Category Archives: reviews

Art, Entertainment, Femmes, Music, reviews

Concert Review: Arctic Monkeys & Screaming Females @ House Of Blues (12/13/09)

Leave a comment

Artist(s): Arctic Monkeys, Screaming Females
Location: House Of Blues, Boston, MA
Date: Sunday, December 13, 2009

Part I: Pre-Show Activities:
As soon as we arrived, it was pouring, so we raced through puddle after puddle. Along the way, we witness the most depressing thing to a concertgoer: lines and lines of people ahead of you. All bodies closer to the front then you. Fuck…
After some waiting outside, we made it in and at least we weren’t as far back as we were at Animal Collective. To pass the time we chatted with some fine lads (one of which bared strong resemblance to a notable Wakefield High student) about everything from college acceptances to the harsh reality of 18 + shows; this one was All Ages, which of course unleashed some fine talent. I bet that’s the one, the FBI I will nail me for lol.

Part II: Screaming Females
Chris: Well, not quite… Singing for the most part, but occasionally screaming female (the other two members were of the opposite sex) would be more apropos. They were ok, nothing special. They rocked out for a while with sledegehammer drums, powerhouse guitars, and a caterwoul sceam from the lead singer. Most of the time her vocals were high and reminded me of the voice of some Disney villian haha, no offense. I appreciated the individual parts of the songs, but overall they weren’t memorable or “stand out” numbers. They played far longer than I wanted them to.

Glen: Chris basically said what I was going to say. I’m sure if I look up more of their songs (“damn, I should have YouTube’d them”, I’ll probably develop an affinity for a few of them. That’s because I did really like a few, but in an overall picture they were kind of forgettable. At times they seemed too hard rock — which is a turn off for me.

Part III: Arctic Monkeys!
Chris: Ok, so if you’ve been to the House of Blues, at least in my experience, then you have withstood the shoving back and forth deal, resulting in enormous perspiration and lack of air to the point of leaving some attendees unconscious, and at points loss of the ability to see the show itself, at least for us 5’3 and below. Ok, well it got in the way of the music at times, but I just want to throw this out now, so I can properly critique the performance for the remainder of the review. So, in terms of music, the band was excellent. Unfortunately, they did no play that much from their debut as I hoped, but that was to be expected. They opened with a chill and mellow song, I believe it was “The Jewller’s Hands,” from their latest release, please correct me, if I am wrong. Then they exploded into “Brianstorm,” and like thunder as the song proclaims, the audience roared and entered a frenetic state of sorts for quite some time. The group went on to unleash such old and new classics as “Still Take You Home,” “My Propeller,” “Crying Lightning,” “Pretty Visiters,” “The View From the Afternoon,” and “I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor,” which rightfully garnered fantastic crowd response; I was pogoing my ass off! It was one of the best sing alongs that night. They slowed down for a “gentle” song in the form of “Cornerstone,” one of my new favorite monkeys’ offerings. It gave most of us a chance to breathe, relax and hear a slow, little, love song, whilst boyfriends held girlfriends and the rest of us envied them and held on to the dude beside them… kidding. The evening would end on a happy note with the beloved, fan favorite, “Fluorescent Adolescent,” this received a similar response as ‘dancefloor,’ but not as much excitement/dancing, because the song itself was slower and softer than I expected, but almost everybody in the house knew the words. Fans were greeted with a neat treat when the song suddenly transitioned into “Last Christmas,” as drummer Matt Helders took over vocal duties with black shades over his eyes, a glass of wine in his hand, he belt out the sappy lyrics to that sappy song. This digression left as quickly as it came; Helders returned to his drum set and the band smoothly transitioned back into ‘Fluorescent.’ They said goodnight and left the stage. Of course, we shouted, “Monkeys! Monkeys! Monkeys!” and naturally they returned for an encore. They started with “Secret Door,” a new favorite of mine and one of the best tracks of ’09 and finished with “505.”

Glen: I had a smashing time. Yes, at some points I couldn’t  really concentrate on the music. And that’s annoying. But for the greater part of the show, I could see the band and didn’t have to worry  about certain externalities (girl yelling that they she couldn’t breathe, another girl yelling because she lost her cell phone, etc). A big big fan of Humbug, I was quite pleased that they played quite a bit from that LP. Obviously, “Fluorescent” and “I Bet” got everyone going like Chris said. The slower jams were pretty awesome in their own right. So yeah, great shit. This was a great show, but there were some things that prevented it from being among the best. Also, fuck the Boston Herald. They called the Arctics performance “lukewarm.” Huh?

