'Magnetic Fields' review
The newest album by Magnetic Fields cements its unfortunate position as the most fascinating artist rarely talked about on even the most alternative-happy college campuses.
Continuing his grand tradition of alternative sounds and technical beats, one-man-wonder Stephin Merritt provides followers with “Realism,” a 13-track album to bob their heads to on a sunny day.
'How Does Salt Water Mix With Tea?' review
Nondescript and riddled with clichés, The Napoleon Complex’s album “How Does Salt Water Mix With Tea?” uses simplistic limericks and Rodrigo Espinosa’s whiny, thin falsetto to channel the Soma crowd that outgrew Soma. Even its album’s introductory song shares the band’s name and album title.
'Screamworks' review
From the layered vocal opening of “In Venere Veritas,” which translates loosely into “In lover there is truth,” it is incredibly apparent that the Finnish love-metal band HIM has given up its rougher edge in favor of a more commercially viable and straightforward rock album. HIM’s earlier album “Venus Doom” was widely believed to be one of the heaviest hard rock albums out, and its newest album “Screamworks: Love In Theory And Practice” stands in stark contrast.
'SEAL Hits' review
Soulful, classic, melodic and poetic: These terms all come to mind when listening to the greatest hits album of the one and only Seal. Although his name is short and simple, his talents as an artist range greatly, from rock to soul and sometimes a combination of the two.
'Armistice' review
Mutemath is another band with a style of music difficult to categorize as any one genre. Its most recent album “Armistice,” released August of last year, is a testament to Mutemath’s versatility, because it combines numerous music genres. The album fluctuates from fast-paced music and vocals to much slower tracks, never conforming to a single form or style for more than a few songs.
'Take Action!' review
The ninth volume of “Take Action!,” presented by SubCity and Hopeless Records, Inc., is a two-disk volume filled with multiple styles of songs that range from acoustic remakes to pop songs commonly heard on the radio. The album’s first disk opens with artist Travis Clark from “We the Kings” introducing the Take Action! organization.
Cymbals Eat Guitars comes to San Diego
Indie-rock fans are in for a treat as three of New York City’s hottest new independent bands make their way to San Diego next week. Staten Island quartet Cymbals Eat Guitars will be performing with Brooklyn’s Bear In Heaven, along with Queens’ quintet Freelance Whales at 8:30 p.m. next Tuesday at The Casbah.
'Logorama' worthy of its Oscar
“Logorama” is a 17-minute animated action film made entirely from corporate logos. It recently won the 2010 Academy Award for Best Short Film Animated. The film is French, but the dialogue is English, so it does not appear to be foreign at all.
I am going to say this one more time: No, I do not want to be your friend. No, I don’t want to RSVP to your Wacky Gal’s Night Out. No, I don’t want to join your group boycotting FOX for cancelling “Arrested Development.” No to your wall posts, no to your zombie applications, no to your Scrabulous substitute and no to you, Facebook.
