Time for some music reviews:
Maroon 5's It Won't Be Soon Before Long
Thumping grooving tracks. Unabashed lyrics ("Sweet Kiwi, Your juices dripping down my chin" "Why do you do this to me? You pentrate right through me"). Fun, even when they don't mean to be. They're a hip-hop free dance party. This album has so much more energy than Songs About Jane. Check out: Makes Me Wonder, If I Never See Your Face Again, Nothing Lasts Forever, Wake Up Call, Kiwi.
Shiny Toy Gun's We Are Pilots
Some of the catchiest melodies you'll ever encounter. Euro-dance-pop-rock with energy and dueling male and female vocalists. They're part Third Eye Blind, part The Postal Service, part The Killers, part-Alice DeeJay/Eiffel 65/techno-pop circa 1998. ALL FUN. Can't miss tracks: Chemistry of A Car Crash, You Are the One, Don't Cry Out, We Are Pilots.
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus's Don't You Fake It
Power emo/pop-punk with pants. Strong lyrics like: "The world's got a funny way of turning round on you, when a friend tries to stab you right in the face." A memorable vocal performance showcasing a balance of rhythm and range. Don't miss: Face Down, False Pretense, Cat and Mouse, Waiting.
Linkin Park's Minutes To Midnight
I can't really get behind this one. If this were their first album, I'd think it was good, but it's not their sound, or even a logical extrapolation. It's a good (not great) pop rock album. I can't recommend it. But if you do get it, Leave Out All the Rest is worth a listen.
And some movies:
Ocean's 13
Back to their 11 roots. Andy Garcia was terrible, Al Pacino was subpar, but the other guys all really delivered. No gender balance though--Julia and Catherine couldn't make it, much to my disappointment. Gotta say I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the fact that in 11, they went to great lengths to avoid saying "The Bellagio". In this one, it was plastered all over the place--I'm certain the Bellagio paid for that.
28 Weeks Later
Thought the first half was terrific. Was itching to leave after an hour and ten minutes. All of the cinematography was crazy-good, but even with the suspension of reason that you bring into a movie like that, you can't get over some of the things. Or feeling like it's just another standard horror/thriller type, which the 28 Days Later was not, which made it great.
Smokin' Aces (on DVD)
A feature length music video. They killed off a main character about a half hour in, which was stunningly effective. Weak ending. Another poor performance by Andy Garcia. But otherwise, I found it enjoyable.
And the Yankees are causing me a lot of pain. Right here. I'm tender to the touch. Never have I seen so much talent achieve so little. They can win 9 in a row, but they lose one and they implode. C'mon boys, grow up.
Maroon 5's It Won't Be Soon Before Long
Thumping grooving tracks. Unabashed lyrics ("Sweet Kiwi, Your juices dripping down my chin" "Why do you do this to me? You pentrate right through me"). Fun, even when they don't mean to be. They're a hip-hop free dance party. This album has so much more energy than Songs About Jane. Check out: Makes Me Wonder, If I Never See Your Face Again, Nothing Lasts Forever, Wake Up Call, Kiwi.
Shiny Toy Gun's We Are Pilots
Some of the catchiest melodies you'll ever encounter. Euro-dance-pop-rock with energy and dueling male and female vocalists. They're part Third Eye Blind, part The Postal Service, part The Killers, part-Alice DeeJay/Eiffel 65/techno-pop circa 1998. ALL FUN. Can't miss tracks: Chemistry of A Car Crash, You Are the One, Don't Cry Out, We Are Pilots.
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus's Don't You Fake It
Power emo/pop-punk with pants. Strong lyrics like: "The world's got a funny way of turning round on you, when a friend tries to stab you right in the face." A memorable vocal performance showcasing a balance of rhythm and range. Don't miss: Face Down, False Pretense, Cat and Mouse, Waiting.
Linkin Park's Minutes To Midnight
I can't really get behind this one. If this were their first album, I'd think it was good, but it's not their sound, or even a logical extrapolation. It's a good (not great) pop rock album. I can't recommend it. But if you do get it, Leave Out All the Rest is worth a listen.
And some movies:
Ocean's 13
Back to their 11 roots. Andy Garcia was terrible, Al Pacino was subpar, but the other guys all really delivered. No gender balance though--Julia and Catherine couldn't make it, much to my disappointment. Gotta say I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the fact that in 11, they went to great lengths to avoid saying "The Bellagio". In this one, it was plastered all over the place--I'm certain the Bellagio paid for that.
28 Weeks Later
Thought the first half was terrific. Was itching to leave after an hour and ten minutes. All of the cinematography was crazy-good, but even with the suspension of reason that you bring into a movie like that, you can't get over some of the things. Or feeling like it's just another standard horror/thriller type, which the 28 Days Later was not, which made it great.
Smokin' Aces (on DVD)
A feature length music video. They killed off a main character about a half hour in, which was stunningly effective. Weak ending. Another poor performance by Andy Garcia. But otherwise, I found it enjoyable.
And the Yankees are causing me a lot of pain. Right here. I'm tender to the touch. Never have I seen so much talent achieve so little. They can win 9 in a row, but they lose one and they implode. C'mon boys, grow up.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home