Saturday, December 27, 2008
Homonymity is not a choice: A response to Kaleb's response to my. . . whatever he called it
'Sup peoples?
Hear's what I think:
Some words are just dyeing to be misused. I think "their" has always wished that it could be demonstrative, and "there" can't shake the desire to be possessive. These words don't have a choice. After all, who would choose to have to endure all the stigma of being wrong all the time? And they have an excuse - if anybody asks, they were just at the wrong place at the wrong time.
I give these words a place to roam free, and be what they want to be. They need not be confined under the weight of "correct" English grammar. After all, what is correct grammar and word usage anyway? Just the arbitrary whims of thinking people who have the time to write dictionaries and style books. Forget what they say.
Whose with me?
Friday, December 26, 2008
I respond.
We at Flabbergasted wish you a marry Christmas
Friday, December 19, 2008
The Rob Noland Center for Misplaced and Abused Words
Well, I found out something truly amazing a couple days ago. Kaleb hates homonyms! He's what we would call a dehomonyzer, a mahomynist, an anti-homonitic, take your pick. I would say he's a homophobe, but that means something very different (which is rather ironic, isn't it?). In short, he's very intolerant of homonyms.
I however, have much sympathy with homonyms. I have often had the feeling that I'm not where I belong. For example, sometimes I get the idea that I've wandered into the wrong apartment; strengthened by the terrified screams and painful anti-intruder mechanisms (baseball bats) they tend to use. Personally, I don't see what the big deal is. Same building, right? What's the difference? Sheesh. Get a grip people.
Anyway. . .
Inasmuch as I believe that their aren't enough homonyms in Kaleb's posts; I'm going to let homonyms in to mine. I want my posts to be a haven for abused words. I want them to feel that they are always welcome to come into my posts, and be just as wrong as they want to be. After all, they can't help what they are - that is how Webster made them. So, Whose with me?
The only hitch is, I can't have to many, or the post would get overcrowded. Therefore, I will try to have at least one, and not more than 10 in each post. (I might even try to smuggle some into Kaleb's posts. Who knows?)
N.B. I am not actually in favor of unlawful entry into other people's rented rooms. I pretty much stick to my own quarter's in this venerable establishment. And alas, I haven't actually been attacked with a baseball bat during my stay at the "Moscow Hotel".
Green Day- American Idiot
Peoples! Christmas comes early this year (Not particularly early. It should have come in about a month ago. But who cares? It's here!). That's right. . . on vinyl. . . "AMERICAN IDIOT."
Wright now, Jesus of Suburbia is blaring on the record player. This is the way punk was meant to be listened.
(Skip a bit)
Wait for it. . . Wait for it. . . OH YES, Boulevard of Broken Dreams is gracing itself across the needle. Oh, this is so totally rad.
I wish you were here.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
The 100th issueversary- The Anemic Muskrat
There was once a very scared muskrat. He didn't have any particular reason to be scared, except that a voracious dog was chasing him. The poor anemic thing. That's right, the muskrat is anemic. Is there no justice in the world? Not that we should blame the dog either; he was hungry (and anorexic). When seeing the muskrat the dog couldn't help but defecate. . . uh, I mean salivate. So, the dog was chasing the poor muskrat all around in circles and the muskrat became all lightheaded (because he's anemic) and fainted. Well, this didn't please the dog. He was hungry, but not hungry enough to eat something that had fainted. You see, the dog always did this. He was always making excuses for not eating something. So, he just returned to his own vomit, I mean kennel. The muskrat lived to bleed another day.
Moral: Better look before you read next time. Ha Ha Ha!
One away from the hundredth post. . .
I am 80 hours and 41 minutes from home
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
I catch the general public up
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Sigur Ros- Staralfur
Saturday, December 13, 2008
The 2000th customer. . . I mean visitor
Friday, December 12, 2008
Sigur Ros- Njosnavelin (the nothing song)/Untitled #4
Sigur Ros is amazing. I recommend heartily.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
I get excited
Friday, December 5, 2008
What's wrong with this picture?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is how short on food we are. Instead of chips (like normal people) we are eating Starbursts with our grilled turkey sandwiches (or veggie burgers, if you have the enormously good luck of being me).
Monday, December 1, 2008
Tear the world together
Anyway, I think the song would be better if he said "tear the world together" (the upside of course is that I get to use this term like I coined it myself). Because that's really the task of reconciliation - there is nothing peaceful about it. In fact, there is nothing peaceful about "peace" at all.
