Dave's Blog - Movie, Music, Concert & Footy Reviews!

The Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part 2

2011-04-26T10:21:00.003-05:00

Mike "Mike D" Diamond, Adam "Ad Rock" Horovitz and Adam "MCA" Yauch have completed their eighth studio release Hot Sauce Committee Part 2. The Beastie Boys have been at it for a long time and continue to put out some quality music. The new CD is a good collection of tunes. They seem to have taken a mix of styles from the years and combine them to make the new album.

With a little help from NAS the first single released last year was Too Many Rappers. A pretty killer tune that keeps a great beat as they all rap throughout it. The whole album has some great beats and really rocks you to it. Keeps you pumped up through out. They use many of the old effects that they used with some of the fuzz noise as well as various others. Still there is a lot of regular instruments being played and is in classic form.

Santigold joins in for the song Don't Plan No Game I Can't Win. A nice beat with a little bit of a reggae sort of feel to me. It's great to hear the boys back at it and to hear MCA rapping again after his battle with cancer. Sounds just as good as he did before.

It's been a few years since I've seen them live, but they would certainly be on the list of bands I would really love to see live this coming year. Pick this album up for sure!

Have a listen to the stream here: http://beastieboys.com/preorder/

Track List:

1. Make Some Noise
2. Nonstop Disco Powerpack
3. OK
4. Too Many Rappers [new reactionaries version] (featuring NAS)
5. Say It
6. The Bill Harper Collection
7. Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win (featuring Santigold)
8. Long Burn The Fire
9. Funky Donkey
10. The Larry Routine
11. Tadlock's Glasses
12. Lee Majors Come Again
13. Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament
14. Here's A Little Something For Ya
15. Crazy Ass Shit
16. The Lisa Lisa/Full Force Routine

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light Album Review

2011-04-06T15:10:00.002-05:00

The new Foo Fighters album was produced by Butch Vig and was recorded fully on analog tape in Dave Grohl's garage in San Fernando Valley, CA. There's a really good mix of songs on this CD, from some songs that sound like classic Foo's to some new sounds with a different touch. They certainly put their time into putting together a really nice collection of tunes for this one.

"Bridges Burning" starts you off with a really good pumped up song that keeps you rolling from the start with the heavy guitars and beats. The first single off the album was released early on iTunes, "Rope" has a different feel to it. Sort of a funky rock feel to start and gets into a really good rockin' song. There are a few ballad type songs as well as a few really all out rock songs that might make your head spin.

"Dear Rosemary" is a slowing song with a nice tempo and then you kick into "White Limo" which is more of a screaming metal type song that seems a bit out of place for this album, but still has a bit of a entertaining Rob Zombie feel to it. "Alandria" goes back to a typical Foo Fighters song with Dave starting out with a little yelling voice into the slow melodic sound that kicks it in with a jam. Quite an awesome song.

"These Days" is like the ballad song that goes from mellow to the rocked out chorus and back to mellow. Great tune for sure.

Most of the album follows a typical format of the Foo's over the years. It really is another really nice to hear summer CD. I would guess that we might even see them out on a tour this summer to support the new CD. Hope they come back to Kansas City. Last show here was a total blast.

Track Listing:
1. Bridge Burning 4:46
2. Rope 4:19
3. Dear Rosemary 4:26
4. White Limo 3:22
5. Arlandria 4:27
6. These Days 4:58
7. Back & Forth 3:51
8. A Matter Of Time 4:36
9. Miss The Misery 4:32
10. I Should Have Known 4:15
11. Walk 4:16

Radiohead - The King of Limbs Album Review

2011-04-05T16:28:00.002-05:00

Radiohead is Colin Greenwood, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Philip Selway and Thom Yorke.

Here we go starting it all off with the old electronic drum machine repeating the samples for a minure before Thom Yorke joins in to the first song "Bloom". He does bring it together really well with a melodic sound playing as he sings in a really mellow tone. Still I would much prefer to hear the boys get out some instruments and play like a band! After three years since their last album, Radiohead started this one out as an electronic copy for sale on their site and a limited edition package as well. It has been officially released on all other media outlets as of April 5th.

There are only eight songs on this collection and about 36 minutes of music. I would have hoped that after the gap in time they would have put a few more together for the fans, but I certainly will take what i can get. They are all relatively mellow tunes and lots of repeating beats through the songs. Overall I really enjoy the feel of the whole album and really hope we will see a tour come out of this one. Please make your way to Kansas City!

Track Listing:1. Bloom 5:14
2. Morning Mr Magpie 4:40
3. Little By Little 4:27
4. Feral 3:12
5. Lotus Flower 5:00
6. Codex 4:46
7. Give Up The Ghost 4:50
8. Separator 5:20

The Gaddabouts - The Gaddabouts Album Review

2011-04-05T16:13:00.002-05:00

The Gaddabouts are Edie Brickell, Steve Gadd, Pino Palladino and Andy Fairweather-Low. Their first CD has been 10 years in the making and now in 2011 finally is officially released. From the stories and interviews it sounds like Edie ran into Steve and they decided to get together and do some songs. I for one can certainly say that I'm happy that they have done so. This is an allstar band in my mind having work with so many accomplished artista over the years.

Edie's lyrics tied into the music writing skills of these guys really all comes together in this eleven song collection. There's a great vibe about this whole cd from accoustics playing, blues, jazz and so many other styles hit this album. You can check a little more about the band out at www.thegaddabouts.com. They will be playing their first and at this point, only show on Friday, April 8th at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. It's all sold out, but if you have a ticket, enjoy something you may never see again.

This album is fun, everything from slow paced songs to bouncing up and down songs. My favorite of the bunch are "Mad Dog", "Let It Slide" "They Say Everything". "Mad Dog" is really a good old fun song and makes me want to get up and clap along and dance every time I hear it. The bluesy guitar of a song like "Gonna Hold On" is another one of those that make you want to dance around as well.

There's a lot of maturity in this album. I think there is in many of Edie's songs but this album really shows a nice touch of the different flavors of what she is capable of putting out. "Feelin' Better" just finishes it off with some great energy.

I say go get this NOW! What an awesome collection of songs.

Track Listing:
1. Never So Far Away
2. Let It Slide
3. Remind Me
4. My Heart 5:07
5. They Say Everything
6. Mad Dog
7. Gonna Hold On
8. Good Day
9. Good For Me
10. More Than Anybody
11. Feelin' Better

Edie Brickell - Edie Brickell Album Review

2011-03-30T21:06:00.008-05:00

I keep hearing it's good to see Edie making a comeback! Well from what I see she's been around the whole time or at least actively writing and releasing music since 2004's Volcano. In 2006 she put out an album with New Bohemians called Stranger Things and then in 2008 it was Heavy Circles with Harper Simon under the name Heavy Circles. In 2011 we get two releases and a handfull of live performance dates. The first is the self titled album Edie Brickell and the second in The Gaddabouts.

Edie's first release this year the self titled album Edie Brickell is produced by Charlie Sexton and contains many songs that were written over the past ten or so years. She originally started writing the songs with Carter Albrecht, a close friend and member of New Bohemians. Carter was killed near his home in Texas and Edie put down the tracks until she felt ready to get back to them. The Album is dedicated to Carter and he performs on most of the tracks.

Edie worked with Charlie Sexton, Dave Monsey, Jim Oblon and Carter in making this album. She currently is performing several shows with Charlie Sexton, Dave Monsey, Dave Palmer and Aaron Comess as her backing musicians. This includes a date in Austin on May 4th at The Continental Club as well as two nights in New Orleans on May 6&7th. Last January Edie played a sold out at Radio City Music Hall opening for Iron & Wine as well as an appearence on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.

The new cd is filled with fun upbeat songs and really catchy tunes. The CD itself has 10 songs and Amazon.com has an exclusive download of the song "Go". "Give It Another Day" starts it off with a really nice song to get you hopping along and some good guitar play. "Pill" has a good message about how crazy our world has become that you can take a pill for everything.

"Been So Good" has a nice soulful beat and is one of my favorite song on the CD. Good old rock song that just makes you feel good. "Always" has a pretty funny start, not sure what's going on exactly, but it's a fun song and really has some great Carter piano in it. "2 O'Clock" slows it down a bit with a nice mellow beat starting it off and just flows really well.

"On the Avenue" is a fun upbeat song starting off with some good bass and drums and comes along really nice. Makes you feel like you are hanging out on the porch on a really lovely night in the city. Reminds me of the house I grew up in back in Milwaukee, WI. "Waiting For Me" has good vibes from the start, quite enjoyable from the start. Really nice guitar play through out the song.

"You Come Back" adds a bit of a pop feel with the piano at the start and the drums. Sort of a romantic sound about it that I can't quite hit. The next song is quite a beautiful song, "It Takes Love" is a nice ballad that really brings out Edie's beautiful voice with her brilliant writing abilities. "Bad Way" keeps a bluesy beat and is once again a really fine song. I love Edie with the songs that start a little slower and work into a nice beat.

The bonus track is a song called "Go" that I believe might be from The Gaddabouts but put on this as an exclusive bonus. It might actually be one that they, but really seems to fit along with the Gaddabouts. Still I really like the rocking feel and the guitar playing as well as the drums are really prominant in this one. A good way to finish off the album. A brilliant album in my mind and well worth going out and getting or downloading on iTunes. Follow what Edie is up to on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ediebrickell with the latest on performances as well as interviews and other stuff.

Track List: 1. Give It Another Day 4:18 2. Pill 3:48 3. Been So Good 4:17 4. Always 2:58 5. 2 O'Clock In The Morning 5:01 6. On The Avenue 4:38 7. Waiting For Me 3:25 8. You Come Back 5:57 9. It Takes Love 3:19 10. Bad Way 5:03 11. Go (Exclusive Bonus Track) 3:53

Soundgarden - Live On I-5

2011-03-30T14:04:00.003-05:00

Soundgarden was on a 13 year abscence from the music scene as a band. They reunited in 2010 for a couple of shows and a CD release of various songs as well as one unreleased new recording "Black Rain". Now they have released their first live recording from various shows on the 1996 tour that were played on the West Coast along I-5. This collection of live recordings hits a good mix of the different cds as well as a couple of covers they did.

There are the ever classic songs like "Black Hole Sun", "Spoonman" and "Burden In My Hand" as well as some other really rockin' stuff like "Jesus Christ Pose" and "Slaves and Bulldozers". The covers they did were The Beatles "Helter Skelter" and The Stooges' "Search & Destroy".

It's good hearing the band at the height of their carrer and when they sounded their best. Chris Cornell is hitting the highs and lows without losing his voice. From what I heard about some of the shows of the past, it was hit or miss when you saw them, but these songs are really the hits in the sense that they picked a good collection of songs where the whole band is on. They collectively sound great and as much as I want to see them come back and do some tour dates, I sort of like to keep the sound of old in my head. Still a great CD and hope we do hear more from them in the coming year.

Track Listing: 1. Spoonman 4:23 2. Searching With My Good Eye Closed 4:13 3. Let Me Drown 4:10 4. Head Down 6:25 5. Outshined 5:13 6. Rusty Cage 4:39 7. Burden In My Hand 5:02 8. Helter Skelter 2:09 9. Boot Camp 3:16 10. Nothing To Say 4:25 11. Slaves & Bulldozers 9:16 12. Dusty 4:32 13. Fell On Black Days 4:55 14. Search And Destroy 3:10 15. Ty Cobb 2:42 16. Black Hole Sun 3:01 17. Jesus Christ Pose 6:24

Stone Temple Pilots - CD Review

2010-06-03T15:26:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure when the last time a Stone Temple Pilots CD came out and I'm surprised to actually see them get back together and put something out after such a long time. It certainly is a typical sound for them with the heavy guitar and drums playing while Scott Weiland does his typical vocal tracks and sounds like he did 15 years ago.

I would say that overall this is a relatively average CD when it comes to comparison of what has been coming out this year. There are a few songs that do make it worth a listen. "Take A Load Off" has a good beat to it and "Dare If You Dare" is pretty good as well. I think "Hazy Daze" is a good rockin' tune as well.

There's one song that really doesn't make sense to be on this CD and that's "Cinnamon". It really doesn't fit and sounds like something out of an 80's band and not STP. "First Kiss On Mars" must be some sort of tribute to David Bowie. It's different in style, but not so bad as a song.

Overall I think this CD was an attempt to see if they still have it and I would say the answer is no. Just continue to tour off your old classics and stick to those and only play a couple of the songs from this CD and people will still be there in support.

Track List:

01. Between The Lines 2:50
02. Take A Load Off 3:11
03. Huckleberry Crumble 3:10
04. Hickory Dichotomy 3:22
05. Dare If You Dare 4:29
06. Cinnamon 3:33
07. Hazy Daze 2:59
08. Bagman 2:45
09. Peacoat 3:29
10. Fast As I Can 3:33
11. First Kiss On Mars 3:03
12. Maver 4:52

Pearl Jam - 05-06-2010 Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO

2010-05-29T10:40:00.006-05:00

It has been a good seven years since Pearl Jam last played Kansas City and it's been almost four since my last show in San Diego. Since that time they put out Backspacer and toured throughout 2009 but skipped KC until now. This was the second show on the tour just after the New Orleans Jazz Festival. They played at the relatively new Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City, MO.

The night was filled with a pretty good mix of songs through out the years going some 20 years back to the breakout CD of the time Ten and played a little bit of everything including several new songs from Backspacer. The sprint Center wasn't sold out, but there was certainly a pretty large and lively crowd out for this one. The only section of seats not sold were straight back in the upper deck. The line-up for tonight's show was it's standard for years now with Eddie Vedder on vocals, Stone Gossard on guitar, Jeff Ament on bass, Mike McCready on lead guitar, Matt Cameron on drums and Boom Gaspar on keys.

Everything was as it was four years ago as far as the stage setup with Mike out left, Jeff next to him, Eddie in the middle with Matt behind, Stone on the right and Boom in the back right. Eddie still with his bottle of wine in his hand and sneaking off from time to time for a smoke. The only difference was that I was much closer for tonight's show and the sound was really good.

They started the night off with "Of The Girl" and jumped into "Animal" as Eddie really seemed into it tonight. He sang a really nice version and from there it was into "World Wide Suicide" and "Got Some" from there it was a mix of fast and slow through the next series of songs that included "Unthought Unknown", "Elderly Woman", "MFC" and "Johnny Guitar".

Eddie did a little talking and then told a story of the drum tech getting married in Florida the week before on a boat and kicked into "Amongst The Waves" from the new CD. Eddie started to chat a little more as he played the next few songs, he called "Evenflow" something else, but it escapes me now and then talked about how the next song had many different names before it became "Gods' Dice"

From there it went into Present Tense" then slowed up into "Daughter" following through with a few others before the break. Mike continues to run from the back to the front and threw lots of picks into the crowd. Eddie talked more and drank his wine as he shared a bottle with others as well, pouring it into their glasses. Typical of a live show.

The first part after the encore break brought out the acoustic slower stuff with "Off He Goes" and "Just Breathe". One of my favorites was next as he dedicated it to one of the KC Royals he met and told about his night at the ballpark and he went into "Given To Fly". That was really a highlight for me of the night. They rocked out the rest of the set with "The Fixer", " Life Wasted" and "Porch", which was another highlight to the night.

Coming back they brought a wounded soldier who Eddie had written a song for a documentary called "No More" He sang it to the soldier as he was on stage and then as he went off they jumped into "Black", "Better Man" followed up by a "Happy Birthday" and then closed the night with three very familiar songs in "Alive", "Rockin' In The Free World" and "Yellow Ledbetter".

Overall I really enjoyed the show and will certainly go see them again when they come around. The band kept up the enthusiasm all night and was really tight. A show well worth seeing if you get a chance. I really hope to get to see Eddie Vedder solo one of these years.

Set List:

Of The Girl
Animal
World Wide Suicide
Got Some
Unthought Known
Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
MFC
Johnny Guitar
Amongst The Waves
Even Flow
Gods' Dice
Present Tense
Daughter
Wishlist
Insignificance
Do The Evolution

Encore 1
Off He Goes
Just Breathe
Given To Fly
The Fixer
Life Wasted
Porch

Encore 2
No More
Black
Better Man
Happy Birthday
Alive
Rockin' In The Free World
Yellow Ledbetter

Jack Johnson - To The Sea Review

2010-05-29T10:24:00.006-05:00

It's nice to hear Jack back with a new Cd and one filled with a little more flavor and a few songs about something he knows so well, the sea. I know Jack originally said he wasn't going to write about the ocean, but why not use the thing you know well to write about. It's been a crazy year for Jack, losing his father and having a new daughter born. This is always a recipe for putting together the music Jack writes. Some upbeat and happy and others down and sad, but they always mix well together for him. Recorded once again between Mango Tree in Hawaii and Solar Powered Plastic Plant in LA, this CD was made with 100% solar energy.

The first single to be release, "You and Your Heart" has a little more upbeat backing music and once again brings out the electric guitar we started hearing on the last "Sleep Through The Static". "To The Sea" is a nice funky tune that has a classic sound and really rips through some nice beats at the end being filled in with some strong guitar, drums bass and piano complimenting each other. Right now one of my two favorite songs on the CD. "No Good With Faces" brings us into a more mellow acoustic sound we are used to hearing.

"At Or With Me" starts with Zach on piano and kicks into a good rockin' song that is really jazzed up with electric guitar, strong drum beats and some good keys going on. Overall sounds like a cross between a Beach Boys, Beatles type with some classic rock style. I love the solo section/jam on this one. I heard him play this live the other day and loved it. This one sounds like G. Love maybe playing with him from the style. I love this tune, a lot of fun.

"When I Look Up" starts with some rain and acoustic guitar and then brings some background singing with Paula Fuga that adds a really nice taste. It's a quick one but a good one. "From The Clouds" brings it back up and sounds so much like a classic beach rock song you would imagine being played by a band in front of a big fire at the beach with all the women dancing around the beach. This is a really fun song and has a wonderful beat to it. I dig it for sure.

"My Little Girl" is a short and sweet song with Jack and his guitar. I imagine this is probably all about his daughter and his quite a nice little one. If it's not, it sure seems like it would be when they say "You stole my heart and made it your own" very sweet. "Turn Your Love" has a nice beat with some back singing by Paula Fuga again. One it starts off it starts to sound a little like a Sublime beat, but Jack takes it further and adds to the guitar with the backing vocals and the piano.
"The Upsetter" starts out with a nice little funk, Shaft beat and then the guitar kicks in and as it starts it really rolls along with a nice vibe with a sound very similar to what we have heard from Jack before. It has a nice little mellow jam to it with some hand drumming, cool guitar work and overall just a nice tune to hear. "Red Wine, Mistakes, Mythology" kicks off with some harmonica and piano ready to jazz it up. Nice acoustic guitar with Jack jumping in and then as the harmonica plays, Zach joins in the harmonies and sings along. Good jamming and quite fun to hear.

"Pictures Of People Taking Pictures" seems like a title of a song Jack would write as he comes up with some interesting titles at times. This is a nice song tune with good beats, sounding pretty much acoustic outside of Merlo's bass. Song flows along really nicely and is just another good one to compliment this CD. "Anything But The Truth" would be one of those songs you would see Jack just sitting in a chair on the beach with his guitar, plucking away with a little message of the sea as well as other nature descriptions. Soft, mellow type tune that rolls along nicely and is is classic Jack.

"Only The Ocean" finished off the thirteen song cd with some nice classic guitar work and has that beach vibe again to it. Something you would slow dance at the end of the night or hear at the end of some romantic type film. Reminds me of a 50's rock style ballad song.

Jack hit one out of the park again with this CD. I have listened to "To The Sea" five times so far as I write this and I really like the whole thing from end to end. there isn't a single song that doesn't fit on it at all. I saw jack perform 05-24-2010 at Santa Monica Pier and really hoped to hear a couple more songs live, but was really happy with the selection of music he did chose to play. I look forward to seeing him August 16th at Sandstone in Bonner Springs, KS. It will be a fun night with my wife and two little ones to sit out under the stars and enjoy.

Track Listing:

01. You and Your Heart

02. To The Sea

03. No Good With Faces

04. At or With Me

05. When I Look Up

06. From The Clouds

07. My Little Girl

08. Turn Your Love

09. The Upsetter

10. Red Wine, Mistakes, Mythology

11. Pictures of People Taking Pictures

12. Anything But The Truth

13. Only The Ocean

The Swell Season - Uptown Theater 11/30/09 KCMO

2009-12-01T14:45:00.004-06:00

The Swell Season are the folk duo of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. They made their mark in the music world with the film Once, where they won the academy Award for "Falling Slowly". Prior to that Glen Hansard was the frontman for the Irish band The Frames. The rest of The Frames joined Glen and Markéta on stage for most of the evenings performance.

The show was a really good mix of old and new. They played a few songs of The Frames as well as a Tim Buckley cover. They went from starting as a duo to the full band and then Markéta played a few songs followed by Glen doing a solo session and back to the duo and then full band. They even did a new song I would call There.

There was a pretty full crowd at the Uptown Theater, possibly even sold out. Glen Hansard played well to the crowd. He told good stories and explained the meaning of some of the songs. Toward the end of the show he had the crowd interacting by singing along with a couple of songs. Even as they came out for the Encore, Glen asked the crowd to stay standing for the rest of the show.

Glen really belted out some amazing songs including an unplugged version of "Say It To Me Now" He pulled away from the mic and unplugged the guitar and played it right at the front of the stage. He told a story of a woman he met in Chicago and whose son died in the Towers on 9/11/01. It may have been a story he has told before, but it was a good one.

I didn't realize how young Markéta was, but seeing her from the 3rd row center she really looked every bit her younf age of 21 even though she sings like an experience professional of 40. Her songs were beautiful to hear as she sang and she really complimented Glen as he sang.

The show went on for about 2 hours and was really a fantastic night of music. I really wish they would have recorded the 2009 tour, but for some reason they decided to skip it for this tour. That was one show I would love to hear over and over.

All I can say is go out and see them if you get a chance. Check out their website for details at http://www.theswellseason.com/ as well as pick up their new CD Strict Joy. There is a Deluxe version with a DVD from the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee show from 2007 or 2008 as well as an extra cd with some of the highlights of that live performance.

Go see them, they are brilliant.

Setlist: Fallen From the Sky; Lies; Low Rising; Feeling the Pull; In These Arms; Strict Joy; The Rain; Look Back Now; If You Want Me; Fantasy Man; Say It To Me Now; Leave; What Happens When the Heart Just Stops (F); Buzzin' Fly (Tim Buckley cover); instrumental (Markéta Irglová and Colm Mac Con Iomaire); Alone Apart; Once; When Your Mind's Made Up.

Encore: Falling Slowly; new song ("There"); High Horses; Red Chord/The Parting Glass.

GI Joe: Rise of Cobra - Movie Review

2009-10-20T09:53:00.004-05:00

OK - so after fully watching this film over the weekend I have to say that I really enjoyed it for the action, not the acting. Overall the story was somewhat predictable and lame, the actors were also pretty bad. Dennis Quaid makes a better Dad in a world freezing movie or a bike rider, more than General Hawk. He really is the cheese in this role which makes it fun.

Christopher Eccleston plays James McCullen, the creator of a new bio weapon that uses nano technology to eat away at metal as well as other materials and can take down tanks, cities and whatever else it needs to. Eccleston is best know, at least to me as The Doctor in season one of the revamped Doctor Who series.

So know you have the boys who are sent out to take the nano warheads to a military base, which of course will be attacked by the evil bad guys to try to steal the technology. Duke(Channing Tatum) should have stuck to his white boy dance movies as he really sucks as an actor. But since the chicks and guys must dig him, they put him in a leading role of this film. Personally a bad choice in my opinion, but for the LCD it must be perfect. Duke along with Ripchord(Marlon Wayans) end up leaning about the Joe's program as they are saved by a crew of them.

So now you learn a little more about the back story of Duke and the Baroness(Sienna Miller). The Baroness was once Dukes lady and she had a kid brother that was best friends with Duke and Duke swore to protect him in the war. so without saying more you can imagine or probably tell me the rest of the story.

The one good thing about the movie was the action sequences as well as the graphics and CGI overall. The sword fights between Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes are really good. Some of the other action fight scenes were done good as well.

Story and content were very simple for the simple mind I thought. For me it was enjoyable as a simple action adventure movie and I laughed a lot at how predictable it was and how bad the acting was for having some good actors in it.

Wait until it's on HBO or Showtime to watch or get it at the Red Box for $1.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Wilco - 10/06/2009 KCMO Crossroads

2009-10-18T10:50:00.005-05:00

It was a chilly October night in Kansas City down in the Crossroads district, which is where they have started to create more of an art space and have a lot of artists lofts and other store fronts. Still not the greatest of places, but looks like it could be on it's way. Crossroads is a venue that sits behind Grinders, a hamburger joint. It must have been an old vacant lot or something, but there's a stage on the south end, a nice grade, so those further back can see the stage well and a lot of beer tents and other vendors. It's outdoors so in October depending on the year can be a bit of a challenge. This night it was about 49 degrees, but with a sold out show they were packed in good to keep some heat in.

