I am on an insane Modest Mouse kick right now. I’ve gone back and listened to The Lonesome Crowded West and The Moon and Antarctica, and I’ve been loving every minute. It has really been like re-discovering the band. You should too (or discover them if you’ve never found them). Watch this videos and join me and Cowboy Dan in listening to Modest Mouse all day long:

Coheed and Cambria’s final piece of their sci-fi epic, entitled Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow, has arrived. The brainchild of Claudio Sanchez, the band’s vocalist and rhythm guitarist, the story spans across a fictional universe that is on the brink of being destroyed, with only one man – Claudio, aka The Crowing, aka The Character – to save it. The fiction is difficult to get into unless you are a fan (like myself), but it is an incredibly rewarding and deep part of the music, and I highly recommend you check it out (especially the new comics that are in the process of being released). But that isn’t what this review is about. No, I won’t shove fictional stories of love and woe, creation and destruction, and right and wrong on you right now (and I will try not to write so melodramatically from here on out, either). No World for Tomorrow, as an album, can be enjoyed all by itself, and it is also easily the band’s best, most polished release to date. Track-by-track, the album goes as such:

The Reaping – A haunting and beautiful acoustic song with chilling lyrics by Claudio. It’s short and sweet but a perfect opening for this album, both in terms of music and in terms of story. Not only that, but it melds perfectly into…

No World for Tomorrow – …the albums title track. This is the new anthem, in my own opinion. The chorus of just makes me want to stand up and shout. The track is just wonderful and perhaps one of the best songs they’ve ever written, in my opinion. I can’t say anything negative about this song.

The Hound (of Blood and Rank) – This is one of the three tracks I had already heard off the album, and it sounds just as good here. Great rhythm, and a nice solo round out this track that is as Coheed as Coheed gets.

Feathers – This song is the biggest surprise for me. It is incredibly catchy and much more…poppy, though I don’t really think that’s the right word. I’m having a hard time getting the chorus out of my head, even as I write this, and I’m sure it will throw many ‘Heed fans for a loop upon first hearing it. Just give it another shot if you don’t like it at first.

The Running Free – The first single, and track number two of those I’d already heard. Again, its another great Coheed track, featuring everything you would expect from the band. Nothing terribly original for them, but it works for me. Plus, it reminds me of jumping around at Warped Tour over this past summer, hearing my first new Coheed track in years.

Mother Superior – Acoustic leaks be darned. The full version of this song is stunning. Great riffs, sweeping strings and dense vocals make this song a true winner. I expect this song to jump to the top of many Coheed fan’s most played lists.

Gravemakers & Gunslingers – The third and final track I had heard before I got the full album. This track is the most-straightforward, and most metal track on the album. It’s fast, furious, and full of great work from the entire band, especially Travis (I think) on the solo.

Justice in Murder – This song was written by Claudio for his recently passed aunt (who died from Alzheimer’s, a disease the band will be having a benefit concert for) and it is one of my favorite songs on the album. Excellent lyrics take the focal point on this one, and the chorus is one that just must be sung along with. An infectious and meaningful track that rounds out the first portion of the record pefectly.

The End Complete:
I: The Fall of House Atlantic – An instrumental track with a great title, this is the first part of the five part series, and it does its purpose well. Nothing spectacular, but fitting.

II: Radio Bye Bye – Despite the poppy name, this song is a very enjoyable little rock song. Another great vocal performance by Claudio, and the end bridge is catchy, and yet another portion that you must sing with. It is also very straightforward, one of the final songs before the true progressive elements of the band come out, starting with…

III: The End Complete – …the title track for the series. This song is as progressive as Coheed gets, with shifting musical styles throughout. What begins as classic Coheed turns to a fast, metal-tinged anthem, straight into a flowing end. Think of this one as this album’s Willing Well II.

IV: The Road and the Damned – The second to last song on the album is the climax of the Amory Wars saga. All around him, Claudio (The Character) is reflecting on his life as the Keywork is crashing down around him. A wonderful song, and very uncharacteristic of Coheed and Cambria. This song pushes what the band is capable of to a whole new level.

V: On the Brink – The end has (unfortunately) come. The Crowing has done what he was made to do, and is now on his way to death. The blues and jazz overtones in this song are brilliant, and the song is very much like a Pink Floyd record. Claudio gives one last spectacular vocal performance in one of the most emotional songs on the album. Also, the end solo is absolutely pefect. Not only is the playing paramount, but it is set to the backdrop of The Final Cut. After all is said and done, the album ends with a crash of a symbol and silence.

In my years as a music fan, I truly cannot say I have ever heard an album that is so perfectly put together, so perfectly polished, or so perfectly, well, perfect. Every song has the potential to be a fan favorite, and each contain everything we’ve come to expect from Coheed and Cambria: marvelous guitar work, fitting drums, and powerful vocal performances from the man with the hair. As a Coheed fan, this album moves me in ways that I have never been moved by music before. To see both the characters and the band come to the end of the saga is incredibly bittersweet, but I am glad to have been part of the ride. I wholeheartedly advise any fan of music, of any kind, to go out and buy this record, turn it on loud, and allow yourself to be taken onto Star IV one last time.

