The Kills

Lately, I've been getting into the music of The Kills. According to Tommy, "They sound like Franz Ferdinand". People often draw comparisons between The Kills and The White Stripes. I've listened to the latter before and occasionally listen to their music, but I think The Kills are a lot better. The Kills are made up of 2 people, Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart (which I guess contributes to the comparison to The White Stripes). Jamie Hince is the guitarist and Alison Mosshart does the vocals. They don't have a drummer - but instead use a drum machine. Their music has this cool underground aethetic to it - it's not polished, it's gritty and it's real. And it doesn't hurt that the guitar riffs are incredibly catchy. I also love how they both do vocals - the mixing is really cool sounding and I love both Alison Mosshart's and Jamie Hince's voices. The Kills are another band who are on Domino Records (Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys are on Domino as well). I haven't listened to too much yet, so far mostly only the singles - but my favorites so far are posted above.

Nivarna is cool

I think I'm spending too much time playing Team Fortress 2. I mean, it's free now, so I figured, why not? (at least it's not League Of Legends) Funny thing, one of the servers I was playing on, people were talking about putting a mod on to weed out all of the free players. Haha. I really have nothing else to do, except start summer assignments. But that can wait.

Musically related, there's one of the best TV shows of the 90s; Beavis and Butthead. Yeah, those guys. The episodes are really short and mostly pointless, but they're so stupid that it's hilarious. The thing is that every so often Beavis and Butthead sat in front of the TV and watched music videos. Then they commented on it throughout the video. Great stuff. They usually just talk about random stuff during crappy videos, but they really seem to like Nirvana (and grudge music). And Dave Grohl. And Beavis says one very true thing during the video; pep rallies suck!

Call Me Back

"Call Me Back" by The Strokes - I've been listening to this song nonstop for the past week. It's so bloody brilliant. Simple, but SO ADDICTIVE. The video for it though has sparked some controversy. People are like - "This video sucks" etc. Weird, but I sort of like it. I mean, it has been likened to the beginning of a porno. haha. But I think the true reason I like it is because it's super artsy. It has that whole art nouveau feel and the water droplets and everything make it subtlety cool but also contemplative. It is also way too awesome that the water droplets in the beginning "move" to the music - like the droplets become clear and blurry according to the accents. It makes you think you're hallucinating. Same with the light in the background. It illuminates the droplets in accordance with the music. I think it's slightly creepy that it zooms into a girl who is soaking wet and it focuses on her in a sort of sensual way. Weird, right? But it's so good. I can't describe it. It really makes you think. Kind of mysterious. It leaves you with a sense of longing and emptiness like - what's next? I like it...in a strange way. The concept is so spacey but still approachable. I think it has become one of my favorite videos ever...

Won't you take walk outside?

Ha, I spend way too much time in front of the computer...I didn't go outside last week for 5 days....I'm probably vitamin D deficient. Whatever. So I've spent I don't even know how many hours on Youtube...I swear there is opium or something on that website - it's so addictive. Through my many hours cavorting about Youtube, I found many interesting things. You know, interesting thing like Julian Casablancas and Matthew Bellamy playing ping pong, a Metric cover of The Strokes song "The End Has No End", and an Adele cover that makes me want to punch a wall because I really don't like it. (Her voice bugs me for some "reasons unknown"...) I also found a cover that The Strokes made of the Ramones song "Life is a Gas" that I think is amazing. The Strokes have a future in punk - not that they need it. I've included the links in case you're interested in any of these things I found through hours of searching and watching.

