Music: Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt by We Are Scientists
I had my last final on Wednesday, so the semester is officially over. I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch but I think I may have pulled off another A semester - we'll see. I'm glad the semester is over, it's really good to get a break, I just wish I could have stayed in the city. I put my life off for about 2 weeks during the finals madness, and now that I finally have time to pick up the slack and catch up on things, I'm back in Blackstone, away from all the stuff I put on hold. Well I'm doing what I can and trying to enjoy the peace.
This isn't one of those blogs where there are daily news updates on what's happening in the industry or anything (I'm not John C. Dvorak, thank god), but sometimes shit is just too ridiculous not to mention. In their neverending quest to fight for justice, the music industry has turned on - lyrics sites. Yeah, the sites where you can find the lyrics to songs. They apparently rob artists of the ability to earn a living. The music industry just keeps taking over, bit by bit - a 1984 reference would probably be fitting here, and I'd make one if I had ever read that book. The music industry doesn't even offer a competing pay-for-lyrics service, so I really fail to see how this robs anyone of money - reading the lyrics is not a substitution for hearing the song. And if the industry is implying you have to purchase the CD to get the lyrics then we've just reached a whole new level of crazy - not to mention the fact that less than 50% of CD booklets even have the damn lyrics these days (believe me, I wish all CDs came with the lyrics). And what about legal downloads? Those sure as hell don't come with lyrics. Lyrics sites have enabled me to identify songs I've heard on the radio or wherever else, leading me to later purchase the CD. The music industry is really shooting itself in the foot if it's successful in this endeavor - not only are they killing a great source of free advertising, they are drumming up some serious bad will, something they already have plenty of.
This on the tail of the recent copy-protection fiasco is certainly not a smart move. Recent CDs from Sony-BMG have had a copy protection that installs device drivers on your computer that make any Sony-BMG CD using this copy protection scheme skip horribly, making them all but useless when used with your computer - the goal of this is to prevent ripping the CD into MP3's which could theoretically be distributed on the internet. This is nothing new (unfortunately), but the twist here is that this new scheme uses a rootkit - a piece of software that hides files on your computer and makes them completely undetectable by all normal means until the rootkit is disabled; in this particular case, all files beginning with the dollar sign, '$', were hidden. So now not only can you not remove this piece of software if you don't want it, but your computer is wide open to viruses written to take advantage of this new way to hide files. Sony issued an uninstaller on their site, but the software digs in so deep into the operating system that removing it can cause system instability. Lawsuits were filed and the whole deal, and all CDs using this protection scheme were recalled. But I'm sure they'll be back with something new in no time. The whole idea of copy-protecting CDs is ridiculous. They're only punishing the people who actually buy CDs. These schemes do nothing to stop piracy - there is always someone out there who will crack the protection and get it out on the internet. And once it's out there, it's out there, and there's no way to stop it. Not that I encourage piracy, but hurting the loyal customers who buy CDs and just want to put them on their damn iPod is not the answer.
All this ill-will because of their controlling bullshit, and still they harp over reduced sales. They're all over iTunes to get them to raise prices - prices are already high enough, Steve Jobs and Apple want to lower prices, but the music industry will never go for that. The execs of the record labels look at the number of iPod sales and think music download sales should be directly proportional to that. But how many people do you know who fill up their whole iPod with legally downloaded music? People either have small amounts of legal music, pirated music, or music ripped from CDs (or whatever combination). The labels are expecting people to rebuy everything like they did during the transition between cassettes and CDs. But this time we have the power to convert. I can take a CD and in ~10 minutes rip it into a high-quality mp3, higher quality than I could get from iTunes or Napster or wherever. There is no way in hell I'm going to rebuy everything from iTunes, and there's no reason I should have to. I purchased the CD legally. And here's where it connects to anti-piracy copy protection - it's legal to make copies of media you've purchased, but illegal to circumvent copy protection. Oh what a wonderful slippery slope we're on! The morality of what is going on should be clear-cut, but no one has the money or lawyers to fight these guys, and they already have their claws into the government. It's wonderful.
Well I think that's enough ranting for now. I had just seen the Mission:Impossible:3 trailer and was considering doing a second part of the rant where I discuss how there has to be a scene where Tom Cruise runs like a gazelle in every movie he's ever been in, but I think I'm done for now. If you really need your fix of Tom Cruise hating, check out the South Park episode where they attack Scientology. Tom Cruise physically locks himself into a closet, prompting a running-gag where character after character basically says "C'mon Tom, this is ridiculous, just come out of the closet, you aren't fooling anybody." The end of the episode has Scientologists doing what they do best - threatening to sue. "We'll sue you kid! We'll sue your ass... and your balls!" "I'll sue you in England!"
