Lunar Boulevard

You have to give Arcade Fire points for ambition. Since emerging on the indie music scene with the their lauded 2004 debut they've managed to become one of the most diverse and exciting bands of the past decade. All of this culminated in taking home a Grammy for Album of the Year for their third release, The Suburbs. They may come off at times as overly serious, heavy-handed, and a bit pretentious but I can't deny that they make music that sticks with me and clearly their ever-growing fan base is a testament to their talent for pulling people in with compelling music. At this point the stakes are higher than they've ever been and the band did a masterful job of giving us virtually no information about this record prior to its release. A subtle yet brilliant marketing campaign and a music video were about all we had going in. So can this Canadian tour de force pull off another ambitious effort, which happens to be a double album? The answer is, for the most part, yes. By...

To coincide with the release of the film adaptation of Ender's Game, The Flaming Lips have released an accompanying EP inspired by the film. Peace Sword is a bit more immediate and inviting than this year's The Terror, which was a far darker and more bleak experience. While this project certainly isn't geared for mainstream appeal it does harken back to some of the band's previous efforts and it's a brilliant move to counter the harsher strokes The Terror  began back in April. "Peace Sword (Open Your Heart)" opens the EP with a dance-inspired pop beat, allowing Wayne Coyne's voice to float effortlessly above the lush instrumentation and really connect with the listener. This cut, like most others on this offering, have immediate callbacks to The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots . While nothing here quite reaches those glorious heights it's refreshing to see the band embracing their past and it will no doubt come as ...

Saturday was an unusual day for me. Nothing was particularly different about the way it played out: I slept in, had lunch with my wife, got some errands done, and spent the evening relaxing. Oh, and chocolate milk was involved too. Needless to say, that sounds like quite a wonderful day, right? Well, it should have been but there was one thing that was definitely off that day and that thing just happened to be my mood. Maybe it was the busy week I had or the fact that it's STILL 80 degrees here in Texas at the end of October (I'll never take four seasons for granted again). Whatever the cause may have been it was clear that I was cranky, like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli. It's rare for me to be in a sour mood and when I am it usually blows over pretty quickly. However, this was no ordinary mood swing. This was one of those "I hate the world and everyone in it and just want to go off on a desert island to never be heard from again" phase...

Sad news on the music front: Lou Reed has passed away at the age of 71. He was the frontman of legendary rock band The Velvet Underground before heading out on an experimental solo career that found him confounding his critics as well as challenging his fan-base. From the difficult sounds of Metal Machine Music  to making a video appearance on U2's Zoo TV tour to his panned yet daring collaboration with Metallica back in 2011, it's undeniable just how varied his sound could be and the great lengths he went to in order to vary his sound. I'll admit I'm not the biggest Lou Reed fan out there but I've always respected his work and even enjoying some of his tunes. It's always sad to see these people go and hopefully this will lead more people to at least check out his work and learn more about him. 

Another new column that nobody will read? Call me crazy but it's happening, even though I'm well aware that this blog is for my own amusement and draws about as much readership and interest as a rock in the middle of a desert. Anyhow, I love live music and if you can't be at the show then a live album or video is the next best thing. I want to look at some of my favorites so let's start with R.E.M.'s whopping 39-song set Live at the Olympia . Despite the phrase "This is not a show" being uttered at the beginning, this definitely feels like a show and that's a compliment through and through. R.E.M. was always a band that sounded great live and that energy is enthusiastically captured here in this generous two-disc set. What makes it even more special is that this is a package for the diehard fans. If you're simply looking for the hits or familiar staples then you're better off looking into their R.E.M. Live DVD. This is a set that lo...

Astronomer Adam Block managed to capture this stunning photograph of comet ISON through the use of an SBIG STX 16803 CCD camera with a 32-inch Schulman Telescope Telescope. If that isn't an amazing mouthful for an opening line then I don't know what is.  Anyhow, chances are you might have heard of comet ISON at some point. It's drawing closer to our sun and should provide an extraordinary show for those of us on Earth if it survives this encounter. This is scheduled to take place on November 28, meaning we should know in a little over a month what will happen.  Looks like this is something you definitely don't want to miss!

