ASG! Reviews: Prospekt's March

You may remember way back when I reviewed Coldplay’s Viva La Vida. Now, the band has come out with an EP record of leftovers from their last album titled Prospekt’s March.

Whether or not you will enjoy this album can basically be summed up like this: Did you like Viva La Vida? If you did, you’ll find that Prospekt’s March offers a little more of the same style that in some ways satisfies more than the album did.

If you didn’t like Viva La Vida, you’re probably not a fan of the new sound Coldplay experimented with in that album. Don’t expect anything different here. The songs still have the same feel as those on Viva La Vida. Three of them are taken directly from that album and reworked, some more than others. If you’re expecting something entirely different, you’re sure to be disappointed.

But if you’re like me, and are curious what Coldplay left on the cutting room floor (like a rap..?), read on!

The EP opens with “Life in Technicolour II,” a reworking of the original opening track off Viva La Vida. The new song adds lyrics that felt missing from the original song and fleshes out a full-fledged song out of an instrumental interlude. What’s left is infinitely better than the original, more song than an experiment like the original was.

“Postcards from Far Away” on the other hand, is pure experimentation. The short (48 seconds) track features only a piano, twinkling away at something that sounds more Chopin than Coldplay. The swaying piano piece sounds reminiscent of a foreign artsy film, and shows Chris Martin is a very talented pianist. One expects to hear the orchestra roar in at any moment, but the piano remains the only instrument. The track is beautiful, but altogether too short. Just as Martin began to explore some beautiful new notes, the song resolves leaving me wishing Martin had kept playing.

“Glass of Water” jumps in immediately afterward and is by far the best song on the EP. The track begins at a nice upbeat clip and the guitars strum and piano bang away as the vocals echo overhead. Eventually the chorus arrives and the song bursts into a satisfying good-old-fashioned Coldplay explosion of sound. The song is infinitely catchy, doesn’t run a second too long, and shows off the best of Coldplay. The only downside is it wasn’t included on Viva La Vida. The song alone practically makes the EP worth buying.

“Rainy Day” is a little bit of a different animal. The track focuses on modern beats that would seem to better fit a dance mix. When the full song starts, it starts to sound a little bit more like something off Viva La Vida, especially when the orchestra jumps onto the scene for the chorus. After a few listens, this track grew on me, but I think overall it is pretty hit or miss.

“Prospekt’s March” is a melancholy return to Coldplay’s old sound that would have belonged on an earlier album. The track lets Martin run with the lyrics, but there’s not too much more to it. It’s songs like these that Coldplay put behind them with their newest album, and I’m glad they avoided falling back into this mold.

“Lost+” is really what the title says: the track “Lost” off of Viva La Vida, plus a little something extra. What’s extra, you ask? Jay-Z. That’s right, the rapper. Instead of a guitar solo in the second chorus, Jay-Z gets to lay down some phat rhymes.I think we’re all lucky that mix there didn’t rip a hole in space time. Oddly enough, it’s not bad. It doesn’t entirely work, but that’s what happens when you add rap to Coldplay. I can’t really decide what to think of it…I mean, it works in a sense…I’m just still a little bit in shock that Jay-Z just rapped to Coldplay.

“Lovers in Japan (Osaka Sun Mix)” however is a different animal. Looking for anything extra? A dance mix? Maybe more of Jay-Z? Too bad! Instead you get the same song recycled off the original track, with the second half “Reign of Love” cut. A mix? I don’t think so. Nothing to see here, move along people.

Which brings us to the last track “Now My Feet Won’t Touch the Ground,” and let me say that Coldplay must have had some sort of fascination with the titular line. It was already included in the chorus of “Life in Technicolour II.” By the time I heard it again, I was sick of it. The track starts off as a beautiful acoustic and the lyrics in the first verse suggest the song may be something special. But the chorus just repeats on the same line over and over again, never letting the beautiful melody of the verse come back into play.

Overall, I like Prospekt’s March. It was a nice little add-on to an album I really enjoyed. So if you enjoyed Viva La Vida, Prospekt’s March is definitely worth a shot, if only for the more satisfying rendition of ‘Life in Technicolour’. Even if you didn’t like Viva La Vida, at least give “Glass of Water” a shot.

