Mount Hood

Kanye West: Living “The Life of Pablo”

Kanye-WestColor

By:  Declan Hertel
Entertainment Editor

This may end up as my favorite Kanye album.

I dig his first three albums, but “808s and Heartbreak” is the first album of his I really, really dug, and I’ve only dug each subsequent one more and more. “The Life of Pablo” is the latest in a line of really great records. I love the gospel sound with all my heart, plus it keeps the weird industrial synths and sudden tone shifts of Yeezus, and lyrically speaking this is an album of a man struggling with his faith, his fame, his marriage, his baser urges, his fans, and his own mythology. It’s heavy and weird and—somehow—a little bit inspirational.

Look, my boy Kanye is a bit of a polarizing figure. For people who don’t listen to his music or his interviews or anything, all they’ve got is the award show outbursts and the Twitter rants. And while it’s unfair, it’s understandable. But that’s Kanye West the Public Figure.

I recommend listening to “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” and “The Life of Pablo” to get a good idea of who Kanye West the Man is. I get this vibe from much of this album, and some of the tracks on “Fantasy” and “Yeezus,” that he is uncomfortably with finding himself happy.

He’s married to a woman who loves him and has guided him through his darkest times, not to mention mothered his children, and yet he still dreams of the destructive rock star life. He’s one of the biggest names in music, but can’t allow himself to take a break from work to tend to the rest of his life. On “Wolves,” the beautiful and haunting closing track of the album proper, he worries that his deceased mother would disapprove of his life and art, that he’s “too wild.”

He is a man deeply troubled by a great many things (not the least of which is his ego, which he freely admits), and his level of unabashed honesty on “Pablo” makes it really easy to empathize with a man who should be, by all rights, impossible to relate to.

Currently “The Life of Pablo” is only available on Tidal because who the hell knows, but just snag dat free trial, and I would be really, really surprised if it never found its way to a real release.

Incomplete and Miscellaneous Thoughts I Wrote While Listening to this Album Stoned:

Ultralight Beam:
Oh man when the gospel backing comes in, blew my damn mind for a second. Chance the Rapper’s verse is dooooope. Apparently this was why the album’s release was delayed initially, I can see why.

Father, Stretch My Hands Pts 1-2

Damn Yeezy getting weird again. Dude’s got a hell of a relationship with his family. His flow on Part 2 makes me uncomfortable and I loooove it

Feedback:
Man what a cool song. Savage feedback-y synths warm my soul parts

Low Lights:
More weirdness. Love the gospel influence. Ye did say this was a gospel record, dude wasn’t lyin’.

Highlights:
Oh man that first hook is giving me flashbacks to Daft Punk’s “Discovery.” Love it.

Freestyle 4:
This song strikes me as uncomfortably honest. So dope.
I Love Kanye:

Heheheheh Yeezy knows what’s up, love the self-awareness of closing with “I love you like Kanye loves Kanye”.

Waves:
The almost-namesake song. Comes in SUPER HEAVY after “I Love Kanye”

FML:
This song is fascinating, trying to give up the rock star life he worked so hard for so that he can be good to his family. Way dark and a bit spacey

Wolves:
Ugh this song breaks my heart. I hope he “fixes” it like he said he was gonna. I miss Sia and the other dude.

Sing Hallelujah for the Old Machine

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By: Darien Campo 
Staff Writer

Three Blind Wolves is a three-piece indie rock band that hails from Glasgow, Scotland. Though they’ve not been active long, they have quickly proven themselves to be a stellar group that is well worth listening to. Their unique sound, self-described as “folk-tinged psychedelic blues-rock,” is brought to life in their first full-length album “Sing Hallelujah for the Old Machine.”

Released in 2013 under Scottish indie label Instinctive Raccoon, “Sing Hallelujah for the Old Machine” is a piece brimming with a tremendous amount of power and emotion.

