The Comedy Life of Brian

I'm really into the new record from Gainsville punk rockers 'Against Me!'. With a couple of skippable songs and a slightly too short running time it isn't perfect, but when it is on it contains some of AM's best work and features a brave new direction from the band - one that uses punk style and ideals as a springboard into some more interesting musical styles.

As is usually the case with Against Me! everything surrounding and supporting the record is almost as interesting as the record itself. Reaction to the record is highly mixed - fans tend to hate it, but critics and musicians who are new to the band tend to love the record. The Pitchforks and Stereogums of the world have gotten hip to it as well surprisingly enough. Lead singer Tom Gabel got arrested on tour for attacking a not quite detractor in a coffee shop. The DVD that is packaged with the special edition of the album is actually really great. The two videos that they released to support the record have been bafflingly horrible.

Most surprising of all however is that Ben Lee went and covered the entire album and put it up on his website for free download. I wouldn't call it a success, but I would give it 'interesting experiment' status. The new arrangements are interesting, but I'm not really into Ben Lee's music in general and he also really isn't true to some of the emotional shifts in the songs, thus making some of his versions sound empty to me. He did manage to make a couple of covers that come close to exceeding the already excellent originals though. 'Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart' becomes the pop ballad that we all know is hidden under a superficial amount of punk grit. 'Ocean' stretches the free association of the original and turns up the feeling of dark underwater echoes. Of course, these were the least Against Me! sounding songs on the record already, so it makes sense that Ben Lee was able to find success with them.

I'm hoping that Against Me! can continue to ride the turbulent wave of their first major label record into the experimental pop leaning directions that I sense from them. Time will tell.

Labels: Music

My cat is kind of awesome.

Big chunk of Doc Severinsen filming on tap tonight! Can't wait, although there is a lot to do in between then and now.

Labels: Doc Severinsen

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Look! A mother f@#$ing rainbow!

I bought a new iMac a couple of weeks ago, and I love it. Just my luck - Apple is rumored to be announcing a new iMac in 10 minutes and I bet I will love the new design more. If it has a multi touch screen (pretty unlikely and out there, but this is Apple) or something awesome like that I'm going to jump out the Window.

Labels: apple

Got a funny email from Nick Mendillo:

"This was a text message i received from a friend of mine upon returning from nyc:

"Is it strange for me to say that i just saw brian perry and two other dudes riding unicycles on grand street?"

i had to say no... it's not strange. "

Labels: unicycles