Weezer: The Fire is Gone, but There's Still Some Love

Weezer and I go way back. It took me till 8th grade to hear the Blue Album, though it came out when I was in 6th. This was the year when a host of other bands opened my eyes to rock music. All the typical responses apply here. Nirvana, Soundgarden, even... gasp... Collective Soul. Though I hesitate to admit it. But Weezer grabbed my attention first and with the slight obsession within the crowd I ran with, my love for catchy pop tunes was solidified. I heard the Blue Album first, but in my 8th Grade/9th Grade year, Pinkerton was released. For whatever reason, and seemingly against all popular sentiment at the time, I gravitated towards the emotional free for all of the newest album. Sure Rivers was pent up and singing about some provocative things, but I couldn't get enough of the music and his delivery. The guitars were rough, the drums were chaotic, and the vocals were near insane. What's a kid not to like. However, in recent years Weezer's name and reputation have been flushed down my musical toilet. Sure, I waited in line for the Green Album, but promptly realized that the guitar solos were simply the vocal lines redone. I bought Maladroit and listened to it once. Since then, no Weezer albums have passed through my ears in total. I thought the dubious Red Album might hold promise with the tongue in cheek single "Pork and Beans" which smacked of the epic pop guitar from their debut. It didn't. Now, as their new album Raditude comes out (The albums I didn't mention don't deserve to be), I don't laugh it off as a "stunt," but instead I casually comment, "well, that's Weezer for you." And who wouldn't with tracks titled "The Girl Got Hot" and "I'm Your Daddy" as well as a "duet" with Lil Wayne. What!?

Yet, through all of this, I can still derive a whole lot of fun out of those first two albums. "Only in Dreams" came on my I-Pod the other day and I marveled. It seems to be a subtle musical segue between the Blue Album and Pinkerton in spite of their differences. In the end breakdown, the guitars shred and devolve into madness and the drums get louder and louder. Though I can't stand the Weezer of today, the Weezer of yesteryear are still up there with the bands that make me smile.

Terrible Yellow Eyes

I can't believe that I haven't posted anything about this. I might have mentioned it in passing a while back, but seriously... this needs to be seen and continually enjoyed. Cory Godbey, illustrator extraordinaire (Light Night Rains) has decided to create a blog dedicated to Where the Wild Things Are. I'm sure that this was done prior to the movie gaining such indie cred, but his idea allows fellow artists to go wild. Every Friday, the viewer can experience more illustrations. Each artist takes a page or a sentence and redraws it with his/her style. Sometimes the artwork turns out to have little to do with the book and more to do with creativity and imagination. As if that weren't already firmly in place.


Here are a few of my favorites.

What's Good the Last Three Months?

Here's what I came up with for the last three months worth of music. It's all good in its own way, but some are more worthwhile all the way through than the others. Sometimes my love of music will force me into foolish first assumptions, therefore the inclusion of the now banal track "Roll on Babe" by Vetiver. I heard it and thought it catchy. Now it sounds like everything else out there. Also the inclusion of the cryptic or silly "Robots" by Dan Mangan. He's getting a lot of good press in Canada and the tune is a catchy one, but it seems a little hollow to me for no good reason. However, there is the odd inclusion of something that should be in a category all its own. Dirty Projectors or Bibio or even perhaps The Low Anthem could fit into a slot simply made for "feely" music. Sure Mastodon can come out and yell with the best of them, sometimes anger just doesn't come through fully. The intensity palpable from the Dirty Projectors, or the honest and mindless relaxation heard from Bibio, or the introspective mourning from The Low Anthem.... this is what music is made for. Enjoy. Again... all tracks were found on Hype Machine.

1. Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue


2. Dan Mangan - Robots


3. Dirty Projectors - Cannibal Resource


4. Fleet Foxes - Blue Spotted Tail (live on BBC)


5. Laura Gibson - Spirited


6. Leif Vollebekk - Michael Robartes and the Dancer


7. Lisa Hannigan - Lille


8. Mastodon - Divinations


9. Megafaun - Kaufman's Ballad


10. Modest Mouse - Guilty Cocker Spaniels


11. Mos Def - Workers Comp.


12. Ramona Falls - Russia


13. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You (though I like "Kickdrum Heart" better)


14. Dead Weather - I Cut Like a Buffalo


15. The Low Anthem - Charlie Darwin


16. The Phenomenal Handclap Band - 15 to 20


17. Thom Yorke - All for the Best


18. Vetiver - Roll on Babe


19. Wye Oak - Take It In


20. Yacht - Summer Song


21. Zee Avi - Bitter Heart


22. Elvis Perkins - I Heard Your Voice in Dresden


23. Wilco - Deeper Down

Did I miss any? Let me know.