Set-List

    1. Dance Little Liar
    2. Brianstorm
    3. This House Is A Circus
    4. Still Take You Home
    5. Potion Approaching
    6. Red Right Hand [Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds Cover]
    7. My Propeller
    8. Crying Lightning
    9. Catapult
    10. The View From The Afternoon
    11. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
    12. Cornerstone
    13. If You Were There, Beware
    14. Pretty Visitors 
    15. Do Me A Favour
    16. Fluorescent Adolescent / Last Christmas
      Encore:
    17. Secret Door
    18. 505

Glen’s comments, which should be highly valued, will be arriving shortly…

Chris

Art, Entertainment, Music, reviews

CD Review: Weirdo Rippers

1 Comment

Hey there did you hear the news it’s CD Review!….. OK so, I completely stole that from Anthony Fantano’s The Needle Drop and inserted CD where track is. Any who, here’s a review of a somewhat (in terms of it not being too old) classic No Age album.

Artist: No Age
Album: Weirdo Rippers
Year: 2007
Label: Fat Cat

1) Every Artist Needs A Tragedy- 9.0- Classic No Age, sets the atmospheric tone for this album. It’s a bit too long for me on record. Live I can really appreciate the big build up, but on record it simply could be cut 15-30 seconds short. Of course, when that doooo dooooo dunnn guitar riff crashes in, you know what I’m speaking of! it makes this album opener instantly better. The vocals could be stronger as well.

2) Boy Void- 9.5- A noisy jolt of our boys voiding like crazy animals, they would never dare to ingest. Much better than the previous track and in direct contrast musically. BV is straight up noise pop (perhaps more noise than pop!) of the No Age variety: simple, banging of drums, distortion, low vocals, all of which escalate into heavier jamming you can mosh and mash and trash to.

3) I Wanna Sleep- 7.5- Not my cup of tea, to atmospheric for me! This can be said with many of the songs that follow. I suppose this song would work well when going to sleep, but it’s not particularly a tune I would scour for on my ipod. I dig the slow and simple drumwork and distorted, almost menacing vocals in the background.

4) My Life’s Alright Without You- 9.7- One of my new NA favorites! Extremely catchy, to say the least. I love how the song starts off with some strumming of a guitar and the noisy/atmosphericness of previous tracks, then wait… turn the radio up, at least I need to; the vocals are memorable and immediately I start singing along. My only qualm is that it’s too damn short.

5) Everybody’s Down- 10.0- Do I even need to say more? I’ve seen this masterpiece live twice and though it’s not the same on record, unless Randy Randal Randomly appears in your basement and hops off your amp onto your buddies and you whilst slamdancing the night away. Yeah, that hasn’t happened for me either. Nonetheless, my favorite NA song and my #5 fave of all times! (at the moment lol) On this track we have the dueling vocals of Dean and Randy, then some oooo wah oooos, followed by a brief guitar riff, that despite it’s brevity keeps you in suspense for what will come next. As it all comes together it’s an explosion, the greatest NA explosion ever, with fast, loud, pumping drums and guitars. By the end, Everybody’s definitely Up… I just had to say it.

6) Sun Spots- 7.7- Back to the atmospheric feel. Really chill, perhaps you could put it on in the background. It’s basically a transition track, but to me it’s more filler and unecessary, despite it’s cool serenity.

7) Loosen This Job- 8.7-Like the others, it’s relaxing, apropos for a rainy/snowy/windy/ cold, winter day. This is better than some of the other similar sounding tracks. I really like the sound of the vocals and the subtle percussion. I think the beginning could have been chopped up a bit.

8) Neck Escpaer- 9.8- Of course one of the band’s classics and one that brings pure delight to my ears when I hear it live. This song effectively utilizes that atmospheric (I’ve raped this word enough in this post, but I’m grabbin’ second helpings here) touch and offers us some really special drumwork that slowly creeps on you and meets up with the vocals and once they’re linked they are inseparatable. They complment each other so well, they get busy and give birth to a beautiful baby explosion, just a baby one, not of papa ED’s magnitude. Eww (sniffs), hmm, smells like someone died…

9) Dead Plane- 8.8- Back to the chill wintery sound I mentioned earlier. In some ways this plane is dead, but around 1:40, we hear some jammin. Nothing big yet. Wait some more, then around 2:50, things really start to pick up. It gets louder, faster, vocals are introduced and it’s a rocker for the remainder of the number. I’d rather it have been more like that throughout.

10) Semi-Sorted- 8.1- Same as before, for the most part. Around 2:20, we hear some vocals, more speaking than singing. But, it adds more to the song. Then there’s a pumping drum beat that follows. It get catchy toward the end, like the previous track.

11) Escarpment- 6.9- Starts off like others of that variety lol. A bit noisier. Some cool sounds are thrown in the mix, but it never seems to pick up.

