http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Thu, 1 Jul 2004 13:02:59 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/07/01/130259.php Byron SchallerAs posted on In The Congo:20 year old Melua's debut, "Call Off The Search", brings the listener back to a time of smoky blues clubs when Ella, Billie, Nina and Edith were queens. Her sultry blues voice backed by expert musicians unfortunately sounds better than it is. While attending London's B.R.I.T. School of Performing Arts she was tapped by producer Mike Batt to be the voice in front of his latest project. To call this album Melua's is misleading. While she does play guitar on a couple of songs and even penned two of them, for most of the album she is just a session player. This is a shame because Melua has a great voice and her two songs are probably the best cuts on the album. Most of the songs are written by Batt and are lyrically substandard. This is made very clear on tracks like "My Aphrodisiac Is You", "Mockingbird Song", and "Tiger in the Night", the latter of the three coming off as a rip off of Blake's famous poem. Had it not been for the lyrics this album would have been much better.The biggest crime is that Katie has been and will continue to be compared to Norah Jones. There is no comparison. Jones's honky-tonk influence gives her a style all her own. Melua's great blues voice is merely her singing in a style she has been trained in. A truly great blues voice comes from passion. Melua is clearly missing this. Jones has it nailed. It is sad that Melua has to be a pretty face and good voice for a producer's poorly written songs. She does show real promise on her own. If she can claim her own creative license then a follow up could be quite good. Unfortunately for now she is doomed to be forgotten quickly after brief air play on Adult Contemporary radio. Music17011@blogcritics.org Thu, 1 Jul 2004 13:02:59 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/06/23/114314.php Byron SchallerLast night I had the pleasure of returning to a time long since forgotten. In support of their new DVD "Killing a Camera" released by Bifocal Media, indie rock legend Braid has reunited and is touring the Midwest and East Coast. Last night they made an appearance at Indianapolis's Emerson Theater. They also brought Mock Orange, Murder By Death, and Minus the Bear with them.To fully understand this show you must first understand the venue. The Emerson is located on 10th and Bozart on the North East side of Indianapolis. Not the best neighborhood. Back in its day it was a one room old style theater. Since then it has been gutted (not remodeled, gutted) and a stage, PA system, and a concession stand have been installed. The theater holds 400 people and is a death trap. It hosts numerous local hardcore and metal shows and on occasion a great show will make its way there. This is as close to CBGB's as Indiana will ever come.Arriving early we Brie and I got a good place in line at 5:30, door open at 7:30. The four hundred tickets go fast. We got inside around 8:00 and get ready for the first and Mock Orange. They came out and played a short but good set. They have the usual four-skinny-white-kids emo sound, but they do it well. They played a couple of older tracks that some of the crowd knew and then the played a track off of their new disc, "Mind Is Not Brain" (Silverthree Records 2004) that was rather good. After Mock Orange was Murder by Death, the only one of the four band that I had not heard before. During their setup they brought a Kurzweil keyboard and a cello onstage. This looked promising. I am big fan of both and think they add a great sound. However, my expectations were promptly dashed as soon as the band hit the stage. They were awful. They tried real hard to be the Indie Rock Rob Zombie. I hate Zombie and these guys made the list quick style. My first clue should have been when the singer said "This is a song about Zombies..." My only question is why the fuck were these guys playing at this show? They did not belong. The suffering through Murder by Death was paid off when Minus the Bear hit the stage. The Seattle quintet did an even better job that I expected. I was recently turned on to their "Highly Refined Pirates" (Suicide Squeeze 2002) LP and was please to hear the songs are even better live. Their energy lit up the stage as bassist Cory Murchy and guitarist Dave Knudson ran and flailed all over the stage while front man Jake Snider was fairly calm and collected. They also played my two favorite songs "Get Me Naked 2: Electric Bugaloo" and "Thanks For the Killer Game of CriscoŽ Twister". Being a four band bill their set was too short but great. I look forward to seeing these guys again.After my spirits were lifted by Minus the Bear, Braid came on. Last touring in 1999, these Champagne Urbana legends still have it. Singers Bob Nanna and Chris Broach rocked hard while Bassist Todd Bell and Drummer Damon Atkinson