-M.E. Quintero

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.626348&w=425&h=350&fv=]

P&B was "written by Rivers Cuomo as a reaction to a meeting with Geffen where the band was told it needed to record more-commercial material. Cuomo remarked, 'I came out of it pretty angry. But ironically, it inspired me to write another song.'" [Wikipedia] Reminds me of Sara Bareilles and her "Love Song" inspiration that we mentioned in another post...

Other than being a catchy song with the "familiar, self-assured lameness" of Weezer's glory days (as Marc Hogan of Pitchfork Media put it), the cast of the music video is peppered with many of the oddball YouTube celebrities that we love to hate/hate to love. For those of you who aren't so addicted to YouTube that you recognize all the characters, here's a helpful version of the video with clickable annotations.

Their making a video like this (whether it was just a fun idea or a clever viral marketing ploy) coupled with Cuomo's mission to make a song together with YouTube users is, to me, indicative of a new era of collaboration that is rapidly gaining traction - one in which fans want to interact with their favorite artists in new ways, musicians are willing to be more accessible to their fans, and where ordinary people have many more opportunities to do creative things, share them, and possibly achieve more than just their 15 minutes of fame.

Sometimes I wanna pack it all up, get on a bus and move to Vermont
or Maine, or any of those states back east, that I remember.
Sometimes I wanna go back to school, an East Coast college with some history,
I'd be satisfied, I know, in the simple things

Longtime sunshine
Longtime sunshine upon me

Sometimes I wanna build a house, with a wood stove or a fireplace,
in the middle of the living room, an old piano.
Sometimes it don't seem so bad, to settle down with a good woman,
leave this lonely life behind forever and ever.

Longtime sunshine
Longtime sunshine upon me

Longtime sunshine
Longtime sunshine upon me

Sometimes I wanna get in a car, close my eyes and drive real fast,
keep on going 'til I get someplace where I can truly rest.

Longtime sunshine
Longtime sunshine upon me

Longtime sunshine
Longtime sunshine upon me

-Weezer-

Still catchy and worth a shot.

Now just Rivers' band.

Eu não sou crítico de música. Não tenho base teórica, nunca escrevi sobre isso, mas tem gente que é mais doido que eu e gosta de saber minha opinião quanto a uma determinada banda/artista. Se você não é uma dessas pessoas, está dispensado para ir ler outra  coisa. Caso queira saber, vamos por ordem alfabética:

Flavors of Entanglement
Alanis Morissette

Parece que a Alanis entrou agora no ano 2000. Lembra quando em 1999 – 2000 alguns artistas começaram a ficar mais, digamos, eletrônicos? Pois é. É o que a Alanis está fazendo. Na metade de 2008. Ou seja, a 1 ano e meio de 2010! Pense numa Madonna mais pop rock, mantendo as batidinhas eletrônicas e sendo menos Madonna. Pois é. A Alanis demorou quase uma década para ter sua fase 'adolescente' do eletrônico e sampler. E quando teve, desandou o caldo. Um CD totalmente dispensável no meu iPod. Acho que vou deixar a título de curiosidade. Tenho medo do que virá depois desse. [Quando alguém lança um CD e depois de ouvi-lo uma vez pensa: "Quando sai o próximo?" é porque a coisa não vai bem mesmo].

Preciso registrar que sempre gostei muito de Alanis, acho que ela faz boa música, um rock agradável e, por vezes, coisas diferentes. Nos CDs anteriores, as mais calminhas eram as renegadas, embora boas. Nesse a mais calminha, Madness, é a única que se salva. E olhe lá.

Conclusão: volta Alanis!

Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
Coldplay

Pois é... eu ouvi esse CD. Sabe quando você vê a Thati do Big Brother comemorando festa de aniversário no buffet infantil da Andrea Sorvertão e se sente mal pela pessoa? [Pelas duas, nesse caso?]. Então é um pouco pior. É como quando você descobre que a Sorvetão está casada com o Conrado e vê fotos dos dois juntos, abraçados à Thati. Nem uma barra de Hershey’s Cookie n’ Cream resolve essa vergonha alheia.

O CD do Coldplay chega perto disso. Odeio resenhas muito grandes, por isso vou tentar ser breve no que puder, ao analisar faixa a faixa:

1 – Life In Technicolor
Música de abertura, literalmente. Não é só a primeira, mas serve como um "Respeitável público". Inteira instrumental. Quando você acha que vai ficar boa, acaba.

2 – Cemeteries of London
Logo de cara, não dá pra entender muito bem a batida [de leve] que rola ao fundo da voz de Chris Martin. De repente entra a bateria, baixo e violão. Aí você pensa "Conheço essa levada de algum lugar... tão anos 90". E um pop-up do Pato Banton cantando "Go Pato" aparece na sua mente, enquanto rola a música. A partir daí, fica impossível não dar risada toda vez que voltar a ouvir essa faixa.

3 – Lost
No primeiro segundo de música você pensa "O cara está mesmo se perdendo", sem nem ter visto o título da faixa. Isso porque ele faz um 'tum-tum-tá', bem We Will Rock You, do Queen. Eu até fiz junto para ver se sincronizava e nem preciso dizer o resultado, não? Aí ele canta: "Just because I'm losing / Doesn't mean I'm lost / Doesn't mean I'll stop". Decepciona saber que isso continuará até o final do CD e você pensa "Quando é que sai mesmo o próximo CD deles?".

4 – 42
Começa bem Coldplay-jeito-de-ser. E quando você se vê agradecendo por isso, fica preocupado. "Não era um CD em que iriam inovar? Ah é, eles inovaram. Fizeram referências ao Pato Banton e a We Will Rock You do Queen e no meio disso tudo, estava o Conrado, a Andrea Sorvetão e a Thati". De repente a música muda completamente e você fica triste porque se lembra de Amsterdam, música do álbum A Rush of Blood to the Head [último álbum bom, que é possível ouvir mais de 5 faixas] e percebe que ela tem a mesma 'temática', só que pior.