Overall: B- There are some really killer tracks and this LP sets itself apart from Nouns (or vice-versa?), but it’s not quite my cup of tea as a whole. Like I said, I’d erase much of it. The songs that don’t completely tickle my fancy are not “bad,” but not necessarily of my taste or they only get my tastebuds swirling round n round towards the end. If this is the only No Age record you have heard, surely, check out Nouns!

Chris

Art, Entertainment, Music, religion, reviews

Concert Review: The Pixies & Jay Reatard @ Wang Theatre (11/27/09)

1 Comment

Bands: Pixies, Jay Reatard
Venue: Wang Theatre (Citi Performing Arts Center), Boston, MA
Date: Friday, November 27, 2009

Act One: Jay Reatard

1. Blood Visions (BV)
2. It’s So Easy (BV)
3. Nightmares (BV)
4. Fading All Away (BV)
5. It Ain’t Gonna Save Me (WMF)
6. My Shadow (BV)
7. Oh It’s Such A Shame (BV)
8. I’m Watching You (WMF)
9. I Know A Place (S 06-07)
10. All Over Again (S 06-07)
11. See/Saw (MS ’08)
12. Hammer I Miss You (S 06-07)
13. Before I Was Caught (WMF)
14. Faking It (WMF)
15. There’s No Sun (WMF)
16. Waiting For Something (BV)
17. Trapped Here (MS ’08)

Jay and His Denmarkian cohorts (Cola Freaks), they robbed the painted nude ceiling women of their respective virginities with their twelve o’clock chunk, even though most of the crowd was settling in through their set. Their sound was great. I only wish that I was standing and bumping into my companions. As soon as they hit the stage, they blasted into the classic “Blood Visions.” Within just a few moments of mayhem, Jay Reatard aficionados, the few of us, could tell he sounded better than ever before. One fan in particular was so excited he stood up and wildly danced and humped the air! The songs were longer (well, by his standards lol) and resembled their studio counterparts a bit more, whilst retaining that noisy assault Jay prides himself on. Highlights were “See/Saw” (as always) and “I Know A Place,” although the entire set was exceptional. Without a doubt Jay Reatard goes down as my favorite opening act. Alas, the performance was underappreciated, since everyone came for the Pixies, but that’s okay because we’re all fucking creeps!

Act Two: The Pixies
Speaking of creepiness, there’s nothing creepier than Salavdor Dali and his eye ball spinning and slicing, short film, Un Chien Andalou, which was displayed on a gigantic screen for the audience to see. As all Pixies devotees should know, the signature song, “Debaser,” was based on Dali’s spooky work of art. With this in mind, you would think they would open with that song. But, instead they opened with most of the Doolittle B Sides: “Dancing the Manta Ray,” “Weird In My School,” and “Manta Ray,” finishing the would be LP tracks later. This was only a minor qualm for me, because I (and everyone else) was so excited to see The Pixies! As Kim Deal noted, they were “crusin” through the B Sides and they cruised right into “Debaser,” continuing with the entire Doolittle album, as planned. While the band cranked out these classics the audience witnessed vairous, often bizarre, images on the big screen. These videos perefectly complemented the wonderfully horrific music of the Pixies. Horrific in the sense of unsettling. But, of course with their pop hooks and rock and roll chops, one couldn’t feel any emotion but sheer thrill and joy. Musically and technically they weren’t as proficient as Sonic Youth, pretty damn close though. Where they may have slightly (and I stress slightly) lacked in musical ability and sound quality they surely made up for in showmanship. The quartet kept the audience standing and bopping and shaking from the moment they hit the stage till the very end. When they finished their magnum opus, they briefly left the stage. Next, they returned to complete their B Sides. A nice little theatric came in the form of smoke, which engulfed the crowd as the band kicked “Into the White.” Then they played a rather familiar song AGAIN: “Wave of Mutilation UK Surf.” The second version of the classic, merrily malevelent number was more serene than it’s original counterpart, giving the eerie lyrics it’s eerie due a la Jay Reatarard- “Searching For You” perhaps. So, after these two tunes, The Pixies said good bye and hit the dustry trail….. for a bit. After highly energized crowd response, the group pulled a Sonic Youth and returned for Encore II. This time, there were no more Doolittle tracks or B Sides left. What would they play?! Well, they began with the endearing, “Where Is My Mind?” much to everyone’s delight. Next came “Caribou,” a solid performance for a solid track. The night concluded with “Vamos,” another Surfer Rosa classic (WIMM being the first).