kept a low profile. Playing a much longer set than the other bands and a two song encore was much more fulfilling. Unfortunately this will be the last time I can see Braid but Bob, Damon, and Todd are still playing as Hey, Mercedes. It is nice to see a reunion tour where the band sounds as good as they did in their hay day. The tour ends soon, but if you get a chance it is highly recommended. Byron Schaller reviews Midwestern concerts and writes commentary on pop culture and the media. More of his work can be found at his site In The Congo. Music16762@blogcritics.org Wed, 23 Jun 2004 11:43:14 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/06/21/140947.php Byron SchallerTucson, AZ's eclectic duet Calexico hit the stage on Friday night with a fury. Joined by a four other musicians they played to a fairly full house. Most of the crowd was the crowd was there on buzz alone. They were not disappointed. Joey Burns and John Convertino opened the set with an acoustic rendition of "Convict Pool" off of their latest EP "Alone Again Or". ("Alone Again Or" was originally written and recorded by Love.) After the finished their jazzed up first tune they were joined by the rest of the road band, they played trumpet, bass, pedal steel, and vibes/keys. This brought a whole new sound to the mix. The sound was like nothing I had ever heard. A swirling mix of jazz and country-rock set like a spaghetti western score was definitely unique. Everything that Burns and Co. did was new and fresh. Bringing together many scenes and styles they are blurring the lines between jam and indie rock. Equally appealing to both they are a definite crowd pleaser. In fact you have to pretty much not like music not to get into them at least a little bit.The set mix was very good. Calexico played new, old songs, a couple of cover teases, and a cool improvised tribute to Bloomington, where, according to Joey Burns, the true hustlers are. By the time of the two song encore those who were not already believers were converted. Burns stuck around after the set and spoke with people by the merchandise table, proving him to be an all around a nice guy. Calexico put on a great set in a great venue. Proving not only that Bloomington is coming into it's own as a stop for national acts but there is an active scene that is hungry for new music and willing to experiment. This time the experiment paid off big. I know I am not the only one who is eagerly their next stop in Indiana. Byron Schaller is a freelance writer who covers Midwest concert events, films, and books. You can find him on his blog In The Congo Music16702@blogcritics.org Mon, 21 Jun 2004 14:09:47 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/06/17/111017.php Byron Schaller"Saved!" is a delightful satire of teenage born again Christians from first time writer/director Brian Dannelly. "Saved!" is about the students at Amercian Eagle Christian School and their fanatical devotion to Jesus. Hillary Faye (Mandy Moore) and Mary (Jena Malone) are two of Christian Jewels, the shining embodiment of Christ's love to the rest of the student body. All is going well until the summer before their senior year. Mary discovers that her boyfriend Dean (Chad Faust) is gay and then promptly has a vision from Jesus that it is up to her to save him. She thinks the only way to do this is to have sex and Jesus will for give her because she is doing his will. This is where things take a turn for the worse. Dean's parents find out about his homosexuality and send him to Mercy House for "degayification" right before school starts. Mary has to go on and deal with her inability to save him. During the first day of school the audience is introduced to the man behind American Eagle, Pastor Skip. Pastor Skip is the principal of the school and Jesus' right hand man. He is hip and cool and says things like "Let's get out Christ on" and "Are you down with G-O-D!?!" The same day the last three members of the ensemble are introduced. Roland (Macaulay Culkin), is Hillary Faye's wheelchair bound brother who is sarcastically not Christian. Hillary wheels him around like her own personal merit badge for Christ's love and Roland can't stand it. Roland meets the "bad girl" Cassandra (Eva Amurri) and after a little verbal sparing they become friends. Cassandra is the only "Jewish" in the school which leads to Hillary constant need to save her, even though they are the high school equivalent of mortal enemies. The final addition to the cast is Pastor Skip's son Patrick (Patrick Fugit). Patrick is the skateboarding, hard-rocking, Christian type. He wears shirts that show God's sign as metal horns. This almost makes him immediately unlikable but he plays it well.At the beginning of Act two Mary discovers she is pregnant with Dean's child and has a fight with Jesus. This lands her on the outs with Hillary and the Jewels and she befriends the outcasts Roland and Cassandra. This leads to the real meat of the