Things you should engage in

So...interesting things are on the horizon. First off is an amazing video by a band who is alright to listen to, but great to watch via music video. Take a gander.




These are the same dudes who came up with this gem of a video as well.




Now, I don't know who thinks these things up but whoever it is gets bonus points. It's like the crazy uncle of a backstreet boys choreographer said "screw the puppet dance I got an idea up my sleeve, just you wait." Whoever you are, Bang-a-rang!

Staying on the musical side of things, the new Crime In Stereo " I was trying to describe you to someone" is out and is fairly good, definite progression from "Is Dead" with more brand new-ish types of songs, but still the same tone lyrically while also being aggressive and different at times for all those who need that, myself included. New Four Year Strong is decent, same Four Year Strong that we've all come to like. If you like em then you'll like the new album, if not it will most likely not win you over. The band Dangers will blow you away if you are into aggressive hardcore. "Messy, Isn't It" may be, dare I say it, the best hardcore/punk album since Refused. To me it has the same intensity, attitude, and heart of the shape of punk to come. Yeah, try not to take that too lightly.

On to other things. I am currently reading the Johnny Cash comic and its pretty good. The art is amazing, man o man is it great to look at. The text is a little weird at times, but I'm passing that on to the guy who translated it from German, which in itself is rather peculiar. Johnny Cash being recognized in a comic book from Germany, and we wonder why we lose all good jobs overseas, they are thinking and we are left to consume it. Beaten to the punch again Uncle Sam. I never saw the movie, not sure why, just never really piqued my interest, maybe it was Reese Witherspoon, with the exception of Election, I never really liked her.




Kick Ass (the movie) comes out in about a month, so that's gonna be awesome. Saw District 9 a bit ago and was impressed, glad to see it get recognized in the best picture category. Good political Sci-Fi. Hurt Locker was also good and Precious deserves everything it wins and some. Monique fuckin threw that shit down. It was difficult to watch at times, but like any good car crash, you just can't look away. The Crazies remake was good, not scary enough in my opinion, but entertaining. I wanted to like Shudder Island so damn much, but the "insane twist" that the trailer talks about is very predictable and I found myself begging that they don't take the easy way, which they did. Insert bummer sound effect here, a la Bill and Ted. It was very much a nod to Hitchcock and were it made thirty or forty years ago it probably would have been a better movie, since this "twist" has been done so much since then.

Gearin up for the road trip of a lifetime/moving. Still working out the kinks, but the vehicle has been purchased, and things are starting to move forward. More on this in the future as it will have a site dedicated to it. A trip diary will be made and enjoyed by all. East Coast here we come(in a couple months)
Hooray!
Mike

My Ears Deceive Me

Today's advice: Don't trust what your ears are hearing.

So this lady up above is none other than Terry Gross, host of NPR's Fresh Air. The program is great and she is a wonderful interviewer as she gets right up into the white meat of a topic. She is blunt and not scared to ask anything. Considering she's been interviewing people for the past twenty some odd years, I always pictured her as an older grey haired version of Sally Field or something to the likes of, but I never thought she'd look so much like the lady that used to host the Weakest Link. Do you remember that show? Well, if not, here she is.


Doppelganger anyone? It's uncanny, right? It makes me wonder if the two are one in the same, or maybe they were twins and separated at birth, one to stay in America, to do great things for the arts and society, and the other to go overseas to Europe, where she could become the shrill bitch of a woman that can host a somewhat cool game show. Maybe this was the experiment that they based the movie "Twins" on. Where Terry Gross is The Governator and the weakest link lady is Danny Devito. I think that's the theory I'm going to stick with.

The radio tricks me into seeing people differently. I kinda wish I hadn't seen what she looked like. Now I'm going to picture the weakest link lady talking to all these interesting people. I hope it doesn't affect the way I listen to the show. That would be a disappointment.

I want to find my doppelganger.
Tonight is your night bro.
Mike

MikeHasTheAnswer@gmail.com
Thank you for your time

Crabcore. More Like Crapcore

Advice for a lifetime. Don't. Be. In. A. Band. Like. This.

Now this "crabcore" stuff is quite amusing and sometimes downright hilarious which would be cool if I thought they were joking, but unfortunately I think they mean business. And I thought that the musical scene couldn't get any worse. Well I was obviously wrong. It's funny if you turn the sound off on the video and read the ridiculousness of this bullshit. It's like watching a bunch of dudes trying to take a crap on an imaginary toilet. I think the highlight of the video for me is the guitar swing woooo, it's about a minute in. I also like how the fat ass singer can't get down low enough in his tight ass pants to encompass the full crab essence, what a hack. The singer guy also looks a bit like Chris Farley in the van down by the river sketch when he flails his arms around. I wonder if they get bonus points if they can touch their asses to the ground. Unfortunately auto-tune can't change you into less of a bunch of douche bags. I don't know if my laughter is true or just covering up my tears.