To many people, peace implies passivity. However, NOTHING could be further from the truth (well, I suppose something could be; don't press me on it). There is nothing so violent to the present human condition as peace. If you want people to be at peace, for God's sake pull the Ak's out of their hands. Guess what? You might have to make them play nice, and it might be violent. Then you can go about the long and arduous task of teaching them to like it (don't leave that out or you'll just have gun control).
The problem with pacifism is that it so often becomes "passivism." For instance, let us take that old hypothetical situation- a robber has a gun and he wants to harm your family, you have a gun what do you do (or more towards the spirit of the question: what would Jesus do?) My answer is that there is nothing noble about refusing to protect your family when a robber comes around because you "don't want to hurt him." In fact, I would say that inaction in this circumstance is a form of violence. By refusing to take action you would not be doing anyone a favor. You are allowing someone to complete a sinful and violent act, and also neglecting your God-given duty as protector of the family.
N.B. - When I say "For God's sake" I'm not taking God's name in vain. I really mean it literally. That is literally the reason you should take people's guns away from them if they're not playing nice. Also, I say "them" as a sort of nebulous "whoever is at war with each other" sort of thing.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Two THOUSAND hittarinis
Friday, November 28, 2008
Why Dane is no longer an author on "Help! I've been Flabbergasted!"
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Sloth strikes back
Well, we've never seen anyone go in or out of those doors . . . until last night. J-Saud and I were doing the ol' "knock on the door and run like crazy people down the stairs or into the flat because we are scared out of our wits about what may come out of those doors" routine. We do this a lot; pretty regularly over 3 months. Anyway, I was running ahead of Jeremy and fumbling to open the door. When we got in, he told me in a hushed whisper that he saw the door open and light pour forth. You could have heard a child scream, the silence was so complete. Sure enough, there was knocking on our door. We wait a terrified fifteen seconds. I look through the peep hole and it was something so hideous and hairless. . . that it didn't have any hair. In other words, the dude was bald. And then, he laid down his fearful ultimatum - "Could you guys stop knocking on other people's doors." So I just answered, "sure we'll stop."
I did not really have my wits together. I should have maintained deniability. "Uh, I don't know what you are talking about dude." Or, I could at least have told him that his is the only door we knock on. That would have made him feel special. Or especially mad. Anyway, I decided to appease the beast with an easy, albeit boring, answer.
The End
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Something very profound - Wait for it, Wait for it
Instead I'm going to tell you about how Mr. Monty Python made his own special channel on youtube. So I will. Did you know that there is now a Monty Python channel on the UK YouTube? Well, now you do.
Check this out:
I Take an Open Poll
I name the Top 10 Weapons in Movies
Monday, November 24, 2008
In which I try to say something intelligible (although irrelevant) using only song lyrics
My father yells "It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away." That's just the way it is, somethings will never change - while mona lisas and mad hatters, sons of bankers, sons of lawyers
turn around and say good morning to the night. Ain't no sunshine when she's gone. But when the sun shines again I'll pull the curtains and blinds to let the light in. Beautiful dawn - lights up the shore for me. Thought I would die a lonely man, in endless night. But now I'm high. I'll be up with the sun, I'm not coming down.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Homosexuality is usually not a choice. . .
There is a common misconception flying around Christian circles that claims that at some point, every homosexual chose to become homosexual. They intellectually resist any indication to the contrary. If scientists discovered a "gay" gene (possibly the xq28 chromosome) tomorrow, there would be many Christians who would no longer know how to condemn the practice of homosexuality. They've built a huge part of their defense of the Biblical doctrine of marriage on shaky foundations.
These days, we hear a lot about tolerance. The liberals preach it and the conservatives go running out of the room with their hands over their ears. The problem is a faulty understanding of the difference between acceptance and love. The liberals have something right. We should love the homosexual. There is absolutely no justification for holding up a sign that says "God hates fags" at a gay pride parade. Besides being completely wrong, people who do this are sending out a message of hate to a people they are called to love. The liberals therefore equate love with acceptance.
