Technical Difficulties

Due to issues with the hard drive that stores my music, my weekly album posts are being temporarily postponed. Stay tuned.

A Whole New Ballgame

Something special happened tonight: the San Francisco Giants won the World Series. In a mere five games, they defeated the heavily favored Texas Rangers, using a combination of dominant pitching, crafty veterans and a heaping dose of destiny. It was a great moment for baseball.

Wait, isn't this a music blog? Why am I writing about the World Series?

Well, as it turns out, I, Simon Irving, am also a baseball fanatic. Yes, despite my love for music so obscure it probably hasn't even been recorded yet, I'm also a passionate supporter of America's greatest pastime. During the months between April and September, I live and die with my team, the Seattle Mariners. And I listen to some pretty cool music all the while.

So, I've decided to expand Pretzel Logic. No longer will this be just another music blog. Instead, it will be just another personal interest blog, but one where I feel comfortable discussing anything on my mind. Music and baseball will be the dominant themes, but occasionally, other tidbits of information might sneak through.

For the time being, I have two major projects I want to undertake here: 1) I want to continue my analysis of the new classic albums of the 2000s, that I abandoned last June. 2) I'm going to show you how a humble Seattle Mariners fan thinks and processes during the baseball season. I'm starting now, at the very end of the 2010 season, because all thirty Major League teams are now equal. The offseason has started and the rumor mill is already starting to get in gear. I'll be following my M's through their offseason trades, signings and decisions, all the way up to, hopefully, their first postseason appearance since 2001. All the while, I'll be spicing things up with my personal analysis, commentary and opinions.

A quick word about my background as a baseball fan: while I do have a decent grasp of sabermetrics, this isn't going to be a stat-dominated baseball blog. The part of the experience I want to look at is that of the fan. Therefore, stats play an important part, but so do personal opinions of players, emotional moments from the history of the franchise and other things that make some baseball analysts slightly squirmy. If you want a stat-dominated approach to the M's, I recommend the excellent U.S.S. Mariner blog.

So, great changes are afoot here at Pretzel Logic. I'll still be talking about music, but baseball is another great interest in my life and I want a writing outlet for that passion. I want to record my feelings in the moment as I survive yet another season of the Mariners' greatest victories along with their lowest defeats. It's gonna be an exciting season for my M's. Hopefully, you'll be out there reading, sharing the experience with me.

The New Classics: Introduction

Welcome back to Pretzel Logic!

After a lengthy hiatus, this humble little blog is returning for its third incarnation. Things are going to be a bit different this time, however. Albums reviews and music news, which until now have been my blog-bread-and-butter, are being put on the shelf. Instead, I’m going to use this blog as a workspace for whatever weird music-related writing projects I feel like undertaking. Essays, lists and random musings are going to the name of the game.

My first project, The New Classics, should take up most of the summer and possible spill over into the fall. Using the incomparable resources over at acclaimedmusic.com, I’ll be counting down the 50 most acclaimed albums of the 2000s. Each post will cover one of these albums and feature original writing about the album’s creation and place within the modern canon of great music. The goal of this project is to assess how the history of the past ten years of music is being written and to take a guess at how the music of the 2000s will be seen in the future.

Once I’ve covered these top 50, I’ll offer up an alternative list of 50 albums, based on my own personal tastes, showcasing albums I feel deserve more attention than they’ve been given. As always, comments from friends and passing Internet readers are welcomed.

So, check back here tomorrow, when my first New Classics post will be up! It should be a fun summer!

The Blog Strikes Back!

Be warned: Pretzel Logic will return within the month. Commence rejoicing.

A New Blog For A New Year

“In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends.” – Anton Ego, Ratatouille

Hello and welcome to the new and improved Pretzel Logic! Today is the beginning of not only a new year, but an entirely new decade. In keeping with this sense of new beginnings, I’ve decided to revamp and focus Pretzel Logic for its second year of existence.

Things That Have Changed

-Content will be limited to only reviews and news, with the occasional random thought if I think it’s important. As much as I’ve enjoyed sharing lists of my favorite musicians and albums with everyone, I want Pretzel Logic to be more accessible and useful. This means dialing down some of my own personal opinions and list-making tendencies.

-I’m also going to be drawing heavily on what other critics are saying. A typical album review under the new Pretzel Logic regime will feature a sampling of what other people are saying about the work at hand, followed by my own opinion and final grade. This blog’s mission statement is to document and comment on music history as it is being written, meaning that being aware of what other critics are saying about these albums is very important.

