Just finished "Infamous: Second Son"...

...both Evil and Good paths (in that order).

Here's some hot, sweaty reactions.


Three games in, and they have yet to make one with any replayability.

One thing I absolutely love is the accessibility: aside from the Space Needle, you can climb anything in a matter of seconds. No fucking around with Assassins'-Creed-style yearning looks upward*; unless you get stuck under an awning, then you're as helpless as a fly in a jar.

I understand why they didn't put more effort into the Paper Trail DLC, which is, for the most part really fascinating and fun (thanks to 42 Entertainment handling the web integration stuff), and does a great job of expanding the universe and the story: I imagine the number of people that will finish the game, let alone engage in something that goes beyond the game is dishearteningly small. I, on the other hand, have only ever left one game unfinished. Hopefully we'll see some compromise with this type of line-blurring in the future.

I wish my first reaction hadn't have been "can't wait for the sequel". 

But seriously, I can't wait for the sequel; wire, glass and paper conduits?

Dag.

Although, as I typed the above sentence, I realized that, if someone knocked at my door and said, here you go, here's the next Infamous game, I probably wouldn't both for a while as, I'm pretty burnt out after playing it twice.

Once was a bit of a stretch, quite frankly.

I found this true of Infamous 1 and 2 and, more recently, of the entire Assassins' Creed franchise. I finally ground my way through AC3, only to hear that AC4 is the good one, but I'm probably not even going to look at that until the 2015 AC game(s) are out, if then.

A bit let down by the concrete power and the timing of it, but, then again, how do you do that? You need it for the last boss, but then the game is over.

Another tear shed for replayability.

I also liked that each blast shard was necessary**, no pointless collectibles this time around.

Didn't really see that many morality choices, five in all, I believe. And they were less evil andmore selfish.

As for the protagonist being a Native American and the tiny handfuls of Indian stuff in the story, I would have given more of a shit if there had been more of it, but, if there had been more of it, I would have probably ended up complaining about how I don't care about the indian stuff.

Make sense?

Going back to the discrepancy between investment and reward with Paper Trail, I get it, but, as for Cole's Legacy, the DLC that's supposed to connect the first two games and the world in which all three take place, they should have absolutely done more.

And Zeke is still worthless and annoying.

On the whole, the game felt short. Although the first two games felt too long at times. That's always the rub, isn't it? I need to remember that, just because this is the next-generation not everything is going to be bigger and longer and more detailed...but it kind of should be, shouldn't it?

It should be longer and bigger and more nuanced than last generation's iteration.

As far as the graphical style, video was my favorite power; if it had the traversal ability of neon, it would be my preferred overall. 

I found all the boos fights annoying, although the set up and look at your battle with the angels was pretty stellar.

Thinking back, I don't think I've ever enjoyed an Infamous boss fight.

Story beats were all pretty predictable too. Although Delsin destroying his tribe at the end of the Evil playthrough was a nice, personal, dark touch.

That was kind of the only time I really felt he was evil. The worst you did before that was strangling a guy who had totally double-crossed him and who had gotten his brother killed.

I also like that the powerless segments are only a minute or two at their longest and that you're never in a place without a power source, although going again back to how shitty concrete is…

This was my first "made only for the PS4" game, and, while some parts of it look utterly stunning, overall, it felt less like a new generation, and more like a room I've been in since 2006 with a fresh coat of paint on the walls.

Still waiting for that jaw dropping moment when I'm reminded, again, that I'm living in the future.

And now, after a few more moments of expectation mitigation, I'm going to pop in Watch_Dogs***.

And, no, I will not be enabling Random Asshole Invasion mode. 

Sorry.

* God damn does that make it hard to believe you're part of a millennia-old brotherhood of crazy assassins...

** Compared to their use in the first two games anyway.

*** If I don't use the underscore, I could be arrested.

Some thoughts on "Days of Future Past"

Saw the new X-Men movie for Meghan's kickass birthday.

Here are some scattered notes and thoughts.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOD SUCH SPOILERS!!!!!

At the end of everything, this was just a super stylish way to reset EVERYTHING back to 1973.

Didn't just get rid of Last Stand, got rid of EVERYTHING, including, it seems, Wolverine: Origins, since DOFP took place AFTER that and Stryker seemed to have no idea who Logan was.

So grateful that Halle Berry had only three lines and then died. I knew, even when it happened, that it couldn't be real, but still, a sweet dream. Here is where I disclaim and say that I do not wish Halle Berry any harm, just that she would stop acting, or at least, talking.

Any of those would be fine.

Back to the movie.

I am more excited than most about the introduction (finally) of Apocalypse. 

I love that Singer had planned to introduce both Sentinels and Apocalypse on his third X-Men film...something he did about 7 years later.

It's called stick-to-it-tiveness.

More excited about him than I was about Thanos.

Here's why: in the case of both Avengers and X-Men, more so with Avengers, you have some pretty powerful dudes. The idea that nothing any of them can do will affect either Thanos or Apocalypse is thrilling. We're not going to see Storm throw lightning at Apocalypse, just like we're not going to see Cap throw his shield at Thanos.

Hopefully not more than once.

Honestly though, it would be great if we could just skip all the "I have no idea what I'm up against, so let me try this, nope, that totally didn't work" crap. Just like the obligatory, "Why are we fighting? We're on the same side!!!!" device that's been used for years to kill an issue or a comic or half of an act in a film.

I was also okay with them killing the folks from First Class. Especially Frost. January Jones was just awful.

Obviously, Quicksilver and his scene were amazing, very well done. Totally fine with the two Quicksilvers in the MCU.

It was also refreshing not to see Evan Peters as a raping ghost, accused serial killer abductee and/or reanimated corpse.

One question: when did Shadowcat become Timeprojectioncat? Have I missed something?

Anyway, that's everything that really jumped out.

Great stuff, although it was just a really fancy reboot switch.

Between this, ASM 2 and Winter Soldier, I think I still have to give it to Winter Soldier.

Hail Hydra and here's hoping that after X-Men: Apocalypse, we'll meet Cable (played by Ron Perlman) and then get a really cool X-Force movie, which will introduce Deadpool, who will, finally, get his own, R-rated, movie.

Soundboarding with myself regarding Watchdogs

Going to blurt for a second about Watchdogs.
So...I really do like the look and idea of this game. There appears to be a hell of a lot of depth and it looks stunning...but...I'm blasting my way through Infamous: Second Son at the moment, and, while it's not the same game, it is a city sandbox game. Then there's the fact that, of all these nuances and features and everything, how much am I actually going to use?
Street races?
Fuck street races. The last thing I ever want to do in a GTA-style game is have to drive somewhere while there's a fucking clock on my screen.
Multiplayer that allows those assholes I try to keep myself insulated from access to my game? In order to fuck with me? Who in the fuck would want something like that in their game?* Imagine trying to finish a report at work when some guy walked into your cubicle and kept farting.
Now pay money for that.
Boom, you've just experienced Watchdogs multiplayer.
Plus, everything we've seen that looks amazing thus far has been PC, something that does not apply to me, the dialogue in this sounds like the worst kind of tripe and these characters look as generic as humanly possible. In fact, more so, I feel like the big reveal is that a computer designed these generic-ass characters based on an amalgam of generic-ass characters.
Is this just Ubisoft dressing up a turd in HD?

In the end, it's only a $60 expenditure and I've reached a point in my life where $60 is not going to make or break me, but, just because I can spend the money, does that mean I should? There's also the PS4 drought at the moment.
I want to be in the next generation, but, so far, nothing has felt that next-gen. Second Son does look really gorgeous, specifically the streets and all the power effects, especially the third one that you get, I love the style, but it just looks like a really beautiful coat of paint on the walls of a room I've been in for almost ten years.
I'm sure I'm not the only person lamenting this and I know we're going to have to wait until 2015 to maybe see something that actually drops our collective nerd jaws, but...I don't know...Veruca Salt.

Hm.
You know how, when you're stuck between two things, sometimes you'll flip a coin? You know how, more advanced thinkers will choose which side they want and then just go with that as their choice because the fact that they chose that means it was what they preferred?
I feel like this little ramble has served as that.
Thanks, no one!





