Rock.

Music: Wolfmother - Wolfmother
Oh, man. This is what kids today should be brought up listening to. Never heard of Wolfmother? Neither had I until recently. When I asked a collegue what to expect, he stated with confidence that "if Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Deep Purple had sex, Wolfmother would be the baby". I would not hesitate to add Black Sabbath, The White Stripes and the best of long-hair rock culture into that analogy.

Revealed in the foreground of Wolfmother's rock is the the combination of familiar vocal tones, psychadelic and quasi-deep lyrics, organs and other instrumental timbres distictly characteristic of the seventies, which may raise issues about how far an influence is supposed to reach over a band's work. Whatever your opinion, it is near enough to a scientific fact that rock does not get more hairy and masculine than this.

The praise I give for a new release with such a seventies vibe perhaps will seem exaggerated once it's been overplayed and absorbed by copycats, but like the White Stripes did when I was first exposed, Wolfmother have struck a strong chord within. The fact that they're Aussie makes it even sweeter. The first single, 'Mind's Eye', is a down-tempo track on the album and while a masterpiece, may suffer the unfortunate possibility of fading into the pop noise surrounding it in the charts. The choice of this song as the first single was likely motivated by the fact that it would introduce Wolfmother to the scene in a less-offensive way than a full-blown rock song would, and gives everyone a chance to brace themselves for the resurrection of the term rock.

Filling my time...

...are many things. With a uni essay due soon and exams not-too-far after, I've entered Guilt Mode (TM) and thus can not enjoy my usual recreational activities to their full extent. It's a pity, because with some planning and a little organisation, I could have time to work and play. All I have to do is find out which organisation that is. ;-)

Stuff I'd Reccommend:

Movie: Wild Style
Surely one of 1982's finest, Wild Style (loosely) follows a few characters in Brooklyn, New York and the rise of grafitti and hip hop culture. Highlights include ol' skool cats like Grand Master Flash and MC Busy Bee and some lines which have been sampled in songs I've heard*. Hugely enthusiastic views on IMDB perhaps exaggerate a little, but like many low-budget films it's worth watching at a different mental angle than you would a regular movie. Selling for $4.95, it's (almost-hesitantly) classed as so-bad-it's-good.

*: "You just pick it up, it's like a virus", and "You've heard it on the radio and seen it on the TV show. A to the K? A to the muthaf**n Z."

Music: Prodigy - Their Law: The Singles 1990-2005
I'm a huge Prodigy fan and when I spotted a new album, I was not excited in the slightest about a compilation of singles. It's like a TV clip-show, where the same old stuff you've been over-exposed to comes back to haunt you in a 'new' episode. Well, turns out I was kinda wrong. All the tracks have been freshened up mastering-wise (Jericho sounds amazing with its new clarity), and some structure-wise (Spitfire 2005, though just a change of the kick drum on the sequencer and a new hi-range loop, sounds ten times meaner than the album version). While there's some rubbish on there, it's to be expected through fifteen years of any band's work. The album wins in the end, because for sometime-listeners it's a collection of cool tracks, while for trainspotters like me it's an insight into the original ideas behind some of the tracks.

Music: This Is... Jungle Brothers
While my knowledge of hip hop doesn't reach far enough to tell you more about the Jungle Brothers than words like 'pioneers' and 'ol' skool', they have been around since 1987 producing some awesome tunes. The album starts off with typically old-school, 80s-sounding hip hop (which I respect greatly, but don't go out of my way to listen to) and moves on to some fat 90s beats. My all-time JBs fave, 'How ya Want it We Got it' sounds better than ever and I think iTunes will soon start preemptively cueing it when it feels me hover over the program's icon.

Peace out.

Never read a blog. Certainly never thought I'd be signing up for one. Not a clue what I'll be writing or posting, most likely music and movies that I'm into and that I think you should be into too.

Orbit in tha place, about ta say nut'n,
give it thirty seconds, reach for the back but'n