MUSIC - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Score: 8.4

You have to admire the do it yourself attitude these guys have, if nothing else. They wrote, produced, and printed this album all with their own abilities and (I'm sure) monies. The naivety of thinking that says an internet band can start off in MySpace and wind up on a major label infects this album, and is the one principle reason why they actually did start off on MySpace and wind up on a major label. Enthusiasm, a child-like, viral enthusiasm, is found on every track and every note of this album, and the entire attraction of this CD on a listener is wound up on it.

And let's be glad too, because as far as ingenuity goes, this album doesn't really have it in spades. That's not to say anything bad, but this is the same basic sound as can be found in most indie-synth-pop-rock bands out there. A bit of Bowie, a few indie classics, and a sprinkling of the Cure throughout cures this sound to perfection, and on Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the sound is crystal clear and still as infectious as it was the first time some hipsters got together and decided to make music. For more recent reference, this band is eerily similar at times to the Wolf Parade, though at moments it borrows more from the Arcade Fire, and of course name-cousins the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. No real comparison can be made however, because there is one unique thing about this band that will likely keep it fresh for the next few years, and that is the voice of Alec Ounsworth, whose ecstatic, yelping, completely indecipherable voice is the head steering mechanism on this album. When the band is at its best, the music follows closely, gently guiding the wheel and intoning its own direction as well. At its worst... well, there really isn't a worst. That's because this album is maddeningly consistent.

Except from the standouts in the middle, "Details of the War" and "The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth", the album never really pulls you beyond the stratosphere as you feel it could. It rather holds you quite aloft, tossing you gently this way and that. A fun ride, but not one as memorable as others you might go on, a fact which is only highlighted by the two middle tracks undeniable quality, which makes the rest pale (somewhat) in comparison. It also lacks the genuine ballad or even more general pace and sound changes that can keep an album running after its legs have started to burn. On nearly every song, there is a steady, driving, up-tempo rhythm on the drums, a nice, faint synth-loop that fades as soon as the vocals hit, and a simple guitar riff that places well alongside the rest.

It's only the stripped down and eerily sentimental "Details of the War" that provides anything resembling a change of direction. It provides that well however, as the lack of guitar really gives Ounsworth enough space to let his strangely emotion-filled harmony burn its way into your ears. And who knew a harmonica could provide so much sensation? Though sparsely used, it fits perfectly and is probably the highlight of the album, as the song speeds up into nowhere after that, and the CD never really resurrects itself to that sensation of catharsis. "The Skin Of My Yellow Teeth" manages to pick up at that same up-tempo rhythm, but once again its all guitar and jangly drums, although set with a melody that is so catchy you won't help but return to it again and again.

The rest of this album makes this a ridiculously easy review to write, and though I am not as enamored as other critics have been with this album, it's definitely of a high quality. The key question of whether CYHSY capitalizes on the entire indie-guitar sound as well as those other bands mentioned above is kind of uncertain. For me, they don't, mostly because they seem afraid to innovate or go beyond what they knew would work and work well. I can't really punish them for that, and I doubt I will be skipping over too many of this albums' tracks as they come up on my iTunes; but for the moment, I don't think I'll be searching them out too often either.

CARS - Test Drive - 2007 Jeep Patriot

Score: 6.8

I feel like a fish out of water in writing this, because I have driven so few trucks or truck-based vehicles in my day. Like, two. Total. Ever. So test-driving this four-wheel drive, nearly-midsized, body-on-frame vehicle was actually kind of daunting. To the Patriot's credit, I settled in easily after about two minutes. In fact, on the whole the vehicle surprised me with its civility and basic abilities, though it couldn't really help this SUV past the problems that seem to be afflicting all Chrysler products: interior everything, and some driving dynamics.

