February Album Reviews

Lily Allen: It's Not Me, It's You, Rating 6.2

Lily Allen's sophomore album "It's Not Me, It's You" falls a little flat compared to her debut album "Alright, Still." There are some strong tracks throughout the album that I really enjoy but there are also just some plain silly tracks. Allen's lyrical focus on this album is a lot more serious and political then "Alright, Still" but for some reason it just seems like a weird resource for these opinions. I'm sorry Lily, it's not you, it's me. I plan on leaving most of the tracks on my ipod and will enjoy them as them come on random but I don't ever see myself saying, "I really want to listen to It's not Me, It's You right now."

M. Ward: Hold Time, Rating 7.7

I don't know what it is but for some reason I want to be M. Ward. Maybe it is his incredible guitar skills, his soothing voice, his overall style or maybe it's just the fact that he is in a band with Zooey Deschanel. As far as "Hold Time" goes, it's not a great album or musically ground breaking in any way but it makes me smile and tap my toes. "Hold Time" seems like it will be the perfect album for this upcoming spring. The songs are fun and make me happy so that is why this album got a 7.7.

Various Artists: Dark Was The Night, Rating 8.8

"Dark Was The Night" is the latest two disc charity compilation from the Red Hot organization who is the leading international organization for fighting AIDS. Imagine you were throwing a birthday party for yourself and you invited all your best friends. Not only does every single friend show up but a few friends brought along a couple of their friends and they ended up being super cool too, pretty much making this the raddest birthday party you've ever had. Well that sums up "Dark Was The Night." With artists/bands like Bon Iver, Fiest, Grizzy Bear, The National, Yeasayer, Iron & Wine, Sufjan Stevens, Spoon, Arcade Fire, Sharon Jones, My Morning Jacket and Conor Oberst just to name a few how can this not be amazing. All the songs are unreleased recordings so it's all new stuff. A good mixture of new originals and some covers. This one is a no brainer. Buy it, love it and support a good cause.

Dan Auerbach: Keep it Hid, Rating 5.9

This is the first solo effort of the Black Key's guitarist/singer Dan Auerbach. Being a Black Keys fan but also realizing that the Black Keys having musically backed them self into a corner or minimal blues rock I was very excited to see what Dan's solo effort would bring. Guess what, more songs that sound like the Black Keys. I don't know why I am that surprised, the Black Keys are a two piece band and when you take away the drummer the sound probably isn't going to change all the drastically. The Album is just okay...meh.

Various Artists: War Child Presents Heroes, Rating 6.4

Legendary artists/bands pick one of their songs and a new hip artist/band to cover it, awesome right? Well...War Child Heroes is a great idea not executed to it's fullest. I'd say of the 15 tracks on the CD about a third of them are REALLY good, a third are alright and a third are just boring. Fortunately the really good third makes it worth while. Beck's cover of Dylan, Hold Steady's cover of Springsteen, TV on the Radio's cover of Bowie, and Duffy's cover of Wings are extremely good. the big disappointments are the Yeah Yeah Yeah covering The Ramones and Peaches covering Iggy Pop.

P.O.S.: Never Better, Rating 8.2

First I have to admit this is the first P.O.S. album I've listen to in full and feel a little ashamed of that fact. I've heard his songs on the Current and have seen him live with DoomTree and really dig his style but have only now come around to listening to his music. I don't know if his other albums are this good but man I picked a good starting point. P.O.S. for lack of a better term is punk-rap. His songs are political, angry, in your face and at times hardcore. The beats on this album are worth it alone. Go out and buy this album and help support the local music scene. I actually saw this album for sale at the Plymouth Target...weird, but good.

Ben Kweller: Changing Horses, Rating 4.8

Ben Kweller decided as his album title states to changes horses for this one and try his shot at an alt country album. The alt country seen is a little tired and just overdone now, I'm not sure what Ben thought he'd be able to add to the genre other than a mediocre album, which is exactly what he did. I personally think this album is about 7 years too late. I do have to say in all fairness, Ben Kweller is an amazing live show and I will continue to go see him when he comes to town.

Black Lips: 200 Million Thousand, Rating 6.1

I've listened to this album through a couple times now and I think this one will grow on me over time. Black Lips have a low-fi garage rock sound that reminds me a lot of The Stoogies or Radio Birdman. If you like distorted guitars, distorted vocal harmonies and just flat out raw rock and roll give this album a shot. I think if you were to ask me about this album later in the year, I'd rank it a little higher.

Ben Kweller and The Watson Twins at The Varsity

Last week we went to see Ben Kweller and The Watson Twins at The Varsity theater in Dinkytown. This was our first show at The Varsity, not a bad venue at all.

I was really excited to see The Watson Twins again since their last show at the turf we saw was a solid. They did not disappoint. The first couple songs the sound seemed a little off, the music was over powering their vocals but the sound guy seemed to fix it quickly. They mostly did songs from the album Fire Songs. They also did a really good cover of Bill Wither's "Ain't No Sunshine."

