NewburyComics.com - attention music geeks!

Newbury Comics is a New England-based independent retailer that caters to the serious music fan and if that describes you then their website is worth a visit. They've been around for 30 years and over that time have developed strong relationships with music artists via in-store appearances and generally just being incredibly supportive of the industry. The reason I regularly visit is that they offer autographed CD's from a wide variety of acts from numerous genres with no extra charge for these collector's items (not to mention the CD prices are extremely reasonable - usually around $8.99 - $13.99 U.S.).

Over the past couple of years I've bought autographed new releases from Filter, Extreme, Whitesnake and Ours from NewburyComics.com and to me it's an extra special nice touch having the artist's signature on their work. That nice feeling gets a little diminished when the album sucks, though (Extreme). A random selection of autographed new releases that are available right now are: Phish, Queen Latifah, Third Eye Blind, Our Lady Peace, Metric and Juliette Lewis, just to name a few among the hundreds of titles offered.

Their e-store also sells knick knacks like posters, t-shirts and action figures yet despite the name it appears that the website doesn't actually sell comics. Odd.

In these times where digital downloads have led to the sad demise of the brick and mortar end of the music business it's hopeful to have a business like Newbury Comics soldiering on. I live in a small town and after the close last year of the local CD Plus outlet (which had a limited selection anyway) my only option for buying new CD's without having to drive 30+ minutes south is Wal-Mart. If you've been CD shopping in one of their stores lately you may have noticed the real estate they give to compact discs has grown laughably small. DVD's and video games command the bulk of the shelf space due to the sharp decline in CD sales. One can't fault Wal-Mart for this from a business perspective but it sure makes for a shitty CD shopping experience. As a result I now buy most of my CD's from Amazon or Newbury but it's just not the same. I occasionally purchase music from the iTunes store, yet as convenient as digital downloads are I still prefer getting the actual physical CD with proper liner notes that I don't have to download as a PDF file or go to the artist's website to access.

Newbury's shipping charges are a little steep ($6.99 to Canada) but even with that factored in you're still getting a unique piece of memorabilia for an outstanding price.

Dead Snow [movie review]

* Limited North American theatrical release in June (released in its native Norway in January); DVD release date TBA

Two words best sum up Dead Snow: Nazi zombies. I saw a still picture from the film of said undead on the forum I download a lot of my movies from and was immediately intrigued, but then I found out it was a Norwegian film with subtitles, which was enough to scare this uncultured North American away. Coincidentally, a couple of days later my brother told me he had seen it and how great it was so I went back, got it and proceeded to be knocked over by the ridiculous fun it had to offer.

Dead Snow (Død Snø) was directed and co-written by Tommy Wirkola and who it stars probably doesn’t matter as I probably already lost you at “Tommy Wirkola”. The plot is fairly pedestrian as far as zombie/horror movies go: a group of young people head out to a remote area for a few days of drinking, sex and relaxation and end up fighting for their lives to avoid becoming zombie chow. The twist here is that the zombies are Nazis who were thought to have perished after fleeing from uprising locals into the Norwegian Alps during World War II. Brilliant. I mean, could there be a more unsympathetic figure to watch get the crap beat out of than a zombie in full SS gear?

The movie does an excellent job of building up suspense – it’s 40 minutes in before it becomes evident exactly what the twentysomethings are up against (assuming you knew nothing about the movie before viewing) and the timing feels just about perfect as the film shifts gears from a tense thriller into a blood splattered campfest (with a particular predilection for gore involving intestines). The intentionally bad humour is nicely interspersed as well, without seeming overdone.

The white landscape provides the perfect backdrop for the director to take full visual advantage of the gallons of blood being spilled. Most horror movies work better in the dark but with this movie it’s the complete opposite. The snow also adds a nice element during the chase scenes as both the living and undead struggle to navigate the terrain.

I’m not a major zombie or horror movie buff but I can safely say that Dead Snow ranks as the best zombie movie I’ve ever seen. Don’t be deterred by the subtitles as this one is destined for cult classic status.