For a lot of people, those two things aren't all that important though. Buyer's looking at this segment probably want some size, inside (for headroom, legroom and storage) and out (for safety in collisions), and they will find it aplenty in the Patriot. Though my 5'10" frame had to literally get up out of the seat in order to adjust the rear-view mirror and sun-visor, my 6'1" co-test-driver had no such problems, and for most people such a cavernous size is not a detriment in any way. For me, it was nearly the entire problem. I'll get to that later however. First let me finish my rant about the interior: aside from some swatches of some sort of fake aluminum throughout the console, the rest is composed of the same rough, flimsy and cheap-looking plastic that resides in my Saturn Ion, which, let me remind you, had one of the worst interiors ever. Fit and finish seemed fine, though I did not have time to inspect seams and finishes as I would have liked. The seats were composed of simple if usable cloth material, though the shape of the seats themselves left much to be desired - they left me sunken too far away from the wheel, too close to the pedals, and with little lateral or back support to speak of. Granted, something more than a fifteen to twenty minute drive is needed to speak fairly of seats, but the first impression was not flattering. Similar indifference applies to the rest of the interior: ergonomics were not horrible, but also not terribly efficient either, given the amount of space available in a box of the Patriot's size. Surprisingly, the seats fold flat with a fair amount of ease, and, given that amount of space, should easily provide enough storage for big-screen purchases or home-improvement projects. In other words, everything buyer's are looking for.

Similarly, the mass-market appeal was engineered effectively throughout the rest of the car, from the bulky, hyper-masculine styling (and name), to the everyday driving experience which is overwhelmed at every turn (pun intended) by the ponderous mass of this thing. Equipped with a CVT and 2.4 litre four-cylinder as my test SUV was, the vehicle will do nothing unexpected at any turn. Unfortunately, if you ask any more of it you are likely to be disappointed. Though corners are remarkably flat, and body-roll is negligible, the tough springs which provide such motion-control relate to a bumpy, if still acceptable ride. Even in these flat turns though, the artificially heavy, lifeless steering is painful to experience to anyone who enjoys driving. Similarly, the bulk of the vehicle does its best to uninspire at every chance. Acceleration, especially from a standstill, is somewhat atrocious, and the throttle is insanely indecisive, jumpy at points, slow to react at others (though the vehicle I drove had so few kilometres, the throttle might have been computer-controlled and still trying to adapt to driver inputs). Passing power seemed decent, though the truck is simply too heavy to really expect much from a four-cylinder. Worst of all, in terms of acceleration, is the Continuously Variable Transmission, which is the likeliest candidate for the weak off-the-line acceleration and strange rev-matching pattern which left me without much power again and again. Whether this would get better through time as well, is uncertain, but from what I've read, it doesn't. So that definitely gets a thumbs down. The chassis itself felt quite solid, completely devoid of shudders or shakes through some rather rough, badly-cared-for road, though again, those firm shocks meant everything was getting through, as did the buzzy engine and transmission noise, along with a fair degree of wind howl. The brakes were again quite adequate, and in order to brake for one red-light I had to apply a fair degree of pressure - the pedal and mechanics responded with a linear, clear progression, and stopped easily, though again the mass of the vehicle could be felt: fucking inertia.

So I suppose the overall theme of this review could be adequacy and appeal. These two, the Patriot has in spades. For everything else: meh, it won't matter, they'll sell well enough, if the parent company can keep in the black for a little while. In terms of my own slant, I sat in a Honda CR-V two years ago, for a total of five minutes, and that one sitting left a more pleasant impression in my mind than did this entire test drive. That's all I really have to say. For about 5000 dollars more, there is a substantially more efficient, playful, and refined vehicle - now that Honda has made that 5000 dollar gap exist though, who knows if anyone will actually compare those two vehicles. And even if they did, would anyone think the difference is worth 5000 dollars? Chrysler's obviously willing to bet that the masses won't think so. And they produced an adequate vehicle to test their hypothesis.

POLITICS - Obama's Foreign Policy

Score: 8.0

This is a step in the right direction as far as I'm concerned. Nixon likely got heat for doing the same with China (remember they weren't considered a "real" nation at the time), and that move of detente helped to end the cold war far earlier than it might have ended had Nixon left the communist nations to stand on their own. The fact is there's nothing to be gained out of outright ignoring or ceasing to talk to any group in power. Secluding yourself from other nations is what will lead to a clash of civilizations, and really hasn't helped in the Middle East especially. Half of those listed are simply cold-war remnants or heavily socialist anyways, and haven't taken any true foreign policy stance against the United States as a political or military entity (Iran and North Korea are exceptions), but really, capitalism won, I think it's time the U.S. gave Cuba and the South American nations they've been exploiting for the last hundred years a bit more slack and open up trade, even if they have to start doing it on socialist terms.

