The Monthly Music Wrap-Up: May 2011

The Music Wrap-Up is a monthly summary of my favorite and other notable new releases. Having trouble keeping up with all the new music? Need some music suggestions? Then the Music Wrap-Up is for you. And please support these musicians as that's the reason I'm featuring them in the first place.
This is easily the biggest Wrap-Up I've done since it became a podcast. This month's episode if stuffed full of great music from a lot of big names and several not-so-big names as well. Everything from big indie acts to often-thought-dead punk legends. Sit back and enjoy, it's the Monthly Music Wrap-Up.

Netflix Minute: Zach Galifianakis Live

Netflix Minute is a weekly feature highlighting a title from Netflix's catalog of instant view films. If you want to spend a night snuggled up with a bag of popcorn and don't want to drive to the video store, this is for you.

As a type of review, I have to warn you that this edition of Netflix Minute is highly dependent on viewer taste. Zach Galifianakis: Live at the Purple Onion will obviously appeal more to fans of his prior work and could put off people who aren't familiar with his brand of comedy. This movie isn't going to evangelize you to his cause if you've had trouble watching him in movies like The Hangover. That being said, Live at the Purple Onion does a couple of interesting things that set it apart from the more conventional recorded stand-up routine.

Shuffled Podcast #10: mc chris Spectacular!

Every other Wednesday I share my love of music in an assortment of ways. Shuffled is a podcast whose format is as varied as my tastes in music, so hopefully you won't ever be bored and everyone can find something to enjoy.
It's the tenth episode of Shuffled, which is some kind of milestone. To celebrate, Matt Giguere once again joins me, this time to discuss the man that brought rap to a whole new audience: the nerds. We talk about how we discovered him, and how we've each followed his career in our own ways. Also, the awesome new theme song is by the wonderfully talented Ed Tremblay, or Ser Flash. Buy his album here.

Video Round-Up: Internet TV Radio Music Edition

Video Round-Up is a weekly post collecting an assortment of videos from around the web. Whether they be music videos, creative viral marketing, just plain cool, or just plain ridiculous, they will all be found on Video Round-Up.

During the past two weeks, a number of my favorite musicians have released videos. I have to first thank Pitchfork Media for getting that news to me. And with that ado, here are my top three.

Sophist Radio Episode 46 : Beef, Spice, and the Afterlife

In a very special episode of Sophist Radio, the crew does their best to imagine the last moments of a rapping and wrestling icon. The guys begin with a deconstruction of Aaron's hobbies and taste in women, then -- after a small fashion debate -- the crew dives head first into the games they've been playing over the past two weeks. James and Aaron talk about an indie title called 1916 - Der Unbekannte Krieg, and the crew cover the original Halo, Witcher 2, and The First Templar as well. All that and the usual tomfoolery and bad jokes you would expect from your friends here on Sophist Radio.

Insufficient Funds: Dr. Green

Insufficient Funds is a weekly post in which we feature a free, or very close to it, piece of media that you can enjoy without overdrafting your bank account. So if you're low on funds, stay tuned to Cerebral Pop every Friday morning.
Music is good; free music is really good. For this week's post on Insufficient Funds here are a load of free tracks by a band I recently had the pleasure of seeing live: A three piece rock band trio by the name of Dr. Green.

Last weekend I made a little excursion up north to Burlington, Vermont. After a late start and a five hour drive, I had reached the far north west corner of the Green Mountain State. Now most people would be content with just relaxing after such a trip, but my friend had mentioned there were other plans for the evening: A house party in South Burlington.

Music Review: The Royal Bear - Attack

The previous decade’s post-punk revival has gone on so long that at this point it almost seems wrong to continue calling it a revival. It’s probably not an exaggeration to say that there are bands emerging today who acquired their proclivities for urgent, bass-driven rock music more from Interpol and their followers than from pioneers like Joy Division. The Royal Bear may be one of those bands, but it’s hardly a weakness. Their debut album Attack finds them expanding on the work of their more traditional predecessors, exploring more sonically diverse territory than is generally associated with their genre.

Music Review: Hauschka's Salon des Amateurs

Hauschka's latest album is sonically unique for me. Though I have heard his music before on this website, I can't remember having heard anything like it. By "sonically unique," I mean the actual types of sounds on this recording are original: the instrumentation. Musically, it is less so, but the overall experience is a satisfying one.

