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(09/18/08 5:07am)
When I think of today’s hip-hop, the first thing that comes to mind is scantily dressed women, pimps, bling-bling chains and music that is all manipulated on a producer’s soundboard. Songs about thug life and loving/hating hos — same old, same old, each virtually interchangeable with the next. Gym Class Heroes have a different take on hip-hop. They use live instrumentation and blend reggae and pop-rock into their sound, much like the music of The Roots. Their act is definitely an interesting, line-crossing endeavor.Known for their catchy hit “Cupid’s Chokehold” from As Cruel as School Children, The Quilt, Gym Class Heroes’ third studio release, is a good effort at piecing together very different music genres. Ultimately, however, it fails to live up to its potential. Rap tracks featuring frontman Travis McCoy alternate with decent alternative pop-rock songs, and the effect is jarring — you may find yourself asking, “Is this really the same band that I was listening to a moment ago?”Still, there are a good number of standout tracks. Opening tune “Guilty as Charged” is catchy and danceable, featuring Brit singer Estelle of “American Boy” fame on vocals. The brass- and piano-driven sound makes the track instantly refreshing. Unfortunately, Gym Class Heroes revisit this sound only occasionally throughout the album.Gym Class Heroes don’t depart completely from hip-hop culture, as innovative as they might be — there are still a lot of girl issues addressed in the album. “Blinded by the Sun,” lamenting an unfaithful girlfriend, has a reggae twist that pops up now and again in Quilt. “Drnk Txt Rmeo”, a casual tongue-in-cheek account of the danger of an obsession of texting a passel of girls, also shows a similar reggae influence. The single “Cookie Jar” is an oddball but original take on the irresistible urge to cheat on a girlfriend. If you can get past the metaphor that equates girls and baked goods, there’s an amusing thread of humor in the lyrics — “You see, I got this problem / I need help tryin’ to solve it / Cause meeting after meeting / and I’m still a cookie-holic.” “Peace Sign/Index Down,” featuring Busta Rhymes, is certainly memorable as a bitter, defiant power anthem — “F*** you, this is for my people.” It’s unclear who “you” might be — perhaps just anyone who is critical or gets in the way.Some of the tracks are throwaways, however, and drag on without making any impression — especially in the second half of the album. “Live Forever (Fly With Me)” certainly goes on forever, unnecessarily drawing out for more than 7 minutes. “Live a Little” and “No Place to Run” stick out, but not in a positive way. McCoy is left out of the vocals entirely, leaving the tracks sounding like any other generic alternative pop-rock band. Where’s the edge, the originality? Go ahead and mix music genres, but try meshing them within a single track instead of alternating them throughout the record.The Quilt certainly shows some potential but lacks cohesion and needs a heavier dose of Gym Class Heroes’ signature seamless blending of sounds, clever lyrics, catchy hooks and beats. Don’t rule this album out by any means, but I wouldn’t expect to be blown away, either.
(01/31/08 5:00am)
What can you do if everything you know falls apart? If your marriage was essentially perfect, but your spouse's affair involved something utterly absurd, perverse and ultimately unforgivable?
(10/11/07 4:00am)
The radio-ubiquitous Matchbox Twenty's new release Exile on Mainstream, the first in nearly five years, is a unique disc that is a hybrid of an EP, a greatest-hits album and bonuses.
(04/05/07 4:00am)
What do you get when you combine Will Ferrell, Napoleon Dynamite's Jon Heder and male-male pairs of figure skaters? The pretty hilarious and over-the-top comedy Blades of Glory.
(03/22/07 4:00am)
No doubt you've seen plenty of ghost movies and TV specials about the paranormal or pondered the existence of a soul. Maybe you've asked yourself: Is there some essence of a person that remains after kicking the bucket?
(11/30/06 5:00am)
A four-piece band, a lot of dancing and a well-stocked bar, not to mention a healthy amount of infidelity -- sounds like a college house party. Live Arts's production of Ain't Misbehavin', featuring the music of great jazz pianist and composer Fats Waller, certainly has a house party atmosphere, though one of an entirely different variety.
(10/12/06 4:00am)
This album would make a god-awful Public Service Announcement. Why, you ask? Boys and Girls in America is chock-full of references to wild parties, drugs and alcohol, with a touch of sex thrown in the mix. But as a musical work, The Hold Steady's newest release succeeds with flying colors. Their rock-power-pop sound charges out from the start and maintains frenetic energy all the way to the end.
(09/28/06 4:00am)
Ben Kweller is like Ben Fold's lesser-known cousin
(08/31/06 4:00am)
There are plenty of movies out there starring hip-hop artists and rappers, but none of them are musicals anachronistically set in the Prohibition-era 1930s. OutKast's fast-paced romp through the underground speakeasies and gang culture of Idlewild, Ga. provides solid, if formulaic, entertainment.
(02/16/06 5:00am)
The cover of British singer-songwriter Beth Orton's Comfort of Strangers is rather boring -- shades of brown in a bland impressionistic landscape. In the middle of the scene, however, a rainbow reaches towards the sky. Perhaps this is a fitting metaphor for the nature of her music, which is both low-key and beautiful.
(01/26/06 5:00am)
By now everybody's heard of the "gay cowboy" movie. Director Ang Lee depicts the love story between two ranch hands the way other films treat heterosexual romance, without explicit agenda. Though the public may never mention Brokeback Mountain without those two key words, the film is actually about the nature of impossible love.
(11/10/05 5:00am)
How do you turn the folk tale "Chicken Little" into a feature-length film? You know -- acorn falls on chicken's head, chicken creates havoc by shrieking, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!", townfolks discover said acorn, end of story. The movie Chicken Little covers all of that in the first five minutes. The actual piece of sky is blue, cloudy and stop-sign-shaped, and no one in the critter-filled town of Oakey Oaks believes Chicken Little's claim. He instantly becomes the town joke, that "crazy chicken," and embarrasses his father.
(10/27/05 4:00am)
A persistent feeling of uneasiness taints The Fever, the new film based on Wallace Shawn's controversial play. The film's opening credits flash with a frantic, dramatic score, and we are introduced to a nameless woman (Vanessa Redgrave) unable to sleep in a dingy third-world hotel. This marks the beginning of her nightlong fever.
(09/29/05 4:00am)
I must admit, this was my first exposure to Echo and the Bunnymen. A quick query through Google yielded some basic background info: Echo and the Bunnymen is a British post-punk rock band that formed in 1978 and had a string of hits in the 80s. You might have heard their song "Killing Moon" in the film Donnie Darko.
(09/15/05 4:00am)
If you're looking for a big-name band that puts on a fantastic live show, Coldplay's Twisted Logic tour should not be missed.