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Saturday, September 20
Love Is Dead
The short version:
Hooverphonic—The President of the LSD Golf Club: 8/10
Trinity Hi-Fi—Fuego: 6/10
Rob Dougan—Furious Angels: 8/10
Kerli—Love Is Dead: 9/10
A while back I picked up the new album from one of my favorite bands, Hooverphonic: The President of the LSD Golf Club. For their last few albums, they've been trying some really interesting and different styles. This one's a weird experimental pop-rock CD. The previous one came in both a light version and a dark version and was more electronic trip-hop/pop. The one before that was orchestral with vocals. The one before that was pop and told a single story of the rise and fall of a fictional international music star. I never really know what to expect from them, and this CD doesn't disappoint. Unfortunately, it's not released in the United States and won't be; I had to import it, but I've had to do that with most of their albums. To get a feel for this disc, I recommend Expedition Impossible (video), Gentle Storm (video), and Strictly Out of Phase, which are all great, though the latter is admittedly not one of my favorites.
I also picked up a CD that's been on my list for a very long time (since Pandora first launched), Fuego by Trinity Hi-Fi. Unfortunately, it's a case of the single Lost You being considerably more polished than the rest of the CD, which is mediocre or a little better. It's sort of loungey trip-hop, but most of the tracks are pretty forgettable. I'd say that the best are Lost You, Inside, and Lazy Afternoon.
I also got Rob Dougan's Furious Angels. I definitely recommend this if you like the standard action movie soundtrack orchestra-and-beats formula—think The Matrix; a couple of these tracks have been used in the Matrix films. There's more variety to the disc than just adrenaline, though; there's a nice variety to round things out. The biggest problem with the album as far as I'm concerned is that the guy has an awful, grating voice that I can't stand. But, graciously, a 2-disc version of the album is available, and the CD 2 versions are all instrumental and better; I highly recommend looking for that version. Sticking to disc 2 drastically improved my opinions of the album. Good examples here are the title track Furious Angels, Will You Follow Me?, Nothing at All, and Speed Me Towards Death.
Finally, the best CD I've bought in quite a while was one of the more surprising, the debut Love Is Dead by a singer no one has heard of, Kerli. I bought this one after hearing the absolutely entrancing single Creepshow (partly in Estonian!) on the in-game radio in Burnout Paradise, of all places. I love just about every track on here, and this is a strong contender for the best album I've bought all year. It ranges from Evanescence Power Girl Rock to bumpin' dancefloor beats to pure pop. Besides Creepshow, the opener Love Is Dead, Hurt Me, and The Creationist (which unfortunately has a bassline that sounds like my phone vibrating) are all gold.
There's actually one more song on the Burnout Paradise radio that I really love that might persuade me to buy another CD: Cities in Dust. The original version by Siouxsie and the Banshees is a somber and weird song about people dying in the Pompeii explosion. This version by Junkie XL and Lauren Rocket is a crazy party song about... people dying in the Pompeii explosion. "Oh, oh, your city lies in dust, my friend" has been replaced by "Oh, all your cities lie in dust, yeah!" Too soon.
I've picked up some older CDs that I'll go through soon, like New Radicals—Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too, and Goo Goo Dolls—Dizzy Up the Girl. People and websites have been recommending Augustana's CD as well, and some new stuff by Enigma, Dido, Keane, and Kelli Ali is on its way soon. I'm looking forward to it.
Hooverphonic—The President of the LSD Golf Club: 8/10
Trinity Hi-Fi—Fuego: 6/10
Rob Dougan—Furious Angels: 8/10
Kerli—Love Is Dead: 9/10
A while back I picked up the new album from one of my favorite bands, Hooverphonic: The President of the LSD Golf Club. For their last few albums, they've been trying some really interesting and different styles. This one's a weird experimental pop-rock CD. The previous one came in both a light version and a dark version and was more electronic trip-hop/pop. The one before that was orchestral with vocals. The one before that was pop and told a single story of the rise and fall of a fictional international music star. I never really know what to expect from them, and this CD doesn't disappoint. Unfortunately, it's not released in the United States and won't be; I had to import it, but I've had to do that with most of their albums. To get a feel for this disc, I recommend Expedition Impossible (video), Gentle Storm (video), and Strictly Out of Phase, which are all great, though the latter is admittedly not one of my favorites.
I also picked up a CD that's been on my list for a very long time (since Pandora first launched), Fuego by Trinity Hi-Fi. Unfortunately, it's a case of the single Lost You being considerably more polished than the rest of the CD, which is mediocre or a little better. It's sort of loungey trip-hop, but most of the tracks are pretty forgettable. I'd say that the best are Lost You, Inside, and Lazy Afternoon.
I also got Rob Dougan's Furious Angels. I definitely recommend this if you like the standard action movie soundtrack orchestra-and-beats formula—think The Matrix; a couple of these tracks have been used in the Matrix films. There's more variety to the disc than just adrenaline, though; there's a nice variety to round things out. The biggest problem with the album as far as I'm concerned is that the guy has an awful, grating voice that I can't stand. But, graciously, a 2-disc version of the album is available, and the CD 2 versions are all instrumental and better; I highly recommend looking for that version. Sticking to disc 2 drastically improved my opinions of the album. Good examples here are the title track Furious Angels, Will You Follow Me?, Nothing at All, and Speed Me Towards Death.
Finally, the best CD I've bought in quite a while was one of the more surprising, the debut Love Is Dead by a singer no one has heard of, Kerli. I bought this one after hearing the absolutely entrancing single Creepshow (partly in Estonian!) on the in-game radio in Burnout Paradise, of all places. I love just about every track on here, and this is a strong contender for the best album I've bought all year. It ranges from Evanescence Power Girl Rock to bumpin' dancefloor beats to pure pop. Besides Creepshow, the opener Love Is Dead, Hurt Me, and The Creationist (which unfortunately has a bassline that sounds like my phone vibrating) are all gold.
There's actually one more song on the Burnout Paradise radio that I really love that might persuade me to buy another CD: Cities in Dust. The original version by Siouxsie and the Banshees is a somber and weird song about people dying in the Pompeii explosion. This version by Junkie XL and Lauren Rocket is a crazy party song about... people dying in the Pompeii explosion. "Oh, oh, your city lies in dust, my friend" has been replaced by "Oh, all your cities lie in dust, yeah!" Too soon.
I've picked up some older CDs that I'll go through soon, like New Radicals—Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too, and Goo Goo Dolls—Dizzy Up the Girl. People and websites have been recommending Augustana's CD as well, and some new stuff by Enigma, Dido, Keane, and Kelli Ali is on its way soon. I'm looking forward to it.
