Moose Moose

This blog was created for the purposes of me reviewing music and movies that I was currently seeing or listening too just to keep myself and others updated on new shit and basicly if you wanted my opinion on some random movie or album you could find it on here. I made a few posts and it was cool but then I got busy with tons of other random things...anyway I know no one gives a shit about my opinion so that leaves me not really caring about posting stuff places and I already have tons of other ways of expressing myself through writing and this kinda just fell by the wasteside

I guess when I feel a reason to start lending my voice to something thats not lyrics to a song then i guess i'll update again but until then this will just have to stay stag

AC/DC LIVE!

We roll tonight...to the guitar bite

I was just going to review the show last night at the Izod center in NJ but I will touch upon the album while I'm at it...

Quick back story before we begin, just so you know that I just might be a little biased in this review ha. Anyway so back in 2001 (I know its like a bazillion years ago) my dad told me he was going to see AC/DC and at this time I wasn't really listening to much music (I grew up with my grandparents whom didn't listen to much music) and I was like thats cool I never really listening to those guys so he was like they fucking rule you have to listen to this and so he gave me a copy of his AC/DC Live album. Within a few weeks I was in love. I was listening to that thing everyday skating around with my friends and just rocking out. This is one of those Live albums that completly captures a band. Later on going back and buying and listening to all their studio albums I have gone back and that live album still gets me more fired up then anything. I personally am a bigger fan of the Bon Scott era of AC/DC but I of course love and respect Brian Johnson and all that he as done with them. This album consists mostly of Brian Johnson era songs but it doesn't matter the songs are so intense and in your face you are rocking out so hard and there is no one else in the room its perfect. The few songs that are Bon Scott era are performed with the same spark and attitude that you would have wanted to hear. This was the album. This was the band. Finally having a band that spoke to me. As silly as it sounds (considering most of there songs aren't very deep ha) I was a young kid I was a teenager I had an attitude I was in school and I was pissed off I was a dirty skater kid with dirty skater friends and we all were just looking to fucking skate and have a good time. AC/DC was for me. For my best friend louis it was KISS for my other friend Bryan it was Black Sabbath for my other friend Bobby it was The Ramones we all just rocked out to this music skated and kicked ass ha...2001 was the Stiff Upper Lip tour...since then I have been eagarly awaiting their new album and world tour so that I could finally see them Live because thats all I wanted...8 and a half years later...here I am


I woke up and went to class on the way there "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)" came on and it finally sank in...hours from now I will be seeing my favorite band for 6 or so years live for the first time...holy fucking shit. I got to class take care of my shit and then I rush home. Me and my dad are on the road by 5 and both are like crazy excited. We talked the whole way their about music and whathaveyou and we arive ready to rock. We find our seats...we are on the floor...about 100 feet from the stage and like 15 feet from the runway that goes down the middle...to say the least the view was awesome...

The opening band played. They were called The Answer. They weren't bad they fit the part of opening for AC/DC they were hard rock, but lets just say that some bands don't know how to take there influneces and create a new sound they only know how to mimic. So they go off and the real show is about to begin...

The start of the show was this enormous screen that showed this animation of a runaway train with AC/DC on it. The sound was insanely intense it felt like the trian was barreling through your head and the steam was shooting out of your ears, you knew right then and there you were in for the ride of a lifetime this show was going to be loud, intense, and larger then life...

The screen splits and from the shadows comes a 3 story high frieght train with a huge AC/DC metal stamp on it the thing is huge and looks real a great stage prop and a perfect addition to the first song as they come out and immediately start rocking out on "Rock n' Roll Train" which is actually the first track off the new album song's not bad but I was definitley antispating all the songs that I have loved all these years. I didn't wright down the set list so I'm not 100% on the order of the songs but it doesn't matter. Other songs off the new album that they played that I can remember are "Black Ice" (my least favorite song and from the crowds reaction...same) "Big Jack" (which i enjoyed) "Money Made" and "War Machine" (my personal favorite off the new album and a fun song live). Now we get into the songs that I know and love.

