week 2:
for love of mixtapes; god is a dj (and his name is fred); wyclef returns; A-HA RETURNS (!); the twenty greatest songs ever scientifically determined by a three man panel consisting of me, myself and i; oh, and, boobs.

week 3:
get drawn to the magnetic fields; three movies that are grossly overrated; some of the greatest movies...ever; xtc murders love...again; james brown breaks out in a "cold sweat"; morrissey and springsteen...separated at birth?; i bare my soul...again; and MORE!

week 4:
gladiator slays me, eminem and xtc reviews, a new look!, i poke fun at my own writing, the inmates take over the asylum, and MORE!

other blogs i like:
(because they're out there, you know)
nylpm
blue lines
josh's blog
westernhomes
log.nu
skykicking
pearls that are his eyes
catherine's pita
public blog
i drank WHAT?
cultural artifacts of the moment
frytopia

XTC - "I'M THE MAN WHO MURDERED LOVE"

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grow, v. - 4 a : to pass into a condition : BECOME (grew pale) b : to have an increasing influence (habit grows on a person) c : to become increasingly acceptable or attractive (gee, i didn't like that new xtc single at first, but man, did it grow on me)

a year on from bitter diatribes against his wife like "your dictionary," and andy partridge still has yet to make peace with love. in fact, he just killed him. that's right, he put a gun against love's sugar head and pulled the trigger, and it was at love's request! he hadn't worked much this past century, you know, so andy put him out of his misery. and as far as andy's concerned, he did the world a favor!

so i guess you get the gist of what the xtc single is like lyrically. it's the same clever kind of stuff that we've come to expect from them over the years, but this time it may be a bit too obvious. (yes, yes, i'm getting sick of the italics too). but never mind that, let's talk about the music. "i'm the man who murdered love" is the first single from wasp star which was described as being the "rock" album as compared to apple venus' orch-oustic sounds. the very notion of "rocking out" was enough to send certain xtc fans into a tizzy.

well, don't fear too much, friends: xtc has never really traditionally "rocked out," and in middle age, they haven't changed on us now. if "itmwml" is any indication, what we're going to get is an electric power-pop album, which is just fine by me. "itmwml" (damn, even the anagram is long!) is a singalong in the "ball and chain" and "mayor of simpleton" mode: it's fun, infectious, and very easy to hum. it's also a joyful outing, which stands in stark contrast to some of the lyrics, with andy exhorting "yeaaaah! what do you think to that?" in the choruses, and going bonkers exclaiming "OH! IT'S THE MIDDLE OF THE SONG!" during, yep, you guessed it, the middle of the song, which does actually rock out a bit.

as mentioned above, "fun" is the operative word here -- note i didn't say "classic" or "timeless," but "fun." as much as i actually do enjoy this song, i can't help but wonder what's the point. i certainly do hope that there will be more on offer on the wasp star album. after last year's triumphant return, i'd hate to think that andy and colin are running out of steam already.