Marginal Minds

Dinosaur Jr. Plays Bug in Philly

2011-06-30T17:55:00.008-04:00

Article and photos by Paul Tsikitas.

This past week, Philly was treated to Dinosaur Jr. playing through their seminal 1988 album Bug, in it's entirety. Touring a 23-year old album with Henry Rollins in tow may seem to some like either something out of a slacker's cream dream or something that just doesn't make any sense. However, Dinosaur Jr.--having been re-energized since re-uniting their original line-up back in 2005--has unleashed two of their best albums, 2007's Beyond and 2009's Farm. Having listened to those two albums extensively, it makes more sense that Bug is being resurrected for a full tour.

Before Rollins could sink his hooks into Dinosaur Jr., punk rock supergroup Off! got to unleash a furious set. Seeing members of Black Flag and Philly's own Burning Brides slay through 10 or so songs was the perfect starter. Then Henry Rollins took over, and the Electric Factory crowd was going nuts. In fact, when J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph strolled out shortly after, there were still people chanting for Rollins. Rollins interviewed the band asking questions like a giddy school girl. He even proclaimed to be the biggest Dinosaur Jr. fan out there. It was kind of obvious that, as usual, Rollins was right. There was one wistful moment when Lou Barlow recollected having written some negative things about J and Murph and it was a touching moment, if not ruined by that guy screaming "ROLLINS" every 27 seconds. The band left the stage and the real moment of truth came.

Before launching into Bug, Dino J kicked off with "The Lung" and "The Wagon", keeping in pace with the album's intensity. Nothing slowed down from there. "Freak Scene" is a show stopper. The guys, who resemble dinosaurs themselves, had a relentless energy. "Let It Ride" was my personal favorite highlight. J's guitar was in full tilt. Album closer "Don't" usually screamed by Lou Barlow was pawned of to a local fan. It was an intense ride. They came back for a two song encore highlighted by their biggest hit "Feel the Pain." The night was a blur of sound and pure rock ferocity. A perfect rendition of an intense album.

Other than the few overly intense Henry Rollins fans, this was purely a night of celebrating Dinosaur Jr. They may not have the star power of, say, Soundgarden, their grungy counterparts (who are also touring this year), but they have a relevance and sound that is equally as powerful. Even after seeing Dinosaur Jr. a handful of times, my excitement never lagged. This was a night of pure punk rock fury that I will never forget.

Garage A Trois

2010-08-09T01:33:00.005-04:00

This was my first time seeing Garage A Trois since they replaced power-genius acid-jazz guitar-god Charlie Hunter with avant-garde golden-boy piano-prodigy Marco Benevento. I wasn't sure what to expect, especially considering that I was always 'so-so' on the few Benevento projects I had the opportunity to see. But I gotta hand it to him. Marco may have stole the show.

I'm not sure exactly why I was half expecting MB to be all over the place. If they can keep Skerik on a tight shock-collar, the brash young organ talent should be more than happy to stick to the script despite his flair for bragadociery. But if his improvisational flow is a garden hose, then Garage has put a thumb over half the spigot to make the concentrated stream burst forth with twice the force, and thrice the effectiveness. Benevento's solo's were truly electrifying. Mesmerizing. Every other adjective used to describe major motion pictures. Getting a primo spot on the balcony gave me a compelling view of his dancing fingers which tore through stratospheric scales and satanic modes at bullet-train speeds. By comparison, Marco shredding through octaves and sevenths makes lightening bolts look like molasses. My mind was effectively blown. Dancing ensued.

As for the rest of the crew? Well Stanton Moore is a figurehead for far more than all of apocalypse-era New Orleans music. He is an innovator of far more than the preferred drum method of percussion instructors around the country. He is a live and session favorite of--well, probably everybody. He smiles when he plays and makes the skins sing. And I'd like to note that if there ever was a modern jazz act dearer to my heart than Garage A Trois (as well as the aforementioned Mr. Hunter's albums), it would have to be the Stanton Moore Trio.

Skerik, whose awesome sax wrongdoings have echoed in the halls of Olympus as having been part of Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, plays gymnast-tight bluesy lines and isn't afraid to even sit out for breaks while Marco dominates the higher registers. Hell, he's probably exhausted because his other band, The Dead Kenny G's, was the opening act and that's where Skerik does his real brutalities. At one point during the Gs' set, he actually beat-boxes into his sax mic and loops the effect for some hip-hop breakdowns. Meanwhile, the last Garage-man and also a member of the G's--percussionist Mike Dillon--does demonic things with the vibraphone and operates effects pedals and pads coming out the wozz. Mike D seems to represent the more inappropriate emotions that can be associated with instrumental music and I definitely wouldn't have it any other way.

I haven't had a chance to hear their new album, Power Patriot. But the two new tracks from their myspace are succulent, especially 'Germs'. Check that out, fast: http://www.myspace.com/garageatrois. There's not all that much else for me to say about these guys... get all their albums, see them live, Marco Benevento rocks, it's a continual cavalcade of Yes.

Psychedelphia

2009-06-06T16:04:00.014-04:00

I got to sit down at Chris's Jazz Cafe in Philadelphia just as Psychedelphia was setting up shop. I was excited to check them out based on their name and venue alone, but I wasn't sure what variety of jazz/psychedelic music I was going to get. When they took the stage, what I ended up getting was a well-organized, tonally pleasing jam-band that managed to skirt past predictability without getting inaccessable. Think of a less over-ambitious Phish, with Greatful Dead major chord optimism and an occasional splash of King Crimson-esque segeuways and time signatures. Not willing to let these guys slip by, I cought up with lead guitarist Kenn Mogul after the show, for a chat.

MM: Who are all the band members? How long have you guys been playing together?
Kenn: Alden Parker plays rhythm guitar, John Olsen plays bass, Adam Pasqual plays drums. We’ve been together since last August.

MM: How did you guys get started?
Kenn: Alden is from Tennessee. Adam, John, and I are all from the Pottstown area in PA. I got back from a 7 month spiritual retreat. There was an open jazz jam at this venue called Chaplans. We played together at this weekly, free form jam session for a few weeks, and we decided to start working on original material in mid-August'08. Our HQ is this place called the Nuke Farm near the power plant in Limerick.

MM: What are your influences?
Kenn: We have all different influences. The most common amongst us is the Beatles. You probably would HEAR that as much from our finished result though. Alden’s big in to Widespread Panic, Bela Fleck and the Fleck Tones, Phish… one of my biggest influences is Steve Kimmock. We have a heavy San Francisco, Denver influence, what we’re doing isn’t really done in Philadelphia.

MM: What’s the songwriting process like?
Kenn: I write 95% of the music. I write melodies in my head; I think every melody tells a story, so when I think of something, I write the melodies down with words in story form.

MM: If you don’t mind me asking, can you tell me a little bit about your 7 month spiritual retreat?
Kenn: I had just got out of the band Mogul’s Brew. Some people achieve a decent amount of success, then when the shit hit’s the fan, ya kinda go a little crazy. I sorta went the Jack Kaeroak route, Denver was the first stop. I wrote a lot of songs. Every player has to realize what they’re capable of... And then deal with the fear of what you’re capable of.

MM: Forgive the stereotypical question based on your guys sound an appearance, but… do guys, uh.. partake?
Kenn: That was a big part of the past for a few of us, but we’re all clean now and just enjoy a few beers.

MM: How long have you been playing guitar?

Kenn: I picked it up at ten, and eventually I dropped out of high school to tour with Face Down Angels. My family wasn’t thrilled, but they weren’t terrible about it either--they were just like, “you’ll learn…” and they’re right. I am learning. I know about a million ways to do it wrong, Pychedelphia is my attempt to do it right.

MM: Do you guys have any CD’s to offer?
Kenn: We record all our shows live. We have an EP that we recorded about a month after we started. We’re currently working on an LP that’s half live, half studio.

MM: Have any labels approached you guys?
Kenn: Yea, we’ve been approached a few times but we’re trying to keep it very DIY at the moment. On the horizon, we plan to look for a band to dour with on the east coast, then maybe head out west.

Pychedelphia - Submerged.mp3

Check out Psychedelphia:

Myspace

Psychedelphia.com

Mastodon

2009-04-10T06:31:00.005-04:00

When a band is pigeonholed into a genre, it sometimes makes it extremely hard for that band to grow. And when it comes to metal music, the one huge thing a metal band needs to fear is pissing off its fan base. Metal heads are some of the toughest sells to change. They want speedy riffs, heavy vocals and overall brutality. In the case of Mastodon, the band's past few efforts have showed winds of change, but were still essentially brutal, metal. Mastodon has decided to do the unholy shift in scope and sound on their new record, Crack the Skye. From the perspective of a non-metal head, this album is a transcendent piece of spaced out prog metal that shows the band at it’s most coherent and precise. The shift in production and sound may piss off some metal heads, but to be honest, if they can’t get down with this record, fuck em.

Crack the Skye is a revelation. Mastodon has always written intricate stories within their brand of metal. Leviathan took a stab at Melville’s Moby Dick and Blood Mountain tells tales of strange forest creatures and paranoia. Ambition is something that Mastodon has in spades and Crack the Skye may be the most ambitious yet. A story of astral travel, golden umbilical cords, usurping Czars, Rasputin, the devil and lofty out of body experiences pervade the story arc of the album and with that, we have easily the strangest and most unique concept album in some years. Their past records are said to represent one of the elementals and this time around, the element of aether, the space between the heavens and Earth, is definitely executed not just thematically but musically.

Album opener and stellar single “Oblivion” rockets through a chugging riff and launches the listener into this world. The vocals, which in exchange for Mastodon’s usual screams and howls, moves to melodic harmonies and lamentations. Although the mood and structure of songs is somewhat different, with touches of Tool style prog and Pink Floyd melodic guitar soloing, Mastodon’s signature booming rhythm section and multi-vocalists still prevails. “Divinations” is a superb rocker with a howlingly fast guitar passage and bone crushing drumming.

The second half of the record houses some of Mastodon’s finest work to date. The loud and technical “Ghost of Karelia” is the albums high point. Structurally, the song is a workout of epic proportions. A pulsating riff with a hypnotic bass line that is constantly swirling and changing, it’s dynamic, fast-paced metal that is a welcome change to the bands thrashy goodness. “Crack the Skye” is where we hear Mastodon at their more traditional with the help of Scott Kelly of Neurosis. His beckoning screams a backed by a furious drum beat that pummels your ears and a deep chugging guitar part that is relentless and loud. The album closes with “The Last Baron,” a lofty 13-minute metal epic that never eases up and spazzes out from time to time. It has movements that are an all out assault on the ears. It’s the pinnacle of the albums intensity.

The complaints are sure to flow, but at the same time, Mastodon has definitely topped themselves. This brand of audacious space prog from a generally brutal metal band comes as a pleasant surprise. The band is embracing the album format more so than before with a seamless flow and a theme, although ambitious, very intriguing and coherent. Masterfully crafted, Crack the Skye is a fitfully brilliant rock record that takes no time to get into. It isn’t a sellout record by any stretch. Major label success has yet to ruin Mastodon’s integrity and this disc is nothing short of dazzling.

by Paul Tsikitas

Mastodon on:
The Internet
Wikipedia

Duane Swierczynski

2009-03-11T12:37:00.011-04:00

A timely review of Duane Swierczynski's 2005 crime-noir thriller, The Wheel Man.

Progress with regards to my list of to-reads didn't receive any particular shot in the arm this year as things like relocating to Collingswood, my introduction to podcasts, a personal video game rennaisance, beer blogging, and youtube on the projection screen of my new man-cave largely took over the main focus of my culture-time expenditure. The fact that I actually read all 220 pages of this lightning fast thriller smack in the middle of Philly Beer Week--a week when very little ought to be getting accomplished--should illustrate exactly how quickly this book moves.

The protagonist is a mute Irishman who serves as a getaway driver for a bank robbery. The book opens with him getting ready to make a getaway, when--take a guess.. Something goes wrong? Bango. And things continue to go so wrong for the next two days as an assortment of characters vie for the loot, the guns, the girl--it's basically a classic noir clusterfuck all Swierczynski'd up for a Philly free-for-all.

It seemed as though the odds were stacked in my favor to love The Wheel Man because: it serves as a noir-tastic travelogue in and about my nearby metropolis--including a few stops in at my old dorm; it features characters with (at best) blurred ethical compasses; and it reads like a transcript of Tom Waits muttering in his sleep. On top of all that, the author himself is my former journalism professor, which, in a way, makes him partially responsible for quality of this website. hAHAHAHA FART@@

A lot of common adjectives are used to describe Duane Swierczynsky's works--gritty, sharp, violent, pulpy, clever, dark, slick. I'm going to pitch a few new ones: Funky, soulful, jazzy... Is Swierczynski the Herbie Hancock of modern crime-noir? It would be rude of me to say "definitely, yes" having only gotten around to reading a pathetic (1) of his prolific (5) fictions per presidential term. But there definitely is a certain rhythmic quality to this heisty shoot-em-up.

Just as Guy Ritchie will slow a bullet down so you can admire the art on the wall behind it, Swierczynski goes from cut-the-crap plot-points to savoring the little details... then right back to business. This creates a pace that would be dizzying, but the narrative has enough meat to dig into that you never spin out or lose comprehension of a plot-twist. The arrangement of these pace-change-moments add just the appropriate amount of flesh and never seem merely like sprinkles of humanity-dust atop a 90-foot steel nihilism-coaster.

By the way, Swierczynski never lets us forget that he's in love with heistery on a grandiose scale. The closest that this theft-loving romp comes to being boring is when Duane stops to lists six or ten of his favorite bank robbery books that a particular character (read: Duane) read when he was growing up. But I admire Duane's indulging in his passion (as well as--most likely--the passion of many of his readers!). Besides, the only reason this seems boring to me is because the titles are all about bank robbing, instead of, say, the history of dry-hopping.

I think the coolest thing about The Wheel Man is that so many different characters come and go--a total quantity which, normally, would be overwhelming. Swierczynski manages to weave your interest into the fates of these different characters like a lazer surgeon. But he never over-does or under-does a particular character's development, and that includes characters we only meet in the final pages. On back cover, Duane thanks his editor "Marc". I can tell that "Marc" had a big hand in helping Duane look good, because this book could be a 700 page project to read. Instead I got a huge novel's worth of thrills and depth, but it took me a day and a half. This "Marc" seems like a good professional, and I look forward to sending him a few of my still-up-for-grabs manuscripts such as, The Over-Eater, The Problem Drinker, and Unemployed: Mom, would you like to buy a Young Writer Bond?

Las thing I'd like to mention is how flat out funny this book is at times. Duane's blend of humor, which I like to call SophistiFrat™ suits the over-all tone of the work just about perfectly. The characters are a fun array of archetypes that sometimes rely on cheap laughs just so as not to wander off-topic, and other times work the context of their relationships to humor's advantage. Even though I wouldn't call this a comedy by any stretch, there were certainly at least a few out-loud-laughs (or "oll", for those of you who are hip to texting).

What's next for my Duane-queue? Might as well start with the titular book from his blog, Secret Dead Men, although I'll certainly have to czech them all out at some point. Only worry is I hope I can get to finish before he cranks more out, and no, that wasn't meant to sound dirty!

Visit Duane on the Internet!
Buy his Books!

editor@MarginalMinds.com

Josh Garza

2009-02-05T18:43:00.008-05:00

Secret Machines Drummer Discusses New Album

M.M.: Josh, the new album is self titled... Why is that?
Josh: I know it sounds pompous, but the truth is there were really no stand-out songs or themes on the album, so...

M.M.: Tell me about the Warner Brothers' fiascor.
Josh: After it was recorded, Warner Brothers didn't feel like it would sell 50,000 or 100,00 copies, so they didn't want to go ahead with it. We asked them to drop us, and let us keep the album rights, but they wouldn't. Instead, they liscenced us out to an indie label. World's Fair / TSM... Most of the time, bands get dropped and these reccords get shelved all-together. Especially with today's economy, bands need to sell a million coppies... They were scared to let us go, scared to go ahead with the reccord. So doing it this way, they sorta did us a big favor.

M.M.: How do you feel about the album over all? It sounds like it very well could be your guys' best work...
Josh: Well, I'll tell you what, I'm glad you said it before me... It feels sorta [awkward] to come right out and say it, but it's just a really excellent rock reccord. Also, we did all this stuff with live tapes, no computers, it's serious rock and roll.

M.M.: Do you feel pressure from fans--now that you're developing a serious fan base-to play certain 'hits' during your live set? Are you going to be focusing mostly on the new material during shows?
Josh: We're just doing what we love to do... entertain people.. have fun... We're going to be shying away from "Now You're Gone" and "Last Believer, Drop Dead" which are two tracks in particular that we haven't really worked out a transisiton from the studio piece to a live performance yet.

M.M.: What have you been listening to lately?
Josh: Uh... Grindermen... The new Nick Cave is great! I like the new T.K. Webb. I like full reccords, can't just get into single songs...

M.M.: Who did you listen to growing up?
Josh: I grew up with 3 brothers, they played full reccords, and I got to listen to bands that have a lot of personalities in the sound. The Who, Stones, Zep, all unique personalities. And my brothers pushed me into the drums. Listening to these reccords, we'd play air-instruments a lot, and the drums were the only air-instrument left for me to pick! But the personalitiy in the music always meant a lot... U2, Joshua Tree, Actung Baby, Unforgetable Fire, they all have great songs but I didn't like the production. I didn't care about Brian Eno's drum machine, I always preferred guys banging away on stuff...

M.M.: Who do you like to read?
Josh: Kurt Vonnegut... ...he's really a funny writer!

M.M.: Any sweeping generalities about the current political climate?
Josh: You know.. it's like watching the game. People have turned politics into a sporting event. I'm not a huge fan of either party, but people don't really care any more, they don't really listen, they just root for their fuckin' team.

Check out the new Secret Machines album, and here's a youtube of Josh wailing on skins:

Philly Local: Inis Nua Theatre

2009-01-06T23:14:00.007-05:00

When artistic director Tom Reing conceived Philly-based Inis Nua Theatre five years ago, Paul Meade’s play Skin Deep served as a basis for what he wanted the company to emulate: contemporary work from Ireland, England, Wales or Scotland that told a good story, asked probing questions and allowed for actors to command attention.

Since Reing first saw Skin Deep in Dublin in 2003, he’s wanted to bring it to Philadelphia. The desire was fulfilled Wednesday as Skin Deep opened before a sold-out show at the Adrienne Theatre on 20th and Sansom streets for its American debut.

“The show didn’t do Broadway and then regional theater like other Irish shows; so I decided to bypass all that and went down the route of self-producing,” he said. To Reing, Skin Deep is “really great. … [It’s] smaller, less technical to produce. After five years... this is great!”

Written by Irish playwright Paul Meade, Skin Deep depicts the entangling lives of four Dubliners who let their creative ambitions impair their ethical judgments in a thriller of a play. The quartet employed by Reign provides compelling and realistic characters, who have you rooting them on while simultaneously despising them.

Charlie DelMarcelle plays Karl, a starving artist so desperate for a bankable idea, he convinces a young medical student, Susan (Melissa Lynch), to steal a human foot from a research facility. Karl’s art begins to center around the foot: drawings of, reactions to and the foot itself. He shows it to his friend Dan (Jared Michael Delaney – also assistant artistic director), an aspiring photographer himself, and Dan’s new girlfriend, journalist Ruth (Corinna Burns) to capture natural reactions to the foot’s mortality and obscurity. But when his show featuring the foot becomes successful, people–-including Ruth--start asking questions about the foot, compromising Karl, Susan and Dan’s futures.

Although all actors excel, Burns stands out as Ruth. Coming off a stint as Antigone at the Fringe’s Oedipus at FDR (you know, the skate park), Burns really sells the Irish accent and serves as the reality check to the idealist Karl, the lustful Dan and the desperate Susan. Her character struggles to maintain a relationship with Dan and write an incredibly personal article, in addition to battling a brain tumor. That seems like a lot to handle, but Burns manages it all well and effectively creates a dynamic character. Her internal struggle of wanting to protect Dan verses exposing the truth is apparent.

Loosely based on English artist Damien Hurst, Karl goes beyond the ethical norm in art. Hurst’s work features animals–-tiger shark, cow, sheep-–preserved in formaldehyde. Karl takes that a step further with the foot. DelMarcelle displays a cold, indifferent opinion towards humanity and often manipulates the other characters.

For Reing, the ethical questions posed by Meade’s work drew his attention, among other aspects:

“Ethics are important. It’s all about choices and consequences. I find that interesting. I want to show characters that aren’t evil villains with dark mustaches or total good guys,” Reign says. “We’re all complex. [I want to do] plays that speak to me and ask, ‘what would I do?’”

A low-budget production, Reign’s version of Skin Deep nevertheless works well with the limited means it possesses. A fifth character nearly exists in the form of a video screen down stage right. Relevant backgrounds, character photographs and intense live video add another dimension to the production. Set designer Tim Gallagher used his space and tools appropriately. DelMarcelle’s monologues which pervade the show allow the audience a more intimate look at an actor then normally possible in a production. When his character Karl discusses mortality, fame and 'who owns the body', you are drawn to listen. Although some topics may seem redundantly repeated, each presentation remains fresh.

