Category Archives: Uncategorized

Uncategorized

Album Review: The Long Haul

Leave a comment

Album name: The Long Haul

Band: eating alone

Released: 2010

The Long Haul is an album by electro-acoustic band eating alone. The band is made of only multi-instrumentalist Matt Cameron. Matt Cameron blew me away with his debut album, The Long Haul. The album deals with the subject of Cameron’s estranged father and the various feeling, thoughts and emotions he went through dealing with it. The sound of the album is very dreamy and very atmospheric with acoustic guitar throughout. The lyrics pull on your heartstrings, as they are blunt and to the point on some songs and poetic on others. The production is great seeing as the record was completely produced solely by Matt Cameron. Overlapping vocal tracks and glass crashing are really cool tricks used on the songs. Overall, I highly recommend this album.

P.S Look at the names of the songs in order. Kinda cool, eh?

Song By Song:

The Long Haul- A-/B+. Great production

When I Was A Kid– B+. Indian-sitar feel to this.

You Were Never Around- B

I Though If I Had Been Better- A. Heartbreaking.

You Wouldn’t HAve Given Me Up- A-

And I Wouldn’t Have To Pretend To Forget About You- A-/B+

Whoever You Are- A. Great little song.

Over The Years I’ve Wondered Where You’ve Been- A-. Nihilistic.

And Tonight, In This Hotel Room- B+/A-

I Wonder If I’ll Ever See You Again- A-/B+

I Sent This In A Letter- B

But It Got To You Too Late- B+

And Came Back Crumpled, Saying- A. My favorite track on the album.

Person Unknown, Return To Sender- A-

Overall Grade: A-/B+



Uncategorized

Concert Expectations: Arcade Fire

4 Comments

I am lucky enough to have tickets to the sold out Arcade Fire show at the Bank Of America Pavilion this Sunday. With their new album The Suburbs getting generally pretty positive reviews, here are some of my expectations.

Expectations: I expect, first of all, to have a soar throat the next day. I will be belting every song (except the ones off The Suburbs that I haven’t heard yet.) Next, I expect a lot of people there to be there just because of Wake Up. There will still be die hard Arcade Fire fans, like myself, there just there will be a bunch of people who got turned onto them because of Where The Wild Things Are. Finally, I generally expect a mind blowing-ly good show. Arcade Fire is one of the best live rock acts going today and I want them to live up to their reputation. I’ll see if the Canadian Septet can blow me away.

Uncategorized

THE LAST FEW POSTS

1 Comment

Yeah, it’s SATURDAY NIGHT what do you think I’ve been doing? Twiddling my thumbs and reading twitters? NO, far from it. I’ve been ranting. I’ve been in the mood. I should probably stay away from message boards because I’m going to make some posts that are going to make people wonder if I am truly a reatard. And yes, matter of fact, they would be right, but you know, matter of fact, I don’t care. I love when my fingers type without any regard to what I am actually thinking. IN FACT, I am thinking this. Screw those posers who say they lose control. THAT doesn’t happen! You have to be simply dumb. DUMB.

Books, Crime, Culture Jamming, Drugs, Entertainment, Politics, reviews, Uncategorized

Recommended Literature

1 Comment

I plowed my way through Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History (Andrew Napolitano, 2010) a little while ago and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the read. I was a bit judgmentally skeptical at first considering Napolitano is a Fox News pundit and all, but I’ve honestly never watched him on TV. I read on Wikipedia that he is a pro-life Catholic Constitution junkie kind of like someone I know. Napolitano points out events in American History that exhibit governmental failure. He does a great job of describing why government has innately been an institution that’s been working against the Constitution by being paternalistic, wastefully bureaucratic, and pathologically dishonest with the citizenry.  Napolitano stands up without reservation for civil liberties: the right to free speech, to privacy, to property, and to bear arms. I especially like his little rants against the utterly useless and pathetic War on Drugs. He basically says, “yeah, a lot of Americans are afraid of drug use and don’t want it to be a part of society, but let’s get something clear right now: individuals are solely responsible for whatever kind of drug, food, or drink they want to enter their body. No one else is. THE END.” Once Napolitano starts making proposals to end Social Security, the Federal Reserve, and agencies like the FDA, he might lose some people. He does make some convincing arguments on these matters. I’m a little hesitant to let private business run completely wild, but we have to remember that government usually isn’t much better with its regulatory mechanisms and inefficiency. This isn’t A People’s History, but it sure will initiate some brain activity.

Recommended: Yes.

Uncategorized

Album Review: Night Work

Leave a comment

Album name: Night Work

Band: Scissor Sisters

Label: Polydor

Released: 2010

If the album cover hasn’t given it away, Scissor Sisters are very sexual. On their third outing, American glam dance pop band Scissor Sisters explore the 70s and 80s pre-AIDS gay scene, it’s fun and it’s excesses. I will say this now, if you don’t like house music, dance music or Lady Gaga, you probably won’t like this. For me, this is an indulgence that I take from time to time. I listened to this a few times and I find new subtle nuances in every song. Producer Stuart Price does a great job making this really danceable and yet somehow you can still just sit and listen to it. The songwriting doesn’t really differ in subject matter granted every song is either about sex or partying. However, songwriter Jake Shears writes about sex and partying using endless innuendo to make it “radio friendly” even though Scissor Sisters have gotten little to no radio play in the U.S. A great buy that will give you tons of fun.