Rating: 9/10

The Hangover [movie review]

* Released theatrically in June; DVD release date TBA

The last time I recall a comedy being met with overwhelmingly positive reviews and a “best comedy of the year” tag it was The 40 Year Old Virgin in 2005. The Hangover has similarly garnered such acclaim and I must admit it seems I’ve missed the boat on this one. Both movies follow similar trajectories – they star relatively low wattage actors (“stars” seems like a stretch) and emerge as the sleeper hits of their respective summers. Yes, I know we’re only at the beginning of August but trust me, it’s a pretty safe call at this point. Interestingly, both feature former The Daily Show and current The Office actors in lead roles (Steve Carell in Virgin and Ed Helms in Hangover, although Helms is more part of an ensemble group). Former Daily Show contributors also pop up throughout Hangover, most notably a funny performance from Rachael Harris as Helms’ henpeckish wife.

The premise is pretty standard. Four guys take a stag roadtrip to Vegas and chaos and hilarity ensue. Along with Helms is the group’s dickish alpha male Phil (Bradley Cooper), groom-to-be Doug (Justin Bartha, who is such a bland actor he barely registers) and oddball Alan (Zach Galifianakis). A drunken night of debauchery leads to the “misplacement” of the groom and the group must retrace their steps and piece together what happened which, expectedly, leads to a string of shocking revelations and run-ins with Mike Tyson and an effeminate Asian crime figure (Ken Jeong), among others. Jeong’s initial appearance onscreen provides the biggest laugh of the movie but subsequent scenes featuring him fall totally flat and are the comedic low points of the movie. The Tyson cameo disappoints as well. For some reason it seemed so much more promising in the trailer.

The main ensemble of Helms, Galifianakis and Cooper work well together as a threesome with completely different character traits. Galifianakis delivers a consistently funny effort which, based on his sheer weirdness, is basically an extension of his standup comedy act. His career has flown below the radar even though IMDB lists 37 different movie and television credits since 1996. Of those credits I highly encourage anyone entertained by his unconventional humour to check out a 2005 documentary called The Comedians Of Comedy, which features himself along with some other comedian (duh) friends including the always funny Patton Oswalt. Galifianakis’ standup routine involves a stream of hilarious non sequiturs occasionally rounded out by his classically trained piano playing as he tells his jokes, which only adds to the weirdness. He also has several Comedy Central standup specials which are worth a look.

The first half of The Hangover entertained me but overall I found the movie as a whole a big letdown. It definitely has it’s moments but fails to deliver on the promise it shows at points and most certainly the hype. I’ve read and heard a number of people comment that this is the best comedy they’ve ever seen and frankly I just feel sorry for them that their standards are that low.

Rating: 6/10

The "comments" feature now active...

It was brought to my attention that the comments feature was not working so I've enabled it. All comments will be screened by me before being posted and can only be added for posts after this one due to Blogger restrictions.

Feel free to comment on any of the first batch of reviews in this post and I look forward to your feedback.

Nickelback – Dark Horse [music review]

* Released in November 2008

Nickelback’s last album (2005’s All The Right Reasons) sold eight million copies, an extremely impressive figure in this day and age...even for four years ago. For me (and I would imagine a healthy percentage of those album buyers) they’re a guilty pleasure. They write some great, heavy melodic tunes with a specialty in providing continuing fuel to the Bic lighter that represents the ongoing tradition of the power ballad. Actually, lighters these days at concerts are almost obsolete. Switch that fuel part to a battery recharger and the metaphorical lighter to a cell phone. Not as eloquent, I grant you, but more timely.

