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Shattercell

Last Week I made a decision to see as many free concerts as possible to open my eyes to new music and different things. The first band to be graced by my new vow is Shattercell. The are a local band to the Oshkosh area. They previously were in Seattle. I would classify the band as eletronic. They described themselves and advertised around campus as sounding like Radiohead or Coldplay. I would agree in the sense that they are electronic, but I was pleased not to hear a Radiohead or Coldplay rip-off. Shattercell’s sound is unique and not quite as britpop as some electronic music tends to be. Shattercell hopes to get a chance to go to Europe, namely the UK, where electronic music is huge in the club scenes and all over the country.

I arrived at the concert about a half hour late and was skeptical walking toward the concert venue and hearing what sounded like bad television commercial music and a thunder storm. But I went and had a seat. The set up was really unique. Two people; a girl behind a huge keyboard (barely touching it except a few times to chance a beat here and there. ) and guy with nothing but a microphone. So my first impression was no band… no real instuments… basically just prerecorded melodies and beats and a lone vocalist.

It only took a few grooves into the first songs I heard for me to realize this was much more than just a beat machine and a singer. Someone spent alot of time recording all of the back up music and writing powerful songs.

The vocalist (Adam) was an energetic guy who talked between singing about different happenings, had people go to the front to do cartwheels, and let the audience listen to him drink water. I really appreciated that. A friendly front man is a must for any band and this guy took the cake. Adam was fun and funny, which seemed odd set against the somewhat somber music that they performed. Later, they also had some trippy handycam video piped onto the stage. You could tell that Adam really believed what he was singing. The emotion put into his performance was spectacular. All in all the stage presents was very good.

The music:
The music was quite impressive. The tracks were very well mixed and thought out and the mix wasn’t just repeated through the whole song, which tends to be a problem with some electronic bands. I got a chance to talk to the girl (Shanna) behind the keyboard. “Adam can play everything you hear in real time, we’ve looked for other people to play the lines, but nobody can yet.” I shouldn’t compare bands, but I kept thinking in my head during the set the music sounded like something off of a Bjork album and the vocals sounded like Dave Matthews. So, if you can imagine those two things together you have a pretty good idea of what Shattercell sounds like. At first, I was ultimately unimpressed by the lyrics. They seemed repeated a bit much. I dismissed them all to fast. It was hard to understand what Adam was saying, due to his singing style; much like it is sometime hard to understand Thom Yorke or Billy Corgan. The lyrics are quite profound and important to any artist. Shanna added “The lyrics are our motivation to create music like this. That alone adds power to it.”

Overall, I really enjoyed Shattercell’s performance. I bought their album and cherish it. I think they are an amazing group and could very well end up becoming well known. If you are looking for a new group with a great sound. Check out Shattercell.

Listen:

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Songs I wouldn’t get Married to…..

Here’s a review of Songs not to get Married to. The latest album from Reggie and the Full Effect. Now I’ve been a Reggie fan for quite some time. The band combines synth tracks and good lyrics to create a just plain fun experience. With this release they’ve taken their music into a darker territory. It’s easy to see why, the lead singer just went through a divorce. And with song titles like “What the hell is contempt? and “Thanks for the Misery” it’s easy to figure out what the inspiration behind the music is.

So at the end of the day, is this a good Reggie and the Full Effect album? Yes and no. Reggie fans will appreciate it for what it is, but newcomers to his music will want to try a previous release first. Reggie, from all your fans, get happy man. We love the happy go lucky Reggie, he makes better music. Still a good cd though, although it’s best listened to when something is on your mind that you’re not happy about. I give it a B