The conservatives have something right too. We don't have to accept homosexuality into our homes and churches. We have a duty to the body of Christ, and to the homosexuals themselves. We are doing them no favors by telling them that there is nothing wrong with their behavior. Practicing homosexuals should be barred from church membership and from partaking of the Lord's Table (just as anyone living in grievous sin should be, homosexuality is not uniquely abominable in God's eyes). However, does a father cease to love his son, because his son is disobedient to him? No, he loves his son; therefore, he sends him to his room without his supper. I would be extremely surprised if anyone was ever positively changed because someone withheld love from him. Donald Miller in "Blue Like Jazz" pointed out how seriously flawed and downright sinful a method it is to seek to change someone through not loving them. It is hopeless and selfish. Love is the social catalyst.
So, liberals love and wrongly accept; conservatives don't love, because they think to love is accept. Have you guessed the solution? It's the only other permutation. Love, but do not accept. Christ says "Come to Me just as you are." He does not say "come to me and you can stay just as you are." When we give the homosexual the latter message, it is a false gospel.
These are some things I have been thinking about lately. Please don't take this as me saying that every liberal, and every conservative is like this. I am obviously painting in very broad strokes and coloring in the lines provided by stereotypes.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Galactophagist (n.)
So did I
Here goes:
1. When I was a baby I could spin a pacifier around like a propeller (really freaking out, and amusing nursery attendants). I could be a 1000 dollarionaire if my parents had just taped it and sent it to AFV. Some other kid won 1st prize for that stunt recently, and he had half of my spinning talent.
2. I was mock held-up in Paris with a banana. By a very drunk man who thought it was hilarious (but I really wasn't in the mood)
3. I am ridiculously affected by smacking.
4. I analyze things to a ridiculous extent.
5. I like doing voice impressions and fake accents.
6. I used to be called Robbie (until about the 7th grade).
Alright, I tag: MPK, Hannah Noland, My dad, Winston Kimmel, Tyler Knight, Justin Hughes (even though he never reads this and would probably not participate if he did). If you are not one of those people and you were not tagged by Kaleb, go ahead and do your own and pretend like I tagged you.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
I got tagged
2. I love vinyl records. Rob and I collectively own almost thirty LPs, and they are the way of the future. That's right, the future.
3. Rob and I have a running dare that we won't turn on the heat in our apartment. He said "So when are we gonna turn the heat on?" I responded, "whenever you get cold." He then said: "I can last as long as you can." To which my obvious response was, "and I can last longer than you, so I guess we're good."
4. I have an unreasonable, unpredictable, and totally irrational love for the band Journey.
5. Until this past August, when I moved into the apartment, I've never had my own room. I always shared one with my two younger brothers or sister (at least, as long as I can remember). And, perhaps even weirder, (unless you know my brothers, both the painfully cool Kanaan/Mark and the tragically hip Khristian/whatever annoying name I can come up with) I enjoyed it immensely. I think I'll make my children do the same.
6. My grandaddy makes the best BBQ in the world, and my grandmother makes the best fried chicken. This is the grandaddy who dipped my pacifier in Dr. Pepper when I was but a tyke. I also vividly remember the two times in my life that they have not had DP in their fridge. Those were tragic days.
Monday, November 17, 2008
First word of the day!
I'm starting off with an easy one. Y0u will be permanently banned from this blog if you look up the word on google. Not really (I'm not that strict, I don't know how to do that, and we appreciate all our readers), but come on people; play fair. Furthermore, if you own a copy of "Mrs. Byrne's. . ." please refrain from entering into the fray. Otherwise, dig in!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Mrs. Byrne
Sunday, November 9, 2008
I make a promise
Saturday, November 8, 2008
I am suspicious of backpacking
Mr. Timothy Clemans asserts that “everyone should experience the joys and benefits of backpacking.” The heart of my disagreement with him is this simple truth: not everyone should go backpacking. Sure, it’s great for your health to breathe the fresh clear air, spiced with a hint of moose dung, but what about the other side of this issue? Mr. Clemans’ logic, though full of examples, seems short on practical experience. A dozen people can’t walk through a forest, camp, and leave it better than they found it. It just won’t happen. National parks try to limit human impact on the environment, but with little success. In Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, the National Park Service reports that nearly 10% of camping sites had severe vegetative damage, while 86% had significant human impact. Mr. Clemans himself told a story that demonstrates this. Once when backpacking, he frightened a bald eagle away from the salmon it had just caught. Though the subsequent meal, the experience, and the scenery were, I am sure, great for Mr. Clemans, the eagle was left without a meal. We can enjoy nature without destroying it by backpacking.