The following has been lifted from a site that I have linked at the bottom of the post. Enjoy.

Crabcore is a contemporary offshoot from the emocore/screamo sub-genre of hard rock music. Unlike almost all other genres and sub-genres of music, crabcore is defined not by aural motifs, tones, lyrical content, or specific instrument ensembles; but rather by physical gesticulations and contortions of the arms and legs of individual band members during live performances of their music.
black t-shirt and has a dyed-black sideways haircut.





Crabcore moves
Chiefly among the crabcore musician's repertoire of stylistic gestures is the crabwalk itself, from which the genre's title is derived. The crabwalk is identified by the player's extremely low stance, wherein both feet are set apart from one another as far as possible, while still allowing the player to maintain at least a 90 degree bend in his knees. While in the crab stance, the player then purposefully transfers the weight of his upper body between each leg, achieving a swaying motion intended to have a hypnotic effect among audience members.
Other moves available to crabcore players include;

The 'Richardson Richardson'.
'Krinking'
The 'Beaver Bounce'
The 'Dirty Hamper'
The 'Pestal Press'

Another, somewhat controversial move has gained a foothold in crabcore circles recently, which sees the player simply standing in one spot and running in place. No one understands this move. No one.

The most instantly recognizable signifier of a band within the crabcore oeuvre is the presence of an Arch Cancerped (literally translated; 'chief crabwalker'). The Arch Cancerped (or ACP) is an individual member of the band whose duty it is to set the speed, intensity, and depth of the crabwalk in a given piece of music. Much like the conductor of a symphony orchestra. Typically the ACP wears a black t-shirt and has a dyed-black sideways haircut.

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2009/06/more-on-attack-attack-crabcore-explained.html


I never said it would be simple.
So, congratulations on sinking heavy music to a new low.
Mike

MikeHasTheAnswer@gmail.com
Thank you for your time

I Gotta Go Lay Some Cable

I received a reply about my thrice post. I attached it all to the original post. In case you missed that one, it's a couple posts previous to this one. Scroll down or click the little triangle next to July and then click the Thrice post.

Advice for today comes in two sections

Section 1
The new adjective on the street is UPTOWN as in
"Damn bitch that ass is UPTOWN!" or
"Those shoes you picked up are way UPTOWN."
There are also degree variations
Midtown = it's alright
Downtown = shit is wack
also can include way downtown, etc...

Section 2
Check out Aziz Ansari's new character incarnation Raaaaaaaandy! It's everything that could be/is wrong with comedy, yet its done so well that it is fucking ridiculously hilariious. In a lesser hands Raaaaaaaandy would be a hack, but Aziz is a genius so it's great. It's uptown like a motherfucker.
Check it out at the following:

http://www.laughyourdickoff.com/

I got some oreo's on my dick!
That's what I'm talkin bout, that's what I'm talkin bout.

Peace out yall
Mike


MikeHasTheAnswer@gmail.com
Thank you for your time

Complete Dissaray

Random Advice.
July 2009 has blown ass. It may go down in history as the worst month ever. From car troubles to losing a friend/family member July 09 had it all. Some high points include canoeing in AZ and going to comic-con. Other than that I am glad to see August coming just around the corner. My advice for the next day or so is take it easy and do as little as possible until Saturday, the first day of August.
Mike


Please send all inquiries to
MikeHasTheAnswer@gmail.com
Thank you for your time

Today We Celebrate Our Independence Day

Today's question comes from a cool dude named Matt Raptor.

Message:
Do you think District 9 is gonna be cool or is it gonna be like Transformers type of gay? seems like kind of a cool idea but i think the aliens might look a little whack.

Reply:
Since I am not sure that anything can match the type of gay that Transformers had, my money is on it being pretty kick ass. Transforming my ass, the robots just explode and then reassemble themselves. There is no way that dudes leg was part of a car.

