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Under Great White Northern Lights

I was wondering through my local Best Buy looking for an album by Matisyahu, I came across Under Great White Northern Lights by the White Stripes.  I’m a fan of the White Stripes, I listen to most of Jake Whites other explorations into music.  All that being said, I’m not sure why they put this live recording out for purchase by the general public.  I’m not even sure how to describe the felling I had initially listening to this recording, but i’ll try.

Disgust.

This single handedly makes sure I’ll never see the White Stripes in concert.  Maybe it was an off night … however if they recorded and released it to the public I guess they think it’s rad.  They changed arrangements on songs and the songs they didn’t change sounded awful and pitchy.

I’m totally unimpressed and wishing I could return this album.

Well I bought Final Fantasy XIII for the xBox 360 on Tuesday, I’ll be popping it in later today for the first time.  I hope it’s not awful.  I’ll let you know …

In the coming days I’ll be reviewing the following albums:

• The Dead Weather: Horehound
• Passion Pit: Manners
• Pete Yorn: Back and Fourth
• Kasabian: West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
• Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Talk to you then.

The Hazards of Love

I’ve only recently discovered the Decemberists, shame on me.  I picked up The Hazards of Love last week while out with friends.  The album can be best described as a concept album telling a story of young woman, Margaret who fell in love with shape shifting beast, William.

As I’ve read other review most if not all have the same theory:  you must list to this album beginning to end …  I whole heartedly agree, this album is amazing.  They dabble in harder rock sounds while staying true to their folk roots, the guest female vocals of Becky Stark and Shara Worden are simply lovely.  Do yourself a favor and buy this album!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Track Listing – The Hazards of Love

1. “Prelude” – 3:04
2. “The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won’t Wrestle the Thistles Undone)” – 4:19
3. “A Bower Scene” – 2:09
4. “Won’t Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)” – 4:07
5. “The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)” – 4:26
6. “The Queen’s Approach” – 0:29
7. “Isn’t It a Lovely Night?” – 3:39
8. “The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid” – 6:27
9. “An Interlude” – 1:40
10. “The Rake’s Song” – 3:16
11. “The Abduction of Margaret” – 2:07
12. “The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing” – 3:56
13. “Annan Water” – 5:12
14. “Margaret in Captivity” – 3:08
15. “The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)” – 3:22
16. “The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)” – 1:31
17. “The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)” – 5:57

I’m trying to keep more current on the xBox gaming world, and with that knowledge I plan to make a few lists…

Games I want to play:

• Ghostbusters
• Red Faction: Guerrilla

Games that I’m looking forward to:

• Dead Rising 2
• Left 4 Dead 2
• Modern Warefare 2
• Brutal Legend *Edit*

Games I currently enjoy:

• Orange Box: Portal
• Left 4 Dead
• Castle Crashers

xBox things I don’t care to ever set my eyes on:

• Project Natal
• Rockband: Beatles

Why wouldn’t I want to rock out with one the best bands ever?  Well because the same reason I’d not want to rock out with Led Zeppelin or other band specific title.  I already know the music and I find no satisfaction playing Hello, Goodbye or Hey Jude on my tricked out Beatles inspired guitar.  I would be bored to tears as really let’s face it … how can you make a game about rocking out and feature the Beatles?

On the flip side I recently played through Portal that I neglected ever since I picked up the Orange Box over a year ago.  Shame on me for not playing that sooner, it was very enjoyable and I now know the cake is a lie.  My favorite sequence is by far when I realized that I was getting dumped into a pit of fire and had to do something.  Grade A fun, I hope they make something to follow, maybe a Portal 2?

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Left 4 Dead

I know Left 4 Dead isn’t a new release, however with the news that Left 4 Dead 2 is on its way I thought I’d take time to write a few things about the game.  Who doesn’t love a first person zombie apocalypse game?  We’ve seen our fair share, but in recent memory this is one of my favorites followed by Dead Rising, who also has a sequel coming our way.

I enjoy the way Valve put together the stories in this game, setting them up as rad “B” movies with cheesy tag lines.  It offers 4 different stories/movies to play, they can all be played on xBox Live with others and it also has a mode where you can play as the infected.  It offers several fun achievements, which still have me occupied.

For those who may want to take out a rough day on some mindless zombies I suggest you pick up this game and get to work.

Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King

I’ve been a long time Dave Matthews Band listener; I’m a bit biased when it comes to their music.  I’ve seen many many live shows and I’ve been around other fans so I know the kind of passion they hold for the music.  As a whole as the band has gained commercial success with albums such as Everyday and Stand Up some of the fan base has been disappointed as those album never seemed to live up to the big three: Under the Table and Dreaming, Crash, and Before These Crowded Streets. With the death of the founding member and saxophonist Leroi Moore, the band was shaken to its core and knew that the forth coming album was important to the band and the fans.  They delivered to us Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King, Groogrux being Moore’s nickname in the band, the first album since Before These Crowded Streets that features Tim Reynolds on guitar.

