POLARITY 166
THE GOOD
The Kills, No Wow The Kills are obviously fans of tantric sex, because their album, No Wow, seems to follow its principles to a tee. They sound a lot like The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, that is, all-rhythm, no solo, non-show-offy, yet immensely arty and solid guitar. However, where The Yeahs are all about rivetting, thrashing release, The Kills are about bringing you right to the brink of release and then keeping you there. It sounds like this would be frustrating over the course of a whole album, but believe it or not, it makes for a really great record that keeps your attention. The album's grinding opener, the title track, starts with the most menacing bass line since Nine Inch Nails' "Somewhat Damaged". You expect it to burst into a frantic solo, but it never does. This subdued approach is par for the course and creates much more sexual tension between singer Alison Mosshart's PJ Harvey-ish woke-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-bed sexy croon and the listener. This is really, really good stuff.
Spider-Man 2 Ordinarily, sequels to blockbuster action movies equate to more action. What's unusual about Spider-Man 2 is that it doesn't actually have more action. In fact, it favors long periods of introspection for Peter Parker as he struggles (and fails) to make his personal life work while accepting that he can't not be Spider-Man. In fact, there are a lot of themes that are carried over from Superman 2 where Supes decides that he only wants to be Clark Kent, but with Spider-Man the ideas are much more thoroughly effective. Peter's life is sub-level shit, so his reaction to keeping his sanity is to be Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Unfortunately, he starts to lose his powers-- not from Spider-Kryptonite or a maniacal villain's weapon, but from stress. What unfolds allows a lot more depth into Peter Parker than before (in fact, Spider-Man gets less screen time than previously), and it shows why Tobey Macguire needed to play Parker. Doctor Octopus is underdeveloped, which is sad because Alfred Molina is a fantastic character actor, and his casting as Doc Oc was superb. Also, the script falls for the classic superhero movie fault of having way too many people learn our hero's true identity (in fact, at one point, around 30 L train riders see Spidey without the mask-- what the hell?), but Spider-Man 2 manages to be an excellent summer blockbuster that is better than the original, and, somehow, manages even more depth. Also, in a touch of Sam Raimi's gift, the movie has a darker tone than the first and is downright depressing at times, yet it is wholeheartedly funnier thanks to tons of subtle visual comedy. This franchise is going to be a classic.
Esquire names Jessica Biel Hottest Woman Alive I would disagree on a personal level, but hot damn if that wasn't a solid try. She is smoking.
Black and White Drama Theater If I've ever mentioned this series of flash animations before, I'm mentioning it again, because they're that fucking funny. They're a bit hard to describe without you just going and clicking on them, but before you do, I recommend you check out Scissors, The Conversation, and Au Revoir before watching the others, but my absolute favorite is Life in Germany, which is sheer brilliance. Pray this guy doesn't get hit by a train or something stupid before he can bring his sense of humor someplace mainstream.
The videos off of Gorillaz Demon Days Absolutely gorgeous animations of Jamie Hewlett's insane characters, real-life footage, and computer generated imagery blends to create a surrealist alternate universe filled with symbolism and, well, rocking. If you haven't seen the videos for "Feel Good, Inc." or "D.A.R.E." yet, download them.
THE BAD
Myspace.com I decided, almost on a whim, to sign up to Myspace. It's not that I'm against people-meeting-people places such as this; in fact, I could probably use some more friends with the guaranteed same interests as me. In fact, MySpace has already got me in touch with at least two people I haven't talked to in years. So no matter what, it's worth the frustrations for that alone. But Lord, it sure has gotten me sad. I keep finding friends with obnoxious profiles, obnoxious people on their "friend" lists, or an excessive amount of friends, so when I, a real-life friend, ask to be on their list, I'll look as unimportant as everyone else. Plus, everyone has gigantic pictures in their comments and MP3s playing and music videos and it totally fucking crashes me to my desktop. But the worst part is that I keep finding people from high school that I hated but have Masters degrees, and here I am making 11 dollars an hour. Yeah, for all I know, they too are making 11 dollars an hour, but they're doing it with a frigging Master's degree!! It's just depressing. Yet, I'm totally addicted to it, not unlike a masochist who can't seem to stop flagellating himself.
Jets to Brazil So we got ahold of some MP3s, and somehow we came to the conclusion that we liked this band. So my roommate went out and bought it, and it turned out to be a steaming pile of suck. So we listened to the MP3s again, wondering what went wrong-- they sucked, too! How the hell does that happen?
Karen O of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs See, I get the feeling I'm supposed to be attracted to Karen O. I mean, she just oozes sex on record, and apparently on stage she's like a cocky, sexy, beer-spitting sex idol. Except every time I see her, I'm really, really not attracted to her. Like, at all. And I think it's really awesome that my fellow alt-rockers can find a homely girl a sex idol. How open minded of my peers. And don't get me wrong, I think she's awesome, I think she's cool as hell. But sexy? Give me Brody Dalle any day.
The Women of the Military Around the World I can't put my finger on it, but there's something mildly disturbing about this website. And what's worse than the fact that I don't know exactly what's weirding me out about this site is that... it's kind of hot. And I don't know whether I'm disturbed because it's hot or if it's something else.
Britney Spears pregnant You know, and I almost can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish these shitty celebrity magazines would leave her alone. She's not a celebrity anymore. She hasn't done anything to even try to be a celebrity since she got married. She obviously wants get get fat, smoke, wear trashy clothes with obnoxious slogans on them like "Got Poon?" and lounge around on the beach in her flip-flops, squirt out some kids, and just be regular ol' white trash. So why the hell can't she just be white trash in peace? I mean, seriously, if she was still pathetically attempting to have a career I could understand, but when her career from this point seems to just being knocked up, why do they still bother her?
