Until Theres Nothing Left of Us free essay sample

When I first came across Kill Hannah, I naturally speculated about the origin of the Chicago band’s moniker. Who is Hannah? Is someone being ordered to kill her? Is it a wish? A plea? Was there a breakup? Maybe Hannah was a pet. Did she have to be put to sleep? Did Hannah attack a mailman? After popping in the band’s second album, â€Å"Until There’s Nothing Left of Us,† I began to realize the untimely fate of Hannah. Poor girl must have overdosed on too much mediocre mainstream electro-space-rock. My condolences to Hannah’s family. From the beginning of â€Å"Life in the Arctic,† I knew I was in for something either artsy and pretty or ordinary and mundane. A short, unintelligible dialogue gives way to a bass line and distant guitar screeches before big drums and a bouncing piano take over. The inherent overproduction points the band toward a space-rock sound which becomes more evident as the album chugs along. We will write a custom essay sample on Until Theres Nothing Left of Us or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page â€Å"Believer,† the second track, is the proverbial kick-in-the-behind where the band realizes they need to do something productive. Enter the corny synth line, crashing power chords, and the vocals of Mat Devine. Ah, Mat Devine. He sings with a hushed tone and as-of-yet unparalleled androgyny. There’s so much estrogen in the vocals that I bring up the notion that he may have been Hannah in a past life. â€Å"Lips Like Morphine† is perfect for radio and television. The synth is as prevalent as ever, the drums are stale and reek of recycling, and as Devine proclaims that he wants â€Å"a girl with lips like morphine,† the tweens are already arriving at his doorstep with love notes and a burning desire for a hug. The rest of the album is more of the same tracks so similar that they could be interchanged, synth stolen straight from the 1980s, and more of Devine’s contrived lyrical wit. â€Å"Crazy Angel† opens with a woman (Hannah?) asking, and I quote, â€Å"What’s the craziest thing you’ve done recently?† It makes me shiver with nausea. The fact that the chillingly annoying line is repeated halfway through the song only worsens matters. â€Å"Sleep Tight† functions as an end to the album and is simply a replay of the introduction with added lyrics. It seems a tacked-on afterthought, a good idea with not-so-good execution. I make â€Å"Until There’s Nothing Left of Us† sound worse than it is. Granted, somewhere between the reused drum beats, cheesy synth lines and boring lyrics, the music inadvertently finds ways to be mildly interesting. But for all the bits of music salvaged from the trash heap, the majority of the album is transposable filler and in the end the entire product is as average as average gets. However, judging by the band’s â€Å"market us† image and made-for-radio style, Kill Hannah is definitely going places. Good for them, but after listening to their sophomore release, I’ve come to the conclusion that Hannah just isn’t my type.

What Writers Say About Christmas and Santa Claus

What Writers Say About Christmas and Santa Claus Christmas happens only once a year, but it is one of the most fun times of the year! Writers have said a lot about the Christmas holiday (and everything that goes with it). Celebrate Christmas with these quotes from famous authors like Charles Dickens and Walter Scott. Famous Quotes About Christmas and Santa Claus Sing hey! Sing hey!For Christmas Day;Twine mistletoe and holly.For a friendship glowsIn winter snows,And so lets all be jolly!- Author UnknownThere are three stages of a mans life: He believes in Santa Claus, he doesnt believe in Santa Claus, he is Santa Claus.  - Author UnknownI have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.  - Charles Dickens, A Christmas CarolI will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.  - Charles Dickens, A Christmas CarolHappy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sai lor and the traveler, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home!  - Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers  (1836) Christmas isnt a season. Its a feeling. - Edna FerberI do like Christmas on the whole... In its clumsy way, it does approach Peace and Goodwill. But it is clumsier every year. - E.M. ForsterFail not to call to mind, in the course of the twenty-fifth of this month, that the Divinest Heart that ever walked the earth was born on that day; and then smile and enjoy yourselves for the rest of it; for mirth is also of Heavens making. - Leigh HuntChristmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart. - Washington IrvingI heard the bells on Christmas DayTheir old, familiar carols play,And wild and sweetThe words repeatOf peace on earth, good-will to men!- Henry Wadsworth LongfellowI hear that in many places something has happened to Christmas; that it is changing from a time of merriment and carefree gaiety to a holiday which is filled with tedium; that many people dread the day and the obligation to give Christmas presents is a nig htmare to weary, bored souls; that the children of enlightened parents no longer believe in Santa Claus; that all in all, the effort to be happy and have pleasure makes many honest hearts grow dark with despair instead of beaming with good will and cheerfulness.  - Julia Peterkin, A Plantation Christmas (1934) Love came down at Christmas;Love all lovely, love divine;Love was born at Christmas,Stars and angels gave the sign.- Christina RossettiAnd the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadnt before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesnt come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. - Dr. SeussA Christmas gambol oft could cheerThe poor mans heart through half the year.- Walter ScottTo perceive Christmas through its wrapping becomes more difficult with every year. - E.B. White, The Second Tree from the Corner (1954)Somehow, not only for ChristmasBut all the long year through,The joy that you give to othersIs the joy that comes back to you.And the more you spend in blessingThe poor and lonely and sad,The more of your hearts p ossessingReturns to you glad.- John Greenleaf Whittier Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus.  - Francis Pharcellus Church