Liam Finn was the opening Act and came on promptly at 8pm. He is a two person band from Australia, son of Neil Finn from Crowded House. He uses loops on drums and guitar to get one instrument going and then jumps on the other while one loops. He plays with Eliza Jane Barnes, who plays an electronic drum, cow bell and various other instruments to back as well as sings. They were entertaining, but not exactly my kind of music, at least in the live sense.

Wilco came on shortly after 9pm and started off with The Price is Right theme and jumped into Wilco(the song) as they seem to have been starting many of this tours shows. This is one of the songs off of Wilco(the album) that came out a few months back. I would highly recommend picking it up. It looks like I forgot to review, but there will be one to follow sometime soon if I have time.

Jeff Tweedy made some comments throughout the first couple songs asking if people were cold, but the answer was always no. I think Jeff was as the wind was certainly coming across the stage. Still it didn't stop the band from playing a 2 1/2 hour set filled with songs ranging from all the years.

Some of the highlights to me were Bull Black Nova from the new CD. They really jammed it out during Impossible Germany, it was especially cool with 3 guys playing guitar and jamming together. That's part of what makes them such a fun band to see.

Jeff used the same lines I read in reviews about trying to get everyone to sing Jesus, Etc. He compared us to Minnesota and Iowa, the two previous shows. Bother were indoor and I'm sure sounded louder. Still it was a fun sing-a-long for everyone.

One of my favorite songs was played as usual, but certainly made me happy. That was Handshake Drugs, it's been a favorite of mine for a couple years. They did a great Walken as well as Can't Stand It.

During the first Encore, Liam & EJ came out and played for a couple of songs and then Jeff had asked the crowd to elect a president and vote on what song we wanted to hear. Everyone yelled Kingpin and so he looked at the band and they jammed into it. It was a nice KC version of the tune.

All in all, it was a fun night of music and as always it was a nice place to see a show. But I do hope one of these times I get to see them play at The Uptown. The last 4 times I've seen them have all been outside, so a change to indoor would be nice.

I'm already looking forward to the next time they come to town. Check out their website at http://www.wilcoworld.net/ for tour dates and streams of live shows. Recently they have the 08/2009 Dublin show as well as the 4/2009 Pabst Theatre in Milwaukee. I love throwing them on the computer to get that live experience.

If you get a chance, do see them live as they really are a fun band to see and really have a lot of talent flowing throughout the show from Drums, Keys, Bass and Guitars. Nils really loves to jam out and is really good. Jeff has a great voice and really knows how to put it all together.

Setlist:

01. Price's Right Intro > Wilco
02. I'm Trying to Break Your Heart
03. Bull Black Nova
04. You are My Face
05. One Wing
06. Shot in the arm
07. Radio Cure
08. Impossible Germany
09. At Least That's what she said
10. One by One
11. I'll Fight
12. Handshake Drugs
13. Sonny Feeling
14. Hate it Here
15. Can't stand it
16. Jesus Etc(Sung by the Crowd)
17. Walken
18. I'm the Man Who Love You
Encore: 1
19. Misunderstood
20. I'm Always in Love
21. You Never Know
22. California Stars
23. Kingpin
Encore: 2
24. Late Greats
25. Monday > Outa Mind Outa site
26. Hoodoo
27. I'm a Wheel

Where The Wild Things Are - Movie Review

2009-10-17T21:47:00.005-05:00

Where the Wild things are is a children's book that was written by Maurice Sendak back in 1963 that I think just about every kid has had a copy or read in their lives. This adaptation of the book is directed by Spike Jonze and the screen play was written by David Eggers. Jonze has directed two films, Adaptation and Being John Malcovich. He has mostly directed music videos through his career, so this is a big change.

The story obviously has to be adapted from the original 43 page book in order to make a 90 minute movie. The story is about Max(Max Records), who lives with his Mom and his older sister. He gets angry because of the way his sisters friends treat him and that his Mother is ignoring him as she has a date(Mark Ruffalo). So Max lashes out and bites his Mom and runs away and climbs into a boat and sails off to an island. That's where the Wild Things are.

Max comes upon the Wild Things and ends up their king. Carol is the main Wild Thing, voiced by James Gandolfini. He's sort of the leader and a bit angry as Max arrives. The story evolves from there to develop a relationship between Max and all of the Wild Things. The rest of the story is all about what they learn from Max and what he learns from them.

I really liked the way that this was written and directed. They have some fantastic views and landscapes throughout the movie. This was all filmed in Australia near Melbourne. The puppeteer work and the graphics are done really well and the story was just brilliant.

The music was scored by Karen O and The Kids and really plays well to the movie. The songs are simple and fun and fit right in. Karen O is the lead singer of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, she has band members as well as Racontuers guitar and bass players with a few others helping out.

From my perspective I felt that there were some scenes that were a little scary and violent for younger kids as well as some behavior that you hope they don't pick up and learn. Still my 3 1/2 year old daughter really loved the Wild Things and enjoyed the music as well. So for me it's a movie you could take the whole family too as we did.

There are points where the movie is a little slow, but overall it really does keep you wondering what's going to happen next or how are the characters going to behave. It's a fun film with a good story that shows that family is really what it's all about.

I would certainly recommend seeing this movie. It has happy and sad points and it really is just a cool story that I have always loved since I was a kid. I think that Max is a character many can identify with and the story and the imagination of all who created it is brilliant. I think I always wanted to run off to the land of the Wild Things, but the closest I got was the woods across from my families house and The Wild things weren't there.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Pearl Jam - Backspacer Review

2009-09-21T16:24:00.006-05:00

Released exclusively through iTunes and Target, Pearl Jam has started a new chapter, by leaving their record label and putting Backspacer out independently. The other cool thing they did is they give you a link to get two free live convert downloads. So be sure to load the CD to iTunes or buy it at iTunes and put it in the player and click on the CD cover and it will bring you up to a web link where you can click on the pictures. Check them all out, but the train in the upper left will link you to choose from 2 of 11 live shows. Hint - if you have multiple email addresses, you can register on each one and get more free live shows! Also on iTunes they give you a free video of The Fixer as well as a 10 minute making of the CD movie that's really neat. I would highly recommend checking both of those out even if you don't own an iPod.

The first few songs really rock you out pretty good in typical Pearl Jam style. I have to say I'm really impressed with the new CD and the style in which they recorded this one. Check out the iTunes video for sure just to get a glimpse it's well worth it.

Gonna See My Friend starts you off with a jamming tune and keeps going through Got Some and The Fixer. All of them have that Pearl Jam feel to them and are just good fun tunes to listen to.

Just Breathe slows it down, but really is an awesome song. It shows the diversity of the band with their ability to change it up. The guitar work is nice as well as the backing musicians that play on it. This one is my favorite on the CD.

Amongst the Wave is another nice song that's a little on the slower side, but makes me think of my days hanging out on the beaches of Southern California. Just the line "riding high amongst the waves" puts me back in my SoCal days and this is sort of a ballad type song in a way, that really finished off pretty strong.

Unknown Thoughts again starts you out with a little guitar and Eddie singing and build up with some piano and drums kicking in along as it rolls. Then Eddie starts getting into it. It really shows his passion in his voice and again is a nice fit to the last couple of songs and gels well.

Now we kick it back to Supersonic that gets the feet thumping and gives you a nice classic jam. Not sure who to compare it to, but it really just keeps going and is a nice tune with some good guitar solos in it.

Slowing it back down a bit with Speed of Sound you get a nice little slow ballady type song. Somewhat Neil Youngish to me, but could also be just a good PJ slow one. Force of Nature makes you think Joe Satriani or guitar wizard is ready to jam one out and then you hear Eddie and it kicks in to a regular PJ standard song. It Has nice guitar work through it and jams out nicely.

The End finishes the Cd off really nice. A good mellow tune with a start of guitar and Eddie and adds some good backing strings along it. You really hear how nice Eddie can sound as he has a symphony style backing. I bet he would do well singing Pearl Jam songs with a symphony in the back, that would be awesome.

I missed Eddie on the solo tour, but that's because no one seems to come to Kansas City much. Once in a while we get lucky. So I hope to sometime hear Eddie solo and even though I have seen Pearl Jam many times in the past 20 years, I would love to see them come to town as well. There are some great 2009 Bootleg shows for sale on their website for $9.99, check them out for sure. Chicago night two is really awesome. Go to http://www.pearljam.com/ and you will see them either in the store or just on the top page.

A really great CD. If I did give out stars on CDs this would get 5 for sure.

Track Listing:

1. Gonna See My Friend
2. Got Some
3. The Fixer
4. Johnny Guitar
5. Just Breathe
6. Amongst The Wave
7. Unthought Known
8. Supersonic
9. Speed Of Sound
10. Force Of Nature
11. The End

Juliet, Naked - Nick Hornby

2009-09-11T13:56:00.008-05:00

Juliet, Naked Nick Hornby's latest work of fiction tells a brilliant tale of a couple Annie and Duncan who share a love for the musical artist Tucker Crowe, who fell off the face of the earth twenty some years back. Duncan is obsessed with Tucker's music and the moments he had in those years. When they return from a trip to the US to follow Tucker, from the place of birth, the break up with Juliet to the Toilet that is said to be the place that he last was before never being heard from again, a package awaits Duncan. Now Duncan is gone and ignored his mail, so Annie opens the letter to find a copy of Juliet, Naked a demo of the original Juliet songs as well as a couple unreleased. She contemplated waiting for Duncan to listen or does she listen before.

Duncan arrive home to Annie listening and comes to realize that this is a new almost never heard CD of Tucker's music and Annie has violated it by listening to it first. So from there the story takes it's way into what becomes a pretty interesting book in a typical Nick Hornby style.

If you read the cover or the description on the web, you know there's a break and through posts of Annie's Tucker reads them and corresponds and they both learn from this experience.

Overall I really enjoyed the concept of where Nick was going with the book, but for some reason I still feel a little at a loss at the end. I feel that even though he did add closure to the characters, that I really wanted more.

Still it was a fun and relatively easy read. I couldn't put the book down as I wanted to see what was going to happen next and he jumps from the different family situations and the bringing them together. I have a tendency to be a little like Duncan having the blinders on with certain artists and when other criticize, I wonder what the hell are they thinking. Still overall in the end you start to realize the same flaws or thoughts.

As enjoyable as it was to read, I just kept wanting more details, more development of the characters and all that surrounded them. I think I just was wanting a 500 page novel that went on and on and after two nights of reading this 249 page book it was over. Getting to the end of a book can sometimes be an amazing thing and others making you want to scream for more. This one I wanted more and that's because Nick did such a good job bringing the characters together I was waiting for something big to happen and in the end what I wanted wasn't there. Still I loved it and loved how he showed the obsession of one person and the coming together of an unlikely pair. It was certainly in lines with his other works and I would recommend picking it up and having a read.

It will be out in the US September 29th and has already been released in the UK. Here's where to get the UK version: Amazon.co.uk and the US version at: Amazon.com.

Click here to view Nick's website and also find out when he will be out on his book tour. I really would love to see him stop in Kansas City, but I did have the pleasure of meeting him at Book Soup in Los Angeles a few years back on one of his previous reading and signings.

Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions - Through the Devil Softly

2009-09-08T22:45:00.009-05:00

Not until I read the product description on Amazon.com have I ever heard Hope Sandoval's music referred to as California psychedelic dream pop, but it has a really nice ring to it.

Through the Devil Softly is the second full length CD by Hope & The Warm Inventions since Bavarian Fruit Bread in 2001. I still wonder what Hope has been up to for the past eight years. I know she has done a few things from time to time with different bands, but until recently nothing major.

There are three songs off this CD that are available in a single format. "Blanchard" can be downloaded from iTunes, "Wild Roses" is on an Air France soundtrack and "Trouble" is a free download for those who sign up for Hopes newsletter at http://www.hopesandoval.com/home.shtml or on her myspace page. She also has a Facebook fan page to get information as well. Technology today gets the word out there pretty quick. Hope will be out on tour for the next couple months. Once again as it seems ever band I want to see decides to pass up on Kansas City and go from Denver to Minneapolis or Chicago. So Hope, I hope you decide to fit us in along the way, I would love to see you live.

"Blanchard" is the first song on the CD and it would certainly come across as California psychedelic dream pop to me. A good mellow tune that will lead to what will be a lot more of them along the way. This is a nice song to start the CD off with. "Wild Rose" is just as dark and is one that can be heard on the Air France CD. Another really nice song to hear.

"For the Rest of Your Life" has a haunting sort of glow to it with almost a chanting voice coming from hope. The electric guitar sort of rings out through the song. A beautiful song with a dark side to it.

"Lady Jessica and Sam" keeps the mellowness going with Hope and an acoustic guitar playing. A nice song with good guitar work and Hopes beautiful voice fills your ears. "Sets the Blaze" adds some different instruments and some backing vocals, the violin plays another nice melody finishing off with a windy sort of coldness.

Listening to this CD isn't going to get you to jump out of your chair and dance a jig, but maybe a nice cigar or glass of scotch with this on in the background would be suited fine. I personally like to listen as I work. It gives me a nice calming feeling as I listen through it.

"Thinking Like That" is another Hope plus acoustic with a continuous pattern for the first half and adds a few instruments and a little more sound. sort of makes me feel like I'm halfway between a musical concert and a symphony mix. "There's a Willow" brings back an electric guitar with a classic old style sound to it, kind of that 50's beat of the mellow sort and echoness to it.

"Trouble" gives you the full band sound again with the hauntingness to it. I almost feel like it's going to jump from the mellow tones into a raging California beach sound, but it stays mellow with Hope and gets a little speed and goes right back, very balladry, if that's a word.

"Fall Aside" I think has Hope playing the Glockenspiel at the start, unless it's someone else. My guess is it is Hope. Same vocal tempo as most of the CD. Pretty nice little song, almost makes me want to get up and March around. "Bluebird" makes me feel like something out of Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut". A good song that just keeps moving and still remains in place.

The CD finishes off with "Satellite". As you hear the start you wonder what is going on. It has a sort of a feel like you are listening to a 45rpm from the old days. Different but pretty cools sound. I'm sure that was the effect they were going for.

Overall as I said before, this is one you want to listen to as you are just hanging out and doing stuff. Maybe put it on with some candles going in the low light or maybe listen to at your office so you keep your blood pressure down.

I know Hope likes to play live in a soft lit room with the lights coming from behind. I think that as you listen to her you just imagine what a beautiful person it is up there that you can't see. She really is a beautiful person and has an outstanding voice. This is a CD I would recommend as well as her works with Mazzy Star and the first CD Bavarian Fruit Bread. Also check out "Sometimes Always" with The Jesus and Mary Chain on Stones and Dethroned Hope sounds awesome!

Please pick up the CD and support the Band, it's a brilliant one and a must to have in the collection.

Hope - Please come to Kansas City, I would love to see you perform.

Here's the track listing of the new CD:

Through The Devil Softly

1.Blanchard
2.Wild Roses
3.For The Rest Of Your Life
4.Lady Jessica and Sam
5.Sets The Blaze
6.Thinking Like That
7.There's A Willow
8.Trouble
9.Fall Aside
10.Blue Bird
11.Satellite

Phish - Joy CD Review

2009-09-08T22:42:00.005-05:00

After a five year break Phish came back out and toured and now have put out a new studio CD, Joy. This Cd was produced by Steve Lillywhite and many of the songs have already been heard on the tour in live format. I personally have never been a huge fan of Phish's Studio CDs compared to the live material, but still you have to start somewhere.

This is one studio CD that has been growing on me as I've been hearing the tracks on it. There are some catchy tunes that really have a nice beat. "Backwards Down the Number Line" is a good tune to jump right into it. Fun song, a little pop tune, but pretty cool.

I really dig "Ocelot", good song with a good beat. Keeps me just wanting to hear more as I hear it. That goes into "Kill Devil Falls" which again is a good road trip tune. Nice speedy rhythym to it and another good one to hear. "Light" slows it down at the start and sort of goes into a ballad type song.

"Time Turns Elastic" came from Trey's little symphony project that he worked on this past year. It's a longer song about 16 minutes, but a good jam and really fun.

Page sings a few songs on the CD and are both pretty fun, bluesy tunes. "I've Been Around" and "Sugar Shack" are his songs on the CD.

"Twenty Years Later" finishes it off and it keeps you wanting to hear more. How you can fit 10 Phish songs on a CD takes someone like Steve Lillywhite. If it wasn't for him, I bet this would be a 90 minute jam session.

Fun CD that has a couple bonus songs on the iTunes version and if you buy the Deluxe version from the Phish website, you get a full bonus CD and a DVD of highlights from the June 2009 tour dates.

I really enjoy this one and would recommend picking it up for sure.

Track Listing:

1. Backwards Down the Number Line
2. Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan
3. Joy
4. Sugar Shack
5. Ocelot
6. Kill Devil Falls
7. Light
8. I Been Around
9. Time Turns Elastic
10. Twenty Years Later

Blink 182 - Weezer 09/04/2009 Bonner Springs, KS

2009-09-07T11:44:00.007-05:00

Friday Night September 4th was the annual 96.5 Buzz Beach Ball at Capital Federal Park, Sandstone Amp, Bonner Springs, KS. The show featured 11 bands, but the main show of the night was Weezer and Blink 182. I arrived just for the set of Weezer and then Blink 182. So my review only consists of the two bands.

It had rained all day and was a bit of a mess out in the grass, but overall by 7:45pm when Weezer came on, everyone was there and ready to go. The place wasn't sold out tonight, probably closer to 17k instead of the 18k needed to sell out. Pretty big crowd for Sandstone. The last show I was there for was Jack Johnson and that was sold out.

Weezer came out all dressed in USMT Track Suits and jammed out Black Sabbath's "Warpigs" and jammed it into "Hash Pipe". They jammed out some good songs and put on a pretty entertaining show playing some of the classics like "Undone: The Sweater Song", "Buddy Holly" and "Beverly Hills". I know they have a new CD coming out, but not sure if any of the songs were from it. They had a fun time and had the crowd dancing and singing for the whole set. They finished it off with "Should I Stay or Should I Go" a Clash tune that I love. They did a good version of the song. Weezer are a bit of a nerdy band, but fun. I thought they put on a really good performance and judging from the reaction of the crowd, I think they were well liked.

Shortly after 9pm Blink 182 was ready to take the stage. Wang Chung was playing on the loudspeaker and then the curtains opened and Blink 182 was out and jamming "Dumpweed" and really got the crowd up on their feet and going. They jumped right into "Feel This" from their self titled CD and then took a break to spew out some typical potty mouth comments about penises and F'ing their moms and all that as usual. If you ever have listened to The Mark, Tom and Travis show unrated cd, you will have heard some pretty bad one liners tossed back and forth between Tom and Mark.

The set continues strong with "Rock Show and into "What's My Age Again?". They started to get a little mellow for a few songs or at least start mellow and then jam in. During the show at times I think either Tom was just off or the sound man was off, not sure which. To me it sounded more like Tom was off at times, just not catching right with Mark during the songs. Still overall they did sound like they were in good form and having fun.

What blew my mind was all the 10-12 year old kids who were allowed to be at the show with all the sex talk and F words flying around. Yes I know they have all heard it before, but still, just doesn't seem right. Especially when they are singing every single song for this band who started a good 20 years ago.

Tom told some silly stories and acted a bit silly through most of the show where Travis just jammed out on the drums and Mark was a little less mouthy as Tom. They played "I Miss You" and "Stay Together for the Kids" with "Down" and "Always" to follow. Jamming in "First Date" and "Man Overboard" were some good highlights to the show.

Later Tom yelled "This is a song about all the guys penises out there" and jumped into "All the Small Things" always a fun song to hear. From there they continues a good mix of songs and really played a nice set. I personally really wanted to hear "
Aliens Exist", but it was not to be tonight.

The set lasted about 90 minutes or a little longer and they played some good songs and talked some really stupid potty humor through the show. Tom kept sitting on the ground during jams and I kept thinking it's because he's out of shape and needs a break. Mark was bouncing all over the stage and seemed like he was in top form and really having a good time out there. That's the one thing I like about Mark and hope to eventually see him with his next side project if it's +44 or something else, I'm sure it will be awesome.

Hopefully Blink will stay together for a while and do another Cd as expected and then maybe the boys will continue their side project. I don't know that Angels and Airwaves has achieved the heightened success that Tom wants, but they are a fun band to hear and +44 is really entertaining.

So not Blink at their best from the old days, but a really good show and a fun time out at Sandstone Amp. Next time I hope they play Crossroads or Uptown, something smaller and more to my liking. We will see if they last after this one.

Blink 182 SetList:
Dumpweed, Feeling This, The Rock Show, What's My Age Again?, Obvious, I Miss You, Stay Together For the Kids, Down, Always, Stockholm Syndrome, First Date, Man Overboard, Going Away To College, Not Now, All The Small Things, Reckless Abandon, Josie, Anthem Part 2. Encore: Carousel, Dammit.

Weezer Setlist:
Warpigs/Hash Pipe, Troublemaker, Undone (The Sweater Song), Surf Wax America, Perfect Situation, I Want You To, Say It Ain't So, My Name Is Jonas, Island in the Sun, Why Bother?, Pork and Beans, Beverly Hills, Buddy Holly, Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

Big Head Todd, G Love & Special Sauce with Meese at Beaumont Backyard, KCMO

2009-08-31T16:05:00.007-05:00

Friday night was a really nice night to be outside hanging out on 40th and Pennsylvania in Wesport at the Backyard of the Beaumont. Big Head Todd and the Monsters would be headlining a concert sponsored by the 96.5 radio station.

The line-up started with a Colorado based band Meese, followed up by G Love & Special Sauce and then BHTM.

Meese took the stage right at 7:30pm and played a short but good set. I hadn't heard them before, but not bad at all. They have a bit of a pop sound, but a good one. They were entertaining for their short set and are worth seeing for a longer show for sure.

G Love took the stage and played a good set for the crowd of about 1,500. G Love is an interesting guy. He's a white boy from Philly with a bit of funk in his style. G Love had his day a while back and now had but out some new music and is still playing away. He played a lot of classics like "She Got Sauce", "Cold Beverages", "Booty Call", "Whose Got The Weed" and a couple of covers "Why Don't we Do It In The Road" and "Gin and Juice". All fun and about a 75 minute set. Good time and Big Head still to come.

Big Head Todd and the Monsters have been playing for 20 years and are as tight as any band I've seen. They know exactly how to play off each other. Todd, the lead singer plays with a blues swing in his voice, hard to compare him as he plays a little like Johnny Lee Hooker, Stevie Ray and Clapton all together.

Tonight they mixed it up with some new some old. "Broken Hearted Savior" and "Bittersweet" were both done in their classic live styles with some good jams. They played "It's Alright" "Crazy Mary" and "Spanish Highway" as well as many others. The only song in the set I had not heard was a tune about Muhammad Ali that was pretty cool.

Todd always puts on a good show and even after seeing them about every years for the past 20, it's always been awesome!

Good night, good crowd, fun time.

Just a side note - the pictures are from KC Star as they turned out better than mine.

The Damned United - 2009 Movie Review

2009-08-25T10:03:00.004-05:00

Directed by Tom Hooper, this is the story of Brian Clough's reign as Leeds United manager for all of 44 days. Michael Sheen plays Brian Clough. The previous manager Don Revie(Colm Meaney) had achieved national success wiuth the ream and was now asked to take the head job as England Manager. So in comes Brian Clough to take over and become the next biggest thing or not. Clough starts his job by taking an Yorkshire Television interview and states that Leeds were cheats and thugs and he's there to change their style of football.

Warning: There are spoilers if you don't know the story and don't want to, stop now.

The story jumps back and forth in time telling the story of Brian's early days with Derby County, working with Peter Taylor(Timothy Spall) to take them from the bottom of the 2nd league to the top of the first division. Clough is a man of many words and doesn't care who he's talking to, he says what he wants. This was all started when Derby selects Leeds in the 1967 FA Cup Draw at home. He gets the place ready to show his first division opponents that he is ready to have them as guests. so what happens, they lose 2-0 and Don Revie walks out snubbing Clough. From that point he was determined to get to first division and beat the pants off Leeds and stick it to Revie.

Flash forward in time and you see that he gets off on the wrong foot with the team right off the start in the Charity Shields match and can't seem to get his team to show any respect for him as a coach. This struggle will end up driving him out the door only 6 weeks after taking the team.

So back to the success he created at Derby. He went behind the chairman's back to aquire players and spend money the club didn't have. He took the team from nothing and made them the champions of first division. Clough did this all with Peter Taylor, who some say was really the brains of the operation. The breaking point was when Leeds was in town for a match and Derby had a mid-week semi-final cup tie with Juventus. The Chairman question why Clogh was playing his best against Leeds and not saving them for the Juve match. Well Leeds took out several key players and Derby went on to lose to Juventus and Clough looked bad to the Chairman and the board. Clough offered up his and Taylors resignation if the board didn't change the chairman. The board accepted and it backfired on Clough. He was now out of a job and screwed Peter Taylor along with him.