Easter… Sunday is here.. but 3 days ago was friday

Well, This weekend was like every other weekend… except different. I’m sitting here back in my dorm room. I’m watching Portishead on DVD. Before this I was at home where I won Settlers of Catan against my family and Abby (whose highlighted hair looks awesome). Patrick started playing a good game near the end. But, I basically had it in the bag before we started. Easter lunch was, ham, cheesy potatoes, rolls, and brocolli salad. It was a grand taste and it filled me up. Church in the morning was good. Celebrat’n Jesus rais’n from the dead and have’n a nice breakfast. I got up for church at 7 am. Which isn’t bad, but last night I went to sleep at 12:30. This was because I was Abby’s house… we watched part of Adaptation (which is an okay movie) and Peter Pan (which I fell asleep to). Abby and I didn’t catch all of Adaptation because Luke (Abby’s bro) started the movie while Abby was highlighting her hair. She had left over dyeing goop so I throw a bunch in my hair. Earlier that day I help my folks tear down wallpaper… they are going to paint the living room and dining room (wuite ambitious). I woke up at 8:30 as not to waste the day or maybe it was 9.

Anyway, Friday night I was Abby’s house hanging out with her (admiring her awesome new piercing), Luke, and my good friend, Travis Pahl. It was fun. We watched Finding Neverland (which inspired the Magalsky siblings to rent Peter Pan). We were playing with toy air guns and shooting each other at close ranges. I have a couple nice welts to proudly display. Before Travis came by, I had Supper with the entire Magalsky family. We went to a nice hole-in-the-wall place and had pizza. It was good eats after hanging out with Abby and Luke in Fond du Lac. I returned my Man-Bag back to the store I got it from and bought a better, cheaper one. We also bought hair dye, because Abby wanted to highlight her hair and Luke wanted to dye it dark red (natural). Abby also got her upper ear pierced at Wal-mart. She didn’t even flinch. She just took the pain and displayed her new accessory with pride. Awesome. I got done with school on friday at 12:30 and Luke was here is Oshkosh waiting to take Abby and I home. Well, that is that.

Give me my LIPS BACK!!!

so, i was randomly going through blogs and I came across this picture:

It intrigued me, so I thought I would share… apparently it is from a VCD cover (VCD = Video CD [ CD = Compact Disc]). Anyway, I love translations.
Here is the original post I found this from: buttermilk.blogspot.com

A Very Long Engagement (Un long dimanche de fiançailles)

This is the most recent film directed and co-wrote by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who is probably most known (at least by indie film lovers like me) for writing and directing Amelie (which I must note is my second favorite movie of all time). A Very Long Engagement is about a woman named Mathilde (played by Audrey Tautou) that gets news that her fiancée has died on the frontlines of World War I. Mathilde refuses to believe that the man she loves has died and goes on a search for him. She finds out he was one of five men who tryed to escape military service through self mutilation (getting rid of their trigger fingers). These men are condemned to face certain death between French and German lines. It is reported that all these men were killed, but Mathilde refuses to give up hope and contines uncovering clues on what really happened on the frontline.

Overall, I thought this movie was amazing. Jeunet once again stuns the viewer with his unique visual style and cinematography. I was a bit dissappointed that he used the same color wash visual that he used in Amelie; Where the dominate color shade is a greenish hue and the color red is brought out. But it is okay because few directors utilize things like color and clarity to enhance the attention of the viewers.

I absolutely love the way Jeunet tells a story. Although, he likes to drag the plot and mislead the viewer many times through out the film. But, he loves character development and that is something I really applaud. I feel like I have met these characters and am a part of their life. Only in books have I ever achieved this kind of intimacy with fictional people. It is really a refreshing kind of story-telling. It is quite character-driven. All of the characters personalities are unique and exaggerated. Alot of the humor comes out of these extreme characters.

…and the movie did have humor in it. Although it was mostly a dramtic love story, There was enough humor to possibly throw comedy into it’s discription. I found myself laughing out loud at the absurd situations and clever quips. The humor keeps the dark and somewhat depressing movie light-hearted.

The music was good. It didn’t stand out as extraordinary, but it was fitting.

The movie is very graphic. It is rated R for a reason. Some of the battle scenes are very bloody and the camera doesn’t shy away when the each of the five men find clever ways of disposing of their fingers. The intimate love scene and blatent sex scenes are also quite graphic, keep in mind that it is french. Which reminds me I have to say that it is subtitled. I have gotten over my fear of reading subtitles years ago. But if you are one of those people that refuse to watch a movie with titles, give it a try. You get so used to reading them after the first five minutes you forget they are there.