Reing enjoyed the video because it advances Meade’s theme of a society existing with a deluge of cameras. In addition, the idea that you don’t own your body pervades the work.

“Who owns your body? There’s cameras everywhere. The foot being on display. Susan’s image on the billboard. Ruth gets the bad part of her brain taking out, but she still looses something,” Reing says.

Elsewhere on the technical aspect, transitions between scenes (despite that actors had to do the legwork) were quick and nearly unnoticeable. Proper reflection could be given to the previous episodes because of the appropriate music, projected images and otherwise dark landscape. Also, a functional four-in-one set piece eased many transition burdens.

Skin Deep opens Inis Nua’s two-show season and runs Jan 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and is only $15 for students at the door ($20 for old fogies). Another Irish play, Mark O’Rowe’s Made in China is to follow in May. In between, Inis Nua runs a monthly reading series with respective selections from Scotland, Wales and Ireland in the coming months.

by Sam Fran Scavuzzo

Todd Solondz

2008-12-09T16:52:00.008-05:00

During the first part of the 1990's, lots of indie directors rose to fame. Propelled by independent but driven producers like the Weinsteins, growing festivals, and more options in video rental and purchase, these artistic, edgy filmmakers started to make a name for themselves. Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Kevin Smith, and Richard Linklater are a few of the people who turned their success with small projects into major movies.

One man came along at the end of this period who never really reached the mainstream like those now-famous filmmakers. His name is Todd Solondz, and while other people who started out as the "hot new filmmaker" like him went on to big things, he has staunchly remained in art house circuits. In fact, you could argue that he has only gotten more extreme and less commercial with each film. How often does that happen?

Solondz, who grew up in a dysfunctional North Jersey home, made a big splash at Sundance in 1995 with Welcome to the Dollhouse. This black comedy featured all unknowns and a tiny budget, but managed to capture the awkward side of high school like never before. Bullies, incompetent parents, and the tough part of growing up were all explored. The main character, superbly named Dawn Weiner, is a dorky girl trying to fit in as her parents ignore her for her cute little sister. Critics loved it, and were amazed at the blackness of the comedy, as Solondz made his heroine's life miserable but touching. It was the toast of Sundance, and like many of those others who gained famed there, people expected big things from Solondz.

For his next project, Solondz got to work with bigger name actors, but still kept to those in the indie ranks. To much surprise, he didn't use his festival success to catapult to a commercial project, instead going for an even riskier story. This time, he would feature even darker aspects of life for his black comedy, including pedophilia, perversion, suicide, and rape. His ambitious ensemble piece created more buzz in the indie world and appalled many family oriented movie watchers. This film, he ironically dubbed, is Happiness.

The film is an ensemble piece, tied together by a somewhat dysfunctional Jersey family. Three sisters (Jane Adams, Lara Flynn Boyle, and Cynthia Stevenson) all have different issues. Adams is a neurotic but optimistic girl who believes in goodness and wants to help save the world. Boyle is a selfish, insecure but successful writer who makes up stories of sexual abuse. Stevenson has a seemingly happy life with her psychologist husband (Dylan Baker), but there are undertones of sexual problems. Their parents (veterans Louise Lasser and Ben Gazzara) live in Florida, retired but not happily. The other person who has a storyline is Boyle's perverted neighbor, Philip Seymour Hoffman, brilliant as ever. Then there's random great appearances from Jon Lovitz, Molly Shannon, Camryn Manheim, Jared Harris, and even Marla Maples (Donald Trump's ex-wife, who's made a career out of trashing him... and men in general).

Some people couldn't believe how he centered an emotional plot around a child molester, but he does, and it works. Baker's troubled doctor is an amazingly complex character. He's a shrink who has to see his own shrink. He has the ideal family life in the suburbs - a big house, a loving wife, and two sons. He just has one problem - he loves little boys. Solondz doesn't hold back in showing how much Baker desires children. Despite this, he is a solid father and devoted husband, trying to overcome his secret. Instead of just labeling him as a pedophile and a monster, Solondz shows him as a mostly good guy with a devastating problem. He's even very touching in his talks with his eldest son, who is hitting puberty. He gives him sound advice on girls and not worrying about his bodily changes. These talks might sound creepy in the context of Baker's secret desire, but they're not. He really cares. But he is a pedophile, and when his son brings a friend over, Baker can't help but seduce him in a scene that is alternating disturbing, sad, suspenseful, and weirdly funny. His son unknowingly tips him off to another vulnerable child. In the end, Baker ruins his ideal life by submitting to these desires, and in a wrenching admission, tells his son, "I just couldn't help myself."

This plot is underscored by the subplot with Hoffman, the acting genius. He's a pervert, but unlike Baker, he doesn't have an ideal life. He has an annoying office job and a crappy apartment in Jersey. He's relegated to making dirty phone calls to random women and spying on Boyle, who lives in his complex. He wants to be a stud, but the only person who shows any interest in him is Manheim, sweet but overweight, and he feels miserable. He's aware, though, of the irony of life, that he is seen as a freak and made fun of, while people with worse problems than him (like Baker) get by. He also knows that Boyle is a fraud, and wants to teach her reality. But when he confronts her, he realizes that he can't be who he imagines to be.

This film had mixed reactions, as parents and conservatives hated it while critics and festivals ate it up. It ended up being one of the best-reviewed films of 1998 (even Roger Ebert loved it), but a lot of people haven't watched or even heard of it because of its dark subject matter. Still, it confirmed Solondz as a powerful filmmaker, and not just a one hit wonder. He had the chance to do something big after two impressive indie hits.

But again, he didn't want to do anything big. For his next film, he kept pushing the envelope. He came up with an elaborate idea for a film with three stories, each adding to the idea of storytelling. He simply named this project Storytelling to emphasize that. He managed to get a few name actors, but still ignored a chance to go Hollywood.

He ran into problems, however, when one of his stories included a risque gay sex scene, and the actor involved was James Van Der Beek. Remember, this was right after Varsity Blues, and VDB was hoping he could jump from Dawson's Creek to stardom. Some execs didn't want it tarnishing his image, and the whole segment was never finished. Thus, Solondz had only two segments left. He named them "Fiction" and "Non-Fiction," and they mirrored each other.

In the first part, a girl struggles to write anything decent in her college fiction writing class. One night, she meets up with her gruff professor at a bar and ends up sleeping with him. He's black and admits to loving little white girls. She uses this as her next story in class, to try and embarrass him. But the students don't really care and reject it anyway. As he tells her, "It doesn't matter if it really happened. It has to be a good, realistic story."

In the second story, Paul Giamatti plays a struggling documentary filmmaker. He's a bit of a loser, trying to find a good subject for his next film. He interviews a slightly dysfunctional Jewish family living in New Jersey (sounds familiar, right?). The parents (John Goodman and Julie Hagerty) are nice but completely stupid suburbanites who are just trying to live out the perfect American dream. They don't connect with their three sons: the eldest one is a jock, the middle is a slacker, and the youngest is an overlooked nerd dying for attention.

Giamatti begins focusing on the middle one, a dreamer without any motivation (Mark Webber). He wants to be a comedian or a writer, but doesn't have the skills or knowledge. Giamatti ignores the youngest son as he tries to get attention, and when the eldest son hurts himself playing football, the parents ignore him too. The snubbed kid then makes plans to hypnotize his dad, fire the maid, and take over the house. This starts an interesting path that many people questioned, but it mirrors the first story in its practice.

After the very mixed reviews for Storytelling, Solondz took a break. He had lost a lot of the momentum that his first two films had built up. When he announced plans to make a movie about a teenage girl dealing with abortion, he had a tough time finding producers. It's funny to think about this in light of Juno's success. These are two very different approaches to a similar topic, despite them both being labeled as offbeat indies. Besides using a controversial subject, Solondz furthered scared potential investors by taking sides on the issue, calling abortion doctors "brave." He also announced a daring casting move - the main character would be played by several people. As you might guess, no one was eager to sign up. So with no help, Solondz invested much of his own money into the project and basically made it by himself.

The result is Palindromes, released to very few theaters in 2004. Once again, he did not pull any punches. The film follows Aviva, a suburban New Jersey (again) teenage girl who gets pregnant. Her parents (including mother Ellen Barkin) suggest getting an abortion, and she does, but she feels guilty about it. She runs away and ends up at a foster home for disabled children. It seems like a great place, but the right-wing Christians who run it are also big abortion haters. She realizes that their doctor pal can tell she's had one, so she aspires to get out of there. She hitches a ride with a disturbed child molester whom the Christians have hired to kill prominent abortion doctors. After an affair, she leads him back to the doctor in the fancy neighborhood who performed her abortion. He kills the doctor, a daughter, and himself. Aviva is reunited with her family, but it's clear she will never be the same.

The film ignited ciriticism not just for its controversial topic, but its daring approach. Solondz insisted that the actress playing the main character would change in each chapter of the film. Eight different actresses were used for Aviva, and not just girls who looked like each other. Several were white girls who looked about 13, which is how the character is most likely supposed to be. But there was also an 8 year old black girl, a 30 year old heavy-set black woman, a 12 year old boy in girls' clothes (though he didn't speak), and 40-something star Jennifer Jason Leigh. This mixture was supposed to show how Aviva could be any girl, but many critics were confused by the move. Some complained that the right-wing Christians were stereotypical, but their foster family is arguably the happiest one Solondz has ever shown. Solondz shows a lot of sides to the argument: Aviva is wrecked with guilt after the abortion; her parents are sensible and caring but maybe too forceful is deciding her fate; the molester is obviously mentally challenged and manipulated by the Christian activists - not just a typical redneck; and the abortion doctor is pushy, but is also revealed as a father and loving family man just before he dies. Aviva's strange conversations with the boy who impregnated her, her cousin (who may be a sex offender), and the molester show her unease with life. It's an odd mix, but certainly daring and artistic.

After sinking much of his life savings into that project, it's hard to believe that Solondz made out well. Rentals have probably helped, but some wondered if it was his last film. As of now, he is trying to put together a new project. Rumors suggest it may be a follow-up to Happiness, or at least be about misfits in New Jersey, like always. Solondz did make a quick tie-in to Welcome to the Dollhouse at the beginning of Palindromes, where he hinted that Aviva is a cousin of Dawn Weiner, and that the old protagonist killed herself (making her one of the most tortured characters in any film series). Casting rumors have swirled from Paul Ruebens (likely) to Paris Hilton (possibly a joke but don't rule it out), but whatever happens, it's clear Solondz is up for anything.

Todd Solondz is truly an original mutant having never been intended for mass production. This daring filmmaker has taken the less popular road time and time again in his career, and made some of the most interesting films of the past decade. I urge all film fanatics to search him out if they haven't yet.

by Justin Leo

Todd Solondz on
IMDB
Wikipedia

Brandon Curtis

2008-10-15T16:42:00.015-04:00

Secret Machines Live w/ TK Webb

The new self-titled Secret Machines album is an absolute bombshell. Any hub-bub and mish-maw that was going around your friendly hipster wire about Benjamin Curtis' departure from the band is now clearly a 'we had nothing better to gossip about' scenario. Ben's interesting new outfit, School of Seven Bells, is definitely cool; we, the listeners, harbor no ill-feelings about the split up, especially considering what a knockout the new Secret Machines is. I had a chance to speak very briefly with Brandon Curtis the last time they were in Philly (seemingly, smack in the middle of working on the new disc). He said with confidence that even though prior Secret Machines efforts have indeed been collaborative in nature, Benjamin's flight has stylistically had no impact on the new music.

Listening to the final product, I have to agree. Which is why I love that they named it Secret Machines, because this disc has the quintessential Secret Machines sound. Which is to say that all of the elements we love about the best moments of their catalog (which is currently only two albums and two EPs deep) have been unified for a cohesive mission statment that definitely represents what they're all about. In case you haven't heard them yet, what they're all about is sweeping, grand mood-rock with a psychadelic edge--and definitely the hookiest prog sound in the business today. Masters of atmosphere, The Secret Machines do accessible, dynamic compositions incorporating lots of roaring symbols, mellow vocals, chunky electric bass riffs and space-rock guitar flourishes--all the while using their electronic goodies always to add and never to distract. If you like Porcupine Tree and Black Mountain, well then you're probably already well familiar with The Secret Machines... but if you aren't yet, holy shit these are exciting times...

The new album is a tiny bit darker and less poppy than Ten Silver Drops. A wee-bit heavier than the sonic peaks and valleys of Now Here is Nowhere. It has the same old fasts-and-slows of their previous work, but the slows are loud slows (i.e. the groovy Have I Run Out and the obvious new encore-closer, The Fire is Waiting--maybe the two best tracks on this space-rocker). Several tunes still demonstrate their pop senseability, like the lead single "Atomic Heels" as well as "Now Your Gone". Proggy goodness for you King Crimson fans is present in strength, especially on "The Walls are Starting to Crack". Anthem power aint lost either as demonstrated by "Last Believer, Drop Dead"--which starts with a drum beat very similar to their previous reigning star-spangled-banner "First Wave Intact" (which created a brief moment of confusion for a bunch of us at their last show, but the new arena-friendly gem quickly distinguishes itself as less shoegaze and more songwriting than it's predecessor).

The show is going to be stellar, it always is. Also, Marginal Minds icon troubador, TK Webb, who will be supporting The Secret Machines this Friday and in New York on Sat 10/18, Boston on Mon 10/20, Montreal on Tue 10/21, and Toronto Wed 10/22--has formed a band called TK Webb and the Visions. New band, new sound and quite frankly, it's really something to get excited about. Webb's caskett-aged accoustic grit-blues are (at least temporarily) on the kybosh in lieu of amplifiers and a Cracker, Brother Cane, Kenny Wayne Sheppard style take on loud classic rock--guitar solos and all! So if you're in Philly, NY, Montreal or Toronto, get those tickets because you're going to be in for a momentous night.

These are very exciting times!

Secret_Machines-Atomic_Heels.mp3

Secret Machines on:
Wikipedia
Myspace
World's Fair

Heath Ledger VS Oneida

2008-09-28T02:09:00.002-04:00

Heath Ledger VS Oneida - Crazier than Usual.mp3

A tribute to what may--when the dust settles--stand out as the greatest villain performance..... (ever?).. Complimented well by one of our favorite New York bands, Oneida.

Guy Garvey

2008-09-23T17:07:00.008-04:00

The music of Elbow, certainly massive in the UK, is still managing to fly somewhat below the radar here in the states, despite endorsements from Radiohead and their latest disc, The Seldom Seen Kid, winning the 2008 Nationwide Mercury Award--an honor akin to to the U.S.'s Shortlist Music Prize.

To compare Elbow's music to that of Radiohead's would be a cheap, lazy, over-simplified under-classification. So.. that's what we'll go with.

In all seriousness, one needn't wrack brains hard to hear some Bends-era influence (or even Ok Computer-esque originality) in Seldom Seen Kid (especially on tracks like The Bones of You, one of Kid's singles). Garvey has had no trouble being open and verbal about the influence that Radiohead has had on him and on Elbow as a band creatively. But enough about bands that DIDN'T win the Merc. Seldom Seen Kid, quite simply, is a must-hear.

Two of Seldom's best tracks are on YouTube. Enjoy, and then grab the disc and hope for some U.S. dates (of which there are none to speak, at the moment).

Elbow - Grounds for Divorce

Elbow - One Day Like This

Christopher Nolan

2008-08-06T12:57:00.007-04:00

(Syndicated from In the Wake of Poseidon)

It takes the right team to make an action film. Action movies are churned out left and right every Friday. Movies like Crank or Transformers come along and they are fine as slices of entertainment. Then every once in a rare while an "Action Film" comes along. The kind of movie that goes beyond the explosions and digs deep into the heart of the psyche. Christopher Nolan, the director of The Dark Knight, gets this. He has made a truly fantastic Action Film. While The Dark Knight doesn't dig ultra-deep philosophically or morally, it offers enough social commentary to raise its intense action scenes well above that of a standard summer blockbuster. It gives meaning to the chaos, as much as anarchy can have meaning. I'm not going to go into storyline here. It's nothing new story wise. The true genius behind this movie is the combination of the acting and the directing that made it a dance of visual brilliance and subtlety. The way Nolan was able to get the performances he did from a stellar cast of leads and supporting is a true triumph. The four major leads--Bale, Ledger, Eckhart & Oldman--take talent to the next level.

Christian Bale's triumph of playing a "freak...like me!" is wholly invigorating. He is a hero who knows his limits and his flaws and realizes exactly what he has brought upon Gotham. Heath Ledger is so outstandingly creepy that when people laughed in the cinema at his part, I almost cringed. There wasn't a single thing funny about his joker. Yes he had some genius one-liners, but even those were calculated and malicious enough to make your skin crawl in fear and horror. A scene where the Joker is being interrogated is such filthy brilliance on Ledger's part that you can't help but wonder how taxing it must have been to emerse yourself into that psychopathic mind. Aaron Eckhart plays Harvey Dent, the white knight of Gotham City, and although his part is understated at first, you see the mind of a man on the edge brewing behind his eyes. He may have been the shining light in Gotham's most tumoltuos time, but as in many of Nolan's films, even the good have a touch of evil somewhere tucked away that can come forth if pushed to the limits. Lastly, Gary Oldman, an actor who can never go wrong, also understates and slow plays his Detective turned Commisioner role. He's a true police officer, not entirely liked by all, but he wants one thing and that's the peace that Gotham City deserves.

The reason I still call this an "Action Film" is because beyond all the psychology is a truly riveting stunt filled spectacle. Unlike past Batman films, The Dark Knight is almost 100% location filming. A scene where a policemen's parade for slain officers erupts into chaos thanks to the Joker is utterly breathtaking. The main chase sequence through Gotham's underground, ending in the most glorious truck stunt you will ever see on film, just explodes with brilliance. And the reason why? Very minimal CGI and real stunts. When you see the Joker's Truck do a front flip, that's not a computer altered truck. That's an 18-wheeler hurtling through the air. It's something you don't see very often anymore. Another mind boggling thing of chaotic beauty is when the Joker walks non-chalantly out of a hospital as it slowly explodes. This wasn't shot in Chicago like most of the film, but it was a set piece built for the sole purpose of succumbing to the Joker's crazy rampage.

The film may be a tad bit long in the tooth, but it's a tooth that sinks right into your neck and feels good. It's the kind of two and a half hours that you never want to end. A lot of it is intense and in your face; it gets your adreneline pumping and your suspense sensors flairing on overdrive. It offers commentary on terrorism and "heroes vs. villains" as a topic so rich in grey area that you'll question both sides of the arguement for Homeland Security. It doesn't shove anything down you're throat, but it's all there and really works. This is a must see film on the big screen and probably will be one of the best films you will see all year.

by Paul Tsikitas

Film MiniViews w/ Justin Leo

2008-06-03T10:12:00.015-04:00

(syndicated from I Like To Watch)

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL - 2008 (in theaters) -Just like most Apatow projects, this is a relaxed comedy with romantic tinges; a relationship story with some great gags. Jason Segal is a lovable lunk, and Mila Kunis steps it up as his new love interest. The comedy comes in moments here and there, and it's good but not overwhelming. I just love Segel, Kristen Bell, Jack McBrayer, and Paul Rudd too much to give it a bad name. It's decent comedy without much fanfare.

I COULD NEVER BE YOUR WOMAN - 2007? (just out on DVD) -Speaking of Paul Rudd, he carries this film to a sweet level. You might have loved him before, but in the rare case you didn't, you will now. He's a struggling actor and the love interest of TV producer Michelle Pfeiffer, who is in charge of a Degrassi- type teen show. She leans on him as her new star (yes, he's playing an actor, who is playing a high schooler, when he's almost 40 in real life, which is part of the fun). She also leans on her daughter, Saoirse Ronan, better known as the young girl in Atonement, for hip new ideas and high school slang. This is a pretty funny satire of Hollywood, a charming rom com, and a warm family story all at once. Amy Heckerling, who directed Clueless and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, scores again with a fun look at life in SoCal that has heart. In fact, I'd say it's a lot like Clueless: cute, but also much funnier and more interesting than you expected. So why, you may be wondering, haven't you heard of it? Well, basically, Heckerling got the shaft from studios. They bounced it around and never gave it a theatrical release, even though it's very deserving of one. Unbelievable. The only thing I can find wrong with it is a strange character played by Tracey Ullman, who acts like Pfeiffer's conscience. She's annoying, but that's about it. This is a really likable film, and you'd think they capitalize on Rudd's growing popularity. See it for him (and sweet cameos from Jon Lovitz, Fred Willard, Wallace Shawn, and the Fonz) and love the Rudd like never before.

DOGVILLE - 2003 -I'll be honest. I have no idea what to make of it. I wanted to see this for years and I finally got around to it and, well, let's just say that Lars von Trier is an intriguing director. This looks like a play, but it's a film: an original concept, shot on a stage, but with no audience, and with some of the set fixtures missing.... like, I don't know, WALLS! Yeah.... very strange way of filming, mixing theater standards with film and leaving that out. I think it could be comparable to dark stage plays like Ibsen. I also thought of William Faulkner, not that this is the same class as those great writers, but that's kind of the dark tone. It goes in weird directions, but the cast is amazing. Lauren Bacall jumped in and Nicole Kidman had just won an Oscar when she did this. I'm torn because I think he could've done well if he shot it normally, but of course he won't, because he started that whole Dogma 95 movement and he has to be different. I found that a lot of people think it's anti-American, but it seems more to me like a dark examination of human nature, especially regarding the myth of small towns making good people. If you like indie or foreign pieces, it's def worth a look, but know that it's three hours long and a trip.

