Why? - Eskimo Snow

Some Guy again with more music! And it’s an actual review of a new album rather than a recommendation. I’ve been kinda lazy lately but no more! I’m going to try to contribute more often here, although it’s quite likely that I’m just going to continue to be lazy and write something like once a week. Hopefully not. But knowing me it’s a serious possibility.

I’ll skip the stupid crap (And by skip I mean save it for later) and get straight to the review! Recently one of my bros from the internet informed me that the new Why? album, Eskimo Snow, was leaked. My face changed from one of passive disinterest to ZOMGZ NEW WHY OMGZ OMG LINK LINK LINK. There was also some drooling in anticipation on my keyboard when I waited for the download from Rapidshit to finish. In case you all don’t know Alopecia is one of my favorite albums ever. The unique blend of hip hop and indie rock is something that my ears would love many times over and over again.

Sadly this new album goes in a bit of a different direction. I guess I kinda wanted another album like Alopecia, but different. This is waay different. While Alopecia mixed hip hop and indie rock amazingly, this one has little to no hip hop elements at all. At least the lyrics are just as creative as ever. There’s no line that strikes me as being completely and totally amazing however (Such as Alopecia’s “In Berlin I saw two men fuck in the dark corner of a basketball court.”).

There are a few standout tracks here. For example, the 3rd song on the album, Against Me, is quite awesome. Towards the end it is very hip hoppy, and then we have my favorite song on the album, Into the Shadows of My Embrace. It has a cool song title and somehow manages to not sound all pretentious and douchey. It’s probably my favorite because it sounds quite Alopeciaish. And there I go again making up adjectives. I need to stop that, unless they are positive adjectives.

The music is still pretty good for what it is. I’ve never been a huge indie rock fan (Most of the genre doesn’t do much for me at all, actually), but this album is still enjoyable. I’m sure those who really like the genre will like it even more than me. I’m also sure that people who adored Alopecia will also be a bit disappointed by this abrupt change, but eh what the hell. It’s still not horrible. It also shows yet again that the band is capable of changing their style without totally screwing up unlike some. So I guess this is pretty good compared to what it could have been. It’s also worth note that this album was written roughly around the same time Alopecia was. I wonder what their next album will sound like?

I give Eskimo Snow a 7.8 out of 10 for being a creative diversion from what I’m used to and having a few amazing songs but not being another Alopecia.

Now I know what you’re thinking, where’s the download link? Well that’s the thing. I can’t find one on the internet. I’m not going to upload my own because this album isn’t out yet and I am paranoid about the FBI raiding my home finding the 81 GB of mostly illegally acquired music on my hard drive and then taking it away from me. I would cry so you are going to have to locate the download link elsewhere. However I will check back every so often to find a download link and when I do find one you know where to find it.

OK I found one, but I can’t guarantee it will exist for very long.

Download link: http://depositfiles.com/en/files/i8x4cvi66

No password

Some Guy OUT!

No Go Know - Time Has Nothing to Do With It

Great news, intrawebs! By some bizarre stroke of luck, or perhaps simple pity by the kind folks over at XO Publicty, we are now on their press release list! This means we get to sample albums by some amazing bands who you may be hearing for the first time! For a full list of their clients, head here.

To the matter at hand, then. No Go Know, a Portland, Oregon based rock trio consisting of Scott Taylor (lead guitar, vocals), Mark Mcintire (bass guitar, back up vocals), and Sam Smith (drums), have put out their third full length release, Time Has Nothing to Do With It. One of XO's bands, I was a little skeptical when I got the email, as I was told to "think Built to Spill, Fugazi, Pink Floyd"; that's quite a lot to live up to.

Tall order aside, I really got into Time Has Nothing to Do With It. It's a loooooong record; two discs, each with 9 tracks, totaling just under 90 minutes of playtime. While there is still a lot I don't know about No Go Know and this record, the 5 or so times I have listened to it straight through in the past two and a half days is testament to its ability to keep a listener entertained.