* Players of Demon's Souls, Dead Souls and Dead Souls 2, please put down your erections.

A review of Tori Amos' "Unrepentant Geraldines"

I have a tendency to judge Tori Amos' albums more harshly than other artists whose work I enjoy. It's because she has made some of the most important and powerful music I've ever heard and I know what she is capable of. So, when she puts out something that doesn't grab me, for whatever reason, I'm not disappointed, I'm frustrated and then hopeful that her next release will be the one to bring it back, to sink its teeth into me.

When Tori said she was getting back to her non-orchestral roots for her new album, I will freely admit I was worried that would mean a return to the adult contemporary feel that's haunted her music since the early 2000's.
Very happy to report that is not the case.

This is going to sound like the cheesiest, most hackneyed phrase ever used in a review for anything but, here it is: Unrepentant Geraldines is full of surprises.

Ugh, I hate myself for saying that, but it is absolutely earned. Songs will set a tone and then take a pleasantly unexpected turn; tracks like "America", whose mischievous guitars and delicate handclaps work very well and start things off nicely suddenly get switched with a momentary rousing sing along, and "Trouble's Lament", the first single from the album, who presents herself* as a dusty tale of "our girl, Trouble" then breaks out her Tex-Mex dancing boots. 

Other songs are surprises in and of themselves, such as "Giant's Rolling Pin", which sounds so damn cute with the ukulele, euphonium and cow bell that I actually want to cuddle this song, "16 Shades of Blue", which is such a standout with her subtle electronics, hidden nuances and minimal piano (why can I hear David Bowie covering this?), and the title track, part languid funk, part pseudo-surf rock and part dark, stormy piano suite, that last featuring one of the strongest and most simple lyrics I've heard Tori sing in years, "I'm going to heal myself from your religion". 

There's even some classic, Tori-and-her-piano tracks for purists, such as "Weatherman", "Selkie", "Invisible Boy" and the beautiful and brutally honest "Oysters".

Other standouts include the epic and mythic "Wedding Day", the fairy tale dream of "Maids of Elfen-mere", "Promise", the mother / daughter duet that's probably going to make more than a handful of people weepy, and "Rose Dover", which harkens back to from the choirgirl hotel and Boys For Pele while, at the same time, being her own girl.

Another tired, used up phrase that I hate is "return to form", but Unrepentant Geraldines is, in part, just that, and I'm relieved to use it now.

I've never really had a crush on Tori Amos; I have too much respect for her, if that makes any kind of sense, but I have always admired her and her beautiful creations. Even when she did the adult contemporary thing, I always held out hope. This is the third really strong Tori album** in a row, and it's with cautious optimism and a trembling, grateful heart that I declare her slump...over.

One thing that's remained unchanged since Little Earthquakes though, some I'll never worry about, is Tori's voice. It's still as clear and perfect as ever, and I'll never think differently.

* Since Tori refers to her songs as "girls" and awards them feminine pronouns and this is her album, I will do the same.

** Yes, I'm counting Gold Dust.

A review of Damon Albarn's "Everyday Robots"

Everything on Damon Albarn's first solo album* falls into two categories: Sparse, Melodic and Morose, and Sparse, Melodic and Jubilant.

Mostly the former.

Because of the abundance of the morose though, the few jubilant tracks like "Mr. Tembo", "Parakeet" and "Heavy Seas of Love" shine more brightly; chrome wet with rain and reflecting sunlight.

Almost every track has an interesting bit of percussion or scrap of texture that makes the whole work stand out and keep things compelling.

Which should go without saying, I mean, this is Damon Albarn, an artist who, in my opinion, should be spoken of in the same breath as Thom Yorke and Trent Reznor with regards to his accomplishments and contributions to modern music, and his experimental heart. In fact, I might go as far as saying that, of those three, Albarn is the boldest, the one who takes the most risks.

There are times when Albarn's message, that we're all isolated from one another by the technology that was originally designed to bring us closer to one another, gets a bit belabored, like on the title track,"Hollow Ponds" and "You & Me", but it's done in a way that doesn't really feel overbearing, although my personal jury is still out when it comes to artists using technology to condemn technology.

I mean, do you own an iPhone, Damon? Did you jot the lyrics about how awful phones are ("we are everyday robots on our phones") on your iPhone? Didn't you shoot two of the videos for the album on one of these demonic telephonic contraptions?

To be fair, he does take a moment here and there to extol the virtues of technology, on "Lonely Press Play", for instance, so I guess he's not wholeheartedly vilifying technology?

Or, is he making a statement by using technology to expound upon the evils of technology?
Or should we give a shit?
Ah.
There's the real question.
Let's focus on, you know, the music, rather than the messages that might, or might not, be in the music.
Shall we?
Yes.

One of my favorite devices on Robots is the continuity. I love me some continuity, and this album is rife with it; the whole thing ebbs and flows just like the oceans we see in Albarn's videos.
Tracks that reflect the most of that wet sunlight include "You & Me", which has a wonderful, sorrowful evolution, "The History Of A Cheating Heart", which is just a bar of pure, sad gold, and "Hollow Ponds", the beeping, grinding, Haunted Mansion distortion on which really sums up Albarn's thoughts on the plague of technology in our society better than any lyrics on here.
As much as Albarn's beating a dead horse a bit with the whole "technology is bad" thing, the album certainly succeeds in making me feel spiteful towards technology, in making me feel disconnected from the people walking in droves around me, heads lowered in worship of and enthralled by their little screens.
The album closes perfectly with the jolly (yet still kind of morose) "Heavy Seas of Love", featuring Brian Eno on vocals sounding like Baloo from The Jungle Book.
Which I like.

People. If you enjoy Blur or Gorillaz or Rocket Juice and The Moon or The Good, The Bad & The Queen or Mali Music or any of Damon Albarn's myriad musical endeavors, just go get this. It's the core of what makes Damon Albarn Damon Albarn, and you're going to like it.
You're also going to be a hypocrite if you listen to it on an iPhone or any other device utilizing electricity as a power source.

* Not really counting Dr. Dee or Monkey.

A review of Eels' "The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett"

Of Eels' recent albums, my least favorite was End Times. There was a lack of depth and polish that felt slapdash rather than raw and, when most every song on an album is about the different ways E is sad, well, it all kind of blurs together. It had a few really solid tracks on it, but a lot of it didn't stand out in my mind.
Cautionary Tales is a better version of End Times. There's more orchestration and more effort here, but the overwhelming sense of "haven't we been here before? Haven't we covered this already?" kept distracting me from most of it.

I wish the rest of the album sounded like the instrumental opening track, "Where I'm At", a soft and sad and beautiful piece that reminds me of elements of Daisies of the Galaxy, or, to be more specific, the live show build around Daisies. But, even though there is an orchestra credited for helping to create the album, I felt like a lot of Cautionary Tales wasn't utilizing said orchestra.
There is some good stuff here, namely "Parallels", "Kindred Spirit" (even though it sounds so much like "In My Dreams" that I have to check myself every time it comes on*) and "Answers", which features the always-lovely celeste and some really nice orchestration as well a lovely choral moment or two.
On the other hand, there's tracks like "Series of Misunderstands", that is so lacking in lyrical flow that I can barely sit through it, "Dead Reckoning" which feels too grandiose for this album and packs a strong vibe of "I'm crying! Again! Look! But this time, I'm lamenting all my horrible life choices in front of a full orchestra! This is powerful!" and "Gentleman's Choice" where there appear to be something stuck in E's throat. Not emotion...maybe...steak?

The deluxe edition, which features a second disc containing 13 tracks, five of which are brand new**, has a few gems on it. "Bow Out" (quiet, dark and brave), "Good Morning Bright Eyes" (shimmering and upbeat) and "Millicent Don't Blame Yourself" (perfect example of a simple, good Eels song), none of which really seem to fit on this album, probably should have been included on the album for just that reason.

With regards to the overwrought nature of a lot of this album; listening to someone sing a sad song or lyric ("Every day I live in regret and pain", "the life that I've led / I'm better off dead" etc.) isn't enough for me. It's too obvious. Hearing someone sing a song about trying to live despite that sadness or attempting to overcome it and having difficulties or outright failing is always more compelling. I feel like too much of what E has chosen to put on this album is the former.
I know E has been through enough tragedy to last any one man several lifetimes, but I think, after almost twenty years, I'm just about done hearing him sing about it, especially when it's all been done better, by him, years ago.