The only job offered to Clough was the Brighton & Hove Albion position, which he and Taylor accepted. Taking a chance to bring a 3rd division club to the top. While on holiday before the job started word came out that Revie was now England Manager and someone from Leeds asked Clough to take over. He had a falling out with Taylor and went to do it on his own. This became the start of the down fall, "The Damned United". The players wouldn't listen. His top players were hurt and the captain was suspended for violent conduct. so he had no change. Leeds players were looking for him to scout matched and train them based on the style of each team. Clough thought that if you trained his way it didn't matter who you played. We the team turned on him and only 44 days later he was out.

The story finished it up with Clough getting blindsided with an interview that included Don Revie to be critical of him. The two went at each other with words. Clough basically said he was doomed from the start because they wouldn't listen to him and that Revie was sabotaging him from the start. Revie asked why Clough disliked him so much and he told him about the 1967 FA Cup Snubbing and Revie tried to play it off like he didn't know that he was the manager. All in all they walked off saying nothing more.

The film itself then goes on to show Clough getting on his knees and begging Taylor for forgivness. He accepts and they join forces to take Nottingham Forest to the lead championship as well as two European titles. Clough and Taylor really were a great team. The success they had was amazing. The film ends with a quote "the best manager that England national side never had". Clough passed away in September of 2004, but will always be remembered as on of the best English coaches.

To me giving you the summary is no more that telling you what happened historically at the time. This film was done really well for a period piece done in 2009 portraying the mid-sixties through early seventies. The story may have been embellished a bit, but really for the most part is right on with how it went down. Brian Clough was a successful manager, but had no chance when he took the Leeds position, but he still fought and stuck to his style.

I think the acting was done well for this film, Colm Meaney does a great job being a prick and Michael Sheen is great and being the arrogant non-stop talking version of Clogh who won't let you get a word in. This is a good movie and well worth watching. You really don't have to be a Clough fan or Revie fan, just watch it for the story and the acting, everyone does a good job.

Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5

Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 - Goodnight Oslo

2009-08-21T10:18:00.003-05:00

Three years ago Robyn formed his latest band The Venus 3 with Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey & Bill Rieflin. This is the follow up to Ole Tarantula that came out 3 years ago. Goognight Oslo is a new collection of Robyn's eccentric sound in music. This CD has a mix of acoustic, electric, horns, harmonica and some good old rock. This is Robyn at his finest in putting a different style to music today.

"What You Is" really is a bluesy style song with some background singing. Really good start to the CD and lyrically a cool tune. Following is "Your Head Here" is a cool a tune with nice rythms and some good vocal changes through it.

"Saturday Groovers" is a nice catchy pop tune with some horns and a really bouncy beat to it. One of the more catchy tunes on the CD. "I'm Falling" is a really nice ballad type song, very beautiful. If I were to pick a song that might get more play than others it would be this one for sure. Sort of some of that early 60's groove added to it, if that makes sense.

"Hurry for the Sky" has a bit of a western style feel like you are sitting in an old saloon hanging out ready for a gun draw or the train to arrive in town. "Sixteen Years" is a really dark song. I don't know historically the significance of the sixteen years, but it really plays to some dark devestating years. Pretty cool tune as dark as it is.

"Up to Our Nex" was from the Jonathan Demme film "Rachel Getting Married". I can't say I've seen the movie, but the song is really cool. There's some horns and simple beat going on with maybe some mandolin in the back. It's a catchy little pop tune. "Intricate Thing" is love between a man and a woman. Very simple catch little acoustic tune with some good harmonies in it.

"TLC" is another one of those simple 50's rock style songs with Robyn singing in a low tone through the start. It sort of has a groovey feeling to it. It gives you a sense of relaxation in a slow melodic way.

"Goodnight Oslo" finishes this CD off with another darker style song. It keeps this beat like it's rolling along and going to catch up to a point and just keeps rolling. It's really a nice finish to the CD.

This CD really has a couple of different styles of Robyn's music from over the years. Robyn seems to continue to get more impressive as he continues his career and tries different styles of music. I've always been a fan of "Eye" and his darker accoustic styles of music, but I love "Globe of Frogs" as well. This is one band I hope to catch if they would ever come to Kansas City. I've seen Robyn before and really love his music and this is a great addition to the collection from all the years.

I would certainly recommend going out and getting this one, it's well worth the money.

Track Listing:
1. What You Is 3:25
2. Your Head Here 3:48
3. Saturday Groovers 2:47
4. I'm Falling 4:34
5. Hurry for the Sky 3:11
6. Sixteen Years 4:23
7. Up To Our Nex 3:46
8. Intricate Thing 3:30
9. TLC 3:46
10. Goodnight Oslo 6:00

The Swell Season - NPR Tiny Desk Concert

2009-08-19T13:38:00.005-05:00

The Swell Season stopped by for a NPR Tiny Desk concert this past week and gave a 34 minute treat that included a series of new songs we will be hearing from their new CD out later this year. They performed six new ones and had the audience participate as their background music filling in as they only had a guitar with them in the tiny room.

Here's a link to the show to watch: The Swell Season NPR Tiny Desk Concert it is also available for download in audio only and video formats from the site.

Setlist from the show:
In These Arms
Low Rising
Fantasy Man
Paper Cup
Feeling the PullBack
Broke
When Your Mind's Made Up

The Swell Season are Glen Hansard, from the the Irish band The Frames and Marketa Irglova, who is a classically traind Czech pianist. The two made their name with the Oscar winning song Falling Slowly from the movie Once, which they were both in. The music they put together in the movie is beautiful, the last CD they put out is as well. The new CD Strict Joy will be out October 27th in the US. The track Listing is below:

Strictly Joy - Track List:

1. Low Rising
2. Feeling the Pull
3. In These Arms
4. The Rain
5. Fantasy Man
6. Paper Cup
7. High Horses
8. The Verb
9. I Have Loved You Wrong
10. Love That Conquers
11. Two Tongues
12. Back Broke

The Return of Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions

2009-08-16T22:00:00.005-05:00

I've been wondering for a long time if we would see Hope Sandoval putting out a new CD. So while listening to Bavarian Fruit Bread while working out the other day I decided to to a google search and found that Hope and the band are realeasing a new CD Through the Devil Softly on September 29th, 2009.

The first single Blanchard was released recently on iTunes and I had a chance to preview it. I can tell you that I'm quite happy to hear Hope's beautiful voice once again singing in such a dark haunting tone. If Blanchard is any indication of how the rest of the cd will be, it's going to be brilliant. From the days of Mazzy Star through The Warm Inventions the Hope has done some awesome music and I really look forward to hearing the new CD as soon as it's released.

For those who know nothing of Hope, she comes from East Los Angeles and started out signing with the band Opal that then became Mazzy Star back in the late 80's. They put out 3 albums She Hangs Brightly (1990), So Tonight That I Might See (1993), and Among My Swan (1996). Then in 2001 she formed Hope Sandoval and The Warm Inventions which put out Bavarian Fruit Bread and two EPs At The Doorway Again and Suzanne. Now in 2009 we get the opportunity to hear them again with Through The Devil Softly which is being released September 29th.

Hope had collaborated with The Jesus and Mary Chain, Massive Attack, Chemical Brothers, Death In Vegas and several others. She likes to record, but apparently is not a fan of performing live. Still she does perform and I hope she comes to Kansas City later this year.

Check out her official website for news and tour dates at http://www.hopesandoval.com/home.shtml

Here's the track listing of the new CD:

Through The Devil Softly
... September 29, 2009
... Nettwerk Records

1.Blanchard
2.Wild Roses
3.For The Rest Of Your Life
4.Lady Jessica and Sam
5.Sets The Blaze
6.Thinking Like That
7.There's A Willow
8.Trouble
9.Fall Aside
10.Blue Bird
11.Satellite

Fanboys - Movie Review

2009-08-11T16:36:00.002-05:00

Fanboys is all about a bunch of really nerdy dudes who want to go to Skywalker Ranch to steal Star Wars Episode One. The movie comes out in six months, but Linus(Christopher Marquette) has a terminal illness and has four months to live. So they decide that they want to get one more adventure in and get Linus to see the movie before he goes. His friends are Eric(Sam Huntington), who works for his father at a used car lot and has been estranged from the group until they meet up at a party on Halloween. His Dad is about to give him full run of the 15 dealerships and he takes off to help his buddies. Hutch (Dan Fogler), is a big nerdy dude who has the van and it's all decked out with Star Wars stuff and Windows (Jay Baruchel) is a tall geeky comic book shop dude who has the plan and connection to get into Skywalker Ranch. Kristen Bell plays Zoe, the female sidekick who is just like one of the boys, but there's more to learn on that. So off they go on the adventure.

It's a pretty funny movie with lots of good Star Wars lines and some good Rush tunes along the road trip. There are a bunch of cameos throughout the movie that include Kevin Smith as a strange dude outside a bathroom. Carrie Fischer play a nurse, Billy Dee Williams, Danny Trejo, Jaime King, Seth Rogan, Danny McBride and Ray Park all make appearances throughout the movie. Let's not forget William Shatner makes an appearance as himself.

I guess there were originally two versions of the movie. One with the cancer plot and the other was more of a vulgar take, but the cancer version is just as good. It pretty much hold the whole thing together.

So without telling you the rest and ruining it all, you should see this film. a bit of crude humor and other stuff that makes it silly, but funny. In the end it pulls together, mends relationships and brings them together.

If you are a Star Wars fan it's a must see. Hell just rent for sure it's worth it.

Rating 3 out of 5

Land of the Lost - 2009 Movie Review

2009-08-10T12:50:00.003-05:00

In this remake of the 1974 TV Series Land of the Lost, Paleontologist Rick Marshall, played by Will Ferrell gets kicked out of his science department after having a meltdown defending his theory of timewarps and tachyons. He believes he can travel through time and ends up teaching children in a museum since he has become the laughingstock of the community. Holly Catrell a student studying Marshall's work urges him to build a tachyon amplifier and they go to the caves where all the source of high levels have been found. Will takes them into the caves, an earthquake happens and they end up falling to the Land of the Lost. You know the song and the story.

This version of The Land of the Lost takes a little different approach and makes it more of a silly commedy. I thought it was an interesting version of the show. Leading up I had watched about 4 episodes of the original show and realized how bad it was and how cheesy the effects were. Now take the 2009 version and add some CGI and all the rest with a couple of comedians and it becomes a funny version of the original.

The basis of the story is they need to figure out how to get back to present day Earth and are guided by a Sleestack who claims to want to help them so that he can get there as well. There are lots of silly fart humor scenes and well as some cool dinosaur adventures. Will Ferrell is always funny, but I just don't get Danny McBride. He isn't really funny to me at all. The remake of the Sleestacks is cool and Holly as the obsessed student is a good role.

Overall I would put this in the catagory of a DVD rental. Not really worth seein at the theater and not worth buying on DVD. Just go to NetFlix, Red Box or Blockbuster and rent it or wait for HBO or Showtime to air it.

Rating 2 out of 5

The Beckham Experiment - Grant Wahl - A Review

2009-07-30T13:36:00.003-05:00

Would David Beckham's arrival into the MLS change the face of soccer in The United States? That's the question Grant Wahl looks to answer in his new book The Beckham Experiment. Wahl works for Sports Illustrated and has written many cover stories and has now put together his first book. So did The Beckham Experiment work? I think that can be answered as yes and no. Financially David has been good for the MLS, but as a player and for soccer in the US, maybe not so much.

Wahl jumps in from the start and agreement to sign with the LA Galaxy all the way through to his attempt to get out of his contract and move to AC Milan. The book has a lot of insight with interviews from players and former General Manager Alexi Lalas. The most critical interviews come from Lalas and Landon Donovan. The good thing Wahl does is looks at both sides and reports it as he knows. He also has a lot of good insight to how there was such a large discrepency in player salaries and how things were handled financially.

I don't think that David Beckham really appreciates anything about this book as he recently in a press conference and when Wahl asked him a question, his response was to ask if Wahl was planning another unautorized book about him. So for me I took it with an open mind as well since I an a Galaxy Fan and former season ticket holder until I moved to Kansas in 2007. Still I love the team and I really hope that Beckham will deliver this year.

Wahl goes over everything from the original negotiation that came with being captain of the team, to the ousting of Frank Yallop and bringing in his own management team as part of Simon Fuller's 19. All of it didn't go so well as the Galaxy failed to make the playoffs and Ruud was a horrible coach making bad decisions. Now AEG takes control, gets Bruce Arena and things are finally changing.

It's well worth reading just to see all the little things that someone who's used to being treated like royalty has to go through as a common MLS player in a league that owns all the players and controls salaries and all that goes on.

This year, the LA Galaxy are doing well and as Beckham returned he is making an impact right away and fitting right in. Now all he needs to do is ignore the fans and he will be fine.

Personally I don't blame him for wanting to leave the league and go back to Europe in order to play in the 2010 World Cup. The level of play really isn't anywhere near the level of Europe and he needs the experience and time to be competetive. So if he leave this year and doesn't come back, I really wouldn't be surprised.

Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead - Review

2009-07-27T15:51:00.004-05:00

This is the second of the final five episodes that David Tennant will be doing as The Doctor. The first was The Next Doctor that will air in the US soon, but Planet of the Dead ended up airing before. There will be an episode in November called The Waters of March and then the Christmas Special will be either be two one hour episodes on two nights or one two hour episode. Then it will be bye bye to David and hello to Matt.

This episode was a pretty interesting one as you have a jewel theif who is stealing a museum piece, played by Michelle Ryan(Bionic Woman), crosses paths with The Doctor on a bus that ends up crossing through a worm hole and lands them on a desert planet called San Helios. There they encounter a couple of different creatures to keep them challenged including the Tritovores, a fly-headed species and a stingray time creatures eating everything in it's path.

So they establish the worm hole is still open and try to figure a way to get back before they either get eaten alive or they let the creatures through to consume Earth.

There's lots of good little one liners and a good supporting cast along the way as well. This is a fun one to see and Michelle Ryan does a good job as the Doctors lates companion Lady Christina dw Souza.

All in all you will enjoy this one and it leave us down to David's last 3 hours as The Doctor and the transition to Matt. So enjoy it's worth the watch.

The Hangover - Movie Review

2009-07-27T13:52:00.002-05:00

The Hangover is the latest comedy directed by Todd Phillips who did Road Trip, Old School and Starsky & Hutch. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bertha and Heather Graham. The is a typical Old School style film with loads of one off silly humor and can be a little raunchy ay times. The basis off the story is Doug(Justin Bartha) goes to Vegas for his bachelor party and all goes to hell and the next morning no one can find him. So they try to buy time with the family in order to recreate the night before and figure out where is Doug.

It's has it's funny moments with Mike Tyson making an appearence and many other little things that they figured out as they all had no memory of the night before. It can be a little crude, but it's pretty funny as well. I think it's one you should take in this summer and be sure to watch the credits after.

Rating: 3 1/2 of 5

Torchwood - Children of Earth Series Review

2009-07-21T23:31:00.004-05:00

So if you are in the middle of watching the series on BBC America, don't read this or you will be spoiled.

The third season of Torchwood, the Doctor Who Spin-off, is airing as a five episode series over five straight nights. It actually aired in the UK two weeks back and now this week here in the US.

The surviving members of Torchwood, Captain Jack, Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones are all back and continuing their fight. This time they are up against something that is beyond their control and anything they have dealt with before. This Alien form of life is controlling the children and speaking through them. Only later will we find out why and what they want.

They are set up in days and from the start of Day 1 to the end, they certainly establish that there is a big conspiracy going on and there is someone who doesn't want Torchwood to be involved at all.

They are out to kill Jacj and do, but as he is a spot in time, he will never really die. So The Hub gets destoyed and the group is scattered and out trying to figure out what's going on.

It's a pretty amazing series and I really wish it was longer. The Ianto and Jack relationship really doesn't do anything for me except add some cheese factor. When all is said and done it's just soem filler to show that Ianto really cares for him.

We learn a little more about Ianto and his family as well as some of Jack's history and his family as well.

The series is great and I'm not going to give it all away but just say that it was really enjoyable and you really should watch it. If you missed it, it's going to be released on DVD next week, so go and buy it.

Cheers!

Mat Kearney - 07/11/2009 Beaumont Club, Kansas City, MO

2009-07-21T23:14:00.003-05:00

I've been trying to see Mat Kearney in concert for a while and every time it doesn't seem to work out or he was the opening act of a tour. Now in support of his new CD City of Black and White, Mat is out on a tour and stopped in KC so I finally got to see him.

I will say that the song selection and the band were great. They were tight together and really were able to feed off each other as they played about a 90 minute set starting with Lifeline from the new CD and mixing it up playing a bit from both along with a few songs like Breathe In and Chicago that were not technically on the two CDs but were available in different forms and rereleases of Nothing Left to Lose.

The one thing that bothered me a little was the volume level and sound mix as it seemed to be heavy on the bass and bass drum and Mat's vocals were a little distorted at times. I think this was more the board guy or maybe it was just my hearing. Still it annoyed me a little, but still was a great show.

Mat played some songs I just lobe like, Nothing Left to Lose, Renaissance, Where We Gonna Go From Here and Girl America. So a grat show a tight set and I only wish there was a SBD copy to be had to hear over and over again.

Great show - great entertainer, get out and see him.

Phish - 06/20/2009 - 06/21/2009 Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI

2009-07-15T16:01:00.010-05:00

Phish have been away since 2004 and now 5 years after a break and doing Solo work they have embarked on a new tour to be followed up with a new CD at the end of July as well. They started their reunion back in March with three nights at Hampton Coliseum and then kicked off the summer portion at Fenway Park in Boston and wrapped up the first leg at Alpine Valley June 21st.

The first night of the two night adventure was pretty amazing. The boys came out strong with a Punch You In The Eye and continued a rockin' first set with some great tunes including Stash, Bathtub gin, Farmhouse and Run Like an Antelope. A stellar first set to start the weekend off. Trey was right on his game as well as the rest of the band. Mike Gordon was brilliant on bass and Page was great and Fishman as well. I love just watching Trey just stand there casually with a few steps and that big smile all with jamming it out.

Second set was right on the money. Sample in a Jar to Maze was sweet and Makisupa Policeman just had the crowd bouncing all over and tossing light sticks in the thousands. NICU was great as well as Prince Caspian. Fire was a good version, but a little fast for me. Overall a brillian show and Phish was really on for this one.

06/20/2009 Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI

SET ONE: Punch You in the Eye (9:17) Runaway Jim (9:32) Stash (12:08) Ya Mar (7:14) Bathtub Gin (13:05) Kill Devil Falls (8:20) Train Song (2:47) Farmhouse (4:55) Sparkle (3:47) Run Like an Antelope (10:25)

SET TWO:Waves (8:23) Sample in a Jar (5:20) Maze (11:37) Makisupa Policeman (5:13) Ghost (11:58) The Lizards (10:31) You Enjoy Myself (12:27) NICU (4:56) Prince Caspian (6:49) Waste (5:32) Fire (5:15)

ENCORE: Character Zero (7:37)

Night Two was a different kind of jam night. The first night had a real good beat and really kept you dancing all the way through. Second night started off cool with all the kids from the boys came out and it was a happy fathers day
wish to all us dads. They jammed it out, some longer and some slower than the night before. still a great show and it was cool to hear a 16 minute version of Time Turns Elastic. A nice mix of songs the second night and a ton more fun.

If you get a chance, catch one of the nights on the second leg of this tour it will be well worth it.
06/21/2009 Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI

SET ONE: Brother (5:42) Wolfman's Brother (9:04) Funky Bitch (5:03) The Divided Sky (15:31) Joy (5:22) Back on the Train (7:41) Taste (8:54) Poor Heart (2:26) The Horse (1:06) Silent In The Morning (4:50) The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday (2:44) Avenu Malkanu (3:13) The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday (1:43) Time Turns Elastic (16:51) SET TWO:Crosseyed and Painless (5:53) Alpine Jam (9:16) Down with Disease (13:18) Bug (8:04) Piper (12:50) Wading in the Velvet Sea (6:15) Boogie On Reggae Woman (5:48) Slave to the Traffic Light (13:54)

ENCORE:Grind (2:33) Frankenstein (5:46)

The Dead Weather - Horehound CD Review

2009-07-15T15:55:00.003-05:00

Jack White's latest project The Dead Weather has put out there first and potential last CD depending on what type of project this turns out to be. The CD was recorded at Third Man Studios in Nashvillie and contains several artists Jack has worked with in the past. The Raconteur's were touring with The Kills and he lost his voice and asked The Kills lead singer to step in and help. This of course is Alison Mosshart who is half of the London based band. She sings lead through most of the CD. Jack Lawrence from Raconteurs plays bass and Queen's of the Sone Age member Dean Fertita plays Guitar. Jach White plays Drums some vocals as well.

I'm not sure the exact classification of this bands music. I would say it falls under some sort of Alternative Blues with some added funk and metal sound in it. I had a chance to hear them perform live from the 9:30 Club in Washington DC on NPR's All Songs Considered on 7/14. This was an incredible performance and quite explosive. Check it out at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106385053 they will be keeping it up in the archives to hear. There is a good chance that it will also become a podcast as long as they gain approval from the artists they covered on a couple of songs. The show lasted just an hour, but they played the whole CD plus a couple of covers. It was quite entertaining, do go out and check it out.

Horehound has a really good groove to it with some nice mix of blues and rock throughout the CD. Mosshart has the right voice to mix to this style and really is a nice touch to the three Raconteurs. There are some rough and raw cuts on this and some othes that are really smooth flowing. I think overall the sound is great and fits the make up of the artists playing. Hang You From the Heavens is a really cool cut along with 60 Feet Tall to start it off. I Cut Like a Buffalo has a funky beat and is a bit strange, but not bad. From there you continue with a cool mix of tunes include a pretty cool mix in 3 Birds, a nice little jam rock blues infused mix.

iTunes users who pre-ordered the CD picked up a catchy little tune called Outside as a bonus track.

Overall, really cool mix of tunes and one to certainly pick up if you like the different styles of Jack's past works.

Track Listing:

1. 60 Feet Tall 5:33
2. Hang You From The Heavens 3:36
3. I Cut Like A Buffalo 3:27
4. So Far From Your Weapon 3:40
5. Treat Me Like Your Mother 4:10
6. Rocking Horse 2:59
7. New Pony 3:56
8. Bone House 3:26
9. 3 Birds 3:44
10. No Hassle Night 2:51
11. Will There Be Enough Water? 6:20
12. Outside 2:50 (iTunes Bonus)

07/14/2009 9:30 Club Washington DC Set List:

60 Feet Tall
Bone House
Outside
So Far From Your Weapon
Cut Like a Buffalo
Forever My Queen (Pentagram cover)
Rocking Horse
New Pony (Bob Dylan cover)
No Hassle Night
Will There Be Enough Water
ENCORE:
Treat Me Like Your Mother
Child of a Few Hours
Hang You From The Heavens

Carter Albrecht - Jesus Is Alive...and Living In London CD Review

2009-06-09T18:10:00.003-05:00

Carter Albrecht may no no longer be with us, but his music lives on and it shows the passion he had for his gift. I met Carter in 2006 in San Diego and he walked up and just started talking to me like I was a friend of his. I knew he was with Edie Brickell and New Bohemians, but I had never heard anything he had done and had been real impressed with watching play that night. So after that show I picked up some older music of his as well as some solo Bend Studio recordings. I had known that he was planning a solo CD at some point. But then Carter was tragically taken from us in a strange accident. That day a very tallented young man was gone and these are the recordings he left for us.

Each and everyone of these recordings has a little different flavor and at first from hearing his accoustic solo stuff I was really famazed at the difference in the sound and structure of the songs with a full band backing. Every song on the CD is really good and I really do recommend having a listen and picking this up.

You can hear some of the other works of Carter as part of a couple bands, The Limes, Sparrows & Sorta. Check them all out on iTunes or in a record store if they are still in print.

Track Listing:

1. Jesus Light
2. Country Living
3. Rome
4. Rivers Into Rum
5. When You're Younger
6. Jesus Is Alive (And Living in London)
7. Godot
8. Sparrows
9. The Sign

Coraline - Movie Review

2009-06-09T14:05:00.005-05:00

Coraline is a story about a young girl who moves into a new apartment and has pretty much been ignored by her parents who are too busy to spend time with her. She discovers a dorway leading to an alternate world that her parents pay attention to her, but they have button eyes and things are all a little more twisted than they seem. Could this alternate world be a paradise, the place to stay forever or is there something to it.

Written and Directed by Henry Selick, the director of A Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, it is a story adapted and co-written by Neil Gaiman. The movie is the first one filmed in stop-motion feature shot in stereoscope 3-D. The features are pretty amazing to see in watching this film. I can't imagine what they had to go through to create the whole thing. I do hope the DVD comes with a full collection of extras showing this stuff. Pretty amazing.

Coraline goes from one world to the next at different times. Everyone from the real world is there, but with a little bit of a twist. Even the cat goes between the worlds and in the weird world he can talk. Wybie is the annying kid that she befriends in the movie. His grandmother owns the apartment building they live in.

There's a lot more to the story, but would rather you see it to understand and enjoy it. I reallly like everything about this movie. It's a bit of a dark story, the colors and graphics of it all are cool. It's well worth seeing. My suggestion is that it's not for young children, but maybe older than 10.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King - Review

2009-06-09T13:24:00.004-05:00

This is one that if you are a total fan you will like because it has a lot of the simular qualities of the earlier works of Dave Matthews. I personally have felt it start to grow on me with every listen, but still not convince that it's his best work, but still pretty good.