So, from what I've seen, read, and heard of this movie, it may be one of the best Sci-Fi/Action movies this year. The trailer looks awesome, I think the aliens look great(creepy and different), and the tone they are setting seems to be hitting all the right points. First off I would like to applaud the promotions department of this film, for not giving away too much plot other than there being some crazy alien invasion and the possibility of an all out balls to the wall war. It looks like there won't be any weak ass "lets try to be funny and punch an alien in the face by Will Smith while welcoming him to Erf." They seem to be diving right into this world by just showing the way it is and wishing that people accept it, no gimmicks needed. The director, Neill Blomkamp, is a full feature first timer and looks like he is out to prove that he can tackle anything by doing this movie, plus Peter Jackson is spearheading it so that's cool. So there it is, maybe I just hope that this thing kicks a bunch of ass, but most of the evidence is pointing to it being cool. I foresee no break-dancing or rapping aliens so that in itself is a plus.

Aliens + Action + Realism + Not needing the movie to be centralized around America = A recipe for sweetness
Mike

Please send all inquiries to
MikeHasTheAnswer@gmail.com
Thank you for your time.

Should I Download "Beggars" - The New Album by Thrice?

Well here's the conundrum. The Album has been leaked with a watermark that features a voice over that states "You are listening to a vagrant records advance promotional stream" Now I won't weigh in on the morality of downloading it, 'cause lets face it music downloads are pretty much free now a days. You know what side of the argument you are on, and you either download free stuff or you purchase through i-tunes, amazon, etc. I was curious, so I gave Beggars a listen to try it on for size. Now before I say if its good or not I want you all to step back in time. Get the Delorian prepped for anywhere in the years of 2001 - 2003.

Do you remember what Thrice sounded like? Well they sounded a whole lot like Thrice. Then Came Vheissu which, while really good, started to slip onto just emulating other bands, and the same kinda goes for the alchemy index. All good Albums but it just wasn't that sound that you fell in love with in the first place. Maybe it's nostalgia, maybe just a change of taste, but I don't find myself wanting to listen to anything Thrice have put out past 2003. Now we get to Beggars.
Answer these Questions Four

1. Do you like Muse?
2. Do you like Coldplay?
3. Do you like mid tempo modern rock a la Red Hot Chili Peppers?
4. Can you forget what Thrice used to sound like?

If you answered yes to these questions, then you will love the new Thrice cd. Once again they have released a solid record, but that's all it is. It doesn't stand out. It just exists.
So if you can't wait to hear it and are not opposed to getting it before its release date, then go for it. If you just want to know what it sounds like, then maybe wait, you won't be missing anything groundbreaking.
Mike

P.S. I listened to it twice then deleted the files.

Please send all inquiries to
MikeHasTheAnswer@gmail.com
Thank you for your time.



*Update*
August 4, 2009
I got a message from Matze regarding the "review" of Beggars.

Hi there, first of all: I commented this way, cause i have neither of the accounts i must have to comment on your site. Second: Did you listen to the watermarked or the real songs?

So, feel free to answer me. Here's my comment:


Well, listen to it AT LEAST five times. Understand the music and the lines. Listen again. You will LOVE it.

Muse is SHIT.
Coldplay is SHIT.
NEW Chili Peppers: Guess what.
Old Thrice: GREAT...but i believe in the progress of music and the ones who made it.
And Dustin, for example, is such a great person and musician...please don't ignore that.

cheers,
Matze



Reply
Hey Matze, thanks for the reply,
I've been playing and writing music for the past decade, shared the stage with Thrice, and Teppei even helped record one of my old bands albums. They are some of the coolest people I have ever met. I am not dissing the new album as you could see I wrote that it is a solid album, it is right up there with Vheissu. It just seems like they are trying to hard. I will listen to it more when the thing is actually released, as I just feel weird listening to albums that aren't out yet. I heard the actual songs, the songs just had a 3 second long warning message embedded in them, it really didn't take away from anything. Vheissu grew on me the more I listened, and I see Beggarrs doing the same but I don't see it surpassing any more than that.

Also Muse is not shit, well at least Absolution was not shit
Coldplay is the same, they are great musicians, a rush of blood... was a great album
Chili Peppers are hit and miss but can produce some gems
Old Thrice is great.

Don't take me wrong, progression is great, but is it progression if its nothing new? This album is a lot like Vheissu just a tad less Tool and a bit more Muse. Like it or not I guarantee they listened to Absolution a shit ton when it came out. All you need to do is take out the keyboards.

So just to recap, like I said before, it is a solid album, but its not gonna be anything that really stands out. its got some good songs, a couple of really good ones, and the rest are just, meh. On an educational grade scale, its prolly like a C+ maybe a B-, based on probability of repeated spins, catchiness, and musicianship.

Also Matze is an interesting name. I am curious about where it comes from? Are you in/from America? This is an honest question I don't think I've ever seen or heard that name before.

Thanks for banter, I enjoy it.
Please reply further.
Mike


MikeHasTheAnswer@gmail.com
Thank you for your time