Review: Justin Timberlake - Futuresex/Lovesounds

Okay, enough laughing. I'm a music reviewer, and my job (or hobby, rather) is to review all kinds of music with no bias whatsoever. But why is he playing soccer with a fishbowl? The answer is beyond my flexible imagination, but the ability to review the album is not. Believe it or not, the album makes a perfect DJ set when the filler is extracted and replaced with...more Timbaland? I'm not a biased Timberlake fan; in fact, I can't stand his personality. I can, however, appreciate his use of the KLF method to acquire a No. 1 hit without really trying. 'Futuresex/Lovesounds' is his 2nd solo effort and, although not particularly 'brilliant', is innovative nonetheless (courtesy of a certain producer) and has some rather catchy songs.

I'll start by applauding my favorite song on the album, 'LoveStoned'. I love the 'complex simplicity' of it. The song is practically acapella, with the exception of some Studio 54-style strings accompanied by an occasional disco 'gee-tar'. I love the production of the whole album; Timbaland makes it seem as if Justin Timberlake is Prince. In fact, I would pay quite a lot to see something of a 'Face to Face' tour between the two. You probably already know the singles on the album; 'What Goes Around', 'SexyBack' and 'My Love', along with the title track, are the best songs on the album. Unfortunately, they are just about the only tracks that aren't filler. Even 'Summer Girl', although incredibly catchy at the first moment, becomes rather dull and boring. This is why you haven't heard anything from Timberlake's debut on the radio lately. Although great on first listen, the album will become rather boring and somewhat meaningless. I would reccommend mixing it with the best songs from Nelly Furtado's album "Loose", which is somewhat better in my opinion.


Final Verdict: This album is not one of the worst of 2006, but it's by no means one of the best. If you're expecting a new R&B classic, I suggest you instead get the 'new' Outkast album instead. This album is definitely not 'all killer, no filler', but there are great songs that will give it a decent rating. I would suggest you look at my 'suggested tracks' at the end of the review and iTunes the songs that were chosen. Mix those with whatever you feel like, perhaps something spacey with a dance feel, and become a DJ that will rock the turntables with crowds of people dancing around you. Or maybe you'll just plug your headphones into your iPod and listen as your favorite songs fill your eardrums. Whatever's your pleasure. :)

Selected Tracks: FutureSex/LoveSounds, SexyBack, My Love, LoveStoned, What Goes Around
Rating: 6.5
Judgement: iTunes

Review: Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

Rumor has it that Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler can cough up golden bricks. Not billion dollar golden bricks that would be fit for the Taj Mahal, but a golden brick worth, say, five thousand apiece? Let me tell you, if I could get a video of the 'Making Of...', I'd be a hero among Indie fans worldwide. Until said video comes out, my friends all around the world will have to keep listening to the latest Arcade Fire release, "Neon Bible". I'd like to start out by stating the obvious; this is the greatest album that I have heard in the 7/10ths of this decade. I wasn't particularly a fan of "Funeral" until I listened closely to the carefully orchestrated strings that flew into each song perfectly. 'Laika' and 'Rebellion (Lies)' shared a warm home in my Indie Love playlist. However, Arcade Fire's sophomore effort came out exactly how Win had imagined it, by the looks of it. The shiny, extremely reverbed production makes you feel like you're in the sky, right above an ocean of smooth, silky violins. It shows signs of a band that keeps on growing and growing. Most praise, however, is being thrown at the Texas-born (Yes, Texas) frontman. Is he the new Bob Dylan? Is he the new Phil Spector? George Martin? No, no and no. He is Win Butler, and he is the musical genius of this century.

