What Y'all Wanna Do?
Wanna Be:
A) Ballers?
B) Shot-callers?
C) Brawlers?
D) Dippin’ in the Benz with the spoilers?
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I Wish It Was Christmas Today - Julian Casablancas
I take it all back. This is great.
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i understand the back-lash that this album will get. it basically goes against everything that made The Strokes what they were. tight, aggressive, unpredictable and just plain fucking stellar. i already read a shitty review on pitchfork this morning (they are just so hit or miss nowadays) where they talk about how this project lacks intensity and will taint the legacy of the Strokes blah blah blah.
but this album is charming in it’s own right. it’s a new wave, electro, bluesy experimental record which is just chock full of amazingness. if you were skeptical, give this a listen.
julian casablancas - out of the blue.
First, let me say that any Pitchfork review I read is taken with a grain of salt. Many times, you can guess what the album review will be based on the buzz or perception of the band being reviewed. Very few music reviewers are worth a shit, and in the online world, even less so.
With that out of the way…I. Just. Don’t. Know. What. To. Do. With. This. Record. I listen to it one day and love it a bit, the next day I get bored even thinking about playing it. Alot of the songs, when you really listen, sound like songs written for the Strokes but played by a robot band from a Tokyo arcade. I can dig that, that’s cool, go for it bro! The trouble with that, and I think the problem that people will have with the album, is that it does not sound better than the Strokes. To do a solo album and (basically) electronically ape the sound of your original band is fruitless. Plus, every song is nearing or over five minutes long. Very few songs need to be that long, especially songs in the simple framework that Casablancas works in.
There are hits for me on this album, where he gets a little bluesy and fuzzy, but it would have been nice to hear him try something unfamiliar to him. And some editing.
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Talkin’ Baseball (Yankee Version) - Terry Cashman
Cliff Lee pitched a career defining game, but he couldn’t beat Don Larsen.
Chase Utley owned any ball over the plate, but he couldn’t beat Reggie Jackson.
Philly fielded one of the finest teams in baseball, but they couldn’t beat the Yankees.
Love them or hate them, you cannot write the history of baseball without stopping in the Bronx.
