December Music Review

UCLA absolutely pulverized Wyoming yesterday, breaking the record for most points scored under Coach Ben Howland by 17! Instead of analyzing a game that is obviously somewhat of an outlier (though it is useful in preparing UCLA for uptempo teams), I decided to write a post about all the music I purchased in December. Most of it is older music that just recently piqued my interest.

1. Chasing Cars single -- Snow Patrol. Why in the world did I buy this song? After about 1.5 listens, I remembered why I didn't buy it when it initially came out -- the song is lyrically weak, and musically unremarkable. Waste of 99 cents plus the new iTunes tax.

2. Several songs by Memphis. I fell in love with I Dreamt We Fell Apart over the Thanksgiving vacation. On the strength of that single, I went ahead and downloaded Incredibly Drunk on Whiskey, Into the Wild, In the Cinema Alone, The Night Watchman, and Time Away. The whiskey song is a playful song written about a drunken high school era night. The rest are pensive, melancholic songs. The Night Watchman pulls a Stars and stops for a good ten seconds before starting a completely different song after a long period of silence. All in all, I have become a fan of this band, but not to the point where I would purchase an entire album.

3. Get Up and Please, Please, Please by James Brown. Get Up is a classic James Brown, and the other I have not been able to get through once yet. It was on my iTunes wish list, probably by mistake.

4. Suspension by Mae. I really like this song, but it is cheesy. It starts off really weak, the first chorus just doesn't flow as it should. From there, the song greatly improves and becomes a perfect emo pop anthem, with a twist -- it's a happy love song.

5. Let Me In and No, Not Now by Hot Hot Heat. These two songs are from two different albums, and very different from the other songs I own off of the Make Up the Breakdown album -- specifically Bandages and Naked in the City. This is odd because NNN is from that same album. Hot Hot Heat hasn't been entirely consistent -- an optimist would say their sound is evolving, a pessimist that they are trying to create a sound that sells. I haven't figured out which it is yet, but for a band with several albums, I only like a limited few songs.

6. Cause=Time by Broken Social Scene. I have listened to this song three times since purchasing it a week ago. I like the lyrics, but I just don't feel this song. It almost sounds like a Weezer song rejected from the Make Believe album. Except the lyrics are too clever for that. I don't know what to do with this song.

7. Wordless Chorus by My Morning Jacket. This song is so chill, and very unlike most of MMJ's other work. I haven't figured out the perfect time to listen to this song yet, it feels like a lazy morning song, but it is so relaxed it might be better for a pre-nap Sunday afternoon.

To be continued...