2008

There were 305 posts published in 2008 (this is page 9 of 44).

Heads Up


Off with Their Heads – Kaiser Chiefs

Well it sure was a gas pumping up the rock and roll rhythm of this Leeds quintet’s latest album. Though it’s physical release has been continually delayed here in the US, it’s now due out November 19th even though it came out in the UK on October 20th, I still managed to find the album online and I believe it’s already on the US iTunes store. So what does this energetic gang have to offer us this time around? Where their last album was mostly guitar driven hard rock, Off with Their Heads shares more similarities with K.C’s first album. Now it may not have as many catchy melodies as their debut but there’s definitely some instant Kaiser classics here and plenty of fist pumping arena rock to fill up an electrified 35 minutes.

“Never Miss a Beat” is the album’s leadoff single and is a perfect representation of what this band is all about. With a grooving rhythm, sharp guitar, poppy keyboards complete with a rowdy sing-along chorus it’s K.C. at their best. The string heavy “Like it Too Much” is also a highlight and probably my favorite track on the album. I have a slight fondness for some other tracks but frankly only a few really leave an impression on me, and though I like it I still prefer the first two albums.

Something that hit me on this album is the heavy emphasis on percussion. You got woodblocks, bongos, cowbells , basically the whole shebang. So if the songs don’t immediately grab ya they’re still good to groove to. Nick “Peanut” Baines the groups keyboardist also gets to fiddle with a lot of new synths and sounds on the album, where on the last album he mostly stuck to piano, he’s playing with all sorts of crunchy and bouncy textures here and it sounds pretty cool. I’d also say there is a stronger emphasis on Simon Rix’s bass while Andrew White’s guitar playing seems to be a little less prominent and Ricky Wilson along with drummer/backup vocalist/head songwriter Nick Hodgson are fine vocal leads to these energetic Pop/Rock rumbles.

It’s funny that this is probably their best reviewed album yet, though I’m not sure why. Where it lacks in songwriting I suppose it makes up for it in the overall polished sound perfected by producer Mark Ronson and Eliot James. Off With Their Heads is probably K.C’s most accessible album, so I guess it’s good to see the gang widening their audience and hopefully they can reach a higher popularity in the states someday.

Favorite Tracks: “Like it Too Much”, “Never Miss a Beat”, “You Want History”

C.A.T.: Thriller

Michael Jackson – Thriller (1982)

In honor of Halloween I’ll be reviewing an album whose title track and it’s video is somewhat of a favorite this time of year, Michael Jackson’s 1982 mega-hit album Thriller.  This is the album that transformed Michael Jackson into the biggest artist of the decade, and brought him the title of the King of Pop.  There are few albums that have as much of an influence on popular music as Thriller and none that have reached it’s level of success.  It’s still the all-time best-selling album worldwide and it’s sales continue to grow as people keep coming back to it for it’s undeniable charm.

Thriller builds on the disco-influenced dance-pop sound that Jackson had established with the equally great Off The Wall album.  Quincy Jones’s production definitely has a very polished sound with lots keyboards and brass along with some undeniably catchy pop songs (four of which where written by Jackson).  M.J. was also able to have a cross over rock hit with “Beat It”, which features a sweet guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen, which only added to the massive appeal of Michael Jackson’s music at this point.
Really all of the upbeat songs here are great slices of 80’s dance pop, and even Jackson’s slower ballads like “Human Nature” and “The Lady In My Life” are have a nice soulful quality to them. However, what really makes Thriller so great are the three huge hit songs at center of the album, “Thriller”, “Billie Jean”, and “Beat It”, these are arguably the strongest singles of Jackson’s career as well as his most well known. Not to mention that their success was further enhanced by their iconic music videos.  Also the fact that 7 of the 9 tracks on the album where top 10 hits is just further proof of how incredibly huge this album was.
So after having sold over 100 million albums worldwide (no other albums come even close to that), and being an influence on every popstar wannabe that has come since, I’d say Thriller is still an album that is deserving of it’s reputation.  I guess the only complaint I have is that “The Girl Is Mine”, a duet with Paul McCartney, is pretty cheesy.  But besides that it’s easily one of the best albums of the ’80s as well as one of the best pop albums of all time. 
Favorite Tracks: “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'”, “Beat It”, “Billie Jean”

Free Taco Day 2

Once again, a base has been stolen in the World Series. And while the game might have been rained out, our friends at Taco Bell are not discouraged. Which means America gets free tacos, the most American of all food.

That’s right, stop by any Taco Bell between 2 and 6 this afternoon and you’ll get a free crunchy taco. If that’s all you get, well, good on ya.

It’s true, it’s these little things in life that we really treasure.

National Media + Post Season = D’oh!

Whenever October rolls around there is always a different atmosphere in the air. The leaves are falling, it is starting to cool down and the football is in full force-but before the national pastime is put to hibernation, a champion must be crowned.

Like the Dane Cook has said in the past, there is only one October. Four teams from two leagues come together to resolve the last six months of grueling play, but as different as the national media will lead you to believe this baseball is, it is still the same game. Same rules, same players, same game.

It seems like as soon as the calendar flips to October, baseball changes completely. Television analysts throw out all of the common sense that they have learned and start using a completely different set of guidelines on how to break down what is happening in front of them.

For starters, take statistics. The regular season statistics are not shown in post-season broadcasts. Instead of just using the numbers from the regular season, which represent an accurate description of what kind of player they presently are, they give all the players a clean slate. So if Player A is 1-for-11 in post season play and Player B is 7-for-8, the former is going to be recognized as a bad player, while the latter will be praised for a heroic October performance. This sample size is absolutely ludicrous, and if it was used in a regular season context, it would have zero credibility.

