Hello,
Fountains of Wayne released their new CD today, it's titled "Sky Full of Holes". My initial reaction is: it's very boring. Fountains of Wayne is a very enjoyable power pop band with many great songs. They are known most for the incredibly catchy "Stacy's Mom", although they have many other great songs. I never thought I would ever call them boring. They are one of the most fun bands, but this CD isn't fun at all. Grade D-.
I listened to Death Cab For Cutie's "Codes and Keys" yesterday. Death Cab's lead singer, Ben Gibbard, has married the lovely Zooey Deschanel. That hasn't helped his song writing. I don't want their relationship to end, but if he could go back to that place from where he wrote all those great songs. Again my initial review of this CD, it's also very boring. Grade: D-
From "Codes and Keys" I do like this song, "Underneath The Sycamore":
A recent singer that has been getting some attention is Tune-Yards. (The picture in the June Sping shows a girl, that's why I'm saying singer.) Thanks to my friends at Spotify I was able to listen to as many of her songs as I possibly could. Besides a strange twist on "My Country Tis of Thee", there's nothing of note in her music. Grade: F
The most promising of the bands I've listened to lately is Glasvegas and they are only okay. They are trying to hard to be Coldplay, although they do have a bit more of a rock vibe. Grade: C-.
I'm also disappointed with music I've heard recently by Ok Go and Rival Sons. However Rival Sons look like they do have some potential. They actually two or three pretty solid songs. I realize I'm getting old and a lot of current music probably won't be enjoyable to me. I truly understand that, but shouldn't there be a band or three that has some very good music? Where are the quality bands that are going to be around for the next several years? I can't remember the last time I discovered and fell in love with a band who was around for a long time. Even the great Guns N' Roses flamed out relatively quickly. For all intents and purposes that band was over once Axl got a serious case of meglomania and Slash walked out.
I'd really like to find a new band that I can fall in love with. Besides Black Stone Cherry, I haven't found a band like that.
Sports: I love the Cubs, but why did they have to perk up when they played the Pirates yesterday? They went into Pittsburgh and beat the Pirates. Although I'm glad one of their two new additions had a good game. Derrick Lee, coming over from Baltimore just before the trading deadline, was responsible for all 3 Pirate RBIs. The Pirates were powered by his two home runs. Unfortunately that wasn't enough as Chicago won 5-3.
The Pirates have now lost 4 in a row and have only won 3 of their last 10 games. They have fallen to 3rd place in the NL Central. But even more frightening they are now 5.5 games behind first place Milwaukee. I wrote previously that I thought Milwaukee was crumbling, but they have responded in winning 8 of their last 10 games. Now it's the Pirates that are crumbling. Good thing they still have 6 more games against Chicago and Houston at home.
Boston also lost at home, losing to Cleveland 9-6. But a potential loss that is much worse is that starting pitcher Clay Buchholz may be out for the rest of the season. Even though they just traded for Seattle's Erik Bedard, the Red Sox would be in a lot of trouble without Buchholz this postseason. They would still have Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, the ageless Tim Wakefield and Bedard. Two very solid starters but what do they do in the other games of a playoff series? That would leave them without Buchholz, Matsuzaka (which I don't really consider that much of a loss) and with a very ineffective Jon Lackey. They seem to be fine with relief pitching, although I didn't like seeing Bard getting shelled last night.
Atlanta also lost last night. They've fallen 7 games behind the Phillies in the NL East.
The Dodgers had Clayton Kershaw pitching last night, which always gives them a good chance of winning. Also Matt Kemp was two of four with a double and a triple. Usually when both of those players do well the Dodgers win. I don't think it's out of the question that Kershaw could win the Cy Young award and that Matt Kemp could win the MVP. That tells you how good those two players are, but how less than good the rest of the team is. That's exactly what happened last night in LA winning 6-2. The Dodgers are now 49-59 on the season and still irrelevant in any playoff discussion.
Thanks to Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff for urging Frank McCourt to sell the Dodgers. McCourt continues to fight to own the Dodgers, although no one thinks he'll be able to keep the team. I'm glad Wolff is suggesting that McCourt sells the team. He urges McCourt to sell for the good of baseball. Most Dodgers fans are wishing for the same thing. It depresses me to no end that the McCourt drama looks like it will drag into next season.
Also today is Day 33 of the NBA Lockout, yawn. I love how Kobe Bryant confirmed that he's not going to play in Turkey. Thanks for letting us know Kobe, but we already knew that. Now there appears to be rumors that Kobe could play in China. Please! No one believes that, the next place Kobe plays will be in the NBA.
The craptastic movies of 2011 continues. "Cowboys and Aliens" and "The Smurfs" tied for money at last week's box office. I'm guessing that Jon Favreau et al didn't anticipate that. For some reason that really struck me as being funny. This week we have the craptastic looking "Rise of the Planet of the Apes". Seriously what are the chances that this 7th movie in this series has any chance of being good? 10%? Is that being too optimistic?
Also we have "The Change Up" starring the good Jason Bateman and the bland Ryan Reynolds. I'm guessing we've seen all the funny parts of this "Freaky Friday" rip off. I expect critics to savage these two movies.
Then also in the near future there's "Final Destination 5". And to compound the mistake of making that movie, it's going to be in 3D. Not only are the filmmakers greedy in making a 5th in this series, but they compound that by making the movie in 3D. That's a double barrel shot gun approach to making as much as money as possible before word of mouth gets out.
When it's time to make lists for the worst 10 movies of this year, there are going to be a lot of candidates. When "The Green Lantern" is too "good" to make the 10 worst movies of the year, that tells you how bad this year has been for movies. Movies that are close to being guaranteed to make the ten worst movies include "Rango", "Hoodwinked Too" and "Gnomeo and Juliet".
Today I saw a preview for a movie titled "Abduction". It stars Taylor Lautner, Reynolds little brother in terms of lack of charisma, as a action hero. Please! Although this movie isn't a sequel, the story feels very familiar. Is it just my imagination or are the three main stars of the "Twilight" movies extremely over rated actors? Do you think any of them are going to have a long career as a top flight star? Yea either do I.
Actually probably the movie I'm looking forward to coming out over the next few weeks is the "Glee Live In Concert" movie. If for no other reason than to hear Lea Michele sing. She has one of the best voices I've ever heard.
One final thing, last night's "Rizzoli and Isles" was amazing. Generally the writing in most television shows is mediocre at best. However the writing for last night's "Rizzoli and Isles" was simply amazing. It's quality of writing is up there near the best of "Mad Men".
But the story of a kidnapped girl of a fellow detective was extremely well written. I felt the anguish of the girl's father, mother and brother. We also felt the anguish of another father who had his daughter killed. It was very moving writing and acting. I'm sure the plot was a little too close to home for friends and families of Elizabeth Smart. She even received a mention.
That reminds me of an article that Roger Ebert wrote recently. He noted that there are 27 sequels that are scheduled to be released this year. That's frightening on so many levels, it shows the dearth of ideas in Hollywood. Ebert suggests that much of that story telling has gone to television. With shows like "Mad Men", "Breaking Bad" and "Broadway Empire" on TV I think he has a very good point. (I haven't seen either "Breaking Bad" or "Broadway Empire", but their reputations would suggest they are very well written shows.)
themusicaddict
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