Ainda está aí?

5 – Lovers in Japan / Reign of Love
São duas músicas. A primeira rola no mesmo clima de "Vai demorar muito pra acabar?". Começa a segunda e depois do que aconteceu na primeira, até Pato Banton seria bem vindo. O Coldplay faz um pouco melhor e nos dá esperança em continuar ouvindo o CD. Mas você se sente enganado. Teve que ouvir a primeira para chegar nessa parte. Se você tiver um editor de MP3, vale a pena cortar a Lovers in Japan e ficar apenas com Reign of Love.

6 – Viva la Vida
Hein? Não era Chris Martin? Em que momento entrou o Ricky no CD, que ninguém me avisou?

Nessa faixa parece que o Coldplay trocou uma idéia com a Alanis e perguntou "E aí, como vai ser seu novo CD? Anos 2000? Boa!". Nem perguntaram se já não tinham perdido o timing, mas quem precisa disso, né? Só colocar uma orquestra e uma batidinha clássica e fica tudo certo...

7 – Violet Hill
Bom, pelo menos tem nome de música do Coldplay. A levada ainda é do Pato Banton [Go Pato], mas em um ritmo mais devagar, com mais guitarras e no finalzinho, um momento Coldplay-de-ser, que você chega a cruzar os dedos e promete nunca mais falar mal da Gwyneth Paltrow se a música terminar depois disso.

8 – Strawberry Sing
Passa desapercebida. E isso é um mérito em um CD como esse. Chego a arriscar que pode ser um dos singles do álbum, já que da metade pra frente tem um violãozinho bem Coldplay, o que é uma coisa boa em um CD como esse [Acho que já falei isso, né?].

9 – Death and All His Friends
Início com pianinho Coldplay, Ricky Martin, quer dizer, Chris Martin sussurrando e riffs de guitarra característicos da banda. Mas o sussurro avisa: "(…) just be patient, and don't worry", pois o crescente virá e a música se transformará. Mais uma vez. Será que ele não tem pena da gente não? A resposta é: não. E uma happy music entra em cena. Com marcação marcante [foi proposital] do baixo e da bateria, à la Pet Shop Boys, mas numa versão piorada, lógico.

10 [finalmente] – The Escapist
O clima Pet Shop Boys continua. A essa altura, você só torce para que o Martin, seja ele qual for, nunca tenha ouvido RPM para não tentar nada progressivo, enquanto ele sussurra uma meia dúzia de palavras e um sampler de teclado, ou seja lá o que isso for, encerra o álbum.

Conclusão 1: ao final dessa análise uma coisa para mim ficou clara: o Coldplay é melhor fazendo clichês e sempre a mesma coisa.
Conclusão 2: não perca seu tempo ouvindo esse CD.

The Red Album
Weezer

Eu quase estava desistindo de ouvir novos CDs, me fechar no iPod com os anos 90 em Nirvana, Pearl Jam e Red Hot Chili Peppers, quando ouço o novo do Weezer. Só pelo fato dos caras não ficarem se preocupando com um nome pro álbum, simplesmente pintarem de uma cor primária e deixarem ser chamado do nome que for, já é grande coisa. O primeiro deles era um fundo azul, eles posando em fila pra câmera e o nome "Weezer". Começaram até vir o 3º, o CD ainda era conhecida como "Weezer", banda e disco. Mas no 3º, fizeram a mesma coisa, mas trocaram o fundo, que passou a ser verde. Ou seja: o primeiro tornou-se o Blue Album, o terceiro ficou Green Album. No quinto, e mais recente, o fundo é vermelho. Não precisa conhecer a escala RGB para adivinhar o nome dele.

Aqui vou me dar a liberdade de falar só das faixas que mais gostei. No entanto, diferentemente dos outros CDs, vale a pena ouvir todas as faixas, mesmo que aqui não mencionadas.

1 – Troublemaker
A banda é da Califórnia. Por que digo isso? Simplesmente porque a música que abre o álbum pode parecer alguma coisa que você já ouviu por aí, principalmente em bandas da Costa Oeste dos EUA. "Acho que já ouvi isso no O.C." é algo bem válido. No entanto, estamos falando de Weezer, uma banda 'velha'. Você ouve mais um pouco e pensa "Hum, aqui tem um algo mais do que as outras bandas californianas".

3 – Pork and Beans
Muito se falou já desse primeiro single, simplesmente pela idéia genial do clipe em juntar os The Hypests Hypes [já falei que gosto de neologismos?] da internet dos últimos anos em um vídeo só. Ou seja: os maiores hits do Youtube são parte de seu clipe. Quem não vai querer ver tudo isso junto, num vídeo só?!

Mas e a música? Só pelo clipe, poderia ser o Chris Martin cantando seu último álbum [OK, exagerei], mas ela se garante. Se você tiver a possibilidade apenas de ouvi-la, isso já é algo válido. Uma levada tranqüila para os padrões-Weezer-de-ser. Até quando entram as guitarras, baixos e batera com o chimbal totalmente aberto, ela vai agradar até os ouvidos mais delicados, justamente por montar uma melodia que se torna agradável nas estrofes iniciais.

4 – Heartsongs
Só na 3ª vez fui perceber a batida do coração no início da música. Enfim, me lembrou muito Pinback, o que, para mim, é uma boa referência. Tive a sorte de comprar meu primeiro iPod de um amigo, ou seja, com 3 mil músicas recheando-o. Mesmo tendo apagado algo entre mil e 1.500 músicas, muita coisa que ouço hoje em dia descobri nessa época. A coincidência: esse amigo é da Califórnia. Tem uma hora que essa música chega a lembrar o Linkin Park, que eu simplesmente abomino, mas não chega a ser pé no saco e cansativo como a banda do cara que parece aquele de CSI. Quando você começa a pensar "Pior que o som está parecendo mesmo", a música termina e fica tudo bem. =)

6 – Dreamin'
Música sem violãozinho ou percussão. Mas uma música 'feliz'. Acho que o que resume bem o Weezer é isso. Eles fazem um Nerd Punk Rock pra se curtir, sabe? Aquilo do 'De amargo já chega a vida', então o que rola são coisas felizes.

