Glass Candy whips this track from synth-pop outfit Ssion in to an Italo-disco frenzy, with plenty of thudding beats and stabbing synths. It’s a collision of new wave, punk, rave, and disco, that, despite the connotations many of those genres have come to gain in that recent past, is good, solid fun for the dancefloor.
You’d be forgiven for thinking, what with this album’s title, that you’re in for non-stop dancefloor bangers. You’d be so wrong. On their 10th release, the Cologne-based duo of vocalist Regina Janssen and guitarist Gunther Janssen has instead made a delicate piece of fuzzy-edged downtempo that draws on pop and even folk. The two are playful (particularly on “Good Morning Day”) in a way that’s either simplistic or simple, depending on your perspective (and level of cynicism, maybe). But there’s enough going on beneath the surface to reward a deeper listen, at least on some tracks, like “She’s My Friend.” Sunny, but sometimes a few drops of rain would have been okay, too.
Some bands use their influences so skillfully, so transformatively, that they leave their roots far behind, growing in directions both new and exciting. Kamera is not that band. Their polished synth-pop draws so clearly on predecessors such as Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, and, well, a slew of New Wave bands, that their lineage is more of a straight line than a family tree. Still, if this album doesn’t exactly smack of originality, its candy-shell-hard production and highly structured pop songwriting are fun, in an undemanding way, at least when it stays up-tempo. When they get “romantic,” they sound like bad seventh-grade poetry. The wannabe ballads, “Love Surrounds Us” and “Disconnected,” are just inexcusable.
Bionic Commando ReArmed
The recently announced Bionic Commando for the Xbox 360 and PS3 was met with both the glee that the re-visitation of a beloved title garners and controversy, due to the cables on the overly muscular, dreadlocked anti-hero’s bionic arm that resembles meaty knockwurst. But one fact remains–the 1988 original for the NES is still holy ground (as far as those who were around for it are concerned) that Capcom has feared to tread on for nearly two decades.
So imagine our surprise, apprehension, and ultimate excitement when it was announced this week that not only would a fully 3D title swing our way later this year, but that Capcom would also release a downloadable version of the original this spring, complete with a 2008 facelift called Bionic Commando: ReArmed.
Bionic Commando: ReArmed will be available via Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network and feature re-imagined graphics and music while maintaining the core mechanics (and absurdist humor) of the original title. A few new twists will also be added, such as the ability to grapple your enemies and give them a toss.
We are more than excited to once again take on the futuristic Nazis (or BADDS, as the cleaned-up U.S. version called them back in the day) and die many horrible deaths as we swing from futuristic prosthetics.
Facebook Forced to Pull Scrabulous
I don’t care for Facebook. There I’ve said it. Yes I have an account just so I talk about it knowledgably with people who seem to think it’s the greatest thing since… well, since MySpace, which was the greatest thing since Friendster, which was the greatest thing since the telephone.
Countless “pokes” and “zombie biting” seems altogether pointless, but there is one thing Facebook has going for it that I simply can’t deny is worth putting up with “hottie” requests for (and I totally get tons of those)–Scrabulous!
Now it seems that Hasbro finally caught wind that people were playing this crazy new game and decided it was a little too close (OK, it’s exactly the same) to their trademark board game, the obscure but similarly named Scrabble. The company has now taken legal action to get the game pulled from Facebook.
Really? It took them this long to figure that out? Please, no one tell Hasbro that Facebook’s ATTACK! is actually Risk, or else I may have no reason to ever go back to Facebook again. On second thought…
More Rock Band/Guitar Hero 3 Coming!
Good news everyone! More downloadable rockness for Guitar Hero 3/Rock Band aficionados is imminent.
For the Trans-Am driving, weed smoking set, Guitar Hero 3 is offering some arena-rock classics for download in the next few weeks (no specific date yet):
Journey “Any Way You Want It”
Foreigner “Juke Box Hero”
Boston “Peace of Mind”
For the Madchester set, on Jan 22 Rock Band will offer the following Oasis classics:
“Wonderwall”
“Don’t Look Back in Anger”
“Live Forever”
Ever generous, Rock Band will also offer the following on Jan 29:
Smashing Pumpkins “Siva” (cool)
Rush “Working Man” (very cool)
Coheed and Cambria “Ten Speed (Of God’s Blood and Burial)” (Gag)
Sweden’s princess of pop Sally Shapiro will end the long winter with a few appearances in the U.S., bringing her producer and right-hand man Johan Agebjörn in tow. The three scheduled dates will mark the first time the twosome has DJed in North America, and since they’re famously elusive, those in the area would be well advised to catch them at one of the dates below.
