Monday, January 08, 2007

Bike Love

Came across this quote tonight from Travis Culley's book "The Immortal Class":

"What these people don't know is that the bicycle is more than a sport and more than a job. The bicycle is a revolution, an assault on civilian territory, intent upon taking, from the ground up, responsibility for the shape of our cities. It is a mutiny, challenging the ever-one-way street. The bicycle is a philosophy, a way of life, and I am using it like a hammer to change the world and to redeem our war-torn cities."


Listening to: Sun Kil Moon- Tiny Cities

Monday, January 01, 2007

Best of 2006 (better late than never)

Happy New Year to you all. We rang in the New Year with five other couples and our collective twelve kids. My how things have changed in the past five years!

The other morning I was riding to work and my mind began to wander, the way it only can when you are pedaling away mindlessly. I began to think about all the great music that came out in 2006, much of it still on my mental shopping list, but below is a short list of some of my favorite albums that made their way into my collection this past year. Sure there were others-- Sonic Youth’s “Rather Ripped” comes to mind, but I haven’t purchased it yet. I have also included a few concerts that made 2006 tough to beat.

TV On The Radio- “Return to Cookie Mountain”
This album probably gets more play than anything else I bought last year. I have the hardest time describing TVOTR to people who haven’t heard of them, but I think the Aquarium Drunkard said it best when he stated that this record “makes you want to blow shit up”. An eleven song revolution.

Josh Ritter- “The Animal Years”
Track for track, some of my favorite songs of the year. Ritter's lyrics are pure poetry.

Built to Spill- “You in Reverse”
‘Just a Habit’ just may have been the greatest song of 2006. I am always curious which songs radio stations will choose for their first song of the New Year. This year our local independent station played Ben Harper’s 'Better Way'; good tune, but if I worked at a radio station I would have played ‘Just a Habit’.

Destroyer- “Destroyer’s Rubies”
Saw Dan Bejar open for Magnolia Electric Co. last April, great show. This album took a few spins for it to grow on me, but it truly deserves to be at the top of so many end of the year lists.

Los Lobos- “The Town and The City”
Classic Los Lobos sound. This one reminds me of “Kiko”, one of my all time favorite albums.

I blogged about these concerts in the past year, all great shows. You should have been there with me.
Josh Ritter/Hem- April 28 @ The Narrows Center (Fall River, MA)
Barn Burning (Acoustic Show) - August 22 @ Julian's (Providence, RI)
Bob Dylan- August 24 @ McCoy Stadium (Pawtucket, RI)
Jason Molina & MEC - March 27 @ The Middle East Club (Cambridge, MA)