Category Archives: Music

Music

CD Review: Man on the Moon: The End of Day

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Rapper: Kid Cudi
Label: Dream On
Release: 2009

Act I: The End of Day
1. “In My Dreams” – 8.7
2. “Soundtrack 2 My Life” – 9.1
3. “Simple As” – 9.5

Act II: Rise of the Night Terrors
4. “Solo Dolo” – 9.4
5. “Heart of a Lion” – 9.2
6. “My World” – 9.5

Act III: Taking a Trip
7. “Day N’ Nite” – 9.6
8. “Sky Might Fall” – 9.0
9. “Enter Galactic” – 8.4

Act IV: Stuck
10. “Alive” – 9.8
11. “Cudi Zone” – 9.3
12. “Make Her Say” – 8.8
13. “Pursuit of Happiness” – 9.7

Act V: A New Beginning
14. “Hyyerr” – 8.9
15. “Up Up & Away” – 9.6

Comments: Woah! That’s right I just decided to review a rap album. This album is more than just rap though. There’s a lot of electro, a lot of psychedelia, and a lot of mainstream hip hop. Cudi does not lack talent. He might just be the top rapper out there today. Emile, who produced four tracks, is really sharp on those tracks. Kanye West failed to meet my expectations, but still is decent on this. The two jams that feature Ratatat are the best in my opinion. Really really awesome. The last track is awesome too.

Final Grade: 9.2

Music

Concert Review: The Killers

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Band: The Killers
Venue: TD Banknorth Garden
Date: 9/4/2009

Comments: As of recently, I took a little trek to the TD Banknorth Garden to see the one and only Killers. And I can say they put on one hell of a show. With a set list ranging from Hot Fuss to Sawdust and Sam’s Town to Day & Age, they played all the right songs, including an acoustic version of “Smile Like You Mean It.” Not only were the Killers on the ball, but the opening act, Wolfmother, were also on their game. Their set list included “Joker & the Theif,” “Woman,” and “White Unicorn” among some possibly new songs off Cosmic Egg. Well anyway, The Killers left the stage after the traditional closer of “All These Things That I’ve Done” and came back for an encore with “Human,” “Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine,” and an absolutely huge and perfect rendition of “When You Were Young.” Other big songs of the night were “Shadowplay,” “Somebody Told Me,” “For Reasons Unknown,” “Mr. Brightside (as an opener bizarrely),” “Read My Mind,” “Bones,” and a bunch of others I can’t remember. Overall, a phenomenal showing from one of my favorite bands, The Killers.

Music, News

Black Lips Are “Assholes”…Really?

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Exclaim News
You can add the music festival All Tomorrow’s Parties to the list of “Things the Black Lips Have Been Kicked Out Of.” In a recent interview with the Village Voice [via Brooklyn Vegan], ATP organizer Barry Hogan said that “the Black Lips will never play again — they’re assholes. They broke into a chalet and started stealing stuff.”

Fellow organizer Deborah Kee Higgins agreed, stating: “We have a ‘No Assholes’ policy. You can play once because we don’t know you’re an asshole, but you can’t play twice.”

Harsh words, to be sure, but we’re guessing that the Atlanta punks aren’t losing any sleep over it. After all, the group had to flee the Indian police earlier this year after being accused of indecent exposure following a raucous gig in Chennai. Compared to the wrath of the Tamil authorities, the words of two foul-mouthed promoters probably don’t seem like such a big deal.

Black Lips don’t need ATP.

Music, News

King Khan + GZA

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N+I.W.A (Niggaz plus Indian with Attitude)

Spinner.com
 While rumours have been swirling about the possibility of a formal collaboration between the pair for sometime, Khan is finally ready to confirm that it looks like the union is going ahead. Don’t expect The Shrines’ eccentric frontman to pass himself off as the first Indian-Canadian member of Wu-Tang Clan just yet though. “The whole thing is really surreal,” he says, clearly still trying to wrap his head around the amazing turn of events.

The union marks the second time that GZA has reached out to the garage rock community for musical input. Khan’s rambunctious Almighty Defender bandmates, Black Lips, first performed along side the famed hip-hoper at SXSW this past March and subsequently recorded ‘The Drop I Hold’ with the urban pioneer. Continue reading King Khan + GZA →

Music

CD Review: Everything Goes Wrong

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Band: Vivian Girls
Label: In The Red Records
Release: 2009

1. “Walking Alone At Night” – 9.0
2. “I Have No Fun” – 9.3
3. “Can’t Get Over You” – 9.1
4. “The Desert” – 9.6
5. “Tension” – 9.0
6. “Survival” – 9.5
7. “The End” – 9.4
8. “When I’m Gone” – 9.2
9. “Out For The Sun” – 9.5
10. “I’m Not Asleep” – 9.7
11. “Double Vision” – 9.6
12. “You’re My Guy” – 9.3
13. “Before I Start To Cry” – 9.7

Comment: The Vivian Girls are comparable to Jay Reatard, if Jay was female and noisier/punker. Well, kind of. The VG’s simple song structure and composition is something that’s becoming more and more common in garage and noise punk. VGs are more polished than their counterparts Mika Miko, though perhaps not as distinctively catchy. This album will go down as extremely note-worthy in looking back at ’09.

Final Grade: 9.4

* Green = My Favorite Tracks

Entertainment, Music

Black Eyed Peas = Retarded

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“I Gotta Feeling” translates in proper English to “I Got To Feeling,” which, by the way, makes no fucking sense at all. And oh yeah a fourth grader could probably compose lyrics better than this piece of shit.

K. Peace out for tonight. Thanks to our good ole Radiohead adventure buddy Ray from Cover Me for pointing this out.

Music

CD Review: Popular Songs

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Band: Yo La Tengo
Label: Matador
Release: 2009

1. “Here To Fall” – 8.8
2. “Avalon Or Someone Very Similar” – 8.4
3. “By Two’s” – 8.2
4. “Nothing to Hide” – 9.0
5. “Periodically Triple or Double” – 8.5
6. “If It’s True” – 9.2
7. “I’m On My Way” – 8.9
8. “When It’s Dark” – 9.3
9. “All Your Secrets” – 8.4
10. “More Stars Than There Are In Heaven” – 9.1
11. “The Fireside” – 9.0
12. “And The Glitter Is Gone” – 9.2

Comments: This album humors me in how it effectively transitions from Warlocks-like shoe-gaze to Vaselines-esque indie-pop.

Grade: 8.8