I disagree about Leo's accents. I think he does them well, or at least not poorly enough that I would say he's bad at them. Dude is a great actor and he sounds like J. Edgar Hoover in the trailer. Not his fault Hoover talked funny.
Oh I know! How bout an original, interesting storyline with developed characters that the audience cares about, thoughtful direction, and good performances?!
No? Ok fine, just make the pictures prettier.
Basically all of the fun was taken out of the record because some of the artists looked at it as a showcase for their individual meanderings, rather than what it actually is: a TRIBUTE to The Strokes.
It seems like Stereogum simply screwed up when picking artists to do some of these. PB&J, Real Estate, The Morning Benders, Owen Pallet, Deradoorian, and Computer Magic all did admirable covers. Even Frankie Rose's take on "Soma" is ok.
But the other artists lost sight completely of what a cover is meant to be/do. Yes, you're supposed to make the song your own, but you are NOT supposed to make the song unrecognizable to the people who like it. That is what Chelsea Wolfe, Wise Blood, and Heems did especially. I can barely tell if "Modern Age" and "Someday" are buried under whatever those two were doing, and Heems didn't even try to make a cover (but he is half of Das Racist, so what did we really expect?). These tracks really weigh down what could have been a fun record by taking three of the best songs on it (Someday in particular) and ruining them by taking any semblance of The Strokes out of the equation. Chelsea Wolfe said she didn't even really know the damn song before covering it, SO WHY WAS SHE ASKED TO COVER IT.
Ugh. The Strokes cover band at my school would have done a better job.
You're entitled to your opinion on The Beatles, but to suggest that they were a mediocre band who merely capitalized on the social climate of the 60s to get big is just flat out wrong. They didn't capitalize on anything, they created it. Without The Beatles, the 1960s as an era, and all subsequent music, would have been completely different (probably for the worse). If you knew anything about the band, you'd know that all of them, Lennon and McCartney most of all, didn't give a fuck about what else was going on at the time (Lennon in particular would have rather jumped out a window than subscribe to any popular trend, or make a shameless bid for fame). They did exactly what they wanted, when they wanted, and the fact that their music was genius and more forward thinking than anyone else's at the time are the reasons why they came to define an entire era.
Basically, it wasn't just some accident or twist of circumstance or being in the right place at the right time that gave The Beatles their impact. It was the quality of their music and their commitment to experimentation and desire to push rock forward that set them apart. No other band since has even come close to combining the amount of critical and commercial success that The Beatles did. That fact alone, the uniqueness of their career and accomplishment, debunks your entire point.
i doubt Jay-Z has more #1 albums (or singles) than The Beatles. Simply mentioning them together in a sentence like that, as if they could be compared to each other on a critical and/or commercial scale, is ridiculous.
And even if Jay does have more #1 records in America (which he doesn't), and as if record sales somehow indicate quality (which they don't) The Beatles would have him totally beat because they've sold over 1 billion albums. Nobody else but Elvis is even close to that.
Damn it I wish I could have been there! Stupid college and work and stuff. I hate my stupid film thesis! Ugh.
this was the lamest post I've ever written. I'll see myself out.
Kid Cudi baby easily. She's so happy!
Death metal baby just looks like the music is making him contemplate his mortality and/or the pointlessness of it all.
Um hey Gabe, I think you meant Christopher Nolan up there where you mentioned a director who wasn't nominated but should have been. Because David Fincher is nominated. Just lookin out!
If George Washington and Abraham Lincoln told me to use a certain search engine, I would be skeptical of where they heard about search engines in the first place. Then I would be skeptical of the fact that they're dead.
At that moment the Bruce Willis waxed figure gently took her by the hand. He turned to her, gazing deep into her real human eyes with his fake wax ones. He leaned in close and whispered: "You get three wishes, babe."
If there's any justic in the world, The Social Network will win Best Picture. Also, Christian Bale will win Best Supporting actor, as he should. Fincher deserves best director, but Ebert may actually be right about that one and Hooper could get it.
If any movie this year deserves to clean up, as Ebert seems to think The King's Speech will, it's The Social Network. It was just the best.
I've really tried to like this record since I got it earlier in the year. I've listened to it a bunch of times, and I tried to give it one last play yesterday.
I only got about halfway through before turning it off. It's just as tuneless, abrasive, and annoying as I remembered. No offense, Brandon, but this record was and still is pretty disappointing, especially given how great Kala was.
Overall not a bad list, BUT...
1. The Suburbs not being in the top 10 is just incorrect.
2. Excluding of Spoon and Wolf Parade from the entire list is a huge mistake.
3. The National should have been much higher.
4. Kanye's record is great, but not the year's best.
I was sold at "son of a twitch." He doesn't sacrifice artistic integrity for the censors. He knows we know what he meant. He's basically a PROFESSIONAL WRITER.
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