A Public Service Announcement

I am a random person on the internet. You can trust me on this...

If you have a Playstation Network account (that's PSN, the online service for Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable), change any/all passwords that shares the same password as it. If you've ever made a purchase over this service, have your credit card info changed.

PSN was hacked last week, and is still down indefinitely. I figured not being able to redeem my Steam copy of Portal 2 was the worst of my troubles... Until Sony finally spilled the beans that maybe kinda - well pretty much definitely all information you have entered into PSN has been obtained by hackers.

So yeah, might wanna get that sorted.

album of the week: 4.4

TV on The Radio

Nine Types of Light

(2011)

Why you'll love it: Beautiful, dense, and mature soul music

Why you'll hate it: Heavy on the love, some songs might not stick at first

It's a bummer to be doing so many of these reviews lately with an undertone of sadness. The bulk of Japanese releases last month was intentional. Last week, I swapped out Progress (2001) by Rx Bandits at the last minute. They still have a farewell tour to do, and maybe I can save Progress for its 10 year anniversary date… I'm bumping up Nine Types of Light by TV on The Radio to this week, as a result of bassist Gerard Smith's heartbreaking cancer diagnosis and death.

It's at least a little consoling knowing that Gerard was able to complete this record with the band before he left us, and that it is their best release yet. Nearly all of the unnecessary noise and gain of the earlier albums have been scrubbed away; revealing a very smooth and vibrant production. The range of Tunde Adebimpe's voice is wider than ever. While Dear Science (2008) was an interesting first step to a cleaner sound, I found it to be a bit too simple and reliant on hooks and phrases. The songs on this record are more dense and mature.

In the past, TV on The Radio has wow'd me at first with their approach, then fatigue sets in about 5 songs into the albums. The've hit a sweet spot here. The impulsive songs shift and manifest to stay interesting. The slow songs build in way that invite you to get lost in. Only one song, "Killer Crane", did not feel like a must have track on this album. "Keep Your Heart" is of the style that was made redundant by the end of Return To Cookie Mountain (2006); but this time, because of the clean production and solid performance, it feels new and fresh. It's easy to complement Gerard's contributions to this album, thanks to the clean production. The bass on "You" is unquestionably what makes that song.

When the intro, "Second Song", started off, it had me thinking "Is this even a song? What kind of delivery is this?" Then, at about 1:20, the tide begins to change, and the song shifts gears in a big way. It has grown to become my favorite on this album, which is bursting with hits. Hits that are love songs, no less! Normally, I roll my eyes at love songs (even ones written by this band in the past), but these are handled with so much realistic attitude and maturity, that I found myself really going along with them. "Will Do" is fantastic.

Hopefully this will be the last melancholy review I'll do for a while. It's under bittersweet circumstances, but Nine Types of Light will be one of 2011's best, guaranteed.

mini-moog forest

I went to see Cinematic Titanic again last Saturday. It's the original cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000 doing what they do live. The movie chosen by the audience was a total shitshow from the 70's called The Alien Factor. You can even watch the whole thing on youtube here (i skipped to the best part).

album of the week: 4.3

Polysics

Oh! No! It's Heavy Polysick!!!

(2011)

Why you'll love it: Non-stop crazy innovative technopop madness

Why you'll hate it: Too alien; you miss Kayo.

While writing these every week, I'm usually listening to the album (not for the first time, of course). I've had to start over three times so far, because Oh! No! It's Heavy Polysick!!! makes me stop what I'm doing every time, as my subconscious slips away into a technopop vortex. I try to be more critical than normal when dealing with my favorite bands, but have almost nothing but praise for this!

Now in the double digits of LP releases, Polysics should have jumped the shark a long time ago. The departure of their longtime synth player was a sudden shock to fans in late 2009, and retroactively explained the shortcomings of their last album, Absolute Polysics. Losing your only synth player would seem like the end of a new wave band, but this new approach to songwriting using more sequencers has brought a new jolt of innovation when they most needed it.

Probably the strongest motif of this album is the emphasis of being a trio. Electronics have not been all left to a robot. The drummer and bass player sing more, and each man a sequencer. Hayashi has even more toys to play with now. There are lot of songs on here that give everyone in the band a moment to shine. "Let’s ダバダバ" and "Subliminal CHA-CHA-CHA" are the best examples of this, and also the other defining mark of this album, fan service.

