Ben Folds Rocks A Faux-Full Length

Ben Folds - Way to Norman(Fake)

7/10

by Ryan Mallette

Ben Folds, the multi-instrumentalist songwriter known for his witty humor and friendship with William Shatner, has pulled a fast one on his fans. With leaks of upcoming albums running wild on the plains of the internet, Folds decided the best way to prepare for the inevitable was to take the upper hand and leak the album himself. The trick was that the album wasn’t real. Folds and company recorded six fake songs in an eight hour recording session on a day off in Dublin, consequently releasing the fakes with three real songs and leaving fans dumbfounded.

Lacking a proper title track, Folds was compelled to pen a song entitled “Way to Normal” as the album’s theme song. The track crashes in after a brief piano intro with a low fuzzy bass, and Folds posing the question, “Is this the way to normal?” in a vocal melody worthy of an 80’s montage. The song eventually collapses into a melancholy piano tour where Folds speaks of a “Long way to go.” In “Lovesick Diagnostician,” Folds begs his doctor to heal his broken heart, or to at least “Call my girlfriend from your number / Explain that you’re a doctor / Tell her that I love her so / She hurt me more than she could know,” continuing on to explain that she blocked his number, so he can’t call her anymore.

Folds holds the fake version of the song “The Bitch Went Nuts” as one of his personal favorites. In it he takes the role of a disgruntled frat boy, crooning the story of his crazy liberal girlfriend who threw a fit at his Christmas office party. “She did a line and started spouting all of her liberal garbage / Bro, I’m so ashamed.” The hilarious end to his bromantic shenanigans reaches a peak when she shouts “Fuck Dick Cheney!” and pukes all over his friend’s floor.

The most interesting part of the fake Way to Normal album is that it is difficult to even tell the album is fake for most of the time. It is a testament to Ben Folds’ prowess as a writer in that he has the ability to spew out six songs on the spot in a short eight hour session. The album is also a very intimate look at an artist, as it lacks the barrier that the overproduction of the digital age has created in a majority of music. What the disc lacks in production, it makes up for with a lighthearted atmosphere that is also missing from many of today’s other selections. Ben Folds has put together a brilliant precursor to the impending true release of Way to Normal.

Son of a Gun!

Vaselines @ Southpaw, Brooklyn

7.10.08

10/10

by Michelle Matthews

The truly important moments in rock and roll history are usually the ones that happen under the radar. The Vaselines were a band that existed in one of these moments as a rather unknown group outside of their native Glasgow, Scotland, when they were still playing shows. While most people are still relatively unfamiliar with their work, they are not unfamiliar with the legacy they’ve left. The legendary Kurt Cobain of Nirvana once described Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee, the staple members of the band, as his “most favorite songwriters in the whole world.” He even named his daughter, Francis Bean, after McKee. Nirvana covered The Vaselines originals “Son of a Gun” and “Molly’s Lips” on their Incesticide record, and “Jesus Don’t Want Me For a Sunbeam” on MTV’s Unplugged. So when it was announced that The Vaselines would be playing two shows in NYC before their appearance at the epic twentieth-anniversary Sub-Pop Festival, their first ever stateside performances, tickets sold out quickly.

The second of the two was hosted at Southpaw in Brooklyn, a quaint, hip, but somewhat divey venue. By the time the opening band, The Indelicates (an embarrassing hybrid of rock and musical theater geek-chic) finished their set, the place was packed with fans, most of whom were probably in diapers when the band first recorded. The Vaselines drew much of their charm from the fact that they couldn’t play their own instruments, so the fact that McKee and Kelly have gone on to be in other established bands and have thriving solo careers left the wonder of whether or not they would go from scrappy to sleek. Still, the simple, melodic songwriting triumphed over any talent the two may have picked up along the way, in absolutely positive terms, of course. They walked onto the stage and immediately started into the marching beat of “Son of a Gun.” It was apparent during the opening song, and throughout the set, that their voices hadn’t changed in the 20 years since the songs were originally recorded. Eugene still sounds stern and somewhat bored, and Frances still sounds wonderfully innocent, young, and untrained. Backing Kelly and McKee was three-sevenths of another quintessential, Scottish, indie-pop band, Belle & Sebastian, specifically Bobby Kidea on bass, Richard Colburn on drums, and Stevie Jackson on guitar and harmonica. The star-studded back-up band didn’t outshine the honorees of the night, and the band fit together perfectly, giving a performance that is possibly the most true to a recording ever. Since the band had a fairly limited number of releases (2 EPs and one full-length), they had played their entire catalog with the exception of one or two songs, including an encore of “Dum Dum,” and the surprising cover of Divine’s “You Think You’re a Man” from their first release, the “Son of a Gun” EP. Though they had the right to be so, the band was unpretentious in their stage presence, and charming, and grateful throughout. The modest McKee even seemed embarrassed by the crowd’s adoration for the band.