Labels: music
Thursday, August 21
Taxidermia
The short version:
Amon Tobin—Taxidermia EP: 6/10
Morcheeba—Charango: 8/10
Alanis Morissette—Flavors of Entanglement: 9/10
Bear McCreary—Battlestar Galactica seasons 1 and 2: 8/10
I've been listening to a nice variety of stuff recently. First up was a soundtrack EP for an obscure Hungarian film scored by Amon Tobin, Taxidermia. It's about twenty minutes in length, but in those twenty minutes you're treated to another one of Tobin's bizarre sonic journeys. The tracks as dark as always, possibly even moreso than usual. My favorites on here are Taxidermia and Run. It's not his best work, but it's still not bad.
Next up was Charango by Morcheeba, my first CD featuring their most frequent vocalist. Like their later albums that I also picked up recently, it's cool, relaxed, and interesting. I really like it, but just not quite as much as The Antidote and Dive Deep. But, if you like Morcheeba's other work, you'll like this too, and it's certainly worth a purchase. I really like Otherwise, Women Lose Weight (featuring Slick Rick), and Undress Me Now. Women Lose Weight is particularly amusing, a lighthearted song about a man whose wife becomes too fat for his preferences and, unwilling to pay child support after a divorce, finds the only course of action is to murder her. It's too happy and perky to not love.
My favorite disc of this batch was Alanis Morissette's latest album, Flavors of Entanglement. I picked up the special edition which has several bonus tracks, and if you like Alanis, I'd definitely recommend that version—these songs fit perfectly with the main album, and are just as good. Versions of Violence, In Praise of the Vulnerable Man, and Incomplete are all fantastic. This album was produced by Guy Sigsworth, the non-vocalist half of Frou Frou, one of my favorite bands. He replaces some of the sounds of her previous albums with synthesized beats, and the resulting sound is really pleasant. Some of the tracks still have angry Alanis guitars, but overall the album just "sparkles" more than her previous work.
Finally, I finished my mini-collection of Battlestar Galactica music with the seasons 1 and 2 soundtracks, and both are about as great as season 3, though I'd say that they do get a little better each season. I don't have anything else to say about the BSG music—my favorites here are Passacaglia, Lords of Kobol, Roslin and Adama, and Prelude to War.
I just imported the latest album of one of my all-time favorite bands, Hooverphonic: The President of the LSD Golf Club. I was holding out for a US release, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. They always do great work, and I'm sure it will be no exception.
Amon Tobin—Taxidermia EP: 6/10
Morcheeba—Charango: 8/10
Alanis Morissette—Flavors of Entanglement: 9/10
Bear McCreary—Battlestar Galactica seasons 1 and 2: 8/10
I've been listening to a nice variety of stuff recently. First up was a soundtrack EP for an obscure Hungarian film scored by Amon Tobin, Taxidermia. It's about twenty minutes in length, but in those twenty minutes you're treated to another one of Tobin's bizarre sonic journeys. The tracks as dark as always, possibly even moreso than usual. My favorites on here are Taxidermia and Run. It's not his best work, but it's still not bad.
Next up was Charango by Morcheeba, my first CD featuring their most frequent vocalist. Like their later albums that I also picked up recently, it's cool, relaxed, and interesting. I really like it, but just not quite as much as The Antidote and Dive Deep. But, if you like Morcheeba's other work, you'll like this too, and it's certainly worth a purchase. I really like Otherwise, Women Lose Weight (featuring Slick Rick), and Undress Me Now. Women Lose Weight is particularly amusing, a lighthearted song about a man whose wife becomes too fat for his preferences and, unwilling to pay child support after a divorce, finds the only course of action is to murder her. It's too happy and perky to not love.
My favorite disc of this batch was Alanis Morissette's latest album, Flavors of Entanglement. I picked up the special edition which has several bonus tracks, and if you like Alanis, I'd definitely recommend that version—these songs fit perfectly with the main album, and are just as good. Versions of Violence, In Praise of the Vulnerable Man, and Incomplete are all fantastic. This album was produced by Guy Sigsworth, the non-vocalist half of Frou Frou, one of my favorite bands. He replaces some of the sounds of her previous albums with synthesized beats, and the resulting sound is really pleasant. Some of the tracks still have angry Alanis guitars, but overall the album just "sparkles" more than her previous work.
Finally, I finished my mini-collection of Battlestar Galactica music with the seasons 1 and 2 soundtracks, and both are about as great as season 3, though I'd say that they do get a little better each season. I don't have anything else to say about the BSG music—my favorites here are Passacaglia, Lords of Kobol, Roslin and Adama, and Prelude to War.
I just imported the latest album of one of my all-time favorite bands, Hooverphonic: The President of the LSD Golf Club. I was holding out for a US release, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. They always do great work, and I'm sure it will be no exception.
Labels: music
Wednesday, July 9
Sad humps
Sunday, July 6
You can do better than me
The short version:
N.E.R.D.—Seeing Sounds: 6/10
OneRepublic—Dreaming Out Loud: 9/10
Death Cab for Cutie—Narrow Stairs: 6/10
Richard Gibbs—Battlestar Galactica (miniseries): 4/10
I picked up the new N.E.R.D. album Seeing Sounds, and it's pretty bizarre. My biggest complaint with the CD is that there are a couple songs that could be really good if they weren't so obnoxious. The whole disc is wacky, but not nearly so annoying as several of the early tracks. Still, there are several good songs sprinkled here and there: Time for Some Action (includes the album intro), Happy, and Laugh About It are all amusing, and there are others.
I also got the OneRepublic album Dreaming Out Loud, and I've fallen in love with it. It's fantastic grandiose pop-rock. Every single song on the disc is good, though some of them start to blur together. That's really the only fault I can give this CD—some of the songs just aren't all that distinct. Anyway, Say (All I Need), Apologize, and All Fall Down are all excellent. This is a nearly perfect pop-rock CD; definitely recommended. (Random side note: I'd heard the lead vocalist before on a pretty good rap track, where he sings in a country voice: Bubba Sparxxx and Ryan Tedder—She Tried.)
I picked up Death Cab for Cutie's newest, Narrow Stairs, and it's decent. Behind Transatlanticism and Plans, I think it's my least favorite Death Cab album, though. But, it's not that far behind, and the style is pretty much exactly the same as the other two albums. In most cases I feel like I'd have pretty good luck sorting a band's albums by release year just by listening, but I can't really Death Cab's apart. Anyway, it's not bad, not great—my favorites are I Will Possess Your Heart, You Can Do Better than Me, and Long Division.
Finally, I've also been listening to the soundtrack from the original Battlestar Galactica miniseries from several years ago. The miniseries was scored by a different person (Richard Gibbs) than the series was, and I find it interesting that while most of the musical themes (ominous, monotonous notes for the Cylons, heavy percussion for battles, moaning vocals, and so forth) were established in the original miniseries score by the original composer, the new composer Bear McCreary manages to make much more interesting music from them. I actually liked the miniseries' music and found it to be nicely fitting when it was first aired, but as an album it doesn't work very well, especially after hearing the later seasons' scores. Regardless, I think that the best tracks here are By Your Command, Cylons Fire, and The Storm and the Dead.