Netflix Minute: Young@Heart

Netflix Minute is a weekly feature highlighting a title from Netflix's catalog of instant view films. If you want to spend a night snuggled up with a bag of popcorn and don't want to drive to the video store, this is for you.

Young@Heart was nowhere near my radar when I hit the blue "Play" button on Netflix's website. Less than five minutes in, the sights and sounds of an 80-year old woman singing "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" in front of a full cheering theater audience kept me watching. The premise of the Young at Heart Chorus should do the same for you. Simply put, this movie tells the story of a chorus of a seniors aged 70 and up who tour the world singing songs unconventional for their age.

Unoriginal Soundtracks Podcast: Alan Wake Edition

Every other Wednesday I share a playlist of songs tangentially related to a single game or series. Songs about alien sex for Mass Effect, songs about world leaders for Civilization, and so on. Searching for random terms on Spotify is a great way to discover new music and rediscover old classics.
Observant, long-time listeners will have noticed I have been recycling playlists from before Unoriginal Soundtracks was a podcast. This week, Alan Wake gets that treatment. But with an almost completely new playlist. Enjoy my second attempt at second-guessing Remedy after the break.

Three Reasons Glee Should Exist, Even if You Don't Like it

When Glee first premiered, my wife, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law fell in love. Actually, almost all of the Internet seemed to fall in love. For the first few weeks anticipation for new episodes were at fever pitch both in my household and across my whole Twitterfeed.

Of course, over time that has changed. The die-hards are still around, but a growing group of dissenters has risen up to continuously inform us of how much they dislike the show. I've never been much of a fan, but I can watch it just fine without needing to complain about how awful it is. The show doesn't annoy me much at all, really. Actually, I'm debating whether or not I'm more annoyed at how excited my family gets over it, or how obnoxious the Internet acts whenever it is on.

So, considering I won't ever be able to affect how my wife acts, I'm going to tackle you guys. Here are three reasons why Glee is a worthwhile show and you should shut the hell up about it. Like I said, I'm not even a fan, but if I can make even a small dent in the amount of stupid hyperbole I see on my Twitterfeed, well, then I've done a service to the world.

Video Round-Up: Art & Science Edition

Video Round-Up is a weekly post collecting an assortment of videos from around the web. Whether they be music videos, creative viral marketing, just plain cool, or just plain ridiculous, they will all be found on Video Round-Up.
In this week's Round-Up the worlds of art and science come together! Well, if me featuring videos of them next to each other means "coming together."

Insufficient Funds: Angry Birds in Chrome

It’s not often that a game catches onto the mainstream like Angry Birds has, and usually when one does it’s made by PopCap or Zynga. But Rovio Mobile stumbled upon a phenomenon with their bird-launching casual game. It has likely earned them a bajillion dollars and has been ported to every platform imaginable, now including your Internet browser. Yes, as of this week, Angry Birds is now playable in Chrome browsers for absolutely nothing.

Movie Review: Bridesmaids

When you think "raunchy comedy about pre-wedding shenanigans starring a group of thirty-somethings", you probably think The Hangover. Producer Judd Apatow and writer/actress Kristen Wiig are trying to change that this summer with their release of Bridesmaids, which attacks the institution of engagement jitters from the female perspective (with no less bluntness, however).

Shuffled Podcast #9: Matt Giguere's Fave 5

Every other Wednesday I share my love of music in an assortment of ways. Shuffled is a podcast whose format is as varied as my tastes in music, so hopefully you won't ever be bored and everyone can find something to enjoy.
In this episode recent Cerebral Pop recruit Matt Giguere joins me to share some of his absolute favorite music. We talk about five bands that mean a lot to him, and play a song from each. Plus there are tangents about those awful bands you used to like, the Japanese music scene, and metal. Oh, and stick around to the end to find out what sort of horribly embarrassing editing I did to poor Matt. It's another Fave 5! Enjoy!

Anonymous: When Internet Trolls and Hackers Fight for the People

If you have only a vague knowledge of Internet "Hacktivist" group Anonymous, it's probably because you heard a passing mention of them on the news -- which probably wasn't fully informed and likely not a glowing review of their work. The collective of hackers mostly formed from 4Chan, a site known for it's high levels of Internet Trolls. Given as such, they aren't really known to go about their noble causes in the most mainstream media friendly of ways.

