Music Geekout: Concerts, The Decemberists, and The Long Winters 

I'm always forgetting what concerts are coming up, and then remembering too late to get tickets, or too late to actually go. I'm also trying to use Google Calendar more and more, since I think it works pretty well for my particular lifestyle (i.e. I don't have to keep track of a ton).

Oddly enough, it only took me a few weeks of thinking before I realized "Hey, calendars let you track things with dates! So, I can put concert dates into Google Calendar and then I can keep track of them!"

No one has ever accused me of being swift on the uptake.

So, I started poking around some websites, and came up with a list of shows I'd like to see that are coming up. I probably missed some, but I checked out TT's, the Middle East, the Paradise, Great Scott, Harpers Ferry, Avalon, and the Orpheum. Then I poked around some band sites (check out my last.fm profile to get an idea of what I tend to listen to).
I threw it all into Google Calendar, made it public, and now I can share it with you:

The Cool Shows Ryan Wants to See in the Next Few Months Public Calendar
Now you can curry favor with me by offering to take me to shows! Or you can stalk me and find out why I've had people tell me I look like Maynard from Tool, or Moby, or Michael Stipe (can you guess the trend?!).

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Recently, I also came across The Decemberists' new album The Crane Wife, which is scheduled to release sometime in October. I'm a pretty big fan of the The Decemberists and their interesting brand of folky, orchestral, verbose, literate, indie pop/rock. I wasn't prepared for just how great the new album would be. It's poppier, without losing the trademark Decemberists' sound. And, outside of FNX, you probably won't hear it in Boston. So, go buy it when it comes out. Or ask me nicely and I'll play it for you and then you'll go buy it.

I also picked up (legally) The Long Winters new CD Putting the Days to Bed. After a single listen, I had 3 or 4 songs stuck in my head. Each Long Winters album gets hookier and poppier and just generally awesome. Go download "Pushover" from their site and tell me it's not stuck in your head all day.