Well, all in all, A Very Long Engagement is a fantastic movie. The story line is superb, acting is magnificent, cimatography is amazing. Go see this movie if you want to have a good laugh and a good cry or if you want to see a truly extraordinary and imaginative story come to life through the medium of film, watch A Very Long Engagement.

The rest of the week

well, where did I leave off… oh yes… wednesday. Wednesday was nothing too special. In fact, I don’t think I did anything until my family came home. We had supper and then went to youth group. After youth group I challenged everyone to a rematch of Settlers… Mom and Patrick took me up on the offer. I ended up winning. so, that was swell.

Thursday was an awesome day. I woke up at 7 in the morning to ensure that I had a car for the day (I had to take Patrick and Emily to school). I got some things ready and then headed over to Abby’s house. I made pancakes, sausage, and orange juice for Abby and I. It was good. Afterward we decided to make crafts… but couldn’t figure out what exactly what to do. We decided to go to the local craft store and look for something fun. So, we went and looked around. The store is huge. I found a sweet belt buckle.

Yeah… so I know you are all jealous and stuff. Anyway, that was a totally awesome find. We didn’t really find any craft stuff we were looking for so we headed to Wally World. At Wal-mart Abby found some things that she could make into earings. She bought those and we headed back to her house. We decided to make cookies and seeing as it was St. Patty’s Day we dyed them green. The chocolate chip cookies looked like they were moldy, but it was fun. After the cookies were made, I had to go pick up Emily and Patrick from school. Abby came along and we brought some cookies for them. After we brought them home and chilled with my family for a while… Abby took me out for supper. She paid and everything… it was so wonderful. Mom thought I was just looking for an excuse to miss her annual cornbeef and cabbage St. Pat’s Day meal. nope-a-rope. We went to Benvenuto’s Italian Grill. It was good. After that, Abby and I chilled with her parents at her house. Then we watched Willy Wonka and the Chizzle Fizzle. One of my most favorite movies ever!!! After that was finished… I headed home. What a great day thursday was. Spectacular even, but what do I expect from Gay Saint Patrick’s Day Thursday!

Friday night Casey Malesevich came back to Mayville so I went over to his house and played cards with him, John Shoemaker, Teddy Malesevich, Tony Moyle, and Billy Borgenhagen. I lost all my money. But since I didn’t actually put any in… I didn’t really lose any. Casey put my five dollars in… but he paid with a starbucks gift certificate. No one seemed to mind. That was basically my night. I was up till 3 and woke up at 9 in time for pancakes. yum yum.

I went to bethesda thrift store with my Pa at around 11 saturday morning. Abby was shopping there. She found a belt buckle for me. It is basically a lion head. Awesome. Then Luke Magalsky called me up and we headed to Oshkosh to see Travis Pahl’s new apartment. I bought an expansion to Settlers of Catan called Seafarer’s of Catan. I got a bit of ridicule, but I’m ok with that. The three of us went to Sears in Appleton and the mall. Then Luke and I went home. On our way, Luke and I had a fabulous conversation about life, pychology, and religion as we have a tendincy to do… but not like dumb theories and stuff like that… but relevent things pertaining to our life. So, that was cool.

Sunday, I helped record the musical drama at church and then tryed out the new Catan expansion with Patrick and Mom. It was fun. Then we left for Oshkosh to drop me off. I found a man bag, which I was looking for. Other than those things… nothing is really new.

