Wednesday, February 18th, 2004
Lead Me Into The Night
The Cardigans’ Long Gone Before Daylight, was released everywhere else in the world last year but finally comes out in the US May 25. It’s easy to dismiss them as twee one-hit wonders, but kitschy Sabbath covers and “Love Fool” aside (and that’s still a brilliant pop song – for the record), I think they’re still worthy of your attention. Their last album Gran Turismo was a bit of a snoozer, but the new one is very good. It’s very downbeat, residing on the right side of polish and sophistication, and carries over much of the country influence Nina Persson discovered with her A Camp project. It’s got some real heart to it. The production and musicianship is excellent – it sounds great – and Persson’s voice has got a very convincing weariness about it. Others have dismissed the record as bored and lifeless – and while I can understand that point of view, to each their own. Either it connects with you or it doesn’t, but I say it’s worth a listen to make your mind up yourself. Watch their video for “Live And Learn” here, if you like visuals. And with Nina, who doesn’t want visuals? Damn, almost made it through without commenting on Persson’s hottness. Oh well.
Calexico’s odds-and-sods EP Convict Pool is out April 6, and you can get their cover of Love’s “Alone Again Or” at Touch & Go’s website. Skinny from The Slatch.
Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow are busy fellows. In addition to their Posies reunion album out this Summer, Billboard reports they will also be getting together with Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens to record the first new Big Star album since 1978’s album-that’s-not-really-an-album, Third/Sister Lovers. And to top it off, Stringfellow’s solo follow-up to Touched is due out in July and Auer’s solo record Songs from the Year of Our Demise is still working out label details before it can be released. And oh yeah – Stringfellow is also working on the new REM album. The boy likes to work. Info from Coolfer.
Burned By The Sun has taken it upon himself to offer audio downloads of every band on the bill at Coachella. Awe-inspiring. Go listen.
Happy 1st anniversary to the hippest hipsters in Columbus, OH – Donewaiting.com.
Fontifier is a neat service that converts your own handwriting into Windows or Mac fonts for a reasonable $9. Or, if your handwriting is identical to Jonathan Donahue of Mercury Rev, you can download a font set of his handwriting here, gratis. Info from Derek.
Conan has apologized to the people of Quebec.
Twenty-Four – Hmm. Boring, boring, more boring, even more boring, excruciatingly boring, EXCITING! But then the only character responsible for making things exciting is dead. Which means more boring coming up. And Kim’s hair is looking even worse than before, if that’s possible.
np – Papas Fritas / Pop Has Freed Us
![[Valid RSS]](http://www.chromewaves.net/images/interface/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed"){kind=small}
2/18/04 10:00 am
I *love* that Cardigans album… I’ve listened to it about a bagillion times now. Ummm, I guess that’s really all I had to say about that.
2/18/04 11:14 am
I was hoping against hope that Kim would bite it last night. Damn.
2/18/04 11:22 am
Me too. Nina vs. Kim? No contest. Kim should be dead, the virus unleashed and Jack totally losing it. (You know because Nina killed Kim). Why couldn’t someone shoot Sherry?
2/18/04 11:33 am
thanks for the well wishes, frank. sorry our comedians made you canadians so sad!!!!!! i will send all of you chocolates.
2/18/04 2:18 pm
It wasn’t as solid as last weeks, but still watchable, Nina is gone and I am still kinda shocked, one other thing no one is mentioning, I think she was killed in the same room that Jack found Teri in years ago….just a thought…
2/18/04 2:20 pm
yeah, I caught that. I was hoping Nina would bring it up with Kim… "This is where I killed your mom, Kim. And it’s where I’m going to kill you!" and would then laugh hysterically. I was very disappointed she offered Kim an out.
2/18/04 2:27 pm
i liked that they didn’t go corny on us (like they’ve been doing a lot of the time, it seems, this season).
hadn’t caught that that was the room, though.
and kim sure has a knack for backing into the murderer’s hands, doesn’t she? poor kim, why couldn’t you have died?
2/18/04 9:50 pm
Frank,
Just dropping a line to say Hi and that I enjoy your site. I tossed a link to it up on my own site, http://www.ingenuitous.com
It’s still a new site, but hopefully a few hits will come your way cause of it.
2/18/04 10:34 pm
Hii I just happened to find your xanga and seems like your site was popular, so i went to check it out? hehe but cute page!! it’s really standard!!
2/20/04 7:25 am
That episode of 24 started really slow like they were sweeping all the previous loose ends into a pile in order to set themselves up for a better run to finish the season (or series).
And then Nina escapes and woo that was good and then… she is recaptured a couple of minutes later and presumably killed. Boooo.
2/22/04 5:55 am
i’m "sick and tired" of everyone failing to give the boys in the band their proper nod. "after all", they’re the other 3 cuties in the band. [the keyboardist is, well, alone in his not-so-attractiveness]. "for what it’s worth", oh whatever… "blah blah blah". ;)
2/22/04 10:30 am
well of course not… he’s the *keyboardist*. I remember seeing commercials for ‘rock keyboard’ instructional videos from the guy in Bon Jovi. when it’s just the one dude making rock faces from behind a keyboard in his mom’s basement while someone tapes him on a Handycam… well, that’s just sad.