The best thing about ordering the edition I did from www.davematthewsband.com was the free copy of Live Trax Volume 15 from Alpine Valley in 2008. Lot's of good music to enjoy from that one.

I still say pick it up and have a listen, it's well worth it, but it's nothing different than most of the past stuff we have seen. Enjoy!

Track Listing:

1. Grux
2. Shake Me Like A Monkey
3. Funny The Way It Is
4. Lying In The Hands of God
5. Why I Am
6. Dive In
7. Spaceman
8. Squirm
9. Alligator Pie
10. Seven
11. Time Bomb
12. Baby Blue
13. You & Me

Rhett Miller - Self Titled - New CD Review

2009-06-09T09:56:00.005-05:00

Rhett Miller the lead singer of Old 97's has put out a new solo CD on June 9th. He will be out touring with the band and doing an acoustic set this Summmer, so check him out if he comes near you. Go to www.rhettmiller.com for information.

There's a pretty diverse style of music in this CD. Rhett goes from mellow acoustic to some upbeat typical Old 97's style music. It's filled with a really good selection of songs.

I really enjoyed listening to every track on this CD plus the bonus ones received if you downloaded it from iTunes. A must have for the collection.

Track Listing:

1. Nobody Says I Love You Anymore 2:57
2. Like Love 3:27
3. Caroline 2:49
4. I Need To Know Where I Stand 3:12
5. Happy Birthday Don't Die 4:33
6. Bonfire 4:20
7. Haphazardly 3:09
8. If It's Not Love 3:11
9. Another Girlfriend 3:46
10. Refusing Temptation 3:35
11. Lashes 3:27
12. Sometimes 3:30
iTunes Bonus:
13. Caroline(Jon Brion Guitar Freak)
14. Bonfire(Demo)
15. I know It's Wrong(Demo)
16. Hospital Wings(Demo)
17. Government Man(Demo)

Ben Harper and Relentless7 - White Lies for Dark Times

2009-05-05T11:11:00.007-05:00

Just released today, the new Ben Harper and Relentless7 CD - White Lies for Dark Times is certainly a step in a different direction for Ben. He is now playing with a band that plays a little harder on the rock side than we usually hear from Ben.

There songs really do mix it up from a really rockin' style to the Stevie Ray Vaughn blues rock and some of the more mellow stuff. I have seen them and heard them live several times over the past month with some shows being broadcast on the internet and radio. The one thing I will say is you really get a different feel of the songs in a studio format and they are crisp & tight! The garage band is back a rockin' it out!

I actually ordered the cd through Ben's site and bought the CD/DVD Deluxe version, but have yet to watch the Danny Clinch Documentary. I will certainly check it out soon. There was a 6 song bonus EP of some live performances that came along with the cd. I have heard some of them from live recordings, but it's a nice bonus to have and again be able to listen to some live remaster works of the band.

Over the years the one thing that has always bugged me about Virgin Records, is that outside of their one live cd, they have not allowed Ben to produce and release copies of live performances like many other bands do today. I really would love to see a lot more live Ben Harper material in a remastered format.

Ben's tour has been mainly playing the songs from the new cd as well as Under Pressure the Queen - David Bowie tune. He has said he won't be going back to the old songs on this tour, but I hope that's not for the future, there's too much good music out there by Ben!

Great CD, I would highly recommend going out and getting it.

Track List:

1. Number with No Name
2. Up to You Now
3. Shimmer and Shine
4. Lay There and Hate Me
5. Why Must You Always Dress in Black
6. Skin Thin
7. Fly One Time
8. Keep It Together (So I Can Fall Apart)
9. Boots Like These
10. Word Suicide, The
11. Faithfully Remain

ACT NOW - Help us to Oppose Unfair Retroactive Taxes on Employee Compensation

2009-03-25T10:14:00.000-05:00

Friends:

As you may have read, Congress is considering legislation that will impose a significant additional tax on my family and my colleagues and hurt our nation's economic recovery. I want to encourage you to contact your U.S. Senators' offices by calling 1-877-634-7783, JPMorgan Chase's toll-free line, or sending an e-mail to express your opposition to unfair and excessive taxes that will undermine our economic recovery.

Click here for a one-page document that explains this issue and how to contact your Senators (http://ex.democracydata.com/JPMorgan/200903/Take_Action.pdf).

This legislation is not only fundamentally unfair, but it will undermine recovery efforts as Washington loses focus on the real economic issues. Banks will lose top talent at a time when they need it most, which will threaten their participation in future programs to help the recovery. This legislation will also have a significant and negative impact on our community, including local charities, schools and small businesses.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that imposes a retroactive, 90 percent tax on year-end compensation payments at banks that received TARP funds, even those banks like JPMorgan Chase that have acted responsibly throughout the financial crisis. The Senate is considering similar legislation. While the anger and frustration over bonuses paid by AIG are understandable, it is unfair to paint all financial institutions with the same broad brush.

Here's what you can do:

Contact your Senators' offices in Washington by calling toll-free 1-877-634-7783.
Send an e-mail to your Senators. You can find information about how to locate and contact your Senators' offices website at www.senate.gov.
Thank you for your consideration and help.

David J. Przybylinski
Vice President, Conversion Manager
JPMorgan Retirement Plan Services
Asset & Wealth Management
9300 Ward Parkway
Kansas City, MO 64114

Watchmen - Movie Review

2009-03-22T22:45:00.004-05:00

For those who don't know the story or what they are getting into seeing this film. The Watchmen is a very dark movie that takes place in an alternate reality in 1985. The Watchmen started out as a group of vigilantes starting in the 1930's and carried on under the name originally as the Minutement. Decades later they became a stronger and more powerful group including Dr. Manhattan who helped the US crush Vietnam in the the war. In the 1980's Richard Nixon now serving his 3rd term in office decides to outlaw the group. We are in a Cold War with Russia and one of the superhero vigilante's is about to lose his life.

This movie is very dark, violent and filled with a lot of blood and gore throughout. It certainly isn't one for young kids or teenagers either, but it does tell a good story with a good plot. I like films like this and to me it was pretty intense and told a good story. Yes, grim, but good.

Virtually all the actors in this film are unknows outside of maybe Carla Gugiino and Billy Cruddup. The woman who plays Silk Spectre II is the woman from Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle, who is married to Freakshow. She seemed familiar, but would never have known it was her.

Great acting, great special effects, good soundtrack and all a good story. I liked it and would recommend it for sure, especially to those big comic book fans.

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - 2-27-2008 Uptown Theater

2009-03-22T22:23:00.003-05:00

I was pretty excited that Ryan adams was coming back to Kansas City. I ended up getting a ticket from someone and it was a 3rd row center seat, big score. I had high expectations for this show. It was originally scheduled earlier and cancelled, so I figured that Ryan and the boys would put on a rockin show to make up for the missed one. Could I have evewr been further from reality.

The last few times I have seen Ryan Adams play have been some really amazing shows that went on for 2 1/2 hours playing some great songs and had some sweet jams. What we got this time is an 80 minute show with 16 songs and little interaction with the crowd and very distant in his songs. I could tell pretty early on that this one wasn't going to be like the rest. 30-40 minutes in he said we are taking a break so we can play until curfew. The Joke of the Show by John Graboff came pretty early. So there were a lot of indications that this one was going to be short like the night before.

Don't get me wrong, when they played, they sounded great. I See Monsters is fantastic. Come Pick Me Up was brilliant, Goodnight Rose had a great jam as well as Peaceful Valley. I just wanted more and it wasn't there to be had. Too bad, I really wanted a nice 30 song jam session.

Anyways, with Ryan you never know what you will get because he's an odd duck. If he gets a bad monitor or "Ringing" in his ears, you rest assure that you will not being seeing him for long. If the crowd is off or anything, he will throw a fit and be done with it. I've seen him throw a fit and still play damn near 3 hours. One time he had his head cracked openin San Diego and he jammed all night. So, you never know what you will get, but enjoy what you do. He is pretty awesome!

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
Uptown Theater
Kansas City, MO
Friday, February 27, 2009

SETLIST:

On stage: 8:42 CST

I See Monsters
Everybody Knows
Fix It
Let it Ride
Two
evening joke w/ Jon Graboff
When The Stars Go Blue
Come Pick Me Up
Born Into A Light

*set break*

Wonderwall
Freeway to the Canyon
Mockingbird
Goodnight Rose
Oh My God, Whatever, Etc. (Graboff on guitar, Ryan vocals only)
Rescue Blues (Graboff on guitar, Ryan to piano midway through song)
Peaceful Valley
Bartering Lines

off stage: "before 10:15"

The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman - Review

2009-03-22T19:57:00.004-05:00

Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book is a fantastic book for not only young readers, but for adults like myself as well. The story is about a young boy whose family is murdered and he alone survives and wanders into the graveyard and is taken in by some of it's residents. Without a name, the Owens family decides to name him Nobody. Nobody's parent of course are dead if you haven't figured that out yet. The man who killed the family is not done and will one day try to find Nobody and kill him as well. So he is protected and will grow up in the graveyard until he is old enough to go on his own.

You would think with the brutal murder of his family and the premise of the book that this might not be a story for kids. I would say it's just perfect and will give them a well rounded reading. You learn a lot about what Nobody can do in his almost magical world and what happens when he strays to the world outside. It makes you use your imagination and you draw your own images of this place in your head. when this book becomes a movie, I'm not sure if it will hit the vision I have in my head, but something tells me it will.

This is a brilliantly told story and I'm happy to have the opportunity to read it. It was an NPR story that intriged me to go out and get it. I couldn't find it anywhere I went. Barnes and Noble, Target & Walmart all out. I went to Borders and after spending 20 minutes looking everywhere I asked and they had one copy left in an obscure place I never would have looked. So now I have my copy and ready to read. Since reading this book about two months back, I stopped by Barnes and Noble last week and there were at least 50 copies and a display. Not sure if it was Coraline or the awards it's winning, but very happy to see picking up on sales. i believe it spent the last 6 weeks in the top or 2nd spot on the NY Times Best Seller List.

I don't want to give anything away about the story plot other than Bod is living in the graveyard to be protected from the man, Jack, who is still looking for him. all the different ghosts and humans that Bod come across over the course of the book teach him new things and have him questioning and eager to find out more.

You could pick this book up in and not want to put it down. The good thing is that it reads easy and you can finish it in a day or two. The bad thing is that you can finish in a day or two.

I have yet to see or read Coraline, but something tells me it will be a great read and a great film to see.

Pick up The Graveyard Book and enjoy it for yourself and read it to your kids as it's a fun story and enjoyable for the whole family.

Joe Purdy - Last Clock On the Wall - CD Review

2009-03-19T10:33:00.001-05:00

I first heard Joe Purdy as he opened up for Edie Brickell & New Bohemians in 2006 at The Belly Up in Solana Beach, CA. I had met him briefly outside and talked to him, but knew nothing of his music. I went in and as he got started playing with one other person, I found his voice and the style of music to be pretty cool. He comes from Arkansas, but has slowly developed a pretty good following in both the US and in the UK as well. He's certainly an accoustic folk style adding all sorts of instruments to the mix. Hard to compare him to anyone as to me it's unique.

Last Clock On the Wall was release on Tuesday and is available at his site for download in MP3 320bps format for $9.99. Check it out at www.joepurdy.com if you want to sample the cd and buy it.

Once again a good mix of instruments to compliment Joe's voice on this one. It starts off with a nice number called "Let Me Sing to You". Good catchy tune with some banjo and violin playing in it. Mellow as always, but a good song. "Brown Suits and Cadillacs" had Joe dominating the start with his soulful voice and keeps it going. The title song "Clock Clock On the Wall" kicks off with a little harmonica and a simple drum beat with a slide guitar. Again, a nice song on the mellow fashion of JP.

His style stays a lot the same throughout the cd but does add different flavor to different songs. "Been Up So Long" Kicks off with a nice piano beat and has Joe singing the typical ballad style he does. as you listen to his different cds, you find a simular style, but all songs really grow on you.

Downloading the CD directly from Joe's site includes a couple of bonus songs "Don't Leave Soon" and "Soldier". Both fall in line with the Acoustic Folk sound of Joes music. Good additions to get for sure.

If you like what you hear sampling Joe's music on his site, I would highly recommend getting "Paris In the Morning" and "Canyon Joe" those are my two favorites of his. Have a listen to Joe Purdy, he will grow on you for sure. Check him out live as well, he puts on a good performance.

Track Listing:

Let Me Sing To You
Brown Suits and Cadillacs
The Last Clock On the Wall
Been Up So Long
Dead End Kids
Dress Is Too Long
Miss Me
Death of a Maiden
School Teachers Blues
Too Young
Don't Leave Soon (Bonus Track)
Soldier (Bonus Track)

The Doctors New Companion?

2009-03-10T11:02:00.001-05:00

Could this be the first picture of the Doctor and his Companion

It is rumored that Skins actress Hannay Murray may be the next companion of the Doctor. Tune in to see if it's true or not.

U2 - No Line on the Horizon - CD Review

2009-03-03T12:03:00.001-06:00

So we once again have a new U2 CD and it certainly takes a different path like the rest of their CDs have in the pst. They have been quite innovative over the years and it's always refreshing to hear a new one from them.

This one mixes it up from some more rockin type of stuff to the ballad type mellow stuff inbetween. No Line On The Horizon starts us off with a pretty cool song jamming out. Somewhat starting off with a little more of the typical U2 sound from older, but changes it up quickly. It's a nice tune and didn't take long to know I would like it.

Magnificent starts off with that melodic style of some of their music, more electronic style sounding and then the drums kick in and guitar and the rest. Nice upbeat tune that has a lot of the old qualities of a Joshua Tree style and some mix of before stuff.

Moment of Surrender is a ballad type more mellow song fitting in with someof the more recent styles. It's a nice sounds, Bono starts out sort og shouting and brings it back down to a nice soulful sound. It's a little slow over all, but still a good one.

Unknown Caller is another slower song that starts off with some mellow beats and then moves into a little more of a moving song. Bono has some backing on this one and at times makes me feel like I'm listing to one of those English bands from the eighties or something. Still it has a different sound in ways than anything they have done before. Not my favorite on the CD, but not horrible.

I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight reminds me of a song by another band, just can't place it at the moment. Good song with Bono being as soulful as he always it. Nice backing and overall a good one.

Get On Your Boots seems to start off like it's going to be this rocking tune, but get's a little weird witht he whole "Sexy Boots" thing. This one will certainly take some getting used to for me. It was the original release from the band and I'm still trying to like it.

Stand Up Comedy is a nice funky little tune with a good beat and keeps it rocking through. For a moment there I thought I was listening to a Filight of the Conchords tune the way they did a little vocal section. But seriously it's a really killer tune and really rocks.

FEZ-Being Born starts off with about 2 minutes of instrumental before getting into the song itself. Has a lot of characteristics of a typical U2 song and it's pretty cool. some piano/keys along with The Edge jamming it out gives it a pretty cool sound. I really like this song overall.

The next song is White as Snow, which starts off with a slow piano playing and then we get some silence then Bono singing with a soft background sound. Pretty mellow tune but really nice with Bono hitting some nice notes through it and again a noce guitar song typical of The Edge. Sweet little ballad song.

Breathe has Bono starting it off with a nice little beat, the song is very typical of the U2 style over the years and is more of that story mode style song. Pretty cool and another neat one.

Cedars of Lebenon starts off with a soft guitar sound and kicks into a mellow Bono singing. Could be one of those songs you see Bono sitting in a pub with a smoke just telling the soft story. The stong stays soft and melodic throughout and is a nice finish to the CD.

Overall pretty cools stuff. I haven't watched the download movie that comes with the deluxe version yet, but may add to the review once I do.

Track Listing:

1. No Line On The Horizon 4:12
2. Magnificent 5:24
3. Moment Of Surrender 7:24
4. Unknown Caller 6:03
5. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight 4:14
6. Get On Your Boots 3:25
7. Stand Up Comedy 3:45
8. FEZ-Being Born 5:17
9. White As Snow 4:41
10. Breathe 5:00
11. Cedars Of Lebanon 4:13

Ryan Adams - Extra Cheese EP

2009-02-11T11:36:00.003-06:00

Ryan Adams has released the Extra Cheese EP just in time for Valentines Day. The seven song EP includes only one new unrelease song called Hey There, Mrs. Lovely. The rest are songs we've all heard many times before.

Het There, Mrs. Lovely was apparently played live by Ryan back in 1999 but this is the first studio version of it to be released. It's a nice acoustic song with a little ballad sound to it. OIt's well worth picking up even if you have the other songs to hear this one that is exclusive to buying the whole EP.

The EP is exclusive to iTunes and is available now for $3.98. The cover is a heart shaped peperoni pizza! Kind of funny.

Track List:

Two
Blossom
Answering Bell
Evergreen
My Love for You is Real
Desire
Hey There, Mrs. Lovely

U2 - No Line On The Horizon - March 3rd Release

2009-01-27T16:19:00.007-06:00

U2 released the first single for the new CD "Get On Your Boots", which is a little different than everything else that they did, but that's typical of every new U2 CD. The song may take a little time getting used to, but still I'm starting to dig it.

Track List:

1. No Line On The Horizon
2. Magnificent
3. Moment of Surrender
4. Unknown Caller
5. I\x{2019}ll Go Crazy If I Don\x{2019}t Go Crazy Tonight
6. Get On Your Boots
7. Stand Up Comedy
8. Fez \x{2013} Being Born
9. White As Snow
10. Breathe
11. Cedars Of Lebanon

Taken - 2008 Movie Review

2009-01-25T21:58:00.005-06:00

Taken was originally released in Germany and has finally come out in the US. Liam Neeson is a father who is very protective of his daughter. He is a former comapny man with a lot of knowledge in how to protect and defend. He is divorced and his wife has remarried to a wealthy man and now he has decided to retire in order to be closer to his daughter, played by Maggie Grace from Lost.

This one plays out as more of an action film with Neeson going over to France to bust some heads and find his daughter. I would call it a version of Spartan, but it's not nearly as good as Spartan was.

Sure they have some action and knife and gun fighting scenes, but overall this one lacks any depth and really is just a boring old story.

Rent it or watch it on cable.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Slumdog Millionaire - Movie Review

2009-01-25T21:53:00.003-06:00

Slumdog Millionaire is a story about a young man who comes from the slums of Mumbai and gets on the Indian version of the show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and makes it to the final round. He then ends up in the jail being questioned as to how is he cheating in order to get as far as he has.

this film is directed by Danny Boyle, who has directed, 28 Days Later, Millions and Trainspotting. He has once again put together a brilliant film.

This movie stars Dev Patel as Jamal Malik, a kid from the slums who serves tea at an office for money. At first you see him being tortured as they try to figure out how he is cheating to get as far as has.

This is where things start to get interesting because they go question by question and Jamal has a story for how he knew the answer for each of the questions. He goes back to the days when he lived in the slums and his mother was killed and he ended up in some sort of strange group where they men where using the kids to beg and get money.

Jamal has an older brother Salim and they meet up with a girl, Latika, who is the one that Jamal has always had feeling for since his youth.

I really enjoyed this film and how they tied the stories into the questions and how he knew the answers. I have a feeling this one might win the Oscar. I thought it slowed at times, but overall really was a good story.

It's well worth checking this one out.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Burn After Reading - Movie Review

2009-01-25T21:50:00.005-06:00

The Coen Brothers are back again in an interesting spy type drama. In typical fasion they live out the lives of several characters bring them all together at a point later on in the movie. This summary basically gives away the movie, so don't read further is you haven't seen it, but know it's worth watching.

John Malkovich plays Osbourne Cox, a CIA low level analyst, who is demoted for having a drinking problem, so he up and quits his job. He decides he is going to write his memoires. Osbournes wife Katie, is played by Tilda Swinton, and she is a dry, unhappy type woman whho is not happy and is having an affair with Harry Pfarrer, played by George Clooney.

Katie is planning to divorce Osbourne and burns a CD of his hard drive to give to her lawyers. Little does she know that there are a bunch of files with Osbourne's memoires on it. An assistant at the law office accidently leaves the CD at Hardbodies, a gym in which Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt), and Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand)work at. Linda is trying to have all sorts of cosmetic surgeries to help her look better, a face lift, tummy tuck, and other lippo. So she finds out that her insurance won't cover it and now she finds the CD and wants to Blackmail Osbourne Cox.

When Osbourne blows them off they take the CD to the Russians to try and sell it to them. Just no luck whatsoever in trying to get money.

Along the way, Katie kicks Osbourne out and Harry moves in while his wife is off on a book tour. While living with Katie, Harry is dating other women and meets Linda Litzke through a web search. They continue to have an affair on top of his other affair that his wife isn't supposed to know about, but does because of the PI that is hored by the lawyers she is filing divirce papers with. Crazy?

Well, Chad Feldheimer, Brad Pitt, goes to find more information at Osbourne Cox's house. Harry comes home and Chad is stuck in the closet. When Harry opens the closet Chad is smiling at him and he shoots him in the head, freaks out and dumps his body.

While all this is going on the spys are watching and monitoring the situation. Everyone freaks out and they all tie togehter the story and connections in the end.

This is a fun film and really does a good job twisting the stories and bringing them all together. In typical dry humour fashion of the Coen Brothers they make this into a brilliant film.

It's well worth seeing this one and now it's on DVD so reant it for sure.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Oliver Stone's W - The Movie Review

2009-01-25T21:47:00.005-06:00

The new Oliver Stone film W is loosley based on the life of our 43rd President George W. Bush. This is a pretty interesting translation of the live of good old GW. Starting off from the time he was in college being hazed at Yale and jumping back and forth over 2001 at the time that GW and his team were preparing for war in Iraq.

George Cromwell plays GW's dad and at times looks right for the role and at other times really looks like he shouldn't be in the role. They really portray him out to treat GW as the loser brother and has big plans for Jeb and thinks GW underminded their plans to get Jeb in the White House.

Along with showing GW's past and the failures he had before finally running successfully for Governor of Texas, they also show the situation over making a decision to go to war with Iraq. It was an interesting movie and it really put togehter an interesting interpretation of GW's life.

It's interesting that GW went from an 80% popularity down to about 25% the lowest of any President in history.

Christian Bale was originally cast in the role and was replaces by Josh Brolin. Brolin did a fantastic job playing GW.

This was a fun film to watch and I would really recommend seeing it.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Oscar Predictions

2009-01-24T09:39:00.004-06:00

So the Oscars will air on February 22 at 8pm EST on ABC. This year Hugh Jackman will be the host and there are a lot of interesting choices for movies and actors. So here are my predictions and we will see if I get anything right:

Best Supporting Actress: Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader

Best Actor: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best Movie: Slumdog Millionaire

So these are my predeictions for this year. I know the Academy seems to think differently than me, so I could be way off. If Heath Ledger didn't die and have such a good performance, I would probably pick Robert Downey Jr. for his role in Tropic Thunder.

Mickey Rourke to me was hands down the best actor listed of the five. Sure Brad Pitt did a good job in Benjamin Button, but really it was more about the effects and makeup that played a bigger role. Sean Penn was ok, but honestly Rourke played his role right on the money and should win the award.

As far as director and movies go, Slumdog Millionaire and Danny Boyle should win. Boyle did an amazing job with the story and really showed the predjudice of people in different income classes in India. The acting and the story were brilliant. It too me should walk away with the award.

So let's see how the predictions go. Biggest surprise was that Clint Eastwood didn't get a nod for his role as Walt in Gran Torino.

Cass - Movie Review

2009-01-08T13:36:00.000-06:00

Cass is based on the true story of Cass Pennant, a West Ham Football Club supporter/hooligan. Pennant has gone on to write many books about his days in the I.C.F. (Inter City Firm) as well as about other hooligans. He may have been the first one to speak out about the whole Firm mentality and what went on. Some say he's full of it and others say it's all true. So take it for what you like.

Cass grew up on the streets of East London. He was an adopted Jamaican baby, by an older white couple. He grew up in a white area and stuck with his same mates he grew up with.

His first experience of football violence was when he was 14 years old. He was off to a match and found himself in the middle of two firms fighting. He stuck around and eventually became the leader of the I.C.F. He wasn't very educated and he tried to turn what he was doing into something glorified.

Personally I think that these Firms need to be disbanded and they all need to be banned from going to matches. I have personally had a couple of run-ins with some of them as I was on my way to a match with Arsenal against Man United. A friend of mine stepped in and told them off and they went on their way. another time they started to taunt me on a train with my wife and when they found out I was an American, they laughed it off and told me I should be a Man United fan since they were owned by an American.

There's no place in this world for these types and they don't need to be glorified either.

The movie is interesting because it does tell the story based on Cass's view. He does show the people around who were against what he was doing along with the violence as well. Nonso Anozie plays Cass and does a good job at it. The one who plays Freeman, Leo Gregory was Bovver in the movie Green Street Hooligans. There was a bunch of film footage from the actual time added. Some Margaret Thatcher footage talking about Hooligans. Other footage of the violence added in to show the reality of it.