Now on to Ben Kweller. I have to admit I wasn't extremely excited to see Ben but I knew it would probably be a good show. Kweller rocked the house! I was very impressed with how talented he and his band are and the high energy of the show. Ben's new album "Changing Horses" was his first attempt at an alt country album. It was fun to hear some of his older songs with the lap steel guitar giving them a cool country feel. I would go see Ben again in a heartbeat and suggest that you go too!

New addition to the Plaisted household

Mary and I have been fostering Suzie now for about 2 months and have absolutely fallen in love with her. So guess what, we failed at fostering...again and adopted this awesome dog. Suzie is the most chill dog you will ever met. She is content with finding a nice pillow to lay on our be right by you side to give you love. Suzie is a great balance for our first foster failure Penny Lane who likes to be more active and play a lot.

Suzie came to use via the Sioux Falls Human Society where she was surrendered by her previous owners. Suzie is a basset hound beagle mix which makes for a pretty interesting looking dog and she is five years old.

Welcome to your new home Suzie Magoo!

Football Update

I am a couple steps closer to my football dreams. I made another stop to Soccer Planet in Plymouth to get shin pads and socks. I left the store with some new socks and my first ever kick ass pair of indoor soccer shoes. I tried on a pair of large shin pads but since I have the calves or rugby player and not a football player I will have to wait to next week for them to get in some extra larges. My football look is almost complete!

Now as far as the skills and conditioning...I still haven't actually kicked a football yet, other than a little dribbling back and forth in my living room. But the good news is I am 5 pounds closer to my goal of losing 25 pounds before the season starts only 20 pounds left!

Here are my awesome new Jomas!

January Album Reviews

I am going to try something new here on The Wigwam instead of my "CD recommendation of the week" (which I obviously can't keep up with) I am going to give my opinion and a short review of all the new albums I've listened that came out in that month.

I will rate every album on a 10 point system. 1 being absolute garbage and 10 being an instant classic. So let's start with the first month of 2009, January!

Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion, Rating 9.2

I think I can safely say that no other band sounds likes Animal Collective and no other band could make an album like "Merriweather." Animal Collectives two vocalist's voices combine perfectly like a tasty peanut butter and jelly sandwich laced with LSD. Musically Animal Collective is almost indescribable. It's mainly electronic, at times taking sounds I would probably find annoying on their own but some how making them beautiful by adding impressive beats and those great vocals I mentioned earlier. Be prepared to see this on a lot of peoples end of the year best albums list. Click the picture of the album cover to give you an idea of what you are in for.


Antony and the Johnson's: Crying Light, Rating 8.0

If you've never heard Antony Hegarty's voice before your ears probably hate you. Each song on "The Crying Light" is a moving story that Antony presents so beautifully you can't help but fell engaged. The main focus of this album is Birth into Life into Death. This is a album demands attention, I've found the more intimate of a listen you give Antony's albums the more pleasure it will give you.

Franz Ferdinand: Tonight, Rating 6.2

Tonight is the 3rd studio album from Franz Ferdinand and to be honest I'd probably rate all of them 6.2. They are one of those bands that I don't make it a point to listen to but when they come on my ipod or the radio I always enjoy the song. If you are fan of Franz Ferdinand then you will like this album. Tonight my not pump out the radio singles like their last two albums but it is still packed full of good catchy pop guitar riffs.

Bon Iver: Blood Band (EP), Rating 7.8

This little four song treat was a perfect followup to 2007 "For Emma." "Blood Bank" has a fuller sound with some more instrumentation than the completly stripped down guitar and vocal style of "For Emma." One thing that hasn't changed though is Vernon's amazing lyrics and incredible voice.

Bruce Springsteen: Working on a Dream, Rating 3.3

Bruce, Bruce, Bruce...what the hell happened? I have to admit I was pretty excited for this album and man did it disappoint. Right from the get go it fails when Bruce attempts an epic 8 minute tune titled "Outlaw Pete. " It's almost embarassing, for someone that has written some of the best charactor driven songs of all time. The only saving grace on this album is the song "The Wrestler" I would suggest just downloading that tune from itunes for a buck.

My Football (Soccer) Dreams Are Coming True!

So as some of you may know I am a huge English Premiership Football fan (Go West Ham!) but I haven't played football a lick of football since I was in kindergarten. Well that is all about to change...I have started a Co-ed indoor soccer team for a Target league which starts on March 26th. I figured I've watched my fair share of football so let's give it a shot.

I am starting a new blog entry series documenting my step by step journey to becoming a football player.

My first step on this journey was to buy a football. I figured what better place to go than soccer planet in Plymouth. I walked into the shop and immediately felt out of my element. I took a look around the place, looking for the balls. I spotted the large crate full of all different colors and sizes of footballs. I knew from my prior internet research that I needed a size 5 ball. Now not having actually handled a football in a long time I expected them to be bigger than they were. I asked the lady working there "Do you have any size 5 balls? All these look pretty small." She answered "I think most of them in there are size 5, just dig around and the ball should say it's size." Alright Anton...good start. So I found my ball in the pile, made the purchase and happily brought the ball home to meet the family.

I quickly realized my first problem, that I do not have the body of a football player or the physicality. To remedy this I have vowed to loose 25 pounds before the start of the season. I plan to do this by going to the gym 6 times a week and cutting out snacking.

Next planned step, Shin Pads! Stay tuned.