Nonpareil Of Favor

I've been doing a lot of thinking in regards to Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? and Skeletal Lamping. I was asked a while back which one I preferred, and when posed with this question, I thought to myself "That's a difficult choice to make. Both albums are constructed in unique ways". I went on to choose Skeletal Lamping, however, because I was listening to those songs more at that time. Shortly thereafter, all I listened to was Hissing Fauna. I enter many phases of music. These phases can last a day, weeks, sometimes even a month or so.

So, my conclusion is this; they are nonpareil. (no pun intended...sort of)

non-pa-reil:
–adjective
1. having no equal; peerless.

Synonyms: alone, incomparable, matchless, only, peerless, singular, unequaled, unexampled, unmatched, unparalleled, unrivaled

I do not think that Hissing Fauna and Skeletal Lamping can be compared in that they are completely different.

With Skeletal Lamping, I feel like Of Montreal took many new directions, musically. It's like a melting pot of sound. Barnes, I feel, was adventurous and bold with this release for that reason.

Hissing Fauna, I feel, is more consistent, and does not jump around as much.

These two albums are two separate entities, and each album has their own grouping.

It is all subjective. These are two drastically different albums.

This is turning into a rant of sorts.

My final point is, I am not going to pick between the two. Although, right now, I'm still in my Hissing Fauna phase. That could all change come sunrise tomorrow.

Music is forever changing.

Perhaps one day I'll come to a solid conclusion, and when I do, I'll let you all know.

I think that the title of this post, and the whole argument I made with "nonpareil" may have in fact contradicted my whole point.

Oh well.

I apologize for this poorly written post.

Arcade Fire // Burning Bridges

As a means of promotion for Arcade Fire's latest documentary, the band has released an mp3 of "Burning Bridges" (the instrumental version of a song that you may or may not be familiar with entitled "Burning Bridges, Breaking Hearts".)If you've ever seen Arcade Fire live, chances are you've heard it live.

Stream "Burning Bridges" here.
Stream "Burning Bridges, Breaking Hearts" here.

Also, Arcade Fire are contributing a song entitled "Lenin" for the Dark Was The Night compilation. All proceeds go towards benefiting The Red Hot Organization, which raises awareness about HIV and AIDS. The album will be available February 16th (worldwide) and February 17th (North America).

Much like the Habitat compilation I posted about a few days ago, Bryce Dessner of The National is also a part of this compilation, this time as role of producer.

That is all for now.

Sufjan Stevens Literature

Thanks to All Good Naysayers, I just found out that Sufjan Stevens has a degree in creative writing, and has some written work floating around out there. AGN have provided various short stories, essays, interviews, and reviews from Sufjan Stevens.

Among these written works is an 18-page short story entitled We Are Shielded By The Holy Ghost, which I just began reading. It was written in 2002, and won The New School Chapbook Award in the fiction category in 2003. It also went on to be printed in 2003. While it is not known how many exact copies were printed, they were sold at shows during that time. I'm wondering if I could possibly find a physical copy somehow. For now, though, the electronic version will do just fine.

Read all of Sufjan's stories and other works here.

The Death of the Banana

Bananas as we know it are dying, or so "they" say. It is assumed that within 10-30 years, the wonderful yellow fruit as we know it will not exist anymore.

I thought this was interesting information to share.

read more here.

New Peter Bjorn & John

According to Some Velvet Blog, Kanye West has leaked a new Peter, Bjorn, & John song off of their latest album due in March.

It's actually rather catchy, and upbeat.

listen to it here
read Kanye's blog here.

Habitat

One of my favorite musicians, Sufjan Stevens, is at it again. This time, with a band called Tidal River. The band is comprised of Sufjan Stevens, Lowell Brams (founder of Asthmatic Kitty), and Bryce Dessner (of The National).

They contributed a song entitled "A Cross Section Of Clown Mountain" for the Habitat Compilition, which is a 2-disc compilation benefiting Habitat For Humanity. As a member of Habitat For Humanity, and a fan of Sufjan's music, it was great to see this happen.

Habitat is on sale for $10.

For more information about the compliation or if you want to purchase it, please click here

Kid Color

I've noticed that Kid Color (Kyle Woods) has been getting a lot of positive responses in regards to his remixes and mash-ups, and I'm quite happy for him. I went to school with Kyle, and although I didn't know him all that well, I'm glad he's getting his stuff out there. Apparently he did a show with Flosstradamus in Chicago in 2008. In my opinion, that's pretty good for just being in the dj realm for a relatively short time.

Obstacle 1 (Kid Colors She Can Readmix)Interpol - Kid Color

If you're in the Chicago area, check Kid Color out. He has a few dates set up for the month of January.