It's Gonna be a Good Day

In a weird way, I've been waiting for this day to come since April.

Number One: Mastodon has a new album! The Hunter. They started on it back in the spring, and after teasing us with a few singles here and there, the album is now out for purchase... if only I had the money. I know, CDs are cheap, but seriously - I have zero dollars. I'll see if I can borrow from someone, may even check the library on a long shot - I have to hear this thing.

For those who may not know, I love music. Love it as in I can't live without it. I may talk about movies more, but if I had to choose a life without movies or a life without music, I'm sorry, but music is going to win. And in the course of about a year and a half Mastodon has become one of my favorite bands. Some may dismiss them off-hand for being too loud, too fast, too "heavy," but they're missing what's behind the sound.

Mastodon is a band which has followed a development similar to Tool, albeit in a heavier vein: they start off with extremely aggressive, straightforward albums, and then gradually move into areas which are more ethereal, soulful. I refer to their music as "mystical metal." The music does kick your ass first and foremost, so keep that in mind, but what you should also remember is how incredibly smart these guys are. Seriously. Their last album, Crack the Skye, was about astral projection, reincarnation, past lives intruding on present time - all very heady stuff... and for Leviathan, they adapted Moby Dick! So come on! If you don't like the music, surely you can respect the ambition.

As if The Hunter weren't enough, my fiancee and I are finally going to see Drive today. I'm actually more excited for this. I saw the teaser trailer back in... March? April? ...and I was intrigued. I love car chase movies, and this looked like a smart car chase movie. Rare. Then when I read it won Best Director at Cannes, I said to myself, "Okay... I was expecting just a good, maybe very good, action movie - but Cannes?! This must just be a really good movie!" Winning at Cannes isn't like the Oscars - they have standards.

On top of all that, two friends saw it and loved it. Not just liked it, loved it. And these two come from different worlds (one lives in New York and watches the kinds of movies that are so avant garde you wonder if they're still "movies", the other lives here in the Midwest and can't get enough Arnold Schwarzenegger and thought Machete was the best movie of the last decade... they should star in a romantic comedy), so that's saying something.

My only concern is that I've built this up too much. I'm expecting greatness; and generally when I expect greatness, I'm disappointed. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

I want to put these beside each other, but it seems I can't... First one, obviously, the Drive full trailer. Second one is the official video for Mastodon's single "Deathbound"... did I mention their sense of humor?

Oh, also, for those keeping track, starting CJ Spiller - terrible idea. Despite the Bills beating the Patriots and putting up 34 points to do it, he had one carry. Worthless. We kept it close, but we still lost. Bring on Week 4, NFL!

One more Mastodon video - one of the funniest things ever. Enjoy!