When collisions collide.

I don't have much to say. So I won't say anything at all.
Sombre is a good descriptive word for me at the moment, I'm just going with the flow. Plodding along through each day like an old mule. Mules are funny. Funny funny animals.

I didn't think it was possible to get any more chilled, but here we are. 

Some say goodbye, some say hello, some say nothing at all. 

No ones the bad guy.. oh, except for Stanley Tucci's character in The Lovely Bones. Yeah, he's most definitely a bad guy. Real bad. The baddest.

If your voice doesn't crack, you're not trying hard enough.

Productive.

Sweden.

I'll give you as many chances as you want
...but hurry the fuck up.
It's funny how a couple of weeks can change everything for you sometimes, just that one reveling moment in time where everything just makes that extra bit more sense. You've seen it all before in the movies, the protagonists valiant rise to the top, he puts in the hard yards and gets there. Where ever 'there' might be, they get it. I want 'it' too. Something epic is about to go down. 

Pelle Almqvist has everyone under his thumb. When he's up there, you're watching. Nicholaus Arson gets pretty energetic on the guitar too. The Hives  didn't make my Top 5, but they were damn close.

I hate water.. especially wet water.

I thought I felt your touch, but the water is rising up.
Is it wrong to give a thirsty person water?

No? Well what if that person was supposed to get water from someone else, this guy was supposed to be the 'sole provider' of this persons water, but they were still thirsty so you gave them the water. Wrong?

I mean, if this guy was thousands upon thousands of miles away and you gave a thirsty lass water, perhaps for a 3 month period, whilst she wasn't getting any water at all, is it really that wrong?

No, because everyone needs water whether they like it or not. Those who go without are craving it regardless. Consider me doing everyone a favour by quenching thirsts.

The first time I heard this song, I cried.

Sadface.

Battle of the Bands #4 - The Strokes

Well I don't feel better, when I'm fucking around.
It's always been beyond me why when people make lists it's always a 'Top 5' or 'Top 20' even 'Top 100'. Why aren't there lists of 'Top 42' or 'Top 93'? Because after all, there all just numbers.. no more, no less. People put too much emphasis on numbers. Sporting achievements, music industry sales, cooking or household budgets. Numbers really do make the world go round. Speaking of numbers, I'm about to add to my own list of numbers with my #4 band of all-time, The Strokes.

One day, I'll have a beer with them. One day...

I can remember the first time I heard The Strokes like it was yesterday. I was taking a long drive with my older brother, an avid follower of good music. He told me stories of his days of listening to Kyuss and Nirvana, teaching me of the mastery of Dave Grohl, Kurt Cobain, Josh Homme and the like. We were listening to the radio, and they announce 'The song that everybody's been talking about.. here's The Strokes'. In 3 minutes of Last Nite, the shitty pop music that had consumed the first 9 years of my life had been blown out my ass. It was incredible. I couldn't stop thinking about how great this band was. 

I saw them play on TV not too soon later, and a man crush was born. Julian Casablancas was my idol. Still, to this day, I regard him as the coolest person alive.. and certainly someone who I want to meet before my time's up.

I guess it's just the beer-swigging, cigarette-smoking, womanizing, distorted-sounding, leather jacket-wearing simplicity that The Strokes embodied took me away. They look cool, they act cooler. Simple garage rock at it's absolute finest. The critics loved them, the fans loved them more.

The Strokes actually broke up after their 2006 release First Impressions of Earth. But to be perfectly honest, I never expected them to last that long. Nothing that good ever does. They were supposed to burn out and crash horrifically like their rock and roll predecessors. But no, they simply took a few years break and got back together for a world tour in 2010, much to my relief.

Unfortunately I didn't get to see them play though. In fact, I'd bought a ticket to go see them at a festival, but due to lack of funds I had to give my ticket back. One of the low points in my life for sure. Actually, in the last 6 months all but one of my Top 5 have toured Australia (not being able to get tickets to any of them), with that one band that hasn't yet toured (my favourite band of all-time) I'm actually going to be able to see. Thank god.

Listen to: Reptilia off second Room on Fire, probably best embodies their overall sound.

Download: Debut LP Is This It. Rolling Stone voted in their 500 Greatest Albums All-Time. 'Nuff said.

Ah, to be in that crowd. Incredible.

Battle of the Bands #5 - Silversun Pickups

I've been waiting for this moment all my life. But it's not quite right.
Someone asked me the other day who my Top 5 bands are, and it got me thinking. Not just about who I'd put in my 'Top 5', but what does the question itself mean?

