eceee ecco e ee... -¥ | SIN/COMICS 13 >> Muse Absolution Tastemedia 2003 Have you heard of Muse? I bet you haven’t, and you're missing out. Why? Human language lacks the ability to express how wikkid awesome this album is. Wikkid awesome comes close, but it’s not enough. Muse, for the uninitiated, are a British 3 piece that are often com- pared to Radiohead by the clini- cally insane, but are channeling the ghost of Queen. They are grandiose pop-prog phenoms, with all the great piano, and much less pretension than your regular prog outfit. And they just put out the best WHO HAS? RYAN, IF WE HAVENT BEEN" GETTING OUR BILLS, THEN _, album of 2003. Absolution, their third album takes the typical rock-pop conven- tions of the genre and expands them, turns them on their head and slaps them around a little. While their previous efforts have been more in the “rockin” catego- ry, Absolution comes under the “experimentally bloody brilliant and yet still catchy” area. There is something to suit every mood and taste on Absolution: Tracks like ‘Time is Running Out’, ‘The Small Print’ and ‘Thoughts of a Dying Atheist’ are fun, well writ- ten songs that simply get your booty moving. There are the more grandiose tracks like ‘Butterflies and Hurricanes’, ‘Hysteria’ and ‘Apocalypse Please’ that appeal to the school of songwriting that fol- lows the idiom, “the bigger, the more piano, the better” (thanks Queen!). There is the foray into catchy Euro-pop ballads in ‘Endlessly’. The blame for this great album rests squarely on the shoulders of Matt Bellamy, Muse’s leader singer and songwriter - he’s fuck- ing brilliant. Even on musically lackluster tracks, the sheer power and intensity of his voice carries the song. The track ‘Sing for EVERY Bow °/ AVE. tow ‘bur u Absolution’ makes me want to cry. Bellamy’s voice is so powerfully pained, so earnest and upset that you believe every word he’s singing, and the impact on the album is incredible. If you value your life and you even like music-a little bit, you should buy this album! kkk - Kathleen® >> Puffy Amiyumi Nice Sony 2003 Puffy Amiyumi are anything but nice... unless you consider mostly in tune high pitched cater- wauling set to derivative synth- pop nice. I don’t. There is nothing good on this disk. Wait, no, there EVERY- WHAT DO You EVERYBODY TY is a highlight to this disk - it’s the teen titans theme song. Er. No, that still sucked. In the immortal words of my friend Trevor, Puffy Amiyumi sounds like ‘two brain damaged Madonnas’. He said some other stuff, but I’ve forgotten it, because I’m sure this disc has permanently lowered my IQ. ‘Puffy Amiyumi are a true repre- sentation of the Japanese idol machine - they don’t play or write their own music, they simply pre- form.it in a sad pantomime of cre- ativity and musicianship. The music all sounds vaguely familiar, except for a track called ‘Tokyo Nights’ which sounds exactly like ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’. There might have been a couple of songs that weren’t as bad as the others, but they were deeply buried in a pile of substandard English fare, and I couldn’t bring myself to listen to this crap again to check. I have nothing against Japanese music. I like Japanese music, and it fills my heart with sadness and daleks to think that some people may be mislead into thinking this is an accurate repre- sentation of Japanese pop music. * -Kathleen >> Manic Street Preachers ‘ Lipstick Traces: A secret history of Manic Street Preachers Sony 2003 This disc is excellent. The Manic Street Preachers are an Irish Band, and they really know how to rock, just like the Irish.. It’s got a great collection of live versions and B-sides, and they really expand the knowledge of the Manic Street Preachers catel- ogue for the occasional listener. Manic Street Preachers have always had a knack for crafting excellent pop songs, and this car- ries over in Lipstick Traces. kkk -Dana Educationville by Josh Hammerstedt VID You Just KNOW, HIM BoaY ELSE.