Anyway, so where does the guilt part factor in then? That’d be the lyrics. I’ve heard things come out of lead vocalist Chad Kroeger’s mouth over the course of Nickelback’s career that I couldn’t believe I was hearing. I mean things that range from creepy to disgusting to downright sociopathological. Example 1 (from All The Right Reasons’ “Follow You Home”): Well you can stick me in a hole/And you can pray all day for rain/You can shoot me in the leg/Just to try to make me beg/And you can leave me there for days/And I’ll stay alive/Just to follow you home. Example 2 (from “Next Contestant” from the same album): Is that your hand on my girlfriend?/Is that your hand?/I wish you’d do it again/I’ll watch you leave here limping/I wish you’d do it again/There goes the next contestant. Now, I’m all for defending the honour of your woman but there’s such an air of testosterone-fuelled meatheadedness throughout this song (and plenty of other Nickelback songs) that it’s impossible not to cringe. And that’s just two examples among many…I never even mentioned the one that features lines about “dirt on your knees” and the “white stains on your dress”. Subtle, Chad…very subtle. Perhaps the most succinct and amusing (albeit in obviously very bad taste) critical rebuke I’ve read about the group came from Toronto uber-trendy arts weekly publication Now, which labeled Dark Horse as a soundtrack for date rapists.

Of course, Nickelback have hardly ever aspired to be critical darlings or artistes. They’re all about good ‘ol boy rawk, with a sensitive side for the ladies and a hint of social awareness that I must admit I’ve always found somewhat insincere and almost obligatory, as if they were straining to add another layer of depth and dimension to what constitutes a unit that has so far been only coming at us in full 2-D.

The album starts with a pretty kickass groove on “Something In Your Mouth”, but here we are, back at the lyrics issue. It’d be redundant to inform you that the song title is a play on words. Some of the other sex-fuelled high energy tunes that tread the same ground are “Next Go Round” and, appropriately, “S.E.X.”. From the former, here’s a selection of the fine word craft being weaved by Mr. Kroeger: “I wanna go so long your parents think you died/They’re gonna call the cops, the CIA and then the FBI” and “I wanna cover you with Jell-O in the tub/We can roll around for hours without ever coming up/I want you naked with your favourite heels on/Start John Deere across my ass and ride me up and down the lawn”. And from the chorus to the latter: “S is for the simple need/E is for the ecstasy/X is just to mark the spot because that's the one you really want/Yes!/Sex is always the answer, it's never a question/Cause the answer's yes, oh the answers yes/Not just a suggestion, if you ask the question/Then it's always yes - yeah!”. I wish I was making this crap up.

Despite my inability to look past the shameless lyrics I can’t say Dark Horse is a terrible album. As mentioned, it rocks pretty good in a number of places and there’s some excellent catchy songs with first single “Gotta Be Somebody” and the acoustic-driven second single “If Today Was Your Last Day”. The last track, “This Afternoon” is decent enough but feels like an obvious attempt to follow-up the mega-successful “Rock Star” from the previous album. And lest you consider me a prude that is above not being open to a song about doin’ it, let me state that I grew up on and still listen to plenty of 80’s hard rock, which buttered it’s bread with lyrics that specialized in that area. But that was a genre that emerged over 20 years ago and while songs about sex have been around since forever and will always be around there’s something about the sleazy style with which Nickelback chooses to cover that territory that, for me, holds them back from being a better band. And maybe it’s just me getting older and looking for a little more in what I choose to listen to. Regardless, somewhere in the world at whatever moment you’re reading this there is guaranteed to both be someone buying a Nickelback album and a stripper dancing to a Nickelback song so who am I to argue with success?

Rating: 5/10

Keith Urban – Defying Gravity [music review]

* Released in March

As an avid music consumer it’s very rare nowadays that I discover an established musical artist that I suddenly wake up to and turn into a huge fan of. Since I was a kid I’ve kept my ears pretty close to the ground about what’s going on in music and there has been precious little in the way of new artists from the last ten to fifteen years that have really moved me. But between those few that have as well as a steady stream of new music from veteran artists whose careers I’ve followed for some time, well, most of the time that’s been more than satisfying in terms of feeding my musical appetite. So when I recently began to listen to and really, really enjoy the music of country artist Keith Urban, who’s been around since his first album in 1991, I was amazed, confused and excited that I’d tapped once again into that rare feeling that certain musicians can deliver to me as a music junkie.

