meandthestereo

TV Show: Glee
Network: Fox
When: Wednesdays 9/8c
Favorite Tunes: “Don’t Stop Believing”
Rating: 4/5

I have never understood why musicals are so divisive.  Approximately fifty percent of the population hates musicals.  At least, that’s what I’m guessing with no evidence whatsoever.  It makes no sense for so many people to be anti-musicals.  A lot of people like movies, and a lot of people like music.  Both put together should have a sizable built-in audience, but its only been recently that musicals have been successful anywhere outside Broadway. Me, though, I have enjoyed musicals for a while now, but especially recently thanks to some of the smarter musical comedies that have been released.  Those that are successful, because they don’t take themselves too seriously.

This is precisely why Glee is successful.  It doesn’t take itself seriously as a musical or as another television show about pretty adults pretending to be teenagers.  The plot is actually pretty similar to the dreadful High School Musical (or so I hear).  A group of misfits who just want to sing make singing seem so fun that eventually non-misfits want to join in too.  But while a regular musical might put more emphasis on making the musical numbers seem as artificially spectacular as possible, Glee takes popular songs and shows the characters enjoying performing these songs.  I mean we can all relate to singing Journey in a moment of happiness right?  Anyone? Read the rest of this entry →

Artist: Karen O and the Kids
Album: Where the Wild Things Are Soundtrack
Label: DGC/Interscope
Release Date: September 29, 2009
Decision: 5/5
Favorite Tunes: Hideaway, Igloo, All is Love

1. The Background

Karen O has been noted for her sense of fashion and her outrageous antics during live performances.

She has composed the music for this soundtrack and co-produced it with Tom Biller of the Afternoons. “The Kids” include her Yeah Yeah Yeahs band mates Brian Chase and Nick Zinner, along with Tristan Bechet, Bradford Cox(Deerhunter), Dean Fertita, Aaron Hemphill (Liars), Greg Kurstin (The Bird and the Bee), Jack Lawrence, Oscar Michel (Gris Gris), and Imaad Wasif. An untrained choir of children was brought in to provide extra essence to the songs and soundscapes. These are a sprawling group of indie-rock all-stars. Read the rest of this entry →

Artist: Jay-Z
Album: The Blueprint 3
Label: Roc Nation
Release Date: September 08, 2009
Decision: 4/5
Favorite Tunes: “Empire State of Mind”, “So Ambitious”, “Thank You”

1. The Background

If you like a little bit of R&B, Rock and Hip-Hop you will love the Blue Print 3. Jay-Z has proven himself time and time again. Retired or not, he is truly at the top of his game. The Blue Print 3 was released on September 11, 2009, exactly 11 years after the first Blue Print Album. Jay-Z has evolved as a lyricist and emcee, because he no longer raps about being in the fast life. His latest songs are authentic as possible and explain about the life he is living now.  He is an entrepreneur, has a clothing line, is the president of Def Jam, Co-Owner of the New Jersey Nets, heavily involved in the community and lives a pretty demanding life. Read the rest of this entry →

Video Game: The Beatles: Rock Band
Publisher: MTV Games / Electronic Arts
Developer: Harmonix
Systems: PS3, Wii, XBox360
Release Date: September 9, 2009
Decision: 4/5 All in All

1. Background:

Since the release of the game Rock Band, it has seemed like the Holy Grail of music games were the Beatles.  When Rock Band came out it allowed for four players to play at the same time and there were four people in The Beatles.  Also, the same year Rock Band came out Guitar Hero released its first band specific game in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.  But getting the Beatles to even allow their songs to be played in a game seemed like a pipe dream, let alone allow a full game to be made.

The aforementioned Aerosmith game was not exactly a quality product, and the Beatles, who have always been shy to release their music online, did not seem receptive to the idea.  At the time it seemed far more likely that they would join the growing chorus of detractors of the music game genre.  Apparently, though, it was Metallica that convinced the Apple Group, the name of the group of holders to Beatles music rights, that a quality representation of the Beatles’ work could be produced.  Specifically it was the guys at Harmonix playing a Metallica song on an early version of Guitar Hero that did it.

So after so long the game was finally released.  And its easy to see the care that was put into it. Read the rest of this entry →

Artist: Queensryche
Album: American Soldier
Label: Atco Records/Rhino Entertainment
Release Date: March 31, 2009
Decision: 4/5 – Must have for Queensryche fans
Favorite Tunes: “If I Were King”, “Sliver”, “At 30,000 Ft”, “Man Down!”

1. The Background

This is the tenth studio album from Queensryche; technically the twelfth if you include Operation: Mindcrime II and Take Cover. The album centers around the trials, stresses, general torment and complicated decisions that a combat soldier is faced with on a daily basis. Geoff Tate, the singer and songwriter for Queensryche, wanted to musically chronicle the war and expose the feelings of guilt, hate and loss of innocence these men and women experience, from the time they enlist in the forces, through the nightmare of fighting and killing, enduring, until they return home to their family and friends. The war seems even more chilling (and meaningless) from these soldiers’ perspectives. Read the rest of this entry →

Artist: Radiohead
Album: Kid A (Collector’s Edition)
Label : Capitol
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Decision: 5/5 Amazing
Favorite Tunes: All of them.