-My manic posting rate will slow down somewhat. This new reviewing system requires more time and effort, since I have to both A) wait for these other reviews to be written and B) hunt them down. However, the flipside of this should be more in-depth reviews that really dig into how people are responding to new music.

-Finally, Pretzel Logic has a shiny new layout. Keep checking back over the course of this week as I add a few more bells and whistles.

My goal for Pretzel Logic is to do with words what sites like Metacritic and Acclaimed Music do with numbers: gain an overall sense of how critics are responding to new music. This blog will cover the albums that everyone seems to celebrating, along with those that everyone has united against and everything in-between. In the process, I hope to see history being written in front of me, as critics decide who the “winners” and “losers” of the this year’s music releases will be.

All the old Pretzel Logic content from the past year is still in the archive. However, from here on out (with one exception this weekend), Pretzel Logic will be a different beast. No longer will it simply be an outpouring of my own thoughts and opinions. Instead, I hope it will prove to be a valuable resource for anyone interested in what the world thinks about new music.

So, if you’re out there reading, don’t be afraid to interact. I want Pretzel Logic to spark conversations. If you’ve got opinions about the music I’m talking about, share them. If you think there’s music out there I should cover, please tell me. One voice of criticism is virtually meaningless on its own. Add your voice to the many others I’ll be showcasing on a regular basis.

Under Construction

Pretzel Logic will return on January 1st, remodeled and ready for a new year of action. In the meantime, quake with anticipation!

Furthermore, after January 1st, this site's URL will be http://pretzellogicmusic.blogspot.com. If there are any of you out there kind enough to have bookmarked my site over the past year, please update accordingly.

State Of The Pretzel Logic: December

Well, here we are at the end of the year. The weather’s getting chilly and the holiday season is breathing down our necks. Personally, I’ve had a fantastic 2009 and I hope that the rest of you did as well. In a few short weeks, we’ll have not only a new year, but a new decade. I can’t wait.

Pretzel Logic has been online since January 1. It’s been a constant source of pride for me and has given me the chance to hone my writing skills. It has also kept me much more aware of current music than I have been in past years. Over the course a single year, I’ve written 276 posts and reviewed 127 albums. I’ve had a great time and I hope anyone out there reading has enjoyed what I’ve had to say.

Unfortunately, I’m rapidly becoming cynical about the role music blogs play in the world. People seem to be placing more and more stock in their own opinions, resulting in a culture where no one really gives a shit what other people think. Twitter and the assorted new communications media outlets are undermining more in-depth writing by reducing conversations to 140 characters. All these factors are leading me to consider putting Pretzel Logic to rest for good. While it’s been a lot of fun for me on a personal level, I feel like it isn’t serving much of a purpose in the world.

I haven’t actually decided what the future of this blog will be yet. I’m going to take a break from blogging for the rest of this year and decide how I want to proceed. If Pretzel Logic does come back, it will be sometime in the first week of January, probably somewhat radically redesigned. If it doesn’t, than I want to thank everyone who’s been reading. It’s been one hell of a year.

State Of The Pretzel Logic: November

Well, November didn’t exactly go as planned. My non-music-writing life caught up to me in a big way this past month and I’ve had the rabid, academic monster known as college breathing down my neck. I’m still quite wrapped up in schoolwork, but hopefully I’ll find some time in the coming weeks to review a few albums before posting my Best Music of 2009 feature. I’m really looking forward to boiling an entire year’s worth of music down to a few key highlights.

In keeping with that theme, there’s one small change I want to make to album grades. The Mars Volta’s Octahedron is losing half a pretzel, dropping it down to a still respectable 4 pretzels. Octahedron is the album I’ve listened to the least among my overall favorites from the year and upon further listens, it doesn’t quite have the spark I thought I heard when I first listened to the album. These things happen.

There are only a few albums I know I want to review in December. The Portishead offshoot Beak>’s debut album is one of them, as is Clipse’s Til The Casket Drops. Despite being released months ago, Dark Night Of The Soul deserves some coverage as well. Devendra Banhart, Them Crooked Vultures and 50 Cent round out the list of intriguing albums that are coming in during these closing moments of the decade. Finally, should Lil Wayne’s Rebirth actually be released this month, you can be sure I’ll have lots to write about it.

I want to thank everyone who’s been reading Pretzel Logic thus far. 2009 (and the 2000s) are almost over, meaning there’s going to be a lot of music talk going on. I enjoy adding my own voice to that mix.

