Music Review: Motiv- The World Turns

Local music has the unfortunate stereotypes of consisting solely of loud guitars, repetitive drumbeats and overplayed punk rock garage band theme

Motiv, a band emerging from Edwardsville, blows away the garage band feel with their new CD, “The World Turns.”

Formed last fall, Motiv has gelled to form one of the most solid sounds to come out of Edwardsville.

One problem found with some local music is the monotony of style in the music. More often than not, songs can easily be confused for the same song over an entire CD. Motiv, on the other hand, demonstrates an experimental tone without going overboard on originality.

Listing bands like Bloc Party, The Strokes and Goo Goo Dolls as influences, Motiv’s sound comes across as a combination of The Cure and Coldplay with a hint of Celtic overtones.

The CD leads off with maybe their best song, “Fight the Night.” Not only are the lyrics poetic, but the violin takes a strong position in the song. It’s a very warming song without being too sappy.

Music Review: Weezer- The Red Album

Weezer’s back, baby.

The true Weezer.

Their third self-titled color-coated album will throw you back to their 1994 days with a surprising tone of experiment.

This is not to say the album really solidifies as a well-matching set of songs, but everything about the red album screams the best combination of their 1994 self-titled blue album and Pinkerton.

One of the largest changes fans will notice right off is Rivers Cuomo’s choice of outfits. Brandon Flower’s cowboy look might have caught on in the modern music scene. It’s almost fitting at the same time.

The overall feel for the album clashes with a strange blend of genres from song to song. It’s mainly rock with a few songs featuring a seemingly joke rap. Cuomo has a good sense of humor about it, so it blends well.

Review: Sex and the City

With the amount of publicity for the “Sex and the City” movie, there was concern about how great the movie would actually be. Some, including myself, were concerned that the movie wouldn’t possess all the “happy endings” fans of the series were looking for.

There should have been no doubts. With an opening weekend estimated at over $55 million, it is no surprise that the movie is a success.

The television series ends with questions concerning each one of the girls and their New York love affairs. Do Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Big (Chris Noth) finally last longer than a season? Will Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) be able to stand living in Brooklyn even though she was so opposed to it in the beginning? Do Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Harry (Evan Handler) adopt the little girl from China, and will they ever be able to have a child of their own? Will Samantha (Kim Cattrall), the ever-single woman of New York, be able to tie herself to one man forever?

The movie answers all of the above questions with some happy endings, tons of great laughs, a few embarrassing moments (don’t drink the water in Mexico) and of course, tears of hatred and joy.