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with love from CRS @ 3:32 PM
Monday, October 24, 2005
The Kills, No Wow The Kills are obviously fans of tantric sex, because their album, No Wow, seems to follow its principles to a tee. They sound a lot like The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, that is, all-rhythm, no solo, non-show-offy, yet immensely arty and solid guitar. However, where The Yeahs are all about rivetting, thrashing release, The Kills are about bringing you right to the brink of release and then keeping you there. It sounds like this would be frustrating over the course of a whole album, but believe it or not, it makes for a really great record that keeps your attention. The album's grinding opener, the title track, starts with the most menacing bass line since Nine Inch Nails' "Somewhat Damaged". You expect it to burst into a frantic solo, but it never does. This subdued approach is par for the course and creates much more sexual tension between singer Alison Mosshart's PJ Harvey-ish woke-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-bed sexy croon and the listener. This is really, really good stuff.
Spider-Man 2 Ordinarily, sequels to blockbuster action movies equate to more action. What's unusual about Spider-Man 2 is that it doesn't actually have more action. In fact, it favors long periods of introspection for Peter Parker as he struggles (and fails) to make his personal life work while accepting that he can't not be Spider-Man. In fact, there are a lot of themes that are carried over from Superman 2 where Supes decides that he only wants to be Clark Kent, but with Spider-Man the ideas are much more thoroughly effective. Peter's life is sub-level shit, so his reaction to keeping his sanity is to be Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Unfortunately, he starts to lose his powers-- not from Spider-Kryptonite or a maniacal villain's weapon, but from stress. What unfolds allows a lot more depth into Peter Parker than before (in fact, Spider-Man gets less screen time than previously), and it shows why Tobey Macguire needed to play Parker. Doctor Octopus is underdeveloped, which is sad because Alfred Molina is a fantastic character actor, and his casting as Doc Oc was superb. Also, the script falls for the classic superhero movie fault of having way too many people learn our hero's true identity (in fact, at one point, around 30 L train riders see Spidey without the mask-- what the hell?), but Spider-Man 2 manages to be an excellent summer blockbuster that is better than the original, and, somehow, manages even more depth. Also, in a touch of Sam Raimi's gift, the movie has a darker tone than the first and is downright depressing at times, yet it is wholeheartedly funnier thanks to tons of subtle visual comedy. This franchise is going to be a classic.
Esquire names Jessica Biel Hottest Woman Alive I would disagree on a personal level, but hot damn if that wasn't a solid try. She is smoking.
Black and White Drama Theater If I've ever mentioned this series of flash animations before, I'm mentioning it again, because they're that fucking funny. They're a bit hard to describe without you just going and clicking on them, but before you do, I recommend you check out Scissors, The Conversation, and Au Revoir before watching the others, but my absolute favorite is Life in Germany, which is sheer brilliance. Pray this guy doesn't get hit by a train or something stupid before he can bring his sense of humor someplace mainstream.
The videos off of Gorillaz Demon Days Absolutely gorgeous animations of Jamie Hewlett's insane characters, real-life footage, and computer generated imagery blends to create a surrealist alternate universe filled with symbolism and, well, rocking. If you haven't seen the videos for "Feel Good, Inc." or "D.A.R.E." yet, download them.
THE BAD
Myspace.com I decided, almost on a whim, to sign up to Myspace. It's not that I'm against people-meeting-people places such as this; in fact, I could probably use some more friends with the guaranteed same interests as me. In fact, MySpace has already got me in touch with at least two people I haven't talked to in years. So no matter what, it's worth the frustrations for that alone. But Lord, it sure has gotten me sad. I keep finding friends with obnoxious profiles, obnoxious people on their "friend" lists, or an excessive amount of friends, so when I, a real-life friend, ask to be on their list, I'll look as unimportant as everyone else. Plus, everyone has gigantic pictures in their comments and MP3s playing and music videos and it totally fucking crashes me to my desktop. But the worst part is that I keep finding people from high school that I hated but have Masters degrees, and here I am making 11 dollars an hour. Yeah, for all I know, they too are making 11 dollars an hour, but they're doing it with a frigging Master's degree!! It's just depressing. Yet, I'm totally addicted to it, not unlike a masochist who can't seem to stop flagellating himself.
Jets to Brazil So we got ahold of some MP3s, and somehow we came to the conclusion that we liked this band. So my roommate went out and bought it, and it turned out to be a steaming pile of suck. So we listened to the MP3s again, wondering what went wrong-- they sucked, too! How the hell does that happen?
Karen O of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs See, I get the feeling I'm supposed to be attracted to Karen O. I mean, she just oozes sex on record, and apparently on stage she's like a cocky, sexy, beer-spitting sex idol. Except every time I see her, I'm really, really not attracted to her. Like, at all. And I think it's really awesome that my fellow alt-rockers can find a homely girl a sex idol. How open minded of my peers. And don't get me wrong, I think she's awesome, I think she's cool as hell. But sexy? Give me Brody Dalle any day.
The Women of the Military Around the World I can't put my finger on it, but there's something mildly disturbing about this website. And what's worse than the fact that I don't know exactly what's weirding me out about this site is that... it's kind of hot. And I don't know whether I'm disturbed because it's hot or if it's something else.
Britney Spears pregnant You know, and I almost can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish these shitty celebrity magazines would leave her alone. She's not a celebrity anymore. She hasn't done anything to even try to be a celebrity since she got married. She obviously wants get get fat, smoke, wear trashy clothes with obnoxious slogans on them like "Got Poon?" and lounge around on the beach in her flip-flops, squirt out some kids, and just be regular ol' white trash. So why the hell can't she just be white trash in peace? I mean, seriously, if she was still pathetically attempting to have a career I could understand, but when her career from this point seems to just being knocked up, why do they still bother her?
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