story. The story becomes one of discovery and redemption. Not just for Mary but for most of the characters. Patrick, who seems to embody the truest sense of "Christian love", leads even the most devout of the bunch to learn true compassion and caring. Although the end becomes a little preachy but the message for the most part is good. The film does a good job of showing the difference between real love and compassion and the fake "love of Christ" that most of the characters show.Between the satire, wit, and drama "Saved!" does a remarkable job of keeping everything balanced and entertaining. The ensemble cast is great and so is the dialog. It is well thought out and highlighted by often satirical, but not entirely, Christian rock. This is a film for everyone, from not believers to the most devout. It is just a shame it will be over shadowed by a religious movie of much lesser quality from earlier in the year. This proves once again that first timers can beat out veterans when the story is right.Byron Schaller can be found daily at In The Congo. Video16593@blogcritics.org Thu, 17 Jun 2004 11:10:17 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/06/14/164524.php Byron SchallerLast weekend my roommate bought "Eurotrip". When it first came out in theaters all I heard was horrible reviews about how it was a third rate rip-off and not worth the hour and half of your life that it will steal. Needless to say I was not moved to see it. After the unrated DVD came out last Tuesday I heard some good things about it. My brothers and a couple friends said it was outlandishly funny and definitely worth watching. So Sunday afternoon I am left with nothing to do so I threw it in. I was very pleasantly surprised. The movie is about Scotty (Scott Mechlowicz) traveling to London and then across Europe with his friends Cooper (Jacob Pitts) , Jenny (Michelle Trachtenberg), and Jamie (Travis Wester) in search of his pen-pal Mieke (Jessica Bohrs), who we has decided is now the love of his life. This all happens when Scotty is dumped by his cheating sex kitten girlfriend Fiona (Kristen Kruek). Needless to say the plot is a best a little thin.What "Eurotrip" lacks in plot and seasoned acting it makes up for in the volume of comedy and nudity. The formula is easy, when the plot lags throw in some nudity or physical humor to replace genuine story. The scary thing, it works. The movie is very entertaining. Women may think this is a "guy" movie with all the gratuitous nudity but I assure you it goes both ways. All of the "stars" remained clothed but you can be assured if you see a cute actress you don't know, she is getting naked. For comedy, nothing beats robot fighting and English soccer hooligans. This movie is very funny. I was constantly laughing and found myself not caring about the lack of plot and substance. This is defiantly not a cerebral film but if you're not looking for that, this is your movie. Without a doubt, this is one of the most under-rated films of the year. Byron Schaller can be found at In The Congo Dot Com. Video16520@blogcritics.org Mon, 14 Jun 2004 16:45:24 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/24/102812.php Byron SchallerLast Friday night I had the pleasure of seeing Sea Ray, Metric, and The Stills at Bridy's on Indianapolis' north side. After a "sell-out" scare from Ticket Bastard we were relieved when we went early and found out that there were plenty of tickets at the door. I find this happens often at Indie shows. You have to get their early if you want a ticket. D.I.Y. apparently stands for tickets as well. No problem, all the better in my opinion. This one show I am very glad I got to see. It is a rare thing when you can get three high quality bands to perform on the same night at a small venue. The evening started off with Sea Ray, a six piece outfit from Brooklyn, NY. Sea Ray uses lush soundscapes and driving beats to fuel their music. With 2 guitars, bass, keys, drums, and a cello, it's not that hard. In fact the cello adds a flavor to the mix that helps define their sound. In a day in age when most of the Indie scene is on the lo-fi garage minimalist bandwagon, it is nice to see something fresh like this. The track "Quiver" off of their new album Stars at Noon was exceptionally good. I have not heard the disc yet, but after seeing them live, it is next on my list to pick up. Sea Ray provided a great start to a great evening.The next band to hit the stage was Metric. A Brooklyn based band hailing from Canada, Metric has earned a place in many Indie lover's hearts recently with the LP Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?. Playing a high energy, great sounding set, they rocked the entire audience. Clad in an all black mini-dress/ underwear combo, Emily Haines has a stage presence that can rival even the likes of Chrissie Hynde. With her anthemic singing and robotic dance moves she becomes the show. Not to discredit the rest of the band. The tightness