CD Review - The Dreadnoughts - Victory Square

The Dreadnoughts – Victory Square – Stomp Records
http://www.thedreadnoughts.com/

“Victory Square,” the second studio album from the Celtic punk rockers The Dreadnoughts, who hail from Vancouver, is a swashbuckling-boot-to-the-face record. The quintet recently finished up a cross Canada tour and will be back at the end of August after they play in much of Europe. On their Myspace, they categorize themselves as folk, folk rock and punk, with the latter being the best description of what they really are. The Dreadnoughts could easily draw comparisons to Flogging Molly, Rancid, or the Cancer Bats. The Dread Pirate Druzil and Seamus O’Flanahan, two members of the Dreadnoughts bring the unique characteristics of their music, playing instruments such as a tin whistle, accordion, and fiddle.

The fourth track on the CD, entitled “Boneyard” gives you the best sound-scape of the Dreadnoughts. Filled with the fiddle sliding in and out of your right ear and the mandolin in your left, you’re surrounded completely by individual sounds. The bass line gives you the rocking motion of a boat and it feels like you could be tied to the mast of a pirate ship as the captain and his crew interrogate you, ready to make you walk the plank.

“Samovar” features an intricate layering of the mandolin and fiddle part, and you really see how the band incorporates the similar sounds together. While “Grace O’Malley” sounds like it could be a Great Big Sea song on speed. Most of the songs have a similar feel to them; drums that pound like machine guns, and a bass line that pulls and drags you along with the seemingly gypsy melodies of the fiddle and mandolin.

It is understandable after listening to the CD why The Dreadnoughts classify themselves as folk. A lot of the songs on this CD feel like they could sung downtown at Irish Times, with the entire bar swinging their pints in time. The Dreadnoughts provide you with a jigging good time, so grab a pint and sing away with the boys, “Ho Way!”

Video Game FML (College Humor)

http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1788659

Today, I got through an entire dungeon, had fireballs shot at me, fought a giant turtle and the princess turns out to be in another castle. FML

I agree, your life sucks (53252) - you totally deserve it (3551)
On 07/17/2009 at 8:24pm - love - by Mario - United States (New York)

Today, I found out you've got to be an adult to defeat Ganondorf. No big deal, right? Just gotta spend seven years sleeping in the Chamber of Sages. I didn't account for all the wet dreams. FML

I agree, your life sucks (26432) - you totally deserve it (14614)
On 07/16/2009 at 1:15pm - misc. - by Link - Hyrule

Today, I failed an important mission because I had to keep saving my useless wingmen. FML

I agree, your life sucks (4442) - you totally deserve it (321)
On 07/15/2009 at 5:35pm - misc. - by Fox - Corneria

Today, I found out I'll be fighting literally everyone in this tournament. There are no brackets, and if I lose even a single fight, I'll probably be thrown into a spike pit. FML

I agree, your life sucks (63242) - you totally deserve it (211)
On 07/15/2009 at 1:32am - misc. - by Liu Kang - China

Today, someone shot me with a blue shell right as I was about to cross the finish line. There was no way of avoiding it, and the guy who shot it was in last place and had no chance of winning. He did it just to be a dick. I was punished for doing well. FML

I agree, your life sucks (41431) - you totally deserve it (1334)
On 07/14/2009 at 4:13pm - misc. - by Toad - Mushroom Kingdom

Today, I spent 8 hours trapped inside a barrel. Finally my friend freed me...by throwing me into a wall. FML

I agree, your life sucks (41441) - you totally deserve it (743)
On 07/13/2009 at 4:14pm - friends - by Diddy Kong - Kongo Jungle

Today, I almost drowned because my asshole best friend kept eating all the air bubbles. FML

I agree, your life sucks (91414) - you totally deserve it (141)
On 07/13/2009 at 8:15am - friends - by Tails - Emerald Hill Zone

Hate.

So, I am pretty grumpy right now.

