Recently consumed media

Some stuff I've been enjoying lately:

Nellie McKay - I don't know how to describe this. It's kind of like if Ani DiFranco was a nightclub singer. A mixture of piano and witty, biting vocals from a 19 year-old mixed into lounge songs that defy current music. I doubt there's a radio station out there tailored to this kind of stuff (aside from NPR), so I guess buy her stuff and see her live. I don't know if I love this because it's really amazing or if it's just because it's so different. Call it Piano Bar-core, Alterna-jazz, or just plain good stuff.

Citizens Here and Abroad - One of the few CDs that contains music I was familiar with before it became a released CD. After hearing all these songs 4-5 times live over the past year, I kinda liked the final mix that ended up on the disc, the vocals and xylophone are up, the drums are down. I kinda miss Chris' hard hitting percussion, but then that's why you see bands live in the first place. Be sure to catch them on their upcoming tour.

Fog of War - Saw this the other day for the first time. After hearing so much about it, I thought McNamara would be more candid and open than he was, but he was open about his mistakes and lessons if you compare him to most people in the political spotlight. Though in all his admissions of wrongdoing it felt like he was still hiding quite a bit. The lessons in the movie are pretty timeless and I'd say the Clinton White House missed just as many of these as the Bush White Houses, but hopefully the lessons are learned by the powers that be going forward.

The new Get Up Kids album is being pimped on the iTunes music store, but you can buy it for ten bucks without any DRM of any kind at audiolunchbox (as MP3 or ogg, your choice). I also picked up the Wrens there for nine bucks. Damn, they have a lot of labels at audiolunchbox. Even Citizens is there if you want it instantly.