Media tidbits

To reward myself for an ass-kicking week, last Friday I did a bunch of media purchases. Other women buy shoes, clothes and bags -- I buy books, CDs, video games and a shitload of DVDs. It explains why I look like a homeless woman when I go out (or a two-year-old who dressed herself).

Anyways, I managed to listen to a bunch of new CDs and downloaded a few singles from iTunes, so I've got a bunch of mini-reviews.


1. U2's Fast Cars. This single should've been on the last album, but for some reason, the band decided to leave this delicious single off of the American version of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Damn shame really. It's a great song -- Middle Eastern meets flamenco after a few too many pints of Guinesses. If I could belly dance to this song, I would. Aw hell, what am I talking about -- I have shook my ass to this song. It's too damn infectious.

The lyrics have a sense of information overload and disconnect. Not to mention it's a lot of fun to hear Bono rattle off "I got CCTV, pornography, CNBC" in a fast pace and whooping in other parts of the song. I'm just annoyed that I had to buy this single because it wasn't on my CD, and it should've been.

Another good song by U2 -- Big Girls are the Best. It's worth it for Adam Clayton doing his best impression of the 70s bass "wakka wakka" sound.

2. Franz Ferdinand's You Could Have It So Much Better. I was a little worried about this at first -- would Franz just do a rehash of their debut successful album. But the more I listen to it, the more I like it. The band's gotten more melodic, but not to the point that we lose sense of what Franz Ferdinand is supposed to be. The bass line is still strong, Alex Kapranos' voice is still has that distinctive, great sound. I love hearing him sing "I love the sound of you walking away" -- it's yearning, sad and at the same time, really, really cheeky.

But the more I listen to the lyrics, the more I'm seeing the band as seriously ambiguously gay -- fuck that, they are gay. I mean, the lyric "Your famous friend, well I blew him before you," isn't exactly subtle. But that doesn't take away from the overall, tasty CD goodness. Thanks Keidra for forcing me -- the cheapskate -- to buy this one! It's totally worth it.


3. White Stripes' Get Thee Behind Me Satan. First off, Jack White needs to get rid of the Snidley Whiplash moustache and wash his damn hair. Second off, I've heard this CD before and I love the hell out of it. It starts out with Blue Orchard and promptly veers off into uncharted waters. Don't expect to hear the same typical White Stripes stuff. This CD veers into marimba waters with The Nurse and heads off into bluesy alt-country land. My personal fave single right now is My Doorbell.

4. We Love Katamari. The fantastic sequel to Katamari Damacy. Not much is changed -- you still take a sticky ball and roll up random crap -- mah jongg tiles, thumbtacks, mice, buildings, people, airplanes, islands -- into a big ball of fun. There's a couple of new challenges such as keeping your Katamari on fire as you take it up to a campsite and two-player cooperative mode to keep things interesting. It's a good game for people seeking "family-friendly" fare and also something that's not the usual first-person-shooter with monsters, gang members or scantily-clad space demons.

5. The Transporter. Still crack filled goodness. 'Nuff said.

6. Chappelle's Show Season 2. This DVD purchase was worth it simply for Charlie Murphy True Hollywood Stories. The dude's a natural storyteller and funny as hell. He's got some wild stories about life on the fringes of fame, as his brother, Eddie (remember him? He did some cool stuff in the 1980s) rides the elevator to the top. His story about playing basketball against Prince is worth the DVD alone.

But it's also got another favorite of mine: "I'M WAYNE BRADY BITCH!"

Photo by BonoBaltimore via Flicker. I don't know how the man does it, but he's got some seriously droolworthy concert photos.