7 – Thought I Knew
A música começa e acho que mais uma banda sucumbiu ao revival do ano 2000 ou só percebeu que entrou nessa década quase uma década depois, mas dou o benefício da dúvida ao Weezer, já que as 4 músicas acima por si já valem mais do que o CD inteiro da Alanis + o álbum inteiro do Richris Martin. Enquanto estou escrevendo, vou ouvindo as músicas... tempo real. Para o texto sair exatamente no clima dela. Acontece que na metade dela, já esqueci das paradinhas eletrônicas do começo e estou feliz pelo Weezer ter feito esse CD.

10 – The Angel and the One
A música tem um 'quê' de Death Cab for Cutie e o vocal de vez em quando lembra o Dashboard Confessional, que não é da Califórnia, mas é da Costa Leste, Boca Raton – Flórida.

11 – Miss Sweeney
Uma baladinha bem feita, com pausas em lugares previstos, mas bem feitos. Letra em forma de historinha, o que é agradável. Melodia bem agradável também. Superior às outras que não foram citadas

14 – King
Algo meio folk, meio rock, meio Weezer, bem agradável também. Música que você ouve no dia-a-dia e agrada. O vocal e a levada lembram um pouco Everlast, mas em um sentido bom da coisa.

Conclusão: o Weezer tem um som que você poderia pensar ser alguma outra banda. Não é nada que chegue a "Nossa, só podia ser mesmo o Weezer pra fazer um negócio assim", como é o caso do John Frusciante, por exemplo, guitarrista do Red Hot Chili Peppers. Mas é algo ‘comum’ bem produzido, bem dirigido, enfim, bem feito.

Mais um ponto para o Weezer: eles fizeram uma música colaborativa. Rivers Cuomo, vocalista e *líder da banda, colocou em seu canal do Youtube uma série de vídeos de como se escrever uma canção. Pediu sugestão de letra, acordes e título. Ele mesmo compôs e colocou o resultado no mesmo canal. [Detalhe para os gols de Sócrates e Carlos Alberto, clássicos].

* Acho essa questão de 'líder' da banda muito discutível. Se você já tocou em alguma sabe que a pessoa que está no microfone nem sempre a lidera. Muitas vezes, quem dá a dinâmica da banda, na hora em que se está tocando, pode ser qualquer um. Alguém que conduza a banda a fazer algo que fique sincronizado, que soe bem. Por isso evito, hoje em dia, falar em "líder da banda". Utilizei muito esse termo quando trabalhei na rádio Brasil 2000 e precisava escrever as notas do dia inteiro. Hoje em dia, não curto mais, porém, as pessoas entendem dessa forma e é necessário fazer a informação chegar ao interlocutor, não importa como, diriam alguns professores. Segundo eles, si aLgUen ixkrevi axim, e a outra pessoa entende, tá valendo.

Like in the current incarnation of Weezer.  He's got a porn-stache.

ALSO, he had some new material for a song, and he wanted some fan input.  So, he went ahead and posted pieces of the music on YouTube (my second youtube reference in as many days....must be a record or something) and had fans comment on what they had heard so far.  So he tweaked and responded, the fans listened and let him know what they thought some more.  Further tweaking and tinkering commenced, and in the end, came up with a damn good song.

It's a little ditty going by the name "Turnin' Up The Radio" and its pretty catchy.  Exactly what you'd expect from latter day Rivers.  Lotsa references to pop culture and how it's all bunk in the end.

Oh, wait?  You wanna hear it?  Good thing the vid is just below this line of text.  Enjoy!

Ya know, if I tried to come up with a song, with listener interaction, I get the feeling it would sound like 2 angry, underfed felines having very angry sex.  I mean, if thats what you're into.

Sicko.

Wait, I need a Nik Carter comment....ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

It would sound like Nik Carter singing?  WHAMMO!

Or at least that's how things seemed until the sixth record (or The Red Album, as fans began calling it as soon as the monochromatic cover art was unveiled). Without saying anything about the music itself just yet, it's a bit baffling to note that, for the first time, a Weezer album actually deserves the lengthy process of contextualization that their music has always been subjected to. In fact, this album sounds so much like a culmination of everything they've done up to this point that it actually casts such maligned albums as Maladroit and Make Believe in a new light, and brings the entire Weezer narrative into sharp focus.

In other words, it's an album that deserves-demands, really-to be appreciated within the larger context of the Weezer canon. It is, after all, an album that at first blush comes down squarely within the Blue Album camp of goofy, geeky pop dressed up in crunching metal riffs as opposed to the raw, edgy sound of Pinkerton, which was essentially a singer-songwriter album adorned with the tropes of screeching, scraping guitar rock, with singer Rivers Cuomo baring some of his most intimate and embarrassing feelings. And this, of course, might lead fans to believe that Red is, by default, another entry in the list of post-Pinkerton retreats-an album that, like Green, Maladroit, and Make Believe, finds Cuomo doing everything he can to avoid revealing anything personal or intimate, hiding his feelings and his personality behind immaculate, workmanlike pop songs that emphasize craft over expression or discovery.

But that wouldn't be quite right. Red isn't the continuation of the post-Pinkerton trend so much as a fulfillment of it-the album in which-finally!-patient fans get a sense of what Rivers has been up to for the last few years. We got the first hint of it with Alone, the collection of solo demos he released last year; though not a particularly enjoyable collection, it did offer a compelling portrait of a relentless craftsman patiently learning the ins and outs of pop songwriting, honing his skills and figuring out how to manipulate the form itself. And now, with Red, we get the sense that he was up to that very same thing on The Green Album and the two that came after it-cultivating his craft and mastering the form.

