well, hello mister 5:34pm {March 24, 2009}

I am behind on music—but with a good excuse! I spent the better part of my weekend milling around Sonoma's annual cheese festival with Mr. Best Friend and his longtime love. Our favorites from the weekend include an especially tasty goat's milk white-cheddar, a very impressive cumin gouda, and bellwether farm's carmody reserve (I was already familiar with their sheep's milk pepato, but this cow's milk varietal is even better. You can find it at several specialty shops and northern CA-based whole foods).

Anyhow, it was a great weekend, and I plan on funneling my inspiration and making homemade ricotta and gnocchi for dinner this week. Wish me luck—though hopefully, I won't need it. My kitchen is finally coming together. I am ready for the task!

Now on to matters more serious: As you may know, today is a hefty day for album drops—with new releases from The Decemberists, Swan Lake (which I've been a little worried about based on their debut single), The Whitest Boy Alive (which seems to be in some places and not others), Dan Deacon, Papercuts, and Royksopp. My blogger comrade, Will, over at We All Want Someone to Shout For highlighted most of these releases in a very good overview post. Put your peepers over there and get educated!

I, on the other hand, blame my lack of research & opinion-driven verbosery on the aforementioned cheese trip—and last night's noisy furniture repositioning/shelf hanging/cursing/assembly/decorating session in my little apartment from 6pm to 2am. Yes, it was entirely coffee-fueled and it culminated with me half-hearing Jimmy Fallon mention another blogger friend's site, Certain Songs, on his talk show. I thought I had imagined it given my caffeinated, wild-eyed state, but he really did mention it. (Congrats, Blair! I think this is really cool. If Jimmy Fallon ever said "the blisslist"—even if it was in relation to mister Clay Aiken—I'D COMPLETELY FREAK OUT!)

Here's a mental pinky-swear that my next post will be more "thinky" and music-inclined. In the meantime, let's whet our palates together with a few tunes. Happy tuesday, my friends!

The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles...) - The Decemberists | purchase:  
Future Primitive - Papercuts | purchase:  
Paper Lace - Swan Lake | purchase:  
Get Older - Dan Deacon | purchase:  

(image by my funny eye)

Comments

[Blair]

Even though he called me a woman, I was still thrilled! With the name Blair, I have been dealing with it all my life! Heck, half of my mail still comes to Ms Blair Hook!

And also, in revenge...I would like to say that I am not a fan of the Decemberists at all!!

AC and Neko...you have been avenged!!! ;-)

Love ya Liz!

[me]

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T LIKE THE DECEMBERISTS!!!!!!!??" was almost sent to you at 4am last night. But I fell asleep.

Colin Meloy is a fan of twitter too! After pitchfork gave their new one a bad review, he tweeted all of his followers with plans of a mass e-mooning:

http://www.thedailyswarm.com/headlines/decemberists-vs-pitchfork-twitter-beef/

I shudder at the thought of the photos they received.

[Blair]

I saw that...and it made me like him even less!

Hahaha...they just never really did much for me...one of those bands like Death Cab...i see the talent, they just kind of bore me.

Don't hold back on those 4Am TEXTS ever...i sleep like a dead person :-)