so i had the day off today

and today has just been a weird day. i woke up in a bad mood - mainly because i had a friend stay at my place for the weekend and even though i barely saw her, i was ready to have the place to myself again this morning.

i'm also not sure i like these four day weekends. the 'relatively' recent (or really not that recent and it's time for me to pick myself up by the boot-straps and move on) breakup has made me relish the time when i'm too busy to think. that's normal, i'm sure. although, perhaps i should avoid movies like Say Anything.

alas, the famous "In Your Eyes" scene is currently plastered across my screen. however, this screening has not been a completely self-loathing experience. i've noticed a few things about the movie that i've found quite amusing:
1) the dad is totally creepy. i feel like he comes across more creepy than intended. if the dad were a real person, he'd totally be in an episode of dateline's "to catch a predator."
2) diane looks like a meth addict in the scene at the kick boxing gym. sorry. when she says "i left home," does she neglect to mention the "and became a meth addict" part?
3) "I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen." is possibly the best movie quote ever.
4) seeing as almost every fashion trend in this flick can be spotted on queen west any given day of the week, i'm waiting for the feminized pirate hat diane wears in the final scene to make a comeback.
5) i'd like to meet a hopeless romantic. not anytime soon, but eventually. and i know that's not really that amusing. though, the fact that i'm making it a life goal might be. heh.

anyway, excuse the personal crap. i just needed to vent and i'm fairly certain that not a single soul reads this. it's just that, sometimes, it's nice to talk and not be talked back to. i avoid the 'talked back to' part when i write here, and, in a strange way, i still get the satisfaction of getting something off my chest. that's why people blog, i suppose.

moving on. my post for today is not supposed to be about personal crap or say anything. it's about J Tillman - another recent music love and another discovery due in part to social networking. i fucking love the internet. i came across J. Tillman one day on facebook, when a casual acquaintance with excellent music taste added his video to her FB feed.

J. Tillman's Vacilando Territory Blues is his fifth... fifth, solo record. i don't understand why i've not heard his stuff before. maybe because three of those five solo records were just released digitally this past fall, but that's besides the point (i should research before i start to write, i suppose. hah.) anyway, the album is hauntingly beautiful. Tillman also plays drums in one of the most highly acclaimed indie bands a la moment: fleet foxes. clearly this guy's got something a brewin'.

if you're looking for the fleet foxy sound on this record, you're not going to find it. that could be because he's a rather new addition to the band, but either way, it's entirely more current-sounding than anything on the fleet foxes self-titled album. i can best describe Vacilando Territory Blues as lo-fi, ryan adams-esque indie rock, with a bit of folk thrown in for good measure. non-traditional americana, howabout that.

"first born" is one of my favourite tracks. it's simple and beautiful and so is the video.



"Steel on Steel" and "New Imperial Grand Blues" are nice surprises.

"James Blues" is a stunning track, too. again. i'm in love with production on this record. it sounds like the record was recorded in a (rather large) bathroom, live, in one take. i love music that just sounds... organic... please excuse the use of a buzz word as ubiquitous as 'organic.'

love, Love, LOVE J. Tillman. Buy his shit here.