A Night At The Movies

So I just got back from seeing "Elizabethtown" and the main thing I took from it is that Orlando Bloom is wearing my fucking shirt at the end of the movie...the shirt I'm wearing in my current profile pic. It was completely and utterly distracting to see something I've worn dozens of times up on the big screen. It ruined the whole ending. Also, may I note that Kirsten Dunst has really crooked teeth but she's still akwardly charming (read "charming" as "i'd-like-to-slip-a-finga-down-tha-crack-of-dat-ass") .

Oh yeah. . .the movie was alright. It had good music in it but way too much forced dialogue. It would have been better had there been different casting for the leads perhaps. But who am I to play movie critic. . .I'm a music critic.

Records Reviews 10/3

Here is my thoughts on a few of the latest releases:

Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better - The second album from these four stylish Scottish lads doesn't dissappoint. It's actually pretty damn impressive. Solid songs, every one of them could be a single. It could have been the perfect summer album if it had in fact come out in the summer. Give 'em a chance if you haven't already, they're worth it.

Blood On The Wall Awesomer - It is in fact awesomer than most albums. Heavy on the late 80's/early 90's Sonic Youth influence, but more listenable and probably better than most SY albums of that era. Great guitar work, shouted female/male vocals and muscular drumming throughout. I suspect they're probably great live. Highly recommended.

Wolf Parade Apologies To The Queen Mary - Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse produced their debut album for Sub Pop and it shows. Reminiscent of Modest Mouse's early albums sans the harshness as well as the Arcade Fire's more Bowie-inspired numbers. Cool artwork too.

Calla Collisions - Calla's fourth album is probably their strongest yet. Moody, guitar driven rock at its best.

Devendra Berhart Cripple Crow - This album changes moods a lot. It goes from folky quiet to Sgt. Pepper freakout from one song to the next. I think that it kind of takes away from the cohesiveness of the album and certainly makes it less memorable. But on the other hand there is some strong songwriting on the album, so I shouldn't bitch too much. Half of the album is in Spanish, so if you get off on that kind of thing, have at it.

Death Cab For Cutie Plans - I had fears that their first major label album would be the beginning of the end for this great band. However I was wrong. This album is great. A logical evolution for the band. A lot of the songs have to do with death and loss but not in a depressing way if that's possible. Good job guys.

Record Reviews: August Edition

All right, here's my take on some of the records that have come out recently:

Sufjan Stevens Illinois - The second release in this ambitious undertaking by Sufjan to make a record for every state of the union. Like the first release for the state of Michigan, it's very orchestrated and easy on the ears. He's a wonderful songwriter and does his research. All the songs have something to do with the state he's covering and have ridiculously long titles.

Robbers On High Street Tree City - If you enjoyed the new Spoon record or can't wait for the new Walkmen record, this one should tie you over. This is a New York band that sounds an awful lot like the aformentioned, but still adds their own flare. Lots of piano driven, upbeat songs that don't shy away from pop melodies.

Cursive Difference Between Houses & Homes:Lost Songs - This is a compilation of Cursive's first three 7" and other unreleased goodness. Not a necessity for the casual fan, but a nice release for those of us who don't want to spend $40 buying those out of print records on Ebay.

Headphones Headphones - This is a Pedro The Lion side project, David Bazan and his touring band abandoning guitars for keyboards. It pretty much sounds like a Pedro record without guitars. Same subject matter, same feel. Everyone is having fun with their new-wave keyboards lately, but the songwriting actually elevates it past the novelty stage.

Holopaw Quit And/Or Fight - The second release from Ugly Casanovan John Orth. Just as good as the first. Great songwriting and melodies. His voice carries the record, the music is sparse and simple.

Pajo Pajo - The new record from David Pajo (Slint, Papa M, Zwan, Tortoise, Palace Bros, Stereolab). It was recorded on his laptop at home and has a Nick Drake, Elliott Smith vibe to it. Mostly just acoustic guitars and hushed vocals. Very pretty.

Medications Your Favorite People All In One Place - This is the new band from the members of Faraquet. More accessible than anything their old band released, it's comparable to Bluetip and Nashville's own Apollo Up. Good stuff from Dischord.

Goldrush Ozona - This band often gets compared to Coldplay, Doves and all those British bands that sound like that but I believe Goldrush has way more balls. It's like they also take a cue from OK Computer instead of just trying to reproduce The Bends like Colplay has tried thrice now.

Orange Juice The Glasgow School - This is a compilation of this long forgotten but highly influential Scottish band. You might remember singer Edwyn Collins from the "Empire Records" Soundtrack song, "A Girl Like You". This is his first band. It sounds like the Smiths would have sounded like if they listened to disco and Bowie. A huge influence on fellow Scotsmen Franz Ferdinand.

Rahim Jungles - Great post-punk in the vein of everything that's ever come out on Dischord, except this one's on FrenchKiss records. Just an EP, looking forward to full length.

