Alkaline Trio - Agony & Irony

Alkaline Trio’s 2008 album Agony & Irony is a new run in the ladder of success for the band. It is a different sound for the Chicago band, it’s a little less raw but a little more relatable for many listeners. One of the best things of the album is that it’s a cohesive album that you can listen to over and over again but at the same time each song seems to be the best song on the album. There is no weak link in the album, which is rare for an eight album for a band.

The album starts off strong and loud with "Calling All Skeletons" as the vocals lead a few seconds before the guitars kick in behind him. The band's familiar lyrical content and humorous edge kicks in immediately, picking up right where Crimson left off. “In Vein” is a standout track that just makes the listeners want to jump around and expel some steam. As the lead singer since about an abusive relationship, the song musically sounds old school like Cash. The strongest track on the album is “Over & Out” which displays the bands unique and distinct sound and lyrical subject matter. A song that reminds you of The Cure with its downbeat and some what saddening theme, is a memorable song on its own.

The album continues with songs like “Love Love Kiss Kiss” and “Live Young Die Fast” that just strengthen your emotional connection with the songs. An album you can listen to blow off steam, scream along, or sometimes even slow dance too, Alkaline Trio has managed to strengthen their fan base and overall image with this album. So next time your mad or sad or stressed, turn on “Over & Out” and just let the music kidnap you.

The Fifth Element - Bruce Willis at his best!

When The Fifth Element was released in 1997 it was one of the hottest science fiction flicks out there. The graphics and special effects were the upstaging factor of the film, making the $100 million budget seem well spent. Though originally criticized for lack of substance, logic, and intelligence, the film has surpassed its time and still brings the science fiction world to a reality to audiences. Starring action star Bruce Willis at the top of his game, the film is full of action, sexy costumes, clever one-liners, and an interesting projection of what the future looks like.

The story line is pretty simple, every thousands of years an evil darkness tries to consume the world but there is one thing that can stop it. When the four elements, wind, earth, fire, and water are placed around the fifth element, the Supreme Being, the five elements destroy the evil. The fifth element is woken but the four other elements are stolen. The fifth element, Leeloo, escapes from a lab, and happens to fall into Bruce Willis’ cab, who happened to be an ex military officer. The two of them team up to find the four stolen elements and save the world. Not a film that should be watched based on its storyline or realisticness, but for its entertaining action and captivating characters.

The Fifth Element is a timeless science fiction film that still holds ground today in production design, creativeness, originality, and visual effects. One of Bruce Willis’ best roles as the badass Korban Dallas that saves not only the day, not just the girl, but the entire world. Awesome.

Favorite Book : The Time Traveler's Wife

The debut novel of Audrey Niffenegger The Time Traveler’s Wife is a timeless love story mixed with a science fiction twist. An unconventional love story that jumps around through time, just as Henry does. We follow the life of Clare as a young child meeting who she will later identify as her future husband, who is coming from the future where they are already married. And we follow the life of Henry, jumping around from present to past to future and even encountering himself during another time. It sounds complicated and hard to follow, but Niffenegger mastered the in depth detail of time traveling, which allowed her to perfectly weave the story together in a way that audiences can follow and become emotionally invested in.

The story starts out with Clare bumping into Henry, someone she obviously knows, while he has no clue who she is. That is because Henry time travelers, not by choice, but because of an uncontrollable genetic malfunction. At the beginning of the story, Henry has never met Clare, but Clare has spent her entire young life meeting an older Henry in a meadow behind her house. The older Henry she knows, comes from the future where they are already married, Henry’s present day, future for Clare.

Though time travel is not an original idea, the way that Niffenegger has structured the story, the audiences become so involved in the suspense that Henry could have an episode and disappear any moment, leaving Clare alone to wonder where in time he has gone and if he is visiting her as a child. A story that causes you to laugh, cry, and suffer just as the characters do. A great read that you will read over and over again, hoping that some how, the time that has passed since you last read it, changes something.

deviantART

deviantART is a online community launched in 2000 showcasing various forms of user made artwork. Since the evolution of the internet, artists have more of an opportunity to showcase their work than ever. This site provides just that, exposure, support, scholarships, and networking internationally. Many similar websites these days often can accidentally create a negative and a discriminatory atmosphere but deviantART is a no tolerance website. Ideally the website’s primary goal was to provide members or “deviants” with a relatively unrestricted creative environment to thrive in while also enforcing a friendly environment. Originating to showcase digital artwork, the site has grown to much more than that and fast.

