The joys of an assassin movie! Assassins always seem to be bigger than life, a super hero or a brutal villain. It lends itself to the spy genre so you get the chance of sneaky characters, twisting plots and excellent action scenes. Often hit or miss from picture to picture, Colombiana lands right in the middle….average at best.
There’s nothing new or terribly interesting going on in Colombiana. Zoe Saldana plays the lead, Cataleya, who witnesses her parents death by the drug cartel that her father worked for. Swearing revenge, her career in death starts many years later, always with her eyes on the man that ordered her parents death. That’s it. Every plot point you are thinking of right now, happens. It’s a paint by the numbers story with the requisite action, the superfluous love interest and some goofy stuff (her attack dogs) stuck in for some flavor.
Now, it’s not a bad movie. It’s well made (the direction in the first chase scene was amateur at best though), well acted and the action is serviceable. A good rainy day rental, but if you skip it, you aren’t missing anything.
I contributed to Repeater’s Kickstarter back in August if I remember right. It was to get the Ross Robinson produced album “We Walk From Safety” into physical form. Got it last week!
More people need to hear this band, they are so good. The first 3 videos listed are Repeater. Real, honest and creative rock music. It’s a great album as a whole, there is so much to like. These guys are so good at what they do, Steve has a ridiculous voice. The bass is consistently awesome, drums are creative, sweeping and crushing guitar work.
Knowing Every Weakness has officially entered my Favorite Tracks Of All Time List, I can’t get enough of it. Rocks so much I put it on repeat (no pun intended). Please check these guys out!
Ten albums! A milestone that few bands ever reach. That’s a real history in music, a large chunk of a group’s life is recorded and put on the road. The Path of Totality (POT from here on out) sees Korn changing their approach to their sound once more. Last years Korn III: Remember Who You Are was a return to their roots using their first producer and recording straight to 2″ tape. No click tracks for the drums, no Pro Tools until final mix and mastering. POT is the opposite, it’s brought in electronica producers with their computers in tow. What came out is the fusion of two genres to a great effect.
This project started out as an EP and went into a full album after Korn had about 4 songs done. They were having a great time and apparently the tracks were coming out really well, so they decided to just continue to make it full length. I was worried about this one when it was announced that dubstep producers were going to be involved. I love everything about Korn III. It’s everything I love about the band; loud, obnoxious, raw, with trade mark bass, vocals, drums and guitar. This electronic element wasn’t what I was looking for (I started to think of See You On The Other Side, my least favorite Korn album).
The result isn’t “dubKorn” or remixed Korn tracks. It’s different styles of electronic music fused with what Korn does. This is unmistakably a Korn album, just some of the elements sound different and were made differently. This was a passion project for Jonathan Davis. He was really strained doing KIII, producer Ross Robinson got behind him, put his hands on JD’s back and just shoved him through every wall, floor, window and closed emotional door that dared get in the way. The lyrics of that album are very personal and dark, it brought up a lot of old memories and emotions JD never wanted to see again and Ross pretty much made him wrestle with it bare knuckled. It made for an incredible album (imho of course) but it took it’s toll on the leader of Korn. Refusing to go through that again, Jonathan turned back to an old passion he was getting back into: DJing. It’s a very creative musical avenue. You create all the sounds, you arrange them yourself, you really mold every single sound of it.
The title of the album refers to an eclipse, when all the elements come together and line up just right.
Looking to do something new and exciting, JD introduced it the rest of the band and after some experimenting he got into contact with Skrillex (Sonny Moore). Skrillex is really blowing up now, just being nominated for a Grammy and selling out every venue he steps foot in. Sonny grew up listening to Korn and he jumped at the chance to work with one of his favorite bands. That led to Sonny calling up some of his electronica friends and the list of producers went on to include Datsik, Noisia, 12th Planet, Downlink, Excision, Flinch and Kill the Noise. All said, POT has elements of Untouchables, See You On The Other Side and Untitled sliced and infused with even more electronic elements.
That leads us to the songs themselves, I’ll break it all down track by track.
Chaos Lives in Everything- Awesome opener! Starts with a nod to Nine Inch Nails, one of the faster and heavier songs on the album. This one should be a single, really good example of the fusion they came up with. Really catchy, fun and fast beat, some great drops and a great chorus.
Kill Mercy Within- Sick opening riff with a beat that falls into the slower end. Interesting and head bobbing worthy track.
My Wall- Trademark slow and powerful Korn here. One of the better tracks, really love the airy breakdown near the end.
Narcissistic Cannibal- The latest single out now, this one was produced by Skrillex and shows of more of the classic dubstep elements (low wub wub type bass, screechy sound effects). Really like this one, sounds like it could have come from Untitled. More prominant drumming, another great chorus and a fun electro breakdown.
