Charting Music

Here's the Billboard music round-up.

Frank Sinatra's best-of, "Nothing But the Best" is in the top 10, at #6, falling from #4 last week. Death Cab for Cutie is at #10, down from #5 last week, and #1 the week before that. I'm not a big fan, but good for them. I like it whenever a rock album tops the charts. It's like a dying beast throwing out its limbs with its final breath.

Madonna's at #11, and after 5 weeks, still has yet to move 500,000 copies. Her primo-days are long gone, my friends. Kid Rock's latest has gone gold, making me die a little inside, Jack Johnson has gone platinum, making me sleepy inside, and Alvin & the Chipmunks refuses to leave the charts, has gone gold, and hovers around #24 (up from #29 last week). That movie is evil, so I imagine someone selling their soul cut a smooth contract that guaranteed theatrical and musical success.

We eat each other's shit for laughs.

REM hovers at #66, and The Raconteurs are out of the top 100. Bummer.

As far as singles go, Weezer reigns supreme with Pork & Beans at #1 on the Modern Rock chart, which makes me sad, but is followed up by a new Offspring song at, surprisingly, #2. Wow. I thought they spontaneously combusted or something. Good to have you back, guys. Be good. "Salute Your Solution" by The Raconteurs rounds off the top 10.

And there's your music minute.

-RoboNixon

GTA IV & Thoughts

So GTA IV finally arrived, and I've played (or watched RoboRoommate v.2 play) for 4-5 hours. I haven't finished it, but I feel like, to those one or two of you who haven't gotten the game, I have some thoughts to share.

I've never been a huge fan of previous GTA games. Usually they're too non-linear, and it's really easy to be distracted and not accomplish anything. The "action" system, ie. shooting, was always lame, and controls in general were shoddy. There wasn't anything keeping me in the game. That's the problem with a sandbox, as opposed to a roller-coaster. You can get out of the sandbox whenever you want.

Controls are somewhat improved. Niko, the protagonist, still sort of "drives like a truck," so to speak, leaning into turns, running into walls, etc. I don't understand why there's a "run" button when there are analog joysticks -- couldn't you just press the thumbstick further to make him run? There are a bajillion buttons that do a bajillion things, and they aren't necessarily very intuitive.

As for the new action control scheme, it's better than before... but still not great. Crackdown is an xbox 360 Sandbox-type action game that implements targeting in a similar manner to GTA IV, but better. Gears of War implements a cover-and-shoot system, but better than GTA IV. I don't understand why no one who developed GTA IV just didn't combine the two.

In GTA IV you can take cover behind objects, lean out and shoot. Good in theory. You can also (theoretically) target different parts of a person's body. It is not super effective. So the verdict on the controls is a modest improvement from previous versions.

As for the gameplay... I think the most amazing thing about GTA is the world they've created. Incredibly dense and involved. But the gameplay itself is much like previous GTAs. The world is more dense... but why would I want to play bowling in GTA, when I can turn on the Wii and play bowling on it much more intuitively and entertaining? Or when I can, you know... just go bowling. Or darts. Etc. There's not enough keeping me involved in the main storyline.

Also, the driving controls still suck.

So I'm going to keep at it, but it's not the "most-amazing-game-ever" that so many reviewers have said. It's the "most-amazing-game-world-ever." The game itself still needs some work. 

Like that's going to stop you.

I also haven't had a chance to listen through the entirety of the new REM, The Long Blondes, or the Raconteurs' albums, but reviews and thoughts are forthcoming. As for a first impression, the new REM is good, with some great songs, but mostly it falls into the "good" category; The Long Blondes have changed their sound so much that I was disappointed with the album, but I'm going to give it another listen to see if it grows on me now that I know what I've gotten myself into; and the Raconteurs' sounds a lot like the White Stripes with more instrumentation than the previous album, but still quality.

LOST tonight.

-RoboNixon 

Alvin, Part III

Proving that children prefer movie soundtracks to "music," the Alvin & the Chipmunks album fell one place this past week to #7 on the Billboard Album Chart. That's only one spot lower than last week, which was only a spot lower than the week before. It's time to face the hard truth: Alvin & the Chipmunks will likely sell more units than REMs latest. 

Did you hear that? That zipping? That's the sound of millions of musicians across the country turning into animated creatures to promote their music. What's scary about that is the passage in Revelations where it is revealed that "children as animals will dance upon the grave of man." 

REM is down to #9, the Juno Soundtrack somehow snuck up to #8 (from 46), and Mariah Carey debuted at #1, proving that her vocal chords can not only sing a ridiculous range of notes, but also can hypnotize the American populace into parting with its cash.

-RoboNixon

ps. Expect reviews in the near future of The Raconteurs' "Consolers of the Lonely," The Long Blondes' "Couples," and REM's "Accelerate."

Alvin & the Chipmunks Soundtrack Update!

The Soundtrack dropped one spot this week to #6. REM dropped from #2 to #5. Leona Lewis is #1 with her album Spirit.

A correction from the last Alvin & the Chipmunks post: The album has only gone gold, not platinum. So only 500,000 people have bought it, rather than 1,000,000. (whew)

As for singles, The Raconteurs' "Solute Your Solution" has risen on the Modern Rock board to #7, coming after a bunch of bands I don't like, like no more, or have never heard.

Otherwise, no news on any band or artist I care about.

You can see the whole list here.

(Thanks Billboard)

-RoboNixon