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Nick

Review: She Wants Revenge’s She Wants Revenge

aresultofboredom.org's music week

Okay, for starters, I hate self-titled albums. They are really, really pointless. I mean, at least artists in other media call their works “Untitled” when they can’t come up with a name that conveys the emotion of a given work. Self-titling is like leaving something set to default that could easily be changed.

That being said, I adore this album from start to finish. It’s become one of the ‘stickiest’ albums in my possession in that I seem to get completely glued to it and listen over and over again. The only comparable music in my collection has to be the works of Chris Corner as expressed by I Am X and the Sneakerpimps. And, as an interesting study of my musical-psychology, they are actually very similarly styled. I don’t know what it is about artists that make synthesizers sound so erotic but they are really all it takes to get me hooked. You may have seen the video for “Tear You Apart,” directed for the band by Joaquin Phoenix. The whole damn album sounds like that video looks: dark, gritty, covered in smeared mascara and incomprehensibly sinister. It’s fantastic!

  • Sounds like: I Am X, The Faint, Depeche Mode…anything that makes you want to take sexy photos while slitting your wrists
  • Favourite track: “I Don’t Want to Fall in Love”
  • Worst track: I can’t really say this even exists on the album
  • Overrated: See above…it’s only a little bit played now, so this might change, though
  • Best surprise: “These Things”

4 stars

I know, I know…

…that this post isn’t music related. But, I had to post this while I was still feeling jovial from what I received in the mail. Volkswagen sent me a card today and it has to be the most adorable piece of customer care stuff I’ve ever seen.

Inside the oh-so-trendy transparent envelope that read “One lump or two?” was a card featuring a classic Beetle with an ice pack. Opening the card, I found a $10 Starbucks gift card (do they know their demographic or what?) and the following copy:

Dear Nicholas,

We heard your VW just visited your local repair shop. Sorry about that. We don’t like it when our drivers can’t be, well, driving. So, to help make up for the inconvenience, we’d like you to treat yourself to a nice Caramel Macchiato with this Starbucks Card loaded with $10. Or cookies. Cookies always make things better. They’re good like that. If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at 1.800.822.8987.

Your friends at Volkswagen

I defy you to not grin while you read that. I laughed all the way up the stairs from my mailbox. Because cookies really do make things better. And I’ll probably buy them with a latte, because I would anyway. And now it’s easier, thanks to VW. 🙂

System of a Down…

aresultofboredom.org's music week

Seriously, guys…why do you have to be such arrogant assholes when interviewed? I really don’t listen to your music all that often. I mean, there was a time a few years ago when I liked you well enough. “Aerials” had a cool video and was a decent song and “Boom!” fit the political climate perfectly. Then I just kinda moved on. No hard feelings. Tonight, I was watching Fuse while I painted at the coffee table and you were the featured artist on some show or other. I watched the videos I remembered, saw a few decent newer ones and thought “Hey! Maybe I’ll listen to System of a Down again.” Then, I saw Julia, host of Uranium (a stupid metal show) and thought “I have always had a crush on her…let’s just see what this is about.” She was interviewing you in some non-descript hotel room. And that’s when it began…

Why did you have to treat her so badly? Honestly, does it make you feel more important as artists to dodge questions, answer by only saying ‘felatio’ and then to condescend someone who is just trying to help promote you? I mean, if your goal is to alienate people who might possibly listen to your music and try to understand your art, then you’ve done a bang up job.

Just sayin’ that I won’t be listening to you any time in the future, that’s all.

Incongruous, at best…

aresultofboredom.org's music week

What exactly USO shows, U-Boats, World War II or the beach at Normandy have to do with My Chemical Romance is beyond me. However, director Marc Webb apparently has much more insight into (il)logical connections than a mere mortal like myself. Thus, we are treated to a complete and utter trainwreck of faux sepia-tone patriotism – mixed with dance numbers!

Apparently lead singer Gerard Way also had a hand in this mess. Webb describes it as such:

“Gerard had this idea for awhile. The main thrust is that it takes place in World War II, and there’s a USO dance and these combat sequences too,” Webb said. “The USO dance happens during the verses of the song, and the combat sequences happen during the chorus, because there’s a big dichotomy between those two parts of the song.” (via MTV.com)

My retinas just liquified from the brilliance.

In short, I’m watching MTV Hits. (Tagline: “We play anything but what our name implies!”)

P.S. Does anyone, anywhere, actually like U2?

Review: Coldcut’s Sound Mirrors

aresultofboredom.org's music week

I finally decided to have some discipline with myself and apply this new forced focus to the task of actually reading this month’s issue of Wired. I don’t know why reading my favourite magazine has become such a difficult task for me, because I’m always pleasantly rewarded at least once everytime I pick up a copy. However, this is neither here nor there: my point is that I found Coldcut’s Sound Mirrors in Wired this month.

Wired calls Coldcut’s members remix legends. I don’t know if it’s true, being as this is the first and only time I’ve heard of the duo. However, if all of their work is as good as Stereo Mirrors, they’ve more than earned their title. The album is like a scalpel made of ice with its chilling edge. I picked up an import copy which included a second bonus disc worth of materials that I would recommend finding on your neighbourhood pork-based tracker.

To break it on down:

  • Sounds like: Gorillaz interpretting the Prodigy as sung by Shirley Bassey with a vocorder
  • Favourite track: “Man In a Garage (Feat. John Matthius)”
  • Worst track: “Walk a Mile (Feat. Robert Owens)”
  • Overrated: “Mr. Nichols (Feat. Saul Williams)”
  • Best surprise: “Colours the Soul”

3 stars

Starting tomorrow…

A week of album reviews, musical nostalgia, artist gossip and whatever else we can pull out of our collective ass.

Shameless plug…

I’ve been busy tonight creating a brand new image and updating my personal portfolio site, Portfolio. Aside from this new piece, I’ve also added image packs sized for mobile phones. I tried to include the most common sizes but, if I overlooked your particular phone, please let me know the model and/or the resolution and I’ll add it to the collection. Click on the Mobile link in the navigation bar to check out this new feature. [edit: pulled and redirected to Portfolio]

Letting go…

I get so caught up in the way things should be. I think this is the cause of most of my ongoing frustration with the entire world. I’m aware of this fact, but very rarely do I let it deter my normal course of actions. Walking today in Bellefonte, I came to the realization that I’m actually alive at a pretty cool time for this world of ours. As the sun shone down and the birds did their tweety thing on a 60º day in February, the reality of things was rather apparent. The climate’s changing, satellites on Victorian painted ladies reveal permeating technology. New European luxe-boxes parked beside aging jacked-up F-150s illustrate a growing affluence. It’s all rather breath-taking when you think about just how much change there really is…even if the jumble of today is an aggravating reminder that it’s not tomorrow just yet.

So yeah…I took a moment to be in today. I sat on a bench. I watched the locals and the trees and thought about how it will be 21º again in a few days and all this messy life will go into a grey hiding for awhile again.

I was glad to be an observer today.