Casual Rants: 2011

9.06.2011

DVR Ready. DVR Aim. DVR...huh?...um...well, just take it easy this season

In a world where genre movies make up the clear majority of the top 100 highest grossing movies, the video game industry is a multi-billion dollar business, & modern pop culture is saturated w/ genre references, it boggles my mind why the networks can't seem to capitalize on this. Sure, a few like HBO & AMC seem to have figured it out. However, the 2011-12 fall premieres have the feel that the powers behind the major networks have gone all genre shy...yet again.

With that said, this year's genre TV highlights are looking like I can fit it all in one entry. With the majority of the shows represented being returning shows...seriously, there is not much new genre programming coming out this year at all. This makes me sad. Can't help but wonder how many great concepts were passed upon 'cuz some network programmer was too short sighted to see, much less realize, a valuable & entertaining potential.

Whining aside, here's the 2011-12 genre previews:

Sundays
The Walking Dead, AMC, Premieres 10/16
A show that will eat away at your brain, literally.

Hell On Wheels, AMC, Premieres 11/6
Intense period drama set during the construction of the railroads. It's AMC, so checking it out.

Boardwalk Empire, HBO, Premieres 9/25
Probably won't have HBO, but if I can swing it, I'll be watching this one for sure.

Dexter, Showtime, Premieres 10/2
One of two shows that leaves me sorely tempted to subscribe to Showtime.

Homeland, Showtime, Premieres 10/2
If the series delivers what the trailer promises, then this will be a show worth watching.

Once Upon A Time, ABC, Premieres 10/23
It is from ABC, so I have trepidations. Conceptually a brilliant fantasy though.

Mondays
Hawaii 5-0, CBS, Premieres 9/19
Lame ass trailer...sorry...but this show has exceeded expectations before. Also, they continue to get my vote as to the best casted show.

Terra Nova, Fox, Premieres 9/26
Wait, I think I've seen this before. BBC's Outcasts? Jurassic Park? Earth 2? Land of the Lost?
Not selling it, 'cuz I ain't sold. Will check out the premiere and go from there.

Tuesdays
Ringer, CW, Premieres 9/13
Buffy returns to TV! That alone is worth checking out the premiere.

Sons of Anarchy, FX, Premieres 9/6
Movie length premiere looks badass.

Wednesdays
Whitechapel, BBCA, Premieres 10/26
The only Wednesday show that has caught my attention. Otherwise it looks like the other nets have kept their schedule clear for Simon Cowell's new thing on Fox.

Thursdays
The Vampire Diaries, CW, Premieres 9/15
The writers behind this show have a superpower. Their ability is to weave 3 or more story lines throughout the season. I like it, 'cuz you know as the various plot lines develop, they are eventually going to overlap, & not in a way that is good for the Elena & the Salvatores.

The Secret Circle, CW, Premieres 9/15
From the producers of The Vampire Diaries, only w/ witches. Hesitant, but will give it a few episodes to see if they can reproduce the magic spell they cast w/ The Vampire Diaries.

Charlie's AngelsABC, Premieres 9/22
Looks like ABC is trying to do what CBS did with Hawii Five-0.

Fridays
Nikita, CW, Premieres 9/23
Best Nikita incarnation to date. Last season this show did not disappoint, this season looks no different.

Supernatural, CW, Premieres 9/23
Last season the new show runners kicked Supernatural up a notch. With Castiel's god-complex, this season is promising more of the same.

Fringe, Fox, Premieres 9/23
Considering Fox has a history of moving shows to Fridays to run off episodes before canceling them, my jaw dropped when I heard about Fringe's renewal. It is one of my favorite shows, so happy to get at least one more season.

Chuck, NBC, Premieres 10/21
Final season :(

Grimm, NBC, Premieres 10/21
Will have to wait until Fringe &/or Supernatural are in reruns to check this one out. Keeping fingers crossed NBC encores it on Saturday or on Sy-Fy.

Sanctuary, Sy-Fy, Premieres 10/6
A guilty pleasure of a show, but the good episodes make for great TV.

Saturdays
Bedlam, BBCA, Premieres 10/1
Show set to follow Dr. Who's current season. Looks interesting, worth checking out.

That is it for this season's genre shows. Special thanks to thefutoncritic.com for providing the TV grid where I grabbed the above schedules & premiere dates.

Happy Watching!

8.27.2011

Headphones Recommended: The Unrepresented

This is the 12th installment of Headphones Recommended. It is also the final installment of Volume 2 (maxed out my 1GB limit for the current podcastmachine.com account). Though the 1st installment of Volume 1 wasn't published until 11/22/10, I had the Headphones Recommended concept in mind since the previous July (yes, it did take me a long time to dig up podcastmachine.com's embeddable player). So, in a way, Headphones Recommended is over a year old. To celebrate this milestone, thought I'd share some Headphones Recommended stats w/ y'all:

-Total # of Songs (including this installment): 265
-Total # of Artists/Bands Represented (including this installment): 208
-Total # of Albums In Library when the 1st Headphones Recommended was Published: 265
-Total # of Albums In Library when the 12th Headphones Recommended is Published: 1670
-Artists/Bands Represented 4 or More Times: Yeah Yeah Yeahs & Silversun Pickups
-Artists/Bands Represented 3 Times: Arctic Monkeys, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Built to Spill, Cave Singers, Dog Faced Hermans, The Dutchess & The Duke, Lucinda Williams, Neko Case, PJ Harvey, & Sleater-Kinney
-Artists/Bands Represented 2 Times: There are 31 of them, too many to list.
-Artists/Bands Represented 1 Time: There are 165 of them...if I didn't list 31, sure as hell ain't listing over a 150.
-Plans For a Volume 3? You bet!

