Vampire Weekend - new album: Contra

I was walking past Kops Records on Queen West and something definitely caught my eye. There prominently in the window was the new "Vampire Weekend" album "Contra" on vinyl. Now I don't care about the vinyl as some might, but I've been eagerly awaiting more material from the lads for some time, but didn't know this was in the works. And apparently it's not supposed to be on sale locally until tomorrow, so those quick on the draw can still call it an advance release.

So I went straight to iTunes when I got home and found they have a bonus track version and they had me at hello. I've only had the first listen (with perpetual smile on my face) and I can say that I enjoyed it overall and intend to delve deeper. As for a song by song breakdown, it's too soon and I'm not prepared. The first track "Horchata" grabbed me right away and the last official track "I Think UR A Contra" sticks out for me as unusual (or maybe it's just that as the slowest and least complicated of the songs, I found it the easiest to absorb on first listen.) Those who wanna try before they buy, follow the above link for a complete album or song by song sampling off VW's website. Also available on emusic.com.

Avatar raking in the big bucks

So I finally decided to check out the film that everyone else is apparently seeing, with amazing box office gross in such a short time, but not without a nod to higher IMAX pricing as a factor. Hitting the $1 billion mark in record time, it stands poised to be yet another landmark for movie biz history and Mr. Record Breaker himself, James Cameron.

I make no secret about the fact that I'm not a fan of 3-D presentations. I see it as a gimmick and more distracting than beneficial. For an IMAX presentation, I find it entirely unnecessary. (How much more do you need to feel IN the movie when it encompasses every square inch of your field of vision?) But to see Avatar without the 3-D, you really needed to go out of your way. None of the downtown theaters were showing it regular style. (So we opted for IMAX, and we had to buy our Sunday tickets days in advance online for IMAX, because Saturday shows were already sold out.)

Getting to the IMAX theater a little later than we should've, my buddy Chris and I had a choice between fourth row on the far left hand side, or in the very back on the far right. It's a good thing we chose the latter, or it'd be Cloverfield all over again. (While not usually a victim of motion-sickness, the super-shaky handicam work of that forgettable, Blair-Witchian and overrated "What the hell's going on?" flick caused me to toss my cookies. Which was a first for me at the cinema.)

Even in the back row for Avatar in IMAX, my brain was struggling to process the sometimes blurry and often jarring 3-D effect which might've been lessened on a smaller screen but I won't be testing that theory out. In the two and a half hours of Cameron's Opus I didn't hurl... but I did have a queezy feeling, like I'd been playing an immersive 3-D video game for far too long, but right away in the first 15 minutes. Although occasionally I found the subtle effects of the occasional (let's call them) 'floaties' quite effective, overall I'd say the intended effects were distracting and sometimes ruined by the glasses.

In short, I'd have much preferred the IMAX without the 3-D glasses, but it seems with this kind of business to be had, the movie execs won't pay any mind to the minority which I no doubt fall into. As for the movie itself, I'd simply describe it as visually amazing and "Dances With Wolves with 14 foot tall sexy blue aliens."