Illuminati- I keep going back and forth one on this one. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don’t. This one really sounds like a “SYOTOS” era song, with it’s slower pace. One of the more prominent electronic sounding tracks, I like some of the elements but there is much better on this album.
Burn the Obediant- Love this one. Faster paced, there is a sick beat on here with a lot of sound changes. One of the heavier songs, easy to jam out to.
Sanctuary- I just don’t like this song. I skip it almost every time. Nothing on it works for me, slow and boring. More irritating than anything although the chorus doesn’t make it a complete disaster.
Let’s Go- From the worst to one of my absolute favorites! Bump this as loud as I can, it’s so awesome. It’s a high energy, party kind of song. Moves right a long, awesome lyrics, just really wild production on this one. Awesome chorus, a great sing along and Fieldy’s trademark clicky bass is loud and clear for the break down. Super short song and I love every second of it.
Get Up- The first single they put out, another one with Skrillex that shows its dubstep sounds. Enjoyable song, but I’ve heard it since like June so I’m really used to it. Lots of cussing on this one but it’s one of the better tracks.
Way Too Far- Slow and powerful at work here, I really like the lyrics. The pacing changes a few times, this one also sounds a bit like the SYOTOS era. Really cool breakdown with a quieter outro.
Bleeding Out- One of my favorite Korn tracks ever made! Starts with a piano and has a beautiful build up into this pounding song. Fantastic work on this one. Sick Korn chug, great drum and bass and beautiful lyrics and vocals. Plus the return of the bag pipes which is easily the best JD has ever done. I can’t get enough of this beautiful melody he came up with.
Fuels the Comedy- A B side that if I’m not mistaken is just JD and Kill the Noise. A fun, goofy song in the same vein as “Y’all Want A Single”. Korn fans should get a kick out of it. Its got a wavey sound to it with a really tremendous breakdown.
Tension- Another B side that is just from JD and producers Excision, Datsik and Downlink. A club banger that I really love. Just thumpy and menacing with the return of JD scatting that works incredibly well with the drum and bass. Love the lyrics and vibe this one throws out.
POT really isn’t that big of a departure for Korn. All of their albums sound different, but still maintain they’re trademark sound. This isn’t a new genre, but it does sound new and fresh. As far as experimental albums go, I think they have a real winner on their hands. Munky stepped forward in his guitar work to establish the right tone and feel. Fieldy’s trademark bass is again different here (he’s much more prominent when playing this material live) and Ray had a very secondary roll on this album which is a huge bummer for me. The drum tracks were mostly formed without him, they even took away his snare and kick drum away (read interviews to find out why). His raw creativity isn’t on display here like it is on KIII, but he still rocks this out live (thank god). JD’s lyrics are also really good too, I haven’t heard anything that made me roll my eyes. There’s a lot of layering that he has liked to do in the past (Untouchables, Untitled). He flexes his entire range on this album which is always great to hear. Lastly, the soundscape on this album is huge, you want to get it on the best stereo you can. It’s really wide and expansive with some downright silly bass. I have a hard time not listening to it really loud. I don’t know if Korn will stick with this sound and method exactly (or if I would want them to), but their ambition and daring to move outside of the box has worked again.
James “Munky” Shaffer- guitar/KoRn
Billy Gould- Bass/Faith No More
Brooks Wackerman- Drums/Bad Religon
Leopold Ross- guitar, programming
Steve Krolikowski- Vocals/Repeater
Zach Baird- keyboards/Korn
About 3 years since it’s inception, FATNS debut album is finally here. While Korn was recording Remember Who You Are in 2009, producer Ross Robinson introduced Munky to the singer he had been looking for. Krolikowski was the last piece to join the band, with the music all but finished, he gave the band its final voice.
The more I listen, the more I like this album. I’m having a hard time describing what they sound like. A Perfect Circle comes to mind first, Black Light Burns is another, with a little bit of Marilyn Manson. It’s alt rock, very different from Korns’ sound. It’s very moody, brooding and atmospheric, a touch of industrial in the mix. Krolikowski has a very distinct voice which I always look for in a singer, he really brings something out in the music. He’s a powerful singer and a great lyrisist. Even though he’s been in Repeater for some time, I think this is just the the start for him. He’s yet to make a name for himself, but FATNS could really put the spot light on any project he’s in if people hear him on this album. I’d really like to hear what he would do and had he been recording with FATNS as a complete band. I ‘ll have Repeaters newest CD this month I think, I like what I’ve heard there too.
