Craidio Hot Music Picks for Winter’s Last Cold Stretch
With Winter: The Sequel hitting for what hopefully is its last gasp before Spring arrives (please) next month, here are the tunes (new and not-so new) that I have been spinning. Or whatever an iPod does…I guess electricking?
Alkaline Trio – This Addiction (* * * out of four stars)
While not a fan necessarily, I enjoyed their older single “Time to Waste.” Their new release is more straight-up pop/rock and nothing too unique, but it is a bright jam compared to the more Top 40 pop/rock that’s out now.
Phoenix
I had previously reviewed their single “1901″ at first as typical American Eagle background music (which it probably is) but as I’ve continued to listen this and more of their songs have become my favorite so far this year.They mix up the smooth and peppy quite well, and are barely unique..but just unique enough that they won’t sound just like anything else you’ve got.
1901 – (updated review) (* * * 1/2 out of four stars)
Lizstomania (* * * out of four stars)
Girlfriend (* * 1/2 out of four stars)
Four Year Strong – Wasting Time (Eternal Summer) (* * * 1/2 out of 4 stars)
It’s been a long time since I really liked this type of music (makes you want to drive fast, tap the table, air guitar, and beat someone up), but since my tastes were once “what goes best with the weather” it hits the spot. Ironically with “Summer” part of the title, it’ll probably get me through winter, into spring, and I’ll stop listening to it right before summer.
John Mayer – Heartbreak Warfare (* * * out of 4 stars)
Shutup. It’s not bad.
The Soft Pack – C’mon (* * out of 4 stars)
I bought it based on the chipper, breezy 60′s beach boys beat in the preview. It went on sale for “free” one week later. Which is about 25 cents less than I should’ve paid for it. This story is getting dumb.
Passion Pit – Little Secrets (* * 1/2 out of 4 stars)
Sometimes it sounds like the Jackson 5. Sometimes it sounds like a song from 1988 produced by Paula Abdul. It has clapping, kids singing, an electronic background, and I’m not sure why I downloaded it. Listen to the preview and you’ll probably be wondering as well while you download it.
The Rural Alberta Advantage – Drain the Blood (* * * out of 4 stars)
A bright, untampered with, sound in the mix lineup..the song builds from a very straight forward beat to a blast of intensity in the home stretch. Real guitars, real drums, unrefined. Nothing too indie, but something that sounds good on the iPod, and would love to hear it live.
Snow Patrol & Martha Wainwright – Set the Fire to the Third Bar (* * * out of 4 stars)
Even though I owned the album a few years back with this song on it, I never got into it enough to remember it. Apparently it was in the trailer for the movie Dear John and jumped the charts, finding me once again. I’m not sure if it is about something depressing, but don’t listen to it while you’re driving. Somewhat haunting and dream-inducing from the eerie combination of Snow Patrol’s monotone singing and Wainwright’s intricate tuning.
Timbaland (feat. Justin Timberlake) (* * out of 4 stars)
Big disappointment from their previous efforts together, otherwise a standard tune aimed straight at the 2am dance floor, but nowhere else.
Number One Gun – The Victory (* * 1/2 out of 4 stars)
Has a very good beginning and builds slowly to…nothing really. It’s almost like they had a good idea, just didn’t quite have a chorus that worked. After 3 years of trying they just decided to record what they had. Pretty good listen otherwise.
Ke$ha (yes, with a dollar sign. I’m legit.)
As with some pop music, there’s a weird vein of genius in her act. The lyrics are pretty bad (put a little love in my glovebox) and the singing is just “ok.” But she’s playing a character, that if you listen, sings ever so slightly off rhythm and stretches each line a nano-second too long as if she’s a little “tipsy.” Eh, nevermind, not going to try to rationalize it anymore. It’s dumb, annoying, and it sounds good with the bass turned up.
Blah Blah Blah (feat. 3OH!3) (* * * out of 4 stars)
Your Love is My Drug (* * 1/2 out of 4 stars)
Tik Tok (* * * out of 4 stars)
iPhone’s Great Challenger Will Be…Windows Mobile??
Microsoft, bless them, is always late to the game, but always seems to show up fashionably late with something decent eventually. Take Windows 7 or XBox 360.
When it comes to cell phones, Windows Mobile is usually the case study in what not to do for mobile technology. That may have all changed today with the announcement of Windows Phone 7 (aka the Zune phone). As the iPhone wowed the world 3 years ago, the many latecomers have addressed the stranglehold that Apple has on their software and features, and if they don’t make some improvements, Microsoft (yes, not a typo) may be in the dominant position to challenge.
I didn’t think I’d ever say it, but I’m definitely interested. iPhone users have done without some pretty basic features because the benefits outweight those costs, but soon you may not have to make that sacrifice.
Check out some of the coverage from today’s announcement and decide for yourself.
