Modest Mouse - No One's First and You're Next EP

It's got a giant burn hole on the shoulder. A giant green buffalo on the front. And "Modest Mouse" is written above it. It's one of my favorite shirts of all time (Mind you, I have way too many graphic T's). Advertising Modest Mouse has been one of my past times for years. Thinking about how many times I've listened to Moon and Antarctica and Lonesome Crowded West is unbelievable.

But Modest Mouse has continued to make music after Moon and Antarctica. Good News for People Who Love Bad News (2004) was great, and We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (2007) got me for a few months. Today, Modest Mouse released their new EP, No One's First and You're Next. Featuring B-sides from the past two albums, the new EP has a very familiar and great 'Modest Mouse'-y feel to it. It's good. It's just nothing new - same sounds, vocals, and great song titles . And it marks even more of a departure from the older Modest Mouse that I loved. It's still worth getting (Check out "Guilty Cocker Spaniels", "The Whale Song", and "King Rat"). And if you've never listened to Modest Mouse, get on that! It just sounds exactly like how you'd expect unreleased and B-side tracks from the past two albums to sound.

Also, I did come across an awesome music video for the great song, "King Rat", directed by Heath Ledger before he died. Kinda cool, eh? Check it out here.

Synecdoche, New York

Recently, I made myself a giant bowl of popcorn. To accompany my popcorn, Synecdoche, New York was put on. Written and directed by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), I was soon taken on an unexpected mental journey. The film created an amazing sense of life. The fullness of a single life in a universe of time.

The film drew me in and had me following Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) on his blurred journey between reality and dream-state on his effort to create something vast, pure, and authentic. As my housemate proceeded to pass out halfway through the incredibly long movie, I couldn't leave. I couldn't let go of his character and his suffering. And his obsessions with life truths.

I didn't necessarily enjoy the movie, I just love how it made me think. It was truly a mental journey. And its pieces came together in a way that made me forget I ever had popcorn in my lap.

The Antlers - Hospice

Okay. If I tell you the concept of this awesome, awesome album, you may end up missing the point that, Jesus, this album is fantastic. Definitely one of my top 5 of the year. And it's by a band that, unless you've followed my obsessed-laced Facebook statuses or Twitter updates, you probably have never heard of. The Antlers, headed by Peter Silberman, have released a lovely tragedy entitled Hospice. At times depressing, at times fleeting, at times surreal, at times a weird mix of The Arcade Fire meets Radiohead. But always an aura of completion, beauty, and humanity. My favorite tracks, "Kettering", "Bears", and "Two" have been sent to every friend I've ever talked music with. The vocals are haunting, the journey is necessary, the concept, I'm keeping to myself. Do yourself a favor. Keep an eye out for these guys.

And be sure to hit up their myspace, or last.fm for free downloads. Or follow them on Twitter.