I had an idea for another story

Midway through Beirut's set at Osheaga on Sunday. You know how when inspiration strikes really hard your brain goes into this weird whiteout mode and you later realize you have no idea what the other person's been saying to you for the last five minutes? I lost a good 10 minutes of that set, which annoys me because it's not like I get to see Beirut play every other week. It's not the sort of idea I'd normally ever write out, either, but now I feel like I have to, just to have something to show for my distraction. XD;

Anyway. It turns out that Beirut has a new album out (on MP3 - it leaked early, so the digital version went out early while the physical formats ship for an August 30 release date). Because I am a nonpareil of deduction I figured this out when they started playing songs I didn't know. I've just gone and pre-ordered the LP for a chance at the special ed., since I have a ridiculous textbook-case mania for clear vinyl. Beirut makes good vinyl-listening albums so the risk isn't great: I nearly always put The Flying Club Cup on from beginning to end. I've gradually come to realize that that album is a bona fide decade top 20. It's weird because no individual song on it is as good as "Elephant Gun" or "Postcards to Italy" or "Gulag Orkestar" (except arguably "Cliquot"), but it's perfectly sequenced and does what it does so well. I remember when it first came out, someone wrote a review which identified the perfect use case: the evening after moving into a new place, unpacking boxes while unwinding with a glass of wine. Packing a suitcase before next morning's flight, too, it works for that. As long as I continue to travel for pleasure, this album will never fully leave the rotation.

My ranking of Beirut releases, based on how often I listen to them:

The Flying Club Cup
Realpeople Holland (particularly "Venice", because I can't get over that it actually sounds like Venice)
Lon Gisland EP
The Gulag Orkestar (a good album, but I only ever replay three songs on it)
March of the Zapotec (I barely listen to this one at all)

So clearly I approve that Zach Condon chose to return to indiepop roots on The Rip Tide, instead of making a vuvuzuela-gamelan fusion record or something which was the only other career route this could have taken. It can't ever be disgustingly twee, anyway, what with the brass instrumentation and dude's vocal style, although "East Harlem" makes a concerted effort. I don't know how much I'll end up listening to it yet, but I imagine as much as Lon Gisland EP surely.

IMO this is the best of the new songs (dodgy Soundcloud upload, listen before it's gone):

The Rip Tide - Beirut by DJmich

Your cosmic cube refuses to obey you because it's enjoying the Hostess Twinkies

This is never going to stop being funny, sorry.

This week in comics! 08/03/2011 - Fresh Presentations: The Comics Journal weekly column containing a review of Captain America. This sparked off a discussion on Tumblr (Tari | Tom | Charmian | me) about narrative structure that had very little to do with Captain America. XD; Anyway, I originally wrote this in my response to Jonathan Bogart's post:

I went to see this yesterday, followed by Thor tonight, on its second run at the Dollar Cinema - I am actually experiencing a surprisingly amount of EMOTIONAL RELIEF at being All Caught Up and Things Finally Starting To Make Sense; so some part of this creaky setup is working, at least for people like me who know literally nothing about Avengers continuity, even though it was obvious circa Nick Fury’s ominous rumblings in Iron Man 2 that the writers didn’t have any plot to hint at, and at this point they’ve barely fixed on a McGuffin. That’s fine: I’ve seen worse seat-of-pants flying by Shounen Jump mangaka who in the end managed to land their cargo. But I absolutely reserve the right to wait for shiz to come round to the Dollar Cinema, where a popcorn and a movie set you back $3.50 inclusive of tax.

I had a number of thoughts on Captain America itself, but the article up there covers pretty much all of them. (Actually, I have a chance to catch the '91 adaptation on Saturday; one of the things the Fantasia Film Festival is good for is catching you up on the history of terrible geek b-movies.)

( And then I rambled on in issen4's comments, expanded version )

...Anyway, that was just to gather up all the disparate content bits. XD;

#for Hostess Twinkies read (the bloodless victory of) capitalist consumerism

#the Sufficiently Advanced Science infodump passes Bechdel

#I would like the Avengers movie to address these conflicting visions of American identity via having Iron Man and Captain America yell at each other or something

#this is a deep plot by RDJ to surround himself with blond studliness AT ALL TIMES

#actually I just want Marvel vs. Capcom 3 fanfiction, do I have to go to FFN for it