We can't hide the way it makes us glow

Lately, I've been addicted to Beach House's Take Care. I love the warm feeling of the song, the way it gently floats on a spring breeze. The way Victoria Legrand sings "I'll take care of you/take care of you/that's true" is dreamy and comforting, helped along by a little bit of reverb. It's something you'd whisper to a loved one in the darkest of nights as you are finally drifting to sleep just before dawn breaks.

You can find this on Beach House's excellent album, Teen Dream. While I'm talking about it, I can't say that I love the first couple albums (Beach House and Devotion), but they kept me interested enough to keep following. Teen Dream dropped (earlier this year) and blew me away. It's utterly gorgeous.

Beach House > Take Care

I'd make wine from your tears

I can't say I was ever a huge fan of INXS' Never Tear Us Apart when it originally dropped. At the time, thought it was too melodramatic, too bombastic and, worst of all, overplayed. I hear the original every now and then and it's really a decent song. I think my dislike for it stemmed from the fact that it was just a product of its time coupled with my distaste for chart music. That said, I really dig this cover by Beck's Record Club. The Record Club appears to be a rotating cast of whomever he can gather to come hang out in his studio to cover random albums. They've already done Skip Spence, The Velvet Underground and Nico, and Leonard Cohen. Right now, they're in the middle of INXS. You can check out the rest of the Record Club entries by clicking here.

RIP Ronnie James Dio

I spent a good chunk of time in high school listening to Ronnie James Dio fronting Black Sabbath and his own band. I was a nerd outcast with very few friends, and I loved metal in those days. I actually saw Black Sabbath on the Mob Rules tour in 81 or 82, somewhere around there. I got my mom to take me, if you can believe that one. Yeah, that was way back. Dio was one of those guys that could transport you to other worlds, with his lyrics of angels, demons, good & evil and rainbows. He seemed to mention rainbows more often than one would think. RIP to one of metal's original voices. This was one of my favorite tracks from his epic and classic album, Holy Diver. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna drink a few flasks of mead and go slay a level 50 dragon in honor of Dio. \m/

I was not sitting with the gargoyles

I don't know where it came from or how, but I am completely obsessed with Hiding All Away by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. It's got this menacing lurch, like a monster looming in the distance, its shadow cast upon you as it slowly moves in your direction. I'm not sure what to make of the lyrics, it seems sorta like a stream-of-consciousness rant. Maybe about God, and how he is everywhere no matter what is going on? Nick Cave has never shied away from religious imagery, so I wouldn't doubt it. I like the part where the backup singers sorta lose it and start laughing. Finally, when there is no more tension to build, the climax of the song hits. The band practically explodes and all of the voices are shouting "THERE IS A WAR COMING!", and it makes me either want to take shelter or run out in the streets, screaming along with them.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds > Hiding All Away

Happy Mother's Day

For all you mothers and mothers-to-be, here's an amusing little story from the legendary Tom Waits.

Tom Waits > Untitled #2