"Back in Black" this song was great everyone was screaming along and rocking out the song we pretty spot on and Brian Johnson as well as the rest of them are showing their age thats for sure but they most definiatly are powering though each night giving it all they got. Johnson was screaming his head off getting red in the face running around up the ramp shaking everyones hand and punching the air it was perfect. It was Rock and Roll. "Thunderstruck" although Angus was a little off on the guitar work (he's 57 and he fucking wails and rips and shreads and is fast and fucking rules...but he doesn't have the chops that he used to have...just sayin...) this was definitley one of my favs of the night it was a strong performance and the crowd reaction was huge. Speaking of crowd reaction/participation "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" and "T.N.T" were the highlight of the night for that. The amount of fists pumping in the air and screaming DONE DIRT CHEAP or the growling fierce OI OI OI were incredible. I looked up and around to see all the flashing red horns and the fists in the air these people were in it. The slower songs of the night "The Jack" and "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)" were certinanly no less powerful or less entertaining then the rest, for "The Jack" Angus put his guitar to the side and did his classic striptease (at age 57...I still saw girls in the audience getting off on this ha good times) during "For Those..." they brought out six oversized war canons and of course during the appropriate time FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK...FIRE! they set off two at once and blasted your chair right off the ground. Also speaking of spectical during "Whole Lotta Rosie" They had a fucking 50 ft high blow up doll of a obese woman in lingire it was funny and awesome Also this was the second best song of the night. The best song of the night for certin was "Let There Be Rock" not only was this song a pleasent surprise, (I would have never guessed they were going to play it) it is my all time favorite song by them. I was fucking blown away. This was the song right before they went off stage before they came back out for the encore ("Highway to Hell") "Let There Be Rock" this song fucking RULES. There is no question that it is one of the hardest heaviest and fastest songs that they have and it never lost steam the song held together and swept me off my feet just as i expected it too. In the middle of the song Angus come running down the runway and get to the end (mind you this is about 15 feet to my left) I can practicly see the sweat driping off his fingers the end of the runway was a metal circle that now began to raise, It went about 15 feet in the air and Angus began doing his classic swirly kick on the ground guitar solo and it was amazing. He comes back and the song comes to an end and Angus just continues to wail he runs up these stairs to a platform right above the drummer and just solo's for 5 minutes working the crowd putting his hand to his ear and the crowd gives him the reaction he wants the screams the whistles the chants the woo's the ANGUS!'s the fuck yeahs they were all there. As they went off the stage the crowd was in an uproar it felt like the place was about to explode. They came back out played two more songs and were done. The show was exactly 1 hour and 43 minutes and every moment was spent with a smile on my face a fist in the air and a voice screaming...

The overall performance and the songs and the show and the music and the spectical all of it was everything I have ever imagined and all that I waited for...

Eagle Eye

or Transformers 2 or Eagle Eye Cherry LIVE @ MSG!
or
a really interesting psychological thriller with Even Stevens and Kim from The Bourne Supremacy (ok ok enough)

Kind of on a whim I decided I was interested enough to go ahead and see this movie at 12:15am last night. I left surprising satisfied and interestingly paranoid. As I got in my car I half hoped and half feared the car to start talking to me and telling me where to go. Either way the movie at very least kept your attention (which is a hard task in the film world...well maybe not in America). You were never really in a state of like "whats going on?" you were more like "whats going to happen next!?" which to me is more exciting but not exactly less interesting.

There were quite a few collaborators on the writing of the screenplay but the original story was written by Dan McDermott whom had a brief running of a TV series (1 season) in 2006 called "Angela's Eyes" (cute) There was an episode called The Camera's Eye...I didn't see it (or any of this series for that matter) but I can assume this guy's either got a thing with voyeurism or is completely paranoid...just sayin...

The film opens on a poker game between some friends at a small copy store (in the break room) there is some funny banter and we learn right off that our lead man is a wise guy (but whom isn't now a days?) We already like him and can connect with the way he thinks. Then the movie takes a quick and depressing turn

*SPOILERS* Next we find out our hero is low on cash owes money to his landlord and then his brother (whom we know nothing about at this point) has just died. In my opinion a little much to start off with. We have a confusing funeral based mainly around a crying Shia LaBeouf, and No one wants to see that (where's Ren when you need her?) *END OF SPOILERS*

Basically we now feel bad for our friend here and are sympathizing...good job. ANYWAY, we are throw right into the chase (or is it a chase?) WHATEVER they are totally being forced (by threats/blackmail) to drive/steal/hide/fight/kill all because some computer lady is telling them too...wah wah...ok so it's probably really frightening annnd the risk of dying (or having one of your loved ones killed) is pretty much the ultimate reason to do something you wouldn't normally do, but I would just do it cause it looked BAD ASS. Ha but for real, the incredibly violent and vicious car crashes that happen throughout the film are probably the most disturbing factor of the whole film. Lets just say it gets graphic but also enough is left up to the imagination that you scare yourself with the outcome. Not to mention that Sling Blade is chasing these guys the whole time as the black chick from Josie and the Pussycats is trying to help solve the case...no really not to mention that because it's slightly inaccurate... although Billy Bob Thornton is really annoying in this, its possible that it is his character but I feel like someone a little less aggravating could have played this and it would have been less cartoonish when the main characters keep getting away (it reminded me of whole Spiderman/J. Jonah Jameson complex...except not as funny, just sayin...) and Rosario Dawson does a decent job, she plays the whole in-the-dark-military-official (thats about to find out a whole lotta shit she didn't know about) well and I believed that she was dumb...yup.