IST 195- Week 2 Post

I never knew about what exactly binary was until this week's lecture. Counting in binary was an interesting little talent to have, but I'm not sure how exactly that would help my product. That seems to be something that would be far more useful to a programmer, which I am clearly not.

On the other had, talking about bits and ASCII will definitely help if I need to send important information to my customers. Professor Rubin said that ASCII was a 7-bit language and that viruses and trojans couldn't be transmitted in ASCII messages. This means that if I had to send messages with sensitive information, I would send that as an ASCII text file to prevent a virus or key-logger from becoming embedded in the file and using that sensitive information against my company or clients.

Knowing about UNICODE will also benefit my product, especially if I decide to expand into different countries. Since ASCII is based on the English language, non-English speakers would not be able to used ASCII to transmit messages and data. However, UNICODE would allow my company and my overseas customers to translate each others messages and websites.

IST 195- Week 1 Post

Professor Rubin discussed Twitter this week in lecture. I had heard of Twitter before, but I never really thought about how it might be used beyond a social networking tool. And especially not for anything like news or politics. A little research after class showed that both the Obama and to a lesser extent McCain campaigns used Twitter to update their followers.

This opened up my expectations for that networking tool. Perhaps Twitter could be used as a way to advertise my awesome new pillow. I could use the site to spread the word on my product.

Maybe I could even use Twitter to update clients and customers on shipments. Something like a Tweet saying "the first shipment of pillows is out the door!" This would then be passed on to all my followers so that everyone would know when my pillows would be in stores or on their way.

Word about my product could also grow by using Twitter. If someone who was interested in my pillows tweeted about it, then all of their followers would find out about it. Then maybe some of them would tweet, and so on. In this way, a Twitter could serve as a way of marketing using a kind of technological word-of-mouth.

IST 195 Idea- Catching Up On My Zee's

Have you ever suffered from insomnia? Have you rolled over in bed countless times, hoping that eventually you'll nod off to sleep? Have you watched the clock tick on and on into the night as your precious sleep slowly slips away?

If so, then you are undoubtedly aware of what I like to call "Warm Pillow Syndrome." When you first rest your head on a pillow, you're greeted with a cool soft feeling that normally would lull you into a deep sleep. But on those nights when sleep is elusive, the heat of your head warms the pillow up, making it uncomfortable and hot. You would likely try to flip the pillow over to reach a cool spot, hoping that you could nod off before the dreaded warmth returned.

But what if you never had to worry about that ever again? What if you had a pillow that would stay cool no matter how long you were resting?

Allow me to submit an idea: A pillow that stays cool at night when you try to sleep. This pillow would stay a constant cool temperature that is relieving in the hot summer, as well as comfortable enough in winter. I'm not marketing an ice-pack, just a better pillow.

Best of all, the new pillow will be just as soft as it's traditional predecessors. You won't be able to tell the difference!

So stop wrestling and fighting with your pillows. Just lie back, relax, and catch up on your zee's.

New Years Resolutions

Ah, 2008. The fun we had, the things we played, the people we met... good times.

And now 2009 has rolled in. Another new year, and a few new resolutions.

1.) Post more often: This blog has fallen on the way-side, again. Again.

2.) Learn songs the whole way through: I suffer from musical ADD. I get a piece of music, fall in love with it, and start to learn it, only to fall in love with a different song, and get started on that one. As a result, I have a vast repertoire of half-learned and partial songs. Going to try to stick to my guns this year. Starting with "Maybe I'm Amazed," by the brilliant Sir Paul.

3.) Learn to play the harmonica: The poor baby is gathering dust. And watching "Survivorman" on TV makes me want to learn it again.

4.) Watch the movies in my DVD collection: I'm something of a movie nut. So when I find a good bargain on a movie that I've heard is really superb, or already seen, I make the impulse purchase. A Beautiful Mind for $5? Please and thank you! But there are a bunch of movies in my collection that have yet to be watched (you know who you are). I've got to get around to watching these sometime.

5.) Meet new people: A little cliched perhaps, but nevertheless true. Classes are always pretty big up at school, but that is not a good excuse. For the new year, I'm going to say hello to at least 3 new people in each of my classes on the first day.