The website showcases over 11 million “deviations” or artworks and has over 1 million deviant members. It is able to earn revenue through subscriptions, small advertisements, and services it offers to it’s members such as printing. Because of the nature of the website, the front page houses very little text and very large dominating graphics, all deviations of the deviants which are in a display rotation weekly. The site is user friendly and very uncluttered, simulating a gallery you could find any where in the world. To the left of the page is the category list ranging from digital, to traditional, to fan art, and even journals, with many more in between. You can browse through popular art or new art incase you cant narrow down what it is that you are looking for. Nonmembers and members alike can commission pieces or buy existing showcased pieces.

Membership is free and for less than 5 dollars a month, members can subscribe in order to receive discounts on services, eliminate ads and pop ups, access to a message center and other features. For many members, showcasing their artwork on their own purchased website may not be an option, so having a devianART page allows students and artists to show off their work for free. Artists on deviantART also feed off of each other and depend on each other for honest, positive, and constructive criticism. Comments can be made by members on individual pieces of work and viewed by anyone. Because of the positive atmosphere of the site, many artists find that the constructive criticism they receive online is much more valuable than any criticism they find outside of the site. As a member or nonmember, deviantART is one of those websites you can browse for hours, getting happily lost in the endless tunnels of creativity. For nonmembers just looking to purchase or support, deviantART can inspire creativeness out of anyone.

As the site receives more members and more attention, they strive to bring the positive vibe of their online community to the outside world. Engaging artists and nonartists alike are now annually able to participate and form a real live community in California. The event is centers around gallery showings, seminars, instructional sessions, and business tips to inspiring artists.

Overall deviantART is the perfect online community for artists whether they seek criticism, feedback, exposure, to sell their work, to commission their work, or to even print their work. And the perfect online community for nonartists who seek inspiration, original artwork, employees, or who just want to zone out in a creative and visually stimulating website.

SOUTH PARK Season 15 Episode 14

Oh South Park, how you never get old! Now in it’s 15 season, Trey Parker and Matt Stone just don’t seem to run out of ideas. By this time in The Simpsons, the plots are getting redundant. But since South Park feeds off of celebrities, current events, and trends, the ideas are never ending. One great thing about South Park is its ok to love one episode and hate the next. That’s the only way the show maintains its fan base. “The Poor Kid” is one of those episodes you love for it’s obnoxious take on American culture and hilarious exaggerations. For those fans that have watched South Park from the beginning, you know how much of a treat it is to have an episode focus mostly on Kenny. Kenny is one of those characters that are not often focused on much but when he is the star, he has memorable episodes. Kenny, the character who used to be killed in every episode, who played the body double for Michael Jackson’s son Blanket in “The Jefferson’s” episode, and hit Butter’s in the eye in “Good Times with Weapons” is the perfect target for this episode (although the obnoxiousness of Cartman can never be escaped).

When Kenny and his siblings are placed in foster care because their parents were arrested for being “white trash”, Cartman is determined to figure out who the next poorest kid in school is so that he can pick on him. While doing research Cartman and Butter’s discover that Cartman is the next poorest kid in school. Finally, what audiences have been waiting for - Cartman to be the target of cruel jokes. But no, Cartman, not wanting to be made fun of, frames his mom so that he can get placed in foster care as well. The “soft room” at the police station where Kenny and Cartman are both taken, is a funny sight gag, a room filled with scary clown pictures that would give anyone the heebeegeebees. A room that is supposed to be comforting for these trauma kids, is actually the complete opposite.  The foster home that they boys are taken to is a home run by an Agnostic couple who enforce the idea that God may or may not be real and that only Dr. Pepper should be consumed because its not really root beer and its not really coke. The kids in the foster care are so on edge and afraid of committing to anything. The over exaggeration and twist of having an Agnostic couple instead of the cliché of overly religious foster parents adds an interesting and hilarious aspect to this episode.