The Jim Yoshii Pile-Up Picks Up Apart - Kind of like early Death Cab For Cutie. Low key, but striking.

A Few Things

A few things...

I wouldn't mind MTV not showing videos if "True Life" was all they showed. Throughout the few years this show has been on they've explored such great topics as "I'm moving back in with my parents", "I'm gay and I'm getting married", "I'll do anything for money", "I'm on Adderall", "I'm obese", "I'm dead broke" and most recently "I'm a battle rapper". I feel so much better about my life after watching these people. Great stuff...

Speaking of videos, has anyone seen the entire saga that is R. Kelly's "Trapped In The Closet" video? Wow. Has he lost his damn mind? I mean, I know he videotapes himself peeing on underage girls but that seems halfway decent compared to this song. Let me get the premise right...he's cheating on his girlfriend with a girl whose husband is cheating on her with a man all the while R.'s girl is having an affair with a cop. Meanwhile R. Kelly's fans are feeling cheated for buying an album that is half made up of a twenty-five minute song with the same beat throughout. At least change it up a little you lazy fecophiliac pedophile!!!

In other news, if you enjoy sipping good wine, it's your lucky day. I will be helping out in distributing Piedmontese wine to the Nashville area. This is a region of Italy that is known worldwide for its great wines such as Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera, Nebbiolo and several others. If you'd like to buy a case of great wine for cheap, let me know. I'm also in the process of setting up several tastings around Nashville. I'll let you know when and where. Hopefully this'll take off for me and I'll be able to make some extra dough. I've been given a great opportunity from the motherland and I'm gonna make the most of it...

I'm also looking forward to free popcorn at Predator games next season. Even though I'm not a huge hockey fan and I've only been to a few games a year since the Preds started up the franchise in Nashville, I really missed hockey last season. Let's hope people go to the games and keep the team here. I'll be attending several...but I'm still not throwing my hat on the rink if someone scores a hat-trick. Fuck that.

I've noticed a lot of familiar songs in commercials lately. Pinback, Aqueduct and Iron & Wine join the ranks of Modest Mouse, the Walkmen and Radio 4 as bands that have sold their songs to promote various products. I'm not gonna be one of those people that totally disowns a band for "selling out" because I don't see it as that big of a deal. If they want to get a bit more exposure while making some money, more power to them. We all drive cars, drink Coke, eat M&Ms and play video games, so what's the problem?! As long as you're making good records, I'll keep buying them. I don't care what label you're on or what product you choose to endorse. An artist caught in a backlash from fans about signing to a major label once said, "I don't care who pays for your college education, why do you care who pays for my albums?". I concur.

I'm done for now.

R.I.P.

I just now realized that one of my favorite bands as of late has broken up. Mclusky is no more. That sucks ass. It happens too often to cool bands. At least Forget Cassettes will resurface soon...

House Of Jealous Lovers

I'm really enjoying the numerous new releases that came out this week. Two Bright Eyes albums (each different in tone, both excellent), the new ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead (more relaxed than past releases) and the new Low (Sub Pop debut; more upbeat, still lives up to the name of the band).

Interview scheduled tomorrow for a possible new job. Life is good. Life is great.

They Threw Us All In A Trench And Threw A Monument On Top

Recent mix cd:

Autolux - Turnstile Blues
Badly Drawn Boy - Logic Of A Friend
Mclusky - She Will Only Bring You Happiness
The Velvet Teen - Penicilin
The Walkmen - Little House Of Savages
The Blood Brothers - Crimes
Willy Mason - Oxygen
Interpol - Slow Hands
Death From Above 1979 - Blood On Our Hands
Wilco - Company In My Back
Modest Mouse - Gravity Rides Everything
Q and not U - Wonderful People
Liars - The Garden Was Crowded And Outside
Badly Drawn Boy - Four Leaf Clover
Detachment Kit - Chronology
Mclusky - You Should Be Ashamed Seamus
The Arcade Fire - Wake Up
The Velvet Teen - Poor Celine


How do you go from Death From Above 1979 to Wilco back to back, you ask? Brilliantly. That's how. Keep it eclectic. Keep it eclectic.

Albums Of The Year

I've been seeing lots of top ten records of 2004 lists everywhere so here's mine in no particular order:

Elliott Smith - From A Basement On The Hill
The Arcade Fire - Funeral
PJ Harvey - Uh Huh Her
Autolux - Future Perfect
Jimmy Eat World - Futures
The Blood Brothers - Crimes
The Good Life - Album Of The Year
TV On The Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
Interpol - Antics
Hot Water Music - The New What's Next

These were the albums I listened to the most and never got sick of. I could list fifty other amazing, wonderful albums that came out in 2004 but that wouldn't really qualify as a top ten list, now would it? Don't be stupid...

If you would like to post your own top ten, be my guest. Mi Blog es su Blog.