Overall I like the way they portayed the story even though I still don't think it should be glorified. Sometimes it's just interesting just to see a little of what went on so people know not to get involved. It shows the dark side of what goes on and what went on with Cass. He was shot after he went clean and walked away. He was working as a bouncer at a nightclub and was shot by some people he had a run-in during the years before.

I think it's worth checking this one out just to see went on in those days. Things have certainly change over the years and with CCTV there isn't as much of it happening now, but it still does exist. Not sure when it will be available in the US, but keep your eye out and rent it for sure.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Doctor Who Christmas Special 2008 - The Next Doctor

2009-01-04T21:19:00.003-06:00

The latest Christmas Special of Doctor Who brings us to wonder are we about to meet the new Doctor. David Tennant is back for this episode and four more to come before calling it quits as The Doctor.

Taking place on Christmas 1851 in London, The Doctor runs into a man who claims he is The Doctor, this doctor is played by David Morrissey and now the questions all start rolling in your mind. Could this be the man replacing David Tennant as the 11th Doctor. It's Starts with the two of them chasing a new kind of creature, a Cybershade, a new kind of creature that is working with the Cybermen. But neither of the Doctor's have ever seen anything like this and they also don't know that the Cybernen are in this time. So they chase the Cybershade pulls them up the side of the building and eventually escapes.

The new villian in this one is played by Dervla Kirwan – Miss Hartigan. She is plotting to collect all the children of the town up from the orphages, to use them as slaves in helping to build something to dominate the world.

When The Doctor is shown the new Doctors facilities, he realizes they are just living in a flat and then he sees the TARDIS, which is actually a Hot Air Balloon or "Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style". So as The Doctor digs in a little more he finds that This other Doctor is really a man named Jackson Lake who lost his mind because of something that might have been traumatic to him.

The Doctor discovers that Jackson Lake had found an infostamp, one that had all The Doctors information in it. He opened it up and took in all the information of The Doctor, while killing Cybermen. Now we know that Jackson Lake is just a man and he came across the Cybermen through the cellar of his house. He saw his wife die and there was something else he can't quite see.

Now that they have seen the Cybermen, they realize that they have escaped the void after the battle of Canary Warf. As they go to Lakes house they discover that in the cellar is a Dalek device called a Dimension Vault, that allowed them to get out.

As they put it all together they realize that the Cybermen are working on developing a CyberKing to take over the world. Hartigan thinks she is going to see the CyberKing, when she is actually going to be hooked into the mind of the King that turns out to be a very large Cyberman that comes out of the Thames and walks across London. It's Hundreds of feet tall and is destroting everything in it's path.

The Doctor decides to take Lake's hot air ballon TARDIS and along with a bunch of infostamps, fights to destroy the CyberKing. He opens them all and destroys the big King and all the Cybermen. Before the CyberKing can fall and destroy the city, the Dimension Vault is used to transfer the King into the Time Vortex.

Jackson discovers the missing thing from his mind is his son. He finds him at the building site and is reunited. So Jackson Lake asks The Doctor to join them for a Christmas Dinner and at first he says no, but then decides to.

A great episode and it starts with a good twist. Now if you haven't already heard, the 11th Time Lord to take over in 2011 will not be David Morrissey or John Simm or any other of the people we all wondered about, but it will be 26 year old Matt Smith, who has done a lot of TV and Theatre, but will be virtually unknown outside of The UK. Still after watching the Doctor Who Confidential featuring The 11th Doctor, you will see he will be a good one to play the part.

Fund episode, not sure when they will release it in the United States. I know that there are only going to be 4 specials this year and the dates are not yet know for those either. So tune in and get ready for more Doctor Who.

Righteous Kill - Movie Review

2009-01-04T12:39:00.003-06:00

The new cop thriller starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro will be coming out on DVD this Tuesday, January 6th. So a review for those debating on renting or buying the DVD. My thought before I get into the review is rent it.

I won't give away the ending in my review, so read on if you like.

This film has Robert De Niro starring as Detective Tom "Turk" Cowen and his partner is David "Rooster" Fisk played by Al Pacino. The movie starts off showing a man getting off for murdering his girlfriends daughter. This is upsetting enough to the two Detectives that they plan to do something about it and plant a gun to get the guy nailed. He was guilty, but got off, now he's in jail.

From there you get a little of the background of the two showing them playing softball and coaching, drinking with the boys and so on. Gives you a little bit about the characters.

Then you cut to Detective "Turk" confessing to killing 14 people. So now you start to learn about who these 14 people are and why they are killed. They are all a bunch of scum that got off. they keep referring back to this video throughout the movie of Turk talking through each of the killings and why he did them.

So now enter two more detectives, Perez played by Leguizamo and Riley played by Wahlberg as well as another Detective Corelli who is played by Carla Gugino. It turns out as Perez and Riley are working on a related murder to one that Cowen and Fisk are on. Corelli is the murder scene processor of evidence and she's banging Cowen.

It has a whole thing going on with Turk having you believe he really has been doing it and you will find out the truth, but what that is - you just have to see it and find out.

It's a good thriller and certainly worth a rental. I say that as I just don't see it being something you will watch over once you know the end. All the actors do a good job. De Niro and Pacino are always fun to watch. Wahlberg and Leguizamo do a good job as the straightlaced detectives and Gugino is her sexy self and does a good role in this one.

Well worth a rental - pick it up at NetFlix, Blockbuster or Red Box!

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5

The 11th Doctor Has Been Named

2009-01-04T12:18:00.004-06:00

The eleventh Doctor has been named. Matt Smith will be taking over as The Doctor after David Tennant finishes up his contract at the end of 2009.

Nearly 7 millioin people watched a specoal Doctor Who Confidential: The Eleventh Doctor last night in the BBC.

Matt Smith is 26 years of age, the youngest to play The Doctor. He is relatively unknown and has done some work with The National Theater on Alan Bennetts's The History of Boys as well as staring with Christian Slater in Swimming With Sharks in London's West End.

Smith grew up in Northampton and was head boy at Northampton School for Boys. He played Football(soccer) with Nottingham Forrest Youth Program and then moved on to Leicester City and was forced to retire due to a back injury.

He was involved in the National Youth Theatre and has involved in a bunch of different BBC productions as well at the theatre work.

Here's a link to the BBC's press announcement: BBC 11th Doctor Press Announcement.

So he will be in the series starting in 2010, but it will be interesting to see if he is transitioned in the Christmas Special in 2009 or will just take over.

I guess it's a good choice to put a young unknown in the role. The expectation level will be different and it will be good to let someone other than a John Simm or James Nesbit have a go at it.

I wish you luck and Can't wait to see the next episode to air!

Babylon AD - Movie Review

2009-01-03T10:53:00.003-06:00

Babylon AD is a futuristic film starring Vin Diesel, who plays Toorop a mercenary who is hired by the Russian mob to to deliver a young woman named Aurora (Mélanie Thierry) to New York City. There is no explaination at the start as to why, but Tootop is banned in the US, so the Russians are abor to give him a fake passport.

Now he arrives at the Noelite Convent to pick up Aurora and she is accompanied by her guardian nun Sister Rebeka (Michelle Yeoh), who has raised Aurora since she was a little child. The adventure begins from there as they have to cross through the great north to Canada and into the US. Someone is trying to stop them from making the delivery.

This is a relatively action packed film that at times seems to have too much action and it makes it hard to watch because bullets are flying and things are blowing up and you just don't know what the hell is going on.

It's one of those futuristic films where every town is run by the bad guys and it's a struggle to trust anyone at all. Nothing new or original about the film and it's plot from what I see.

The story gets weird about the background of Aurora and that she is special learning 19 laguages by age 2 and has all these other special things about her. We also find that once in NY that she is pregnant with twins. It's an immaculate conception as she has never been with a man. Now things unfold and you find out she was created in a lab and genetically altered. Her mother or probably the one whose egg was used happens to be the head of the Noelite church. She wants to use the immaculate conception to grow the church into a large power.

Toorop tries to get her out of NY without turning her over. He gets blown up and is surgically altered with prosthetic limbs to go on and help find Aurora, who has now gone into hiding.

Basically in the end Aurora is found by Toorop, dies giving birth and he's left to raise the twins.

So there you go, I told you the story so you don't have to waste your time seeing this one. It cost $70 million to make and I bet it doidn't gross anywhere near that, my guess is a total flop.

Too much crap to deal with and a reused story as far as I'm concerned. Don't bother with this one.

Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Seven Pounds - Movie Review

2009-01-01T18:11:00.003-06:00

I had this one figured out about 2 minutes into it. Will Smith stars in this film as Ben Smith or so he says. The opening scene is him calling 911 telling them of a suicide and then goes on to say it's his own. I wasn't really sure why he was doing what he was doing, but you do find that out eventually.

The film also stars Rosario Dawson, who plays Emily Posa a woman who needs a heart transplant and has a rare blood type so the chances are slim of this happening. There are seven individuals who Ben is setting out to change their lives in a major way.

So he forms a very strong releationship with Emily and takes good care of her. She falls for Ben as well and tries to get him to open up, but he doesn't want to talk about his past.

There is a woman who he gave part of his liver and then a lung for his brother, after that he tests the people to see if they are worthy of what he plans to give them, which is life. He plans to give a doctor bone marrow, but the doctor turns out to be a bad man and he finds a boy who he can help.

He tests a many Ezra Turner, played by Woody Harrelson, calling him names and pushing him to see if he is a good man. Ezra is blind and is waiting for an eye transplant.

So as you can see, Ben is doing all these things for others, but the one thing I couldn't figure out is why? Was he dying, did he do something? That was the mystery to me as I already knew from the opening scene what he was going to do.

So as you find out late in the story, his brother finds him and as it turns out his brother is an IRS Taxman named Ben and Ben is really Tim. Tim caused an accident that killed his wife and others because he was reaching down and reading his Blackberry while driving his car.

So he feels this is his way of giving back to save for the lives he lost.

It really is a sad movie and I think that as you see him develop the relationship with Emily, you wonder is he going to be able to give his life to save hers. In the end he does and it really makes it sad.

I really thought it was a good story. The movie was a little long at times and drew out some things, but in the end it was to put the whole story together. I enjoyed this movie, well worth seeing for sure.

Not sure it's Oscar worthy, maybe Rosario Dawson, but even Will Smith played a someone dry basic role. If he were to get a nomination I would give it for Hancock over this one.

The film is directed by the director of Pursuit of Happiness and it plays out a lot like that movie in the drama, etc..

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Body of Lies - Movie Review

2009-01-01T11:25:00.002-06:00

Adapted from David Ignatious's book, ridley Scott directs this spy thriller starring Leo and Crowe. Leo plays, Roger Ferris, a CIA operative in the Middle East tracking down a terrorist Al Salim. Crowe plays Ed Hoffman Ferris's Handler. Who basically spends the better part of the movie on his cell phone orchestrating all sorts of deals oand other things going on.

Ferris gets stationed in Ahman, Jordon to meet with Hani Salaam, who is a contact that is working with the CIA or at least informs them of some things. While there, Ferris meets a yound woman, a nurse who has moved to Jordon from Iraq. They start to develop a relationship as Ferris is working all angles of how to get to Al Salim.

This is a pretty interesting story, but think it might be more interesting to read vs seeing the movie. I think the movie gets a little slow at times and can be a little unrealistic. Still it's not a bad story and Leo and Crowe both do a good job in their roles.

Certainly one to rent on DVD and decide for yourself.

Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5 stars

Gran Torino - Movie Review

2009-01-01T09:21:00.006-06:00

With the holiday season upon us, there are a bunch of new movies making their way out just in time for the Oscar nods. Gran Torino was directed by and stars Clint Eastwood as a Korean War Vet who lives in a changing suburb of Detriot. A former auto worker, he's a stubborn old man and a racist. His wife just passed away and he's on his own. The neighborhood he lives in has changed from a white working class area to a Hmong neighborhood. Walt Kowalski doesn't want anything to do with the neighbors and thinks they are destroying the community. They don't take care of their laws and they don't take care of their houses.

He just says whatever he feels like when the son from next door Thao Vang Lor (Bee Vang), comes over to borrow jumper cables, he calls him a gook and zipper head. Later the boy's cousin tries to get him involved in a Hmong gang and his initiation is to steal Kowalski's 1972 Grand Torino, a car he helped assemble.

Shortly after he chases Thao away, he stands up for the boy and his family when the cousin "Spider" comes by to try and take Thao out with him. Thao refuses and fights break out and old Walt shows up with a gun and chases off the gang.

So this is the beginning of a strange relationship that continues to grow with the family. The neighbors are so happy that he stood up to the gang boys they bring him food and flowers and all sorts of gifts.

Thao's sister Sue also has a run in with a black gang and Walt pulls out a gun and sets them straight. She then invites Walt to the house for one of the family gatherings for a beer and food. Walt replies fine, but just don't eat my dog. She says "We only eat Cats" joking around.

Now the family needs to pay a debt to Walt for Thao trying to steal the car. He makes the boy work off the debt by cleaning up the neighborhood, fixing fences and gardens. Eventually he teaches the boy about relationships and not letting the true love go. He ends up helping the boy get a job and when they boy gets picked on, he tries to settle it once and for all.

This causes a big confrontation with the family next door causing bullets to fly sue to get beat up. So now it's up to Walt to finish the score. That's all I will say in case you plan to see it.

I thought is was a pretty good movie. Eastwood does a fantastic job of playing the grumpy old racist man who doesn't have a relationship with his own boys and develops one with the neighbor boy. It's a good story with an interesting end.

I certainly would recommend seeing this one if you get a chance. I think Clint will get a couple Oscar nods for Director and Actor. Not sure that he will win, depends on who all gets nominated, but he did a great job.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Wrestler - Movie Review

2008-12-29T22:16:00.005-06:00

Randy "The Ram" Robinson is a washed up wrestler who was a big hit 20 years ago. Now he's struggling to make ends meat and he ends up having a heart attack that sets him back from doing the one thing he knows best, Professional Wrestling. Mickey Rourke hasn't done much lately, but I have to say he is awesome in this movie. I think he plays the part just right, getting into the role and doing an amazing job. He almost looks like he might have already been pretty beat up from his own professional boxing career and whatever else he's been up to for the last 20 years.

I'll get a little more into the movie, but have to say that the soundtrack to the movie was an 80's hair band delight. Some Bang Your Head and Cinderella's Don't know What You Got fill the background along with other favorites like Round and Round from Ratt. Bruce Springsteen even has a new single that plays during the closing credits.

Evan Rachael Wood plays the estranged daughter who Randy wants to try to make amends to and Marisa Tomei gets naked once again for us as a stripper that Randy has a thing for. Not that it made the movie or anything, just had to point out that Marisa still has it going on these days.

Watching the start of this movie where they are all in a gym maybe 100 people watching them just beat on each other. It makes you remember back to the old wrestling, the true wrestling of The Crusher, Baron Von Raschke, Andre The Giant, Rick Flare, Adrian Adonis and even the original Hulk Hogan and all the greats of the time before the WWF rook over the world.

Rourke really does a great job of playing this guy who works in the grocery store during the week and on weekends wrestles because he it's his life. When he has a heart attack, he realizes that he needs to walk away from it all, but when things don't go right in life he turns to the one thing he knows best and it's all on the line for a 20 year reunion match between him and The Ayatollah.

The funny thing about Rourke is that he used to really get into the character mode. He's live the character like in Barfly. Now he really seems to be in character again and really hits it. Awesome job on this one. I don't know if this will be of the right nature to get him at least an Oscar nod, but from everything else I've seen this year, I do think he deserves it.

Well worth seeing for sure, when it comes out in wide release I would highly recommend seeing Rourke at his best and also Marisa Tomei, who really does a great job of playing a very guarded stripper, who likes Randy, but can't let it go past that. She too realizes that her days are numbered and wants something better. A very good performance for Tomei.

Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5

Dave's Top 10 Cds of 2008

2008-12-22T19:26:00.015-06:00

So here is my list of my top 10 cds that were released in 2008. This will include deluxe reissues and live music releases as well as studio recordings. You can think what you want, that's your deal. This is what I like, so let's beging:

1. The Heavy Circles - Self Titled This is Edie Brickell and Harper Simon collaberating efforts along with a pretty strong cast of characters like Money Mark, Sean Lennon, Martha Wainwright and Yuka Honda. This CD came out early in 2008 and really didn't have a lot of press around it and no tour at all, but to me it's one of my favorite of the year. I might be a little biased being an Edie fan, but still I think that they did an amazing job of putting this one together. There is a really nice mix of music styles throughout the CD and with Edie on vocals it all comes together nicely. It shows that between Edie's ability to write songs and Harpers ability to add and mix the music they sure came up with a winner. Although you won't see this on many of the big media top 10's it really deserves to be there.

2. Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static In a little different fasion Jack Johnson added some electric guitar to the music and recorded this whole cd all on solar power. On his tour he even created a Green Village to promote the 3R's - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. There were also other things there like Vote the Environment and Just getting folks to register to vote in general. This CD again was an early 2008 release and has some great songs on it. Jack tells some funny stories on how some of the material was written, but the songs are fantastic. Jack has an amazing voice and can put together some cool lyrics togehter making up one of my favorite cds.

3. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cardinalology Ryan has been really adding a lot to his creativity this year. He spent a good amopunt of time out on the road playing and released this CD along with a new book called Infinity Blues. I wasn't sure after hearing Fix It that I would like the direction Ryan was going with this new CD, but after hearing the rest, he has an amazing new CD on his hands and I would certainly recommend going out and getting this one. You can't go wrong, there's a bit of the softer side of Ryan as well as some more Alt Country songs on this. Some of the highlights on this one are Born Into The Light, Cobwebs and Natural Ghost.

4. Zach Gill - StuffZach Gill released his first solo CD after working on the last couple Jack Johnson CDs as well as the two with his original band ALO. This to me was one of the best CDS of the year because it really has a good mix of styles that all compliment Zach's soulful voice. He hits some reggae as well as some blues and many more. Call it pop or call it what you like, but Zach is really talented and this was certainly a gem of 2008. Zach recently was out on a solo tour and will be finishing off the year on tour with ALO doing a bunch of West Coast shows together. In the summer he plays with Jack Johnson, so he is pretty much busy all year long.

5. Neil Young - Sugar MountainClassic old Neil Young playing solo acoustic to me is him at his best. this was recently released and has a bit of a hiss in the recording, but for a 40 year old show that took place right before his first solo album was released, it's a pretty cool show to hear. He does a lot of talking between songs telling funny stories. Great tunes, this one is a must for the Neil Young fans out there.

6. Kings of Leon - Only By The NightI wasn't a fan of Kings of Leon when I first saw them live opening for U2, but I think this new CD really grew on my. It really, to me, isn't a hard rock CD, but it certainly has a nice selections of different songs. For their 3rd release I think they have made it passed the sophomore slump and continue to produce some rally good music. I reall y have enjoyed listening to this one.

7. Coldplay - Viva La VidaColdplay has been a band that I have really liked over the years. You can certainly tell that this CD took a lot of thought, time and effort to produce. It wasn't a throw out 10 songs and let's make a few million. there's some heart put into these recordings. Now they are being sued over one song and so maybe it was stolen or maybe an idea came to Chris Martin based off another song. Either way it will get worked out. They are fantastic in live performance as well as in studio recordings. This is a great one to have from 2008.

8. Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old SunI wasn't really sure at all about Brian Wilson coming out with a new CD after the remake or finishing of Smile. But I have to say he really did a fantastic job of capturing that same old sound from 40 years ago and he still sounds pretty good as he mixes it all together. As a single voice, I don't think he's the best performer, but with the musically talent of puttiong the whole thing together, this was a real winner for me this year.

9. The Verve - FourthAfter a long hiatus from the music scene or at least the American music scene, The Verve exploded back with their fourth cd titled Fourth. Can't go wrong with that title. The songs are great and Richard Ashcroft really put it together with the band on this one. I don't know how well it has done, but it's one that is certainly worth a listen. They promoted it by releasing a few sessions and other things and then went out and played a bunch of festivals in Europe. I'm glad to hear them back making music.

10. The Racontuers - Consolers of the LonelyNot much in the way of advertising or promoting initially for this CD. It sort of just showed up and that was that. They did tour the US and Europe in support and eventually started to get some play time for this CD. I like the beat and I like all the stuff Jack White has done with these guys. This second release is as good as the first and I have to say that they show a wide range of talent as a band. I have yet to see them live, but have heard them live on NPR as well as other live downloads. Can't wait to see them live as they really have a great sound.

Honorable Mention: Vampire Weekend - Self titledThe debut cd for this college band really hit the charts and fits right into that Panic at The Disco style of music, not sure exactly what it's called. I have to say that on the downside, I have not heard many good things about their live performances. I have heard they play about a 45 minute show of just their CD tunes and really don't stray. So for me the question is how did they produce such a great first time CD? Will we see them for a second and will it be good or did they just happen to strike the right chord in 2008. Let's see what 2009 brings us.

Honorable Mention: David Byrne & Bryan Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen TodayI had to add this one because as hard as it was to choose a top 10 of 2008 because there were some really good things that came out, but David Byrne and Brian Eno put together this fantastic collection of songs. I haven't seen this one stick around on any charts, but it really is a classic and will be one people will be pulling out and having a listen to for many years to come. Both Byrne and Eno are so talented and together they are amazing.

There are many more I could have added including Lucinda Williams, The Roots, Ra Ra Riot, Nine Ince Nails, Conor Oberst, Old Crow Medicine Show, Old 97's, but I really picked the best as well as I could from my opinion. There's a lot of people that would say I missed the mark or whatever, but to me this was a good year of music and so many to choose from and only 10 plus spots to fill. I may change my mind over the next couple of weeks, but my top ones won't be going anywhere. Edie Brickell was fantastic in her new adventure, Ryan Adams is amazing as always and Jack Johnson is a just superb.

Please feel free to comment and add what you like, I'm always open to suggestions of new or different styles of music.

The Day The Earth Stood Still - Movie Review

2008-12-22T16:38:00.003-06:00

The remake of the 1951 thriller The Day the Earth Stood Still came out in theaters on December 12, 2008. the movie stars Keanu Reeves as Klaatu and Jennifer Connelly as Dr. Helen Benson. Jaden Smith plays Helen's stepson Jacob. The movie mainly reveolved around the three of them, but also stars Kathy Bates as the US Secretary of Defense.

So the basis for the story if you haven't heard or read anything about it is that Klaatu comes to Earth to save the planet. The Alien took the form of Keanu Reeves, who it ran into in the Karakorum Mountains in India, while climbing a mountain. So now as it returns travelling 30,000 km/s it's going to crash into Earth or at least that's what they think.

They bring Dr. Helen Benson in as one of the experts to study what's going on and then study Klaatu in it's human for looking like Keanu Reeves. She develops a relationship with him and realizes what she needs to do to convince him that people can change and that in order to save the Earth, Klaatu doesn't need to exterminate the population.

These spheres show up all over the world collecting different species as to be like Noahs Ark. Then as everything gets collected the plan is to wipe out the universe and all man made structures with some sort of nanobots. The graphics of the film were pretty cool I must say.

In the end Helen convinces Klaatu that people can change and he stops detroying the humans and lets things return to the way they were.

I'm not sure why they always decide to remake old movies, but maybe it just has to do with the new technology and graphics they can display to make it seem cool vs. original.

The whole story about coming to destroy humans because they are killing the Earth and not doing their part to become "Green" and self sustainable is always a cool thing. I just wish people would take it upon themselves to do more to help save the planet and not go see this average film that they won't even get the message from.

I would wait for this one to come out on DVD. It has already grossed more than it's $80m price tag, but not really worth paying to see. I say Red Box Rental!

Rating: 2 out of 5

Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon - TV Movie Review

2008-12-22T16:01:00.003-06:00

Set in the Grand Canyon back in the days of the gold rush, this movie tells the tale of an ancient Aztec civilization that is living behind one of the rock walls of the Grand Canyon. The Sci-Fi original movie stars Shannen Doherty of 90210 fame as well as Michael Shanks of Stargate SG-1. I love the fact that they show these things in HD now. So awesome to watch the cheese of all cheese in HD.

Not nearly as bad as last weeks thriller Sharks in Venice. This movie actually has a bit of a story to it. There's an ancient civilization that hides in the Grand Canyon and there is some alien monster that controls the people forcing them to make sacrifices as if it were a god.

Shannen Doherty plays Susan Jordon who is an archaeologist, who is working for the Smithsonian and is planning to meet up with her Father, but he doesn't show. So now they go looking for him and find that he has discovered the lost city and they need to save him.

Personally this was probably the biggest waste of 2 hours time, but it has the cheese factor and that's what made it worth watching.

Not sure when it will play again, but if you get a chance, catch it for sure.
I loved it when Michael Shanks self sacrificed himself, by pulling out his heart and then after coming back to life killed the alien god and became the new god.
Too funny!

Rating: 1/2 out of 5

The Punisher: War Zone - Movie Review

2008-12-22T15:11:00.002-06:00

This Punisher movie is really not a sequel to the 2004 movie with Thomas Jane. It's more of a new version that was adapted from one of the spin-off comics called The Punisher WarZone that was written and published in the early to mid 1990's.