It seems like one of my favorite groups, Keane, may be thinking of calling it a day. The band recently went on record saying that they're going to be taking a break after the upcoming release of their collection The Best of Keane , which will be released on November 11. Apparently they want to work on solo material and other projects, which is something I can certainly understand. Let's just hope this means a hiatus and not an official break-up. This band has so much potential left and it would be a shame to see them go so soon. As always, I'll keep my eyes posted for any additional information or an official announcement. Let's hope we haven't seen the last of them.

Let's stay on the Earth today for something that many of us never stop to fathom: we're moving at an incredibly fast pace.  While standing still we're still moving at 872,405 mph. Think about that. In relation to the comic universe we're flying through space at speeds we could never even dream of. It makes 30 mph on those side streets seem a bit more fun.

I've made it no secret that I like Weezer and contrary to what many critics may say, I think they're still a pretty solid group. Their records are, for the most part, enjoyable and full of great tunes but occasionally they have a misfire. In 2009 they released Raditude  and if the title alone doesn't give you a clue as to what's in store then keep reading. At the time I thought the record was decent but definitely their weakest work to date. After four years I went back to look at it again. Has it gotten better? Let's do this thing and find out. Before this LP came out I had my concerns. The cheesy song titles, the bizarre album cover, the goofy name: it all spelled trouble. However, I believe in judging a work when it's finished and so I purchased Raditude (I still wince whenever I have to type that) hoping that maybe my initial impressions were all cosmetic problems that would have no bearing on the actual music. Sadly, that's not the case. Let's...

Have you ever had a good idea? Did something pop into your head and you thought to yourself, "Hey, I'm smart and a little bit sexy. That'll be pure gold!". Or maybe that's just me... Anyway, my thought going into the weekend is on discerning what God may be telling us and what we, or even others, may be telling us. The word of John always drive this home: Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.-- John 8:47 Sometimes we need to ask for a spirit of decrement and pray earnestly for God to make Himself clear to us. I often myself confused or distracted when the Lord is trying to tell me something and in this modern world it's difficult to find the quiet space we need to commune with God. It's good to remember that God doesn't want us to be confused or conflicted about what He's telling us. We just need to make the effort to be open and quiet when He speaks.  ...

Ready to learn something nifty about Neptune? If so then you've come to the right place. Although Neptune is smaller in diameter than Uranus, it also has a greater mass. That is one gassy planet. 

We all struggle with worry and anxiety to some extent. It's almost impossible not to be overwhelmed by the stresses and duties of everyday life. What makes this so interesting (and especially reassuring) is that Jesus knew this and offers us a glance of the freedom that comes when we trust God for what we need. Just look at the words that Jesus spoke in Matthew 6:25-34 for the comfort that we can find by laying our burdens at the feet of our Lord: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry  about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?   Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ?   “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor o...

It appears that scientists have been able to create a cloud map of a distant planet beyond our solar system for the first time. The planet Kepler-7b is somewhat similar to Jupiter in terms of size and sits closer to its star than Mercury does to our own sun, yet scientists have observed clouds in the planet's western portion of the atmosphere. Kepler is technically an exoplanet, a fancy name for a planet that sits outside our own solar system. It orbits its own star very closely, yet retains a temperature of 15,000-18,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is actually quite cool for a plant in that kind of orbit. Apparently the star it orbits is even larger than our sun. So there you have it. God's universe is one surprise after another.  

The video for the new Keane single "Higher Than the Sun" is now up and it looks great, not to mention it's a fantastic song. It will be included on their upcoming Best of Keane  collection, which is slated to hit store shelves next month. I'll have a review of it when it's released but until then enjoy the tune at the link below! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0KWMtL9MV8

By the mid-80s Bruce Springsteen was riding high. He had a smash album with 1984's Born in the U.S.A. and was surfing a wave of commercial and critical success beyond his wildest dreams. While his career was in an unstoppable climb, his personal life was slowly crumbling. His first marriage was falling apart and this in turn led Bruce to shed his working-man persona in favor of more intimate, personal songs based around the trials of relationships on his next record, 1987's Tunnel of Love . Despite the cheesy album title and cover photo, Tunnel of Love is a dark and deep well that certainly surprised (and in many cases disappointed) those fans looking for more big anthems and wild rock n' roll. While the mainstream may have been confused it seems that diehard fans were more responsive and time has only increased the amount of appreciation for this release. Springsteen has had a few mediocre offerings over the years but this one doesn't deserve to be counted among t...