SOUNDTRACK: METRIC-Fantasies (2009).
I was hooked by the song “Gold Guns Girls.” I liked it so much, I bought the disc, and I was absolutely not disappointed. This disc reminds me of all of the best things about late 90s alt rock (one of my favorite musical periods). There are echoes of later period Lush, or of Garbage or some other slickly produced commercial alt-rock.
I’m led to understand that this disc would merit cries of sell-out from older fans (their earlier stuff it a bit rougher, I gather), and yes, this is a pretty commercial release, but I don’t mind. The songs are all top-notch: great songwriting, catchy choruses, wonderful production. And there’s something slightly uncommercial about the lyrics which I think is what keeps this album from being too slick for its own good.
I have listened to this disc dozens of times at this point and I never get tired of it. And, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t go back and get some of their earlier releases too.
[READ: May 15, 2011] Fraud
I’ve seen Rakoff on the Daily Show, and his name has been cropping up in various places lately. So I decided to read his actual published work to see what he was all about.
Fraud is his first book. It is mostly funny, although it also dwells on serious matters by the end of the book. In many ways Rakoff is like a slightly wilder, slightly edgier version of David Sedaris (the two have a long history of friendship and working together, so this may not be totally surprising).
I’m not going to compare him to Sedaris in any meaningful way, just to say that there are similarities of temperament and style; I don’t think either one of them is hilarious, but that I enjoy both of them and often laugh pretty hard at their material.
I’m also not going to review each essay in this book. It seems to be constructed in a vague sort of narrative arc. Well, actually, the second half of the book has the narrative arc (I suspect that the essays that were published previously were modified slightly and that the new essays allude to some of the incidents mentioned there.
The first few essays of the book are the funnier ones (insert joke about Woody Allen’s early funny movies here), and they stick more to the idea of Rakoff as a “Fraud.” In them, Rakoff, a Canadian ex-pat (he’s from Toronto), somewhat neurotic, gay, New York Jew goes to different locations where he is an atypical person and then reports on them. (more…)
This album seems to have directly inspired more bands than any other Sabbath record. There’s the band Masters of Reality (who I’ve never heard) and there’s the 1,000 Homo DJ’s EP and blistering cover for “Supernaut.”
uld be looser and therefore less painful to play. As such, this disc introduces a sort of “classic” Sabbath sludgy sound. But even though this album doesn’t get a the airplay of Paranoid any metal fan knows a few of these songs. “Sweet Leaf,” for instance, is quite well known. It also makes me laugh because it is so clearly pro-drug (after all those anti-drug songs on the first two discs). And of course, it opens with that great echoing cough (which I now assume is from someone toking up).
SOUNDTRACK:TOKYO POLICE CLUB-“Smith” EP (2007).
The Smith EP contains 4 songs. The first two tracks are bouncy energy filled tracks, like on A Lesson in Crime. But the third track “A Lesson in Crime” sounds very distinctly mellow-Death Cab for Cutie-like. And it gives the whole EP a slightly more mellow feel.
It took me going to Seattle to learn about 
ten. For reasons known only to my head, I was convinced that Sasha was a black woman. Little did I realize that he is not. And that he was in a band that I have a CD of called Ui. He is an excellent resource for all things music, whether I like the artist he’s talking about or not. Some entries are 
SOUNDTRACK: BELLE AND SEBASTIAN-BBC Sessions & Live in Belfast 2001 (2008).
Virtually every review of the BBC Sessions says the same thing: these tracks barely differ from the original recordings. And, for better or worse, that is very true. In fact, even the trumpets and other instruments sound so perfect, you tend to forget it’s a live recording. Clearly this sends a positive message about their live playing. But if that’s the case, why would you buy this?
SOUNDTRACK: WRFF 104.5 FM.
I stumbled upon this station by accident one day. I was working outside, trying to tune in a radio station, and, although I was near a classic rock station from New York, I heard a very cool alternative song. So, I tuned in this staticky station and later learned that I was listening to 104.5, WRFF out of Philadelphia.
Boy I can’t stand this song. I know it’s supposed to be cute and racy and risque or whatever, but I simply can’t stand how crassly materialistic it is. And I’m not one who thinks Christmas is all about, like, Jesus’ birth or being good or anything. I know it’s all about the presents; however, this song is just….so…wrong. And if the Eartha Kitt version (the one you hear most of the time) 
weren’t bad enough, the Madonna version (on A Very Special Christmas) is just abysmal. She sounds like a sexually deranged Betty Boop (which I suppose is not unusual for her circa this release, but still). Stop trying to seduce Santa! Make it go away!
SOUNDTRACK: NADA SURF-Let Go (2002) & The Weight is a Gift (2005).
Let Go. Something happened between Nada Surf’s 2nd and third album, I don’t know what, exactly, but they really made some great material with these two albums. Let Go introduces a new jangly guitar style that makes the band softer and catchier, but which really accentuates the singer’s voice and melodies. Usually, when a band “matures” like this, the results are never good. But in this case, the mellower sound and slower songs really bring out the quality of the work. The first five tracks really shine, with “Fruit Fly” and “Blonde on Blonde” really standing out. The lyrics of “Fruit Fly” seems so simple and yet in context, and with the great melody, they work wonders. 
SOUNDTRACK: CHAVEZ-Better Days Will Haunt You (2006).
I first fell in love with Chavez when I saw a video for their song “Break Up Your Band.” I loved the video, and loved the music. And, I basically became of fan of them because of this video, which I think I must have seen on 120 Minutes, way back when. Turns out that my memory of this video is the equivalent of my memory of Good Omens (cf. Good Omens). The video is on the DVD that comes with this collection, and wow, I don’t recall the video looking like that at all! Huh, clearly I am an unreliable narrator.
I Just Read About That... 