The Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

   I loved the Beastie Boys years before I listened to any other rap music. I loved all of the hits they came out with when I was kid. I have a distinct memory of playing the music video for “Body Moving” so loud that a vase of pot-potpourri my parents had on top of the TV would fall off. Their music was youthful, fun, noisy and just the right amount of crazy. Everything I loved about them then is what I love about “Hot Sauce Committee Part Two”.

    As always, the Beastie Boys sound like a group of best friends having a great time doing what they love most, making music together. One of the album's few missteps is their attempt to add fellow New York rap veteran Nas to this tight chemistry on “Too Many Rappers”. With a typical Beastie Boys beat consisting of fuzzy bass riffs and metallic sounding record scratches, Nas sounds like he just doesn't know how to keep up with the insanity. Santi Gold's featuring on “"Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win" however, is a perfect match for the song's heavy reggae sound.

    To me, the most interesting thing about the Beastie Boys is their hardcore punk roots. They were originally a punk band but when they met legendary produce Rick Rubin he convinced them to make rap music instead and changed the genre forever. The punk influence has always been obvious in their sound and “Hot Sauce Committee Part Two” is no exception. Each member of the Beastie Boys plays live instruments on this album. The drums are pounding and the guitars and bass are heavily distorted. Despite each member of the band being in their mid-forties, (one of whom recently battled throat cancer) they still have the same angry delivery and youthfully humorous lyrics that made them famous over two decades ago.

    The Beastie Boys are one of the few artists I listen to that I can say have a formula that I will never get tired of and I'm more than satisfied with how it played out for them this time. I hope they never lose their passion for the music they play and look forward to the next time they decide to dish out another serving of their loud and heavy hip-hop.

Radiohead - The King of Limbs

     Unlike most rock fans my age Radiohead has never really grabbed me. I have a few of their albums and I like them, but, with the exception of a few songs, they've never thrown me into hysterics the way they do with most. The King of Limbs is no different. There's intricate drumming, spacey electronics, high-pitched vocals with the usual plethora of effects, sounds you recognize as guitar playing (but which try as hard as possible to disguise themselves) and the occasional acoustic guitar so you don't get lost in a sea of electronics.

      Like I said, some songs are exceptions. The King of Limbs has “Morning Mr.Magpie,” with its glitchy and minimal drumming, matching guitar (using one of the coolest tones I've heard in awhile) jazzy bass riffs and lyrics dripping with “Karma Police”-esque anger. The following track, “Little by Little” lives up to its title. I didn't care much for it on my first listen but after a few listens I noticed how all the different parts fit together, resulting in a pretty song with a great rhythm and guitar playing that is simple and dark.

      My biggest complaint about The King of Limbs is a lack of actual songs. Each track sounds more like an experiment in weird noises, complicated percussion and reverb-drenched vocals. Lead singer Thom Yorke's lyrics specialize in a feeling of alienation and their music reflects that but, in my opinion, to a fault. Even the lyrics are sometimes lost in an overabundance of effects like the delay-heavy track “Feral.”

The other problem with the album is the pacing. The majority of these tracks are slow and droney and the faster-paced ones are bunched together at the beginning of the album. This creates the impression that you're listening to the final track on the album for 3 songs in a row. On a longer album this might not be a problem, but King of Limbs only has 8 tracks and clocks in at just over 30 minutes, so most of the album sounds sluggish and dull.

      Overall, the album isn't bad and I will definitely pull it out for a listen every now and again. It's another pretty Radiohead album with lots of darkness, brooding and electronics. The occasional bright and loud song is what keeps me coming back and maybe my dream will come true one day and they'll release an album full of them. In the meantime I plan to keep giving Radiohead one more chance.

One more poem

I've had a weird week consisting of a lot of thoughts about this blog and I've decided to change things up. As much as I love reading I don't find I'm very strong when it comes to writing about books, certainly not in the way that I'm strong at writing about music so I've decided to just post music reviews. I didn't get a review done this week because this decision was only made tonight so I'm gonna leave you with a poem this week and I promise from this moment onward you'll be getting a weekly album review. I look forward to keeping it up and I hope you enjoy this poem!

Aliens, Stay Home

I was not deceived,

the terrifying swirls were just protecting the beautiful pearls.

My road rage melted away instantly.

Were you choking on my exhaust,

doing your best to instill fear,

until you figured out how you got lost?

