7QT: A New Wave

With fall in full swing all of my "real-world" responsibilities have ramped along with it. As a result, my blogging has fallen by the wayside and although I've been thinking a lot about what to write it unfortunately does not equate to writing a lot about what I think. So I'm going to take a cue from a notable female Catholic blogger and start a series of "7 Quick Takes Friday" posts where I summarize some interesting discoveries or concepts I stumbled upon in the last week.

1. Due Credit

My first exposure to "7 Quick Takes" was through Leah Libresco's blog Unequally Yoked. She's known in many internet circles for her very publicized conversion from atheism back in 2012 and though I can't speak for her past material I can say that I've enjoyed the unique melding of theology, ethics, mathematics and pop culture from her most recent posts.

2. Extra Credit

It was through three such posts from Leah's site (here, here and here) and two podcasts from NPR (here and here) that I was more or less being told that if I didn't listen to the original soundtrack from the new Broadway musical Hamilton that I would be one of those people who lived under a rock. Well, I can still see the sun and all I can say for the musical is that high school history teachers better be prepared for a lot of midterm research projects on the Revolutionary War.

"Cabinet Battle #1 (Live)" from Hamilton

3. Old Sounds

I'm not one to listen to re-runs of podcast, mostly because I have an exhorbinant number of subscriptions and it's a challenge to keep up with the weekly releases. But this week's From the Top episode was one of the first ones I ever heard, Show 303 from Interlochen, MI. Part of what kept me listening was that I was hoping that the introductory piece would be the one I was searching the name of for weeks. And lo and behold, it was! "Die Moldau" is a Czech symphonic piece composed in the 1870s by Bedřich Smetana and named after the great river that runs through the Czech Republic. This composition is also used in the intro sequence of the Symbolon series (as confirmed via Twitter).

"Die Moldau" by Bedřich Smetana

4. New Sounds

I've been listening to a lot of music that both new to me and new to the world, so a follow-up to my post on 2015 albums is in the works (at least in my head). One of the more interesting finds was the release of New Bermuda by the blackgaze band Deafheaven. Comprised of five songs each clocking over 8 minutes in length, the album touts an interesting blend of black metal elements with those of post-hardcore, pop-punk and 90s emo.

"Come Back" by Deafheaven

5. Down the Rabbit Hole

In listening to the Five Eight radio station on Spotify I discovered that the band shared stylistic sensibilities with Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, Pavement, Titus Andronicus, The Replacements, Sleater-Kinney, The Afghan Whigs, Built to Spill, Dinosaur Jr., Mission of Burma, Polvo and Camper van Beethoven. The pleasantest surprise from this listening adventure was hearing this cover of "Friday I'm in Love" by Yo La Tengo.

"Friday I'm in Love (The Cure cover)" by Yo La Tengo

6. The Obscurity of the Underground

I always thought all post-punk was melancholic and drony, like the sounds of early Joy Division, The Cure and Wire. Then I listened to some Bauhaus, Cabaret Voltaire and Kraftwerk and either my definition of post-punk is off or my labeling of these bands is.

"Double Dare" by Bauhaus

7. A New Shave

After listening to this podcast from the Art of Manliness featuring Mark Herro of Sharpologist I figured that the appropriate (and manly) thing to do was order some wet shaving supplies and try this tradition out. I can say now that I survived my first attempt at shaving with a double-edged safety razor and the experience was superb! Though with no-shave-November right around the corner I know that there will be some people out there who would not be in agreement with my new routine.

It's Friday, I'm in love,
Kelvin