Amazingly enough, my schedule this week has absolutely nothing on it. I love it. I remember when my schedule used to be empty, and I’d complain. I had nothing to do, and was completely bored. Then, sometime around May or June of this year, my calendar started to beef up. Random appointment here, band practice there, show here, open mic there, party here, etc., etc. This week (Monday to Friday) has nothing at all, and I keep staring at the calendar loving every minute.

I realized while driving tonight (yeah, I wrote this in parts) that rather than be happy about an empty schedule, I should be focusing on what I am forgetting. There’s no way I have nothing going on. It can’t be true. Oh well. If I’m forgetting something, somebody will let me know, I’m sure.

I was at a halloween party this past weekend, and I was going for ‘the lamest costume award’, if there was one. I was the Listen-To guy. Lame, eh? Yeah. You can see other costumes up in the moblog gallery up top. I guess one of these days I really need to get crackin on that Listen-To site. I guess the next step is turning the server back on after the latest power outage. I’m so lazy.

Speaking of websites .. if it’s possible to fall in love with a website’s design, I think I just did. hicksdesign just redesigned, and oh my do I love staring at that design. One day I wish I was that creative, to be able to design something like that and have it so awesome that some random guy in Michigan stares at it and salivates for hours. Seriously — hours.

And, the obligatory music talk. Concept albums are the in thing, lately. Coheed & Cambria’s two albums, My Chemical Romance’s latest, Say Anything Is A Boy, etc. I just got my newest concept album, or what I think is a concept album. The songs seem to tell a story, maybe it’s just a coincidence. Anyway, it’s the new solo album from Ace Enders (The Early November) entitled I Can Make a Mess Like Nobodys Business, and it is superb. It more or less sounds like the slower, acoustic parts of any The Early November song. Lots of strings, quiet vocals, but there is the occasional build up to a powerful ending. I can’t think of anything else to say that hasn’t been said better elsewhere, so I’ll just quote parts of the ‘About’ section on the ICMAMLNB website.

Lyrically, the songs take a sophisticated approach to exploring and breaking the barriers that block true communication in our fast-paced, technology-based world. “Everything is so planned out these days that it’s not even real. From the things people say to a lot of the music that’s out there. I like to just let things happen, in the studio and in life,” Enders explains.

In the midst of bittersweet guitars, airy keys, fervent strings, and even the hum of soap operas and game shows in the background, there is a message in this album that will hopefully catch on as well as the melodies do. Enders explains, “Whether it’s a career or a relationship, there are so many things that make you lose touch with the pure love that made you start from the beginning. I think it’s important to weed all that other stuff out. I guess you could say it’s like picking up trash, even if you weren’t the one who threw it on the ground.”

The background noise heard throughout the album is a symbol of this theoretical “life pollution.” Enders wanted to represent the clutter in life that often pulls us in every imaginable direction until it’s unbearable, and you “want it to just stop” as he plainly states in track 11, “The End of the Background Noise.”

During the epiphanic month-long writing and recording process, even his appearance experienced a transformation when Enders cut his hair off in front of a hotel room mirror. “I just picked up a scissors and started chopping. My hair felt dirty, but not because I don’t wash it. I guess tainted is a better word,” Enders said.

The theme of the album is summed up in Enders’ simple explanation, “It’s about the questions you ask yourself in the middle of the night, but for some reason forget about by morning.” Undoubtedly, I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody’s Business is a welcome reminder, and just some good “clean” fun.

You like The Early November? You’ll like this. A lot.