This time you can call it a comeback

I was at a social function last night, and a formerly mustachioed friend came up to me to ask me what the hell was up with this blog of mine. My first reaction was, naturally, what the hell is up with that late great mustache of yours, but my second reaction was “what blog?”

They say you don’t know you’ve hit rock bottom until you can see China on the other side. Well, after leaving that social function, another friend made me watch a slideshow of his abroad pictures. Was it a sign? Almost certainly. Really contrived pithy aphorisms don’t grow on trees. At least, not where I’m from.

The truth is that I’d stopped blogging because there wasn’t any music out there that was getting me going (with a few notable exceptions, but they were by no means the rule). But this summer has been a downright cavalcade of elegant albums progressing onto the scene at a slow clip. I’ve never liked Arcade Fire more, been more blown away by a debut album than Janelle Monae’s (don’t hold me to that), or been as scared shitless as I was the first time I heard Salem. More on that later. More on a lot later. MORE LATER YOU GUYS.

For now, I’m dropping an Animal Show exclusive release. Everyone’s favorite mashup artist (and by “everyone,” I mean all five of your faithful correspondents here at the Show, which is to say everyone who matters in this confused, mosque-hating world) E-603 has remixed a sleeper off tourmates’ Passion Pit’s Manners, an album which also continues to grow on me. Ethan takes “Seaweed Song” and given it the Passion Pit handclaps it was missing, synths to the wall, and a Ratatat-reminiscent guitar line sure to make your hips quiver. Even if the kid may never make another E-603 album, this track makes clear that we have years of production and remixing to look forward to. Now when’s that Air Bud sophomore release coming?

Play it loud:

Seaweed Song (E-603 Remix) – Passion Pit (YSI)