State Of The Pretzel Logic: October

Happy Halloween everyone! October is almost over and November is just around the corner. This has been a very exciting month music-wise, with four new albums getting added to my 2009 Favorites. Also, I finally finished my albums-by-decade countdown, which has been my baby for the last seven months. Pretzel Logic has been a wonderful writing outlet for me and, hopefully, there are people out there who’ve enjoyed reading all these lists, reviews and assorted other thoughts.

Currently, there are no reviews I feel the need to update.

As we enter the last two months of the year, album releases tend to slow down and drop off. Music critics everywhere are ramping up for the inevitable Best Of The Year countdowns and any CDs released in December are pretty much assured not to get any real press. Anyway, there are plenty of albums that have slipped through the cracks over the course of the year and I’m going to spend November and part of December catching up on things that I’ve missed. Currently on the review schedule: Atlas Sound, Beak>, The Cribs, Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse, Devendra Banhart, Echo & The Bunnymen, Girls, Gossip, Morrissey, Neon Indian, Them Crooked Vultures and Volcano Choir. If you’ve got any other suggestions for great albums that I never reviewed this year, comment away!

State Of The Pretzel Logic: September

Well, after the dreary lameness of the summer, September more than delivered on the music front. This past month seemed flooded with great albums, peaking with the two new 2009 Favorites entries, Wild Beasts and Raekwon. Finally, I had some rap to write about and, finally, there was some British indie rock that didn’t make me want to claw my ears away to nothingness. September: a success!

After last month’s retro-grading upheaval, I’ve got nothing I want to go back and edit. Give me time, though. Who knows how my mind could change…

The fall months are here and the album release schedule seems to be ramping itself up, as artists make one final push to get on the obligatory “Best Albums Of The Year” lists that should start cropping up any day now. Here’s what I plan on reviewing for October: A Place To Bury Strangers, Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Built To Spill, Editors, The Flaming Lips, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Mission Of Burma, The Mountain Goats, a compilation album by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, The Roots, Weezer, Yo La Tengo and, finally, Bad Lieutenant, a new band from the people who gave the world New Order. Sounds great to me!

No More

A brief update: my Great Albums In History series, which would usually be posted the 15th of every month (including today), is gettin' the axe. Writing these pieces proved to be surprisingly unsatisfying and they've begun to feel like a chore. As such, they're going away. Everything else on Pretzel Logic is going great, however. Stay tuned for lots of exciting album and book reviews in the next couple of weeks!

State Of The Pretzel Logic: August

Well, August is finally being ushered out the door and I’d be lying if I said I was going to miss this past month. Both July and August this year were excruciatingly boring from a music/pop culture perspective, which has been reflected in my less-than-frantic posting rate here on the blog. However, with summer finally starting to give way to fall, it looks like things are about to pick up again. However, more on that later…

First of all…last month, I hinted that there would be a major upheveal in terms of re-grading past reviews. Sure enough, I’m changing more grades this month than I ever have before. Here we go…

-Bat For Lashes’ Two Suns gains an entire pretzel (!), jumping from 3 to 4. Two Suns has been the major “grower” album for me this year and the past months have made me appreciate it more and more.

-The Antlers’ Hospice gains half a pretzel, from 3.5 to 4. Another album that has gained from further listening, Hospice still has some flaws in my book, but deserves plenty of attention as one of the better traditional indie rock albums to have been released this year.

-Camera Obscura’s My Maudlin Career loses half a pretzel, falling from 4.5 to 4. This is the big one. This moves My Maudlin Career out of my 2009 Favorites. While I do like this album quite a lot, after sitting in my iTunes for months, I find myself listening to it very rarely compared to other albums with similar grades. It lacks songs that keep me coming back for more and has thus been demoted from “great” to “very good.” However, taking its place in my 2009 Favorties will be…

-The xx’s xx, which gains half a pretzel, moving from 4 to 4.5. I was on the edge between these two grades when I first reviewed this album and after a whole month of thought on the subject, I’ve decided I erred on the side of conservatism. This is a fantastic debut and deserves some praise. (Also, the album title is in lower case letters. Just in case, y’know, you cared…)

Anyway, enough talk about the past. Onto the future, I say! September is packed to the gills with interesting albums I want to review. So far, these are the artists to expect: Alice In Chains, Dizzee Rascal, Ghostface Killah, Islands, Jay-Z, Muse, Pearl Jam, Raekwon and Rain Machine (a TV On The Radio sideproject). That’s right, not one, but two Wu-Tang solo albums this upcoming month, along with a couple other exciting rap reviews. It’s about time 2009 got some quality album-oriented rap. I’m all kinds of excited.