The albums opens with Grux a Moore solo track that makes you realize what this album is about … him.  The song trails into Shake Me Like A Monkey a funky love long with some funky lyrics, what DMB album would be complete without that?  Funny The Way It Is the album’s first single starts with some light guitar work and lyrics filled irony intending to make you think about several different topics.  Lying in the Hands of God is slower song laced with Moore’s saxophone work that is one of the most evident tributes to Moore on the album.  Why I Am reported to be the album’s second album is a one of the other songs about Moore and also gives us the albums title: “Still here dancin with the GrooGrux King.  We’ll be drinkin Big Whiskey while we dance and sing and when my story ends it’s gonna end with him.  Heaven or Hell I’m goin there with the GrooGrux King.” Probably one of the most fun songs on the album Alligator Pie gives us an upbeat tune to get down to.  Matthews has two daughters named Grace and Stella.  If you’re a fan you know the name Grace is mentioned in several songs.  He features Stella in this one, with Stella asking “Daddy when are you going to put me in a song?” One of my personal favorites from the album is Time Bomb, which Matthews states the he’s a ticking time bomb that nobody saw coming until he blew his top.  The song builds in a way that makes you think of a bomb, slow and steady while continually gaining pressure until it explodes exclaiming: “Baby when I get home, Help me pick up the pieces. You can hammer in the final nail, I wanna believe in Jesus.”

The album feels more true to their original sound and spirit; they’ve gathering themselves off the ground after Moore’s death and shook off the dirt.  This album may not satisfy those fans who are more into a pop sound than a DMB sound, but I think fans will start referring to the Big Three as the Big Four, at least they should.

This album is the one we’ve been waiting a decade for.

- 4.5 out of 5 Stars

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 And Me

Halo Wars

I’ve not been an avid Halo player nor do I know the plot very well, however I am a fan of Real Time Strategy (RTS) games.  I’ve played several well known IP’s like Warcraft, Starcraft, and Command and Conquer.  When I heard the now defunct Ensemble Studios was developing a Halo based RTS I was a bit skeptical for one I never really enjoyed the Age of Empires games and I wasn’t very confident that an RTS would be very playable on the xBox 360.

I was surprised at the easy of game play in Halo Wars all the units on the whole map were able to be controlled with one button, where as the units just shown on your screen could be controlled with another.  The simple how-to’s and tutorials in the opening campaigns were easy to follow and they made game easy to pick up.  However the story line was one sided as the game itself only followed the UNSC (United Nations Space Command).  The Flood and Covenant have no playable campaigns and thus makes the game’s story feel unfinished; you can however play as the Covenant in the multiplayer mode.

Over all the game was enjoyable and easy to play, I would have liked to have seen more of the story focusing on the Covenant and Flood.  Maybe they’ll have a fallow up … I’m not one to speculate, but considering the founders of Ensemble created Robot Entertainment we may see more in the future.

-3.5 out of 5 Stars

Halo Wars – Offical Website

Doves - Kingdom of Rust

The Indie trio Dove who consist of Jez Williams, Andy Williams, and Jimi Goodwin released their fourth studio album Kingdom of Rust; I was late getting the album as I had a hard time finding it at local music stores.  The album marks the first studio album in four years. I was eager to listen to this album as I was disappointed in their last effort Some Cities. Their first two efforts were wonderful and this album was a return to the quality of the first albums.

The album starts with the track Jetstream which builds like a slow to fast moving locomotive with an ever so small sound that builds and builds until it’s chugging down the tracks.  The title track Kingdom of Rust has a haunting sad feel, which I can best describe as a lonesome road song.  Birds Flew Backward is about the cold lingering winter waiting for summer to come.  Compulsion is a gritty bass line of a song, one line that stuck out at me was: “Dark spell I crave you, I wanna live but you just won’t let me go”

Kingdom of Rust satisfied my need for a good Doves album, it marks their return the scene and a return to great music. May the coming years provide many more Doves music to enjoy!

-4 out of 5 stars

Kindgom of Rust – Track list:

1. Jetstream
2. Kingdom Of Rust
3. The Outsiders
4. Winter Hill
5. 10.03
6. The Greatest Denier
7. Birds Flew Backwards
8. Spellbound
9. Compulsion
10. House Of Mirrors
11. Lifelines

Coldplay slightly blurry from 6 rows away

The adventure began as we were waiting for the gates to open; we were approached by a member of the guest services team of LiveNation.  We were given free upgraded seats to the lower pavilion of the amphitheater, which we graciously took.  We made our way in bought shirts and made our way to our seats which happened to be about 20 rows from the stage.  The music started off with Howling Bells an Australian foursome with a female lead singer.  Having not heard of them before getting to the concert, I was pleasantly surprised as they went through their set.  The played a mix of songs with driving tight knit licks and hypnotic crisp vocals.  Some of the highlights include the songs Broken Bones and Low Happening.

After a rather quick equipment swap, Snow Patrol was on stage.  They played of mix of songs from most recent three albums including If There’s A Rocket Tie Me To It, Crack The Shutters, You’re All I Have, Hands Open, Chasing Cars, Shut Your Eyes, Run, and Chocolate.  Gary Lighbody, Snow Patrol’s front man was energetic and fun loving.  He kept the crowd involved and the mode light.  This is the second time I’ve seen Snow Patrol, this time the sound was much better all beit loud, it was still understandable.

Coldplay took the stage amid a black see through curtain in front of the stage.  Sparklers in hand they made their way to their instruments.  Life in Technicolor was played and finished, Violet Hill started and the curtain dropped.  The show started its energetic path here; the mix of songs was highly enjoyable as they played songs from all of their albums.  One high point was Yellow and the many beanbag sized yellow balloons engrossed the crowd, another was Fix You in which the crowd belted out the chorus.  The real treat for my wife and I was when they took to the “mini” stages setup in the audience, one which happened to be six rows behind us.  There they played a medley of songs and finished that part of the show with Chris Martin playing The Hardest Part.  The encore started with Politik, and followed with Lovers In Japan, and Death and All His Friends.  This was one of my most memorable concerts to date!