album of the week: 7.4

Asian Kung-Fu Generation

Magic Disk

Ki/oon (2010)

Why you'll love it: Reminiscent of smart indie pop like Jets To Brazil and The Get Up Kids

why you'll hate it: Bland compared to their older material, nothing wildly innovative

On first glance, there is a deceitful mediocrity to Asian Kung-Fu Generation. Their accessibility and total Western indie rock influence makes them sound a bit like every late 90's Weezer clone band. I'm sure many people who dig them, have been only for providing the opening credits song to their favorite anime. It wasn't until their 2008 album (World World World) that it became obvious to me that this band is a step above the average assembly line of emo-pop, and deserving of much more praise than writing "that one song" in some anime you like.

There is nothing experimental about what AKFG does, but their songs have such a familiar structure and easy to remember melodies, that the language barrier is completely torn down. Even on the slower songs of Magic Disk have a flow to them that sticks with you. They seemed to have learned from their mistakes in Fanclub (2006), which was their previous attempt to mellow out. No songs this time out make you go "I bet this would be interesting if I knew the words, but there is nothing else really going on here."

Because of the relaxed style of Magic Disk, the album isn't the eye-opener World World World was. The story I've heard was that singer, Gotoh, hijacked the album in a manner of speaking; which results in a lot of similar paced songs. No indie noodling to be found here, but certainly no fast paced rock numbers. The closest such thing is the title track, which is nothing compared to singles over the past couple years, let alone the early days.

There isn't a single bad song on here. After two spins, I was able to look at the track list and recall at least one catchy chorus or guitar riff from each of them. This feels more like a really good b-sides compilation than an actual album with big highs and lows. The only real complaint I have about this album is one I've historically had for the band. They have no real uniqueness to them. Nothing influential. Frankly, they're just more skilled and have a better ear for melody than most bands. If only this was what general mediocrity sounded like, the radio would certainly be more enjoyable.

nawt's happened

I have nothing to talk about this week, so I'm just gonna plug My Brother, My Brother, And Me.

It's the best podcast around today.

album of the week: 7.3

Dan Sartain Lives

One Little Indian Records (2010)

why you'll love it - no one is more authentic than Dan Sartain

why you'll hate it - repetitive, nothing compared to past material.

Any fan of Dan Sartain has to crack at least a smirk at the title Dan Sartain Lives. After a four year absence from the studio, I was convinced we'd never hear from the guy again. This is the third Dan Sartain… titled album but the first that doesn't depict his death on the cover. So this really feels like something big might happen. Perhaps a new side to the Alabama rock and roller?

Sadly, not the case. Join Dan Sartain was one of my favorite albums of 2006. Perhaps it was the Swami Records bump, but his sound was richer and worthy of Speedo's ever present exaggerated praise included in the sleeve. Lives feels flat, and despite Sartain's swagger not backing down, the simplicity of his songs really show in an ugly way here.

A lot of these songs sound good, and some are still quite fun in their simplicity ("Doin' Anything I Say" and "Atheist Funeral" come to mind), but too many don't distract from how repetitive the lyrics tend to be.

These songs are all about 2-3 minutes, and a few of them repeat the song title in the lyrics upwards of ten times! Yes, I counted. I lot of these songs sound like demos. I don't mean the quality; the songwriting has gaps that could have been filled with better stuff than just the same catch phrase over and over again.

It's pains me to say this isn't a very good album, because Dan Sartain is a musician I rarely hesitate to recommend to anyone, even factoring this record into the sum. He's pure honest rock and roll. But this collection of songs to not do him justice, and are certainly not worth the four year wait. He's done much better than this, and hopefully will have the chance to do better in the future. So go see him on tour if you can, and buy a copy of Join or something. He deserves another shot.

sci(fi)ence

If there are any of you out there still picking up the pieces of this weekend's mindblender, Inception; here is an article that you may find helpful. It explains a lot of the internal logic from most of the final act craziness ("if ___ happened, why didn't ____ happen?" kinds of questions.)

It doesn't go into the details of how those machines work, that wasn't touched upon in the film, but a lot a plot points that people may be hung up on. Also, SPOILERS!

album of the week: 7.2

つしまみれ

Sex on The Beach

Victor Entertainment (2010)

why you'll love it - noisy fun. not afraid to be too cute or too ugly

why you'll hate it - hella japanese. Not as crazy as past releases

つしまみれ (TsuShiMaMiRe) has got to be the most polarizing band I listen to. They somehow manage to combine two of the most extreme cliches of popular Japanese music, to create a lovable abomination. This is a noisy distorted band. The singer, Mari, is not afraid to lose control of her voice as she rants and screams like a schozophraniac about body image, sex, and food. A flood of noise like surf punk on crack usually accompanies her.

