Vampire Weekend

Some where along the line of listening to Vampire Weekend’s debut album for the third time in my car I realized that I really liked it. There wasn’t any feeling of “Holy shit, my brain is melting”, it’s just that whenever I had to play something on my iPod, my thumb just had to land on them, over and over again. The New York based band has been generating quite the buzz with songs that are simple, catchy and sound like something some blog savvy producer would slap on Gossip Girl or some such shit.

Don’t let that detract you from the sound however, as this Ivy League bred band crafts precise simple songs that sink in just the way you want them to. Vampire Weekend doesn’t hid the fact that they come from suburbia, as the song writing reflects. Songs about campus, cities, Lil Jon, being rich (well, more like dealing people with lots of money), show the upper middle class roots. Tie that in with the preppy look of the band, one could see a lot of reasons to dislike the boys. However, any negative predisposition is quickly disposed of as you move through the all too short 40 odd minutes of Vampire Weekends debut. And it all comes off without pretension. This album is pure college university rock, but if that is what it takes to craft a pop gem like this, then I guess I better get the hell out of community college.

Walcott

Oxford Comma

A Place To Bury Strangers

A Place To Bury Strangers – Missing You

For the semi-bashing I gave to Yeasayer’s All Hours Cymbals, I feel I owe something to Brooklyn’s other rising artists.  A band dubbed the “loudest band in New York City”, you say?  I’ll start there!

No kidding-I started the album off by nearly shattering my ear drums.  After plunging further into the album though, it wasn’t the same unnecessary noise that their reputation had me expecting.  It was far from being too aggressive or unbearable.  Sure, it can get damn near deafening at times, but the noise really is essential.  It’s a turbulent wave of passion and energy that sails (and doesn’t drown) the vocals.  There are tracks that remain focused on rhythm and are almost danceable, like “To Fix The Gash In Your Head” and “I Know I’ll See You”.  Along with tracks that soar through multiple levels and have a spacey feel, like “The Falling Sun” and “Ocean”.  Not too much to say, just a multifaceted, great album.  This self-titled debut definately astonished me. 

Concluding Words:  Post-modern Joy Division/Jesus And Mary Chain, with a very atmospheric backdrop.  It’s executed brilliantly-feedback has never sounded so damn good!  Pick this up (if you think you can handle it).  My favorite tracks were:  “Don’t Think Lover”, “To Fix The Gash In Your Head”, “My Weakness”.

Digitalism

One day I was clicking around myspace looking through my endless list of high school jail bait, and I stumbled across a sound that I had never heard before in my life. I started to rock out, but at the same exact moment I wanted to dance the night away. This was a sound like no other, a sound I enjoyed, and a sound I wanted way more of. The next day I went out and bought Digitalism’s album Idealism.

Now I don’t know much about Electronica, but I do know that I love, and by love I mean butt sex… uhm, I LOVE to dance, any time anywhere, especially with the ladies. Like I was saying, I don’t know much about Electronica, but I felt like this album should be brought to light. Now this isn’t so much of a bump and grind sound, this is more of a club, jumpin’, jivin’, and rockin’ sort of music. I mean, booty dancing is fun, but this CD is just fun as all hell. Every time I hear a song I just want to dance no matter what the situation, no matter what. It has super good bass (shlaps like no other in a Focus), the beats are sweet, sounds are smooth ecstasy, and some have lyrics which attracted me the most (it really added a new dimension). Even without lyrics, the CD just sounds damn good, unlike some other sorry excuses for music (i.e. Animal Collective, Tera Melos, and anything like that, they could be awesome if they slow their role and didn’t layer five songs together).

ANYWAYS! Go and give the record a spin and give it a damn listen for yourself, words are garbage. Dance, HAVE FUN! Here are some awesome sugary sweet beats to get down and dirty to: Pogo, Idealistic, and Zdarlight. I need to go watch an interesting movie.

Digitalism – Idealistic

Note: Dance, Next, Dance, Next.. Continue till awesome.

Duma Key

The latest Stephen King book, following Lisey’s Story, was not so unexpectedly, a pretty good read.

This coming from a fairly rabid fan of Stephen King is no surprise I’m sure, but as objective as I can say, it really was a genuine experience, and it reminds me why I like Stephen King in the first place, while at the same time introducing new aspects to his reading.

