LA FLORIDIANA Haunted Pinellas, Part 2 by William Moriaty and Lisa Clardy | |||
THIS WEEK'S MOVIE REVIEW "A History of Violence" by Mike Smith | |||
THE AUDIO PHILES Alice Cooper by Terence Nuzum | |||
THE DROW My Life in the "Church" by Dylan Jones | |||
COUCH POTATO CONFESSIONS Echo and the Bunnymen Return From Siberia....Stellastarr* Harmonizes With Copy Protection....John Peel Day....Paper or Plastic Medicine? by Vinnie Blesi | |||
MIKE'S RANT Welcome Back....Are You Kidding Me?...Movie Notes....God I Hate Her....Thanks....Call Him KashYYYK/American....Where's The WB Frog?...The Answer Is....You're Out....Passing On....Jaws: The Story, Part 37 by Mike Smith | |||
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Echo and the Bunnymen Return From Siberia     Siberia starts off with the first single “Stormy Weather” which stays true to Echo and the Bunnymen sound of the '80’s. It is great song with a great Sergeant guitar solo.
“All Because of You Days” follows with slow strumming power chords before going into a Modern English-ish pop sound that will have you singing along with the chorus after a few listens. This track could easily be another single.
“Scissors in the Sand” and “Of a Life” shows the boys can also still kick it up a notch and turn out some rockers, emo be damned.
Except for the last track, an emotive ballad, this entire CD delivers top-notch songs, production and performances. If find yourself feeling Lalinoesque pick up this release which is full of '80’s yummy goodness, instead of wasting your time on the shite from U2 and Duran Duran.
Purchase from Amazon.com. Also available on emusic.com.
Stellastarr* Harmonizes With Copy Protection     If you are a Stellastarr* fan you probably will not be disappointed in this CD. If you have not heard them before I would recommend their first release, as it is the stronger of the two releases.
Purchase from Amazon.com
John Peel Day             Paper or Plastic Medicine?       What happened to the days of getting shots from your doctor? Instead we have one company monopolizing all the flu shots and giving them in local markets and drugstores. Probably cronies of Bush.
How much longer before the doctor’s office is right in your local store or God forbid, Wal-Mart? Just think how much more convenient it will be to get your prescriptions filled. And while you wait you can do your shopping.
If the nurse calls in sick they can just get the bag-girl to fill in. Tasty medicine and produce all in one stop!
Editor's Note: Vinnie Blesi is featured in this week's St. Petersburg Times, City Times section, in an article called "Art Scene Savior?" about his work promoting the art scene in the Tampa Bay area and his work on PCR! ---Nolan
Quintessential alternative rockers Echo and the Bunnymen return to fine form, with Siberia, their best CD since Ocean Rain. Reuniting with producer Hugh Jones, the Bunnymen produce some of their most engaging material since 1984.
Ian McCulloch’s vocals are as crisp and energetic as ever, however the real gem is the newly re-animated guitar playing of Will Sergeant who seems to want to validate the Bunnymen’s place in music history by saying we can still produce cool emotional alternative pop even if we are old sods.
New York’s Stellastarr* release their second major label CD, Harmonies for the Haunted, a respectable sophomore effort that comes in short on playing time (a little under 40 minutes). While they get points for having the second hottest female bass player in indie rock, Amanda Tannen (after Luna’s Britta Phillips), they immediately earn demerits as the CD is one of the new copy-protected audio CDs. If you plan to rip this CD for your mp3 player or iPod, be forewarned.
Not afraid to wear their Pixies or Talking Heads influences on their sleeve, Stellastarr* seems to add a pinch of Joy Division into the mixture for this CD. However this does not stop the band from turning out a fine bunch of songs on “Harmonies”, with a heavier guitar anthem sound than their first CD.
Thursday October 13th is the first annual John Peel day, commemorating the legendary BBC DJ who passed away earlier this year. Read more at, http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/johnpeelday/2005/.
Also Muse Radio, http://www.live365.com/stations/strangeagent, will be broadcasting Peel Session recordings on that day from 8am on.
As I stood in a line of about 60 elderly people at the local grocery store, while taking my 82-year-old mom to get a flu shot, I began wondering….
Till next time, Keep the cathode ray home fires burning!
"Couch Potato Confessions" is ©2005 by Vinnie Blesi. Couch Potato main graphic by Vin Blesi and Nolan Canova. Webpage design and all graphics herein (except where otherwise noted) are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2005 by Nolan B. Canova.