Holy Crap! She's Back!

OK, so I admit it. I've been kind of lazy when it comes to ye olde blog. Things were a bit nutty there for a while, but I'm finally settled into my new job; my apartment is coming along (insider tip: invest in Ikea now! I think I alone have been raising their stock value); and I'm pleased as proverbial punch to be back in Philly. For those of you who have hung in there and checked in from time to time (kudos to those of you who tried to 'shock' me back) - you shall now be rewarded...

As 'NRT' is the conerstone of this little site, I am opting to come back into the blogosphere with a newish album as well as a trip back in time. You see, as I was unpacking my somewhat massive CD collection (seriously - it takes up a wall), I had the chance to get close with some of my discs once again. Nothing is quite like pulling things out of boxes and going 'Man, I love this record!' and popping it into the player for the first time in a while. With that I present...

Beck - The Information

Plain and simple - I LOVE Mr. Hansen and his groovy beats. Have since the beginning when he declared that he was a Loser. But I went WILD when, in 1996, the man released Odelay and brought us such genius as New Pollution and Devil's Haircut. Since, there have been others:

Midnight Vultures - the album that I refer to as the 'alter ego record' as it's just a touch hokey in parts; but it did bring us such gems as Sexx Laws.

The critically acclaimed and heartbreakingly beautiful Sea Change. Just take a listen to Golden Age and your sure to agree.

And then came Guero, which brought back the true Beck sound (with a little help from the Dust Brothers) and gave us the catchy E-Pro and one my all time Beck favs - Girl.

But lemme tell ya, The Information is a gem and half! Hell, the man provided a piece of graph paper and stickers so you could make your own album cover! How freaking cool is that?!?! But I digress... I really don't have much to say except for 'go out and get yourself a copy of this!'. Then, you can sit and play with the stickers while you get your groove on. I'll just let the tracks speak for themselves...

Nausea
Hell Yes
Think I'm In Love

OK, that does it for new. Now, we'll move on to old. And you just might want to be sitting down for this one...

Soul Coughing's Irresistible Bliss

Yup, you read that correctly. And you remember it - you know you do. If not, let's refresh, shall we?

The opener Super Bon Bon let's you know that you're in for a wild ride as Mike Doughty and the boys take you through the next 12 tracks. The stops along the way include Soft Serv, Disseminated, and The Idiot Kings. I'm sad to say that I can't find any kind of link to my favorite song on the album Soundtrack To Mary; but if you can find it, you should take a listen.

And that, ladies and gents, concludes my return to Monkeyshines. With any luck, I'll keep it up. However, just in case my road to good intentions happens to lead me into you-know-where, know that I've adjusted the 'ear candy' link to something new that is sure to entertain; and there's a new monkey for you to take a look at. This one was chosen in honor of my friend Ourika who just recently discovered the cute little buggers.

TTFN!