Next up are some more Morcheeba, Alanis Morissette's latest, and an EP by Amon Tobin.
Currently listening: Morcheeba—Otherwise
N.E.R.D.—Seeing Sounds: 6/10
OneRepublic—Dreaming Out Loud: 9/10
Death Cab for Cutie—Narrow Stairs: 6/10
Richard Gibbs—Battlestar Galactica (miniseries): 4/10
I picked up the new N.E.R.D. album Seeing Sounds, and it's pretty bizarre. My biggest complaint with the CD is that there are a couple songs that could be really good if they weren't so obnoxious. The whole disc is wacky, but not nearly so annoying as several of the early tracks. Still, there are several good songs sprinkled here and there: Time for Some Action (includes the album intro), Happy, and Laugh About It are all amusing, and there are others.
I also got the OneRepublic album Dreaming Out Loud, and I've fallen in love with it. It's fantastic grandiose pop-rock. Every single song on the disc is good, though some of them start to blur together. That's really the only fault I can give this CD—some of the songs just aren't all that distinct. Anyway, Say (All I Need), Apologize, and All Fall Down are all excellent. This is a nearly perfect pop-rock CD; definitely recommended. (Random side note: I'd heard the lead vocalist before on a pretty good rap track, where he sings in a country voice: Bubba Sparxxx and Ryan Tedder—She Tried.)
I picked up Death Cab for Cutie's newest, Narrow Stairs, and it's decent. Behind Transatlanticism and Plans, I think it's my least favorite Death Cab album, though. But, it's not that far behind, and the style is pretty much exactly the same as the other two albums. In most cases I feel like I'd have pretty good luck sorting a band's albums by release year just by listening, but I can't really Death Cab's apart. Anyway, it's not bad, not great—my favorites are I Will Possess Your Heart, You Can Do Better than Me, and Long Division.
Finally, I've also been listening to the soundtrack from the original Battlestar Galactica miniseries from several years ago. The miniseries was scored by a different person (Richard Gibbs) than the series was, and I find it interesting that while most of the musical themes (ominous, monotonous notes for the Cylons, heavy percussion for battles, moaning vocals, and so forth) were established in the original miniseries score by the original composer, the new composer Bear McCreary manages to make much more interesting music from them. I actually liked the miniseries' music and found it to be nicely fitting when it was first aired, but as an album it doesn't work very well, especially after hearing the later seasons' scores. Regardless, I think that the best tracks here are By Your Command, Cylons Fire, and The Storm and the Dead.
Next up are some more Morcheeba, Alanis Morissette's latest, and an EP by Amon Tobin.
Currently listening: Morcheeba—Otherwise
Labels: music
Tuesday, July 1
Rhapsody
So, Rhapsody did a thing where the first batch of people who created accounts on their MP3 store got a $10 credit, so I did. I used it as an opportunity to buy some singles that I really like that are on albums that I don't. There are some fun tracks in there that I kind of forgot existed.
Alicia Keys—Fallin'
Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott—Hero
Dave Matthews Band—I Did It
Eurythmics—Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
50 Cent—In da Club
Filter—Hey Man Nice Shot
Orgy—Blue Monday
Orgy—Fiction (Dreams in Digital)
t.a.t.u.—All the Things She Said
Tantric—Breakdown
Unwritten Law—Seein' Red
I also ended up buying two albums from Amazon as a result of my little trip down memory lane: Superfast by Dynamite Hack, and Fuego by Trinity Hi-Fi. So, all in all, I think I got a pretty good deal for my 89¢.
Currently listening: Chali 2na—Come On
Alicia Keys—Fallin'
Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott—Hero
Dave Matthews Band—I Did It
Eurythmics—Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
50 Cent—In da Club
Filter—Hey Man Nice Shot
Orgy—Blue Monday
Orgy—Fiction (Dreams in Digital)
t.a.t.u.—All the Things She Said
Tantric—Breakdown
Unwritten Law—Seein' Red
I also ended up buying two albums from Amazon as a result of my little trip down memory lane: Superfast by Dynamite Hack, and Fuego by Trinity Hi-Fi. So, all in all, I think I got a pretty good deal for my 89¢.
Currently listening: Chali 2na—Come On
Labels: music
Sunday, June 1
Soundtracks and miscellany
Sure, it's only been a few days since my last music post, but I've been listening to a lot of CDs at once.The short version:
Nine Inch Nails—The Slip: 2/10
James Horner—The Wrath of Khan: 5/10
Bear McCreary—Battlestar Galactica Season Three: 8/10
I downloaded the latest Nine Inch Nails album The Slip to have a listen, since it's free and all. I... did not enjoy it. NIN has its fans, and I just can't bring myself to enjoy the music. It's not the dark, depressing, harsh tone; I just don't like the style. The best tracks on here are probably Discipline and Demon Seed, and I could certainly live without either. I couldn't even manage to pick out a third one.
I bought the soundtrack to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, composed by James Horner. It's a bit different from the soundtracks that I generally like to listen to. It sounds obviously older than an instrumental soundtrack that you'd hear in a movie today—more vibrant and more classical. Most of the Star Trek movies have had good scores, and despite this one's age, it's decent enough. It's optimized for the kinds of epic space shots that were more prevalent in the first few Star Trek movies compared to modern sci-fi. But I have to dock it points for the quality of the recording (it is quite old) and the fact that it's pretty repetitive. I like Enterprise Clears Moorings, Battle in the Mutara Nebula, and Genesis Countdown.
But far better than either was Bear McCreary's music for the third season of Battlestar Galactica. It's one of the best soundtracks I own, which is pretty impressive for a TV show, I think, even if it probably is the best show on TV. I admit that I bought it for the epic rendition of All Along the Watchtower, but I felt pretty confident making the purchase given how great the show's music is. There's a wide variety of sounds on here, like the percussion-heavy Storming New Caprica (I love the pipes at 2:12), the tense and suspenseful Wayward Soldier, and the somber Battlestar Sonatica. The soundtrack's value is probably higher for fans of the show with a few tracks like Gentle Execution reminding you of particularly powerful moments, but you don't have to have seen the show to enjoy this soundtrack, especially if you enjoy modern instrumental music with many differing styles and instruments.Labels: music
Tuesday, May 27
M is for Music
The short version:Morcheeba—The Antidote: 9/10
Madonna—Hard Candy: 7/10
Mythos—Purity: 7/10
I've been listening to three totally different albums from three "M" artists this May. (It's all coincidence, I assure you.) The first was the previous album by Morcheeba, The Antidote. It's fantastic; I love just about every track on it. The style is some kind of mix of chillout music and sexy James Bond themes; it sits in a perfect spot between energetic and soothing. It's hard to pick just a few songs to showcase, but Wonders Never Cease (video), Everybody Loves a Loser, and Daylight Robbery are probably the best three. I'd recommend it to just about anyone.
