The Jeff Hostetler of Blogs

While it's no longer completely awkward to listen to, I still at times find last year's Aaliyah album to be emotionally confusing. "More Than A Woman" is probably the most upbeat song on the album and was a bit of a sidestep. She has always had a beautiful voice, warm and breezy, but still very calm and always under control. In "More Than A Woman" she seems to let loose a litte and is more excitable and forward in her delivery than in her previous work. This is her "declaration" song, where she not only establishes her previously unseen vocal versatility, but her blossoming womanhood as well. Now I'm sure some of these impressions can be partially attributed to the excellent, bouncy production, but unlike her other work with Timbaland, I think for the first time, there is an underlying sense that Aaliyah is the true focal point of the song. That, I think, is part of what made this song seem so confusing when taken in context with her death. There is such a celebratory tone to the song, as if it was commemorating the moment that Aaliyah had finally come into her own. The song is powerful enough to delude me into temporarily believing that she's still around, ready to drop yet another pop masterpiece on the world. I get swept up in the jubilance, only to have reality eventually set in and temper any excitement with a cold, empty sadness. It's not an intense sadness, being that I never actually knew Aaliyah, but it's enough to create a stir of emotions that can sometimes be a bit uncomfortable.
- posted by Shane @ 1:36 AM
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HBO's Oz is far and away my favorite show on television, but after seeing an episode like this week's, I can understand why it isn't everyone's cup of tea. The final scene involving Robson and Said's "weakest" follower was just gruesome. Most of the recurring "evil" characters on this show occasionally reveal some side of their personality that tells you there's an ounce of humanity left in them. Schillinger, I think, is one of those characters, someone who acts on totally misguided views, but upon reflection, can at least sometimes empathize with the people he creates so much misery for. Robson, on the other hand, is what you'd imagine a man with no conscience to be like. When he inflicts pain on others, it's apparent that his lack of remorse is due to something other than just some twisted justification from a corrupted belief system. He's cold and callous because he enjoys it. I used to be a little disturbed by the fact that Oz made it so easy to identify with its deeply flawed characters. I now find it even more disturbing that I cannot relate to the purely evil ones on any level at all. It's disheartening enough to recognize that there are Schillingers in this world. I don't even want to awknowledge the possibilty that there are Robsons.
- posted by Shane @ 12:37 AM
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I'm not at home, so this is all I'm saying. Tecmo Bowl is lame.
- posted by Shane @ 7:19 PM
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Wow, do the Houston Texans have it good or what? I remember the scraps that the Browns were offered in their expansion draft. The closest thing to a marquee player that they picked up was Antonio Langham, and that was only because the 49ers compensated them for helping them alleviate their cap problem. If I recall, the Browns' top pick in that expansion draft was some slightly above average offensive lineman, a center or something. I don't even remember that cat's name. Those guys were a bunch of bush leaguers compared to what's out there for the Texans. Just look at the damn list. Obviously NFL teams haven't managed the salary cap very well these past few years, and the Texans are going to reap the rewards. I know Tony Boselli and Jamal Anderson have been hurt recently, but why wouldn't the Texans grab those guys and say Willie Roaf, giving David Carr, Joey Harrington, or whoever they would have back there at quarterback a fighting chance? It looks as though Boselli might be a little overpaid, but as long as that salary doesn't increase obscenely over the next few years, it seems like a pretty reasonable price to invest in order to protect your quarterback of the future. No doubt their offense would be better than the one the Browns had. On top of that, you'd have to guess that Dom Capers would want to bring in some talented linebackers to bring back that old agressive 3-4. Last time I looked, Jessie Armstead and Jamie Sharper were pretty good players. As long as they avoid Rob Johnson like the plague, and perhaps dig up a couple of bargain overachievers on the defensive line and the secondary, I don't see why this team wouldn't have a fighting chance at a .500 season next year. Didn't the NFL put in that rule that expansion teams have to spend 38% of their cap in the expansion draft so they couldn't just go out and load up on prime time players in free agency? I guess that theory gets thrown out the window when the players in the expansion draft are better than the free agents. If the Texans don't screw this up, it could be the second year Panthers/Jaguars all over again. Well, maybe not, but there's no doubt in my mind that I'll be rooting for the Texans to go all the way if I hear them call out "Charles" come expansion draft day.
- posted by Shane @ 9:44 PM
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Since it seems I'm developing a trend of following up a longer post with some completely random comment, I figured I might as well keep it up. Aside from 80's cartoons, the theme song for The Late, Late Show with Craig Kilborn has got to be the best EVER.