LUST, CAUTION - 2007 (just out on DVD) -Ang Lee's erotic thriller is a strong period piece. In 1930's China, a woman caught up in rebellion tries to get close to a powerful government man. This starts a little slow, but picks up dramatically towards the end. Beautiful, intense, and emotional, this might have lost audiences because of its rough sexual scenes, but it's a very good drama.
THE BRAVE ONE - 2007 (just out on DVD) -I skipped this Jodie Foster drama last year, skeptical of vigilante films, and it most certainly is that. But then I saw that it's also directed by Neil Jordan, who does a lot of sensitive and gender-confusing fare (The Crying Game, Breakfast on Pluto), so it shouldn't be totally macho. Foster, a popular NPR-type radio host in New York, goes into full revenge mode when some thugs kill her husband (Sayid from Lost). She also befriends a detective, Terence Howard, who starts to wonder about her intentions, while unknowingly steering her towards a crime boss he can't convict. This is emotional and pretty dark, and I'm not sure if the message is deeper than I want it to be. I can't imagine Jordan ever wanting to remake Death Wish with a female lead, but I get that feeling here. Maybe there's more than I see, and I suggest taking a look. It's gripping, but does it take sides too easily?

"RECOUNT" - 2008 - on HBO now -HBO couldn't resist, in this election year, to make a definitive film about the 2000 election nuttiness. Even though it might not be fairly balanced, it's really good. They skip over most of the election to just what happened after Election Day, and though it is a great ensemble cast, the protagonist is clearly Kevin Spacey. Ah, I missed the Spaceman. Really bad. He's excellent as Ron Klain, a guy who helped Gore through the recount even as he was having issues with the VP. On his side are Dennis Leary, John Hurt, and Ed Begley Jr. (natch). The opposing side comes with Tom Wilkinson, who plays James Baker a little
bit too boss-villain-y, and Laura Dern, who makes Katherine Harris look overwhelmed. Bob Balaban is the only nice guy on the GOP side. I mean, I felt it could be real, but I'm biased.Like I said, it's not exactly a balanced story, but they are trying to paint the Dems as underdogs rising up in adversity. They had to push through public outrage and lots of legal difficulties, and they never had the "lead" as reported by media, which hurt. The film touches on the voter discrimination problems, but doesn't accuse too much. The worst facet probably is that the Republicans basically paid for their protesters and then encouraged them to riot in the local voting offices. This claim has been made before, so who knows. It brought back some bad memories for me, and of course, the last 8 years kinda... well, you know.It may not be fair, but it's really good, and it's a great return for Spacey.

by Justin Leo

McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales

2008-04-22T12:37:00.006-04:00

Michael Chabon, ed.

From Book IT! GremLindz Style (http://gremlindz.blogspot.com/2008/03/freedom-for-adventures.html)

Thrilling Tales promised to bring me all new, never before seen, original stories. And that, by god, it did. All of my favorite subjects were covered: time travel, the end of the world, cats, revenge, true love… wait a minute.. Seriously though, the stories were delightfully strange and adventurous. “Catskin” was about a boy whose mother turned into a cat after she died, and then she burned down a house with cats in it, and sewed him what was essentially a cat-skin hoodie. Every now and then he decided to put the hoodie on and walk around on all fours like a cat. I’m still trying to figure out any metaphors or ssssssymbolism, although it may have just been a really weird story. And I’m all for that! Because I am weird. Although I don’t think I would ever sew cat hides together to make myself a little cat jacket. That seems a bit too far.

Thrilling Tales marked the first works I have read by Michael Crichton and Stephen King. I know, very hard to believe that I’ve never read Stephen King, but there it is. And they were back-to-back. The rate at which Stephen King pushes out stuff is amazing to me. It makes me wonder if he actually still enjoys writing, or if it has become so commonplace to him that he doesn’t really even have to try anymore. Because that would be sad. But at the same time, should he really have to try anymore? He’s built up such a substantial platform that I think people will buy his books even if they are crap. Does Michael Crichton still write books? To be honest, I was (obviously) never too interested in either, and I’m not really any more interested now. I have to say that my favorite story in the whole collection was Nick Hornby’s “Otherwise Pandemonium.” What is it with me and apocalyptic scenarios? I do enjoy them, although I can’t recall reading a book with such a premise. But “Pandemonium” took apocalypse to a different level by adding in a time-travel-y aspect that is really fun and had me frantically turning the pages so I could find out what happens. Not since High Fidelity have I been that engrossed in Hornby’s stuff, and it was refreshing to experience it again. Please don’t disappoint me with another book like A Long Way Down. Seriously, man. Don’t.

And there are still so many other great stories! One about a detective investigating the death/murder of Hitler’s neice/lover. A stream-of-thought-ish recount of a drug epidemic in NYC that included conspiracy theories and apocalyptic scenarios (this was a jackpot despite the somewhat annoying stream-of-thought-ishness which made me feel like I was on drugs). One weird one about a husband and wife who collected salt and pepper shakers and (spoiler:) ended up killing each other (I’m still not sure why). A tale about a circus elephant that gets hanged (this had some great twists in it that I can’t give away but gave the story have an amazing structure). One war story about a general who escapes and seeks refuge with a girl and her grandmother that I didn’t think I’d enjoy, but did, because it was not only touching but really pissed me off at the end. (Isn’t it great when a book/story really gets an emotion out of you?!) A story about a guy who is working at an archeological dig and the mischief a writer stirs up when she comes to do some research. I could go on and on! They were all great, which I find rare in a short story collection.

by Lindsay Snieder

McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales on:
Amazon
Random House

Andrew Dominik

2008-03-04T09:34:00.010-05:00

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

“You ever count the stars?” Jesse James, played here by Brad Pitt, poses this question to a slow-witted member of his outlaw gang before admitting that he has tried but never comes up with the same number twice. The stars are always changing.

Such an introspective exchange would have no place in a typical Hollywood Western, but in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, it sums up the very existence of the titular character. By existence, I don’t mean how he lived in the West, but how he lives on today through legend and folklore. Director and screenwriter Andrew Dominik has presented us with a cinematic poem that introduces us to Jesse James for all that he was: man, myth, and legend. The fact is you can’t assign a fixed number to the infinite any more than you can pin down exactly who Jesse James was. The stories are always changing.

The narration itself is unreliable, at turns contradicting onscreen images and then reinforcing what we already know. Ambiguities aside, the film is laden with enough rich detail to validate the film’s 160 minute running time. Instead of focusing on the James Gang’s bloody and lucrative years of famous robberies, Dominik trains his eye on James’s fall from public grace and descent into paranoid hibernation.

It’s easy to get caught up in the star-power of Brad Pitt and his deft portrayal of James as a broken, haunted man. Lurking in the shadows of Jesse James’s falling star, however, is what truly cements the film as a modern classic: the multi-layered performance of Casey Affleck as the runt (or “coward,” as it were) Robert Ford, a man forever relegated to the sidelines. Subversively powerful in the role, Affleck imbues Ford with enough insecure ambition to evoke immediate empathy from the audience. We may identify with Ford but we never really trust him, a result of either the information laid out in the title, or Affleck’s shifty performance. Jesse’s older brother, Frank (played by Sam Shepard) speaks for the audience when he bluntly tells Ford, “I don’t know what it is about you, but the more you talk, the more you give me the willies.”

Ford’s tragedy lies in his insatiable ambition which, as a child obsessed with Jesse James, drove him to eventually become a member of the outlaw gang. The closer he got to James, the more he actually wanted to be the man. Of course, finding this impossible, he reverts to the next step: outsmarting the man and proving himself the superior. In effect, Assassination plays out as a Greek tragedy set on the high plains of America’s yesteryear.

If this movie passed you by in the theaters, be sure to rent the DVD and watch it on the biggest screen at your disposal. Roger Deakins, the film’s cinematographer, has offered us a truly breathtaking view. This year is something of a high water mark for Deakins, who received an Oscar nomination for Assassination as well as for No Country for Old Men. Working with a muted palette, he paints a world as wild, wide, lean, and lonesome as the Wintry West itself. Much of the film’s beauty lies in its sprawling, elegiac panorama of an 1881 America, which for all its staggering immensity, still seems claustrophobic and oppressive to the characters. This is a film of tone, matched in its commanding visuals by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’s subtly haunting score which enhances but never distracts from the experience of the film.

With just two features under his belt, New Zealand-born Andrew Dominik is shaping up to be one of the next great filmmakers. In his auspicious directorial debut, Chopper, Dominik showed he had a great eye for latent talent when he cast then-comedian Eric Bana as the brutal lead, effectively launching his acting career. In Assassination, Dominik rolled the dice on Casey Affleck, who earned an Oscar nod as Best Supporting Actor. In both films, Dominik has created unique and grisly visions, told with both the brash experimentation of an emerging artist and the assured confidence of an established filmmaker. If he continues crafting deeply personal and rewarding films such as these, we’ll be following his career for years to come.

Jesse James is a man who has lived and died innumerable times, through the retellings and reenactments of his actual earth-bound existence. At one point in the film, James tells a story about himself in the third person. It would seem that even Jesse James can’t resist the urge to tell his tale and propagate the myth.

We are left to make up our own minds about Jesse James, Robert Ford, and what truly defines a coward. In one corner we have Jesse James, legendary criminal and beloved family-man, who viciously beats a child, shoots members of his own gang in the back, and kills a defenseless man in cold blood. In the other corner we have Robert Ford, the social pariah who stood toe-to-toe with a towering legend of the West and emerged the victor, the man forever branded as “Coward” for assassinating his mentor, oppressor, and would-be killer. To which of these men does the label of “Coward” truly apply? There’s no answer, or at least none that matters.

We each have our own number affixed to the stars above. Mine doesn’t make yours wrong. It’s our instinct to remember history as we see it; from the only angle we are afforded. It’s our duty to tell it anyway. To quote The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, a seminal Western from 1962: “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

By Neal Tyler

Andrew Dominik on:
IMDB
Wikipedia

Monade

2008-02-17T07:38:00.010-05:00

Lætitia Sadier's Monade Knocks it out of the Park...

Monade's new album, Monstre Cosmic, comes out on Feb 19th, and I would be remiss not to rush you out to pick it up. Lætitia Sadier, of Stereolab fame, has a just as soothing a chirp as ever, and the fact that I don't know four words of French means less than ever as I enjoy this well imagined-out and thoroughly loungeadelic disc. Monstre Cosmic, Monade's second release for Too Pure, is put-your-feet-up and sip a Bombay Saphire martini with the Superbowl on mute goodness.

What makes this disc so nice? The rhythm section. Xavier Chabellard and Marie Merlet play such a spirited drum and bass, respectively, that I could see listening to just their master tracks while I exorcise my morning sudoku frustration. Add Nicolas Etienne's keys, and that innocent French purr we fell in love with during the 90s and you have a wonderful post-rock turnout.

The disc 'opens' (after a thirty second piano intro) with "Étoile", which is actually one of the longer tracks on the disk, clocking in at five minis (minis is what we call minutes when they seem really short). "Étoile" establishes a cozy fireplace and favorite-internet-chat-room mood with midtempy piano and high-hat charm.

"Lost Language" kicks it into a faster gear, and plays out a bit like a dreamy remix of The Tragically Hip's "Springtime in Vienna", except with foreign female vocals, and--at this point, I am actually reminded that I still haven't a clue what she's singing about. No matter, I'm definitely along for the ride, especially with that exciting rhythm section.

"Elle Topo" starts out slow, like one of the cut Pink Floyd tracks from the Zabriskie Point session, but then rocks into one of the closest Stereolab remeniscents on the album. A dynamic track, "Elle Topo" has interesting breakdowns and one of the more exciting vocal performances on the disc.

"Regarde" is that savy, sexy, car commercial, with a groovy bottom and reserved, modest horn-lines. I think this track is where Sadier most gives away here inner Van Morrison fan. At around mid-point the song breaks for a little voice-as-instrument time, but for someone with such a seductive croon, she sings so modestly. Maybe that's her charm?

"Invitation" starts out as a slow piano-and-strings piece, and develops with descending chord structures and--of course, varying tempos--designed to be that last demand for me to grab the 'How to Speak French' tapes and go for a 10-week stroll. Towards the end of the tune, "Invitation" has what's got to be one of the most interesting (in it's simplicity) drum-lines I've ever heard. But that seems to be the theme with this disk. Interesting despite its simplicity. It's only complicated for the musicians who have to remember the tempo changes, but it doesn't challenge the listener at all. Honestly, if there were ever an album of lollypop bubblegum jazzy post-rock, this is certainly it.

Monstre Cosmic closes with the indie-rockesque "Change of Destination". Light and fluffy as ever, "Change of Destination" is easy on the ears and easy on the synapses. The song is done at two and a half minutes. Was this whole album really short? For--at times, classical sounding--jazz pop, the track lengths are almost painfully succinct. This album moves along too fast, and the only thing I could ask for on their next release is a tad more self-indulgence.

Check out Regarde and grab this album when you can. Classical fuse-pop has never been this easy to listen to.

Monade - Regarde.mp3

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Devastations

2008-01-20T19:07:00.000-05:00

There's a world below the ground--or, down under, shall we say--where cinematic encounters in dark lounges lead to pensive cigarette flicks and phones dangling from their chords in dreary wet phone booths. And these guys are the soundtrack. I promise, Devastations is not nearly as corny a name down in their native Austrailia as it may be here. And I'm happy to report that while their songwriting on their latest Yes, U is just about what you've come to expect given their previous endeavors, their attention to production and self-awareness on vocals seems to have improved enough to make this a standout noir-rock achievement.

Devastations' variety of dark, atmospheric, mid-tempo mood-rock could very well have been all over the soundtrack of the televised series La Femme Nikita. Keyboard swells, minor notes and muted percussion abound. Right off the bat, "Black Ice" sounds like Peter Gabriel walking along a cloudy beachfront looking for just the right rip-tide to carry away a best friend's cremains. "Oh Me, Oh My" is a downtempo anthem which explores the hollow spaces just as thoroughly as the peaks. "Rosa" is a percussive, haunting church hymn at the alter of the damned.

I'm not exactly sure why Beggars Banquet chose "Mistakes" as the song that we're allowed to release... Perhaps it is the closest thing to pop music you're going to find on the album, but it isn't exactly their quintessence. Hard to argue, though, with a baseline that reminds me of SpyHunter and the most discordant piano flourishes this side of Cold War Kids.

"The Saddest Sound" pretty much delivers what it promises, and, "Misericordia" closes out the album on an appropriate note, considering the mood of the album.

Honestly, Devastations is a tad one-dimensional. But for a dreary-doldrum sad-core trio, it's ambient enough that it manages to be a fresh approach. Not music you'll be pumping at your buddy's bachelor party (unless of course you're trying to make a subtle statement). If you're an Aussie, you have plenty of opportunities to see them live. If you live here in the states, a Beggars Banquet rep has informed us that plans are underway for a U.S. tour. Keep an eye on that, because I'm excited to see who they might do shows with, or at what awesome venues they might appear. But if they come to your town, make sure to bring some tissues.

Devastations -Mistakes.mp3

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Best Films of 2007

2008-01-14T21:29:00.001-05:00

An opinionated listing by Colin Emch-Wei

2007 came and went, bringing with it a brand new movie season that dared to challenge some of the excellent achievements of 2006 (Crash, Once, The Science of Sleep). Thankfully, the powers that be managed to deliver this year… So, without any further ado, I bring the Best Films of 2007, in no particular order:

Zodiac (David Fincher)

Widely heralded as the “first great movie of 2007”, and I have to agree. An extremely good mix that featured a great cast playing an equally great script that had just the right amount of horror, suspense, and thrills. While its long run time turned off some, one felt compelled to stick through it all just to see who the Zodiac killer was, and where they might strike next.

Ratatouille (Brad Bird/Jan Pinkava)

If anyone attempts to tell me that this was just a stupid kids’ movie, I’ll slit their throat. Pixar really nailed it with this one, and they knew it…what could have been a cheesy little flick grew into something truly great. What left me in awe was that more adults than children liked Ratatouille, and that during certain scenes audiences couldn’t do anything more than sit their with agape at how much was happening on the screen. There were honest laughs, honest moments of sadness, but altogether Ratatouille was one film I hope you didn’t miss.

Superbad (Greg Mottola)

No doubt you’ve heard the neighborhood adolescents greet each other with, “I am McLovin.” And you loved it. You know it. In what was arguably the most ribald and honestly hilarious (I and the rest of the audience, were continuously laughing) comedy of the year, Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen finally got the mix of gross-out jokes to heartfelt emotion just right. Filled to the brim with delicious quotability, Superbad captured everything that was awkward about our years in high school and distilled it in such a fashion that you can’t help but laugh at it. Sure, the movie is for a specific demographic, but that demographic is large and in charge.

Juno (Jason Reitman)

Juno stole this reviewer’s heart. What first comes off as a smarmy, coming-of-age awkward comedy somehow turns into something decidedly serious and beautiful. Teenage pregnancy is never a good thing, but Juno deals with it in such an elegant manner that you’ll be cheering for the title character. Bolstering this film’s power is a stunning cast and an excellent soundtrack.

American Gangster - Ridley Scot

American Gangster reminded us of why we go to the movies: to be entertained and moved. Denzel Washington gave an amazing performance in this true story about a drug lord that you just don’t want to cross.

Charlie Wilson’s War - Mike Nichols

This latecomer to 2007 deserves a great mention. Ever since the cancellation of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, fans of Aaron Sorkin have been waiting for more of his work. They won’t be disappointed, as Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman nail this wonderful and powerful script.

Runners-Up:

Sunshine (Danny Boyle)

It’s been awhile since a solid sci-fi flick came out, and Sunshine delivered all that and more in a thrilling package. Meticulously researched, it will appeal to anyone who hates Star Trek but love science. Besides, how can you hate indie sci-fi? That’s right, you can’t.

28 Weeks Later (Juan Carlos Fresnadillo)

Whoever said horror was dead apparently never saw 28 Weeks Later. It was a smart, freaky, and most definitely original zombie movie, and fans of the genre won’t be disappointed. In fact, the intelligence with which the movie was dealt with probably brought in audiences who otherwise wouldn’t have been interested in it. Only issue: it’s readily apparent by the end of the film that those involved want more money. (Three-quel…)

Across the Universe (Julie Taymor)

Sweeney Todd, eat your heart out. What was billed as “The most original motion picture of the year” split audiences down the middle, but you only need to witness the power of “Let It Be” sung by a child during the Detroit Riots to understand why this series of Beatles covers deserves a long hard look.

Black Mountain

2008-01-12T16:13:00.000-05:00

The dreaded sophomore slump is something many new bands face. The idea that every new, great band has to be “the next best thing” is a lot of pressure. Some of these high expectations can destroy a band or make their second release turn into something it isn’t. 2008 poses a lot of new indie rock bands with their second effort. One of these bands, Black Mountain, has released their follow-up this January and has put to the test their well played formula of epic rock.

In the Future, the second full-length recording from Vancouver’s Black Mountain, follows perfect suit to its self-titled predecessor. Trying to formally describe Black Mountain always ends in either a rambling roster of 60’s and 70’s rock bands or a laundry list of genres smashed in a super-collider. With this fact, a slew of mixed reviews abound. Kicked into Black Mountain’s court have been nods to the prolific recreation of classic sounds with a fresh twist as well as accusations of re-used riffs and old, stale formulas. Regardless of the nay-sayers, one thing is clear--Black Mountain knows how to write a damn good rock song.

Black Mountain’s self-titled debut was a daunting listen. With influences ranging from Led Zeppelin to Pink Floyd to Captain Beefheart, you are bound to get a varied climate. Songs like “Modern Music” and “Druganaut” showed a twinge of funk psychedelia while “Don’t Run Your Hearts Around” and “Set Us Free” had a more standard progressive rock structure (if such a thing exists). Then there's the epic “Heart of Snow” and the borderline techno track “No Hits” which jostled the listener out of their security with sounds unlike the others and structures so varied they are intimidating. This can come off as either pretentious or schizophrenic to the average listener. All in all, Black Mountain was a solid selection of great songs that varied, stood alone and worked to show just what the band can do. In the Future solidifies these ideas into a more coherent mission.

The new album kicks of with the maelstrom of “Stormy High.” Amber Webber’s vocals mimic a howling north wind as the guitars show the onslaught of catchy and crunchy riffs that will stick with the listener long after the finale of the track. The track launches the listener into the climate of the heavy rockers of the album and then lulls back for the track “Angels” which still has its fair share of guitars and a surging synth bridge, but the overall demeanor is much more laid back.

