Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Arcade Fire: The Suburbs
I must admit I had homework to do before I could review this album. I was not particularly familiar with Arcade Fire. In fact, when I first looked at The Suburbs cd cover, I thought it was an Arctic Monkeys album. I was very surprised at what I heard, homework was needed to be done.
Arcade Fire front man, Win Butler, and his brother William were born in California. Their family moved to the Woodlands in suburban Houston. It was that conservative suburban life that is the back drop to the album The Suburbs.
It took a couple of sittings before I started to get into this cd. The first three songs, The Suburbs, Ready to Start, and Modern Man have an energy that is not apparent at first but naturally build. The more I listened, the more depth and energy I found. I love this cd. It has sounds of Wilco, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, the Cars, and yes even ABBA.
I liked this cd so much that I went back and listened to their first album Funeral (which I enjoyed very much) and bought their second album Neon Bible (another keeper).
On the Tina/Charlie Promote it, Lend it, Deny it scale, this Modern Man gives it a Promote it.
Thank you Tina!!!
Tina said: I purchased the Arcade Fire after I had heard good thing about the album. It seems as though Arcade Fire has been on "fire" these past couple of months. Their album is among the top ten albums of 2010 on many charts. Their 3rd album has 16 tracks. I was a little intimidated by the amount of songs, and that the time commitment that I had to make to do a complete listening session.
I will admit that it too took me a long time to get into the album, and had to listen to it numerous times before I was entertained or even enjoyed the album. However as I continued to listen to this album, I began to find areas that I enjoyed and songs that kept bringing me back the album time after time. I really enjoy how the songs build, creating an creative and explosive masterpiece. I feel that this is especially true in Rococo. Rococo tells the story of people shamming others because they are unaware of the meaning of the word. (of or relating to an artistic style especially of the 18th century characterized by fanciful curved asymmetrical forms and elaborate ornamentation or of or relating to an 18th century musical style marked by light gay ornamentation and departure from thorough-bass and polyphony). This album is that- Rococo.
On the Tina/Charlie, promote it, lend it, deny it...it's clearly a promote it.
Friday, November 05, 2010
The Greatest Trade Ever: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History
by Gregory Zuckerman
The Greatest Trade Ever was a very interesting account of the lead up to the housing collapse. The warnings of the approaching catastrophe were not hidden but surprisingly few people on Wall Street protected themselves.
John Paulson recognized what was coming and found an investment that profited from the defaults of loans. My rudimentary understanding about the trade is that he bought insurance on blocks of loans that paid out if they defaulted. Who sold the insurance? The same banks that were giving out the toxic loans creating even more of a problem down the line.
John Paulson was not the only person to make money on toxic loans, he just made the most.
The Greatest Trade Ever was a very interesting account of the lead up to the housing collapse. The warnings of the approaching catastrophe were not hidden but surprisingly few people on Wall Street protected themselves.
John Paulson recognized what was coming and found an investment that profited from the defaults of loans. My rudimentary understanding about the trade is that he bought insurance on blocks of loans that paid out if they defaulted. Who sold the insurance? The same banks that were giving out the toxic loans creating even more of a problem down the line.
John Paulson was not the only person to make money on toxic loans, he just made the most.
