week 2:
for love of mixtapes; god is a dj (and his name is fred); wyclef returns; A-HA RETURNS (!); the twenty greatest songs ever scientifically determined by a three man panel consisting of me, myself and i; oh, and, boobs.

week 3:
get drawn to the magnetic fields; three movies that are grossly overrated; some of the greatest movies...ever; xtc murders love...again; james brown breaks out in a "cold sweat"; morrissey and springsteen...separated at birth?; i bare my soul...again; and MORE!

week 4:
gladiator slays me, eminem and xtc reviews, a new look!, i poke fun at my own writing, the inmates take over the asylum, and MORE!

other blogs i like:
(because they're out there, you know)
nylpm
blue lines
josh's blog
westernhomes
log.nu
skykicking
pearls that are his eyes
catherine's pita
public blog
i drank WHAT?
cultural artifacts of the moment
frytopia

MASSIVE ATTACK - MEZZANINE

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now considered the least of their recorded output, this is an album that, at the time, i believe i wanted to like more than i did. i dug it out this week, and i'll be damned if i don't like it as much as i wanted to upon its initial release.

the press deemed this one their "dark "album, and from the cover photo on in, i can't really disagree with that tag. but they've never really been a cheery bunch, have they? i guess it all comes to the fore on this one. the lyrics and the soundscapes are certainly bleaker than before, and the album itself carries such an atmosphere of impending doom. it was rumored that the band was through after this one; the band even said as much, but later revealed that it was actually just a joke to compliment the music press' description of the album. funny guys, making me fear the breakup of my favorite group like that.

listening to it today, i'm amazed that i didn't pick up on the heavy influence of post-punk-funkers like magazine and public image limited. (actually, it's not so amazing; when the album debuted, i didn't own anything by either of those two groups -- what a fool i was!) the band learned to play instruments and brought in some more musicians: the move is most heard in the live drums and the squawking guitars. unlike previous massive attack albums, this album had no sort of tonal color -- it was totally black and white with a little grey here and there.

actually, i shouldn't say no color. the album features two versions of the song, "exchange": the instrumental version is thrown in the middle of the album; the vocal reprise (courtesy of the honey-voiced horace andy) closes it. the former is perhaps colored by the songs that surround it, removing the ocean-washed flourishes that are so abundantly clear on the latter. could this be another joke by those massive boys? could the "dark" and "gloomy" tone of this album have been all just a joke on us? the balmy "exchange" seems to say yes: its calming tones suggest that everything is alright, so chill out.

actually, this album is more than alright. i'm glad to say that i was wrong -- mezzanine is definitely a welcome addition to the massive attack catalog.