I'm working on the Best of 2005 list/dissertation, it may be up soon. Or maybe not.
--------------------------
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
So yeah, I'm 20. Hot shit. Had a good birthday - cake, couple presents, got to be lazy, etc. Got to make my mother cry because she thinks she is oooooooooooolllllllddddd. Heard from a million BMR people I haven't talked to in awhile (thanks guys). Also found out I apparently share a birthday with Shigeru Miyamoto, for what that's worth. Didn't even have to use proper grammar (subject noun's will return tomorrow, promise).
And just to piss Rhiannon off.
QUOTE OF THE YEAR:
"Yeah well, life is a rich tapestry."
And just to piss Rhiannon off.
QUOTE OF THE YEAR:
"Yeah well, life is a rich tapestry."
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Music: Dear Sons And Daughters Of Hungry Ghosts by Wolf Parade
It's always hard to admit the one's you love have serious problems but I can't watch Matt Kankash throw his life away any longer. He is an angry little man and needs some love. Or a beating. Or something. He randomly shoulder-checks me, or pretends to flying-ninja-kick me, or pretends to punch me in the face, all in public. He yells things halfway across campus at me. I think he was neglected as a child or dropped on his head. Either way, he needs our help. We should set up an intervention. And film it and send it to Fox as a reality show.
--------------------------
It's always hard to admit the one's you love have serious problems but I can't watch Matt Kankash throw his life away any longer. He is an angry little man and needs some love. Or a beating. Or something. He randomly shoulder-checks me, or pretends to flying-ninja-kick me, or pretends to punch me in the face, all in public. He yells things halfway across campus at me. I think he was neglected as a child or dropped on his head. Either way, he needs our help. We should set up an intervention. And film it and send it to Fox as a reality show.
--------------------------
Friday, August 26, 2005
Music: Apocalypse Now And Then by Every Time I Die
Today's my last day of work, yay. I'll be very glad to not have to get up at 6 in the morning - it is time to catch up on some major sleep. Well, after move-in at least. I'm packing tonight, then moving in tomorrow. Next week is totally free, then classes start the following week.
The new Every Time I Die cd rocks. It leaked about two weeks ago and me and Ari gave it one quick listen and were both kind of skeptical. I decided to wait for the release to listen to it again, but she continued to listen to it and gave me a very bad impression of it and I started to become worried. Well it came out Tuesday and when I first put it in my car and cranked the volume up I was pleasantly surprised. It is different from Hot Damn!, but it's still good. I'm not one to defend bands if I don't actually like the new stuff - Funeral For A Friend, From Autumn To Ashes, etc. pussified themselves and the new 'directions' suck - but this is quality shit. It's less metalcore and more flatout rock. I do miss Keith's old vocals but he was tearing his throat up doing it so his new style was necessary - at least he can still scream and make it sound good, I can get over the fact that it sounds different.
--------------------------
Today's my last day of work, yay. I'll be very glad to not have to get up at 6 in the morning - it is time to catch up on some major sleep. Well, after move-in at least. I'm packing tonight, then moving in tomorrow. Next week is totally free, then classes start the following week.
The new Every Time I Die cd rocks. It leaked about two weeks ago and me and Ari gave it one quick listen and were both kind of skeptical. I decided to wait for the release to listen to it again, but she continued to listen to it and gave me a very bad impression of it and I started to become worried. Well it came out Tuesday and when I first put it in my car and cranked the volume up I was pleasantly surprised. It is different from Hot Damn!, but it's still good. I'm not one to defend bands if I don't actually like the new stuff - Funeral For A Friend, From Autumn To Ashes, etc. pussified themselves and the new 'directions' suck - but this is quality shit. It's less metalcore and more flatout rock. I do miss Keith's old vocals but he was tearing his throat up doing it so his new style was necessary - at least he can still scream and make it sound good, I can get over the fact that it sounds different.
