Young Mountain

So I went to the record store Amoeba yesterday because my friend gave me a giftcard to that place. I had never gone there before because I don't usually buy music because all my money pays for gas and I usually don't have faith that a record store will carry what I'm looking for.

After much rummaging I was quite dissappointed that I couldn't find more than a handful of albums that I would love to own. But after finally reaching the miscellaneous Y's section I stumbled upon the record I went into Amoeba wishing to leave Amoeba with the most, if that makes any sense. I was really surprised to find the only copy of Yndi Halda's Enjoy Eternal Bliss they had. After all, their collection of post-rock was incredibly limited to the likes of Mogwai, Sigur Ros, and a few other major names. So it was incredibly surprising that I found a copy of a record that only had 150 prints on the first release. Though the one I found was the re-release, I was still pretty ecstatic.

Besides Yndi, I was able to find two copies of This Will Destroy You's Young Mountain in the used section. I didn't want to buy it because artists don't make any profit off used sales, but I couldn't resist. I loved that record more than anything I could find there so I bought it. But when I got home and browsed through the interweb, I felt like complete shit. I bought a used copy of Young Mountain for $6.99+tax, but I found out that Magic Bullet Records, This Will Destroy You's label, was selling it new for $8.50 with no shipping fees!! So, for less than $1.50 extra, I could have actually helped out the little band instead of putting another 7+ dollars into Amoeba's pocket. I also realized, that I was terribly terribly ripped off.

So yeah,

Dear Amoeba,
plz add post-rock to your catalog.
with love and kisses,
Armand

We Flood Empty Lakes

Todd Burns is a fucking douchebag.

Proof

The reason why Todd Burns is a fucking idiot is not because he trashed albums I love. No. It's because he is the definitive definition of "hipster". Look up "hipster" in Webster's dictionary and you will find a picture of Todd Burns.

Here is one reason why:

Of all the reviews Burns has done, he has reviewed albums by two emo bands: Envy and Circle Takes The Square (both of which are undoubtably the two most popular emo bands out today).

It's obvious from this alone that emo is not a genre he is well-informed about, yet he still decides to write reviews on them.

Hipster rule number 1: Try to show that you know about every genre out there.

Secondly, when he reviews these two bands, he does a terrible job at it.

Burns gave Envy's "Insomniac Doze", a snoozefest Mono rip-off, a 'B' and touts them as "crafting a new genre", yet failing to realize that City of Caterpillar pulled this off back in 2002 and is really the band that should be credited to "crafting a new genre" of post-rock influenced emo.

However, Burns gave CTTS's "As The Roots Undo" a 'C', claiming that CTTS couldn't figure out who they wanted to ape more: The Blood Brothers, Envy, or Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Bar having somewhat spasdic vocals, neither Blood Brothers nor CTTS should ever be compared to one another. They sound NOTHING alike. Also, how is CTTS apeing off The Blood Brothers if CTTS's first release, which is like a mini-"As The Roots Undo", was released in 2001 and The Blood Brother's "Adultery is Ripe" was only released one year before that? CTTS likely didn't even know who The Blood Brothers were when they crafted the backbone of their sound.

And again, if CTTS is apeing off anybody in their genre, it's City of Caterpillar. Not Envy. CTTS and Envy have nothing in common other than being dubbed the title "post-rock influenced emo".

Hipster rule number 2: NAMEDROP!!!

In the reviews of Yndi Halda and Laura, Burns makes the most absurd statement I've ever read in a music article, which states:

"There’s no shortage of bands shamelessly working towards filling the enormous hole that Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s demise left in the post-rock landscape. Most of them are rank amateurs. (This Will Destroy You, dreamend, the Ascent of Everest, Gifts from Enola, the Workhouse, Souvenir's Young America: pack it up and go home, dudes, Efrim will take the violins at the door."

Anyone who knows post-rock well will find this statement to be ridiculously hilarious. Has this guy even ever heard The Workhouse or Gifts From Enola? Because no one in their right mind who has heard those two bands would draw a comparison to GY!BE. That's just ridiculous.

Burns is obviously either mentally challenged or namedropping for the sake of trying to earn credibility.

Another ridiculous statement by Burnsy:

"The production is great as well—something that very often goes unremarked upon by post-rock enthusiasts. "

Umm, this man does realize "the rich history of DIY and desire to gravitate away from the overproduced rock sound" (Jordan Volz) by post-rock bands, right??

All-in-all, Todd Burns is not completely a moron. He has written some nice reviews.

However, dear Mr. Burns, please do not write reviews regarding genres that you don't know much about. - yours truly, Armand

We Watched Them Lose Our Minds

Hey there bloggy baby, long time no see. Sorry I haven't posted on you lately, I've just been too busy doing nothing. Literally, nothing.

It's remarkable how much time someone can spend in their life without doing anything productive. It's been eight days since my school started and I have yet to open a book, read notes, or do anything your average student would have accomplished already. Right now I should be reading some stuff about cultural geography cause if I'm not mistaken I have some homework due tommorrow, or doing some linear algebra or electromagnetics homework, but instead I'm posting on this silly thing that no one is going to bother reading anyway.

So I'm here to declare that starting right after I click "PUBLISH", I will turn my life around and actually have one, rather than wasting it away on the internets. Do something productive, i.e. DO MY MOTHERFUCKING HOMEWORK for once in my life. There's always time to mess around and check out new music or whatever it is, but my future has to come first; meaning work first, play second.

And hopefully my blog entries will become interesting as a result of this ;)