Texas Psychedelic Rock Under Neon: "Mission District" by The Black Angels (2008)

British Indie Rock 2000s Under Neon: "Not Nineteen Forever" by Courteeners (2008)

Canadian Blues Rock Under Neon: "Shake, Rattle, & Roll" by Jeff Healey (2008)

Jazz/Blues/RnB/Funk/Soul/Latin Under Neon: "Montego Sunset" by Menahan Street Band (2008) (

Jazz/Blues/RnB/Funk/Soul/Latin Under Neon: "Honey" by Erykah Badu (2008)

Afrobeat Jazz Under Neon: "Home Again!" by Menahan Street Band (2008)

Under Neon Movie Reviews: "Sunshine Cleaning" (2008)

Movie: Sunshine Cleaning
Year: 2008

Rating: 7.8/10 Stars *******'

Interesting movie about a couple of sisters living in Albuquerque, NM who start up a cleaning business that specializes in cleaning up blood and guts from old crime scenes. Emily Blunt is always a plus, and Amy Adams is too. Check this one out, its light and easy.

Akhu's Movie Reviews: 'Hellboy II' (2008)

Movie: Hellboy II
Year: 2008
My Rating: 7.8/10 Stars *******'

This is one of those cases where the sequel is just-as-good-if-not-better than the original. This movie was definitely a higher budget as well, and well worth watching. The same group of secret-government-paranormal agents finds themselves going up an ancient and invincible force called the golden army, and a elven prince who wants to raise it to destroy humanity. Lots of good action scenes, check it out.

DJ Akhu's Movie Reviews: "Pineapple Express" (2008)

Movie: Pineapple Express (2008)


My Rating: 7/10 Stars *******

Hilarious movie, don't know why i waited so long to see it, 'Bill Lumberg' as the evil druglord is pretty funny in and of itself..awkward at times, violent, and also was a long movie for its genre. Check this one out if you haven't already, good action and comedy blend.

Sneaks' Movie Reviews: 'A Summer In Genoa' (2008)

Movie: A Summer In Genoa (2008)
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Rating: 7.0/10 Stars *******

An interesting, as well as sad movie about a father and two daughters who move to Genoa for a Summer 6 months after the mother/wife is killed in a car accident. The daughters and husband are all still dealing with the recent death and also trying to live on, and my favorite part of the movie is the fact that you get heaps of great shots and settings of Genoa, Italy, which is clearly one of those exotic and sunny Mediterranean cities of Italy. Check this movie out, even if just for the travel-show aspects, but expect some dramatic scenes and emotions. 

Sneaks' Movie Reviews: 'Me and Orson Welles' (2008)

Movie: Me and Orson Welles (2008)

Director: Richard Linklater

Rating: 7.8/10 stars *******'

This one is a solid 4/5 stars for me because the acting is good, and the story is interesting, as well as true. Christian Mckay's role as Orson Welles is impeccable, and makes the movie worth watching alone, and award worthy in my opinion. Zac Efron and is okay, and its nice to see Claire Danes again, she is' all growed up' :) Check this one out if you haven't already.

Your Daily Track: 'Dancing On My Grave' by Ghostland Observatory (2010)

Today's feature daily track goes to American indie-electro-dance duo Ghostland Observatory and their song Dancing On My Grave. As you may have already noticed, I am a big indie-electro/indie-dance fan, and I discovered this group recently and found that the singer reminds me very much of the vocals of Freddie Mercury. Now those vocals, and the modern indie-electro sound mixed are just unstoppable, and so it is I am presenting this song here today to you all ;-) Ghostland Observatory consists of duo Aaron Kyle Behrens (vocals) and Thomas Ross Turner (drums and synth), who originate out of Austin, Texas, USA, and who have been active on the music scene circa 2004. Dancing On My Grave can be found on their Robotique Majestique album, which was released in 2008. Listen to the song and tell me it doesn't sound like Freddie Mercury...do it now! If you like what you hear you can check out more at their MySpace page HERE. 

A Brief Movie Review: 'The Burning Plain' (2008)

Movie: The Burning Plain (2008)

Director: Guillermo Arriaga

Rating: 3/5 Stars ***

This is not a light-hearted film, but rather serious, dramatic, and intense. The plot follows what seems at first to be different characters but turns out to be the same characters at different ages in their lives and then ties it all together towards the end. Charlize Theron is quite good at playing those haunted/serious characters and seems to have landed lots of roles like these since her Oscar win, and it has been ages since I've seen Kim Basinger in anything. This movie is worth watching once, but again, it is a tragic-drama, and not unbelievable.

