Taking Ya Back to Highschool

High school can be a tragic time for some, while for others, it is the peak of their existence on a specific rung in the social ladder.   All of the cliques apply, and every stereotype is true.   Jocks, Nerds, popular girls, ugly girls and even racial lines; those four years of your life were all about how you fit into one category or another.  Many individuals will look back on their high school days and feel the urge to erase, many look back and gladly reminisce.  

Whatever the case may be the music you listened to back then was all too important.  Whenever a familiar song is played, it can take you back to where you were, and who you were there with.  The music may not have been as good when you look back, but in the moment, the song had relevance in your life.   Since Rolling Stone and Spin are putting out their 2010 playlists,  I decided that I would put out mine.  So here it is, most of these songs will take you back to somewhere between the years of 2002 – 2006, my “When I was in High School” Playlist.

Linkin Park

Taking Back in Sunday

Brand New

Finch

My Chemical Romance

Muse

New Found Glory

Blink 182

Alien Ant Farm

AFI

Sum 41

In 10 years we are all going to think this music was terrible, but for now it’s not too embarrassing.

The Boxer Rebellion: A New Marketing Plan

The recent decline in legal music sales has forced music marketers and artists to promote differently.   As CD stores fade away, a new medium of music integration has arrived at our theaters and TV screens.  In the past, after ‘Googling’, I have discovered bands through television advertisements.  Anytime I hear the song “1901” by Phoenix, I always think Cadillac.  Ford also featured the Band of Skulls song, “Light of the Morning”, in their 2011 Mustang commercial.  A movie soundtrack is always available after a little probing, but never has a band so readily jumped out at me as The Boxer Rebellion; featured in the movie, Going The Distance.  So ‘congrats’ to all you suits, your initiative worked.  In the film (spoiler alert) Justin Long’s character winds up fictionally managing, this non-fictional band.  An obvious display of the band’s webpage is shown, and two performances are featured in the movie as well.

Upon review of the The Boxer Rebellion’s music I am pleasantly surprised and actually thankful that I sat through this movie long enough to be interested. Following the death of his mother, singer Nathan Nicholson moved from Tennessee to England.  Through an internet posting he was connected with guitarist Todd Howe and the remainder of the band, Adam Harrison and Piers Hewitt.  While planning to tour with The Killers after the debut of their EP, TBR had to cancel after Nate’s appendix burst while on tour, requiring 5 hours of surgery, resulting in months of subsequent recovery.  The band has been successful since then, through their movie promotion, touring, and iTunes album sales.

The Boxer Rebellion has released two full-length studio albums.  The first, released in 2005, is entitled Exits.  Their second studio album, Union, was released in 2009 exclusively through iTunes.  A third studio album is promised for 2011; the title forecast for this album is The Cold Still. The Boxer Rebellion is actually a loaded phrase, and finding a catchy band name is becoming increasingly difficult as more musical acts emerge.  Digging around Wikipedia, I uncovered that the band derived its name from an uprising in Northern China between the years of 1899 and 1901 against Western Imperialism and the spread of Christianity.  The Boxers were known for their athleticism because they were under the impression that through the proper training, they could become impervious to gunfire and knife attacks.  As stupid as this sounds, the revolt lead to a siege of foreign embassies in Beijing and costly damages to European spheres of influence in China. 

I have listened thoroughly to the album, Union,  which sounds like less depressing Radio Head and is hitting the proverbial ‘spot’ with me during my stay here in wintry NJ.  Not only was Union named album of the year in 2009 by iTunes, but Spin Magazine named The Boxer Rebellion “Best Men in Black” at South by Southwest.  My favorite track on the album has to be No. 9, entitled “Evacuate”.

These guys are worth a listen if you will take the time.  The Indy scene can be disappointing and does require a great deal of sieving, but that’s what I’m here for.  Enjoy.

Money Never Sleeps, Kid

Sunday is always a day of relaxation, or at least an attempt.  New Jersey has apparently forgotten that this month is December.  The temperature is 50 degrees and rain is falling diagonally.  I cannot wait to walk my dog in a half hour.

Yesterday I sat down and watched Oliver Stone’s Wall Street:  Money Never Sleeps.  Before the film even started I had two issues with the administration behind the movie.  First, the byline; couldn’t you just call the film ‘Wall Street 2’?  Money never sleeps is a terrible caption.  In addition,  Michael Douglas uses this notorious line throughout the movie, taking away from it’s usefulness and adding to the cornyness.  Second, Shia Lebouf should not be in a leading role yet.  He is good in a supporting position, but as a lead, Lebouf is not ready.  Had the movie focused more on Douglas then it might have been more entertaining.

