MISERY SIGNALS

Genres: Technical Metalcore/Progressive

I sigh to myself as I think of how this Christmas break has slowly lulled me into a passive state of creative lethargy and complacency. I wake up at noon, forgo bathing for days on end, and I've gained at least ten pounds from all the junk I've eaten. There's nothing like the holidays to devolve you into a primitive, lazy blob taking up breathing space by sitting on the couch watching reruns of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Survivorman. Alas, this sleepless, insomniatic, and seemingly endless eventide blackness, or night whichever you prefer, has drawn me, has compelled me to put hands to keyboard and pour out the restless contents rattling inside my skull.

So, minutes earlier, I was lying in bed trying to fool myself into going to sleep, which I usually do by listening to music. In a review I had recently read on scenepointblank.com, the reviewer had said that there are bands that "after the third or fourth listen, you can't help but want to hear the songs over and over again, and you'll rewind in the middle of a song just to hear one part multiple times. Pretty soon you'll find yourself only playing this band, regardless of what mood your in or how many times you've listened to it that day." Well, for me, one of those bands is Misery Signals. I would say they are one of the best bands to perfectly define the genre of metalcore. Their innovativeness lies in their ability to seamlessly combine the heavy and icy technicality of math-metal legends like Botch and Meshuggah with the feeling and heart of modern hardcore coupled with the atmospheric ambience of post-rock. Not many other bands are able to top this versatility within the metalcore scene, making the likes of Elysia and whatnot seem like sad, pathetic jokes. I don't listen to very much metal, but I find myself popping both Misery Signals' albums into my CD player time and time again. The reason being is that each song is memorable and it shows the talent the band has in songwriting and instrumentally.

UNIVERSAL ORDER OF ARMAGEDDON

Genres: Hardcore/Emo/Punk

Universal Order of Armageddon was an American hardcore band, active in the early to mid 1990s. They formed in September 1992 and by early 1993, after quickly gaining a small but devoted following, they were recording and touring the East Coast. Known for their extremely short, chaotic performances, sometimes resulting in complete destruction. Drummer Brooks once said,"Our live shows are like turning on a vacuum cleaner for like ten minutes". They went on to release records on indie labels such as Kill Rock Stars, Gravity, and Jade Tree. They toured the United States several times in 1993 and 1994 in support of those releases before breaking up in the early months of 1995.

Members include:
* Anthony "Scott" Malat (The Great Unraveling, Love Life)
* Brooks Headley (Born Against, Skull Kontrol, Young Pioneers, Wrangler Brutes)
* Colin "Seven" Busch (UV-373, Blue Condors, Baby Aspirin)
* Tonie Joy (Born Against, The Convocation Of.., The Great Unraveling, Moss Icon)

NEIL ON IMPRESSION

Genres: Instrumental/Post-Rock

I like genres. They fulfill some kind of innate, obsessive-compulsive desire within me to organize and categorize my music as if it were a bug collection. An intangible, electronic bug collection at that, but nevertheless, a collection filled with things as individual and unique as the next. Just something about being able to identify something through acquired knowledge really speaks to me. And that wasn't vague at all... But what exactly is a "genre"?

gen·re (zhän'rə) n. 1. A type or class. 2. a. A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, marked by a distinctive style, form, or content.

However, my only qualms against genre classification are the somewhat banal titles used to describe the distinct styles of music that exist. With that said, leave it to a description as devoid of emotion as "post-rock" to completely sap the life out of the style of music played by Neil On Impression. Actually, one more "pet peeve" I have against the genre is that similar bands are constantly being compared to Explosions In The Sky or Mogwai. ("Well, we have another band with no vocals and epic buildups. Think EITS!") In fact, NOI blows away most other bands, in this case I'm thinking the likes of Caspian.

So we have Neil On Impression, a seven-piece band from Italy, notably with guitarist, Alessio, from the legendary "emotional hardcore/screamo" band Raein. Upon listening, its remarkable how similar this is to Raein. Obviously the tempo is slower and the melodies are less abrasive, but listen to "Faithless" or "Parte 2" by Raein and anything from NOI's "The Perfect Tango" and you'll get what I mean. Another thing worth mentioning is the stimulating use of the violinist and trumpet, each helping to add to the already haunting and pleasurable soundscapes. I actually had a lot more written here, but upon realizing how futile it is to adequately describe NOI's sound, I gave up and deleted it. In a way, I guess music isn't all too different from religion in that ancient people employed theology to make sense of occurences they found themselves unable to find a reasonable explanation for. And here we have the genres like "instrumental" and "post-rock" attempting to describe such a vibrant form of music. Well, if that's the case, I guess music is my religion.

