RIP Michael Robert Freding

I realize we didn't remain in touch after high school, but I hate to know that I'll never see you again.

Just got back from Egypt on Sunday. Pictures

On the one hand, I am a little embarrassed to be approaching 29 years old, sneaking around my apartment at 9:45pm because the doorbell rang unexpectedly, and then being reluctant to open it when I see two dudes who I have never seen before standing in the hallway ( Read more... )

New meme: here's a totally random way to make your new random band's new random album cover. Post one! Go to “Wikipedia.” Hit “random” and the first article you get is the name of your band. Then go to “Random Quotations” and the last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album. Then, go to Flickr and ( Read more... )

Wow, it's all over. Slightly over one year, and I listened to 58 albums, all chosen by you. Perhaps more interestingly, that suggests I have another 500 or so CDs that have just been collecting dust for the last six or seven years, which is kind of a frightening thought: why do I need that much music that I don't listen to? Then again, the way I ( Read more... )

I know that Jesus & Mary Chain are one of those bands that everyone should hear and get into at some point, but I never did. I ended up with Darklands after spending a week visiting a friend in Nairobi -- in between drinking and drug abuse, I burned a few CDs. I don't know if I ever listened to those discs, but I doubt it. So, listening to J&MC now ( Read more... )

Well, a year on and we're winding down this project. I wish I'd come up with a clever name for it, like the guys at the AV Club did with Popless or My Year of Flops. However, I didn't really know what I was gonna do or for how long it would remain interesting. Anyway, I will have more comments on all of that after I finish this for good next week, ( Read more... )

I have tons of CDs I've never bothered to rip for whatever reason. As such, many of them I have not listened to for years. Some of them I've probably not played since before moving to Russia, nearly six years ago. Now while I obviously kept all these discs because I liked them c. end-2001, some of them probably don't necessarily merit another ( Read more... )

I was pretty surprised when the Evergreen Trio / February Stars Union split "Adults Are Threatening Creatures" tied (four-fucking-way!) for this week, as I honestly haven't given either band a thought in years. Well, I should say that is only true about the FSU -- Evergreen Trio I thought of last year when their solo album came through ( Read more... )

Another day, another compilation (that time of year, I suppose). Today it's an album that, from what I recall, was set to celebrate Warp Records tenth anniversary: Warp Routine. Again, I am sure I acquired this for free back in my music director stage of life, a time when I wasn't picky about my acquisitions, as I wasn't paying for them, and the ( Read more... )