Swiftly kicking into high gear is the 8-minute epic “Tyrants,” also the first release off of the new album. The song goes through its impassioned tale of taking down a tyrant with grandiose sections that ebb and flow as any prog rock anthem should. The build up of tension throughout the song is released through the violent thrashing of guitars and drums at the songs finale with a cathartic acoustic outro to reel listeners back in. To date, “Tyrants” is Black Mountain’s most impressive, coherent track.

More standard rockers are laced throughout the rest of the album. “Wucan” howls with a guitar riff that beams in from outer space and Webber belts over the closest companion piece to Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter” on the haunting “Queens Will Play.” These standards lead to the ambitious 16-minute “Bright Lights.” Echoing such classics like King Crimson’s “Starless” or Pink Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, Black Mountain adds itself to the lexicon of uncompromising, engaging epics. Not many bands go for the grandiose 70’s prog-rock sprawls anymore, but Black Mountain pays them tribute and embellishes them with their own signature sound. Rather then being one repetitive long track, it’s split up into noticeable fragments envelope all the themes necessary in any epic track.

Overall, what really shines through on In The Future is the amount of sheer talent all members of the group have. Stephen McBeam’s guitar work never overshadows what else is going on and the vocal exchange between himself and Webber works well to make the group even more dynamic than they already are. The album works together as a more cohesive statement than their self titled debut and brings every member of the Black Mountain Army together working to create a single dynamic sound. If anything proves this point, it’s Black Mountain’s live show. Their live act this past fall here in Philadelphia at Johnny Brenda’s showcased what they can do onstage. They played new and old and it all flowed together in a psychedelic haze. The show is what I imagine seeing such classic acts of the early psychedelic movement must have been like.

Reimagining older styles is what Black Mountain does best. In The Future takes this to a new level of excitement. They overcame the sophomore slump, perhaps ten fold. An upcoming tour will accompany the January 22nd official release of the album, although if you order through their website, you can get a digital download for instant gratification. Black Mountain is one of the most exciting bands out today bringing no holds barred rock and roll back to its roots. Whether you find this a rehashing of old used styles and sounds isn’t the issue. It’s whether or not you are ready for a sonic adventure of epic proportions. If that’s your bag, Black Mountain’s In The Future is for you.

by Paul Tsikitas

Black Mountain - Tyrants.mp3

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Best Albums of 2007

2007-12-31T03:22:00.001-05:00

10)Feist - The Reminder

Here's hoping that staring in an iPod commercial is not akin to an NFL star appearing on the cover of Madden. Feist's The Reminder slightly edges out Cat Power's The Greatest as the best female solo masterpiece of the year. A pretty huge honor for her to receive from us! (cue eye-roll). But don't write off this Broken Social Scene alum as a coat-tail-rider who surfs a fluffy wave of hype to the top. This album has amazing replay value.

9) Bishop Allen - The Broken String

If there were a version of Hey There Delilah made for adults with educations and jobs, it would have certainly been done by Bishop Allen. The prodigious Rice and Rudder released a dream-pop epic, and now they deserve some time off. But lord knows they won't be taking it. When they get back from their European tour, keep an eye out for this hard working indie outfit at a small club near you.

8) Band of Horses - Cease to Begin

Surprisingly on par with its predecessor, but not surprisingly one of the most enjoyable albums of the year. Cease to Begin sounds remarkably fresh for an over-worked genre (which we call post-Neil Young). It brings amped-up catchiness to alt-country. It just sounds right.

7) Joel Plasket Emergency - Ashtray Rock

An emerging hero out of Canada's rock-clubs, this latest effort, a semi-autobiographical nostalgia-fest, is almost as thoughtful as it is groovy. With a side of fun and a "let's get tanked!" attitude, this album takes major-chord Canadian feel-goodness to a cool new place.

6) The National - The Boxer

It takes more than a bourbon-smooth croon to rank on just about every top ten list this side of the printed word. How about hypnotic drumming and a Crash Test Dummies-gone-serious sound? You've probably read this all before, so moving on...

5) John Vanderslice - Emerald City

This former Spoon producer may have recorded the most interesting album of the year. Vanderslice continues to combine masterful execution with a kind of playfulness, giving the impression of that one professor who you really connected with. Combining the creativity of Andrew Bird, and the hold-nothing-backness of Stephen Malkmus (that wasn't supposed to rhyme), John Vanderslice's Emerald City is definitely a head-turner.

4)Radiohead - In Rainbows

We didn't know if it was going to be critic-proof or impossible to live up to the expectations. Doesn't matter, it's awesome.

3)Dr. Dog - We All Belong

This tome of psychedelic retro-pop is the sound of happy go luckiness personified. Here's a tip: if you're a fan of The Flaming Lips, this could be your favorite album of the year. If you're a fan of The Beatles, this could be your favorite album of the year. And most importantly, if you're a fan of original songwriting, this could be your favorite album of the year. Lots of good stuff...

2)!!! - Myth Takes

This album is what house music wishes it could be. It takes that genre's bossy, rhythmic pump-you-up beats and builds upon it with lavish tripped-out jazz-funk and tribal percussion. This album could be the soundtrack to your driving, exercising, video game playing, blog-reading, coitus, or just about any other activity where nobody could get hurt from letting your mind wander.

1) The Shins - Wincing the Night Away

I was so thrilled to realize that this album was released during 2007, because it feels like it's been with me my whole life. This album is gorgeous. It's pretty and mysterious and stuffed to the brim with near-perfect songs. It's extremely cinematic, yet brings content to spare. Its hooks transcend catchiness like watching an actor who's so good that you forget they're acting. Wincing the Night Away is probably up there with the best albums of the decade thus far. Or better.

Spoon

2007-12-27T11:36:00.000-05:00

Retrospective.

The most eternally frustrating thing for any elitist music snob is to try to rank albums of a band like Spoon. With such a consistent collection of solid albums, creating some sort of list becomes a painstaking process. Is the breakthrough Kill the Moonlight their best? Is the follow-up Gimme Fiction underrated? Was Girls Can Tell never matched? Whichever album you prefer, the task continues to grow more vexing with each release. Add Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga to the list and chalk it up on the Spoon blackboard as another essential album from the Austin based band.

Spoon’s recently reissued early albums, like Telephono, weren’t particularly defining, as Spoon was simply another alternative rock band out of the thousands that popped up in the mid to late 90’s. In 2001 Girls Can Tell became the band’s first release to garner recognition. The album could still be dismissed as a fun power-pop fluke, but it set the foundation of sounds that would soon be expanded upon and mastered.

Since then, Spoon’s growth has been unswerving and has lead quite logically to their more recent output. The seeds were set on 2002’s Kill the Moonlight. Largely experimental, genre-leaping and surprisingly sparse, Spoon began working with different textures and a “less is more” approach to recording. Songs like “Small Stakes” confound at first because they never quite develop into what you’d expect, but instead focus around a solitary piano or guitar body. The same goes for the song that allowed the album to become so revered. If at this point you think you haven’t heard “The Way We Get By,” you’re wrong. It’s been featured in nearly every trailer, commercial and TV spot over the last few years. After just a few bars of the instantly recognizable piano run you’ll say, “Oh, I know this.” Kill the Moonlight reached in many directions, but had familiarity and coolness to spare. The chances of Spoon producing a worthy follow-up seemed slim.

Now admittedly, Moonlight’s great, but a tad over-hyped. The extreme coolness sometimes translates to coldness, and the general attitude of the album feels like a bit snide. Maybe I just find it to be a bit too hip for me. So it was a pleasant surprise when the 2005 follow-up Gimme Fiction spread things out substantially in terms of song structure, instrumentation and production. Fiction emphasized Spoon’s ability to capture their natural essence on tape. Tracks like The “Two Sides of Misour Valentine” incorporate strings, denser textures and allow Spoon to expand naturally.

The trend continues on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. The production is precise and detailed, with every instrument sounding ridiculously clear. Many of Spoon's contemporaries choose to muddle instruments under layers of overdubs and claustrophobic production techniques. On this release, and all Spoon albums there is no confusion as leader Brit Daniel’s gravelly voice along with every instrument are front and center all at once. Tracks like “Don’t Make Me a Target” and “My Little Japanese Cigarette Case” are the straightforward rock songs we expect, but Spoon still finds room to experiment. On “The Ghost of You Lingers” the band conjures spooky, ethereal images with Daniel’s vocals sneakily sliding from left to right and reverberating back.

Some of the band’s best songs to date are contained on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. “The Underdog” manages to be a sprawling epic of a rock song at only three minutes with brass sections that weave in and out of the acoustic skeleton of the track. Interestingly, Spoon continually chooses acoustic guitar sounds rather than electric on most of their songs. This is strange for a rock band because they still play their guitars as if they were in fact electric, yet another way Spoon stays ahead of the legions of forks (bands who wish they were Spoon). When rock n’ roll music can become so easily watered down or so laughably over done there's a lot to be said for a band that still makes it sound fresh.

by Brett Oronzio

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Band Of Horses

2007-12-17T16:48:00.000-05:00

There is some music in this life that is so comforting, so relatable, that you just want to crawl inside it to be reassured all is right with the world. The music on Band of Horses' Cease to Begin has quickly fallen into this category.

While the band has maintained some of the forlorn sound from their debut album Everything All The Time, there are a few less songs on Cease to Begin that make you want to sit in a darkened room with candles as you casually tear at your wrist with a razorblade. The album has a buoyant tone, forshadowed by the liner notes (for those of you who don't buy your music off of iTunes), which do not contain lyrics, but a series of postcardesque photos taken of still and animal life from San Diego and Mount Pleasant.

Cease to Begin contains far more stand out tracks than its predecessor, with particular regard to Is There A Ghost, Ode to LRC, No One's Gonna Love You, and Islands on the Coast.

The first single, Is There A Ghost, lulls its listener in with the endearingly whiny twang of Ben Bridwell's vocals. Ode to LRC also captures the characteristic languor of Bridwell as he croons, "The world is such a wonderful place." A few la-di-das inserted at the end give the song a lively air (well, lively by Band of Horses' standards).

The opening chords of No One's Gonna Love You are a throwback to the despondency of tracks like The Funeral and The First Song. Despite of the pace and sound of the song, the lyrics indicate a sense of bliss and contentment, promising its listener, "No one's gonna love you more than I do."

Detlef Schrempf, one of the most tranquil songs on Cease To Begin, is also the most lyrically variant. Other songs on the album rely on the chorus to bolster the content, but with Detlef Schremf, the chorus, "If we see you like I hoped we never would/Eyes can't look at you any other way/Any other way," is repeated with caution.

The most upbeat song on the album, The General Specific, is a folksy, rhythmic tune, with all the makings for radio airplay. This track transitions nicely into an instrumental interlude with the peculiar title Lamb on the Lam (In the City).
Islands on the Coast is a subconscious nod to The Shins, where BoH mélanges pleasantly melancholic lyrics with tongue in cheek up tempo music on what is their best song on the album.

It is safe to say without equivocation, Band of Horses has succeeded in creating a sophomore effort worthy of its predecessor, possibly even one that has surpassed it.

by Genna Rivieccio

Is There a Ghost on YouTube

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Bon Iver

2007-12-08T13:54:00.001-05:00

Justin Vernon is ready. He departed for the forest of Northwest Wisconsin last winter, and emerged with magic. But it clearly didn't come without a price. For Emma, Forever Ago is a penance, a crucible, a sacrificial offering... and I say 'sacrificial' because it doesn't take long to hear Vernon's giving of himself on this record. And if you see him perform the songs from For Emma live, you can see this offering repeat itself. A sacrament raised up on high to the pieces of us that may have been ripped away--casualties from having loved with all our hearts and lived through the glory and devastation. I'm hoping Vernon is feeling better than he did before last winter, and I imagine he is, given that the name of this new project, Bon Iver (pronounced bohn eevair), is based on the french greeting "Good Winter".

For those of you who are feeling suspicious about Bon Iver, let me put my reputation on the line. He's the real deal.

Despite being somewhat minimalist, Bon Iver sounds decades ahead of its time, combining emotional post-folk and stripped-down acoustic neo-soul. Vernon sings with a falsetto croon, sometimes sounding like hollow metal. That may not sound appealing, but believe me, it works... If there's one man that can make hollow metal sound vulnerable and human, it's Justin Vernon.

For Emma, Forever Ago listens like an EP, in that it leaves you quite unfulfilled with the little time you've spent with the artist. I've probably listened to it a half dozen times in two days, and at the end each time I feel angry and slightly betrayed that it's over.

It opens with Flume, which may be the closest thing to old-fashioned folk you're going to find. Right off the bat, Vernon serves up generous portions of that falsetto (which can sound akin to TV on the Radio). This wail of his helps establish the record's character early on. Lump Sum, the record's second track, is indie gospel music for a new era, driven by a single base-drum and repeating acoustic strum.

Track 3 is Skinny Love, which is the flagship song responsible for all of the ridiculous blog hype Bon Iver's been getting. Even in a small venue in Philly, his announcement of "This song is called Skinny Love", elicited cheers of glee throughout the crowd. Honestly, this track speaks for itself. It's a gift from Vernon to the world--one that I almost wish he didn't have to give, but ignoring his pain, I selfishly horde it under my pillow.

Blindsided is the perfect centerpiece, and awakens one of the most lively moments on the album. The repeated line, "Would you really rush out? (for me now)" is a chant that drives the spirit of the music. The major-scale notes he choses to hit really give the record a feel-good core. Creature Fear teases us with a repeated pseudo-crescendo of a chorus, but the tease is bittersweet, and the second time around leads into the instrumental piece Team.

Jazz horn-players John Dehaven and Randy Pingrey jump on bord for the titular track, which also features a refreshing lively drum beat. Vernon (triumphantly?) sings, "Go find another another lover to string along!" I divert my eyes away from the speakers... I don't know who this Emma chick is, but she's definitely getting her comeuppance.

Don't be skeptical, this is more than just an exercise in exorcism. It's the real deal. I promise.

Bon Iver - Skinny Love mp3

Bon Iver on:
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David Lynch

2007-12-05T13:29:00.000-05:00

Retrospective.

“It’s a strange world”. This candid statement uttered by Kyle MacLachlan’s character in Blue Velvet effectively conveys the often haunting and surrealist images director David Lynch portrays in his mysterious films. An American film director with a reputation for baffling audiences with confusing and often fragmented plots, bizarre and sadistic characters, and mystical themes; David Lynch has been able to establish a career through displaying eerie images representing the nefarious and often supernatural aspect of existence. A true auteur in every sense of the word, Lynch submerges himself in every aspect of his creations as a director, scriptwriter, producer, editor, actor, cinematographer, and soundtrack coordinator. Equally impressive has been Lynch’s refusal to conform to the Hollywood system and create films which are tailor made for box office success. He has succeeded in creating visually intriguing and thought provoking films in an era of filmmaking characterized by the rigid structure of raunchy comedies and action films. However, Lynch’s greatest triumph as a director has been his ability to tear down the American dream. What I mean by this is that Lynch succeeded in unveiling the dark underworld of society within the prototypical white picket-fenced, peaceful, suburban neighborhood in which every American wants to raise kids. This is prominently shown in the opening scene of Lynch’s 1986 neo-noir classic, Blue Velvet. The scene starts with visual images promoting the American dream: the aforementioned white picket fence, large house, a man watering his lawn, bright red fire engines passing with smiling fireman and Dalmatians, and kids playing in a serene suburban neighborhood. In the blink of an eye Lynch smashes this American ideal by having the man watering his lawn become tangled in the water hose and almost strangles himself to death. As the man lies on the grass struggling for his life, the camera zooms in deep into the grass to show black beetles scurrying around. This disturbing image symbolizes the dark underworld of society hidden from sight that lies underneath the exterior of seemingly perfect suburban neighborhoods.

This destruction of the American dream can also be seen in a lesser degree in Lynch’s brilliant cult television series Twin Peaks. In Twin Peaks, much like in Blue Velvet, a small, peaceful, rural area far from the supposed dangers of urban life is uprooted as popular high school student Laura Palmer is murdered. This murder ruins the sanctity of the normally peaceful town of Twin Peaks and opens the eyes of its residents to the evil forces that have been there lurking in the shadows all along. Twin Peaks is still considered by some to be the greatest work ever created by David Lynch. The television series, created in 1990 by Lynch and Mark Frost, was a groundbreaking program that paved the way for future unconventional and provocative television. Although it was canceled prematurely after two seasons, largely due to Lynch’s unwillingness to out rightly reveal Laura’s killer earlier on, it remains one of the boldest endeavors in television history. Perhaps the most impressive part of Twin Peaks was that it was ahead of its time in regards to subject matter. The series can take credit for pushing the envelope for a television series by exploring such graphic subject matter as murder, rape, cocaine use, prostitution, adultery, abuse, and incest. Beginning with the discovery of the prom queen Laura Palmer’s body, Twin Peaks impressively shows how even the most remote and quaint areas are subject to evil in the world. Artfully combining humor, mostly through the eccentric FBI agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), quirky townies, and a murder revolving around the supernatural, Twin Peaks fully showcases David Lynch's brilliance.

Although Lynch received his first directorial success on the big screen with the low budget Eraserhead (1977) and critically acclaimed The Elephant Man (1980), his true cinematic style began to prominently shine in his subsequent films; starting with Blue Velvet (1986). This is where Lynch first presented the dark side of human nature as being represented by a true evil embodiment. Dennis Hopper’s chilling portrayal of the sadistic helium inhaling Frank Booth, a figure who is chiefly responsible for corrupting the peaceful suburban town of Lumberton. Operating out of Lincoln, the bad part of town, Frank is responsible for murder, drug dealing, rape, and kidnapping which plague the town of Lumberton. Another example of this evil embodiment is shown through the character Bobby Peru (William Dafoe). In Wild at Heart Peru is the true definition of evil as he physically molests Laura Dern’s character and later tries to kill Sailor (Nicholas Cage) as they rob a bank. The importance of the evil characters in Lynch’s films is that they represent the dark side which is found in human nature and also try to corrupt the more innocent characters into committing evil acts. For example, in Twin Peaks the demonic figure Bob spiritually inhabits Leland Palmer and forces him to murder his own daughter Laura.

Lynch is not a complete cynic however, as a lot of his films include some kind of angelic figure or guardian who counteracts the evil embodiment to try and save the innocent. This concept can be seen in the feature length prequel to the Twin Peaks series; Lynch’s Twin Peaks Fire Walk with Me. In this film, the satanic Bob and angelic Federal Agent Dale Cooper face off as Bob attempts to steal Laura Palmer’s soul.

The distinct personal style of David Lynch which prevails in his films has lead to viewers dubbing it “Lynchian”. This Lynchian style is characterized by a fascination with the paranormal, dark rooms, the human subconscious and dreams, devilish and angelic figures, the presence of evil in peaceful small town areas, red curtains, the use of blue and red, and the use of dry or often bizarre humor. In many ways Lynch displays a film noir style in most of his movies. One film noir element, the femme fatale, is a woman (usually blonde) who gets the male protagonist to do what she wants through the use of sex and deception. This is shown through Patricia Arquette’s manipulative character in Lost Highway as well as the emotionally frigid and deceptive Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks. The line between reality and dreams is incredibly blurred in Lynch’s movies, leaving the viewer to feel as if he/she is watching characters in some parallel universe which transcends scientific explanation. In order to illustrate this feeling one need not look further than the dreams of Dale Cooper displayed in Twin Peaks. In these haunting dreams Cooper is continually displayed sitting in a room in a parallel universe containing black and white striped floors, red curtains, a woman who looks exactly like the murdered Laura Palmer, and a midget who gives Cooper clues to solving the murder. Although this description of the scene may seem like it is meant to be weird just for the sake of being weird, it does serve a purpose. Much like the rest of Lynch’s films, Cooper’s dreams show Lynch’s utilization of the colors blue and red, as well as the importance he places on the encoded messages that can be found in an individual’s dreams.

Another distinct element found in Lynchian film is the fear of the unknown. In Blue Velvet for example, Jeffrey Beaumont discovers a seedy underworld in his town that he has never known existed. Again, the main objective that Lynch accomplishes in Blue Velvet, as well as his other films, is lifting the proverbial rock up to show the dark faction of society which is hidden underneath it. The viewer, as well as the relatively innocent characters in the film, must decide whether they wish to explore this dark underworld being presented to them or decide to flee from it.

As a director, David Lynch somewhat resembles another director famous for his unapologetic presentation of often haunting and disturbing images; Alfred Hitchcock. Much like Hitchcock in films such as Vertigo and Rear Window, Lynchian film also includes the concept of voyeurism (gaining sexual gratification by watching others without being seen). Voyeurism is shown in Blue Velvet as the main character Jeffrey (Kyle MacLachlan) watches Frank rape Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini) while hidden inside a closet. This scene bears a strong resemblance to Hitchcock’s Psycho, in which the viewer watches a woman being killed and is made to feel guilty for looking at the woman victim as a sexual object. Another instance of voyeurism is shown in the Lynch’s film Lost Highway when the character Pete (Balthazar Getty) is watching the woman he is having relations with engaging in sexual acts with another man on a television.
When thinking about what distances David Lynch from other filmmakers in history, the thing that comes in mind is his uncanny ability and willingness to explore the human subconscious. Lynch explores the human subconscious in one way through placing a heavy importance on dreams in his films. This is shown through Lost Highway when the character Fred has a dream in which he wakes up next to a woman that looks like his wife but is not. Fred describes the dream saying, “You were, lying in bed... but it wasn't you. It looked like you, but it wasn't”. This dream, much like the majority of dreams in Lynch’s films, are clues or passageways to the truth as Fred’s wife indeed turns out to have two separate identities. Another manner in which Lynch examines the subconscious is through his implementation of memory as a vital part of his films. This concept is shown in Mulholand Drive as the character Rita (Laura Harring) is involved in a car crash and suffers amnesia. Rita, not recalling anything previous to the accident, enlists the help of Betty (Naomi Watts) as they try to piece together clues to solve the mystery.

