The Hold Steady's new single is out now.
Sequestered in Memphis.
Click here to listen to the track.
You can't even imagine how excited I am right now. New album's out July 15th.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Now Hear This!
M83 - Graveyard Girl
I just can not stop listening to this song. This atmospheric pop band from Antibes, France has written one of the catchiest singles of the year so far. When I hear this song it just makes me want to get in a car with the top down and drive fast... thinking about ex-girlfriends or something equally futile.
Check them out on their MySpace page. Right now the song is first on their list.
I just can not stop listening to this song. This atmospheric pop band from Antibes, France has written one of the catchiest singles of the year so far. When I hear this song it just makes me want to get in a car with the top down and drive fast... thinking about ex-girlfriends or something equally futile.
Check them out on their MySpace page. Right now the song is first on their list.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Back to your regularly scheduled programming...
Okay, so I've been gone a while.
Arsenal did not win the Premier League. The season is over and Arsenal finished once again without any trophies. But third in the league and reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League is still a pretty damn fine season. The month of June brings the transfer window, and the Gunners are in serious need of some top talent, especially since Mathieu Flamini said he's leaving. Did someone say Deco is going to be available?
I was right about No Country For Old Men being the best movie of the year (at least according to the Academy). You can look that up in my mini review of the film back in a previous post. A damn fine film, but not my favorite of the year. Juno would have to take those honors.
I'm planning to start a regular weekly(?) segment here about what I'm currently listening to, what I've read recently, or what interests me in the world of television and film. Watch this space.
I have every intention of checking in more often, but I say that now with no knowledge of what interest this blog will hold for my future self.
And maybe someday soon, someone will actually read this shit I sputter out.
Cheers!
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Monday, February 4, 2008
Arsenal's back on top!
With the 3-1 victory at Manchester City this weekend, Arsenal have moved back atop the leaderboard in the English Premier League. Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice in the deciding win, and he is really in top goal scoring form at the moment for the Gunners.
Manchester Untied drew 1-1 to Tottenham this past weekend at White Hart Lane, allowing Arsenal to surpass them in the overall table. And Chelsea drew 1-1 to Portsmouth, leaving them 6 points off the pace and ending a 9-game winning streak.
This Sunday, United play City in a Manchester derby at Old Trafford, and Chelsea play host to Liverpool. And Arsenal host Blackburn on Monday at the Emirates. All are crucial games for each club as the season progresses and the title race heats up.
Manchester Untied drew 1-1 to Tottenham this past weekend at White Hart Lane, allowing Arsenal to surpass them in the overall table. And Chelsea drew 1-1 to Portsmouth, leaving them 6 points off the pace and ending a 9-game winning streak.
This Sunday, United play City in a Manchester derby at Old Trafford, and Chelsea play host to Liverpool. And Arsenal host Blackburn on Monday at the Emirates. All are crucial games for each club as the season progresses and the title race heats up.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Songs of the Year!
Okay, disclaimer: this is completely random and thought up on the spot right now. I wanted to compile a list like this of my favorite songs of 2007, and since it's almost February, I'm a little behind the times. But here's what I liked in the past year anyway.
Feist - 1 2 3 4: The first song on the list is that semi-annoying but goddamn catchy single from the iPod nano commercials. This is also the best video of the year, by far. If you haven't seen it's full-sequined kaleidoscopic awesomeness, do yourself a favor and click here now. Yes, that was ONE take!
Amy Winehouse - Rehab: Well, this one was just so damn fun and catchy. The perfect song for the English addict.
Sea Wolf - You're a Wolf: Something about not fitting in or being a follower. Like sheep. Wolf's clothing. Okay, I don't know what it's about, but it has gypsies and it's a lot of fun. There.
Bloc Party - I Still Remember: I don't know if this song is technically from 2006 or not, but it's off the A Weekend in the City album that was released in 2007 (I think). It's on my list, so fuck off. Either way, I do not get tired of this song. And I've listened to it A LOT.
LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends It's like six or seven minutes long. It's incredibly repetitive. And it may just be the best song of 2007. Pitchfork seems to think so.
Radiohead - In Rainbows: Any song off this album is a single. So, I put the whole album on my list. Do something.
Spoon - The Underdog: Touted as "the greatest song Billy Joel never wrote" because the guitar riffs sound like Only the Good Die Young or something. I don't really care that people are saying that. It's the catchiest song off one of my favorite albums of the year.
Rihanna - Umbrella: She took an inanimate object and turned it into a sexual innuendo. The world fell in love with it. It's an amazing pop song, what can I say?