- posted by Shane @ 12:58 AM
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Tim mentioned something to me about the total overexposure of U2 in the media lately. Super Bowl halftime show, NFL playoff advertisements, NBA appearances, WWF, Bono schilling for Chex Mix, you name it. Rather than try to concoct some whack conspiracy theory explaining it all, I instead find myself wondering what it is everyone sees in this "new" U2. Now don't get me wrong. I like U2. At least I like the old U2. How could I have been so off the mark about their latest album, which has gotten them more airplay and public notoriety than anything they've done for the past ten years? Well, to try to answer this question, guess what I did today. That's right, I wiped the dust off of All That You Can't Leave Behind and gave it a spin.

Rather than provide a track-by-track, like some kind of belated review, I'm just going to flat out tell you what went wrong with this thing. First impressions go a long way, and way back in 2000, I remember thinking how un-Eno the whole thing sounded, despite Eno being back on as producer. On the latest album, the different components of the music just sound too distinct, unlike say a lot of Achtung Baby, where the musical lines blend seamlessly together, providing a kind of wash of sound that you can pick your way through and explore as you choose. Now you probably just read that and told yourself, "This guy is full of BS. He doesn't really think that. He's just making up shit for his website." Hold on...let me just explain before you close your browser. I don't know if Eno is responsible this or if it was part of the band's conscious decision to go for a "stripped down" sound, but All That You Can't Leave Behind sounds way too clear. There is too much of an emphasis on Bono's vocals now. It's just too far up in the mix and that is too much of a dominating presence for a lot of people to take. The band may relish in the fact that they no longer need to rely on the vocal effects employed on their nineties albums, but I think they're a necessity as long as Bono chooses to be so overzealous in his singing style. The Joshua Tree came close to crossing this line, but Eno held back a little on the vocals, and the fact that they were a little over-the-top served to compliment rather than detract from the wide-eyed, explorative feel of the album. Moving past the vocals, doesn't anyone think that The Edge sounds far too obvious now? This goes directly back to the different musical lines sounding too distinct. His guitar playing on previous albums tended to dance above the main rhythm, but like on say "Even Better Than The Real Thing", it was unintrusive (my new favorite word) enough that you could easily shift focus back and forth from both the vocals and lower rhythms. The guitar on some of the newer songs sounds a little too "guitar hero" for my tastes and it seems like it's fighting the other musical elements for attention (I'm looking at you "Elevation" and "Walk On"). The worst offense on this album, however, has got to be the near complete disappearance of the warm bass that was found all over their early nineties releases. I don't know what's gotten Adam in the doghouse, but being able to wrap myself up in that comforting bass somehow had the effect of making Bono's blathering seem much more sincere.

I think I do have to admit that a lot of the songs from All That You Can't Leave Behind sound pretty decent in these television snippets. Just the other night, I saw some U2 special, and "Kite" sounded absolutely fantastic over the closing credits. And I suppose "Elevation" fit in pretty well with those Tomb Raider spots. The problem I have with all of this is that the media friendliness has come at the expense of how I relate, or at least used to relate to this band on a personal level. Now I'm not one of those goons who gets angry when his favorite bands become more popular. Frankly, that would be a pretty ridiculous position to take with a mega-band who's been wildly popular for the past two decades anyway. I just think that the musical components that were once present, the ones that so convincingly told me that this music was for me, are no longer there. U2 no longer has anything to say to me. That's just a little sad, I think.
- posted by Shane @ 12:51 AM
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They played that lame song from Tricky's Blowback with the car horns and the uninspired rhythm during the end credits to Gilmore Girls. Why?
- posted by Shane @ 11:06 PM
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Despite not really being able to afford it, today I picked up Stephin Merritt's soundtrack for Eban & Charley along with Felix Da Housecat Kittenz And Thee Glitz. Just a few first impressions... I'm finding it difficult to imagine just what the instrumentals on the Stephin Merritt album could be soundtracking. Many of them are based on little mechanical clicks and whirs, something one would expect to hear from a Piano Magic song, not a film soundtrack. Maybe one of the characters in the movie is a clockmaker. The two Christmas songs have really hollow production. That's all I could really think to say about them. The "normal" songs are what most people will probably buy the album for and are pretty close to what you'd expect. Short and sweet (melodically not lyrically), and chalk full of little Merrittisms. I like most of them so far. "Some Summer Day" might sound a little out of place on a Magnetic Fields album though. I think it's the weepy guitar that makes me think so. As for the Felix Da Housecat album, after one listen through, all I can really say is that the Twist and Shout sales clerk was right. "It's bangin'!"