Through his cinematic talents and trademark surrealist style, David Lynch has developed a large and devout cult audience. However, his career has not been without the occasional flop. One example is Lynch’s Dune, a science fiction adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel. The film, boasted an ensemble of Lynch regulars such as Kyle MacLachlan, Jack Nance, and Dean Stockwell. Although the film included members of Lynch’s regular ensemble it explored a new genre for Lynch; science fiction. Many devout David Lynch fans accustomed to the director’s surreal thrillers were disenchanted with Lynch’s departure from his usual genre. This disenchantment led to Dune becoming a commercial failure, garnering only 27.4 million dollars while costing 45 million dollars to make. Another commercial failure that Lynch endured was the fragmented Lost Highway. Although the film contained many of the same elements used in Lynch’s more commercially favorable films, the confusing nature of the plot and actors playing more than one characters left audience members scratching their heads. Despite enduring these commercial failures, Lynch has not been discouraged in his mission to create otherworldly films which provoke thought and meaning. With his poignant use of dry humor, surrealist and disturbing images, and cerebral plots Lynch has created a unique cinematic style all his own. Whatever projects Lynch decides to embark on in the future one thing is clear; Lynch will be remembered forever for his uncanny ability to uncover the darkness that hides within the shadows of society.

by Fiachra Malone

David Lynch on:
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Action Set

2007-11-26T19:04:00.000-05:00

"I see no difference in traffic lights and wedding nights that turn into knife-fights!" ring out just one of the melodic hooks that populate Action Set's growing catalogue of rockin' folk-pop gems. The NYC -by -way -of -South -Jersey group only got started in late 2005, but they already have song-writing chops well beyond their years. Seeing them perform live is treating yourself to heartfelt, danceable harmonies and passion for vibrating strings and skins that you're not likely to match these days. One must wonder, are they America's amp'd-up answer to The Kings Of Convenience? Unimportant. Their more crucial role is NYC's answer to those who think that today's best undergound music is sole property of cynical hipsters and ironic bloggers. They may happen to be cool guys with a sense of humor, but Action Set is only concerned with expressing themselves the best way they know how: singing and playing guitars until booties are a-shakin'.

Don't get me wrong-- just because they're genuine doesn't mean they don't indulge in clever songwriting. Far from it. Their mix of upbeat and slower acoustic and electric songs may feel comfortable, but they're far from stock. Everything they do has the unique stamp of a band whose influences may be identifiable but whose ambition is to get every last soul at the bar humming, tapping, drinking, drawing, sculpting, dumping their bitchy girlfriend, driving to the shore, starting that business they've been dreaming about, forgiving their tearful ex and taking the opportunity to try those positions she was never willing to do before.

Life-affirming music? Just a tad...

Their cinematic dance-folk favorite, Give Up really explores the Belle and Sebastian side of life. It's got an ascending chord progression and wistfully sung vocals painting the scene of a sexy rendezvous with just a hint of scandal. The Arrest, which is named after singer/guitarist Sam Smith's former band, is post-Shins indie paydirt from a world where there's more to mid-tempo catchiness than the OC soundtrack or Greys Anatomy.

Set's ballad (one of perhaps a handful), This is Not a Love Song, is exactly what it sounds like it isn't. (I think.) And don't think that just because these South Jersey natives know their way around an acoustic ballad, that you don't need to bother seeing them live if you're looking for high-energy music. In addition to plenty of rockin rythms and some occasional good old-fashioned screams, you might just get treated to Weigh In, which, in addition to being lively as the day is loud, is catchier than an advertising exec's wet dream. When AC gets around to recording a studio version, they're going to be beating McDonald's' commercial guys off with spatulas.

Action Set has an EP out, the mp3's of which you're welcomed to download for free at their website. As of right now, I'd say it's simply a race to see what lucky label notices them first. May the best label win. There's a reason we call them hooks, and right now it's 1849 and Action Set is California.

The Arrest.mp3
Give Up.mp3

Action Set on:
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Carlos Reygadas

2007-11-12T07:55:00.001-05:00

More from the 2007 New York Film Festival

With every great rise in a 'national cinema', there are always essential directors and artists hidden beneath the enormous popularity of the so-called premiere directors. The recent Mexican New Wave has boasted three fabulous talents and pushed their top notch directors into Hollywood success. Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu (“Babel”, “21 Grams”) and Alfonso Cuaron (“Children of Men”, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”) have transitioned into highly regarded successes in the industry. Guillermo Del Toro moved from Hollywood back to Mexico to create his monstrously successful Spanish/Mexican co-production “Pan’s Labyrinth” and is lined up to return to Hollywood. At the same time, director Carlos Reygadas (“Battle In Heaven”, “Japon”) has worked alongside these directors without being pushed over the border and into the American industry. While his work has not been as economically viable, therefore not as widespread, as the others Mexican works, Reygadas is an equally important director with extraordinary depth and range. Reygadas’ new film Silent Light, which has been submitted as Mexico’s selection for Academy Award consideration and was the highlight of the New York Film Festival, deepens Reygadas’ art and should help establish him as one of the premiere directors of the Mexican New Wave.

Silent Light opens with the greatest opening shot since Bela Tarr’s stunning opening to Werckmesiter Harmonies. The eight minute shot starts staring into a sky full of stars and rotates around into daybreak on the horizon. The shot ends and transitions into more solitude before the silence is broken by the word 'Amen.' This opening sequence establishes Reygadas’ change in tone from his earlier works. However, the film is far from muted and finds Reygadas’ characteristic provocations through the drastic changes in character. It contains moments that are as equally stunning as the opening of his previous work, Battle In Heaven, which showcases an attractive young women giving felatio to a fat, uninspired older man.

Silent Light has been deemed a more mature work for Reygadas and, while this seems to me an unfounded back handed compliment regarding Reygadas’ prior films, it certainly seems to be a move, in general, to more refined filmmaking. While there is still a fair amount of experimentation, the seemingly conventional feel comes from the more clear cut story that Silent Light tells.

Johan, the head of a simple Mennonite farming family, is married to Esther. However, there is trouble on the horizon when, after telling Esther that he loves her at the table, Johan breaks down into tears. Johan is in love with another woman named Marianne who he admits is his 'natural woman,' but is afraid to leave Esther because it will hurt her. Johan constantly tries to dodge the fact that it would effect him so deeply, but his religious struggle is key in realizing his desperation.

There is something mystical about the relationship between Johan and Marianne when they are together. Johan and Marianne slowly undress each other, taking time to realize the beauty of their partner. After they sleep together, each bead of sweat on Johan’s face is astonishingly clear. His soul seems to be seeping out of his body, when Marianna tells him that peace is stronger than love and Johan predicts that there will be more pain to come before he finds peace and happiness. Marianne explains that being with Johan is the saddest and happiest time of her life; she has been shut out of her family, but has possibly found her perfect man. The transgression and moral battle is placed squarely on Johan’s shoulders.

Set in a northern Mexican Mennonite community, cast with local non-professional actors, and becoming the first film ever told in the medieval German dialect called Plautidiectsch, Silent Light may sound like incredibly uncommercial filmmaking, but the astounding build and emotional resonance of the film’s final act showcases Reygadas’ 'maturity' and ability to combine many unique elements without any of them overshadowing the work. The tone may seem lighter and Reygadas may appear to be drifting from his “provacateur” status, over which critics have harshly divided, however, Silent Light still manages to contain Reygadas’ classic audaciousness in its quiet moment of revelation. It is in this slight shift that Reygadas may finally find commercial interest in his work, while still maintaining the elements that make him a quintessential filmmaker.

Silent Light is the kind of film that the New York Film Festival and, indeed, any great film festival needs. Though it may not be as risky a choice as some would like, recognizing previously overlooked films such as Battle in Heaven or Pedro Costa’s Colossal Youth, the selection of Silent Light signals the selection committees nod of approval to the work of Reygadas. While the approval of “the committee” may signal a deeper problem about the film industry’s frustrating commercialism and unwillingness to take distributive risks, the festival’s commitment to showcasing great films, commercial studio pictures or otherwise, allows a film like Silent Light and Reygadas’ work to be written about and given serious thought and opened up to an intelligent and insightful audiences. Whether it is reflected the the festival’s selection or not, for my money, Silent Light brings to fruition and seals Reygadas as not only one of the premiere directors of the emerging Mexican New Wave, but also as one of the most interesting and crucial voices in modern world cinema.

by James Hansen

Silent Light on:

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Joel Plaskett

2007-10-26T10:21:00.000-04:00

Maple Music's Joel Plaskett Emergency Lights Up Philadelphia's Fillmore at the TLA

One of the top 5 most life-changing moments of any Tragically Hip show is being introduced to their opening act. Canada seems to be the place to be for indie-rock anymore, and the Hip are a touring comet whose tail is every best band that slips under the States' radar. Following in the footsteps of names like Sam Roberts and The Constantines, The Joel Plaskett Emergency is the latest harbinger of Canada's favorite superstars.

Plaskett's new disc, Ashtray Rock, is a semi-autobiographical concept album incorporating shite from his childhood through his days as a professional musician. Ashtray Rock itself refers to the spot in the woods where they'd meet to get drunk when he and his friends were teenagers. The opening song after a brief introductory reprise is aptly named "Drunk Teenagers". One can feel Plaskett's nostalgia crisis unfold, almost matched by an aching to make amends.

Musically, it's just interesting enough. Occasionally glammy--and once or twice, funky--Plaskett is less concerned with breaking new ground than he is in setting the mood and framework for his pass-the-bottle-around story-time. I hesitate to call Ashtray Rock a pop-rocky take on acid-folk, but let's say that the album is just enough of a genre bender that it oughtn't bore those who - when they here the phrase 'Concept Album', can only conjur ideas of epic prog-opi.

Despite mostly up-beat melodies, the lyrics are bittersweet. The vocal line that ends the album on "Sountrack for the Night" proclaims 'Yea, I stole your girl... If I have one regret, it's that I lost you the first time I set my eyes on her...' Perhaps the music is a tad on the competent side for the poignance of the lyrical content, but not to the point where it sounds noticeably unfitting. Even though Plaskett at times plays it safe with majors and minors, his croon more than makes up for it with the soul and longing of a lonely bar singer who's hoping his old girlfriends and roomates show up to sing along.

Plaskett follows a new tradition that I dig. And that is: people who clearly listened to Springstien growing up, who are not trying to sound like Springstien (thank you to Badly Drawn Boy for, [starting??] this tradition). No offence to the Hold-Steady et al, who find it boss to tear pages out of familair play-books; there's certainly nothing wrong with either emulating or coincidentally sounding like the greats (see: MM favorite Dr. Dog), but the Springstien twice-removed generation's flavor is both diluted and original enough to keep me going to shows and getting chills from original voices.

The real meat of the Joel Plaskett Emergency experience is the live performance. Unlike folk singers who talk about their next song in monotone prose for sometimes 5 minutes, Plaskett sets up the scene for his songs, where applicable, with a (coincidently?) Gordon Downie-esque energetic diatribe over-top the introductory instrumentals. This rythmic ritual really gets his audience caring about the songs on dynamic levels, taking away the "what's he saying/what are any of these songs about?" issues associated with heavier rock shows and virtually eliminating the one-dimensional flatness associated with pure folk shows. And, of course, the music touches on the best of both worlds.

I look forward to seeing The JPE do a headlining show, but I'm sure it won't be happinging 'round these parts. I have been looking for an excuse to road-trip the shit out of Canada, though. And on a substitute teacher's budget, seeing the Joel Plaskett Emergency play all night long in a small club up north may be just what the doctor ordered...

Joel Plaskett Emergency on:

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The Coen Brothers

2007-10-23T15:07:00.000-04:00

The 45th New York Film Festival Presents No Country For Old Men

Although they are usually considered to be among America’s finest filmmakers, some would say the Coen Brothers have hit a rough patch over the past few years. They obviously still had the cinematic brains to piece together interesting films, but they were turning a new page in their oeuvre for the 21st century. The branching out into more “Hollywood” type work is nothing to scoff at, but some say their last couple films missed the luster and magic of their earlier work. It seemed there was a slight move into sight gags and less sophisticated dark humor, which is one of the defining elements from the very start of their career with the terrific “Blood Simple.”

Enter this years New York Film Festival and the selection of the new Coen Brothers film as the Festival Centerpiece. Coming off of great reports at the Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals, No Country For Old Men was one of the most anticipated films of the festival and fall movie season. I entered the screening with ridiculously high expectations, having seen all of the Coens work (and enjoying most of it), and hearing the glowing reviews from my favorite critics; also the film is based on a book by one of my favorite novelists, Cormac McCarthy. All of my expectations were surpassed. No Country For Old Men is one of their most mature works and is executed to perfection on nearly every level.

No Country For Old Men showcases the ability of mature directors and actors to blend all of the distinct separate elements of a film into a cohesive and powerful unit. The Coens deviate little in their adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel and the choice to follow the text pays great dividends. Considered by many as one of our greatest living writers, Cormac McCarthy writes about extreme characters with radical points of view in order to illustrate to the audience, who is constantly living in a middle ground gray area, the destructive power that the extremes hold. Though his view of humanity is downright depressing, the Coens, along with their actors, create subtle nuances in each camera movement and line of dialogue to establish a sly level of humor that helps the audience survive in between horrific spurts of nihilistic violence.

Javier Bardem is utterly frightening and unforgettable as the villain Chigurh, who kills with logic yet no moral conscience--he spares or takes away life at the flip of a quarter. Bardem, too, finds strange moments for humor (as if his hair cut did't do this anyway) which make Chigurh even more despicable. Chigurh is more concerned with keeping his boots clean rather than disposing of dead bodies; he knows he is indestructible. Just as McCarthy’s character Judge Holden serves as a semblance of pure evil in his masterpiece Blood Meridian, Chigurh does the same here. The imagination can run wild in reading Cormac McCarthy’s prose, but seeing the character visualized is chilling.

While Chigurh serves the purpose of evil in its purest form, Llewlyn Moss, played by Josh Brolin, is an ordinary guy thrust into this situation. By all accounts, Moss is a good man who wants to protect his family. In his discovery of a briefcase full of drug money, Moss serves on the other extreme of the story as pure good. He faces many moral dilemmas on his journey, but first and foremost comes protection of his family and the people who he loves.

The fate of the audience and the common man is displayed by old time local sheriff Ed Tom Bell, played brilliantly by Tommy Lee Jones. It is Ed Tom who realizes the position that Moss is in, yet moves forward as though he has seen this all before. He does his best to protect Moss and his family, but knows that Moss is in way over his head, no matter the efforts of the police or the world as a whole. Ed Tom lives in the real world, apart from the radical sides of good and evil, but even in these gray areas evil has becomes the dominating force. Ed Tom and Moss are both looking for a light at the end of the tunnel, but it is only Ed Tom who tells us that we are all outmatched in the modern world of random acts of despicable violence.

Beyond the pure, pitch perfect storytelling is the equally mastered sense of visual style and cinematography. The superb cinematography from the incomparable Roger Deakins works not only to complement the story being told, but creates another elusive element to the world of our characters. The vastly still landscape holds the essence of the quiet and calm world that can in an instant turn into extreme violence. However, everything is executed so well that none of the elements call attention to themselves. Deakins doesn’t need to be flashy for us to recognize artistry and to notice the wonderful conjunction of every element throughout the film. Just as the Coens shift the tone of the story, the landscape and mood of the camera shifts as well--not just complementing the execution of the story, but becoming a beautiful component in the telling of the story.

Each move made by the cast and crew of No Country For Old Men was taken to serve the world that the Coen Brothers and Cormac McCarthy were striving to create. All the moves are so seemless that the perfection of the film is hard to notice while watching, but undeniable when you think about the film after the fact. No Country For Old Men is a return of sorts for the Coen Brothers to an earlier style and feel of some of their best films. However, it may also be a definitive move for the team into more sophisticated, smart, and haunting films. It will be interesting to see where the Coens go from here as following up “No Country For Old Men” will be a difficult task to say the least. If they are anything like this, however, there is a lot more to look forward to from these preeminent American filmmakers.

by James Hansen

No Country For Old Men On:
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Tony Gilroy

2007-10-16T20:41:00.000-04:00

From its startling opening monologue delivered by Tom Wilkinson, you are quite ready for the kind of film that Michael Clayton is going to be: a tale of the filth of corporate America, rotten executives and lawyers and the underbelly of society. Sounds like a film noir? To an extent, it is. Michael Clayton teeters on the edge of classic noir and the contemporary thriller. From first time director, but long time writer Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Trilogy, Devil’s Advocate) we are given a tour de force directorial debut with one of the strongest screenplay’s this year has to offer.

Michael Clayton, played by the illustrious George Clooney, is what you call a “janitor” in the world of corporate law. If something goes wrong, he cleans it up. In this case, a high profile account is in jeopardy of being lost due to the unraveling psyche of one of their most trusted lawyers, brilliantly played by Tom Wilkinson. As he reels out of control in manic-depressive states, he is seemingly sabotaging the case. Clayton is sent in by his boss, co-producer Sydney Pollack, to investigate the problem.

As Michael tries to clear the haze behind the events, he finds that there is more going on than just the unraveling of his friend and co-worker’s mind. There is a lot more brewing behind the scenes. In addition, Michael’s own life is unraveling at the seems making it hard for him to focus on his family, his job and his own personal freedom.

Gilroy excels in story telling through his characters. Clooney’s sullen performance sets the film's mood. Wilkinson’s manic-depressive lawyer gives the film its fragile existence. Tilda Swinton as the head of the corporation plays the part so subtly, you understand her deal until near the end of the picture. It’s a film about mystery, deception and bending the truth and all its characters do just this.

The biggest triumph of this film is its writing. A veteran, Tony Gilroy writes a flawless script full of authentic dialogue, heartwarming and bone-chilling scenes, as well as a story so tight, one will find it hard to locate any plot hole to fall through. Although it has its twists and turns, it isn’t impossible to follow over its two-hour run time. It does get a bit complicated, but a character driven thriller as opposed to a plot driven thriller is much easier to follow.

Tony Gilroy is at his prime behind the lens and behind the pen in Michael Clayton. Apparently this was a project he has been working on for some time but was interrupted by the more commercial, yet still intriguing Bourne Trilogy. This latest outing shows the growth Gilroy is capable of. With power players like Clooney and Steven Soderbergh producing, a triumph in the thriller genre is upon us. Mixing elements of noir and the modern thriller make Michael Clayton one of the best films of the year. Keep your eyes out come Oscar time as Michael Clayton deserves various nods.

by Paul Tsikitas

Michael Clayton Trailer

Michael Clayton on:
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Danava

2007-10-13T22:21:00.001-04:00

Many lovers of rock music often ponder what it would be like if their favorite bands had a musical orgy and pounded out a progeny of genius youth. Many of the unique acts today take several genres and smash them into a mix of sounds to create something both nostalgic and fresh. The band Danava (pronounced Duh-Uh-Va) does just this. Imagine syncing up three record players with Sabbath’s “Faires Wear Boots”, Bowie’s “Width of a Circle” and King Crimson’s “Red” and you would probably hear something similar to Danava.

Hailing from Portland, Oregan via Illinois, Danava packs a progressive rock punch to the face that is all at once disorienting and awe-inspiring. Not many acts today are trying to resurrect early 70’s prog rock the way these guys are. They take a pinch of glam rock and bring a fuzzed out mix of six minute plus anthems that sound like the glory days of Rush, Yes, and the other aforementioned groups. That being said, this drives Danava to the fringe of the mainstream where a record such as their self-titled debut gets lost.

From the first notes of “By the Mark”, you immediately are warped back to the days of LSD, free love and paranoia that were standard in the early 1970’s. With more of a British flair for the flamboyant and the epic, “By the Mark” plows through a close to eight-minute length with ferocity, fuzz and trippyness.

After the fierce thrashing laid on the listener at the end of the “By the Mark”, the spaced out Enoesque beginning of “Eyes in Disguise” will lull the listener into a false sense of security. The ambient sequencing of the synthesizers and long intro will relax the listener before launching into its guitar assault. It doesn’t get much more epic than this.

“Quiet Babies Astray in a Manger”, the shortest track at a paltry six minutes and 18 seconds still thrashes with the best of them. Floating out there is an extended version on 12” which I will be desperately looking for. The edited version starts off like a Robert Fripp Crimson track with similar guitar tones and overlapping sounds. As the track progresses into hard rock, it comes out at the end as a frantic guitar vs. bass vs. drum-off. Each instrument is a weapon to the ears as they overlap, harmonize and pick up moment.
The last two tracks, “Longdance” and “Maudie Shook” end the album with its best pace. “Longdance” sounds like a Deep Purple missing track with its fantastic guitar work. “Maudie Shook” ends the album with its most mythical stroke.

