With a Great Sequel, Comes a Great Soundtrack

What's with that title? I don't know if it's a good sequel yet. I haven't seen it.

You'll have to excuse me for not continuing what I was writing a while back, stuff sort of picked up life-wise, and I haven't had the time. And here I am writing a review instead.

The new Pirates soundtrack.

Hans Zimmel
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
5 out of 5

I was, I'll admit, very pissed off to find that it wasn't Klaus Badelt that did the new Pirates soundtrack.

Then I got over myself and got the new one anyways, and I'm glad I did.

This soundtrack is what you listen to if you want to hear a lot of really interesting, very surprising little bits... odds are I'll probably end up liking the soundtrack just as much, if not more, than the movie, much like the first one. xD

If you listen to it to try and find the similarities between it and the first one, you won't be completely disappointed, but you'll probably find parts of it rather erratic, just little filler bits between the sections the familiar parts instead of their own new thing. So stop that, and listen to it as it's own thing. Be pleasantly surprised when you hear a familiar measure or two from the first soundtrack, but make sure to enjoy it as it's own album.

Hans Zimmer still uses a lot strings, but his tempo and funky sort of swing to some of the tunes makes it very, very unique as an orchestrated piece, particularly around 3:50 in the second track, The Kraken. I can just see him conducting these parts while swaying his hips side to side-- it's almost dance-able, in a way.

I already said it's important to listen to the second OST as it's own thing, but I can't help thinking that I like this one more (even though the first one is still my favorite OST from any movie, like, ever?).

Either way, by the end of this, I was completely blown away. Completely.

Be ready for a lot of surprises with this album (don't want to give it all away! Listen to it!), and definitely be prepared to enjoy it, a lot.

Let's See How Long This Stays Up At This Rate

So I'm going to take a break from the usual content of this Blog for just a moment.

I just watched a very interesting couple of movies today. The first one was United 93 , the second was something my roommate told me about when he found out I'd seen the first.

Perhaps instead of ranting and raving about the topic that ensues, I should have you take about an hour of your time, and watch Loose Change, which you can reach here.

If I were to further write about this, I would not be arguing with what they had to say in that movie.


~Justin

Listening to Better Music Pt. 1

I feel that, besides simply reviewing albums and telling you, the reader, that you listen to lousy music, I'd do a bit more than simply grading albums. It's important to understand why I'm telling you these things-- your musical taste is, afterall, on the line here.

Now, I'm sure that the question, "Well, Justin, what is good music, then?" has popped into your head. I'll say right now, or rather admit, that Good Music is not just music with real substance. It's what entertains you.

NOTE:
NEVER listen to any sort of music strictly because you think people will like you better for it. That's not right, not at all.

So, after saying that, then I'm telling you that whatever you already listen to is Good Music, right?

Wrong. Oh so wrong.

My ultimate goal is to help you refine your idea of what entertaining music truly is. Not necessarily "What bands are the best to listen to" and "What sort of lyrics a song should have". but more than that. Have you ever just fallen away into a song, completely absorbing the tunes that flowed forth from your dinky little iPod headphones and gone, "Damn, this is so good"?

If so, then ignore the next little bit.

If not, then I can help you! Some people claim that they "just aren't into music". Not true. Everyone is into music, whether they realize it or not. Your problem is that you just haven't been exposed to the right music. I promise. And this is where my only problem with the radio comes into play-- it keeps the average listener with no other methods of finding new music, caught in this little web of the same old, same old. The stuff that is, in my opinion, pure fluff, and most of the time no good. Now, how does that help someone, honestly? If all you have for music is what the radio plays, of course you don't like music! Almost than 95% of what gets played on your average "Hot 107.9" station sucks! Same goes for daytime MTV (I won't say the same for VH1 and Fuse-- they're each packed with fluff, true, but at least most of the time it's good fluff. Sheesh.), and that's not fair to most people.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't hate mainstream. But I do hate that most of the time, people get swept up in all of the Li'l Bow Wows (just Bow Wow now, right? I'll rant about that later), and all of the Christina Aguileras and crappy Pop-Emo bands, and can't escape! The pull of the Mainstream is just too strong.

But it's okay.

If you're reading this, you still have a chance. I can save you, Praise God and Hallelujah!

Now, the first step on the road to finding that music that suits you best is by trying out a little bit of everything. Now, I don't claim to know about every type of music (gosh no), but you must realize that with so much of it out there, there's a great chance there's something that really, really appeals to you! Something that will make you stop, close your eyes, and just listen-- without the aid of drugs (will also get into this later, as well).

