Juliana Hatfield

Album: Made In China

January 2006 purchase

I have been on a 'girl rock sound' kick lately and I was inspired to purchase Hatfield's latest record. She is still alive and well and making albums at the rip ole age of 38. I was pleased to find hear that her sound is still that raw, sloppy, teenage ranting that I grew to love in her other album I own: Juliana's Pony: Total System Failure.

This record is simple, unpolished, and - at times - hard to listen to. This album is laid-back overall, not quite as in-your-face as some of her past work. The tone is really set with the somber opening track "New Waif".

There's something about a hot woman musician just throwing out an f-bomb casually in a song, it's sexy. Hatfield has always been about personifying the ugly side of humanity, instead of trying to hide it. The track I am referring to here is "What Do I Care?" - which I can logically attribute to the record title "Made In China" - since the phrase appears in the chorus.

Hatfield also has another quality in her music. Listening makes you feel a little younger. Like you are back in high school, not thinking about consequences of raw emaotional outbursts. It's not immature really. Just a little more wreckless. And fun. Tracks like "Stay Awake", and "My Pet Lion" capture this well.

Overall I give this record about a 7.9 out 10.

Creative props for staying down to earth and real, but the records suffers from not enough "hooks" to keep you wanting more.

2.25.2006

Hot in Leather? In Lace?

WARNING: This is a fluff post, there is no meaty insight or intellectual content whatsoever...but the pictures are nice. Ok, I just watched the movie Underworld and really enjoyed it. Being the huge fan of The Crow that I am, I was somewhat proud of the obvious inspiration Underworld drew from The Crow. The Underworld "goth" is more polished and "metro" than The Crow, but that help it create a feel of its own, so he can complain. ANYWAY... The real purpose of this post is that while watching Underworld I began to look at the quite hot Kate Beckinsale and wondered if she was as smokin as the other leather clad action babe close to my heart, CarrieAnn Moss in The Matrix trilogy. This comparison can, and should also, spread beyond their wrapped in tight black leather looks. Which one is more attractive as a "female"? And by that I mean, who looks better in lacey, girlie things? Here are a few shots for comparison's sake. First, in leather.