Something that the national media loves to talk about is experience-but does experience really matter? What about the 1968 Mets? The 1997 Marlins? Even the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays are four wins away from going worst to first. The list of teams with very little experience, but still able to perform in October goes on.

Teams that do well in the post-season do it for one reason. They do not care what month it is. They do no let pressure get to them. They realize that this is the same game they have been playing since they were little kids and these games are no different than the ones that they played in April. Good teams play good baseball no matter what the situation.

Why do people like Jayson Stark pick teams like the Angels to win the World Series over the American League East Rays or Redsox? If only baseball writers could look a little closer. The Angels played 46 percent of their regular season against three of the worst teams in baseball that call the American League West home. Texas had the next best record in the division at 79-83, four games under .500. That is pretty pathetic considering the Rays and Redsox played all year against the AL East who only had one team under .500. As for the National League not one of ESPN’s eighteen baseball experts picked the Philidelphia Phillies to go to the World Series.

A lot of writers choose predictions based on nothing but childish nostalgia and what would make their stories easier to write. Just because the Cubs have not won in a hundred years, does not mean that they are going to win, no matter how round that number sounds. Just because it would be great to write about Manny Ramirez and Joe Torre heading back to Fenway for the World Series, does not mean that it is going to happen. Predictions should be based on in-depth analysis of teams, not off of silly storylines.

So while the post-season is great, the coverage is not always the greatest. Always watch baseball objectively. The truth is out there, you just have to do the math.

A Fable-ous Time

Fable 2

The original Fable game was pretty neat. It was a by-the-book fantasy story about a boy growing into a hero, but it played well and was plenty charming. At the time, it seemed like the Fable series could be Microsoft’s answer to Zelda and its sequel continues to deliver on that potential.

Hundreds of years have passed since the first game, and most of the inhabitants in Albion no longer believe in Heroes or “Will,” this games’ version of magic. Once again you take control of a character from childhood to youth to adulthood and even old age. You are on a quest to avenge your sister’s murder and save the world from an evil man called Lord Lucien.

Like the last game, the story itself isn’t too special, but it gets the job done. More importantly, the writing for all the little social interactions in the game is great, and the voice acting is absolutely top notch. Characters aren’t very animated when they talk to you, but it’s not nearly as distracting as it should be; that’s how good the VAs are here. You often have to choose between being evil or good, and this game presents it more as being selfish or selfless. A nice twist, because sometimes it will actually be a sacrifice to do the good act, which is pretty uncommon in gaming. And whether you give a damn about the story or not, you sure as hell will care about your dog.

The dog is the big new feature in Fable II. It can sniff out treasure, help you find your way, even fight enemies. But you have to take care of it. It’s not that big a deal, feed him to heal his wounds, praise him to calm him down. The dog never gets in your way, helps a lot, and is easy to love. You’ll never be more ruthless than when you attack someone who hurt you dog.

The famed one-button combat is all real-time, and surprisingly fun. X swings your melee weapon, Y does ranged combat. As you develop those skills, you can learn more advanced techniques, like how to block, counter, and manually aim your shots. The B button is for magic, and the execution of that is pretty interesting. In combat, you have 5 tiers of spells, with the lowest tier being an instant cast and the top spell requiring a considerable charge. You can have a lot of fun coming up with a good combat strategy, for example mine was: slow down time, raise an army of dead, cast a powerful lightning spell, then finish off the survivors with my sword and gun.

Like the last game, you are free to go wherever and do whatever you want almost all the time. You can buy and rent out property, get a job, do quests for people in town, go on a date, get married, raise a family, the list just goes on and on. Plus there are plenty of hidden treasure to be found around the world. So even though the main quest isn’t that long, there’s still plenty of hours of entertainment here.

Sadly, this game still lacks the polish I would expect for something that’s been in development for this long. There are several bugs that could ruin someone’s game, and many moments just feel off. That said, if you enjoyed games like Zelda, Oblivion, or maybe even GTAIV and want a delightful British experience, this is your game.

Sleep Inducing Psychedelia


Dungen – 4

So I guess were going to count Colin’s unofficial top ten from earlier this week, as well official. So today I give you my review of one the various albums I’ve picked up this “Rocktober” season.

Known in the past for their heavy excursions into the psychedelic, we have Swedish Indie rockers Dungen, pronounced “DOONG-UN” releasing their fifth album, curiously named “4”. Where musical aficionado/brain child Gustav Ejstes usually does all the recording himself, he’s finally let his backing band take to the studio as he’s limited himself to vocals, piano and strings. Dungen is always game for testing out new musical waters but I’m sad to say this time that they’ve gone soft and a little too soft for my liking.

My initial reaction to 4 was of confusion and disappointment. First realizing that there is very little if any hard rock songs present and second is the significant lack of vocals. A majority of the tunes here are no more than laid back jazz progressions on the piano muddled in a sea of reverb. There’s actually a few songs I rather like, they’re just kind of buried within a wall of muddled and unrealized experiments.

Listening to a few tracks on their own,some songs are fairly pleasant but as a whole it’s sleep inducing and highly forgettable. It’s weird that the album is significantly shorter than Dungen’s previous works but as well the most tiring. Hearing experienced musicians jam is fun for a little while, but I could get that anywhere. I used to think that Gustav Esjstes was some kind of songwriting wunderkind but I’m starting to think he’s getting somewhat burned out. Come to think of it his songs have been kind of waning since 2004’s Ta Det Lugnt which was easily his best work.

I still have plenty of hope that Gustav and the gang will keep mixing it up and come back to something I can enjoy, so this isn’t too discouraging. I just hope that they can realize that they’re much more impressive as a psychedelic hard rock band then a psychedelic jazz/prog rock band.

Favorite Tracks: “Satt Att Se”, “Det Tar Tid”, “Finns Det Nagon Mojlighet”