Artist: Bright Eyes
Album: The People’s Key
Label: Saddle Creek Records
Release Date: February 15, 2011
Archive for the 'Reviews' Category
Bright Eyes: The People’s Key
February 24, 2011Yo Quiero New Products: Beefy Crunch Burrito
February 10, 2011Taco Bell, like other fast food locations, has pretty tasty food at very reasonable prices. What I find interesting about it is their ability to crank out new products on a monthly basis, and also advertise them. So throughout the year/as long as I continue this blog, I will do my best to review new Taco Bell products. Reviews will fall under 4 segments: “The Commercial”, “What’s New Here”, “Taste & Volume v. Price” and “My Current Order” I hope that you enjoy this segment 1/4 as much as I enjoy Taco Bell.
Product: Beefy Crunch Burrito
Release: December 2010
Price: $0.99 (varies by location)
Commercial
Plot: A dude is sitting at a Taco Bell by himself, eating a Beefy Crunch Burrito. He is admiring these two good looking women who are at a different table, and thinking about how they are probably pretty impressed that he is eating something so adventurous. He is playing out a monologue in his head, pointing out the benefits of the burrito and by association, him. When the ladies finally do look over at him, he is predictably embarrassed and awkward. Cut to product voiceover.
Analysis Eh, it’s alright. Stays pretty safely within the bounds of standard Taco Bell commercials, making the assertion that hot girls like guys who eat Taco Bell. Strong message. But, it isn’t very memorable. I had to go back and look up this commercial in order to remember what it was about.
What’s New?
Everything else in this burrito already exists on the menu.
Taste & Volume v. Price
This thing is a steal. It is the Taco Bell trifecta, delicious, filling and cheap. This is the gold standard for which future Taco Bell products should be measured. Granted, I am not a huge eater, but 2 of these is more than enough for a meal. The Flamin Hot Fritos add a unique spice that can’t be found anywhere else on the menu, and also give it almost a crunch wrap supreme mouth feel in burrito form.
The other things in the burrito are pretty much what you’d expect, but I can’t overstate what a great value I think this is. This item will stay in my order as long as it stays on the menu.
My Current Order
(don’t know if this still exists, but this is what I was getting after this product debuted)
$5 Touchdown Box:
Iron & Wine: Kiss Each Other Clean
February 8, 2011
Artist: Iron & Wine
Album: Kiss Each Other Clean
Label: Warner
Release Date: January 25, 2010
Destroyer: Kaputt
January 31, 2011
Artist: Destroyer
Album: Kaputt
Label: Merge Records
Release Date: January 25, 2011
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The Decemberists: The King Is Dead
January 27, 2011So, I’m planning on reviewing a lot of albums on this site. My goal is 50 in 2011. I want to try to do this in some kind of consistent way. With this in mind, I am going to have sections for each review: History, Review, Rating. In the history section, I’ll talk either about the band’s history or my history in the band. The aim of this section is to put my review into perspective by disclosing what I know about the band and how I feel about their earlier work. The review section should be pretty self explanatory. Finally, the rating scale will be a different arbitrary rating (i.e. 4/5 basketballs, NC-17, 12 stars…). Hopefully this will be relevant to the CD. Oh, and I’ll also provide download links. Because I want you to like fun. I also want to keep them pretty short. Here we go. Review 1/50
The King is Dead, the Decemberists' sixth studio album
Artist: The Decemberists
Album: The King Is Dead
Label: Capitol Records
Release Date: January 17, 2011
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Girl Talk 1.18.11 The Pageant, St. Louis
January 25, 2011
I’ve now seen Girl Talk three times and all three have been a sweaty mess. Twice in a good way. First, an overview of the first two times:
Weezer – Memories Tour
January 11, 2011
Part 1 – Weezer and I: It’s Complicated
Weezer can probably be credited as the first band that gave me a personal interest in finding and discovering music for myself. This may be odd, as the band has always had radio hits. Perhaps they are the first band who I heard on the radio with their hit of the time – Island In The Sun? Hash Pipe? – and thought to myself, “I wonder what else this band has to offer.”
What did I find? The Blue Album and slightly later, Pinkerton. Two albums that defined the trajectory of my musical interest for years to come. I became a regular reader of Weezer’s web forum first to read about Weezer in the ATW (All Things Weezer) section, but eventually ended up hearing about lots of other bands in the All Bands Not Weezer (ABNW) section. I got into Bright Eyes, Neutral Milk Hotel and tons of other great bands through this forum.
I also gained a moderate obsession with the band. I downloaded countless rarities, old concert bootlegs, covers and pretty much anything Weezer related I could get my hands on. My strong interest continued despite the release of Maladroit in 2002, which is surely a horrible record. Fortunately, by the time Make Believe came around in 2005, I had moved on to unhealthy interests in other bands.
From Maladroit to present, Weezer has showered us with 5 albums ranging from slightly above average to horrible. Each album has challenged fans of their first two albums to reevaluate what was so great about the band, and what changed. Has the band changed? Has the age and interests of their old fan base changed? How can a fan base survive 5 disappoints in a row and still be comfortable expressing an appreciation for a band who’s last truly great record was released nearly 15 years ago?
mangosquash 