The level of tension that was built I feel was sufficient, for the style and the pacing I was both entertained and enthralled by a majority of the scenes. This film, basically did it's job as a Action/Mystery/Thriller although you kinda have it all figured out about 45 mins in (possibly earlier) and the thrill is really waiting for the next move and for when they will figure it all out.

*SPOILERS* without fail I always get roped into that second to last major scene in action films where the big death is about to happen but you KNOW that it's gonna get stopped but your all like oh no, oh no haha anyway when the mom has the necklace on and her own kid is about to blow her head off (of course unbeknownist to him) whilst she has been trying this whole time to save his life (some nerve you got there kid) I was LITERALLY on the edge of my seat, and THATs why you go see these kind of movies *END OF SPOILERS*

With Executive Producer Steven Spielberg on your side and a Director whom already worked closely with there lead actor once before in a similar film its hard to fuck this up so I was happy with the outcome. At the very least it should really make you think, not exactly about the government and how they can hide so much from us but the whole everything-working-on-computers-thing, that's what can really fuck with you I mean think back to the whole Y2K thing it got to a lot of people because the idea behind it is that we are afraid of technology the way we have seen machines malfunction and all that the fear kinda makes sense so either way we're fucked JAY-KAY

I give it 3 and a semi boners (out of five)

and I will leave you with this...

Save tonight
and fight the break of dawn
come tomorrow
tomorrow I'll
be gone...

The Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics/U.F.O.'s at the Zoo

OK so I have been on a Lips kick since the other night when i watched the UFO at the zoo DVD that I love so very much. Lets just start by saying if you haven't seen The Flaming Lips live, I suggest that you put their website and myspace and whatever else can give you updates in your "to check daily" list because the second they announce their next tour you find a venue near yourself and you buy a ticket. If you don't you are pretty much missing out on the greatest experience of your life.

I guess I can make this a mix review of both that DVD and the Lips most recent album At War with the Mystics.

It seems to me that most people kinda look past this album a bit, to me it is a fantastic display of where the lips have come from since their last two The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (The Soft Bulletin being my personal favorite and Yoshimi being their most commercially successful) and a great showing as to where they are going. I think even though it was still produced to the max with the same psychedelic sounds that make the Lips such and experience to listen too, it has a more "earthy" tone to it contrary to the album title. I really feel like they brought this one from home. The opening track is the single Yeah Yeah Yeah song which when i first heard about the release I thought it was going to be some sort of homage to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (possibly like the song off of the UK released Fight Test EP - "Thank You Jack White (For the Fiber-Optic Jesus That You Gave Me)") This proved to be wrong but I wasn't let down that's for sure. Yeah Yeah Yeah song is the perfect happy and optimistic song to kick off a lips album. The talk-box guitar effect found on it is a major theme throughout the album it almost becomes its own instrument finding its way into almost every song. (Seems like Steven Drozd was on a talk box kick whilst writing this...just sayin...) 

Free Radicals which comes in on track two is definitely on of the most interesting songs I've ever heard (Lips or not) it's odd lack of instruments in the first minute drags for a sort of awkward amount of time before the drums kick in (the pay off is worth it though) even after the song comes to a whole there are still random stops and the timing is slightly off paced but it holds together and rocks just like any other epic song by Mr. Drozd himself. *side note* whilst seeing the lips live Sept. of 2007 in Allentown PA, a friend of mine KP was seeing them for the first time and after the show she noted Free Radicals as her favorite of the night, this probably attributing to the fact of how odd and different it sounds then the others...not that all of their music isn't odd...and different. 

NEXT song is "The Sound of Failure/It's Dark...Is It Always Dark??" this song brings it down a notch in the adrenaline levels and is a really beautiful song, the electric guitar work is what I pay most attention to in this track and it is very retro and catchy within this spacey song (and it works quite well) The lyrics are depressing yet optimistic in there ways (as Wayne always seems to do) but he mentions the names Brittney and Gwen in the chorus and my first few listens too i couldn't shake the idea of Spears and Stefani being the girls he speaks of (I guess I'm just as bad as the rest of them...) 