State Of The Pretzel Logic: July

Well, mercifully, this slow, dreary month has come to an end. July was definitely the least interesting month for me on this blog and that ended up being reflected in the lowest monthly total of posts so far. Hopefully, the change into August will bring with it a flurry of new and interesting releases and music to comment about. Here’s hoping.

There are no album grade changes I want to make this month, although I’m probably going to change a bunch this time next month. Change is in the air…

In terms of album releases for August, I’m looking forward to reviewing new music from the Arctic Monkeys, Mew (the band, not the Pokemon), Julian Plenti aka Interpol frontman Paul Banks and finally this damn Lil’ Wayne CD that may or may not ever be released for public consumption. I’m also planning on reviewing an album recently brought to my attention, recorded by a band so mysterious that they may or may not be named the Xx. Stay tuned for more.

State Of The Pretzel Logic: June

With the final minutes of June now upon us, I am proud to announce that Pretzel Logic has now been online for six months! That’s right, half a year! The mind boggles. Anyway, June has been quite a fun month for me, with lots of unexpectedly good albums to go along with the requisite amusing flops. I also featured the second part of my ongoing “Best Albums Ever” list. I can barely wait until August when I feature the best of the 1980s.

At this time, there are no album grades I want to change.

I know last week I promised that I’d post a Michael Jackson tribute sometime over the weekend. Observant readers will notice that it is now Tuesday and no such tribute has been posted. This is because I’ve decided to move that tribute to this upcoming Friday, falling in line with my monthly Who’s Simon Defending Now? piece. I feel like this will be the best time to write out my full response to the tragic passing away of one of the all-time musical greats.

Finally, as for upcoming reviews, July presents a bit of a problem. For whatever reason, there are only two albums on the horizon I know I’ll be reviewing: the self-titled release by the new Sigur Ros sideproject Riceboy Sleeps, as well as Jack White’s new band, the Dead Weather, with their upcoming album Horehound. As for the rest of the reviews next month…I’m not entirely sure. There are a few Pitchfork Best New Music’s I need to catch up on, so you’ll probably see those. But beyond that, the field is wide open. If you’ve got any suggestions for what I should review in July, comment away.

A Request

The internet is a funny thing sometimes. It has allowed so many people, with so many opinions, to have the ability to instantly share those opinions with others. However, the anonymous nature of commenting, blogs and message boards does create problems, especially when people feel they don’t have to be polite, respectful or courteous of others just because they don’t have to look them in the eye. I myself occasionally get a few negative comments here on Pretzel Logic. However, I understand that most of these comments should not be taken seriously.

There will be the occasional negative comment, however, that I really want to respond to. Blogs are difficult in this regard, since I can’t respond directly to anonymous posts and I have no idea if the poster will even read my blog ever again. This happened earlier today, when someone posted a disagreement (sort of) with my review of the Mars Volta’s Octahedron. If you’re out there, random-Mars-Volta-fan-person, I really want to know why you hold Frances The Mute in such high esteem. I’m not saying “fuck you, idiot, you know nothing”; I legitimately want to know why you like it. So, I have a request to make of you and anyone else who may be reading Pretzel Logic:

If you want to make a negative comment or disagree with something I’ve written, please explain your argument. I’m very, very curious about what other listeners besides me hear in music. Music tastes are not universal and I’d love to get some insight into the minds of others. It’s difficult to do that when all I’ve got is a faceless moron calling me a “pretentious douche.” Let this be my official welcoming towards anyone who disagrees with me. I just ask that you present a counterargument. If you don’t articulate your point, I’m going to assume you’re a 16-year-old, pimple-ridden loser, hiding from the burning sunlight in your mother’s basement (props to former Mariners outfielder Raul Ibanez for this loving description of hateful internet commenters). Please prove me wrong.

State Of The Pretzel Logic: May

Well, it’s been a pretty fun month of May. Once again, I ended up writing far more than I planned to, while also handing out both a 5 pretzel review and a 1 pretzel review (my very first) in the process. The month featured a very good range of music and that only makes me more excited for June’s releases.

There are currently no reviews I want to retroactively change.

