May
1
2007
Travis – The Boy With No Name
Posted by luna6 | 4 Comments
Artist : Travis
Album : The Boy With No Name
Release Date : May 07, 2007
Website : http://www.travisonline.com/
Label : Independiente
Rating : 6.8
Users Rating: 5.6 
(5 votes)
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Etc. |
Apr
30
2007
Sufjan Steven’s Seven Swans Reissued on Vinyl
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
Sufjan Steven’s “Seven Swans” is being reissued Danielson’s Sounds Familyre record label. I don’t own this album on vinyl, but I do have the 7″ of “The Dress Looks Nice On You” and the sound is just near sublime.
Free Downloads : Sister
“…Orignially released in 2004, this reissue includes the following:
* Vinyl mastering is better
* Vinyl is thicker (140g)
* The cover is matte instead of shiny
* Plus, it has a bonus 7″ of two Sufjan songs from the “Seven Swans” sessions that are not available in any other format.
Recorded at the New Jerusalem Rec Room, Clarksboro, New Jersey.”
The record can be ordered here.
News |
Apr
30
2007
Apple admits laptop battery problem / Issues software update
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
BBC is reporting that Apple is finally acknowledging problems with some batteries in their MacBook and MacBook Pro lines. Common symptons would be 1.) Swollen batteries 2.) Battery is not recognised 3.) battery will not charge and runs down quickly.
If your Macbook/Macbook Pro has similar battery problems Apple has released a firmware update which will be automatically installed whenever your computer does another Software Update through Apple (System Preferences –> Software Update). If your computer has the swollen batteries you would be wiser to just call Apple and get that battery replaced. I did have a similar problem with my MacBook where the computer all of sudden did not recognize the battery and the battery would not charge. Apple sent me a replacement battery overnight so I really had no complaints.
Installation of Battery Update 1.2 requires Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later.
The Battery Update 1.2 supports the following products:
* MacBook
* MacBook (Late 2006)
* MacBook Pro (15-inch)
* MacBook Pro (15-inch Glossy)
* MacBook Pro (15-inch Core 2 Duo)
* MacBook Pro (17-inch)
* MacBook Pro (17-inch Core 2 Duo)
Note: After Battery Update has been installed, each battery you insert into your MacBook or MacBook Pro will be updated automatically.
When will the battery be updated?
The BatteryUpdater will check to see if a battery needs to be Read more
News |
Apr
30
2007
Radio On The TV : Dinosaur Jr., Artic Monkeys, & Modest Mouse ….Oh My!
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
Dinosaurs, Monkeys, and Mice …Oh My!
Some pretty compelling reasons to have a dual tuner setup on your MythTV boxes.
Dinosaur Jr. performs on the David Letterman show tonight 04/30.
Arctic Monkeys performs on the Conan O’Brien show tonight 04/30.
Modest Mouse performs on the David Letterman show Tuesday 05/01.
If thats not enough to feed your PVR’s you can always catch the Kaiser Chiefs performing on the Jay Leno show and the Silversun Pickups performing on the Jimmy Kimmel show tonight as well.
Also if anybody is wondering when a review for the Artic Monkeys’ new record is going to be done…its not. I find the record to be highly unpleasant and just don’t have enough venom in me at the moment to do it justice. Also there’s just to much good music coming out nowadays anyways (hint Windmill, Blonde Redhead, Feist, The Mary Onettes, Maps, Shout Out Louds, etc).