- posted by Shane @ 11:05 PM
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Back to Third Eye Foundation. Considering that this is supposed to be an album remixing songs by other artists, I've always been amused by the fact that it so blatantly references the previous Third Eye Foundation release, Little Lost Soul. Usually one can expect the remixer to integrate his own style into the reinterpretation, but I'm not sure if I can recall many instances where he decides to completely ape vocal lines and sample from his own songs. When listening to this album for the first time, I KNEW I wouldn't recognize any of the songs, because none of the names of the original artists rung a bell. Much to my surprise, halfway through the first track, what did I hear? The haunting female vocal from Little Lost Soul's "Lost", the motif that I most strongly associate with that album. Later, the fourth track rolled around, and a minute or two into it, I swore I that I could vaguely recall this song from elsewhere. It turns out that this song was just as much a remix of "Goddamnit You've Got To Be Kind", the last track from Little Lost Soul, as it is of Remote Viewer (whoever they are). The song begins with a new, unfamiliar squeak 'n squelch rhythm underneath, and then slowly introduces the individual components that hint at what's coming. It doesn't take long before, all of a sudden, BLAM! "Yeah! I know what this is!"

If you haven't become completely disinterested in reading this by now, you are at least probably wondering what the point of all of this is. In all honesty, there really isn't one. I guess I'm just hung up on how the album seemed to toy with my expectations. If you read almost any Third Eye Foundation review, you'll probably find a description along the lines of "soundtrack to a long lost surrealist film". This music tends to conjure up images of places that you know you've never been to and events you're certain you'll never experience. I thought it was interesting that an artist so renowned for drawing upon "false" memories would incorporate references from his own music, something so real and palpable. Add to that the fact that this was supposed to be a remix album of OTHER people's work, and the snippets from previous Third Eye Foundation songs become even more surprising. Now of course, I realize all of this is probably inadvertent on the artist's part. It is just a result of my familiarity with Third Eye Foundation and my lack of exposure to the groups that were remixed. However, that doesn't prevent me from feeling fortunate that circumstance allowed for this album to end up being a much more interactive and intriguing listen than it otherwise would have been.
- posted by Shane @ 9:21 PM
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Right now, I'm listening to Third Eye Foundation I Poo Poo On Your Juju. Although it's a remix album, I find that I listen to it the same as I would any other album. Never having heard any of the original artists or songs, I don't have any preconceptions about how different or how similar the remixes should sound from the real versions. On some levels, I think this is a good thing. Sometimes when I hear a remix and can recognize the song it's based on, I'll mentally give it a penalty for lack of originality and not give it a fair chance to leave a lasting impression. The tracks on this album all sound like bonafide Third Eye Foundation compositions. I'm still not certain whether this is a result of my aforementioned lack of familiarity with the songs or if it has more to do with Matt Elliott's remix style.
- posted by Shane @ 9:02 PM
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Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I realize "The Jeff Hostetler of Blogs" is a really lame name for a blog. I will change that as soon as I think of something half-way decent.
- posted by Shane @ 1:17 AM
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I used to have a website. You may even still be able to view it if the good people at the University of Colorado haven't axed it yet. Oh well, what does it matter. I haven't updated the thing in a year anyway. I'm well aware, that if I wanted, I could easily transfer my old site to a new host, but it just isn't worth the effort, considering it would just end up sitting untouched and ignored again. Instead, I've decided to go along with the new fad and start a blog. I want to atone for past mistakes, so I've set a personal goal to update daily. Now if you're someone who knows me, you're probably laughing out loud at the very idea, remembering how I couldn't even commit to updating the website yearly. I swear this time will be different though. This blogger thing is pretty good. All I have to do now is type in what I want posted, and then click a button. No more fiddling around in a text editor, creating links, and double-checking that everything looks ok after uploading the update. Of course, such power comes with a price, and as you've seen by now, I am no longer graphics free. I'm now officially an internet whore, with my giant banner ad and my blogger link, but hopefully, it will be worth it if I can write something somewhat insightful every now and then. Just one last thing before I'm off... Since I'm starting anew, I might as well let you know what the point of all of this is. I'm a selfish guy, and my excursions into web self-publishing (if you want to call it that) have always been all about me. :) The purpose of this blog is to provide a means for me to organize my thoughts and present them publicly, yet in an unintrusive manner. I always liked the idea of putting some random thought "out there" and then having some random web denizen stumble upon and respond to that thought on their own terms. I like to write about music and stupid, pointless things, so hopefully, like my old website, this blog will at least entertain someone out there with similar interests.
- posted by Shane @ 1:12 AM
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