Simian Mobile Disco - I Believe: Catchy and dancy and on the FIFA 08 soundtrack. It's fun. And it has a positive message.
Kanye West - Stronger: Let's be honest. This song was huge. Just like all his other singles. I had to put it on the list just 'cause Kanye sure knows how to make hip-hop mainstream. And somehow he used Daft Punk to do that. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?
Arcade Fire - (Antichrist Television Blues): The whole album is amazing, and this is my favorite song from Neon Bible. I read somewhere that the narrator in this song was supposed to be Joe Simpson (yeah, that breeder of Ashlee and Jessica fame) but I'm not sure if that's actually true. It sure is fun to listen to when thinking about that though.
Band of Horses - Is There a Ghost: Atmospheric pop at it's finest. Their first song on Cease to Begin sets the album off to a cracking start. I think you can hear this on some car commercial or something.
Okkervil River - Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe: I don't really know why I like this song so much. I heard it a couple of times on Sirius 26 and it just sorta stuck. The album's not too shabby either.
Dinosaur Jr. - Almost Ready: A 2007 single straight out of 1989. This reunion did not miss a beat. So. Fucking. Cool.
Modest Mouse - Missed the Boat: Two of my favorite bands come together for this damn catchy single. The Shins front-man James Mercer croons the chorus parts in the background. I love this song.
Wilco - Impossible Germany: I could really pick almost any song off Sky Blue Sky, but this was the big single. It has something to say about the impossibilities of countries in and of themselves, but I don't know what that means. I just like listening to it.
Kate Nash - Foundations: Maybe more a song for 2008, but I first fell in love with it from a Paste magazine sampler CD a few months back. Turns out it's starting to get some decent radio play. An English potty-mouth pop singer following in Lily Allen's footsteps. If it wasn't so good, I'd have just called her a copycat. But do your thing, girlfriend (yeah, I just said that).
I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting like something from The National's Boxer or anything Bright Eyes or "the Boss" did in the last year. But I feel like I'm done here. I wish I could include youtube links to each of the videos of the songs presented here, but I just don't care enough. Or if I knew how to stream audio in this blog, I might just not care enough to do that either. Feel free to hunt these songs down to hear more or simply ignore me entirely.
Cheers!
Feist - 1 2 3 4: The first song on the list is that semi-annoying but goddamn catchy single from the iPod nano commercials. This is also the best video of the year, by far. If you haven't seen it's full-sequined kaleidoscopic awesomeness, do yourself a favor and click here now. Yes, that was ONE take!
Amy Winehouse - Rehab: Well, this one was just so damn fun and catchy. The perfect song for the English addict.
Sea Wolf - You're a Wolf: Something about not fitting in or being a follower. Like sheep. Wolf's clothing. Okay, I don't know what it's about, but it has gypsies and it's a lot of fun. There.
Bloc Party - I Still Remember: I don't know if this song is technically from 2006 or not, but it's off the A Weekend in the City album that was released in 2007 (I think). It's on my list, so fuck off. Either way, I do not get tired of this song. And I've listened to it A LOT.
LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends It's like six or seven minutes long. It's incredibly repetitive. And it may just be the best song of 2007. Pitchfork seems to think so.
Radiohead - In Rainbows: Any song off this album is a single. So, I put the whole album on my list. Do something.
Spoon - The Underdog: Touted as "the greatest song Billy Joel never wrote" because the guitar riffs sound like Only the Good Die Young or something. I don't really care that people are saying that. It's the catchiest song off one of my favorite albums of the year.
Rihanna - Umbrella: She took an inanimate object and turned it into a sexual innuendo. The world fell in love with it. It's an amazing pop song, what can I say?
Simian Mobile Disco - I Believe: Catchy and dancy and on the FIFA 08 soundtrack. It's fun. And it has a positive message.
Kanye West - Stronger: Let's be honest. This song was huge. Just like all his other singles. I had to put it on the list just 'cause Kanye sure knows how to make hip-hop mainstream. And somehow he used Daft Punk to do that. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?
Arcade Fire - (Antichrist Television Blues): The whole album is amazing, and this is my favorite song from Neon Bible. I read somewhere that the narrator in this song was supposed to be Joe Simpson (yeah, that breeder of Ashlee and Jessica fame) but I'm not sure if that's actually true. It sure is fun to listen to when thinking about that though.
Band of Horses - Is There a Ghost: Atmospheric pop at it's finest. Their first song on Cease to Begin sets the album off to a cracking start. I think you can hear this on some car commercial or something.