Next up is Madonna's latest, Hard Candy. It's decent, and has quite a few catchy beats, but it's kind of disappointing. It's probably my least favorite Madonna album of the ones I've heard, and it had to grow on me to get to my current opinion. It's kind of mindless, and though the tracks are catchy, most of the beats aren't that creative and the production not that great. Several of the tracks, including the first single 4 Minutes (watch the official "WTF is she wearing? video) just seem really lazy. It's got Madonna, Justin Timberlake, and Timbaland in the same song, and it's danceable, so I guess that makes it a guaranteed hit, but it's really not that great of a song. But luckily, there are still enough decent songs on the disc to be worthwhile if you like dance music at all. My favorite tracks are less dance-oriented than most of the album: Heartbeat, Devil Wouldn't Recognize You, and Voices. Anyway, not something that I'd insist that anyone go run out and buy, but you could still do far worse in buying electronic pop.
Finally is Purity, my first CD from a new band I'll probably start looking into more: Mythos. This is New Age fake world music, and it does it pretty darn well. You'll like it if you like Delerium, especially if you wish that Delerium didn't make a turn for the pop charts several years ago, because there's nothing here you'd hear on the radio. It's pleasant and soothing and beautiful, but its biggest problem is probably that it's not particularly memorable. Unlike just about every track on the Madonna and Morcheeba CDs, I couldn't tell you the name of any of them on this disc. It's a perfectly cromulent album; it's just more suited for background music or relaxation or meditation. Check out Surrender, Adagio, and Mystique for the best examples of what this CD is all about.
I've nearly exhausted my music queue. I've got the Battlestar Galactica season 3 soundtrack, which I'm mostly finished with and is very good, and the new (free) Nine Inch Nails album The Slip, which isn't really my thing. I guess I gotta start ordering more! I've got a few ideas in my list...
Labels: music
Sunday, May 4
All Along the Watchtower
The third season of Battlestar Galactica ended with a cover of the Bob Dylan song All Along the Watchtower. I've listened to several versions today, and I like the Battlestar version considerably better than the others. I think that these are the best I've come across, in order of increasing how-much-I-like-them-ness.
Bob Dylan (original)
Eric Clapton and Lenny Kravitz (live)
Seph and the Bloods (never heard of 'em until now)
Bear McCreary and BT4 (Battlestar Galactica version)
Bob Dylan (original)
Eric Clapton and Lenny Kravitz (live)
Seph and the Bloods (never heard of 'em until now)
Bear McCreary and BT4 (Battlestar Galactica version)
Labels: music
Saturday, May 3
Wide Angle
The short version:Sia—Colour the Small One: 7/10
Hybrid—Wide Angle: 5/10
One CD that I've listed to quite a bit recently is Sia's second, Colour the Small One. It's not quite as good as her most recent, but noticeably better than her first. The sound is definitely more similar to her recent work than her debut, but more melancholy and reserved than either. For a taste of what it sounds like, try Breathe Me (video), Where I Belong, and Numb (animated video).
I've also been listening to Wide Angle by Hybrid, and I haven't been that impressed. It's a bit more trance-y than I'm usually in the mood for, which hurts my opinion of it. I guess "cinematic trance electronica" probably describes it about as well as I can. You'd be better off listening to If I Survive (video), Sinequanon, and Altitude (Red Square Reprise).Currently listening: Morcheeba—Wonders Never Cease
Labels: music
Friday, April 25
Moody
Occasionally when I search for music on Amazon.com I get pointed at one of the Pure Moods compilation CDs. I remember that they used to advertise all the time on something that I watched when I was much younger—maybe The X-Files? So, I decided to click on the most recent CD in the series, Pure Moods IV, and see how many of the songs on there I already own on other CDs. There are 18 tracks, and I own eight already. That seems like a lot. Maybe I should be compiling the Pure Moods CDs.
I already own the CDs that contain the tracks from:
Balligomingo
Enigma
Delerium and Sarah McLachlan
Secret Garden
Yann Tiersen
Moby
Paul Schwartz
Afrocelts and Peter Gabriel
And I own different albums or compilations containing tracks from:
Mythos
George Winston
So, seeing as I already own more than half of it, it seems like a bad idea to pick up this CD. On the other hand, I guess that it must be a pretty good disc since I know I like at least ten tracks on it. (Actually, I listened to samples of the ones I didn't already own, and I was not too thrilled.)
I already own the CDs that contain the tracks from:
Balligomingo
Enigma
Delerium and Sarah McLachlan
Secret Garden
Yann Tiersen
Moby
Paul Schwartz
Afrocelts and Peter Gabriel
And I own different albums or compilations containing tracks from:
Mythos
George Winston
So, seeing as I already own more than half of it, it seems like a bad idea to pick up this CD. On the other hand, I guess that it must be a pretty good disc since I know I like at least ten tracks on it. (Actually, I listened to samples of the ones I didn't already own, and I was not too thrilled.)
Labels: music
Sunday, April 6
Run Honey Run
The short version:
Muse—Origin of Symmetry: 5/10
Sia—Healing is Difficult: 5/10
Hybrid Tango (Tanghetto)—Hybrid Tango: 8/10
Morcheeba—Dive Deep: 9/10
Quelle surprise that I've been listening to a lot of music recently. First up is the last album in my string of Muse albums that I've bought, their second album: Origin of Symmetry. (Showbiz, Origin of Symmetry, Absolution, Black Holes and Revelations.) It seems to me that they've been making small tweaks to their sound over the last six or seven years, but nothing too dramatic. The biggest change was with their very latest, which I think sounds considerably better than the previous three. This one's my least favorite of the four; it's a bit more screamy, and just seems to be less diverse in sound than the other three. It's pretty good, but it's probably not good enough that I'd really have bothered getting any of their other albums if it's the one I heard first. The best tracks here are the opener New Born, Space Dementia, and Feeling Good.
I also imported Sia's first album from Australia (it wasn't released in the US), Healing Is Difficult. I think I can see why it wasn't released in the US; it's just not that good. There are a bunch of different sounds and styles here, but her unique voice is at her most annoying here, and some of the songs sound off-key, and there are a bunch of little filler bits with obnoxious children talking over a beat. There's nothing worse than a worthless filler track, except for a filler track that's attached to a song, and not even on its own track. Still, I like her music, and this isn't a terrible CD. It shows promise, but definitely feels like a debut. My favorites here are Taken for Granted, Drink to Get Drunk, and Blow It All Away.