I’m sorry, Cupertino, but Microsoft has nailed it. Windows Phone 7 feels like an iPhone from the future. The UI has the simplicity and elegance of Apple’s industrial design, while the iPhone’s UI still feels like a colorized Palm Pilot. – Gizmodo’s Microsoft Has Out-Appled Apple
Windows Phone 7 is connected in the same sense as Palm’s webOS and Android, with live, real-time data seamlessly integrated, though it’s even smoother and more natural. Live tiles on the Start screen are updated dynamically with fresh content, like weather, or if you’ve pinned a person to your Start screen, their latest status updates and photos. – Gizmodo’s Windows 7 Series – Everything is Different Now
The OS is also heavily focused on social networking, providing integrated contact pages which show status updates from multiple services and allow fast jumps to richer cloud content (such as photo galleries). The Xbox integration will include LIVE games, avatars, and profiles, while the Zune end of things appears to be a carbon copy of the standalone device’s features (including FM radio). – Engadget Microsoft is Playing to Win
Watch the features promo video below.
Won’t be available until Christmas 2010, so Microsoft made the first move. How will Apple respond? Hopefully the iPad wasn’t their response.
Google Buzzed Overload
If texting, Twitter, and Facebook weren’t enough for you ADD mofos, Google drops into the game about 4 years late with Google Buzz.
I checked it out quickly, and it is fairly neat. Again, had it come out a few years ago. As it stands, it’s yet another way to get people not to read all your efforts to tell them what you’re thinking.
What is Google Buzz? Unlike Google Wave, you can actually get your head around it. Oddly enough, it’s very similar to Google Wave. By integrating gmail with google maps, and a twitter-like (non character limit) status update with mobile location finding, you basically will never be able to do anything private again. I found that Google Buzz even had almost my exact street address attached to my Buzz’s..and anyone who searches the local Buzz can find me…and come kill me.
Don’t have much time left for this post, I gotta go Buzz, update my status, tweet, text my friend, and update my LinkedIn that I am about to start laundry.
Check out what Google Buzz is all about here at Mashable.
Watch this funny parody of Google Buzz embedded below. (language warning)
Nolan to Help Superman Return (Again)?
As a child, my cape sometimes was replaced by a baseball bat to be He-Man, or a belt to be Batman, but by the time I was 25 I grew out of such childish things and just stuck with Superman. I currently have a Superman bed set. And not the one that I had as a kid.
So needless to say, I’m a big Superman fan. Never much of a comic book reader, but the cartoons, Lois and Clark, Smallville, Superman I-IV, and then…Superman Returns. What was supposed to be the beginning of a Superman reboot turned out to be a clunker with a metrosexual Superman who liked a cruddy Lois Lane and fathered an illegitimate child.
With such great superhero movies since X-Men, it was sad to see the one with the most potential ruined. Some might say it’s Batman, which to this point has been the best, but Batman has a rich set of villains and a dark side. Making Superman a 4-star affair like The Dark Knight would be a much more difficult accomplishment.
So the news today is that Dark Knight helmer (and all around genius filmmaker) Christopher Nolan will be guiding an all-new reboot of the Superman franchise. With a string of failures (Superman III, Superman IV, Superman Returns) and some ill-conceived reboots that never got off the ground in 1990s, this will be a monumental undertaking.
According to the article:
DC Comics stalwart Superman to soar again on the Big Screen, and the studio has turned to Chris Nolan to mentor development of the movie. Our insiders say that the brains behind rebooted Batman has been asked to play a “godfather” role and ensure The Man Of Steel gets off the ground after a 3 1/2-year hiatus.
So which direction will he take it? The Superman story is much trickier than Batman due to the different source material, as Deadline Hollywood (where the story originally broke on the new reboot) explains..
Batman was rebooted according to Frank Miller’s film noirish take on Batman. But there’s a big difference between Superman’s cinematic incarnations and comic book version. Warner Brothers and DC Comics for a long time weren’t sure which version they liked better. The cinematic version has been squeaky clean, occasionally campy, and has more-or-less unlimited power except when confronted with Kryptonite.
The comic book version has some limits on his powers, can be darker, and fights aliens a lot more. Shortly after Dark Knight hit it big, fans assumed that Superman would be taken to the “dark” side as well. That’s because Warner Bros mogul Jeff Robinov stressed post-Dark Knight that “we have to look at how to make these movies edgier”. One of our insiders interpreted this to say: “He meant more sophisticated.”
Doing something based on the comics is risky..it’s not the Superman of Christopher Reeve (the best to date) that we know. And then there’s the currently running Smallville. While mostly dumb, they have chosen the perfect actors for the roles of Clark Kent (Tom Welling), Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) and Lois Lane (Erica Durance) and even many of the supporting cast. With good writing and effects, they could easily lead the new franchise..just would have to drop the entire Smallville story.
For me it’s all something to look forward to, especially if Christopher Nolan does take the reins. You don’t even want to see what types of things Tim Burton had in mind with Nicholas Cage in the lead role.
Full story at Deadline Hollywood.
No thanks.
Better Avatar Review Than Mine
From the same guy who did the 70-minute Phantom Menace movie review that took me 3 weeks to finish (but pretty worth it) now attacks Avatar in much less time. He’s a little weird, but for those who weren’t enthralled by the movie’s plot of message beating, it’s worth a watch. Maybe skim through part 1, part 2 is actually good on its own as well.
Strong Content Warning.
Part 1
Part 2
Bowser From Mario’s Minions Turn on him
Though I don’t join Facebook groups, the “When I Was a Kid We Had to Blow on Video Games to Make Them Work” was pretty tempting. For those who grew up with Mario before he started fighting his friends or threw a Party, this will probably be quite enjoyable.
