Oh, Rude and Ungrateful Brand New Fans

A friend reminded me Friday night that I haven't written here in awhile, mainly due to school- it's senior year, what can I say?

Anyway, PropertyOfZack released an article earlier Saturday about Brand New fans being disappointed by their album choices for Friday night's sold out show in the band's hometown. Now, I shouldn't even have to go on further about how ridiculous it is that fans are disappointed by which albums this band chose to play. If you're a fan of Brand New and know their scarce history of playing shows in recent years, then you truly understand how ungrateful these so-called fans are. 

They finally decide to play a few shows, albeit on the coasts, in which they play two of their albums in their entirety. Two albums. In full. Brand New has released four albums to date, each holding 11 or 12 songs (not including special editions or b-sides). Fans attending these shows get to hear one of their favorite bands play at least 23 songs for them, aka a lot of songs for one night and one show. 

As a result of the rarity of this occasion, all of the shows sold out in a matter of minutes. The people I know who were planning to road trip to Friday night's show weren't able to get even a single ticket. The majority of fans were not able to get tickets obviously, so those who obtained tickets were the lucky ones. I'm sure these people were very excited for this show and had in mind which albums they hoped to be played, but I assumed they'd be happy to hear the band put on a great show regardless. 

I guess we assumed wrong. Due to this being a hometown show, many fans felt entitled to hear Brand New's first two albums performed live since they "made" the band. Are you serious? You know what y'all are entitled to? Hearing two albums played in their entirety by one of your favorite bands because that's what you paid for. There are so many people who would have loved to be in your shoes last night, myself included. The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is one of my favorite albums of all time (my tattoo even references it), and Daisy is actually a good album if you give it a chance. Maybe they decided not to play Your Favorite Weapon or Deja Entendu because they knew there'd be a lot of fans there who've heard those songs over and over again since they've been there since the beginning. I don't know. Regardless of why they chose to play their two recent albums, fans got to hear them perform. I'm also shocked to hear that people were so pissed that they walked out once the guys started playing Daisy. You'd rather walk out of a show because the band didn't play the songs you wanted to hear that they never promised you than enjoy the rest of the show? Guess who's money was wasted? Not Brand New's. 

People always say how Brand New treats their fans poorly because they rarely play shows, but look at what happens when they're being "nice". While we can't be certain if Brand New picked their setlists in advance for these shows or if they choose the day of, it seems like the band treated the lives of those sour Friday night fans by treating Saturday fans to Your Favorite Weapon and Deja Entendu. Does that count as karma?

In the end, I hope that all fans are happy because the band is recording new music. Don't be a scrooge. Merry Christmas to all (who celebrate)!

Album Review: 'How Long' by Bradley Hathaway



Arkansas-based poet/singer/songwriter Bradley Hathaway's folk roots have returned for his first full-length album in roughly four years, How Long. I've been driving around Central Illinois with this album playing on repeat to get a good feel for it. It helps to take in the scenery of corn fields and falling autumn leaves while letting this album marinate. Shorter than your average LP (10 songs coming to a close at roughly 38 minutes), it is sweet, to say it simplest. It is considerably more folky than his 2010 EP A Thousand Angry Panthers and much lighter than 2009's A Mouth Full of Dust, but I think it's necessary for the subject matter of How Long. In my ears I hear a love album, and I remember why I fell in love with Bradley's words eight years ago.

Now, don't confuse my label of "love" as an album full of songs about falling in love and being so happily in love. This is about varying degrees of love and the desire for (or the discovery of) intimacy. Intimacy is not simply for romance- intimacy is about closeness to another being. These songs tell the stories of people who are searching for (or have already found) intimacy through various avenues.