For a little change, I also picked up a self-titled instrumental CD, Hybrid Tango, a side project of a group I'm unfamiliar with named Tanghetto. I tend to like traditional music given a more modern treatment, and that's exactly what this is. If you've heard Gotan Project and liked them, there's a good chance you'll like this CD too—tangos with a modern beat. Check out Mas de lo Mismo, Barrio Sur (video), and El Deseo (live video).
And finally, my favorite disc of quite a while is Dive Deep by Morcheeba. Despite Morcheeba being a "big" group in a genre I'm pretty interested in, I haven't paid much attention to them; I'd heard a few songs and wasn't that excited. But this album is fantastic—a very solid 9/10 with "likely Travis' favorite CD of 2008" written on the front. It's relaxing without ever being boring, and interesting without being annoying. Everything on here sounds perfect and is expertly crafted. I can't stop listening to Run Honey Run (featuring Bradley Burgess and Manda), an amazing cover of a forty-year-old country song, and I also really love One Love Karma (featuring Cool Calm Pete) and Gained the World (featuring Manda). I can heartily recommend this album to anyone who has an interest in downbeat or chill-out music. (One Love Karma is the only rap on the CD, if you're the kind of person who's bothered by that kind of thing.)
Featured: Morcheeba and Cool Calm Pete—One Love Karma
Muse—Origin of Symmetry: 5/10
Sia—Healing is Difficult: 5/10
Hybrid Tango (Tanghetto)—Hybrid Tango: 8/10
Morcheeba—Dive Deep: 9/10
Quelle surprise that I've been listening to a lot of music recently. First up is the last album in my string of Muse albums that I've bought, their second album: Origin of Symmetry. (Showbiz, Origin of Symmetry, Absolution, Black Holes and Revelations.) It seems to me that they've been making small tweaks to their sound over the last six or seven years, but nothing too dramatic. The biggest change was with their very latest, which I think sounds considerably better than the previous three. This one's my least favorite of the four; it's a bit more screamy, and just seems to be less diverse in sound than the other three. It's pretty good, but it's probably not good enough that I'd really have bothered getting any of their other albums if it's the one I heard first. The best tracks here are the opener New Born, Space Dementia, and Feeling Good.
I also imported Sia's first album from Australia (it wasn't released in the US), Healing Is Difficult. I think I can see why it wasn't released in the US; it's just not that good. There are a bunch of different sounds and styles here, but her unique voice is at her most annoying here, and some of the songs sound off-key, and there are a bunch of little filler bits with obnoxious children talking over a beat. There's nothing worse than a worthless filler track, except for a filler track that's attached to a song, and not even on its own track. Still, I like her music, and this isn't a terrible CD. It shows promise, but definitely feels like a debut. My favorites here are Taken for Granted, Drink to Get Drunk, and Blow It All Away.
For a little change, I also picked up a self-titled instrumental CD, Hybrid Tango, a side project of a group I'm unfamiliar with named Tanghetto. I tend to like traditional music given a more modern treatment, and that's exactly what this is. If you've heard Gotan Project and liked them, there's a good chance you'll like this CD too—tangos with a modern beat. Check out Mas de lo Mismo, Barrio Sur (video), and El Deseo (live video).
And finally, my favorite disc of quite a while is Dive Deep by Morcheeba. Despite Morcheeba being a "big" group in a genre I'm pretty interested in, I haven't paid much attention to them; I'd heard a few songs and wasn't that excited. But this album is fantastic—a very solid 9/10 with "likely Travis' favorite CD of 2008" written on the front. It's relaxing without ever being boring, and interesting without being annoying. Everything on here sounds perfect and is expertly crafted. I can't stop listening to Run Honey Run (featuring Bradley Burgess and Manda), an amazing cover of a forty-year-old country song, and I also really love One Love Karma (featuring Cool Calm Pete) and Gained the World (featuring Manda). I can heartily recommend this album to anyone who has an interest in downbeat or chill-out music. (One Love Karma is the only rap on the CD, if you're the kind of person who's bothered by that kind of thing.)
Featured: Morcheeba and Cool Calm Pete—One Love Karma
Labels: music
Sunday, March 23
Techno
A few times I've visited Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music, which is a pretty cool site for anyone with an interest in electronic music. It's even sort of educational. After seeing it again on Friday, I decided to finally sit down and browse through the whole thing this afternoon, tracing styles of music from their origins, and listening to hundreds of sample tracks. The site breaks electronic music down into seven genre groups from three areas of the world (Midwest United States, Western Europe, and the Caribbean), and then traces the roots of each genre from the 70s and 80s (or even really early in the 20th century in a couple cases). If the site does anything, it proves just how many wildly different styles of electronic music there are. "Techno," the term that most people who don't have an interest in electronic music use to mash together a couple hundred styles of music into one, is just one of the seven.
If I had to say a number off the top of my head, I'd say that I hate about half of the music on there. In fact, out of the dozens of subgenres in "Techno" and "Hardcore," there isn't anything I really like. Certainly "my" category is Downtempo—I own a lot of CDs that fit here, including New Age, Worldbeat, Ambient Breaks, Trip Hop, Downbeat, and Acid Jazz. The thing that I find interesting is that a ton of the music I buy is in some way "electronic music," but not much of it is really covered by the genres on this site. I think that's mostly just because almost everything is "electronic music" these days. Modern electronic-influenced rock and pop is mostly omitted; only older styles like Disco and 80s New Wave that were stepping stones to later styles show up. Of course, that's kind of the cool thing about music—a site like this can list hundreds of different styles of music, and then you realize that it's just a start, and there are a lot of styles that aren't even covered in those hundreds.
Even though it's far from comprehensive, there's still a lot of interesting content on the site, and it's worth the couple hours it will take to go through it and sample the tracks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
For the curious, here are the styles that I like listening to from time to time. In a lot of these cases, especially outside of the Downtempo category, it's not music that I can listen to for more than a short while before getting annoyed. Underlined styles are the ones I have favorite CDs in and would buy more CDs in.
House: New Wave, Synthpop, Italo Disco, Dub, Hip House, Techno Dance, Progressive House, Synthtron, Nu Italo Disco, Tribal House, Funky House, French House
Trance: Symphonic Trance, Breaktrance, Dream Trance, Ibiza Trance, Tribal Trance, Goa Trance, Industrial Experimental, Industrial Rock
Techno: None.
Breakbeat: Electro Funk, Progressive Hop, Abstract Hip Hop, Funky Breaks, Big Beat
Jungle: Jungle, Drum 'n Bass, Jazzstep, Liquid Funk, Atmospheric Jungle
Hardcore: None.
