album review... lips and ribs- battle in nagoya album review by lips and ribs. hmm, definitely has it's moments. highlights being the more juvenile songs and the more ambitious tracks, i.e. weep for me, are pretty confused. or misguided. or poor song writing judgment. not to dilute the positive, but, well, here's a track by track critique:::: 1. battle in nagoya: strong track, in an obvious 8-bit kind of way. still effective. makes me want to go on an adventure, which i think was the songs intent. good job. 2. alpha male war: another strong track pining for an epic quality that seems to be as it should. 3. into your uniform: high school band break down is questionable, while the main verse falls flat. a little too taylor dane-ish/samantha fox-y. the whole genre hop thing can be lousy or radical, depending on your sensibilities. 4. woman walking: very 8-bit digitized vibe-like verse, which is what it is, but then it picks up for a for a pretty rippin payoff. good job jay. 5. ending in amiens- if blast beats and moog's push your buttons then this will deliver. but if that on paper doesn't sound like it would move you, then avoid it. 6. oranienstrasse- another good track, dirty adventure song in the vein of flaccid 80's hero culture. it undeniably drives. 7. weep for me- this song should have been saved for an ep. should have thought about that earlier. enya vox w/ moog-y rock works for a slim slim slim few. if you happen to be in that "few" then kudos, if not, you will hate this fucking song. 8. hilltop w/ mother- over the top, plant the flag for victory/ apollo creed goes down kind of vibe. i like naive adrenaline, so i say good job. 9. celebrate!- failier. toss off c-64 thing. this song is like "hey, look what fun tones i found!" a descent exercise at best. 10. woman is here- ambitious attempt, w/ horns and grooovey rhythm. doesn't quite own up to what it should be. at least the song tried i guess. 11. v-dance- very old song, written w/ primitive software still seems okay enough 4 years after it was written. the drunkin "hey" vox at the end is charming. 12. go ethnic!- another very old song written w/ primitive software. pretty good spaz out. 13. down wedding- pretty stupid, but the end w/ the digital choir over the dinky riff is charming enough not to be too offended. could be totally embraced in more forgiving moments. 14. hans- i have a poor relationship w/ trip hop, so i'm not sure why this song was written, but i admit i like it for the vacuum quality and the goblin-esque sensibilities at the end. i'd say it's a success. i think. 15. legs part- kind of a hammond organ exercise that works alright. the song harbors a respectable patience. and patience for this project is slim... so ya know, good job! 16. beginning in budapest- i think this is a gem, but i totally understand if you don't. the asian/ samual barber-classical ending thing works for me in another genre-hop ploy (synth rock to classical) but again, could come off as insincere. to sum it up, i think this is a good album. it is flawed in the look-at-me-go kind of sense, for sure, but you know, over indulgence is subjective or something. could definitely benefit from some charismatic vocals, but the songs seem insular enough to carry their own weight. there are a couple of tracks you will hate, and rightfully so! the dude who wrote the song hates them! kind of. but yea, at the end of the day, this is an interesting, good album. i would buy it. jayw 12-22-0777777