Music reviews by my parents

Instead of an end-of-the-year top ten albums list, here are some of my parents' thoughts on various bands I've introduced to them:

On The Drums: "These guys sound very South African." -my dad

On Oasis' "All Around The World": "Who is that song by? Razorlight? Oh, Oasis. I get them confused... I listened to it twice on the way home." -my mom

Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette: "I love me some Alanis. Wow, someone did her wrong in that song ["You Oughta Know"]. Bitter much? Hahaha... Can we turn this off now, there's only so much of her I can take." -mom

Bloc Party, Silent Alarm: "It sounds like noise." -dad

Maximo Park, "The Coast Is Always Changing": "I love this song. It was playing in Pegasus [a local bookstore] when I went in, and I told the guy behind the counter I liked it. I think I confused him." -mom

On Billy Bragg: "There's only so much of this guy I can take." -mom

Cat Power's "Diamond Eyes": "This song makes me want to fall asleep. It's pretty though." -dad

Klaxons, Myths of the Near Future: "I don't get it." -mom

The Wombats: "They remind me of Buddy Holly and The Crickets. Is that a good thing? Are these guys from the 50s?" -dad

"Modern Girl" by Sleater-Kinney: "This song is so stupid." -mom

And the one quote that started it all: "Yeah, I like Depeche Mode. What? Why are you looking at me like that?" -mom

(Maybe I should start a twitter feed of these to rival Shit My Dad Says.)

Thants

I made this some time ago...

Enjoy.

2010 Census Data

This is exciting! Some of the 2010 Census data is already out and handily displayed for you: 2010 Census. So far just information on population change, population density, and apportionment are displayed in the cool widget, but hopefully more will follow. It's kind of neat knowing I contributed a very very very very very very very very very small fraction of the data, from my weeks of running around Berkeley, sneaking into apartment buildings, and knocking on strange doors. I'm looking forward to more of the data when it's released.

I can't say it was the most fun at work I've ever had... let's just say it was an experience. If you're interested in the kinds of questions I was asking people (and why they're asked by The Census), click on "Explore the 2010 Census Form".

Another day, another rejection letter

This time it comes from a job for which I am perfectly qualified. In fact, I spent the summer working as an unpaid intern doing exactly what the job description detailed. So now I feel like the world is telling me that even unpaid experience isn't enough. I... I don't even know what to do.

Three new bands I'm really enjoying right now

It's kind of a crazy mish-mash of things, but what else is my music taste about? I'll let the songs speak for themselves, mostly, but I do recommend picking up all three albums.

The Limousines

These guys are a local band (San Jose-based) and do the whole electro-pop thing really well.

Moneybrother

This guy from Sweden manages to remind me of Joe Strummer (voice) and Barry Hyde (appearances) at the same time. Crazy. I saw him recently at Slim's and he put on a very good show.

The Drums

I can't quite explain why I like The Drums... they're not the sort of music I usually listen to, being a Brooklyn-based twee, minimalist-souding indie band. But I like them, and I think they do simplicity well where a lot of bands fail.