I find that the music I like the most I can relate to, through the lyrics and overall mood of the songs they play. To me your favourite music should be like the soundtrack of your life, to an extent. I mean, to me, the music you listen to (especially if it's a big part of your life) very much defines you as a person. You can, more often than not I've found, get to know a person's personality through the music they listen to quite easily. For me, the Silversun Pickups do a good job of representing me as a person: my feelings, thoughts, triumphs and tribulations.. all encompassed in a couple of splendid albums. Hence why they are my 5th favourite band of all-time.

An interesting bunch, to say the least.

I don't think it's a coincidence that 3 of my Top 5 bands have female bass guitarists. Maybe I believe in equality in band line-ups, or perhaps I just dig a girl who can slap a good bass.. either way I feel it brings something to the table, having a female member in bands. Besides that, I separate the Pickups from other alt-indie rock bands because of their sound. Kind of like a distorted punk-shoegaze rock sound, kind of like an evolved Smashing Pumpkins sound. Like Billy Corgan of the Pumpkins, Brian Aubert has a distinct melancholic tone to his voice that serves well along side his own screeching guitar work and the bands keys and synths. I like the use of simple bass lines and guitar riffs in my music, that garage rock type sound. Keep it simple I say. That's probably why I can't get right into the hardcore-punk scene, I just don't feel break-downs are as enthralling as a simple 4-note bass-line.

Listen to: Catch & Release, one of their softer tracks on 2009 release Swoon.

Download: Their latest album, Swoon. I've listened to it on repeat over 100 times easy.

Probably my favourite of theirs. On their 2006 album Carnavas.

Come On Pilgrim

Comics are for nerds.
This is a common association, mostly an American stereotype, but still an existent one. I've never been the big comic (or 'graphic novel' for the larger, more novel-like version) fan. But I do, on the other hand, usually get around to see my fair share of comic-based movies. The Scott Pilgrim series falls into this category.

The graphic novel series was (ending July this year) very popular in it's own right, with a large legion of readers to spark interest everywhere. This even included a review by E! which is how the graphic novel came to my attention. After flicking through a few pages over the web, I could see why the series had become so popular.  It combined real life issues with flamboyant, over-the-top fighting scenes; really different to anything I've ever seen. So when just a few months later I read that Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was going to be made into a full-length feature film.. well, I was excited. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to see it in theatres and before I blinked my eyes my opportunity to see it had passed.

... until I bought it the other day on Blu-ray, which I'll be reviewing today.

Scott and the gang, just chillin' at the bar.

The ups! :D

:: Same uniqueness of the graphic novel series. Teen-comedy-romance meets garage rock-band gig meets Street Fighter

::  Good casting. After reading the small amount of the series that I did, Michael Cera was, although at times predictable, the only person that could have played Mr. Pilgrim.

:: Great soundtrack. My kind of music. Scott Pilgrim (for those who haven't seen the film/ read the series) plays in a band called Sex Bob-omb. They play a heavy, garage-y, distorted sound that drives the movie, and fits nicely in with the fast-paced action scenes

:: A film made for me. Not pre-teens. Not for anyone over the age of 30. This movie is target-specific made for my demographic. Geeky males aged 16 - 29.

Michael Cera sports some surprisingly tight bass riffs.

The downs! :(

:: Don't want to spoil it, but ending was a bit of a let down. For a movie with so many twists and turns, the ending was really boring.

:: Not enough Jason Schwartzman. As the main 'bad guy' in the film Gideon Graves, he only manages to get maybe 45 mins of screen-time and Mr. Schwartzman absolutely nails it. I know they would've wanted to keep by the series, but he's just too good a character to give such little screen time.

:: Movie lacked solidity. What I mean by that is because it was such a fast-paced, uniquely moving storyline, you seem to miss a fair bit of what's going on, or at least it seems like you do.. even after a second watch.

The ultra-cool Gideon Graves. +7 hair skill attribute.

The verdict...

:: Just a cool flick with great visuals, sound effects and soundtrack. The visual and audio elements of the film are worth seeing on their own, especially in Blu-ray format

:: Michael Cera is one of those 'love him or hate him' type actors. My advice to you if you're a hater of his socially awkward, lovable-loser persona is to watch the film. He gets his ass kicked on a number of occasions, you'll love it.

:: Watch it with warning.  If you dislike video games, over-the-top super hero type action or garage rock music.. don't watch it. 

7.95/10

Went and got the soundtrack I liked Sex Bob-omb so much.