***** / Five Stars

I am a mean person. Yes, it is hard to believe, what with my eloquent language skills, good looks and impeccable music taste. However, I am only one man, a mere mortal on this most green earth (actually, sans green now, it seems. More steely gray.) and enjoy having a go at most people…actually, many people. So, to display my own comments on those I deem worth making fun of, I have decided to create this semi-bi-sortakinda-updated series of posts, which I like to call “Those I Ridicule”. My first subjects: The Weak-Chinned.

A chin, as you may or may not know, is the part of your body just below your mouth and just above your fat, protuberant stomach; you know, that hard, bony surface that occasionally grows some facial hair stubble on men and some of the more disgusting women (ah, a new topic! But that’s another post.). According to the venerable Wikipedia, your chin is made up by the lower front of the mandible, which is just a fancy word for your entire jaw area that you love to shove food into.

On most normal human beings, this area of the body is fully defined and proportional to the rest of the face – that is to say, it looks right and not like somebody smashed in the entire portion of your lower mouth repeatedly with a flagpole. An example of a perfectly chinned individual would be this nameless, soulless creature here:

You see, this here is a perfectly normal chin. It is strong, and yet supple, hard but obviously into his gentler side, such as Jane Austen novels and the occasional walk on the beach. Normality is defined by this chin. But these, as you no doubt already understand based on the title of this post, are the chins I make fun of. No, no, I look for weak-chinned, morose looking people to explode my load of hot, steaming jests unto. The chins I talk of are these:

H. Christ! I told you, and I am sorry I did not further prepare you for that scene. As you can see, the chin is underdeveloped, seemingly cowering below the mouth, much as a conscious bulimic hides behind the toilet with a bucket of ice-cream topped fried chicken. They claim to be normal, however their appearance and surrounds tell otherwise. Needless to say, these must be made fun of, otherwise the world would be a nice, humane place that people would ACTUALLY want to live in – and I can’t let that happen, for the further disillusionment of the entire earth. Basically, my attack plan for these unfortunate looking beings are as follows:

1. Point out the chin to all of my comrades – even the ones with weak chins, if they happen to be around me.

2. Begin to laugh at said chin

3. Make some sort of deragatory comment on the nature of the beast, such as “just look at that weak-chinned, dastardly coward there!” or “I didn’t know that this place was routinely smashing in faces for free.” Like all ridicules, the point here is to cause as much emotional pain on the subject that they want to cry – plain and simple.

4. Laugh some more

5. Return to your normal exploits, but with a large smile of triumph on your face

As you can see, I have gotten good at this little game of cat and chin, to the point where it is almost not even funny. But then, being me, I say something so brilliant that it sucks me right back into the vicious cycle once more. My recommendation is to seek out those with chins weaker than your own and smash them down even more than their own mandible. With a little luck, some tears will be shed from their recessive front jaws, thus making your day.

Through internet magic, the album version of Coheed and Cambria’s The Hound (of Blood and Rank) has been leaked. I don’t really want to say anymore, for fear of being smote by Sony Colombia, but if you are a mildly-competent BitTorrent user, I have a strong feeling you will find it. And you should, as it is a stunning song, and much more fitting as a Coheed track than The Running Free (though I love that as well). Get this album on October 23rd, and you will be able to die happy.

Overall: You’re Kevin-like!

I don’t know if that’s really cool or really sad…I’m off to check digg for stories to bring my spirits back up.

…is one of the most amazing television shows I have ever watched. Everything about it is just about perfect, from concept to execution. The characters are varied and incredibly interesting, the writing great and the storyline gripping. I’m about halfway through the first season thus far and am hoping to finish it up by the end of the week. Nothing beats the boring summer day feeling like a few episodes of of a show as great as this.

YOU’RE GOING HOME…YOU’RE RUNNING FREE…ahem…alright, so the new Coheed and Cambria song, The Running Free, has been released, in all it’s produced, studio glory. Available only on the band’s MySpace, I highly recommend you check it out now and listen to it on repeat in your media player of choice…as I have been doing for the past half hour. GO!

SPEND YOUR TIME WELL BEFORE YOU GO.

HERE IN HELL!

Between my amigo Jaleel and myself:

[15:34] Jaleel B: Oh my fuck. Someone just opened a watermelon
[15:34] Spencer: XD
[15:34] Jaleel B: I am currently away from the computer.
[15:34] Jaleel B: THEY ARE EATING WATERMELON AND ARE WATCHING NORBIT
[15:34] Spencer: haha
[15:34] Spencer: omfg
[15:34] Jaleel B: My dad just facepalmed and walked out of the room XD

How I love the beauty of the internet (and watermelon).

In a new turn of events for TheNPC’s, we have decided to open up a little blog to keep the creative juices a-flowing during the main site building. Check it out here. If you like what you see, please add our RSS feed, as we would love to deliver content, steaming-hot and fresh, directly to your feed catcher of choice. That’s all for now, folks.

I just found this cool little mini-blog type of site called Tumblr. Check mine out here, and get your own by going to the main page. Basically, it’s a lightweight blog-ish application that is good for bringing together all your different places on the web, from your blog to your Flickr to your Twitter and so forth. Check it out.