Kenoma talks literature

Confucius Lives Next Door
What Living In The East Teaches Us About Living In The West
T.R. Reid

I don't think Scholastic Deth could have said it any better. "Even if I had all the time in the world, I doubt I could read all the books that I should!" Especially, with a busy high school schedule along with juggling college admissions, I rarely have time to do anything relaxing. Besides sleep, that is. I enjoy reading, but most of the time spent doing that is restricted to rote memorization of thick textbooks. So whenever I need a change of pace, I look no further than to this book, Confucius Lives Next Door, which I've been reading on and off for the past few months.

The author of the book is T.R. Reid, whom I recognized from some of his appearances on NPR. I don't know what the T and the R stand for. Maybe Trafalgar Rutherford? Anyways, when Mr. Reid, or should I say "Reido-san," took the position of chief of the Washington Post's Tokyo bureau, he and his family packed up all their stuff and shipped themselves to the Land of the Rising Sun. This book is not only a personal account of his and his family's tenure in Tokyo, but also a dissection of East Asian society and the traditional Confucian ethics deeply instilled into their culture.

The thing I love the most about the book is in the way its written. Reid talks to you as if you're sitting at lunch with him in a quiet restaurant. Each convoluted Japanese tradition/method is explained in the clearest fashion. Whether it's in statistical observations of crime rates in Japan and America or the explanation of the Japanese alphabet (which consists of FOUR different alphabets), the rhetoric is understandable rather than banal. More importantly is his analysis of East Asia's "post-war miracle"; the incredible boom in industry and economy that swept the Eastern Hemisphere following World War II, especially in his explanation of how Japan was able to build itself back from the dystopic ashes of Hirojima and Nagasaki and, in the process, become one of the vanguard nations of the world. To complement these historical anecdotes are humorous insights into the Reid family's personal experiences in Tokyo. The highlight being the dialogue between Reid and his own "Confucius", Matsuda-san, the impeccably polite, calm, friendly, and insightful next-door neighbor, who explains, as simply as Reid tells this story, the ins-and-outs of the principles of Confucian philosophy and Japanese custom.

To quote the San Jose Mercury News, "Striking a nice balance between edification and entertainment, Reid mixes statistics and historical research with day-to-day tales of neighbors, school life and joining-the-corporation ceremonies to present his thesis of Confucianism as code and context...A penetrating mix of anecdote and analysis." Confucius Lives Next Door is a captivating, thought-provoking read (no pun intended) perfect for late nights or just as a pick-up-and-go type of thing. It will bring laughs and learning (that was awful).

TEGAN AND SARA

Genres: Indie/Pop/Alternative

I just have the slightest inclination that this will garner much "lulz" from a certain someone, however, I shall press forward, unencumbered by their chiding remarks. You hear that, pleroma? I have no shame. None at all.

I used to think Tegan and Sara were/was a bunch of hype. How hypocritical of me. Anything considered remotely indie or pop was quickly disregarded and thrown aside, having been exposed to bands such as The Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Of Montreal (UGHHH), and Black Moth Super Rainbow (UGHHH) by trendy hipsters and consequently despising them. Think back to the film, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, when Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas came across that enormous mound of charred bodies of the slain Uruk-Hai orcs while searching for Merry and Pippin. Yes, that image perfectly embodies (no pun intended) how I felt about the whole genre. A rotting pile of mutilated, dismembered corpses. And Tegan and Sara were/was just another casualty, buried deep in that pile. However, if you remember well enough, Aragorn initially believes that their compact companions were carelessly cast into the collection of carcasses by the Riders of Rohan. That is until he finds the detached elven pendant-brooch thingie from, is it Merry or Pippin's cloak? Either way, the point I am trying to make is that, for me, some goodness, some optimism exists in that genre(s) in the form of T & S.

Now, having been somewhat of an English "scholar" for the past four years of my life, the capacity to "use critical thinking and analyze blah blahbadjla" has become somewhat of a habit for me. So, looking at the name "Tegan and Sara," I just get a simple feeling of candor and honesty. As if they were both saying, "Hi! This is just us making music about us, for you, and for us." This sentiment carries into the melodies and vocals, which are catchy without being brain-drillingly repetitive. Especially, in The Con, each song beautifully flows into the next without making the error of seeming like one, long song. There is noted difference reflected each sisters' songs; each having an individual but charismatic touch. The album is paced very well, in an emotional sense, I might add. And the lyrics are charmingly poetic and melancholy. It's a truly wonderful listening experience.

The fact that I did think they were a bunch of hype at one time really adds to the appealing factor of their music for me in that, I mistook them for something else and once I gave them a chance, it was truly rewarding.