--------------------------
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
His Dark Materials
Music: Killing It by A Wilhelm Scream
I can't see how anyone could ever understand the plot to the original Mission: Impossible. A real CIA agent couldn't even figure it out. No matter how hard I try to pay attention and hear every line (as characters betray each other back and forth multiple times within a single scene), I somehow always get bored and distracted and miss something "important." I forgot this when I purchased the DVD and am only now remembering...
Just today I finished reading The Amber Spyglass, the last in the His Dark Materials trilogy (Golden Compass, Subtle Knife, etc.). I haven't been reading every day, but the characters and their plights have been stewing in my mind for over a month now and it got to the point where I really gave a shit about them. The ending is crazy and kinda depressing. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all day.
--------------------------
To lose my words in this smoke filled room.
If there's a way out I will find out 'cuz it burns my black eyes red
Repress this.
My only regret: this memory.
So we can convince them that this is all we are (that this is all we are).
Watch the martrys when they face the ghosts.
Shake hands as the waste surrounds you.
Killing it, killing it (will only make it stronger).
Killing it, killing it (will only help it box you in).
Killing it, killing it (will only make you lose your way).
Shot down the last witness.
Committed to finish, this is the beginning I can't miss.
The fucking looks those people gave us. No fucking bullets can erase this.
I can't see how anyone could ever understand the plot to the original Mission: Impossible. A real CIA agent couldn't even figure it out. No matter how hard I try to pay attention and hear every line (as characters betray each other back and forth multiple times within a single scene), I somehow always get bored and distracted and miss something "important." I forgot this when I purchased the DVD and am only now remembering...
Just today I finished reading The Amber Spyglass, the last in the His Dark Materials trilogy (Golden Compass, Subtle Knife, etc.). I haven't been reading every day, but the characters and their plights have been stewing in my mind for over a month now and it got to the point where I really gave a shit about them. The ending is crazy and kinda depressing. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all day.
--------------------------
To lose my words in this smoke filled room.
If there's a way out I will find out 'cuz it burns my black eyes red
Repress this.
My only regret: this memory.
So we can convince them that this is all we are (that this is all we are).
Watch the martrys when they face the ghosts.
Shake hands as the waste surrounds you.
Killing it, killing it (will only make it stronger).
Killing it, killing it (will only help it box you in).
Killing it, killing it (will only make you lose your way).
Shot down the last witness.
Committed to finish, this is the beginning I can't miss.
The fucking looks those people gave us. No fucking bullets can erase this.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Music: In Your Honor by Foo Fighters
I've been looking for a good book to read so I decided to try out the 'sci-fi classic' The War Of The Worlds after being intrigued by the blurb on the back of the book. The progenitor of the classic alien invasion story, it's kind of an odd read. Capsules are shot from Mars and unleash multi-tentacled abominations that proceed to build massive machinery and burn the countryside to ashes with a heat-ray; the things heat-ray three of the narrator's colleagues/best-friends within 5 minutes of their first appearance. Yet no one gives a shit. They react to it like we reacted to the Janet Jackson Superbowl scandal. Monocles a'poppin', exclamations of "Why I never!" and all that, but that's the extent of the surprise. It's a "hot topic around the town", discussed over dinner, and people anxiously await new info from the local newspaper. Meanwhile, the Martians are less than a mile away burning things to the ground. Not sure what to make of it.
--------------------------
Can you hear me
Hear me screamin'
Breaking in the muted sky
This thunder heart
Like bombs beating
Echoing a thousand miles
I've been looking for a good book to read so I decided to try out the 'sci-fi classic' The War Of The Worlds after being intrigued by the blurb on the back of the book. The progenitor of the classic alien invasion story, it's kind of an odd read. Capsules are shot from Mars and unleash multi-tentacled abominations that proceed to build massive machinery and burn the countryside to ashes with a heat-ray; the things heat-ray three of the narrator's colleagues/best-friends within 5 minutes of their first appearance. Yet no one gives a shit. They react to it like we reacted to the Janet Jackson Superbowl scandal. Monocles a'poppin', exclamations of "Why I never!" and all that, but that's the extent of the surprise. It's a "hot topic around the town", discussed over dinner, and people anxiously await new info from the local newspaper. Meanwhile, the Martians are less than a mile away burning things to the ground. Not sure what to make of it.
--------------------------
Can you hear me
Hear me screamin'
Breaking in the muted sky
This thunder heart
Like bombs beating
Echoing a thousand miles
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Music: Roses For The Dead by Funeral For A Friend
I got kicked out of the College of Engineering.
