monitorTHIS! - December 2008/January 2009 - (Page 35)

Juno Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Genghis Tron Board Up the House Say what you will about Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman’s paean to preteen pregnancy and the hipster rapport therein, then say even more about the precocious indie rock that soundtracked it. Obviously a love or hate endeavor, Juno’s infinite playlist hinges on your appreciation of Moldy Peaches songstress Kimya Dawson (she performs about one-third of the record). Michael Cera and Ellen Page also reprise their infamous post-script cover of the Peaches’ “Anyone Else but You.” Rhino They toured with the Faint in 2008, but don’t assume this Philly trio exists simply to get their robotic groove on. While a great deal of Board Up the House is artificial intelligence (live drumming is not in the trio’s vocabulary), Genghis Tron are more interested in merging Fear Factory’s velocity with Jesu’s atmospherics, all with the unrelenting ferocity of a grindcore band at a basement show. Truly, one of the more unpredictable thrill rides of 2008. Relapse Rick Ross Trilla Don’t ask us if Ross was a prison guard in another life. We’ve seen Sleepers—prison guards are not to be trifled with. Better we celebrate the triumph of the plus-sized MC, who reanimated Nelly from the dead for the (surprisingly sensitive) smash “Here I Am.” Not to mention that we never understood why credibility was such a big deal in mainstream hiphop. Everyone is (hopefully) getting paid at the end of the day. Def Jam Janet Jackson Discipline On “Feedback” she claimed her flow was “heavy like a first-day period.” We were just going to stop writing here, but spatial requirements for these things are 70 words, and “gross” repeated 57 times wouldn’t have cut it. Although Ms. Jackson has never been lauded for her wordplay, she strikes the kind of likeable groove on Discipline that resonates through her entire discography. Rodney Jerkins, Jermaine Dupri, Ne-Yo and more lend production assists. islanD Mortar Love Kate Nash’s foundation is built to last s m u ch as we love rock stars and the rock starry things they do, after a while one gets sick of Amy Winehouse’s antics and wants to Kate Nash hear good tunes without the trainwreck. (Hello, Made of Bricks Adele.) A similar corollary applies to Lily Allen. Geffen While nowhere near the tabloid staple Winehouse is, her bitchy dust-up with Elton John, bouts with public nudity and woe-is-me blogging have not exactly endeared her to fans, despite the untouchable greatness of “Smile.” Hence, Kate Nash. While Nash blogs plenty on her MySpace page, it’s generally of the “I’m having a great time!” variety, so her personality isn’t an affront to where she truly shines—her songs. And does it ever shine on the infectious “Foundations.” On fleeting listen, most will cotton to the cuteness of her lilting accent and the commercial-friendly handclaps, missing detached lines like “Then you call me a bitch and everyone we’re with will be embarrassed, and I won’t give a s*it.” A [ dec 08 / jan 09 + monitorthis! + 35 ]

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of monitorTHIS! - December 2008/January 2009

monitorTHIS! - December 2008/January 2009 Movies Games Music

monitorTHIS! - December 2008/January 2009

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.