the perks of being pessimistic

There are none. With the exception of being really funny.
Enough about me. More about music.

The New Pornographers - Crash Years
New Pornos were one of those indie curiosities that struck me at an age when I was ripe for molding. I was suddenly getting into stuff like Shins and Flaming Lips. Looking back on that time, I remember the excitement I had when discovering these fringe indie bands. I came across New Pornos after reading a Rolling Stones review for Twin Cinema that got a pretty decent group of positive adjectives and action verbs. I picked it up and loved it... but I never really wrapped my head around the term "power-pop". Catchy melody intertwined with power chords? Oddly enough, that sounds very sensible. Two albums later, the New Pornographers have Together, a step above the disappointing Challengers, but not too far off. Crash Years is bloody brilliant, though. Neko Case has a fuckin' great set of pipes and the New Pornos know how arrange A.C. Newman and Dan Bejar around them. She's underrated as a songstress, that's all I'm saying. Also, it's really hard to concoct a hook based on whistling alone, and I suppose it's harder to make it simultaneously catchy. But uh here ya go

Crystal Castles - Celestica (or for that matter, the entire Crystal Castles sophomore LP)
It's good. It's different from the other which is such a relief. I don't know if I can stand anymore atari/nintendo-inspired bleeps and bloops in a song, and expect that to carry the entire track. CC did good. They're tapping into more broader electronic sounds as well as staying within the realm of electro. I guess they're dabbling with that whole "haunted house" thing, and for that I'll bring up The Knife. I mean it's hard not to compare the two, or at least even bring up both names in the same sentence. "Celestica", though, is the standout track for me. Kinda makes them seem like nice people. Then "Doe Deer" wipes any hope of them channeling some Disco Romance type shit for an entire album. It's awesome.

Converge - Dark Horse
I had never heard of these guys before but by chance I stumbled upon their LP Axe to Fall and I'm not really sure why I hadn't heard about this band. Combining metal, hardcore, sludge, math-rock, hell, demons and the pit where that Dune-like worm monster chills in Return of the Jedi and that's pretty much Converge. Dark Horse is the first track off the album and my friend Alexis begged a pretty fair question: "how do you headbang to this shit?" In all honesty, I don't know. This music is so active that I don't really think standing and moving your head would be enough to give the band justice. I think running would probably do you better.

Big Boi - Fo Yo' Sorrows (feat. Too Short, George Clinton and SamChris)
I predict this Chico Dusty album will be a masterpiece. Big Boi's been on this album for a long while and from all the tracks I've heard so far (Shine Blockas, Royal Flush and Shutterbug), this album will probably do hip-hop some good. I mean the South has always bred some pretty interesting and fucked-up rappers, one of them being Outkast. This song is great, though, because it combines two of my favorite things in the world: getting head and smoking weed (sometimes not in that order, and sometimes simultaneously). The beat is on some kind of weird Apex Twin-type Warp records cadence. Love it. And the hook is just off-the-wall perfect. George Clinton is on it being George Clinton. The song is awesome. Period.