Paula Abdul Sound Orchester

"Your voice is truly your instrument, and it is an entire orchestra." I think that's what Paula said tonight? That's crazy.

We're drinking the Bailey's we liberated from my parents' liquor cabinet. At least I'm drinking it. It was in a special "1997 edition" container and the label says it would be best enjoyed by December 1998. So I guess that makes it finely aged. It tastes a little like bubblegum. That's slightly odd. I just started sneezing and my ears are ringing a bit. Oh well, at least I don't have to work tomorrow.

I was supposed to work seven straight days to cover for someone who just quit, but I got lucky and got the day off tomorrow. Go Team Me. Now I have to work on Friday, but dude whatever. Better four days on/ one day off/ three days on/ one day off than seven days on/ two days off, right? I think that's reasonable.

So today, I got to spend my first full-time weekday at work. Did I tell you I got promoted to full-time? No? Well I did. After less than two months, I think that's making pretty good time.

I got Chris to drop me off at the express bus stop and everything, although I ended up taking the local because it was almost empty. I felt responsible. I got on this bus and this crazy cranked-out guy got on and started having this conversation with his "lady" about wearing corduroys. It was outstanding. Even with my headphones on, I could still make it out. I need to write it down before I forget. He asked everyone if he could borrow their phone "just for a second" and then when he finally proceeded to sucker this guy into lending him his phone, he made about 17 calls on it. Tremendous.

My throat feels a little itchy. Is that supposed to happen?

So you know I broke down and got the domestic version of the new Doves album because I'm still waiting for my limited edition linen slipcased CD/DVD package to arrive from the U.K. and I simply could not wait for the music anymore, man.

I got to listen to it about twice and plus some and it's really really wonderfully good. At first it reminded me a little bit too much of American Music Club's Mercury which is hardly a quality complaint, certainly, because I love that album to death, but it was just feeling too familiar in an un-Dovesian way. But then I got over it. It's great. It's DEECE. And Jimi, you know, Jimi's still hot. Yes, I've seen what his hair looks like now. I know. I know. There's trust there, you've got to understand me.

Here's my track-by-track what I remember of it without going back and listening to it to doublecheck things.

1) "Some Cities" - ooh. The first two lines are like "I think I've seen you before/ I think we should settle a score" or something, and how can you not love being greeted with that to start an album.

2) "Black and White Town" - the single, I quite honestly can't get enough of it. Very unlike the rest of the album in its jollity bumpfulness but a good introduction to its eerie Morricone elements with all that hot processing, which I took to be throwing the piano line from "Just Got Lucky" by JoBoxers down an echo chamber. And J.G., you know, he's still very foxy.

3) "Almost Forgot Myself" - lovely. Oh my. It's simply Sheila Divine, and I mean that literally. You will be amazed.

4) "Snowden" - the chimes are BACK. Very lovely, with the Morricone-ness and some Goldfrappy theremin oooohs to punctuate it. Is this the next single? Can't complain. There's one of many "mans" in this one, where the first lyric is something like, "I said, man, can you help me out?" and I begin to suspect J.G. is familiar with using that word the same way I use "dude" only I think his version sounds much better.

5) "The Storm" - one of the Williams ones, like a George Harrison song on a Beatles album. Swirly. I guess it takes part of the Ryuichi Sakamoto score from Snake Eyes, right, and I'm curious to know if they even saw that awful piece of crap or perhaps if they share my curious affection for Gary Sinise. I'd enjoy sitting down with J.G. to discuss the complexities of A Midnight Clear if not the entire Keith Gordon oeuvre. We could have a nice side conversation about the works of John Heard. Anyway, there's this weird stop-start looping of the samples where the cut-offs become the percussion, basically, and I'm drinking expired Bailey's so I could be writing in Farsi right now for all I know.

6) "Walk in Fire" - this is where I can't make up my mind yet because it's the obvious centerpiece of the album, yet it's basically an American Music Club cover of "There Goes the Fear." The resemblances are uncanny. Check back with me in two years, this will probably be my all-time favorite song.

7) "One of These Days" - actually right now, this is practically my all-time favorite song.

8) "Someday Soon" - and this is practically second.

9) "Shadows of Salford" - another Williams song, see above.

10) "Sky Starts Falling" - cute cute cute! Probably cuter than it's intended to be. PEPPY. I think I need to read the lyrics and I'll change my mind.

11) "Ambition" - and we float on, or out, or ... ? There's a big helping of Eitzel in here, so I need to reserve judgment on this for a bit. Also the first time I heard it I was in Walgreens and I don't really remember it enough.

There it is.

And don't forget:

Still foxy.

Posted by Kim at March 7, 2005 10:51 PM | Etc. | Musics