Matthew Bellamy and Julian Casablancas playing ping pong (haha...it's sort of funny they are so bored)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9_pHzzJeYo

"The End Has No End" - The Strokes (Apparently Julian has had those sunglasses he wears ALL THE TIME now since 2003 when this video was made....And yes that is Eva Mendes and Mila Kunis in it....Weird connection - Mila Kunis dated Sebastian Stan who was in arguably the BEST TV series ever (the other being The Office) called Kings. Look it up. Watch it. It was also on NBC which is mostly crap now besides The Office. Anyways, it's super addictive and I spent most of the end of middle school drooling over it instead of doing my homework. There is also an awesome song that the main character plays on the show.(The Sick Doll  by Tchaikovsky that I once made a cover of... really depressing and easy piano piece - I spent an entire day scouting Kings fan forums until I found it and it turned out it was in my piano book the whole time...fail) I love Kings so much it should be outlawed. It got canceled after one season, but you MUST watch it. I think you can still find it on NBC actually...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sQoX12zo-A

"The End Has No End" - Metric Cover (I think it's okay, not like the Adele cover...actually this cover is pretty good)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzmvRbW7XV0

"Last Night" - Adele Cover - meh...
As someone else put it best
rjonno (3 months ago)
good voice but bastardization of a classic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82lzoEQAD3s

The Strokes Cover of "Life is a Gas" by Ramones (<3 x 10,000, no actually, <3 x Infinity)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB8qyaEK8e8

Kings Website - if you care. Once you start you can't stop though...just giving you a fair warning.
http://www.nbc.com/Kings/ (apparently it isn't even on the NBC recent favorites menu anymore, but I still remember the website, so enjoy! It has the entire first season on it)

I've been ranting alot lately...sorry. Anyways, if you didn't know, the title is a lyric from "The End Has No End" by The Strokes and where I put "Reasons Unknown" in quotations, I'm referring to The Killers song... Yes, I'm a huge dork. Sorry about that too.

Judas Priest

Recently, I found out that my mom was a former Judas Priest fan. Apparently, she used to go to their concerts and she had this "Judas Priest" jacket thing. This kinda freaked me out because I always knew my mom to be the nice kind of woman, I guess nice people can be heavy metal fans. Considering my dad is a Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, and Rush fan, I'm not too surprised I guess.

Anyhow, I didn't really figure out about Judas Priest until Iron Maiden, which I didn't find out about until Black Sabbath. Electric eye, the first song that I heard by Judas Priest, came as a pleasant surprise. The guitar riffs were pretty awesome. I personally like the song "Painkiller" the best. The beginning with the drums and guitar really makes a great base for the vocals and melody to chime in. Rob Halford has a crazy high voice. I have no idea how he makes a third octave C# sound good, but miraculously, he does. If y'all are interested, here's the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM__lPTWThU

I guess this song is an acquired taste, if you want something more likable on the first go, perhaps "Breaking The Law" is a better option. There's no high screaming and a more polished feel. Here's the link for that one too. (Sorry it's all vevo, but I guess the actual music video is worth the advertisements =])

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L397TWLwrUU

#7 was performed live in Argentina

Almost went to Rasputin’s with my GF today. But I did. Without her. Because tradition requires it, I have to list here what I got. Okay, here goes.

3 Paul Westerberg albums. Yeah, I do admit it seems like a lot, but… yeah it is a lot. They were pretty cheap, and I really like The Replacements (understatement), it seemed like a good idea. There’s 14 Songs, Come Feel Me Tremble, and Suicide Gratification (I’m not kidding about the last one). So far, 14 Songs is the best, because he’s fresh out of disbanding The Replacements, and they have the same kind of songs as All Shook Down (their last studio album, which is practically a Westerberg solo album anyway). But overall, they aren’t as good as anything the Replacements did (even Don’t Tell A Soul, which is pretty lackluster itself). Maybe they’ll grow on me in time, but for now, I’ll stick with Pleased To Meet Me.

Second (or perhaps fourth), Mudhoney’s Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge. Although this is usually considered Mudhoney’s best album, Touch Me I’m Sick is still their best song. By far. Most of the good songs on EGBDF (named for the lines of the treble clef) are the sorta faster ones, because the album kinda drags on the slower ones.

I like Dinosaur Jr. Not just because they spell Jr without a period and because it’s Dinosaur, but because J Mascis writes cool songs. Most of the songs on Where You Been are pretty depressing, but cool guitar solos, unlike most alternative music, which generally frowns down on it. But J makes them work, and boy does he do it well. And his voice is pretty awesome too.