Downtempo: Ambient, Psychedelia, Electronic Classical, Early Synth, French Pop, New Age, Ethereal, Dark Ambient, Worldbeat, Ambient Trance, Ambient Psy, Ambient Breaks, Trip Hop, Downbeat, Acid Jazz, Illbient, Nu Jazz
Currently listening: Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music
If I had to say a number off the top of my head, I'd say that I hate about half of the music on there. In fact, out of the dozens of subgenres in "Techno" and "Hardcore," there isn't anything I really like. Certainly "my" category is Downtempo—I own a lot of CDs that fit here, including New Age, Worldbeat, Ambient Breaks, Trip Hop, Downbeat, and Acid Jazz. The thing that I find interesting is that a ton of the music I buy is in some way "electronic music," but not much of it is really covered by the genres on this site. I think that's mostly just because almost everything is "electronic music" these days. Modern electronic-influenced rock and pop is mostly omitted; only older styles like Disco and 80s New Wave that were stepping stones to later styles show up. Of course, that's kind of the cool thing about music—a site like this can list hundreds of different styles of music, and then you realize that it's just a start, and there are a lot of styles that aren't even covered in those hundreds.
Even though it's far from comprehensive, there's still a lot of interesting content on the site, and it's worth the couple hours it will take to go through it and sample the tracks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
For the curious, here are the styles that I like listening to from time to time. In a lot of these cases, especially outside of the Downtempo category, it's not music that I can listen to for more than a short while before getting annoyed. Underlined styles are the ones I have favorite CDs in and would buy more CDs in.
House: New Wave, Synthpop, Italo Disco, Dub, Hip House, Techno Dance, Progressive House, Synthtron, Nu Italo Disco, Tribal House, Funky House, French House
Trance: Symphonic Trance, Breaktrance, Dream Trance, Ibiza Trance, Tribal Trance, Goa Trance, Industrial Experimental, Industrial Rock
Techno: None.
Breakbeat: Electro Funk, Progressive Hop, Abstract Hip Hop, Funky Breaks, Big Beat
Jungle: Jungle, Drum 'n Bass, Jazzstep, Liquid Funk, Atmospheric Jungle
Hardcore: None.
Downtempo: Ambient, Psychedelia, Electronic Classical, Early Synth, French Pop, New Age, Ethereal, Dark Ambient, Worldbeat, Ambient Trance, Ambient Psy, Ambient Breaks, Trip Hop, Downbeat, Acid Jazz, Illbient, Nu Jazz
Currently listening: Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music
Labels: music
Radical Connector
The short version:Mouse on Mars—Radical Connector: 4/10
Goldfrapp—Seventh Tree: 7/10
One bizarre album that I've been listening to a lot recently is Radical Connector by Mouse on Mars. I don't know how to describe it... maybe experimental electronic pop. Nothing on here is radio-friendly, and some of it is absolutely grating, make-you-grind-your-teeth noise. I feel pretty generous giving it a four out of ten, and it's only because of the fairly catchy but very odd track Mine Is in Yours (live). Blood Comes and Wipe That Sound (video) aren't too bad either. But then there are tracks like Spaceship that make me want to break the disc in half. The best I found for that track is the AmazonMP3 sample, which sadly is the most listenable part of the song. Even 60 seconds of the track Spaceship should be enough to ward you away from this album.
Considerably better than that was Goldfrapp's latest, Seventh Tree. I never know what to expect when I get a new Goldfrapp CD. Versus her last two albums it's a huge departure, but it's actually fairly similar in style to her first one, Felt Mountain. Whereas the last two Goldfrapp discs were loud and electronic and rowdy and featuring songs about cunnilingus, Seventh Tree is unexpectedly soothing and pretty. I like it. The style is still strongly influenced by electronica, but it's more breezy and not nearly so in-your-face with it. More than most other albums I've heard in a while, when I'm listening to this CD I get a feeling of texture. It's really quite something. The best tracks on here are A&E (silly video for a beautiful song), Clowns, and Happiness. Now contrast those peaceful tracks with Lovely 2 C U from the last Goldfrapp CD. Anyway, I really like the album, and if you liked Felt Mountain, you'll like this one, but if you only know Goldfrapp from dance songs like Lovely 2 C U, you should take a listen before you buy.I've also been listening to yet another Muse CD, and I'm going to move on to ones by Hybrid Tango and Sia pretty soon.
Currently listening: Hybrid Tango—Barrio Sur
Labels: music
Sunday, March 2
The Girl You Lost to Cocaine
The short version:Muse—Showbiz: 7/10
Sia—Some People Have Real Problems: 8/10
Hello Stranger—Hello Stranger: 9/10
Though I may not have much to talk about, I can always talk about the music I've been listening to. I've been primarily going through three great albums over the past few weeks, and the first is Showbiz, going backward in time through Muse's collection. It's another strong rock CD. It's my least favorite of their albums that I've heard so far, but still definitely worthwhile. After three albums I can't really say much more about their style of music than I already have, so check out Sunburn (video), Muscle Museum (video), and Unintended (video).
I also decided to check out the solo work of one of the most prominent vocalists who performed for Zero 7, Sia, starting with her album Some People Have Real Problems. The musical style is pretty similar in places to a lot of Zero 7, so it's definitely worth checking out if you're a fan. The album itself is soulful and varied, and it's one I can listen to two times in a row or more without getting bored. My favorites are probably The Girl You Lost to Cocaine, Academia (zomg catchy), Playground, and Beautiful Calm Driving, all of which are pretty amazing.
But the real surprise was the self-titled disc from Hello Stranger. It was suggested to me by a friend and I didn't really know what to expect from it other than a general feeling of terror based on how hideous the album cover is, but the album is excellent all around. It's perfect feel-good pop-rock, one of the best albums I've heard in a while. Listen to Take It to the Maxx (awful video), Kubrick Eyes, and Dancing for No One.Currently listening: Chris Cendaña—Velvet Fingertips
Labels: music
Saturday, February 9
Open to Close
The short version:
Feist—The Reminder: 5/10
Zack Hexum—Open to Close: 6/10
Quarashi—Guerilla Disco: 8/10
The next in a run of pretty unexciting CDs recently has been The Reminder by Feist. It's fairly bland and poorly-produced, so you're supposed to receive a smug sense of self-satisfaction when you listen to it and not the music that those sheep listen to. I don't hate it, but it does conjure up mental images of obnoxious record store employee indie music snobs. The best tracks on here are the more radio-friendly My Moon My Man, 1234, and Sealion, but listening to those three would give you the wrong impression that the album is much better than it is, like they did for me. If you don't think that The Park and Intuition are awful, then you'll probably like the whole thing. But really, I can't really recommend the CD to anyone.
A little better was Zack Hexum's Open to Close. He's the little brother of the 311 lead singer, and I really loved his first album The Story so Far, but this one's in a somewhat different style and not as enjoyable. The first album was pop-rock with a tinge of country; this one is leaning even perilously further toward country, but still within tolerance levels. It suffers from one of the problems of the Feist CD: it gets pretty boring in a few places. The best tracks are Beyond My Means, Little City Driver, and Never Happens, and those are all pretty good, but not good enough to really justify the more mediocre tracks on the disc, and not nearly as excellent as the first album. I don't really recommend it either.
