Cubicle Tunes - Week of November 6, 2007

OK, so I've had some difficulty with the tunes in my cubicle lately. First, my trusty 3rd Gen 20GB iPod finally bought the farm after 3 1/2 years of daily and constant use. I get the "!" and the file folder on the main screen, and I spent about 2 hours trying everything that apple.com said to try, but to no avail. Maybe Santa will bring me a 160GB bad boy for Xmas, but sometimes I get into mischief, so I'm not banking on it.

So, I burned a few MP3 CD's and I run them through Windows Media Player on my laptop. Not very efficient, but better than the Lite Rock 99 WFMK crap from over the wall.

Then, my $20 Computer Associates speakers developed a short in the cable and now the left speaker cuts in and out unless I find the perfect position for the cable and anchor it down. Today it's draped over the phone and looped through a staple remover.

Next week I am going to hire Brian Vander Ark to play my cubicle. Hey - he played backyards and living rooms all summer, so why not a cubicle?

Through all of that adversity, I still have some pretty stellar tunes to report.

1. Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007)

In a word - brilliant. I am entranced by "All I Need", and "House of Cards" and "Videotape" are sonic hypnotism.

2. The National - Alligator (2005)

No - I can't let go of The National. This is a different album than this year's "Boxer" that I've been forcing on you recently, but it's just as good. Highlights include "Baby, We'll Be Fine" with the charming lamentation of "I'm so sorry for everything" in the refrain, and "All The Wine", with the matter of fact assertion that "All the wine is all for me".

3. Griffin House - Flying Upside Down (2007)

This was an iTunes impulse buy. I'm glad I'm impulsive. Lyrics are critical, and House had enough lines in the 30 second samples to reel me in, including "I can take a punch and I don't mind to bleed, as long as afterwards you feel bad for me" from the cleverly titled "The Guy That Says Goodbye to You is Out of His Mind" and "She's out of my league, and that's the kind of girl I need" from the song "Let Me In".

I'm out-
KWass