In addition, Mr. Clemans says in at least four different ways that camping miles away from civilization is therapeutic. Civilization, I would hasten to point out, includes toilets. If you’ve ever had to take care of business on a cold and wet mountain, you know that “therapeutic” is not the word to describe it. “Fun, physical, and rewarding pastime” indeed.
I give the Flabbergasted Bump
Friday, November 7, 2008
Don't wake me. . .
I'm hoping President Obama will change our minds. I think that he will show Americans that their love affair with change is in reality a love affair with death, and it is certainly nothing new. I think some people will become disillusioned with the savior they elected, and come to know the Savior who elected them.
I think a lot of good will come from this election, but we won't see most of it for a good four years. So, wake me up in four years please.
That Hideous "X"
Now look, I don’t really think there’s anything sinister about playing video games. On the other hand, I don’t think there’s anything beneficial either. An occasional Halo party can be fun; but I disagree with Mr. Truax’s overblown claim that it sponsors lasting friendships. It is quite easy to point at two good friends who get together to play video games, and claim that the video games are responsible for their friendship. In fact, it’s so easy that it’s referred to (for convenience’s sake) as the “ad hoc” fallacy.
I agree with those in the reformed community who claim that video games can be addictive (generally, anything that offers instant gratification has this potential). It appears that Mr. Truax was on a hot-streak of fallacious reasoning when he dismissed this claim because our reformed community likes its alcohol and tobacco. This is called the fallacy of origin, little boys and girls, criticizing a position because of where it originated. The reformed community rightly treats alcohol and tobacco as substances to be used in moderation. We should do the same with video games.
Chicky Flicky
I know that there are bad chick flicks, but there are so many more redeeming chick flicks that we should watch. It was unfortunate to hear Miss Sundet categorize all chick flicks as junk. There are so many good ones: “Pride and Prejudice.” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” “Sense and Sensibility,” and let us not forget “Cinderella” or “Sleeping Beauty.” Miss Sundet said in her previous declamation that “chick flicks are fluff.” Now that's a bit much. Baby chickens are made of fluff. The point is, I know that chick flicks have predictable plots. I know that the characters are predictable. But that's what makes them so good. In the chick flick “Penelope” the characters are well portrayed. You hate the bad guys, but think they are hilarious at the same time. The film is a fairy tale and its star character is in fact, a girl with a pig nose. The movie has predictable characters, predictable plots, and the guy kisses the girl in the end. But isn't that what our world is like. We have predictable characters, predictable plots, and God brings the Church to Himself in the end with a triumphant kiss. If God didn't like chick flicks, he wouldn't have made one Himself.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Dreadlocks
I am, again, amazed
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
I am going to shutup
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Rob's got a confession to make. . .
1) I don't mean to be fatalistic, but is this not a sinking ship? What's the use of moving a few marbles around in the hull?
b) Alas, I'm an isolated college student that doesn't even own a TV
γ) I was too lazy to register absentee
So, there you have it peoples. Please don't blame the outcome of this election on me
(*cough* MPK). My tiny little vote would have done hardly anything; you are apparently laboring under the delusion that this is a democracy.
I was very, very wrong, and will be again
Monday, November 3, 2008
I play the prophet
I was rugbified
Friday, October 31, 2008
The Dane Ultimatum
Effective: Friday November 7, 2008 12:01 AM PST
Monday, October 27, 2008
I am in da haus, jah?
Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead - The Questions Game
Volkswagen Golf GTi-Mk5: Commercial 1
Volkswagen Golf GTi-Mk5: Commercial 2
Volkswagen Golf GTi-Mk5: Commercial 3
I dip my big toe in the dungpit that is the 2008 election
If you feel like it, try to convince me to agree with you. I'll be voting in what is arguably the biggest swing state in the country, the Sunshine State of Florida itself. I'm also trying to figure out whether I'm going to write in "No" for President (as the right Reverend Rob Hadding is doing), or "Stephen Colbert" (for reasons that should be easily visible - namely, the sheer beauty of voting for Colbert).
Oh, and if your name is Trey (or even if it isn't), feel free to rant and rave about whom you hate the most in this election. Just attempt to avoid profanity/obscenity as much as possible.
*NB - I don't actually think that the President of the United States is the most powerful man in the world, but he's close enough. Search out your beef with me elsewhere.
We sorry.
Rob is fixin' to be in open rebellion against Wendell Berry
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
I am probably being immature, but . . .
