Record We Love Right Now: The National's High Violet

We'll cop to not being familiar with Brooklyn's (by way of Cincinnati, OH) The National when their breakthrough record, Boxer, was released in 2007. We quickly righted that wrong as it garnered some of that year's best reviews and, in the three years since, has rapidly leaped up The Dirtywhirl's Greatest Records Of All-Time list. Thus, the release of their follow up, High Violet, was met with much anticipation by many (including us). Glad to say that it lives up to the hype. It's tricky following a classic like Boxer but The National have managed to pull it off without encountering much trouble. "Bloodbuzz Ohio" was a strong initial statement and hitting Late Night With Jimmy Fallon to perform High Violet's opening "Terrible Love" showed that these guys have lost exactly none of their live energy. The record finds the combination of Matt Berninger's ragged baritone backed by the Dessner and Devendorf brothers' instrumentation still intact, and along with attracting the requisite critical praise, High Violet managed to debut at #3 on last week's Billboard 200. We love it when deserving bands taste success and believe us, The National effing deserves it.


Listen To High Violet On Lala


The National Performs "Afraid Of Everyone" On Late Show With David Letterman

Quick 'N Dirty Review: Lifehouse | Smoke & Mirrors

Before we start, here's a quick look at the rating system that we use here at The Dirtywhirl:

100 - Classic Album; One Of The Best Of All Time
99-90 - Exceptional Work; Rush Out And Get This
89-80 - Very, Very Good; You Should Still Go Out And Get This
79-70 - Not Bad At All; Might Actually Be Worth Your Time
69-60 - Has Its Moments But On The Whole... Meh
59-50 - Won't Make Your Ears Bleed; Won't Make You Dance, Either
49-0 - Don't Waste Your Time; You're Smarter Than This (Probably) 

Now... onto the review:

Lifehouse | Smoke & Mirrors

I have a film theory that I like to call "The Vince Vaughn Effect." Basically, it goes like this - Vince Vaughn plays the same character in every movie he does. Earth-shattering, right? Your mind is probably blown right now. Seriously though, he really does. Aside from the rare stretch like Psycho, he never ventures out of his comfort zone as an actor yet somehow it works because it's such a damn entertaining character. It's also sort of comfortable in a way knowing what you're going to get going into a Vaughn movie. Why do I bring this seemingly random point up now? Lifehouse has released their fifth studio record, Smoke & Mirrors, and there's something very Vince Vaughn-y about it (and yes, we are really reviewing a Lifehouse album). If you like Lifehouse's first record... or their second... or their third... or even their fourth, you're going to like Smoke & Mirrors because they're all essentially the same. Nothing changes from album to album and, as long as both the band and their audience are OK with that, what's the harm? They do what they do - create inoffensive pop/rock about love and commitment with hooks crafted for maximum catchiness - and don't pretend to be anything more than what they actually are, and that's probably why they sell a shitton of records. Lead single "Halfway Gone" sounds like it would make a good car commercial someday, but it's catchy. "It Is What It Is" is cloyingly emotional in its portrayal of a failing relationship as singer/guitarist Jason Wade sings, "Too long we've been denying/ Now we're both tired of trying/ We hit a wall/ And we can't get over it," but it works. "By Your Side" and "Falling In" are sappy, but they've got killer hooks. Lifehouse is never getting any better than this as it's easy to see that they've maximized whatever talent they possess, and their songs are interchangeable to the point where, were you to play me a song from any of their records I'd probably struggle to tell you which album it was taken from because they're all so similar, but dammit if I don't really enjoy this band. They're musical junk food that's based on personal preference. Some people love Doritos and some people think they're terrible but everyone can agree that they're really not substantive. That's Lifehouse in a tortilla chip, er... nutshell. Once you take Smoke & Mirrors for what it is - an unabashed pop/rock record - it actually does what it sets out to do pretty successfully. Sometimes, that's enough.

Standout Tracks: "It Is What It Is;" "By Your Side;" "Falling In"

Dirty Rating: 59/100

Smoke & Mirrors - Lifehouse

This Doesn't Make Up For The Conan Debacle, NBC, But It's A Nice Start

Lord knows I've given NBC tons of shit for Lenogate, but they've seemingly done something right. In advance of next week's upfronts, word has leaked that they've renewed Chuck for a fourth season despite tepid ratings. As Alan Sepinwall points out, NBC could be viewing Chuck as a companion piece for JJ Abrams's new series Undercovers as the spies-in-love aspect is shared by both shows, but we'll see where it slots in after NBC's schedule announcement next week. In the meantime, kudos, NBC. Maybe there's hope for you yet.

