- Aqualaygualry in arcade fire - black wave/bad vibrations Today i watching overlay from here. this is wondeful film. Who are watching this?
- cattartiste in arcade fire - black wave/bad vibrations SplitVideo is a freeware virtual video clone and split video nick driver in behalf of connecting disparate applications to a single video...
- Peggus-interruptus in The Temper Trap Lovin’ The Temper Trap!
I don’t know if it’s a coincedence or not that Eminem and Busta Rhymes both released an album during the same week but there are definitely similarities between the two.
Both are veterans of the the late 90’s/early 2000’s hip hop scene getting a bit long in the tooth who have been on lengthy hiatuses from making albums. Both have larger than life, cartoon-like personas. Both have had their share of drama and bridge burning.
But in my book, Busta and his super fast flow has always been the superior rapper though Eminem (obviously) has gotten way more commercial and critical success.
Unfortunately, Busta’s eighth album “Back On My B.S.” won’t do much to change people’s minds. There are a few strong tracks here, but most of it is full of well, B.S.
The opening track “Wheel of Fortune” begins with a faux opera that shows that Busta is bringing more of his lighthearted brand of party rap, but from then on, every track that finds him back to his full-on old school tongue-twisting ways (”Don’t Believe ‘Em”) or ranting about tabloid gossip in an amusing way (”If You Don’t Know”), there’s a song like “Hustler’s Anthem ‘09” which features T-Pain in all of his now annoying Auto-Tune glory. Even worse is “Arab Money” a terrible song made worse by its racist overtones.
As is the trend with too many hip-hop albums, this one is overstuffed with guest stars – Mike Epps, Mary J. Blige, Common, Pharrell, Akon – you name it. Not to say it’s all bad, Lil Wayne and Jadakiss spice up “Respect My Conglomerate” - even if the lyrics make no sense at all. But after awhile it doesn’t even feel like a Busta Rhymes album, it might make more sense to call it - “Busta Rhymes Presents: Superstars of Rap.”
It’s too bad Busta is underutilized here and has chosen so many poor tracks because he’s destined to stay relatively low on the hip-hop radar compared to Slim Shady.
Wilco is not a rock ‘n roll band - Wilco is rock ’n roll. Aside from the fact that none of their members have died (that’s true, right?), they’ve pretty much covered the archetypal gamut: personal crises, line-up changes and drama (thanks, Jay). But that sounds like a Spinal Tap review, and would belie the fact that Wilco’s music is also ecumenical of the rock ‘n roll sound, or at least its roots.
That also goes for the new album Wilco (The Album), which sounds more ‘Wilco’ than anything Tweedy and Co. have done yet. And it’s their best album, no fooling. It may lack the steel guitars of AM, but it’s country roots are deep. It doesn’t rock anywhere as hard as, say, ‘I’m a Wheel’, but its strength is in its richness, not tempo or volume. Still, the ‘Wherewolves of London’-ish opener ‘Wilco (The Song)’ is a self-aware love letter to the fans with the chunk-chunk that will make it a pillar of upcoming live shows. Of course, always the impressionist, Tweedy’s uncomplicated, but surprising insights have seldom been better served than they are on ‘One Wing’. And ‘I Don’t Care’ sounds like an outtake from All Things Must Pass without ripping it off, much to the degree that Scorsese making reference to The Great Train Robbery hardly makes him guilty of plagiarism. Suffice it to say, George Harrison is still lying perfectly still in his grave.
But all this is just me babbling about the very cogent fact that this album is a classic. It’s that kind of record: you’ll hear it and want to grab the first Wilco fan you can find and talk about it over a beer or six. Circumlocutory or not, let it suffice to say, without further evidence, that you should buy this album when it formally comes up for sale, or if not buy it then just send Jeff Tweedy lots of money and nice things in the mail.
See, this is Tweedy in total control of his writing and singing gifts, and the band as masters of their respective fields. Of course, they know that they’re the best rock ‘n roll band right now, but they don’t waste time rubbing it is. Mostly. The Feist-Tweedy duet ‘You And I’ makes a too-cute joke about a couple’s words being m-mis-misconstrued, but it’s okay - it’s kinda funny. Of course, the album name and opening song title could only come from the Best Band in the Land, so okay if they want to lampoon themselves for being fuckin’ rock stars and idols. And they have the chops to avoid didacticism and self-parody… best be wearing your best shitkickers if you’re going to kick some shit, after all.
But this could go on for days… someone buy me a drink and let’s talk about the disc, save some paper here.
Chicago band “I Fight Dragons” proves that having a gimmick isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s easy to be initially skeptical considering the band uses the old school Nintendo video game system’s low-fi MIDI sounds to provide some of its music and they use old NES accessories like the Power Pad and the Power Glove during live shows, but this is anything but nerd-core with lame comic-book lyrics.
