With the dismal state of movie affairs, I was afraid the disappointment would carry over to the music scene so I had been putting off purchasing Weezer's and Coldplay's latest album. After getting over my paranoia I got my ass to JB Hi-Fi and made the purchases. The verdict?
I am happy to report that I am fully contented on the music front!
Coldplay has reinvented their sound and whether the change can be attributed to Brian Eno's involvement, personal growth, or the need to silence the comparisons between them and Snow Patrol, Viva La Vida is different from their usual fare. I've always said that Coldplay has progressively been growing style-wise, especially if you compare the dreamy sounds of Parachute with the rousing stadium rock of X&Y.
But I can't crow to much about Viva La Vida. I have to admit that thus far, I've only heard the entire CD once. Not because it's unimpressive, because it is, but my attention has been diverted elsewhere. Namely, The Red Album.
This is without a doubt, Weezer's comeback album. The Red Album is, in a word, glorious. I am aware that I might actually just be overcompensating and overprojecting enthusiasm here after the utter disappointment that was the-album-we-do-not-speak-of, but Red sounds great. I believe Austin Powers would describe the band as, "getting [their] mojo back".
Weezer over the years.
Weezer got off the drugs they sang about in Make Belive and are back to form. Yes, I went there. If there's anything good about that abomination, is 'Perfect Situation', 'The Other Way' and making lame jokes about the rest. Weezer, you are pardoned. What can I say? Lame albums breeds lameness. That's just how it works. For another example of that rule in action, observe the utter lameness that is Scott Stapp and his band, Creed. Not the same but I'm sure you get my point.
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A.V. Club recently featured the best tracks thus far of 2008. Read the article here. Going through it made me realize how out of loop I am with the current music scene. Out of the 27 tracks, I have only heard 3. And two of the songs don't count because I only heard them after buying the albums mentioned above.
Somehow without listening to the radio and little access to new music, I caught onto the MGMT bandwagon. While 'Time to Pretend' is good, 'Indie Rockers' and 'Boogie Down' have been on constant repeat on my iTunes. If my iTunes could speak, it'd probably scream, "KAREN, GET NEW MATERIAL ALREADY. AND STOP PLAYING MARIAH CAREY TOO."
All this talk of new music got me wondering. How do people go about picking up new tunes? Is it from the radio, forums, the Internet or if you want to be super old school, magazines and newspaper reviews? I usually get new releases from bands I already like or suggestions from my brother, who has the most agreeable and varied taste in music. I used to have a Last FM but that didn't work out so well. How do you get new music?
I am happy to report that I am fully contented on the music front!
Coldplay has reinvented their sound and whether the change can be attributed to Brian Eno's involvement, personal growth, or the need to silence the comparisons between them and Snow Patrol, Viva La Vida is different from their usual fare. I've always said that Coldplay has progressively been growing style-wise, especially if you compare the dreamy sounds of Parachute with the rousing stadium rock of X&Y.
But I can't crow to much about Viva La Vida. I have to admit that thus far, I've only heard the entire CD once. Not because it's unimpressive, because it is, but my attention has been diverted elsewhere. Namely, The Red Album.
This is without a doubt, Weezer's comeback album. The Red Album is, in a word, glorious. I am aware that I might actually just be overcompensating and overprojecting enthusiasm here after the utter disappointment that was the-album-we-do-not-speak-of, but Red sounds great. I believe Austin Powers would describe the band as, "getting [their] mojo back".
Weezer got off the drugs they sang about in Make Belive and are back to form. Yes, I went there. If there's anything good about that abomination, is 'Perfect Situation', 'The Other Way' and making lame jokes about the rest. Weezer, you are pardoned. What can I say? Lame albums breeds lameness. That's just how it works. For another example of that rule in action, observe the utter lameness that is Scott Stapp and his band, Creed. Not the same but I'm sure you get my point.
A.V. Club recently featured the best tracks thus far of 2008. Read the article here. Going through it made me realize how out of loop I am with the current music scene. Out of the 27 tracks, I have only heard 3. And two of the songs don't count because I only heard them after buying the albums mentioned above.
Somehow without listening to the radio and little access to new music, I caught onto the MGMT bandwagon. While 'Time to Pretend' is good, 'Indie Rockers' and 'Boogie Down' have been on constant repeat on my iTunes. If my iTunes could speak, it'd probably scream, "KAREN, GET NEW MATERIAL ALREADY. AND STOP PLAYING MARIAH CAREY TOO."
All this talk of new music got me wondering. How do people go about picking up new tunes? Is it from the radio, forums, the Internet or if you want to be super old school, magazines and newspaper reviews? I usually get new releases from bands I already like or suggestions from my brother, who has the most agreeable and varied taste in music. I used to have a Last FM but that didn't work out so well. How do you get new music?