A Brief Movie Review for 'City Of Ember' (2008)

Movie = City Of Ember (2008)

Director = Gil Kenan

Rating = 2.5/5 Stars **'

This sci-fi/adventure is about a future human civilization who have created an underground city/society to remain there for 200 years while Earth's environment on the surface becomes habitable once again. Somewhere along the way the information that a surface world gets lost as the underground civilization faces collapse of their infrastructure. An engaging movie, and this was not the typical Bill Murray role either, but it was nice to see him in a movie again, albeit his character isn't the most likable. Some scenes and situations in this movie really reminds one of the 80's classic The Goonies too, so you may find it interesting if you like that style of adventure flick. I doubt I would watch this movie again in the future.

A Brief Movie Review for 'The Merry Gentleman' (2008)

Movie = The Merry Gentleman (2008)

Director = Michael Keaton

Rating = 3/5 Stars ***

This was sort of a strange one, and may leave wondering what exactly the point of the plot was...but I suppose their aren't movie-rules that state a movie must leave you feeling that it had some value to you as the viewer. Also, do not that the title and cover of the movie most definitely do not convey the movie at all, in fact if you go by the cover and title you might think it is some sort of early 19th-century-English-romance story. Main character Kelly Macdonald escapes her physically abusive husband and starts a new job in a new city across the country only to be caught up in between a cop who is interested in her and a suicidal killer who seems to be killing off a list of people, although we never actually find out what that is all about in the movie. This movie was not really all that suspenseful or myserious, and I suppose that it is meant to leave lots of open ends and fill-in-the-blanks for the creative movie-viewer type. Wouldn't watch it a second time, but worth watching once.

A Brief Movie Review for 'Shades Of Ray' (2008)

Movie = Shades Of Ray (2008)

Director = Jaffar Mahmood

Rating = 3/5 Stars ***

Shades Of Ray is a romantic comedy about an American with a Pakistani father and Caucasian mother, and focuses on his struggles with being bi-racial and how that affects his romantic life. Good movie, the characters get a little irritating at times and are somewhat believable, but I do think this movie addresses issues of race and ethnicity well, in that it shows how despite the world being supposedly past racial/ethnicity issues that there are still massive hurdles that romantic partners and everyday people of different backgrounds have to deal with that makes their lives harder than they already are. Also it is a romantic comedy so its not that serious.

Feature Song of the Day = 'Vanished' by Crystal Castles (2008)

Today's feature song is Vanished by Toronto-based Canadian electronica-band Crystal Castles. Crystal Castles have been active on the electronica music scene since 2004 and consists of producer Ethan Kath and vocalist Alice Glass. They have released 2 studio albums, and Vanished appears on their self-titled debut album which came out all the way back in 2008! Quite clearly the lyrics have been sampled off of the Van She 2005 hit single Sex City (Van She are an electro-pop band from Melbourne, Australia headlined by lead singer Matt Van Schie). Be sure to check out the Crystal Castles  website HERE, or their MySpace page HERE for more band and music information.

Feature Song of the Day = 'Till Im Gone' by Elke

Today's feature song is Till I'm Gone by 5-piece Australian indie-electro band Elke. I have posted songs by Elke (and by their side project band Dolphins)before on this vlog, but I will give a bit of info nonetheless...They are from Brisbane, Australia and they started out as a weekend recording band back in 2007, and band members first names are Zack, Joel, Dave, Jim, and Jesse . Till I'm Gone comes off of their Blue Dream Lover EP, which was their first body of work, and it was on ITunes store, but upon a current search it appears that ITunes (the US-store anyway) has taken this EP off their database?? If you want a little more info on the band you can check out their Myspace page HERE, and even find some free and legal mp3 downloads at their Unearthed page HERE.

Feature Song of the Day = 'Got No Charm' by The Words

Today's song is...Got No Charm, by Australian alternative-rock band The Words. The Words come out of Bunbury, in Western Australia, and consists of members Ben Macri (Lead Vocals, Guitars),  Clint Macri (Guitars, Backing Vocals), Dylan Macri (Guitars), and Ryan Mcdonnell (Drums, Percussion). Got No Charm comes off of their 2008 debut EP titled Running In a Maze, which is available on ITunes and Amazon, but if you want a lower quality free and legal mp3 download of this song (or a couple others) you can head over to their Unearthed page HERE, or just check out their Myspace page HERE for more info. Now, I am not for certain but their musical style reminds me personally of a mix of Third Eye Blind and Counting Crows, but I am referring to just a few elements in a few of their songs as they clearly have their own energy and unique sound. Check it!

Today's Song = 'Dusk Til' Dawn' by Ladyhawke

Today's featured song is Dusk Til' Dawn, by New Zealand artist Ladyhawke. Ladyhawke is a singer/song-writer/multi-instrumentalist who is now a solo artist, but who used to be a member of a Wellington-based band called Two Lane Blacktop. This song certainly is not new, as it is over 2 years old already, and it comes off of her September 2008 release self-titled album. This album peaked at #16 on the Australian albums chart, #1 on the New Zealand albums chart and #41 on the US Billboard Top Heatseekers chart, although Ladyhawke doesn't receive much airtime here in the USA, which is a bit of shame in my opinion. Well, enjoy yourself some good Kiwi-music!