If I could sit in front of my computer and blog about music, movies, and comic books all day, believe me, this blog would be unstoppable. But alas, stupid things get in my way of filling my stomach with TGI Fridays potato chips and Sun Drop (the new citrus drink of choice now that Vault has mysteriously vanished). Here's a rundown of some of the new music I have checked out as of late:
Tori Amos-"Night of Hunters" (4.5) Honest, can't stop listening to it. Tori Amos has such a beautiful voice and it is accented on this album perfectly with only her trademark piano sound and a lush orchestra in the background. Definitely on my top ten of the year, and the song "Nautical Twilight" may be my favorite song of the year. Other great songs include "Carry," "Your Ghost," among many others. Tori's daughter Natashya Howley has a beautiful voice as well and I hope that she may pick up a career of her own.
Bjork-Biophilia (4.5) When you buy a Bjork album, you know what you are going to get. This album is no different. Either you get it or you don't. It is a bit more subdued than her more upbeat 2007 "Volta" album, but it is classic Bjork nonetheless. Definitely an album more for listening to on headphones during a relaxing moment of the day rather than a pump-up album to get you through it. Favorite tracks: "Crystalline," "Mutual Core," "Solstice".
All Time Low-Dirty Work (2.3) Umm...what the fuck happened to these guys? Many of my friends would say that they sucked from the get-go, but there was a point in time where I thought they could be the next New Found Glory (another band many of my friends would tell me to fuck off for even suggesting a listen). But this irredeemable album of over-polished bubble gum nonsense has proven that they are nothing more than a bunch of douchy horndogs trying to get as many girls as possible by posing as sentimental heartthrobs and writing forgettable bullshit songs. Only songs on the album worthy of a listen are "Do You Want Me (Dead)?" and "Heroes." That's right; 14 songs, and I kept TWO.
The Horrible Crowes-Elsie (4.4) A great album from Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem. Joined with him is his guitar tech Ian Perkins and together they create a great folk rock album that I am sure is on Springsteen's "albums of the year" list. Favorite songs include "Behold the Hurricane," "Black Betty and the Moon," and "Blood Loss."
New Found Glory-Radiosurgery (3.8) Not one of their strongest albums, but possibly one of their more consistent ones in the past several years. There are no classics present here, but nothing that immediately makes me want to jump out of a window (see All Time Low, above). Favorite songs include "Drill It In My Brain," "I'm Not The One," and "Summer Fling, Don't Mean A Thing".
Mayday Parade (3.8)-My interest in this band has been so up and down, and they have only released three albums. Their previous album was a major label nightmare, dumbing down the sound that garnered them a fanbase from their debut. The addition of a new singer and bringing in outside songwriters made their previous work disliked by fans as well as the band themselves. This album, however, is much different. It is more in tune with their original sound that made them noticed in the first place. I enjoyed it much more, and my level of respect for them has increased. However, I wouldn't consider myself a fan; just a fan of the girl I know that loves this band so much. ;) Favorite songs include "Oh Well, Oh Well," "Priceless," and "Without the Bitter, The Sweet Isn't As Sweet."
Symphony X-Iconoclast (4.0)-Pretty much everything I expect from these guys. I am sure they are sick of being compared to as the "B-grade Dream Theater," but they have really done little to remove themselves from this labeling. Still, this album didn't go unnoticed on my radar, and it contains some of the traditional Symphony X stylings that you would expect from this progressive metal outfit. Favorite songs include the title track "Iconoclast," "The End Of Innocence," and "When All Is Lost."
Opeth-"Heritage" (2.6) Oh my god, so boring! And here I am thinking that I could find an appreciation for every Opeth album (and there are lots for a band with less than 20 years under their belts) but this album I just can't get into. It has little to do with the fact that singer/songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt completely dropped the death growls from the style of music on this album and focused on the 70's psychedelic style (a la 2003's "Damnation") but I just simply find no substance in this hour long, humdrum album of pretentious rock songs. Some songs that sparked my interest include "Famine," "Slither," and "The Line In My Hand." Unfortanately the song "The Line In My Hand" builds up for 3 minutes with very little payoff. I thought that I would be treated to the classic 10-15 minute Opeth epic with this particular track and was severely disappointed with a 3 minute song that builds up to nothing.
What's new in the world of comics you say? Glad you asked! This is week #5 of DC's relaunch, meaning ISSUE 2'S CAME OUT!! While most of the #2's (hehehe) that I am waiting for are later this month, I did manage to pick up a few back issues of the 1's that I was unable to get ahold of. "Swamp Thing," "Suicide Squad," and "Wonder Woman" were a part of this comic book trip, as well as the issue #2's for "Swamp Thing" and "Red Lanterns." But what was the most important comic book this week? Why it was "Penguin: Prey and Prejudice!!" Penguin is my ALL TIME FAVORITE Batman villain and I don't think they use him nearly enough. Just seeing the cover of the book filled my heart with nostalgia, of my first day of kindergarten going to school with my Penguin backback (this was 1992 when "Batman Returns" had just come out). And what made this day even better was that my stepsisters got to witness a Penguin Day miracle at Half Price Books when I stumbled upon the "Penguin Triumphant" trade paperback Marie and I had been talking of and searching for the past week to no avail. How much did I spend on this treasure? TWO DOLLHAIRS!! I couldn't believe it!! It was such a great day!!
Piss On Feet has been busting our ass with practices preparing for the October 28th Halloween show. Who all is coming? The correct answer is EVERYONE!!
I decided that today was Superman day, and I have been watching the Christopher Reeves films on Netflix...well, the first two, at least. Seriously, I don't understand the fascination with Netflix, I can hardly find ANYTHING of interest to me on there. Anything I type in, "Not Available." SUCK.
Well, that's about it for now. I am sure that my six-day weekend will get more eventful, but until then: SO LONG!
