Panadola Diction

I’m not ever going to try and compete with cutty edge music blogs, or laboriously listen to everything that comes out to save you the bother. No. Why would I do that? I prefer to listen to some new stuff, and lots of old stuff, and catch on to things five months after all the really advanced musotards*.

Also, having demolished my 30gb Creative Zen, and having borrowed a 2gb iPod Nano from a child, I’ve been forced to somewhat streamline my portable collection. Here be a few notes on newish stuff I’ve been listening to of late:

• The Breeders - Mountain Battles: I really like this album, it’s gone onto my ‘play all the way through’ album rotation.
• Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Thrash: Again, I really like this, it grew on me steadily with each listen. It’s not quite Pavement, but it’s a near as we’re going to get these days.
• Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil: Entertaining in parts. I like the sound of ‘Bad Kids’ for some reason.
• Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid: Only put this on this week, so not sure yet. I love ‘Grounds for Divorce’, but the rest of it is of a different ilk. Possibly a grower.
• Lykke Li - Youth Novel: Likable stuff, though I generally flick after the first half of the album. Nice summery sounds though.
• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!: Only put it on the iPod last night, but already liking the sound of it.
• Santogold - Santogold: Again, it’s very new to me, but I don’t know what to make of this. Lots of genre-hopping, and I’m strugging to listen to ‘I’m a Lady’ with a straight face.

That’s about it, there’s other stuff on there too, old reliables, digital comfort blankets, jam on toast, pints of Smithwicks, but I’m not going to list those.

Here’s a muxtape with some songs on it. It may change whenever I feel like changing it, rendering its link to the above list obsolete, or at least rendering my telling you what’s actually on it now pointless. What’s a muxtape? Go see.

2gb really isn’t enough. I don’t like not being able to select an album from an extensive collection when I’m walking somewhere, and I’m not organised enough to plan ahead and predict what albums I’ll want to listen to tomorrow. I’m glad I didn’t like music** back in the days of CD’s and tapes, I would have had to carry a rucksack around.

In other news, there’s a new branch of Real Gourmet Burger in Ballsbridge (there’s been one in Dun Laoghaire for a while). It’s great (polite staff, good burgers) and it’s jammed. Why someone didn’t open a chain like this years ago is beyond me, it seems like the most obvious idea in the history of dining.

*No offence, musotards, I’m just sulking in your shadows.

**Pre 2000ish I led a sheltered musical life, surrounded largely by people who liked dance compilations, like Best of Euphoria 4 for example. But dancing is wrong. I dabbled in bits and pieces of good stuff (the first album I ever bought was Beck’s Odelay, quite by accident, I bought it with a book token. That’s quite iron-ee.) But I generally wasn’t that fussed with music, or audio in general.

If you had been around in the days of walkmen and discmen you probably wouldn’t need to carry so much music with you all the time now. As I was around then I still haven’t kicked the habit of planning what to take with me and just listening to one album a day. I have a 4GB ipod now but don’t even take advantage of that. I started with a 512 and have stuck to the routine of filling my new one up on Sunday night’s just like I did with my first shuffle. I’m afraid I’d spend most of my commute trying to decide what to listen to if I had more of a choice…
Looking forward to checking out the muxtape.

I was around, I just didn’t want to listen to anything badly enough to carry a big lump of plastic around. I had a minidisc player for a while, and a pocket full of minidiscs, but I guess I’ve just gotten lazy and spoiled with modern technology. Several times in the last week or two I’ve been walking home from town, scrolling through what’s on the iPod and not finding an album I wanted to listen to that I hadn’t already listened to in the previous 48hrs or so.

musotards. i like that (no offence, Redser, you know i like your one).

had the bland pleasure of dining in Real Gourmet Burger in Ballsbridge yesterday evening. review to follow but suffice to say i was less than wowed…

Nice muxtape! I’ve got an 8GB nano and still suffer from chronic skipping disorder. Too fussy!

Well Rosie, there was nothing bland about my chilli-burger smothered in sour cream. It didn’t inspire me to burst into song or anything, but I’ve not had a better burger in the greater Ballsbridge area, and I’ve lunched there extensively. And I’d say the only better burger I’ve had inside the Pale was in Bóbó’s, but only by a short head. Look forward to your review!

Glad you liked it Catherine! Check back for rotations.

i’ll happily admit that my choices may have played a part - but surely cajun should never be bland?

the burger review started life as post about running into a boy i like at a trade fair. i don’t know where it all went wrong.

[...] also realised that I didn’t list the songs from my first Muxtape, Jimasphixit, and now it’s gone for ever. So, for posterity, as far as I can remember it was something [...]