I would like the record to show I stood up for your cause,

begged the little boys to put their big game on pause.

I wish scientists made decisions and passed laws;

we would have caressed and studied instead of ripping you with claws.

Am I the only one who feels the technological weight we lost?

Sure, we don't feel scared anymore but how much did it cost?

Taking Back Sunday - New Again. (This is more of a thought than a review.)

    I've been listening to Taking Back Sunday since I was in high school. I was full of angst and no good with girls so their brand of confessional punk rock was a perfect fit. When I was first introduced to them they had just released their second full length album and I listened to both albums obsessively. The timing of their third release was oddly perfect. I had just graduated high school and been dumped by my first serious girlfriend. Mourning that loss and dealing with the fear and anxiety of starting college, I lost myself in Taking Back Sunday's dark world once again. Albums I love the most are always ones that perfectly capture how I'm feeling when they show up in my life and that have the ability to bring me back to those feelings when they've passed.

     Now I'm 22 years old, I have a girlfriend of over 2 years whom I love and trust and I'm listening to Taking Back Sunday's latest album, New Again. The riffs are catchy, the guitars and drums are loud and lead singer Adam Lazzara is pouring his heart out as always, but something feels different. At a first listen I thought the production was the problem. Too quiet, too sleek, too something. Comparing it to the first three albums though, I noticed it fit their formula and realized therein lies the problem. This album is a continuation of their angsty motif and I just don't relate anymore.

     I used to believe that bands who never moved away from what made them popular were sellouts. I also believed that there were good bands and bad bands and only intelligent people could tell the difference. I see now that all art, popular music included, is subjective and that very few bands make music that means nothing to them. The bands whose albums I continue to buy and enjoy are the ones who change with me and I now see that this is not by any concious effort on their part (how could it be, they've never met me?) but rather some random chance that makes the mystery of art so compelling. I may not have enjoyed this album very much, but I have no doubt that there is a sad teenager somewhere falling in love with it as it helps him through the melodramas unfolding in his life.

POEMS!

So due to working more than usual this week I didn't have time to do a review. Instead, I'm going to post all of the poetry (written by me) that I have saved on my computer. I hope you enjoy it and I'll have a review up like normal next week.

A Matter of Life

Tonight I felt the old familiar sting

And with a rhyming thought I brought out the ol' White Screen

Should I follow in Big's footsteps and muse about bitches and bling,

or join Dylan's search for the answer to everything?

Maybe I'm naive but I have a hunch,

Being myself is gonna be enough

No more trend hopping or name dropping

It's time that I do some serious soul searching

Will depressants and psychedelics be the key,

or is my life in need of some cold and clear sobriety?

Is this supposed to be a lonely journey,

or will I find more enlightenment kickin' it with my lady?

Wait, ignore that pretentious obsession with wisdom

All I want is to be happy.

A Present For My Editor

Waking to the sound of sirens

Did you really think that there'd be silence?

With a mask, no sign

Will this ever be behind us?

Hidden with the help of sex and drugs

“You're either on the bus or off the bus.”

I've seen their nest and it looks more like a coop

When you escape you can return

Just throw everyone you know for a loop.

 A Question of Fidelity

You are the most beautiful ghost in my window

I hold my breath as I watch you disappear, real slow.

Should I feel guilty for not wanting to let you go?

Is it cheating if all I crave is a wave, smile or simple “hello”?

Eye Wish I Was Just Like You, Mr.Eye

I took all the cowboys out back and shot them

I made them beautiful coffins from pieces of my self-confidence

I traded in my Smith & Wessons for shiny new neuroses

I looked at pictures of my former-selves and they asked “What's the difference between you and us?”

“I can smile, you can trust”

Look Up This Time

Thoughts of last night are torturing me

We gave into “I love you” 's and lust after a failed world war three

Playing with the black and white I'm inspired to let out all the amazing you see in me

Sitting still, thoughts of happiness like this used to make me ill

Jealous, I got angry instead of wishing others well

Luckily, this time I have a different story to tell

Maybe this time it'll be something I can sell

With chords and a scream written in my own little heaven, leading your thoughts out of hell

“There's nothing you can or should do within the next 24 hours”

A conversation that led to thoughts of first dates and flowers

Mimicking the heroes that brought us so close, I tried desperately to convince you of my powers

To make you happy and laugh, time travel to your hurts and take them all back

With my hands on your spine I pray that you'll put up with this bed of pain one more time

As far as I know this is a rare occasion

A friendship like ours escalating into nothing less than love and passion

As my head tries to heed an old lesson something inside me screams “what use is caution?”