With only three musicians, No Go Know is able to create a complex and unique sound that's as versatile as it is enjoyable. There is something for everyone on the album. Similar to the weather in New England, wait five minutes and it will change. Borderline pop-track "Thicket of Thieves" leads straight into a guitar driven rock song, "Love is War". Just three songs later, "Our Bodies Will Float" gives listeners a melodic ballad, sung sincerely and wonderfully by Taylor.

This album really is an adventure, and while the constant sonic shifting may have some would be listeners off balance, anyone who enjoys a good jam should pick up this album. I think it's a testament to the skill of all three musicians that 90 minutes of music is collected and released like this, and nearly all of it is the quality you'd expect out of a big name band like Built to Spill. Of course, like every album, it's got it's weak points, but they don't detract so much from the overall of the album enough to tarnish it's enjoyability. Yea, I think that's a perfect word for this album; enjoyability.

With that in mind, and seeing as how XO Publicity has been cool enough to let us provide a single for you all (We can't give away any of their clients for free, as that would CERTAINLY be bad for business! Sorry, mates.), you'll get a "purchase" link straight from No Go Know's record label, The Union Records. The free single is on the page I will link you to, as well.

For scoring purposes, I give Time Has Nothing to Do With It by No Go Know a solid...

8.5


http://theunionrecords.net/index.php/Band-Gear.html (Purchase Time Has Nothing to Do With It, along with all of No Go Know's other work-- hard copy or electronic download-- here)

And, before, I lied. The single can be found HERE, assuming they don't change their front page before you click this link.

Titus Andronicus -- The Airing of Grievances

Oh lordy do I love this album.

Named after the Shakespeare Play, a thrilling tale about vengeance, inter-racial babies, pies made out of people, and the execution of a clown, Titus Andronicus have delivered us an amazing album that I struggle to classify. Is it indie rock? Maybe. Probably. But The Airing of Grievances
is first and foremost an exercise in ROCKING THE FUCK OUT.

So, what is The Airing of Grievances? It is guitar, and it is keyboard, and it is drum, and vocals, and sometimes there's a cello or a trumpet, and POWER. It's not metal, or even real traditional rock, but it hits you hard. This album would make Mother Teresa to thrash her arms all over the place and sing along. Vocalist Patrick Stickles does some amazing stuff throughout the album, most notably on the tracks Albert Camus and Upon Viewing Brueghel's "Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus". I really just cannot tell you with words what he adds to this album, which could have sold as purely an instrumental record. He's unhinged, he's raw, and he has shit that he wants you to hear. Lyrically, The Airing of Greivances has more than it's share of moments, but when it boils down to it, that's not what this album is about. Thankfully, Stickles' pipes more than makes up for it. There are tracks when you can't understand a word of the entire chorus, even while staring at the lyrics, and it's still alright, because you're singing along with him, words be damned!

Let's talk instrumentals. Really good. Really good, most of the time. They fall flat in a couple of places (hey, no one's perfect, especially on a debut album!), most obviously on Bright Eyes' reject song, No Future Part One. Strangely enough, the first thirty or so seconds on No Future Part Two is some of the best instrumentation on the entire record, and that is what I love about this album, more than the half-hearted literary asperations or general "smartness" of it all; it changes at every turn, and will keep you guessing. Still, I prefer to just crank it up, and flail the ol' extremities until I flail anymore.

Most of the flaws are tiny. One or two of the weaker songs can get repetitve after a few listens, especially the aforementioned No Future Part One. The production of the record seems half-hearted, even for a low budget band, which can be offputting to some**. There is the occasional monologue, taken from Titus Andronicus (the Shakespeare Tragedy) or Albert Camus' "The Stranger"**.

The Airing of Grievances ends strong, with Albert Camus, my favorite track, personally. Begining with Abraham Lincoln poisoning the milk of school children, and ending with a big "Fuck you!" to Death itself, it's certainly the most dynamic track on the album.

So, here it is. Final verdict time. I give, Titus Andronicus' debut album, The Airing of Greivances...

9.3/10

http://www.mediafire.com/?1kom13qwoqm
No password, friends. Enjoy.