of the sound goes along way to make Emily's antics an addition not a distraction. Songs like "I.O.U" and "Combat Baby" topped the night, but their entire set was stellar. Stepping up the energy from Sea Ray, they paved the way for headlines The Stills.Sea Ray and Metric were both tough acts to follow, but The Stills managed without a problem. Another Canadian band, The Stills are on tour to support their stellar LP "Logic Will Break Your Heart". When I first heard the title I was kind of weary because of the title similarity to Wilco's "I Am Trying to Beak Your Heart", but I quickly got over that. The Stills put on a great show in support of their even-better music. More low-key in stage presence department than Metric then still keep you entertained. The light show through the entire concert was very cool. I consisted of a projector showing clips and animations over the band and backdrop while minimal stage lighting was used, a very cool effect. When the music ended and the lights came up I was sad to see it end. This was one of the best concerts I have seen in a while. Three solid bands together equal one great show. Highly Recommended. Byron Schaller maintains his own blog In The Congo as well as contributing to Blog Critics and Delicious Media. He lives in Indianapolis, Indiana and tries to keep tabs on the Midwest concert scene. Music15924@blogcritics.org Mon, 24 May 2004 10:28:12 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/20/131417.php Byron SchallerAs some of you know, I have decided to read all of the Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century collection. This includes Toni Morrison's Beloved. I was supposed to read it for my high school junior English class. I never read any books for school, so this one got skipped over as well. Because of my old teacher Jill Lyday's and Oprah's great love of the book I decided it was not for me and wrote it off. This posed a problem with my goal so I decided to suck it up and read the book. Toni Morrison does tell a good story. The graphic nature of the book lends itself self well to her descriptive ability. The only thing I disliked about it was how Morrison used strange phrase adjectives like "the crawling already? baby". Sure it gets the point across, but it seemed rather awkward. The lack of chapter numbers and the fact that the story is not linear at all makes some parts a little difficult to understand, but the more you read, the more things fall together. I enjoyed the characters of Paul D, Sixo, and Stamp Paid. I may have been biased against the character of Sethe because of Oprah's decision to play her in her self financed movie adaptation. I could not get the image of Oprah out of my hand so my impression of Sethe may have suffered for it. Denver seemed weak at first but by the end you can see she has a very nice arc. I must admit I did not really want to like this book, but I was willing to give it a chance. Morrison gets he story across in a manner that is not too heavy handed. All in all it is an enjoyable read. I wish she would have given more back story and not just replayed the same events over and over, but that's just me. Morrison is an important author, but I don't know if this is her best work. Byron Schaller resided at In The Congo dot com. Books14927@blogcritics.org Tue, 20 Apr 2004 13:14:17 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/20/123406.php Byron SchallerFor those of you who don't live in the racing capitol of the world, Indianapolis is severely lacking in dance halls and clubs. Aside from some downtown hip hop clubs about the only true "club" you will find is The Vogue. Every weekend they have dance nights where local djs play a mix of hip hop and electronica on CDs and normally they don't even bother to mix them. I mean how well does Nelly's "Air Force One" mix into Darude's "Sandstorm"? They also have live concerts during the week with everyone from The Roots to Hank Williams III. Last night they played host to The Crystal Method.For Indianapolis this was a big deal for electronica fans. The place was packed on a Monday night and the crowd loved it. Everyone from die hard club kids to the cement-haired frat boys were dancing and going nuts. It took me a while to understand because the music was not particularly good. I blame it on the fact that I am spoiled. After going to warehouse parties for 8 years and seeing big names like Sven Vath, Surgeon, Ritchie Hawten, and Squarpusher in Chicago, this seemed a little watered down. The BPM rarely passed a steady 120 and the set was more samples and loops than actual live PA work. DJ Hyper who opened played a very danceable trance set that would have been really quite good if he did not introduce every other song. Maybe I require a little more out of my electronica. The steady big beat fare of CM, Fat Boy Slim, and the Chemical Brothers just are not enough for me anymore. I need something a little faster, a little darker, and with