And because this is a *music* blog. I now present you with brilliance.

Deerhoof had to grow on me. I tried to get into "Reveille" months ago and while "The Last Trumpeter Swan" is probably one of my favorite songs of recent memory the rest of it was difficult to grasp onto. And it's usually true that we need to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate certain things. So probably I wasn't. But it's also possible that I had not been exposed to the right thing first, which is a phenonmenon that really interests me. If the first song you ever hear by, let's say, Sonic Youth is not the RIGHT song you're just going to have this bad taste in your mouth (ears?) that will carry over into further listening. And yet maybe 6 months down the road that song is just what you need to listen to in order to get excited. But yeah, it's got to be the right music.

When I listened to "Friend Opportunity," I finally was able to break into the world of Deerhoof. I can't say that the record is any more accessible than what they've done in the past. "Accessibility" is dumb concept anyway. It always really comes down to hearing the right song at the right place at the right time.

So yeah, Deerhoof - since you asked nicely, I'll be friends with you.

"Friend Opportunity" is a really good record. It's loud and it's wild and even at 40 minutes (which for me is a LONG record) it doesn't feel drawn out. It's over before you know it actually. Anyway, that's about as much of a review as you're going to ever get out of me. I'm not going to form your opinions for you. Let these guys do that. Or these guys. But for a little bit of journalism that won't shame you into liking new music check out this really cool interview that was done over at Junk Media.

I'm just about ready to try "Reveille" one more time. I don't know if there will be any difference for me this time around but now that I understand the language Deerhoof speaks a little better, I think it will be.

Just so you get a better idea of the kind of fun to be found in "Friend Opportunity," here's an mp3. I don't know what the single was but this is my favorite on the record. This is a song that you ought to listen to if you are cool enough to strut down the street. They should have named it Believe P.I.M.P. The bit with the "ahhhhhhs" from the male vocalist makes me feel pretty damn cool. I won't post two songs because who knows if there's any legal trouble awaiting me for this one upload but "Cast Off Crown" is also really good.

As for Megaupload, Just type in the security code, wait the few seconds and then click the download button. If a small box pops up over the download button simply close it. Here you go:

Deerhoof - Believe E.S.P