 Online/Offline

Is anyone else annoyed by this disappearing act?

Or is it a form of protest,

jumping off the digital map?

Maybe I'm taking it too seriously, this virtual slap.

I should walk away, turn the other cheek.

The machines are tired

It's time for a digital nap.

Scholastic Blues

Chin up, slacker

This is the exact opposite of being there for her

Of course the nightmare is gonna come true

The lecture halls were so much brighter and warmer before you

A glimpse at the old life

Would you rather not be subjected to this attention plight?

I'd be nothing but gracious if you took a fifth, final flight

Permanent and devastating

Educational, cleansing.

Sometimes Sailing Sucks

With a lack of supplies we scour the ocean

surrounded by a terrible silence, starving and broken.

The remains of our vessel is smoking,

On alert with bloodshot eyes, the captain and I feverishly inhale.

How often are we going to argue about who decided to set sail?

The sharks are making noise again

Demanding the fish we don't have,

how else are we going to get their precious flakes of skin?

“I'm so glad no one else has seen the monsters we've been”

“Me too, now shut up, put this on your tongue and pray that God didn't see a thing.”

Vic1

Dear Perfection

Right now it's obvious that distance is the wrong selection

Anxious to not let you forget me

I wanted to fill your backpack with loving heartsick poetry

Maybe before you get back I'll put this to a melody

Why not? You obviously bring out the artist in me

I hope the ocean treats you well

Jamming on the porch where it all began

I hope my love for you rings out like a bell

I know I've said this before but

You're an angel the universe lets accompany me on my occasional missions through hell

I'm sorry (I know, I owe you money) for all the sadness I let you see

I promise when you get back we'll do nothing but soak in the happy

I'll show you how much you mean to me and all the amazing things I believe we can be

 War Is Groovy

Before I flew to the desert I wrote music praising Jesus and The President

Beer and rifles in the woods, voices shouting:

“There's no way I'm letting Timmy Taliban into my hood!”

Now I have wind at my back and a bomb in my hands

covered in blood, melting the sand.

Tell my kids daddy was the first one to take a stand,

and famous for writing the blueprint of being a man.

I bleed for Texas tea

I bleed for your machinery

I used to be clear and the creatures in my belly filled land dwellers with fear

Bleeding profusely, I challenge all of you to return my riches.

How does it feel to watch fish choking on your wishes?

Your children will choke on it too;

and good luck, by the way, convincing them that water was blue.

The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come

      I was introduced to The Mountain Goats via a mix CD my brother Jeremy gave me. He had made the CD in Cegep and it contained all of the songs by The Mountain Goats that he had downloaded at the time. For years it was the only music I had by them. When I got it I fell in love with them for a time, but like with most bands, I moved on to others, keeping that burnt CD in one of my many cases, rarely bringing it out for a listen. I hadn't thought about The Mountain Goats for awhile and then over a month ago my girlfriend's father bought me their new album, The Life of the World to Come, as a Christmas present. The first time I listened to this album was in the car with my girlfriend and a few of her friends going to and from a bar. A few of the songs struck me as a massive departure from The Mountain Goats I used to know. Other songs were hard to hear over the chatter in the car, which gave me hope that upon further listening I'd hear the same type of subdued and beautiful acoustic songs I was accustomed to hearing from them.

      I was partially correct. There's lots of acoustic guitar on this album but it acts as a backbone to the lush instrumentation that the band's only constant member, John Darnielle, has incorporated into their sound. These new songs have beautiful string arrangements, pounding and eerie drum accompaniments and where, in the old songs, you would've found just John singing over an acoustic guitar, he has switched it for a piano. The most effective instrument used by Darnielle is his voice. He practically whispers over the quieter songs on the album and the ragers show us a loud and empassioned man with a message.