Why “amazed” and “confused”, you ask? Until recent years I’ve never been a country fan and when I did start giving it more of a listen and appreciating what it had to offer I just never heard anything from a male country artist that I would even consider buying. All the country music I’ve purchased has been by female artists – Shania Twain, Deena Carter, Dixie Chicks and Sugarland (who have a female vocalist). Another thing this bunch has in common is that they tread mostly equal ground between a pop and country sound, which is what hooked me. I can even say that Sugarland’s Love On The Inside release from last year was the best album I heard (and I buy and download a ton of music every year) until September when Metallica’s Death Magnetic masterpiece came along. Even still, Love On The Inside finished a very strong number two in terms of my favourite albums of the year. There are plenty of male country artists who also mix elements of pop and country but as mentioned, none of it ever interested me.

The little that I knew about Keith Urban was that he was Australian (which certainly makes him a standout in this normally Americanized genre), he was married to Nicole Kidman, he’s huge in North America and that he was supposedly a great guitar player. I’d heard a song or two over the years but never gave him a second thought, aside from his name coming up occasionally through knowing a couple of people who were big fans. Then earlier this year I came across a copy of his new album (Defying Gravity) online that had leaked a little less than a week before it's release and I decided to download and burn it for a friend at work who I knew would love to hear it a little early.

Since the album was just sitting there on my computer after burning the CD I decided I’d give it a listen to see what the fuss was about. Upon first listen I thought it was decent enough…at least worthy of a second looking at. After a few more times through it I became more and more impressed with his voice, songwriting and guitar abilities. I went out and bought my own copy of the CD and with my interest piqued I borrowed a couple of live Urban DVD’s off my work friend and was even more impressed by the man’s live show. Urban is a dynamic performer and the live setting really lets him show off his guitar chops, which are considerable. I was unfamiliar with nearly all the songs but after I finished watching both performances I was inspired enough to go back through his catalog and pick up some of his previous work which proved to be at the same quality level as Defying Gravity.

One of the lingering impressions after just a couple of listens of Defying Gravity was the abundance of love songs on the album. The lyrics for all 11 tracks deal either mostly or completely about being in love, seeking love or some mix of the two yet somehow the album manages to transcend the apparent one-dimensionality of the subject matter to deliver a thoroughly enjoyable listening experience. Great musicianship, top-notch production and some huge hooks definitely help. A further examination of Urban’s other work reveals a similar affinity for songs dealing with matters of the heart and while I must say that although a little more range as far as topics would be welcome he does work extremely well within that area and has written and recorded many great romantic songs that the ladies just eat up (and guys like myself who aren’t too proud to admit they love a good, sappy love song can certainly appreciate).

Urban’s guitar pyrotechnics are held in check on the album…actually, he’s surprisingly restrained as far as the guitar solos go and I greatly respect musicians who aren’t overeager to shove their musical abilities in the listener’s face, just because they can. The songs come first and there’s a nice balance of ballads (“Only You Can Love Me This Way”, “Til Summer Comes Around”), mid-tempo numbers (“Kiss A Girl”, “If Ever I Could Love”) and higher energy songs (“I’m In”, “Hit The Ground Running”). The final song on the album, “Thank You”, is a straight-up love letter to his wife and the sentiments are so heartfelt that it just feels wrong to wrinkle up your nose because it maybe feels a little too over the top. It’s one of the better songs on an album that barely takes a mis-step…if there is one it might be the track “Why’s It Feel So Long”, a laid back acoustic-driven song that feels like a Jimmy Buffet reject. Otherwise, it’s pretty much wall-to-wall quality, highlighted by the opening four songs “Kiss A Girl”, “If Ever I Could Love”, “Sweet Thing” and “Til Summer Comes Around”, with the latter doing a great job of conveying the melancholy feel of the end of summer coupled with the heartbreak of lost love (and shaded with some beautiful guitar work).

Now I understand what all the hype is about with Urban and I look forward to experiencing his live show in person this October. It’s also nice to be reminded that there’s always going to be some band or singer out there who one day, for whatever reason the musical gods who conspire to dictate likes and dislikes decide, will suddenly make sense to me and I’ll wonder how I functioned without their music in my life. I’m still waiting for my Dylan phase to kick in and though I suspect it’ll never take hold, it’s probably wise to never say never…

Rating: 8.5/10

Chris Cornell - Scream [music review]

* Released in March

“Stunningly bad” is the best way I can sum up Chris Cornell’s latest effort. The huge voice from the mighty Soundgarden has reduced himself to slumming with the (s)hit factory that is producer (and wannabe singer) Timbaland. Cornell’s career since Soundgarden’s heyday has been a sad, slow progression of diminishing artistic returns and one can’t help but ask if Scream will mark a low point from which he never returns.