Okkervil River - Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe: I don't really know why I like this song so much. I heard it a couple of times on Sirius 26 and it just sorta stuck. The album's not too shabby either.
Dinosaur Jr. - Almost Ready: A 2007 single straight out of 1989. This reunion did not miss a beat. So. Fucking. Cool.
Modest Mouse - Missed the Boat: Two of my favorite bands come together for this damn catchy single. The Shins front-man James Mercer croons the chorus parts in the background. I love this song.
Wilco - Impossible Germany: I could really pick almost any song off Sky Blue Sky, but this was the big single. It has something to say about the impossibilities of countries in and of themselves, but I don't know what that means. I just like listening to it.
Kate Nash - Foundations: Maybe more a song for 2008, but I first fell in love with it from a Paste magazine sampler CD a few months back. Turns out it's starting to get some decent radio play. An English potty-mouth pop singer following in Lily Allen's footsteps. If it wasn't so good, I'd have just called her a copycat. But do your thing, girlfriend (yeah, I just said that).
I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting like something from The National's Boxer or anything Bright Eyes or "the Boss" did in the last year. But I feel like I'm done here. I wish I could include youtube links to each of the videos of the songs presented here, but I just don't care enough. Or if I knew how to stream audio in this blog, I might just not care enough to do that either. Feel free to hunt these songs down to hear more or simply ignore me entirely.
Cheers!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Oscar noms announced!
This is always an exciting time of year for me, as the 2008 Academy Award nominations are out today. And my frantic journey begins to track down and see every movie on the list of who I think are the deserving candidates. Or is that "whom I think?" Ahh, screw it.
The full list is located at OSCAR.com, so feel free to peruse for yourself and make your own assessments.
I've only seen two of the Best Picture nominees (Juno and No Country for Old Men), so I have my work cut out for me to see the rest by the end of February. Especially Michael Clayton which is no longer in theaters. But that's all part of the fun, isn't it?
The full list is located at OSCAR.com, so feel free to peruse for yourself and make your own assessments.
I've only seen two of the Best Picture nominees (Juno and No Country for Old Men), so I have my work cut out for me to see the rest by the end of February. Especially Michael Clayton which is no longer in theaters. But that's all part of the fun, isn't it?
Thursday, January 3, 2008
The reason I read superhero comics
So, I just finished reading Mark Millar's and Bryan Hitch's Ultimates 2 hardcover last night. I couldn't put it down and read it until 2:30 in the morning.
I go through these phases where I start to tire of the same-old, back-to-status-quo superhero comics that flood the shelves these days. I mean, let's be honest with ourselves, most of them are just unnecessary reads. We only read them 'cause we like the creators or the characters. Do we really need 12 Batman titles and 5 solo Wolverine books? Of course not.
But every once in a while something comes along that gets me back into superhero comics hardcore, and this is it. I fell in love with the first volume of Ultimates back when I was reading it monthly, but I managed to avoid any spoilers for the last 4 or 5 issues of this series, since those are the only ones I haven't read. What a goddamn pleasant surprise. I can't even explain to you how geeked out I was with all the cool shit they did with Thor. It's 2:00 in the morning and I'm sitting on my bed with a big-ass grin on my face reading the Avengers re-imagined. I don't need you to tell me how much of a dork I am, but I defy you to not do the same when one of these hefty hardcovers are put in your hands.
God damn! I'm still thinking about this book and if it weren't for the fucking tower of trades and graphic novels I have piled on my floor to be read, I'd read this thing again right now. It's just. So. Cool.
I go through these phases where I start to tire of the same-old, back-to-status-quo superhero comics that flood the shelves these days. I mean, let's be honest with ourselves, most of them are just unnecessary reads. We only read them 'cause we like the creators or the characters. Do we really need 12 Batman titles and 5 solo Wolverine books? Of course not.
But every once in a while something comes along that gets me back into superhero comics hardcore, and this is it. I fell in love with the first volume of Ultimates back when I was reading it monthly, but I managed to avoid any spoilers for the last 4 or 5 issues of this series, since those are the only ones I haven't read. What a goddamn pleasant surprise. I can't even explain to you how geeked out I was with all the cool shit they did with Thor. It's 2:00 in the morning and I'm sitting on my bed with a big-ass grin on my face reading the Avengers re-imagined. I don't need you to tell me how much of a dork I am, but I defy you to not do the same when one of these hefty hardcovers are put in your hands.
God damn! I'm still thinking about this book and if it weren't for the fucking tower of trades and graphic novels I have piled on my floor to be read, I'd read this thing again right now. It's just. So. Cool.
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