Pretty Goes with Pretty

Long Live Pretty Goes with Pretty

In an act of consolidation that has been many years overdue, I'll now be doing all of my primary blogging through my tumblr account, which as of now has just been renamed Pretty Goes with Pretty—so bookmark the new url and/or update your RSS feeds if you still read blogs that way.

I've had an affinity for this site for a long time, always aspiring to be more prolific here, less prolific elsewhere, etc. But the truth is that it's quite difficult to stay prolific on one site and be on Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook—all of which are beguiling enough that I don't want to abandon any of them for different reasons. I'm tired of being a jack of all platforms, master of none. So, if a format is to be abandoned, I realize it's this one.

That's not to say Pretty Goes with Pretty is dead. It's just at a new url. The tone and content will change to match the platform—there will be reblogs, there will be fewer downloadable mp3s, there will be no more weekly soundtracks nor monthly rundowns. That said, there will be more content overall, and more varied. There will still be lots of music to listen to, and lots of words to read. There will be art. There will be television and movies, maybe. There will be whatever I want there to be.

Hopefully you already follow me there or on Twitter. Judging by my daily stats, the vast majority of visitors here are just hunting for mp3s anyway—and that's not who I've ever wanted to cater to. It is my hope that renewed efforts at Tumblr and Twitter will result in what I most want out of writing about music—conversation. Join me.

This Week's Soundtrack

Iron & Wine: The Creek Drank the Cradle, Kiss Each Other Clean, and Our Endless Numbered Days
Heartless Bastards: Arrow
Belle and Sebastian: The Boy with the Arab Strap
Of Montreal: Paralytic Stalks (2)
Hospitality: s/t
Zomes: Improvisations
Cate le Bon: Cyrk
First Aid Kit: The Lion's Roar
Beach House: Devotion
Simon & Garfunkel: Sounds of Silence
Feist: Metals

Belle and Sebastian: The Boy With The Arab Strap

 

In Search Of...

...something new...went to NPR to listen to the new Sharon Van Etten but it did not feel like the right record for me at that moment, so I clicked off after a few songs...switched to Heartless Bastards' Arrow, since it was there on the NPR page—a band I've never heard before but this was nice enough, though a day later I don't really remember it other than the singer had a compelling and strong voice...was reminded that I wanted to hear First Aid Kit's new album—a band I've never heard of until hearing "Emmylou" on the internet somewhere; it reminded me of 2010's Chapin Sisters record, which is not a bad thing, but like the Van Etten it just wasn't sitting well with my mood so I turned it off...later in the day I finally put on Of Montreal's Paralytic Stalks—I say finally because I acquired it a few days ago from a publicist but have not been enthused enough to actually listen to it, despite past fandom; I doubt I'll put it on again (does anyone need more Of Montreal at this point?)...tried the new Hospitality record on Matador; was sort of ambivalent to individual tracks I'd heard previously but liked the overall album more, and will probably go back to it...wished I had the new Jason Urick album but I don't (yet)...which reminded me to look into what Thrill Jockey has been up to lately, so I sampled a few mp3s on their site from two groups I'd never heard of, Imbogodom and Pontiak, neither of which did it for me...but I have a lot of faith in Thrill Jockey so I noted some other new releases and headed to Spotify, where I tried out a new album by a band called Rhyton which was kinda aimless instrumental spacey psych jams, didn't reel me in...and finally one more Thrill Jockey release Zomes' Improvisations, which is guitar-based ambient and more up my alley—finally!

All the albums I'm looking forward to don't come out for another month. It's only early February—there's still a chance for me to keep up with music in 2012, so please tell me what I new stuff I should be hearing.

Jason Urick: The Crying Song (Album Mix)

First Aid Kit: Emmylou

January Mix

I didn't hear a lot of new albums this month, but I did keep up pretty well with hearing new tracks via PR and my favorite blogs. Here's a mix of favorite finds, old and new, that I haven't already written about this month. Special shoutout to the blogs who hepped me to some of these tracks—Aquarium Drunkard (Reparata & the Delrons), For the Sake of the Song (White Fence, Etta James, and Woodpigeon), and the Rising Storm (Dave Davies). (I came across the rest via Pitchfork and innumerable other blogs in my RSS feed.) This mix is best played in order.

Juliana Barwick: Never Change

Etta James: Seven Day Fool

Disappears: Replicate

Zammuto: F U C-3PO

White Fence: When There Is No Crowd

Dave Davies: Do You Wish to Be a Man

Woodpigeon: For Paolo

Lower Dens: Brains

Reparata and the Delrons: Boys and Girls

Also of note, I wrote about three more songs I heard this month that I thought were great: The Shins' "Simple Song"; the Dirty Three's "Rising Below"; and Julia Holter's "Marienbad."