Quick 'N Dirty Review: Frightened Rabbit | The Winter Of Mixed Drinks

Before we start, here's a quick look at the rating system that we use here at The Dirtywhirl:

100 - Classic Album; One Of The Best Of All Time
99-90 - Exceptional Work; Rush Out And Get This
89-80 - Very, Very Good; You Should Still Go Out And Get This
79-70 - Not Bad At All; Might Actually Be Worth Your Time
69-60 - Has Its Moments But On The Whole... Meh
59-50 - Won't Make Your Ears Bleed; Won't Make You Dance, Either
49-0 - Don't Waste Your Time; You're Smarter Than This (Probably) 

Now... onto the review:

Frightened Rabbit | The Winter Of Mixed Drinks

Expectations, dude. I've talked about their impact on records in the past and nowhere is that more apparent than on Frightened Rabbit's third record, The Winter Of Mixed Drinks. Full disclosure: I loved the Scotland act's last album, 2008's The Midnight Organ Fight. I'm talking full-on obsession mode to the point where I almost wore it out. Vocalist Scott Hutchison's Scottish brogue definitely isn't for everyone but, in fact, I loved the record so much that I considered it '08's best album. As a result, my expectations (there's that word again) were sky high for their follow up and perhaps The Winter Of Mixed Drinks suffered through no fault of its own because of this. Even in looking at the record in as unbiased a manner as possible, it's fair to consider it as inconsistent. The first handful of tracks (the solid if unspectacular opener "Things" and the ordinary "The Loneliness And The Scream" bookend the strong first single, "Swim Until You Can't See Land") are cause for immediate concern as the record sputters out of the gate, but as soon as "The Wrestle" starts spinning the album gets on track in a big way. While there's nothing as spectacular as The Midnight Organ Fight's "Keep Yourself Warm," the sweetly twinkling guitars on "Swim Until You Can't See Land" help to make it one of the band's best singles yet, "Living In Colour" is commanding and more anthemic than anything they've done to date, and "Yes, I Would" serves as a gorgeous close to the record. It's also obvious that The Winter Of Mixed Drinks isn't nearly as overt in its spleen venting as The Midnight Organ Fight was, Hutchison is still really fucking angry. You only have to take the record's highlight, "Nothing Like You," to see why. The lyrics, as backed by a pleasing melody, are deceptively cutting as Hutchison vents, "She was not the cure for cancer/ And all my questions still begged for answers/ But there's nothing like someone new/ And this girl, she was nothing like you." That is one of Frightened Rabbit's best qualities - the ability to take something absolutely horrid (previous lyrics include "It takes more than fucking someone you don't know/ To keep warm/ Do you really think for a house beat/ That you'll find your love in a hole" and in reference to love "Or should we kick its cunt in/ And watch as it dies from bleeding) and make it sound somehow beautiful. Unfortunately, this is also a record where there's precious little middle ground. Almost every song is either a standout or is just forgettable and while the progression from their 2006 debut, Sing The Greys, to The Midnight Organ Fight was astronomical, here it's less so. Ultimately, the record's probably not as strong as I would have hoped but that's not to say that it's not a very good album. Although they've backslid a bit, it's still far better than Sing The Greys so it could just be a case of the difficulty of measuring up to a great record. Or I could just have crazy high expectations. You pick.

RIYL: The Twilight Sad; We Were Promised Jetpacks; Chuck; Venting your spleen; Beautifully vulgar lyrics

Standout Tracks: "Nothing Like You;" "Swim Until You Can't See Land;" "Yes, I Would;" "The Wrestle;" "FootShooter;" "Living In Colour"

Dirty Rating: 85/100

Frightened Rabbit | The Winter Of Mixed Drinks - Listen On Lala

The Dirtywhirl Rant: How Do These Idiots Keep Getting Greenlighted?

One of the biggest mysteries in the TV industry is how the hacks behind ABC's new series Happy Town keep getting their shows on the air. I mean, really. Producers Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, and Scott Rosenberg's initial blight against humanity was the insipid October Road, which starred One Tree Hill castoff Bryan Greenberg as an inexplicably successful young writer who returns to his hometown after writing a bestseller that trashes the locals that he grew up with. Awkwardness and really bad acting ensued. After lasting a whopping 19 episodes and being shitcanned by ABC, the same production team was chosen as the showrunners for what should have been a sure thing in ABC's adaptation of the BBC hit Life On Mars. How you can take a cop show set in 1970s New York that stars heavyweights like Harvey Keitel and Michael Imperioli and butcher it is beyond me. For those unfamiliar with the concept of the original Life On Mars it combined both sci-fi and police procedural elements as a police officer is involved in a present-day car accident but wakes up in 1973. A central mystery of how the cop ended up there combined with the NY setting of the American remake should have been unfuckupable (yeah... I just made up a word). This one lasted a whole 17 episodes. Wanna know how these cretins' version ended? The protagonist was on a... wait for it... actual mission to Mars. Get it? Life On Mars. He was on a mission to Mars. I wish I was making that up. But I'm not. Really. So after those two abject failures does ABC tell the troika to fuck off as they pitch them a new show? NO! They effing greenlight another one. This time, it's Happy Town, a blatant Twin Peaks ripoff about mysterious goings-on in an small town. Sorry -- not buying it. Appelbaum/Nemec/Rosenberg, I've seen David Lynch and you for damn sure ain't no David Lynch. Lynch, the creator of the venerated Twin Peaks (among other cinematic classics like Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive) has more talent in his pinky toenail than these jackasses have in their entire bodies combined. Imagine Raging Bull if it had been directed by Joel Schumacher instead of Martin Scorcese and you get the idea. Thankfully, ABC has decided to remove this abortion of a show from their May sweeps lineup after two abysmally rated airings, which drew a combined eight million viewers (which is still way more than it deserved), although the network will burn off the remaining episodes starting in June. Have you learned your lesson yet, ABC? Have you? We'd expect something like this from NBC but you're better than that. At least we used to think so.