P.S. On “Invisible Light,” listen for a Vincent Price-Thriller style rap by Sir Ian McKellen.

Track-by-track:

1. Night Work- A-/B+

2. Whole New Way- B+

3. Fire With Fire- A+

4.  Any Which Way- A

5. Harder You Get- B

6. Running Out- A-

7. Something Like This- B

8. Skin This Cat- B-/C+

9. Skin TIght- B+/A-

10. Sex And Violence- B

11. Nightlife- B+

12. Invisible Light- A

Overall Grade: B+/A-. Fun record, some of the best production I’ve heard in a while.

Downloads: “Whole New Way,” “Fire With Fire,” “Any Which Way,” “Skin Tight,” “Invisible Light”

Uncategorized

CD Review: Electric Toys [2010]

Leave a comment

Band: The Dig
Release: 6/2010
Label: Self-Released

1. “Carry Me Home” – B+
2. “Two Sisters in Love” – B+
3. “You’re Already Gone” – A
4. “She’s Going to Kill That Boy” – A-
5. “Penitentiary” – B+
6. “Sick Sad Morning” – A-
7. “He’s A Woman” – B
8. “Look Inside” – B+
9. “For All Your Sins” – A-
10. “Shadow” – A-
11. “I Just Wanna Talk To You” – B+
12. “Feel Like Somebody Else” – B+

Comments: The Dig is at their best when they’re crafting straight-up rock songs. While the more atmospheric numbers are a nice little change-up once in a while, tracks like “You’re Already Gone” and “Shadow” are more immediately engaging. At any rate, The Dig are way bigger than their unsigned status indicates. This LP isn’t ordinary self-released fare.

Grade: B+ (88)

Uncategorized

Compilation Review: Florida’s Dying Party Platter [2010]

Leave a comment

Bands: Various!
Release: 5/2010
Label: Florida’s Dying

1. “C-H-I-C-A-G-O-I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S-U-S-A” – Johnny & The Limelites – A-
2. “Hocus Pocus” – Nobunny – A
3. “Shim Shang” – The Yolks – A
4. “Hoosier Twist” – Sweet Sixteens – B+
5. “The Hucklebuck” – Sexcapades – A-
6. “Do The Make Up” – Hunx and His Punx – A-
7. “Wiggle It Around” – Brian’s Dirty Business – A
8. “Cuddle Up” – The Rantouls – A-
9. “Toss That Pie” – Personal and the Pizzas – B-
10. “Nice Girls Don’t Explode” – Garbo’s Daughter – A-
11. “Totally!” – Puddin Pops – B+
12. “Come On Do The Dolphin” – Coconut Coolouts” – B
13. “Shake That Bear” – Slippery Slopes – A-

Comments: We have, for starters, a catchy old timers number. Let me explain to you my favorite part. It’s when they say OOOOOOOOOOOOOO and SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS and AAAAAAAAAAAA. After that it’s a rock and roll freak out…how all rock and roll freak outs should be, specifically. Also, at the (sort of) end when the dude says “down on the floor. How low can you go? Yeah. Shhh. That’s right. Shhh.” That’s great family fun. Everyone’s favorite riff ripper, Nobunny, insists on you doing the “Hocus Pocus” abracadabra, which may or may not involve you getting low. You better be down for anything. Make sure your mask’s on. “Shim Shang” with me…right now! This dance is more of a slow dance, although it is flexible as fuck. Prerequisite: you have to be smooth. This isn’t the shim sham. Don’t be confused! You will fail. If you are a punk from the Caribbean, then please proceed with the Hoosier Twist. It’s not hard. “The Hucklebuck” is hot shit. It’s both a sex position and a groove. Does anything get better? “Turn off the lights and do the make up!” As you might imagine, Hunx wants to get right to the bottom of it. Haha! That was too easy…but so isn’t the make up! The description in “Wiggle It Around” is telling: “Put your right foot back, your left foot back. Come on little girl and shake it just like that. You put your right hand up, your left hand down. Come on little girl you could wiggle it around.” Sort of like the The Rantouls explain, there is no music necessary to do the Cuddle Up. AKA you are free to do that shit anywhere. P.S. do I hear auto-tune? “Toss That Pie” just keep tossing. Just don’t toss the salad. Yet. “Nice Girls” is, as someone commented, “poptastic.” Pop listeners of today would be like WTF YO? but if we go back a half century or so then this fits right in with that description. With a howl like Nobunny, I thought PP was Nobunny. Gee whiz. There’s horns and shit on “Totally!” Totally acceptable. “The Dolphin” ain’t my thing. It just ain’t. I mean, I might still come over and do it just because, but yeah that’s about all. Maybe I don’t feel confident enough in my dancing ability to venture into that territory. It’s risque. This is probably my longest review and I should probably stop now. The bottom line is that I like it. I do. It didn’t increase my serotonin levels or get me all fuzzy inside, but I did leave with a feeling of happiness. You know?

Grade: B+ (89)