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Everything Rasputina's ever done is amazing, so it's a good place to start!

Can't wait to hear this cellorific goodness w/ the HF-1s when I get home tonight!

Rasputina - Melora a la Basilica Live. Awesome. Great packaging.

He knows it's a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake...

Good point... I'm not sure. Carry on.

I demand less talk of tea, moar Oyaide flavor nonsense!

After countless listens I'm certainly not ready to say that it's better than Fox Confessor..., but in my opinion, Middle Cyclone very much deserves to be mentioned in the same breath. Which is aparantly contrary to the popular opinion in this thread. And keep in mind that I hold that album in very high regard. Middle Cyclone has some haunting, absolutely beautiful songs. "Polar Nettles", the title track, "Magpie in the Morning" and "Remember Me" are all stunning. But there's also some variety. "This Tornado Loves You", "People Got A Lotta Nerve", "I'm an Animal" and "Red Tide" border on upbeat. And then there are the kind of odd ones, like "Fever" which I'm not sure what to think of, and "The Pharoahs" which seems to be the biggest grower for me so far since my first listen. I love that none of the songs stay for too long. I love the imagery she creates in the lyrics, even if don't always know what the hell she's trying to say. And I love the variations in tempo and instrumentation troughout. Yup, I Midde Cyclone. edit: I forgot to mention... One thing I noticed today after going back and listening to the Live at the Triple Door show after getting to know Middle Cyclone pretty well. The Middle Cyclone songs fit perfectly when played along with songs from Fox Confessor.... When stripped down and side by side, things flowed very, very well.

And you're the one who will have to put up with all my stupid questions! Nope. Nope. Actually, I did buy 2 gallons today, but that's not what I was talking about here. No bullets for me. Nope. That's actually all set. I said fuck it, now's NOT the time to cut corners on the kitchen remodel. Nope, bought penger's incomplete dual-mono TPA Opus DAC. I haven't built anything since my PPA v2, and finishing this up seems like a good way to ease back in. There may be a big sale of semi-vintage Denon source gear (two DA-500 DACs & two single-disc CD players) coming up if this sounds half as good as advertised!

Something I shouldn't have.

I have a 500GB HD as a secondary drive in my T40 and use foobar2000 to an Airport Express (via Airfoil) which allows me use the laptop freely around my place while listening. Any way to add the required HD space to a Mini 9 so you don't need to tether it to an external drive? edit: I guess tethering it to the Pico DAC means no real benefits to being wireless. NM.

I read the RYM music forums a few times a week, but regardless of if it's true or not, it seems to be full of 12 year old boys arguing about genres. Every once in a while I'll come across something worth while there, but usually it's a 30 second visit. I would love to catalog my music there at some point, but it would just be such a monumental undertaking that it's difficult to start.

Happy Birthday Dan.

I'll likely be getting a 24 hr + hiatus with travelling this weekend, so I'm just getting listens while I can!

Really? I agree there's definitely a lot more going on, but I'd say in a good way... Many layers to sift through. While I'll admit there are some near-perfect songs of Fox Confessor..., I can't say that I felt that way after the first few listens and it took a little time to grow on me. I'm guessing that the more listens Middle Cyclone gets, the more I'll like it, too. And she has a hell of a knack for ending a song just before I'm ready for it to end, leaving me wanting more... Probably why her albums have such longevity for me. It's tough to get sick of songs that always leave you wanting just one more verse, chorus or refrain. I think it's kind of neat. Especially after hearing the tree frogs earilier in the album. I love her reaction in the little making of video when they end a take and she hears them and tells the rest of them to let the take run long to get them. And I think we can cut her some slack now that she's a fellow New Englander! --- At this point I can't even begin to count the number of listens I've given this album. I love the varied instrumentation, her voice, the lyrics, changes in tempo. Pretty much everything. So far all but one of the songs are well into the "hit" side of "hit or miss" for me... "Prison Girls" is the only one that hasn't really conneted with me. And as the longest song on the album (by far), I'm thinking it may be because it's the only song that seems to overstay its welcome. The album kind of gets into a rhythm with songs between 2:00 and 3:30, and "Prison Girls" breaks that up. I think I need to listen to it out of context to get a feel for it because I can't seem to in the flow of the album. I can't wait for March 3rd... I'll be there at midnight Monday night if they're open. If not, I'll take a coffee break when they open @ 9 to pick up the CD (and vinyl if they have it).