* Same with "Lockdown Hurricane" and "End Times".

** One, "Millicent Don't Blame Yourself", has been played live, but has never gotten an official release.

Quick write up of The Amazing Spiderman 2

Just got home from taking in the new Spiderman (Spider-Man?) movie with some friends.

Nutshell: if you liked the first, see the second.

Here are some more in-depth thoughts.

YES! THERE ARE SPOILERS!!!











Max Dillon was a bit much before he changes as was his origin, all a little too 50's sci-fi, but, as my friend Alan pointed out, of course it's going to be comic book-y...it's a comic book movie.
I think I've just been a bit dampened by the tone of Winter Soldier (which I really dug).

I really liked the scene between Electro and Spidey in Times Square. Of course it had to all go wrong, but it was interesting for a few moments when it didn't. Well done.

Did not like the random dub step soundboard that was Electro and his powers, and what the fuck was up with all that angsty whispering? Jesus. There was a better way to do that: not at all.

The introduction of Ravencroft, Smythe and Felicia was just wonderful.
So much teasing of the cock.

While some might find it cheesy, the, literal, foreshadowing with the appearance of Captain Stacey worked really well for me, especially the last time we see him.
His face...so judgemental.

The quips are perfect, and the moments of comedy were perfect.

I thought the way they handled Gwen was SO hilariously brutal, especially for folks who knew of her fate from the comics.
She's falling! He saved her.
She's falling!!! He saved her!
She's falling!!!!!!! He...almost saved her.
Totally fucking brutal.
Wow.

Love. Love. LOVE all the seeds they're planting for the next (based on that list that Harry gets from his dad) forty seven films.

Wanted a bit more Rhino, but the bits we got were just great. Paul Giamatti is doing what an actor should: enjoying himself, thus causing the audience to enjoy themselves.

Wanted a real stinger, not just a trailer for the X-Men movie, which I want to see less and less the more I see of it.
Unless they kill Halle Berry.
Then, I'll see it twice.

Fingers crossed for that Sinister Six plot Webb teased recently.

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - April 2014

Nine Inch Nails
These recent NIN shows have been too unfocused. I know, I know, will I ever be happy ever. With virtually no lighting set ups and the random grab bag of songs we've already heard...I don't know, getting a little anxious about this shared bill with Soundgarden AND an opener.
I feel like we're gearing up for half of a Nine Inch Nails concert, for $100 a pop.
This does not please my kitten.
But, at least I'll finally get to hear "The Hand That Feeds" live.

A few weeks ago, we got the first taste of the Gone Girl score and it sounds like something from Silent Hill.
I'm thinking this score is going to be less incongruous than that of The Social Network but more incongruous than that of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, based on the book at least.
Honestly, after that little clip from the web site (this web site), I'm now hungrier than ever for a Reznor/Ross Silent Hill score.
Where do I throw the money?

Eels
A bit bummed by my lack of instant love for the new album.
Short version: The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett sounds like a better, fuller End Times. I think, as much as I love E and his music, that the pity party / sad bastard diatribe is, just now, almost twenty years after first hearing his stuff, starting to wear a little thin. Not that I don't think it's genuine, it's just, you know, getting a bit overworn. I'd love another Souljacker; a blistering work of rock fiction with no set instrumental style, maybe get away from the songs about all the emotional trauma that's happened to him in the past year and a half.
Part of me is dreading that the next Eels album will be entitled I Got A Splinter: 12 Songs About How I Hurt My Finger.
You're a sensitive dude. We get it. We got in back in 1998 when you turned the greatest tragedy in your life into something hopeful and harrowing.
Holding out hope for the tour though, as they've always been amazing experiences.
Full review of the new album is in the works, so make sure to ignore that.

Cake
*sigh*
They've resorted to re-releasing all their old albums on vinyl.
Colored vinyl.
How can they be so cruel and thoughtless?!
DON'T THEY KNOW HOW MANY COLORS DIED FOR THEIR FESTIVE-LOOKING RECORDS??!?!?!?
But, at least that fucking live album from goddamn 2007 is getting a vinyl release.
Which I'll then have to convert to digital.
Fucking Christ, can these pieces of shit ever do anything that doesn't piss me off?!
I suppose re-releasing their catalogue is better than putting out some random compilation of songs though...

They Might Be Giants
Wow, this thing (called Idlewild) has nothing interesting on it, whatsoever.
Two or three tracks from their last four albums, including Nanobots, which came out just over a year ago and one or two from a handful of other albums, EPs and compilations they've released over the past decade or so.
The whole thing just seems lazy.
Hope this doesn't count as either of the albums they were planning to release this year.

In other TMBG news, a music video I created with my wife, Chris, and friend, Phil Maniaci, for the "Am I Awake?" video contest placed fourth or fifth out of over a hundred and fifty entrants, receiving an Honorable Mention from John Hodgman (the judge of said contest).
Of the three winners, I think two of them completely deserved to win, hands down.
You can check our video out here: "Am I Awake?" music video.


One of the other reasons I wasn't super focused or stoked about the new Eels was that Damon Albarn's first solo album, Everyday Robots, was released around the same time. And it is just as impressive as one would hope Damon Albarn's first solo album would be.
There's a lot of focus on the spiritual malaise generated by the technology that was built to bring us closer together as a people further isolating us from one another. Not really the most groundbreaking topic to tackle in 2014, especially for Albarn, but, hey, write what you know.
The whole thing is sparse and sorrowful and melodic and a little spooky at times.
Full review coming soon.
Probably.

The new Lykke Li has Lykke leaked* but I've yet to get into it. A very quick flip through it makes me think it's a lot more spare than her most recent, insanely amazing album, Wounded Rhymes.
But, again, I haven't heard more than a song or two.

New Tori this month.
Let's roll the dice together.





* I apologize to the families of victims of that pun.

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - March 2014

Between the end of April and the beginning of August, I'm going to be seeing four of my five favorite bands in concert.
Guess which band isn't working with me?

Nine Inch Nails

With their not-North-American tour well under way, I am heartbroken to see the addition of one new song and a handful of stuff they haven't played since 2006 or 2008, which is almost a long time ago.

And, while "Hand Covers Bruise" segueing into "Beside You In Time" sounds utterly fantastic...yeah, a bit of a letdown.

Here's hoping that Trent ups his game for the NIN/Soundgarden tour this summer, for which I have tickets to both Holmdel, NJ and Wantagh, NY. Neither as good as I wanted but, hey, Musictoday isn't required to function properly, so, no big.
It's cool to see Mariqueen popping out occasionally for them to play a few HTDA songs, but, still.

Also, I am calling it. Once NIN is through with their Soundgarden leg, the goddamn, motherfucking Fragile ultimate erection juice reissue is going to happen.
It's the fifteenth anniversary of its release and if Reznor thinks I'm going to keep holding my dick for another five years?
Well, he might be right.
But let's hope that doesn't happen.
Or I may pout.

Beck
Such ambivalence here.
While he is touring, I don't believe he's going to do so with the string section seen here, but rather with the guitar army seen here and here. I'm still not sure, but the fact that his New York show is outside at Central Park's Summerstage...well, I just don't think it's going to happen. Which is a crushing bummer, but, like I said, after seeing "Blue Moon", "Say Goodbye" and fucking "Waking Light" with the Strummin' Gentry, I'm probably going to be all right.
Yet: "Debra" with a full string section.
Bite.