The Cornell College of Engineering, the one I withdrew from last summer before classes started, the one I haven't paid a single cent to, the one I haven't communicated with in any way besides to tell them that I don't go to that school so stop sending me mail. Good god. They don't call it "The Big Red Tape" for nothing. Funny stuff. I'll give them a call tomorrow, not that it really matters, but I don't want that on any kind of record or anything.
--------------------------
I got kicked out of the College of Engineering.
The Cornell College of Engineering, the one I withdrew from last summer before classes started, the one I haven't paid a single cent to, the one I haven't communicated with in any way besides to tell them that I don't go to that school so stop sending me mail. Good god. They don't call it "The Big Red Tape" for nothing. Funny stuff. I'll give them a call tomorrow, not that it really matters, but I don't want that on any kind of record or anything.
--------------------------
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Music: The Hand That Feeds by Nine Inch Nails
The Murder By Death show was really pretty great. There was a huge crowd, about the biggest I've ever seen at The Living Room, but I think most everyone was there for the headliners, Against Me!, who I know nothing by. Murder By Death was amazing live, beautiful beautiful music. The chello player made love to her instrument, it was borderline sexual. The singer was really weird inbetween songs. The songs themselves are not weird at all, but his descriptions of them certainly were. He went to great lengths to describe how the songs were about the devil and whiskey and "sweet ass" ghosts. Everything was "sweet ass" in fact. One song was seemingly about kids at a school being eaten by "sweet ass zombies." It was funny shit, it was just so absurd. They played two new songs and I loved them, which is saying something as it usually takes a few listens for songs to really grow on me. I will definitely try to see these guys again when their new album comes out.
edit: Random funny: Christian Movie Review Site Apparently this site reviews movies in regards to Christian principles and gives the G or PG or R rating they believe the movie deserves. The list of violent acts in movies like Sin City can stretch for pages, and they detail each and every one. The section that really gets me is the religious section, where they state how movies go against the teachings of god. The review for The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy really cracks me up when they say that the fact the movie says humans aren't the smartest creatures in the universe is an "offense to God." Another bullet point under "offenses to God" is simply 'Darwinism.' The ridiculous reviews on this site just go beyond any kind of reasonable thought. It's sexually immoral for a man and woman to be in the same bed, even fully clothed, even if they're married. Or so the website would have you believe. When asked about this, the guy writing the site said it's because the actors aren't married in real life. WHAT?!? Urination by a child is listed as "impudence and hate" in the review for the Amityville Horror, as is an adolescent drinking out of a milk bottle while the mother isn't present. In The Matrix, they list Morpheus's coaching of Neo to escape the Agents in the beginning of the movie as impudence and hate because it's "coaching to avoid fair justice." Am I retarded or were the Agents in The Matrix NOT fair or just? Another personal favorite complaint is that there's "Christmas without Jesus" in the Harry Potter movies. Oh good god, I could go on and on with the hilarious examples. If you have a few minutes just go read a few reviews and laugh your ass off. LOL internet, LOL.
--------------------------
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
The Murder By Death show was really pretty great. There was a huge crowd, about the biggest I've ever seen at The Living Room, but I think most everyone was there for the headliners, Against Me!, who I know nothing by. Murder By Death was amazing live, beautiful beautiful music. The chello player made love to her instrument, it was borderline sexual. The singer was really weird inbetween songs. The songs themselves are not weird at all, but his descriptions of them certainly were. He went to great lengths to describe how the songs were about the devil and whiskey and "sweet ass" ghosts. Everything was "sweet ass" in fact. One song was seemingly about kids at a school being eaten by "sweet ass zombies." It was funny shit, it was just so absurd. They played two new songs and I loved them, which is saying something as it usually takes a few listens for songs to really grow on me. I will definitely try to see these guys again when their new album comes out.
