Of all places in the country, indie rock duo The Kills picked Benton Harbour, Michigan to record their third album, Midnight Boom. The coastal city off Lake Michigan obviously had a positive effect on Jamie Hince and Alison "VV" Mosshart because their late night recording sessions helped inspire the latest LP's title.

In contrast to the band's previous efforts, Keep On Your Mean Side (2002) and No Wow (2005) that utilized more instrumentation, Midnight Boom is more bare, emphasizing beats to achieve their garage rock sounds. They surprisingly balance a healthy industrial sound throughout the LP in addition to providing catchy melodies and sing-aloud lyrics.

The album opens with "U.R.A. Fever," which could be mistaken for a Nine Inch Nails track, but subsequently transitions to the feminine punk rock track "Cheap And Cheerful." Mosshart joins a short list of rock chicks with attitude, channeling the likes of Shirley Manson ("Tape Song") and PJ Harvey ("Hook And Line").

The London duo masks some often dark and cryptic lyrics with some simple, yet addicting rhythms. You can hear the desperation in "Last Day Of Magic" (lyrics: "What if you move? What if you hide? / There's only so much you can miss / before we both collide"), but can't help lose yourself in the chorus "My little tornado / My little hurricano." It also doesn't help that the band unleashes the pleasant sounding ballad "Black Balloon," a seemingly disheartening contrast to Albert Lamorisse's enchanting 1957 short film The Red Balloon (Le Ballon Rouge), near the album's half-way mark as a way to test if the listeners are really listening.

The Kills are an interesting band because of how comfortable you think their music can make you. That sounds weird, I know, especially when listening to the blunt and freewheeling track "M.E.X.I.C.O." but the band has so much potential to be gentle, as on "Goodnight Bad Morning," that it's hard to not want to follow their musical direction.

In a recent Rolling Stone interview (March 20, 2008), Mosshart described The Kills as "that spirit, that rebelliousness" of rock and roll. Midnight Boom is indicative of that assessment: blow your mind for 30 minutes, rest, then hit repeat.

[photo via Nat Miller]

[photo via Cylob]
____

Track list:

1. U.R.A. Fever
2. Cheap and Cheerful
3. Tape Song
4. Getting Down
5. Last Day of Magic
6. Hook and Line
7. Black Balloon
8. M.E.X.I.C.O.
9. Sour Cherry
10. Alphabet Pony
11. What New York Used To Be
12. Goodnight Bad Morning

Popularity: 1% [?]

Michael Arrington wrote about how Facebook just borrowed $100 million to buy 50,000 new servers. He uses Google and Microsoft as comparisons.

“Compare that to Google, which operates at least a million servers (and is adding 500,000 per year, says Business Week), and Microsoft, which is adding 200,000 servers per year.”

If Google adds 500k servers a year, how could the company possibly only still be operating only a 1M of them? I’m also reminded of an old article that I read about Google (which was when I was amazed by the then-infant company) bought old thousands of old servers at cheap prices instead of buying newer ones. I don’t think they’re doing that anymore, especially with energy prices skyrocketing. I think it pays to be more efficient.
____

Steve Kreuscher wants to change his name to “In God We Trust.”
____

Here’s a cool article on the effects of mining and pollution on Picher, Oklahoma. In a few years, it will be a town no longer.

Popularity: 3% [?]

I’m not sure how I feel about the new animated Star Wars film. We already saw The Clone Wars with that animated series years back. Now we get “blessed” with another one?

George Lucas needs to learn how to let go.

But I can easily see myself eating my words when I see it… in the theaters.

:o)

Popularity: 3% [?]

“For foreign donors, Myanmar raises a dilemma seen also in North Korea, which may be on the verge of another famine (see article): how to rescue desperate people whose own government spurns outside assistance, and how to do so without providing a lifeline to an illegitimate and unpopular regime.” The Economist on the “The politics of saving lives” in the wake of the cyclone that struck Myanmar…

What would be the greater good? Saving lives in the present tragedy or saving lives the future country beyond the current government?

Popularity: 4% [?]

DVD fanatics were waiting anxiously for what high-definition format Criterion Collection was going to release its catalog in. In what seems like a distant memory, the format war is long over and now Criterion is free to release its content on Blu-ray.

In a thankfully bold move, the company is releasing (as per its newsletter) its Blu-ray discs at the same price point as the standard DVDs, which makes it a no-brainer to simply buy the Blu-ray discs if you don’t already own the standard discs.

The new era begins with:

The Third Man
Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Last Emperor
El Norte
The 400 Blows
Gimme Shelter
The Complete Monterey Pop
Contempt
Walkabout
For All Mankind
The Wages of Fear

Thankfully, I own none of these yet, and will now wait for The Third Man to come out before finally splurging. Actually, I think I own Walkabout. GRRR.

Popularity: 4% [?]