Following Soundgarden’s demise, there was his very average 1999 solo release Euphoria Morning. 2002 brought the formation of Audioslave with Cornell fronting 3/4 of Rage Against The Machine. Considering the pedigree of both camps, it was a pretty safe bet that what would result from the pairing would be something monstrous and memorable, yet the three releases they put out during their five year tenure were anything but. In 2007 the slide continued with Carry On, Cornell’s second solo set.

Perhaps Cornell was all too conscious of his own mediocrity and decided to go in a completely different musical direction in an effort to shake things up and challenge himself. Most definitely, his fans will be more than challenged by Scream. I know many people have diverse tastes, but one has to think that there is a very limited audience of Soundgarden and Audioslave fans who will appreciate Cornell’s latest work. When I first heard of his collaboration with Timbaland I was, naturally, shocked because it’s such an odd pairing. The final results shocked me even more, as my expectations of it being a rock record with Timbaland's r & b and production-heavy touches shading it were completely off the mark - Cornell’s identity on Scream is virtually absent. There’s some signature big vocal stretches here and there, but this may as well be the kind of music that Timbaland came up with for his previous no-talent clients like The Pussycat Dolls or Justin Timberlake.

Scream’s cover shows Cornell in mid-air and just about to smash a guitar - let that be an unsubtle warning to fans that there is precious little guitar on this album. Some heavy distorted electrics kick in at the end of “Get Up” and are sprinkled throughout “Never Far Away”, but really don’t do anything to improve the soggy soundscape populated by auto-tuned vocals and limp computer generated hip hop percussion that run throughout the entire album. And as if the songs weren’t bad enough on their own, the tracks are sequenced so that they all run into one another with no gaps, unfolding as an hour-long, non-stop insult to the ears.

Artists going in different directions and experimenting is obviously a vital piece of the creative process for most. U2, The Beatles, and David Bowie have done so with great success, while acts such as The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, and Aerosmith pretty much stick to the same formula, which has served them well for most of their careers. Musical experimentation is always a risky path in regard to how the fans will receive the results, but then complacency and playing it safe equals creative death for many musicians. A Cornell quote before the album’s release about his hope that his fan base would appreciate his need to try new things and follow him down a new musical path falls right in line with the expectations and sentiments other artists in the same situation have expressed throughout time. One can’t fault Cornell for that, just for the decision to challenge them this much with such a misguided collection of music.

Rating: 1/10

Breaking Bad [television review]

* Season one now available on DVD; season two's DVD release date TBA

When the glowing reviews for AMC's Breaking Bad came in during its first season, I viewed the critical praise with cautious optimism. Other recent amazingly reviewed series such as Mad Men, Carnivale, Grey’s Anatomy and House completely left me scratching my head as to what the fuss was about. Usually I’ll allow myself three or four episodes of a new show to find something that will keep me watching and Breaking Bad had me hooked after just one.

The storyline revolves around a dull high school chemistry teacher who suddenly finds himself facing his own mortality and sets out on an unconventional path of cooking crystal meth to provide a financial safety net for his family when he’s not around any more. A terrific cast is highlighted by Bryan Cranston (Malcolm In The Middle) as central figure Walter White, Anna Gunn as his wife and Aaron Paul as Walter’s drug partner-in-crime.

Cranston completely inhabits the lacklustre soul of a man who is 50-ish and leads a safe, unadventurous life, albeit with a loving wife and son to show for it. There’s such a restrained, mannered, uptight air about Walter that it’s unsettling. He’s not an unlikeable character, though, more one that the viewer just feels pity for. A much-needed kick in the ass for him arrives via the aforementioned circumstances and it’s fun to see Walter come alive and live on the edge, even as he struggles with how much time he has left to walk that tightrope. Paul, as Walt’s former student Jesse, is an entertaining foil in the unlikely duo.