edit: Random funny: Christian Movie Review Site Apparently this site reviews movies in regards to Christian principles and gives the G or PG or R rating they believe the movie deserves. The list of violent acts in movies like Sin City can stretch for pages, and they detail each and every one. The section that really gets me is the religious section, where they state how movies go against the teachings of god. The review for The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy really cracks me up when they say that the fact the movie says humans aren't the smartest creatures in the universe is an "offense to God." Another bullet point under "offenses to God" is simply 'Darwinism.' The ridiculous reviews on this site just go beyond any kind of reasonable thought. It's sexually immoral for a man and woman to be in the same bed, even fully clothed, even if they're married. Or so the website would have you believe. When asked about this, the guy writing the site said it's because the actors aren't married in real life. WHAT?!? Urination by a child is listed as "impudence and hate" in the review for the Amityville Horror, as is an adolescent drinking out of a milk bottle while the mother isn't present. In The Matrix, they list Morpheus's coaching of Neo to escape the Agents in the beginning of the movie as impudence and hate because it's "coaching to avoid fair justice." Am I retarded or were the Agents in The Matrix NOT fair or just? Another personal favorite complaint is that there's "Christmas without Jesus" in the Harry Potter movies. Oh good god, I could go on and on with the hilarious examples. If you have a few minutes just go read a few reviews and laugh your ass off. LOL internet, LOL.
--------------------------
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
Friday, March 18, 2005
twO
Music: You Cannot Rape The Willing by Emanuel
The Ring was a great movie, I have a lot of good times associated with that movie. I was creeped out by it the first time I saw it. Lindsay went with me to see it twice; the first time she didn't pay any attention because kids were throwing candy at her, the second time she was properly freaked out. James was absolutely petrified by it and made Lindsay keep the headlights on the house until he was in the door. He later would become obsessed by it and go frame-by-frame through the DVD and send me image after image of the horrific water-ruined corpses, along with video compilations of all the disturbing parts edited together and sound files of Rachael's bone-chilling scream. And just this week Erin watched it for the first time and I called her cell immediately after it was over and rasped "Seven daaaays" and she nearly had a heart attack.
The movie was great, plain and simple. It set up simple rules, had a defined set of imagery and symbols, and stuck to it. It came up with increasingly creative ways to creep you out as the movie progressed, and everything had a cohesive feel to it. There were dozens of connections you could make without the movie having to explicitly explain it. It was a rich, full universe and you could easily suspend your belief and enjoy it. And the ending, god the ending was amazing. Crappy, false ending, and then everything was turned upside down in a matter of seconds and it was an all-out rush to the end.
The Ring 2 (or tw0, whatever it is really called, there was no title sequence) was a huge disappointment. Total crap. The opening scene was very promising, a creative twist on the way the first one ended, and a logical progression as well. Then it just went totally downhill. What follows was a bastardization of all the rules of the first film. Random shit for cheap thrills, bad-quality CGI, and a general mess of scenes. A few moments here and there were interesting, but it followed no logic at all and there was no way to predict how things would end up because there was no rhyme or reason to any of it. No cool connections, no satisfying ending, no nothing. Oh well. At least the sappy, unrealistic ending didn't leave much room for a Ring 3, but then again logic didn't stop them from many of the twists in this movie...
--------------------------
The Ring was a great movie, I have a lot of good times associated with that movie. I was creeped out by it the first time I saw it. Lindsay went with me to see it twice; the first time she didn't pay any attention because kids were throwing candy at her, the second time she was properly freaked out. James was absolutely petrified by it and made Lindsay keep the headlights on the house until he was in the door. He later would become obsessed by it and go frame-by-frame through the DVD and send me image after image of the horrific water-ruined corpses, along with video compilations of all the disturbing parts edited together and sound files of Rachael's bone-chilling scream. And just this week Erin watched it for the first time and I called her cell immediately after it was over and rasped "Seven daaaays" and she nearly had a heart attack.
The movie was great, plain and simple. It set up simple rules, had a defined set of imagery and symbols, and stuck to it. It came up with increasingly creative ways to creep you out as the movie progressed, and everything had a cohesive feel to it. There were dozens of connections you could make without the movie having to explicitly explain it. It was a rich, full universe and you could easily suspend your belief and enjoy it. And the ending, god the ending was amazing. Crappy, false ending, and then everything was turned upside down in a matter of seconds and it was an all-out rush to the end.
The Ring 2 (or tw0, whatever it is really called, there was no title sequence) was a huge disappointment. Total crap. The opening scene was very promising, a creative twist on the way the first one ended, and a logical progression as well. Then it just went totally downhill. What follows was a bastardization of all the rules of the first film. Random shit for cheap thrills, bad-quality CGI, and a general mess of scenes. A few moments here and there were interesting, but it followed no logic at all and there was no way to predict how things would end up because there was no rhyme or reason to any of it. No cool connections, no satisfying ending, no nothing. Oh well. At least the sappy, unrealistic ending didn't leave much room for a Ring 3, but then again logic didn't stop them from many of the twists in this movie...