Eels
The new album comes out in less than a month and the tour begins in May.
A tour which I am more excited about that usual.
All the venues on the "Eels Perform Live in Concert" tour* are seated. I've only seen Eels in seated venues twice; once, at the Highline, where the show was E and the Chet, a drum kit, two guitars and a piano with them playing stuff from all over E's catalogue, including Man Called E material, an amazing and singular experience, while the other was the legendary "With Strings" show at Town Hall, my favorite Eels show to date.
This time, it's at the Apollo Theater and I'm thinking, based on the feel of the album**, that we might get another miracle.
If only I liked what I've heard from the album more.
Granted, only two songs are out, but neither of them are really doing anything for me; "Agatha Chang" is all right but feels like the Souljacker b-side "Jennifer Eccles", while "Mistakes Of My Youth" is just bugging me. The chords feel sloppy and reused and the lyrics are so general that a computer program might have created it based on the input of the words "regret"and "young". Thus far, this thing is feeling pretty End Times, which was, for me, the weakest of their trilogy released a few years back. Sometimes, I find it hard to focus on the solid, tearjerking lyrics when I don't dig the setting they're in.
But, two songs of thirteen do not an Eels album make.
As the old saying goes.
I'll be at the Apollo on the first of June and I'm probably going to love what I see and hear.
If you want to join in my disappointment or tell me that I'm insane, head over to the Eels Soundcloud page and check out the two new tracks.

They Might Be Giants
I wasn't planning on going to the one day of TMBG shows this year.
Really.
It's two free shows at some science thing in Washington D.C. and I was okay missing it.
Until I got tickets to three of my five favorite bands.
Then it felt silly not to slip into collector mode and go for it.
Are they going to play "Drink!"? Maybe.
Are they going to play "Damn Good Times"? Of course they fucking are.
But.
The numbers, people.
The numbers.

And, if a certain band of non-music-making-muscians finds their way to New York City before the year is out, say to, oh, I don't know, Terminal 5...I'll buy a ticket to that as well.
And then, having seen five of my five favorite bands in one Earth year, I shall return to my home planet, so the Elders of my race can finally destroy this mudball pisshole you humans call home.

On the 28th, we got our first taste of the new Tori Amos album, something I've been nercous about since I heard she was dropping the whole amazing orchestra thing.
While listening to "Trouble's Lament" for the first time, I was indifferent, then puzzled, then intrigued,  then I dug it.
I want her to play this while wearing a cowboy hat.
Check it out here.

Not much else happening, musically, for me this month.
I did take in the recent Brooklyn Bowl Mother Feather show and, as always, they tore the place down.
They switched some stuff up, weaving their new track, "Mirror", throughout the set; opening with a little taste before blasting into "Egyptology" and another before "Trampoline", and then, finally, closing with it, the first time I've seen them close with something other that their fist-pumping anthem, "Mother Feather". As much as I dug "Mirror", it really can't beat "Mother Feather" as a closer.
But, this is their party, and they can set it alight however they see fit.

Go, now. And know that I am Grod.





* Eels always wins for best tour names.

** "A live orchestra made up of cello, viola, violins, bassoon, English and French horn, clarinet, flute, saxophone, trumpet, musical saw, glockenspiel and celesta."

The Coil Review Project directory

A chronological directory of my Coil Review Project.

A Thousand Lights In A Darkened Room 

Horse Rotorvator 

Scatology 

The Remote Viewer 

The Unreleased Themes For Hellraiser 

Time Machines 

Moon's Milk (In Four Phases) 

Love's Secret Domain 

Astral Disaster 

Musick to Play in the Dark, Vol. 1 

Queens of the Circulating Library 

Musick to Play in the Dark, Vol. 2 

Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil 

Black Antlers 

The Restitution of Decayed Intelligence 

Worship The Glitch 

The EPs of Coil 

ANS 

The Ape of Naples 

The New Backwards 

Moon's Milk In Final Phase 

The Coil Review Project - Wrap Up

electric sewer age - bad white corpuscle

peter christopherson - time machines II

zos kia/coil - transparent

Bond Notes...James...Bond Notes

For Christmas, my wife got me the Bond 50 Blu Ray collection and, since then, we've been working our way through them.

I've been watching them since I was six, but, watching them all in order in a relatively short period of time has produced a few thoughts and some superlatives.

Favorite Connery Bond
From Russia With Love

Not too silly with gadgets, great bunch of villains, both the physical (Red Grant) and the cerebral (Klebb and Kronsteen), a great ally and character in Kerim Bey and a really solid plot; the best, as far as I'm concerned.

Least Favorite Connery Bond
Diamonds Are Forever

Except for Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd (who are amazing), so much of this is shit. Blofled goes from being a real threat to a dapper dandy whose fate is so badly handled they had to wrap him up in a Moore opening sequence years later, that random sexy bodyguard fight, a moon rover chase for no reason...ugh. Not going to continue. Sadness is forever.

Least Favorite Moore Bond
Moonraker

The damn thing is just too silly.

Favorite Brosnan Bond
The World Is Not Enough

This is my favorite mainly because I dislike the other three so much. GoldenEye is just awful; the caricatures, the silly villain names (Janus? Onatopp? Jesus...), bringing in the Q'ed out Z3 and then doing nothing with it (bold choice, gentlemen...bold, stupid choice), Sean Bean utterly chewing the scenery every time he's on camera, the sheer quality and quantity of shitty puns and adolescent sex jokes.
Some of the GoldenEye damage is repaired in Tomorrow Never Dies, but not nearly enough. If anything, Pryce is ever more over the top and scene-chewing than Bean. Plus, starting World War III for ratings really is a stupid plot.
Going back to The World Is Not Enough, a lot of the good done by casting the flat out amazing Sophie Marceau as Elektra King* was udone by casting Poutyface Broporn, Denise Richards as *sigh* Christmas Jones. Sorry. Nuclear physicist, DOCTOR Christmas Jones. Way to shit in your own salad fellas. Carlyle is a great villain on his own, that cold, seething delivery...and even more so when stacked up against the Twin Hams of Bean and Pryce.
And then, there's Die Another Day.
Okay. I'm going to do a "Compliment Sandwich"**.

• The opening credits (the content, not the music) is one of the best Bond opening credits ever. We see invincible superspy, James Bond broken and tortured for fourteen months. I will freely admit I got chills the first time I saw this. After 19 Bond movies, we finally get to see that he's human.
• The theme song. She actually says "I'm gonna avoid the cliche" while being a cliche.
• Halle Berry.
• Sword fighting. For no reason.
• Sword fighting on a burning plane. For no reason.
• Zao is getting gene therapy in order to create a new persona, and yet, while he's had time to get his skin and eyes lightened, he hasn't gotten those diamonds out of his fucking face yet?
• "I'm Mister Kill." "Well, isn't that a name to die for."
• Halle Berry.***
• That whole VR cocktease scene.
• John Cleese.

I did love how Michael Madsen seemed to not want to be in the movie every time we saw him though. I feel like he was playing the role of the audience.

Aside from these revelations, I also had a few cast off observations.

While The Spy Who Loved Me could have had a really interesting relationship develop between Amasova and Bond, they just tossed the whole "I'm working with you because I have to, but as soon as the mission is over, I'm going to kill you for killing my lover" thing because...I'm not really sure. Instead, they just have her point a gun at him and then shoot the top off a bottle of champagne (which could have blinded Bond with shards of glass but they decided against that ending). I mean, I understand that she might not want to kill him anymore because he saved her life a bunch, but, guys, address it. A line, something, please.

Also regarding Spy, when you place it right next to Moonraker, you begin to notice a lot of similarities. Like the villains' plans. Specifically how they are exactly the same. Stromberg wants to hide underwater and destroy the world because they all suck and Drax wants to do the same, but from space. And with a bit of Fourth Reich flavor. Right next to one another, guys? Really?

I also found myself getting bored with Moore. And the creepy way his cheeks get all sucked in when he kisses girls.
Ew.

I am ready to declare that Dalton is one of my favorite Bonds and that, while he might have been a bit too gritty for the pansy Bond fans of the late 80's, he nailed the essence of Fleming's Bond without going over the top. I love the reference to SMERSH in Living Daylights. I wish there had been more Dalton Bonds.

And, finally, I've discovered that I do not really like Pierce Brosnan's Bond very much at all, especially when wedged between the solidity of Dalton and Craig. I don't Lazenby-hate him, but he doesn't have enough of his own identity. He's a little of Connery, a little of Moore and tried to do the gritty darkness of Dalton but doesn't come close. Should have just stuck to Remington Steele.

Taking a short break before jumping into the Craig Bonds, which, yes, are knocking it out of the park (except for QoS, going to have to try and put my finger on what, exactly, isn't working there for me...), although I'd like them to bring back Quantum. I enjoy a shadowy enemy organization.
Yes I do.