The album begins with "Daddy's Name", a slow but fitting start to an album of such a soft nature. It sets the tone for the majority of the album, as most of the songs are not upbeat. This is followed by the album's first single "How Long", an almost conversational love song that asks "how long will your love last?" and ends with assurance of a love that will last for seasons upon seasons. I think it's the perfect title of the album, and the song does its title justice. As human beings, we are drawn to relationships, so it is only natural to wonder how long someone will love us when entering a romantic relationship with another person.
"Courthouse" is a lovely duet that I don't have enough words for at this time (it's currently my favorite from the album), but just listen to it, seriously, then you'll understand. For the long time fans of Hathaway, you'll be happy to know that he goes back to his spoken word roots with "He Drives". I've missed the way he performs his pieces with so much emotion, though this may be considered tame compared to the poetry and prose of All the Hits So Far. Although the name might be deceiving, "If I Should Die" picks up the pace on the record and will have you tapping your toes and harmonizing with the background singer(s).

The album ends with "You Look So Pretty", which has listeners waiting for more. Part of me likes that this song was chosen to end the album, but another part of me is sad that it's over. The only option is to listen to it again, obviously, since it's that good. "My words are few, my thoughts they number many" pretty much sums up my review of this album while quoting the final track. I don't want to spoil anything for readers because you need to hear this album for yourself, but know that this album is just a great listen overall- lyrically and musically.

To quote Hathaway's popular poem "Manly Man", this album is about people who "want to be loved, and have love, and give love. And not just that romantic kind either." And maybe I'm wrong, maybe I've interpreted this album all wrong, but I can't help but feel the love.

How Long will be officially released on November 5th, but you can pre-order the album and buy merch at http://bradleyhathaway.storenvy.com/. The album is also availble for digital pre-order as well.
Don't forget to visit Bradley on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bradleyhathaway

Upcoming confirmed tour dates:
October
28 North Little Rock, AR @ Mug's Cafe 515 Main Street 7pm
29 Jackson, MS @ Northridge Church 3232 N. State St 9pm
31 Nashville, TN @ House Show 422 Veritas St 7:30pm

November
1 Columbus, OH @ House Show 2131 Iuka Ave 7pm
2 Holland, MI @ Lemonjello's Coffee 61 E. 9th St 7pm
7 Port Huron, MI @ SchwonkSoundStead 1521 7th St 8pm
10 Hamilton, ON @ Barn Side Studio
11 Oneonta, NY @ SUNY Oneonta College Lee Hall 7pm
12 Clarks Summit, PA @ Baptist Bible College and Seminary Library 538 Venard Rd
15 Delran, NJ @ House Show 110 Lowden St 7pm
16 Madison Heights, VA @ Schoolhouse Venue 131 Old Colony Rd

Random Band/Musician Follower: Ben Landis

Ben Landis is a Los Angeles-based chiptune and pop rock artist who found me on Twitter within the last two or three days. My initial reaction was "this must be a spam account", but upon further inspection, I realized that this guy is legit. He is following almost half a million people and has over half a million people following him, so I figure that at least half of those followers must be real people. So I headed over to his Soundcloud page to have a listen.



Now let me first state the fact that I listen to chiptune/8-bit music, not as regularly as I used to, but I'd still call myself a fan of the genre. With that being said, I've heard a variety of artists who fall under in this genre, and Ben Landis sounds pretty generic to me, unfortunately. His songs sound like they literally came out of a video game, which is kind of cool in one sense, but very lackluster in another sense.

I'll give him credit though. He's done a nice job making everything sound smooth and not like a jumbled mess of chiptune sounds. It's not that easy to create chiptune music, especially considering the various equipment most of these artists must invest in to make their sound at least somewhat unique. Maybe he's still fairly new to the chiptune world, and that could be the reasoning behind his songs not sounding too creative. New listeners of chiptune will probably enjoy this as it produces a wave of nostalgia, most likely resulting in people scrambling to find their Game Boys and Nintendos.

His album Adventures in Pixels comes with a comic book of sorts as well, it seems. Now that is a creative idea indeed. Essentially, Ben Landis creates music that would be perfect as the soundtrack of a classic game. I'll be waiting for him to create tunes that I'd casually listen to while driving around town and such. Who knows, maybe Ben will be one of the forerunners of the next wave of the chiptune scene. He's got potential.

