"Oh MTV, What Have You Done to Me?"
posted February 23, 2007, 5:51 pm | Log In To Post Comments | 
view comments (2)
Tags: For Against, Bloc Party, The Arcade Fire, The Pineapple Thief, Youth Group, Neon Bible, A Weekend In The City, December, Casino Twilight Dogs, College
Man even just opening up this blog entry form was slick! This site always finds some new way to blow me away.
I'll just run through a couple of things on my mind I suppose. We'll see where it takes me.
Music Stuff:
Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City: Came radomly in the mail the other day. I know it already got reviewed here at ME (and I'll be adding a User Review soon), but I just have to express my feeling of relief over the album. Bloc Party have always lingered on the edge of annoyance for me, and they have a few key songs off Silent Alarm to thank for keeping me on their "Fans of" list. But here in A Weekend In The City are enough dynamic tunes and deeper themes to keep me hooked for awhile. Yeah they may rip off more than their fair share of influences sometimes, but songs like "Sunday" just ring of a new originality. Yay.
The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible: Also came randomly in the mail this week. I will admit, I have not been a big listener of Funeral and sometimes am lost as to why it got the attention it did. Good yes, but...really? So far, Neon Bible is good, but nothing to pee myself over. "Intervention" and "The Well And The Lighthouse" are wonderful tracks, and "Black Wave _ Bad Vibrations" is still sending some chills down my spine...but I suppose I was expecting more? I will have to give this a few more listens (and yes, review coming soon) but I feel the same way about this as I did with The Killers and even The Shins to some extent: this is great, but where's the blockbuster band I've been hearing so much about? I'm probably wrong though, as I like it more and more with each listen....(EDIT: I take it all back. After listening to "No Cars Go," I am convinced this will be one of the most talked about albums of the year).
The Pineapple Thief: Great new band I've stumbled over at MySpace. Find them here. They play a thick soup of low-fi indie rock with hints of progressive and dance influences. Check out "God Bless This Child."
Youth Group - Casino Twilight Dogs: Technically I should have had this review done ages ago, but instead the CD sits in my bedside CD player and sings me to sleep each night. This is one of the best low-fi indie albums I've heard in a while, and I can't stop listening to it. I should soon though, if only to write why it's so darn good. Check it out!
For Against: Wonderfully influential dream-pop outfit I've been spending a lot of time with lately, but not too many people have heard of. Again, head over to their MySpace to catch some tunes and see what you think.
Personal Stuff
Well it is a personal blog right?
I'm currently fighting for this (HUGE) scholarship for Roosevelt University -- a wonderful private college in downtown Chicago -- and have been accepted into the final stages of the application process. After writing at least 3 essays and getting 3 letters of recomendation and all that crap...I need to do a 30 minute interview with the Director of Admissions and "a few members of staff." Ah. To add to that fun, I've spent a week trying to actually get a hold of this Assistant Director so I can schedule this thing. Arg. Wish me luck!
And that's that. We'll see if I get hooked on this blog feature. My bet is I will, and you will too.
Comments:
dscanland says:You go, Mike. Let me know if you need a reference for your fine writing.
Looking forward to reading the Youth Group and Arcade Fire reviews. Should be good stuff.
Glad you like the blog too. Use it wisely. Let me know if you can think of any features that would be good to have on it. I know you are a regular blogger user so a good beta tester of the ME blog.
posted on February 23, 2007, 11:42 pm
green_clash says:Oh man, good luck with the interview, I've got my fingers crossed for you. I like the Arcade Fire, but I've never really dealved deep into Funeral. I guess I'm expecting the greatest album ever and I keep putting off listening to it again because I don't want it not to be the greatest album ever. Actually, I'm gonna go listen to it now. As for Neon Bible, I'm definetely getting it. I interested in the other bands you listed.
Additional Tags: Top 10, Blogs, gorilla vs. bear, Stereogum, 3hive
posted on February 23, 2007, 10:49 pm