From the album art, the "Let’s ダバダバ" PV, to the content of a lot of the songs themselves, there is a lot for the longtime fan to chew on. "Subliminal CHA-CHA-CHA" is probably the coolest song they've ever written, and the time out for each member of the band gives it so much charm. "Let's…" may seem like sugary pop, but fans will pick out Yano's contribution, the solos in the middle, and realize a song would not have come together like this in the past. It's exactly what I want from Polysics in a pop song, something so over the top that it makes me pause at first, and challenges me to just let go and enjoy. I lot of this album has the kind of free will and expression that defined 2006's Karate House.

There is a debate to be had about handing over a bulk of the electronics to sequencers, and it's a worthy one, on both sides of the matter; but I don't feel that has any impact on a studio album. There are no rules when it comes to creation. With the new lineup, electronics are now flying faster than ever, and at unpredictable moments. "Cough Cough" is explosive! "3 Point Time" is the kind of technical approach I've been waiting to see from this band for years. They did not burn any bridges. There are still plenty of melodies that can be performed if they recruit a new P behind the keys in the future. There is a clear feeling throughout the album though that change is afoot. "Jumping Up And Clash" is the closest thing to the middle of the road pop song, and it's pretty damn far from the middle. Polysics isn't reaching for a wider audience this time, they're firing up their fanbase.

The only bad things i can say about this album is that newcomers may not appreciate or understand how exciting some of the changes are. Objectively, only two tracks feel weak. "Go To A Strange City", while reminding me of relatively unknown no-wavers, Numbers, ends abruptly just when it is getting good. It also has a awkward vocal delivery at the end, as does "Much Love, Oh No!". While those moments make me tilt my head a bit, it's their willingness to experiment that I love so much. So even when what they attempt is a dud, I get a bit excited by them just trying it. This is a stretch of a complaint. Every song has something great to take out of it. It's hard to rip on any of the songs, because they all have so much character and definition. There isn't that polish that made everything on Absolute Polysics mush together. All the different sounds are clear and vibrant.

This is probably the best Polysics album since their lineup last solidified in 2004. I can't decide if this beats out Karate House or not. It's start to finish excitement, and doesn't overstay its welcome. Most importantly, it innovates with the changes to the lineup; something last year's eee-P!!! did not do. It's been a questionable two years of studio output before now, but Oh! No! has proven they aint dead yet.

[you are only human]

Lots of shenanigans have been going on with the impending release of Portal 2 on Steam. The Valve IP has used its games distribution system to hide little ARG easter eggs in specific titles. The latest addition to Bit.Trip Beat is, to my knowledge, the most significant: an entire level devoted to Portal 2.

I just played it. loads of fun. I was gonna record it, but it seems someone has saved me the trouble.

UPDATE: I booted up Amnesia, as well, and it seems that was also patched with a bonus campaign (titled Justine)

This seems to be even cooler (as the references to Portal are quite faint) and it feels like a full fledged brand new addition to the game out of nowhere. I was enjoying what I played of it, before a power out struck my neighborhood (a real jolt scare when you're hiding in a virtual basement from monsters at the time!)

album of the week - 4.2

Broadcast

Haha Sound (2003)

why you'll love it: not your ordinary ambient / dream pop band

why you'll hate it: may lull you to sleep

I was all set to post a review of the new Parts & Labor album when I discovered Trish Keenan, vocalist of the ambient electronic band Broadcast had died of phenomena just a few months ago. Well, the new Parts & Labor album sucks. Maybe I'll get to it in detail sometime later this year. While hardly ever recognized, Broadcast didn't suck. So I'd much rather rant on about my favorite Broadcast album, Haha Sound, in memoriam of Trish.

Haha Sound comes from a strange place. I don't know who the band's personal influences are, but a lot of this record sounds like something on The Twilight Zone, or Goblin's excellent contributions to the '78 Romero classic, Dawn of The Dead. In references outside film or TV, I think fans of fringe trip-hop like Portishead would catch on to this sound quite easily.

