new albums

in the last two months, two albums that i have anticipated were released. #1 being Arcade Fire's The Suburbs, and #2 being Anberlin's Dark is the Way, Light is a Place. i confess to having preordered both albums and that i shelled out the money to see both bands on their tours this fall-- and i'm not ashamed of either of those facts.

as for the albums themselves.

The Suburbs wasn't surprising to me at all, except perhaps in the sense that there was very little eccentric-ness featured in it compared to say, Funeral. also, this album, for the general rule doesn't possess any of the bitter, strange opinions that Neon Bible was such a great exhibit of. that's not to say that The Suburbs is lacking--it's far from that actually. songs like "Empty Room" with wild string intros, "City With No Children" with insanely catchy rhythms, and "Sprawl II" with angelic voices and pounding under beats, make the album absolutely incredible in my opinion. lyrically, the title is 100% appropriate, in fact all of the songs are built around the title. and as usual, there are statements that make any one think such as: "And you feel so right/But how come you can't sleep at night?" ("Modern Man"). overall, i would whole heartily suggest The Suburbs to anyone who likes indie rock; even if you found their last two albums too eccentric you might find this one more accessible.

Dark is the Way, Light is the Place was however, a big surprise. prior to the album release there was quotes flying around the internet about how the band members considered this album their "magnum opus" and along the same lines of their hit album Cities (and my favorite by far). honestly, after the first listen i hated this album. now that i've given it more spins i can say i enjoy it a lot more--but it still feels lacking. there just seems to be so many things wrong about this album. for one, the opening song is, in my opinion, completely un-sing-a-long-able; therefore making it pretty much a flop. another different, not necessarily wrong, thing is the percentage of slower to average speed songs; in comparison to their prior albums this trend sticks out. one definite disappointment is the lower epic-ness of the closing song. "Depraved" is epic for sure, but not nearly on the same level as "(*fin)" or "Miserabile Visu". perhaps the biggest wrong is the complete unrelatedness of the title and the songs that compose the album--i just don't see the connection between the two anywhere. all of this is not to say that Dark is the Way, Light is a Place is a bad album, or that i hate it (i definitely would suggest songs like "Down", "Pray Tell", and "Impossible" to anyone), it's just obviously not Anberlin's magnum opus.

i'm definitely looking forward to seeing Arcade Fire on September 29th at KeyArena, and Anberlin on October 14th at the Showbox SoDo

YAY.

so, in a little over a week i shall be collecting all of my pertinent belongings and relocating from what i affectionately call the "boonies" to the city known to the world as Seattle, WA.

YAY.

packing, however, is a drudge. mostly because it seems pointless to box up clothes, shoes, etc that i will undoubtedly wear between now and the 24th of September. not to mention, i have very little time of late to pack due to the ridiculous number of hours i shall be working in the next week. between working from 4:30 to 10:30 tonight, 7:30 am to 3 pm thursday and friday and then 7:30 am to 10:30 pm on saturday and sunday, i'm going to not be home much at all.

and then there is the dilemma of what exactly to pack, i have absolutely no idea what my dorm room will look like, how much space i will have, and all that so its very hard to know what i will have room for and what i won't. i do know that since i'll have two roommates that its going to be tight. plus, i know that i'll be fairly if not ridiculously busy all the time so i probably won't have time to do crafty stuff much so i'll prolly opt to leave the sewing machine, painting supplies, and perhaps even beading stuff at home--for at least the first quarter. but...meh, i don't really know yet.

but yes, i find the prospect of moving to Seattle to be very exciting indeed. i shall miss many of the people that won't be around, but the new environment and experiences will be a very good change. after all, one can't stay at home forever.

i shall try not to neglect this blog too terribly this up coming year.

revamp.

i'm not sure if anyone has noticed, but its been many months since i've last written a blog post here. various circumstances have influenced this neglect: graduating, working, getting ready for next fall, watching way too much Lost, Chuck, & Arrested Development, and sleeping.

but as a hodge-podge of random mumblings, consider the following.

-> i've taken up the practice of jewelry making and plan to set up an etsy store in the hopefully near future.

-> i didn't get into the bachelor's program of social work at the school i'm going to.

-> getting an average total of $30 in tips every day i work is very pleasant.

-> i'm moving to Seattle in a little less than two months--naturally i find this very exciting as my surroundings there will be dramatically different than what i'm accustomed to.

on and end note as i have run out of time, check out the following:

-> The Year Of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs (one man attempts to follow the Bible's commandments as closely as possible for a year).

-> Swoon by Silversun Pickups (possibly my favorite album at this time).

-> my revamped blog site :D (notice that the background, header, and music selection are all different--if you like, leave a comment giving your opinion on the revamp).

not my equal

God is not my equal.

What a profound, and yet obvious fact.

Often time I treat him as my equal, I think of him in terms of another person with whom I discuss things with--having the mentality that he is a "friend" and I do not need to do something his way just because he "suggests" (or commands) it. And other times feeling like he uses blackmail to get my surrender--"I'll keep you away from hell as long as you do what I say". And yet, if he is what he says he is--the maker of everything--than he is not my equal. For as the verse says "He who built the house has more honor than the house" (Hebrews 3:3), the maker is greater than what he has made. He is not just another opinion in the crowd of many and he's not a cruel friend with a power complex.

everyone like music, right?

Selling of Innocents

I stumbled across this documentary today, called Selling of Innocents by Ruchira Gupta. I really like the way film was done, the watcher gets both interviews with the slaves and footage of what the streets of India and the inside of the brothels look like. It's definitely worth watching in my opinion. For your convenience, here is the entire thing:

all things are wonderful until they become popular.

there appears to be an internal struggle as one watches the things he/she likes become endorsed by the public eye. they become popular, more and more people read/watch/listen to them and then shout their endorsement from the rooftops...or their Facebook/twitter. for example, when the Montreal-based operatic folk rock wonder Arcade Fire emerged (no pun intended) David Bowie apparently bought a stack of Funeral and gifted his close friends with them. now, its almost too cool to be into their musical style and Win Butler's neo-gothness.

i remember reading Joshua Harris' I Kissed Dating Goodbye and thinking it was quite wonderful. now, a few years later...i still think it is a good book but i am frankly rather annoyed with how people have elevated the ideas presented in it to the level of sacred scripture. yes, someone out there probably thinks Joshua Harris is the sage of our times or something like that. i think its quite apparent that Harris never meant the book to become the completion of every good little american christian's library--which is why i get annoyed.

and then there is the Don Miller; perhaps the latest celebrity on the Christian non-fiction stage. after Blue Like Jazz everyone decided that this man who hangs out at Reed College was the most amazing creature on the earth. (don't get the impression i dislike Miller--i think Blue Like Jazz is ingenious, i just want to remind people that he's a human that's probably going to die of lung cancer).

and then there is Coldplay--the band that has redefined hype. many people will hear me ranting on about how i dislike Coldplay, well that's frankly not quite true--Coldplay is fine. i just pretend i dislike them because they are so popular and i'm tired of hearing about Chris Martin becoming the next Bono (yes i have my own fan cult that believes in the immortality of Paul Hewson...i can't decide if "jk" is appropriate here or not)

so why do i have this disdain of the mainstream? probably something to do with adolescent rebellious behavior no doubt. the hippie idea of going against the flow. the ideology of not letting the consumerist machine define what one spends one's hard earned money on. what is the worth of paying the money for the pleasure of status conferral?...it is nonexistent.

someday i will learn not to attempt to write late at night. until then, you have me always.