Much better was the guilty-pleasure Guerilla Disco (sic) by the defunct Icelandic rock/rap band Quarashi. It's surprisingly good. There's not a bad track on the disc unless you consider the two bizarre filler tracks. Beneath the lame punk-cliché topics of the songs with classy titles like "Murder Frenzy" and "Payback," and the band members who all look like 17-year-old stoners despite this being their fifth album, there's actually talent. For the past two weeks I've been utterly infatuated with one particularly explicit track from this disc, Pro. It's just insanely catchy. But there are several other great songs on here, including Race City (terrible video) and Stun Gun (another terrible video). If you're into the whole rock-rap thing, it's a worthwhile purchase... but good luck finding it; it was never even released in the US.
After I listen to Pro about fifty more times I've got yet another Muse CD in the queue, and I picked up a CD by Sia, the primary vocalist who left the band Zero 7 not long ago.
Feist—The Reminder: 5/10
Zack Hexum—Open to Close: 6/10
Quarashi—Guerilla Disco: 8/10
The next in a run of pretty unexciting CDs recently has been The Reminder by Feist. It's fairly bland and poorly-produced, so you're supposed to receive a smug sense of self-satisfaction when you listen to it and not the music that those sheep listen to. I don't hate it, but it does conjure up mental images of obnoxious record store employee indie music snobs. The best tracks on here are the more radio-friendly My Moon My Man, 1234, and Sealion, but listening to those three would give you the wrong impression that the album is much better than it is, like they did for me. If you don't think that The Park and Intuition are awful, then you'll probably like the whole thing. But really, I can't really recommend the CD to anyone.A little better was Zack Hexum's Open to Close. He's the little brother of the 311 lead singer, and I really loved his first album The Story so Far, but this one's in a somewhat different style and not as enjoyable. The first album was pop-rock with a tinge of country; this one is leaning even perilously further toward country, but still within tolerance levels. It suffers from one of the problems of the Feist CD: it gets pretty boring in a few places. The best tracks are Beyond My Means, Little City Driver, and Never Happens, and those are all pretty good, but not good enough to really justify the more mediocre tracks on the disc, and not nearly as excellent as the first album. I don't really recommend it either.
Much better was the guilty-pleasure Guerilla Disco (sic) by the defunct Icelandic rock/rap band Quarashi. It's surprisingly good. There's not a bad track on the disc unless you consider the two bizarre filler tracks. Beneath the lame punk-cliché topics of the songs with classy titles like "Murder Frenzy" and "Payback," and the band members who all look like 17-year-old stoners despite this being their fifth album, there's actually talent. For the past two weeks I've been utterly infatuated with one particularly explicit track from this disc, Pro. It's just insanely catchy. But there are several other great songs on here, including Race City (terrible video) and Stun Gun (another terrible video). If you're into the whole rock-rap thing, it's a worthwhile purchase... but good luck finding it; it was never even released in the US.
After I listen to Pro about fifty more times I've got yet another Muse CD in the queue, and I picked up a CD by Sia, the primary vocalist who left the band Zero 7 not long ago.
Labels: music
Lords of the Underworld
What does it say about you when the only Rock Band song for which your vocals were complimented was the one by Timmy from South Park?
Actually, I think that the game sums up what it says about you pretty well: somewhere between 50 and 60%. (For the record, I did manage like a 98 or something on (Don't) Fear the Reaper, even though I didn't know the song. Other performances were very unimpressive.)
I still loathe the game. But mad Travis-props for including a song by a fictional retarded character in the set list.
Actually, I think that the game sums up what it says about you pretty well: somewhere between 50 and 60%. (For the record, I did manage like a 98 or something on (Don't) Fear the Reaper, even though I didn't know the song. Other performances were very unimpressive.)
I still loathe the game. But mad Travis-props for including a song by a fictional retarded character in the set list.
Saturday, January 26
Finally
The package that arrived for me in Redmond three and a half weeks ago finally made its way to my doorstep a couple miles away this afternoon. Go-go United States Postal Service. After all the pain of getting it, the CD will probably suck. (Oh well, I got it on eBay for a couple bucks anyway.)
Nice weather for ducks
The short version:
N.E.R.D.—Fly or Die: 6/10
Lemon Jelly—Lost Horizons: 7/10
I've been listening to a couple CDs recently. The first was the sophomore effort by N.E.R.D., Fly or Die. It's quite a weird rock album, even moreso than their last one, and most of the songs are half spoken, half sung, which can be either refreshing or irritating depending on your mood. There's no track that quite matches Lapdance from the previous CD, but the closest thing is the very catchy She Wants to Move (video), and Drill Sergeant and Breakout are fun too. Overall I enjoyed it, but I'd have preferred it if it were less... annoying.
I also checked out the only CD from the group Lemon Jelly, titled Lost Horizons. It's a nice electronica album, interesting, and soothing to listen to—the sampled variety, not the beep-beep-boop variety. Unfortunately, like a lot of electronic music, it's pretty repetitive. Not in the "14-minutes of horrid pulsating bass" sort of way, but in a "that sample of the guy saying 'beautiful' has been played a dozen times already" sort of way. Basically, it sounds like every track is an extended cut of itself. It's a good CD, but at eight tracks it's not terribly long, and it'd be even shorter if it weren't for the repetitiveness. Try out Nice Weather for Ducks (fantastic video!), Elements, and The Curse of Ka'zar, which are all great.
I'm also listening to The Reminder by Feist, which is a bit more slow and down-to-earth than those two CDs. I don't know where I'll move on to after that.
N.E.R.D.—Fly or Die: 6/10
Lemon Jelly—Lost Horizons: 7/10
I've been listening to a couple CDs recently. The first was the sophomore effort by N.E.R.D., Fly or Die. It's quite a weird rock album, even moreso than their last one, and most of the songs are half spoken, half sung, which can be either refreshing or irritating depending on your mood. There's no track that quite matches Lapdance from the previous CD, but the closest thing is the very catchy She Wants to Move (video), and Drill Sergeant and Breakout are fun too. Overall I enjoyed it, but I'd have preferred it if it were less... annoying.
I also checked out the only CD from the group Lemon Jelly, titled Lost Horizons. It's a nice electronica album, interesting, and soothing to listen to—the sampled variety, not the beep-beep-boop variety. Unfortunately, like a lot of electronic music, it's pretty repetitive. Not in the "14-minutes of horrid pulsating bass" sort of way, but in a "that sample of the guy saying 'beautiful' has been played a dozen times already" sort of way. Basically, it sounds like every track is an extended cut of itself. It's a good CD, but at eight tracks it's not terribly long, and it'd be even shorter if it weren't for the repetitiveness. Try out Nice Weather for Ducks (fantastic video!), Elements, and The Curse of Ka'zar, which are all great.I'm also listening to The Reminder by Feist, which is a bit more slow and down-to-earth than those two CDs. I don't know where I'll move on to after that.
