Deja Vu Vu Vu

Riding the subway this morning, grooving to some great new music, I had the weirdest feeling of deja vu. I had the weirdest feeling of deja vu. Deja vu. Yeah, like that. And then it hit me. For the last three years, my favorite albums of the year have all been late summer/early fall releases. There's a weirdly comfortable and familiar feeling of being crazy about a new record while enjoying newly cool weather. And even more deja vu-y, all three albums are by the same guys.

In 2004, it was Rich Morel's Lucky Strike.
In 2005, it was Bob Mould's Body Of Song.
In 2006, it is Mould & Morel's Blowoff.

The week I picked up Lucky Strike in 2004, I played it incessantly, including on the train down to DC and in my hotel room, trying to calm my nerves before going onstage to read my work for the first time, at Bob's Blogjam. I had to follow Andrew Sullivan! Now I always play it at home on nights when I'm going to be onstage somewhere. It's my thing.

I just got my copy of Blowoff yesterday. It's been available on iTunes for about week, but I wanted the physical CD. I'm old skool like dat. Plus, I wanted all the great Pat Garsys artwork. The album rocks as much as the advance download teased. Billboard Magazine says, "the rugged beats and rhythms pulsate with a cocksure swagger." Definitely. I highly recommend. Best album of 2006. (And that's in a year in which a Pet Shop Boys album came out, which for me, is near blasphemy.)

I'll be in San Francisco in a couple of weeks for the Folsom Street Fair, where Blowoff is headlining the Main Stage at 5pm. Look for me down front, squealing like a Tiger Beat groupie.