1. Background:

It’s been a big year for reissues.  Along with the Beatles’ reissues last week, Radiohead has been staggering reissues of their entire discography all year.  These special edition reissues have been double-sized affairs with the remastered original album and extra discs with live performance, b-sides, and a DVD with video performances.

When it comes to film, I’m not a fan of collector’s edition DVDs with extra material that wasn’t included with the first release so that fans have to buy their favorite movies twice.  But when it comes to music, it actually makes sense.  Remastering technology helps give listeners a new appreciation of the music they thought they were familiar with.  And the extra material wasn’t really available when the albums were released since performances and music videos don’t often happen before an album is released.  Still, I was skeptical about the Kid A collector’s edition CDs. Read the rest of this entry →

For this album review, meandthestereo did something a little different (like we did with the Street Sweeper Social Club review) and handed off the album to two of our columnists. Check out Neto’s (from Texas) and meandthestereo’s (from DC) differing takes on this album!

Artist: Green Day
Album: 21st Century Breakdown
Label: Reprise
Release Date: May 15th, 2009
Decision: 1/5 OMG…This album sucks!
Favorite Tunes: “Viva La Gloria”

1. The Background

Neto says,

For a long time Green Day was one of my favorite bands. Way back before I was really into music, my fellow sixth graders and I would hang out in an empty classroom in the minutes before school started. One day someone took Green Day’s Dookie (on tape!) to school and we played it on a boom box that our teacher had in the classroom. The experience was revelatory. I took the tape home and listened to it all day. After that, as my interest in music grew and grew, I kept listening to Green Day. In middle school it was Dookie and Insomniac. In high school it was Nimrod and Warning. And then there was college. When I was starting out college International Superhits but they were mostly silent for a long time as far as studio albums went. Then in 2003 they released American Idiot. I think American Idiot is their best album since Dookie and it is a hard act to follow. This is made evident by their new album 21st Century Breakdown.

Joey says,

I grew up with a lot of Green Day playing in the background. “Basket Case” was one of the coolest music videos I thought I had ever seen when I was in middle school. I listened to Insomniac and Nimrod constantly through middle and high school, and I still listen to these albums from time to time on my MP3 player. I never listened to Warning or American Idiot, but Green Day had already earned a spot in my ‘Top Bands’ list. With this album, they apparently attempted another rock opera. It’s not what I’m used to hearing from Green Day, and it’s now what I’d like to hear from Green Day, but I was definitely excited to listen to this album. Read the rest of this entry →

Artist: Chickenfoot
Album: Chickenfoot
Label: Redline Entertainment
Release Date: June 5, 2009
Decision: 4/5 – Good Rock!
Favorite Tunes: “Soap on a Rope”, “My Kinda Girl”, “Oh Yeah”

1. The Background

This is the first album from the “super group” Chickenfoot. The group has been dubbed a super group because all four members have been successful either on their own, or with another group that has garnered accolades from the music industry and fans. Joe Satriani, the guitar virtuoso, fits into the former category and Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony and Chad Smith are recognizable names from former mega-bands. At first listen, this album is pretty much what you would expect from a talent-laden foursome like C-Foot. There is a lot of screaming from Hagar and a ton of kick-ass guitar playing from Satriani. Chad Smith provides a very solid back beat and Michael Anthony provides the same unexciting and completely non-innovative bass playing for which he is famous. Read the rest of this entry →

Artist: We Were Promised Jetpacks
Album: These Four Walls
Label: Fat Cat Records
Release Date: June 15, 2009
Decision: 3/5 Promising If Uneven Debut
Influences I Notice:  U2, Explosions in the Sky,
Favorite Tunes: “Quiet Little Voices”, “Moving Clocks Run Slow”

1.  The Album

We Were Promised Jetpacks is a band from Edinburgh, Scotland.  These Four Walls is their debut album and it is quite impressive.  Like most indie label debuts it has a very simple production but it is hidden by a very complex sound from the band.

From the very first track, “It’s Thunder and Lightning”, you can hear the repetitive beats of post-rock bands like Explosions in the Sky. Combine this with vocal stylings that remind me of Bono from U2 and you have a promising debut from a young band. Read the rest of this entry →

“I’ll tell you again for the last time. The music is not important. It’s the desire for success that counts.”

Author: Gipi
Title: Garage Band
Publisher: :01 First Second
Medium: Graphic Novel
Decision: 4/5 Short, but great, read

1. About the Author

Gipi’s full name is Gianni Pacinotti. He’s an Italian cartoonist, and though he’s been producing work for quite a while, this is the first graphic novel of his that I’ve come across. In 2006, he won an Eisner award for a series called The Innocents! That will probably be the next piece of work by Gipi that I pick up. Read the rest of this entry →