And that learning process has yielded The Red Album, a dynamite collection of songs that finds Cuomo implementing all the tricks he's learned over the last few albums. His mastery of craft is on full display, yes, but this time he's not just toying with the tropes and trappings of pop music-he's putting that craft into the service of his art, for The Red Album is, in its own way, as autobiographical as anything he's ever done-including Pinkerton- but, because it's wrapped up in pop hooks, slick production, humor and heart, it's never as strikingly raw and intimate as that album was. It's the best of both worlds, really-as catchy and compulsively playable as Blue or Green, as personal and quirky as Pinkerton, funnier and cleverer and more ambitious than anything Weezer's ever done.

And rest assured, it is ambitious. Sure, it never strays too far from the tried and true Weezer blueprint, but it finds the band playing with more confidence and looseness than they have in... well, ever. This isn't the studied, timid Weezer of Maladroit, too cautious to ever throw a wrench into their formula; this is a Weezer that's playful enough to write a six-minute, multi-part epic called "The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived"-like "Bohemian Rhapsody" for a new generation, cycling through basically the entire history of pop music before all is said and done. This is a Weezer who can write and record an acoustic ballad that's creepier and more ominous than even the angriest tracks on Pinkerton ("Cold Dark World"). This is a Weezer that can shuffle their entire line-up for whole songs, bringing guitarist Brian Bell to sing lead vocals and send Rivers back to the drum kit on "Thought I Knew" (bassist Scott Shriner and drummer Patrick Wilson each get a turn at lead vocals, too). This is a Weezer that can turn in their warmest, most disarming and affecting song ever ("Heart Songs"), name-check Timbaland, and crack goofy musical jokes ("How's this for arts and crafts?" quips Rivers before launching into a ridiculous, effects-laden solo on opener "Troublemaker"). It's even a Weezet that covers Talk Talk and The Band as bonus tracks on the deluxe version of the album. And all the while, it's a Weezer that's playing and writing more tightly than ever before, offering their hookiest and most memorable songs yet.

And it's also a Weezer with a frontman who, for the first time since Pinkerton, is willing to let us into his heart and his head-albeit on his own terms. Make no mistake-this isn't a confessional album like Pinkerton, and it is, if anything, goofier and geekier than anything the band's yet done. The indie hipsters will hate it. For the rest of us, it's red gold. If Pinkerton was Cuomo's sexual autobiography, this is his musical one, a celebration of everything that's great about being in a rock band. "Troublemaker" chronicles his misfit adolescence and his early attraction to making music. "The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived" is a tongue-in-cheek send-up of rock and roll ego. "Pork and Beans" turns a frustrating meeting with record label execs into one of the band's funniest, most memorable singles. "Heart Songs" is a soulful little acoustic number, an homage to all the bands who shaped Cuomo's own passion for music that culminates in as touching a tribute to Kurt Cobain as has ever been recorded. After that, the songs become less obviously personal, but, because they deal overtly with the tropes of pop songwriting, they come across in this context not as further exercises in craft, but as affectionate nods to the musical traditions in which Weezer now firmly entrenches itself.

And that's what ultimately makes this not just the best Weezer album since Pinkerton, but the one that seems most likely to befuddle and beguile the indie hipster set. This is an album that's as carefully-crafted as The Green Album or Maladroit, but more unabashedly, unselfconsciously emotional as anything they've ever done. It's big on craft, yes, but also on heart. It's the first time in a long time that Cuomo has tempered his cleverness with sincerity, and so, while it seems like there will never again be a Weezer album as strangely moving as Pinkerton- even here, Cuomo still sounds like he's doggedly avoiding anything that borders on the confessional-The Red Album is far and away the most creative and compelling Weezer album since that seminal sophomore set, and it's arguably the most flat-out enjoyable, surprising, and relentlessly playable record of their career.

El fin de semana a la vuelta de la esquina...

Las vacaciones cada día más cerca...

Hoy he escuchado nuevamente esta canción de Weezer, una y otra vez, y no tengo duda de que es la más apropiada para el post del viernes.

Os puede sonar gracias a la campaña publicitaria de una empresa de telefonía móvil  hace unos años.

Weezer tiene muy buenas canciones, diría incluso que un puñado mejores que esta, que iré colgando a lo largo de los próximos días/semanas/meses. Sólo espero que este Island In The Sun os transmita, al menos, una parte del buen rollito que me ha transmitido hoy a mi.

Tenéis dos versiones del video, la primera, Hispanic Wedding y, la segunda, dirigida por Spike Jonze, pinchando en este enlace (ambas tienen copyright por lo que recurrimos a los enlaces). No os perdáis esta segunda versión.

De regalo, y a continuación, el directo en el Rock An Ring de 2005.

¡¡¡Ánimo que ya es San Viernes!!!

Can you play guitar? Bass? Drums? Write catchy songs / have an ego like Matt Sharp? Wear what has to be a fake mustache like Rivers? If you meet any of these requirements, Weezer is all, "Come play with us!" on their so-called Hootenanny tour.

I'm sorry, but that's just plain... weird.

My girlfriend, reading the title out of the corner of her eye, goes, "He must still not be having sex..."

But here's some Funkadelic for no reason:

This song reminds me of when Weezer was good.. and I miss that.

After a three-month hiatus, the Countdown continues! And you thought I'd abandoned it!