The tracks are a fantastic blend of driving guitar rock, backed by a complex orchestra of instruments. Mandolins, slide guitars, and horns fill out the sound on this album, bringing a very country/folk feel to the music. Almost like The Decemberists meets Arcade Fire.

Listeners are served with a wide array of arrangements on “Sing Hallelujah.” From songs like “Parade,” which pound the crunching guitar and hit us with a rousing chorus, to songs like “When the Garden Gets Near,” which features no more than Ross Clark and his acoustic guitar. And even with the diversity in dynamics, all of the songs seem equally compelling.

The album spans 11 tracks of raw humanity, poured out into your headphones. We’ve all listened to sad music, but you’ve probably never heard it sung like Ross Clark.

Clark’s vocals soar from soft whispers, mumbled into the microphone, all the way to roaring screams of power. Clark’s lyrics weave a gorgeous tapestry of wanting. Each song is a thread through different aspects of loss and loneliness, all penned by Clark himself.

“Sing Hallelujah for the Old Machine” is less about wallowing in our own sadness, and more about rejoicing in it. These songs almost seem to celebrate our human ability to experience such emotional pain. It brings a delightful edge to what could have just been a series of sad songs.

On the album’s single, “Parade,” Clark said: “Times are hard just now. You’ve got to keep yourself moving on.”

If you’re looking for a new rising band to keep an eye on, it’d be hard for me to find a better recommendation than Three Blind Wolves, and their album “Sing Hallelujah for the Old Machine.”

Guns and Gore: New Doom Releasing This Year

By: Ashton Newton
Staff Writer

When gamers hear the name Bethesda, they may be too focused on some of their newer material like “Fallout” or “Skyrim” to remember the roots of the company, a huge part of the early gaming industry: “Doom.”

The original “Doom” was first released in 1993 and shocked the gaming industry with its graphic and bloody gameplay. Since its release, “Doom” has had numerous sequels, remasters, and a film. The newest “Doom” will be released this May.

“Doom” follows a Space Marine working for the Union Aerospace Corporation who fights hordes of demons and undead. The original “Doom” was one of the first ever first person shooters and paved the way for current first person shooter games.

The newest Doom was announced at E3 2015, executive producer Marty Stratton promised “badass demons, big effing guns, and moving really fast” as the game’s key principles.

“Doom 3” was released in 2004 and pushed the boundaries for violence in games, just as every installment of “Doom” had done in the past. The newest “Doom” is no different; the newly released campaign trailer shows off the game’s action with chainsaws, dismemberment, and buckets of blood. It’s safe to say that those with weak stomachs should stay far away.

From the trailer, the new “Doom” is looking to be one of the most violent games ever created. The studio is shying away from the horror aspects of “Doom 3,” and jumping right into the fast-paced, gory goodness of the original.

Doom will be released on May 13 for Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and is up for pre-order now.

Hooray for Hollywood: “Hail, Caesar!” Review

By: Declan Hertel
Entertainment Editor

There is a subgenre of movies that I started to enjoy with “The Big Lebowski,” began to love with 2014’s “Inherent Vice,” and have truly begun to appreciate with “Hail, Caesar!,” the latest offering from near-legendary filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen: comedic neo-noir that is light on plot and heavy on mood.

In these films, what is happening is not nearly as important as the world it’s happening in and the people it’s happening to. The mood is what matters, character is what matters, and the meandering, disjointed plotline (or more appropriately, plot-dots (coined it)) becomes secondary.

I have to admit, I didn’t expect this at all from the Coen Brothers, two of my favorite filmmakers ever. Even the aforementioned “Lebowski,” which shows elements of plot-dot structure, still has a clearly visible and comprehensible progression of events, or as much of one as a noir can have. Noir has never been a genre known for easy-to-follow, A-B-C plotting, but these particular sorts of noir films take the inherent complexity and winding stories of the genre to their logical conclusion.