Really though, to quote a wise teacher I once had: talking can't possibly hurt. I'm not saying chum up to them all and hope they won't utilize you for their own domestic policies, but opening up an embassy in Venezuela is not going to do any injury; the worst that happens is some delegate gets yelled at as a bourgeois pig for two weeks straight. When that delegate is still there and still hoping to talk, perhaps something meaningful could come of it. It's just a thought really, this could obviously be a thorny issue should it happen, but to me, it means so little and could possibly allow for so much, it only makes sense.

VIDEO GAMES - Medieval: Total War

Score: 8.4
Developer: Creative Assembly

I've been quite busy with a new job, and therefore, had no time for posting, or much of anything. Prior to starting said job though, I played this game for hours upon hours. Though it's now ancient as far as video (especially PC) games go, we are not all lucky enough to own a high-end video card (or even a system that's capable of holding one of these cards). But despite its age, it's still a high-quality turn-based/real-time strategy game, with enough interesting tidbits in both genres that it was engaging throughout the entire experience.

The main appeal is obviously the huge, far-more realistic real-time battles between massive (though not massive enough) medieval armies, which does challenge the gamer to utilize all the tactics the real players of that age had to use in order to vie for power in those rather troubling times. I can't recall the number of times I cried upon seeing an enemy camped out on the highest part of a mountain, with hundreds of archers just waiting to rain down death upon my own troops. Though not impossible, situations such as these make one think twice of engaging an enemy at all, a situation that simply doesn't exist on many RTS games out there, including the motherlode of arcade strategy, Starcraft. In the rock-paper-scissor systems those type of games inevitably end up using (though Starcraft II looks promising), there's always an alternative. There is in this game too (cavalry is good against archers and infantry, spearmen are good against cavalry, and infantry are good against spearmen), but inevitably it's the true-to-life things which a general can't control, like the weather, morale, and terrain, that dictate much of who wins and who loses. That is a great take and it adds so much to the realism and ethos of the game: it literally places you in the positions that a leader of that age would encounter, which is the entire point of the game.

In the other half, the risk-style turn-based system that governs the movement and generation of troops and provincial improvements, the interface and system is simplistic enough to facilitate ease of use, and yet there is just enough lurking underneath the tech tree to give you a chance to aim for domination in a way beyond mere tactical genius.

The debits against the game are the same that were covered in all the other reviews I've read of this game prior to purchasing it. The diplomacy system is a joke, and basically useless, the religion aspect is frustrating as a Catholic, non-existent as an Orthodox, and kind of cool as a Muslim. The lack of naval control is infuriating, especially when playing as a nation dependent on an island. The battles, for all their innovation in terms of realism, are simply too small; battles of thousands of troops (I once had 8000 Englishmen against 6000 Germans in the decisive battle of my war against them) wind up being mere battles of the first sixteen platoons battling against one another, then holding the border of the battle map and scaring the reinforcements into submission (in the aforementioned battle, I lost 300 troops total to the Germans 3000 because I simply managed to take out their first wave rather quickly). Because of this, the system is only half-realized, as it was the massive battles that usually determined wars, not the skirmishes that are more-than-adequately presented in this title. The graphics, though simple sprites, worked well enough for the time and still convey the scope of battle fairly well. From what I've read, Medieval II improved in all these aspects, and as soon as this new job pays off, I may very well have a brand new video card by which to try it out.

MUSIC - Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans

Score: 8.8

Label: New Jerusalem Music

The play Sufjan Stevens makes between genres is one of the central reasons his music is so effective. His voice and core instruments scream of simple folk songs, but just when you can have him pegged down in that regard, he pulls out a six person chorus and huge brass instrumentation to drown you in a distinctly non-folk-like melody. This bending of expectation is what made his two state-themed albums, Greetings from Michigan The Great Lake State, and Come on Feel the Illinoise, so varied and enjoyable to listen to. It comes as no surprise then, that this album, an outright and self-consciously religious collection of songs, does not have nearly the variation or desire to work around the boundaries of folk music - instead it feels quite happy working within them. In fact if St. Francis of Assisi were alive today, he would probably listen to albums just like these - simple, striped down and hymnal to their very core, in praise and admiration of the Christian God - an ascetics' off-pop collection that reaffirms everything everybody thinks about religion anyway.

