Yes, even worse than Fox News

VS is the worst channel in these United States. It's been cutting to commercial randomly all through game seven of a quarterfinal NHL game all night. I mean right in the middle of gameplay. Announcers interrupted mid-sentence, no score display bumper, everything. They even broke into ads during the entire last 45 seconds of the game!!

Hockey gets no respect anymore.

album of the week: 5.2

Deftones

Diamond Eyes

Reprise (2010)

why you'll love it - powerful music with substance

why you'll hate it - "chugga chugga" metal. Not as experimental as their better albums.

Metalheads don't deserve a band as good as Deftones. It's hard to feel sorry for a band as successful as they are, but their scene and associated bands do not allow people to give them their due credit. They are NOT a Korn, Limp Bizkit, whatever kind of band at all, and you should really give them a fair shot. Not enough people do.

Diamond Eyes has a bit of everything that Deftones do well. It's one of their harder albums, which means a good share of that "chugga chugga" sound. I'm not a big fan of that sort of thing. I much prefer their experimental side (White Pony, Saturday Night Wrist); but beneath that thick metal exterior is an impressive range of influences, some of which you may be surprised to find are gentle.

This big story with this album is the absence of bassist, Chi Cheng (still in a coma from a car accident in 2008), and the originally planned album, Eros. It's still a mystery what this near completed album sounded like, but understandably, it's been benched until the band is emotionally ready for it (though they claim the decision is purely creative). Diamond Eyes was written upon reflection of these events, and makes a point to be optimistic, confident, and beautiful.

It's the contrast that I enjoy so much in this album. The 2004 self titled release attempted this, but fell short. Chino's soft tone shift in the chorus of songs like "Beauty School" and "976-EVIL" are pitch perfect. If you've been following this band for the past ten years, there won't be anything new here, only improved. Their subtle shoegaze and post rock influences shine. This is one of those albums you can get a lot of plays of and notice different things each time. Of all their harder sounding albums, I think this is their best; although Saturday Night Wrist is still the definitive Deftones album.

Make sure to check out the iTunes release of the album for the extra cover songs. An excellent version of "Do You Believe" by The Cardigans. Not so keen on the Japan cover, but "Caress" by Drive Like Jehu is hot stuff. Acknowledging DLJ at all earns you respect points, but recording a boss cover… !

Don't be stupid, listen to the Deftones more. They know their shit.

LOL graffiti

album of the week: 5.1

The Radio Dept.

Clinging To A Scheme

Labrador Records (2010)

why you'll love it: beauty through fuzz, innovative and catchy

why you'll hate it: hard to hear lyrics, very melancholy

There are a lot of threads to explore in detail with this album. Firstly, I've been waiting for its release for over two years. This month in 2008, the first single, "Freddie And The Trojan Horse" was released. It was a great song that marked a point of evolution for an already great band. So how great in the much anticipated full LP? So much, that they didn't even bother including that song in the final track list!

Clinging To A Scheme is ten tracks, just over thirty minutes, zero duds. The closest thing to a weak point is "The Video Dept." which sounds a bit too much like Pet Grief (2006) hangover. All the other tracks mix genres so well, all you can really say is what they aren't. Too fuzzy for trip-hop, too melodic to call noise, too structured to call shoegaze, etc etc etc… They've managed to create something original by using modest doses of familiar insperation.

Almost every song is a highlight. "Domestic Scene" is a perfect intro track. "Heaven's on Fire" is so pop, it's practically an experiment for The Radio Dept. "Never Follow Suit" has incredible atmosphere to it; as if it's an alternate reality version of "Ghost Town" by The Specials. The breakbeat club loops woven into "David"; the strange ping-pong sound effects in "A Token of Gratitude"… the album is full of subtle memorable moments, and constantly maintaing an accessible melody. This is all around perfect album if you like dreamy music.

The only trappings of this album are a couple quirks The Radio Dept. has always had that either you love or you don't. The echoey distorted vocals. The melancholy tone of 95% of the songs. Cryptic lyrics. These things may frustrate certain listeners who demand more straightforwardness in their music, or need everything to sound clean.

To me, this album has lived up to the two year hype. It's a big improvement in versatility, and has proven to be much more interesting than most of what I've anticipated this year (Gorillaz, Hot Chip, capsule). One of the best of 2010 for sure!

behind schedule

Haven't been hitting my deadlines this week. The PS3 arrived last weekend with Super Street Fighter IV. Man, I am not good. I'm having fun checking out the new characters. Almost every character is new to me, since I haven't played a fighting game in about 15 years.

I think the only fighting game I'm good at is Smash Bros, because of the environmental stuff; and even there I think I'm being too kind by saying "good". So yeah, blame any future lack of updates on my eating of fireballs and long walks away from the computer to ease frustration.