'Intervention' is probably the fullest song that I've heard in a long time. The whining guitar, the blinking bells, and the Phantom-like organ are joined by powerful drums, strings that are even powerful, and booming vocals that are by no means technically amazing, but pull a perfect 10 on the emotional scale. From the opening of 'Black Mirror' you can already sense the 'Ocean of Noise' coming to you, but it's not until 'Keep The Car Running' begins that you can shriek "YES! YES! THIS IS GREAT!" just like I did. I don't understand how after a mere 3 years between albums, they can both sound incredible, epic, everything that "Sam's Town" wasn't. And there's more; the recording of "Neon Bible" only took a full year. Strings, Accordion, Drums, were all recorded in 365 days or less. I can picture Win going into the studio thinking, "All right, these are great songs, and they are going to sound exactly how I want them to sound". They're not over-produced, the vocals are not perfect, even the piano sounds detuned. But that's what makes the package all the more complete. Arcade Fire have produced a magical, charming sophomore effort that is replayable as 'Revolver' or 'Pet Sounds'.

Final Verdict: Neon Bible is a little bit of Spector. It's a little bit of Bright Eyes. It's Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Jeff Magnum, Jeff Buckley, Thom Yorke, and Brian Wilson rolled into 11 songs that never have to end, ever. Every song has a meaning, and I like to follow it as a concept album although it probably wasn't meant as one. Don't listen to all of the Funeral lovers who believe that there will never be another; it's like comparing Radiohead's OK Computer to Kid A, like comparing The Beatles' 'Revolver' to 'Abbey Road'. It just isn't fair for the artist. But Arcade Fire wouldn't care anyway; Arcade Fire knows when they've created a masterpiece. And this, my friends, is a genuine masterpiece. Like coughing up a golden brick.

Selected Tracks : No Cars Go, Keep The Car Running, Intervention
Rating: 9.8
Judgement: Buy Album [ASAP]

*Selected as a [ReptarCereal Essential]*

Random Blurb: Reptar Cereal/Once Upon a

Do you recall the episode of Rugrats where Grandpa takes Tommy to the Supermarket to go shopping, and Tommy sees the Reptar Cereal display and goes on a mini adventure to get to the top? Well, I was searching for some Rugrats episodes on the internet and I found an actual Reptar Cereal. Suddenly, the taste of 'Rugrats In Paris Pop-Tarts' filled my mouth. Wow, I remember how gnarly those were, although Pokemon cereal could've been better. I love how marketing campaigns with catchy theme songs and bright colors automatically sell millions! By the way, does anyone know where I can buy Reptar Crunch?

They're round, they're mean, they turn your mouth green!





On a side note, I got together with my best friend Jacky and 'the gang' to sit down and watch Disney's version of Once Upon a Mattress. The product of a colourful Disney movie with bad actors, added to the energy that can only be unleashed while 'high on Ring Dings', would equal to the amount of fun we had yesterday making fun of this film. Apparently, The Queen (Carol Burnett)'s body was...not ready for the dress that she wore. The same goes for Lady Larkin, but it didn't seem like Sir Harry minded (I can see it now, down to every small detail...:P) It didn't seem like Tracy Ullman was born to play Winnifred, but that is a heck of a lot more than I can say for Denis O'Hare, who was casted as Dauntless and looks like he has much more interest in Sir Harry, or perhaps the Wizard, who is in fact a man! The ensemble, especially during Shy, made some faces and dance moves that were subject of our inappropriate jokes. I didn't think it was possible to turn a children's movie into...well, Once Up On a Mattress. ;)


