love for it. I wasn't expecting much from The Reminder because Let It Die was too good for any one artist. I figured it was a fluke. I was majorly mistaken. I immediately fell in love with The Reminder. This song in particular sticks out for me because I'm a huge sucker for piano and awesome sounding lyrics (when she says, "take it slow, take it easy on me/shed some light, shed some light on my please," it sends chills down my back). Don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself.

5. "Tonight" by We Are Scientists from the album Brain Thrust MasteryI heard a lot of things about We Are Scientists but never looked into them because I thought they had one of the dumbest band names of all time. What sold me on them was an interview they had with Steven from Fuse. Both these guys were hilarious throughout the whole interview, and on top of that their video for "After Hours" was awesome as was the song itself. SOLD. Then I saw them in concert and they were just as funny and just as great sounding. Then I got the album and remembered this song from the set and fell in love with it for its awesome bass and keyboard components.

6. "Cross out the Eyes" by Thursday from the album Full CollapseThursday is one of those bands that I won't ever get tired of. It took a while for me to get into them because I just couldn't get over Geoff's voice. It certainly is unique but I didn't like it until after I fell in love with the rest of the band. I was head over heels for the song "For the Workforce, Drowning" from the first time I heard it. However, I recently got re-into this album, specifically this song, mostly because of the line "The sides we take divide us from our faith/And the morning dove gets caught in the telephone wire." It's sick how beautifully descriptive and poetic that is.

7. "Hello Dearest Love" by the Appleseed Cast from the album Two Conversations
I don't know what to say about this song other than it is some good quality shit. The vocals aren't overdone, the bass line is imaginative but simple, the guitars aren't anything special, and the drums are a little out there, but together it makes for a great tune. Check this album out if you've never heard of the Appleseed Cast.

LAST 7 BOOKS I READ (starting with the most recent):

1. the Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
It was okay. I might suggest it to a girl because it is REALLY GIRLY, but it wasn't horrible. Someone I know called it the "female equivalent to the Catcher in the Rye," so I was expecting a lot more. Instead, I got a lot of "no, I don't want to do that, I'll stay in and be lame" attitude from the main character. 3/5

2. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Again, not what I was expecting. I grew up on the Disney version of the film, and after reading the Wind in the Willows and the Wizard of Oz, I was expecting this story to be drastically different from the film. However, Disney followed the plot pretty closely. I enjoyed it much. 4/5

3. The Lost World by Michael Crichton
Oh man, does Michael Crichton know how to write a freakin book or what? The entire thing was engaging and interesting. I HATED the movie, but I can assure you, they went wild on the movie. The book was just as good as Jurassic Park (the movie and the book). 4.5/5

4. Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore
A friend of mine got me into Christopher Moore. Up til now he hasn't let me down. His books are funny, having crazy plots and hilariously unrealistic characters, but this book let me down. As a whole, it wasn't bad, but he has written better books. I'd suggest any of his others over this. 3/5

5. The Stranger by Albert Camus
I read this because Camus is taught in a lot of English classes at OSU and I wanted to see what the big deal was. After reading it, I don't know what the big deal is. Okay, the main character kills some stranger and gets tried for his crime. The End. It wasn't a bad story, nor was it poorly written, but I wouldn't call it great or a classic. 3.5/5

6. I Am Not Myself These Days by Josh Kilmer-Purcell
If you find yourself wondering how a crossdressing homosexual New Yorker finds love in the big city, this is the book for you. It's great. It's a biography. He's a crossdresser who's stage name is "Aquadite," the amazing fish-globes-for-boobs guy. I suggest this to anyone who is opened minded and likes to laugh. 4/5

7. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Again, Crichton is the shit. If you only read one book a year, start reading his stuff. It's more addicting than reality TV, and you get to learn a few things along the way. GOOD BOOK. 5/5

Time for me to get back to The Raw Shark Texts.

I want to have lunch with Greg Simkins

2008-10-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

So I stumbled upon my favorite contemporary artist about 10 minutes ago. His Name is Greg Simkins. If anyone has an extra $75 laying around, I'd like some of his prints. I'll let his art do the rest of the talking. It's crazy how good it is.
It's so mysterious and exact and creepy and contorted and unreal and detailed. Check out his myspace.

The Joy and Misery

2008-10-13T16:41:00.000-07:00

I have had the privilege of attending many amazing concerts in my time. My first concert was Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young in 2000 and since then I've rarely passed up the opportunity to see my favorite bands live. Since 2000 I've attended... (counting ticket stubs)... 57 concerts. I've seen some pretty sweet shit.