If there is one praise/perjury that can be leveled against this album, it is that it largely sounds the same throughout. There is a guitar or banjo, there is Stevens singing, and there are lyrics in some way or form about God. It may sound daunting and boring to the secular amongst us, but it really isn't, because the beauty of the songs isn't limited (or really enhanced in most cases) by the lyrical content - you could replace the vocals with humanist lyrics and it wouldn't change the quality of the songs either positively or negatively. Because those guitar and banjo pieces are simple and catchy, and the singing is equally so, and each song is just different enough that fans of Stevens or folk more broadly will pick up the subtleties and enjoy them.

The first three tracks of the album are good examples, in that they highlight the repetition of instrumentation used to full effect, paving way for the vocals to soothe and relax the listener, and not asking too much of them in the process either. In fact that could be said of much of the album, in that it relaxedly goes about its business, and it is approachable in varying degrees, from background music to deeply personal tributes that could bring you to tears.

By the time "To Be Alone With You" comes around though, Stevens turns it up a notch, working off of the calm of the early songs and beginning his play with God as the central subject of all the songs. Though it could be claimed the ambiguity of this track is under-utilized by Stevens, others might say it is overused, and so I'll leave the point mum for the most part. This track is undoubtedly well proportioned though, and whether sweet ode to a young lover or a testament to God, it is a beautiful song nonetheless.

Then comes "Abraham" a song so nauseatingly well-thought-out, perfectly executed and simply brilliant, it is a shame only in that I did not hear it earlier. Similarly "Sister" is a well-needed alteration of the path the album takes and another excellently conceived piece. The electric guitar, overdriven just perfectly, still manages to be reflective and melodic, even during its coarser moments, and the swift change of pace into acoustic ditty is perfectly spaced, and gorgeous in its own right.

After these two highlights though, the album does take a bit of a detour, as the trio of "Size Too Small", "We Won't Need Legs To Stand", and "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" are all oft-putting at certain moments, the vocal and musical tracks seeming to compete with one another a bit more than is common in Stevens' best. Not to say that they aren't good songs, but they simply don't gel in one way or another the way the rest of the album does. Whether its an odd key, strange backing vocals or something else, the songs grate a bit quicker than they probably should.

Immediately following that though is the classic "He Woke Me Up Again", yes, blatantly about God, but again, not detrimental for it in any way. Simply another perfect song, the banjo rings off in time with the praise which Stevens works up to, and again and again the song proves that lyrics are only part of the equation.

After all this we finally arrive at the title track, which begins similarly to everything else on the album, but then in the last third the piano, the organ the cymbals and and "The Lord" all enter and take it to another level entirely. That level could be alternatively read as too much, just enough, or perhaps not enough, and even in the context of this album, it is tough to say. The lead up is ambiguous enough, but then Stevens' voice starts pleading, and it loses a lot of its charm when it does so. Then everything is blown wide open, and the undercurrent of latin hymnal praise is brought to full fruition, to what result is up to your own point of view, really. Personally I think it is a questionable choice that didn't turn out as well as it could have. The choice of notes simply make me afraid of this "Lord" not in awe of him. But that could be just me. In either case it's another noteworthy track.

Then comes "The Transfiguration". Having given up any hint of secularism, the lyrics are as in-your-face as a talking, burning bush would be. The music itself is highly reminiscent of something that may have eventually made its way onto Illinois, with the light horns and the movement of the instrumental melodies constantly upward, in a soft, pleasing manner.

And though I can't rate this album as highly as Illinois, it has its own charm and anyone who likes anything Stevens has done should check it out, if for those few well-placed tracks alone. And for those of you who are religiously inclined, I can't help but think that this album would be Franciscan monk approved. For it is, as other reviewers have said, quietly beautiful; not full of over-the-top noise. But a softly sung hymn that is more personal, if perhaps less personable.