Review: Appeal To Reason (Rise Against)

Album Review
Artist: Rise Against
Album: Appeal To Reason
Rating: 4 Out Of 5
It's been a while since I last wrote a CD review, and now I'm back.

Rise Against is simply one of the best punk bands out there. It is melodic, politically-conscious agit-punk at its best. The brilliant 'The Sufferer & The Witness' was simply breath-taking, with songs like 'Prayer Of The Refugee' and the wonderfully poetic 'Approaching The Curve.'

'Appeal To Reason' is simply that, an appeal to reason. It questions, - like most Rise Against albums - the very fabric of American life and politics. In 'Collapse (Post-Amerika)' Rise Against criticize the apathy of the American public, remarking "Neutrality means you don't really care / Because the struggle goes on even when you're not there."

'Entertainment' is one of their best songs to date, questioning their own relevance ever since they gained mainstream popularity. Tim McIlrath worries that their popularity will make their message ignored and viewed as a vehicle for entertainment. He sings "All we are is entertainment / Caught up in our own derangement."

'Hero Of War' is a prime example of the sheer personal nature of the politics of Rise Against music. We are made to listen to actual accounts of war from the soldiers of Iraq, woven into an acoustic narrative that can seem clumsy with words, but is beautiful nonetheless.

'Re-Education (Through Labor)' mirrors 'Prayer Of The Refugee,' in that it discusses the struggles of immigrants in America and underpaid labourers in countries such as China: "We sweat all day long for you / But we sow seeds to see us through / Because sometimes dreams just don't come true / We wait to reap what we are due."

The rest of the album is worth listening over and over again. Though not many will say this is their best album, it is certainly up there. If you like your music with a conscience and a message, this is what you should listen to.



Signing out

Over and out

Linguistic Lingo

York sure is beautiful. To me it's like a hybrid of Shrewsbury and Oxford. It has the small town charm of old Salopia and the beautiful architecture of Oxford. The picture above is a photo of the York Minster. It's really just amazing to look at.

The town is basically a labyrinth of roads, streets and bridges, protected by a few kilometres of what is known as The Wall, circling the whole town (or is it a city?).

But the fuck of the matter is, it's really is just way too frickin' cold. Usually I don't mind cold. But in York, it's as windy as a wind tunnel. I find myself being pushed to the side of the path on the way to lectures by the over-enthusiastic wind. And I hate cold wind. I could just feel the skin of my face freezing and just turning into ice.

There's a Bru-Yo (Bruneian York Society) get-together later at the V-Bar. Should be good. I'd rather call it Byork though. Sounds cooler. And it rolls off the tongue better than Broou- Yaww.

I think, after mixing around with the Northerners, that I might just have a Southern accent. A bit of cockney even. Just a teeny bit. The way I say bottle sometimes, it's bo'el. Apparently that's cockney. I think I like the Geordie accent. The way they voice their vowels, it's interesting. I also realised I tend to put an 'r' every time there's a '-th' after a vowel, for instance bath or path. You can just hear the tiny 'r' as I say barth or parth. I used to think it was just an extended 'a', like baath or paath.

Oh well. The joy of doing linguistics. Hahaha.

Signing out

Over and out

This is the story of a Bruneian. Specifically a Bruneian called Arif. Now Arif, as you all know, is a perfectly common Bruneian name, and as such, don't attempt to flatter yourself by thinking I'm writing this story about you, Arif. And this story is completely fictional, but just happens to have happened in the real, happening world. Incidentally, it all happened at the Mall.

Yes, THE Mall. Not Q-Lap Mall. Not Yayasan. Not, urm, I've run out of Malls to mention. What Arif - and most people - don't know is that the Mall was built for the sole purpose of encouraging the youths of Brunei to congregate in one single place so that all of them can be monitored in an enclosed space. The construction was funded by a company called the Organisation for the Regulation of Adolescents, Nymphomaniacs and Girls, Through Utilitarian Aid Incorporated (ORANG TUA, Inc.). The plan was to embed hidden cameras in every single corner of the Mall, thus enabling the ORANG TUA to monitor any inappropriate behaviour by youths. This may include any physical interaction of any kind between the opposite sex, any lack of fabric on their body and/or any clothing that includes any of these words in the slogan: sex, bitch, fuck, marijuana and/or masturbate.

Now Arif has never been caught by the ORANG TUA because he has been careful. He knows and gets along well with the people in the ORANG TUA circle. Whenever he gets close to being caught, one of them would say, "andangnya tu, orang muda bah. Dulu kita pun camatu jua, kan, kan?"

Curse The Anonymous

I've just realised that there's so little work given for my course. It's week 3 and I don't really have any work to do at night. Seriously. I spend it all on late night outs or a season on Pro Evo. Truth is, it's so relaxed, it's unbelievable. I've been hearing people being given essays and assignments in other courses. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing for us.

I'm thinking of taking up the ERASMUS thing. It's basically either a term or a year doing your course in another country, and I wanna go to New York, New York. It'd be awesome. I'd imagine New York would be my kind of city, just as long as I don't end up in Harlem or any other ghetto place like that.

I wanna sleep.