Once Danava’s self titled debut comes to a close, the listener feels overwhelmed. It harkens an age that has long been forgotten. Recently, the 80’s has been the era of music seeing the most bands emulate. Danava takes it’s musical roots from early 70’s glam and prog. Not many bands are releasing albums with 5 tracks of excess. This isn’t a bad thing as Danava accomplishes its first album with engaging tracks that rock hard and relentlessly.

by Paul Tsikitas

Danava on Youtube:

Danava on:
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Kemado Records

The National

2007-10-05T14:21:00.000-04:00

@ The Fillmore at The TLA - Philadelphia, PA
9/4/07

Music critics have tried desperately to coin a term that accurately describes lead singer Matt Berninger’s voice, comparing it to whiskey, silk, and even chocolate. I won’t wallow in cheap metaphors here, but I will say that at first listen, Berninger’s voice is effortless enough to convince you that you could easily stand in as the front man. And then comes the day when the windows are down in your car and you’re singing along with Berninger note for note. That’s when you realize that even if you had a stronger voice or a more dynamic range than him, you’d never match the soulfulness and longing in his voice. It is this seductive melancholy coupled with the band’s rich songwriting which elevates The National above many of their contemporaries. You can call it whiskey, chocolate, marmalade, or rusty rawhide if you want to, so long as you call it what it is: wholly original and invigorating rock music.

Taking the stage at The TLA in Philadelphia on September 4th, The National opened with “Start a War” from their latest (and greatest) album, “Boxer.” The song begins slowly with a simple guitar melody and soothing vocals. Slowly, layer after musical layer is added until Berninger stands aside as violins, keyboards, drums, and guitars pound out the song’s thunderous refrain. Then it stops. The crowd is silent. A moment later, they respond with enthusiastic applause, wondering how they were tricked into such a rocking experience by such an innocuous opening. This sets the tone for the night as every song starts with little more than an instrumental hum before escalating into an all-out musical assault.

So far, you might think The National is a straight-up rock outfit replete with nothing but fist-pumping anthems. To the contrary, their true bread and butter are songs of a slower variety. Slow songs can crush the momentum of even some of the best rock concerts. To The National’s credit, they keep the momentum going strong even as the beat slows down. Their live renditions of “All the Wine” and “Fake Empire” prove this point beyond a doubt as they invite the audience into an even more intimate level. The lyrics of The National never paint a full picture of events or tell a cohesive story. Instead, they string together a collection of intensely visual details that serve as an abstract account of the song’s true meaning. This lyrically surrealistic landscape allows the listener to project their own hopes, fears, and experiences onto the song, effectively turning it into a uniquely personal experience. Like good literature, the atmosphere and emotional power of these lyrics spring from their deceptive simplicity. With just a few lines, The National can convey more than most bands can manage with a whole song. These lyrics take center stage during The National’s slower songs and allow the band to continue connecting with audience even while the music plays it mellow.

Their set list at the TLA balances songs from their last two studio albums with only two earlier songs thrown in to appease their diehard fans. The one song, “Wasp Nest,” is to appease the bartender working in the back of the room, identified as “Bill,” who has apparently been serving drinks to the band since their early days playing in Brooklyn nightclubs. A few songs into the set, Berninger lets us know that he’s fighting off a sore throat and jokingly promises that if they sound different, they’re “not taking a new direction…it’s just the Robitussin.” Aside from a few coughing fits between songs, you would never guess that he is feeling under the weather. The main set consists of 15 songs and ends with “Mr. November,” arguably their best song to date. It’s the perfect example of The National’s songwriting ability: juxtaposing melancholic verses with a hard-hitting chorus that has the crowd shaking with excitement. The intensity increases to a manic pace; the drums pounding in short staccato bursts and the guitar chords washing over Berninger’s smooth vocals. Then it’s done. The crowd erupts in applause as the band thanks them and walks off the stage.

After what seems to be a 30 second break, The National returns to the stage and kicks off their encore with the rocker “Abel.” Just before the song starts up, Berninger makes a passing remark that this one will definitely put his already-throbbing vocal chords to the test. He isn’t lying. By the time the anthemic chorus kicks in, Berninger is doubled over in pain, straining every muscle as he proclaims the line “my mind’s not right” over and over. Arms wrapped under his stomach and his head by his knees, he pours everything he has left into his words. The band follows his lead, pushing their instruments to the breaking point. By the time the din dies down and the controlled chaos clears for their final song “About Today”, The National have successfully converted every audience member into an awe-struck believer.

By Neal Tyler

The National's "Fake Empire" on YouTube:

FULL SETLIST:
Start a War
Mistaken for Strangers
Secret Meeting
Brainy
Baby We’ll Be Fine
Slow Show
Lit Up
Squalor Victoria
Racing Like a Pro
Wasp Nest
All the Wine
Apartment Story
Soho Riots
Fake Empire
Mr. November
(ENCORE)
Abel
About Today

The National on:
Wikipedia
Myspace

M.I.A.

2007-09-12T16:37:00.000-04:00

M.I.A.’s Kala is an album positively dripping with sex. M.I.A.’s delivery lies somewhere between the caterwauling of the Spice Girls and the smooth tones of Lilly Allen, but she delivers her songs at a frantic pace, spitting rhymes and spouting choruses at a speed only exceeded by the positively out of control tribal drums she unleashes on tracks like “Bird Flu” and “Boyz.” Production is absolutely phenomenal on the entire disc, featuring rich and full percussion throughout, and diverse sound effects over top. Children never seem to stop yelling in M.I.A’s world, like “Mango Pickle Down River,” which resides just this side of the billabong from annoying, and features a group of kids, the Wilcannia Mob. The guns loading don’t stop either; in “Down River” M.I.A. shouts “See me see me bubblin’ quietly/See me see me actin like you aim at me” a shotgun loads, and blasts into the pounding beat and the chorus, “Guns out! Guns out!”

Kala races you around like a car chase through a bustling African market. And M.I.A. has the attitude to sit behind the wheel. “I’m gonna warm my buns with summa summa summa summa /Now I’m Sittin down chillin on gunpowda/Strike match light fire move that yellow cord Mia/ M.I.A comin back with power power” she spits on the hot hot “Bamboo Banger.” Even when she chills out, like on “Paper Planes,” she still tells us “I fly like paper/I get high like planes/If you catch me at the border I got visas in my name/” Other highlights of this frenetic trip include the stripped down “Come Around,” featuring Timbaland, which shows off M.I.A.’s smooth flow, and “Jimmy,” dub-disco with soaring 70s synth lines, and “$20,” which grinds out organs somewhere close to New Order’s “Blue Monday” but pulls out The Pixies’ classic chorus “Where is my mind.” Then she shrieks and the percussion picks up again. This is Kala, and M.I.A., in a microcosm, and I’ll be damned if I’d have it any other way.

by Simon Burger

M.I.A. on Youtube:

M.I.A. on:
Wikipedia
Myspace

Judd Apatow

2007-09-10T17:29:00.000-04:00

The American Mainstream is in love with Superbad.. We Feel the Samesy's!

After we saw Superbad together, my girlfriend told me that she has a crush on Michael Cera. And, ya know, that was a frustrating thing to hear. Because I was about five minutes away from announcing the same thing.

Truth be told, though... I’d go steady with the whole cast.

Forgive me if this next comment shows up surrounded by ellipses on the cover of the DVD, but: Superbad is the best straight-up comedy I’ve seen in years.

I say “straight-up” because it’s a pure comedy. Unlike other recent comedies that I’ve liked, it’s a machine designed primarily to elicit laughs. There’s no “think” wrench holding up the hilarity gears.

Sure, it has a plot and a moral. But although the former is typical, it’s not contrived. And director Greg Mottola delivers the latter without alerting your inner cynic.

See, there’s nothing new about the premise or the characters or even the setting in Superbad.

It’s the flawless, un-self-concious execution that sets it apart from the probably dozen or so high-school-buddies-set-out-to-score-booze-and-chicks-before-graduation films that come out each year.

For certain, it has your crude daydream sequences, gratuitously raunchy one-liners and penis jokes, but this time, the use of what raters call “non-stop four-letter profanity” is truly what helps it arrive at a genuinely poignant — and even wholesome — core.

That’s no surprise considering it was produced by Judd Apatow, who we first knew as the creative force behind some of the best episodes of the heartwarming cult hit Freaks and Geeks.

More recently, he has been building a catalogue of hit comedies for which he serves as either writer, director or producer.

Although my preference has been with the movies he has written — The 40-year-old Virgin and Knocked Up — over those he has only produced — Anchorman and Talladega Nights — Superbad changes that trend. To me, it's the antithesis to the rash of recent comedies — including the aforementioned Will Ferrell vehicles — built around a gimmick premise stocked with caricatures, not characters. Films like Dodgeball, Old School and Wedding Crashers are destined to fall apart in the end because they try to become real movies when no one cares about the outcome.

Forgive the comparison, but if the dudes in Animal House came to terms with their immaturity at the end of the parade scene, I doubt anyone would be walking around with “College” shirts 30 years later.

But in Superbad, there’s not even a hint of a seam between the penultimate action, the climax and the aftermath.

The movie doesn’t dwell on the moment that you know is imminent in most comedies — when the characters change. Like the best of Apatow’s catalog, the laughs are in the characters’ flaws — their realistic humanness — not in the antics of a sketch actor riffing in the midst of an overly polished plot whose trajectory is solely engineered for the benefit of the gimmick.

Credit Superbad’s actors for making it feel natural.

Take Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who absolutely steals the show in his film debut as Fogell. I mean, you know the kid. He’s the one you might have let sit at your lunch table, but would have disavowed at the very hint of an accusation of acquaintance.

But in the movie, he’s so unbelievably unaware of how uncool he is that, of course, everything comes up aces for him at every turn.

As for Cera’s Evan and his best friend Seth, played by Jonah Hill, the two thrive in discussing both the mundane and absurd. Literally every line they deliver is gold.

Cera’s comic timing, instincts, delivery and inflection rival even Ricky Gervaise.

As for Hill, to paraphrase A Christmas Story: he works in profanity the way some artists work in oils or clay.

Their command of the dialogue makes the mostly predictable story (things go wrong wherever they can) a vehicle for a new standard of per-capita laughs.

As high school seniors looking to hook up summer flings before graduation, the two share names with writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who started the script when they were in high school.

Save for the intermittent and ridiculous antics of Rogen and SNL’s Bill Hader as over-the-top cops, the story rings true throughout: the high school girls actually look like high school girls, the kids talk the way high school kids actually talk, and Seth and Evan’s experience probably isn’t unlike one you’ve heard about or had.

Fittingly, the characters’ fate is favorable, but not triumphant.

And that’s what makes the best comedy — familiar situations amplified by competent representatives of ourselves.

Michael Cera can play me any time he wants.

by Nick Norlen

Judd Apatow on:

Wikipedia

IMDB

Pedro Costa

2007-09-01T00:14:00.000-04:00

From its opening shot, a long take of junk being thrown out of a window on a dark night, Portuguese director Pedro Costa’s film Colossal Youth never shies away from exactly what it is: a long, deliberate 155 minutes shot on digital video in the slums of Lisbon; exploring the people who live there and how they live. The slow moving minimalist approach and lack of a real narrative appears to be a major turn off for most. The film is infamous for the mass walkouts it received at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Even in my own viewing on the last night of the films run at Anthology Film Archives, nearly 1/3 of the “crowd” left as early as 30 minutes in and as late as 2 hours. However, the nature of Costa’s filmmaking lends itself perfectly in approaching the difficult subject at hand and makes Colossal Youth one of the most haunting, powerful, and best films of the year.

Colossal Youth is Costa’s most recent film in a almost completely unseen filmography. Luckily, the retrospective of his work that premiered at Anthology is scheduled to tour the States this year. Colossal Youth follows a man named Ventura as he meets with various people of the town who he refers to as his children. Oftentimes, they just sit around and say nothing at all. Other times, characters speak for extended periods of time in single shots that run over ten minutes in length. Droll as this may sound, the film does retain an atmospheric drive through the use of time and space. There is no reference to time. The rooms are broken down, decrepit, and cramped. There are children who continue to play, as children always do, but there is little sense of joy in their retreat to play. Even while time in the film shifts back and forth to past and future, it is Costa’s intention to make it impossible to tell when or why. Life just continues for the characters. Their challenging situations seem to always continue, no matter the changing shape of the world. There is only the constant struggle day after day and a search for something better.

While many characters in Colossal Youth may not find a way out of misery, Ventura brings with his visits a sense of hope and belonging. Ventura’s “children” refer to him as “Papa” and for good reason. He gives them everything that they need in times of despair: someone to sit next to and listen to what each has to say. Though he has problems of his own, his self imposed departure from his home after being stabbed by his wife, Ventura serves as a symbol of hope for the slums and the country. Using real residents from the slums of Lisbon gives Colossal Youth an amazing authenticity. The film goes beyond realism and displays an experimental blend of fact and fiction that gives the innumerable questions raised by the film an immediacy that “normal” films lack.

Ambiguous and vague as it stylistically is, all of the elements add to the mysterious intrigue of the film. It is incredibly surprising that so many art house fans have found the film oppressively dull. Despite the DV, or maybe even because of it, the aesthetics of the film create more atmosphere, life, and character than the shiniest slickest lights that Hollywood or Indiewood can find. Granted, the free floating nature is bewildering for a while and takes some getting used to. However, there is a specific moment about an hour into the film in which many of Costa’s ideas and methods combine. From that point on, Colossal Youth continues to build its sense of individual empowerment and the need to know that someone is there. It may not solve everything, but given the situations at hand it is the best the characters can get.

A man is vigorously drawing circles onto a desk with a pen. Ventura sits next to him. He violently draws a circle, stops, and then draws violently on the exact same place. The man does this several times. All of the violence, despair, and misery are put into the drawing of this circle, a symbol of the cycle of life that just goes on and on without any hope. Then, Ventura reaches over and places his hand on top of the man’s hand and he stops drawing the violent circle. Everything becomes calm. The only thing left in Costa’s brilliantly crafted world is an incredible silence where every problems seems to be solved because of this one man. There is, at last, peace.

by James Hansen

Pedro Costa on:
Wikipedia
IMDB

The Earlies

2007-08-27T22:02:00.000-04:00

Psychedelia as a mainstream music genre has long seen its extinction. The days of Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead and Country Joe & The Fish are long gone and with no sight of returning to the mainstream. That being said, the new face of psychedelic rock and roll can be found in some of the indie and more artistic rockers.

Most notably taking up the torch has been The Flaming Lips, but one of the most refreshing blends of pop music, glam and psychedelia would be the Earlies. A melding of wild arrangements, Brian Wilson harmonies and varying combinations of musical styles, the Earlies are bringing some of the best music to be offered to the table in a long time.

One half British and one half American, The Earlies--on both of their outstanding albums-- (These Were The Earlies & The Enemy Chorus) blend both British and American styles of music. Most of their predecessors can be seen from the British Invasion sound of the late 60's and the psychedelic movement of late 60's California. With a dash of up to date electronica, the Earlies really don't fit into just one genre, but bend many into one unique and fresh sound.

These Were The Earlies,
their 2004 debut, is quite the mission statement for what The Earlies would come to accomplish. Released the same year as other stand-out debuts including The Arcade Fire's Funeral , The Killer's Hot Fuss and Secret Machines' Now Here Is Nowhere, These Were… was forgotten almost as it's title suggests. It wouldn't be until 2007 when we'd here from them again, as if they were some band from the distant past. These Were… is a tour-de-force in arrangements, structure and songwriting. Mostly ambient tunes ladled with woodwinds, piano and synthesizers, the tracks flow with a calming force that leads to a mystical listening experience. Songs like "One of Us is Dead" and "25 Easy Pieces" show the true feeling of what the Earlies can do with pop music. "Morning Wonder" is a progressive rock excursion and "Low Man's Dream" is an exercise in Enoesque ambience that flowers into a beautiful melody.

One of The Earlies finest achievements can be found on the compilation Dream Brother: The Songs of Tim and Jeff Buckley. Their version of "I Must Have Been Blind" not only pays tribute to a great songwriter and one of their influences, but it transforms the song from its original singer-songwriter style to a dreamy space anthem.

The real surprise comes with this years release The Enemy Chorus. Although their debut was overshadowed by others, The Earlies released a rare staggeringly impressive sophomore effort. The Enemy Chorus is much more prolific and eclectic then their debut, but it has many of the same styles. The main difference is that these songs are more upbeat and sometimes brooding. The horn arrangements in "Foundation and Earth", the heavy synth and rhythm section in "Bad is As Bad Does" and the dreamscape of "The Ground We Walk On" are among the album's finest moments.

One thing that makes The Earlies more elusive than many of the other bands that came to be at the same time is their lack of American tour dates. The Earlies European dates boast a host of instruments live on stage including woodwinds, tubas and other brass and a slew of other musicians filling the stage up with bodies of talented musicians. Once they can bring their stage show to the United States, hopefully more exposure can come for them.

All in all, The Earlies are off to a great start. With two fantastic albums that are showing a different side to what indie music can be like, it's a wonder more people aren't listening.

The Earlies on:
Wikipedia
Myspace

Broken Social Scene

2007-08-26T10:36:00.000-04:00

By Their Powers Combined...

It’s been a long six years for the members of Broken Social Scene, the indie rock supergroup that’s been garnering attention since their inception by their two original members, Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. In what can only be described as an off-beat, unique act, Broken Social Scene stands out as one of the few groups in recent years that takes a what seems as just a shtick and turns it into meaningful, wide-reaching music.

Who are these guys? Well, the answer to that question is as dynamic as the group itself. Broken Social Scene was founded by the previously mentioned Drew and Canning, who released the band’s first album, Feel Good Lost, in 2001. This album featured only the two, and was mostly an instrumental piece. A re-tooling of Broken Social Scene’s musical values and direction forced Drew and Canning into bringing several other fellow indie rockers into the band, such as Metric’s ever-bouncy Emily Gaines and Andrew Whiteman. As time passed, they grew into something much larger, and much more complex. Broken Social Scene now boasts sixteen members, whose musical expertise spans guitars, vocals, drums, trombones, and whatever the hell else they feel like playing. The result is an extremely multilayered wall of sometimes-incomprehensible sound that demands an eyes-closed listening session. This sound is especially evident on the album You Forgot It In People, which boasts such danceable tunes as “7/4 (Shoreline)” and “Fire Eye’d Boy”. It’s difficult to tell where all the instruments are, but that’s just part of the fun of listening to this band.

So what’s next for Broken Social Scene? September should see the release of a semi-solo album by Kevin Drew, released under the moniker of Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew: Spirit If…. The album is set to feature guest artists, most of who are from Broken Social Scene. Spirit If… is the first in a series of solo albums, the next of which is going to feature Brendan Canning. According to the band’s blog, Broken Social Scene is attempting to shake things up a bit by creating solo albums that are backed up by other band members, and seeing where this might take them. The group will still tour and perform together.

However, all of this begs the obvious question: why? Is there a real reason for putting so many musicians and friends on stage and just letting it rip? The answer to this quandary doesn’t become readily apparent until one goes to a Broken Social Scene show. Members of the band float on and off the stage unnoticed, but they make their musical presence known when they are there. These people are having fun, laughing and dancing with their friends, and making music that they enjoy. “7/4 (Shoreline)” becomes a celebration of this communal joy, as Broken Social Scene's members join join together, gyrating with the music and then playing their hearts out at the climax of the song. And that’s just it. Music is one of the most widely shared forms of art, and Broken Social Scene is simply trying to share what they do with each other and with their listeners. A concert is almost like the band is throwing a party, and their buddies are coming over for a night of fun…and we get the pleasure of crashing the party, greeted with open arms.

by Colin Emch-Wei

Broken Social Scene on:
Wikipedia
Myspace
Arts and Crafts

7/4 (Shoreline) on YouTube

The Capitol Years

2007-08-19T13:25:00.000-04:00

To pigeonhole The Capitol Years as a Shins meets Byrds hybrid would be unfair. However, a large portion of internet readers still only read a line or two before catchin' a wave to the next website, and despite these poor surf-reading habits, I feel they deserve some information too.

Now that we got that out of the way, it's time to actually give the Capitol Years some credit. Listening to The Capitol Years, I hear a lot of things. Confidence comes to mind. Confidence in their laid-back, post-sock-hop, surf-pop-for-people-who-never-make-it-past-the-fudge-shop-on-the-boardwalk groove. I hear a band that's too cool for school, but still shows up promptly before the bell rings anyway.

Their album Dance Away The Terror does a great job at presenting music that probably could have been written shotgun on the way to Taco Bell, with the right amount of gentle re-verb and strategically placed minor chords to make the music sound cinematic and, occasionally, wistful.

The opening titular track sets the tone of the album with optimistic-yet-lazy vocals and piano/guitar interplay. Immediately following, Revolutions sets the rhythm of the album with a 'spirit-in-the-sky'-recalling frolic which will make you want to hit the beach with your buddies and your oldest frisbee.