The cool thing about Haha Sound is that as strange is it gets, it never gets lost and ceases to become music. It's not as experimental in ambient sound as Squarepusher gets when at his worst. There is a constant reassurance of melody, and Trish's relaxing voice to keep the strange atmosphere they create flowing. While most songs are immediately accessible, a song like "Valarie" will begin too heavy on the vocals, seeming a bit to chior-y; then fade away into a welcoming echo of feedback and electronic hum. Later, in "Minim", things start out much too abstract and confusing, then turns the page to revel a wonderful pop melody. The band is very good at balancing their duality out and not forcing either side down your throat.

This careful balance may work against them depending on the kind of listener you are. They don't allow themselves to be definitive, and thus may come off as neither here nor there. This is certainly not the kind of album you sing along to in your car. It's something you quietly enjoy. To some, it may lull you to sleep. I find it to be a very engaging and constantly interesting album. "Lunch Hour Pops" is an unforgettable song that sounds like it came from bizzaro Mars Disney. "Pendulum" rocks (as much as their sound allows them to) like a James Bond theme on LSD.

The album overstays its welcome, but I tend to feel that way about nearly everything more than 35 minutes these days. "Oh How I Miss You" and "The Little Bell" sort of go in circles, and kill the mood. Trish single handedly brings it all back with her performance of "Winter Now", but for some, their point might have already been made, and you're probably done with the album by now. Broadcast made music too artsy for radio, but too accessible for most of the indie crowd, to ever really make a splash. While their path was a strange one, with little reward, they were successful in carving it out. Hopefully, they made an unforgettable impression on others, as they have on me. RIP Trish.

facebook is weird

I found these comments under a howstuffworks.com article about what to do with squeaky brakes.

...... ?

album of the week: 4.1

Radiohead

The King of Limbs

why you'll love it - interesting, moody, and calculated in the way only Radiohead can do

why you'll hate it - not so much of an album, few highlights

Put on your safety goggles and crash helmet; someone on the internet is gonna talk about Radiohead! Going by what we read, we'd think Radiohead is one of those ultimate "Love em or hate em" bands. While I believe OK Computer did change the production landscape of the modern rock album; fanatics have made it so anything less than glowing infallible praise for Thom Yorke and co. for each album since then is the voice of low-brow stupidity, or stubborn trolling.

I try my best to ignore the cries on either side of "pretentious rubbish" or "artistic genius", and give each Radiohead release a fair shake. It's been a month since The King of Limbs was released, so that should be enough time for the songs to breathe, as some of their material doesn't catch on the first couple listens. After a good month spent with this album, I'm realizing that announcing its existence about 5 days before release was the best thing for it. This did not allow hype to ferment, only to be dashed away by this 8 song release with no real sense of flow or theme.

These are pretty much just 8 songs. Some of the songs are really good. "Lotus Flower" is amazing. People complain about Yorke's falsetto, but the way it bounces off the drum machine loops and around the baselines… damn. I can't imagine this song done any other way. "Little By Little" and "Morning Mr. Magpie" have that kind of aggressive melancholy attitude that defined Hail To the King. They create this feeling of uneasiness in me, but at the same time it's hypnotic and hard to turn off.

There is some repetitiveness in their use of loops and related lyrics that may get on your nerves. It's sort of like noticing an exit sign when sitting in a movie theater, and never being able to zone it out from then on. The instrumental, "Feral", may do this to you. I've found "Give Up The Ghost" to be impossible to listen to because of a repeated line.

As much as I like some songs, it's the lack of stability that keeps me from me coming back to this like I do with other Radiohead albums. The closer, "Separator" is the only upbeat song on the album. It's distractingly upbeat, considering the album begins with "Bloom" (interesting, but hardly a song). It's not as if any songs in-between have any kind of progression from opener to closer, to sort of create a point A to H sort of thing. They're just there.

With very few memorable moments, and a seemingly random assortment of songs, to release this as an "album" kinda puts a shrug on the whole thing. Radiohead probably could have let these songs sit another year and released something epic, but I'm not sure if they care. They've already made a handful of landmark albums. They've got enough credit (critically, and financially) to do whatever they want. Fans probably shouldn't care, for the same reason. They've already proved themselves. Just enjoy more Radiohead.

pine on

A new Obits album was released last week (it's amazing!). You can get a taste of their new songs in this free bootleg of a show in Georgia. Sounds not-so-bad, for a bootleg.

Obits: Live at Caledonia Lounge 3/21/2011