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Unlike Sheppard, our resident Weezer apologist, I was not overly impressed with the latest offering from Rivers and Co. The band has been trying to escape mediocrity and Rivers’ hit-or-miss songwriting for over a decade, so, I thought, perhaps they’d finally come loose and regain some of their past glory. After giving their third eponymous album a listen, I left feeling typically underwhelmed, constantly reminded of musical trends from the past several years. The lyrical highlights of Blue and Pinkerton, with their endearing awkwardness, are far in the past. Maybe I’ve taken three too many creative writing classes, but when I hear lines like “I’m a troublemaker/Never been a faker/Doing things my own way/And never giving up,” I cringe. I just expect more from the Ivy League. Musically, and even lyrically, the album is at least more adventurous than their last trio of releases, finally straying from the post-Pinkerton formula of straightforward, hook-heavy, riffy pop-rock. Also, I have mixed feelings on their swipe at Timbaland, this decade’s savior of commercial radio, in “Pork and Beans.” More importantly, however, I have a problem that a song is entitled “Pork and Beans.” Is this a Boy Scout Camp singalong? Seriously.

On my new rating scale, I award Weezer’s Weezer a 5.5 out of 9.6.

Even though I wasn’t too pleased with the new Weezer album, music isn’t quite dead. Every once in a while, although our ears are continually bombarded by the seemingly infinite stream of indie buzz bands and the irritating presence of commercial rock acts that sound like Nickelback, an album emerges that is exceptional, actually worth a listen, and curiously delightful in its moments of skull-crushing brutality and ethereal calm. For me, that album is Opeth’s Watershed. Undoubtedly, of all the Swedish prog death metal bands in this crazy world of ours, Opeth is one of the best, both in the complexity of their songwriting and in their welcome blending of different sounds. Despite the Guitar Hero phenomenon and the successes of metalcore acts such as Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold, and Bullet for My Valentine, we closet metal lovers can always crawl back to Scandanavia, where the form hasn’t been destroyed by recent pandering to an emo-leaning target audience.

I award the new Opeth album a 7.3 out of 9.6.

Now that I’m firmly entrenched in post-graduate ennui for the foreseeable future, it’s probably about as good a time as any to start updating this thing again. I know, outside of the UK or Texas, people don’t really care about The Kooks or the Cowboys, respectively, which means you obviously have more literary interests. You know, books and stuff.

But first off, I should expound on a new joy in my life. I didn’t see it coming, for several reasons, and now that it’s here, I am as closed to excited as I, as a non-excitable kind of guy, can be. Relatively speaking. I’m referring to the new rock radio station here, 101.9 RXP. Apparently, contrary to rumors of its death, as well as the emergence of intelligent music dance music, rock ain’t quite dead yet, with RXP even replacing the requisite “smooth jazz” station that used to occupy 101.9 FM.

I never expected this kind of station around these parts. This is New York. People listen to lots of things—hip-hop and top 40 pop and reggaeton, and who knows what else—19th century opera, I guess. We already have three “rock” stations. Three’s company, right?

Also, I was always under the impression that every area needed a smooth jazz station to supply, if nothing else, inoffensively boring elevator music, but rock’s resurgence has swept easy listening aside in favor of classic and alternative RAWK. I know lots of parents who probably miss listening to smooth jazz while doing the Times crossword on weekends. I just can’t see them sitting down to The National and going about their business. That’s because listening to The National is all about introspection, contemplation, and post-punk surreality.

With all this in mind, I was pleasantly surprised that our new rock station includes so much indie-alternative rock. I know that K-Rock pretends to play alternative rock, but they play a decidedly mainstream and commercial variety from the catch-all genre. RXP is like listening to a Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack, throwing out Nada Surf singles in between Radiohead’s “Creep” and your mom’s least favorite U2 single. It’s great. Of course, if I have to hear “I Will Possess Your Heart” one more time on the radio, at Borders, or in Panera, I’m going to be upset. Very upset.

I guess I should start finding a new layout for this mess of a blog.

Most people create a summer reading list for one reason or another. I created my summer reading list, because I have so many books I haven’t read yet.

Summer reading list:
You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
The Beautiful and Damned and The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Aureole by Carole Maso
Without by Randie Lipkin
Rant by Chuck Palahniuk
Ada, Pnin, and Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
The Waves by Virginia Woolf
Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
The Violent Bear It Away and Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor
Charming Billy by Alice McDermott
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
The Gathering by Anne Enright

I’m also reading short story collections by T.C. Boyle, J.D. Salinger, Rick Moody, Jennifer Egan, Annie Proulx, Alice Munro, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Junot Diaz.

1. Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz
2. Metallica - Kill ‘Em All
3. Motorhead - Ace of Spades
4. Metallica - …And Justice for All
5. Anthrax - (I forget the name of the album)
6. Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
7. Metallica - Ride the Lightning
8. Slayer - Reign in Blood
9. Metallica - Master of Puppets
10. N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton

Instead of studying for my advanced accounting midterm I recently spent two hours deciding what I thought were the 10 best albums of each decade since the 60s. Nothing has really been going on around this site lately and I wanted to spark some debate. We might have even done this in the past, but were going to do it again.

I decided that each week, for the next four weeks I am going to reveal one of my lists. I am going to assume that everyone thinks I am idiot and my list is totally wrong. Therefore I am going to be anticipating some good responses. Lets bring some fire back to this site people!

Top 10 Albums of the 60s:

10) The Doors – The Doors
9) The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
8) The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced?
7) The Who – Tommy
6) The Beatles – Abby Road
5) The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
4) The Beatles – Revolver
3) Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited
2) Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II
1) The Beatles – Rubber Soul

Once again, I’ve compiled my list of favorite albums from 2007. Unlike last year (and the previous year(s)), there were actually several albums in the running for my theoretically coveted top spot, and I didn’t just arbitrarily choose to single out an album I enjoyed. In the end, I made like Paste and decided on The National in all their atmospheric moodiness.

Originally, I was going to write up a short blurb for each release, but since I have no time to do stuff like that, I didn’t. This list represents music I actually heard. There are a bunch of other 2007 albums that I didn’t quite absorb, but with a few more listens, I’m sure some of them would have made this list, whether cracking the top 25 or necessitating a longer list. Instead, they’re in the honorable mentions section.

1. The National – Boxer
2. The White Stripes – Icky Thump
3. Okkervil River – The Stage Names
4. Les Savy Fav – Let’s Stay Friends
5. Wilco – Sky Blue Sky
6. Patrick Wolf – The Magic Position
7. Battles – Mirrored
8. 65daysofstatic – The Destruction Of Small Ideas
9. Interpol – Our Love To Admire
10. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
11. LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver
12. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
13. Sunset Rubdown – Random Spirit Lover
14. Jens Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala
15. Marissa Nadler – Songs III: Bird On The Water
16. Feist – The Reminder
17. God Is an Astronaut – Far From Refuge
18. Raising the Fawn – Sleight Of Hand
19. Maritime – Heresy And The Hotel
20. Radiohead – In Rainbows
21. Laura Veirs – The Saltbreakers
22. Great Lake Swimmers – Ongiara
23. White Rabbits – Fort Nightly
24. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
25. Blonde Redhead – 23

Honorable mentions (these albums were dec(ent)):
Iron and Wine, Justice, Minus the Bear, Pinback, A Place to Bury Strangers, Frog Eyes, Klaxons, Black Lips, Band of Horses, Warm in the Wake, Mancino, The Subjects, Arctic Monkeys, Apples in Stereo, Clinic, Eluvium, Do Make Say Think, Explosions in the Sky, Pelican, The Go! Team, Besnard Lakes

Five things I just don’t get:
1. M.I.A. – Kala
2. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
3. Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
4. Burial – Untrue
5. The Field – From Here We Go To Sublime

My ten big disappointments:
1. Voxtrot – Voxtrot
2. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
3. The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
4. Radiohead – In Rainbows
5. Stars – In Our Bedroom After The War
6. Rilo Kiley – Under The Blacklight
7. Straylight Run – The Needles, The Space
8. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Some Loud Thunder
9. Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
10. Ted Leo – Living With The Living

That’s all.

You know the drill. This is more for my personal use than anything else.

09-01 The Format – Vic Theater
09-08 Andrew Bird, The Frames, Mucca Pazza, Golden Horse Square Dance, Art Brut, Cass McCombs, Dan Deacon – Hideout
09-12 Wilco – Jay Pritzker Stage @ Millenium Park
09-15 Rilo Kiley – Riviera Theatre
09-22 The National – Vic Theater
10-01 The Blow – Empty Bottle
10-04 Voxtrot – Metro
10-06 The White Stripes, Cold War Kids – Aragon Ballroom
10-07 The White Stripes, Cold War Kids – Aragon Ballroom
10-14 Pinback – Metro
10-17 Justice – Metro
10-18 New Pornographers – Metro
10-19 The Raveonettes – The Empty Bottle
10-20 Nada Surf – Schubas
11-02 Stars – Vic Theater

Last update: 7/26

First I told you all about the Spice Girls world tour, which BTW they’re about to add more dates. (In your face sheppard) But wait, there’s more…

This may have been common knowledge – well to everyone who doesn’t read this site – but the Backstreet Boys have a new album coming out in October. Their new single Inconsolable is due out August 27. It sounds like it’s going to be another heart felt, harmony-driven ballad. Booo! We want something like Everybody!

Let’s see, No Doubt is going to start producing their new album later this year… All we need now is for Britney to get her act together (Remember when the big controversy was whether she had her boobs done? Oh man, I bet she wishes we were back in the 90’s) and Joey Fatone to leave his game show career and the 90’s are back!