I really just have to say you need to listen to it to get the sound they make. Out of 12 tracks, I’m all about 9 of them. The opening track, “Hell” is an intro that really doesn’t do anything for me. “Triggers” sounds like it wasn’t mixed right, there is so much layering and reverb that overlaps so much it’s almost impossible to make out the lyrics. “Dissolve” is the final track I don’t like, just one of those songs that don’t click with me. “Ambien” is abptly named, I seemed to go back and forth on how much I dig it. The rest is some really unique and powerful compositions. “No Secrets” is a perfect example of what the band is like. A catchy, simple riff that builds into a thumping vibration of energy. “Choking Victim” is the most standard rock like, it’s got a typical structure and thump to it. It’s the first song that was released and it made me really hopeful for the album. Turns out that it’s not even close to the best track. My top picks are, “Chosen Ones”, “No Secrets” and “Jaguar” running right behind. “Beautiful Side” is far and away my favorite, it just takes me over everytime I hear it. I actually wake up to it a lot in my head, it’s like it’s found a spot in my mind to hang out in. I
With no CD release, you can find Fear and The Nervous System on Amazon.com and itunes. With no label these guys just put it out there into the stream, so please check it out! Give it a listen, you may find a new sound you didn’t know you were missing.
To the chagrin of many people I’m sure, Limp Bizkit is back with a new album after 6 years. Let’s cut to the chase: it’s a Limp Bizkit album through and through so it’s not going to win over any of the people that have hated them. To be honest I think they have just about everyone to win over because it’s been so long since the band was popular. They didn’t leave on top in 2005 when Unquestionable Truth broke up the band, leaving the impression of 2003’s Results May Vary (which wasn’t well received) the last material many have heard.
I’ll go straight to the good stuff. There are a lot of terrific ideas on this album musically. Wes Borland is a fantastic guitar player and he really came up some cool shit on here. Bassist Sam Rivers and drummer John Otto roll around with him perfectly, they keep pace and run with Wes’ riffs really well on much of the album. DJ Lethal sounds like he’s more in the background here throwing in some sound effects and breaks here and there.
Now the bad. Fred Durst. To the point, his amateur lyrics. I’m not a Durst hater, I genuinely like his voice and he hasn’t done anything wrong to me personally so I have nothing to hold against him. But good lord, does he write some garbage. The most basic rhymes you can think of, references that really don’t make sense and he just can’t get far enough from the meathead rap play book.
It’s like running down the Durst checklist: stupid fighting shit, frat boy nonsense, trying to write another “Breakstuff”. All the things that were popular for the band can be remade! Well, no. More than a decade since the bands hay day, you’d think Durst would be able to grow up. This stuff coming out of the mouth of a 40 something year old is just really goofy.A choice bit from “Douche Bag”:
Douche Bag! I’m a fuck you up. Douche Bag. I’m a fuck you up.
fuck you fuck you fuck you up.
That’s basically the chorus and they end the song with that repeating for almost 50 seconds. Who in the studio thought that was a good idea? It’s annoying AND lazy. Fred loves name dropping his own band. Still! He still loves doing this shit:
John Otto! Break it on down!
That’s right!
Ladies and gentleman!
Once again… Limp Bizkit!
…in case anyone forgot what band they were listening to.
From “90.2.10” we get the party angle, with an awkward reference AND the self name drop:
Corey Taylor got a harem chasin him around.
We ain’t slippin with his knot, then we goin down.
But it doesn’t got this lovin comin at me.
Ain’t nothin new cause I’m rollin with the LB!
What does that Slipknot reference even mean? Another weird ass reference with a side shot of 8 year old rhyming from “Gold Cobra”:
Feelin Korn going blind
Free as hell doin’ time
I’m insane can’t complain
Flush you turds down the drain
Now it’s not all misery. “Why Try” has some good music behind it and tolerable lyrics. “Get A Life” has an awesome break down at 2:30. Such a cool guitar/bass/drum groove. “Shotgun” starts generic but at :48 this simple, catchy, creative riff kicks in with the appropriate bounce and thump beat from Sam and John.
The songs that are on the slower side are the best. “Walking Away”, “Loser”, “My Own Cobain” and “Angels” are real stand outs. “Angels” in particular is one of my favorites. These songs are where Fred takes more of a singing approach. There is much more careful thought to the lyrics, they sound sincere and honest. His lyrics and voice mesh perfectly with the music allowing the creativity of the band to come together without any stupidity getting in the way. It’s much more enjoyable to listen to. There’s even some metal like screaming at parts which work well. The rap/rock fusion works it’s best in such instances.