This version of the Punisher doesn't get heavy into the past and what made Frank Castle into what he is, but more of a jump into a story with Frank Castle, played by British actor Ray Stevenson, who was in the HBO series Rome. The Punisher is out to take down all the crime families in the city and in this particular story he turns Billy Russoti(Dominic West, from The Wire) into a warped criminal with a twisted messed up face called Jigsaw.

So the movie has some pretty graphic violence and some good action sequences. The Punisher certainly takes no prisoners, but in this movie he ends up taking down an undercover cop, who had infiltrated Jigsaws organization. Now he feels he owes a debt to the wife and daughter. He then finds out they are in danger and now need to protect them and take care of them until he can take down Jigsaw.

Well Jigsaw and his brother Looney Bin Jim get the family and draw The Punisher to the hotel that is heavily armed and he has to come up with a plan to save them. Part of this is to team up with the police and FBI to run some interference for him to get in the building and to the woman and her daughter.

The whole next part of the movie plays out as a wild and crazy gun battle action scene. Bullets are flying and people are dying, it's quite insane. Then as he approaches the room with Jigsaw old Looney Bin Jim goes one on one in a pretty cool fight with The Punisher. From there Jigsaw puts him in a place to chose between friend or kid and he does an awesome job of taking out the brothers with sacraficing his friend.

Overall I thought it was a pretty well done movie with a good story and a lot of action. I know most critics blasted it, but it was a lot better than what they said. If you are looking for a good action shoot'em up movie - check it out!

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5

Dexter - Season 3 Review

2008-12-16T14:29:00.008-06:00

Season 3 of Dexter has come to a close and the cool thing as of now is there are plans for a season 4 in the works.

Michael C. Hall stars once again in another awesome season of the show. We ended last season with Dokes getting framed for the murders Dexter committed and some craziness. So why not start the season with some craziness as well.

Dexter once again gets himself into a bind by going to kill a drug dealing killer named Freebo. He comes in to the house take him down and ends up killer the DA, Miguel Prado's brother Oscar. Jimmy Smitts plays Miguel Prado in this new season. He's powerful and has a lot of connections all around to get people to investigate the murder of his brother. Also Miguel's other brother, Ramon works in the Sheriffs department and he really wants to find this killer.

Along with having to deal with how he can keep the murder of Oscar Prado under wraps and get it blamed on Freebo, he finds out his girlfriend Rita is pregnant with his child. Dexter is going to be a dad - Holy Shit!

So the new players this season are the usual suspects with the addition of Jimmy Smitts and a new Detective on the team as well, but he's not worth talking much about because I really didn't feel that overall he played a big role in the show. She was connected to a bunch of events, but nothing to major.

So Freebo is on the loose and Dexter needs to find him before Miguel or the rest of the force can.

So now Miguel finds out Dexter is getting nosey and confronts him only to get a Dexter BS story to satisfy Miguel. From there the relationship develops and before you know it Dexter is killing Freebo at his girlfriends house and guess who shows up? Good old Miguel - now a bond has formed and Miguel is really interested in working with Dexter.

After Dexter runs off to take out another poor sap, Miguel figures it out and now wants to be a part of the vengence.

So while Freebo is dead, someone else continues on killing people the way Freebo did it. It's not Dexter and at this point who knows who it is or why.

Deb continues to investigate the death of a mysterious woman and it seems to be done in the same way as Freebo did it, so everyone still thinks this is freebo, but it's not because he's dead. Dexter helps Deb in a subtle way figure out that the dead girl is Freebo's girlfriend and now it's all back to one big case.

Now Dexter and Miguel are becoming good buddies and killing the bad guys who get off is their thing. Could this be good or could it be all wrong. Well Dexter soon finds out that Miguel has his own agenda and kills off a lawyer out to get him. This isn't part of Dexter's code and from their the relationship turns bad. Everything Dexter thought Miguel was turned out to be all lies.

So now he needs to deal with this. So Dexter is once again in a predicament. He is forced to make Miguel feel vulnerable and nneds to hold onto his own secret. So there's only one thing that can be done, kill him. In good old Dexter fasion he take s Miguel down and ends up dealing with his brother who thinks Dexter killed Miguel.

All of this is going on and Dexter is going to get married, keep his hidden identity and save the day. But there's one more twist, the skinner is out there and his next target is Dexter. Turns out the Skinner was working for Miguel. So now Dexter has to get out of this mess and get to his wedding. Of course he does and throws the Skinner in front of the moving Police car to make it look like a suicide. He breaks his hand, but plays it off like he fell, gets married and remains the worlds most loved serial killer in the end.

I might have left soem things out in my summary including some of the other peoples stories, but the big focus was on Dexter and Miguel. It was a good vs. evil match once again.

Awesome season, be sure to pick it up on DVD if you don't get Showtime. They are renewed for a fourth season so be looking for more next year.

Sons of Anarchy Season One Review

2008-12-05T22:30:00.007-06:00

So I started off by writing a review of the Pilot episode of this show and wasn't really favorable of that particular episode. Here's was my review with and update: Sons of Anarchy Pilot Review.

I originally felt it was just a little too much with the drugs, violence, death and wasn't sure if it would ever really develop a story line. Since that first episode it did pick up and developed some pretty good storeys dealing with relationships, character development and second thoughts.

There were a couple of key stories going on the main was Gemma, played by Katay Sagal, tries to control just about everyone on the show. She wants to control her son Jax's life and who he has a relationship with. She plays Jax's ex-wife off against his girlfriend and even tries to kill his ex-wife with a needle full of drugs. She gets what she wants and she's one tough bitch. Sagal really does an awesome job in this role as a cold hearted wife of the president of Sam Crow who really is pulling the strings of a lot of people.

Jax is played by Charlie Hunnam, who played the thug brother in the movie Green Street Hooligans, which is a great film and well worth seeing. It's funny seeing a Brit play a biker from the Sacramento area town of Charming, CA. Jax starts to question a lot of what's going on as his son is born to his drugged up wife. He lives and is in intensive care. The wife is sent off to rehab and Jax will be resonsible for raising his son. He goes to storage to get some stuff and finds a box of stuff that was his fathers. There was a book that his father wrote about how Sam Crow lost its way and he had a different vision of what he wanted it to be. Jax starts to question things and challenges Clay, the president of Sam Crow, who is also his step father. This continues to get at him through the series. Jax's dad is John Teller who along with Piney Joe started the motorcycle gang. Teller died when Jax was young and Clay Morrow stepped in to raise him.

Ron Perlman plays Clay, the president of the Club and is the mastermind behind all the gun running. He sells to the 9ers, a black gang out of Oakland and he's always at odds with the Mayans, a Mexican rival gang. He controls his arms from the IRA and even deals with the Chinese mafia. He's into a whole bunch of stuff as long as it happens outside the borders of Charming, it's fair game. He has the police chief and the sheriff department on his payroll.

All seems to be going well until the Mayans blow up the gun storage and revenge comes. From there the whole season is a balance of power and struggle to keep the violence out of Charming, CA. There's a local Police officer who is working against the Chief and trying to nail the Sons, but he always seems to come out on the wrong end. The Feds even get involved and in the end after they think they have a great case, it all goes away.

The show had a little violence, but it for the most part dealt with a wide variety of situations and struggles of individuals. Jax isn't sure what he feels is right and Opie wants back in, but doesn't want to got to jail again and in the end he comes back in and his wife ends up getting killed. Gemma plays Jax's ex-wife off the doctor who comes back to hide and be with Jax. She doesn't want the Doctor helping screw with Jax's mind.

These guys really know how to work the system and more connections than anyone I know. In the end they keep rolling, but it's time for some change.

If you missed it, pick it up on DVD when it's released. After my little rant on the first episode, I really think it came on strong and was well written. This one will be around for at least another season to see where Jax goes and if there's an uprising.

There's a lot more stories going on that I might have forgotten, but watch it and Enjoy!

Neil Young - Sugar Mountain - Live at Caterbury House 1968 CD Review

2008-12-03T13:11:00.003-06:00

40 years after the original performance Neil Young has released Sugar Mountain: Live at Caterbury House 1968. This comes as a CD/DVD combo package. The DVD in this package is actually an audio DVD, not a video like the Massey Hall show. The only video on the DVD is a preview of the Archives Vol. 1 Trailer. This is the 10 DVD/BlueRay box set that will be coming out. So just a pre-warning if you are buying only to see the DVD, you might want to buy it on iTunes and get the bonus song, which you can buy individually anyways.

This is a 40 year old recording done on the old reel tapes, so even with the clean up done, there is still a slight hiss in the recording. For me it just adds a little of that history kind of like listening to some of the old Grateful Dead Dick's Picks.

This performance was done just after the break up of Buffalo Springfield and just before the release of Neils first solo album. In typical Neil fashion, he plays songs and tells stories between the songs as well. There's one about him getting fired from a job in a bookstore and how he took some pills and was wired one day and down the next. It's pretty funny. There are other funny one liners as well.

Great song selection for this performance, a nice 3 minute version of a song that took 5 minutes to write, Mr. Soul. Nice versions of several songs such as Old Lady Laughing and Sugar Mountain as well as Broken Arrow.

It's a small venue with an intimate setting and it comes out in the play of the songs, a little rough, but fantastic.

This is a CD worth picking up either from iTunes with the bonus song or to have the CD/DVD version if you like. You can't go wrong either way.

Track List:

1. On The Way Home
2. Mr. Soul
3. Expecting To Fly
4. The Last Trip To Tulsa
5. The Loner
6. Birds
7. Winterlong (excerpt)
8. Out Of My Mind
9. If I Could Have Her Tonight
10. Sugar Mountain
11. I've Been Waiting For You
12. Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing
13. The Old Laughing Lady
14. Broken Arrow
15. I Am A Child (iTunes Bonus Track)

Twilight - Stephenie Meyer - Book Review - NOT Movie

2008-11-30T23:09:00.005-06:00

Just to start off so no one is confused on this one, I am reviewing the book not the movie. I have yet to see the movie, but will review that when I see it.

Twilight is the first of a four book series written by Stephenie Meyer. I was given a copy of the book to read and decided what the hell, why not, let's see what the big fluff is all about. I'm not a teenager or anything near it, actually I just turned forty so maybe I'm too old to understand, we will see. I'll start off by saying that I have always been a fan of Anne Rice and the wonderful Vampire Chronicals she wrote over the years. These books may not compare in anyway, but I wanted to give the first one a shot and see.

This is a story as many already know about a teenage girl named Bella Swan, who moves to Forks, WA to live with her father, Police Chief Charlie Swan. When she first arrives at school she is immediately attracted to a pale young man named Edward Cullen. From their the adventure begins and will continue throught a series of four books.

So far having only read the first of the four books and coming off reading two books about mountain climbing, I would have to say that this was a change of pace for me. I haven't read a work of fiction in a long time.

The pace of the story is good and it keeps the read going and wondering what will happen next. It's not necessarily original in it's style, but certainly has it's own twists and turns that make it it's own read. It's not like I could just write I read this the first time by Anne rice or something of that nature. I think it's kept clean and readable by young as well as old.

I'm going to continue to read the next story and eventually see the movie to see if it was translated well or not. As always, I'm not going to give away the story as I didn't know it when I read it, so all I will say is that you will pick this one up and it willbe hard to put down. I finished it over four evenings after putting two kids to bed and feeding and taking care of two dogs and a cat. So it certainly intrigued me enough to get through it quickly.

I would recommend reading at least the first of the story and see if you get sucked in as well.

The Shield - The Final Season(Season 7) Review

2008-11-30T19:16:00.008-06:00

I can't believe the final season is done and gone - that was way too fast.

Season Seven as we all knew coming in would be the final season for us to be watching Vic Mackey be a badass! From the start of the season with Vic in trouble with the Armenians for taking over 2 million off them. Shane obvious is the one who put this all into play. So we have Vic and Ronnie pretty pissed off at Shane because they find out he killed Lem and now has them all in trouble. The final series from week to week just leaves you hanging out there wanting to know what's going to happen next.

How was this all going to end? That's what we all wanted to know!

So from Shane kidnapping Vic's ex-wife Corrine and daughter to save their lives getting things into more trouble. The Armenians and the Mexicans are squaring off and having little turf wars. Who's going to step in and take care of it all, Vic Mackey for sure.

The season kept us wondering how were they going to get out from under the debt of the Armenians and what would Vic do to Shane once he had the chance? Vic gets hhoked up with ICE and has an idea on how to get him and Ronnie out from all this mess. He still needs to figure out what is he going to do with Shane.

So Vic sets up a hit on the Armenians by the Mexicans and leaves Shane their to be taken out. But Shane is off around the corner and survives the hit making off with $100K out of the deal. Shanes problem is that his wife Mara is pregnant and they have another young son and no one to turn to for help. Mara sticks her nose in the business and now has others all riled up.

Vic is playing off everyone from trying to save his job by working with Councilman David Acevada who was once the Chief at The Barn. Then it's ICE to go and work for the feds to save his job. Then eventually he looks to get immunity for him and Ronnie through ICE by setting up one of the biggest busts around between the Mexican Cartel and the Black Gangs.

There's a bunch of underlying stories with Dutch in a relationship with a woman who he believes her son is a derranged potential serial killer. Claudette is dying and trying to keep it under raps, but has been having difficulty. Billings is suing the department when he got hit at work. So not going into all the details, just going to stick to the strike team for this review.

Basically what it all boils down to is that Mara tells Corrine all about what Vic is up to while her and Shane are on the run. Corrine goes into the Barn and wants Vic put in jail and tries to set up a sting. All the while Vic is working out an immunity deal with ICE.

There were several close calls that almost cost Shane his life and in one case just the opposite and he sets up Ronnie and Vic and it all goes wrong.

So now Vic realizes that he's about to go down for all the bad shit he's done over the years and gets ICE to strike a deal with him leaving Ronnie hanging. Vic's confession of all the things he's done ends up putting ronnie away for a long long time.

When it all comes down in the end, the Mexican Drug Cartel goes down, Corrine goes into witness protection and leaves town. Ronnie gets arrested for all the past crimes. Shane has no where else to go and the cops are closing in. He poisons his kid and pregnant wife and then starts to write a note and as the cops approach he takes his own life.

Acevada makes out the best with a sure win as mayor. Vic has pissed so many people off that he is now stuck behind a desk for the next 3 years working for ICE. Always having to watch his back and will never know when his time will be up.

Crazy stuff but a great finish to the series as a whole. I had originally missed seasons 1-3 and went and bought them on DVD. You can usually find the DVDs on sale, especially around Christmas for about $20 a season. Check it out for sure if you need to go back and see the whole thing it's well worth it as it's a continuing saga from the first episode to the very last.

AWESOME!

Bolt - Movie Review

2008-11-29T14:48:00.006-06:00

My daughter had been waiting for weeks for Bolt to come out and we decided that it would be great to take her the day after Thanksgiving with her Grandparents. So off we went to the packed mall and movie theater to catch Bolt.

My daughter is still young enough that it's hard to get through a whole movie without here being afraid of something. As Bolt starts off it shows the dog in action on his film fighting the evil green eyed man. This was a little frightening at the start, but after that we were free and clear for the rest of the film.

This is a fun movie for people of all ages from the 2 1/2 year olds all the way up to the 60+ year olds. It's a fun little story about the dog realizing that he really isn't a super hero and that he still wants to get back to rescue Penny his owner.

It's fun for everyone and it's a good story. There are some pretty funny parts to the movie and it really doesn't get slow at all.

It's well worth seeing this one, take the kids or just go yourself. It's entertaining for sure. Miley Cyrus & John Travolta play the main characters Penny and Bolt. They even sing a duet at the end that is pretty good.

Go see this one.

Lincoln Hall - Dead Lucky: Life After Death on Mt. Everest - Book Review

2008-11-29T14:40:00.007-06:00

Having just finished the story of Ed Viesturs, I was on a Mountain Climbing book kick. I decided to read Lincoln Hall's Dead Luck: Life After Death on Mt. Everest. This is the story of how Lincoln was pronounced dead on the mountain and somehow managed to come to life and make it down the mountain.

Lincoln hall was an accomplished climber over the years and has been on many trips, but was left with one void and that was climbing Mount Everest.

Lincoln had an opportunity to climb Mount Everest as part of a team in 2006. His task was to document the climb of a 15 year old Australian who was going to be the youngest to climb the mountain by 3 months.

Lincoln wasn't even sure if he would be going because of the cost and sponsorship money. With only 2 months until the expedition Lincoln was called up and told he was going to Everest. Now he had two months to get ready for a mountain that would take at least 6 months to prepare for.

So the adventure begins and off Lincoln goes to try to tackle his Mount Everest.

The coolest thing about this book is the descriptions along the way. From the hotels in town to the trek out to base camp. Even Lincoln's descriptions of the mountain and the steps along to climbing to the peak. I think that having been an accomplished writer helps make the readers feel like they are there every step of the way.

From the missed opportunity at the start thinking he was going to pack it up and go home through to his rescue going down the mountain, this is an amazing story of how Hall survived out in the open above 28,000ft over night and made his way back facing hallucinations and other things on his way back to base camp.

I'm not going to tell you the whole story and get into too many of the details only because it's all a part of reading the story and following through this epic journey.

There are certainly controversies in the story and I think even Lincoln has tried to work out the truth to some of those. All I will say is that it certainly had to be a struggle making his way back to life and dealing with the healing.

I don't believe that I will ever attempt to climb Mount Everest, but you never know and if some crazy opportunity came up I can't say I would turn it down.

This is a fantastic book and well worth the read. As much as I love hiking and going out on adventures, I like to read these stories to remind myself that we are still human and things can go wrong.

I also like the descriptions of what gear he uses at the different elevations. This is something that I'm always interested in reading about.

Ed Viesturs - No Shortcuts To The Top - Book Review

2008-11-29T14:26:00.004-06:00

Ed Viesturs is one of the most accomplished mountain climbers from the United States. After many climbs he decided that he would try to climb all the worlds 8,000 meter peaks, that's 26,250 ft and there are fourteen of them. This is a task that not many have accomplished over all the years people have been climbing.

I've had this book on my shelf for quite a while, but have not had a chance to read it until now. Having kids sure does take a lot of your time, but worth every minute. So let's get into this one.

No Shortcuts to the Top starts telling Ed's story from leaving Rockford, IL heading out to Washington to go to school and working on getting his Vet degree. He discovers climbing and gets hooked. So from chosing the life of working as a vet to climbing mountains for peanuts, Ed chose climbing.

I really like how Ed tells his story and the story of many of his climbs and some of the loses as well as the accomplishments over the years.

I also like the way that through out the book he refers to some of his readers and those who comment as "armchair mountaineers". I don't consiser myself an "armchair mountaineer", but more of a hiker, climber. I have bigger ambitions than I have time or money. I have climbed some smaller peaks and love to spend time out camping in the wilderness. There's a lot more I would like to do like Mount Rainier and many of the Colorado 14ers. Those who have never set foot on a trail and know what it's like to feel the pain in your muscles from climbing are certainly "armchair mountaineers", those who have read all the books published and think they are experts on what happened on Everest in 1996.

I personally love to read the stories myself and enjoy to hear the different stories and the different sides of the stories. I don't really form too many opinions of how people make mistakes or jusdge anyone, because I haven't been to the big peaks. Maybe someday, but for now I will stick to mountains in the US.

So getting back to Ed and his story. I think that Ed has told a great story about his life and what he has accomplished including a little about his family to show the reality of what a toll it can take on a family. When you see how he explains the rescues and the near misses. You realize that the number one priority of climbing is safety and to come home alive.

Ed talks about his working out and all his time being a Mount Rainier guide. I can only imagine what it would take to get in shape for a big mountain climb. Ed seems to be sort of a machine the way he can climb these mountains without suplimental oxygen. The man certainly can acclimate well in the mountains. I personally have worked out pretty hard to go out on 10 mile hikes and climbs and I'm always exhausted when I get to the peak.

It's quite an accomplishment and also a struggle what Ed has been through all these years. Fighting to get sponsorships to go off and climb the 8,000m mountains and having to come back and work on building houses and other stuff to make some money to get by. I can only dream about getting a chance to climb an 8,000m peak. I would never be able to come up with the money especially with a mortgage and family to take care of. Maybe when I was younger, but still maybe some day I will get the chance. For now I will stick to the States.

I think the one thing I would like to have heard more about in the book is the products Ed used and the different equiptment. I know he helped Mountain Hardwear out using equiptment and helping design their stuff as well. I love Mountain Hardwear and have many different products of theirs from a simple Monkey Man Jacket to a Down Jacket, Hiking pants that are designed specifically for backpacking and even some shorts and other stuff. It's all great and I certainly would love to have heard a little more just to test out some product myself.

I wish I had a chance to go out and see Ed when he did some of his speaking engagements. He certainly has accomplished a lot and continues to do more as well as a lot of work for environmental causes. The 2008 Canadian Arctic Trak for Earth Health was the latest thing he's been up to.

Check out Ed's website http://www.edviesturs.com/ to see what's going on with him. I don't know how often he updates it, but it's the best way to see what he's up to.

The book is excellent and one of better inside looks and climbing the big peaks.

Dido - Safe Trip Home - CD Review

2008-11-21T15:18:00.002-06:00

Safe Trip Home is Dido's 3rd official release and first in about 5 years. The best thing about Dido is that she is a Gooner, an Arsenal Fan, as far as I know. I haven't heard that change and my guess is that she still is one. Actually she also has an amazing voice and that's more why I like her. So from her breakout using Thank You to back track the Eminem song Stan, to where she is today has been a long journey and for those fans a good one. I'm not a fan of Eminem, but I really loved the song Thank You and thought No Angel was one of the best cds of that time. I like many others had not heard of Dido until Stan came out, but after hearing her own music, I certainly was hooked.

I picked this one up just knowing I couldn't go wrong. I put it on and right off the bat, we had the same soft, warm sounds of her voice. Dido works with producer, Jon Brion on this new CD. They started off at Abbey Road Studio in London and eventually she was convinced to move to Los Angeles to continue her focus. Not sure why LA, but it seems to have done the trick.

Most of the songs are relatively soft, mellow, warm songs. There is a mix of some acoustic guitar, drums, piano, recorder and more. She even had Mick Fleetwood help her out on drums with Grafton streen and Citizen Cope helps out with Burnin Love. This cd has a lot of the feel of some of her past works. Even adding some strings and other beats throughout. Still Dido has such an amazing voice she can make anything sound amazing.

The iTunes Deluxe version comes with a 4 minute video for Don't Believe in Love. It's an iteresting little look into people being comfortable in their homes. It's a nice little bonus added to the download. I think it would have been cool to see her doing a making of session or something, but this video is still cool.

I haven't seen Did live, only have heard the audio cd that came with her live DVD. I think she would be fantastic to see live in a smaller type venue where the show could be more intimate. Sprekels Theater in San Diego, Riverside Theater in Milwaukee, Uptown Theater in Kansas City are all places that would be awesome to see her at. I do hope that we are privilaged enough to get to see Dido here in Kansas City.

Track Listing:

1. Don't Believe In Love
2. Quiet Times
3. Never Want To Say It's Love
4. Grafton Street
5. It Comes And It Goes
6. Look No Further
7. Us 2 Little Gods
8. The Day Before The Day
9. Let's Do The Things We Normally Do
10. Burnin Love
11. Northern Skies
12. For One Day (iTunes extra)
13. Summer (iTunes extra)
14. Northern Skies (Remix) (iTunes extra)
15. Don't Believe In Love (Short Film Version) (iTunes extra)

Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy - CD Review

2008-11-21T12:19:00.005-06:00

So after a long spell of something like 17 years since Use Your Illusion I & II came out we are hearing Axl Rose perform under the name Guns N' Roses with his finally official release of Chinese Democracy. This is being offered exclusively through Best Buy to start. Not sure if it will remain exclusive or will be release eslewhere after. It's still hard for me to accept this as a real Guns N' Roses cd since Axl is the only one around, how about Roses Only or something.

At first take it's not bad at all. Axl is sounding pretty good and he backs himself with a lot of good musicians to help him out. I'm not sure if he will be able to duplicate that for live sets since he went from people like Buckethead and Robin Finnick to others after. It looks like the credits of the songs are all over the board. Axl is the only one thing that is the same. Different musicians and different studios along the way, but I guess that's what happens when it takes you over 10 years to record a CD.

Some of the highlights of the new CD are the title song, Chinese Democracy, Better, Prostitude, IRS as well as Catcher In the Rye. I like the piano on Catcher and the ballad type sound to the song. IRS has some strong Axl vocals as well as some really good guitar riffs. Better starts off a little strange, but kicks in with Axl singing and really had a good sound.

I am really surprised that the CD as good as it is for someone still lost in the late 80's. I look forward to see how the CD does since it's going to be sold exclusively through Best Buy. Typically people today would like to be able to buy a iTunes download and be a little green, by not wasting all the extra plastic it takes to make a cd - that is unless he's doing a post consumer recycles paper case with it :-) Anyways, I think that it is risky to go with just Best Buy, but my guess is it will be available on iTunes at some point. Maybe even next week, I haven't heard anything on that yet.

