Fergit all them "official" music critics. Full of bombastic prose, pretentious lessons in rock history, and a sense of "know-it-all"-ness, which never really answers the one, burning question: Did you like the CD or not?
You want a good criticism of new CDs that you can trust? Why not read what your peers are thinking. Why not add your own voice into the fray to help the next curious music buyer.
Check out Rate Your Music where you can review pretty much every album in existence. You don't necessarily need to WRITE a review. You can simply indicate how many stars (the traditional one to five) you think the CD deserves. All the reviews are compiled into rankings per year, so you can see what your fellow music lovers' combined Top 10 list is.
A far more valuable tool for finding out if a CD is good or bad (without all the unnecessary padding and bombast).
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Monday, July 25, 2005
Music Ho Reloaded
Okay, I wasn't finished listing all the new music I got, so here's the rest:
The Vines - "Highly Evolved"
Much better than their second album (thought their second album isn't that bad). It's just this one has better overall songs. The second seems a little more bankrupt creatively.
Weezer (Blue Album)
Yes, I know I'm a late-comer with this one. I've heard "Undone" and "Buddy Holly". Good, straight-forward geek rock. Got the expanded version with lots of extra goodies. (I'm a sucker for expanded versions with lots of extra goodies. Extra goodies are good.)
The Dead 60s
Another in the current, growing list of British bands generating a new-wave/punk revival. Sound very much like the Clash. They may wear their influences a little openly on their sleeves (a lot of the new bands are guilty of these), but it's a disc full of good songs. If you like the Clash, you'd probably enjoy this one.
Missy Elliott - "Under Construction" / "The Cookbook"
My wife wanted these, but I'm always open to all kinds of music. Damn, that girl can rap and write some wicked-ass lyrics. Nasty to the core, but very creative.
Montrose
A blueprint for the 70s hard rock sound. Some of it is wildly outdated. A lot of it is formless (not really any major hooks or melodies). Just a lot of crunchy, straightforward rock n' roll with top notch vocal from Sammy Hagar and solid guitar work from Ronnie Montrose.
That's enough for now. I'm tired of typing.
The Vines - "Highly Evolved"
Much better than their second album (thought their second album isn't that bad). It's just this one has better overall songs. The second seems a little more bankrupt creatively.
Weezer (Blue Album)
Yes, I know I'm a late-comer with this one. I've heard "Undone" and "Buddy Holly". Good, straight-forward geek rock. Got the expanded version with lots of extra goodies. (I'm a sucker for expanded versions with lots of extra goodies. Extra goodies are good.)
The Dead 60s
Another in the current, growing list of British bands generating a new-wave/punk revival. Sound very much like the Clash. They may wear their influences a little openly on their sleeves (a lot of the new bands are guilty of these), but it's a disc full of good songs. If you like the Clash, you'd probably enjoy this one.
Missy Elliott - "Under Construction" / "The Cookbook"
My wife wanted these, but I'm always open to all kinds of music. Damn, that girl can rap and write some wicked-ass lyrics. Nasty to the core, but very creative.
Montrose
A blueprint for the 70s hard rock sound. Some of it is wildly outdated. A lot of it is formless (not really any major hooks or melodies). Just a lot of crunchy, straightforward rock n' roll with top notch vocal from Sammy Hagar and solid guitar work from Ronnie Montrose.
That's enough for now. I'm tired of typing.
Good Reading
No, I'm not talking about the latest Harry Potter (though more on that in a second)...
Couple of good columns to seek out if you care about such stuff:
The latest Stephen King column in the latest Entertainment Weekly (the one with - who else - Harry Potter on the cover) gives a rave review to embracing pop culture. I saw "HUZZAH!". It's time for all of us to openly embrace pop culture. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Those of us who are "art snobs", turning out noses away from anything deemed less-than-cultural need to lighten the hell up. There's room for a Big Mac on that plate of healthy greens and low-sodium treats. Humans are built to derive great joy out of solid, visceral experiences and a pop culture gives 'em to you in great, big, mindless, greasy doses. It's time to expand your horizons in BOTH directions (more refined and extra greasy). To turn away from experiences and art that you deem below you is to gyp yourself of all the experiences life has to offer you.