The set was an appropriate U.S. debut (and farewell) to a band long legendary for their influence. It also proved that The Vaselines were capable of outshining their own reputation through good, simple and straightforward indie-pop songwriting. So naturally, shelving out the cash to fly to NYC and purchase some scalped tickets off of eBay seemed like a small price to pay to witness a moment in music history.

The Pen is Still Mightier

GZA/Genius - Pro Tools

7/10

by Roger Chao

It’s been a long time coming. Acclaimed Wu-Tang Clan member GZA’s last solo album, Legend of the Liquid Sword came out five years ago, and it’s been thirteen years since the infamous Liquid Swords was released. With Pro Tools, which came out this past August, GZA proves to all of those in doubt that the blade can still cut deep.

The album kicks off with “Pencils,” a song that features Wu-Tang members RZA and Masta Killa. GZA’s voice and delivery is as smooth as ever, but ultimately it is RZA’s verse that pushes the song to greatness. From there, other standout tracks include “Alphabets,” “7 Pounds,” and “0% Finance,” a great concept track in which GZA incorporates the names of major car companies into his lyrics. “Groundbreaking” is another unique song where he trades a few lines back and forth with his son Justice.

The release of Pro Tools also cements GZA as one of the top lyricists in the business. This is demonstrated clearly on “Paper Plate,” the pinnacle of the album, lyrics-wise. As a diss track aimed at 50 Cent, GZA absolutely destroys the rapper, questioning everything from his manhood to his musical talent. With lines like “Have you ever been stung by a thousand hornets?/ Five hundred killa bees, buzzin’ and really on it/ Whipped with Cuban Linx, cut with Liquid Swords/ Choked by Ironman ‘till we crush your vocal cords,“ GZA shows off his uncanny ability to paint visuals with his words. He may be 42 years old, but The Genius can still write circles around a majority of the rappers out today.

Compared to GZA’s previous releases, Pro Tools also features less guest appearances. Out of the seven other surviving Wu-Tang members, only RZA and Masta Killa offer their services. Other guests include Roc Marciano, and True Master. The small cast is a welcome change, each adding their own unique touch to the album without becoming too overpowering.

Though GZA’s relaxed and laid back vocals give him a style all his own, they don’t always get to the point. Certain songs like “Cinema” lack energy, and on “0% Finance,” the creativity of the lyrics is overshadowed by his slightly mumbling voice.

Still, it’s no surprise that many are already putting the album on their “Best of 2008” lists. With its great production and excellent lyrics, Pro Tools offers a much needed escape for all those who are tired of hearing songs about lollipops.

Sexy as all Hell

CSS - Donkey

9/10

by Elina Vaysbeyn

Cansei de Ser Sexy, or “tired of being sexy,” is a Brazilian ensemble that will have you dancing, even when it’s inappropriate. While CSS might be tired of their sexiness, we could definitely have some more of it. Described by their label, Sub Pop Records, CSS is “a group of art-damaged, pop culture omnivores with an abiding thirst for good times.” Recently featured in Nylon Magazine, the quintuplet is gaining more popularity very quickly. It seems people are starting to recognize true sex appeal: pastiche jumpsuits and catchy lyrics. (It’s like we were blind before or something).

CSS’s smooth synth is dance floor battle-inducing, sing along in your car satisfying, and jump around in your underwear liberating. Believe me, I’ve done it. Their signature sound is an electronic pop narrated by rebellious and whimsical lyrics. The kind of stuff you wish you thought of on the spot instead of hours later (if you were having a dramatic, impromptu dance-off in an underground club), “I’m gonna tell you what I’ll do, I’ll break your face in two… I’ll be rude, I’ll be rude, I’ll be rude.”

They are famous for their chillingly good hits “Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above,” and “Music Is My Hot Hot Sex.” The latter has a cult following and was used for an Apple commercial. Their new album, Donkey, doesn’t have the same momentum, but that isn’t to say it doesn’t kick some ass.

Their charm lies in their ability to tap into the fun of performing rather than drudging up deep feelings about anything, “Life is just too serious/ It won’t be mysterious/ Life is just too short/ You know what it cost.” CSS’s snappy retorts deliver the truth in “Give Up.” They don’t seem to be trying that hard to impress, but still retain their energetic attitudes and girlishly charming choruses. Their self-titled debut from 2005 had a shiny new penny smell and sound to it, and we appreciate how hard they worked to get there, but Donkey is a confident effort with some definite variation. It has even more swagger than Cansei De Ser Sexy, utilizing slightly grittier guitars and ice cool booty shakin’ anthems.

Their choruses are packed with funny punch lines like, “Stars above try to guess/ Where’s my gin, where’s my glass?/ All this mess comes from your ass/ Fuck with us we are CSS” (“Jager Yoga”). Sporting color palette-defying outfits, CSS is staging a dance floor coup d’état. Songs like “Move” or “Air Painter” deviate a tiny bit from their established sound. I say only a tiny bit because it truly seems like the minor tweaks they added to the style of their songs created drastic changes that spanned the musical spectrum. Slowing down the beat one notch makes these songs two of a kind, though they still fit into CSS’s discotheque dreams. CSS’s birth place, after all, is the dance floor, and it’s a great arena for them to play around in, whether it’s with snotty hyper-pop or bittersweet guitars.