It's got a good sound if you are a Guns N' Roses fan, I think you will like this one. I still don't think I would spend money to see Axl perform. The last time I saw him he came out at some MTV awards show and practically collapsed of exhaustion while trying to sing a montage of classic GnR stuff. He still has the attitude and still throws fits more than Ryan Adams, so I'll listen to the cd, but will be staying home if he shows up in KC.

The track listing:

01 Chinese Democracy
02 Shackler's Revenge
03 Better
04 Street Of Dreams (a.k.a The Blues)
05 If The World
06 There Was A Time
07 Catcher In The Rye
08 Scraped
09 Riad N' The Bedouins
10 Sorry
11 I.R.S.
12 Madagascar
13 This I Love
14 Prostitute

The Clash - Live at Shea Stadium 1982

2008-11-06T16:44:00.005-06:00

I've always been a fan of The Clash, but never a die hard fan. I've had a lot of respect for the music they created and the stuff that Joe Strummer did afterwards as well. I don't know much about the history, but have recently started reading Redemption Song about Strummer.

To me listening to this live performance from 1982 is pretty cool. I understand they were opening for The Who and the crowd just wasn't the same as it would be if they were playing in Brixton or Hammersmith or somewhere in the UK. I would really love to hear one of those performances and compare as I think the energy level would be different. I had heard stories that Pete Townshend was the only one in The Who that gave them the time of day and that Roger was a prick to them.

Still, playing a big stadium would have to be a fun gig.

Maybe we will see some more live releases from other shows with some good energy and quality sound. I know I have a couple of cool Joe Strummer shows from St. Annes and the final show he did before passing on. I'd love to hear soundboards of any of those.

This show was originally I believe the full October 13th show. They played some great tunes there. London Calling, The Guns of Brixton, Train in Vain, I Fought the Law. They added a few of the pop tunes like Rock the Casbah and Should I Stay or Should I Go, which are tunes I like. The only one I would love to hear from the Combat Rock cd live would be a nice long melodic version of Straight to Hell like Joe often played with Mescaleros.

Still, I like this recording and look forward to seeing if they will put out any others like this, but with the UK crowd. I know seeing them back in 1982 or 1983, it was in a small place in Milwaukee, WI, maybe The Auditorium, it was fantastic. I don't remember much of the show as I was a about 14 at the time, it was still great to see them. I even saw B.A.D in about 1992 and they were fun, but never got to see Joe with Mescaleros even though they played a lot of shows in LA and I lived not far away. That I regret.

Fun show and brings back some good memories. I like it and would recommend it for sure.

Track List:

1. London Calling
2. Police On My Back
3. The Guns of Brixton
4. Tommy Gun
5. Magnificent 7
6. Armagideon Time
7. Magnificent 7 (Return)
8. Rock The Casbah
9. Train In Vain
10. Career Opportunities
11. Spanish Bombs
12. Clampdown
13. English Civil War
14. Should I Stay Or Should I Go
15. I Fought The Law

The Cure - 4:13 Dream - CD Review

2008-10-22T13:47:00.003-05:00

The Cure formed back in 1976 in Crawley, West Sussex. Robert Smith is the only original member from the band of that time. They started to gain popularity in 1982 with their first hit Let's Go To Bed and have continued to gain a wide music audience for the past 25 plus years. Over that time they have released 12 studio CDs and now have their 13 one due out in October called 4:13 Dream.

The first feel that I get from this new CD is that it's sort of a mix of many past songs being revived to create this CD. I may be wrong, but hte jump of style from a song like Underneath The Stars, a song that reminds me of an epic ballad, then jumps into The Only One that becomes more pop like. Overall it really has a nice mix of songs and styles throughout.

I would have thought that they would have had this out earlier to fit in witht he tour of the US, but I'm guessing that they will end up touring again in support of the new music and getting the word out there. Regardless I think that they will get good reviews and a good amount of air play on this CD and it should sell well. It's not like it's a band who dropped off the face of the earth and just came back. They have been doing these tours and festivals for a good long time.

It's a fantastic CD with a really nice blend of songs. Some of my favorites on this one are Underneath The Stars, Perfect Boy, Freakshow and Sleep When I'm Dead. There are other really good songs, but these to me represent some of the classic Cure stuff that I've always liked and don't stray off to some crazy new stuff.

Certainly another CD I would recommend picking up.

Track list:

01 Underneath The Stars
02 The Only One
03 The Reason Why
04 Freakshow
05 Sirensong
06 The Real Snow White
07 The Hungary Ghost
08 Switch
09 The Perfect Boy
10 This Here and Now With You
11 Sleep When I'm Dead
12 The Scream
13 It's Over

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cardinalology - Review

2008-10-21T11:12:00.005-05:00

I recently posted that Ryan Adams & The Cardinals would be releasing a new CD on October 28th, 2008 called Cardinalology. Now I have had a chance to hear the full CD in studio version and not only the live songs off http://www.archive.org/ I can write a little more about what you will expect to hear in next week when it is officially released. iTunes will be releasing a song called The Color of Pain as a bonus track. That is not reviewed in this blog.

Born Into A Light is the first track on the new CD. Typical alt-country track that lasts about 2 minutes. It has some nice guitar work and Ryan sounds great on it. Not totally mellow, but a little more of a ballad type song. Slide guitar sounds nice on it.

Go Easy picks the pace a little bit. The Cardinals sounds work this one together nicely. Good mix of Ryan singing with the electric guitar playing prominately with him through the track. It's a bit more up beat, slows it down a bit and tests Ryans ability to change the range of his vocals throughout. The backing vocals come in late and sound pretty good. Overall a nic etrack.

Fix It as I sort of reviewed in my early announcement of the CD coming out. It sort of reminds me of something from a Neil Young and Crazyforse CD. It is already released on iTunes and other places to hear it. ryan sounds good and it's a nice little tune.

Magick kicks it in a bit and starts off with some heavy guitars and keeps going. This is a more rocking song involving more vocals from the other members. I really like this one, certainly one of my favorites on the cd.

Cobwebs as I've heard the live and the studio version it's hard to tell the difference between the two. It sounds great both ways. More in the lines of a ballad type song and has a little U2 type feel to it. Good tune with a nice rolling drum through the song. another nice tune on the CD.

Let Us Down Easy feels like a lot of the Cardinals stuff that came out on Cold Roses and Jacksonville. Ryan sounds like he's struggling a little on the vocals at times, but that certainly is sort of his style at times. Good overall beat to the song and it's one that can grow on you.

Crossed Out Name is more on the mellow side of The Cardinals on this CD. More on the ballad style with a rolling acoustic guitar sound to it. Pretty cool and certainly will be one played more often in the future.

Natural Ghost is a nice country type ballad. I like this one, harder to describe or compare to something else, but it's a nice tune with a good acoustic feel with some added slide guitar in thee.

Sink Ships starts off with some good acoustic guitar work adding is some slide to it as well. Slower style song with a nic efeel to it and it picks up a bit throughout the song. Ryan sounds great and another nice song on the CD.

Evergreen again starts out with some nice guitar work, almost sounds like the start of Goodnight Rose and then changes up quick. Nice mix of slide guitar, piano and acoutic guitar. Certainly a slower one on the CD, but again a nice song.

Like Yesterday is more ballad like, has that nice country feel to it as it rolls along. Sounds like something off of Easy Tiger, but just can remember what. The guitar solo kicking in gives it the classic ballad feel of The Cards. I do like this one.

Stop kicks it off with piano and feels like a Neil Young style song again. I think this might have been used in a TV show. I had heard a song recently on a show, very mellow like this that I couldn't place and I think that this is it. Certainly the most mellow song on the CD. Just Ryan singing and playing the piano. They add some background by the end, but it certainly is a nice mellow song.

Overall I have to say I really like the new CD by Ryan Adams and The Cardinals. It mixes it up with different styles of songs and it gives you a good range of what Ryan can do. On the latest tour he certainly has been playing these tunes out live and it is refreshing to know that the studio versions sound pretty amazing as well. Some bands are hard to tell, but with Ryan, he just knows what to do to put together a fantastic CD.

I highly recommend picking this one up on October 28th. No matter the media, CD, iTunes or what, you will be happy with this one. Now if we can just get him to reschedule that Kansas City date and I end up with a ticket that would be awesome.

Track List:

Born Into A Light
Go Easy
Fix It
Magick
Cobwebs
Let Us Down Easy
Crossed Out Name
Natural Ghost
Sink Ships
Evergreen
Like Yesterday
Stop
The Color Of Pain (iTunes Bonus - Not Reviewed)

Ryan Adams - Infinity Blues - Pre-Order

2008-10-14T13:13:00.002-05:00

So first we find out that Ryan Adams has a new CD coming out with The Cardinals called Cardinalology. NOW - We get Ryan's first book and if you order now you get it in December, it's a signed limited edition and you get a book of poetry that only comes with it.

Here's a link to pre-order: http://www.akashicbooks.com/ryanadamspreorder.htm at some pont it wil come down and you can order the book that will come out in April, but this limited edition will be out in December and it's signed and numbered. Pretty cool - pick it up now!

Life on Mars - US Pilot 2008 - Review

2008-10-09T12:37:00.002-05:00

The show Life On Mars was originally a BBC show that lasted for 2 seasons and had a Lietenant Gene Hunt spin off called Ashes to Ashes. The American version of the series produced by David E. Kelly but really follows the BBC series from episode to episode. I originally watch a pilot preview episode that certainly has been changed when producing the actual show. They moved the city from Los Angeles to New York and they changed Lietenant Gene Hunt from Colm Meaney to Harvey Keitel.

After seeing the initial pilot I would have suggested changing Jason O'Mara as Sam Tyler and asking John Simms to come over the pond and play the role again. Simms did a fantastic job in the role on the BBC and he also was great on Doctor Who for a 3 episode deal as well. The man has talent and would have been great. I think O'Mara lacks the personality to play the role and is trying to fill some big shoes.

Life on Mars is about a detective, in current time, is working a case and ends up getting hit by a car, and wakes up in 1973 with the skills and memory of 2008. So the big question, is he really in 1973 or a coma and just creating all these stories in his head. It's a great concept and it's funny when he starts talking about forencics and they haven't been created yet. So he throws some new ideas into the mix and needs to figure out how to adjust to being back in time.

I liked the original series a lot and really wish it would have taken off and continued on BBC. So my hope is that the characters grow on me and they make the American version a big hit. There's always the possibility that they will spin Lietenant Gene Hunt off to Ashes to Ashes, but I'd rather see them try to salvage the show and keep going with it. I also hope that they don't continue to use the exact same stories as the original show, but change it up and make create their own path.

It will be interesting to see how Harvey Keitel does as I did really like Colm Meaney as Lietenant Gene Hunt.

I'll probably add more when I see the new version of the pilot. I hope it's as good as the last one.

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cardinalology October 28th Release

2008-10-07T11:47:00.004-05:00

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals with be releasing their fourth CD together, even though the last one Easy Tiger was listed under Ryan only. Still all the musicians are the same. So Ryan has already started to sample many of the songs live and has pre-released the song Fix It on electronic media including at iTunes.

Fix It has a sort of Neil Young feel to me. I guess it's also a Ryan Adams feel as well. It's a nice tune and has a little rockin' feel to it. It certainly fits in with a lot of what Ryan and & The Cardinals have done so far.

Virually every song from the cd has either been played live or released on a TV show, so everyone should know what they are going to be getting when this CD comes out on October 28th. The question will be what sort of bonus material you will get depending on where you buy it.

I'm going to wait to do a full review when I hear the studio versions of the songs, but as they are now live, this sounds like it's going to be a sweet CD. Be ready to pick this one up and check out Ryan as he's on tour now.

If you want to hear some of the tracks live, go to www.archive.org and click through live music archives, browse by band and find Ryan and sort by date to get the latest shows on top. Enjoy!

Track List:

Born Into A Light
Go Easy
Fix It
Magick
Cobwebs
Let Us Down Easy
Crossed Out Name
Natural Ghost
Sink Ships
Evergreen
Like Yesterday
Stop

Sanctuary - Sci-Fi Series Pilot - Review

2008-10-06T15:35:00.006-05:00

Sactuary started out as a web based series that was created by some of the Stargate producers. The show stars Amanda Tapping as Dr. Helen Magnus, who is 157 years old and keeps a "Sanctuary" for supernatural creatures. Some are there for their own protection and others are there on their own.

The series had over 4 million viewers on the web and was actually a pay service so that they could recoup some of their costs. It went over well and was eventually copied and put out on the web for others to see. Still Sci-Fi picked it up and is running the 8 episode series to see how it does.

The first episode was two hours and gave us a background of the main characters and the purpose for the Sanctuary. This episode starts off with the strange murders of two police officers and an old man. There is a little boy who has some abnormality that has a life of it's own, but feeds off the boys fears. This appendage attacks by striking a persons brain, killing them instantly. The boy was born near Chernobyl during the fallout out from the nuclear meltdown.

Dr. Magnus is looking to find the boy and bring him into Sanctuary to help him. She looks to Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne), a forensic psychiatrist, to help her work with these patients and get into the minds of them. Dr. Zimmerman's background is that he saw his mother killed by a monster and even though he's told it never happened, he finds out that it did and that Dr. Magnus was there to rescue him. He was once with the FBI, but moved on to local law enforcement because of his tactics. Now he is asked to help assist with Dr. Magnus.

There are several other characters intoduced including Helen's daughter Ashley, who tracks down these creatures and John Druitt, who himself is a creature and has a past with Helen.

The first episode was a bit slow at times and seemed to be more of an attempt to develop characters instead of thinking that people would rather see more action and monster types moments. I know that's a LCD attitude, but I think that's a bit of what you need to get the popular viewing you want.

I thought the show was a bit dark and watching it at about 10pm I was almost ready to crash. So I'm going to give it more time to see if it peaks my interest over the next couple weeks. Amanda Tapping attempted and English accent, but I didn't feel it was good at all. Just stick to what you know best.

The plot is good and it leaves it open to a lot of things for the future if the show ends up having one. I know the last several shows have dies in season one including, Dresdan Files, Pain Killer Jane and Flash Gordon. Let's hope it can break the chain and continue on into a new season.

I would give it a couple of weeks to judge it. There are plenty of shows that gained momentum after the first couple weeks. Now pairing with Stargate Atlantis you might find more viewers next week. tune in and we will see.

Grateful Dead - Road Trips Vol 1 No 4: From Egypt With Love

2008-10-05T22:18:00.006-05:00

Not only did we get the release of the Egypt 1978 shows we also were given a nice little bonus of a new Road Trips CD Vol. 1, No. 4 October of 1978 From Egypt With Love. This falls right in place with the Egypt 1978 release. After the return from Egypt, The Grateful Dead did a five night series at Winterland in San Francisco to give the hometown folks a little taste of Egypt. They had a slide show. Hamza El Din (a Nubian musician living in the Bay Area) reprised the Egyptian song he’d sung at the Sound & Light Theater in Gizah—called “Ollin Arageed” for the Winterland Fans. So you get to hear something new and different in both of the new releases.

The CDs are made up of mainly two performances 10/21 & 10/22/1978, but if you get the bonus CD you also get a couple of songs from 10/17 as well. See the Track List below for all the songs that made this release.

The quality of the recordings are nice. The remastered 30 year old recordings turned out pretty darn good. I'm always happy to hear some of these classic recordings.

There's some really good highlights on these cds. The Got My Mojo Working > The Other One > Stella Blue jam is really nice, a must hear. If I Had The World To Give is only one of 3 times this was ever played. Sugaree, what can I say, awesome as always.

The Scarlet > Fire on the second CD is awesome. Honestly I can't tell you that there is anything on here that isn't amazing. I really dig whole show. I wish there was a DVD companion to one of these shows as well. That would be a classic to see.

Great show, good quality, well worth the $20 for the 2 plus bonus CD ordered directly from www.dead.net.

Disk One - 10/21/78

Sugaree
Passenger
Stagger Lee
I Need A Miracle
Got My Mojo Working (with Lee Oskar)>
The Other One>
Stella Blue>
Sugar Magnolia
US Blues

Disk Two - 10/22/78

Olin Aragreed>
Deal
Peggy-O
Jack Straw
Scarlet Begonias>
Fire On The Mountain
NFA (with John Cipollina)>
GDTRFB

Bonus Disc

Bertha (10/21/78)>
Good Lovin (10/21/78)>
Estimated (10/21/78)>
He's Gone (10/21/78)
If I Had The World To Give (10/17/78)>
Around and Around (10/17/78)

Grateful Dead - Rocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978 CD/DVD

2008-10-05T13:14:00.008-05:00

The Grateful Dead played at the Sound and Light Theater just outside of Cairo in Egypt on September 14, 15 & 16, 1978. the orginal plan was to record the series of shows to release a live CD set as well as portentially making a concert movie out of it. When they returned to the United States they discovered that the first night and half of the second nights shows were flawed and not able to use for recordings. So the project was shelved and now 30 years later here we are and we get to hear what survived of those recordings as well as a DVD filled with some of the performance as well.

The packaging is quite unique as well with the fold out pyramid and the moon and stars. See picture in the blog related to this.The CD/DVD set package is pretty cool in itself. Still to me it's fun, but after they get loaded to the iPod I don't usually see that stuff unless I'm loading up the DVD.

It would have been great if they came back with all the recordings intact, but without the first night and part of the second,, we can be happy that we still have some pretty awesome footage to hear and see.

Some of the highlights of the recordings are the unique Ollin Arageed that shows on Road Trips Vol 1, No 4 as well. Overall, there's some great tunes on this. Jack Straw, Row Jimmy, LLR & Deal highlight the first CD.

The second CD brings us a always favorite Shakedown Street. Iko Iko is a good one as well. Fire in the Mountain is awesome as always. There really isn't anything bad with this whole CD. It's fun and worth owning.

The DVD adds a little different flavor to the song selection and you get a bonus extra called the Vacation Tapes which gives you an inside look to what was going on.

Overall, a nice piece of history to be had. Too bad they didn't capture the whole thing to give us another limited edition set of the who trip along with that cool DVD as well.

You can get this on line or you can pick it up at www.dead.net. I believe if you order directly you get the Bonus CD that I forgot to list the songs below. I will pull those and add them later so you can see them. For me it was worth the extra money for shipping, etc. to get the bonus CD.

Pick this one up however you can, but it's well worth it and you get both audio and video of shows that took place over 30 years ago.

Track List:

Disc: 1
1. Jack Straw
2. Row Jimmy
3. New, New Minglewood Blues
4. Candyman
5. Looks Like Rain
6. Stagger Lee
7. I Need A Miracle
8. It's All Over Now
9. Deal

Disc: 2
1. Ollin Arageed
2. Fire On The Mountain
3. Iko Iko
4. Shakedown Street
5. Drums
6. Space
7. Truckin'
8. Stella Blue
9. Around And Around

DVD:
1. Bertha
2. Good Lovin'
3. Row Jimmy
4. New, New Minglewood Blues
5. Candyman
6. Looks Like Rain
7. Deal
8. Ollin Arageed
9. Fire On The Mountain
10. Iko Iko
11. I Need A Miracle
12. It's All Over Now
13. Truckin'
14. The Vacation Tapes(DVD extra)

Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul - CD Review

2008-10-05T12:33:00.005-05:00

Oasis has come out with their seventh studio CD in a career spanning the past 17 years. First starting out as a big hit in the UK in the mid 90's after a complete change of the original line-up, the Gallagher Brothers remain the only two original members of the band. Noel and Liam have been around and creating controversy since back when "Definately Maybe" & "What's the Story Morning Glory" came out in 1994 & 1995.

The band had it's top days and then went into a funk and split up for several years. They came back together in 2005 and hit the charts with "Don't Believe the Truth". Following a successful tour around the world, they were back and ready to go.

Now they have a new one coming out "Dig Out Your Soul" the first week of October. They just finished up a Canadian Tour and will be doing a US tour with Ryan Adams & The Cardinals supporting them.

The new CD is a lot like the past and keeps the traditional style of Oasis with some good rockin songs as well as a couple ballad types along the way. I first saw them play in about 1995 in a small venue in Milwaukee, WI called The Eagles Ballroom. By this time Liam was alread drinking up a storm and fighting with his brother and at times walking off the stage and not performing. This was the height of their popularity in the US, but also had dammaged their reputation and could have easily been dismissed as a has been one hit wonder band at that time. Something kept them going long enough to create several smash hits and had everyone wondering if they would be the next Beatles.

They never really achieved the status of The Beatles, but they certainly can still sell out large venues all over the world and have sold more than 50 million copies of their CDs.

The first couple of tunes on this CD are pretty much in line with a "Supersonic" and then there are a few in the "Live Forever" type status, but maybe not as good as the old stuff that really made the band what they are. I really like this new CD and the band sounds like they did 15 years ago. Certainly a CD worth picking up on October 7th.

Also if you get a chance to see them live, you really should and especially with Ryan Adams opening, you get two awesome bands in one night. Well worth seeing for sure. Xheck out their website at http://www.oasisinet.com/ and check out the tour section to see if they are playing near you. They are currently touring the UK and will be back in the US in December. Too bad they are skipping over Kansas City, because it would be great to get a chance to see them play again.

Track List:

1. Bag It Up
2. The Turning
3. Waiting For The Rapture
4. The Shock Of The Lightning
5. I'm Outta Time
6. [Get Off Your] High Horse Lady
7. Falling Down
8. To Be Where There's Life
9. Ain't Got Nothin'
10. The Nature Of Reality
11. Soldier On

Jack Johnson - Sleep Through The Static Remixed

2008-09-29T07:02:00.006-05:00

Just released on iTunes, Jack Johnson has put out a collection of 7 songs that have been remixed by other artists. He has also added 3 videos as part of the collection for $7.99. An if you're a fan you will need to click on the link and download Enemy remixed by Worst Friends Free Download to finish off the collection or go to Jack's website and get it yourself at http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com/home.

The first remix is Hope and it's remixed by Nightmares on Wax. Pretty interesting mix, that sort of slows the song up and gives it a little bit of a dub feel or something like that. It's about 5 minutes and keeps a good beat through it. I like the style they did it in. as I said it slows it down so it's not as upbeat, but adding it's a pretty neat mix.

Losing Keys is remixed by Katalyst. Katalyst takes a very mellow song and starts it up more upbeat with some horn work, kind of a funky little beat. Certainly a completely different style than Jack mixed it himself. I really like this version almost more than I like Jack's way of doing it.

Money Mark takes Monsoon and adds some keys and a little maybe Hammond to it. He slows it down but is adding more of a funky beat as well. Maybe this is Money Marks way of trying to get in to replace Zach on keys, just kidding. Actually, this is a nice little change to the song. I’ve got to say I still like the original on this one better, but this is a cool version.

Angel is remixed by Kid Koala. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting on this one. I for some reason was thinking that Kid Koala was going to but in some more hip hop type beats. Not sure why, just thought maybe his usual stuff was in that line as he’s worked with a lot of those types of artists. Starts off very church like with organs and continues that way in a rather dull monotone beat all the way through. Not bad but could put you to sleep.

They Do, They Don’t is remixed by DJ Tropikal. Good beat, sort of reggaeish is some ways, but adds some horns and other stuff. Jack almost sounds like he’s ready to rock but the tone isn’t going to follow then it all falls back into place. Nice version of the song.

Another Hope remix this time by Mario C. is a little more upbeat and has some good tones in it. It stays pretty close to the original adding some different beats instead of Jack’s guitar, mainly from the keyboard. Heard a little fancy drum beat in there as well. Good mix and keeps you grooving.

Culver City Dub Collective takes If I Had Eyes and turns it into almost a Cure remix. At least the first part made me feel like The Cure remixed it until they come up to the refrain. Then it kicks in with horns and some other stuff. More drums in the second part and that’s because the drummer for CCDC is Jack’s drummer Adam Topol. Pretty cool version of the song, I dig it.

Enemy is remixed by Worst Friends and cannot be found at iTunes but can be found directly from Jack’s official sit listed above. This is a pretty rad version of the tune. They really give it almost a disco tropical type beat. I loaded it up to my iPod and made sure it fell in place by changing the others to be from 8 not 7 in the info section. Never heard of Worst Friends, but this is an awesome version of the song to listen to. It’s not the simple song he started with and it doesn’t use all the lyrics but it’s pretty nice. Felt a little like some of the New Order remixes I’ve heard. The beat keeps it going and you need to pick this one up and add it to the collection without a doubt.

There are 3 videos that come as part of the package as well. Adrift. Enemy & Sleep Through The Static/I Love You and Buddha Too which all look to be sessions from the studio when Jack made the CD. If you go out to iTunes undr the podvast section there are 5 videios called Sleep Through the Static sessions that maybe partially duplicates or may be new. I'd have to go back and look at what songs he performed on those. Check it out by doing a search on iTunes those session videos are free.

The one thing I would really have liked to see is remixes of Sleep Through the Static and All At Once. I think there are some great parts in those songs that would allow for some cool translations by people. So maybe down the road we will see those done, but what we did get was pretty cool.

Pick it up for sure and show your support for all the great stuff Jack has done.

