Money To Burn

There's something very enjoyable about buying CDs. All these downloads and ripped music removes some of the glamour associated with the format: the new, unscratched case, the artwork, the little book inside the cover. You don't get these with a download. I imagine the transition from Vinyl to CDs sparked much of the same feeling in those accustomed to it, the physical grooves in the LP allow you to see your music.

One of these CDs was The National's Boxer

My New Favorite Band, The National are really nothing special. Meaning, I can't pick out anything unique or exciting about them. But, they endear themselves to me greatly. Casual lethargy, objectivity from someone suffering from nothing more than American east coast angst. Berninger barely sings, the music is inoffensive and complementary, the lyrics subtle and often mundane. And I like them, very much.

The other was †, from Justice. While D.A.N.C.E got far too much airplay, and you should be sick to death of it, the rest of the album is of a special kind of quality: the first track Genesis, aside from continuing to lay in Christian tones in the Crucifix-moniker'd debut, starts pace which continues between the tracks. The tracks themselves are like a series of odd, but congruent visitors; The Phantom duo is a lithe boxer, with fast needle jabs of modulated underground-robot-dance-choirs, followed by the tectonic bass-punches of Pt. II, while Stress accosts, and then clubs you with a baton, stealing the television on the way out. They never outstay their welcome, either, which is unusual for what should come under "dance" music.

While (the) other French Electro-House Music does the opposite, staying simple, † manages to come across as the hyperactive youngster, an interesting deformity from inbreeding, but still very much part of the family. On an unrelated note, the album would be far smoother without D.A.N.C.E and The Party, which clog the tubes, so to speak.

The Video to Stress is actually very good also:


S/Cooke