BUY IN THE SKY
I was hoping that, at this point in the week, I would have gotten a few packages in the mail from the UK. No such luck. Oh well. So here's what it's been so far the last two weeks.
MOVIES
Clueless-The Whatever Edition
Beyond The Sea
I bought these with the intention of watching them when I'm recuperating from my surgery at the end of the month. They were part of a 2 for $15 special at Best Buy.
Clueless is one of those favorite movies that you shouldn't openly tell people about. The fact that Paul Rudd is particularly cute in this movie is a plus. AND any movie that opens with The Muffs covering Kids of America is alright in my book. But no matter how cheesy this movie is, it has some of the best liners:
Hello? That was a stop sign?
I totally paused!
Are you bitches blind or something? He's a cake boy. He's a disco dancin', Oscar Wilde readin', Streisand ticket holdin', friend of Dorothy. You know what I'm sayin'?
I had wanted to see Beyond the Sea when it was released but I never got around to it. I'm a fan of both Bobby Darin and Kevin Spacey so this movie is perfect.
MUSIC
Kylie Minogue Impossible Princess 2-CD Set
I actually already owned this album but found this 2-CD reissue for $5 at Tower. This had dubbed as the "Indie Kylie" album due to the fact that she worked with the Manic Street Preachers on two songs--Some Kind of Bliss and I Don't Need Anyone. Both songs actually have more of a soulful feel rather than sounding like Kylie-fronted Manics songs. I actually grew to like most of the rest of the album. Both Too Far and Limbo are pretty hard dancey tracks. Breathe and Did It Again are nice pop ditties. The second disc comes with remixes that were available on various singles and white labels during the albums original release in 1996 plus a few b-sides and outtakes.
Slayer Eternal Pyre e.p. Enhanced CD e.p.
I think it's safe to say that this was "rush released" specifically for 6/6/06. Apparently, they planned to release the new album on Damien's Birthday but I guess it wasn't ready. But they wanted to capitalize on the day so they put together this Hot Topic-exclusive e.p. (I guess it wasn't enough for them to be known as the band who released an album on September 11, 2001 entitled, God Hates Us All) And yes, I deliberately stepped foot into a Hot Topic store in order to buy this. There's actually only ONE track on this "e.p.": the latest single, Cult. The standard evil yet cheesy Slayer lyrics are present. To be honest, I think their lyrics (these, in particular, had been written by Kerry King) have gotten way more anti-Christian than before. Here's a sample:
The pestilence of Jesus Christ
There never was a sacrifice
No man who hung the crucifix
Beware the call for purity
Infections their facility
I've made my choice
666!
Jesus is pain
Jesus is gore
Jesus is the blood that is spilled in war
He's everything
He's all things dead
He's pulling down the trigger pointed at your head!
The fear your shoulded to the front
Revelation, Revolution, I see through your cracked illusion!
Religion is hate
Religion is fear
Religion is war
Religion is rape
Religion is obscene
Religion is a whore
There is no fucking Jesus Christ
There never was a sacrifice
No man upon the crucifix
Beware the call for purity
Infections their facility
I've made my choice
666!
Super cheesy as you can get. Musically, you can tell that they are trying to progress. The trademark Slaytanic riffs are there but they are moving away from the usual 4/4 time signatures and throwing in the odd 5/4 measure. This track is also the first studio track in years to feature Slayer's original line-up with Dave Lombardo on drums. (Lombardo's another guy who I've completely stolen drum fills from.) Overall, I like the music a lot. The lyrics are pretty laughable but when are Slayer lyrics not laughable? The "enhanced" stuff on the CD features a live video of them doing War Ensemble in Germany last year as well as about a minute and a half of "studio recording" footage. Like I said, this was hastily put together. Still, I'm looking forward to the new album.
Various Artists High Voltage: A Brief History of Rock CD
Already mentioned in this entry.
The Futureheads News and Tributes CD
The long awaited sophomore release. My suspicions about the leak were correct. Even though the leaked mp3s bit-rate were at 192kbps, they were still bad quality. It had a ton of aliasing which made it almost unlistenable. The real album sounds so much better. This album is more "post-punk" than the first album. They are wearing their more obscure influences on their sleeves (Beefheart, Fugazi, etc). The overall feel of the album is more slowed down although a few of the songs are more chaotic (see Return of the Beserker and Cope) than anything off the first album. Again, I'd like to hear how these are going sound in a live setting. I'll find out next Monday at the Fonda. Whoo!