Actually Never

I didn’t set out for this to be Callback Week, but that’s just what happens sometimes.

You know what’s weird? When I write a new post that links to an old post, the system tells me that someone linked to the post and I need to approve it. But I’m that someone! It’s fine! And even if it was someone else, that’s probably fine too!

Unrelated but it does give me a me a chance to drop another link: my apologies if the Blue post is appearing out of order or came up in your RSS feed repeatedly lately. (Or if that link doesn’t work.) I thought I was deleting an old draft but I accidentally deleted the whole post and had to resurrect it.

I guess I didn’t have to. The world doesn’t need it. But I wanted it there.

You know, I really thought I’d write more about music here than I have. Seemed like it would be easier to fit new-to-me classic albums into my life. I should work on that.

I suppose this post sort of counts?

What I knew

When I talked about Stop Making Sense, I told the whole story about how I had tickets to see this live show in Saskatoon but it got cancelled so they could do another night in Minneapolis instead. And how I held a grudge but eventually gave in and watched Stop Making Sense and yes yes it’s as good as everyone says. Maybe even better.

“Goddamn it,” I wrote, “I’m going to have to watch American Utopia now, aren’t I.”

I am! It’s just going to take me close to 15 months to do it.

What I know

My intentions were not the purest. I wanted something to throw on the TV while I played around on my phone. A concert film seemed like something I could half-ass pay attention to.

Didn’t work. This was great. Kept my attention from start to finish. My Pokémon? They remain unsorted.

I wasn’t super familiar with all of the songs – there was a mix of Talking Heads songs, Byrne’s solo work, and some covers. Didn’t matter. This was joyous. Vibrant. I wish I’d seen it at the IMAX. I wish I’d seen that live show. Stupid Minneapolis.

Sometimes I feel silly here, telling you that some wildly popular thing is good, actually. You all knew already. That’s the point. At least in this case, American Utopia is somewhat less heralded than Stop Making Sense so there might be some value, however minimal, in me saying it’s really great too and you should watch both.