You put two of my favorite bands of all time, Black Lips and No Age, on the same stage at the same time?
A cover of G.G Allin’s “Don’t Talk To Me,” which coincidentally was performed back in November at the Middle East except with No Age and Silk Flowers. The mere presence of the Black Lips with No Age is enough for me to safely say that this cover is way better! Oh yeah and Ian, you gotta calm down. You can’t be jumping on my boy Randy with his broken shoulder and all.
First playing “Every Artist Needs A Tragedy” then “Here Should Be My Home”…good stuff!
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
Band: Here We Go Magic
Release: 2009
1. “Only Pieces” – 8.2
2. “Fangela” – 8.7
3. “Ahab” –8.3
4. “Tunnelvision” – 9.2
5. “Ghost List” – 8.3
6. “I Just Want To See You Underwater” – 8.4
7. “Babyohbabyijustcantstanditanymore” – 6.4
8. “Nat’s Alien” – 7.2
9. “Everything’s Big” – 8.9
Comments: Freak folk can, on any given day, be a genre of its own. Here We Go Magic escape what is traditional folk and produce songs that embody major elements of modern epoch psych-folk (slightly think Grizzly Bear) YET still maintain a strangely post-punk sound (in some areas), which is similar to the Walkmen, if only the Walkmen took acid. The sort of problem, if you want to call it that, is that if Animal Collective made these songs they’d be better. Music snobbery right there. Anyway, songs that are completely instrumentals of thunder and ocean waves can, in fact, be decent. And then there are songs that are completely instrumentals of alien noises that can, in fact, be awfully obnoxious. Could I stand watching this band two nights in a row for thirty minutes or more? Yes. Maybe I will grow more of an appreciation of them. Maybe I won’t and I’ll just make it through because I know that one of my favorite bands of all time will follow.
Final Grade: 8.2
Here We Go Magic open along with the Dig for the Walkmen on September 18 and 19 at the Middle East Downstairs.
Comedian: Zach Galifianakis
Location: UMASS Lowell, Campus Rec Center
Date: September 4, 2009
Grade: C+
Here’s Why: Well, unlike about 80-90% of the people in the audience (it was a rather large crowd of anticipating college students) I knew of Zach and his work before his breakthrough success in this summer’s comedy blockbuster,The Hangover. With that being said, my knowledge of his routine was quite minimal. I heard someone describe his act as “awkward comedy” and I couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately, the show was a bit plagued by poor audio. I’m not sure whether it was the university’s PA system or Zach’s ill-oratory skills. I tend to think the former, but either way people in the back (including me) put forth a valiant effort to comprehend what the comic was articulating. At various points in the show, kids shouted “FIX THE MIC! WE CAN’T HEAR YOU!” Zach merely shouted back and challenged the young men to come up front and confront him about it. This altercation between the funny man and the audience was a recurring episode throughout the evening. He simply employed the mishap as part of his show; a mitigated version of a Hicksian technique. Much of the show was Zach, as he usually performs, on the piano making bizarre, almost absurd, sometimes offensive one-liners. This was followed by brief, impromptu interviews with audience members (all college kids, mostly Lowell students) in which he poked fun at their majors or occupations. Here’s one jab that stood out to me: paraphrasing:
Zach: What year are you?
Girl (innocently): I’m in Sophomore
Zach: Yeah, I was in a Sophomore once too
The show ended with a projected video of Zach’s spoof of Whacko Jacko’s “Man In the Mirror,” which ended with our friend gaining a nice set of breasts!
Haha! Well, overall I thought it was decent; I thought it would have been better though. Some audience members, however, left right in the middle of the show, so I guess they detested it. Perhaps, he is better on recording. I’ll check it out sometime.
Chris
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.
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.
In order of when I saw them…oh, and spoiler alert.
“Star Trek” – 8
Great effects, acting, and, for the most part, writing. Good balance of honoring the franchise’s past and updating it. And take it from me, who’s pretty unfamiliar with the franchise: you don’t need to be a hardcore fan to enjoy this movie.
Two quibbles: Nero’s revenge story is a little too similar to Khan’s. I know this is *supposed* to be unoriginal but come on. Also…how is beaming Kirk and Sulu in mid-air ANY different from getting Spock’s mom?
“Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” – 7
The kids are much better at acting this time around. The effects are great as always. The script does a decent job condensing the infamously long book to the bare essentials. But the movie also has three big, er, “conditions,” all having to do with the writing.
1) Unoriginality: Again, I know it’s a sequel, but come on. I liked the “Chosen One Destined to Destroy the Devil” story better when it was the story of Hercules, Jesus, The Lord of the Rings, Narnia, “Star Wars,” “The Matrix,” and every superhero ever. At least the chosen one, Harry is much more likable than he is in the books since they cut out just enough Live Journal teen angst to make him sympathetic instead of irritating.
2) Laziness: Magic is already the ultimate deus ex machina, but a room that turns into whatever you need it to be? Good luck potion that Harry idiotically finishes in one chug? Come on.
3) Totally contrived romantic tension: Alright, I can handle Ron and Hermoine. They didn’t even hug at the end of the second movie, remember? But when the *Hell* did Harry and Ginny start liking each other like that? Not “Chamber of Secrets,” that’s for sure. Well hey, Harry *is* the Messiah, so throw him a girl by story’s end. If Ron can score with Matt Hurton’s girl by chewing scenery and whining, it’s only fair the chosen one gets to spoon his best friend’s sister.
“(500) Days of Summer” – 10
It’s everything DeCarlo hypes it up to be and then some. And fortunately, the movie has much more going for it than the brief, barely-noticeable inclusion of a Black Lips song. All K.L.Y.A.M. readers got here by searching “Black Lips,” right?
But seriously now…out of the three movies I saw this summer this was the most emotionally powerful…and this is coming from someone who teared up when I first read of Dumbledore’s death. The hero, Tom, may be a little selfish and idealistic, but that doesn’t stop us from feeling sorry for him when the girl of his dreams doesn’t exactly return the favor. But we also laugh with him at the happier moments of the journey. As for the title character…she’s a better villain than Nero, Voldemort, and Draco Malfoy put together.
Another big perk is the storytelling method. The film takes a cue from Tarantino and puts the 500-day plot in shuffle mode. It’s striking, watching an awkward visit to Ikea only to flash back to a much more fun time, with the same people, at the same place. Tom’s surreal fantasies illustrate his emotions, from the pure bliss of the Hall and Oates number to the tragedy of the foreign art film. The montage of supporting characters’ definitions of love illustrates the movie’s heart-breaking thesis: that when a couple has two different definitions, it won’t work out.
Watch and learn, snitches.
http://www.kyte.tv/ch/182433-spinearth/538204-the-almighty-defenders-are-comin
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I’m pretty pretty sure that we went to that church in the video during the 8th grade Quebec trip. I remember those red candles.
These are all the films I saw at the movies this summer from best to worst.
1) (500) Days of Summer (Marc Webb) 9.5
2) Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino) 9.4
3) The Hangover (Todd Phillips) 8.7
4) Bruno (Larry Charles) 8.3
5) Funny People (Judd Apatow) 7.3
6) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Michael Bay) 4.3
Chris
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 