Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Multi Review Madness: Ska, Rock, Stand-Up, and Whatever Gorillaz Is


Today, Im going to be doing some mini reviews for some albums I've listened to but don't want to write full reviews for. Expect a long-ass text wall out of this. Enjoy.
Gorillaz - Plastic Beach (2010)
Release Date: March 3
Length: 56:46
Genre: Electropop/Hip Hop
As a big release, one would probably want to know why I didn't decide to give this album a full review. My reason is simple: this album has been talked about to death. However, loving Gorillaz, I have decided that I wanted to give you guys my input on this in some form. Anyways, this is Gorillaz (A virtual band from the minds of David Albarn and Jamie Hewlett) third studio album, following the incredible Demon Days, as well as their self titled album. Overall,Plastic Beach has taken quite a large step away from the beat heavy experimental tracks in favor of some slightly experimental hip hop and pop fusions.Honestly, I'm a bit uncomfortable with it. With the amount of hip hop influences in this (such as Kano, De La Soul, and Snoop Dogg himself), this album has changed tone to become something of a high production mix tape with professional beats backing it. The thing I'm most uncomfortable with is that Gorillaz tried way too hard to experiment with Plastic Beach, and I can't help but feel that this album isn't even close to the excellence of the first two studio albums. That said, there is certainly quite a bit of praise to go towards the album itself. The flow is fantastic, and there are at least a few tracks which I would openly call good to the point of insanity. Alright, maybe not that good, but pretty damn good. These songs include Superfast Jellyfish (a song added in just for the sake of catchiness, but man, does it do a good job), White Flag (Heavy orchestra, awesome lyrics, and sweet beats? This is basically the definition of "hell yeah"), and Some Kind of Nature (By far the best song on the album, the song combines Lou Reeds soothing voice and an upbeat yet mellow melody). To put my opinions of this album into perspective, do you see those three excellent tracks I've just described? Demon Dayshas six songs on the album which easily surpass these three, and the other nine all come pretty damn close, and would be surpassing as well if it wasn't for the outside influences of Lou Reed. As far as other tracks go, the other songs on Plastic Beach are pretty decent, with a few I would call quite good. Although this was a good album, and I certainly recommend it, Plastic Beach just does not match up to Gorillaz other albums, and I'd like you (if possible) to keep that out of your mind (And wish to apologize that that will now be a bit difficult having read this review).