* Did it have to be "Elektra"? Can't you give the audience some credit?

** You get how that works, right? Good thing, bunch of shitty things, good thing? Good.
...her name is Elektra because she kills her father...like in the Greek plays, Electra.

*** BUT, I thank God and all his Angels EVERY DAY that they didn't follow their original plan to give "Jinx" her own spin off film series. Dodged a huge shit bullet there, people. Get on your knees and give thanks.

Some Oscar Movies I Saw

A friend lent me some screeners and, after agreeing to "destroy this disc by cutting it in half" once I was finished watching them"*, I watched "Captain Phillips", "12 Years A Slave" and "Philomena". I also watched "Drive". Because of Hotline Mimi.

As far as big ol' based-on-real-life let's-engineer-this-to-be-an-Oscar-movie movies go, "Captain Phillips" hit every note.
Tom Hanks? Check.
Score by Hans Zimmer? Check.
Harrowing real-life drama that turns out okay for America? Check.
Introduction of some foreign, talented unknown actor? Check.
Tom Hanks crying? Check.
I'll admit that my staggering lack of awareness of "current"** events made this movie much more suspenseful that it should have been.
What else needs to be said?

"12 Years A Slave" was fantastic and brutal and horrifying, the serious version of "Django Unchained". I wish there had been more Michael K. Williams, and I wish I'd known that Ejiofor was the super-badass, completely fucked up mercenary from the final episode of Firefly.
Damn.

Paul Giamatti is the worst person in the world and probably had a great time portraying it, Michael Fassbender is, literally, hypnotizingly evil, and Benedict Cumberbatch is absolutely amazing until he, with all sincerity and heartfelt intention says the words, "you are an extraordinary nigger", at which point the audience is reminded that a nice slave owner...yeah, still a slave owner.

My only issue with this film was Brad Pitt playing that role. It felt so...I don't know...self-indulgent? I might not have felt that way if his company, Plan B, hadn't produced it and it had just been a weird casting choice. But him as Solomon's savior was a bit too much.

Seriously though, other than that?

Wow.

One question though, just something to think about: why are there still films being made about slavery and the Holocaust and other such atrocities? Do we need films with famous actors to remind us that these things happened? Are these movies for people who don't know anything about history? I'd like to hope they aren't just being made to garner Oscars. But, Kate Winslet did make a pretty compelling argument in Extras.

Maybe films like "12 Years A Slave" are made to mitigate the existence and *gag* success of Tyler Perry's cavalcade of loose feces that is his entire filmography.

Just something to chew on.

The question, not the loose feces.

Don't chew on the loose feces.

"Philomena" was sweet, but not Oscar sweet, na' mean? It was wonderful to see The Coog *** sing his insurmountable snark for the forces of good. For the most part. And Dam Judi nch. Good lord. She played an actual leprechaun and made it believable. One thing that did kind of boggle me a bit: her totally cool and laid back reaction to her son being gay. I understand that she was a nurse for thirty years, but she was so wide0eyed and naive in so many other ways that her complete acceptance, like, not batting an eye, was a bit hard to swallow. Also, wasn't her son taken when he was something like two or three years old? Can you really nail down that your kid is gay by then? In the forties? In Ireland? In a nunnery? When you didn't even know what sex was? Again, a bit of a stretch, but, like I said, not quite up the "standards" (read "rigorous and intentiona codtructional guidelines") of an Oscar movie.
I would now like to see the sequel to "The Trip" starring Judi Dench and The Coog.
Chop chop, we've all got places to be.

And, then, after a conversation with Ray about Hotline Miami, he urged me to watch "Drive".
And I did so.
Yikes.
First things first, I don't think I've ever seen anything of Ryan Gosling except for the meme with him being the best boyfriend in the world and riding on a white horse, so his character, who bounced between three states of being namely, being good with kids and Carey Mulligan (who looks like a grown up version of Drew Barrymore from "E.T." AKA as cute as the very cute nose on her very cute face), pure, cold nothing and Kill Machine X-15 was quite a shocking introduction. I have this crazy urge to not see anything else he's ever been in and let this be the Ryan Gosling that I know.
I love love love the idea of Ron Perlman and ALbert Brooks (!) as aging, Jewish gansters who are also brothers. LOVE. Brooks did a great job of being that bad guy who you hate to hate. He was just so nice...the way he murdered Bryan Cranston so humanly...wait.
Oh, and yeah, Bryan Cranston.
Why did they pick Zombieland over him as Luthor?
Silly.
And the quickness and brutality with which they dispensed Christina Hendricks?
Holy fuck.
Aside from a few too many shots dragging on for a few took many seconds, this was a really solid film. Surprisingly so.

Planning on checking out "Gravity", "Matthew McConaughey Gets AIDS In The 80's And Learns A Lesson About Being A Homophobic Asshole" and "Batman, Hawkeye, Hunger Games, Lois Lane, Hangover, No Actual Plot, Just Stars: The Movie" soon.





* Oh, Hollywood. Do you honestly think your movies are THAT valuable or that someone couldn't just download a torrent of them in the time it would take for someone to put said screener in the mail?

** There's no way I can get away with calling 2009 current without ironic quotation marks, is there?

*** What Steve Coogan's friends call him.

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - February 2014

Nine Inch Nails

The first few dates of the Japanese/European/Latin American/who fucking cares it's not where I can see them Tour have come and gone, the Japanese ones anyway.
The first show featured one live debut, that of "Hand Covers Bruise", which sounded great on some Japanese dude's iPhone and flowed perfectly into "Beside You In Time", a song which hadn't been played live in almost ten years.
Fuck me, The Downward Spiral came out twenty years ago. Excuse me as I age, screaming, in the corner.
Other than that and Mariqueen joining them on stage at the end of night two to perform "Ice Age" and "BBB" by How to destroy angels, nothing new on the setlist that Reznor promised to be spilling over with Year Zero and Fragile material.
Hm.

Speaking of Nine Inch Nails live...their performance at Austin City Limits from last year has been given a broadcast date of April 5th, which will, hopefully, coincide with the full release of the live Blu Ray.
Sadly, only about half of the set will be shown.
The fuckers.
I thought everything was bigger in Texas.
There was also this interview, which, in case you don't have eighteen minutes to listen to it, Senartor Busyasfuck, the last few minutes have Reznor addressing the goddamn motherfucking Fragile deluxe edition, which is, apparently, ready to go. Then, this cockteasing whoremouth mumbled something about have FORTY* unfinished demos, ranging from noises to finished songs just...sitting there until he decides how and what to do with them.
To answer your question, yes, I would rather he cancel his tour and his work on Gone Girl if it meant we'd have this fucking thing before 2015. 2014 marks the fifteenth anniversary of The Fragile, and having it come out around September...oh, I don't know, 21st? would be just the best fucking thing to happen since ice cream.
Will it though?
All signs point to Reznor.
Who softly whispers... "soon".

Beck

Homeboy, you just bought yo' self about eight months of me not bitching about your lack of stuff.
...
Although, in that time, if you want to release some more of those 12" vinyls, I'll buy them.
Just sayin'.

Here's what else happened with Beck this month: after Morning Phase came out and I had listened to nothing but it for two weeks (here's the review), I went back and just flailed around in a huge sea of Beck. I had never listened to those handful of country songs on Mutations, never, so I gave them another chance and, duh, guess what, you fucking idiot**, I liked them. Because they're performed and written by a superfuckingtalent musician. God, sometimes I'm so self destructive. "Bottle of Blues"? Are you kidding me? What a great song that's been out since 1998.
You dolt.***
Anyway, aside from gaining a new appreciation for all of Mutations, I spent some time with Guero and its companion remix album (along with all the other remixes, not just the thirteen on the disc) Geurolito.
I know the album was good, I know all his albums are good, but I always seem to forget how good.
Am I really just talking about how good Beck albums are?
Yes, it appears that I am.
So, moving on.

Eels
2014 tour dates have been announced and, on June 1st, I will be seeing Eels for the seventh time...at the Apollo Theater. Very excited about what this particular venue could mean. The last two Eels shows that were seated were at the Highline, where E and the Chet came out and marched all over the Eels catalogue, and their once-in-a-lifetime performance at Town Hall with a string quartet and a few multi-instrumentalists. Could I see Eels performing with a choir?
Yes I could.


