September 28, 2005

A New Beginning

Shame on me for not blogging in more than a week. Things have been a bit strange.

Last week featured a 27-hour car trip for my stepfather and sister (19 of which I was party to as I was removed from the projected path of Rita). I spent the weekend in Broken Arrow monitoring the weather and watching the storm turn to the east. Saturday night, I may a return trip to Skelly Stadium, sight of a number of embarrassments in my undergrad days at Tulsa, to partake of homecoming and the beginning of the Conference USA era for the University of Tulsa. I knew that TU's team had improved since last I stepped into Skelly ( a 20-0 win over UTEP which was the only win we had my senior year), but the team had been shown to have a swiss cheese rush defense in early season losses to Minnesota and Oklahoma. The opponent Saturday was Memphis and C-USA player of the year candidate De'Angelo Williams. The game went back and forth, but thanks to a overtime catch by Garrett Mills and a rare stop of Williams for less than 8 yards, TU hung on 37-31. C-USA looks like a good fit for the Golden Hurricane. Let us hope this continues.

Today's post titled thanks to Endochine. (This will begin a series of posts named for song titles)

Tomorrow: Disconnected (Out of Touch) : The Harris Poll, the BCS, and the College Football Fan

September 19, 2005

Shameless band promotion....

For want of something to talk about, but at the same time not wanting to actually think, I shall revert for one of today's post to promotional assistant for local and regional bands you should explore.


iSOLA is releasing their full-length debut October 4th when they release Loud Alarms. iSOLA is quartet based in San Marcos, TX with more of a keyboard enhanced indie rock sound. Their EP Don't Walk, Run has a number of quality tunes including "Paper on a Tuesday," "Emma," "Where Have All the Flowers Gone"and "3 Reasons".

Loud Alarms contains the tracks "Up Now" and "Hire a Plane", which were included in the Special Edition of DWR, along with 11 other tracks. A pre-mastering version of the track "Porch Sleeper" can be found here and is recommended listening.

Due to technical difficulties Broken Bride commentary will be delayed. However, previews are available here

--edited to give myself more time--

September 13, 2005

Banditos theorem proof and Rule of politics #4

My apologies to my reader(s) from Oklahoma. The story I'm about to hit on has been a story there for months, but until the results were in, I couldn't comment on its idiocy of the proposal out of fear that it might work. For the rest of you, Oklahoma held a single issue statewide referrendum asking the people to approve, of all things in today's climate, an increase in the state's gasoline taxes to "allegedly" pay to repair the state's decaying bridges and roadways.

People across the nation, including many Oklahomans, are screaming at the top of their lungs about the escalation of gas prices for last two years. Yet the oblivious politicians and construction firms who would be instrumental in bridge repairs pushed for a 5 cents per gallon increase in fuel taxes (8 cents per gallon for diesel) so that the state would be on par with neighboring states in the region. While the cause they cite is a worthy one, (The bridges and roads in Oklahoma are in hideous shape.) Their methods and timing are more of an issue. First there's the idea of giving yet more money to a backward state government that has rarely if ever maintained a promise to spend tax dollars on the project for which the money was solicited. Second, any political strategist involved in this should be fired on the spot for not understanding political rule #4.

Rule 4: "Timing is essential to the passage of any political agenda"

If the effects of the legislation you're pushing would exacerbate a situation that your constituents are already less than pleased about, you would normally have about as good a chance as me in a 100-meter race with Mike Vick or Adrian Peterson. This is however Oklahoma and stranger things have mysteriously passed.

With the unofficial results in, It's clear that the state of Oklahoma has a number of misguided people. Luckily they were outvoted nearly 7 to 1 thus restoring my faith a little that the idiots only run the asylum part time.

Song Lyric of the day:
"Just a number
Not even a name
But with enough numbers
Everything can change"
-- Caffeine and Starlight

September 06, 2005

Musical Review Therapy Part 2: "Paranoid"

Our Lady Peace Healthy in Paranoid Times
"It took 1165 days to record Healthy in Paranoid Times ..." and from this reviewer's perspective, it was time well spent. Again it should be noted that I am a long time OLP fan, but I can still be reasonably objective. This album is not the vintage OLP of Clumsy, Naveed, or Happiness... but it appears with this sixth studio effort that they have retraced some of their steps, and in the process produce a much stronger overall effort than 2002's Gravity.