Really? Does the vinyl version have different songs?

Well, my first listen was under less than ideal conditions... Driving to a job interview of sorts (a bit nervous and distracted) in a Jeep (loud). Having said that, it did not disappoint. I'm looking forward to giving it another listen this afternoon. While it doesn't sound totally different (I'd say it's evolutionary, not revolutionary), it does sound quite a bit more adventurous on all fronts... Songwriting, vocal work and instrumentation.

Home is definitely my favorite The Gathering album, but I'm admittedly a late-comer to the game. I remember giving them a shot when I was looking for stuff that was much heavier and feeling fairly disappointed. But upon revisiting them after seeing Anneke sing on the Within Temptation Black Symphony DVD I found there's a lot to like. Fuck what everyone else says! Having said that, World of Glass never did much for me, and Ashes is definitely better than it gets credit for. Widows Weeds is definitely my favorite. It's such a solid album from start to finish. Ashes, and the very strong Illumination, have a strong gothic Sisters of Mercy vibe to me. I've never given much consideration to Leaves' Eyes... Samples left me unimpressed. Sirenia often sounds like a poor-man's Tristania to me, for obvious reasons. Their albums are wildly uneven, from fairly decent to comicly bad. And I still don't understand the appeal of Nightwish. Worlds of "meh" to me. I definitely get the Within Temptation and Lacuna Coil grouping. But they seem to be two bands going in totally different directions. I think WT is getting stronger and stronger (though I do understand why long-term fans didn't warm to The Heart of Everything) and LC seems to be going in the wrong direction. Epica is probably my favorite of that group. Earlier albums were pretty good, but The Divine Conspiracy was a huge step forward. Songwriting, production, Simone's vocals... All much improved. Alright by me, too! It's a weird combination of dark but upbeat-ish. I wouldn't necessarily worry about checking out everything Amazon recommends... Elis is another "meh" for me, and After Forever? Despite hearing how great they are for a long, long time, I couldn't have been more disappointed. Are Floor's vocals strong? Yes. Can I find anything else redeeming in the cheesy, 2nd rate songs? Nope. ---- Doom:VS is probably my favorite recent doom band. Definitely worth checking out if you haven't heard them.

Who cares about the title... It's a great opportunity to talk about some great music that suffers from overgenrefication without pidgeonholing artists. Just remember... It doesn't have to be metal to be dark. And I it dark.

Happy B-Day Steve!

So you can decide for yourself.

Well, I enjoyed the debut quite a bit. Never a huge fan of Ms. Dushku, so I was a little disappointed when I found out she was the lead. But she was pretty good, and there are a ton of possibilities. I can see how a show like this could have legs. And yes, Amy Acker was pure win.

So, anyone else getting excited about this? Admittedly I'm a fanboy to the nth degree. But Fox Confessor... remains one of my all-time favorite albums, her back catalog is incredibly strong, and that voice? There just aren't the words. More and more is starting to come out... The promo vid: The label's site, with the free DL of the 1st single, "People Gotta Lot Of Nerve" ANTI- Neko Case The great NY Times magazine article from Friday: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/magazine/15neko-t.html?_r=1 And probably what's gotten me the most excited about it... A first impressions blog: First Listen: Neko Case ‘Middle Cyclone’ :: Seattle Sound Magazine I love that the person who wrote the above live blog about their 1st listen feels as though it will take countless listens to take it all in. I think that was my favorite part of Fox Confessor.... It revealed itself to me slowly. T-Minus 2 weeks and counting!

Don't forget FOX did more than a little tinkering with the pilot. Hercules over @ AintItCoolNews said it improves in subsequent episodes.

Happy Birthday

I'll be away tonight, but will promptly DL it when I return!