In other news, the cover of the new Tori Amos album, Unrepentant Geraldines, was revealed on Perez Hilton's site on the 18th. A side note: based on his writing, I would have guessed that Perez is a 13-year old girl. Just saying.
It looks like the motif for the artwork will be that of paint.
So.
For all your painters who are also Tori fans, this looks like it's going to be your kind of album.
On the 19th, she posted pre-order stuff and whatnot.
If I don't sound ecstatic about this album, it might be because she's said it's going to be a step away from the dense, bold orchestral nature of her last few releases a return to her songwirting roots.
Bottom line: I'm worried we're going to get more bland, Adult Contempory music from Tori AMos.
Guess we'll find out in a few months.

And then, there's St. Vincent. In February, we got the new album (review coming very soon) and the first night of the North American leg of her Digital Witness tour, at Terminal 5. I've covered the album in the review and will only say that it's fantastic and that you should listen to it now, so I'll focus more on the show here.
I'd only seen Annie Clark perform once before with David Byrne on their Love This Giant tour, and it was an amazing show, their back and forth was just perfect for the what they were trying to achieve, but then, at Terminal 5...
Sometimes, Annie Clark was a robot sex kitten. Sometimes she was a malfunctioning robot sex kitten. Sometimes she was a friend, confiding similarities between you and her. Sometimes a figure in a cuckoo clock (moving in tandem with her spectacularly talented bassist/keyboardist/back up singer, Toko Yasuda). Sometimes a Silent Hill nurse, missing only a rusted scalpel to complete the picture. Sometimes a goddess, sometimes the sacrifice offered unto said goddess.
She also played a guitar that made the most wonderful, horrible, compelling sounds.
After ridiculously punishing hours of rehearsal, some spent with choreographer, Annie-B Parson, we finally get to see it all pay off in just under two hours. Most of the evening was focused on her new, self-titled album (all of which was amazing, specifically when she followed "Huey Newton" with "Bring Me Your Loves", my two favorites tracks on the new album), but she made sure to represent her older material as well, hitting about half of Strange Mercy and a handful from her first two albums.
Highlights included "Digital Witness", "Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood", and "Cheerleader", one of my favorites from her last album.**** There was a brief punk rock/thrash segment which consisted of "Northern Lights" and "Krokodil" and then, there was the encore: a heart-wrenching solo rendition of "Strange Mercy", then "The Bed" and, finally, the violent juxtaposition of "Your Lips Are Red".
Within two hours, we had witnessed Annie Clark go from flirty, quirky and leggy***** to panting, staring and all-consuming, like a sun in supernova.
It was terrifying and invigorating and astonishing.

And, now you may go, preferably to buy Morning Phase and St. Vincent and to pick up tickets to see St. Vincent live on her Digital Witness tour.





* That's twenty two MORE than eighteen, in case you're keeping track.

** Me, not you, You're smart. And pretty.

***Again, me, not you, You also smell great.

**** Mind you, these are picking out brighter patches from the surface of the sun. This show was amazing.

***** Good lord, are her legs something worth discussing.

A review of Beck's "Morning Phase"

Yes, I'll admit I would have been more excited if the newest Beck album, the first proper Beck album in five and a half years,* had been a continuation of Midnite Vultures, but I'll take a continuation of Sea Change with nary a qualm.
Ha!
I'll bet you thought this was going to be an outpouring of bilious vitrole!
Well, in your face, nobody, because I really, really like Morning Phase!
...although I do have, like, two qualms.

I'm not going to be the first nor the last to call this album gorgeous, epic, radiant, award winning, a triumph...because it is.
Maybe it'll even earn Beck another five-star rating from Rolling Stone!!!
EEK!!!
What a world!!!

I'm also not going to be the first or last to compare it to Sea Change, so let's get that out of the way: Morning Phase is denser than Sea Change, but the cloth it's woven from is brighter than that of Sea Change. While there's night on Sea Change, the closest thing we get to it on Morning Phase are those seconds right before the sun shows itself, when the sky is already lit, just not directly. The darkest song on here is "Unforgiven", and even that addresses the end of night. 

However, the strongest and most direct connection between Beck's ridiculously well-crafted 2002 opus, Sea Change, and this latest ridiculously well-crafted opus is the second track from Morning Phase, "Morning". The acoustic guitar, bright, plinking notes and ambient electronic echoes floating in the background are absolutely a reference, whether intentional or unintentional**, to "The Golden Age".
But, enough about Sea Change.

There are only a few tracks on Morning Phase that don't contain the words "morning", "sun", "day" or "light", and, each song, regardless of its lyrics, captures a different aspect of the sun's light.***
For example, "Heart Is A Drum" feels like mid-day light, more silvery, falling on a small, honest town as it goes about its day. The opener, "Cycle", and its fraternal twin, "Phase", are straight up representations of a sunrise, the notes sung by Beck and then transposed to strings by his father and long-time collaborator, David Campbell. "Cycle" is the perfect opener for Morning Phase.

The sunlight on "Blue Moon" feels older and more mature than the rest of the album, but still new; perhaps a decades old photograph of the sunrise in "Cycle" and "Phase". The sparkling guitar at the end does an amazing job of cutting through the dreamy, sleep-dusted atmosphere up to that point. I also love the piano on this as it lends such a sense of sincerity. And, like most tracks on this album, the myriads voices and vocalizations in the background add a sense of warmth and depth, depicting, in sound, yet another aspect of sunlight. 

Another relation to those two instrumental twins, "Wave", might be the simplest track on the album, but it's also one of the most stirring. There's something so brave and powerful about "Wave", something brazen about that one voice just set adrift in this soporific sea of strings, swallowed and dwarfed by the size of it. The lyrics, out of context, could fit on a moodier-than-usual Nine Inch Nails album, and the repeated chant of "isolation" is almost silly but for the setting. Narrow miss on that one.
As I mentioned before, the darkest track on here (sonically) is "Unforgiven", although it contains sunlight as well. I'm picturing the light in the sky just seconds before the sun crests the horizon and stings one's eyes. Or, maybe a dark dream in a sunlit room.

There is a tiny handful of songs I've yet to get into, namely the more-folky-than-I-prefer "Turn Away" and the more-country-than-I-prefer "Country Down". I'm not altogether worried though, I didn't love everything on Sea Change when I first listened to it either.

But then, there's "Waking Light". I don't like sweeping statements. So I did some thinking before I put this here. This is tied for my favorite Beck album closer.
You know how "Debra" is the perfect ending for the sweaty, glitter orgy that is Midnite Vultures? Thus is "Waking Light" for Morning Phase.**** In a recent NPR interview, Beck mentioned that he'd originally had "Waking Light" at the beginning of the record. I've never actually wanted to slap Beck until that moment. "Waking Light" is the perfect evolution of all those ambient vocalizations we've been hearing this entire time, the perfect evolution of Morning Phase as a whole; it has the light and the facets and the darkness inherent in the album in one, glorious, five minute song. And, just when you think it can't get any more perfect, because it's already perfect, that guitar comes in at the end, and your mind and body actually dissolve into pure sunlight.

Beck. 

You've just transmogrified your listeners into sunlight.

Brava.

One comparison I wish I could draw between Morning Phase and Sea Change is that Sea Change had that SACD release with a music video for each track and the album in stunning, jaw-dropping 5.1, but, guys, this a new, full length*****, really great Beck album.

With music written and played by Beck.

Beck Hansen.

The musician!

But I digress.

I want to pour Beck's vocals on Morning Phase over a stack of buttermilk pancakes and then eat those pancakes while listening to this album. They're just that thick and golden and syrupy and delicious.

What can I even say here? I'm completely biased because this is the first Beck album in half a fucking decade and I'm so starved for buttery, syrupy Beckcakes that of course I'm going to find a way to love it. 

Although, to be fair, Beck facilitated things nicely by making yet another career defining masterpiece.

That rascal.

Morning Phase is out next Tuesday.
Details and pre-orders and whatnot here.