I like most of Gold Cobra, but I can’t see this album taking off. The time for this music might simply be over and the toxic end the band had leaves no favors out there for the band to reach out for in the public.
Skins Series 4- While not as good as the first 2 series, I came to like the 2nd generation cast. I think JJ is my favorite followed by Cook who had some very good exposition about him. He change through the course of the show and came out as a genuine nice guy opposed to the raging shit he was at the start. The writing for the parents on the show was much better as well (especially Kate and Emily’s family which got the most time out of any family in the show), which I really appreciated. In series 1 and 2 all of the parents are played as worthless jokes with dialog to match. But, the ending was incredibly frustrating. The first generation of kids all had cliff hanger endings, but you knew where they were and had a good idea of what they could be doing. The 2nd generation has the crazy twist at the 2nd to last episode and then the last scene of the series is one of the biggest cop-outs I can remember in a long time. The fate of that character is going to forever be unknown which I hate (and it could go either way…plus that storyline had incredible ramifications to the story). Series 5 recently ended on the BBC so I have to wait for that to hit on DVD, but I’ve read that the new cast stinks.
I watched the original UK Shameless to compare it to Showtimes version (which I love). The original came out in 2004 and only made it through 1 series at 7 episodes. Showtime made 12 episodes and used every plotline from the original, but expanded and altered some of it to really flesh it out and changing things for the better, I think. I was actually surprised how closely it sticks to the original keeping everyone’s names the same (and look too). The casting is really great on both sides and I think the Showtime edition really honors the original while making it’s own path towards the end. Some of the UK edition feels truncated which the SHO writers changed. I like how they did Sheila’s agoraphobia “breakthrough” more and Frank’s adultery disaster is set up much better, which will be the first bridge to cross in season 2. I’d probably recommend the SHO edition over the original because of the changes and not having to decipher some hardcore English accents and slang. Makes it easier for a US viewer to get into.
Keeping with media from across the pond, I just found out the Arctic Monkeys have a new album out (Suck It and See) which I must check out.
I’ve been listening to two new albums recently, Foo Fighters “Wasting Light” and Sum 41 “Screaming Bloody Murder”, both I’ve grown to love the more I listen to them.
These days it’s hard to find a good rock album. I’ve been a casual fan of Foo Fighters, listening almost strickly to their singles over the years. Looking for something new to listen to, I popped this in without hearing anything about it or from it. Dave Grohl has to be one of the best musicians working today. Look at his career, his resume is ridiculous. I’ve become a huge fan of Wasting Light, the only track I don’t like is “Dear Rosemary”, the other 10 are pretty brilliant. It’s a fantastic car album, just a high energy and groovy album from front to back. Dave has a fantastic singing range, the drums are terrific and the guitar work is really impressive too. The album was recorded at Grohl’s house using the good old analog way (like Korn did with their latest) which gives it a warm and live feel. They recently played Saturday Night Live and completely killed, sounded just like the album. “Walk” is my favorite track, which they also did on SNL, totally worth tracking down and watching.
Sum 41 is a love ’em or hate ’em band. These guys get shit on all the time but I think they have some serious talent. “Mature” has never been a word for this band, but they pretty much hit it big when they were kids. I love 2005’s “Chuck”; it’s just a blistering album. They kinda shed the punk overtones and went more metal/rock and it totally worked. 2007’s “Underclass Hero” on the other hand sucked eggs. I have no idea what happend but it bored me to death and I swear they reused riffs and melodies from their earlier work. “Screaming Bloody Murder” is a really eclectic album. Ballads, acoustic, piano, thundering bass and drums, some straight up shredding guitar work are all on this album. Some work better than others, but I gotta say I like the whole album. People seem to freak out when a band slows things down, but I don’t mind that (“Crash” is a good example). I don’t think albums need to follow a straight path, variety and time changes keep things interesting. As long as there is a real energy behind a song, it works. This sounds like a very personal album for Deryck Whibley, something I appreciate. Right after “Crash” is the energetic “Blood In My Eyes”. There’s a nice transition between the songs as “Crash” is a ballad and”Blood” doesn’t really pick up until about 30 seconds with a terrific guitar riff. I gotta say, I love Steve Jocz on drums, he’s a monster (new guitarist Tom Thacker sounds like a great match for Whibley as well, great stuff). These guys can really throw down a jam that can quickly morph into a groove and then back into a jam (“Sick of Everyone” and “Happiness Machine” which is my favorite). They take a lot of inspiration from others (Green Day, but I think Sum 41 is better than them, less predictable).
