Five for Friday part 3

Another week another 5 tracks I've been overplaying either on my mp3 player, my CD player or youtube

5. HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR- Good Bye



4. t.A.T.u- All About Us



3. Jason Derulo- Watcha Say



2. Muse- Unnatural Selection



1. T.M. Revolution- Invoke (Live)

Five For Friday 2

Here are five tracks I just can't seem to stop listening to in some way shape or form.

5. Mötley Crüe- Kickstart My Heart



4. Little Boots- Remedy



3. Gackt- Ghost



2. Abingdon Boys School- JAP



1. Muse- Uprising

Resistance Is...

In some ways I hate it when Muse have a new album out, it's not that I have lost interest, it's more of a case of I fear that what I'm going to hear is not to my expectation.This is one of the very few bands who I have this emotion with, which stems from the fact that this is the band that put me on this music addiction, sure my first album was an Eminem album (but looking back, I got that just so I'd look cool) but this band opened my mind to what vocals and instruments can do other than play music.

Muse's fifth album The Resistance is certainly impressive, the lyrics capture a somewhat Orwellian reality and in terms of sound, its certainly big and yet there are moments in this album which remind me of their early songs such as Cave and Agitated especially on the track Unnatural Selection, while Undisclosed Desires has an RnB feel to it like the way Super Massive Black Hole from Black Holes and Revelations had a discoesque feel to its beat.

Perhaps one of the ambitious part of The Resistance is the final three tracks which form the basis of one song Exogenesis, a classical piece of music which is presented in three pieces, Overture, Cross Pollination and Redemption the orchestral piece from Overture sounds like it belongs on a movie score and in a way does sound slightly out of place until the drums kick in, the vocals are at their weakest on Overture compared to other tracks on the album. Cross Pollination sounds like a sequel to Absolution's Butterflies and Hurricanes especially the classical piano piece that acts as the intro/bridge into this track. Album closer Redemption sounds like it is the closing credits to a film and brings the album to a natural close.

The Resistance has quite a few influences or riffs from other acts dotted throughout the album from the 80's Doctor Who theme tune on Uprising to the Queen-meets-an Arabian Nights influenced melody to even a Jackson 5 Motown beat on I Belong to You (+Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix) and while it does detract from an otherwise unique album, it is interesting to hear Muse's take on these riffs and beats.

Overall The Resistance is a fantastic album it's just a little bit schizophrenic with it's style which is something that is to be expected from Muse every new listen brings something new to it. The Resistance is one of those albums that doesn't feel tired even after consecutive listens, it is probably one of the better sounding albums of this year

Five For Friday

Here are five tracks that I have been listening to a lot this week.

5. Misono- VS

4. Fact- A Fact Of Life



3. Nneka- Heartbeat (Chase and Status Remix)



2. MOVITS!-Fel Del Av Gården



1. Polysics- Electric Surfin' Go Go

Disney's takeover of Marvel. A view.

This week there has been a lot of talk about Disney's recent takeover of Marvel Entertainment, theres been much talk about the future of the Marvel characters that fans know and love, many fans feel that Disney will gain creative control of the content of the comic pages, watering down the storylines to satisfy a younger audience.

While it is true the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "Disney" is the likes of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and lately Hannah Montana and High School Musical, products that are geared towards children and pre-teens, what most don't realise is that Disney also owns Miramax which distributes films such as Pulp Fiction, Gangs of New York and City of God, hardly films which are suitable for children.

Marvel's biggest rival DC Comics is owned by Warner Bros which also produces content for children as well as adults. Warner's influence on DC editorial is minimal if that, what Warner Bros does do is allow DC the oppurtunity to keep low selling titles off the chopping block for a little while longer than normal because of the financial backing and support it recieves from Warner Bros allowing titles such as Manhunter to get several chances of publication. DC also has the Vertigo imprint which prints comics aimed at mature readers with no demands by Warner to tone down the content which may give comfort to fans of Marvel's Mature Readers line Marvel Max.

In short Disney's $4 billion takeover of Marvel should help it in several ways, within the comics division of Marvel Entertainment low selling titles will have a slightly longer shelf life than what they normally would have had and as such can get an extra boost to keep it on the shelf with new storylines or crossovers with titles that sell better. With the help of Disney Animation/Pixar, Marvel can begin experimenting and creating more Motion Comics with better animation skills and the benefit of a larger pool of voice actors to utilise. Finally Marvel Studios will have access to considerably more funds to get movie projects into production without the need to rely on the success of previously released films and comic sales to help generate extra income, which means that budgets for films like Thor and The Avenger's can not only help pay the actors but also fund greater special effects.

Another benefit of the takeover is now Disney has something to market to pre-teen boys, which it has noticably been lacking with franchises such as High School Musical and Hannah Montana being one of the main focuses of Disney's marketing.

There is one company who may not benefit from this merger, independent comic company BOOM Studios is currently printing several Disney/Pixar titles including Mickey Mouse and Friends, The Muppet Show Comic Book and The Incredibles. It is unclear whether BOOM Studios will be allowed to continue to publish these comics once the current contract (which was agreed upon in 2008) runs out.