Downloaded the new Moby album, Last Night, and it’s really good.  Last Night is a drastic change from 1999’s Play — a bit more dancier (is that a word?), certainly less alternative.  Definitely check the album out if you’re a Moby fan.

As a side note, has it really been almost 8 years since I stopped listening to all electronic and industrial music?  Holy crap.  Freshman year of high school, all I would listen to was electronic with a bit of industrial thrown in.  DJ Shadow was on repeat, practically always.  I worshipped Prodigy’s Liam Howlett.  KMFDM got me through being suspended for a week.

Driving down to Florida one year, I had a cd book filled with my favorite electronic and industrial albums.  When we stopped at one of the rest areas, the cd book must have fell out of the car.  I didn’t realize until we were long gone.  I was absolutely heart broken — worst feeling ever.  I remember I wanted to cry.  I had so many wonderful albums in that book.

It’s amazing how music really defines certain times of your life.

I remember in 7th grade, I was absolutely obsessed with Jimi Hendrix — couldn’t get me to stop listening to him.  I have no idea how I got into Jimi that year, but I learned the majority of his songs word for word.  Then again in 7th grade, all I did was lock myself in my room programming away in BASIC on my donated 286.  So perhaps Jimi fit in perfectly.

Early 8th grade, I discovered Prodigy’s Experience and Music for the Jilted Generation.  Most of my friends were making fun of me while I listened to them, but I ignored most of the comments.  There was just something about those albums, something that I clung on to.  They were different than the norm at the time.  And I suppose that’s how I felt about myself during that year.  Not that I was different than my friends, but I was discovering my creative side and I was more interested in creating than anything else.  Sadly, when Prodigy’s Fat of the Land started getting really popular, my interest in them faded.  As my friends began listening to them (the same friends who previously made fun of me), I felt like I no longer had a connection to the music.  And thus, I moved on.

9th grade was all about the KMFDM’s, Nine Inch Nails, DJ Shadow, Orbital, Chemical Brothers — anything to get me pumped up for ice hockey.  9th grade made me want to become a DJ.  When I got suspended for a week, I locked myself in my room and just listened to KMFDM over and over again.

My 10th and 11th years is when I started discovering the music that would lead me into what I typically listen to today.  I discovered so many wonderful bands and artists those years.  But I also listened to a huge mix of things.  I cannot really define these years with one set of artists.  I do, however, remember finding the first Webster Hall album and over playing it to the point where I couldn’t listen to it any longer.

Years after high school, my music has been almost everything and anything.  Nine Inch Nails made a huge come back in my life in 2001 as it got me through a relationship break-up.  I remember continually putting up Nine Inch Nails away messages to the point where Robin actually called me out on it.  Maroon 5 and Jason Mraz made me happy again as I began dating my wonderful fiance in 2002.

And since then, the Jack Johnsons, Matt Costas, Ben Folds, and the rest, have crawled and consumed my life.   Oh, and I also have a man-crush with Justin Timberlake.

In the mix, too, rap and hip-hop has always been playing during these years.  Early on I was a huge Digital Underground and Arrested Development fan.  They spawned me into listening to Outkast, A Tribe Called Quest (loved the Anthology album), Jurasic 5, etc.

And to close, I’ll always have a spot in my heart for Das EFX.

I’m a big time Timberlake + Timberland fan, and when I heard they would be producing some of Madonna’s new album, I was overly excited.  However, with the release of Madonna’s new single, 4 Minutes, I felt let down.  It’s entirely over-produced.  Are we really back in the 1980s?

Stumbled across the movie Alpha Dog last night, which features Justin Timberlake, Bruce Willis, and Emile Hirsch.  The movie was alright — lots of potential, but definitely didn’t deliver.  The plot was there, but the ending just leaves you saying, “what the fuck!” and certainly not in the good “what the fuck!” way.  The acting was nothing special, as well.  In specific, Justin Timberlake’s performance was average, I suppose.  At time, he was brilliant, and at other times, you could tell he was trying too hard.

The first half of the movie was very entertaining — it certainly started in the right direction.  It had plenty of character introductions, and developments, and it was perfect setting up the plot lines.  The characters are all very likable and believable; suburban America and drugs.  The first half sets the perfect mood, and gives you a feeling that this isn’t just some massed produced cliche Hollywood movie.

But then the world comes crumbling down.  Somewhere half way through the movie, the ball got dropped.  I suppose the producers hit X minutes into the movie and said to themselves, “holy shit, how do we wrap all of this up in Y minutes!”  The second half is jumbled, and all over the place.  It mainly features Justin Timberlake and the kidnapped teenager,  Alec Vigil, socializing and becoming good friends.  However, by the end of the movie, it’s not about Justin Timberlake, but instead about the mastermind behind the kidnapping — which is fine, since the this was the original plot.  But, the mastermind was rarely in the second half of the movie except for a few scenes where he’s out partying and or worrying about going to jail.

Justin makes his last appearance about 15 minutes before the movie ended when he tells a girl he had no part in the murder.  Then, you never see him again.  All you get is a brief text message on the screen telling of his fate.  Justin’s role was a huge part of the movie, and the people behind the movie tore it to pieces.

Now I feel like I’m all over the place with this post, too.  Great.  But things are coming to me more now.

The teenager who was kidnapped had an older brother (he was the reason why the boy was kidnapped in the first place).  In the first half, the older brother goes ape-shit — telling everyone and anyone that he’ll go after his brother’s kidnappers and seek revenge.  However, get this — he’s not in the second half of the movie.  He plays no role in saving his brother, or trying to save his brother.  All I’m left with is wondering that the producers just cut his scenes out?  But still, he played such a large part in the first half.

Again, this movie had much potential, and it totally killed itself in the second half.  Is it worth seeing?  Eh, possibly, maybe if it’s on tv and you have nothing else to do.  My rating?  2 out of 5 possible stars.