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is last night was

CONCERT # 57

A friend and I recently went to Summerfest, a concert CD101 puts on every summer where they bring in sweet indie bands for $5. Last year was the Cliks, VHS or Beta and Silversun Pickups. This year was Honey Honey, Dr. Dog and VHS or Beta. Anyway, anytime CD101 funds a show they have the awesome spin wheel of awesomesness. When I spun I got this POC Budweiser bottle opener. Awesome. But Grace (the friend I went with) won Cold War Kids tickets. Since I burned their CD for her, she gave me one of the tickets.

So last night was the show. I'm not going to talk about the opener because he was some crappy acoustic act with a horrible drummer and the entire thing was sub-par. However, Cold War Kids took the stage and totally owned. I've had their first album for a while now and never really got into it, but I really did enjoy their set. They're good storytellers.

I usually bring my camera to document history, but last night I rode my bike to the venue and I didn't want to worry about it in transit, so I left it at home, meaning I don't have sweet pictures for you. I'm sorry. Instead, I offer a picture of myself. I told myself the other day I'd trim my hair because it was getting long and uneven. But I put the wrong attachment on my beard trimmer.

To give those readers who don't know what I usually look like something to compare with, I'll supply a picture of me under normal circumstances. Here's me with HD:
Oh well. I'm still alive and haven't caught a cold yet. Later y'all.

Bing bing Bing..... BING

2008-10-08T18:45:00.000-07:00

If I had the power to make everyone listen to 10 albums of my choice, here's the 10 I would choose and reasoning why:

1. Death From Above 1979's You're a Woman, I'm a Machine.

This is one of the most important albums I've ever listened to. It made me want to research and find new band. The band itself, if you are unaware, consisted of a heavily distorted bassist, Jesse Keeler, and a singing drummer, Sebastien Grainger. They released the Heads Up EP and shortly thereafter the full album pictured here. They toured relentlessly and even had the opportunity to open for Nine Inch Nails. Sadly, in August of 2006, less than 2 years after the album's release, Jesse announced on their website that the band would part ways. Since then, each member has had great side projects including MSTRKRFT, Femme Fetale, and Sebastian Grainger's solo album, but nothing comes close to the music they made together. It saddens me that no other album will ever sound like this. It is truely something unique. I am so glad I had the chance to see these guys in 2005 at my favorite venue in Columbus.

2. Explosions in the Sky's All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone.
Explosions in the Sky is one of my alltime favorite bands. They make the most wonderful atmospheric ambient music. Honestly, since listening to these Texans, I have not looked at music the same way. Their music is all instrumental and I suggest this album for 2 reasons: (1) the album as a whole flows flawlessly, and (2) "Catastrophe and the Cure" is one of my favorite songs of all time. I had the chance to see EitS in 2007 when they opened for the Smashing Pumpkins and damn, they are good. Also, this is one of the best albums to read to.

3. Saosin's Saosin.
When it comes to Saosin, I am not going to lie to you. I've seen them live 3 times and they are not the greatest live act I have ever seen. However, their album is one of the most solid debut albums I have ever heard. Every song on the album shows how talented each member of the band is, AND the songs themselves are just damn good. Again, I won't lie to you, Saosin is not for everyone. If you are not a fan of the alternative scene heard at Warped Tour, this band is not for you. But, if you are, you may rate this among your top 10 albums of all time (like I obviously have). On a side note, Anthony Green was the original lead singer for this band so that automatically gives them sweet points.

4. Silversun Pickups' Carnavas.
I first heard the song "Lazy Eye" on CD101, the independently owned Columbus radio station, and fell in love. That song is amazing. I got the CD and only listeded to that song (come on, you know you do it too). I then realized that every song on the album is not only listen-able but awesome. I now go through periods of falling in love with different songs on the album. Right now, I'm head over heels for "Dream at Tempo 119" because of its kickassness. I listen to that song while disobeying the maximum highway speed laws.

5. the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
What can I say about this album that already hasn't been said? Just like everyone else in recorded history, I went through a Beatles phase. I would buy an album, fall in love with it and listen to nothing else for months, then I would buy another one only to fall in love with it. The thing about Sgt. Peppers is the album is just flawless. There area few Beatles songs that I hate more than anything, but no such songs make an appearance on this album. And how can you honestly compete with a song like "A Day in the Life?" It just physically can't be done.

6. Incubus' Make Yourself.
This is the first album I've ever fallen in love with as an album. I first saw the music video for "Pardon Me" one morning before school on VH1's Jump Start. It was the only music video that mesmerized me when I was a kid. I wanted to be Brandon Boyd. He had cool tatoos and sang in the best band I've heard up to that point and he had the best voice I've ever heard and even sang in a way I've never heard and it was all exciting to find something new and original for the first time. It was the first time I begged my mother to take me to Border's to buy it. I later found out that Incubus had been around for a while. I picked up their earlier stuff and since then they've released several more albums. However, I still say Make Yourself is their most solid album.