A Very Long Weekend

Well, I am on spring break. Woo hoo… I guess. I really just wanna get school overwith for the year. But, oh well, I will take the break. Friday Abby and I dropped our school things off at our respective houses and then immediately headed for Madison where we visited Abby’s brother and my friend, Luke. It was fun… Luke bought us dinner at a $5.00 chinese buffet as you can hear from my audioblog post. The food was sub par but I enjoyed it alot because it was a buffet and free (for me, thank you very much Luke). After that, we kinda bummed around for a while in Luke’s room. I met a bunch of his friends and I found that I am a small time celebrity there (thanks to Pointless TV). One of Luke’s friends (a polish student named Patrick) immediately put his arm around me and said “you don’t know me… but I KNOW you.” It was really quite weird. He then offered us kielbasa (which we declined, due to bulging stomachs from a buffet) and polish chocolate treats that were filled with different liqueurs (which we accepted because we figured it could fit in our stomachs {and probably a small thrill that it was filled with alcohol}). So that was swell. Later, Luke, Abby and I went to visit my good friend Casey Malesevich. He and I share a cell phone plan and I owed him some moola and he needed to give me a new phone because mine broke (kinda). Right after that, we went and saw the latest Jean-Pierre Jeunet film, A Very Long Engagement.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet is the master mind behind Amelie and I really enjoy his style of film writing and directing. To find out more about what I thought of this movie check out my review here. This brings up another point… I have decided to make a review site to give my opinion of movies I’ve seen or books I’ve read, CD’s listened to, Concerts attended… you know, things like that… I have invited my friends to join and give their opinions on things as well. I hope it is fairly active. That would be sweet. So yeah… that’s that.

Saturday I basically sat around all day until night came and I visited Jeff and then Ryan came home and we went to his house and there we three chilled till 5:30 in the morning. When I got home… Mom was already up for church. Crazy! I had no idea she got up that early… she was preparing for Sunday school… now I know where my procrastination comes from. Well, it is no wonder she takes naps on Sundays. I went to bed at 6am and got up at 8:30 for church. I wasn’t really alert; I realized I couldn’t make complete thoughts. Random sentence fragments and grunts were all I could really muster. After church I surprised my friend Ryan for his birthday. His mom bought Jeff and I tickets to a food and comedy fundraiser that Ryan was also attending. When we showed up he couldn’t figure out what was going on. Especially because he was over at my house an hour before and I acted like I didn’t know… saying things like “so, what are you up to this afternoon” and “oh so like dinner with you parents” and “wouldn’t it be funny if Jeff and I showed up randomly. Like if your mom bought us tickets.” Okay, I didn’t really say that last one, but Ryan was genuinely surprised (not like “Holy Crap, a bunch of people jumped from behind a couch and shouted at me and I think my heart is going to explode because I thought I was about to be mugged”… but more like “what are you two doing here… Peter, you said you were going to sleep the rest of the afternoon!”). We hung out the rest of the night watching old videos Ryan had of us and playing Burnout 3. We didn’t wake up on Monday till 12:30.

Monday, Ryan and I dropped Jeff off at his house and went and picked up breakfast supplies. We had bacon, egg, and cheese bagels at one o’clock in the afternoon. They were scrumptious. Then I picked up my siblings from school and returned home for a few hours. After supper, Patrick and I headed to Beaver Dam to shop. We picked up Abby on the way. By the time we got to the places we were going… everything was closed. So that was somewhat of a bummer. We returned home and dropped off Patrick. Abby and I went over Ryan’s house to wish him a official happy birthday with a present of breakfast hot pockets and a pen that was really his that I stole and used all the ink out of. He was happy. We spent a little while viewing some more of his videos. Then we came back to my house and watched I Heart Huckabees. Everyone fell asleep during the movie. I took Abby home at around 4:30 and I didn’t get to bed until 5 (my dad was up for work when I got back). Such is spring break.

I woke up today 1:30 to Emily saying “Peter, Patrick wants to go to Fond du Lac so if you want the car you need to get up now!” So, I got up and took my sister to work, so I could use her car. I invited Abby to go shopping with Patrick and I and the three of us went to Fond du Lac. Patrick got his picture taken and some paper work for his passport. We did a bit of shopping and Abby and I got our picture taken in one of those photo booth thingys. It was fun. When we returned home, Patrick had to go to a practice so Abby and I had pizza and watched Wallace and Gromit movies until his return. Then Mom, Emily, Patrick, Abby and I played Settlers of Catan for about 2 hours. Emily won and was happy but disappointed she was late for bed. Then everyone left and I logged on to the internet and started writing about what has been happening in my life lately. Thanks for read’n.

5 dollars for a chinese food buffet? I’m in.