Sometimes I can't wait to get out of this place. To move out of this clusterfuck and just be done with these people. More specifically one person. One of our roommates moved out already, and I really want to. It's only three more weeks. Hopefully I can last that long.

It's really hard living with people you've never met before, and being the kind of person I am, see the archive for the "Supporting Cast" blog, I don't do confrontation very well. I would love to go out into the kitchen and yell at him for being a fucking pig and being so fucking disgusting and never cleaning up any of his shit, but alas I am too nice.

He came home from a trip to Vancouver yesterday and I cannot stand being around him for even one second. About fifteen minutes ago I walked out into the kitchen, the first thing I see is some kind of meat juice dripping down the side of our counter, followed by a plate on top of the counter soaked in whatever it is he was cooking. I look in the sink, which was empty a few hours ago after I had cleaned there, and there is a baking sheet, a used cutting board, a dirty frying pan, to mention a few things lying around. It's disgusting and I'm sick of it.

This guy likes to leech of everyone else and use everybody elses stuff. I am positive that he has stolen at least two of my tupperwear containers and put them in his locker. How do I know you ask? Well this weekend when he went away, I looked in his locker and saw them there, so I took them out and put them back where I had them, and today I came out of my room, and they're gone again. Later I hear him locking his locker. Hmm....

When my parents visited, they kindly bought me new dishtowels, dishcloths and bathroom towels, including a hand towel for drying hands. My roommate has used and abused every one of these since I've brought them out. The dishtowels, which have a general purpose of drying dishes and hands, have been used to wipe up spills, messes, and even used as oven mitts, getting burned. I cannot stand it. And then after they have been used to clean up shit, he'll leave them in a crumpled pile next to his dirty place which hasn't been put away.

Since living here, he has not: vacuumed the living room/kitchen, mopped the floor, cleaned the bathroom, cleaned the shower, taken out the recycling, taken out the garbage or taken out the bottles. He likes to give us heck about the fruitfly problem we had a little while ago, saying that "we have to keep this place clean" when most of the problem is his. Everyday I find something new in the sink. Today, I think it's squash, but there has been onion, cantelope and strawberries to name a few.

Does anyone think that I am being too harsh or too critical of this guy? Please let me know.

Thanks.

- J

Similarities?

This is my roommate and me. According to his friend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlTE5j7aEf0

...I'm not so sure.

Raver's Delight

Good Morning, Afternoon, Evening to you.

It is just rounding noon here and I am quite exhausted. I spent last night with my girlfriend volunteering at the Victoria Electronic Music Festival. We were in charge of the door most of the night. It was an interesting experience for sure. Definitely makes me never want to run a club. I didn't really find any enjoyment in it at all.

Running the door involved taking money and giving stamps, not a very glamourous job, especially for a volunteer. It was kind of annoying, because as a volunteer, you don't really have any attachment to the association, so you don't have any reason to try hard or anything. There's no real reward. So we were very lax when it came to people and letting them in and such.

It was really interesting seeing the people who attend these kind of events and getting to talk to them a bit. Surprisingly the crowd was mostly older, but they were all still very good dancers! It was fun to watch for sure. And all of these people are incredibly nice too! I'm not sure if it had to do with any drugs they could have been taking, or something of the like, but anywho. My girlfriend and I were trying to figure out what these people did when they weren't raving. There was a high school teacher, a resturaunt owner, some students, business men. Well, this is what we assumed they were.

So other than that, the night was pretty uneventful. We volunteer again today, so we might see some of the people from last night again today! Which might be nice, but we shall see.

http://www.vemf.ca/

Along the lines of JuST B fashion, the fashion agency my roommate and girlfriend have started, I tried out our latest scarf as a belt thing yesterday, and I thought I looked pretty good. But hey, that's just my opinion. One drawback is that you have to constantly be tightening the scarf so it acts as a belt. I also found a new place to buy jeans! Hurray! I'm pretty stoked on this as I love jeans and it's impossible to find some that fit me AND look good. So this is promising.