News |
Apr
30
2007
Maps – We Can Create
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
Artist : Maps
Album : We Can Create
Release Date : May 14, 2007
Website : Maps
Label : Mute Records
Free Downloads : Don’t Fear
Rating : 8.5
Users Rating: 8.64 (11 votes)
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Etc. |
Apr
30
2007
The Innocence Mission Tour Dates
Posted by luna6 | 1 Comment
Album Review : We Walked In Song
Free Downloads : “Into Brooklyn, Early in the Morning”
05/26/2007 @ Vienna VA – Jammin Java
06/07/2007 @ Boston, MA – Club Passim
06/08/2007 @ Northampton, MA – Iron Horse
06/16/2007 @ Brooklyn, NY – Southpaw
07/07/2007 @ Phila., PA – World Cafe Live
Etc. |
Apr
30
2007
The Concretes Tour Dates
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
Album Review : Hey Trouble
05/25/2007 @ Gävle – Skottes Musikteater
05/26/2007 @ Hässleholm - Siesta Festival
05/30/2007 @ Copenhagen - Lilla Vega
05/31/2007 @ Lund – Mejeriet
06/01/2007 @ Aarhus – Spot Festival
06/05/2007 @ Birmingham – Birmingham Academy 2
06/06/2007 @ London – Luminaire
06/07/2007 @ Nottingham - Rescue Rooms
06/08/2007 @ Leeds – The Cockpit
06/09/2007 @ Bristol – The Theckla Social
06/10/2007 @ Newcastle – Newcastle Academy 2
06/11/2007 @ Glasgow – King Tuts Wah Wah Hut
Etc. |
Apr
30
2007
Movie : Moodori / Mudori / 무도리
Release Date : September 9, 2006
Country : South Korea
Director : Hyeong-seon Lee
Starring : Yeong-hie Seo, In-Hwan Park, Ju-Bong Choi
Run Time : 109 Minutes
Editor Rating : 5.0
Users Rating: 7.67 (3 votes)
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2006 Movie Reviews, Korean Movies, Movie Reviews, Movies |
Apr
29
2007
Dog Bite Dog / Gau ngao gau
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
Movie : Dog Bite Dog / Gau ngao gau
Release Date : August 17, 2006
Country : Hong Kong
Director : Pou-Soi Cheang
Starring : Edison Chen, Sam Lee, Weiying Pei
Run Time : 109 Minutes
Editor Rating : 4.5
Users Rating: 7.9 (10 votes)
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Plot Synopsis : A ferocious young Cambodian street fighter, Pang is smuggled into Hong Kong for one purpose : To Kill. Violence is the exlusive language of the mad dog like Pang, while he seeks out his targets in Hong Kong. He soon encounters the wrath of the Hong Kong police force and in particular one wayward cop named Wei. As Wei gets closer and closer to capturing Pang, they both go down their own paths into the heart of darkness.
Movie Review : Utterly dark, suffocating with bleakness, sadistically violent, Dog Bite Dog is a disturbing film that will inundate your senses with different emotions. Similar to the feeling of riding a roller coaster on a bad day, I did anticipate during the build up of the movie that something exciting would happen, but, more often than not, the payoff was a nauseating feeling from the gratuitous amount of violence shown in Dog Bite Dog.
The film starts out as an bleak urban tale of a misguided assassin, Pang (Edison Chen from Infernal Affairs), going to toe to toe with an equally disturbed Hong Kong police officer, Wei. Pang’s understanding of life is similar to an abandoned dog fighting for survival in a world gone mad. He was raised in a Cambodian camp, that bred its pupils for the grim life of urban street fighting. For him, life is only about “kill or be killed.” After committing a brazen assassination in a busy night time restaurant, Pang is chased by several Hong Kong police officers. One of those police officers was Wei, played by Sammy Lee (Chinese player in Ping Pong). Wei is saddle with his own heavy emotional baggage. His father was a wayward cop that was shot by by Wei himself. While Pang is chased by the Hong Kong police officers, he comes across another disturbed (recurring pattern?) young girl, Pei, that he is able to connect with. They desperately try to leave Hong Kong, but is hounded by Wei and his fellow cops. This portion of the film was compelling, due mostly to Edison Chen and Sammy Lee giving game performances.