It’s like See You On The Other Side cranked to the moon! Collab between Skrillex and Korn, Road Runner is going to release the song for free on Monday, the 18th. It’s Korn with a dubstep influence, probably the direction the next album is going to take. Seems like they’re going to be fucking around in the studio until they head out for some festivals for the summer. This could mean Skrillex may produce the album. Time will tell, I like what I’ve heard from this. It’s a new direction but it still sounds like Korn. How could they play this live thought? I look forward to see what comes of this.
Before I catch up on some of the movies I’ve seen recently I’d like to give a shout out about Safety Words. Two guys who have made this sweet mash up with Wu-Tang Clan and some classic Nintendo game themes. The Ghostfaced Pixels Mixtape is some wild stuff. It’s like an hour long and has some really ingenious beats going on. Really impressive.
Apocalypto– From 2006 which I think predates Mel Gibson’s ‘I Might Be A Lunatic” DUI arrest and naughty quote fest. Mel has/had been a darling of Hollywood and this movie really just fostered his career. It’s really good! A Mayan tale that came out of no where, there isn’t a lick of English in here. Very little dialog actually, but the story and characters are very memorable. A conquering tribe sweeps through our main characters village and destroy everything he knows. Forced to hide his family and taken away as a slave our hero goes through a very rough road to stay alive and get back to his family. It’s a gorgeous movie, just really well made (Mel really loves close-ups). Action scenes are pretty intense although there is some bad effects (the boar) here and there.
Despicable Me– A really cute movie. A villain hitting some rough times figures he could use the help of some orphan girls to re-establish his dominance in the villian game and stomp out his arch enemy. There’s a lot of cliched and obvious writing going on here but the movie still works. Animation is really good, there some funny gags and the cast is solid too. The girls in particular are really good, but I just can’t get on the Steve Carell bandwagon; the guy is like Patrick Warburton. He has absolutely zero vocal range. You always know it’s him, same problem Mike Myers has. There had to have been someone better to get than him, I don’t think his name on the poster really made a difference.
The A-Team– This flick got pooped on by critics all over the place, but it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. The cast really works and the action is really over the top. The filmmakers knew what they were making, they don’t take anything too serious and just have fun with it. Good story and editing, some imaginative action sequences and the majority of the FX look good. I’m down for a sequel.
Resident Evil: Afterlife– The 4th movie in the series, I pretty much asked myself, “Did this movie need to be made?” It’s not a horrible movie, it just feels like nothing actually happened in it. It’s a few scenes linked together by action scenes with monsters that people who have played the games will recognize. They pimped the hell out of the 3D they used to make the movie, but who cares when the movie just kind of lays there. I might have said “That looks neat” if I saw it in 3D but I don’t feel like I’m missing anything. They scaled back Alice’s superpowers from the last movie or so, but there is is still plenty of impossible things going on here. I just can’t recommend it. You haven’t missed anything if you haven’t seen it.
Frost/Nixon– I’ve been meaning to see this for awhile, it’s been in my list for a long time. Now that I’ve seen it, I’m glad I did. It’s a Ron Howard picture so you can imagine the look and feel of it from there. Ron Howard can always get a great cast for his pictures together and this film is no exception. The movie focus’ around the series of interviews that British talk show host David Frost conducted with President Nixon. This happened after Nixon was tossed out of office due to the Watergate cover up. Frost had to come up with a serious amount of money to get it done (he actually only came up with 30% of the funding while they were doing the interview) and he had very little support from his peers that he could do an interview that wasn’t a complete fluff piece.
Frost certainly had his work cut out for him. After Nixon left office, President Ford pardoned him of any possible wrong doing with Watergate, keeping him away from trial and out of harms way. So most of the country felt like a villain was able to duck and take cover, taking no responsibility for what he had done. Frost wanted to get Americans a confession, at the very least an explanation. With each side prepping for months to duke it out, Frost had to step up his game. The acting really sells the picture with Frank Langella as Richard Nixon stealing the show.
The Town-Ben Affleck continues his rebith into Hollywood as a rising star. Not just in front of the camera, but behind it as well. Affleck co-wrote, produced and directed this terrific bank heist movie. I’m a fan of these types of movies and Affleck and his crew put together a great movie. The dialog is really good, the acting is terrific (Jeremy Renner is on a roll, he keeps putting out fantastic work) and I admire the direction. Affleck really has a good eye and I’m really impressed that he can film an action scene that isn’t a mess. Something that is a serious problem in Hollywood today. I never got lost in the action, the geography of the scene was always clear. The movie does suffer from the trappings of a heist movie (just one more job and we’ll quit!) but that isn’t enough to ruin the movie in anyway. I really liked it, check it out. Just one thing though, could you leave Boston behind for once Ben? There’s a whole world out there.
