I wonder if more of a Beach Boys fan like Fred can tell me what he thinks of the similarities between the production (possibly the songwriting, or arranging, or whatever) on Pet Sounds and that on the Beta Band's Hot Shots II. It doesn't feel quite the same to me, maybe because I'm still not that much into Pet Sounds, but at the moment it seems like there could be some overlap in the way the production is very "internal" in a way - it sounds like it's perfectly suited for the kind of introspective listening you might do best over headphones. That's not quite it though. It's more than a headphone album - something more deliberate than that. Maybe there's something to the production that rewards the trancelike kind of attention that so many people say they give to Pet Sounds, laying on the floor, staring at the ceiling, headphones on. And that kind of attention seems more appropriate to call "introspective" to me, even if I don't quite like the word.

Of course, the Betas are well-known Beach Boys fans (cf. "Around the Bend")...

Time to start packing for my move to St. Paul on Saturday (assuming that the truck rental company actually obtains a truck - they're not really known for their reliability). Yes, I know it's getting a bit close. I'm hoping it will not be as onerous a task as it was last year.

No bother picking CDs this year, either. I had my stereo up pretty quickly last year, and anyway exactly what I have in my backpack right now will be just fine (except that I have to put this Beta Band CD in it):

The Shipping News, Basement Jaxx, Sleater-Kinney, Aaliyah, Monk Live at the Jazz Workshop, The Sea and Cake, three Bjork albums, Kid A, Low, Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home, In Utero, the new Labradford, 69 Love Songs vols. 1 and 2, the new Mogwai, Joy Division, the Dave Holland Quintet, Emergency & I, the new AAS comp, Rodan, the new Will Oldham, and the Velvet Underground and Nico.

Well, OK. Maybe I want Coltrane's Crescent in there too.

For the first entry in josh blog's new home, I am listening to the Beta Band. It's not up very loud but the shuffly background is keeping me comfortable while I work on some behind-the-scenes technical matters.