That is satisfaction enough for me, but not enough for this band. What is apparent to anyone who has heard them before, is their tendency to drop straight into full-on cute overload at any given moment. I am not kidding around here. It is total stereotypical anime and candy bars nonsense. You may be confused at first as to how intentional it all is. Make no mistake, they do it on propose, and in doing so make very memorable and psychotic music.

The weird thing about Sex on The Beach is that it's a bit of a sophomore jinx album. Despite being around for nearly a decade, last year's あっ、海だ。was actually their full length debut. あっ、海だ。was also an incredible obscene masterpiece. I even loved the bad songs on that album, because of how risky and expressive they were. Taking on another full album in just a year, the band has fallen short of their typical mental explosions this time out.

Don't be let down yet, つしまみれ will still annoy you and tug on your nerve endings. "おばあちゃんのBrasserie" has a relentless chorus and intense vocals. I'm hoping "J-POP" is a cheeky criticism rather than a tribute song, as I find that to be the most stupid and pointless genre term ever (Nerdcore in a close second). Knowing them, it's probably the former. "Strobe" is a pretty damn good pop song once removed from the context of its awful PV. "Nezumi Sensation" is nothing but wonderful noisy garage rock. "桃だろう" walks the line between the two styles as well as they ever have in the past.

This is the most consistent つしまみれ release for sure. There are no clunkers on this, which is a first worth mentioning. It just doesn't live up to the reputation that precedes them. Either they have lost a bit of their mojo, or they are becoming better lyricists, and being more subversive in that area instead. That would be good for them, but not so much for me, because their sonic atrocities are what makes me love the band so much. There just aren't any memorable songs on this album. Good ones, for sure, that rock; but none that really slap you in the face.

Newcomers will still be taken aback by this though, and they're still a tough sell of a band. Whenever they tour here, it's always part of some awful lousy "Check it out, we're from Japan!" kind of gimmick festival. This is probably because most people won't give this band a chance outside of weeaboos. Trust me though, there is more behind the surface with these girls. The best kind of punk rock are attempts to walk outside of the oppressive chauvinistic mohawk bully tropes. つしまみれ gets under the skin better than most punk bands do. Give this bitter pill a chance.

you lose! good day sir!

The Evo fighting game Tourney is this weekend. It's being streamed right now.

I suck at SSF4. I have a really hard time beating the game on easy. I can't perform any of Zangief's movies. I can't pull off Ultras when facing right. But watching the insanity of the game is still fun. So is watching some of the weirdoes who play it.

album of the week: 7.1

The Slackers

The Great Rocksteady Swindle

Hellcat (2010)

why you'll love it: Still clever and consistent

why you'll hate it: lyrics are a big step down from last album

It's business as usual for America's finest ska band, The Slackers. Now this would normally be considered your standard above average album for the group; if not for their last outing, Self Medication (2008) being their finest. The Great Rocksteady Swindle now has the unfortunate responsibility of a follow-up album. Which is sad because it is still much better than most stuff they have released in the past decade.

The album has a great carefree "we play whatever we feel" attitude from song to song. Too carefree at times. The lyrics are frequently too awkward, almost as if they were an afterthought. That is until you realize that for this album, all members of the band contributed songs. A novel idea, but when the lyrics are bad, they are very bad. A lot of rhyming just to rhyme here, or in the case of a song like "Sabina", having no sense of rhythm. The Slackers still perform as well as ever here. It sounds they're right there in the room with you. Wonderful mellow coffeehouse ska. But I gotta say, coming from songs like "Stars" (off of Self Medication) to a song where they just sing "I'm livin' in a tool shed" over and over again is quite a disappointment.

But The Slackers never would have lasted this long if they didn't move at their own pace or only stick to what works. They aren't here to make hits. They're almost like private session musicians, who only serve at their own whims. There are a good chunk of great songs here, but hardly any that are all that memorable. If you can be bothered to stick around to the end though, you'll be treated to a wonderful anthem "The Same Everyday". The repetitive lyrics are a perfect fit on this song. Clearly the best on the whole album.

Musicianship has always been the strong point of this band. It's clever of them to play with the lyrics like this, something around their tenth album depending on if you count collaborations and dub instrumentals. To be honest though, it does the songs more harm than good this time out. Luckily, they play so well, the pros and cons even out.

blame the weather

Not so much PS3 that has been stopping the last update. I can't even turn the damn thing on, it's so hot in this room. It's awful just sitting here typing this.

But the real reason is holiday. I visited the west coast for the first time ever. There was lots of cool stuff, but the lame things are more interesting, like the awful touristy shops on fisherman's wharf, CA. This one was my favorite.