Unleash the Dragon

Dragon Fighter [NES]

6.5/10

by Ryan Mallette

Dragon Fighter is a little known action game that was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991. Its stark competition may have led to the game’s obscurity as it was released alongside such heavy-hitters as Super Mario World, Sonic the Hedgehog, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. By the time of its release, many were looking to the future of gaming with the eclipsing Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis; the NES was entering its final days as a prominent game console.

The game should be played for the sole fact that in the first level, you use your mighty sword to fight bears and killer snowflakes in a frozen tundra. Lacking any pertinent story, our hero is sent through six levels full of hell-bent creatures, lusting for a taste of the pixilated protagonist’s blood. Those coming into this game ready to slay dragon beasts will be severely disappointed, as there are no dragons to fight. You control a ninja-like character, with a likeness to Robin Hood, who has the ability to transform into an all-powerful, magic orb-spewing dragon. Mr. Fighter gains this ability after killing enough enemies in order to make the “dragon display dial” flash. The option to transform whenever you wish is an interesting game mechanic, but unfortunately, the dragon cannot turn around to confront the onslaught of enemies from the left side of the screen, effectively cutting his offense in half.

The controls in the game are responsive and kept down to the minimum of jump and attack. A charge shot, like that of Mega Man, is also available for the character; it can hardly be of good use during some of the more hectic parts of levels, as it takes far too long to charge up. The charge attack and the dragon’s attacks are temporarily upgradeable however, through power-ups found in some levels.

Dragon Fighter is not as pretty as many of the other games that came out at the time, like the similar [much better] Ninja Gaiden, but stands on its own legs above the average NES game. The levels are all comparatively diverse and feature a whole new set of bad guys for each area; with enemies ranging from bubbles, to angry mermen, to robots—the sheer ridiculousness of the enemy palette keeps the game intriguing. The programming of the enemies is relentless, as some will unexpectedly kamikaze you from the other side of the screen, only because you didn’t kill them when you walked by. Such ruthless onslaughts can really spike the difficulty during the more populated parts of the levels. Each level climaxes with a large boss fight; the sixth and final level of the game is played in its entirety in dragon form in a Gradius-esque shooter level and final boss fight.

Dragon Fighter is not perfect, several flaws add up to create an average action game. But the tight controls and a steep difficulty certainly make the experience a challenging and surreal romp through retro-gaming land. And did I mention that you turn into a dragon?

"The Tall and Lanky Cox..."

Deerhunter @ Soundlab, Buffalo

8.6.08

7.5/10

Josh Dill

Those who’ve listened to the music of Atlanta’s Deerhunter know it as fuzzy, pulsating, and entrancing, possessing a unique sound that the band dubs “ambient punk.” Their recent recordings Cryptograms (2006) and Fluorescent Grey EP (2007) are enough to hypnotize you into a hazy sleep. Yet when the band played at Buffalo’s Soundlab on August 6, the only way you’d have dozed off is if you’re used to sleeping on the inside of a jet engine.

The lights of the basement performance space dimmed as the five members of Deerhunter took the stage and unleashed a deafening barrage of noise and feedback. Their ambient compositions were transformed into thundering salvos that resonated throughout my entire body. It became impossible to hear any other sound. The roar of the instruments was augmented by the crooning, otherworldly vocals of singer Bradford Cox. Although his voice was clearly audible in the harmonic mix, his words were imperceptible. For the most part, the members of the band seemed reserved and introspective, keeping their faces down. The tall and lanky Cox sang crouching over the microphone with his eyes closed. Stereotypical rock-band antics were conspicuously absent. The dim lights and the restrained movements of the musicians made a strange counterpoint to the intensity of the sound. In fact, the music was so loud that it bordered on painful. The volume seemed to distort the sound, and it was almost as if it was drowning itself out. After the concert, a friend of mine sheepishly admitted that she had stuffed bits of paper into her ears as makeshift earplugs. Despite the fact that we couldn’t hear each other during the car ride home, we agreed that it had been a good performance. Deerhunter transformed what could have been a dull recital of their material (like a performance of Cox’s solo project Atlas Sound) into a sense-dominating experience.

For a band with such intellectual pretensions, the members of Deerhunter were surprisingly goofy. Between their main set and their encore, they treated the audience to a variety of vulgar jokes, drolly informing us, “Some people think we don’t like jokes. Now you know they’re wrong.” After his last joke, Cox told his drummer, “Moses, after I tell a funny one, you’re supposed to do that thing with your drums!” The drummer immediately began the vigorous beat for the encore.

Deerhunter’s sonic depth and intensity made this concert a resounding success. It was an excellent performance displaying an impressive musical sensibility and a sophisticated and subtle style. I’d recommend seeing Deerhunter in concert to any of their fans interested in hearing their music brought to an entirely new level.