Once the film transitions back to Cambodia during the final 25 minutes, the movie takes a turn for the surreal or unbelievable. The premise is straight out of a b-grade horror film, except the boogeyman is someone we wouldn’t normally expected to see as the boogeyman. The film finally closes out with a scene that seems to have been made for the intended effect of shock and profound meaning. If you couldn’t figure out what that could be, the films writes it out in plain letters at the end, “Creatures live at the expense of other creatures” e.g., Dog Bite Dog. After watching the movie I couldn’t help to think that the filmmakers wanted to make a movie that centered around shocking violent imagery and then constructed a story and theme around that idea. The end result felt like a movie that evolved for the sole purpose of getting to the next incredibly violent and gory scene. Compare the poorly constructed manner of Dog Bite Dog with a movie that is similar in context but just infinitely more fulfilling, Chan-Wook Park’s “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance” and you’ll know what I mean.
Although Dog Bite Dog started out as compelling thriller, as the movie unfolded, the lack of a compelling story line and its unfathomable ending sequences, resulted in a movie that felt like it was constructed purely to show one violent scene after another. Ultra violent cult film lovers should take notice, “Dog Bite Dog” may have you foaming at the mouth. For others, the movie is a tedious gore fest that should be avoided.
Cast:
Edison Chen – Pang
Sam Lee – Insp. Ti Wai
Weiying Pei – Yue
Siu-Fai Cheung – Chief Insp. Sum
Yiu-Cheung Lai – Insp. Tang Wing-Cheung
Suet Lam – Insp. ‘Fat’ Lam
Ka Wah Lam – Wai’s Father
Ho Yam
Kam-wah Koo
Ask Lee
Chi Wai Lao
Ka Wing Lee
Ka Sing Chau
Kar Fai Lee
Ting Fung Lee
If you like this you may enjoy : Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance, No Mercy For The Rude
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2006 Movie Reviews, Chinese Movies, Movie Reviews, Movies |
Apr
28
2007
A Song To The Sun (Midnight Sun / Taiyo no uta)
Posted by luna6 | 11 Comments
Movie : A Song To The Sun / Midnight Sun / Taiyo no uta
Release Date : June 17, 2006
Country : Japan
Director : Norihiro Koizumi
Starring : Yui, Takashi Tsukamoto, Goro Kishitani
Run Time : 119 Minutes
Editor Rating : 7.0
Users Rating: 9.11 (62 votes)
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Plot Synopsis : Kaoru is a talented young teenager, gifted with a charming voice and a sweet abiity to play the acoustic guitar. She also suffers from a rare skin disease called Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP). People with xeroderma pigmentosum have a defect in the gene that is responsible for repairing cell damage caused by ultraviolet (UV) light. For Kaoru, this means that she must avoid sunlight completely.
Kaoru watches the world from her tinted bedroom window during the days and at night roams around her neighborhood alone. She has never attended school and is incapable of doing a lot of things most teenagers take for granted. She falls in love with a boy named Kouji that doesn’t even know she exist. He often sits at a bus stop in the mornings, that is visible from Kaoru’s window. One day Kaoru see’s Kouji walking down a street at night and she gathers the courage to finally talk to him. Actually, she tackles him from behind and then blurts out her name, her hobbies, favorite fruit, favorite muscian, and the fact that she doesn’t have a boyfriend.
Movie Review : A Song To The Sun is a sweet little film, that surprisingly doesn’t pack the excessive melodrama one would expect from a film centered around a girl with a debilitating disease. The film seems made particularly for teenage folks and mainstream cinema goers, so stylistically you can expect a film similar to Kentaro Otani’s Nana.
The movie does feature a promising JPop singer / actress named Yui, that plays the lead character “Kaoru.” This would have been my first exposure to her and from watching her performance in the movie I would guess she will have a very promising career in film and music. In “A Song To The Sun” Kaoru often goes out by herself at night and performs songs out in the public. The songs would be similar in style to Avril Lavigne if she was performing with just a acoustic guitar. At times to cutesy for me, but nevertheless Yui did have a charming voice, and the ending song was quite moving. Her acting was believable and perhaps more importantly she really seemed to be the character “Kaoru.” Also, it was hard not to be impressed by her beauty. Her co-star, Takashi Tsukamoto, was as impressive playing Kouji. I did remember Takashi Tsukamoto from Battle Royale (he played the boy with the laptop). In retrospect, the amount of Japanese actors/actresses that starred in Battle Royale and then went on to have even bigger careers is mind boggling.