From here on out, it's simply tilt-a-whirl and balloon-popping water-gun fun throughout. The standout track, if there is one that dares stick its neck out from the corn-on-the-cob eating summertime shenanigans, is It's Only Loveless. Up-beat as the rest of the album, It's Only Loveless might be the only song on this soundtrack of summer that is mysterious enough to make you feel a hint of drama or reflection. By the same token, it acts as the fulcrum which this album perhaps needs to anchor to, considering that the songs are so light and fluffy that the disk at times is in danger of catching a breeze and floating into the ionosphere.

The care-free fun kicks right back into gear, though, with As The Terror Dances Your Way, and rides the album out to completion. Dance Away the Terror ends quite strongly with It's Not Okay, the sixth of six tunes on this disk that clock in under 3 minutes. You can see the Capitol Years' agenda written all over the track lengths. A free-form jazz exploration this aint. But it seems the 3 minute pop song is Shai Halperin's strength, and he does here what he does best. Arguably, the best songs on the album are the shortest ones, with the exception being It's Only Loveless, which meanders to a seemingly ancient 3:22.

So what is the down side to lazy-day careless-fun pop-rock? Well, nothing really. Only thing for me is, ya see such perfect execution from this fun band who hardly seems to be trying, you gotta wonder what a tad more ambition would do for this talented crew... Ruin them? I doubt it, but I'm no yoda. And it's not my place to demand more compelling music from the up-and-coming catch-pop proletariat, especially when Dance Away The Terror is so damn fun to listen to.

It's Only Loveless on YouTube

The Capitol Years on:
Myspace
Park the Van

Check this out -- Aug 07

2007-08-15T21:21:00.000-04:00

The editor's pick for Catchiest Hook of The Summer goes to "Straight Lines" by Silverchair.

Elliot Smith

2007-08-06T20:44:00.000-04:00

Retrospective.

A timid man ambles on stage with only an acoustic guitar to accompany him. He by no means resembles a star. A worn face and a short, withdrawn stature reinforce his introverted stage presence. He plays his song soft and delicately as if whispering only to himself, unaware of the crowd mouthing every lyric along with him.

Elliott Smith gained his following based on this very sense of intimacy and became an underground rock icon. While many artists make music specifically for their fans, Smith’s songs are entirely his own, personal and introspective. Smith didn’t even intend for his first recordings to be heard by anyone other than a few close friends. But in due time the folk-rock singer-songwriter with a personal, but often rough-around-the-edges attitude was unapologetically thrust into the spotlight in 1997, after his song, “Miss Misery” from the Good Will Hunting soundtrack achieved a nomination for an Academy Award.

Unfortunately, the Cinderella story of a troubled musician pushed into prominence ended tragically some six years later with Smith’s death. Although his catalog of songs and his position in the world of independent music has now been immortalized, Smith has always had a prominent place in the hearts of his devoted fans.

The status of indie rock hero doesn’t get handed out too easily, and sadly it is often given to those who die before their time. Artists like Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley, and Elliott Smith seem to gain more recognition after their tragic deaths than during their lives. A lot of this comes with the idea of a budding artist’s creative abilities being suddenly cut short. Fans love wondering what could have been if their favorite artist hadn’t died too soon. Whereas the death of more popular artists such as Jim Morrison or John Lennon touch a whole nation, the death of underground musicians primarily affects their committed fans and the music community.

Premature deaths also put an artist’s songs into a stark, jarring reality. When Elliott Smith’s posthumous album, From a Basement on the Hill, was released in 2004, only a year after his apparent suicide, many fans quivered at lines from the foreboding track entitled “King’s Crossing,” where Smith states, “I can’t prepare myself for death anymore than I already have.” He continues to tell us of his addictions and inevitable breakdown, climaxing with the line, “Give me one good reason not to do it!” Lyrics like these cause Smith’s mourning followers to say, “If only I had known I could’ve helped him,” or some other remorseful, but ultimately unrealistic remark. We take these words more seriously now that they’ve actually been executed, even though Smith has sung of such grim topics of abuse and addiction since the beginning of his career.

Through his six-album catalog Smith lets us into his world and shows us that he’s not afraid to document the most personal moments of his life. In “Waltz #2 (XO)” Smith tells us of his estranged relationship with his mother and his regret for leaving her behind. In “Some Song” Smith documents his abusive stepfather and in “Coming up Roses” we are vividly told about a heroin addiction. The subject matter here definitely depresses, but it becomes so successful because it always maintains its realness and honesty without trying to yield pity from the fans.

The willingness of Smith to share what is precious to him causes his followers to become more than fans; they develop a friendship with the artist even though they have never met him in the flesh. This sort of relationship displays itself in the persistent forgiveness given to Smith throughout his troublesome years. At his infamous appearance at the Sunset Junction Music Festival in 2001, Smith aborted 11 songs out of his 22 song set, due to his inability to recall the words of his own songs and play his intricate guitar parts. Despite the painful performance fans still sang his praises, trying to make any and every excuse for the show’s mishaps. Without such devoted fans always behind his back, Smith’s erratic behavior and unreliable performances would have surely caused him to slip into oblivion.

Smith’s also held a certain amount of importance in the musical community which was proven by the numerous tribute albums released and memorial concerts held after his death. Individuals such as Ben Folds and Rhett Miller and bands like Rilo Kiley have all done their part and recorded songs about or dedicated to Elliott Smith and his memory. The Portland band, Earlimart, even went so far as to purchase Smith’s New Monkey studio in California in order to keep it intact and not see Smith’s collection of equipment be sold off to the highest bidders.

Thankfully artists like Elliott Smith are always being rediscovered. In 2007 a two-disc collection of previously unreleased material from Smith’s time with the Kill Rock Stars label entered Billboard’s Top 200 at number 24. The New Moon collection consists of 24 tracks of outtakes, b-sides and rough sketches of what would later become classic Elliott Smith songs. Considering that these tracks left on Smith’s cutting room floor are more solid than most other artists full lengths prove that Elliott Smith’s talent was unique, true and can still be cherished.

By Brett Oronzio

Elliot Smith on:
Wikipedia
The Internet

Animal Collective

2007-07-26T20:49:00.000-04:00

This September, four animals named Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin and the Geologist will give the indie-loving masses a bit of Strawberry Jam. Now, that might sound a little "Cuckoo," but it's riled the psych-folk crowds into a fervor.

If you understood that garble of bad puns and seeming nonsense, you're clearly an Animal Collective fan and excited about the band's 8th album (their first for Domino after a long stint with Paw Tracks), Strawberry Jam. You probably know that the track list for the album--and, shh, don't tell the RIAA, the album itself--surfaced on the internet recently, which included several jams they've been pumping in live shows as far back as 2005. For you law-abiding citizens, several of the tracks are available on live bootlegs .

Fan favorite "Cuckoo Cuckoo" makes the cut, an acid trip caught in a music box with brief glimpses of clarity. So do "Peacebone" (a song full of twinkling electronics underneath dense lyrics that evoke childhood uncertainty) and "Fireworks" (a hauntingly beautiful song that combines Geologist's electronics with Panda Bear's sharp drumming that really feels like lying on a beach and watching bottle rockets explode as the tide rises).

The musical route that brought Animal Collective to Strawberry Jam is a strange ramble through varying sounds. 2000's Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished kicks off the journey. That album opened with a five minute blast of noise that verges on grating at
times, but softens enough to remain interesting. The next track, "April and the Phantom," is the standout on Spirit, introducing several recurring Animal Collective themes. The group pairs sharp acoustic guitar strumming and whispery drumming with stabs of electronic arpeggios. Avey Tare's screams accentuate the chorus, his obtuse lyrics yelping and howling over the melody.

The recently re-released Hollinndagain came next, full of high-pitched chants, raucous, snapping drums and electronic experimentation. "Here Comes the Indian" continued the neo-tribal feel, shifting between brief, chaotic chant-alongs and longer, atmospheric pieces. One look at the album cover introduces the listener to the sound: strange strands of bright colors streaming through forest foliage in odd patterns that meld into nature itself (much like their sound experimentation). The squeals and screams of "Hey Light" are the centerpiece of the album, accentuated by explosive cymbal crashes and a layer of fuzz over the vocals.

2004's Sung Tongs took a hard turn from the noisier side of Animal Collective's early experiments. "Leaf House" opens the album, exemplifying this change. The unpredictable harsh screams and chanting have suddenly been brought together like a symphony, each wordless shout serving a clear, direct purpose and fitting together intricately. "Who Could Win a Rabbit" turns the woodsy chants into Beach Boys harmonies. "Winter's Love" is an absolute masterpiece, simultaneously sprawling (its two halves, one instrumental, the other full of vocal harmony, clock in at nearly seven minutes) and precise. "Kids on Holiday" is a moody piece that combines a look at the world through a child's eyes and intense adult paranoia.

2005's Feels is often cited as the career-maker, the magnum opus that solidifies the band in indie music legend. It definitely finds the band with a more controlled, polished sound, taking the chaos of prior albums and compressing it into more accessible song structures. A perfect example of this would be "Grass," a song with a chorus composed of Avey Tare's screams. "The Purple Bottle" is a masterfully charming song full of clumsy declarations of love, and spitfire, swooning vocals. When Avey cries out about his "crush high" fueled by his love's knowledge of Chinese Ballet and stories about her brother, its entirely believable and, more than that, understandable. "Daffy Duck" and "Loch Raven" sit somewhere at the other end of the spectrum. "Raven" seems a particularly strong set-up for Strawberry Jam, an often sparse, atmospheric, smooth piece that seems to lack the punch and climax of earlier songs on the album.

Animal Collecitve's history is full of twists and turns, experiments ranging from the obtuse and relaxed to the pointed and aggressive. Nearly any music fan will find an Animal Collective song they can't get enough of. Heck, maybe a whole album. Just don't give up if the first song you try doesn't fit your fancy. Dig a bit deeper.

by Adam Kivel

Animal Collective on YouTube:

Animal Collective on:
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Cat Power

2007-07-22T13:09:00.001-04:00

Cat Power is one of the music world's few renewable resources. Despite receiving much praise for her 2003 release You Are Free, Chan Marshall, under the moniker Cat Power, has always been forced to bear the label of a disagreeable performer on the edge of breakdown. This is mostly due to her tendency to scurry off stage in sobs, but 2006 was the year to shake those habits. With the release of her near-perfect sixth record The Greatest, and a successful tour with The Memphis Rhythm Band, Chan Marshall grew. 2007 has been no different as Cat Power continues to tour and has recently become the first woman to receive the Sixth Annual Shortlist Music Award, beating out the likes of Tom Waits, Joanna Newsom, Beirut and Regina Spektor. Her newfound maturity allows Cat Power to shrug off the preconceived notions about her temperament and present herself as a singer/songwriter full of credibility.

The Greatest is Cat Power's most warm and inviting release to date. With familiar tones of home, Marshall pulls us into to her smoky back-room bar full of bluesy, soul-influenced pop songs. There are numerous tracks indicating Marshall's recent upswing in outlook, as well as some chronicling the difficulties it took getting there. Upbeat arrangements such as "Could We" and "Lived in Bars" and the fiddle-tinged "Empty Shell," are all fairly optimistic territory for Marshall. These are nestled alongside more familiar sounding, eerie numbers such as "The Moon" and a plodding, foreboding closer "Love and Communication," all displaying a breadth of range that is extended further by the musicians she chose to back her on the album.

A pilgrimage to Memphis allowed Marshall to recruit expert soul musicians the likes of Mabon "Teenie" Hodges, Leroy "Flick" Hodges, and Steve Potts, and confirms that Marshall had a clearly defined plan for the back-porch feel of these songs. With string sections that saunter in and out of songs, nothing's out of place and nothing's allowed to interfere with Marshall's sultry vocals.

Since the beginning of her career, Marshall's allure has been her voice. It only requires the simplest accompaniment from a sole piano or guitar, proving that her songs have the strength to stand on their own nimble frames. "Hate" features a lone guitar and vocal, expressing gloomy themes that contrast the album's more hopeful tracks. In Cat Power's earlier days this song could easily be read as another self-loathing memo to herself, but in this album's context it becomes an exorcism covered in rivers of reverb and redemption. When she repeats the lines, "I hate my self and I want to die" it seems like a method for driving such morbid feelings out of the soul once and for all.

We already knew Cat Power had the potential to reach perfection on record, as evidenced on her consistently solid string of albums since 1994. The recent discovery is her newfound love for live performance. On a July 7th show at Brooklyn's McCarren Pool Park collective mutterings from the crowd surfaced, wondering if Ms. Marshall would indeed come out on stage and perform. But the new Marshall is bold and truly seemed happy to be performing, as she rocketed through her new material, and a few carefully chosen cover songs. She strutted from one end of the stage to the other, constantly moving her hands as she sung, using her excess energy to rearrange her hair between every song.

Perhaps Cat Power's story is one that is easy to root for because it is one of redemption and as recent history has proved, triumph. It's all too easy to watch artists fade away and make the familiar remark, "I saw that one coming." But Cat Power remains a strong force that treats her craft seriously and tenderly, reassuring a fertile career and a dedicated fan base.

By Brett Oronzio

Cat Power's Lived in Bars on YouTube:

Cat Power on:
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Hal Ashby

2007-07-22T09:17:00.000-04:00

If you've ever had an interest in cult classics for the film world, you've probably heard of Harold and Maude. This quirky romance/dark comedy between a teenage boy and an elderly woman came out in 1972 and helped set the standard for what we know now today as a cult film. It was made with a small budget and relatively unknown cast. Today, you might see it as just another indie film with a quirky story and odd characters, like Napoleon Dynamite, Bottle Rocket, After Hours, Sideways, etc. Back in its day, however, it was a rarity. The only movies released with small budgets were "B" movies with bad acting and stupid plots. Harold and Maude helped set the stage for a new kind of film, the indie, quirky, art-house feature.

The man behind Harold and Maude is director Hal Ashby. Ashby followed that great film up with a decade of hits, both artistically and commercially. Even though he never wrote screenplays and didn't have the control over projects like many of the more intense directors do these days, he managed to carve out a unique style that suited him and his era, and influenced countless modern filmmakers.

Ashby is undoubtedly one of the best directors to come to fruition during the 1970's, a very important time for film. Like many others, he took advantage of the new rules for censorship and the changing climate in Hollywood. Unfortunately, few people outside the film world recognize him alongside the other directors who became famous during this period. Ashby was not one of the "film brats" or foreign exports to famously appear in Hollywood in this time. They received publicity; he did not. Still, he's had a major impact.

The main reason why people forget about Ashby is that he came into his groove during the same time that more famous young directors also were getting noticed. The 70's are now known for the meteoric rise of Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Brian De Palma, and George Lucas, amongst others. Unlike these "film brats," who had graduated from the first college film programs available, Ashby had to work his way up the system. He was born in a small town in Utah into a very strict Mormon family, and ran away to Hollywood at a young age. He worked a bunch of different jobs at studios, starting off as a lowly assistant, then slowly working his way up the career ladder, until he got the opportunity to edit films. He excelled as an editor, and began to edit major films for Universal. He worked on classics like The Thomas Crown Affair and even won an Oscar for his editing with In the Heat of the Night in 1967.

After proving his worth as an editor, Ashby finally got the chance to direct films. His first was The Landlord, a drama that utilized the new small budget formula some companies were looking for. Ashby then got the chance to direct Harold and Maude, which was a student thesis script from Colin Higgins at UCLA. Even though it was ignored at first, getting success in later years (again, it was one of the first cult classics), Hollywood artists recognized his talent and began hiring him for bigger projects. He worked with a young Randy Quaid and Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail, an excellent wartime satire. He worked with Warren Beatty and legendary screenwriter Robert Towne on Shampoo, which featured the debut of Carrie Fisher. He worked with Jane Fonda and Jon Voigt on Coming Home, one of the first films openly dealing with/questioning Vietnam. He got a best director nomination for this, and the film was up for best picture. He also got the same nominations for Bound For Glory, a great biopic about folk singer Woddy Guthrie.

Towards the end of the decade, Ashby had quickly become one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood, despite all the other famous names working. Having seen his films nominated for best picture in 1976 and 1978, and he for best director, he was approached for numerous projects. He decided to go with Peter Sellers, who had long been struggling to adapt a satirical novel called Being There by Jerzy Kozinski. Sellers and Ashby took the project and ran with it, creating a very sharp and humorous look at American society, especially concerning the media, politics, and the power of appearances. It was a last hurrah for both men. Sellers died shortly after, and Ashby's career trailed off after that (he also suffered a heart attack during a Rolling Stones concert a few years later).

Part of his allure is that he was perfect for the seventies and the attitudes of the counterculture, anti-establishment movement, but that also got him in trouble once the decade was over. He was, quite noticeably, on drugs.... LOTS of drugs. He also had no audience left, and he hated the new style of films that came out in the 80's. He never made a true success after Being There, with several failures in the early 80's. He died in 1988 after a heart attack, not that old, and clearly worn down by creative heartbreak plus years of drug abuse.

As I said, Ashby was the perfect director for the 1970's. He was very much in favor of the new
wave and the loose rules associated with the era. His films have funny and realistic visions of sex not seen in earlier days. Warren Beatty basically plays an even hornier version of himself in Shampoo, doing Goldie Hawn and Julie Christie in back-to-back scenes. He loved characters who rebelled against the mainstream. Harold and Maude used this rebellious nature. So did The Last Detail, which is very critical of military rules. He was Jane Fonda's choice to helm Coming Home at a time when directly critical Vietnam movies were just starting to come out (it was released the same year as The Deer Hunter, and these two opened the gates for criticism). Bound for Glory didn't hide Woody Guthrie's communist views but embraced them, and showed how he formed these views, after working in poor farms during the depression. Being There wrapped all of his ideas into one big joke about America, through the journey of Sellers as a total idiot who might be the next president.

Along with his favorite themes, Ashby had a sharp visual style. His experience as an editor gave him the idea to use quick cuts to get more information in a small time. He helped move films into faster editing (today, films have something like five times as many cuts as they did in the old days). He also knew how to get comic reactions out of motifs and framing. Musically, he was always a fan of the folk and classic rock of his day and his films have great soundtracks. Bound for Glory obviously has all the Guthrie hits, the others utilize 70's rock, and Harold and Maude has a wonderfully strange soundtrack composed entirely by the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens.

Who are the modern filmmakers Ashby influenced? The two most commonly mentioned are Wes Anderson and Alexander Payne. They have different styles, but you can see their respect for Ashby in every film. Ashby's satirical views have contributed to Payne's snarky films. His visual style and love of wonderfully strange people have no doubt helped Anderson. One critic even called Rushmore "an update of Harold and Maude, but with the addition of Bill Murray, which equals fantastic." Anderson even cast the original Harold, Bud Cort, in The Life Aquatic, even though he hasn't been a popular actor for a long time. He was paying respects to Ashby. I think you can also say that a lot of new indie filmmakers who have a very Wes Anderson style, are by purpose or connection, all disciples of the Ashby style: Zach Braff, Burr Steers, Jared Hess, and more.

Ashby may have burned out after the 70's, but he might be one of the greatest of that time. He was a man of his time, and a man who influenced more people than he probably imagined. On this site, you'll find a lot of modern filmmakers with great styles. Almost all of them owe some creative debt to Hal Ashby and his funkadelic films.

by Justin Leo

Hal Ashby on:
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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

2007-07-17T23:12:00.000-04:00

After venturing into the world of acoustic blues, Black Rebel Motorcycle club is back to their electric sound with their latest album Baby 81. Unlike many of the other bands from the garage rock movement like the Strokes and Franz Ferdinand, BRMC has been able to develop, evolve and mature—to an extent. Their past albums have all had a twist of the basic garage sound, but never venture too far from what they established on their self titled debut. Howl, the critically acclaimed departure, brought in a taste of the blues and folk that refreshed the band’s sound. Now, on Baby 81, we see a band fully formed and matured and ready to make an impact on rock music once again.

First things first, you may be wondering what Baby 81 as a title itself may mean. This may trump the Yo La Tengo album title from last year in stupid album titles. Apparently, “Baby 81” is the name given to one of the Tsunami victims from 2004. What this has to do with the album is beyond me, but look past the strange title and give it a listen.

The album kicks off with the grungy track “Took Out a Loan.” The track sounds straight out of 1991 with heavy guitars, a pounding beat and an amazing outro noise jam. The first single “Weapon of Choice” starts off sounding like an outtake from the Howl sessions with acoustic guitars and tambourine, but quickly transforms into a melding of loud guitars and fuzzy vocals. The second single, “Berlin” has a jumpy drum beat that makes it a summertime rock track worthy of blasting while jetting down to the highway.

The album follows this sound for the most part, which many may find tedious or repetitious. However, the few divergent tracks are a good break-up of the pacing of this album. Songs like “Windows” starts off with a piano intro and then piles on the fuzz of guitars and scratchy vocals. “All You Do Is Talk” has a more ambient feel for the album with an ethereal hum over the vocals. The sound of drums and guitars comes in halfway through the track and builds upon the atmosphere created.

