on a smaller scale

the second half of the new islands album doesn't quite live up to the specatular first half, but i think it might be a grower half.

also, is it a concept album? seems like it might be. the end segues strangely well into the beggining of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, so if so they can be friends if I ever want to make a 19 hour concept album concept mix consisting of whole concept albums back to back to back.

top 3 recent debut eps whose promise has thus far not been lived up to

3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2. Los Campesinos - Sticking Fingers into Sockets
1. TV on the Radio - Young Liars

I'll need to hear the newly released Tokyo Police Club album, but I can't see how it could live up to A Lesson in Crime.

orange county

I had a moment yesterday where I actually felt some attachment to orange county, where my nostalgia for all the time I spent here overcame my cynicism about it as a place, and where I identified it as a place I belonged. weird, huh?

impossible

I finally saw no country for old men, and found it, as most did, pretty great. it somehow reminded me of a david lynch movie, say, mullholland dr. or inland empire. Stories with hidden meanings, vs meanings with hidden stories. And all three were filled with a lot of patient shots, with a rich style that infects you, and that haunts you after the movie's over.

Update: There's spoilers in it, but this discussion about NCfOM made me see the lynch connection more directly, espcially, of course, when one of the commenters explicitly draws the connection. I have more thoughts on it, but they're not for those who haven't seen it, so ask me some time.

flashmute

i was just realizing how much i love flashmute. It's an app that turns off all sound from flash, or from your browser altogether, with a quick shortcut to re-enable as you see fit. Its great if you want to play flash games with music on, or just don't want horrifying ads hassling you.

Also:
blur's self-titled is really a underrated album.

surprisingly enough

pitchfork.tv is pretty good. great video quality, some nice content

like video evidence supporting my suspicion that of montreal is the weirdest """pop""" band going these days

smash brothers

I'm largely done with video games these days, playing them mostly as art/culture/media, rather than entertainment/escapism/time sink. I'm either too busy or too smart or too full of shit, depending on how you look at it.

But this new smash brothers is something. Its got the same basic formula as ever, but:

a) its a great formula. Retro value, 4 players on a single screen, fast-paced, one-more-game gameplay, unpredictable turns of events at every turn.

b) this thing is PACKED. 35 characters, with only a handful of clones, 41 levels, tons of game modes, challenges, single player modes, cooperative play.
Sometimes you get something like portal that's a finely slice of originality. Sometimes you get something like smash brothers thats a giant heap of good content so well crafted and curated that it hardly matters that its been done.