      My favorite thing about The Mountain Goats has always been John's beautiful lyrics. He is a wonderful storyteller and that striking talent is all over this album. All of the songs on this album are named after bible verses and like most bible stories, some of these songs are about people undertaking trials and tribulations, all the while trying to maintain faith and moral purity. Others are about people searching for a new beginning and praying for the strength to find it. The songs that are strongest lyrically are character pieces told in the first person. Each of them are like prayers coming from the souls of these imaginary people. John's ability to make these people sound real and their prayer for redemption sound sincere comes to a climax in the final track, “ Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace.” This song tells the story of a drug addict on the run after commiting a kidnapping. There is no redemption in these lyrics, which is fitting as the bible verse it is named after contains none either. It is a song about an irredeemable sinner running from what he has done. He can't escape the dark clouds above him and when he pulls the car over to do some unnamed drug, it only brings him higher and closer to them.

      This album shows The Mountain Goats doing what they do best, telling stories about realistic people (some good, some bad and some doing the best they can) accompanied by equally beautiful music, the density of which perfectly matches the lyrical depth of the songs. I have fallen in love with this band once again and hope I don't neglect them as long as I did last time.

My Chemical Romance- Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys

       “Look alive, sunshine.” Revolutionary words coming from a band whose lead singer, Gerard Way, made a name for himself with dark eyeliner and a pale, white face. Danger Days is a sonic revolution for My Chemical Romance and the lyrics really bring that idea home. Lyrically, these songs are filled with guns, bullets, bombs, explosions, the urge to flee and calls to action (and partying) despite certain death. Gerard Way's passionate vocals have been a staple of the band's sound since the beginning and Danger Days is no exception. On this new album, however, the passion no longer seems to come from a nihilistic and angst-ridden place. Gerard sounds ecstatic to be fighting “The Man,” blowing things up and, in the album's more tender moments, keeping a beautiful and unnamed love safe and sound.

        The band insists that Danger Days is not a concept album. Considering this, the addition of Dr. Death Defying's radio interludes remind me of skits that were popular in rap albums in the early 2000s. They don't tell a story; rather, they set the scene for the universe and mindset that the songs are coming from. In the case of Danger Days, that universe and mindset seem to be a party at the end of the world and Dr. Death Defying is providing the soundtrack.

        “This ain't about all the friends you made/But the graffiti they write on your grave.” Any successful revolution is a group effort and nowhere is this better shown than in the album's instrumentals. There are scorching guitar solos, fast-paced, pounding drum beats and stripped down rhythm guitars. The slower, and arguably cheesier, songs on the album have dense overdubs and beautiful effects on basically all the instruments (including the vocals on psychedelic pop song “S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W" ). Like on MCR's other albums, and in most popular rock music, the bass guitar is kept relatively low in the mix, acting as extra meat on the rhythm guitar's backbone. On their previous record, The Black Parade, keyboards played a subtle yet important role in the instrumentation and the band has carried that motif over to this record. The keyboards are for the most part felt rather than heard, giving the songs an airy and futuristic feel. Notable exceptions to this are the album's second single, “SING” (the sparse piano notes giving the song an unnerving sense of urgency) and “Planetary(GO!),” where the opening siren-synths act as a warning that the subdued New-Wave song you're listening to will inevitably explode into the album's grooviest party song.

        Overall, Danger Days shows a band that has spent a long time focusing on the negative aspects of the human condition, having a great time despite the obstacles. The album leaves the listener excited to see what these musical chameleons are going to come up with next. The band has described this album as a high speed chase through the desert in a Trans AM. Whether the next album is going to crash and explode or get away safely, I'm excited to see. I only have one piece of advice for My Chemical Romance: make sure you floor it again next time.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Hello again! When I started this blog I had thought that posting twice a week was a reasonable goal that I could easily achieve. Working this week to get one review done I realized how wrong I was! So for now my plan is to write and post one review a week and Mondays is the deadline I've given myself. I hope you enjoy reading this review as much as I enjoyed writing it. I appreciate any constructive criticism or questions you have about what I write so please be don't be shy to contact me! So here it is, my review of the Russian classic, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.

   There is little to nothing I can say about Leo Tolstoy's 'Anna Karenina' that hasn't been said over the past hundred plus years since it was published. When I finished the book and decided it would be the first one I write about I was instantly stumped. Searching for inspiration, I read the introduction (which I never do for fiction books because they tend to have spoilers) and had a breakthrough. In the preface to the novel, John Bayley writes, “All the characters in Anna Karenina are intensely real.” For me, that was the most riveting and satisfying part of reading this book. I'm not a Russian aristocrat in 1800s Russia but I still felt like I knew these characters and even saw some people I know in a few characters. I am friends with women as beautiful as Anna Karenina and Kitty, who men easily lose themselves in and fight over. I have felt Levin's devotion to a pursuit for love and his disappointment when that person has feelings for someone else.

