Kid farts are the worst.

Two records that I've been listening to lately are the newest Cursive and Nada Surf records, I Am Gemini and The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy, respectively.

Cursive is a band that is great because they are ever-evolving. Every record is pretty different from the last and incidentally, every record is great, in my opinion. The idea of this new record is one of the strangest ever attempted in indie rock; A concept record telling the story of two twin brothers that's demented, dark, and beautiful. I don't really want to talk about why I like the record as much as I just want to talk about the intensity with which I like it.

I love it. A lot.

Okay, moving on.

Nada Surf doesn't change, least ways, not in the past few records. Honestly, when I played the 1st track on the record for the first time and heard Nada Surf doing exactly what Nada Surf does, my initial reaction was "Really, guys? We're still doing this?" Maybe they don't know how to push themselves out of their comfort zone or maybe they just don't want to, but Nada Surf is comfortable in doing what they do, that much is clear. Thankfully, "what they do" is write really great songs. So after a listen or two, I found myself being pretty damn comfortable too. So while I would still love to hear Nada Surf come out of left field with something drastically different and amazing sometime soon, The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy will most likely end up on my Best Of 2012 list, all the same.

In personal news, SXSW and the Austin Music Awards have come and gone and both went well. I think we're all in agreement that it was the best SXSW yet.

In the Austin Music Awards, we did well...very well, actually. We took home 10 awards between the 5 of us, so if you voted, thank you very, very much. Our awards were:
Band of the Year - Quiet Company
Album of the Year - We Are All Where We Belong
Song of the Year - "You, Me, & The Boatman"
Performing Rock Band of the Year - Quiet Company
Performing Indie Band of the Year - Quiet Company
Producer of the Year - Matt Parmenter for We Are All Where We Belong
Drummer of the Year - Jeff Weathers
Songwriter of the Year - Taylor Muse
Male Vocalist of the Year - Taylor Muse
Musician of the Year - Taylor Muse

Now, I'm very grateful for all of these but I am aware of the inherent flaws in the awards. I know it's not about who's actually the best in town and is, at the end of the day, a popularity contest. I know I'm not the best vocalist in town, I can name several off the top of my head that make me look like a rank amateur, and "Musician of the Year?" I'm not even the best musician in our band! That being said, it is with great reverence to the universe's grand indifference to rhyme or reason, that I have accepted these awards. Past that, I am so fucking thankful for everyone that voted for us. Here's to an even better year.