Quick 'N Dirty Review: Massive Attack | Heligoland

Before we start, here's a quick look at the rating system that we use here at The Dirtywhirl:

100 - Classic Album; One Of The Best Of All Time
99-90 - Exceptional Work; Rush Out And Get This
89-80 - Very, Very Good; You Should Still Go Out And Get This
79-70 - Not Bad At All; Might Actually Be Worth Your Time
69-60 - Has Its Moments But On The Whole... Meh
59-50 - Won't Make Your Ears Bleed; Won't Make You Dance, Either
49-0 - Don't Waste Your Time; You're Smarter Than This (Probably) 

Now... onto the review:

Massive Attack | Heligoland

It's difficult to find anything sadder than a once proud athlete who can't stomach the thought of retiring, instead deciding to hang on for a year or two too long only to become a shell of what he used to be. Emmitt Smith sputtering out with the Arizona Cardinals. Patrick Ewing riding the pine with the Orlando Magic. Mike Piazza pinch-hitting for the Oakland A's. These guys were icons in their respective sports but finished as, well... jokes. Sadly, trip-hop legends Massive Attack are rapidly approaching that point as they offer up their fifth studio record, Heligoland. As the founding fathers of trip-hop, Massive Attack was at the forefront of cool in the early 90s. Blue Lines is a certifiable classic and they spawned a genre unto themselves that gave us the likes of Portishead, Tricky, and Faithless. By the time that Heligoland is done spinning, you'll be wondering where the old Massive Attack went because in their places are a trio of dudes who seem world-weary and rudderless. They've become OLD Massive Attack, as it were. Much of the record is just drawn out and just plain boring, like opener "Pray For Rain" where TV On The Radio's Tunde Adebimpe tones over and over "And their necks crane/ As they turn and pray for rain" to an annoying level over a lazy and uninspired beat. "Flat Of The Blade" sees Massive Attack waste yet another quality guest in Elbow's Guy Garvey by pushing his vocals WAAAAAY down in the mix in favor of what sounds like beeping hospital equipment that provides a messy rhythm, while they straight up copy Air on "Rush Minute" and themselves on "Babel" and "Girl I Love You." There are moments, few and far between as they are, that suggest that Massive Attack may still have a little left to give. The pulsating "Splitting The Atom" was originally previewed on last year's EP of the same name and is a welcome inclusion here, while "Paradise Circus" stands out as an oasis in a desert of mediocrity. Could be that I'm a whore for guest vocalist Hope Sandoval or that the track's handclaps are ridiculously infectious but this is the best track on the record by miles, gimmicky 70s porn video aside. Massive Attack is now entering their third decade of releasing music so it's natural that they'd be in the twilight of their careers but Heligoland is a record defined by its mediocrity. Painful though it may be, might be time to start thinking about calling it a career.

RIYL: Trip-hop; Hope Sandoval; Nostalgia; Bands who aren't what they used to be

Standout Tracks: "Paradise Circus;" "Splitting The Atom;" "Atlas Air"

Dirty Rating: 58/100

Heligoland - Massive Attack

Warning: The following video is very, very NSFW. You've been warned.

Massive Attack, “Paradise Circus” featuring Hope Sandoval | Triphop Blog
- Watch more Music Videos at Vodpod.

Conan Speaks

NBC's ouster of Conan O'Brien as the host of The Tonight Show in favor of no-talent big-jawed Jay Leno is without a doubt one of the most fascinating entertainment stories of 2010 thus far and, other than his incredibly graceful exit on January 22, we've heard little from Conan since then. Sure, he's embarked on his nationwide Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour and there have been little digs at NBC here and there but nothing really in depth or substantive has been said until now as O'Brien had been prohibited by his severance agreement with NBC by making comment or appearing on another network until May 1. Wasting little time as that deadline passed, last night on 60 Minutes, O'Brien talked with Steve Kroft about just what happened as he saw his dream job vanish, about his feelings toward Leno, and why he decided on TBS as his next gig. Some are criticizing O'Brien for "playing the victim" but it's clear during the interview that the wounds have not completely healed no matter how often O'Brien mentions that he's doing OK. It's a compelling interview and you can check it out by clicking the link below.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6453980n&tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel