Random Review #54: the album "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" by Coldplay

Like I said in my last Coldplay review, I've really been liking them a lot lately. I acutally bought this album, strangely. It was at Wal-Mart for $10, and at Best Buy for $14. I don't really understand this, because the only difference was the cases. The cheaper one has a standard jewel case, while the more expensive one has a paper case. I'm not sure what the other one has, but I'd definitely prefer the cheaper one (especially since I can spend $10 on iTunes, so in a way, I save money).

Track 1-"Life in Technicolor": This definitely reminds me of Sigur Ros. Chris Martin has said in numerous interviews that they are a huge influence on him, especially their album ( ). This sounds like Sigur Ros if they grew up with English influences. I hear a bit of The Cure in this too. Purely instrumental.

Track 2-"Cemeteries of London": This is a VERY Coldplay-ish song. I like the near-military-sounding drums. The “lalalalalala” gets a bit annoying though. Overall, this isn’t a bad song. I don’t think it’s very radio-friendly though.

Track 3-"Lost!": His vocals are perfect with that drum beat and clapping in the background. It’s kind of the exact same song all the way through, though. It doesn’t really change all that much, except for the guitar solo 2 minutes from the end. Eh.

Track 4-"42": Okay, I’m going to pause the music and tell you what I hope for this song. I really hope this is a song that alludes to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book series by Douglas Adams. These are my favorite books of all time, and I know for a fact that Chris Martin is a Douglas Adams fan (he had a song a few years ago called “Don’t Panic,” which was another reference). Okay, I hit play. Ooh, it’s slow. I love the songs where Martin utilizes his piano prowess. “Those who are dead are not dead they’re just living in my head.” Can you say favorite lyric so far? Part of me wants to believe this song is about Douglas, who died in 2001. Shit, this song just picked up tempo, and it sounds really cool. This is probably my favorite song on the album so far.

Track 5-"Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love": This song is almost 7 minutes long. Ugh. I have a short attention span. I do like that old-sounding twang at the opening, followed by a ragtime-y piano. This definitely isn't a bad song. He just mentioned an "osaka sun," which is that famous red and white Japanese sun design. Cool. It just faded into what I can only assume is "Reign of Love." I'm not a fan of dual songs like this. Plus, this song is really, really boring. I like the "Lovers in Japan" part, not "Reign of Love." It ruins the song.

Track 6-"Yes": He sounds like he's trying too hard to make his voice go low, like he's pushing it. I like the frantic string instruments though (maybe viola?). I also like the chorus of this song. Martin sure does write about God a lot. Shit, I just realized this song is 7 minutes long. Woah, it just completely changed tempo. Fuck, this is another two-part song. At least this one is decent-sounding so far. Despite the fact that it is pretty much the same all the way through, I kinda like the second part.

Track 7-"Viva La Vida": There is controversy surrounding this song. This allegedly sounds like a song by the crappy band Creaky Boards called "The Songs I Didn't Write." I seriously doubt Chris Martin needs to steal music from these shitheads. They are just trying to make a quick buck. The video is here.
Anyways, I love this song. I love the orchestra, I love the lyrics, I love Chris' voice, and I love the bass drum beat. This replaces "42" as my favorite song on this album. I wonder if he is so pompus as to actually think he "ruled the world" at one point in time. Sure, they are one of the biggest bands in the world, but that's a bit much. I actually think this song is about something historical. EDIT: Yep, it's about the Crusades.

Track 8-"Violet Hill": Just read my review here.

Track 9-"Strawberry Swing": Every time I see "strawberry" in a song title, I'm reminded of the Beatles. This is kind of a slow song, but it isn't bad. It seems like something that would be on a soundtrack for a movie, and would play at a part where a person finds something out about themselves, or has to make a big decision.

Track 10-"Death and All His Friends": The slow songs on this album far outweigh the fast. I'm a fan of fast Coldplay. This song definitely picks up a little bit through though. It sounds like they have an entire chorus. Oh wow, another two-parter. This seems to be exactly what the album opened with. Eh. They stole that idea from Sigur Ros.

Overall: I think "A Rush of Blood to the Head" is way better, but this is definitely their second-best album. Some of the songs were needlessly long, but alright anyways. I think this is the sort of album that will grow on me.

Random Review #48: The album "The Slip" by Nine Inch Nails

I'm not a huge fan of Nine Inch Nails like some people I know (Katie, lol), but I do appreciate them. I think lead singer Trent Reznor has fucking amazing ideas when it comes to getting the word out about his music, and is brilliant when it comes to making up games and puzzles for his fans to solve. You know, all of that, and the fact that they are the band that made industrial music famous. No biggie.
This new, 43-minute long studio album is Reznor's gift to his fans. It is now on NIN's website for free (just like Radiohead's "In Rainbows" was a few months ago). You can download it in many formats on the album's own website (http://dl.nin.com/theslip/signup), and it is definitely worth it. The album will be released in both CD and vinyl formats in June.

Track 1-“999,999”: Not much to say about this. Just a bunch of noise. Blah blah blah, intro track.

Track 2-“1,000,000”: Hoooo boy this has a nifty beat. I definitely like this song a lot so far. Holy hell. This is the kind of NIN I love. Whoa. I like how the music just stops near the end of the song, and then starts back up again. False endings in songs are fantastic. Every album ever needs at least one.

Track 3-“Letting You”: Kind of a techno-y beat. I like it. Trent is singing through that weird thing that makes it sound like his voice is coming out of an old transistor radio. Shocking. The drum machine sounds cool.

Track 4-“Discipline”: This album is shaping up to be fantastic. Catchy beats, cool synth riffs, and Reznor’s voice at its best. It definitely all has a NIN feel to it. The drums on this song remind me of the ones on “Survivalism.” He’s whispering, and then building his voice up, like always. I like it when he does that.

Track 5-“Echoplex”: Drum machine intro, followed by a careless-sounding guitar riff. How the hell does he come up with music this good, this fast? Like I said before, the guitar sounds carelessly thrown together, but in a good way. I hear a woman’s voice. Weird. It’s kinda starting to ramble on. Eh.

Track 6-“Head Down”: I like the drums on this one a lot. It sounds old, like it’s being played on an ancient vinyl record. His voice growls in this one, and I love it. He’s talking fast, and I can’t understand him. Wait, he slowed down. I’ve always wondered how he performs the a’capella parts with only his voice live. Does he have a recording? Does another band member sing it? I don’t know.

Track 7-“Lights in the Sky”: I don’t like this song so far. It starts off too slow. NIN was never very good at slow songs, in my opinion. He just doesn’t have the voice for it. He’s whispering behind a piano track. I can’t tell what he is saying. I didn’t like this song at all.

Track 8-“ Corona Radiata”: I didn’t even realize this song started until about 30 seconds into it. Hooray, random ominous noise! Thanks for wasting seven-and-a-half minutes of my life! Ugh.

Track 9-“The Four of Us are Dying”: This song title makes me wonder if he is referring to the band, or something else. Weird. For a slow-ish song, it isn’t bad. No lyrics yet, though. What is up with all of these instrumental tracks? I want me some vocals. The ending sounds sick though.

Track 10-“Demon Seed”: Ooooh, I like the opening. Fingers crossed that it isn’t instrumental only. Nope, he’s whispering, yet again. The instruments slowly get heavier-sounding, and his voice slowly gets louder. I like that effect. It starts off good, the middle is alright, and the end is amazing. Sounds like a decent song to me.

Overall: Probably one of the best NIN albums in the last ten years (I don't think it beats "With Teeth"). As you can tell, I only like the upbeat, fast-paced songs; not the slow, sappy, instrumental ones. Other than that, it's great.

Random Review #42: The album "If" by Mindless Self Indulgence

So for this review, I'm going to try something new and somewhat interesting. I'm going to listen to the entire album all the way through, and write about my first impression of every song. I figure this will be more entertaining than just droning on about songs that I like. I'd reccomend finding your own download of it, so you can listen as you read along. There is a link to mine at the bottom, but I'm not sure how much longer it'll be up. Oh, and please let me know if you think I should do album reviews like this in the future.

New York-based industrial hip-hop band Mindless Self Indulgence (MSI) is one of the most interesting bands I've ever come across. They mix odd beeping noises, metal-sounding instruments, and lead singer Little Jimmy Urine's fast-talking falsetto voice to make a sound like no other. They've been one of my favorites for a few years now, and I was lucky enough to come across this leaked album that isn't out until Tuesday.

