Tuesday, November 26, 2013

I think that Hollywood is a hole. I got that one from the pg.99 song, "Richmond is a Hole." I long for different things and yet the Gods of Entertainment have let my crop of Being Entertained's Leaf dead and dry. It is yet again another year where I don't actively watch TV. To me, it seems as if television fans fall into two camps: Scifi/Fantasy- Game of Thrones, Dr. Who or Comedy- Big Bang Theory. Both fanbases will throw out adjectives like witty, intelligent, good acting, great writing, et cetera. I just cannot fathom anything popular, or unpopular even, that is on TV. South Park is one of the few shows that I can watch, but it's pretty old, and I get bored of it sometimes. I just want new entertainment on my Tv, and my MTv too. I can't tell you how magical the Office seemed on weekday nights after a long day of school. The TV industry needs to get artier, to not cater to the lowest common denominator, and put things on TV that are worth watching.

What about the Melvins?

Being a Melvins fan means occupying one of the weirdest places in music fandom.  That is the fan who loves not having everyone like their favorite band’s biggest song and claim that they are a fan, and the fan who really wish their favorite band was more popular. The Melvins are one of the hardest-working bands in all of music. They’ve been around for thirty years and have released nineteen albums and over ten eps. They’ve also made it a conscious effort to change styles and evolve as musicians. They’ve achieved a great deal of success, but still continue to actively tour. Maybe I don’t wish that they were more successful, maybe I just wish there were more Melvins fans in New York, as I’ve barely met one who wasn’t a casual fan. Two casual fans who are friends of mine went to a Melvins concert and enjoyed it, but described the crowd as being full of scary, forty-year old guys. Maybe their New York fanbase are a little scary... Maybe their being a cultural institution of rock music makes them sort of untouchable to anything but praise, and most of that is washed out anyways. I think I'd just like to discuss Melvins once in a while as I do other bands, Oh well, listening's good enough. 

"Wavvves" Review

With Wavves's newest album "Afraid of Heights" recently becoming one of pop music's Cool New Things, I think it only makes sense to try and catch up with some of their older stuff. And I don't just mean King of the Beach. "Wavvves" is the second album by Wavves, when Wavves was just Nathan Williams recording songs on a computer at his parents' house. It like "Wavves" is another burst of uber-fuzzed noise-pop with random pieces of electronica thrown in because Who really gives a fuck? Songs include themes of "pizza and skateboards", weed, isolation, ennui, loneliness, and more weed. "Wavvves" is home to some of Wavves' most iconic songs, including the ironically narcisstic "No Hope Kids", the beautifully wistful, aching "Weed Demon" and the caustic explosion that is "Beach Demon" are really only parts of what makes this album so great. It is bracing and immediate in a way that later Wavves stuff just isn't anymore. Not that new Wavves is bad, it's really amazing, but lacks the sheen of fuzziness and "homemadeness" that marked the first two albums. This album is a little over 35 minutes, and it's all good. Some parts a little weak, if you're not in the mood, but most of the time I can listen to it from start to finish without skipping over things. Wavves releases all of their stuff for free on bandcamp, so listening to this should be easy (it's also on youtube). I'm keeping this review short for now, because there's newer stuff worth talking about more... Don't know if I'm gonna explore "Afraid of Heights" yet, but Wavves as a whole will be discussed soon.