60.
Mini Moni。 - Mini Moni。 Jankenpyon! (2001)
Tsunku / Tsunku / Konishi Takao / zetima

In addition to being Rivers Cuomo's introduction to J-pop, this single put Mini Moni on the map as one of H!P's most successful and influential acts to date. The video is pure madcap pandemonium and features interstellar hijinks, bovine lactation, various veggies, a creepy black-clad adversary (named W?), and some philosophical meditation on the merits and pitfalls of simultaneous symmetric zero-sum games. As much attention has already been given to the history and mathematics of jankenpon, I don't need to dwell on it, but Mini Moni offers an interesting take on this classic game, combining it with a Japanese children's game involving red and white flags, though I can't seem to find any info on it other than this post by Celestia at Bikkuri Project. This combination could potentially establish a binary relation (rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, paper beats rock---but only if your color matches your opponent's; otherwise, the opposite relations hold), making the Cartesian product {rock, paper, scissors} × {red, white} a six-element commutative magma. Also, I find the unorthodox spelling of NY-Maket rather amusing.

59.
Country Musume。 ni Ishikawa Rika (Morning Musume。) - Hajimete no Happy Birthday! (2001)
Tsunku / Tsunku / Takahashi Yuichi / zetima

This classic PV is a throwback to an earlier era of filmmaking, complete with a moon scene reminiscent of the Golden Age of science fiction and plenty of bizarre and random silliness, not to mention the priceless expressions on the chef's face. (Mmmmm.... strawberries...) The overexposed appearance of the video also gives it a nice retro feeling.

58.
Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume。) - Balalaika (2006)
BULGE / Sako Shigeki / Sako Shigeki / zetima

Everyone's favorite energetic bundle of extreme returns in a semiotic flurry of stars, moons, hearts, and circles to unleash an epic tale of magic, illusions, deception, and quantum teleportation, and illuminates (pun maybe intended?) the role of measurement in the decoherence of elements in a quantum superposition.

Also, the juxtaposition of star and moon presents an astronomical anomaly, albeit a consistent one, positing a star visible in front of a partially illuminated crescent moon. The anomaly is that the moon is larger than the star, though this size difference is possible for, say, a neutron star with a 10-20 km radius and Earth's Moon with a 1737 km radius; it's consistent because the points of the star actually do appear in front of the moon. Unfortunately, the national flags of Algeria, Pakistan, and the Comoros do not have such a saving feature to indicate that the stars depicted are of an unusual size and are appearing in front of the moon. One is left to assume that the stars in these flags are indeed distant and yet somehow able to shine through the unilluminated part of the moon. (Turkey's flag escapes this fate, but just barely.) I won't comment on the actual shapes of the crescents and stars in any of these depictions.

[dailymotion id=x31i95]

57.
Minihamuzu (Uta: Mini Moni。) - Mirakururun Grand Purin! (2003)
Tsunku / Tsunku / Takahashi Yuichi / zetima

Fast-paced craziness from the Minihamuzu, against a visually stunning backdrop full of twists, turns, and other topological mind-bogglers ... (Mmmmm, Möbius strips ...) I suppose one would be correct in describing this topological tapestry as a Mini Moni Manifold.

[dailymotion id=xx9yy]

56.
Country Musume。 ni Konno to Fujimoto (Morning Musume。) - Uwaki na Honey Pie (2003)
Tsunku / Tsunku / Morio Takashi / zetima

Country Musume and Friends tackle some hardcore physics in this evocative video portraying wave-particle duality, among other topics. The tennis ball is obviously a particle, yet its shock waves are highlighted as discrete rings, characteristic of a wave exhibiting periodic peaks. This duality shows up all over the place, including the actors themselves, who diffract into several copies upon coming into contact with the ball, thus not only reinforcing the de Broglie hypothesis that all matter exhibits wave-particle duality, but also dramatically portraying multiple-slit diffraction (the ball can be thought of as passing through the surface of a tennis racket, which consists of many slits; in fact it passes through all of the slits at once, each part then interfering with the other parts to create the characteristic intensity pattern of alternating light and dark bands, symbolized here by the splitting of each actor's image into lighter copies spaced at regular intervals). Relativity is also examined through the constant shifting of reference frames as well as the scrolling backdrop and arrow strip (denoting a time dimension perhaps?), and the rectangular grid design of the floor and ceiling. Some effort is also made to show the effects of time dilation and length contraction when Lorentz-transforming to the ball's reference frame. And to cap it all off (pun maybe intended?), the ball's smacking Konno in the head at the end is a nice demonstration of Compton scattering, with the ball clearly losing some energy in the process, as exhibited by its loss in momentum (energy and momentum being related, of course, in the "full", relativistic version of Einstein's famous formula, $latex E^2 = m^2c^4 + p^2c^2$ [E is energy; m is mass; p is momentum; and c is the speed of light]).

I haven't seen this much physics in an H!P PV since Futari wa NS. And people ask me why I like Hello! Project so much. Really, all this wonderful unabashed nerdiness!! How could you not love H!P???

Ao entrarem, notaram que só havia um mictório vazio. “Esse povo não respeita mais a lei de um mictório de distância”, pensou ele. O outro, notavelmente bêbado, apontou para o vaso com certa deferência. “Não, você entrou primeiro, pode ir”, disse, apesar de seus órgãos estarem a ponto de explodir. Civilidade em primeiro lugar.

Quase que imediatamente o mictório ao lado foi vago. “É, parece que sobrou um pra você”, comentou o bêbado com um sorriso sincero e olhos desfocados.

O zíper desce, uma leve mirada, e então a maravilhosa sensação de alívio recobre seu ser. Era o Nirvana aromatizado com pinho! Seu regojizo do momento foi quebrado pelo breaco:

- Cerveja é foda, né.
- Ahn, é... – retrucou, visivelmente perturbado
- Eu di um bêjo nela-TAN NANANANANANANAM-e chamei pra passiá-TAN NANANANANANANAM-a gente fomus pru shópi- NANANANANANANAM...