The film could have been better, but it could have been worse as well.  Starting with the good, I am always a sucker for high definition, wide angle New York City cinematography.  The hustle and cut throat nature of Wall Street was accurately portrayed along with the backwards nature of rumors, insider trading, and the recent meltdown of the U.S. financial system.  The movies premise is that Douglas, Gordan Gecko, has just been released from prison after 8 years.  Upon writing a book, he is attempting to make a comeback in the financial services industry and re-establish his name in the new world of equities and investments.  Michael Douglas, was as always, on point with his monologuing and egotistical musings.

The film had some weak points, at times the interconnections between the characters became convoluted, and a few moments of corny script writing took away from the overall seriousness of the movie.  A random action scene with Street Bike riding was thrown it, which was completely unnecessary.  Finally the ending seemed unsatisfactory.  There are certain movies that have double endings, where the writer could have left the plot at the cliff hanger, and saved the story, rather than look for resolution.  This is one such movie, and rather than spoil it for you, I’ll just say that Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps could have ended about 20 minutes earlier than it did.  I give it a 6.0


Going the Distance
Last night I was talked into watching “Going The Distance”  starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long.  Romantic comedy’s tend to disappoint, and this one was no different.  It feels as though writers of these movies use the same formula over and over.  The comedy seemed forced, and overly dirty although Long, and Barrymore both performed well.  If you would like to see Charlie Day (Charlie Kelly, the guy from Its Always Sunny with the high voice) as the exact same character in a different movie, than you’d be into this flick.  The banter between the friends was funny at times, but ended up being more of the same.  The only thing that saved this film for me, is the fact that I am in a long distance relationship. It was easy to relate to some of the conflicts that the characters were facing.  To conclude, if you are in a similar pickle, then this movie might help you feel better about it, otherwise don’t waste your time unless you are really bored and have watched every other good movie in your possession 934509823589234958 times already.

On an extremely positive note the movies soundtrack was stellar.  Through the film I was able to discover a band named The Boxer Rebellion, Check them out here.  They are your better than average indy band living in California from across the pond; UK.  100% worth the listen.   

They have some more up-tempo stuff, but this song was in the movie.

Also if you are into Dexter, which I am, then you know that the season finale is on tonight. 101.9 RXP, the best rock station in the country right now, interviewed Michael C. Hall about the series this past week. Here is the interview, I enjoyed it on my way to work that morning

Just some linkage

Big Geek Moment.

You should definitely check out this visual representation of Girl Talk's All Day Visual Mash Up!

I have been attempting to use twitter increasingly.  At the release of the website I was quite aprehensive of it's usefulness, I made an account but never really used it.  As of late I have been following my favorite music artists and websites along with Spin, Rolling Stone, and NME magazines.  The most notable epiphany from my new use of twitter has been the gorilla'z advent calendar along with the announcement of their new album recoreded solely on an iPad.  http://gorillaz.com/xmas

The West Coast is back!

Loving Broken Bells right now, although not enjoying their radio single as much as this song:

It is cold, but I guess I’m okay with that

Walking out of the house this morning, the mercury reads 20 F.  Frost has seized the grass that crunches beneath my feet and the extremities of my vehicle.  It smells like winter; a blend of dry, frigid air mixed with the aroma of burning wood. As my breath condenses into water vapor, I insert my key into the ignition to warm up the car before heading to work.  The sky threatens of snow, as gray clouds collide to form a low ceiling of gloom.

 

Moving from South Florida back to New Jersey has been an adjustment to say the least.

Living back with the family and renewing the northeastern attitudes have been cake, but the most glaring difference has been the weather. 

 Down there it’s in the 50’s and people are complaining that it is cold.   The forecast for Palm Beach this week is dry and sunny everyday with little chance of precipitation.  The weather isn’t the key variable though; weather merely reflects the tone of residents and the overall mood of the area.  In Florida, it is always the weekend, life’s always a beach, and it is probably 5 o’clock somewhere (I hate you Jimmy Buffett).  Here in New Jersey life is all about the deep water ports and the coming and going of personnel and goods.  Cheaper, suburban living is constantly sought out as most commute into the Big City.  The time to work is always, and everyone a hustler.  If you want to make a buck, then here is the place. Sleep is for the weak and the pace is quickened.  Walk briskly with your head down, your iPod blaring, and your coat drawn.   