Funny stuff, but back to Kenny. Its true that Cartman dominates the majority of episode but not only do we have Kenny, we have his alter ego and super hero side Mysterion Man. The costume is relatable to Kenny’s usual coat that covers his face, not allowing the audience to see Kenny. It is very rare when Kenny is shown and when it is done, the audience usually never acknowledges that it is indeed Kenny (like in “The Jeffersons”). We get the return appearance of Mysterion Man, who protects Kenny’s little sister at school and in foster care. One of the best scenes in the show is when Mysterion Man is trying to distract the foster parents from their torture session towards the kids after one kid states something instead of questioning it. Their weapon is a keg of Dr.Pepper that sprays the kid who is hanging upside down in order to force the indecision in them. As Mysterion Man is leading the foster parents away, he replaced the Dr.Pepper in the fridge with a can of PBR, which previously established is what cause people to become “white trash”. The couple shares the can and then they are arrested for being “white trash” after being disorderly.

Overall the episode struggled to incorporate time relevant jokes, like as many Penn State jokes as possible, into the episode without actually commenting on the matter in a way that worked. Being the season finale, much more was expected. South Park usually ends with a quite a bang. Still though, “Poor Kid” is right up there with the best of this season such as “History Channel Thanksgiving” and “You’re Getting Old”.

Aqua : Waves of Praise

In the concrete jungle known as Chicago, architecture is praised and gawked at. Believed to be the birthplace of the sky scraper, Chicago is famous for the buildings that reside there are well as the architects that designed them. But in 2009, a new building has been erected, one unlike any other in the city. In the heart of downtown Chicago is an eighty two story apartment building that resembles cascading water or draped fabric. Step aside Mies van der Rohe and Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, there’s a new style in town. Remarkably enough, this silky smooth structure is constructed of all the normal, manly, tough building materials such as steel, concrete, and lots of glass. But a woman, Jeanne Gang, who heads her own architecture firm, Gang and Associates, designed this particular building. Completed in 2009, Gang appropriately named her masterpiece “Aqua”. Aqua is the tallest building designed by a firm headed by a woman and Gangs first skyscraper. In a male dominant profession, Gang proudly shows off her sense of style. Not only has it caught the eye of plenty respected architects and critics, it has collected quite the rap sheet of architectural awards.

Gang’s design, when broken down, is fairly basic. It centers around a conventional rectangular glass slab, similar to a majority of high rises found in Chicago. But one thing that sets this building apart is the thin, curving, undulating, concrete balconies that wrap around all four sides of the building. These balconies range in size from just a few feet all the way to 12 feet in width. The design of the façade is quite appropriate for the location of the building. Not only does it reside in the heart of the windy city, it is also located in an up and coming residential area near the lake. Using the idea of contextualism, Gang has visually brought the idea of waves into the beautiful skyline of downtown Chicago. The building has a sense of unique rhythm which causes it to look different from any angle viewed at. Though it is a very bold building and stands out in the skyline, it is very organic and malleable.

Besides being a economical success, Gang designed a green building. The real intent of the design is not immediately apparent, which makes the building, from a technical point of view, more remarkable than it looks. Not only are the balconies integral to the design, the create shade for the apartments below, as well as protect the building from the forceful winds in Chicago. Wind is always a factor for architects and engineers when designing for Chicago and normally a solution is a device called a tuned mass damper, but for Gang, this wasn’t the right solution. The balconies are designed to break up with windy forces, which allows for a more economical solution. Gang also received a reward from animal activist group PETA because of the balconies. PETA says birds are less likely to fly and kill themselves on this high rise because the curved balconies are more visible to the birds as well as the etched markings on the glass. These two elements combined make a more animal friendly building; something most architects do not strive to design.

Gang has been compared to Zaha Hadid, the most famous female architect out there, but what Gang has that Zaha does not, is that she is a problem solver not just a shape former. Gang has tackled what many male architects have yet to accomplish; style and functionality. She takes the placement of a project and researches in order to find the best solution to the problem. It is unheard of for a sky scraper so tall to have balconies all the way up, but Gang wanted to fix that. Not only did the balconies serve as a design element, they function well to repel wind and break it up. For a building that appears to be so simple on the outside, it is amazing how much duality exists within it.  These are elements that hopefully will continue on with Gang and her firm and be more present through out the skyline of Chicago. Though she has tackled many buildings in the area, such as Columbia Colleges MPC center, it would be exciting to see what other sky scrapers she has up her sleeves.

Concrete Jungle cliche.. again..