O bêbado continua o assassínio dos já finados Mamonas Assassinas enquanto lava as mãos e se afasta, abrindo a porta e voltando para o bar. Eu e um clone mais baixo e mais gordo de Rivers Cuomo, os únicos que sobraram no banheiro, trocamos um olhar e nos dobramos de rir.

Dia dos Namorados é foda.

Disclaimer: I’m not related to Rivers Cuomo or the rest of Weezer, and I never related to their music, either. As a high-school freshman, I once claimed to like the “blue album” to impress a girl (didn’t work). Their sophomore magnum opus, Pinkerton, was only recently dropped on my desk by a co-worker (still digesting it). To date, my favorite Weezer song is “Keep Fishin’” (I’m a sucker for Muppets).

In short, I’m not a diehard Weezer fan, and their sixth LP, the self-titled “red album,” has just about made that impossible. Weezer is bafflingly awful: Cuomo and his crew have made an album completely devoid of charm, wit, and originality. This is what “autopilot” sounds like, and it’s not pretty.

The record opens with the bland but otherwise harmless “Troublemaker” — but the first sign of legitimate trouble comes with “The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Theme),” which tortures the famous folk melody for six whole minutes before dumping it in a cornfield. As if to outdo that, Cuomo later steals the chorus from “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and sings “Everybody get dangerous/boo-yah!” over it.

“Boo-yah” is about as inspired as the lyrics get, unfortunately. In between resurrecting ’90s slang and multiple references to underwear, Cuomo ditches “clever” — bypasses “tongue-in-cheek”completely — and jumps straight to “eye-rolling.” Pop culture shout-outs are everywhere (the limp ballad “Heart Songs” waxes nostalgic about everyone from Slayer to Debbie Gibson), but they only succeed in stamping an expiration date on the disc. Adding to the stale taste is the ’90s riffage that dominates the album — hell, “Thought I Knew” could easily be an Uncle Kracker track.

It’s hard to tell exactly why this record exists. Is this a love letter to long-time Weez-heads? A new creative direction? Contractual obligation?

My bet’s on the latter. Like a bad movie sequel, Weezer’s completion of the “self-titled color-album trilogy” could be a franchise-killer. At least the color’s appropriate this time: Red means STOP.

And what I do know is that I loved Weezer. Loved them. Adored them like no other band. I would attend every concert they played in Seattle during high school and I'd even drive down to Portland to watch them. I bought every album. Their first one, the Blue Album, was perfect. It was fresh, it was dynamic, it was candy for my ear drums. I still listen to the album, from the first song to the last.

For many Weezer fans -- and for me -- the second album, Pinkerton, is their Sistine Chapel, their masterpiece. Direct, emotional, passionate. The band and songwriter were taking risks, they were growing. Rivers Cuomo kicked ass on that album, with his lyrics and his guitar chords. He even revealed his insatiable Asian fetish (I saw this firsthand after a concert way back when: Rivers invited two Japanese girls backstage after signing our autographs). As some of you may know, however, the album alienated casual fans and the public.

The album's failure -- the fact that it didn't perform as well as the Blue Album -- crushed Cuomo's ego and caused him to become a hermit. No music, no tours, nothing. For three years. (More history at Wikipedia)

And when they finally reappeared in 2000 I was ecstatic. It was time to rock out. Like a true fan, I bought their albums, went to the shows, appreciated the sugary pop that Cuomo was concocting in his laboratory. It was as if I was placating myself, trying to capture what I felt in 1994 and 1997.

But something was missing. In the search for the next big hit, the next Blue Album, the band lost its soul. It lost its spirit. It lost its innovation. I had grown up and matured; they had not.

I was surprised at myself when I heard they were releasing a new album -- I felt indifference. I didn't really care. I wasn't jumping up and down, hungry to read every article on them, eager to buy the album on the release day.

And when I heard "Pork & Beans," I felt ... nothing. The last nail was driven into my Weezer love affair.

Perhaps the final straw was when I serendipitously read Spin's cover story on the band over the weekend. This was a band that has consciously composed pop rock and decided to make formulaic hits to stuff their coffers. They might as well be the Gin Blossoms.

Will I purchase their new album? Most likely. Are they still my favorite band? I'm still in love with that band that rocked cozy DV8 in Seattle in the 90s. The band that did this:

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. They've aged like your typical middle aged dudes. They're more concerned about playing it safe, cashing in that check and not rocking the boat.

Weezer, say it ain't so.

I've waited long enough.

I purchased the Red Album at midnight on the day of its release, one week ago. I've spent exactly a week listening to it. And, when I say I've spent a week listening to it, I mean that I haven't listened to anything else... literally. At work, in the car, in bed... this is all I've been listening to, and I've loved every minute of it.

I can't remember an album ever causing me to feel as happy as I've felt listening to this one. I get lost in the happiness of the album itself. Believe me, I know that sounds ridiculous. I know it makes me a big, fat dork. But I've felt pure euphoria listening to The Red Album, and on so many different tracks. I can't help myself... nor do I have any desire to do so.

I have no reservations in saying that this is Rivers' best work since Pinkerton. There is a happiness contained in these tracks that mirrors the sadness contained in Pinkerton. I would almost say that this album is every bit as good as Pinkerton... just in a different way. Yes, Pinkerton is more raw, there's a lot of depth, but Red is genius. And, it's happy. You can hear the change that Rivers has been through. He's in a different place. And, these aren't just pop songs. This isn't the Green Album, Maladroit, or Make Believe... This is just as deep as Pinkerton. I know that a lot of this comes from getting married, and having a daughter.

The mere fact that he allowed each member of the band to write and sing their own song on the album denotes the tremendous growth that Rivers has passed through. For someone with his obsession with control, he has to be in a different place emotionally for that to happen. Sure, I don't think those specific tracks are as good as the rest of the album, but for me, it completes the listening experience.

Let me provide some specific lyrical examples to illustrate what I'm talking about.