Chris Overall: A + Yes, it did indeed beat out Sonic Youth, which was tough, tough competition. This concert is unique in that I recognized every song performed, including both opening act and main act. That has never happened before! So, what else is there to say; one of my favorite bands playing one of my favorite albums, what more can I ask for?

Glen Overall: I’d give this a fringe A+. Excellent sets by both bands. Some Pixies songs that really really caught my attention were “In The White,” “Money Gone To Heaven,” and “La La Love You.” I like Jay’s new direction and I sincerely hope that he will be able to find adequate replacements when the two Cola Freaks go back to being Cola Freaks full-time (provided they don’t go full Reatard). Obviously, I’d prefer a more interactive experience to just standing up in amazement. Motion is always a plus.

Chris

* POST SHOW UPDATE* It should be noted that this was one of Jay Reatard’s final performances, for he passed away nearly two months later. Long live Jay and long live the Pixies! It was an honor to see both legends on the same stage. RIP Jay.

Art, Entertainment, Femmes, Lists, Music, reviews

Concert Review: Sonic Youth & The Feelies @ Wilbur Theatre (11/22/09)

2 Comments

Artist(s): Sonic Youth, The Feelies
Location: Wilbur Theatre, Boston, MA
Date: Sunday, November 22, 2009
Grade: A+

The Feelies:
I can safely say I was feeling the the Feelies haha. Nothing too special, but decent. I sensed some really catchy material and I could tell the young to the young at heart audience dug it; particularly one fan who was wildly dancing, to the point that it looked like he was having a seizure a la Ian Curtis. This continued during Sonic Youth’s set lol. I’m surprised he took a break in between performances! Anyway, the band seemed pretty chill, making very little contact with their fans. With that being said, the lead singer/guitarist rocked out and hopped and bopped a little. I might listen to them more, I haven’t decided; either way, they were a solid opening act. Clearly, the audience was pleased enough with their performance that they applauded long enough to elicit an encore. An encore for an opening band? I’ve never seen it. So, hats off to them!

Sonic Youth:
It never ceases to amaze me how cool, hip, YOUNG, Sexy( especially Kim in her black and white dress!) and all around mysterious these guys and gal appear to be. When Sonic Youth hits the stage, it’s not “Hello, Boston are you ready to rock?! Now we’ll kiss your ass with all our hits you know and love!” Nah, lame for these Artsy Fartsy hipsters. Instead they produce an enormous, four guitar assault, simply a Pounding, Pulsing Wall of noise,feedback, distortion, and killer tunes! Not to mention a crazu light show to complement the music. They essentially played their latest album, The Eternal in its entirety, minus “Thurnderclap For Bobby Pyn,” one of my favorites, but that’s okay. They played the somewhat new songs in no particular order with a few tracks from their 1980s catalog as well. One of the most memorable moments for me was when Thurston laid down frontwards on the stage and practically scraped his guitar across it, generating some sweet, guitar sounds. Everyone else, except the Nightwatchman, would have fucked up their strings and created some cacophanous racket. As of now, SY holds the candle (no pun intended) for best encore, previously held by King Khan & The Shrines. They kicked right into “The Sprawl,” track 3 from 1988’s Daydream Nation and followed it in sequence with track four, “Cross the Breeze,” an amazing powerhouse. Then they said peace and left the stage. But, that wasn’t good enough for us! We screamed for our No Wave heroes to return and return they did for Encore 2. I don’t think I’ve seen 2 encores by a band, but for some reason I feel like I have, either way it could not compare to the Supreme Genius of this or else I would have stored it better in my psyche. So, they blasted into “What We Know,” a new classic from The Eternal and finished the terrific evening with the 80s bizzaro Americana anthem, “Death Valley ’69.” Definitely my favorite song all night. As the married couple of Thurston and Kim made their way backstage they playfully pushed each other around like teenagers flirting with each other in the hall between classes. That’s pretty cool, considering they have been married for 25 years!

Overall: This is a well-deserved A+. I loved every moment of Sonic Youth’s set and I dug The Feelies too. This concert ranks as # 5 for all time best concerts. In fact, SY were, musically, the best performers I have ever seen, with The Shrines, Radiohead, and Dinosaur Jr as moderately close rivals. The cool thing about these folks is the fact that they can be so damn, high energy and engaing and at the same time, so modest and mellow. It’s very fascinating, to say the least. Simply stated, seeing Sonic Youth is a spectacular attack on multiple senses!Pixies have tough competition, but I think they can do it…

Glen: I wouldn’t argue with Chris on SY’s performance. Stunning. If I had done my homework and listened to more of The Eternal before this show I’m sure this  would easily be a top 5 concert. It was nice to sit down and bask in the glory of the sound around me, but an all-time favorite for me is one where I’m standing front-row and doing various “dances” such as the pogo, mosh, or head movement all while basking in the glory of the sound. That said this show made “Death Valley ’69” an instant favorite for me and made damn sure that “‘Cross the Breeze” is freaking amazing. I’d give this show an A.

