Hey Chris - tell Gwynth I say 'hi!'

Four albums in you have to change the formula. The old calculus having had every last drop wrung-out of it. The corpse having had every last piece of flesh stripped off. The buzzards having moved along. Pick your metaphor and mangle it accordingly.

A new math then.

For two years brains were wracked. Songs written and re-written. Babies born. Hair lost to age and frustration. On the other side of an ocean of time the boys have sailed into port with a masterpiece. Clean. Polished. Ready to be put up on the shelf - somewhere ahead of #2 but behind #1. (Number 3 piled squarely in the bin beside the dirty nappies and organic kitchen scraps.)

The album then.

Trying to describe an album song by song is eclipsed in its silliness only by a remake of Red Sonja. You're either gonna to like it or not, because, well, you do or you don't.

But I will say this. Brian Eno has helped. It's a new sound; a few curve-balls mixed with a solid dose of the old Coldplay. It will reawaken a lot of interest in a band that had gotten it a little too perfect in many ways. There are a few classics and of course there are some duds. But the good very much outweighs the bad. Chris' vocals are strong - no hint of anemia from that macro-biotic diet Gwyneth has him on. He's singing lower in the register, which will go a long way in NOT annoying so many who hate falsetto*. And let's face it, the rest of the band play instruments.


~ 6.5 grams of organic fair-trade coffee out of a possible 7.


LISTEN HERE


* I love falsetto and can hit every note perfectly. The more drunk I get the better a singer I am. This goes double for dancing.

Crystal village

Pete Yorn - Crystal Village
by becomingapua

Water

I'd just like to give a big shout out to my main man Jesus. Thanks for water dude. Good move on your part. Nothing spells a happy morning after a long night of partying like water.

So thanks.

Keep up the good work.


photo credit

Thriller

That's what they're calling this video. The new Thriller.

justice stress (official video)
by 75_prod

Wow.

I for one am scared if this level of violence is seen as normal. I'm trying to keep in mind that this is a French band. Yes, REAL French. Not the little gang of contrary upstarts left behind from France's last attempt to assert its dominion over the wide-eyed Natives inhabiting this part of the globe.

But anyways.

France seems to have had some racial tension of its own over the last few years. This video could simply be seen a mirror being held to the face of the Eiffel Tower by some French artists. Problem is, both members of Justice are white. Then again, so was Michael.

....RE:Surfacing

I now have a desk job. No more working in the sun. No more sweet sweat soaking my shirts. No tank tops and forklifts. It's all been replaced with hair gel and suits. Keyboards and telephones. Paper-clips and regret.

As I sit here staring at my third mug of now-cold Orange Pekoe, I would trade my Armani cologne for the smell of Banana boat faster than you can say 'natural justice.'

I am now a man. And this is what men do.


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