Well I guess I had to get at least one album I knew I was going to like. So that was Weezer’s Red Album. It’s a bit experimental, even by Weezer standards, but it’s good weird, not regular weird. So far the best songs are 2 of the longest ones. There’s the mini-rock-opera-like “The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived,” and different sections are good enough to be enjoyable enough and short enough so you don’t get bored. But the song does teach you one thing; Not everybody should rap. “Dreamin’” is also interesting. It has a good catchy beginning, and a calm interlude about 140 seconds into the song. And it’s good.

I also got two other CDs for my two GFs. You do know that GF means “good friend,” right? Just checking. In September, they’re releasing a 20^th anniversary super deluxe version of Nevermind. It’s going to be 4 CDs and a DVD with a full concert on it. It sounds like it’s going to cost a lot (understatement). I want to wait until they release the tracklist before I get too excited, but we do know the concert on the DVD is from the Paramount Theatre. For those of you who aren’t obsessed with Nirvana, it’s the show with that version of About A Girl that’s on VEVO. Yeah that one. And that show has the best version of “Endless, Nameless” ever, full stop. Here it is, with some other footage edited in. Unintelligible Lyrics Here

Oh, and you guys obviously didn't listen to the mix the whole way through. Because if you did, you would know that #2 is actually 2 songs. Oh, I just gave away another hint. Whoops.

Suck it and See

No, really.

It's the new album by the Arctic Monkeys. It came out on June 6th, so I figured it was about time I reviewed it.

First, the album cover. Many people hate it, but for some reason, I'm drawn to it. Simple, clean, just the words "suck it and see". Genius. Pure genius. I mean it. Normally, I would be like "that's a horrible cover", but with a phrase as provocative and raunchy as "suck it and see", I understand why they would let it be. It stands out and gets the point across. On a slightly humorous note, apparently here in the US, in some stores a sticker was placed on the phrase because they found it inappropriate and disrespectful. I guess that just makes it a blank creme colored album cover then...

Now to the album. As a whole, I think it's not as "indie" as the Arctic Monkeys started out. It seems more rock inclined than indie. Actually, it's not really mainstream rock either, it's reminiscent of old indie rock - you know, with the airy melodies and loose pot smoking, lazy day feel. In a weird way, this album sort of reminds me of The Beatles...I can't really explain why, but it just does. Especially the song "Piledriver Waltz". The album isn't as aggressive as they usually are and the songs have much slower tempos than usual too. Super mellow. I must applaud the Arctic Monkeys though for developing a fuller, more mature sound. The first track, "She's Thunderstorms" kind of reminds me of the Green Day song "Give Me Novocaine" for some reason....weird. Actually, the entire album kind of makes me think of "Give Me Novocaine". I also must note that Alex Turner sounds dramatically different on the album as a whole, most prominently, not as British as usual and not snarling as much - he seems to have really now developed a singing style and to be honest, I don't really know if I like it better than what he does on the previous albums. For some reason, I don't really like most of the singles from this album. To me, "Brick by Brick", "The Hellcat Spangled Shalala", and "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair", the singles, all sound sort of mediocre - nothing really special about them. Songs that stood out to me include "Black Treacle" which has a sick chorus and is incredibly catchy and "Reckless Serenade". I'm not really in love with this album...unfortunately I'm not really sold on the whole mellow, chill approach. Eh. I'm actually sort of disappointed with it. I genuinely wanted to like this album, but I just can't bring myself to. I think it's lost some of the sparkle that the Arctic Monkeys used to have. It's not really edgy and fresh like the music they used to make. All the songs kind of sound the same and blend together...It doesn't really pack the punch that their music used to.

I'm kind of sad. I used to really like the Arctic Monkeys and their super catchy and sharp songs like "Fake Tales of San Francisco", but now I'm not sure. I like the old Arctic Monkeys? I don't know, I'll keep listening, just not to the new album.