A listen to their new EP “Cool is Just a Number” reveals that IFD has a power-pop sensibility that recalls Weezer before they started sucking, and a bit of the electronic sounds of Postal Service mixed in. If you don’t believe me, check out this great video for their song “Money.” It’s got cool references to Super Mario Brothers, Pac-Man and Pole Position and the chorus has stuck in my head for the past three days.
I’d totally recommend checking out “Cool is Just a Number,” which is available for free on their website (when you sign-up for their newsletter). They’re also performing at the Apple Store on Michigan Avenue, in Chicago on May 22nd at 7 p.m.
so i am kind of over big outdoor festivals, guys. yeah, i went to the first couple of lollapaloozas when it was still a traveling festival and caught some amazing live acts (like the beastie boys and jane’s addiction the first time around), but apparently now i’m old or something. i prefer to see bands in small dark bars where i can hear them clearly and oh, WATCH them play their instruments, as opposed to being hot and so far back in a mass of other sweaty people that i can’t even see the bands’ facial expressions, let alone hear the music for shit.
that being said, i am all about the pitchfork festival held here in chicago every summer - it’s easy to manage, easy to see who you want without having to print out a damn map and hike a mile to get there (cough*lollapalooza*cough), and, as much as i like to scoff at pitchfork for being pretentious, at least the people who attend their festival every year tend to be true music fans and thus less annoying than the crowd who shuffles in to see the dave matthews band at bonnaroo or something. come on, you know exactly what i mean.
anyway, i’m a little late to the party, but here’s the line-up for the 2009 pitchfork festival. let me just inform you that the last 4 bands on saturday evening are 4 of my very favourites. the pains of being pure at heart, yeasayer, beirut and the national? in order? on a beautiful chicago summer evening? um, YES PLEASE! so you know where i’ll be july 18th of this year. i might even have to break down and go sunday too, since the flaming lips are doing an all-request set, including random covers. how awesome is that?
According to Dictionary.com, a the definition of the word Maudlin is: “Tearfully or weakly emotional; foolishly sentimental.” In other words, the title of Camera Obscura’s fourth album My Maudlin Career is a self-conscious nod.
Sure, in the title track My Maudlin Career, Tracyanne Campbell sings, “This maudlin career has come to an end/ I don’t want to be sad again,” but it’s clearly ironic considering the album is full of tracks that tend towards sticky sweet pop and lyrics that wax poetic on lost relationships, heartbreak and loneliness.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Long compared to fellow Scots Belle and Sebastian because of a taste for low-fi indie rock with a classic pop A.M. radio twist, Camera Obscura here is full of irresistable sunny pop songs, with tinges of Motown, blues and jazz.
The best track is the opening act, “French Navy” a big, happy powerhouse of peppy strings, and a perfectly catchy chorus. It’s a song I might have to set to my alarm clock because even if I had to wake up at 5 a.m. on a Monday morning - “French Navy” might be able to stir me into a good mood.
Not that My Maudlin Career is a happy record. It’s a bit melancholic, sometimes with a bit of wry, humorous sarcasm and sometimes more bluntly.
“How many times have you told me you want to die? / How many times will I let you get away with murder?” sings Campbell on Away With Murder.
If there’s a fault with the album, it’s that there’s not a whole lot of variety, especially to the back third of the album when it feels a bit too stuffed with sluggish ballads.
Still, My Maudlin Career is a great piece of indie-pop and here’s hoping their maudlin career continues for a long time.
This just in: my favorite record of the ’80s revival that’s been ongoing since the early ’00s and now seems to be (maybe) coming to a close is now official. It’s not by The Killers, or The Bravery, or The Faint, or Interpol, or (insert the name of a trendy or once-trendy band here). No, it’s by a waifish Soviet émigré who insists on wearing stubby faux-antlers in her promo photos and isn’t signed to any label at all. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Doe Deere, and her five-song EP Supernatural.
The amazing thing isn’t the degree of accuracy with which Ms. Deere channels the early-Madonna/Cyndi Lauper/T’Pau sound. Rather, it’s the utterly infectious songwriting; I guarantee that if “One Touch” or the saucy come-on “What U Like” had been released in 1985, we’d still be hearing them every time that Time-Life tried to sell another “Best Hits of the ’80s” collection. Even now, in a just world, this music would be all over the radio, or your radio-substitute of choice. It’s hooky, hummable, and most of all, fun.
This is not really intellectual music; it’s not in the mode of ABC or even Echo and the Bunnymen. But it’s some of the best party music recorded in this decade or any other, and it’s definitely worth seeking out.
Release date: April 21, 2008
Label: None
Rating: Awesome/10