It starts off with a not so unbelievable premise, a horrific amputating accident to a amiable fellow who due to the pain and circumstance (and let us not forget necessity) turns into a different person. And like most people who experience such accidents, it’s either sink or swim. And while King does not flinch at having his characters contemplate suicide (nor does he flinch at killing them off), he has a bit of the romantic in him, and so does it gently. Like two virgins on a bed of clover.

The thing I liked about this book besides its obvious appeal to the fiction reader is the reality in which King sets his characters in. To those well versed in his books, turning the ordinary into something sinister and macabre is something expected. But what he does with this book while not entirely new, it is still something to enjoy. When reading this book you get to realize some of your feelings for the sea that King states so eloquently. You can remember this book while reading it for the first time, and reverberate with it while experiencing it. You can feel the colors of this book crisply which is another trademark of King’s. This book was RED as he would say, but it was other colors too.

I seem to have warbled on more than I meant, and so to wrap it up nice and neat for you: this book was worth the read.

Teddy Thompson

        Well, guess its about time ol’ Mikey Martin has had a post of his own.  That and I’m getting hasseled by my bosses to publish.  I was having a hell of a time thinking of what to write until I used my ears and listened to the album I had making rounds in my car.  This CD was Separate Ways by Teddy Thompson.  This CD came into my possession at the Tower Records going out of business sale, so it kinda just sat around my room for a while.  I finally picked it up and shlaped it on the player, and I was pleasantly surprised by the sound that was tingling my cochlea. 

        Im going to give it the old college effort to try and describe this CD to you, but you would be doing yourself a favor by listening to it yourself, because to me, this is a fusion of a few different genres.  This is a Folk album, but it blends many different sounds into it, and the sounds blend beautifully.  Now I listen to more country than the average joe, but I’m also no raging red neck.  It took me a couple listens to realize that Teddy has a very Country-esque sound both in his voice and in the guitars used.  He does this but also rocks it up a little bit by using more sounds and effects.  I would guess a keyboard was used for all the other sounds in the album.  It is real easy listening and is just a solid album.  Im not really sure how I could describe or compare his lyrics, so just go ahead and give him a listen.  A few of my favorites on this album are I Should Get Up, Everybody Move It, Sorry To See Me Go, and Think Again.

        This started many album reviews, so if anyone finds any importance in it, then right on!

        ”Teddy Thompson comes from a talented family, being the son of folk legends Richard and Linda Thompson, and he’s friends with another musical dynasty, the Wainwright family.”

Teddy Thompson – Everybody Move it/I Wish It Was Over

Note: Notice the first man and his funny voice, also click on Ryan Adams if you want more sweet tunes.

 

Clean Asia!

Clean Asia has to be one of the most unique, unforgiving, difficult, addictive shooters I have ever played. Developed by the great Cactus this game is highly recommended for fans of shmups, or just fans of gaming in general. Upon startup you have a choice of two drastically different ships, and three very different levels. While asthetically the same (both ships are just a simple white dot) the moveset and capabilities are totally different.

The “Attractor” is a Katamari/Tumiki like fighter, with the only controls being Thrust (Z) and Attract (X). Basically, by using your thrust (which makes you invincible) and ramming yourself into enemies and breaking them apart, you attract the debris to your ship holding X. You then use fire the debris back at the enemies by either letting go of X, which releases all the debris, or firing the collected debris in a stream by holding down Z while holding down X. If you get your timing down, you can decimate bosses in seconds. Of course, to collect debris you must get dangerously close.

The second ship, “Reflector” is more along the lines of your traditional fighter (Z to fire, X to reflect bullets, C for charge shot, V for bomb). While pieces still break off the enemies, you absorb them and use them as fuel for your abilities. You primary fire levels up from absorbing the debris of enemies. The extra abilities, such as Reflecting, Charge shots and Bombs are very powerful, but drain from this pool, and in turn level down your primary fire. This turns the game into a delicate balance between using your abilities to survive and keeping your primary fire strong enough to take enemies down.

Each of the three levels are highly challenging, with themes ranging from a Warning Forever like boss rush to just some good ol’ Bullet Hell action. This game is fucking hard (at least for this poor blogger) yet I keep coming back to it. And once again, Cactus proves that he can do no wrong.

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