Monday, October 13, 2008
"My unnerwear is sticking to me"
Ben, then 3 (now 10), at a Braves baseball game.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Finals at NSA
This, ladies and gentlemen is why God made camera phones:
I am Young
Youth
I wonder what it is like to be old and white-whiskered,
For as yet I am young, and wisdom
Laughs merrily at me from afar as I chase her,
Ever-stumbling.
My life is but new-started,
My days are few, fresh, and hope-full.
Yet my nights are heavy with thoughts and people and
Times remembered.
What will it be to remember even more?
And then my friends not gone away but
Gone, their laughter forgotten from the world,
Their song silenced.
Nevermore, quoth the raven, and nevermore will
The things I remember exist again, and time
Will come when no one remembers
Except me.
For in remembrance a person lives, somehow,
And the only true death in this world, as
The Greek said, was being finally and utterly
Forgotten.
The song of our youth will be silenced soon
Nevermore to be sung again,
Nor shall there be any who remember the
Glory of its joy.
Joy we feel in life, in the blood that
Pounds in our veins, joy in love, hoped
And yet unseen. Joy in life yet unlived, joy in
Joys yet untasted.
And behind it all we wonder, sadly.
When will it end, when our friends will go,
When our love will be parted, when our joys are all
Remembered?
Of a time, I sit and think.
And when I do, I think mostly tragic thoughts
For life is so here, so present, so much around and in me
I can’t imagine less before than behind.
Laughing is enough sometimes when thinking of life’s vanity,
Yet tears seem more appropriate when I
Think about life, and about death, and how much of
Each is in each.
Life is full of death, ours and others and
Ours in others, and death, we know, is naught
But renewed, reinvigorated, reborn life
Age after age.
And so we cannot but sing, laugh, dance, and drink,
We cannot but joy in Christ. For we remember,
Though not with our eyes, when He was us and died,
When we were Christ (though not yet) and lived.
Let us feast like lunatics, rejoice like imbeciles,
Dance like madmen, and love idiotically all the days of our vanity.
For we are drunk on the wine of life –
We are young.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
I find their perseverance inspiring
The Somali pirates are, a full week later, still in possession of the Ukrainian weapons freighter. Despite the best efforts of the American and Russian navies, they're still negotiating with whomever it is that owns all of the cargo. And from what I hear, they want more than 30 million. That's right. They are getting at least 10 million big ones more than they started out at. That's called aggressive bargaining. Or they just pointed out that the dollar is worth less this week than last week. I'm telling you, you just can't make this stuff up. I dare you to even try.
For your further amusement:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iIJxAamZcHRiTMK-42nPDj-GO2zQ
Favorite phrase from this article: "both sides are definitely ready to talk amicably." Really? I'm no psychologist, but I'm guessing that the last thing on the minds of those Ukrainian arms dealers is amicability.
Green Day!!!
Monday, October 6, 2008
I was convicted
Exactly So
Last week we considered the truth that we do more than consume in this meal—we are consumed as well. If the entire congregation is the loaf, as St. Paul plainly teaches, then we are—all of us—both eating and being eaten. We consume and are consumed.
Christ gives Himself to us, certainly. But we also surrender ourselves to Him in this partaking. The head of the body communicates, just as the body does. And as each part of the body eats, so each part of the body is eaten. My life for yours.
This sounds noble, and quite lovely, in this context. We are all seated in church, the bread and wine are on the table, and we have just finished worshipping the Lord. But this reality, this table, governs the next six days, and it does not leave any spaces. My life for yours feels quite different when the kids are tearing off in six different directions, when your business partner is being difficult, when an old friend appears to be losing it, when someone in the church badmouths you, when you can’t get all your work done and others aren’t helping, and when you feel misunderstood by everybody.
When such moments come—and there will likely be a number of them in the next six days—you will feel like you are being consumed. But then you should think to yourself, "ah, exactly so. I offered myself for that, just this last Sunday."
Sunday, October 5, 2008
I philosophize
I particularly enjoy the Germans' respective objections to the final goal. Brilliant. Or, as someone in our class would say, "Brilliant, Mr. Python, brilliant."
Friday, October 3, 2008
You have the thanks of a grateful blog
Don't worry about us; we won't let it go to our heads.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
First NSA Final
Blessings
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
I open the dam on Top 10 lists
10. The Way It Is, Bruce Hornsby and the Range
Why:
The classic, mellow sound of this album has always moved me to tears, and the turntable sound accentuates the soulful. Hornsby's piano is among the greatest in modern rock (Elton John and Stevie Wonder being obvious contenders) and the echoes of records will complement his sound.