The Greatest Man that Ever Lived

"Oh baby, I've been told that I'm goin' crazy
Oh baby, but I can't be held down...
...I am the greatest man that ever lived
I was born to give"

Dreamin'

"Things are better out here than they might seem

There are bluebirds, in the meadow
And the bees are flying around
And the goslings, at the river
At a loss, so far from the ground

I am running
Through the meadow
And the sun is shining on me
I am singing
My voice is ringing
I can sing so loud

And the angels
in the heavens
they are wondering
why am I so glad?"

The Angel and the One

"I got the magic in me,
I am complete is what I'm sayin'

I'm flyin' up so high,
My purple majesty displayin'

I've reached a higher place
That no one else can make a claim in"

Pig

"But now, I've got to die...
I've lived a good life,
I've got no complaints"

There is some sadness expressed on the album too, I'm not saying it's all puppy dogs and ice cream. Spider is a deeply sad song, there is also some sadness in Pig... but in a weird way, it's almost a joyful sadness. I don't think you can really understand what I mean by that unless you've felt such a thing in your own life. Life is full of ups and downs, joy and pain. I think the trick is learning how to hold onto the joy, even when you're passing through the pain. From where I'm listening, it sounds like Rivers is learning how to do that.

Bottom line: I, Ben Combs, a self-proclaimed "Die Hard" Weezer fan. Think that Weezer (The Red Album) is amazing.

Oh, and if you're going to pick it up... do yourself a favor and buy the Deluxe Edition. Anything else would be like going to a Brazilian churrascaria for the salad bar. Seriously, some of the best tracks on the album are in the last 4 bonus tracks.

=w=

Listening to the latest Weezer release, the Red Album, earlier today left me a little dissapointed, but fortunately I ran across a piece of nostalgia.  Unfortunately I don't even remember what blog it was or how I came across it, but someone recently posted an acoustic version of "Pink Triangle," a version that reminded me that I had it on a burned cd.  Hearing this song again is like a tall drink of water when you're dying of thirst.  It reminded me of how much I love "old" Weezer and how Weezer just...well...isn't and won't be "old" Weezer ever again. Maybe that's ok.

Only recently have I come to grips with this fact. Others have come to this conclusion much earlier than I. Really I've known it for a long time, but haven't wanted to really believe it. I have now given in to the belief...and I'm ok with it.  Let me have my Blue/Pinkerton Weezer and if Weezer can come out with a gem here or there so be it. Back before the Green album came out I was sad for the fact that I thought Weezer would never make another album and would never tour again. Fortunately I have been able to see them a couple times, which is a couple times more than I ever thought I would back then (although I still regret the fact that I missed the Weezer/Tenacious D/Jimmy Eat World tour) and they've played the old stuff.  So today, not in mourning, but rather in honor and remebrance of a dear friend, I give you these gems.  Acoustic beauties from the late-90's...and a freebie from the few im promptu songs Rivers Cuomo and Matt Sharp played together in February 2004.

No One Else

El Scorcho

The Good Life

Pink Triangle

Matt Sharp and Rivers Cuomo - Undone (The Sweater Song)

Blue and Pinkerton are considered "Weezer's only good albums" by some fans. With the last three albums (Green, Maladroit and Make Believe) I was willing to give Weezer the benefit of the doubt, but Red is just awful.

The songs were self-indulgent, boring and obnoxious. Somehow the band thought they could put out a lousy record and people would just buy it. Bands are like athletes sometimes they just need to retire before they wear out their welcome. If Rivers' solo album was any indication it was time, Red should remove any doubt that the band should pack it in.

Welcome to the first of many notation posts. Some things simply need to be discussed, before we can start diving into the good, the bad, and the ugly of Mr. Cuomo's songwriting history. And yes, in case you're wondering, this qualifies as "the ugly."

As you can see above, Rivers went through a "hair metal" phase during the '80s and, boy, did he go gung ho. The image above is the band Avant Garde, whom he played guitar with. I assume that he was involved in the writing process to some extent, but as I have no idea to what extent that actually was, I won't be writing about songs from this dark, hairy period.

On top of that, these songs were naturally of a completely different style, lyrically. Just insert your traditional, epic, overblown '80s hair-metal lyrics here and compare them to "Only In Dreams" or "Photograph." I don't think we're going to uncover any deep insights by doing so. They're completely different animals.

That said, however, his metal roots do show up often, even on his most recent work. (See "We Are All On Drugs.") So, while I'll definitely be mentioning those roots from time to time, you hopefully won't think that I'm being cheap or cheatsy for skipping these few early metal songs that Rivers had some part in. They're a little over my head, big hair and all. I mean, seriously, is that a wig?

I've been getting an unusual amount of traffic onto a post I wrote almost a year ago. I reread it and its a pretty angsty post. I find it a little unsettling that you can pretty much predict my emotional state based on the time of year. Februarys can be rough on me because of certain things I'm reminded of. And, apparently Junes suck for me now. My shrink had some $10 word for my supposed chronic condition. I can't decide if, like half of psychology, it's complete bullshit. It could just be everyday highs and lows. Then again, the highs and the lows are probably more intense for me than the average person. I could have been an emo kid in high school. We're talking Rivers Cuomo emo here, not Pete Wentz or Chris Carrabba.

My friend Melissa thinks I'm just a tortured soul. She says I should be happy about it, because tortured souls are sexy. RFK, Robert Downey, Jr., Elliott Smith, Kurt Kobain, Holden Caufield, the Incredible Hulk, Bruce Wayne.  And, oh yeah, current favorite tortured soul Hank Moody (if you don't already watch Californication, you need to get on that). The problem with tortured souls is they are completely and utterly spent. There is no emotional capital there for anything other than the internal turmoil. Also they're all dead or drug addicts. Or both. And the really good ones, they're all literary characters. Come on ladies, where are you? Tortured soul, come and get your tortured soul. Huh, I guess the emotional bankruptcy kind of cancels out the sexiness of a soul that's tortured. Yeah, I don't want to be that.