Meanwhile, a remix version of 2007’s Disco Romance is slated for springtime. Norway’s disco king Lindstrøm will produce the album, with the Junior Boys (and hopefully others) contributing.
Tour Dates
03/04 Toronto, ON: Wrongbar
03/07 New York, NY: Mercury Lounge
03/09 Chicago, IL: Sonotheque
Listen to an exclusive mix from Johan Agebjörn.
Slug and Ant have returned, armed with their sixth studio album under the name Atmosphere. The hilariously titled When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold is due out April 22 on Rhymesayers, and comes after a series of EPs meant to tide fans over in the meantime.
Remains to be seen if the new album is more of the “conscious” hip-hop we’ve come to know the Minneapolis duo for (a press release states that When Life Gives You Lemons was influenced by fatherhood, for what that’s worth). Maybe this is a good clue, or at the very least, it’s one more Atmosphere release to listen to until the full-length drops.
Tracklisting
1 Like the Rest of Us
2 Puppets
3 The Skinny
4 Dreamer
5 Shoulda Known
6 You
7 Painting
8 Your Glass House
9 Yesterday
10 Guarantees
11 Me
12 Wild Wild Horses
13 Can’t Break
14 The Waitress
15 In Her Music Box
How fitting that the week we’re raving about Pelican‘s new live DVD, After the Ceiling Cracked, the band announces an upcoming tour. Those in the Midwest and Southeastern U.S. can see the Chicago quartet thrashing their guitars about and living up to the instrumetal label so often given to them. Residents of other parts of the country will have to be content with the DVD, which becomes available on Tuesday. Preview some trailers of it here.
Tour Dates
2/28 Chicago, IL: Empty Bottle
2/29 Dekalb, IL: The House
3/1 Bloomington, IN: Rhino’s All Ages Music Club
3/2 St. Louis, MO: The Gargoyle
3/4 Memphis, TN: Hi Tone Cafe
3/5 Birmingham, AL: Bottletree
3/6 Pensacola, FL: Sluggo’s – Langerado Music Festival
3/7 Gainsville, FL: Common Grounds
3/8 Clewiston, FL: The Big Cypress Reservation
3/10 Orlando, FL: The Social
3/11 Jacksonville, FL: Jack Rabbit’s
3/12 Atlanta, GA: Drunken Unicorn
3/13 Charlotte, NC: Casbah at Tremont Music Hall
3/14 Charlottesville, VA: Outback Lodge
3/15 Louisville, KY: Headliners Music Hall
I definitely prefer this record’s Audion Remix to the original. I like the part when the tempo goes down and the track starts over again. It’s weird but it’s not stupid pling-plang wulla-wulla bing-bang music; it’s a refreshing tool for a long night! You’ll dance and smile, I promise!
Ten years have passed since Richie Hawtin opened shop for his Minus imprint, so we were thrilled to hear the label has many celebratory plans for its anniversary. Of course, when Hawtin is at the helm, weird surprises are a foregone conclusion, and the anniversary will be no different, and the label will start celebrations with… 10 weeks of silence.
“During the first ten weeks of 2008, there will be no new releases and no performances or appearances from any of the Minus artists,” said Hawtin in a recent statement. “I hope you all enjoy this moment of silence while we reflect and re-focus our energy, ideas, and inspiration for the upcoming 10-year anniversary celebrations starting in late March.”
Maybe they need time to catch up on their videogaming, or perhaps they’ve been burning too many CO2 emissions and need to rest. Whatever the reasons, consider this silence official.
The real festivities will commence in the spring, and carry on for the rest of the year in the form of events, new releases, new artists, and some special technology. In the meantime, you might want to dig out some of your old Plastikman 12″s to see you through the impending hibernation.
