440 - Beck - Sea Change

Obvious statements: This is a break-up album. Don't put this on if you are in a perky mood and want to stay that way. Not to be listened to while driving late at night.

Despite what I read from others; yes, I did find the sadness and slow tempo of the songs a bit fatiguing. When I listened to the album tracks straight on through, the songs started blending together. When I listened to a few tracks at a time, I really enjoyed the songs.

Beck's musical formula on this album is his solemn vocals, acoustic guitar strums, a very basic rhythm set by drums or drum machine, and atmospherics. There is some nice pedal steel on "The Golden Age." I love the strings on "Paper Tiger." Speaking of strings, several tracks use them and the result sounds like Bob Dylan being produced by the same folks that did the Moody Blues late 60's recordings (especially "Lonesome Tears"). I found myself bemoaning "Round the Bend" on some listens when it was grouped with others but enjoyed it when I listened to it by itself. The atmospherics seemed to dominate a bit more on that track is my only explanation.

Songs I knew I liked: "Lost Cause"

Songs I didn't know but now like: "Paper Tiger," "Lonesome Tears," "End of the Day," "Sunday Sun," and "Little One"

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: None in particular.

Investigating Getting Rid of Satellite

It would be nice to save the nearly $90/month we are currently paying for satellite. Here is a list of the shows our family DVRs. I'm now going to try to figure out where else we can catch these shows. If I can match up enough of these, I'll be convinced to drop Dish Network. I've put the shows that I couldn't find full episodes in bold.

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