I found the pacing to be very good for a teenage melodrama type of movie. Not exactly fast paced but not deathly slow like Sugar & Spice. The movie felt a lot shorter than its 119 minute runtime and I would guess this would be due to the movie’s ability to draw the viewer in from the get go. A movie like “A Song To The Sun” not only provides for an emotional film going experience, but it sure can make you reassess the severity of problems that you have in your everyday life. Somewhere during the second half of the film, I did start to get nervous that the movie would pile on the excessive melodrama at the end, but fortunately the movie did not. The ending is done with tact and in a realistic manner, which results in a heavier punch by the final scenes of Kaoru’s song being played on the radio.
buy A Song to the Sun (Midnight Sun) from YesAsia
Cast:
Yui – Kaoru Amane
Takashi Tsukamoto – Koji Fujishiro
Kuniko Asagi – Yuki Amane
Eri Fuse
Gaku Hamada
Jun Kaname – Kudou Youhei
Goro Kishitani – Ken Amane
Takashi Kobayashi
Magy
Sogen Tanaka – Haruo Kato
Airi Toyama – Misaki Matsumae
Hajime Yamazaki
Similar Movies of Interest : Josee The Tiger And The Fish, Nana, All About Lilly Chou-Chou
2006 Movie Reviews, Japanese Movies, Movie Reviews |
Apr
27
2007
Guilt By Association (Luna / Devendra Banhart / The Concretes / Superchunk)
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
One of the more interesting compilation albums that will be coming out this summer has to be “Guilt By Association” from Engine Room Recordings. Why you say? Well how about Devendra Banhard covering Oasis’ “Don’t Look Back In Anger” or Luna covering Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up” or Will Oldham (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy) covering Mariah Carey’s “Can’t Take That Away”!?!?! Strange I say…there’s even a MySpace page streaming some of the tracks which can be accessed here. Petra Haden’s accapella rendition of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” was cool in an odd way :)
Guilt By Association TrackList:
01. Petra Haden / “Don’t Stop Believing” (Journey)
02. Devendra Banhart / “Don’t Look Back In Anger” (Oasis)
03. Mark Mulcahy / “From This Moment On” (Shania Twain)
04. Luna / “Straight Up” (Paula Abdul)
05. The Concretes / “Back For Good” (Take That)
06. Jim O’Rourke / “Viva Forever” (Spice Girls)
07. Goat / “Sugar We’re Going Down” (Fall Out Boy)
08. Will Oldham / “Can’t Take That Away” (Mariah Carey)
09. Woody Jackson Orchestra featuring Money Mark / “Love’s Theme” (Love Unlimited Orchestra)
10. Porter Block / “Breaking Free” (High School Musical)
11. Mooney Suzuki / “Just Like Jesse James” (Cher)
12. Geoff Farina / “Two Tickets To Paradise” (Eddie Money)
13. Casey Shea / “Chop Suey” (System of a Down)
14. Superchunk / “Say My Name” (Destiny’s Child)
15. Mike Watt / “Burning For You” (Blue Oyster Cult)
Read more
News |
Apr
27
2007
The Mary Onettes – The Mary Onettes
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
Artist : The Mary Onettes
Album : The Mary Onettes
Release Date : April 25, 2007
Website : http://www.themaryonettes.net
Label : Labrador
Free Downloads : Lost
Rating : 7.5
Users Rating: 9 (2 votes)
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Etc. |
Apr
27
2007
Don’t Dream It’s Over … Crowded House are Back
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
There is freedom within, there is freedom without, hey now, hey now, dont dream its over. Or better yet…Don’t call it a comeback! I been here for years! Rockin my peers and puttin suckas in fear! Crowded House is back!