Now, there are a few ways to find new music. My favorite music-related story is the one in which I first found The Decemberists, those mighty musicians Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, and Nate Query (Petra Hayden has indeed left, my good friends). Sit back and I will tell you a tale; a tale of a poor boy that loved music dearly, but just didn't enjoy the fluff he listened to like he used to. Indeed, he was coming of musical age.

Let me be the first to admit pubclically that I used to steal music. Oh my did I steal me some music. So here I was, staring at the 'Search' box in that good ol' program KaZaa (this was four years ago-- not long after Napster was shut down), thinking of what I should search for. I'd listened to everything I knew about-- some of it I liked, some of it I didn't (what exactly those were I won't admit to, because I'm mildly embarassed), so I figured it was time to move on. So I searched completely at random for my birthmonth, July. And what else should I find than the Decemberists track, "July, July!", and from that moment forth I was hooked (as you can see it was pretty much destiny that I write these-- my birthday led me to ultimately becoming so into music, discovering Blogs, and becoming a music crit, etc.).

So there's one step you can take-- search for random stuff in any music search (not necessarily music sharing programs-- I'm not necessarily condoning it-- THOUGH THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH IT), and see what you come up with. Eventually you're bound to find something.

Next step? Pandora.org, baby. I'm not even going to try and describe it. Just check it out. I guaruntee pleasant results. And it's free.

Now, I'll continue this when it's not too late for me to concentrate, and that way spare you a ridiculously long entry.

Good night, and good mutha-effin' luck.

~Justin

Review #One - Ben Folds Five's Self-Titled Pot of Amazingness

Well a friend of mine who is also a big Ben Folds fan suggested for my first little review I do something old, and Ben Folds. So, of course, I did.

Settled on Ben Fold's Five self-titled album.

I tried to be as unbiased as possible...

Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five
4.5 out of 5

I look hesitantly at the large black disc sitting in front of me. It's been a while since I actually listened to the record, but when I write these things I enjoy listening to the real thing, if I can.

Finally I decided it was time, and popped the baby in. It took a moment before I realized that A) I was stupid and B) the record player wasn't plugged in.

Finally, I'm ready to go, and the needle scratches its way into the first song on the album, Jackson Cannery. I now realize that staying unbiased is going to be hard. See, this is one of my favorite albums ever. And maybe it is just that good. It probably is. But that doesn't keep me from worrying.

That age-old question (that I recently solved) that traditionally pops into a person's head when they hear this song wavered on the edge of my thoughts-- "Who the hell is Jackson Cannery?" In truth, the song is about a fellow Folds knew that just picked up all his things and took off for Ireland, looking for U2. My oh my. The song itself is fun (like most of the album), and the upbeat melodies that rock us from the beginning of this song to the end of the album are already apparent.

Philosophy's a great song, setting us up with one of the earliest examples of the band's (and Ben's) awesome musical preludes. Julianne's another of the fun songs, and one of the band's many off-hilter loud rocky-songs. Hell yeah, rock on.

Two tracks later and I'm once again introduced to Ms. Alice Childress. The slowest song so far, and by far the most meaningful. There's a lot more emotion in the lyrics, the music, everything. I could go on for hours about this song-- but the humming bit at @ 3:56 screams for attention.

Listen folks. People hum. Sure. But nobody can hum a tune and make it sound so damn sexy. Gosh. And his voice in general is spectacular-- so much more dynamic than other artists today. Go 'head, Ben Folds.

We're handed more fun songs, including The Last Polka, which is just plain amazing.

Suffice it to say this album makes me smile. +8 to all of their rolls for making fun of the hipster/indie scene.

Guffaw.

~Justin


So sorry-- that wasn't very reviewish, very praisish. Next one will be actual critique. I promise. :D

Wotcher' Earspace Vol. 1, #.5

Good lord I'm coughing a lot.

Now then! Listen up, you directionless, bad-taste-in-music monkeys! I'm here to help you!

Odds are, you have bad taste in music.

Yes, I know, it's hard to cope with. But trust me, we all deal with this problem.

Now, nobody will ever have perfect taste, but I'm gonna at least try to help you with this problem from which we all suffer.

Now, I'll review any album you want me to-- just hook me up with a copy of it (e-mail / MSN Messenger = truncatedsymphonics@hotmail.com AIM = tehDopest MC), or at least the name of it so's I can try and get it myself.

I'll be doing my personal choice albums, too, so... keep your eyes open and your ears ready, suckas!