* Song Reader? Yes, I have heard of it. It's a bunch of fucking sheet music.

** Most of the musicians on Morning Phase helped to craft Sea Change over ten years ago.

*** Like TV On The Radio's Nine Types of Light, but for just sunlight. Dig?

**** Is "Waking Light" a better song than "Debra"?

Whoa.

I can not and will not answer that.

That's like comparing sex and pizza. Both are important. Both are excellent. But both cannot be compared to one another, and you'd be a fool to try.

***** By today's deplorable "full length" standards. FILL THE DISC, YOU LAZY BLACKGUARDS.

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - January 2014

Nine Inch Nails
Some bittersweetness from/for Trent to start the new year...
Most of the bitterness was generated by the exclusive Beats Music remix EP with the stunningly original title Seed Eight (Remix 2014 EP).
Phew.
75% mung.
 100% shrug.
My review's here.

Then, there was the catastrophic "fuck you" to Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, Dave Grohl and Lindsey Buckingham perpetrated by the Grammys. In a nutshell, these artists shared a stage for the finale of the Grammys...only to be preempted for a word from our sponsors.
Ouch.
Honestly though, no one gives a shit about the Grammys.

Then there's the big one: Reznor and Ross are teaming up, once again, to create another score for another David Fincher film, this time it's Gone Girl, about which I know nothing.
It's a book.
The upside to another score is that we know exactly when the film is set to come out (October 3rd, 2014) so we KNOW the new music will have to be out by then (or thereabouts).
The downside is that it's not Nine Inch Nails.
I'd rather have a new HTDA album than a new score (no matter how many discs there are).
I'm also hoping that Reznor and Ross get out of their studio for this one. I've enjoyed the last two scores very much, but I'd like to see something completely different this time around, not just the two of them using the knobs and buttons across the room from the ones they used on Social Network and TGWTDT.

Beck
Well, I still don't quite believe it, but, next time you hear from me, I guess we'll talk more about that.
Until that moment...apparently the new Beck album, Morning Phase*, is coming out on the 25th of February, same day as the new St. Vincent. The first single, "Blue Moon" has been released and it's real good. I was concerned that it would sound like any of the random bits and pieces he's been releasing for the past six years, but it feels...weightier, more important. It's hard to explain. Take a listen and get really excited.

Eels
New album, song, tracklist and album art just announced!
Based on the cover, title and first single, this might just be a bit of a personal record for E.
And a bit stripped down, musically.
Although, I've been misled before by Eels, so I'm going to try and sit tight until there's more to, you know, actually listen to.
I don't love what I've heard thus far though.
I do love that there's going to be a deluxe version with a second disc consisting of 7 non-album tracks and 6 live tracks from the recent tour.
Here's the trailer and the first single, "Agatha Chang".


The second new St. Vincent track (and its slightly creepy, entertainment-industry-in-Orwell's-1984 music video), "Digital Witness", has been released and boy oh boy has David Byrne been influencing our little Annie, both in sound and in content.
This new track could be a follow up to their song from Love This Giant, "I Should Watch TV".
Something I am super okay with. Here's the video.
On pins and needles for this album to drop.
More on that in a month.

So, I've been trying out Beats Music, not because I'm a huge fan of all things streaming and need to be on the cutting edge of such things,  but because Trent told me to.
Got to say, I don't really care.
Sory Trent.
Sorry Dre.
If you love being lazy and indecisive about what music you listen to and want to have a different computer algorithm do this for you, head on over and give it a whirl.

Also, as there were a whole bunch of "Best Of" lists circulating at the start of the month, I decided to jump right in, eyes shut, mouth open and drink in some pop culture, specifically what the culture thought was popular.

I ended up listening to:

•  the latest Bonobo, The North Borders, which I didn't care for 
• the latest Childish Gambino, Because The Internet, which, while it had some interesting moments and sonics on it, I didn't really care for
• Overgrown, by James Blake, which I liked very much. His voice reminds me a bit of a more polished Thom Yorke and the sparseness and coldness of the album created some great depth and mood. Plus, a love song with RZA? Not that that makes up for his crazy line about rape in "The Baddest Man Alive".
• The Lorde album the song "Royals" is on, which was nothing special, although that song is veritable ear herpes.
• the new Vampire Weekend, which was pretty damn worthy of all the best album fanfare. I haven't liked anything else of theirs ever (that I remember), but this is just so fresh and joyful and open. Really well crafted stuff. Cannot fight with this one.** Going to have to give these guys another listen.
• The latest release from The National, Trouble Will Find Me. While I didn't really love their last one, this one is pretty solid, with a few amazing stand outs (namely "Demons", "This Is The Last Time","I Need My Girl" and "Humiliation"). Sad bastardry done right.

And, finally, on the 25th, I saw Mother Feather at the Bowery Ballroom, my second show of theirs. God damn can these women rock cocks. Aside from the awesome show, they had copies of their new, unreleased EP, Living Breathing available. After getting into them this last year, the anticipation of this EP might have trumped that of some of my favorite bands.

I think it's a combination of knowing the people creating this music and the fact that the music is fucking tight. This isn't some obligatory/courtesy thumbs up for some people I went to college with.  Ann and Lizzie are awesome at this shit, they've got it nailed down.

You can read my sincere outpouring and review of both the show and the new EP here.

And that's it.
Still working on my BITCHWISHLIST.
Next time I spit words at you, there's going to be a new Beck album AND a new St. Vincent album.
Wow.





* Or Sea Change 2 if all the articles and album cover are to be believed.

** And, in case you think I'm going to pout over NIN losing to Vampire Weekend, I'm not. I'm a pragmatist when it comes to these things. There's no way that the best Nine Inch Nails album in history will ever beat anything by Vampire Weekend. They have too much street cred and popular appeal. I'm comfortable with that, if a bit bummed.

This Bar Is Our Bar

The first week of November 2013 marked my return to the "stage" at Our Bar, the monthly sketch thing of which I am now a part. Big thanks to my two real friends, Jen and Christina who managed to make it out.
For the rest of you, I totally understand how hard it is to get the Midtown Manhattan. I completely get that there probably weren't any buses, trains, cabs or you-have-fucking-legs-and-could-have-walked-there-if-needed-be.
I rully do.
Rully.
You guys.
Rully.

Anyway, I've come to terms with my disappointment and with the fact that no one does anything any more if it requires more than clicking "Like" or "Favorite" or "Smile".
Sort of.

Man. I am just a sack of bitter squenchface today, isn't I?
Next time I'll just list the media I've been interacting with and my thoughts on it.
Promise.

Than you can click "Like".

JESUS!

FOCUS!

Okay.
The original reason for this was to delve into how it feels to be stage acting and writing (one of the three sketches I wrote for the November show was chosen and performed at the show, same with the December show) again. At least, in this particular format. I'm always writing something.
Usually scathing.
Usually directed at my friends.
Sorry.
This is a totally different place. I'm now writing with people in mind. I'm writing stuff that actual people who don't know me and don't get my charmingly poisonous sense of humor or perspective on life will see. And sometimes there's collaboration.
I like to think that I haven't really given a shit about what people have thought about me since I was 16 or so, and, on the whole, it's been a very helpful tool. When you take other people out of the equation that is your life, things get a lot less complicated.
I'm not talking about disregarding the rules of society, but more along the lines of spending time hoping that people will like me and trying to get them to do so by...I don't know...doing things to impress them.
It's a waste of time and energy.
But.
With Our Bar, I'm finding that feeling resurfacing.
When I write something, I now have to think: are these people who, for the most part, I find funny and intelligent, going to like this? Just because it's funny for me is it going to be funny for them?
If they don't laugh, is it because it wasn't funny? Or because they "didn't get what I was going for"? Or because their heads are not in a funny place on that particular day?
Or because it was so funny and I'm so talented that they're all threatened by my talent and are trying to make me feel bad?
Am I paranoid or just fucking gorgeous?
Writing with a particular audience in mind is nuts.
Then, and this might be the worst part, when I do write something that I think is funny and they do laugh, the first thing my brain asks me, in that subtle, knifelike voice is: are they just trying to make you feel welcome? Are they just coddling you? What do they get out of it?
And so on.
This has been my last ten years as an actor in New York City.
Every victory is almost immediately tainted with questions like that.
And, even if everything is just 100% diamond aces, there's always that awful question that every professional actor has to ask themselves...when's my next paying gig?
How long do I consider myself a professional actor until I don't anymore?
A month?
Six months?
A year?
And, if I'm a professional actor who hasn't worked in a year, doesn't that, technically make me unemployed?
That.
That is the downside to making six months rent in one, two hour VO session.

