So, surprisingly enough, I didn't love Fastball's album on first listen. I bought "Tonight: Franz Ferdinand" the same day, but it didn't really do much for me either. Then I saw Franz live, and went back to their album and loved it. I couldn't stop listening to it. After that kinda faded a little, I went back to Fastball. Oh man. What is wrong with me?
I LOVE Little White Lies. The title track is awesome, the closing song "Soul Radio" is epic. But the middle stretch "How Did I Get Here?" "We'll Always Have Paris" "Angelie" and especially "She's Got The Rain" is 14 minutes of pure bliss. Complete genius. It's so weird that this stuff can't hit me on first listen. It's so weird that it has to soak in. I wonder how many things out there I'm missing out on because they need more time.
Also, I got the Decemberists' "The Hazards of Love." It's a pretty darn cool album, and the ambition of it is admirable. I need to sit down with it some evening and read the lyrics as I go, since I've got most of the story figured out, but there's still a couple details I'm hazy on.
All in all, it feels good to be listening to contemporary music again. It feels good to be back on the forefront of music. And most of all, it feels good knowing that there are still great musicians out there making music that I love. I thought those days were over.