But just because I didn’t expect it doesn’t mean I didn’t love it. A sunny, comedic neo-noir taking place during the Golden Age of Hollywood, starring an astounding number of supremely talented actors, as created by the Coen Bros? It sure feels like someone asked me what I would really, really dig in a movie, although I don’t remember such an incident.

There are no real standout performances in “Hail, Caesar!” because literally everyone in the film is fantastic and clearly having the time of their lives playing these larger-than-life Hollywood types. Although, one performance that does rise above is Alden Ehrenreich as Hobie Doyle, a slightly dim, yet earnest and kindhearted star of many silly cowboy flicks.

Ehrenreich is a relatively unknown name in Hollywood at the moment, but I hope that this movie puts him on the map for real. Every moment he’s onscreen is an absolute joy and his adorable rapport with Veronica Osorio’s character in the middle third of the movie melted my heart (speaking of unknowns, I would also love to see Osorio get more work).

The best thing about this movie is that it not only takes its setting from the Hollywood Golden Age, but it also plays like a movie from the era. It’s a feeling that’s hard to describe, but it’s at least partially due to about half the cast getting at least one moment to be the undisputed star of the picture. It harkens back to when times were perpetually trying and movies were about entertainment: escapism. Before “intellectual” movies, before cinema was an “art,” and film was trying to find what it was. And it was entertaining. That’s what “Hail, Caesar!” is; it’s entertainment of the purest form.

I won’t pretend to know what the motivation behind “Hail, Caesar!” was for the Coen brothers. But as it is, it is a wonderfully fun piece of entertainment that doesn’t have any illusions of being something “greater.” It comes in, makes you all happy and fuzzy, and leaves. And sometimes, a film doesn’t need to do anything else.

The Super Bowl Ads Were the Real Winner This Year

By: Ashton Newton
Staff Writer

With Super Bowl 50 came a new batch of hilarious, awesome, and strange commercials. For years, Super Bowl commercials have been making us laugh, cry, and have warm feelings inside, and Super Bowl 50 was no different.

This Super Bowl felt specifically tailored toward fans of comic book movies. “Deadpool” had a pretty large presence, “Captain America: Civil War” had an awesome new trailer, and Coca-Cola had a movie-quality Hulk vs. Ant-Man commercial, with the two characters fighting over a can of Coke mini.

Turkish Airlines gave everyone a look at Gotham City and Metropolis to promote the upcoming “Batman v Superman” starring Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne and Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor.

Doritos delivered some extremely funny material, as always. One featured dogs dressed as people to buy Doritos from a store, and the other featured an ultrasound where the baby wanted Doritos enough to be born early.

The NFL itself had a notable ad that spanned the length of the entire game featuring a choir of “Super Bowl babies” playing off the statistic that 9 months after the Super Bowl, winning cities see a huge growth in children born.

Super Bowl 50’s commercials were star-studded. Kevin Hart chased his daughter’s boyfriend, Key and Peele danced in a hallway, Alec Baldwin entered a hilarious battle of words, and Steven Tyler talked to himself in Skittle form.

One commercial managed to become trending on Twitter. Mountain Dew’s Puppy-Monkey-Baby instantly became a big deal, not because it was funny but because it was so strange. The commercial received very mixed feelings from people on social media.

The strange was definitely a huge part of the Super Bowl ads this year too. One ad featured a personified intestine running to go to the bathroom. Another featured a man and his humanoid marmot hiking in the woods, until the man attempted to kiss the marmot.

The Super Bowl wouldn’t be the Super Bowl without some sentimental ads, too. One in general stood out for Audi. The ad features a retired astronaut who felt like he was blasting off into space one more time while behind the wheel of an Audi. Jeep also touched the hearts of millions with an incredible commercial detailing all the events that Jeep has been there for, including “running from dinosaurs” and “on the beaches of Normandy”.

Overall, the Super Bowl commercials did what Super Bowl commercials do best and left viewers happy, entertained, and a little confused (I’m looking at you puppy-monkey-baby).

