Dropping Balls and Taking Names, Meganomaniacally and Collegiately
Sorry it's been so long since Culturegeist has been updated - midterms, spring break, and the general sloth that follows a week of each of both will do that to college kids. Anywho, we're back, and should be updating more regularly now, so hang on.Some business to take care of:
The WAUT - Yeah, I know Collin and I slipped a bit in the last couple of posts and didn't use the WAUT. It's not that we dropped the ball, it's just that "duckin' firiculus" had reached the end of its arbitrary unit of time. Watch out for a new WAUT to make an appearance as soon as one strikes either one of us.
WCCR Music Director (i.e. me) - I, on the other hand, have dropped the ball regarding my responsibilities as WCCR music director. I'm blaming it on the intimidation factor involved with a pile of 80 CDs nobody's ever heard (or heard of, for that matter). So I'm resolving to pass on most of those and get Station Manager Tony to get me new CDs he (read: the station) receives in the mail ASAP, so I don't have that giant pile o' music to worry about.
On to the good stuff...
Last month - nearly two months ago at this point - Incubus released their fourth major-label album A Crow Left of the Murder, so named for the second track and in tribute to being just outside of the mainstream (a group of crows, of course, being termed a murder). I've been a fan of Incubus ever since they released 'Stellar' off of Make Yourself, and this album is just as good as anything they've put out. What really catches my attention is how much riskier this album is than a lot of CDs being put out by other big-name bands (read: Linkin Park). Incubus' last effort, 2001's Morning View, embodied a lot of risk by being a lot more mellow at times with tracks like '11am,' 'Mexico,' and 'Aqueous Transition,' and this album keeps with a mellower sound in a few tracks ('Southern Girl' and 'Here In My Room'), but that's not the risk - been there done that. This album sounds less over-produced than their previous works. I know, you're thinking, "But that's the trend, now, look at The White Stripes and The Strokes!" That's missing the point: those bands are more garage rock than Incubus has ever been (they have a DJ in the band, now, come on). I like the sound - it might be that I'm getting more into indie rock, but I like it. This album also caught some of the edge that some have said Morning View was missing. Tracks like 'Sick Sad Little World,' 'Pistola,' 'Priceless,' and 'Megalomaniac' (with its brilliant and overtly political video) are testament to that. If you're into good rock music - fast, slow, hard, soft, angsty, lovey-dovey - give this album a shot; it more than deserves it. They've even thrown a little extra incentive into buying the CD: those who purchase it and go online can get an exclusive password to Internet presales for tickets to Incubus' tour this summer. There, now how can you say no?
It's March, and we know what that means. No, the 15th has come and gone - I'm not talking about the Ides, I'm talking the Big Dance. The NCAA tournament is here, and my bracket is shot to hell. I've only got 7 of the Sweet 16 teams, but my Final Four is 3/4 in tact (stupid Kentucky), and both my National Championship teams are still alive (Wake Forest over Duke), but I digress. I'm not talking about who's going to be whom this weekend, I'm talking about CBS' coverage of said chalk/upsets. It actually just hit me a few minutes ago, but CBS did a good job, at least in my area, of keeping up with all the games while sacrificing relatively little of the "main" game for my market. I can only think of once when they left in the closing seconds of a game to show a game with over a minute left, but the first game had a 10 point separation, while the new matchup was within a couple points (if memory serves). Also, I gotta love the anchors in the studio chastising each other over picks like Gonzaga or Stanford or even *gasp* Kentucky as National Champion; it keeps things light and reminds us that the pundits (in sports as in politics) don't know everything (so that's why they're on TV instead of taking Tubby Smith or Mike Davis or even Miss Cleo's jobs).
That's all I got for now, gotta go watch some hoops and listen to Incubus.
UPDATE: Friday 26 March 12:16pm
I'm done with this year's pool. Wake Forest bit the dust last night thanks to St. Joe's. Oh well, now I just gotta sit through baseball season and wait till the fall when fantasy NFL picks back up.
posted by The AMT @ 6:42 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home