Of course I had to do something special for the Volume 2 finale. Theme behind this installment is all artists included have not been represented in a previous Headphones Recommended installment. If you've been following these, then you are no stranger to my whining about how I initially grossly overshoot the 80 minute limit, & the melodramatic descriptives of painfully eliminating tracks to meet this time limit. These tracks end up in an overflow playlist. The vast majority of this compilation was pulled from the overflow playlist.

Enjoy!

Track List
1. The Henry Clay People | Working Part Time | Somewhere On the Golden Coast
2. Mates Of State | Get Better | Re-Arrange Us
3. Drawn From Bees | Waiting For The End | And The Blind Shall Lead The Way
4. Miike Snow | Sans Soleil | Miike Snow
5. The Corin Tucker Band | Handed Love | 1,000 Years
6. Papercuts | Do You Really Wanna Know | Fading Parade
7. Some Velvet Morning | Stolen Love Song | Silence Will Kill You
8. Easy Star All-Stars | Karma Police | Radiodread
9. Crooked Still | Mountain Jumper | Shaken By A Low Sound
10. The Raconteurs | These Stones Will Shout | Consolers Of The Lonely
11. KT Tunstall | (Still A) Weirdo | Tiger Suit
12. The Funeral Drums | There's No Answer | Chaos on the Rise <--Could not find source that sells this album online, please comment if you find one 13. Excuse 17 | Two Faced | Excuse 17
14.Dead Beats | Conveyer | Wake Up
15. Son Volt | Live Free | Trace
16. What Made Milwaukee Famous | Self-Destruct | What Doesn't Kill Us
17. Plan B | Writing's On the Wall | The Defamation of Strickland Banks
18. Winter Gloves | We Need New Transportation | All Red
19. Jenny And Johnny | My Pet Snakes | I'm Having Fun Now
20. Sarah Dougher | Keep Me | The Bluff
21. Gatsbys American Dream | The Guilt Engine | Volcano
22. Dum Dum Girls | Yours Alone | I Will Be
23. The Waco Brothers | Hell's Roof | Waco Express: Live and Kickin' at Schubas Tavern, Chicago

If you ain't down w/ cuss'n, then don't listen.

Cheers!

Previous Headphones Recommended

Volume 2
Headphones Recommended: What Exactly Is the "Alternative" Genre?
Headphones Recommended: Cow Tipping Flash Mob
Headphones Recommended: Amidst Hell & High Water
Headphones Recommended: Rock Is Undead!
The Return of Headphones Recommended

Volume 1
Headphones Recommended: Time. To. Rock.
Headphones Recommended: An Eclection of Songs
Headphones Recommended: The Country Mix, y'all
Headphones Recommended: The Facebook Comp
Headphones Recommended: Chillax, yo.
Headphones Recommended: The 12.10.10 Soundtrack
Headphones Recommended: Great Songs From Fave Bands

7.29.2011

Headphones Recommended: What Exactly Is the "Alternative" Genre?

Don't know about you, but I find how music industry handles their genre classifications infuriating.

What is especially infuriating, is people who work within the music industry seem to use "Alternative" as a dump genre. It is like they think, "hmmm, I really don't know exactly what this is, so let's just label it Alternative." This just isn't limited to the Alternative genre, it is like the people behind classifying music really don't have a clue as what exactly a good portion of their product is. It is personal interpretation to a fault in many ways. When looking at genre listings (any of them...after all, we've all seen major label releases classified as "Indie"...wtf?!), you don't really know for sure what you're going to get until you listen to it & correct the genre listing in your library.

Take a look at every other art medium & you'll find they have a pretty good handle on their genres. If a book is tagged "fantasy", you pretty much know the type of story you're going to get. Same w/ movies in the "horror" section at the video store, & "sci-fi" when it comes to a TV show (the exception being SyFy channel reality shows, but we all know they're all on crack). Even the art industry has a handle on their descriptive genres (which has a lot of room for personal interpretation). If a painter is tagged as "Abstract", that is pretty much what your going to get from them.

Just so this isn't a total whine of a blog post, the music industry is unique in another way too. It is the only industry that after an artist releases their work (an album), the songs on that album remain lucid. Meaning as the artist practices/performs the songs, they inevitably tweak them over time, so the song you hear live (6 months, a year, etc.) down the road more than likely is slightly different (improved...hopefully) from the version released on CD. Works from the publishing, movie, TV, art industries are concrete in their releases, and no matter how much the artist might want to change this small thing here or there, they can't w/o taking the product off the market or redoing it entirely.

Thanks for reading my rant, feel free & listen to some Alternative songs...

6.17.2011

Headphones Recommended: Cow Tipping Flash Mob

Last time I approached this theme, tried to put together an Alternative Country/Bluegrass mix. That didn't quite work out. I strayed. I admit it. End result is a great collection of songs, but a few tracks are neither Alternative Country or bluegrass.

This time around, was honest with myself (yep, surprised myself w/ that one too), and approached the mix w/ a broader theme in mind.

For the next 80 minutes, let's get outta the city, take that random freeway exit, and find ourselves so far off the beaten path, the roads are just as likely to be unpaved. This Rural Mix includes Alternative Country, Bluegrass, Americana, Folk, & any combination thereof.

Enjoy!

Oh! Almost forgot:
Meet @ Mr. Johnson's farm, west field, 10:30p.

Casual Rants