**Personally, I like these things about the album, but I know not everyone feels the same way.

Awesome Band You Should Probably Listen To: Grayceon

I feel kinda bad for that massive review of Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. I suppose I really get carried away with game reviews, so it’s back to music for a little while. And today I have something quite wonderful for you, the person reading this.

Sometimes, an awesome album just isn’t enough. Sometimes, I feel the need to do plugging of the more extreme variety. Perhaps this is due to boredom of the highest caliber, who really knows. Today, I, the amazing Some Guy, am here with a band that will violate your eardrums with amazingness. Well violate isn’t exactly the correct word here. It’s more like the warm sensation you get after somebody hugs you.

Grayceon is an American progressive metal band that doesn’t sound at all like anything else in the genre. There is nothing about them that sounds like Dream Theater, Opeth, or Ayreon. What we have here is something unique and interesting. I can’t think of a single band that sounds like them, and they are so great I feel the need to plug them.

Now there are a few things that make this band interesting. First let’s start with the obvious. They make frequent usage of a cello! Any band that uses any stringed instrument often is instantly awesome, but oh there’s more. Instead of having just one vocalist, they have two, a female soprano and a dude. Songs are lengthy and frequently change between metal and a more quiet often atmospheric sound. Drumming is great throughout and will always keep you entertained if the awesome guitar and cello somehow aren’t capable of doing so. If that isn’t enough to impress you I don’t know what will. The only thing dislikeable about this band is how the songs are all fucking huge, and therefore their entire discography is only 10 songs. I’m amazed at how not popular this band is. It’s a crime!

Grayceon - Self Titled

Grayceon - This Grand Show Is Eternal

Grayceon + Giant Squid split (You get a shitty Giant Squid song as a bonus! Their other stuff is so much better they should be embarrassed about this song. It really is that shitty)

I have been asked to remove the download link so I did. You guys are going to have to buy them if you want them (Which you should, because they're awesome).

Modest Mouse- No One's First And You're Next (Exclusive Pre-release Review!)

Special treat today, kiddies.

I've got my dirty little hands on the (as of press time) unreleased Modest Mouse album, No One's First, And You're Next (to be abbreviated as "NOFAYN" from here on out)! This album is set to come out on August 4th, 2009, so you can imagine how stoked I was to get my hands on some new tunes by the whole Modest Mouse gang, including frontman Isaac Brock, and Guitarist Johnny Marr. (Two of my biggest icons, by the way.)


Following the (in my opinion) disaster that was Modest Mouse's last album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, I had huge hopes for NOFAYN. I was really, really, REALLY looking for a good album to sink my teeth into; I expected a return to the great sounds of The Fruit That Ate Itself and Building Nothing Out of Something. What I got, was an EP (albeit a long one-- 8 tracks totalling just under thirty three and a half minutes) which was a sort of hodgepodge of the two sides of Modest Mouse.

Say what you will about Isaac Brock, but he's no fool. We've seen him glimpse true success with songs like "Float On" and "Dashboard", which were two very pop oriented tracks. The return of the "old" style on this album (Plunky bass, darker mood, almost angry vocals, et cetra. A great track to hear what I'm refering to is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAJ4rtCSFMg&feature=related) is noted, but it's not entirely enough. There are still elements of the failed twangy-pop sound which, along with an overpowering horn section, featured prominantly on We Were Dead. This is most obvious on the track, "Perpetual Motion Machine", my least favorite on the album.

Alright, I've gotten most of my complaints out of the way, and this album really does feature some great tracks that feel like they were written and preformed at the level that we all know Modest Mouse is capable of being at, given their niche. Songs like "King Rat", "Guilty Cocker Spaniel", and "Whale Song" are both reminiscent of earlier works by the band, and infused with fresh style, making them new and exciting to long time fans. King Rat, in fact, has a big-name music video coming out sometime in the future, directed by the late Heath Ledger, and animated by the legendary Terry Gilliam. I honestly cannot wait.

