8A - Monday, April 5, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.cam
8A - Monday, April 5, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom E
JAPANDROIDS
From Page 7A
even if your music wasn't different
from everybody else," he explained.
"It was getting so ridiculous to the
point where I just started sarcasti-
cally referring to ourselves as post-
nothing. We weren't post-anything.
Post-absolutely-nothing."
While this jab, which became
Japandroids's debut album title, is
partly King's way of mocking music
journalists who attempt to encapsu-
late a band's sound into a witty pack-
age, it's also an expression of King's
sarcastic sense of humor.
His irreverent, tongue-in-cheek
amusement is evident throughout
Post-Nothing. Whether reminisc-
ing about alcohol-drenched nights or
expressing his desire to "french kiss
some French girls," King's lyrics typi-
cally profess the glory of youth at the
expense of the boring 9-to-5 routine.
Despite his own grueling tour
schedule, King believes that these
themes are still present in his daily
life. Ultimately, his songs are about
"escapism" and he firmly believes they
can be relatable to high schoolers and
30-plusers alike.
"I think there are elements of
the lyrics and the themes of the
record that supercede age and super-
cede what's going on at every given
moment," he said. "They're reallygen-
eral and really universal in some way."
Japandroids's tour schedule has
prevented the group from working on
new music, but King believes he will
return to jam sessions in the fall. In
the meantime, the band will release
past material throughout the year in
the form of 7" records.
Before the band returns to the stu-
dio in the fall, it will continue to tour
throughout the U.S. and Europe with
stops at Bonnaroo Music Festival, Sas-
quatch! and Primavera Sound in Bar-
celona. With countless shows behind
them, including a sold-out appear-
ance at Manhattan's Bowery Ball-
room last Thursday, Japandroids will
surely give an energized performance
tonight at the Pig.
E
I
4
COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.
"Hey, hey look! That's the guy from 'Avatar,' right? Hey. Will you sign my eyeball?"
Humans vs. Gods (vs. viewer)
'Clash of the Titans' and
its logical fallacies are a
real Greek tragedy
By HANS YADAV
DailyArts Writer
Nothing is more irritating than finding
out the person you've been flirting with at
the club is completely empty-headed. It's
amazing how people try
to compensate for what
they clearly don't have
by, say, hiking up a dress, Cbsh of
popping a collar or styl-
ing their hair. "Clash of the Ttans
the Titans" follows this At Quality
very screwed-up universal 16 (2-D) and
principal by throwing out Showcase(2-D
flashy effects to obscure and 3-D)
how little is actually going
on in the movie. Warner Bros.
The film is a remake of.
the 1981 classic of the same name. Humans
are sick and tired of the Olympian Gods mis-
treating them. When a queen blatantly pro-
claims her daughter is more beautiful than
even the loveliest of the gods, the god of the
underworld, Hades (Ralph Fiennes, "The
Reader"), steps in to lay down the law. He
demands that unless the queen's daughter dynamic between gods and humans, while at
is sacrificed within 10 days, he will unleash the same time exploring the myths and leg-
his monster of epic badass-ness, the Krak- ends behind the story. But of course, "Clash"
en, to ravage her city. Young Perseus (Sam does neither.
Worthington, "Avatar"), already pissed at First, it simplifies the gods vs. humans
the gods for causing the death of his family, struggle into a story of revenge, and even
decides that the city's distress is an oppor- this is convoluted. Though the gods are ada-
tune moment to go on a quest to retrieve a mant about teaching the humans a lesson,
weapon to be used against the Kraken and they nonetheless bestow Perseus with gifts
ultimately save the day. - a sword and Pegasus - to aid him in his
The inconsistencies in this movie are out quest. So the gods are helping Perseus stop
of control. And while this is not normally a the gods? This stupid mind-fuck echoes the
problem in fantasy movies, it's a huge prob- inconsistencies in the whole movie and is
lem in "Clash," because without anything downright bewildering.
to fall back on (like a cohesive plot or devel- "Clash" also does too much in too little
oped characters), viewers are forced to think time by throwing in as much mythology as
about the holes. The whole journey feels possible. Instead oftaking the time to explore
jerky. The places Perseus and his entourage captivating creatures of lore, the movie bar-
visit and the monsters they defeat don't all rels through them at machine-gun speed.
fall under the timeline to which the charac- Absolutely nothing is fleshed out. A few quick
ters are supposed to adhere. lines about their backstories is the movie's
Remember, Perseus only has 10 days to facile solution. If all the monsters had been
seek help and find a weapon. And yet he is replaced by giant transforming robots (pos-
seen traversing mountains, deserts, forests sibly in disguise), nothing in terms of plot
and even the underworld. Perhaps if the would have changed, thus rendering the
story had more substance, the logical falla- mythic beasts inconsequential artifacts.
cies wouldn't beso important. In the movie-dating business, it's tough to
Indeed, the story is the kicker. Predict- find the perfect flick with the visual appeal
ability, linearity and superficiality aside, to match the solid substance underneath.
the plot is mind-numbingly atrocious. Its "Clash" certainly does not produce the ideal
banality and childishness are a slap in the romance and, at the end of the day, is just
face. Ideally, the movie would focus on the another pretty face.
GOLDFRAPP
From Page 7A
Warm," shimmery keyboards cre-
ate an out-of-orbit sound and "Alive"
trickles in a lively, glittery ambiance.
"Alive" is certainly a new-wave, dance
crave and clearly a standout on the
album.
Also exceptional is the title track, in
which Goldfrapp longs for her newly
found love as she soulfully sings, "You
were always on the land /I was always
in the air / My whole world in light /
Head first in love." The track sets a
mood of breezy admiration and joyous
love, and the aphrodisiac atmosphere
is set with shooting-star effects and
dainty "la la la"s.
While most of the tracks on the
album are more airy, "Hunt" is a bit
darker and almost animalistic. Heavy
breathing in the background haunts
a lover gone astray. Goldfrapp hunts
them down as she warns "Every night,
every day / Making plans for your
escape / All you love you destroy /
Everyone is your toy."
The album as a whole might com-
pel you to whip out your Lite Brites
and rhinestone Ray Ban Wayfarers
and tap your toes as you rock out
with your boom box out. Hipsters
everywhere can playfully congre-
gate at their closest Urban Outfitters
to hear this album blasted in every
showroom.
Goldfrapp's collection of sounds,
Wow, Mufasa sure looks ... different.
though vintage, does semi-success-
fully convert to a well put-together
modern album. Gregory's compos-
ing skills combined with Goldfrapp's
soft vocals create a dreamy, poppy
album, but also one that lacks staying
power. The album is barely distinct
in that it sounds like a toned-down
Madonna performance. The duo tries
to glide back into its electronica roots
(after veering away in their fourth
album, 2008's Seventh Tree) and with
Head First they do so quite artfully.
Although Goldfrapp is back to its tra-
ditional tone, it seems as if the band is
afraid to sound original.
Time travel has been compacted
into a forty-minute journey back to
dancercise, roller-skates and spandex
hip-huggers. Goldfrapp's Head First
allows listeners to voyage through
other dimensions - no matter what
those crazy scientists say.
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