a lot more edge. Why then was everyone else having such a great time? The answer in a word is Indianapolis. Being a straight laced conservative town people have to seek out the harder, darker, underground grooves. Some people at the show were experienced in the ways of electronica, but most thought that this was what it was all about. I blame movies. With the death of the warehouse scene Indianapolis has lost a lot of electronica outlets it once had. In Chicago they all moved to the clubs and still bring good DJs and artists. Maybe one day Indy will have that too. Yesterday was not that day.Byron Schaller resides at In The Congo dot com. Music14924@blogcritics.org Tue, 20 Apr 2004 12:34:06 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/19/173759.php Byron SchallerIn the past two weeks alone I have seen 8 concerts. Not to mention the number I have seen already this year. This is by far the best I have seen this year. I picked up Forget Cassette's debut album "Instruments of Action" a couple of months ago and I was very impressed. I saw on their website that they were going to be in Dayton so Brie and I packed up and made the road trip to check them out live. It was worth more than the five hours of drive time. They played the night before in Cincinnati and most of the people who were at that show came up to Dayton as well. Beth and Doni make up the duo that is Forget Cassettes. Beth plays guitar (a Gibson SG Bully) and sings wile Doni plays his retro Ludwig drums, Fender Rhodes, and Boss sampler. And yes, he plays them all at once. Being a "boy/girl" duo they suffer a lot of White Stripes comparisons. I have seen them both and this is what I know: The White Stripes is a guy with a gimmick; Forget Cassettes is the real deal. Both Doni and Beth play with an energy and passion that is rarely seen in other bands. Sometimes it is hard to believe that this little 90 pound girl can make so much sound, but can she ever. The venue was packed and the fans were loyal and amorous. The constant shouts of "I love you" to Beth and Doni reminded me of a Tori Amos concert. Unfortunately Forget Cassettes has no national distribution either for their CDs or radio play. Yet their fan base is rapidly growing. I can easily say that as soon as word spreads they will be the next big thing. Although, this means that Beth may have to quit her day job as a social worker. I strongly urge everyone to pick up their CD and check this band out. It has been a while since I have heard something so new that was this good. It is nothing short of amazing. Byron Schaller resides at In The Congo dot com. Come to the site to see pictures of the concert. Music14890@blogcritics.org Mon, 19 Apr 2004 17:37:59 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/04/15/164516.php Byron SchallerAndy Breeding is, like me, a music lover first and a writer second. This shows through out his writing in a very good way. One of the great things that e-book has to offer is that it is designed with serious music discovery in mind. Not only does Mr. Breeding cover a broad array of methods of listening from online terrestrial based radio to on demand and near on demand listening, he also reviews many of these services. LAUNCHCast, Rhapsody, iTunes, the new Napster and many others are all reviewed with the pros and cons of each given in a very objective manner. Mr. Breeding also devotes an entire section of the book to music information and how to find it on the Internet. From using the awesome power of sites like AllMusic.com to using charts and best-of lists to search out new music and find more information on music that is already a favorite. He also takes this a step further and explains how to discover more information about whole genres and subgenres. This is very helpful in not only finding new music but also expanding you music knowledge in general. If you ever plan on being a contestant on Rock N' Roll Jeopardy make sure to check this out. Lastly Mr. Breeding does not leave you to cruise the information superhighway alone. He includes seven "Music Discovery Plans" The plans each highlight one service that he has covered and gives you a seven day plan of how to use this service to its fullest. This is a great way to help get people who love music but are not that technically savvy into these great resources. Even if you are an Internet Pro this structured approach could still be very helpful.In conclusion, Mr. Breeding has compiled an authoritative guide to helping people of all skill levels use the Internet to expand their musical horizons. This in itself is a great service. It is also full of personal examples, wit, and informative asides. If you have a desire to find new music and don't know where to start or if you would like to see what kind of services are out there on the net, this book is for you. You can find it at Giant PathByron Schaller resides at In The Congo. Books14766@blogcritics.org Thu, 15 Apr 2004 16:45:16 EDT