So, do I recomend this album? That depends. I feel silly, making the distinction, but it's pretty necessary. For estbalished fans of Modest Mouse who are familiar with the band's unique style, absolutely! It's a great addition to any collection. To someone, (not unlike my blogbuddy, Some Guy) who either is less than enthused about hearing another shitty replay of "Dashboard" on the radio, or doesn't know the first thing about Modest Mouse? I would say hold off. Not that it's a bad album as a standalone, or anything, it's primarily that its success is in the fact that it really combines several different facets of the "Modest Mouse Experience". It's a listening challenge, especially if you want to hear everything that's going on at any one time in a given track. To a lot of people, it'll simply sound "cluttered".

So, final verdict time. I give Modest Mouse's new EP, No One's First, And You're Next a...

8/10

One final note: There will not be a download link until the official album release date of August 4th, 2009. If you are intensely curious about the album, and just HAVE to have it, please contact me, and I will arrange it somehow.

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

Some Guy here finally with something for you to read. I’m sure you’ve all been horrified when you click a link to this blog and still see Alan talking about disgusting fruity drinks. I’ve got something today that everybody loves reading about, video games! I’m actually considerably more knowledgeable concerning video games than I am music, but nobody on the internet seems to understand this. Anyways let’s get to it.

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is an interesting little first person shooter from Ubisoft. I was bored the other day and I couldn’t find any other games to torrent, so I was delighted when I noticed that this had a few thousand seeders. I just couldn’t help myself! It’s also apparently the prequel to the other Call of Juarez game which I haven’t played.

What makes this game interesting is that, it’s not in WW2, the future, or any other cliché FPS settings. No, it’s in the old west. Isn’t that awesome? There’s like cowboys and horses and stuff. This game plays like a bad western movie, except that it’s actually entertaining. The two main characters, brothers Ray and Thomas McCall, are total badasses. They go around shooting all kinds of interesting people including Union soldiers in the Civil War, cliché western types, deputies, Mexicans, Comanche, among others, riding horses (Usually while shooting people), engaging in one on one duels with bad people, saving pretty girls, and then shooting some more people. Of course, it’s an FPS. What do you expect to be doing?

The presentation in the game is top notch. Cutscenes are frequent, but are usually short and to the point. The graphics are pretty, but not Crysis. Sadly you can’t turn off the shadow effects though, so owners of crappy PCs are going to be angry. I usually turn off shadows anyways because the lowest setting is usually all my computer can handle so shadows look like blotchy blobs of shittiness. Some of the desert environments seem a little boring, but it’s a freaking desert. What do you expect it to look like? The mountain forest area is awesome looking. Water also is quite pretty to look at, as is the game’s primary female Marisa. Sound effects seem about right and the voice acting is pretty well done. When I’m playing PC games I usually don’t listen to the music in them so I don’t know what that’s like.

As I said before gameplay is quite standard for an FPS. There are a few neat little things about this game that are somewhat interesting, however. In between the game’s missions you can opt to do some little side quests that add a bit of variety to the game. Unfortunately, because it’s an FPS, these tasks usually just involve killing people; then getting money, which you use to buy shinier guns. Yes, I mean that literally. The best guns in the game are shiny. Speaking of the guns, there’s an OK variety of them. Sadly there aren’t that many different kinds of them though. Basically every gun in the game is a rifle, a shotgun, or a revolver. Each character also gets special weapons (Thomas gets a bow and some throwing knives while Ray is able to pick up Gatling guns and use dynamite). However I’m sure they could have added a few other kinds of guns. Like CROSSBOWS! They totally used crossbows in the old west. Alright alright, I guess the developers used what they had available with the time period. I can’t complain about this. Another bit of a nice touch is how each of the different brothers plays. Ray is a master of killing stuff up close and can use two pistols; he’s also strong and can blow stuff up. Thomas on the other hand is more agile and is more dangerous from a distance and can also kill silently with the knives and bow.. He also has a lasso! And a kickass beard, and that’s why I always used him. Also, both of the brothers can do this neat little bullet time like move where everything slows down and they shoot things super accurately. One on one duels with the big bad guys are also frequent, as you master the art of moving the mouse quickly and then clicking.