Track 1-"Never Wanted to Dance": Oooh, I like the opening song. It gets you interested in the album, just like "Shut Me Up" did on the last one. I love the bass drum beat in the background. Ah, Jimmy is doing his classic falsetto and fast speaking bit. I wonder if that's a drum machine? The guitar riff vaugely reminds me of Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out." Weird. I like it, though.

Track 2-"Evening Wear": He sounds like he is trying to make his voice go deeper than it should. I love the drum machine on this one. "I've dressed myself in fucking lies" is a nifty lyric. Now he's talking about losing innocence. Word up, Jimmy Urine, word up.

Track 3-"Lights Out": Woah. This is weird for them. Sounds almost like industrial synth-punk. Are those violins I hear "plinking" in the background? Once again, weird for them. And clapping? Shit. It's about as far from themselves they can get, but it's still MSI-ish.

Track 4-"Prescription": Oh, a song about meds. "Over the counter, fill the prescription." I wonder if when he says "I'm the doctor, I'm the patient" if he's referring to himself in both instances, implying that he self-medicates? And now he's talking about doing drugs before the show. He doesn't need them, then he does. That's classic addict behavior.

Track 5-"Issues": Interesting noises in the opening. Kissy mouth-popping. I don't really like this so far. I don't like how every sentence ends in "uhhhh." Ha! "Excuse me, do you want to screw? I'm so amazing in the sack." I love that line, to be honest. Nice synth solo too. With a Vocoder! This is a prime example of how some songs start out terrible, but end pretty decently.

Track 6-"Get It Up": Another song about drugs, from the sound of it. Shocking! He wants to make babies, you horny, and money, apparently. He can't get it up. Erectile dysfunction? Hell yes! That spoken word thing in the middle of the song is fucking epic. He goes: "Oh, Jesus, ha. I-I've never had this problem before it's just uh...hold on a second, give it a minute. Just give it a minute, give it a minute, alright? Uh, do something sexy! I don't care, do something sexy! Whatever you do, don't talk about your fucking boyfriend while we're having sex, how about that?!" Holy shit. I love that part. Now he's talking about it being the girl's fault, not his. Definitely funny.

Track 7-"Revenge": What the hell is this? Cheerleading? Woah. I like that segway, with all the clapping and what not. It was kinda boring though, and repeated itself too much.

Track 8-"Animal": If I remember correctly, this is the first video/single. I don't really like it all that much so far. I mean, it's alright, but it doesn't blow me away as a single. I DO like the ending noises though.

Track 9-"Mastermind": I like the opening so far. This sounds familiar though, and I'm not really sure why. Maybe I listened to it without realizing it? The chorus sounds really really really really familar. Deja vu for sure. This is one of the most hip-hop songs I've ever heard by them. It even has beatboxing.

Track 10-"On It": This album is so much more techno-y than anything they've ever released. I really like this song. Fast-paced and cool-sounding. The background drum beat sounds like something out of "Stomp." I love this song.

Track 11-"Pay For It": Piano opening. Not MSI-ish. I'm not complaining, but still. "I don't want you to hate me, I want you to want to hate me." Fucking amazing quote. He sure does swear a lot in this song. Ugh, he just changed the quote to "date me" in the last part. Eh.

Track 12-"Due": The beat seems like it's too sluggish, then it speeds up. Kind of a cool effect. He makes a lot of noises on this album, like the "dadadadadadas" on this song. You know, things to the beat that aren't real words. The guitar is tuned funny too.

Track 13-"Money": Whaaaat the hell? Whistling? Rock-ish guitar? Clapping? I was almost hoping this would be a cover of the Pink Floyd song, like how they covered "Tom Sawyer" by Rush on the last album. "Mon-nayyy!" That's cute.

Track 14-"Bomb This Track": Hell yes! Old school-sounding MSI. I love it when you can hardly understand what he's saying because he's talking so fast. It makes it a challenge, almost like a game. I think it's cool when they break the "fourth wall" (wiki it) and mention the song that they are currently singing; like how he says to "bomb this track."

