Four Bands Worth Mentioning Today

1. Mumford and Sons — They get better with every listen. How can you sit still or feel nothing when listening to them? If you can sit still, you’re either dead, a stone wall or a ficus tree.
2.  The Vaccines — What Else Would You Expect? is the name of their debut album, but honestly your Monkey did not expect anything when he decided to give these guys a try. Great, catchy garage pop. They’re like the Ramones without all the punk rock icon baggage, or early Weezer (in spirit if not exact musical sound).
3. Salem — This Monkey loves him some synth-heavy witchhaus music. Mix layered vocals with layered synths and slow the whole thing down to a morphine blur, and you’ve got something.
4.  The Beastie Boys — Hot Sauce Committee Part Two is a good album and is worth your consideration! It’s great to have them back. The world needs the Beastie Boys alive and kicking and making great music.

Here’s a vaccination of the Vaccines for your musical pleasure.

 

Best Music of 2010 so far

In very few words, here is what your Monkey thinks are the top candidates for album of the year thus far…

1. Mumford & Sons – “Sigh No More” (a sweeping, swelling and moving reinterpretation of English folk)
2. Sleigh Bells — “Treats” (overmodulated electro noise that is super sweet, like a sugar-coated punch in the face)
3. Midlake – “The Courage of Others” (melodic, melancholy, and medieval)
4. Phosphorescent — “Here’s To talking It Easy” (golden, sunkissed acoustic rock with surprising variety and depth)

And the top single of the year thus far…

Bloodbuzz Ohio by the National (A melodic lament framed my shimmering waterfalls of snare drum percussion. Really?!)

And the best audiobook heard thus far (admittedly this list is not based on extensive listening)

War by Sebastian Junger — a gritty look at war that neither glamorizes it nor downplays its more exciting moments. Junger does an amazing job of describing the chaos of war, the randomness of death, and the frustrating tedium of waiting for the next battle to start.

Check this stuff out already.

And so the solo year begins

Your Monkey is now officially on his own my friends. A small studio apartment in an unfamiliar town is where he now calls home. There is no one to talk to but himself, no one to clean up after but himself, and no one to blame for all of life’s ills but himself.

So far the bedroom portion of the apartment is looking like home, while the kitchen side still leaves a lot to be desired. There is a table (purchased on craigslist for $30) to assemble, dishes to put away, and plastic tubs filled with clothes that need to find a temporary home.

The apartment was empty and clean when your Monkey moved in, but several small nagging issues remain.

• All three outlets on the outer wall of the building don’t have any juice in them
• The outlet in the bathroom doesn’t have any juice, either
• Someone is parking in your monkey’s assigned parking spot
• Someone else (or is it the same nefarious individual) has filled up your Monkey’s basement storage space with their stuff
• No mail is being delivered here yet!
• Shower pressure and nozzle leave a lot to be desired

Stay tuned for more updates and complaints.

In the meantime, here is a song to tide you over. Even your grumpy monkey finds it hard to stay cranky when listening to the glorious soaring sounds of mumford & sons.