7. Thom Yorke's the Eraser.
Radiohead is arguably the most influential and important contemporary act. However, in my opinion they have yet to release an album that is flawless. Every Radiohead album has at least 1 song that could be left out, resulting in a better overall album. I know that's a harsh thing to say, and to clarify, I do love Radiohead to death (they're my 3rd most listened to artist says my Last.fm account), but I haven't been 100% satisfied by an album yet. However, Yorke's solo debut is flawless. Every song is utterly amazing and fresh. It also has my favorite Yorke song, "Harrowdown Hill." Yorke was brilliant to branch off and do these songs himself.

8. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin's Broom.
If you're a fan of mimalistic Indie music, this is just about as good as it gets. It is a back to the basics, innocent, sweet album that is both funny and beautiful. I find myself listening to this album and feeling privileged to be albe to have something this truely beautiful. I know it sounds corny, but, well, you just have to listen to it for yourself. I'm so glad a friend of a friend highly suggested this band, and as soon as i got the album I understood why.

9. the Used the Used.
I don't know what it is about this album, but I just can't get enough of it. I've had this album in my car for, well, since I've had this album and a car. I swear to you I don't know why I love this album BUT I DO. I've listened to other Used albums, and sure they have some good songs, but nothing comes close to touching this one. Every song is exciting, energetic, powerful, beautiful, creative, and amazingly enough simple. None of these songs have face-incinerating guitar solos or mind-blowing drum beats, but they are perfectly entertaining.

10. Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures.
I don't want to tell you how upset I was after falling in love with this band and THEN finding out how Ian Curtis ended his own life after recording only 2 full-lengthed albums. My friends in high school started listening to them but I held off. I had a thing for Pink Floyd, but I considered all defunct bands to be too old for me. I only cared about current music. After all, I knew I would get disappointed if I fell in love with a band and wouldn't ever be able to see them in concert. However, once I finally broke down and got this album, I knew I was wrong and that this was one of the best bands of all time. Countless bands have cited Joy Division as a major influence, and now I understand why. Bands like the Cure, the Smiths, Interpol, She Wants Revenge have all borrowed singing styles from Curtis. It gives me chills to hear this album at night. It's like Ian still has no hope for the world and it's odd and special and unique.

Well that about wraps that up. Hope you were entertained. I love doing shit like this.

2008-10-05T14:32:00.000-07:00

It's that perfect time in the quarter where everyone's used to their schedule already and quizzes/tests/midterms haven't started yet. The extracurricular activities are starting up again and just about every group is offering free pizza to maximize attendance. It's a good time.

MUSIC

I REALLY have been getting into Feist recently. I've had Let it Die for a while now and I love the hell out of it. Over the weekend I got The Reminder and it's also a very solid album. A really awesome friend of mine got me into the Feist show at OU in Athens, OH for free and it was one of the best concerts I've been to. I highly suggest seeing Feist anytime she comes to the USA.

Also, I've been playing the shit out of "Dawn of the Dead" by Does It Offend You, Yeah? It's such a good song. I get cravings for it.

Sorry this is a boring post, reader, but not much happened this weekend. I will let you know the second something sweet happens.

It's That Time In The Quarter!

2008-09-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

So, I know I don't have any readers yet, but I owe it to the bands to remind anyone who might stumble upon this blog within the next few hours and happens to reside in Columbus, OH:

TODAY IS THE BIG FREE CONCERT ON THE SOUTH OVAL PRESENTED BY OUAB!

WE THE LIVING
BILLY CURRINGTON
CIRCA SURVIVE
THE ROOTS

First Week, Let's Rally Together In Exhaustion

2008-09-26T19:34:00.000-07:00

So, it's Friday. We find ourselves welcoming the new weekend with open arms and want nothing more than to ____. Everyone has their plans; partying, lounging, working, reading, chores, partying, exploring, partying. What else is there to do?

This is the first post of the Platform-1 Ohio State University blog. I (Brian) will be a regular updater for this blog. I'm sure by the end of the month you'll be familiar with my daily doings.

Since I'm a huge nerd, I predict I'll be talking a lot about books. There'll be a lot of music chat, but also plenty of book chat.

Having said that,

BOOKS

we've officially entered our lit portion of today's class. I'm reading the Stranger by Albert Camus. Who doesn't love a good murder story? If you agree, go pick it up. It's short, sweet, and engaging.

MUSIC

Oh yeah, there are different departments to this store. I know I'm a big indie/rock nut but I find myself lately drawn to a lot of shoegaze. Ever heard of Autolux? I can't get enough of their song "Turnstyle Blues." A friend played them for me in high school and I didn't like them off the bat but right now I get cravings for it. It's weird. Also, yesterday I saw a My Bloody Valentine music video on FUSE and I gotta tell ya, wow. My initial impression of them was way off. That shit was the shit, eh?

ANYWAY, I just wanted to make an initial post. What's to come is unexpected so don't turn the channel, you don't know what you might miss!