AOTW: Bowerbirds - "Upper Air"

I've actually come down a little from the initial high that the Bowerbirds' Upper Air afforded me. That's not surprising, seeing as it's almost 2 months old at this point. But upon first listen (and second, and third, and many more after that), it was absolutely blissful. Sure, a lot of albums come out that sound as pretty as Upper Air, but very few have the same impact. And I'm not really sure why that is. After seeing them twice in concert, I'm starting to believe that a lot of it stems from the fact that the two main vocalists, Phil Moore and Beth Tacular, are in a relationship. That maybe, because of their romantic chemistry, their voices sound that much more perfect in harmony. Of course, that's almost undoubtedly untrue, but I can't shake the thought that on some level, their vocal cords resonate at a special "boyfriend/girlfriend" frequency (although I shudder to think what the Kurt Cobain/Courtney Love corollary would be to that theory). Regardless, something gives me goosebumbs every time I listen to "Northern Lights," and it's as good an album as any to kick-off our Album of the Week series. Enjoy.

"I Blacked Out... What Happened?"

I had a lot of great explanations lined up for you all (and I use "all" in the most liberal sense possible). I mean, they would have to be great to justify an absence for more than 2 months.

There was the "RIAA Lawsuit" explanation in which I go to trial for offering illegal downloads of music. In that one, Audra takes a crash course on intellectual property rights and media law from her sister, serves as my representation in court, and wins the case in dramatic fashion. It'd be set to music that I acquired for $Free.99.

There was the "Brokedown Palace/Moveable Island" explanation in which some combination of the following things happened to prevent us from writing: we got stranded in Myanmar after the government confiscated our passports, Audra was held in Thailand for trying to smuggle back a child and is still awaiting extradition, and/or Matt's plane crashed on the LOST island and he's just now discovered how to alter time and space to get back home.

Lastly, there was the "E! True Hollywood Story" explanation in which we were courted by a major media outlet, sustained a bidding war for our site, received ridiculous offers, signed a huge contract for an undisclosed amount, went on a multi-week celebratory bender after making huge bank, had our contracts terminated for lack of material, then went on another multi-week self-loathing bender... all to arrive at the realization that we only ever wanted to do this for the love of music and television.

Which of them is actually the reason? How would I know... I blacked out.

It doesn't really matter, because we're back up! And we have a lot to talk about... Fall premieres, new albums, great concerts, and of course, reality television. And just because you all have been so patient, we're adding a couple of new features: Album of the Week and Song of the Day. They're pretty self-explanatory and easy to find. Remember, if you don't have a lala.com account yet, sign-up for free so you can take advantage of the embedded players! Thanks for reading, and if a 2 month sabbatical doesn't convince you that Grad Students Are The Worst, just wait until we start posting dissertation excerpts!