muzak

i received david bazan's [formerly of pedro the lion fame] new solo debut ep fewer moving parts in the mail a couple of days ago. i pre-ordered the cd 2 weeks ago, then cancelled my order a day later after i realized i had no money. a week went by & suddenly i got a confirmation e-mail that my order had shipped. i responded with confusion stating that i had cancelled the order [& been refunded]but received the response "we don't let money troubles stand in the way of good music, besides we shipped all the pre-orders before we saw that you had cancelled, so enjoy a free cd"! i have been on board with pedro the lion since the whole ep, way back when, so i have always been excited when new albums came out. however, since achilles heel came out a year or so back with the addition of tw walsh to the roster i have been a little disappointed with the shift in pedro's music [see also headphones]. not that it wasn't still good [i'm always up for electronicy elements & so forth], just seemed like it was going a very different direction. sort of that same feeling when you have a good friend who becomes friends with someone you don't care for & you don't want to share. that & the fact that tw's songwriting is nowhere near as good [in my opinion] as bazan's. the new ep, sounds a great deal more like what might have been the logical successor to pedro's control album & finds david once again doing it all himself, as the ep title & lyrics of the track 'fewer broken pieces' describe:

'i still run the show & don't you forget it. so i had to let some go, don't think i don't regret it. 'cause i do & i don't think i'm better off alone. man, i could have had a big sound, but i love to let my friends down. fewer moving parts mean fewer broken pieces. when every other start requires a brand new thesis...' A+

i also gave a listen to thom yorke's new solo album the eraser today, but i need more time before i can comment. sounds good though.