Non-Sequiturs

Ginger chest.

Fur and eyes.

Love that chest.

Colorful.

Wow.

Furlicious.

I would love to play in all that fur.

Damn that smile.

Grrrr.

Amazing chest.

Hey daddy.

Nice view.

Touch of silver.

Woof.

So cute.

Love his look.

Woof and Grrr and stuff.

So hot.

Hey daddy, again.

Such a cutie.

Damn that's a hot beard.

Yummy.

So. Damn. Hot.

Ginger hotness.

Sexy.

Leather hotness.

Love his build.

Sigh.

Hey daddy.

Damn, that's some fur.

Cutie.

Love that smile.

UNF.

Damn.

There is nothing sexier than thick black fur.

Well, maybe a hot set of abs.

Nah, definitely the black fur.

I am mesmerized by his nipples.

That's a hot man.

Sexy daddy.

Grrrrr.

Yes, please, and thank you.

Esben and the Witch are recording their third album with producer Steve Albini. Hmmmm, that is an interesting choice.

House of Cards just keeps getting better and better.

Arya on Game of Thrones is a badass.

Love this.

There is never a good reason to wear denim shorts.

We saw 300: Rise of an Empire the other night with some friends. It's not my usual type of movie to see. I can't say it was a good movie, however, I will say, I would have loved to be the casting director. Damn.

The US Postal Service's package tracking system pretty much sucks balls.

I think Pet Shop Boys' set at Coachella was likely the first time a Sondheim song was played there.

Tasteless, yes.  Funny as hell, yes.

Bubba Watson, who won the Masters tournament last weekend, can go kiss my furry gay ass. I sure hope that Masters jacket isn't woven from two different materials.

For people I don't know, I treat them like they are psychotic serial killers until proven otherwise.

The song that made me a huge music fan and started my road towards more alternative music was seeing the video for Depeche Mode's song "Get The Balance Right." I've never had a broken bone. While Treasure is my favorite Cocteau Twins record (aside from the compilation The Pink Opaque), I have a soft spot for Four Calendar Cafe. The song "Summerhead" is probably one of my favorite songs of theirs.

Good boy.

I am not a fan of long hair on men, however, Jared Leto sure has some sweet locks.

I don't understand people who get plastic surgery to look like a celebrity or someone famous or infamous. Honestly, I really don't understand plastic surgery in general.

I'll worry about the status of my relationship, thank you. Your opinion about it doesn't matter to me.

If you are a self-proclaimed "helpless romantic," why are you on Scruff? And better yet, why are you complaining about people only wanting to hook up on Scruff?

Once I find you creepy, you will always be creepy to me.

With new pressures at work and other things taking away time from me writing the blog, I am sort of revamping what this blog is. Nothing drastic, mind you, but just something that gives it a little more meaning when I am not able to put out music reviews as often as I am able.

Who knew it would take Hercules and Love Affair to make me like John Grant.

The season premiere of Mad Men had to be one of the most depressing hours of television I have seen in awhile. Almost every character was at their lowest point. I am hoping for some redemption for these characters by the end of the series.

I can't stand weak coffee. I want my coffee so dark and intense it comes with its own horror movie soundtrack.

Your cute for the day.

Appealing Things

Venti Iced Caramel Latte
Hercules And Love Affair's new record
Warm weather
Quiet weekends

 Annoying Things

QC-ing work from stupid people
The wind tunnel effect at Colony Square
Going to the dentist

Bryan Ferry: Olympia

Bryan Ferry
Olympia
Rating: Meh

A new album from rock legend Bryan Ferry is always something to anticipate, especially when it is his first since 2002's Frantic to feature original material.  With Olympia, Ferry returns, not so much at the top of his game, but hitting a nice stride utilizing his seductive tenor and atmospheric productions to mostly good effect.  Where he trips up is letting the atmosphere get a little too heavy at times, forgetting that sometimes less is more.

Olympia starts off strongly with his best single in years, "You Can Dance."



The song is sexy, and slinky, recounted the travails of a long night of clubbing.  The song teeters on the edge of being too full (really Bryan, do you need to have three bassists on the track when one would do?), but never falls off the fence.

Again, where he balances that line perfectly, it makes for some stunning music.  Whether it is the Euro-cool stylings of "Alphaville,"



or the almost harsh backbeats and rave synth grind of Groove Armada produced "Shameless"



Ferry shows he still knows how to pick a producer that accentuates his many talents.  Where he falters, is when he overshadows that bond, either with the pale and limp collaboration with Scissor Sisters, "Heartache By Numbers,"



or two completely horrendous and unnecessary covers.  The first is the overblown and overstuffed cover of Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" which This Mortal Coil covered to perfection with Elizabeth Frazier of the Cocteau Twins.  Here, Ferry appears to create a mashup of "Slave to Love" and "Avalon," and just keeps adding too much to a song that needs delicate backing.



Or the second cover, of Traffic's "No Face, No Name, Number," which slides along glacially on autopilot, with barely a pulse or heart.



By the time he gets to a more upbeat track, "BF Bass (Ode to Olympia)," featuring Flea on bass, it is almost too late to save the album, with the track beginning promisingly, then getting mired with too many female diva backing vocalist histrionics.



Finally, he returns to a more minimal palette on the final two songs, which redeems Olympia from being a total washout.  The atmospheric and textured "Reason or Rhyme," brings Ferry back to the grandeur of his days with Roxy Music.



And "Tender Is The Night," ends Ferry's dusk til dawn party going journey in a meditative place:



I really wanted to love Olympia and I have been torn back and forth between liking it and feeling indifferent to it.  Ferry has a lock on this sort of sound: the world-weary crooner, making it through another evening of parties in fabulous places, a La Dolce Vita for the 2000s.  He surrounded himself with a top notch group of producers (Dave Stewart, Brian Eno) and an amazing group of musicians (Flea, Mani, Johnny Greenwood, Phil Manzera, Scissor Sisters) and yet he made them all sound like session players.  Although the album is exquisitely produced and sounds great, it felt very paint by numbers.  I have heard all this before, ever since Ferry's classic album Boys and Girls,  and was really looking for him to stretch a bit and try something different.  With Olympia we get standard issue Bryan Ferry, which, like most fashions, will get you through a long stretch, but doesn't really stand out in the crowd.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.