Believe The Truth: Oasis Is Back

I can't say what a delight it is to pop in a CD and be surprised. Too often these days artists only give us more of what we expect (see Coldplay X&Y). And while that sound might be excellent, the risk takers are rarely noticed, or rewarded by the populace at large.

Oasis, led by two of my favorite people in the world, Noel and Liam Gallagher, have re-discovered and reanimated their band. Their latest CD, Don't Believe the Truth, not only brings back the energy that made their early work memorable, but also branches out to a sound we haven't heard from Oasis.

Tracks like "Love Like A Bomb" sound familiar, but others like "The Importance of Being Idle" and the moving "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" sound like something off from an entirely different band.

I can't reccomend this album enough. Welcome back Oasis.

P.S. If you are looking for laughs, read ANY interview with the two Gallagher brothers. They are hysterical, offensive and completely entertaining.

My First "Only" Remix

I caught an interesting piece of news the other day. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails had posted the original studio tracks to his new single "Only" and was asking for fan remixes.

I really enjoy remixes of songs (check out Linkin Park's Reanimation for an idea of just how "original" they can be) and even though I had never touched a piece of music software, I decided to challenge myself to come up with something that sounded nothing like the original "Only."

So I spent a few hours tooling with Sony ACID, and came up with about 1 minute 18 seconds of what I think has the potential to be a pretty damn cool remix, should I extend it.

I'm sure most musicians out there can figure out how exactly I tweaked the song, but for all the uninitiated- I'm not telling. Go out and try yourself.

It's a hell of a lot of fun.

Here's a link to my remix.
BUT- I suggest listening to the original first.

UPDATE: Taking on a challenge from my friend Rod, who commented, "That song is like eating a cheeseburger and then having someone take it away" I have re-done the song and added a bit more depth to it. No one steals hamburgers from Rod. No one.

Here's the new mix.

Leave a comment and let me know which one you like better.

War of the Worlds: Morbid, Mindless Special Effects

I'll keep this simple and to the point. Spielberg forgot an essential ingredient to any story: a hero. He also needlessly exhumed imagery of September 11th that I personally did not want to see serialized in a science fiction borderline horror story.

ILM once again dazzled with their special effects, but when the movie is hollow and lacks any emotional punch: Who cares?

War of the Worlds is a movie I probably won't willingly watch for a long time. It lacks any redeeming moments, Tom Cruise is only mildly believable as a working class dad and Dakota Fanning's solid performance is wasted because her character never does anything except shriek.
I could have tolerated the dark, morbid aspects of the film had Spielberg rewarded the audience with any semblance of redemption. Instead the character arcs are weak, we are forced to watch scene after scene of torturous "vaporizings" and other deaths and until the last few frames never actually see any real progression in the overall story (man vs. aliens).

See Batman Begins instead: a movie crafted with care and focused exactly where it should be: on plot and character.

Oh and someone tell Tom Cruise to shut the hell up.