Here’s the setlist with the name of the album each song appeared on.

1. “No Way”
2. “Sacred Trickster”
3. “Calming the Snake”
4. “Stereo Sanctity”
5. “Walkin’ Blue”
6. “Anti-Orgasm”
7. “Leaky Lifeboat (For Gregory Corso)”
8. “Shadow of A Doubt”
9. “Antenna”
10. “Malibu Gas Station”
11. “Poison Arrow”
12. “Tom Violence”
13. “Massage the History”
——-Encore Break——–
14. “The Sprawl”
15. “Cross the Breeze”
—–2nd Encore Break—-
16. “What We Know”
17. “Death Valley 69″

1-3, 5-7, 9-11, 13, 16- The Eternal (2009)
4- Sister (1987)
8 & 12- EVOL (1986)
14 & 15- Daydream Nation (1988)
17- Bad Moon Rising (1984)

Chris

Art, Entertainment, Femmes, Films, Lists, Music, reviews

CD Review: Remember That I Love You

Leave a comment

Artist: Kimya Dawson
Full Title: Remember That I Love You
Label: K Records
Year: 2006

1) Tire Swing*- 10.0- One of my top ten favorite songs of all time! Very powerful for such a simple song. The guitar is merely a few plinks on a guitar, really just background sounds to Kimya’s ever endearing vocals. The lyrics provide great images of riding back and forth on a tire swing and forgeting “everything that had ever hurt our feelings.” I listen to this song almost every day and I never get sick of it, either I am crazy or it’s that catchy; I think it’s both.

2) My Mom- 9.7- Not quite as uplifting as the premier track, but certainly shares it’s catchiness. There’s a nice little bell sound, perhaps it’s a xylephone? I have no clue, but I dig it. Once again passionate vocals from Kimya. Lyrically this number describes, wait for it… Kimya’s mom and her state of health: dying in a hospital bed, “and there’s something in her blood, and there’s something in her leg, and there’s something in her brain.” You really feel for her and her genuine concern for her ailing mother. She naively commands ghosts to stop haunting her mom, so she can get strong; this is sad and humuorous all at once, a microcosm of Kimya’s discography (at least what I have heard).

3) Loose Lips*- 9.5- A cool protest song of sorts. “Fuck Bush and Fuck this war.” I can picture peaceful anarchsits screaming this song in the streets and dancing around burning flags, trying to persuade bystanders to join them. And when the cops come, they simply will start up again and “pretend nothing ever happened” as the song proclaims. It’s a moldy peachy version of an early Against Me! track I suppose. A fantastic sing along, to say the least. The “dupe” (or doop) thing tickles my fancy quite a bit.

4) Caving In- 9.3- The theme of her mom’s deteriating health arises again amongst other scattering thoughts. There’s a cool eastern guitar (probably not, but sounds sorta like it) in this track. This is sound, but not as good as the three that preceeded it.

5) Better Weather-9.3- Catchy as most of her tracks. In terms of music, for Kimya, as I have said before and she, herself as claimed, it’s all about the vocals. Most of the music is the same, not to say she doesn’t have range. In this tune, she delves into fatherhood, specifically her brother, who is now successfully raising his child. Uplifting :)

6) Underground-9.3- I think of 1960s radicals when I hear this song lol. One of the funniest lines appears in this song: “So, I tattoo instructions on my ass that say don’t ever put this body in a casket.” Kills me every time. She stresses that she DOES NOT want to live underground and who does?

7) I Like Giants*- 9.1-Nice and simple and catchy, like the others. I don’t have too much to say about this track. It’s a solid recording. I will note though, that there seems to be more going on then just guitar, or it’s better guitar playing? I don’t know. That xylephone (?) is back too lol.

8) The Competition- 9.2- Postive track about being special and saying “fuck you, I’m awesome, I don’t care what you think.” At some points, you feel sorry for the, young, poor, Ms. Dawson. Like, when people used to call her “fat” and told her that “she was better off dead.” Assholes. Well, it motivated her to make great music, so she proved them wrong. Yippie!

9) France- 8.9- Decent track, but nothing really stands out here to me. Though, I adore the lines, “David put that seven inch on…” “he said silly ass bitch that’s my favorite song.” David, you showed that silly ass bitch! Since, you got your song.

10) I Miss You- 9.1- An extremely brief, but really catchy tune!

