Roland JP8000

The New Pornographers

OK, let's get back to the music here.

Though we got this record like a month ago, it took a while to really sink in. So here it goes- a review (or quick overview) of the New Pornographers' record entitled, "Challengers".
....and (LISTEN TO IT HERE) There are also videos below.

First of all, I have to explain that the name comes from a Jimmy Swaggart quote in which he proclaimed that Rock n Roll was the "new pornography". So the band's name is clever and harmless, so cool your jets.

Besides that, they are a Canadian supergroup that contains 4 different vocalists (2 males, 2 females) who trade of on each song or sometimes trade off during songs. Dan Behar from Destroyer, Carl Newman from Zumpano, and Neko Case- a solo country chanteuse. Plus a swarm of instrumentalists. They play a super energetic brand of thick, fun powerpop.

On this record, they've definately reached a more mature plateau. At first, I missinterpretted the plateau as a rut, but then realized that they've intentionally pulled back some of the over-the-top high-energy stuff to let real songwriting come out. This especially happens in the girls' power ballad-esque tracks, which are beautiful and well-crafted. (See the bottom video for what I mean)

Great album.

20 years of Baby Jessica

Painting entitled, "The Rescue of Baby Jessica"

Artist unknown

KRANG

Classic

10 Things I've Learned From FNL

Here are some life lessons I've learned from watching Friday Night Lights:

1. No matter how badly you are losing, you can always come back to win in the last 30 seconds of the game.... every time.

2. Whenever you have a conflict with someone, no matter what the nature of your relationship is, you should always tell them, "I love you more than anything on this earth."

3. The Car Salesman is essential to the decision-making power structure of any town.

4. It's perfectly normal to go a whole day without knowing that your Abercrombie flannel has been unbuttoned and falling completely off one shoulder.

5. Arguing with your spouse can be fun if you make it sound a little flirty.

6. Kids can successfully raise themselves, run a household, and sometimes care for incapacitated adults without any assistance.

7. If you need a job badly enough, someone will always hire you (regardless of the lack of demand for the job or your lack of qualifications for the job) at the local highschool or car lot.

8. Football games are only 5 minutes long and action-packed.

9. In Texas your hair can stay wet for 24 hours at a time, if you really want it to.

10. I'm mysteriously craving.... Applebees.

The Corner

Two of my favorite things combined..... but falls short.
The creator of my favorite TV show, The Wire (David Simon), and the actor from one of my favorite movies, FRESH (Sean Nelson) , joined forces in 2000 for this Emmy winning HBO miniseries called The Corner. We Netflixed it because of our love for the Wire and Fresh, but it was just super depressing and poorly acted. Actors you'll recognize from The Wire play characters that are surprisingly out of character. Hours and hours of watching junkies flounder without much plot. The miniseries starts off like it's trying to look like a documentary, but then incorporates so many camera angles that it's hardly believable. Jill and I stopped after a couple episodes.
Sooooooo..... This leads me to recommend FRESH to fans of The Wire. Fresh is about an 11/12-year-old drug runner who is too smart for his own good and tries to out-smart his way out of New York drug life. This movie was supposed to be the first "ghetto movie" in the 90's (and had a hyper-realism feel like The Wire), but on the eave of its release, Boys n the Hood and Menace to Society were released by other studios and served as more high-action/violent and more popular movies. But Fresh is, by far, more better. The best thing about Fresh is the kids in it use real urban kid language and it's so real. The dialog is so real. Fans of The Wire will also appreciate a familiar feeling of having to remember names, faces, alliances, and street vocabulary. Plus, you'll love the character Fresh- that's the kids name.

Band of Horses on Letterman

Band of Horses

If I had any hipster music snob friends left, I would brag about how I got the new Band of Horses album, "Cease to Begin" a day before its official release date. But I would leave out the part about buying it on 4th St.

Man, this record is great. And this band is proving themselves to be great. Seems like shooting yourself in the foot to sort of keep the whole old-school emo thing (circa 1997) as part of you format, but Band of Horses does this well by mixing that sound with a countryfied Neil Youngish sound and Built to Spill-esque drumming and vocal yelps. Shoot, the intro to one song sounds Identical to Tristeza (circa 98). Appleseed Cast meets Uncle Tupelo or something. Brilliant!

Lyrically, frontman Bidwell shines here. On the opening track there are only 3 lines but they poetically mess with your head. The song evolves like a poem cannot, due to the fact that you cannot physically see the next line comming. Each line, when layered, gives new meaning. He starts off saying "I could sleep I could sleep I could sleep" which makes the listener think he's sleepy, tired, a visceral cry of fatigue. Then he continues, "when I lived alone." which makes one wonder if this is sexual or the opposite- like fighting with a domestic partner or something or that he prefers to live alone. But both of these meanings are squashed when he finishes the thought with "Is there a ghost in my house?" Then you realize he's just talking about being haunted!

I could sleep when I lived alone. Is there a ghost in my house?
Genius.

Intense hard rockers. Beautiful, lush slow country jams. Will make my best of 07 list.