Track 15-"Mark David Chapman": It's interesting that an MSI song would be named after John Lennon's killer. I guess they did have a song named "Harry Truman," so whatever. The opening almost sounds music-box-y. I like the bass line though. Spanish? Weird. Jimmy speaks Spanish on some songs, so I guess it's okay. Lots of voice samples in this song. Well, three so far. I enjoy this song. More fucking Spanish. Woah, the vocorder says "Mark Chap-man." That bit about Hitler is cool. And it now sounds like 18th-century British music. "Reginald, release the hounds." It ends on birds chirping. What a strange song.

Overall: I liked it. Not their best album, but definitely a good one. I might buy the deluxe edition with Jhonen Vasquez art and a DVD. The British version has 5 extra songs, which is bullshit. Ugh. Hate it when they do that. I'll have to download them.

You can stream the entire album from their Myspace page, located here:
http://www.myspace.com/mindlessselfindulgence

Random Review #41: The album "Armchair Apocrypha" by Andrew Bird

I like Andrew Bird quite a bit now. I know this is somewhat hasty to say, considering this is the only full album I've ever actually listened to by him, but if all of his other albums are like this, I definitely adore him. This Chicagoan singer/songwriter's newest album debuted at number 76 on the Billboard top 200 when it was released in March of 2007.
He combines folk music, 60's-style rock, and classical music, and it sounds fantastic. I love the way his voice flows on tracks like "Herectics" and "Imitosis." He sings softly most of the time, and it is all vaugely Ben Kweller-ish, but I still appreciate it nonetheless. The lyrics are always charming, too. For instance, on the track "Dark Matter," Bird sings about throwing away all of his "action toys" because he became obsessed with the board game Operation. Needless to say, after hearing this, I want to download all of his other albums. Yes, it's that good. I'm definitely a new fan.
Interesting to note: Bird is a former member of the Squirrel Nut Zippers.

Songs to download: "Imitosis," "Plasticities," and "Dark Matter."

Random Review #3: the album "Dr. Manhattan" by Dr. Manhattan

There are VERY few bands I have more faith in than this Illinois foursome. I attended a Say Anything show back in November, and these dudes were the FIRST band that played. Normally, I don’t really give a shit about bands I’ve never heard of, especially when it is at a show for my favorite band of all time, but they really caught my attention. I actually sat and listened to them play, before hearing any of their recorded music (the only other band I’ve ever done this with was The Graduate, and I love them, so maybe I should do this more often). Anyways, after hearing them live, I had a chance to meet the band. They are seriously some of the nicest dudes ever. They helped me sneak backstage (where I met Max, the lead singer of Say Anything), signed my CD, AND chatted with me. Most bands don’t give a shit anymore. They are funny, interesting, and make spectacular music.
But personal experiences aside, I love this album. I had to go to a record store WAY out of my way to buy it, and I’m very pleased to say that it was worth it. I wish I could tell everyone about this album. I’ve only had it for three days, and I already cherish it. This band is going places, just you watch.

Oh, and in order to get the word out, I made a stencil for them. It is located here: http://tynosaur.deviantart.com/art/Dr-Manhattan-80511127

Their myspace is located here:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=2653426

Random Review #2: The song “Move Bitch” by Ludacris from his album “Word of Mouf”

In the opening verse (and chorus) of Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges’ song “Move Bitch,” Luda tells you he wants you to “Move bitch, get out the way.” He continues to ask you to get out of his way throughout the song, making sure he calls you a bitch each time he impolitely asks. Combine this with a menacing synth beat, and you have yourself a grade-A rap song, ready to be overplayed on radios nationwide.
And you can’t forget about the raspy-voiced “guest” rapper near the middle of the song that seems to have no reason to be on this track, but to let you know that you should get out of his way as well. Oh, and I forgot about the other “guest” vocalist, who I’ll call “Big ‘N Deep,” since his voice is big and deep. Big ‘N Deep also informs you on his opinion of you being a bitch and moving out of Ludacris’ way. So now you know how these three dudes think of you being a bitch about not moving out of their way.
Come to think of it, Luda doesn’t really say much more on this song besides that. He has a bit of rapping, but nowhere near as much as his two “guest” rappers. I’ll never be able to take rap seriously, ever.