In a special featured exhibit at the Art Institute called Hyperlinks: Architecture and Design, Matali Crasset’s concept art Spring City in Mexico depicts a highway bursting with large mosaic, collage, like tree trunks. Suggesting the overly used cliché concept of a “concrete jungle”, this image is jarring to look at from any angel and for any duration. Its feels as if Crasset was pulling inspiration from Rem Koolhaas who is famous for his concept art Delirious New York  which depicts the surrealistic appearance of New York’s prominent buildings as human figures. Unlike Koolhaas, Crasset is unable to convey a similar message about architecture and organic concepts visually in as an effective of a way. Praised for its “aesthetic rhetoric” and its exploration with the connection between architecture, nature, and technology, this image is simply lacking all together. The technology is not apparent at all, and the architecture is suggested by highways, which is no means represent architecture kindly. The composition of the vertical trunks verses the horizontal highways create an unwanted effect of confusion, causing the audience to be unsure of where exactly to look. If the image had been more similar to Koolhaus, the audience would be able to identify where the artist intended us to look and why. In this image however, it would have been much more effective if there were less tree trunks and instead of a highway, they were juxtaposed with something else vertical, such as buildings or telephone poles. Either one would give the concept of architecture or technology much more effectively than a highway. The entire collection of Crasset’s concept art appear to be all the same, conveying all of the same wrong messages. One of the main objectives of this collection and exhibit it is to carve out new avenues for experimentation that help shape an insightful solution to urgent issues. This piece however bring nothing to the table but to suggest that we should ditch our civilized and organized cities for a place that does not disturb the nature.

Triptych Window from the Avery Coonley Playhouse by Frank Lloyd Wright

Featured in an exhibit at the Art Institute titled “American Perspectives”, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Triptych Window from the Avery Coonley Playhouse originally linked the interior with exterior through openness and light. Now it hangs next to two pieces similar to it, in a forced imitation. Wright designed this stained glass piece for his well known Riverside, Illinois clients the Coonleys. A whimsical addition to the playhouse for the Avery Cooney School this stained glass piece features shapes that can be interpreted as confetti, balloons, and flags. Wright’s interest at this time in Japanese prints and design are revealed through this glass composition. This Japanese influenced piece mixed with Wright’s love for “festive Americana” breathes celebration and is known as a “kinder-symphony”. By including primary colors and clean lines, these windows represent a simplicity that can be interpreted as the innocence and simplicity of the children that inhabited the space. Though these windows are at the Avery Coonley’s gifted school, they are primarily part of the playhouse area, hence the whimsical and playfulness.

Wright never planned on his art glass being viewed outside of the natural architectural context for which they were designed for. He believed the glass and the architecture complimented each other, and with out one, the other could not stand on its own. Now a day, no one really believes this concept to be true. When Wright designed a house for a client, not only did they get a famous architect who buildings are now landmarks, they got numerous, sometimes hundreds of beautiful stained glass art pieces. Sadly, it is hard to see Wright’s original intent with his architectural/ glass concept since many windows have been removed and placed in museums. This individual piece, though it shouldn’t be viewed as an autonomous piece, successful conveys the feeling, the times, and space it once was a part of.

Black Dogs

Black Dogs: The Possibly True Story of Classic Rock’s Greatest Robbery is a short novel that can only be described as an attempt at Gonzo literature. Gonzo Literature, a genre created for and by Hunter S. Thompson to describe his style, merely means when fiction and nonfiction cross paths. In this particular novel, the author, Jason Buhrmester, does exactly that. He takes the infamous robbery of Led Zeppelin in 1973 and recreates what might have happened, creating a book that is vivid, ingenious, captivating and impossible to put down.

Having no more facts than what the public knows, Buhrmester imagines a crazy and almost believable solve to the greatest mystery and robbery in classic rock’s history.

Here are the facts of the event; in July of 1973 Led Zeppelin played three sold out shows in Madison Square Garden in the heart of New York City. Before the final performance, over $200,000 of the band’s money was stolen from a safety deposit box at the Drake Hotel, where the band was staying. The money has never been recovered, no one has even been caught, and the hotel ended up having to pay the band in full. Those are the only facts in the book; Buhrmester imagines the rest.