I'm trying to contribute with photography things, as that is my area of expertise. So stay tuned for most posts along those lines.

In other news, one of my roommates moved out! He said he found a place not to far from here, so he's gone! It was definitely a surprise. Over the course of 4 months, May til August, I've had, 6 roommates. 4 have moved out as of yet. Good grief, do I smell bad or something?

I'm still wondering why I made this blog, and if I will ever find my niche in the interwebs. I find it so hard to find followers, or get myself out there. No one really wants to read just another blog by some guy in university. I'm sure it's been done before. It's hard finding something original to do in this big world, let alone get my name out there. I guess we shall see in time...

Maybe that means another CD review is in order. It's hard to tell if anyone really likes them, as no one comments or even reads for that matter. Oh well.

Later Days,
- J

CD Review - Lady Sovereign - Jigsaw

Lady Sovereign – Jigsaw – Midget Records


http://www.ladysovereign.com/flash.php

“Jigsaw”, the most recent effort from Lady Sovereign, a self-proclaimed midget, is a record that is trying to keep up with the likes of Britney’s “Circus” and Lady Gaga’s “The Fame.” What separates Lady Sovereign from these pop icons, is the fact that in a few of her songs, she spits some mad rhymes. From the age of 14, Lady Soverign has been refining her craft, she has later worked with the likes of Jay-Z, Pharell Williams, and toured with Gwen Stefani and Metric. Coming in at a meager five feet and one inch, Lady Sovereign’s physical stature doesn’t take away from her performance on the mic.

Many of the tracks on Jigsaw are the highly produced, and highly stylized songs with lots of technical effects like in “Bang Bang” and “Let’s Be Mates.” The recent single, “I Got You On The Dance Floor,” doesn’t exactly make me want to get up and dance, but it wouldn’t cause me to make a b-line from the floor to the bar. It comes across as one of those songs you’d never notice was playing when you were out enjoying the club.

I was expecting most of the CD to be the same way, but I was pleasantly surprised when Lady Sovereign stops rapping, and starts to sing more melodically. On tracks like “So Human” and the title track “Jigsaw,” you get a good sense of the musical talent that Lady Sovereign possesses.

Unfortunately, the one song that will most likely be remembered on this CD is entitled “Food Play,” which starts with “This one is for the lovers out there/for those who like their food to enhance their mood for love,” in a typical low, Barry White like voice. But it gets worse from there, a song devoted entirely to food and sex. Which consists of a chorus which sounds like Alvin and the Chipmunks took over the Sunday Night Sex Show with Dr. Sue. The high pitched voices are backed with a vocal track recorded normally, which I think would have sounded better by itself.

Lady Sovereign puts out a valiant effort to crack into the rap/pop genre, but in this reviews opinion, she will have a hard time breaking into the American music world unless her CDs start supplying us with a British-English/American-English translator so we can figure out what she’s saying most of the time.

Guten Tag

Hello again faithful readers, I hope your Friday night was a good one, and your Saturday is looking good as well, or was good, depending where in the world you are.

I have little to say today, but I feel this consistency is necessary for one of these things. My girlfriend, roommate, and friend have started a fashion agency, through the means of a blog, see link, http://jstb.wordpress.com/ , I am acting as the company's photographer, and thus I have adorned the nickname of "The Flash," we shall see where this leads! They are very excited about this blog! My fashion tip for the day is, "Belt scarfs are in." I'm actually wearing one as we speak. I'm gonna go downtown and see how it goes over.

We had a Cowboys and Indians themed party last night. It was pretty good but uneventful. That is all I really have to say on that topic.

I have reviewed another CD, Lady Sovereign's "Jigsaw," which I have posted just above this. So I hope you enjoy that.

Today is going to be a busy day, so I am off to do busy things!
Hope yours was good as well!

Later days
- J