HOW EXCITED ARE YOU?!

If you recall, a couple of months ago, I posted a tentative concert calendar that was, to put it lightly, overambitious. However, now that I only have a month left of summer, here’s a list that’s more likely to represent reality.

7/24 – The White Stripes @ MSG
7/29 – TV on the Radio @ McCarren Park Pool
8/2 – …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead @ Luna Lounge (?)
8/3 – CSS, Dirty On Purpose @ Studio B (?)
8/5 – Blonde Redhead, I’m From Barcelona @ McCarren Park Pool
8/9 – The Hold Steady @ Prospect Park
8/12 – Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, The Thermals @ McCarren Park Pool
8/17 – The National, Takka Takka, The Forms @ South Street Seaport
8/19 – Wolf Parade @ Warsaw

Rock.

Billy Corgan was having a mid life crisis and he is nostalgic for the good ol’ days when he was rocking out with James Iha, D’arcy Wretzky, and Melissa Auf der Maur. So, he called up the strung out Jimmy Chamberlin and they wrote some songs together. At one point Auf der Maur confirmed Corgan and Chamberlin were working together and it was incorrectly assumed that she was involved with the reunion. Corgan never considered involving Iha and Wretzky in the reunion. Corgan wanted to silence his critics that claimed he was getting old and his sound was getting weak. The result was the Smashing Pumpkins seventh studio release, “Zietgeist.” Corgan plays every instrument on the album, besides the drums, which are provided by Chamberlin. The CD jacket actually says: “Jimmy Chamberlin: Drums, Billy Corgan: everything else.” Jeff Schroeder and Ginger Reyes will be playing guitar and bass respectively during the Pumpkins live shows.

Upon opening the album you will discover a pretty interesting jacket. The cover is the Statue of Liberty half way under water, perhaps a global warming reference? The there is the Smashing Pumpkins new logo, which feature a heart on top of a casket with SP writing inside it. Paris Hilton is featured in two pictures, one that has a large explosion occurring behind her while she is busy talking on her phone. Then there is some naked chick stabbing herself with some object right above her breast. The there is a picture of what appears to be a WWE entertainer. That is followed guy yielding a large gun with an ancient armor suit on, which I think is supposed to be a mock on the recent film 300. Then there is a shot in which Bush is depicted as the grim reaper. The pictures close with a bass guitar and a the new logo in a casket with a dude kneeling in front of it. I first thought it was supposed to be symbolic of the death of rock and roll, but I don’t think that’s right at all. Does anyone know what Corgan had in mind here? All in all it’s pretty interesting.

To be honest I wasn’t expecting much from this album. However, I think everyone is going to be surprised by how strong this album is. Corgan wanted to make an album that rocked and he definitely accomplished that. The album opener “Doomsday Clock” has an addictive chorus and can be found in the new movie Transformers. The thunderous drums in the beginning remind me of something out of a Metallica song. The first single is “Tarantula” and I think I have decided that it is my favorite Smashing Pumpkins song of all time. It is very musically advanced to what you will be used to. The call and answer guitar solo is incredible and the lyrics are pretty awesome as well. The song most likely to have mainstream success is “That’s The Way (That Love Is).” It is a nice slow down from the first three tracks. It is not even close to being “Tonight, Tonight” but it is a solid effort. The black sheep of the album is “United States.” Lasting nine and a half minutes it is a very painful listen. At points it just seems like noise with Corgan yelling “revolution” in the background. I really don’t get what this track is supposed to accomplish. The second half of the album has some more melodic tracks like “Bring On The Light” and the incredibly catchy “(Come On) Lets Go!” I also love “Stellar” because Corgan’s voice is more audible compared to some of the other tracks. The album closes out with “Pomp and Circumstances” which is a very slow experimental acid trip type song. It’s an weird way to close the album, but it sounds cool. Overall, I was very impressed with what Corgan had left in him. I give “Zeitgeist” an 8.

After the Foo Fighters’ last album, In Your Honor, I had finally come to terms with one of the band’s major flaws—most of their [newer] songs sound exactly the same. Like many successful mainstream rock bands, it sometimes feels like the Foo Fighters are simply rehashing the same ideas that made their first songs so enjoyable, writing slight variations of previous hits. This results in track after track of inferior imitations, as the band fails to recapture the past glory of the late 90s. For that reason, perhaps combining the best hard rock and acoustic portions of In Your Honor into a single disc would have given fans something a little more diverse and a lot more memorable.

With that said, I just read an article about their upcoming sixth album. Naturally, I would expect more of the same from them, but the article does make a few promising claims. It’ll still be an overproduced, commercial affair, but one quote from Grohl mentions crazy time signatures. This could be a good or bad thing, but at least it’s not something straight out of “Everlong.” Also, another potentially interesting development is that acoustic guitar extraordinaire Kaki King is a guest musician on one track. At the very least, it’s not Norah Jones again.