Friday, February 26, 2010

2010 Twitter Review Session #1

(1) Teen Dream - Beach House (Sub Pop)
Dark, simple, surprisingly big organ dominated pop songs. Slightly boring, but absolutely gorgeous. (8/10)

(2) Broken Bells - Broken Bells (Columbia)
The Shins' James Mercer and Danger Mouse collab. Nice production, but the songs aren't typical Mercer quality. (6/10)

(3) Measure - Field Music (Memphis Industries)
Brewises make triumphant return to complexly structured and orchestrated 60s pop, adding 70s swagger and riffage. (8.5/10)

(4) IRM - Charlotte Gainsbourg (Because)
Actress collaborates with Beck on a folksy, groove oriented pop album with moderate success. (6.5/10)

(5) Ascending Melody 7" - Dirty Projectors (Domino)
Two Bitte Orca b-sides that are better than at the very least the last two songs on the album. (8/10)

(6) Sisterworld - Liars (Mute)
Best Liars album I've heard yet, but that's not saying much. I can't stand this band. Bad experimental punk, I guess. (5/10)

(7) Gorilla Manor - Local Natives (Frenchkiss)
A completely obvious and direct rip off of Fleet Foxes and The Dodos, but at least they do a good job at it. (5.5/10)

(8) Romance is Boring - Los Campesinos! (Arts & Crafts)
Surprisingly good third LP from these angry Welsh cuties. Sounds like The Anniversary, not twee or Pavement. (7.5/10)

(9) The Courage of Others - Midlake (Bella Union)
Decent, psychedelic and epic Lord of the Rings folk. Disappointing compared to what I've heard from their previous LP. (6/10)

(10) Dreamland EP - Moonface (Jagjaguwar)
Wolf Parade/Sunset Rubdown dude Spencer Krug's solo EP that is sparse, weird as hell and actually not half bad. (6/10)

(11) Heartland - Owen Pallett (Domino)
Follow-up from fka Final Fantasy dude. Grandiose, orchestrated, string heavy. V. pretty, not the most exciting. (6.5/10)

(12) 2 - Retribution Gospel Choir (Sub Pop)
Dude from Low's huge sounding, straight up rock band. Not nearly as interesting as I expected. (5/10)

(13) The Soft Pack - The Soft Pack (Kemado)
Totes fun, catchy and well produced garage punk. Seems pretty rare these days when that genre is done so right. (7/10)

(14) Transference - Spoon (Merge)
They do it again. Another groove oriented, smart, subtle, space-filled, weird and simply fantastic pop album. (8.5/10)

(15) Astro Coast - Surfer Blood (Kanine)
People who think this was a false alarm are crazy. Best guitar heavy, slightly emo-y indie pop album in a while. (8.5/10)

Monday, February 22, 2010

Know Your Onion #16

Know Your Onion #16

I haven't done one of these in a long time. This one was way too good to pass up.

Spud Webb Getting Smaller And Smaller Every Time People Recount 1986 Dunk Contest.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Super Bowl XLIV

I know my football blogging has been non-existent this year, aside from my preseason predictions (New England vs. Atlanta in the Super Bowl... pfft). But, today is a special day, so felt called to post and state my prediction for this year's big game. This year features two #1 seeds in the game for the first time since the 1993 season. The New Orleans Saints have never been here before, and with how awful of a program they've been historically, this is especially exciting. Peyton Manning already is arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, and if the Indianapolis Colts win tonight, I feel that by the time he retires, he WILL go down as the best. If he wins two more, there is no question. This game should be high scoring, tightly played, maybe with a little slop from the Colts at the start. Here are a few predictions:

- For the first time since I had begun watching Super Bowls (which was when the Dallas Cowboys annihilated the Buffalo Bills for the first time after the 1992 season), I love both teams, and will be happy no matter who wins. I'm rooting for the Saints a little more due to exactly how special this season was for them, and since they've never gone this far. However, I think the Colts will win 38 to 35.

- Peyton Manning will throw for at least 350 yards, maybe even 400. He will throw four touchdown passes, one to each of his top four receivers: Dallas Clark, Austin Collie, Pierre Garcon and Reggie Wayne. This will obviously lead him to the Super Bowl MVP award. Joseph Addai will run a touchdown in, but also will cough up the ball to the New Orleans defense, leading to a defensive score.

- Drew Brees will throw for 300 and three touchdowns, one to Marques Colston, one to Robert Meachem and one to Jeremy Shockey, if he's playing. If he's not, then it will be to Reggie Bush. Pierre Thomas will also run a touchdown in.

- The game will be tied at 35 with two minutes or less left, with the Saints driving well into Indianapolis territory, when Brees will throw a crucial interception. Manning will heroically and easily drive the Colts down the field into easy field goal range, where the game will be decided by a field goal. This will be the perfect way to end this decade full of some of the best Super Bowls of all time.

Obviously, none of this matters whatsoever, all of these specifics will probably be way off. It's fun to picture all of this happening in my head, though.

Enjoy this wonderful, bittersweet day of football. Eat, drink and socialize well. I'm already looking forward to next year, when the Pittsburgh Steelers make a triumphant return, defeating the Green Bay Packers in a violent, incredibly well played Super Bowl to kick off the new decade in the greatest game on earth.