Labels: music
Thursday, January 3
Voices and Choices
The short version:
Gwen Stefani—The Sweet Escape: 6/10
Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra—Voices and Choices: 6/10
Recently I've been working on refining my "Sexy Party" playlist, so I've been listening to a lot of old favorites, but I've checked out a couple new CDs too. The first is Gwen Stefani's second solo album, The Sweet Escape, a disc that I feel slightly embarrassed to say is pretty acceptable. It's certainly better than her first. It's weird, infectiously danceable, and less obnoxious than Love, Angel, Music, Baby. It's still brainless, but less offensively so. Some of the better tracks on here are Yummy (featuring Pharrell), The Sweet Escape (featuring Akon), and Early Winter, but just about everything is decent. Not great, but decent, and fully of glitzy Neptunes production-ness. Nothing really hits me as a song I'm going to remember a year from now, but if for some reason I needed a dance CD and Madonna's latest wasn't weird enough, this would probably be a good choice.
Speaking of weird, I've also been enjoying the Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra CD Voices and Choices. I don't even know what genre to put it in—I guess it reminds me of both jazz and electronica, but I don't think it really fits either. There's a wide variety of styles and sounds here, including tracks with vocals like Kiss the Sky (featuring Nino Moschella) and The Hour Glass Effect (featuring Ohmega Watts), and instrumental tracks like Tense Bossa and JW. (The Hour Glass Effect is a weird "surprise rap track on a CD where you don't expect to find a rap", bringing back pleasant memories of Mí Confesión on the latest Gotan Project CD.) The disc gets weirder than those tracks, too. If you're a fan of jazz or electronica, check out this album and let me know what you think. More than anything it reminded me of the Medeski, Martin, and Wood CD End of the World Party, which I'd definitely call jazz, but a weird electronic version of it.
Up next are some more weird albums that I've previewed at least a bit: N.E.R.D.'s Fly or Die, Lost Horizons by Lemon Jelly, and The Reminder by Feist (which really isn't that weird at all). Should be a good time.
Gwen Stefani—The Sweet Escape: 6/10
Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra—Voices and Choices: 6/10
Recently I've been working on refining my "Sexy Party" playlist, so I've been listening to a lot of old favorites, but I've checked out a couple new CDs too. The first is Gwen Stefani's second solo album, The Sweet Escape, a disc that I feel slightly embarrassed to say is pretty acceptable. It's certainly better than her first. It's weird, infectiously danceable, and less obnoxious than Love, Angel, Music, Baby. It's still brainless, but less offensively so. Some of the better tracks on here are Yummy (featuring Pharrell), The Sweet Escape (featuring Akon), and Early Winter, but just about everything is decent. Not great, but decent, and fully of glitzy Neptunes production-ness. Nothing really hits me as a song I'm going to remember a year from now, but if for some reason I needed a dance CD and Madonna's latest wasn't weird enough, this would probably be a good choice.
Speaking of weird, I've also been enjoying the Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra CD Voices and Choices. I don't even know what genre to put it in—I guess it reminds me of both jazz and electronica, but I don't think it really fits either. There's a wide variety of styles and sounds here, including tracks with vocals like Kiss the Sky (featuring Nino Moschella) and The Hour Glass Effect (featuring Ohmega Watts), and instrumental tracks like Tense Bossa and JW. (The Hour Glass Effect is a weird "surprise rap track on a CD where you don't expect to find a rap", bringing back pleasant memories of Mí Confesión on the latest Gotan Project CD.) The disc gets weirder than those tracks, too. If you're a fan of jazz or electronica, check out this album and let me know what you think. More than anything it reminded me of the Medeski, Martin, and Wood CD End of the World Party, which I'd definitely call jazz, but a weird electronic version of it.Up next are some more weird albums that I've previewed at least a bit: N.E.R.D.'s Fly or Die, Lost Horizons by Lemon Jelly, and The Reminder by Feist (which really isn't that weird at all). Should be a good time.
Labels: music
Tuesday, December 4
Microsoft points
Now that I'm an Xbox owner who has purchased something on Xbox Live (Carcassonne), I think I now have the right to say: Microsoft Points can go to hell. I'm all for Microsoft making you add money to your account in chunks so they don't pay 30% of every icon pack or song you buy to their credit card processing company, but making you buy imaginary currency that doesn't map 1:1 to real-world currency is madness. I think it's safe to say that they do it so that it's hard to figure out exactly how much you're spending on something. This was very clear to me as soon as I heard people first talking about it, but it felt cheap to complain that something was confusing before I'd had the actual opportunity to experience it myself.
Carcassonne was 800 Points. So, your first thought is naturally that it will cost you $8.00, because US Dollars are real currency that we're used to. But 800 Points actually costs you $10.00, and you can't buy just $10.00 worth of Points; you have to buy them in $6.25 increments. So, you have to buy 1000 Points for $12.50. If you never buy anything else (yes, that's unlikely), you paid $12.50 for something that vaguely looked like it cost $8.00. It's basically the same experience as buying things in foreign countries, except foreign countries aren't a mile down the street, they don't send me a paycheck, and it's more debatable whether or not they're trying to screw the tourists.
Just remember that the exchange rate is 100 Points = $1.25, which isn't terribly hard to calculate in your head... you just shouldn't have to.
[This is a fine time to remind everyone that I in no way represent Microsoft or its shareholders. For entertainment purposes only. Do not ingest. If you do, contact an internetologist immediately. I just don't want anyone to think that just because they pay me money I somehow believe that this system is not retarded.]
[In the original version of this post, I had the conversion ratio backwards and used $ instead of ¢, which practically proves my point.]
Carcassonne was 800 Points. So, your first thought is naturally that it will cost you $8.00, because US Dollars are real currency that we're used to. But 800 Points actually costs you $10.00, and you can't buy just $10.00 worth of Points; you have to buy them in $6.25 increments. So, you have to buy 1000 Points for $12.50. If you never buy anything else (yes, that's unlikely), you paid $12.50 for something that vaguely looked like it cost $8.00. It's basically the same experience as buying things in foreign countries, except foreign countries aren't a mile down the street, they don't send me a paycheck, and it's more debatable whether or not they're trying to screw the tourists.
Just remember that the exchange rate is 100 Points = $1.25, which isn't terribly hard to calculate in your head... you just shouldn't have to.
[This is a fine time to remind everyone that I in no way represent Microsoft or its shareholders. For entertainment purposes only. Do not ingest. If you do, contact an internetologist immediately. I just don't want anyone to think that just because they pay me money I somehow believe that this system is not retarded.]
[In the original version of this post, I had the conversion ratio backwards and used $ instead of ¢, which practically proves my point.]