11) 12/26*- 9.4- One of the sadder tracks about a massive earthquake in Indonesia on December 26. 2004. She then delves into the Iraq War and how it’s impossible to understand what these victims go through: losing their families, homes, etc. “A tragedy is a tragedy, no matter where it happens.”

12) My Rollercoaster*- 9.5- A superb finale about the ups and downs of this wacky world. Another fabulous sing along, well towards the end anyway, when abunch of folks sing the chorous and it gets real silly, but that’s the point. Just every day folks making music with their friends. Which brings me to my next point, where she incorporates lyrics from other famous songs like Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again” and ” Metalica’s “One.”

Overall, I highly recommend this “Outsider” album. I always appreciate ass kicking alternatives to traditional pop music. Remember that I LOVE YA!!! ;)

* appeared in the terrifc film Juno (2007)

Chris

Art, Entertainment, Femmes, Lists, Music, reviews

CD Review: Sultanic Verses

2 Comments

Artist: Mark Sultan
Full Title: The Sultanic Verses
Label: In the Red
Year: 2007
Rating: A/ 9.3/10
Fun Fact: Mastered by Jay Reatard!

1) Beautiful Girl- 9.4- Ahh here we go BBQ here we go! A strong opener about Sultan’s fine lady. I dig the little bell sounds and the lyrics are really catchy. Typical BBQ guitar/drum work.

2) 100 Little Women- 9.2- Sounds great to me! Sultan effectively utilizes the start/stop technique (get your mind out of the gutter Glen!) in which he sings and plays the music then suddenly stops then starts again. Highly reminiscent of late 50s/early 60s rock and roll, like Chuck Berry. Good poppy rocker.

3) Cursed World- 9.5- Introduces the spooky/bizarre theme to this album, which appears from here on frequently. This could be the soundtrack to an old school horror flick, like zombies and shit or Scooby Doo haha. The old school cartoon, not the modern shitty versions. Which now makes me want to watch that show. Anyway, I love how he pronounces cursed as KER SED. Like the first couple tracks this has strong hooks and the BBQ’s vocals are so exquisite it feels like you are taking a stroll through this KER SED World with him. The ending has this cool, noisy, feedback to it. I dig.

4) Spinning Ceiling- 9.3- A real rocker for this album; heavier and more in your face than the previous tracks. This song is more akin to King Khan & BBQ tracks such as “Treat Me Like A Dog” and “Hold Me Tight.” Solid stuff.

5) Two Left Feet- 9.3- In addition to 100 Little Women and Spinning Ceilings, we now come across gals with Two Left Feet. In this catchy, love number, the BBQ describes his love for his double left footed baby. I can imagine this track being great live (I wonder if he played it last May when I saw him?) because it’s a real feel good dance track in the neighborhood of “Shake Real Low.” (of course, not with the same caliber, but still great) and I can picture Sultan getting the crowd goin when he shouts, “everybody clap your hands.” It almost seems funny that that line is in a studio album Haha, well I guess you and your normal footed woman can have fun at home too.

6) Je Ne Savais Pas- 9.0- Sultan pays tribute to his Montreal roots and properly pronounces the phrase at that! Good tune, catchy, only weakness: reminds me of French class :(. P.S. you also think this song is over like three times before it actually is haha.

7) Mortal Man- 9.6- I really dig this rocker! Great guitar and pumping drums. I can picture people pogoing/moshing to this live, I know I can’t stay still when it comes on. His vocals really stand out on this track and demonstrates his (somewhat) range: straight up BBQ vocals to rawer, screaming vocals.

8) Something Wrong- 9.7- My favorite track! It’s a simple little diddy and technically doesn’t sound unique or different from any of his other material, it just works really well. Brings me back to the 1960s Garage Rock era, back in my past life. Shit simply sticks in my head like gum sticks to mah shoes. Just won’t go away.

9) Warpath- 9.1- Fast rocker and as the title indicates Sultan is on a warpath in this track. I dig the pile driver drum work here

10) We’re Sinking- 9.5- The bell noise I dug before has returned! This is a classic and is one of the album’s catchier tracks. Lyrically it describes people who are sinking, but don’t give a damn cause they are in love. Perhaps the poor lads on the Titanic sang this as they were going down….

11) Unicorn Rainbow Odyssey- 9.5-Dayemm this came outta nowhere. Can you say a EPIC CLOSER. When you have a title like Unicorn Rainbow Odyssey, you better live up to it and the Captain certainly does so. The drums sound like hearts beating as I’m sure this was the intention a la “Heroin” by The Velvet Underground. The vocals sound like early 60s doo wop/soul sisters of the Motown persuasion, such as The Supremes. The finale is this pulsing noise; he must have recorded that part at the Lowell Cotton Mills.

