Björk's Volta - initial thoughts

It usually takes me a while to digest Björk's works. This is the certainly going to be the case w/ Volta as well. What I can say is that "Wanderlust" is very good. Also, this album juxtaposes a vast array of organic sounds (brass, Guqin (maybe)pipa, and acoustic guitars) w/ extremely distorted and dissonant synths. It's partially b/c of such a juxtaposition that I like "Wanderlust" so much.

I am, however, disappointed w/ Antony Hegarty's vox on 2 tracks ("Dull Flame of Desire" and "My Juvenile"). She should have used Mike Patton or Thom Yorke again.

Songs like "Innocence" and "Hope" remind me a lot of Post. This, while "Declare Independence" vies w/ NIN's "The Great Destroyer" or other songs from Year Zero for most noisy song of the year. I sincerely doubt that I'll end up thinking Volta surpasses Year Zero as the best album of the year so far. I'm still waiting to hear the new albums from Smashing Pumpkins, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Radiohead, and Metallica. It would really be nice if I could find some new and good artists, but I'm not about to get my hopes up.

Quality of OP/ED ∝ Quality of Series?

Here's my theory: the quality of the OP/ED of a series is inversely proportional to the quality of the series. Some examples of really good anime w/ terrible OP/ED:

• Maison Ikkoku w/ "Sukisa" OP
• This is quite possibly one of the worst songs ever recorded (and that includes those of Thor in Rock 'n Roll Nightmare).
• Berserk w/ "Tell Me Why" OP
• wtf is up w/ this lame-ass (yes, that IS hyphenated) song? Seriously. I'm all for using English in songs if you can make it understandable, but this guy sounds like a drunk hobo.
• Speed Grapher w/ Duran Duran's "Girls on Film" OP
  
• Duran Duran blows. Do I need to say anything else?

Of course, I know my "theory" is merely a debunked hypothesis. Some of the best series out there have some of the best OP/ED. Examples of good anime w/ good music include:

• 12 Kingdoms w/ "Junigenmukyoku" OP
  
• Best OP ever. Tsuneo Kobayashi did a great job picking this song.
• Bleach w/ "D-TecnoLife" OP (UVERworld is pretty damn good), "Thank You!!" ED (HOME MADE 家族), and "*~Asterisk~" OP (Orange Range)
• I have yet to be seriously disappointed w/ the music used in this series.
• Paranoia Agent w/ all the music by Susumu Hirasawa
• Hirasawa also did "Forces" and the OST for Berserk, except the OP/ED. Not only can this guy write music, but he also has a social conscience.
  

Darker than Black #4

I just finished Darker than Black, ep. 4 and it was, as were the first 3 eps, tight. I really thought that ep. 3 would be the end of that last little story (was I alone in this?). Luckily, however, that was not the case and things just became considerably more interesting. We learn more about the contractors and see Mai distraught over what she has become and what she is capable of. We also learn what the deal was w/ the seed in her wrist.


There are also a couple of short, but nicely animated and executed fight scenes w/ plenty of gore. More gore -> more enjoyment.

The only thing that I thought was kinda lame was Mai's power. Straight out of a Stephen King book. How about coming up w/ something more original next time?

Since I haven't commented on it b/f, the OP is decent. It sounds like a Japanese take on southern metal. Also, the ED is done by Rie Fu (who also performed the "Life is Like a Boat" ED for Bleach).

Year Zero

So, while I am a NIN fan, I was rather unhappy with With Teeth. Luckily, however, Year Zero is a pleasant surprise. Year Zero is a concept album intended to reflect the views of various individuals in the dystopian US of the near future. While I am a fan of dystopian works in general, this album far surpasses the efforts of other artists in their attempts to create dystopian concept albums (e.g. Fear Factory's Obsolete - but I wonder if Pink Floyd's The Wall could be considered a dystopian concept album).

While ign failed to realize the ingenuity and worth of Reznor's latest work, I attribute this to complacency on the part of the media in general. It is difficult for the media to accept anything that doesn't sound generic without a substantial payment (luckily, however, Elliot Spitzer got the ball rolling to eliminate payola). Regardless of what the media in general thinks, at least "The Great Destroyer" is worth a listen before dismissing the album.

claymore (first 3 eps.)

So I was watching Claymore and expecting it to be rather lame. This, luckily, was not the case. While weaker than Bleach, Claymore is far better than the vast majority of anime I have seen over the past year (and that's quite a bit). While it may be a shounen anime and has a typical tragic childhood/orphan protagonist, it is a hell of a lot better than Naruto - Shippuden Chronicles now.


Naruto - Shippuden simply lacks the proper pacing and seems to be falling prey to the DBZ syndrome (where an entire episode is devoted to taunts and no action). At least into the 2nd ep. of Claymore, there is plenty of action and there are no pointless delays (which would presumably be present to give the mangaka a chance to stay ahead of the manga). What's more, the OP and ED of Claymore are decent. While the OP is far from great, there is a pretty tight riff at the beginning. Compare to Naruto, where the OP and ED are complete garbage.