Radiohead fans have gone berserk

By: Darien Campo
Staff Writer

Radiohead announced the release of their first album as an unsigned band, “In Rainbows,” on September 30, 2007. Guitarist Johnny Greenwood made the announcement in a one sentence blog post with no prior build-up:

“Well, the new album is finished, and it’s coming out in 10 days […] We’ve called it ‘In Rainbows’.”

Four years later on Feb. 14, 2011, Radiohead announced they would be releasing their eighth studio album, “The King of Limbs,” in only five days – again, with no previous mention of an album. To everyone’s surprise, the album actually released a day early.

It’s been almost five years since their last release and Radiohead fans are beginning to feel the rumblings of a new LP on the horizon.

In 2005 Radiohead ended their contract with EMI in order to pursue a modern method of exchanging music between the band and their followers.

“I like the people at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone needs one,” said Thom Yorke, lead singer.

Radiohead is the world’s most popular band to go without a label, which has led to some pretty unorthodox and “Surprise!” album releases.

If you have ever spent time talking with a Radiohead fan, you pick up just how rabid and obsessive they can be. If you let them, they will go on for hours about how two albums recorded a decade apart are actually written to be played together in a certain order.

Although we sound insane, we’re completely justified in our obsession. Radiohead feeds their fans with cryptic messages and mysterious photos knowing that we’ll pick them apart for clues. Never before have I seen a band that can so successfully manufacture fanatical hype for their music without dropping a dime on marketing.

These last few months alone have been an incredible testament to the perseverance of the Radiohead fandom. Anyone curious enough to follow the “r/radiohead” sub-Reddit can watch the detective work unfold daily. Fans have programs set to alert them to every slight change in code on WASTE and Dead Air Space, the two parts of Radiohead’s website. (Is the album being secretly uploaded where we can’t see it?)

Fans collectively lost their minds the other week when a Soundcloud glitch revealed that the band had privately uploaded a track that no one could listen to yet. (A new single, set to release any minute?)

Anything posted online by band members is picked apart and scrubbed through as fans struggle to find any clue to the release of Radiohead’s ninth studio album – which they’ve collectively dubbed “LP9.”

The best part of riding the “Radiohead Hype Train 2016 (CHOO CHOO)” is knowing that the music we get will be completely worth the wait. And although we have to fight for every detail and go for years at a time with no encouragement or clues, I know that not a single one of us would have it any other way.

The Schwartz Awakens with “Spaceballs 2”

By: Ashton Newton
Staff Writer

It doesn’t take much to notice that, right now, Star Wars is on fire. The franchise has had an extremely successful past six months and shows no signs of slowing down.

Right now is the perfect time for Mel Brook’s “Spaceballs” sequel, “Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money.”

The sequel was first officially mentioned when the original film came out in 1987 as a joke, but Brooks has recently confirmed on “The Nerdist” podcast; yes, it’s happening.

Brooks wants to bring back as much of the original cast as possible. Unfortunately Joan Rivers, Dick Van Patten, and John Candy have all passed away.

Brooks said in a 2014 interview that he would never do a “Spaceballs” sequel without Rick Moranis. Moranis hasn’t been active since 1997 and has yet to comment on the rumors. Moranis recently turned down a cameo in the “Ghostbusters” reboot.

The original “Spaceballs” was released in 1987, four years after “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” and quickly became a beloved member of the parody family. IMDB has the movie ranked at the seventh best parody movie of all time, with the list topped by “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and “Airplane!”

“Spaceballs” received a reboot in 2005 when Brooks directed a 13 episode animated series following the release of the “Star Wars” prequels. The series saw the return of Daphne Zuniga and Joan Rivers, but no other original cast members.

You can find the animated series on YouTube with all of its “Star Wars” parody fun. The first episode “Revenge of the Sithee” even features a character very similar to Darth Maul.

Not much has been confirmed regarding “Spaceballs 2,” but Brooks told “The Nerdist” that the film is in early stages of development and that he hopes to start shooting early this year.

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