--Ryan

Review: The Fratellis - Costello Music

I love a good garage band. Y'know, there's one right by my house, see. They don't play very well, they break out into a 5-second snippet of Crazy Train, forget the riff, break out into Iron Man, forget the words, and then they decide to play an acoustic version of some speed metal song. Oh, and the singer's terrible too; extremely emo girl who couldn't sing a note if her life depended on it, which wouldn't say much anyway. But this band is not The Fratellis, a band that seemed to come out of nowhere for me, seemed like another garage band to me. Memories of the emo girl's band filled my head. The beginning of 'Henrietta', however, seemed to blow the emo girl out of the water. I've never heard such amazing energy in a band. The drummer's constant use of the always-faithful 'crash snare kick' method puts a smile on my face. Their lack of extreme musical talent is complimented by incredible songwriting, showing that musical simplicity isn't always a bad thing, but can be if you're a bit too radio-friendly. Bits and pieces of Duncan Sheik's debut album are filling my mind so let's move on, shall we?
"Flathead"'s 'Ba da ba-ba da da da da' isn't the most incredible lyric ever, but it really is catchy! The best lyrics for me come from 'Chelsea Dagger', a song about a prostitute, from what I've gathered. Henrietta is an amazing song, the next four songs come pretty close. I'm glad that this album came out when it did; it's great to see that people still play instruments that don't sound like 8-bit instruments. Lyricwise, I liked 'Whistle For The Choir', one of the rare ballads that comes on 4 tracks into the albums, and it's well worth the wait. That song in particular showcases the brilliance of the 'three lonely boys'. I look forward to a sophomore album!
FINAL VERDICT: The Fratellis's debut peaked at No. 2 on the UK Billboard Charts, second to the incredibly talented singer-songwriter speed-metal virtuoso prodigy Justin Timberlake, which is clearly not a feat to be ashamed of. Fortunately, the music is far better than Mr. Timberlake's sophomore album, and this is coming from an extreme Timberlake fan. This debut is one that rivals those of Oasis and The La's, where songwriting clearly comes before musicianship. I'm looking forward to the American release of the album so good music can once again rule the Long Island airwaves. Someday, my friends, we will live in a pop-free world where Dragonforce isn't considered metal and Ciara is not considered hip-hop. We will just have to wait for that day, and while we're waiting, we might as well play The Fratellis, remembering those crazy times we had at Costello Music.

Rating: 8.7
Judgement: Buy Album


Copied from my Ultimate Gutar account and touched up so I didn't sound so stupid. :)

On The Rise : Test Your Reflex

If you can picture yourself in an underwater utopia three-hundred years into the future, listening to a band whose beautiful synth textures float seamlessly among scratching guitars reminiscent of Alternative Rock-legends U2, which are complemented by hard drums and strong vocals that could be compared to those of Linkin Park, then you're probably crazy. Either that, or you're picturing Test Your Reflex, an indie band hailing from Southern California. Or maybe both. Regardless of the state of your mental health, TYR will still be rocking hard and writing awesome tunes as they tour with fellow indie rockers Electric Six, whose impressive debut album "Fire" will be reviewed someday soon. Test Your Reflex's debut album "The Burning Hour" will be released to the public on April 24th, 2007. Recently I got a hold of an advance copy from a friend and I can tell you it won't be one to miss.

The album sets sail with the opener "I'm Not Sorry", an uplifting behemoth of a ballad that may be mistaken for, you guessed it, U2. But the album is far from a snore-fest; actually, it's quite the opposite. The next song (and lead single) "Pieces of the Sun" is among the best, and one of the most accessible. You can find it on iTunes as the Single of the Week. With its heavy drum beat and self-reflection style lyrics "Every little thing I promised you, I'll make it come true, I'm not ready to stop...", it makes a great radio tune. In fact, the whole album is filled with Alt-Emo-New Ave, Punk, Pop-masterpieces, my favorites being the extremely catchy "New Year" and the dance-tastic classic "Black Hearts". If this band's incredible debut is under looked like Rock Kills Kid before them, then all music listeners will be missing out on a band that's not ready to let hip-hop dominate the airwaves.


Am I torturing you with the near-accurate description of their unique sound? Fear not, friends! You may have to wait until April 24th to hear the album in its entirety, but if you're really itching for a taste of TYR, I'd like it (and I'm sure they would like it as well) if you'd
check out their Myspace. Close your eyes and find yourself immersed in water, losing all ties with reality.


--Ryan

First Post

Hey guys,

So I'm gonna do all of my ranting and raving here so I don't have to do it in person. The pen is mightier than the sword, they say. :)