The story follows 19 year old Patrick Sullivan who has managed to botch every robbery job he has attempted. After his last job went horribly wrong, he left Baltimore eager for a fresh start in New York, and left his best friend Alex, sitting in jail for his crime. But when Patrick sees a briefcase of money backstage at the Led Zeppelin concert, he gets a crazy idea but realizes he is going to need his crew back for just one more job; the greatest robbery in rock history.

He returns to his hometown to rope his crew into the job. His crew is a bunch of misfits, including Alex, who is still slightly bitter from the last job, Frenchy, a music loving nobody, and Keith, who specializes in theft of car radios. The way Buhrmester describes these friends, they could be anyone’s friends. They have traits that are relatable to recognizable to just about everyone. This makes the audience want to see these crazy misfits succeed at something for once.

While Patrick rounds up his crew, every location he visits, the record store, the pawn shop etc are all very vividly described. Through Buhrmester’s descriptions, the audience is able to get a genuine feel for the dingy locations and the times. It is because of Buhrmester’s attention to detail that sometimes you forget this is all made up. It becomes so believable; you almost want this to be the real story.

But before the gang can put the petal to the metal and get their insane scheme going, they run into a biker gang made up of Christian Bikers, The Holy Ghosts, after trying to steal a Les Paul guitar from their pawnshop. After this ordeal, the gang gets wrapped up in trying to execute their plan stumbling across great characters such as Boggie, a front man from a band called The New York Giants. Because the end of the story is true, and the money is missing after all, we know the story is just going to get more interesting from this point on.

Black Dogs is truly brain candy for rock n roll fans. From the many song and band references, to the infamous robbery, this novel will surely fix any craving for a crazy, unbelievable, rock n roll good time. The characters and descriptiveness really show just how much thought the author put in to it. He basically took the idea that this event happened, now who and how in the world was it done? By a group of pot smoking, beer drinking, good time loving, group of friends who were never able to pull off anything before. That’s who.

Cowboys and Aliens

Cowboys and Aliens is a hodgepodge of old west and science fiction elements, a combination that doesn’t sit well with audiences. With a title that suggests imagination, creativeness, and action packed fun, this film disappoints on almost every level.  The plot is farfetched and comical yet still better than many comic book movies that have hit the box office lately. After removing the Indians from the classic equation, what could be a better replacement than gold greedy aliens that used humans as guinea pigs? I would think “anything”.

Directed by Iron Man director Jon Favreau, Cowboys and Aliens follows a pretty standard blockbuster plot with pretty standard special effects. There’s a little bit of mystery, love, action, and suspense but nothing to write home about. The plot goes a little something like this, Daniel Craig, our main cowboy, wakes up in the desert with a mean case of amnesia and a mystery metal bracelet. He immediately has to prove his bad ass ness by killing three guys before the credits even roll in. His travels lead him to a town where he gets into a little bit of trouble with the law and ends up witnessing the kidnapping of the towns people by the alien space ships. During this kidnapping he discovers that the mystery bracelet is some kind of weapon against the aliens. From this point on, he teams up with some friends ( a lovely cameo by Harrison Ford) and his new gal pal (Olivia Wilde) in search of the kidnapped people and the alien colony. The remainder of the film is nothing new to the silver screen, including the ending. It consists of some explanation, alien / human love interests, futuristic planets, and old west style action.

The acting from Wilde, Craig, and Ford seemed misplaced but made the film a little more viewable. The rusty Harrison Ford fit right in with the western time period, maintaining his bad ass, “don’t mess with me”, adventurous type. Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde create a believable on screen chemistry that helps keep the audience intrigued through out the many twists that are thrown at them. Their characters lack the proper development but in these kinds of films, we cant be too picky. The aliens are unfortunately as stereotypical as they get. They are large, bug eyed, greedy blobs that resemble just about every other alien in every other movie. They are both repulsive and intelligent and they had the potential to be much more if the thirst for creativity was there.

Overall, the film gives a really good sense of the time period through the production design and has surprisingly good acting but lacks on just about every other level. It might just be one of those stories that look good in comics but to be truthful it should stay off the big screen.

Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion

Animal Collective’s latest album Merriweather Post Pavilion is just one of those album that should include a hit of ecstasy so that listeners can enjoy it. Without drugs, a listener will probably emerge from the experience half deaf and confused for the rest of their lives.  There is no structure associated with the songs themselves or the album as a whole. It seems as if Animal Collective has found themselves stuck in a middle ground which is just plain unexciting and repetitive.

