My Rating: 0.5/5

Summary:
The battle for Earth has ended but the battle for the universe has just begun. After returning to Cybertron, Starscream assumes command of the Decepticons, and has decided to return to Earth with force. The Autobots believing that peace was possible finds out that Megatron’s dead body has been stolen from the US Military by Skorpinox and revives him using his own spark. Now Megatron is back seeking revenge and with Starscream and more Decepticon reinforcements on the way, the Autobots with reinforcements of their own, may have more to deal with then meets the eye.

My Thoughts:
I like explosions.

The Final Verdict:
I still like explosions. But don’t watch this, you will simply cry over the amount of time wasted watching this.

Censorship is not my style, in any way, shape or form (distasteful swearing is a little different). So when I saw this news story on CBC Calgary, I felt my stomach growl in disgust.

If you don’t feel like reading the entire story, let me summarize. Family restaurant owner Ali Clark had a child in her restaurant point out the band name “Holy Fuck” and complained to Sled Island festival organizers. Sled Island is reprinting all their posters to censor the band name. The saddest part is that this story is at the top of CBC Calgary news and they are censoring the band name themselves.

This world needs to stop thinking their child will become corrupt from hearing or reading a swear word. I heard plenty in my elementary and pre-school years and I’m pretty sure I turned out just fine. Though, I really should get off this internets thing, it corrupts minds.

Sled Island 2009 is coming up next week! And I thought I should mention some groups I plan on going to see, and hope you do as well. Passes are only $99, and you have access to over 250 bands. Full lineup at www.sledisland.com

To kick things off, I will be heading out to Central United Church to catch Final Fantasy, after which, I will be heading down to the Bamboo Tiki Room (Drum & Monkey) to catch hip-hop artists Dragon Fli Empire, Ricca Razor Sharp and Cam the Wizzard.

Dragon Fli Empire, one of my favorite local groups, of whom I’ve missed many shows, will be laying it down at Bamboo Wednesday night, be sure to check them out!

Thursday I will be heading out to Central United Church to catch some of our favorite local groups, KNOTS, Woodpigeon, Mount Eerie, and Rural Alberta Advantage. I may possibly head over to Broken City to catch the Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir or go catch Monotonix at the Distillery. Afterwards, time for a good night’s sleep.

Friday is when the party begins with some of my favorite groups playing at Broken City. We have No Gold, HEALTH, Azeda Booth, Japandroids and Ladyhawk. I may head out to Dicken’s Pub after Azeda Booth to attempt to catch Monotonix if I wasn’t able to catch them the night before. Definitely the group I’m most excited to see at this year’s Sled Island.

Saturday morning I will be heading down to the Market Collective in Kensington to check out some of the wonderful art and music happenings there. In the evening nothing really catches my eye, I will likely play it by ear and see what others are heading out to go see. I will likely be checking out something new. I am leaning to heading down to the Warehouse to catch some wicked acts there.

Sunday, time to relax. Maybe i’ll check out some stuff happening down at Plaza Theatre.

My Rating: 2/5

Label: Domino
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/dirtyprojectors

A pretty typical indie/experimental album. This album doesn’t really leave too much of an impression on me; very basic rhythms and technique, nothing too exciting.
Each track seems to simply build on another, the only track that stood out was “Useful Chamber”. This track had some more interesting rhythms and used more instruments and sounds than simply a guitar and drums.
However, I don’t have too much to say about this album. An average indie rock album, with below average self-proclaimed experimentalism. Overall, a decent album, but nothing I would go out of my way to purchase or listen to.

My Rating: 5/5

Label: Arts & Crafts
Website: http://www.arts-crafts.ca/themostserenerepublic/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/themostserenerepublic
Purchase Album: Release Date July 14 2009

I was just able to get my hands on an advance copy of this seven piece group’s most recent work, “…And The Ever Expanding Universe”, to be released on the Arts & Crafts label this coming July.

This seven piece orchestra creates some of the most outstanding music, using some old classical techniques and some new 21st century beats, it is definitely a pleasure to listen to.

The first track I gave a moment to was “Patternicity”. After first listen of this track it gave me the feeling that this was a classical album of sorts, but I had my doubts, it being on the Arts & Crafts label. Moving further into the album, evidence of this bands amazing talent is exposed. “Don’t Hold Back, Feel A Little Longer” gave quite a contrast to “Patternicity”; still using classical instruments, such as the violin, the addition of a drum machine and other electronic instruments definitely gives the album a new feel.

All in all, this album is a highly recommended purchase. Yet another great group of artists off the reputed Arts & Crafts label.

Download “Heavens to Purgatory”, a free track off this upcoming album, from Arts & Crafts. The full album is to be released on July 14, 2009.