'Upstream Color': A Review

A few months ago, I heard the light buzz around Shane Carruth's latest film Upstream Color. Carruth wrote, directed, and starred in this film- the same exact route he took in creating his 2004 debut Primer. In my eyes, Upstream Color has the same confusion and mesmerism of Primer but with an obviously larger budget. I say confusion because if you saw Primer, at least 80% of the film's dialogues and jargon went right over your head since it is so science-heavy, and Carruth doesn't even try to reduce its language for the common moviegoer. While Upstream is a lot easier to follow as its subject is not time travel, it is still confusing upon the first viewing. 

I thought I understood what was happening during the first thirty minutes or so- a parasite, unrelated people with synchronized movements- but then I found myself puzzled as the film went on. Pigs, albums full of songs created with objects and not instruments, Walden, repetition- more elements that enter the film and seemingly have no clear connection with anything, but their purpose slowly becomes perceptible. By the end, things finally tie together, and you understand how everyone and everything is connected, but you tell yourself that you need to watch it again to fully understand well enough to explain the film to a friend (yes, I realize that I changed narrative view in this sentence). Overall, I enjoyed this film a lot, and I'm ready for Carruth to write/produce/star in another film that pushes my interest in science fiction by having enough dramatic elements to hold me over.

Visually beautiful and contextually perplexing, Upstream Color is a must-see for the independent film lover. If you're a fan of Primer, you better watch this film- that is an open threat- but I must warn you that this film is very much different from its predecessor, so it may disappoint some. If you like the thrill of Christopher Nolan's Memento, but you also desire to be challenged a bit more, then this is a film for you. 

The film is available to purchase in various formats here. The website also lists other retailers you can purchase the film from, including Amazon, iTunes, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart. 

You can also stream the film online on Netflix.

Video for a Day: "Bad Girls" by M.I.A.

"Bad Girls" by M.I.A.

So, I'm pretty much having post-Pitchfork withdrawals, and I'm trying to relive M.I.A.'s set of dancing with everyone and their sweat. Just pretend you were there with me if you weren't in the crowd.

Song of the Day: "Chicken Tonight (Doin' It Right cover)" by Daft Cluck

When I discovered this chicken cover of Daft Punk's "Doin' It Right" a month ago, I could not stop listening to it for whatever reason. Literally, the lyrics "Chicken tonight, everybody will be eating all the / Chicken tonight, everybody will be eating all the" is repeated the entire song, with random chicken noises in the background. I just laugh, and the song continues to play. Then I found out that one of my favorite 8-bit/chiptune artists is behind this ridiculously catchy cover- Sabrepulse. He (real name Ashley Charles) along with Shirobon (Mikey Cordedda) got together and gave every listener a good laugh- and the song has over 150k plays to date. The duo promised to do another cover if the song hit 100k plays, and they claim they're working on the follow-up. I'm excited for more Daft Cluck. Personally, I think the guys should cover most of Daft Punk's major hits, but maybe it's just me. Enjoy!

Random Band/Musician Follower: Halfmoon Mad

I've decided to do this new thing where I do a mini review of the random musicians who follow me on Twitter at least twice a week. Many of them are just looking for numbers, ya know, so they end up unfollowing you after a day or two, but some do stick around. So, I'll start with the random band who found me today.

Halfmoon Mad is an alternative rock band from good ol' Chicago. They're fronted by Joanna (who also plays guitar) who's joined by lead guitarist George, drummer Maxwell, and bassist Steven. I just listened to their song "Waiting", which can be found on their website. I'm not sure how I feel about Joanna's voice- I don't think she's a bad singer, it just feels a little odd for the sound of the band. Her voice isn't completely misplaced, but part of me feels like she could sing stronger, if that makes sense. They remind me of older Incubus in ways, older Pearl Jam, pretty much the '90s alternative scene. Regardless, the band isn't too shabby, so have a listen if you're into alternative. 

If you're in the Chicago area, their next show is this Saturday, July 20th at Beat Kitchen.