The storyline isn’t going to be winning any awards, but it’s pretty interesting at least. The two brothers start as soldiers in the Civil War on the Confederate side and you kick Union ass. And then they desert and go home to visit their mom, only to realize that they place is being raided by Union soldiers. They grab their little brother William then go out west to do cool old west stuff, where they get caught up in all kinds of mischief before they finally hear about some legendary hidden treasure and things just go from there. It’s all about the quest to find this hidden treasure so they can rebuild their gigantic farm back in Georgia. I like how the game’s main characters aren’t really “the good guys.” They’re generally not very nice fellows and just kick ass for money and help whoever can help them. Their little brother William is a preacher so he’s always going on and on about God and Jesus and stuff, trying to get his brothers to turn to the ways of Jesus and stop being assholes. Of course they refuse because they are total badasses and badasses don’t need the power of Jesus; they have the power of badassery. Other interesting characters include Barnsby, the crazy ex Confederate colonel that’s determined to hunting down the brothers and hanging them for deserting the South in the war. He’s a bit of a nutjob. Also there’s Marisa, the pretty Mexican girl. She’s really just a pain in the ass, but so are real women.

Of course the game isn’t all good. If it was good I’d probably have been using lots more words and going on and on about how great it is. And here’s where shit gets critical. My biggest complaint with this game is that it’s too god damned short. What is up with these game developers thinking that a 6 hour main quest is long enough? They could have done a lot more with this, it really makes me angry. The next equally annoying thing (Which I guess might not be a bad thing to some) is that it’s too easy. The game tells you exactly where to go and exactly where to go all the time. You don’t have to find anything for yourself, except for the little bonus secrets scattered throughout the game. The AI ranges from being smart enough to being complete bumbling morons who can be staring right at you and not do anything. The CoD-like health system also seems a bit off. Furthermore while the fact that there’s two characters, they really aren’t that different. Aside from having different weapons and you have to do different stuff in the story with that character there really isn’t much that separates the two. Personally I would have loved an option to play as William and destroy my enemies with the power of our lord and savior Jesus Christ. Hopefully the people who make mods are reading this. I would also like to add that the game claims to be open ended, but the open endedness amounts to being able to do a few side quests between missions to get some extra cash to buy shinier guns. If you’re going to jump on that bandwagon at least do it right. Another tiny complaint is that this game is LITTERED with clichés. My favorite one is how whenever one of the characters makes a comment about how quiet it is, AMBUSH. However I’m almost quite sure that this is done on purpose, but it still makes me angry. One on one duels kinda suck and basically amount to a bit of luck and fast clicking. I can’t even imagine how much they suck on consoles. The banter between the two brothers also gets kinda old fast.

I didn’t get a chance to test the multiplayer yet because I am a cheap ass and torrented it. Anyone want to see if we can get a game working on Hamachi?

Overall, it’s a good game. It’s not going to reinvent the FPS genre, but it’s a nice little diversion for six hours of your time. With a few minor improvements it could have been something wonderful, but in the end it ends up being good, but nothing special. I enjoyed it and may buy it if the multiplayer is good enough (Which is why YOU should get your ass on Hamachi and play with me!).

I’m going to give it a 7.5 / 10 for the awesome presentation, refreshing setting, cool characters, and average yet entertaining gameplay.

VitaRain! Because Vitamin Water is so trendy.

Rain is a form of water. A dirtier, more acidic, fall-from-the-sky-and-make-muddy-puddles form of water.

Vitamin Water, the trendy sports drink of those who give a shit about their antioxidants and whatever the hell else, now has a competitor! VitaRain, Kirkland Brands' (known for producing generic versions of everything to ever exist, and then selling them at Costco stores) new drink is like Vitamin Water. A dirtier, more acidic, fall-from-the-sky-and-make-muddy-puddles form of Vitamin Water.

