Checking In on the Music Scene

Haven't shared many thoughts on music recently, so why not today?

First and foremost, congrats to the Gaslight Anthem for coming out with the fantastic "Handwritten" release last Tuesday. I've been a big fan of there's dating back to 2008 when they released their awesome "59 Sound" album and they are a great live act. The new release is more polished and expansive then their past stuff, probably due to the fact they are now signed to Island Def Jam records after leaving the boutique Side One Dummy label. As hard as Carly Rae Jepson will try, I'm giving "45" the song of summer title, other stand out tracks include "Handwritten", "Keepsake", and "National Anthem".

This definitely bumps them up to the next level, but what is their ceiling? Can they crack the top of the food chain currently occupied by The Black Keys, The Killers, Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, and The Strokes? Am I forgetting someone?

If you're a fan of Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, The Replacements, and The Clash you'll want to hop on board the Gaslight bandwagon.



Speaking of The Killers their new single "Runaways" is out, and this article posted on the awesome Grantland website pretty much sums up my feelings. Love these guys and I think the new album "Battle Born" is going to propel them to even greater heights.

One of my favorite parts of being on Twitter is the active engagement you can have with people. A sneaky great singer/songwriter is Jessie Baylin, married to Kings of Leon drummer Nathan Followill, I cannot stop listening to her "Little Spark" album, and getting a shout-out from her got me extremely giddy (humblebrag). Soul singer's voice, Colbie Caillat's laid back style, with a twinge of southern rock. Perfect little album she released last January. Check it out.



And speaking of KoL, their "Talihina Sky" documentary is worth checking out, if only to see where they came from, but also because there's some legit insights on what fame can do to people. I also have recommend the doc "Back and Forth" on the history of the Foo Fighters. An awesome watch. I'd give "Sky" 2 1/2 stars, "Forth" 3 1/2.



Intrigued by the infectious "Midnight City" single by M83. It's a good double album too titled "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming". I did have to laugh when a coworker told me he listens to it while cleaning because it's the perfect album to do busy work to. So get it and listen to it at your desk. Another couple great albums to read/work to is Real Estate's "Easy" and Beach House's "Bloom".

I love this song.

I'm also really excited for the rest of 2012 because it's a serious who's who coming out with new material. Dave Matthews Band, Soundgarden, No Doubt, Taylor Swift, Matchbox Twenty, Phoenix, Gnarls Barkley, Metallica, Green Day and possibly Pearl Jam, Jay-Z and Kanye West, Vampire Weekend, and U2. Those are some heavy hitters and I bet radio stations are excited.



Today is also the 10th anniversary of Springsteen's "The Rising". What an important record during the weird post-9/11 society that we can't seem to get out of. Without going on a political rant I thought I'd share this awesome video.

Enjoy!

Darwin's Exceptions

Future of the planet looks bright to me.

Multitasking Adds Stress?!?!?!

Note: This is a blog from my professional blog, I shared it the other day, but am sharing again because I'm a shameless self promoter and I like the infographic from it.

 I could not love this infographic more.

I especially love one of the opening tidbits that in 1960 the average person had 5 hours of media exposure a day. I assume it was the kind of media exposure that Jack Arnold from “The Wonder Years” had. Just kind of staring blankly at the TV, trying to forget about another crappy day while working at Norcom, his hippy daughter, and commies.

But in 2010 the media exposure per day jumped to 12 hours. 

Half of our day is exposed to mass media? 

So does this mean that every generation post-baby boomers is going to end up with mush for brains? While I certainly hope my brain and body don’t end up like one of Rachel Leigh Cook’s eggs, you can’t help but wonder what all this exposure will do beyond attention deficit issues. 

Take for example me right as I’m writing this. 

• I’m listening to Mayer Hawthorne on Spotify.
• I’m writing on this Tumblr blog.
• In my right eye periferal CNN is on at all times on the TV.
• On my left computer monitor, having one isn’t enough, my email is open and my company Twitter page is constantly streaming.