Signing out

Over and out

Musica Eclectica

Olafur Arnalds - Fok

I've got quite an eclectic music taste, actually. It's more varied than people think. The thing is, because most people don't know what genres I'm talking about, they usually group them into just one genre, when they are actually very different from one another. Some people assume anything with guitar and drums are automatically rock music.

Here I've posted a song that is deeply haunting yet soothing at the same time. Coming from the same area as Bjork (Reykjavik, Iceland), Olafur Arnalds's neo-classical music is - in his own words - "beautiful the way the Arctic is." This is true. The sparse nature of it only seems to accentuate the vastness and epic scope of songs like this one, Fok.

By using a piano and a string quartet, accompanied with samples, Olafur does not need to make his songs over-long (most of his songs are less than six minutes) to achieve the over-arching, grand atmosphere that makes you realise the beauty of scarceness in the barren landscapes of the Arctic.



Crystal Castles - Courtship Dating

This is one of my favourite bands. They're called Crystal Castles, and they hail from Toronto. An expression of teenage angst through violent poetry and 8-bit, glitch-filled samples, Crystal Castles is a band that uses their hatred to create music that is both piercing and danceable. Call it electro dance punk if you may. That's the best I could come up with.

The video might make you think of a much darker version of the Ting Tings, but Crystal Castles are nothing like the inoffensive, colourful duo. Alice Glass and Ethan Kath were both brought up in neighbourhoods with levels of violence and fucked-upness that beggars belief. According to Alice, her best friend Beth is currently on trial for murder, though she is adamant that all Beth did was assist in the cover-up.

The distorted, pained voice of Alice in songs like "Alice Practice," coupled with incomprehensible lyrics, makes for a very unique, audio experience. The lyrics are so incomprehensible at times, that you wonder if they made the lyrics on the spot while performing. But the words don't matter. It's the pain in the voice, the angst, the anger in the gameboy samples, and the disturbing notion that it makes you want to dance a little bit.

Signing out

Over and out

Hier Kommt Alex

Hey! Hier Kommt Alex!

This is my song of the moment. I discovered this song while playing Guitar Hero III, so it might be familiar to you. Isn't it just so anthemic? Especially when we consider the subject matter: 'A Clockwork Orange.'

Yes, Alex here is the ultra-violent teenager in the book who symbolises a hatred of apathy and passivity and so happens to be one of the most influential characters in the whole of literature. Stanley Kubrick made a film that was considered a benchmark for the depiction of the dystopian future.

For those of you who don't understand German (like me), this would be helpful:


But it lost some of it in translation. Haha.

Gotta love this song.

Signing out

Over and out

The New Yorkie

Freshers' Ball (from Artemis's camera)

Freshers' week. Three days on, and I'm loving it. I've made some good friends, and enjoying myself immensely. My room, which is an en-suite, is great

Lectures start tomorrow. Fundamental linguistics. Met my supervisor today. He's not as intimidating as his name. I don't know why I found the name Paul Foulkes intimidating. He wasn't. He was quite friendly.

A lot of things happened the last few days and nights, but I'll leave that unmentioned. Suffice to say I had a lot of fun.

Soon it'll be work, work, play.

Signing out.

Over and out.

Rose Syrup & Goodbyes

I... I almost forgot just how friendly Salopians are. The hugs, the handshakes and the how-are-you's. The hellos, the goodbyes. Of course nobody from my year was there, except Lan, who by choice stayed back a year. But wow, the lower years, it's great to feel so welcome by them. I forgot how much I miss them, not just the people from my year. Nick Lawley now has a brother in the third form that looks absolutely just like him, just a tad bit smaller. How that is possible – since Nick is tiny – is beyond me. Stanley, the dog, still remembers me, though he barked at me initially with the familiar ferocity usually directed at strangers.

Did I not tell you? I visited Shrewsbury for a day trip to get all of my remaining stuff. Which was all junk. I went with Ajeeratul, who was off one stop further at Gobowen for Oswestry.

Well, I have now.

Going back to school was surreal. The whole place was familiar and strange at the same time. It felt like this was a fragment of my life that has passed, yet the familiarity and warmth of it just broke my heart. This school was a part of my life for two years, and it is now a part of who I am. The people made it that way. They forced it onto me. The laughs, the banter. The nights of recklessness. The crazy things we did, and none I regretted. The idle hours and the hectic minutes. I've made friends here, and I'll remember them. Now I'll never see a lot of these wonderful people. That's the most heartbreaking thing, the most heartbreaking goodbye I've ever said.

Having lived in Brunei for most of my life before, it was easy to bump into old friends. Just go to The Mall. But no, not the friends from Shrewsbury. There's no universal Mall where we all hang out. Each and every one of us will be in different parts of England. York, London, Newcastle, Birmingham, Oxford. All over.

The only guy from my house and year I've met is Geo, who lives in Wimbledon, London. I brought him to Cikgu Ismah's open house, and he absolutely loved the Bruneian food. Though I was a vegetarian, I still knew which food to recommend to him, and he ate them all up with enthusiasm.

He still couldn't believe that there's such a thing as rose syrup (bandung).

Today has been an emotional day.

Signing out

Over and out