--------------------------
Saturday, February 05, 2005
The Arcade Fire (again)
Music: In the backseat by The Arcade Fire
So I'm in the movie theater seeing the 12 pm showing of A Clockword Orange when James pulls a full beer out of his pocket and opens it, fizz spilling all over the floor. I look to Cooper and rhetorically ask "He probably shouldn't be doing that, right?" Cooper just calmly looks at me and says "You know, I tell him not to do things and he doesn't listen and it just stresses me out, so... whatever." The movie goes on. Fucked up movie; I've seen it before, but it's still weird every time I see it. There's a part where the main character is forced to undergo a radical treatment as part of his debt to society which involves a group of scientists making him deathly sick with a drug while forcing him to watch scenes of violence in hopes of making his body associate the sickness with violence and prevent him from being able to be violent without becoming deathly ill. On the trip back to the dorms, James is littering all over the place and Cooper threatens him with the prospect of making him sick while forcing him to watch videos of people littering. Then I pushed Ora down a dark alley. Good times.
So yeah, Arcade Fire concert Thursday at the Roxy. It was amazing. The first opening band, One AM Radio, was like mixing Incubus with Dispatch and cranking the "boring" to 1000. Final Fantasy was a one-man show where he started off with a simple violin melody then recorded it and looped it and started on a more complex melody to build atop the other one, and so forth. It was cool in that he controlled it all with his feet and would just build the song up without any breaks and then stop it all at once at the end. Not the most enthralling performance ever, but certainly interesting. The Arcade Fire was simply awesome. They are such a good live band. Besides the drummer, they all stand equal length from the end of the stage so it's just a line of performers. They all seem to sing and scream throughout the songs, no matter what they are doing. The random percussion guy (who looks like Napoleon Dynamite) was great, finding different things around the stage to bang on the whole time. The violinist and the Final Fantasy guy (who was a guest backup-violinist apparently) chased each other around and seemed to have a thing going. Regine, who switched between keyboard, drums, accordion, and just singing, has a haunting beauty about her, and does the "happy hands" thing or whatever it's called from Napoleon Dynamite when she sings. They did every song on their album, plus a cover, a new song, and a few from their old EP (which I picked up at the show and therefore didn't have to buy on eBay at exorbant prices). It's always great seeing a band you really like live, you get an impression of them you just can't get from a CD. I was surprised at how friendly and outgoing they were. Not that that's bad, but it was hard not to get a larger-than-life impression of them. Similar bands are usually a little over-the-top, like Interpol who barely say a word to the audience, just do their songs and get off the stage, and always dress up in semi-creepy suits; one member constantly wears a gun holster for christ's sake. Not them though, they were joking around and having a jolly time. Win was joking about living in a mansion and Regine, his wife, just rolled her eyes.
--------------------------
Alice died
in the night
I've been learning to drive
my whole life
I've been learning
So I'm in the movie theater seeing the 12 pm showing of A Clockword Orange when James pulls a full beer out of his pocket and opens it, fizz spilling all over the floor. I look to Cooper and rhetorically ask "He probably shouldn't be doing that, right?" Cooper just calmly looks at me and says "You know, I tell him not to do things and he doesn't listen and it just stresses me out, so... whatever." The movie goes on. Fucked up movie; I've seen it before, but it's still weird every time I see it. There's a part where the main character is forced to undergo a radical treatment as part of his debt to society which involves a group of scientists making him deathly sick with a drug while forcing him to watch scenes of violence in hopes of making his body associate the sickness with violence and prevent him from being able to be violent without becoming deathly ill. On the trip back to the dorms, James is littering all over the place and Cooper threatens him with the prospect of making him sick while forcing him to watch videos of people littering. Then I pushed Ora down a dark alley. Good times.