My Rating: 4/5

Label: Zarcorp
Website: http://www.lateofthepier.com/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/lateofthepier
Purchase Album:

British group, Late of the Pier’s debut album, Black Fantasy Channel is fantastic. Their album has a nice blend of electronics and technical skill. Their instrumental track “V W” really adds to their first full length LP, this one track I can listen to forever, it is quite amazing that this much noi-… excuse me, music, can come from four band members.

The track “The Bears are Coming” has a very unique sound, the blend of electronic tones and acoustic drums really makes a great combination. Their music video for this track is really quite wonderful as well.

The last couple tracks on this album bothered me, “Mad Dogs And Englishmen” and “Bathroom Gurgle”. “Mad Dogs And Englishmen” had an intro that was way too similar to that of Bloc Party, the first time I heard it I thought my iTunes went wacko and started playing a Bloc Party track, but all in all a pretty decent track.
“Bathroom Gurgle” didn’t seem to have anything going for it, it was either poorly produced, the singer had strep throat or they were attempting to cover a Kylie Minogue song.

All in all a great album and gets a rating of 4 out of 5 from me.

The group was recently featured on the September 13th 2008 issue of NME along with popular indie bands such as MGMT and Bloc Party.

My Rating: 5/5

Label: XL Recordings
Website: http://www.wearefriendlyfires.com/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/friendlyfires
Purchase Album:

Friendly Fires’ debut, self-titled album, is, well, for lack of a better word (and my effort to find one), friendly. The album flows smoothly through the listeners ears, each track contains some really creative rhythms, instrumentals and vocals. The track “On Board” is most likely the one that stands out the most on their album. It features some fairly creative vocals and interesting electronic instruments, and of course, the occasional cow bell.

Personally, I can’t seem to pick out a favorite track from this album, but I have to say “Lovesick” is in my top 3. This song probably features the most guitar originality and riffs out of the whole album.

All in all, a great album, a rating of 5 out of 5 from me because I can’t think of any excuse to give it anything lower.

CJSW, Calgary’s one and only campus radio station, is having one of it’s biggest funding drives ever! Working on expanding to a new space, this 50 year old campus radio station, with over 20 years on the FM dial, is looking for your support in order to raise it’s goal of over $250,000. In exchange for your support you can get some awesome swag. The usual t-shirts, toques, hoodies, ear plugs and other awesome stuff. Along with the CJSW swag, the shows are individually giving away some awesome stuff for a certain pledge amount during their show.

Help CJSW raise over $250,000, call the pledge line at 403-220-5000 or at least give them a listen from anywhere around the world.

You can check out some of their awesome swag at their brand-spanking-new website.

Yesterday I attended probably, in my opinion, the best annual event in Calgary, even better than the Calgary Stampede.
Even thought it cost $45 for 1 night, it was definitely worth it. All the bands that played during my time there were incredible! I must say, I was given a false impression when listening to one of Aimee Mann’s songs online, because she is definitely an amazing performer.

However, the one band that blew me away was the Sam Roberts Band. I must say, in my experience of viewing live performances, Sam Roberts is definitely on top. I do get depressed when listening to their recorded stuff because of the lack of energy that the live concert had. After this awesome concert, Sam Roberts has definitely been placed in my top 10 favorite bands.
However, the Calgary Folk Music Festival lacked in many ways. There wasn’t too much to do other than watch the music.
Watch out Pemberton, Sam Roberts is gonna rock your socks off.

I’ve been thinking about this for some time now. Who will be the villains in the third Christopher Nolan Batman?
The one villain that came to mind was Harley Quinn. Because the passing of Heath Ledger and the difficulty of recasting The Joker, Harley Quinn would be most appropriate in somewhat continuing The Joker story line. However, she wouldn’t be the main villain in the third Batman.

In this third installment the villain(s) will most likely be Poison Ivy and Bane or Penguin. The Riddler is an unlikely candidate because of the nature of Christopher Nolan’s dark films, and the only person who could really play the Riddler would be Jim Carrey again.

Penguin is a very dark and vicious figure which would go quite well with Christopher Nolan’s genre of Batmans. Penguin’s creepy love for birds and umbrellas could really mesh in with the current Batman story line.

Poison Ivy and Bane could be possible, but a little less likely because of their origins. Both Poison Ivy and Bane were infused with chemicals and such from plants, which would not really coincide with Christopher Nolan’s more realistic, less supernatural Batman.

So, in my opinion, the two villains in the third Batman should be Harley Quinn and The Penguin. But there has been rumor of The Riddler in the third Batman and an article can be found at The Coventry Telegraph