It comes in 4 FUN flavors, like their version of Strawberry-Kiwi, called "ALERT". What that means is, you'll be incredibly ALERT that this stuff tastes awful. It left a nasty aftertaste that was akin to drinking pure sugar-water in terms of consistency. You can almost taste all the acids and "minerals" thrown into this vile vial (LOLWORDPLAY). The label shows no mention of anything that can be called a vitamin, the question of how good they are for you is definitely raised.

One compound in particular, Pantothenic Acid, commonly known as Vitamin B5, is a man made substance known for giving many who consume it nasty diarhea. Well, fuck. That is just nasty.

I feel like I should mention that I drank this stuff nearly 2 hours ago, and the taste is still lingering in my mouth. Several glasses of water, a mouthwash rinse, and a thorough tooth brushing all failed to exorcise this taste-demon.

In conclusion, VitaRain is shit, don't buy it, even if you like Vitamin Water and want to spend the savings on tipping the pool boy or the maid or plastic surgery.

I give VitaRain a...

.5/10

(The .5 is because the bottle is recyclable. Fuck yea, the planet rocks!)

Awesome Albums You Should Probably Listen To: Deadboy & The Elephantmen - We Are Night Sky

Some Guy here with his first Awesome Album You Should Probably Listen to on KBFWWSS! An AAYSPLT on KBFWWSS? That just sounds ridiculous. AAYSPLT on 2BGRM also sounded ridiculous but that didn’t stop me from doing so. I’ve noticed that Alan’s reviews are infinitely better than mine and are considerably lengthier. I don’t know how to feel about this, perhaps I should try to one up him? Nah, I’m going to keep doing what I do, write mediocre reviews of stuff on the internet.

I know Alan is supposed to be in charge of the indie rock stuff but I just couldn’t resist this one. Today we have Deadboy & the Elephantmen’s album We Are Night Sky. How is that for a band name? I actually think it’s kind of lame. And that ampersand? No, you just don’t do that. Ampersands in band names make things more confusing than they should be. Anyways I’m sure you are sick of my mindless rambling and would like to know something about what the band sounds like / is.

Deadboy & the Elephantmen is another project of Dax Riggs, formerly of sludge band Acid Bath and the bluesy Agents of Oblivion (And technically this band because they’re no longer together, now he just does solo stuff.). Dax plays the guitar and sings in that amazing baritone of his, while the incredibly hot Tessie Brunet handles drums and backup vocals. I could probably go on for a long time about how hot she is, but I’m not going to. Instead I’m going to comment about just how great this album is. It’s kinda hard to describe really. Dax’s (Hmmm that looks kind of stupid. How do you make something possessive if it ends with an x? Daxes? Dax’? I’m confused) guitar is tuned waaaaay down compared to that of the average indie rock band, creating a sort of stoner rock sound. Drumming is simple and won’t impress you, but Tessie is just so hot you won’t care. Lyrics are anything but typical for the genre; most of them are somehow related to death. Several tracks are a bit on the heavy side, a nod to Dax’s roots in extreme metal most likely.

Overall it’s just an interesting album / band. As with every other band Dax has been in, they only made two albums. His solo stuff is good but damn, it’s just not as good as this band (Or Agents of Oblivion or Acid Bath for that matter). He really needs to stop this whole “Let’s make an awesome band then only make an album or two!” thing.

You’ll love it. And if not well it’s not like you actually paid for it so just delete it from your hard drive and pretend like it never happened.

Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/?njdjjxjujjt

No password

Some Guy OUT

Wilco (The Band) makes Wilco (The Album).

I'm going to try something a little different here. I'm going to be reviewing Alt-Country / Indie-Rock band Wilco's new album, Wilco (The Album). What's going to be different, is I'm going to talk less about the album as a whole, and focus on three individual songs: "Wilco the Song", "You Never Know", and "I'll Fight".

