Pick Your Poison: Monday 10-22-12

Let me provide you with a quick bit of site news on this Monday. You may (or may not) have noticed that posts on this site have been a little sparse recently. By sparse, I mean there’s still a Pick Your Poison pretty much every day, but longer form writing pieces and album reviews have largely shown up once or twice or if we’re lucky three times a week. Back in the earliest days of the site (like 2007-ish), I would often crank out 4-5 reviews a week. Then again if you read those reviews, you’d realize that quantity does not equal quality. I do my best to provide thoughtful and insightful commentary about records that more often than not I believe in (or at least want to). I listen to most albums an average of six times before I even type a word about them, because it’s necessary to allow time for the little nuances to sink in. Sometimes I’ll reach that sixth listen, will sit down to write, and nothing will happen. Call it writer’s block if you like, but I think it primarily stems from an occasional inability to find the necessary entry point into a record that might otherwise be impenetrable. Once you figure out a good approach, then the real writing can begin. It might take an extra 2-3 days for me to find that opening, but there’s a certain sense of reward that comes with the idea that you’ve gotten it right (in your own mind). So what I really wanted to say was this: while I like to take my time and do some thoughtful writing, I also need to have that time available to think and write and edit. The last few weeks have been a little maddening for me schedule-wise, and I simply haven’t been able to devote as much time and resources to the site as I’d like. The worse part is that my schedule is unlikely to change anytime soon, meaning this slowed progression might continue into the indefinite future. I’m not considering, not even for one second, shutting down the site. You should know that. All I’m asking is for you to bear with me in this challenging period, with the hopes that I find a way to manage my time better soon. If I can figure out a better way to deal with all I’ve got going on, not only will my life get easier, but the site will hopefully flourish more than it already has. Sound good? Let’s talk Pick Your Poison for today. Good stuff below from Crime & The City Solution, Ending People, Ghost of Chance, Kendrick Lamar, The Mommyheads and Night Owl. In the Soundcloud section you might be interested in streaming tracks from Action Bronson, Holmes, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires and Rah Rah.