Role-Playing Community

So I’m gonna start reviewing TV episodes, since, well, why not? I usually do seasonal wrap-ups, but why not just talk about the show as it goes on? I’ll do the best I can to post every week, and who knows, maybe the rest of the team can get in on this too.

Community – “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons”

Community continues to prove itself as one of the best comedies on TV this season with last night’s baffling “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.” An episode full of enough laughs for everyone to shine, and some heart too. And I don’t just mean the cast, the music and sound design this week was great and the episode was shot and edited in a way that made it seem much more epic that usual, despite us spending our time with the familiar cast in their most common setting.

So there’s this guy, Neil, who everyone calls Fat Neil. Jeff notices this, and feigns interest in DnD to buddy up with Fat Neil, since he feels bad for the guy. When it seems like Fat Neil might be suicidal, Jeff enlists the help of the study group to play a game with the poor lad, in the hopes of cheering him up. They leave out the insensitive Pierce, whose feelings are hurt when he finds the group. Pierce decides to sabotage the game and is especially mean to Fat Neil. With possibly the young man’s real life on the line, the group must work together to stop Pierce.

With a set up like that, I expected we’d be teleported to a fantasy world, where we could laugh at our heroes in silly costumes as they sarcastically deal with DnD tropes. Kind of like the Christmas special. But Community is smarter than that. DnD is a game that takes place entirely in your mind, and that’s the way the show handled it, with the cast sitting around the table the only visual for most of the episode. This was a brave approach, but it really paid off, giving us classic moments like the hilarious sex scene between Hector The Well-Endowed and the elf maiden. Plus you can’t beat the sight gag of Chang painted black with white hair.

I feel bad for Shirley, she didn’t get anything to do this week. But the rest of the cast got some great laughs and I wouldn’t be surprised if some people thought this was the best episode of the series so far. I’m not one of those people, but “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons” could still probably be top ten.

2011 Tuneage

Hasn’t been a post in awhile, I’ve been damn busy as I assume that’s been the case for most of us at DaMorgue. I don’t even know if there’s anything that’s been going on worth mentioning, unless you want to hear us tackle the issues in Egypt.

In the past we’ve done a whole slew of “upcoming album” posts, so here’s one more to add to the list. Basically albums I’m keeping an ear out for, I’m off to a good start this year and this spring only looks to further that satisfaction.

Feb 15 – Bright Eyes – The People’s Key
: My liking for Bright Eyes has been casual in the past, but I’ve definitely been getting into them a lot more lately. Maybe hearing about a new album made me think, “Hmm maybe it’s finally a good time to check all this out.” Not to mention Nancy proposed the idea of going to see them in Portland in April, I’d be all about that.

Feb 28 – Beady Eye – Different Gear, Still Speeding
“Who the hell Beady Eye?” You probably wouldn’t care if I told you, unless you like Oasis. Yes this is it, the now Noel Gallagher-less Oasis and this is their much hyped (By Liam Gallagher) debut album. A handful of songs have surfaced and the sound is still pretty reminiscent of Oasis, but a little more basic and straightforward. I don’t imagine it will make much of a blip as it’s just not the same without Noel, I just care because I’m such a huge Oasis fan. I hope for the best, but don’t expect much.

March 7 – R.E.M. – Collapse Into Now
: I keep putting off listening to Accelerate for reasons seemingly unknown. I like REM to some extent and reviews were favorable, including Colin’s post here on DaMorgue. So this time ’round I’m going to try and be on the ball and pay some attention to these still standing statesman of alternative rock.

March 22 – The Strokes – Angles
: If there is one album I’m just so unbelievably stoked for, it’s this one. The much anticipated, long awaited, return of one of the best modern rock groups The Strokes is something I wouldn’t miss for the world. Word from the band is it’s supposedly their best album since Is This It? and will be a return to that sound. Seeing that Is This It? was my second favorite album of the 2000s and Colin’s favorite, that’s damn good news. The first single “Undercover of Darkness” is supposed to hit airwaves on February 9th, but I’m hoping it leaks, I don’t know how much longer I can wait.

May 3 – Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
: I wasn’t as diehard as some people were for the last Fleet Foxes album, but it did have a folksy kind of beauty that was hard not to like. The band says this one will be less poppy and more groove based, so we can find out this may what lies ahead for this hometown Seattle group.

March-ish
Peter Bjorn and John – Gimme Some
Man these guys just never stop,it seems like they always have an album out. Not much is known about Gimme Some, but from the two songs released, it sounds like a back-to-basics album for this Swedish trio. Winning people’s hearts with the instant indie classic “Young Folks” off of 2006’s Writer’s Block, PB&J have done a lot of experimenting since than, most notably on 2009’s Living Thing, an album that controversially split myself and Sean, I liked it. I posted a neat ADD fueled video below of this new song barely passing 90 seconds, intense.

TBA
Death Cab for Cutie – Codes and Keys
No release date yet, but it’s supposedly coming out this Spring. It’s been quoted as “a much less guitar-centric album” so we’ll see if that means electronic, or keys or what, either way I have faith in these Indie Pop Poobahs.

There’s a lot of other rumors flying around, but I’ll wait till I get some more concrete info to report on that. As for 2011, it looks to be a fairly exciting year for music, I am winner! Here’s that PB&J video I was talking about too, pumped for that album.

C.A.T: Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet- Time Out (1959)

My knowledge and or interest in jazz may not expand past a few albums, but I have a lot of respect for the genre. I wish I could hit you up with a more obscure jazz record, as opposed to such a popular one, but it’s all I know. I also find it amusing that one of the jazz albums I have is by a white guy, but it’s all about how you play right?

Led by accomplished jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, The Dave Brubeck Quartet consisted of; Paul Desmond on alto sax, Joe Morello on drums, Eugene Wright on double bass and Dave himself on the keys. Together they swung the 50s jazz scene in San Fran with their unique time signatures and silky smoothness. While Dave holds together the tight ensemble with a rhythmic playing style that just exudes coolness.

Naturally I was drawn to Dave Brubeck through the classic number “Take Five.” If I was only allowed to listen to one jazz song for the rest of my life, it would have to be this undeniably slick classic. The way Morello comes in with those cymbals so big as they echo through the sound space. You have that catchy sax line, tight bass, and that never-ending piano bit that you can’t help but get addicted to, like heroin. Get it because a lot of jazz musicians were junkies? But I think Brubeck was clean, what were we talking about?

Though it’s the unusual structures of these songs that really makes this material stand out. You got 9/8, 5/4, waltz stuff. double-waltz time, that doesn’t mean anything to me, but I bet guys back then were like “Woah you can’t do that, your crazy man!” Maybe that’s why critics back in 59′ received it so unfavorably, now it’s a classic.

Favorite Tracks: “Blue Rondo à la Turk”, “Three to Get Ready”, “Take Five”