First up, we have "Wilco the Song", a rock-based tribute to the band. This sounds like the earlier style of Wilco, on albums such as A.M. Rhythmic guitar and steady drums follow front man Jeff Tweedy's chorus of "Wilco, I love you baby". Apart from sounding arrogant to the point of ridiculousness, this guitar driven track seems to exist only to answer the question "What should the first song be?" It's boring, and repetive almost to annoyance; with two guitars, one is just relegated to wailing in the background, one or two chords throughout the entire song. Even the bridge with the church-like bells and dissonant feedback can't save this song from being just slightly above-average. The best word to describe it is simply "ordinary", and that's unfortunate.

"You Never Know" is a decent song that sounds like the first really original work on the album. The vocals are simple, yet distinct, and the track is led with a strong, but not overpowering piano part. I really wish they skipped the chorus, though. Tweedy's poor execution on the held notes just highlights how little is really going on in the song. Some parts feel like they just don't belong, like the whacky synth overlay about three minutes into the song. It's not a bad effort, and it has some strong points, but as a listener, I spend the entire chorus waiting for it to be over.

Finally, "I'll Fight" is a song that I feel belongs next to some of Wilco's most praised work. A predominately vocally driven track, "I'll Fight" features some really interesting synth organ bits in the back ground instead of a normal rhythm guitar. I really like that, as it goes really well with the sort of ethereal violin bits that are scattered throughout the track. In a way, this song feels like the spiritual successsor to "Jesus, Etc.", a track off of Wilco's critically acclaimed 2004 album, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot". The vocals sort of float back and forth between a states of certainty, ("I'll Kill, I'll Kill, I'll Kill, I'll Kill for you, I will") and uncertainty ("I'll die alone on some forgotten hill / abandoned by the mill"). It really is a song that highlights what Wilco is really good at, which is taking country elements, and mixing them with traditional indie rock style.

So, on the whole... yeah, it's not a bad album. It's certainly not a great album, either. It has songs that could one day appear on a "Wilco: Best Of" record, and songs that we'd all like to forget, including Jeff Tweedy and his band of Guitar toting Merry Men. It's worth picking up, if nothing else, just to have.

I'll give Wilco (The Album) a:

6.8/10

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?umj2izvmynm
No password

Firefox 3.5

Some Guy here with my first review of something that isn’t music. In fact, I’ve got something so different than music it will shock you. OK it probably won’t shock you but here it is. Actually who am I to say that it won’t shock you? It just might, I don’t understand how your brain works. Anyways enough stupid crap here we go.

Firefox has been my favorite internet browser since I started using it 3 years ago. The addons, it doesn’t crash every 30 seconds and it allows me to feel all cool and hip because I’m not using Internet Explorer. What’s not to love? Firefox 3.5 adds a few interesting new features to the browser you adore. While many of the changes don’t really benefit the common internet browser, I’m certain you don’t care about complicated HTML changes and whatnot. However there are a few things I’m sure you’ll love about this.

Pages heavy in Javascript will load noticeably faster. I’ve even noticed several flash games running a bit nicer as well. A few memory leak problems have been fixed. Furthermore there is support for

Tennis Announcers: Why They Suck

Leading off, I know this is a soccer commentator. I'm okay with this, because tennis announcers suck so much, they don't even have pictures of them on the internet.

Alright, so I am watching the Wimbledon final, being all patriotic and shit (Go American! Death to the Foreign Born!), and these two idiots calling the match are just ridiculous. They spend less time talking about the actual match than they do observing on other things.

What sort of other things? Fans, the weather, notable people in the crowd, the quality of the grass, the FRENCH, and Andy Roddick's perspiration problem. I kid you not, at one point, WHILE PLAY WAS GOING ON, the announcers did an impersonation of HENRY FUCKING KISSINGER, (notable U.S. politician and war criminal).



So, when they finally got down to talking about the match, we heard such gems as "Hushed, quiet silence." as the crowd erupted in applause, or "It doesn't feel good, falling down like that" when Roddick took a tumble. They also made references to "the rope-a-dope" (wrong sport), clay courts not being Roddick's forté, (wrong tournament), and, the movie Top Gun.

What Tom Cruise has to do with Tennis, I have no idea. The whole thing is rather ridiculous. I suggest muting it and doing the commentary yourself.