   The most intense parallel I experienced between a character in the book and a person in my own life was between my eldest brother Chris and the character Levin, after his marriage to Kitty and the birth of their child. In the novel we're introduced to Levin as a socially concious land-owner who despises politics and is particularly passionate about reforming the current system of farming in Russia. In Part 5 of the novel he gets married and focuses his time and energy on providing for his family. Eventually he becomes preoccupied with financial worries and societal obligations. This is a major concern for all of the novel's main characters and is one of the novel's prominent themes. Levin eventually feels a void in his life and on the verge of suicide begins asking himself questions about the meaning of life. After much reflection Levin finds purpose and happiness in Christianity which he had been surrounded by his whole life but shrugged off in favour of intellectual and philosophical pursuits.

   Minus the desperation and suicidal thoughts, this is almost the same thing that happened to Chris. He got married, bought a small business and then he and his wife had a child. Around this time Chris became concerned with the issue of morality and how to raise his son to be a good and happy human being. Like Levin, my brother and I were raised by Christian parents and in a predominantly Christian community. Taking a more in-depth look at the bible and Christian values seemed like the logical next step for Chris. He has since decided to begin the process of becoming a minister in the Presbyterian church (a more drastic reaction than Levin,of course, but the circumstances leading to this decision is what contains the imporant similarities).

   In the words of Richard Pevear, co-translator and author of the introduction to the Penguin Classics edition I read, “Anna Karenina introduces us to the most ordinary Russian aristocrats of the 1870s, concerned with the most ordinary issues of the day, behaving in the most ordinary ways, experiencing the most ordinary joys and sorrows.” I think that's what makes this novel so relatable to the life of anyone reading it and is definitely what I loved most about it.

Why I'm Here.

Hey there. My name is Brian Charles Clarke. I'm 22 years old and live with my parents in Pointe-Claire, Quebec,Canada. I work at a bookstore my eldest brother owns in downtown Montreal called Argo Bookshop. It's a new year and I have resolved to increase my creative output. I've been passionate about music for as long as I can remember and over the past year that I've worked at Argo I have become passionate about reading. So that's what this blog is going to be filled with, reviews and essays about music and books.
  Like most music nerds I listen to a little bit of everything. Less generally, I have a soft spot for punk rock and other loud and heavy genres.As of late,my favourite band is the Florida based punk band "Against Me!". Over the past few years I have developed a love for rap music and I'm still in the process of immersing myself in the culture. I also listen to pop music(because who doesn't need to music to smile and dance to sometimes?) so you may end up reading my thoughts on big names and albums; but none of these are "guilty pleasures". In my opinion, good music is good music whether or not the musician takes themselves seriously or considers their work "art".
    As for reading, I'm still in the process of figuring out what I like and what I don't. Over the past year I read a lot of classic literature, along with more contemporary titles to make sure I had a nice mix of the old and the new. This year I hope to read more contemporary writers, if only so I can fall in love with writers who I can expect new work from. Out of what I've read so far my favorite author is Franz Kafka and I also really enjoy Jack Kerouac(and plan to read more from the beat generation writers this year). I mostly read fiction but I do read some non-fiction. Mostly books about music and this year I started looking into philosophy and plan to continue you doing so. This year was my first that I kept track of all the booksI read and if you're interested in getting a better idea of what I've read here is that list:

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe

One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Death of Ivan Ilyich/The Cossacks/Happily Ever After by Leo Tolstoy

Dog Boy by Eva Hornung

Black Boy by Richard Wright

Can't Stop Won't Stop by Jeff Chang

Shuck by Daniel Allen Cox

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder

Without Feathers by Woody Allen

Molloy by Samuel Beckett

The Trial by Franz Kafka

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

On The Road by Jack Kerouac

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

The Book of Human Skin by Michelle Lovric

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovitch by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Lockpick Pornography by Joey Comeau

The Republic by Plato

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

Confessions by Saint Augustine

The Myth of Sisyphus and other essays by Albert Camus.

That's all for now, I hope you stick around and enjoy reading my reviews!