Grade: B-
Notable Tracks: Superfast Jellyfish, White Flag, Some Kind of Nature
Brian Posehn - Fart and Weiner Jokes (2010)
Release Date: April 27
Length: 39:19
Genre: Stand-up Comedy/Spoken Word
Finally, a stand-up album! If you don't know, Brian Posehn is an actor and comedian who has had roles in programs such as Just Shoot Me!, and The Sarah Silverman Program. As for his material, the bits typically revolve around three things: heavy metal, his genitalia, and his trollish figure. As far as his material goes, it's pretty above average. Even if his material should be classified as "juvenile"and "stupid", that is no excuse to not give this otherwise relatively laughworthy album a listen. I will tell you however, that for the sake of not spoiling any bits, I will try not to go in depth with each track. I will say that he has a pretty cool way of carrying out his "bro" mentality, and it makes some of the jokes funnier through the personality's usage. Some topics he goes into are the individuality of metal as a genre versus any other genre, why he could avoid paying money for a security system using a baby mask and a samurai sword, why people who use the phrase "Party like a rockstar" deserve to die, and why it is more difficult to deal with transexuals than any other type of person. At the end of this album, Posehn and his band (featuring Brendon Small) decide to perform two heavy metal songs. The first of which is a terrible track where Brian Posehn is trying to sing about how he is the dominant metalhead in contest with imaginary adversaries he makes up. At this point, you may have noticed a factor about Posehn which makes him a bit comparable to Lady Gaga. A trait which I hate more than no tomorrow. Sometimes, Posehn can be a total attention whore about his metalhead additude, and it is one of the few things that actually makes me angry about some of his material. Just a little note I have decided to add. Anyways, moving on. The second of these songs is a heavy metal cover, and not just any cover either, but rather a cover of Kenny Roger's classic song The Gambler. As crazy as it sounds, I actually really liked it, and the cover actually caused the ending of the song to make sense to me (You'll know the part when you hear it). When you don't have any other stand-up albums to listen to, or consider yourself a "metalhead" (I despise the heck out of that descriptor), give this a listen. Unless you are a total douche who considers themselves to be above silly, somewhat low brow humor, you should enjoy this a fair bit.
Grade: B
Notable Tracks: iTunes, Metal Fans, Slayer, Home Protection, Party Like a Rockstar, Where Do I Know This Guy From?, Nice T**s, Tough Guy
Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Live From the Middle East (1998)
Release Date: September 22
Length: 61:17
Genre: Ska (Third Wave)
After reviewing the Dropkick Murphy's live album a week or so back, I felt inspired to give the Bosstones album a fair listen too, and thought that this would be a perfect scenario to review the album. From reading my review of their latest studio affair, you should have enough on your knowledge plates to read this, but to recap: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are a ska band popular in the 90's who come from Massachusetts. This album, Live From the Middle East is certainly out of the Middle East, but not in the way you'd expect. You see, this middle east is actually a restaurant and nightclub that happens to be called The Middle East. After listening to this album twice, I can safely grade this live album with flying colors. Unlike the Dropkick Murphy's album, this album actually feels like a live album. Dicky and the band actually talk to the audience, and the audience actually has a voice in places that aren't between songs, which definitely helps with any immersion a live album could hope for. And as far as the new (Well, eleven years ago new) recordings, they sound pretty awesome. Kinder Words doesn't start with a slightly-too-long drum beat at the beginning, Rascal King sounds better than ever, and Someday I Suppose fuses itself with The Impression that I Get, making for one very very cool performance. If you have never listened to Mighty Mighty Bosstones before, and are looking for a way to get into them, I would normally recommend their studio album Let's Face It, and I still kind of do, but this album gives you a tour of the best of the Bosstones in the best light possible, which is of course, the live version. This entire review reminds me of a Bosstones concert I went to years ago in which I got an incredibly awkward picture with lead singer Dicky Barrett. One day it might be put up, but I haven't decided yet.
Grade: A-
Notable Tracks: Kinder Words, Rascal King, Hell of a Hat, The Impression that I Get, Someday I Suppose, Holy Smoke
MGMT - Congratulations (2010)
Release Date: April 13
Length: 45:53
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Experimental Rock, Progressive Rock
Before reviewing this, I feel that it is necessary that you are made aware that I have listened to zero songs of MGMT. Hopefully, that should make no difference, or it might with a lack of initial bias. MGMT is a progressive/psychadellic rock band out of humble Connecticut as of 2002. Congratulations is the fifth release from this band (counting EPs, only third counting studio albums). Overall, I have to say that this album is...pretty mediocre. Although I have never really enjoyed very much progressive rock that isn't Jethro Tull, this album is pretty bland. I have to give MGMT the credit that these guys know how to write lyrics, but it seems that this album uses catchiness as a crutch out of a lack of confidence in their other songs. It pains me to say this, but I must say that MGMT using the three main catchy songs (Congratulations, Brian Eno, It's Working - although every song tries to bullshit catchy to a very lazy extent) as crutches was a bit necessary. Normally, I would never grade music down out of a lack of catchiness. However, Congratulations uses such bland and unfitting instrument arrangements and composition that it doesn't even qualify as very good music for use of ambiance. If I can say anything good about this album, it's that the three songs I listed above happen to be good enough to carry the album to a point where I can call it a good album, and not simply a waste of time. If you like MGMT, give this album a listen. Maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I was introduced to this band in a way that isn't so rough.
Grade: D+
Notable Songs: It's Working, Brian Eno, Congratulations

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