Overall, one of my favorite albums and certainly worthy of it’s high grade. I will admit it’s not the same without King, but Mark still delivers. For y’all who bought The Satanic Verses, you’re wasting your time. The real Sinister, Supreme, Supreme Genius lies in The Sultanic Verses.

Chris

Art, Entertainment, Music, reviews

CD Review: Singles ’06-’07

Leave a comment

Artist: Jay Reatard
Full Title: Singles ’06-’07
Label: In the Red
Year: 2008
My Rating: A/ 9.4/10

1) Night of Broken Glass- 9.3- Solid opener. I love the shattering of glass as the first thing you hear! It’s pretty damn catchy, simple guitar, nothing groundbreaking, but an overall sound recording.

2) Another Person- 9.1- Even catchier than the first track, but not as rocking, still great though. It’s an upbeat track musically (odd for Jay I suppose). Lyrically, this person gives him the “creeps” haha. He loves that word. The guitar is really catchy and I dig the mini solos. There is also great use of vocals (all Jay) in which he sings the lead and then he takes a separate set of his vocal and throws it in the background cool stuff! I’m not sure, if this is the first instance of this, but it’s certainly not the last. I guess that was an unintentional reference to the previous number haha.

3) All Over Again- 8.8- A good tune, but it doesn’t stand out that much from any of his other material, though I have said this before about other Jay tracks that I now love, so clearly early impressions do not dictate offical tastes. I will say I like the raw “Jay” drum work in this song. Simple, but not reatarded.

4) Feeling Blank Again- 9.6- One of the compilation’s better offerings and one of my new Jay favorites! Another excellent use of the aforementioned vocals tactic. The backing vocals are simply “uhhhh” but, they are certainly creepy and perfectly complement the lead vocals in which Jay describes how it feels to feel blank: “can’t breathe.” I feel a tad bit claustrophobic when listening to this, that’s how effective the music/lyrics are.

5) I Know A Place- 9.8- Amazing pop song. It’s too bad I didn’t recognize this song when I saw him perform it at Harpers Ferry (I only know he played it because I have the set list). I would have definitely sang along, but anyone who has seen Jay live knows that even if you know one of his songs, you can still miss it, that’s how fast and furious the Jay Reatard Colossius is live! But, I digress… Anyway, back to the song; superb, soft, vocals. This is a love ballad of sorts. Kinda sounds like it is crawling outta an 80s soundtrack, but good lol. That’s the best way I can describe it without insulting it, cause typically 80s pop blew massive 80s Alf spunk! Lyrically, the tune captures Jay’s “soft” almost romantic side; he attempts to persuade some girly into escaping “away… away from here” to a place he knows, where they can be alone. Most likely he is referring to some shady, uncomfortable place, like the back of a Volkswagon somewhere in the middle of Memphis. Then strangely in the next verse, the tune loses it’s love ballady sentiment and transforms into a suicide note about escaping said lover: “I know a place, where I can go to be alone, I know a place where I can crawl to die. Away… away from you.” Odd, but kind of cool.
6) Don’t Let Him Come Back- 9.8- Another Softie, but Classic! It gets stuck in your head easily. I really enjoy the slow beginning which I think is a guitar?! Haha, I’m not really technically sophisticated. It sounds like keyboards are ramblin’ in the background, either way it all works.

7) Hammer I Miss You- 9.7- Terrific sing along and extremely uplifting! If Glen can recall I was singing the lyrics on the way to the Jay concert and have been since. It’s not a rocker like “It’s So Easy” and it’s not a softie like “No Time,” it’s simply a pumping pop number about missing some Hammer dude. Gay Reatard cough cough. In terms of Garage Pop, you can’t touch this…

8) It’s So Useless- 9.6- Heavy and very very catchy. I love the loud guitars, one of the comp’s heavier tracks and yet still has it’s hooks. It’s more akin to Blood Visions tracks, I suppose, but it still has this comp’s poppy/lovey dovey flavour. This track stands out because it doesn’t have soft vocals like most of the other tracks, but rather they are screamed and shouted. You can headbang and mosh and do your thang.

9) All Wasted- 9.0- Cool track about zombies. But, not the kind of zombies you want to walk around at night with. Nah these guys are “all useless…all wasted.” A decent guitar solo (haha, you know what I mean) toward the end. This one lacks the catchiness of it’s buddies, but nonetheless has strength.

10) In the Dark- 8.7- This doesn’t stand out that much to me. It’s a good song, but just doesn’t bring anything new to the table and isn’t particularly catchy. But, yeah if you like Reatarded music you will probably like it.