Key Tracks: On The Western Skyline - "I'm staring into the twilight" enough said. Every Little Kiss - The chips of vinyl on top of those haunting melodies? Perfect.
9. Come On Feel The Illinoise!, Sufjan Stevens
Why:
Sufjan's so ridiculously indie that the grit of the turntable can't help but add character to an album already exploding with it.
Key Track: Casimir Pulaski Day - Turntable grit/static combined with "And He takes and He takes and He takes . . . "
8. In Rainbows, Radiohead
Why:
When I first downloaded this album, I had it in 192 kbps MP3, which if you know, is not great quality. Then I burned it onto an old blank CD I had lying around, and the next morning at 5 am I played it on an old walkman which then went through a banged up FM transmitter to an already static-filled frequency. The result - magic.
Key Track: Reckoner
7. Narrow Stairs, Death Cab for Cutie
Why: This album is definitely not my favorite Death Cab. Plans took them a long way from the genius of their indie selves, but this is a step in the right direction. You can tell because it will sound better on vinyl. Plans is to poppy, too crisp to work on record, but songs like Bigsby Canyon Bridge and I Will Possess Your Heart beg for the care of the needle.
Key Tracks: No Sunlight, Grapevine Fires
6. Give Up, The Postal Service
Why:
Despite the inclusion of yet another Gibbard project on the list, there's a reason he releases on Barsuk LPs. The echoes and subtle beats of such classics as Nothing Better, Clark Gable, and District Sleeps Alone Tonight promise great things on the turntable.
Key Track: We Will Become Silhouettes - the echoes and chips of a record on this already haunting track? This track was created for vinyl.
5. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, The Flaming Lips
Why:
My main reason for the presence of this album, which I've listened to very little of, is also the key track. Do You Realize?? is an amazing song for its life, exuberance, and existential contrast. Throw it on the table and let the magic happen.
Key Track: Do You Realize??
4. Speak for Yourself, Imogen Heap
Why:
I mainly want to hear the purist sounds of Imogen Heap, so painstakingly produced with various random "instruments;" beer bottles, cardboard tubes, etc., put through a record player. Just to see what the chimes of Say Goodnight and Go sound like after the vinyl rebirth.
Key Track: Just For Now - in case that song didn't have enough awesomeness going on already, let's add yet another dimension to the sound.
3. Viva La Vida, Coldplay
Why:
Surely the most existential album of Coldplay's history, Viva La Vida was, the dust jacket tells us, recorded in such places as a church, a bakery, and a monastery. The beat of Lost, and the soaring life that is the guitar solo in the second half of Yes, these are things that need a needle to give them life.
Key Tracks: Strawberry Swing - the beginning of this song already sounds like it's coming out of an old jukebox, so let's go all the way and see what happens! Death and All His Friends - "No I don't want a battle from beginning to end. . . " to the fade back into Life in Technicolor's theme, this will blow our minds. I can't wait.
2. Takk, Sigur Ros
Why:
An Icelandic guy singing to us in a language which sounds like that of the angels while someone behind him plays an electric guitar with a cello bow. Throw in soaring, heart-rending melodies, drops in tempo that explode again in renewed life, and you've found yourself one heck of an artist. Welcome to the wonderful world of Sigur Ros.
Key Track: Hoppipolla - When I think about the glorious shift in this song near the middle into that exuberant crash, I think of the resurrection of Christ. Listening to it on vinyl would be the difference between listening to your 3rd grade sunday school teacher tell you the story and reading the Scripture. We may never feel the same about Sigur Ros on digital again.
1. Transatlanticism, Death Cab for Cutie
Why:
This is probably my favorite album of all time, so it's a shoe-in for number one on any list. But I fought this urge until, 10 seconds later, I realized how perfect it is. Transatlanticism is an album about distance. It's the story of two lovers seperated by the Atlantic and the effect this has on their love. From the first time you hear the clacking of rails in New Year to the final note of Lack of Color, Transatlanticism is a triumphant, Kierkegaardian treatise on distance in a relationship. Vinyl has the unique quality of adding a different level of distance. Digital music puts the sound right on us, in our ears, rather than removing it to the appropriate place. This record will be amazing.
Key Tracks: We Looked Like Giants, New Year - "God bless the day light, the sugary smell of springtime" and "explosions off in the distance, in the distance" under the needle. Sublime.