Once I get home and am done with dinner I’ll pop on my MLB Extra Innings package and flip between a few games from 6-7 out East, add the Twins game to the mix at 7, then check out what’s going on out West when the 9pm games start. Ohh and I’ll be toggling through my three, yes three, I’m not proud, fantasy baseball team pages and my own Twitter page. 

My head is spinning right now, maybe from the two Diet Mountain Dews, probably from the fact the above paragraph explains why I’m single and it depresses me. 

After writing all this down I think I’m going to try to initiate less internet use at night. 

Kind of makes me yearn for the days Jack Arnold could just zone out Walter Kronkite.
-Michael 

 

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Twins Should Follow the Wild's Example

A historic day yesterday not for just the Minnesota Wild, but Minnesota Sports in general. This town isn't known for acquiring big free agents. Certainly the local hockey team has never acquired free agents this big.

The Vikings biggest all-time free agent signing (Steve Hutchinson) was a tackle, the Twins signing of Josh Willingham is the organization's biggest and he makes (only) 7 million, the Timberwolves acquisition of Joe Smith was illegal, and if you really want to push things Tubby Smith's best get as coach of Golden Gophers basketball coach was Royce White and it took him about 45 minutes to get banned from the U's T-Hall.

But the pieces were in place for acquiring Zach Parise and Ryan Suter long before the free agency period began.

I would argue it started last summer when the Wild traded defenseman Brent Burns to San Jose for young forward Devon Setoguchi, Boston University forward Charlie Coyle, and a first round pick. Adding Coyle to the list with other top prospect forwards Mikael Granlund, Zack Phillips, and Mario Lucia as well as defenseman Jonas Brodin gave the Wild the chance to show Parise and Suter that the cupboards are not bare and that their two monster salaries won't jeopardize the organizations chances of winning in the near future. These young players will be working on entry level contracts. Dumping Burns and defenseman Marek Zidlicky (traded to New Jersey last year) freed-up the cap space to be put in a great position this summer.

The second move was made at last season's trade deadline when the Wild traded for Edmonton defenseman Tom Gilbert. Gilbert played youth hockey with Parise in Bloomington and at Wisconsin in the WCHA with Suter.

Coincidence? I think not.

Lastly the move to sign forward Jake Dowell who also has played with the two new players was finally the strategic cherry on top.

So what can other teams learn from this, specifically the Twins?

Well for one, they need to be open to trading anyone. Denard Span, Josh Willingham, Jared Burton, Matt Capps, Justin Morneau, Francisco Liriano, TC Bear, anyone.

Basically I would make anyone other than Joe Mauer, Trevor Plouffe, or Ben Revere available. Now what can you get for them? Does it matter? This team needs to get cheaper for this coming offseason.

Second, I would get more focused on player development than they already do. The Twins have really been messing around with first baseman Chris Parmalee and Liam Hendricks by bringing them up  and sending them down. Either keep them at Rochester or have them in the lineup. What good does it do with the yo-yo push?

Lastly I would make a serious push towards top free agents Cole Hamels, Zack Grienke, and Brandon McCarthy. I don't think there's a chance Hamels, and his Playmate wife, are coming to the Twin Cities, but Grienke or McCarthy? Not as big of a stretch.

Grienke had to leave the Kansas City Royals for a stretch earlier in his career because of an anxiety issue, and was on the on the record that he doesn't want to pitch in a big city like New York or Boston, while McCarthy plays for the cash-strapped, pitching prospect-rich Athletics. Target Field is a good attraction for pitchers. I'd also take a look at Rangers Pitcher Colby Lewis, Marlins lefty Anibal Sanchez, Phillies fourth man Joe Blanton, and Angels righty Ervin Santana. As an aside I'd also take a run at Arizona second baseman Kelly Johnson.

Short term salary dumps for long-term free agency prosperity are the only way they Twins can contend and keep filling Target Field for the next 3-5 years until top prospects like Miguel Sano, Aaron Hicks, Oswalo Arcia, Eddie Rosario, Joe Benson, and Byron Buxton can begin to help the big league club in a reasonable way.