swoop

things are starting to level out- which i am relieved about. i think everyone's going to be better off for all of the drama that's gone down. the music is coming together quite nicely as well, i must say. soon it'll be finished and it'll be time to go. i'm looking forward to doing the wedding but also looking forward to being finished with all of this stuff and being able to get back to doing more shalloboi stuff- the christmas show, for example.
some more new records arrived in the mail yesterday- one is the second (and fucking excellent) telescopes record- a truly underrated and overlooked band from the wasteland of the early 90's shoegazer movement. in a lot of ways i think that the telescopes may have been the best besides my bloody valentine in that they really mined their own territory and did so while incorporating a seamless 60's vibe, not to mention making some of the most beautiful music from that era. listen to 'all a dreams' or 'spaceships.' also 'flying' is an amazing song. i bought the record on vinyl from bomp and it's on orange vinyl, sounds fantastic and has a cool remix/semi-instrumental version of 'flying' tacked onto the end entitled 'tornado.' nice!
the other new record that arrived is the new mogwai live record- 'special moves.' how is it that i find it so easy to forget mogwai only to rediscover them anew periodically for the last seven or so years. i don't even own 'the hawk is howling' yet. 'special moves' is a highly recommended live album and actually does a great job of capturing them live. i haven't had time to watch 'burning' yet (which came in the package as well- totally looking forward to that one). highlights of the set for me are all of the 'i know you are but what am i' (which i saw them play in 2006 or 2007- can't remember), 'like herrod' (how have i managed to see them three times and they've never played this- it's a beautiful beast), 'mogwai fear satan' (as always), '2 rights makes 1 wrong' (also saw them play this one and it was fantastic- this version is probably even better) and i've always loved 'cody' even though they've played it every time i've seen them. thank heaven mogwai exists. i don't know how i don't spend as much of my time listening to them as i used to- they are truly exquisite. such a great mix of fragility, beauty, loudness and brutality.
besides all of this i am now in a holding pattern of permanent burnout. as the shops continue to be slammed on a daily basis and the staff at the shop i work at continues to be worn too thin business still somehow continues to grow and decisions continue to be made in a really poor manner and long-term thinking continues to be pushed to the side. i even find myself stepping in more often when snap decisions need to be made and taking on extra responsibility despite the fact that i have no interest in anything resembling management or authority. the sad thing is that i'm making enough money that working there is still too lucrative and i'm afraid that if i went to another coffee shop i wouldn't be as well-off. everyone's hours got extended too so that'll mean even more money. despite all of this i lose my patience in the front so quickly nearly every day. i don't think i'm going to be able to leave anytime before christmas as it looks like i might not have to have any shifts covered as we might be closed christmas eve, christmas day and the day after christmas (it's a sunday) and i'd rather not have to try to deal with that first thing upon getting a new job. i'm hoping for a fresh start in 2011.