Though, it's debatable whether or not you think their causes are noble. Sure, they've targeted a lot of largely-hated organizations like Scientology and the Westboro Baptist Church, but they've also been tied to a lot more controversial things. There was their staunch defense of WikiLeaks and it's head man Julian Assange after the site released masses of US Government documents, which you could feasibly be on either side of the fence on.

Now they are embroiled in a battle against Sony for taking legal action against the man who cracked their system wide open, conceivably for homebrew programs, but easily for pirating games as well. Either completely by coincidence, or very unluckily at the same exact time Sony was hacked and millions of their user's personal information, and possibly credit cards as well, were stolen. Anonymous claims no involvement, but they're a hard group to take seriously, what with things like "YouTube Porn Day" (where YouTube was flooded with porn clips tagged as family videos) and the "Epilepsy Foundation forum invasion" (where the forums were spammed with flashing images meant to induce migraines or seizures) tied to their history as a group.

Sophist Radio Episode 45: Pterodactyl Eunuchs

With Spring in the air and allergies hitting two-thirds of the staff, the Sophist crew powers through another pun-packed episode. What begins as a debate about the merits of Lady Gaga's hit song "Born this Way," gives way into some honest-to-goodness video game discussions. Harold carries the lion's share of games played this week. He shares his thoughts on his completion of Killzone 3 and the demo of El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, then James and Aaron jump in to ask about Harold's newly acquired 3DS. Is it the future in your hand or is it just another Nintendo fad? The guys wrap things up by attempting to figure out why "bad games" are still being released.

Video Round-Up: The Magic Place Edition

 Video Round-Up is a weekly post collecting an assortment of videos from around the web. Whether they be music videos, creative viral marketing, just plain cool, or just plain ridiculous, they will all be found on Video Round-Up.

I did not plan to post so much music this week, but a weird video to a beautiful Julianna Barwick song got me to explore a bit, recalling last season's radio hits, and the fantastic Hiromi Uehara. Plus, a neat, original short film (yes, it was from Vimeo.)

Music Review: The Accident Will - The Other Side of Forever

Canadian rockers, The Accident Will, serve up a steady hard rock beat (and at times a little punk too), with their debut EP The Other Side of Forever. While this trio plays most of their music inside the familiar sound scape of bands like Queens of the Stone Age and The Offspring, they do manage to add a few hooks that keep this album engaging.

Unoriginal Soundtracks Podcast: Batman Arkham Asylum Edition

Every other Wednesday I share a playlist of songs tangentially related to a single game or series. Songs about alien sex for Mass Effect, songs about world leaders for Civilization, and so on. Searching for random terms on Spotify is a great way to discover new music and rediscover old classics.
Batman: Arkham Asylum, The Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever, is one of the smallest sandbox games around. It's set on a small, tunnel-crossed island that is dwarfed by the city surrounding it. Yet every room and corridor presents more challenges and options than a street in Liberty City. It also presents an opportunity for 29 minutes of rock and roll, metal, and two-tone. Enjoy!

Cerebral Pop Field Guide to: Genre-Bending Metal

The Cerebral Pop Field Guides are an ongoing attempt to help introduce you to our favorite things within a respective category. It strikes at the very heart of what Cerebral Pop has set out to do, and will hopefully help increase awareness of things that are awesome and help define the new and better pop culture.
I'm not a huge fan of metal, but I've dabbled in the genre more than a few times and found bands that I absolutely love. Of course, this is a field guide to "genre-bending metal," which means metal bands that weren't/aren't afraid to put their own unique twists on their music and toss in some other genres for good measure while they're at it. Even if you aren't a long-haired headbanger with metal spikes on your wrists, you'll probably be able to find something to like about these three bands. If not, at least you'll be aware that not every metal band sounds like Slipknot. God, that would be horrible if they did, wouldn't it?

The Monthly Music Wrap-Up: April 2011

The Music Wrap-Up is a monthly summary of my favorite and other notable new releases. Having trouble keeping up with all the new music? Need some music suggestions? Then the Music Wrap-Up is for you. And please support these musicians as that's the reason I'm featuring them in the first place.
As the weather gets warmer, the amount of album releases ramps up drastically. Spring time is the music world's holidays, and there were no shortage of great releases to accompany the sun last month. We've got music from long-running acts like Foo Fighters and Explosions in the Sky, some dance beats from brand new bands like Holy Ghost!, and plenty more. So sit back, hit play, and enjoy the longest edition of The Monthly Music Wrap-Up yet.