The second article is in the latest copy of L.A. Weekly (the one with Inglewood on the cover). It's a great response column to what needs to be fixed in Hollywood. I'm not going to summarize here, but everything was absolutely dead-on. The spirit of this town has shifted WAY too far over to profit and money and away from artistry and creativity. Show of hands for those of us over 35 -- when you were a kid, did you care how much money each movie made on opening day? I sure didn't. That was boring, icky stuff for the studio accountants to worry about. Now-a-days, the first thing we talk about a movie is it's opening box office -- not "did you like the film?". No. It's "wow. 'Schmuck-a-rama II' raked in $20 Million". Stop being so freeeeekin' greedy Hollywood. Your drive to make money has corrupted a lot of talent and the effects are starting to show (notice the weekly articles how this year's Box Office is in a major slump).
Both are great articles. Worth checking out.
Couple of good columns to seek out if you care about such stuff:
The latest Stephen King column in the latest Entertainment Weekly (the one with - who else - Harry Potter on the cover) gives a rave review to embracing pop culture. I saw "HUZZAH!". It's time for all of us to openly embrace pop culture. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Those of us who are "art snobs", turning out noses away from anything deemed less-than-cultural need to lighten the hell up. There's room for a Big Mac on that plate of healthy greens and low-sodium treats. Humans are built to derive great joy out of solid, visceral experiences and a pop culture gives 'em to you in great, big, mindless, greasy doses. It's time to expand your horizons in BOTH directions (more refined and extra greasy). To turn away from experiences and art that you deem below you is to gyp yourself of all the experiences life has to offer you.
The second article is in the latest copy of L.A. Weekly (the one with Inglewood on the cover). It's a great response column to what needs to be fixed in Hollywood. I'm not going to summarize here, but everything was absolutely dead-on. The spirit of this town has shifted WAY too far over to profit and money and away from artistry and creativity. Show of hands for those of us over 35 -- when you were a kid, did you care how much money each movie made on opening day? I sure didn't. That was boring, icky stuff for the studio accountants to worry about. Now-a-days, the first thing we talk about a movie is it's opening box office -- not "did you like the film?". No. It's "wow. 'Schmuck-a-rama II' raked in $20 Million". Stop being so freeeeekin' greedy Hollywood. Your drive to make money has corrupted a lot of talent and the effects are starting to show (notice the weekly articles how this year's Box Office is in a major slump).
Both are great articles. Worth checking out.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
The Music Ho Strikes Again
Okay, went a little overboard these past few weeks gettin' some new music:
Arcade Fire - EP
I need to listen to this one some more before passing judgement.
Spoon - "Girls Can Tell" and "Kill The Moonlight"
If you haven't checked this band out, do so. Their latest, Gimme Fiction, hit the stores earlier this year. One of the best, lesser-known, bands out there.
Sufjan Stevens - "Michigan" and "Illinois"
Best described as "charming". These are very fun, sweet, imaginative odes to two of the 50 states in our nation. Apparently, he's planning to record an album for EVERY state (good luck!) -- I can't wait for "California" or "Hawaii".
There's more to come, but that's enough for now.
Arcade Fire - EP
I need to listen to this one some more before passing judgement.
Spoon - "Girls Can Tell" and "Kill The Moonlight"
If you haven't checked this band out, do so. Their latest, Gimme Fiction, hit the stores earlier this year. One of the best, lesser-known, bands out there.
Sufjan Stevens - "Michigan" and "Illinois"
Best described as "charming". These are very fun, sweet, imaginative odes to two of the 50 states in our nation. Apparently, he's planning to record an album for EVERY state (good luck!) -- I can't wait for "California" or "Hawaii".
There's more to come, but that's enough for now.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
A Classic Mugshot
From BoingBoing.net...
Check out the T-Shirt this poor sap is wearing after being booked for drunk driving.
Well... I guess if you're gonna drive drunk, you'd be into that stuff...
Link
Check out the T-Shirt this poor sap is wearing after being booked for drunk driving.
Well... I guess if you're gonna drive drunk, you'd be into that stuff...
Link
Sunday, July 03, 2005
New Music!! (Well, Mostly New)
More CD acquisitions from the Music Addict -- some new, some old, but all new to me.
Spoon - "Gimme Fiction"
Damn! This is an awesome album. I'd rank this with Beck's "Guero" as one of the two best albums of 2005.
John Mayer - "Room For Squares"
Got the Dual Disc version. I know there's a whole mess of debatin' going on over this new format, but I like it. It's cool to get a Surround version and some extra DVD content. I guess I'm pretty lucky -- all my CD players, including the dreaded front-loading truck CD player, can handle the discs. Oh, and the CD is pretty good, too.
The Offspring - "Greatest Hits"
Great stuff in one package. "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)" is still one of the best singles ever made.
Television - "Marquis Moon"
This is one of those albums you read about on numerous top 100 lists and it's considered one of the pinnacle albums during the late 70s New York Punk/Art Punk movement... and yet you've never actually head it. One of my co-workers let me borrow his copy and it's really good. So, went and got the remastered version. If you can get past Tom Verlaine's oddball singing, you can see how this band was definitely an influence on newer bands.
Buffalo Springfield - "Again"
A little dated in spots, but still contains some of the best rock tracks ever written.
Spoon - "Gimme Fiction"
Damn! This is an awesome album. I'd rank this with Beck's "Guero" as one of the two best albums of 2005.
John Mayer - "Room For Squares"
Got the Dual Disc version. I know there's a whole mess of debatin' going on over this new format, but I like it. It's cool to get a Surround version and some extra DVD content. I guess I'm pretty lucky -- all my CD players, including the dreaded front-loading truck CD player, can handle the discs. Oh, and the CD is pretty good, too.
The Offspring - "Greatest Hits"
Great stuff in one package. "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)" is still one of the best singles ever made.
Television - "Marquis Moon"
This is one of those albums you read about on numerous top 100 lists and it's considered one of the pinnacle albums during the late 70s New York Punk/Art Punk movement... and yet you've never actually head it. One of my co-workers let me borrow his copy and it's really good. So, went and got the remastered version. If you can get past Tom Verlaine's oddball singing, you can see how this band was definitely an influence on newer bands.
Buffalo Springfield - "Again"
A little dated in spots, but still contains some of the best rock tracks ever written.
War of the Worlds. Day-um.
Saw "War of the Worlds" today. Awesome!! Awesome!! I knew Spielberg still had it in him after releasing a few "quieter" films. "The Terminal" and "Catch Me If You Can" were good movies, but not Spielberg popcorn movies.
"War of the Worlds" is pure Spielberg and pure popcorn.
The pace is relentless, the effects outstanding (they don't dominate the film like many "end of the Earth" films), and the story is good. What makes this better than your average Armageddon-style film is that fact that it stays entirely with one family. It keeps this wild space invaders movie grounded in human frame of mind and that makes it all the scarier and discomforting.
Tom Cruise, currently much in need of a image makeover, is very good. I sometimes find his acting a little TOO intense. But here he manages to keep the tone down and give a very real performance of a deadbeat dad learning how to take care of people other than himself in less than optimal circumstances.
Highly recommended.
"War of the Worlds" is pure Spielberg and pure popcorn.
The pace is relentless, the effects outstanding (they don't dominate the film like many "end of the Earth" films), and the story is good. What makes this better than your average Armageddon-style film is that fact that it stays entirely with one family. It keeps this wild space invaders movie grounded in human frame of mind and that makes it all the scarier and discomforting.
Tom Cruise, currently much in need of a image makeover, is very good. I sometimes find his acting a little TOO intense. But here he manages to keep the tone down and give a very real performance of a deadbeat dad learning how to take care of people other than himself in less than optimal circumstances.
Highly recommended.
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