Prince is 50 today. He's almost as old as my parents. What?

My parents are having their bathroom and closet redone, so all the rooms upstairs are sealed off with plastic to keep all the dust out. Before the renovation, my mom told me to go through my stuff to see if there was anything I needed before the work started. There probably are a few things up there that I will need, but oh well. I didn't do a very thorough check. I did pull out my high school yearbooks. I looked through all the notes left by other people and marveled at the unbridled excitement and naivete about the future. Keep in touch this summer. Best friends forever. Going to school with you next year is going to be CRAZY!!!! PARTIES WOOO!!! All the requisite we're gonna be friends forever stuff. Then, there was this:

Your two fingered salutes get you insta insta punk rock points.

A kid named Welch left that. I was probably only friends with him because he was good friends with one of my good friends. I guess I was pretty fond of the middle digits on either hand. And even more fond of using them at the same time. And it apparently gave me insta insta punk rock points. I wonder if my brown Dr Martens, jeans and polo shirt got me punk rock points.

]]> http://indiespot.wordpress.com/?p=685 Sat, 07 Jun 2008 11:50:13 +0000 indiespot http://indiespot.wordpress.com/?p=685 "¿Promoción? Vamos a ir de gira. Se llama el Hootenanny Tour, y llegará a tu ciudad en junio. Nosotros traeremos los nuestros, e invitaremos a un grupo de fans de Weezer a que traigan sus instrumentos y, uh, improvisen con nosotros. No lo sé, 100, 200 personas, lo que sea. Que todo el mundo venga y traiga un instrumento -lo que sea que podáis tocar- e improvisaremos con nuestras canciones. [Nota del editor: Un portavoz de la discográfica de Weezer, DGC, ha confirmado esto a MTV News]. Luego, en septiembre, iremos a Japón, y en octubre haremos gira por Estados Unidos, seguramente en grandes estadios".

River Cuomo, volviéndose loco en MTV. Por cierto, después del salto hay un vídeo de la estrella de Youtube Tay Zonday (este chaval) cantando 'Pork And Beans' unos quince tonos más bajo que cuando la canta Rivers Cuomo. Ya verán.

From the kid who brought you Fargo Rock City -- the first book in history to garner the praise of Stephen King, David Byrne, Donna Gaines, Sebastian Bach, Jonathan Lethem, and Rivers Cuomo -- comes Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs -- the first book in history to examine breakfast cereal, reality television, tribute bands, Internet porn, serial killers, and the Dixie Chicks. Countless writers and artists have spoken for a generation, but no one has done it quite like Chuck Klosterman -- with an exhaustive knowledge of popular culture and a seemingly effortless ability to spin brilliant prose out of unlikely subject matter. Whether deconstructing Saved by the Bell episodes or the artistic legacy of Billy Joel, the symbolic importance of The Empire Strikes Back or the Celtics/Lakers rivalry of the 1980s, Chuck will make you think, he'll make you laugh, and he'll drive you insane -- usually all at once. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs is ostensibly about movies, sports, television, music, books, video games, and kittens...but, really, it's about us. All of us. As Klosterman realizes late at night, in the moment before he falls asleep, "In and of itself, nothing really matters. What matters is that nothing is ever 'in and of itself.'"

There's quite a bit of intelligent analysis and thought-provoking insight packed into the pages of Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, which is a little surprising considering how darn stupid most of Klosterman's subject matter actually is. Klosterman, one of the few members of the so-called "Generation X" to proudly embrace that label and the stereotypical image of disaffected slackers that often accompanies it, takes the reader on a witty and highly entertaining tour through portions of pop culture not usually subjected to analysis and presents his thoughts on Saved by the Bell, Billy Joel, amateur porn, MTV's The Real World, and much more. It would be easy in dealing with such subject matter to simply pile on some undergraduate level deconstruction, make a few jokes, and have yourself a clever little book. But Klosterman goes deeper than that, often employing his own life spent as a member of the lowbrow target demographic to measure the cultural impact of his subjects. While the book never quite lives up to the use of the word "manifesto" in the title (it's really more of a survey mixed with elements of memoir), there is much here to entertain and illuminate, particularly passages on the psychoses and motivations of breakfast cereal mascots, the difference between Celtic fans and Laker fans, and The Empire Strikes Back. Sections on a Guns n' Roses tribute band, The Sims, and soccer feel more like magazine pieces included to fill space than part of a cohesive whole. But when you're talking about a book based on a section of cultural history so reliant on a lack of attention span, even the incongruities feel somehow appropriate. --John Moe

Order Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs from Amazon for $9.59

Don't have Amazon Kindle? You can always purchase it from here
Or if you prefer to read the Print editions instead, you can get it from here

Other Kindle Books of Interest
Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota
I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell
Choke: A Novel
Look at My Striped Shirt!: Confessions of the People You Love to Hate
High Fidelity

Just a little (well actually, kinda big) addition to the first Unreleased Cutz from a bit ago, concerning Weezer's unreleased Songs From The Blackhole Album; a guy has edited together various demos, alternate takes and rarities, as well as a couple of recordings by other musicians, to put together a completed version of the long-clamoured-after record. It even has that "seamless flow from one song to the next" thing than Cuomo was aiming for when prepping the album. Here's Kyle K, the genius (or, well, quite smart guy) behind the whole thing,'s comments on the project;

aAcouple weeks ago I got inspired to create my own mix of SFTBH after hearing Pork and Beans on the radio and finally purchasing Rivers' Alone demos. I worked pretty hard on it, and I think it turned out really well. I mean, I'm not even bragging or anything, it just sounds really, really awesome.

Kyle K

The album is available to download from the above page, or directly from this link. And it does indeed sound freakin' sweet.