Season two recently ended and it only improved on the excellence of the first season. Bob Odenkirk joins the cast with a recurring role as the epitome of a sleazy lawyer and it’s one of the better supporting performances I’ve seen on the small screen in recent memory. Breaking Bad certainly lives up to the hype (season one brought multiple Emmy wins and the show is nominated in five categories this year) and I couldn’t recommend it any more highly more as the next TV series you need to catch up on.

Rating: 8/10

Gran Torino [movie review]

* Released theatrically in December 2008; now on DVD

Gran Torino is a full-on Clint Eastwood Project, considering he directs, produces, stars and wrote music for the film. His character of Walt Kowalski is basically a retread of previous Eastwood roles (Dirty Harry comes to mind first)…the gruff and grizzled man’s man who always has an air of sadness and emptiness surrounding him. But that’s okay – he reliably plays that role well and though he’s up there in years now (78) he still brings a consistent vigour to his work.

The movie is set in Detroit and deals with Kowalski’s struggle to understand and inhabit the changing world around him. His old neighborhood has devolved (in his eyes) from a once idyllic and proud American community into a rundown, crime-ridden suburb infested with immigrants. The screenplay originally was set in Minneapolis but the Michigan setting probably works better, as no other city in America right now speaks more to the urban decay and social alienation of a once thriving metropolis than Detroit. But it’s not just his neighbours that curdle Walt’s milk – he also shares a similar (if less vitriolic) relationship with both his family and a priest that checks up on his well-being.

Kowalkski is that ultimate in contradictions – an old-school patriot who fought in the Korean War who believes in honour, hard work and principles yet carries with him the biases and prejudices of the past that he’s never been able to eradicate. His next door neighbours are Hmong (from Southeast Asia) and Walt doesn’t understand them or like them, simply for the reason they’re different. Incidents involving an Asian gang trying to intimidate the neighbour’s son that spills over onto Walt’s property and then an attempted theft of Walt’s titular car (a mint condition ’72) by that same kid only reinforce the hate Walt feels. Hilariously, during the first dispute that also brings other members of the family out of the house he brandishes a shotgun and actually growls at them “get off my lawn”. I couldn’t decide whether this was a sly wink at a line that has come to embody the cariacture of the grumpy old man or just unintentional comedy. Other points in the film have Walt literally “grrrrrr”-ing to express his displeasure at a situation and these just don’t ring true.

The movie is thoroughly entertaining but occasionally over-reaching in its attempts to soften Walt’s hard heart. Eastwood has said that this will be his last acting role and if he sticks to his word then Gran Torino is a more than respectable performance from which to bow out gracefully from a fine career in front of the camera.

Rating: 7/10

Rachel Getting Married [movie review]

* Released theatrically in October 2008; now on DVD

Not surprisingly, if you’re not a fan of weddings and the accompanying activities that surround them (inevitably resulting in plenty of stress) then this movie is not for you. Rachel Getting Married felt like I was stuck for two long hours with a group of people I (mostly) didn’t like preparing for an event I could have cared less about.

The star of the film is Anne Hathaway (as Kym), playing a temporarily out of rehab young woman home for the wedding of her sister, Rachel (Rosemary Dewitt). Kym’s appearance resurrects old demons for the family which mix like oil and water with the already hectic environment of the wedding planning. Normally, dysfunctional family dynamics provide for excellent entertainment, but here things just never get off the ground.

Debra Winger makes a rare movie appearance and her role garnered a lot of praise, but to me it was an unremarkable performance. Hathaway was actually nominated for an Oscar for her role, which totally mystified me. She does a decent enough job with the material she has to work with, but Oscar-nominated calibre work? Really? The only bright spot in the movie came from Dewitt, who is always reliable in anything I’ve seen her in. She’s not a big name yet and probably won’t ever be…she’s your consumate character actor who’s name you may not recognize, but when you see them you say to yourself, “Oh yeah, I know that face”. Dewitt is part of an outstanding ensemble cast on the TV series The United States Of Tara, which you really owe yourself to check out.

Rating: 3/10