This time around they even have the Modest Smith named Johnny Marr guesting on two tracks (Don’t Stop Now / Even A Child).
“ATO Records has set July 10 as the North American release date for
Crowded House’s “Time On Earth.” It’s the band’s first new studio album
in 14 years, and features original, founding members Neil Finn and Nick
Seymour, along with former member Mark Hart and new drummer Matt
Sherrod. “Time on Earth” is the band’s first studio record since 1993’s
“Together Alone.” The band’s most recent release is a DVD of their
farewell show from 1996 at the Sydney Opera House in front of 120,000
fans, entitled “Farewell to the World.” Crowded House will debut the
new line up and material in America for the first time since 1996 at
the Coachella Festival. Further tour dates will be announced soon. Read more
News |
Apr
26
2007
Microsoft Zune v. Apple iPod
Posted by luna6 | 8 Comments
Very odd to think of Microsoft as the underdog in any category, but when it comes to digital audio players they are David going up against Apple’s iPod Goliath. Microsoft’s Zune digital music player has been out for a few a months now. During that time, they have released a number of firmware updates that have stabilized the media player significantly. When you look at the Zune player, it’s not the type of player that will make you drool with delight. The player is slightly thicker than an iPod and signifinctly longer than the iPod. The Zune is protected on the sides and back by a white rubbery plastic layer and on the front with a translucent white plastic material. When you look at it for the first time, you could easily mistake it for a basic PDA. Certainly has the elongated length and the equally long 3″ screen that recalls PDA’s made by Toshiba and HP. Even though the Zune is larger than the iPod, the Zune feels surprisingly lightweight, but doesn’t feel flimsy. Without actually trying to destroy the unit, I did have the feeling the unit would stand up to abuse a lot better than the iPod. Read more
Apr
25
2007
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Live @ The Republic, New Orleans 04/24/2007
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
Only 2 days away from the beginning of the end of my Law School career. Business Org kicks off exam week, starting on Thursday, yet there was a very good excuse to take a few hours off from that stuff. The reason? Clap Your Hands Say Yeah performing live at the Republic in New Orleans!
The first Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album is something I kind of hold on a high pedestal of great albums, the songs are absolutely killer stuff, but, also because of the memories that album brings back. I first got into the CYHSY album right around the time a nasty old storm named Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Anyways, while being displaced in Houston for a few months afterwards, the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album was the record during those days, so that’s a big reason why I had to catch these guys live.
Opening act was Elvis Perkins from upstate New York, someone I really didn’t know anything about. One of the more interesting facts I learned about Elvis Perkins after seeing his performance, would be that his late father was the actor Anthony Perkins (from the movie Pyscho). Also, his mother, Berry Berenson, died tragically on the American Airlines flight 11 that was flown into the World Trade Center. With a past like that, Elvis Perkins had some tales to sing during his short opening set. His music was folk based in the manner of the Pernice Brothers and he did a good job warming up the crowd for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. The members from CYHSY came on to perform with Elvis Perkins during his last song which was memorable.
Then it was time for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! Read more
Etc. |
Apr
25
2007
Dntel – Dumb Luck
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
Artist : Dntel
Album : Dumb Luck
Release Date : April 25, 2007
Website : http://www.dntelmusic.com/
Label : Sub Pop
Free Downloads : Dumb Luck
Rating : 7.0
Users Rating: 7 (1 votes)
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Etc. |
Apr
24
2007
HandBrake 0.8.5b1 Released
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
HandBrake the open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 converter, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows has just released version 0.8.5b1 of their nifty video encoding program. What HandBrake does extremely well is ripping DVD’s to the x264 format that can be played on the video iPod.
To download HandBrake click here. For Linux users only a command line version is available at the moment and for the unlucky people that are still using Windows, they do need to download DVD43 or equivalent. Handbrake for OS X works out of the box with a nice gui interface. Screenshots provided below.
News |