Better than warm ears

"Blanket Man"

Famous in Wellington, this homeless fellow has an iPod and headphones.

Presumably gifted to him, I wondered if the iPod now served as a prop, batteries flat, and the headphones perhaps something to warm the ears.

But the other day I heard the mudied sounds of Placebo’s “For What it’s Worth” blasting at high volume from those little speakers wrapped tight to his head.

Do people charge the iPod for him, replace the batteries? Where did he download such a recent single from?

I actually liked it better when he didn’t have an iPod and used to dance along to the sounds pumped from speakers outside music stores. It seemed, for such a public man, so much more appropriate than the isolated experiences iPods and their kin stand for.

Perhaps we’re all entitled to some private experiences and the selection of sounds.

B4TTL3

Placebo sent fans a link and a password to listen to a pre-release of their latest album, Battle for the Sun.

Being a fan, I got my link, and entered the appropriate details on the interweb site I had been directed to.

And I listened.

And I smiled quite a lot.

The password was good for a window of just a few days, with a maximum of 5 plays, and showing a certain lack of real commitment, I logged in on the final day, an hour before I was due to be elsewhere. So I’ve only heard it once.

But what I heard was big noise, smatterings of horns and synths, several nice spotlights on the new drummer’s talents, Molko screeching, and a sound as heavy as your fat mother’s ass.

Molko’s lyrics haven’t improved terribly since the band’s prime time (WYIN). But they’re not all bad. Some are even pretty good. And Molko delivers them all with sterling vitality.

I look forward to repeated spins upon its official release.

PS: Their INTERNATIONAL page now has STUFF in it. Worldwide reviews, articles, concerts, etc.

Better things take time

I see Placebo have launched their renovated website.

I like the look of it, especially the initial page, but I wonder if they really think the world is as empty as their international page suggests.

I don’t like incompleteness. Take some time, get it right, then release it.

(I guess the new album is due out in just under a month…)

For what it’s worth

… here’s the video for the lead single, “For What It’s Worth”, from Placebo‘s upcoming album.*

I’m not as impressed as I was by the track “Battle for the Sun”, but it’s not bad. Seems like Stefan and the (hot) new drummer stole Molko’s share from the style pool. They look great; Molko looks like shite.

Yeah, I got it wrong. “Battle” was just the first released track, not the first single.

They’re not faking anything

Placebo have a new album coming out:

‘Battle for the Sun.’

For a free download of the title track/first single, visit the band’s website.

The album has been produced by David Bottrill (the man behind some of Tool‘s finest work). Consequently, it seems Placebo are embracing harder-edged and more epic qualities.

New-comer Steve Forrest takes up the sticks from Steve Hewitt. Hewitt’s drums were always very nuanced and wove in beautifully with the rest of the band. Forrest displays some ferocity in the above single, with some nice textural subtleties at the start, but his full range obviously remains to be seen. Perhaps he is also somewhat responsible for this refreshed direction?

I very much look forward to hearing more…