Heading to Chitown

Ahh Chicago. I love getting away from rural Iowa occasionally. I’m leaving Friday afternoon for Chicago until late Sunday with some family to pick up other family from the airport that have been in Africa for the past couple weeks.

I probably won’t post much until I get back – so let me leave you with some final thoughts for the week. There are two ad spots on the site now. They’re pretty small and don’t get in the way of much so don’t get all grumpy face. They’re more of an experimentation than anything else; to see whether the site could support itself.

Nine Inch Nails have released the studio-length album The Slip for free, with Trent Reznor saying “this one’s on me” via the NIN website. Apparently you can be successful and generous at the same time. I’m impressed by what this band is doing and I’m going to probably start a write up of my opinions and recommendations for bands you should check out that understand where the music industry is heading while I’m in Chicago. I’m going to try and get that out by next week.

Speaking of which, in addition to The Slip being on my iPod during the car ride to Chicago, Narrow Stairs is still on repeat every couple of hours. Yeah, I’m that ridiculously into it. Keep in mind Death Cab for Cutie’s latest is out on the 12th. No, it’s not free, but at least it’s worth spending the cash on.

And I’ll leave you with this. . .

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And I want to know my fate

Death Cab For Cutie – Narrow Stairs
Produced by Chris Walla

Death Cab For Cutie’s album hit the internet yesterday. It’s available March 12TH here in the states and it’s definitely one I’ll be picking up – of course some of my previous posts might have indicated how excited I am for this album so you probably already knew I was going to be picking it up.

I’ve been listening to the album all day and I’ve got to say it’s amazing. The production on this album sounds unbelievable and hopefully will really put Death Cab on the map. Very well put together and in a way unlike their previous efforts. The writing by Ben Gibbard on this album shines once again but this time is accompanied by a clean, well-mixed sound from the others in the band.

The first single off this album is a radio version of I Will Possess Your Heart, which is over eight minutes long on the album and largely instrumental. It, along with all the other tracks, have done something not many bands pull off – revamping their sound while staying true to their original style.

You’re going to hear a lot more instrumental variety on Narrow Stairs. You Can Do Better Than Me features heavy piano and organ work, some tight snares and even big timpani accents but transcends into Grapevine Fires which is a very kit driven tune, very relaxed with a lot of backing vocals on the chorus. The album begins and ends on a familiar note as both Bixby Canyon Bridge and The Ice Is Getting Thinner are very vocal and guitar led, with very little in the way of drums. ‘Ice’ features a very bluesy lead guitar sound and the chord changes Gibbard puts into his vocals which always keeps things interesting.

Overall, I really recommend this album. Check it out and if you like it, please buy it. These guys deserve more recognition.

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2008 Block Busters

Alright friends, I suppose it’s time for a short break from Grand Theft Auto 4 and for me to hop into a new article for Postblink – although I am only 30%/45 missions in. Today I’m talking about summer block busters for the sunny days of 2008.  After watching an inspiring episode of The Totally Rad Show, I decided it’s time for my top 5 picks of summer. The following are my picks, let’s see yours in the comments. You can find all upcoming releases here.

First Pick – Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Directed by Steven Spielburg? Co-written by George Lucas? Are you kidding me? Forget that it’s another step in a legendary film series, the film creators and actors are enough to make this the biggest film of 2008. I’m more excited for this than I was any of the Starwars prequels. This film is my top pick because everyone is going to be seeing this movie, of all ages and demographics, and probably multiple times.

Second Pick – Dark Knight

I’m not a huge fan of Batman Begins, but I don’t think I’ll be able to say the same for Dark Knight. The late Heath Ledger is going to be a huge factor in how amazing this movie is, in my opinion, and I can’t wait for it. I’m expecting ten times the story and double the action of Batman Begins.

Third Pick – The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

I think this is going to beat out Iron Man, but I’m not sure by what measure. While I am looking forward to checking this out, it’s not one I’m going to be crushed if I don’t see. It’s my third pick, however, because I do believe many people are going to be rushing to see this. If I was going to base this completely on my personal tastes, WALL-E would take this spot – but I’m taking into consideration what I think the box office sales numbers will show.

Fourth Pick - WALL-E

The trailers have been fairly abstract as far as storyline for this movie, although I guess I haven’t watched one in a while. I think this Pixar film will be one of the better movies coming out this summer. I haven’t really ever been disappointed by Pixar and they seem to only get better after each previous film. WALL-E has some of the best new animation from a company that won awards for it’s animation in the mid-nineties.

Fifth Pick – Iron Man

There’s a lot of internet hype for Iron Man – but I guess that’s the base of the culture that are looking forward to seeing this live-action comic book inspired film. I’m not interested so much from that point of view as I am because Robert Downy Jr. is in it and ever since he stopped doing rails in bathrooms his acting has been amazing.

What almost made it? - Pineapple Express

Pineapple Express didn’t quite make it because I’m not sure how many people will be interested outside of the target audience. Will Seth Rogen add anything new to his slacker-comedy relief stoner role? Could he add any depth to a lead character who plays a stoner? I think I’m going to love this movie, but I don’t quite agree with all my friends who think it’s going to be the best action/comedy film of 2008. Despite what the trailers show, my stoner friends just aren’t that active. ;)

What will never make it? - Speed Racer

I think this film will kill off the Wachowski brothers and be a massive let down. Maybe it’s the story that doesn’t interest me, maybe it’s the stupid mix of live action/over-artistic CGI for the race scenes we’ve seen in the advertisements – I don’t know. All I can say is I won’t be seeing this and I can’t think of any of my friends who are busting out to see it. Two words: “over” & “hyped”.

In conclusion? Sorry if this was hard to read. I’m going on very little sleep and I’m sure my reading comprehension skills are a little drained after having to decipher so many accents in GTA.

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