Most of these songs will be heard once and then never thought of again. It’s almost like they gave up on trying to be creative and clever and ended up with lyrics such as “There we could be dancing And you'd smile and say, 'I like this song'". Come on, that’s like a cheap shout out to yourself.  Though the melodies repeat themselves from song to song with small alterations, they become mundane when listening to the entire album. It’s almost like this album depended on the quirky and catchy melodies to move it forward and completely lacked on the lyrics side.

The first song on the album “In the Flowers” starts off with some abstract noise that catches your attention and then a melody that reminds me of a Pink Floyd song (just not done as well) penetrates and repeats throughout the song.  “My Girls” is definitely a catchy party song but when listening to the lyrics, they are equally as awful as the others.  The third song “Also Frightened” is a creepy song (maybe that’s what they were going for?) starting off with a sort of dripping water noise while drone like voices whine at you. Makes for an uncomfortable time and I cant imagine playing this for anyone not even as background noise. In the middle of this album, if you make it that far, emerges potential, titled “Daily Routine”. The song starts off slow and then quickens in pace, sucking you in, making you feel like you are on some weird off beat carnival ride. And then the title does it justice. Now it’s like the ride is stuck and you are just going around and around and around with no say. It gets redundant and annoying not even halfway through the song. The album goes on for a few songs with nothing special to mention until “Guys Eyes” which picks up-tempo and beat, causing an immediate interest. The lyrics are pretty much unimportant since you cant decipher because of all the layers of sounds on top of one another but its creates a change in pace which is over due in this album. “Lion in a Coma” is probably one of the weirdest intros to a song I have every heard. It reminds me of Australia or a kangaroo bouncing on his tail or something bizarre like that. Lastly are the only two songs really worth mentioning on this album and they are “No More Runnin” and “Brothersport”. Both songs are way different compared to everything else on this album. They are faster paced, catchy, lyrically clever, and intriguing from beginning to end. “No More Runnin” makes you feel like you are trapped (possibly drunk or drugged) and just kind of spinning around mumbling (all in a good way of course). “Brothersport” starts right out the gate with a constant pace and beat that makes it easy to relate and dance too. The lyrics are funny, clever, and catchy which makes for a great ending song on an album.

Overall Animal Collective did not deliver with this album as much as hyped and hoped for. It was a disappointment. This album is just a few specks of gold under pounds of dirt; not even worth digging for. 

Bloc Party "Intimacy"

Bloc Party’s album, “Intimacy” was release in 2008 and is just that, intimate. The subject matter flutters around personal relationships and is loosely based on the front mans break up of 2007. This is an album complied of songs that were obviously written and composed with compassion and great detail. More prevalent in “Intimacy” than any of the other albums from the band is the electronical and orchestral elements, such as violins, cellos, and basses. These elements combined create a feeling of melancholy and intimacy for those who emerse themselves in it. With this album the band strived to break away from the traditional rock pop band cliché.

The first song on the album “Ares” opens with an eerie yearning sound then breaks into what seems like a predictable Bloc Party song. One great thing about this song is that it ends with a melody that is similar to the beginning of the next song “Mercury”. The songs flow smoothly into each other and “Mercury” introduces the electronical and orchestral elements mentioned before. “Halo” and “Trojan Horse” introduce the new Bloc Party with the comfort of the old Bloc Party with songs like “Banquet” and “Blue Light”. The two best songs of the album are “Signs” and “Better Than Heaven”, they represent the entire emotional spectrum experience through this album. Anxiety, intimacy, frustration, and longing are the emotions most relevant. With lyrics from “Signs” such as “the last time we slept together, something just was not there” and “I can sleep forever these days, cause in my dreams I see you again” just pierce the heart with pain and the violins don’t help. “Better Than Heaven” has more of an upbeat rhythm but such dreary lyrics done in a wonderful almost techno’y style. It almost masks the meaning of the lyrics, which is fine if you are trying to forget about everything and just dance. But its good to know that Bloc Party is deeper than that, and it definitely shows through out this album. “Letter To My Son” is a song full of frustration and angst which just puts the cherry on the cake of this album.

Overall Bloc Party was successful in what they set out to do, and that was basically to reinvent themselves as artists. “Intimacy” is an album full of emotions, experiments, and chaos and is perfect to indulge in.