Audio Track List:

1. Hope (Mightmares on Wax Remix)
2. Losing Keys (Katalyst Remix)
3. Monsoon (Money Mark Casio Remix)
4. Angel (Kid Koala Remix)
5. They Do, They Don’t (DJ Topickal Remix)
6. Hope (Mario C. Remix)
7. If I Has Eyes (Culver City Dub Collective Remix)
8. Enemy (Worst Friends Remix)

Video:

1. Adrift (Live Studio Session)
2. Enemy (Live Studio Session)
3. Sleep Through the Static/I Love You and Buddha Too (Live Studio Sessions)

Metallica – Death Magnetic – CD Review

2008-09-25T15:25:00.001-05:00

After a five year break in producing new music, Meltallica have come back together and joined forces with Rick Rubin to produce their new cd Death Magnetic, which is their 9th studio album.

In the first week alone Death Magnetic sold well over 500,000 copies despite having been leaked out on the internet early. Not as much as The Jonas Brothers, but pretty awesome. So hopefully as they can see that people are still willing to buy their stuff and they don’t need to focus so much on people stealing their music and worry more about a big tour and pleasing the fans.
This CD takes you back to the classic days of Metallica being what they want to be. It's certainly heavy and loaded with a lot of drums and great guitar work. They certainly put together a good recording with Rick Rubin after a 5 year break.

Overall I think people who are fans of the band will certainly be pleased to hear this new CD. Those young folks who don't know much of Metallica will be out picking up some of their earlier works or maybe stealing it off the internet, but now why would anyone ever do that, especially with Metallica watching.

Seriously, it's a great cd and Rubin really pulled what was needed out of the band to get what the people want to hear.

There is a limited edition set that comes in some sort of coffin and has a bonus cd that are demo versions of the project.

Track List:

1. That Was Just Your Life 7:08
2. The End Of The Line 7:52
3. Broken, Beat & Scarred 6:25
4. The Day That Never Comes 7:56
5. All Nightmare Long 7:57
6. Cyanide 6:39
7. The Unforgiven III 7:46
8. The Judas Kiss 8:00
9. Suicide & Redemption 9:57
10. My Apocalypse 5:01

Plain White T's - Big Bad World - CD Review

2008-09-23T11:35:00.002-05:00

This is one of those bands that has been playing for a good 10 years getting their start in the Chicago area and finally gettining a hit song that was re-released as a bonus on their 2006 "Every Second Counts" Enhanced CD that reached the top 10 in the US and all the way to 3 in the UK. The song "Hey There Delilah" was originally released on the 2005 CD "All That We Needed" put out by Fearless Records. Now after having a hit Cd, but still not really hitting the big time, these guys are releasing a new cd with high hopes.

The big question is, will they be a one hit wonder or will they get a hit off this next cd. "Big Bad World" was certainly put out to attract the young female type crowd or at least that's the feel I get. It's very pop like and not too different from their last one. I guess why change a formula that already works.

There are a couple of songs that could be potential hits. The song "1,2,3,4" might be the first big hit off this CD. It's made a lot in the way of "Hey There Delilah", good harmonies and a good acoustic beat. Certainly the one I would pick as the hit from this CD.

So first impressions are that they are trying to keep the formula going on this one and really looking for the follow up big hit. There are some good highlights on this one. "Sunlight" is Beach Boyish, but good. "I Really Want You" is another upbeat tune that could potentially be a follow up hit on this one.

I would certainly have a listen to this one at the store or on line before you decide to buy it. I think it has a couple of good songs and might be worth getting those as a download from iTunes. Sample them all there and see what you think before picking this one up. It may or may not be for you.

Track List:

1. Big Bad World
2. Natural Disaster
3. Serious Mistake
4. Rainy Day
5. 1, 2, 3, 4
6. That Girl
7. Sunlight
8. I Really Want You
9. Meet Me in California
10. Someday

The Cure - Hypnagogic States EP - CD Review

2008-09-21T20:25:00.004-05:00

This EP is a taste of what is to come in October with the new full length CD 4:13 Dream. There are 4 tracks from the cd that are remixed for this EP. Not sure how the final cd will sound but these remixes are fantastic. I look forward to hearing the new Cure CD when it comes out.

The Only One has a nice mix to it, done by 30 Seconds to Mars. It really has a good beat and keeps it in typical Cure fashion. Freakshow makes me think I'm back in collage on the good old dance floor with the techno beat. This one is remixed by Jade Puget.

Sleep When I'm Dead is probably my favorite of the four. this one is remixed by Gerard Way and Julien K. Good beat nice song. robert Smith still sounds as good as he did 20 years ago. The Perfect Boy also has a familiar beat from the old days. This one is remixed by Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz. Another really good remix that I can't wait to hear the original.

The Last song is a mix of the different tracks that are on this CD. This one is called Exploding Head Syndrome and is remixed by 65 days of Static. It gets to a point that makes my head want to explode. After listening through this 21 minute remix it goes all over the place from different styles of techno beats and gets a little crazy at times. Pretty interesting, but I could have done without it and rather have heard a 5 minute remix of a different song.

Overall pretty interesting and gives you a little flavor of what's to come. I do look forward tot he new CD and will review it when I get to hear it.

Track List:

1. The Only One
2. Freakshow
3. Sleep When I'm Dead
4. The Perfect Boy
5. Exploding Head Syndrome

Joan Osborne - Little Wild One - CD Review

2008-09-21T20:18:00.003-05:00

Joan Osborne has done a lot in her career including a stint with all the remaining guys from the Grateful Dead. My first time seeing her live or really paying any attention to her music was after seeing her play with The Dead. I can't say I really felt that she fit in as a new Donna Jean, but she had a wide vocal range and really belted out some awesome tunes.

So this new cd of Joan's starts off with a Bluegrass tune that kicks into a rockin song, but she hold great through out it. It's a good tune that picks up the pace right from the start. The following song sticks to that pop style.

Cathedral is a piano tune with a nice sound. She kicks it all around on the rest of the cd and shows a wide variety of vocals and styles. To the One I Love brings an old classic style to it. Daddy-O is a nice acoustic ballad.

Joan really goes all over the board on this one and makes it sound good. I do like this CD and think it's worth having a listen. Check out some of her stuff on MySpace http://www.myspace.com/joanosborne and see what you think before buying it.

Too bad just like many other artists, Joan is skipping right by us in Kansas City when she tours this fall. I would still recommend seeing her live if you get a chance.

Track List:

1. Hallelujah In The City
2. Sweeter Than The Rest
3. Cathedrals
4. Little Wild One
5. Rodeo
6. To The One I Love
7. Daddy - O
8. Meet You In The Middle
9. Can't Say No
10. Light Of This World
11. Bury Me On The Battery

Kings of Leon - Only By The Night - CD Review

2008-09-21T20:08:00.004-05:00

The first time I ever heard of Kings of Leon was when they opened for U2 at The Pond in Aneheim, CA. They were really loud and the acoustics of the venue didn't really help give me a good impression of the band. Still, I was interested in hearing more.

Now with their fourth release Only By The Night, they have continued to grow in popularity and in the content of their music. Not sure what they classify the different styles of music these days, but this is an interesting style. I guess you could just say it's rock.

There are some ballad type songs, some rock, but overall it's consistantly good. Caleb Followill had a good soulful voice with some good range in it.

The CD starts out with a melodic tone in Closer that kicks in with Caleb singing about someone taking his heart. The song has some electronic pieves, but really a good start to the CD.

Crawl at first makes me think of a NIN style or old Jesus and Mary Chain then the guitar kicks in and it gets better as it goes.

Sex on Fire at first makes me think we are going to have a little Metal Ska or something. Manhattan is a ballad type with good tones. Revelry is another ballad as well that kicks in.

17 kicks in right off the bat with some heavy drums, bells and other stuff. Good guitar work throughout. Notion, I Want You, Be Somebody and Cold Desert all fit right in with the rest, ballad like throughout.

Overall this one has a good beat, never gets too heavy and all the songs are preatty good. I'm not a huge fan of the band, but the cd is pretty good and will do well on the charts. If you like their previous works, you will be happy with this one.

Track List:

1. Closer
2. Crawl
3. Sex On Fire
4. Use Somebody
5. Manhattan
6. Revelry
7. 17
8. Notion
9. I Want You
10. Be Somebody
11. Cold Desert

Darius Rucker - Learn To Live - CD Review

2008-09-20T09:18:00.003-05:00

I remember seeing Hootie and the Blowfish back when Cracked Rearview Mirroe came out. They were opening at the time for Big Head Todd and the Monsters. I thinkas a band they put on a pretty good show and all of it really revolved around the awesome voice of Darius Rucker. I lost touch with their music because at the time being broke and the internet wasn't out to get good deals on music. Plus I worked 5 minutes from my office, so I never listened to the radio. So if they did continue on, I didn't know.

So I saw Darius Rucker show up on the list of new music available this week. I knew I had to check out the new cd and see what he's up to.

I was a little thrown off, I would have figured him for a gospel singer or something in line with the one Hootie Cd I do know. Bust it starts off with some Bluegrass riffs and gets really into a full on country music cd.

I've got to say there's a good mix of good old country twang along with some classic Hootie sounding ballads. The Ballads really are my favorite because it really brings out what a range of voice Rucker has.

Drinkin' And Dialin' is a funny little song. Honestly, don't think of this as Hootie on his own cutting a solo cd. Rucker brings a great new sound that should put him on the map in the country music world.

I would recommend this one to the country fan for sure.

Track List:

1. Forever Road 4:01
2. All I Want
3. Don't Think I Don't Think About It
4. Learn To Live
5. If I Had Wings
6. History In The Making
7. Alright
8. It Won't Be Like This For Long
9. Drinkin' And Dialin'
10. I Hope They Get To Me In Time
11. While I Still Got The Time
12. Be Wary Of A Woman

The Cure: New CD 4:13 Dream Track & Artwork Preview

2008-09-16T14:46:00.003-05:00

The Cure will be putting out a new cd in the future. Here's a picture of the cover art and tracks on it. There's an interesting rant from Robert Smith who is mad that they are selling a 5 song EP Hypnagogic States on iTunes UK for £7.99 which is an outrageous price. He is asking people not to buy this until he gets it worked out.

I'd be interested to hear those tracks, but not at that price. Still looking forward to the new cd 4:13 Dreams.

Track List:

01 UNDERNEATH THE STARS
02 THE ONLY ONE
03 THE REASONS WHY
04 FREAKSHOW
05 SIRENSONG
06 THE REAL SNOW WHITE
07 THE HUNGRY GHOST
08 SWITCH
09 THE PERFECT BOY
10 THIS. HERE AND NOW. WITH YOU
11 SLEEP WHEN I’M DEAD
12 THE SCREAM
13 IT’S OVER

Kristy Lee Cook - Why Wait - CD Review

2008-09-15T16:42:00.002-05:00

Normally I wouldn't be doing a review on someone like Kristy Lee Cook, but seeing that I just went to the American Idol concert with my wife and watched the whole season, I had to listen to the cd to see what I thought. Kristy Lee was one of my top 3 picks on the show. The other two were David Cook and Michael Johns. It seemed pretty obvious that she needed to sing country style songs based on her voice and the arrangements she chose on the show.

This CD has some good sounding tracks on it. I like 15 minutes of Shame, which I believe is the first track released on the cd. It's right in line with a lot of other female country artists. Overall she has a similar souns through many of the tracks, but does show some diversity in the types of songs she has chosen.

She finishes this one off with the song that was big for her on American Idol, God Bless The USA. I do like her version of it and she did a great live version at the concert itself. Glad she decided not to go with the country version of 8 Days A Week for this release.

Overall an enjoyable cd to listen to. Kristy Lee Cook has a nice voice and as long as she sticks to the country style, she will do well for herself.

Track List:

1. 15 Minutes Of Shame
2. Why Wait
3. Like My Mother Does
4. Hoping To Find
5. Baby Believe
6. Not Tonight
7. Plant The Seed
8. I Think Too Much
9. Homesick
10. God Bless The USA

Kill Switch - Steven Segal Straight to DVD Review

2008-09-15T16:12:00.002-05:00

Steven Seagal the king of straight to DVD releases is back with a new one and he holds the sole writing credit on this one. The director, Jeff King, isn't someone I have ever heard of before, but looks like he's done some TV shows but not much in the line of films.

In this film Steven Seagal plays Detective Jacob Stillwell who is on the scene of a serial killer named Lazerus. The best thing about this is the hair piece that Seagal has to be wearing. If it's not then he has a really bad hair dye job which is just as funny.

So from the start of this one where he finds a woman with a bomb stuck in her chest, finding the dude and throwing him out a window. The guy lives and goes off to jail, then we get into the Serial Killer.

So as always we have the fun of seeing Seagal in action through most of the movie and he still has those great ne liners and is always as tought as can be. The best is he's supposed to be a memphis cop with a southern accent that sounds really bad.

No different than any other Seagal fil the bad guys go after him and his loved ones. In this one he has to figure out how this crazy dude is killing. Yes, actually a little bit of a plot and some thinking to do.

Jacob is plagued in the film by the murder of his twin brother on their birthday, but they never really go anyfurther on that subject. Plus he adds this off the wall story that his partner tells to the new detective about the first case they worked on. It was a cannibal who they catch eating a clown and he turns to Seagal and says - "Does this taste funny to you?" I actually had to laugh at that one. Seagal can start writing more comedies. Oh wait, everything he already rights is a comedy to some degree.

The bad accent and the "Lord have Mercy's" he says throughout really make you have a good laugh with this one.

The last 5 minutes of this movie must have been some sort of strange mix up that he put it in there. Not really sure as it has nothing to do with the rest of the film or at least I can't figure out what it has to do.

I would say that you really need to rent this one, not buy it. I would also highly recommend a bottle of good booze to drink along with it.

Rating: 1 1/2 out of 5

Okkervil River - The Stand Ins CD Review

2008-09-13T14:29:00.005-05:00

Okkervil River has a new cd out this week. It was originally meant to be the second half of a double cd with The Stage Names but it ended up being the 5th album that they produced.

They are a Indie band out of Austin, TX starting some 10 years ago. They have a pretty cool sound to their music, mixing acoustic guitar and piano along with electric instruments on some songs. It's really hard to describe who they sound like. They do really mix it up on this cd.

This is a band a friend introduced me to about two years back and I have really liked what I've heard. They mix up some Mandoline with bass, drums and guitar.

This cd consists of 8 new songs with 3 instrumental "Stand Ins" as well. I can't complain about any of them, it's a really good sound.

To sample some of their music stop by their web site at http://www.okkervilriver.com/ or go to their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/okkervilriver.

Enjoy!

Track List:

1. Stand Ins, One
2. Lost Coastlines
3. Singer Songwriter
4. Starry Stairs
5. Blue Tulip
6. Stand Ins, Two
7. Pop Lie
8. On Tour With Zykos
9. Calling And Not Calling My Ex
10. Stand Ins, Three
11. Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed On The Roof Of The Chelsea Hotel, 1979

Kimya Dawson - Alphabutt

2008-09-13T14:03:00.004-05:00

Kimya Dawson has put out a somewhat childrens cd. Depends on what kind of parent you are to let them listen to it. Personally I find it to be a pretty funny cd to listen to, but I will not let me daughter hear it.

Kimya Dawson is the one who sang a bunch of songs on the Juno Soundtrack and Played with Adam Green in Moldy Peaches. She has a different style to her music, but it's fun to listen to.

I think learning the Alphabet to Alphabutt would be quite interesting, here are the lyrics to the song:

A is for apple
B is for butt
C is for catbutt
D is for doo doo
E is for elephant doo doo
F is for fart
G is for gorilla doo doo
H is for huge gorilla fart
I is for eyeball
J is for jammies
K is for kid fart
L is for loud and long farts
M is for monkey butt
N is for saying good night night or nap time (??something like that??)
O is for Oh!
P is for panda peeing and pooping in her potty while papa plays peek a boo
Q is for quebert
R is for robotic monkey who's going to take over the world
S is for stinky
T is for turd
U is for uh oh
V is for flying V (?)
W is for wee wee
X is for exactomundo
Y is for yuckie and yummy and you
and Z is for farts that smell like the zoo

Little Monster Babies is a very cute song as well as Bobby-O, Pee-Pee on the Potty and Uncle Huckee's House. I really like the whole group of songs on this cd. I don't recommend it for kids, but I do recomment it for adults to have a good laugh.

Check out some of the fun stuff at Kimya's sight http://www.kimyadawson.com/

Track List:

1. Little Monster Babies
2. Alphabutt
3. Bobby-O
4. Louie
5. Smoothie
6. I Like Bears
7. Seven Hungry Tigers
8. Happy Home (Keep On Writing)
9. Wiggle My Tooth
10. I Love You Sweet Baby
11. Pee-Pee In The Potty
12. Uncle Hukee's House
13. We're All Animals
14. Little Panda Bear
15. Sunbeams and Some Beans

Grateful Dead - Road Trips Downloads 11-05-1979 & 11-06-1979 The Spectrum Philly, PA

2008-09-12T23:14:00.009-05:00

Dick's picks are in the vault stopped at 36 volumes. So what's next for the Archive gurus of the Grateful Dead. Well that would be a few really cool volumes of the best live material from different years, months or places. These are called Road Trips. So far there are 3 physical cd sets, Road Trips Vol 1, No. 1 Fall 1979, No. 2 October 1977, No. 3 Summer 1971 and soon No. 4 From Egypt With Love. The Fourth will be released at the same time as Rockin the Cradle: Egypt 1978 2 CD 1 DVD set at the end of September 2008.

So what more could they thing of? Well how about let's release some more full live shows as downloads and call them Road Trips full Show Downloads. the first installment of this series is the 11-05-79 & 11-06-79 Spectrum shows from Philly, PA. They are a spin-off of Vol.1, No. 1 Fall 1979. You can pick these downloads up directly from http://www.dead.net/ at the store.

This particular download if put to cd would be a 5 cd set all for $17.98 if you purchase the two dates together. If you prefer to have only one of the two nights, you can pick it up for $9.99. Pretty awesome deal I have to say.

I pretty much have every one of the official releases from all the Dick's picks to the Live download series as well as the limited edition box sets that have been released. I have yet to actually do a review of any of the material until now. So here's my first review of the Road Trips Live Download Series.

Listening to these shows reminds me of all the great shows I saw over the years. It was too bad I didn't get to my first show until Alpine Valley 1987. From there I was hooked on what an amazing live performance these guys put on.

So the first night 11-05-1979 they seemed to be on fire. This was the longer of the two shows. This was a good era in Dead shows. Donna wasn't there and it was before they started letting Brent sing too much. Don't get me wrong, Donna Jean was great, but I really like the time without her.

They kicked off the night with a nice China Cat>Rider. You can hear a little different style of keys in there, but these were some good days and some nice jams. Cassidy has always been one I like and then going into a FOTD with El Paso to follow. What a night. The quality level of the recordings is good.

They follow up later with an Eyes of the World to an Estimated Prophet followed up with a Franklin's Tower. I had to listen to this over again, it was awesome and then to finish off the night with Sugar Mags and into Casey Jones. Such an amazing show to hear. I really like a lot of the shows over the years, bit this one really has a great set. If it had a Ramble On Rose I would be in heaven. Man this is an awesome show to hear.

If you pick one of the two, grab this one, but I would recommend getting both. Here's the link to purchase the 11-05-79 show: 11-05-1979 Link .

For the link to buy both click Here.

Setlist 11-05-1979:

DISC 1
China Cat Sunflower
I Know You Rider
Cassidy
Friend Of The Devil
El Paso
Stagger Lee
Passenger
Peggy-O
The Music Never Stopped
DISC 2
Althea
Easy To Love You
Eyes of the World
Estimated Prophet
Franklin's Tower
DISC 3
Space
Drums
Space
Lost Sailor
Saint of Circumstance
Sugar Magnolia
Casey Jones

The second night had a pretty upbeat start, a little shorter of a set and not as many of my favorites, but still some great songs. How can you not dig an Alabama Getaway to start.

I love hearing Tennessee Jed and Me & My Uncle. Bobby sounds great on these shows and so does Jerry. It really was a good time in the career. Jack Straw is an amazing one as well. They finish off the night as big as they started with a little US Blues.

These come in either FLAC or 256kbs and I can tell you that the I picked up the 256kbs and it sounds pretty awesome on the iPod. I know some people are snobs about this, but I'm quite happy with the sound myself.

Happy to have them continue to put out these awesome shows.

Setlist 11-06-1979:

DISC 1
Alabama Getaway
Promised Land
Tennessee Jed
Me & My Uncle
Mexicali Blues
Candyman
Easy To Love You
Looks Like Rain
Jack-A-Roe
Jack Straw
Deal
DISC 2
Terrapin Station
Playin' In The Band
Drums
Space
Black Peter
Good Lovin'
U.S. Blues

Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun - Review

2008-09-12T21:11:00.003-05:00

In 2004 Brian Wilson reurrected "Smile" after 37 years from it's original conception. Now in 2008 Brian brings us a full cd of new material that brings us back about 37 years by the sound. Growing up I liked the old Beach Boys tunes and I even saw them in concert with the members that toured in the 80's. They would play Summerfest in Milwaukee all the time and it was a good venue to see them play along with Lake Michigan in the background.

I wasn't sure what I'd be getting into with "The Lucky Old Sun". Brian is 65 and without the backing of the rest of the family, I thought I might be setting myself up for a really bad cd. Turns out that after a couple of listens it really has a good beat to it and Wilson sounds pretty good.
I know he went through a tought time in the late 60's Wilson started to distance himself drom the band and stopped being the primary songwiter of the Beach Boys. He spent the better part of the next couple of years in his bedroom, taking drugs and overeating. He was depressed and no longer creative.

The family looked to get him help and it worked for a period of time until he sunk back into the drugs and weighed over 300 pounds. He once again went into counseling and worked through his recovery. He was diagnosed as being schizphranic and bi-polar.
They had thought that wilson either fried his brains on drugs or possibly had a stroke. He wasn't the same person and it was eventually figured out that it was caused by the antipsychotic drugs he was taking. Things were changed and Wilson started to get into the swing of things.

So as Brian Wilson did with his release of Smile, he is back out on the road in support of the new cd. Check his website out www.brianwilson.com to get the dates.

So a little more thought on the new cd. I don't know much of what he was thinking when he wrote and produced it, but it has the old feel to it, like an old classic Beach Boys album. You can hear the oldness in his voice but the production of songs are well put together and the narratives are an interesting addition to the cd.

I really thought after the first pass that I was going to dump this one off the iPod and not listen to it again. After giving it a shot I really liked it and it grew fast on me. I would certainly check the samples before picking it up, but if you are an old Beach Boys/Brian Wilson fan, pick it up.

Track List:

1. That Lucky Old Sun
2. Morning Beat
3. Narrative: Room With A View
4. Good Kind Of Love
5. Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl
6. Narrative: Venice Beach
7. Live Let Live/That Lucky Old Sun (Reprise) Medley
8. Mexican Girl
9. Narrative: Cinco De Mayo
10. California Role/That Lucky Old Sun (Reprise) Medley
11. Narrative: Between Pictures
12. Oxygen To The Brain
13. Can't Wait Too Long
14. Midnight's Another Day
15. That Lucky Old Sun (Reprise)
16. Going Home
17. Southern California

Gavin Rossdale - Live in Las Vegas At The Palms iTunes Exclusive - Review

2008-09-12T12:55:00.002-05:00

Gavin Rossdale released his first solo cd earlier this year called Wanderlust. See my review Wanderlust CD Review. Rossdale went out and did a small tour to promote his cd this year. He covered a little of the East, West and Midwest as well. Rossdale and iTunes teamed up to take 6 tracks from the Palms show in Las Vegas to release as an EP last week.

I would like to have seen him on this tour, but he skipped Kansas City as many others do as well. It kind of sucks that we see Des Moines, IA and Omaha, NE get some cool acts, but we get nothing and we are certainly a larger market. Still some of my favorites always play here like Big Head Todd and Ryan Adams.

Rossdale’s EP is a nice group of songs and even though they are performed live, they sort of sound like the cd itself. Some artists are great that way and other, you certainly want one or the other.

This six song EP starts off with a Pixies cover “Where is my Mind” and then gets into five raw acoustic versions of songs in support for the Wanderlust CD. I like the sound of the cd and the songs and found it to be certainly worth picking up.

I wonder if Gavin will go back to being Mr. Gwen or will decide to revamp his career. I really like his voice and style, so I hope that he keeps on playing.

Track List:

Where Is MY Mind
The Trouble I'm In
Love Remains the Same
Forever May You Run
Drive
Can't Stop the World

How to Refill a Disposable Brita Brand Water Pit

2008-09-12T11:56:00.003-05:00

So my first question is why doesn't Brita have a program to recycle it's disposable water pits? Maybe because the money they make is all in the fact that you have to buy refills from them for their products. Guess that woudl be good business for them, but not the environment. This is just another plastic that we end up tossing in a landfill about once a month. The strange thing is that Brita does have a recycle program in Europe for these, Why not the US?

I'm not sure how many people read my blogs, but I'm throwing this website link out there so that if you want to learn how to make your own refillable filters and save yourself some money and save the environment from more plastics in the landfills. Click on the following link and you too can refill your own Brita filters.

How to refill a disposable Brita water pit link