The next song is my personal favorite and kind of like the "Do You Realize" or the "It's Summertime" of this album with its beauty and optimism. The track is titled "My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion" and the theme of the song is birds (the best part of the song is the ambient birds chirping in the background cheesy but tastefully done) The song itself seems to soar through your speakers with delicacy and grace as it tells you to realize how precious life is and to ignore those others around you that might bring you down, a simple concept with a grand result. In the second verse Wayne talks about those that are pessimistic and those you are too ignore and delvers my favorite line, "They see the sun go down but they don't see it rise" (this line could stay on repeat for me and I would be happy) again such a simple line but the delivery and the placement in the song as the guitar feeds back and builds up to this great tone you get to the end of the word "rise" and you throw your fist up in the air (or you begin to air guitar the intoxicating riff that precedes it) 

The next track "Vein of Stars" has a very similar tone and style to the third track "The Sound of Failure" this song though takes a even more spacey tone with more ambient sound and no real driving electric guitar the song just sort of floats around in this open space with the chant of "who knows" driving it around in circles creating clouds of sound above your head (it in fact creates this voice that floats above me "calling out my name"). 

The next track is an instrumental titled "The Wizard Turns On... The Giant Silver Flashlight and Puts on His Werewolf Moccasins" This takes on a life of its own as the drums batter down with a very familiar drone we then hear the "incendiary" guitar, upon the infamous wah wah petal this piercing screech that we hear is very powerful and defiantely makes you try and make the guitar noises with your mouth (i assume its something like wernt wenrt wenrt wernt wernernernerrrrrr) Its definitely a great song with no need for vocals which is why I understand the decision to leave them out. Rawk. 

Following this song is "It Overtakes Me/The Stars Are So Big... I Am So Small... Do I Stand a Chance?" during this repetitious yet never annoying song we are left only to chant along with Mr. Coyne himself "It Overtakes me it wakes and bakes me it overtakes me oh oh oh I" definitely a fan favorite (as its well know a decent portion of the lips fans are pot heads...it makes sense) this song is tons of fun and you can find it overtaking you as you get up and dance around the room and enjoy yourself in knowing you are such a tiny thing in this vast universe of stars. 

The next track "Mr. Ambulance Driver" appeared on the Wedding Crashers soundtrack making it probably the most-popular-without-even-knowing-it song off the album and in the same respects as "My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion" the ambient sounds of an ambulance driving about the streets certainly adds to the atmosphere of the song and draws you into the possible situation you have either gone through or hope you never do. This is probably my least favorite track from the album mainly because I feel like it doesn't quite fit on the album but it is a good song by itself. 

NEXT we have "Haven't Got a Clue" which is another odd ball song with a sort of long drawn out verse that doesn't seem to end it drives right at us the whole time with a 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 and offset lyrics the song works and as a comedic tone that helps you get through the silly tone of it. With lyrics like "every time you state your case the more i want to punch your face" and Wayne actually following the distorted guitar with his vocals going BVVDDT BVVDDTT which is perfect because that's pretty much what you wanted to do anyway. 

Onward we go to my second favorite song on the album which i will sometimes cheat and skip right too if i really am in the mood to rock out " The W.A.N.D. (The Will Always Negates Defeat) This was the second single off the album and another song about power and the unknown ability to apply it correctly but this one does it with more force but definitely following in the footsteps of Yeah Yeah Yeah song with the loud and awesome drums and use of distortion in this one Wayne usually uses a megaphone (loaded with smoke bombs as well as a giant strobe light hanging around his neck) to sing this song with the umpf that it needs to match the intensity in the recording. *side note* I went to film my band at the time in a music video and I completely stole the idea used in the video for W.A.N.D. when the bouncy balls are falling around everywhere, some of the footage came out really awesome looking but then half of it got lost at my school and the whole project got scrapped, twas a shame. My favorite part of the song is i think the last time the drums build up before the song starts to deteriorate the off beats and the snare rolls are so sick and sound so good I just wait for it every time and try to air drum it and usually miss some beat (Mr. Drozd you are truly an inspiration). 

The next track I believe was a reject song from the soundtrack to Christmas On Mars, I believe after editing the film down they had to cut the song so it ended up on this album. "Pompeii am Götterdämmerung" is a mesmerizing enchaining song with quiet and religious style vocals and a keyboard that could possibly put you to sleep if the drums didn't come in to jiggle your balls a bit. The song is soft and pretty but builds to a nice pacing and doesn't disappoint. 