But, back to Our Bar.
When it comes to creating content, I've always found myself best in a sound board capacity.
Someone has a seed but that's it.
I like imagining what that seed will grow into. Is it a tree? What if this? What if that?
I do create my own stuff, but I always love the bouncing back and forth of ideas, and that's something else I've gotten from Our Bar, to a point.
At the handful of writer's retreats I've been to, it's, usually, all about seeds, although sometimes, someone will have a full scene that needs a little something. The beginning doesn't work, the ending is a bit abrupt, something seems to be missing, whatever.
Sometimes I get something out of the retreat and run off to write my own thing, sometimes not.
I don't like to force creativity, as you can usually tell when it's been forced.
Then, there's the submission and the readthrough and the jury and a whole bunch of other stuff that makes me feel like a teenager, desperately yearning for that same approval I yearned for before I evolved into someone who just doesn't need that as a source of sustenance.

I'm still rambling.

Okay....on the whole, the experience has been great but nervewracking.
And that's all my fault as these are some of the most warm and wonderful and fucking whip-smart and funny people I've ever had the pleasure of working with.
My friends Becca and Jesi brought me into this place and, despite the problems with my fucking eyes and everything I might say or do to myself to try and convince me otherwise, I'm loving it here.

The next show is Wednesday the 5th of February.
Pretty sure you won't be there.

A review of Mother Feather at Bowery Ballroom (1.25.14) and the new "Living Breathing" EP

I knew this was going to be good, but I didn't know how good until it happened to me.
Seeing pictures of a Mother Feather performance, one might think that they have an idea of how the show will play out, but, just as a picture of a sumptuous meal isn't the same as indulging in said meal...you get the idea.

Seeing Mother Feather live is like watching a bonfire; they smoulder and dance and explode and burn.
Along with heat, they emit a strange, aggressive, confrontational sexuality.
At times, lead singer, Ann Courtney, is a screaming, fist-pumping dynamo and, at other times, she appears as a chastened child...the kind who plays with matches, her voice is warm, impish, admonishing, dirty, flirty and often soaked in both sincerity and innuendo.

This might sound fractured, schizophrenic, but it all fits, it's all Mother Feather.

Ann and Lizzie (backing vocals and keyboards) work in perfect concert, like some ferocious, otherworldly clock, telling us to revolt and dance and live, rather than just what time it is. Their smirking, perfectly placed and executed interactions serve to expertly display their background in theater and how well they utilize it.

Highlights of the evening included the playful choreography of their opener, "Egyptology", the energetic sensuality of their infectiously catchy "Trampoline" and, as always, their massive, anthemic closer, "Mother Feather", which you really need to experience to understand. These ladies and their harem of talented instrumentalists are so much more than just what's on record, if you're just listening to the music, you're not getting all of Mother Feather.

And, speaking of the music...at their Bowery show on the 25th, Mother Feather debuted their new EP, Living Breathing.
This was a truly excellent birthday present.

Mother Feather's new Living Breathing EP

Like their first, self titled EP, Living Breathing contains four songs that range from fun to fiery and, also like their first EP, nothing here doesn't stand out. The drums aren't just keeping a beat, Gunnar Olsen uses every measure to do something to keep the listener present and engaged, and the interplay between Basile (bass) and Foley (guitar) is always riveting, never rote.  While it may not be as catchy or packed with instant hits as their debut, I was too caught up in reveling in new Mother Feather music to complain. One thing is does feature is a song called "Egyptology" (usually their set opener) and that's worth the price of admission alone. It's a blistering rocker centering around how funky the Egyptians were and containing the lyrics "I go where he go / follow my pharaoh / to the underworld disco / down in Old Cairo".

Yeah.
 Steve Martin and the Bangles wish they could write a song this awesome.
Someone find a song like this anywhere else, and I'll buy you a trampoline.
There's also "Mirror", which is as dark and intense as three plus minutes of uninterrupted eye contact with Ann herself, and the title track, another god damn awesome rock song with a fun, slinky, twisty climax that might be the sexiest suicide ever.

One aspect of Mother Feather I keep returning to is the fact that, after all the songs and all the music that have been, they have an originality and theatricality that doesn't seemed forced, we're hearing and seeing the real them; it's genuine and doesn't suffer from the pseudo-intellectual eye-rolling that plagues most of pop culture. They love and care about everything they create and that rings true in every facet of Mother Feather.

If you're interested, I interviewed the ladies of Mother Feather for my podcast a while back.
Check it out if you'd like to know about what makes these vixens tick.

digressive_obscenity - ep. 12 - mother_feather

A review of Nine Inch Nails' "Seed Eight (Remix 2014 EP)"

Before he'd announced Hesitation Marks but after he'd announced Beats Music*, I was 100% sure that Reznor was going to debut new Nine Inch Nails music on this streaming service as a way to get at least a few hundred thousand people (NIN fans who would gladly remove a small portion of their skin for new NIN music) to join on Day One.
I was kind of 100% right.
Yesterday was the debut of Beats Music and Seed Eight (Remix 2014 EP), a Beats Music exclusive** consisting of three new remixes of tracks from Hesitation Marks and one remix from the Japanese release of the album.
Seventy five percent of this free, promotional EP is not worth the money I didn't pay for it.

We start with the Hot Chip remix of "Satellite". On the album, it's a dark, dancy track that, as I've said before, might feel at home as the "edgy" track on a Justin Timberlake album; here, it's a boring, "thump aimlessly until we die" drag featuring some garbled whispers in the background that don't do anything at all for me or my dance bone. Keen example of some truly lazy remixing.
Next, we get the Cold Cave remix of "Running", the first twenty seconds of which tricked me into thinking it might be interesting. Then they start then they start then they started doing that obnoxious, shiity remix thing where they play the first half of a lyrical phase a few times before completing it. Genuinely innovative technique, gents. Grateful I'm never going to see these guys open for Nine Inch Nails, because I just might I just might I just might fucking kill myself.
Then, we have the Simian Mobile Disco remix of "Copy Of A". This! Here! Yes! SMD vs. NIN! WOO!
More like "WOE".***
I will say that I'm impressed they managed to find something less interesting than the Hot Shit**** remix. How can such a fun and talented bunch do something this pointless?!
Finally, we have the previously released Autolux mix of "Everything". Here's something interesting...when I first heard this, it was my least favorite remix from Hesitation Marks (the deluxe edition of which came with three additional remixes). The vocal manipulation done by Autolux made it sound like Trent Reznor was going through puberty right before our very ears. But now? After these other three poops? Although it brings stark relief to some of the silliness in the original ("SHAKE! SHAKE!"), I now have a deeper appreciation for it, especially the ending. At least Autolux tried something different.   

In general, remixes that only sample a tiny fraction of the lyrics from the original bore me, and those that just thump-a-thump-a  tend to annoy me. Going by those guidelines, I may never listen to the first three tracks of this EP ever again.
Here's a test: if you skip two minutes into a remix and the only thing that's changed is the addition of a hi-hat, you've got a bad remix on your hands. However, I see this release as an exercise in perspective: yes, I could just trash it and say it's a bunch of leftover remixes Reznor had lying around that he didn't have a place for...or, I could say that it's the perfect example of how juxtaposition can help one shift their point of view.
And, seriously, none of these are as bad as Olaf Fuckhead's abortion of "Me, I'm Not".

Oh, and the cover art might be the worst, most try-hard, high-school-teenaged-goth, angsty thing that's ever been associated with Nine Inch Nails...and I'm including these:

* Better than Pandora, Spotify, Deezer, Napster, Blinkbox and Rdio.
Apparently.
I guess.
I don't use streaming music things.

** Unless you know what a torrent is and, as all NIN fans know what a torrent is...yeah. "Exclusive" is such an exclusionary word...

*** ZING!

**** Typo?