So yeah, Arcade Fire concert Thursday at the Roxy. It was amazing. The first opening band, One AM Radio, was like mixing Incubus with Dispatch and cranking the "boring" to 1000. Final Fantasy was a one-man show where he started off with a simple violin melody then recorded it and looped it and started on a more complex melody to build atop the other one, and so forth. It was cool in that he controlled it all with his feet and would just build the song up without any breaks and then stop it all at once at the end. Not the most enthralling performance ever, but certainly interesting. The Arcade Fire was simply awesome. They are such a good live band. Besides the drummer, they all stand equal length from the end of the stage so it's just a line of performers. They all seem to sing and scream throughout the songs, no matter what they are doing. The random percussion guy (who looks like Napoleon Dynamite) was great, finding different things around the stage to bang on the whole time. The violinist and the Final Fantasy guy (who was a guest backup-violinist apparently) chased each other around and seemed to have a thing going. Regine, who switched between keyboard, drums, accordion, and just singing, has a haunting beauty about her, and does the "happy hands" thing or whatever it's called from Napoleon Dynamite when she sings. They did every song on their album, plus a cover, a new song, and a few from their old EP (which I picked up at the show and therefore didn't have to buy on eBay at exorbant prices). It's always great seeing a band you really like live, you get an impression of them you just can't get from a CD. I was surprised at how friendly and outgoing they were. Not that that's bad, but it was hard not to get a larger-than-life impression of them. Similar bands are usually a little over-the-top, like Interpol who barely say a word to the audience, just do their songs and get off the stage, and always dress up in semi-creepy suits; one member constantly wears a gun holster for christ's sake. Not them though, they were joking around and having a jolly time. Win was joking about living in a mansion and Regine, his wife, just rolled her eyes.
--------------------------
Alice died
in the night
I've been learning to drive
my whole life
I've been learning
Monday, January 31, 2005
The Arcade Fire
Music: Neighborhood #2 (Laika) by The Arcade Fire
Every once in awhile there comes a band that is really easy to get behind. You love the music, you love the image, you love the passion. I mean a lot of good bands come and go, but it's rare to find one that feels so true and real, one you can really believe in. Right now I feel like that about The Arcade Fire.
Their album finally came out this year after years of being together as a band and numerous family turmoils. 4 band members had members of their family die during the recording of this album, hence the title "Funeral." Every one of the songs feels like such care and emotion was put into every bar of it. Win Butler's voice is amazing. He has this waver when he sings, and it almost sounds like he's talking. I can't imagine how he does it, but the words somehow stumble out of his mouth and it just sounds so genuine.
The band is 6 or 7 members large and they all get into the live show. Every review of their live show I've read has been beyond glowing. They're being praised left and right. In between every song is a massive switching of instruments. All the members sing and scream during parts of the song, whether they have mikes or not. The jack-of-all-instruments in the band plays the drums on the actual drummer's set, on all parts of the venue's stage, and on his own helmeted head, in between his various other instrumental duties. Even being indie rock, some of their songs rock as hard as anything. The last song is practically a funeral procession, as the band travels through the crowd to the back of the venue and out the door. It's supposed to be magical. I absolutely cannot wait to see them on the 3rd. From the descriptions I've read, they're musical geniuses. It's so weird, this group of people from some freezing cold region of Canada who came out of absolutely nowhere and blew everyone away. I worry about them becoming too popular, or losing their inspiration, or just burning out, but this is the exact point where things are most exciting and I just really can't wait to see them.
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Every once in awhile there comes a band that is really easy to get behind. You love the music, you love the image, you love the passion. I mean a lot of good bands come and go, but it's rare to find one that feels so true and real, one you can really believe in. Right now I feel like that about The Arcade Fire.
Their album finally came out this year after years of being together as a band and numerous family turmoils. 4 band members had members of their family die during the recording of this album, hence the title "Funeral." Every one of the songs feels like such care and emotion was put into every bar of it. Win Butler's voice is amazing. He has this waver when he sings, and it almost sounds like he's talking. I can't imagine how he does it, but the words somehow stumble out of his mouth and it just sounds so genuine.
The band is 6 or 7 members large and they all get into the live show. Every review of their live show I've read has been beyond glowing. They're being praised left and right. In between every song is a massive switching of instruments. All the members sing and scream during parts of the song, whether they have mikes or not. The jack-of-all-instruments in the band plays the drums on the actual drummer's set, on all parts of the venue's stage, and on his own helmeted head, in between his various other instrumental duties. Even being indie rock, some of their songs rock as hard as anything. The last song is practically a funeral procession, as the band travels through the crowd to the back of the venue and out the door. It's supposed to be magical. I absolutely cannot wait to see them on the 3rd. From the descriptions I've read, they're musical geniuses. It's so weird, this group of people from some freezing cold region of Canada who came out of absolutely nowhere and blew everyone away. I worry about them becoming too popular, or losing their inspiration, or just burning out, but this is the exact point where things are most exciting and I just really can't wait to see them.
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