11) Searching For You- 10.0- This makes the hair on my testicles stand up and do the tequila! For those of you Blood Visions devotees out there, this track is an acoustic version of BV’s “Fading All Away.” BELIEVE ME, you haven’t heard “Fading All Away” like this before. Sure, since it’s acoustic, it’s not as angry or heavy, but it is infitnitely more malignant. This psychotic, musical madness is completely unpolished, noisy and sounds like some amateur, lonely, melancholy, Jay fan lying on his bed covering the song, warning his listeners of his menacing plans of murder and torture. This callow sounding approach in no way hinders the song, it only adds to its eeriness, a feat I did not think was possible!

12) Haunting You- 9.7- This is pretty much like the above track in style and sound: raw, acoustic, unpolished, version of a Blood Visions song. This time it’s “Nightmares,” a classic in it’s own right. I really dig this track for similar reasons to “Searching For You,” but it’s not quite as strong as the former and I prefer the original (unless this one is the original and the BV version is the second? Release dates? Shit, now I’m really curious about this and the last track).

13) Let It All Go- 9.4- Yet another hooky love number! I really dig the poppy guitars, pulsing, but steady drums, and best of all the repeated lyrics, “And now I need you, and now I need you, and now I need you… say that’s you want me, say that’s you want me… you never loved me, you never loved me….” He finished the show we saw with this song and I can definitely see why, it’s a powerful closer and overall pop song.
Tracks 14-17 are pretty much the same versions of their Blood Visions counterparts, but weaker and of poorer sound quality, in my opinion anyway. Although, “Turning Blue” is an exception; it’s not better thant the BV track, but basically on par. Here they are without ratings:

14) Blood Visions
15) Turning Blue :)
16) It’s So Easy
17) Oh It’s Such A Shame

Overall, this is an exceptional CD and is truly underated. Some of Jay’s strongest pop songs appear on this compilation and it makes me realize that his Matador Comp wasn’t as big of a transition as I thought it was. His latest release, Watch Me Fall, is definitely his biggest leap, though it’s my least favorite, but that’s a whole other story. This singles set ranks behind Matador Singles ’08 and Blood Visions as my favorite Jay work, but it still receives a well-deserved A. I hear through the grapevine that these tracks are nonexistent online, well then I highly suggest shelling out some dough for this one, you won’t be disapointed and if you are, oh it’s such a shame!

Chris

Art, Entertainment, Films, reviews

Film Review: Paranormal Activity

Leave a comment

Full Title: Paranormal Activity
Year: 2007 (just reaching mainstream theaters now)
Director: Oren Peli (debut)
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Length: 86 minutes
IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
My Rating: B
Here’s Why:
This is a solid movie, not quite as frightening as the over hyped media it’s received, but still worth watching. Basically, the premise is a young couple buys a spooky house suffering from a classic case of a haunting: whsipers, loud noises, objects moving on their own, such as a door closing randomly, amongst other unexplainable phenomema. So, the husband purchases a digital camera to document this “paranormal activity,” and thus you have your movie. The entire film is little house disturbances every night that keep building and building up becoming more and more unsettling until the jaw dropping (to an extent) finale. The movie is fairly slow and is pretty much a build up to the last ten minutes, much like old school horror flicks, a tactic rarely executed in modern horror cinema. Another tactic effectively employed by the director was the documentary style in which the movie is shot, giving the audience the impression they are viewing raw footage of actual events. The entire movie is the footage captured on the characters’ camera and it all takes place at their home, making the viewer feel as confined and claustraphobic as them.

Chris

Art, Entertainment, Femmes, Films, reviews

Film Review: Zombieland

Leave a comment

Full Title: Zombieland
Year: 2009
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, and Bill Murray
Running Time: 88 minutes
Rating: R
IMDb Rating: 8.2 ( #182 in the top 250)
My Rating: A- 9.0
Here’s Why:
Killing zombies, discovering new loved ones, and enjoying the simple things in life like a delicious twinkie! Who could ask for more? In a world run by the undead, what are you going to do anyway? Right? In this action packed Horror/Comedy flick, we learn how to survive a zombie world invasion and the seemingly harder task of creating a new family with the only humans left. This is being placed on my list for best of 2009. Don’t worry it is not knocking (500) Days of Summer or Inglourious Basterds out of their well desreved ranks. But, I strongly recommend everyone to journey to your local cinema and see this. The film masterfully keeps its viewers in suspense with humor, romance, and drama. I especially dug the narrator’s rules for surviving a zombie invasion. There were over thirty and if you wanted to live then you best follow them. Some included cardio, have to run fast from those bastards, the double tap: after shooting a zombie, shoot it again to make sure it’s dead, always checking the backseat, amongst others. Overall, this was a fun movie and a particularly great experience fore me because I saw it with a very lovely lady ;).

Chris