Damn, does time fly.
It feels like I wrote my review of TV On the Radio’s Dear Science just a couple of months back but checking the timestamp I see it was published on New Year’s Eve, 2008. Are we really halfway through 2009 already?
My opinion of the album hasn’t diminished a bit since then. It continues to feel like something brand new, a fresh blend of sounds and ideas with the funkiness of Prince and the lyrical ingenuity of Elvis Costello.
In addition to launching a spirited competition between me and my 13-year-old niece for axe supremacy, the Wii Guitar Hero World Tour game has introduced me to a lot of good music. For both of those reasons, I treasure it.
I thought about doing a whole theme week of songs I’ve grown to love through Guitar Hero, but then I realized my only association with them is the game and I didn’t know what I’d say about each, apart from “lots of tricky chords in this one” and “hard to hit star power in this one without screwing up my streak.” So I’ve chosen one song to represent the bunch. Perhaps I’ll revisit the others (by such bands as Jimmy Eat World, Paramore and Foo Fighters) at another time.
A couple of weeks ago there was some debate over whether I consider myself a “fan” of Dave Matthews Band. I don’t consider myself a fan of the group because I haven’t bought or listened to any of their past several albums (including Matthews’ solo effort). But I was certainly a big fan a decade or so ago after they released the wonderful Under the Table and Dreaming and Crash albums. So did they just lose their shine?
If I had to point to a turning point for my appreciation of the band, it would be after the “release” of the bootleg album The Lillywhite Sessions. As the story goes, the band recorded a batch of songs with respected producer Steve Lillywhite but weren’t happy with the sessions. The songs were shelved but ultimately leaked to the Web.
Meet Me In Montauk 