HiPT opens with an impressive trio of track covering a broad range of styles and emotions. The opener Angels/Losing/Sleep seems to project a message of patience while providing images of the trouble times ("Looks like the holy ghost is gone... Even the angels are losing sleep") and confusion ("Looks like the war was in your head") that serve as a backdrop for much of the album. The second track is the much more up tempo "Will the Future Blame Us?" which builds upon the confusion theme, but seems to emphasize keeping those close to you in core thought rather than being distracted by the events and questions that can't be explained as the ability to "come home" and regroup is key to survival in this environment. Third in the trio is the obligatory relationship song "Picture" which while using a standard plotline for a song of the type is very well written and serves as a good change of pace between "Will the Future..." and "Where Are You?".

The middle of the album is hit or miss. The lead single "Where Are You?" is a high-speed almost anthem-like tune with solid lyrics depictions of a struggle through adversity while waiting for one break that could change thing. While the verses and the initial portions of the chorus seem downtrodden and at times hopeless, the chorus ending restate the importance of a positive outlook as "this could be the best day of our lives." This leads in to the brooding confrontational "Wipe That Smile Off Your Face" which is probably the second best song on the album (although I have a tough time between it a "Will the Future Blame Us"). Love and Trust", "Boy", and "Apology" and "Walking in Circles" (from the album's end) were decent songs but nothing special when compared with the beginning and end of the album.

The album rallies in a big way at the end with the fantastic "The World on a String" which is very well-written and lyrically driven with a very catchy melody that gets it stuck in my head more than it should, but as my favorite track there are worse problems to have. "Don't Stop" is a well-crafted song which has is very lyrically driven and uses musical changes of pace nicely. The acoustic closer "Al Genina" almost brought back memories of "Car Crash" from Clumsy. Admittedly, without knowing the back story, the song would be a mere nice closer with little understanding on my part of the song message; however, having heard Raine explain that Al Genina is a village he visited in Iraq the lyrical imagery takes a vivid turn and the emotional aspects seem much more clear.

Overall, A strong album which while by no means perfect is destined to remain on the playlist for a significant amount of time

8.5 out of 10

September 04, 2005

Musical Review Therapy Part 1: "Pain"

The news week has been a gut wrenching one; however, there is not much that I can type that hasn't been said by other more qualified individuals. Still in addition to the Katrina victims, I would like to extend codolences to the family and friends of Justice Rehnquist. His presence on the Supreme Court and his actions in and out of the courtroom will be missed.

On to the music...


Cold -- A Different Kind of Pain

Admittedly I go into to most of these reviews with an idea what to expect prior to listening. In this case I was curious if Cold could live up to Year of the Spider which for me was a very enjoyable album given the changes in the band since the last effort. I, as an admitted fan, was not disappointed. A Different Kind of Pain shows both the hard rock and more melodic abilities that the band has shown in previous efforts. The 11 tracks here on a whole very solid though the latter half contains the three best songs on the album.

The soldier's tale "When Angels Fly Away" offers a well-crafted take on the emotional struggles of a soldier on the battlefield as he describes the action of the conflict while still, in the chorus, trying to comfort a concerned loved one back home. The song is woven around a driving bass line and solid guitar riffs that pick up the pace from much of the early album. The lead single "Happens All the Time" is a good single though not as lyrically special as When Angels Fly Away or "When Heaven's Not Far Away." By lyrically special, I mean having a number of easily quotable lines that stick with me. "When Heaven's Not Far Away" projects to me an uncertainty of faith, which has shown itself in a number of Cold's prior efforts, with verses which comprised entirely of questions such as "Do the little things in life stay with your soul? Does an angel hold a sign with directions for everyone?"

The album opener "Back Home" is a strong opener and the early half of the album has quality tracks but the sequencing of the disc places three songs which sound very much the same within the first five. Other than "Back Home" the first half of the album only offers the title track as a standout departure because of its reliance on the keyboard to melodic drive the song. The tracks "Another Pill" and "Anatomy of a Tidal Wave" have their own musical merits but they get lost in that sequence of similar tunes early. When listened to on shuffle the songs are enjoyable but straight through they are difficult to discern.

Overall, "... Pain" is a solid example of lyrically driven rock although those looking for positive and light-hearted material should probably look elsewhere.
8.0 out of 10 (rating would be slightly higher if not for concern over the sequencing)

Tomorrow: Part 2 "Paranoid"

Song Lyric of the Day
"Got a badge for my scars just the other day
Wore it proud for the sake of my sanity
I could see the flames burn bright from the winding road"
Cold -- "When Angels Fly Away"