So, next month here on Pretzel Logic, we’ve got a busy schedule ahead of us, featuring releases by Busdriver, Dinosaur Jr, Elvis Costello, Kasabian (Brindie rock alert!), Lil’ Wayne (or so he says), The Mars Volta, Mos Def, Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers, Sonic Youth, Sunset Rubdown and finally Wilco. Should be exciting!

State Of The Pretzel Logic: April

Another month has gone by and Pretzel Logic continues to grow. This month, I celebrated my hundredth post, plus I added a whole new column. This has also been my busiest month so far, with twenty-eight posts in thirty days. Madness, I say! All I can hope is that people find what I write interesting and keep reading.

In terms of album review changes:

-Mastodon’s Crack The Skye is now a 5 pretzel album. As I listened to this album more and more, I realized just how sad and lonely it sounds. In many ways this makes sense, since guitarist Brent Hinds was in a coma for a while before the writing of the album. It’s also drummer Brann Dailor’s tribute to his late sister, Skye, who killed herself in her teens. When listened to within that context, the emotional core of the album becomes all the more powerful.

That’s it for changes. Next month, I’ll be reviewing Bell Orchestre, Bill Callahan, The Church, Conor Oberst, Dan Deacon, Eminem, Green Day, Grizzly Bear, Iggy Pop, Jarvis Cocker, Maximo Park, New York Dolls, Phoenix, Tinted Windows and many, many more. Stay tuned!

State Of The Pretzel Logic: March

Here we are, wrapping up the third month of Pretzel Logic. I must say, so far this whole blog has been an incredibly rewarding experience and I hope people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. With March now in the books, there are a few announcements I’d like to make before April gets under way.

-I’m adding a new monthly column! Inspired by my Thom Yorke feature last week, I’m creating a “Great Albums In History” section. These articles will appear on the 15th of every month and will discuss a single album in length, focusing on what makes these albums important in my mind. I’ll be breaking them down track by track, looking for themes and what each song contributes to the album as a whole. Coming April 15th!

-A few album grading adjustments this month:
1) U2’s No Line On The Horizon loses half a pretzel and now has 3.5 pretzels. As the month went on, this album began to sound less and less inspired to my ears. I still maintain that it’s the best thing U2 have done since Achtung Baby, though.
2) Antony & The Johnsons’ The Crying Light gains half a pretzel and now has a full 5 pretzels. Continued listening has made me appreciate this album more and more. As always with 5 pretzel albums, I’m not saying that it’s perfect. I’m just saying I really, really like it.

-We’ve got a busy April ahead of us. I plan to review albums by the following artists: Fever Ray, Pete Doherty, K’naan, Bat For Lashes, Depeche Mode, Camera Obscura, Doves, Junior Boys, Les Claypool, Metric, Silversun Pickups, Neil Young, Art Brut, The Thermals, Bob Dylan and Frank Black’s new project, Grand Duchy. Wish me luck, folks.

That’s it for March! As always, thank you all for reading and commenting!

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The P4K, Part 2

While I’m on the subject of Pitchfork, I’d like to announce a new addition to Pretzel Logic. On the right hand side, below my picture, you’ll notice a new “2009 Favorites” section. This space will have links to every album over the course of the year that I grade as a 4.5 or 5 pretzel album. Now, f anyone really wants to know which albums I’m enjoying lately, they can check the 2009 Favorites.

I basically stole this idea wholesale from Pitchfork, with their Best New Music section. I feel that one of Pitchfork’s biggest strengths is their organization and navigability. Having a nifty little space where people can see the best of the best albums is more than a little useful. I try to run this blog in a very organized manner and I think this new 2009 Favorites area will help in that regard. Enjoy!

Words, Words, Words

So, as you might have noticed, my usual manic rate for updating this blog has slowed this week. I blame a combination of Spring Break, home cooking and the World Baseball Classic games that are readily available on my TV (go Australia!). Hopefully, I’ll find time to write a few reviews as the week goes on and I can assure you that regular blog posts will resume on Monday.

In the meantime, I’m going to try a blog experiment. I was thinking about how I use the words “record”, “album” and “CD” interchangeably when I refer to albums that I’m reviewing. I’ve decided to try attaching concrete definitions to these three terms:

-“album”: a series of songs arranged in some order by an artist or artists
-“CD”: albums that are on the compact disc format
-“record”: albums that are on the vinyl formal, so beloved by hipsters of the world

Hopefully, I’ll be able to use these definitions in all further album reviews. However, should I find the lack of synonyms completely infuriating, I’ll switch back.