To finish off the album the song "Goin' On" is a nice send off and a nice sounding song to say goodnight to. *side note* The song title and placement remind me of "Ride On" by AC/DC which appeared on Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap but was one of the last songs recorded by Bon Scott before he died. Goin' On is of course another brilliantly and simply written optimistic song that rings in your ears, the best part is during the chorus where Wayne sings "goin' on" and in between we hear the bass drum thumping on "goin on THUMP THUMP goin on THUMP THUMP, listen you'll hear it we're gettin near it" the song almost has a tone of old Disney songs and it tends to bring me back to childhood I can't really explain why but all I know is that I like it, and I want it to keep goin on.


All I am really going to say about the U.F.O.'s at the zoo dvd is...just watch it...buy it, rent it, burn it, download it, borrow it, do what you gotta do but get your hands on a copy get a group of your friends (Lips fans or not) and watch it. Throw a lips party because you are a few shots of adrenaline shy and a few brain cells ahead of being in the flesh with Wayne, Steven, Mike, and Kliph the show is just as incredible as you could imagine and if you haven't seen them before its a good taste and for those that have it really brings you back.

Thanks for listening folks but more importantly go listen to the Lips!

Down w/ the Sickness

Yep I fell like complete and utter shit.
I have been sick (congestion/swollen glands/headache/fatigue/body aches) for a few days now and it doesn't seem to want to go away...
Usually I just drink tons of oranga juice get some sleep and I'm all good but this is proving to be more difficult then previously determined.

I haven't had the time or energy latelty to play guitar so I haven't been able to write any of the songs that I have spawning in my head...

I don't really know what direction I want this "blog" to go because I kinda have my livejournal thing packed with my poetry and toughts and stuff and the only other interesting blog I know about is my friend Justin whom has one for his food/resturant reviews because he is trying to be a food critic (or is, he works for some companies i believe) anyway his blogspot is under tastyCHOMP so check that out as well...

Maybe I can review movies and stuff that could be interesting that and maybe even albums that could be cool too...

Basicly I have too much time in front of the computer on my hands because I'm stuck at work for 8 hours a day 5 days a week and I usually waste it on facebook or IMDB so maybe somehow this will be more productive?...I doubt it

ok so the layout can be like maybe a film and/or an album per post and when I go see a movie I'll post my review on that and same for any new albums I buy and if some time goes by and I didn't see a movie or get a cd I'll just give some reviews on some of my favorites and why they are so...

I kinda like this idea, mainly because I love the fact that I have my other ways of remembering things like my poetry and my lyrics and my movie ideas but there are tons of times where I will talk about a film with someone and then months later forget about it and be like oh yeah I liked that movie but I don't remember why and what parts specificly I liked (so I can totally steal it for mah films) I dunno I guess its hard to explain...anyway

Also I shall briefly talk about Moose Moose and maybe what we are up too fuh yeah!

so hold on tight folks...

let the blogging begin...

-Joe James

First & Four Most

I don't really know why i started one of these I just kinda like the set up of them plus for some reason I have less shame in sharing the fact that i have a blogspot over the fact that I have a livejournal again I couldn't tell you why...

To start I am in a band and for the most part that is my number 1 focus for I love music I love playing music and I love writing music with other people. We are Moose Moose and we are currently trapped in the shitty long island music scene but in a few months we will be out of here and on our way...

I am { } this fucking close to being done with college as long as i don't screw this up I will be done by december and will be finally done with schooling forever (well at least for some time) I am a film major and I really do enjoy it I just have more of a passion for music but at least I will have that degree under my belt It's always good to have a back up

I have been in two serious relationships in the last 6 years and both have ended and I have been single for over a year now and I am happy (well at least as happy as one can be)

I used to skateboard i gave it up since I started getting severe back pain about 3 years ago but I'm debating taking it up again...

I really enjoy and obsess over lots of movies and internet things I don't watch TV but the few shows I do enjoy I watch the DVD's of on ocation

I used to go to concerts all the time but since being in a band where we actually play shows frequently I don't go to many anymore but it's ok I still have my long list of bands that I'm crazy about and if a day goes by where I don't get to listen to one of these bands it's usually a very bad/sad day

I love comedy, I love to laugh and I love to make others laugh it is def at the core of me and it truely my favorite thing to do

I weird obsessions and even weirder fears but they are mine

Most likely you are already my friend and know all this BUT incase you are new to my world...welcome, hello and I hope you enjoy