I give Tennis Commentators a:
3/10

Astronautalis -- The Mighty Ocean & Nine Dark Theaters

Alright, first off, let me start by saying that I like music too. A lot of it is not the same music that Some Guy likes. Metal? Prog-Rock? Go to Some Guy. Indie Rock? Hip Hop? Folk, Punk, or Folk-Punk? I might just be your man.

Keeping that in mind, I bring you a very unique album today. Astronautalis, the stage name of Andy Bothwell out of Seattle, Washington, released "The Mighty Ocean & Nine Dark Theaters", in 2006. As a second album, "The Mighty Ocean" is a very mature effort from the aspiring hip-hop lyricist. It features, most notably, deep lyrics, and great orchestration. Pieces on the violin, harmonica, piano, even xylophones give more than enough depth to the tracks to make them worthwhile as purely instrumental tracks.

Which brings me to my favorite part of this album: the lyrics. Astronautalis is a brilliant lyricist, and I don't use that word lightly. While the tracks meander from orchestral indie-rock to beat-driven hip-hop, Astronautalis effortlessly piles lyric on top of lyric. It ties the entire album together perfectly, and is above and beyond what you'd expect from any established hip-hop artist.

So, yes, I know this album is nearing 3 years of age, but the fact that it is not platinum by now is reason enough for me to plug it here

Enjoy!

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?zxymtmkmgty

Birds!

First, some housekeeping stuff. Since Some Guy imported a bunch of his old reviews, the dates show them posted a little bit before this blog actually started. So there that is.

Alright! Birds!

I was skeptical, at first. Living in the mid-Atlantic region, the birds I was most familiar with were Canadian Geese, Crows, and Pigeons. If you have heard or seen any of these birds, you can understand my apprehension when I received not one, but TWO birds for Christmas a few years ago.

Now, I am a shitty pet owner. I am sometimes neglectful, and I play music too loud, and I do not like poo on my personal effects. I also enjoy sleeping all the way through the night, without being woken up. All of this changes when you get a bird.

Here is a video to help you comprehend what happens constantly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFnpUrDXVLo&feature=related

Despite their loud, incessant squawking, I was really sad when one of my birds died.

So, about a year and a half into my bird-owning experiment, I was left with:

• Headaches
• Lack of Sleep
• Guilt
• A mess

Now, despite the all the bad things, I've had several people tell me they thought my bird was "cute" or "okay". These are the kinds of compliments that can take your relationship with your significant other to the next level, if you happen to be allergic to dogs and cats.

So, taking into account the annoyance of birds as pets, the grossness of city-birds, and the portrayal of Vultures as Disney Villains, I will give birds a...

5.5/10

Blog can be spelled with any vowell. Bleg. Blag. Blug. Blig.

Blogs are a place to learn about stuff that, until finding the blog post, you didn't care about. Well, we're here to make sure there is plenty of stuff that you care about.

First off, the "We".

I am Alan, I like things like music, movies, books, games, and whatnot. I will tell you about these things in EXCRUCIATING detail. My partner in crime is Some Guy. That's not me being vague, that's what he likes the internet to know him as. He's a neat guy, and very knowledgeable, especially about music ! He's coming to you from his old blog, Two Bored Guys Reviewing Music.

So, what is it that we do? We review stuff. And stuff is about as specific as we can get. Literally, if it exists, it is fair game for reviewing. Even things that don't exist tangibly, we'll review it. I give The Human Condition an 8/10.

Where does that leave you, the devoted reader? Well, for starters, learning about stuff you didn't really plan on knowing. Who knows, if we like it, maybe you'll like it. Secondly, (and I hate numerical adverbs), you'll be getting a lot of free stuff. We'll do our best to provide whatever we can of the product we're reviewing. If it's an album, expect to have a direct download link in the post. It's not a promise that we can provide you a full product, or it would be impossible to review things like cars, computers, or Johnny Depp's smile. We are not Opera, folks.

Well, this is pretty much the basic information concerning our blog.

Your Grandma loves us.
-Alan