Sometimes I miss my life in the South, but I guess I’m okay with Jersey for now, at least this is home.  

Shipping Up to Boston

Last night I decided to delve into both sides of the Crime movie coin, both comedy and drama.    I’ll start with the more lighthearted of the two first.  The movie Bottle Rocket, directed by Wes Anderson was first in the queue.   Starring Luke and Owen Wilson, the plot follows Luke Wilson’s voluntary release from a mental hospital and his antics with friend Owen Wilson (Dingman) as they attempt to pull off seemingly simple heists.   This film was recommended to me by a friend at work and I Ioved it, but many of my co-workers complained that they never get Wes Anderson’s movies.  Maybe it’s the dialogue or the mood of the movies that make viewers take them too seriously.  The banter between Owen and Luke was great, Owen Wilson never fails to disappoint with his ignoramus statements and blundering false intelligence.  The key factor in the chemistry between the two was Luke Wilsons melancholy attitude vs. Owen Wilsons enthusiasm throughout.  

Wes Anderson did a great job in directing what was not a hilarious movie, but rather a brilliantly funny movie. 

As a side note, this movie did not make any money.  The budget was estimated at 7 million, and the movie only grossed just over 1 million. 

Second, and more notably, I caved and watched The Town last night, directed by, and starring Ben Affleck.  When I first saw the trailer for this movie, warning alarms, buzzers, lights, laser beams and motion capture cameras all activated in the fortress of my brain.  “Here comes a terrible movie” my inner psyche defiantly declared.  In my mind, I imagined the movie byline, “Its Ben Affleck as you’ve never seen him before, in Boston, with the accent, a chip on his shoulder, smarter than his peers, and going for the good girl when he knows he can’t have her.”  Sounds to me like Good Will Hunting with automatic weaponry.  I even heard someone call this movie a cross between the Departed and Heat, which is one of the boldest movie statements made in the history of the universe.   

Much to my avail, this movie was acceptable.  I was pleasantly surprised by the acting, the dialogue and the plot.  The first scene had very high energy to set the tone;  although it does not surpass the opening scene of Heat or The Dark Knight, it was good enough.  Portraying the underworld of Boston’s criminal organizations, the warring ghettos and past debts; the movie shines just enough light into Doug MacRay’s (Affleck) character to make you feel bad for him.  I don’t even like Ben Affleck and I hate everything about Boston… yet this movie is still deserving of a look regardless of any pre-conceived hatred of its elements. 

And here are some related videos, the first, always makes me want to drink Guinness and punch the nearest person in the face.

 

The King is Back

Atlanta’s self proclaimed King of South will be releasing his 7^th studio album on this coming Tuesday .  About a week early, the full album leaked on the internet and I was able to get a listen.  Entitled, No Mercy (changed from King Uncaged), the record is meant to be the third in a trilogy that included T.I. vs T.I.P. and Paper Trail.  Featuring the likes of Eminem, Drake, Christina Aguilera and the Neptunes, the album sports the classic southern swag we have all grown to love from Mr. Clifford Joseph Harris.  There are a few throw away tracks on the album, but right away I picked out four stand out songs after my  second listen through:

Track 5: That’s All She Wrote Ft. Eminem

Track 6: No Mercy Ft. The-Dream

Track 12: Poppin Bottles Ft. Drake – pay special attention to the Drakes verse

Track 14: Castle Walls ft Christina Aguilera – hook might be a little corny but I like the songs overall feel.

A noticeable difference in darkness between No Mercy and Paper Trail is evident, most likely due to T.I.’s recent release from prison on drug charges (which he has gotten in trouble for again).  While Paper Trail featured club banger after club banger, No mercy takes a darker turn.  Call it a downgrade on the energy and an upgrade on the lyricism.  I’ve been following T.I. for quite some time now, and looking all the way back to King, he has had quite the career.  

Have the skills fallen off?  Not really, although the production could have been better.  At times some of the beats feel repetitive and not as catchy as I would like.  Other than that, my gripes are limited so for now, the King is Back.  The south is definitely due for an ignition, and this is sure to start it up.  Be on the lookout for Wayne’s return to the limelight, coming straight out of Louisiana to combust hip hop heads everywhere with The Carter 4

Also,

Here is another great video that I found the other day through the usual mediums.  Love the music that goes with it as well.