The lyrics are laden with references to youth rebellion, love lost and rock and roll mysticism. With lyrics like “Turn your eyes from the window so you won’t see this world/The walls are closing inward, there’s nowhere left to turn” shows the band’s overall feeling of angst, fear and trying to forget what really goes on around the world. This is not what rock and roll used to drive home. Before it was songs like Jefferson Airplane’s “Volunteers” or MC5’s “Kick out the Jams” which were anthems of activism. The disillusion of the American rocker is now pretty evident in the lyrics throughout the whole of Baby 81.

Overall, the band doesn’t do a whole lot to make each track standout. The soundscapes created flow together nicely in a sea of fuzz that only calm down for a moment or two before the songs flare back into a hazy controlled chaos of guitars, drums and vocals. As a rock and roll record, Baby 81 works well. The key tracks: “Took Out a Loan”, “Weapon of Choice”, “Windows”, “666 Conducer”. As a thoroughly ground breaking, mind expanding or new venture in rock and roll music, it falls a bit flat. That being said, rock bands don’t need to be blowing minds each outing. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club writes decent rock songs that are worthy of a listen, but not mandatory in the grand scheme of rock records.

by Paul Tsikitas

BRMC on:
Wikipedia
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BRMC on YouTube:

Mark Z. Danielewski

2007-07-16T22:51:00.000-04:00

It may be unclear whether Mark Z. Danielewski is out to change the face of American literature or just to give novelistic storytelling a swift kick in the balls… but with the status of National Book Award finalist for his latest venture Only Revolutions (now available in paperback) he may very well accomplish both.

Danielewski's debut, House of Leaves, was an extraordinary experimental horror novel full of mirrored texts, encrypted messages, extended footnotes from the story's varying narrators which created a grab bag full of mind blowing tricks and showcased Danielewski's unique voice. With Only Revolutions, Danielewski flaunts his talents and pushes the experimental nature of his novels even further.

Where House of Leaves portrayed a variant perspective and approach to the populist horror novel (taking the notions of Nabokov's Pale Fire), Only Revolutions is more a blend of experimental Joyce and Pynchon. Penetrating to the heart of American values, beliefs, and morals that set the foundation of the country, Only Revolutions plots the undying love between Sam and Hailey, two teenagers who stay sixteen no matter the passage of time, showcased in a sidebar of dates running from 1863-2063. Surveying the country in an ever changing car and an ever changing society, Sam and Hailey fight for their love of each other, which helps them survive in the direst of circumstances.

Much has been said of Danielewski's experimental nature and the inability of some to comprehend his work. Even many House of Leaves fans, familiar with the rabid difficulties of that novel, approach Only Revolutions with what seem to be equal parts disdain and reproach. Danielewski asks the reader to flip the book upside down every eight pages to alternate between the narration of Haley and Sam. The sidebar of dates, events, and information are difficult to deal with because it is uncertain whether they are essential or merely a device to show the passage of time and the bitter destruction of society that occur alongside the never-ending tale of Sam and Hailey. Furthermore, the style and rhythm of the novel works as a slam poem, throwing in constant alliteration and references, which makes the plot, oftentimes, difficult to decipher.

From the onset of Hailey's story, "Samsara! Samara!/Grand!/I can walk away/ from anything./Everyone loves/ the Dream but I kill it./ Atlas Mountain Cedars gush/ over me: --- Up Boogaloo!" Danielewski has no qualms with making his readers think and challenging their conceptions of the idea of "the novel." The circular nature of the novel and the variations on some of the same stories, told separately by both Sam and Hailey, make the novel continually daunting and may keep many away from this powerful piece of literature.

Despite these admitted difficulties, with some amount of focus, it is easier to read than many have given it credit for. Taking a cue from the meandering nature of Pynchon, Danielewski wanders with brilliant wordplay that packs one hell of a punch when keys of the plot are made clear. Sam and Hailey spend plenty of time having sex and admiring each other, which despite the repetition, is never offputing. Danielewski also spends plenty of time making references to specific events and moments in history that would take years to research fully, but remember that it is not all critically essential to the story at hand. The playful tales told by Sam and Hailey with the many characters who come through, such as the recurring Creep, are manageable and move the novel along at a brisk pace. There is plenty to be cherished in the playful sections of the novel. Even in the more confusing and difficult sections, the reader has gained so much love and admiration for the narrators that no matter the difficult circumstances, we as the readers, just as Sam and Hailey, want to continue along the journey.

As the journey continues and Danielewski's themes and motives become more realized, Only Revolutions makes a shift from a creative and fascinating novel into a work of art that will not soon be forgotten. From the brilliant moments of collision in the middle of the novel, where on page 180 Sam and Hailey finally share the same amount of space on a page, to the powerful realizations that come with the conclusion, Danielewski's "road novel" turns into a meditation on the tribulations of America and revolutionary Americans throughout all of time. While the cycle of our history may consist of death, destruction, and an unwillingness to work with those around us, it is through our neighbor-ship and an undying love of what we stand for that we finally understand the inability walk away from who we are and those we love. We all must persist through the revolutions of time and do our best to never betray each other.

by James Hansen

Mark Z. Danielewski on:
Wikipedia

Danielewski introduces Only Revolutions at a public reading on Youtube:

Dinosaur Jr.

2007-07-08T11:51:00.000-04:00

Recent years have shown that aging acts of the late 80's and 90's alternative rock movement still have what it takes to create a solid album. The Flaming Lips have their niche in the world of psychedelia. Sonic Youth records solid, yet somewhat subdued rock albums for their sound. Yo La Tengo bends genre at every turn. Even the Lemonheads showed us last year that three chord rock still lives. This year's fossil of the alternative age returns from a ten year hiatus and packs quite the punch. Dinosaur Jr., the J. Masics wonder child of the 80's and early 90's, is back with their eighth studio album Beyond. This album is also the first album since 1988's Bug with the original line-up of J. Masics on guitar, Lou Barlow (who left Dino Jr. for the band Sebadoh) on bass and Murph on drums. When a band takes such a long break from recording, one may wonder what the album is going to sound like. Dinosaur Jr.'s last record, Hand It Over was released in 1997 making this year's release of Beyond their first in a decade.

And a triumphant return it is. From the opening licks of "Almost Ready", to the shattering final guitar solo of "What If I Knew", even a decade hasn't changed the essence that made Dinosaur Jr. what they were. Many critics are claiming that this is their best album since their groundbreaking You're Living All Over Me from 1987. Twenty years later, their sound has been preserved. Loud guitars in a wave of noise punctuated by J Masics' furious guitar solos and raspy vocals, backed up by a strong rhythm section.

One thing that may be hard for Dinosaur Jr. to overcome with such a return to their normal sound after said hiatus is the fact that the world of popular music, and even indie music, has changed a lot since 1987, and a lot's changed since 1997. Even though many of today's indie rockers may look to Dinosaur Jr. as mentors, the sound of rock has evolved quite a bit. Although fans of Dinosaur Jr. will love the return to the standard, it may be hard for people who are not familiar with the band to just jump onboard the wave of frenzied guitars.

That being said, I'm pretty certain that the band doesn't give a shit what new people think. It must be refreshing for a band to just be able to do what they want and not really mind hype, massive exposure and the weariness of having a huge following to bog them down with negative feedback. This is all here-say, but I can't imagine them really caring that their sound is archaic in a way.

To consider bands from the late 80's and early 90's like Dinosaur Jr. as classic rock is something something strange and new to our generation and the generation who were old enough to see them from the beginning. Even bands like Pearl Jam are reaching this "classic rock" status. To think that almost twenty years ago these bands were in their infancy is startling. Beyond stands as a beacon that this sound isn't exactly old-fashioned but can still sound fresh and new. It's almost retro, but can you call it retro if the band was known for helping define a sound?

Songs like "Crumble" sound as if they were written alongside their hit "Feel the Pain" from 1994. I can see a Spike Jonze-directed video released on mTV and put on constant rotation (that is, if we still had the mTV of 10 years ago). "It's Me" and "Back To Your Heart" sound as though you would be throwing yourself from the stage decked out in flannel with greasy long hair and sweat in your eyes.

The standout track is "Pick Me Up" which is the definition of what Dinosaur Jr. does best. The main is infuriatingly catchy. The crescendo of noise and the wailing of J Masic's guitar at the end of the song has an epic urgency that defines their return. There is even some synthesizer action on this song adding something a little different to the sound of the rest of the album, yet not sticking out like a sore thumb. This song would be impressive at a live show.

Beyond is almost a time capsule of an age that is ridden with just as many clichés as the 80's. In this way, Beyond is a great album. However, those who don't love the sound of alternative rock, grunge, noise or whatever you want to classify Dinosaur Jr. as, won't see anything new here and may just decide to sidestep this record. Usually, I would say that the best way to start listening to a band is by starting with their first album. Since this is nothing entirely fresh and new, Beyond is definitely worth checking out if you are looking for a good old standard rock disc.

Among the midst of other bands from this age that are entering this possible distinction of classic artists, Dinosaur Jr. has no bones about doing what they do best and not changing format. This alone is a noble effort. Beyond is definitely a solid album. It's nothing new, but sometime a taste of the days of old is refreshing!

by Paul Tsikitas

Some classic Dinosaur Jr. on Youtube:

Dinosaur Jr. on:
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Dr. Dog

2007-07-01T20:58:00.001-04:00

Interview w/ Dr. Dog's 'Thanks'

MM: So you guys just got done playing Bonaroo... Fun times?
Thanks: Yea it was a lot of fun. Every band member gets to bring friends, so there were like 25 of us camping out.. And we got to hang out with a lot of bands that we're friends with like the Black Keys, Cold War Kids... Unfortunately we had to leave before Elvis Perkins played...

MM: What would you say was the biggest "step" for Dr. Dog?
Thanks: Touring with My Morning Jacket in 04. Scott gave them a CD of Dr. Dog recordings, and Jim really liked it, offered to do anything he could to help the band.

MM: Do you guys have any goals, or benchmarks, to use the parlance of our times?
Thanks: I try to avoid things like goals... Basically, the goal would be to keep on doing what we're doing... recording ourselves... It'd be great to do an album-a-year, for as long as we can.
MM: I was always curious, how'd you guys come up with the name, Dr. Dog?
Thanks: Well there a Beefheart song called Dr. Dark... And a long while back Toby had written a short story about a dog....

MM: Beautiful. Do you have a personal favorite label-mate on Park The Van? Or is it like Michael Bolton songs, where you sorta likem all?
Thanks: I love everybody on Park the Van... We just toured with The Teeth... They're amazing, really great guys. We got to know them real well.

MM: What's your favorite show you ever played?
Thanks: We played a show at the Planitarium last fall... That was probably my favorite...

MM: What was it like going on Letterman?
Thanks: Letterman was amazing. Letterman's been my favorite show since I was like 13. I used to watch it all the time, it has a special place in my heart. Going there was great... Paul Schaeffer, played piano with us on the track. Also, when we played on Conan, the Max Wienberg 7 guys played horns.

MM: Is there a general birth process for the average Dr. Dog song?
Thanks: Scott and Toby usually come in with separate material. Songs are shaped during the recording... add layers, take off layers that don't sound right. It's easy for us because we record ourselves, we don't really run into any instances of impatience or stuff like that.

MM: What are your thoughts about the controversial music-pirating/illegal downloading thing? Because to be honest, I coppied your new album. I wanted to attend two different Dr. Dog shows, and I only had enough money to see you guys live once and buy the album or see you live twice, so I coppied the album off a friend and came out to make some noise at two different Dr. Dog shows...
Thanks: (after a brief pause) ...this interview is over!

(laughter)

I'm in support of illegal downloading. I've downloaded so much music illegally, especially when I got into college towards the end of the napster thing. Now I use limewire. I've heard so much music. I don't think I'd ever be able to hear all the music I've heard if I had to pay for it.

MM: Is there a conflict of interests there?
Thanks: I am conflicted about it... But if everybody did it, I feel like music... If you stop thinking of music as an industry and start thinking about it in the form that it is and what it once was in peoples lives, I think It would be a positive thing for music to just be traded for free... I think alot of the acts that have been pushed down peoples throats from things like mTV and different magazines and radiostations... they wouldn't have the money behind them, then bands like our size would have a better chance of getting more fans.

MM: Your Musical Influences?
Thanks: Beefhart, The Band... I like lots of music. I think the beach boys are one of the greatest bands ever. American punk rock, black flag, meat puppets...

MM: It seems there's one regular comment that's been made about Dr. Dog, and by some people it's been said as a criticism, and by some people it's been said as a positive: that Dr. Dog 'sounds like' bands of the past. Perhaps suggesting a lack of originality? Do you guys see your music as a tribute to the greats?
Thanks: I think that's a stickler for a lot of people that leads them to the idea that we're trying to emulate these older bands... if you start with the fact that we try to use harmonies as much as we can, I think that people think when they hear the harmonies that, because they don't hear harmonies as much anymore, they think its a throwback. Like we're gonna put harmonies on this song to give it an older feel. Which is kinda the opposite of what we're doing. We have 5 people: guitars, keys, bass, and drums, and our voices are just another instrument.. Rather than trying to make something old or new, you have a melody, chords, the next thing to add is harmonies, because they're pleasing to our ear. Everything is talking about us having some kind of retro-throwback thing. We're a modern band, we like modern things, you know... like, we like the xerox machine and stuff.

(One might feel a tinge of irony that he would reference the xerox machine while pointing out that the band doesn't copy the classics... but I digress...)

If you haven't heard Dr. Dog, you actually are missing quite an original act... Don't let the fact that their style sounds hypothetically like the Beatles meets Barret-era-Floyd hold you back from picking up "We All Belong" because you think you've heard it all before. I assure you you haven't. There's only one Dr. Dog song that perhaps sounds too close for comfort to well known classica, and it's the "I swear this is a cover" awkardness of Alaska... But they more than make up for it with amazing songwriting on a number of tracks, most notably "Aint it Strange" and "Die, Die, Die". Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, the odd sense of "wow, where are these wierdos coming from?" that can come with simply hearing their recordings (especially their older EP's), will dissapeare if you get a chance to see them live, because they sell their act and their "We All Belong" mentality with energy, charisma, youth, daring, unity, and, oh right... excellent music. Dr. Dog may be the unwilling ambassadors from our generation to our parents' but I'm betting they'll still get faced and give the finger to the squares from both age-groups.

By Ryan P. Carey, D.D.S.

A pre-requisite for joining the band is that you must resemble a popular breed:

Dr. Dog on:
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Youtube: Dr. Dog on Letterman

Marginal Rock

2007-06-29T18:16:00.000-04:00

When did rock music in its most simple and volatile state become forced into the fray of musical popularity?

For those who love the rock bands forged in Hephaestus' cauldron, be not weary. The end has not come to pass. I have seen dry land! It is scorched with the goodness of rock. There are three steadfast riders leading the pack. One possessed and tortured by the souls of Iron Maiden: Priestess. One forged by the mighty hammer of Thor and infused with the doom of Black Sabbath: The Sword. And one that sits at the Round Table with the knights and maidens of Led Zeppelin: Earl Greyhound. Prepare for the triumvirate, the trifecta, the Holy Trinity of new rock.

Priestess hails out of Montreal and was quite the surprise find. The rockers have opened for the likes of Dinosaur Jr., Electric Six, Mastodon and soon Megadeth. This just shows you that these guys are quite the diverse rock band who surround themselves with some of the best acts around. With a non-stop edge that Maiden fans would cream over, these guys bring the best sounds of 80's metal back to our ears without ever sounding stale.

Priestess' debut album Hello Master gets of to kick start that shows their relentless striving for hard riff-rock. "I Am the Night, Colour Me Black" is by far one of the best straight up rock songs you will hear these days. It's furiously addictive riffs will burn through your skin and its rhythm section will pierce the inner sanctum of your darkest thoughts.

The entire album is filled with riff-centric songs ready for their own Guitar Hero edition. "Lay Down" (which will actually be on GHIII) and "Run Home" are your standard rockers where songs like "Blood" bring in a jaunty Queens of the Stoneage vibe. The band's scope may seem narrow, but only because they have their minds set on face-breaking rock and no bullshit.

The Sword is the best of what I like to call Viking Rock. The album Age of Winters starts off with "Celestial Crown" which sounds like a Viking Drekkar hurtling through a stormy night. The bass drum rises like the fearsome tide, the cymbals crash like thunder and the guitars pound with the fury of the crew. When it reaches land, "Barael's Blade" is raised and the doors come crashing down as the pillage begins.

Age of Winters keeps its pace like a furious North Sea storm. Even when "Iron Swan" begins with its grandpa's guitars intro, it quickly breaks into a corybantic shred fest. Needless to say, this album has its fair share of hard rocking. "Freya" is the flagship of the fleet, and is as relentless as the rest.

Earl Greyhound, far and away the most talented and diverse group of these mythological beasts, brings much more to the Round Table. The range that this group has in its songwriting and three-piece dynamic shows much promise. The 8-minute epic "Monkey" from their debut album Soft Targets is by far the bands most intense straight up rock song. Ear-splitting guitar shredding and a rib cracking rhythm section make this the bands stand-out track.
Songs like "S.O.S." and "All Better Now" serve the Round Table as the loyal workhorses. Guinevere shows up on "Yeah I Love You" to give the Table its sex appeal. The vocal performance is a combination of nervous and confident, making it all the more intense. Songs like "It's Over" and "Good" display the sweet side of the band and show us mortals that rock is about more than just the glory of the battlefield.

I make these grand allusions of Gods, heroes and demons, but do these bands really live up to this grand hype? The answer here depends on what you want from them. Each band is great in its own right, but don't expect anything new or msuic beyond what rock really should be about.
This isn't to say they aren't great. They are fresh in a retro kind of way.The fact that corporate radio has its grip on all genres of rock and roll in the mainstream is why these bands can be a guiding light.

A final point to consider: these bands are all only on their debut albums. As far as I know, these three records are the best no frills attached rock records I can remember for quite some time.
Looking back on the past decade, rock music has become more stable and listener friendly. This could be sign that maybe, just maybe, rock and roll will get it's edge back.

By Paul Tsikitas

Priestess on: Myspace
The Sword on: Myspace
Earl Greyhound on: Myspace

Metric

2007-06-28T20:50:00.000-04:00

In spite of having their songs featured on Grey’s Anatomy and participating in a commercial for Polaroid’s I-Zone, Metric’s credibility as a band to be firmly regarded in the bona fide non-sellout category is secure. This much seems verified on their latest release Grow Up and Blow Away. The album, although released in mid-June, is not technically new as it was slated to be Metric’s debut album in 2001.
Three of the songs on Grow Up, including the title track, “Soft Rock Star,” and “London Half Life,” are featured on the Static Anonymity EP. Due to a record label shuffle, the band ended up releasing Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? in lieu of Grow Up after two more years of seeking a stable record company (eventually Last Gang Records).

Grow Up and Blow Away does not exude the sound of a freshman album and one might never surmise as much from listening to it. With the exception of “Rock Me Now,” which relies on backing vocals from bassist James Winstead, all of the tracks on Grow Up are the undoubted counterparts of the material on Old World and Live It Out.

The unique voice of Emily Haines is reminiscent of Debbie Harry’s on the second track of Grow Up entitled “Hardwire.” Harry and Haines’ vocals are somewhat kindred in that neither seems to actually try at singing, but rather each allows the vocals to flow from them organically and without artifice.

Similarities between certain tracks on Metric’s previous LP, Live It Out, are also detectable. “White Gold,” a down tempo song with Haines’ languid voice narrating, “We’re here for the porn and the sirloin” bears an odd parallel to Live It Out's “Patriarch on a Vespa”. Haines’ voice can rarely be described as ardent or visceral, save for on the popular “Monster Hospital,” wherein she repeated “I fought the war/I fought the war/I fought the war/But the war won’t stop for the love of God.” Although such guttural vocals are nonexistent here on Grow Up, it does seem a bit more melancholic than their other releases; “London Half Life” being the most notable departure from Metric’s usually upbeat sound. The song is an unmistakable reference to the time Metric spent in London after being solicited to sign with Chrysalis in 2000. After the label pushed the band in a direction tailored toward mass consumption, Metric opted to pass on the deal. The track is a thinly disguised lamentation on the loss of success and the preservation of artistic integrity as Haines croons, “Oh watch out/You’re only better off with half your life otherwise wasted/House of cards you fall hard.”

The most radio-friendly song on the album is “Soft Rock Star,” perhaps an unconscious ode to Canadian compatriot Celine Dion with lyrics like, “Please correct me but didn’t you let the work slide?/Capitalize on a novelty, cheap pink spotlight.” Another more overt jibe on the album is “Parkdale,” named after a suburb in Canada. Metric points out the homogeneity of the town, noting sardonically, “We almost forgot/Every building is a shop/Every person is a shopper.” Access to this song is still limited in the states being that “Parkdale” is not available on the iTunes version of the album. So are the mysterious and inane ways of the Apple corporation.

Grow Up and Blow Away, although distinguishable from Metric’s prior releases, is inherently similar to other musical offerings in their rapidly expanding repertoire. It is a more than adequate third album, even if it was not intended as such. Metric seems destined to set an example for bands from all walks of life; bands that should acknowledge the difference between evolving their sound and consciously altering it to fit into some sort of preconceived mold of what an “indie” group should be.

by Genna Rivieccio

Metric on:
Wikipedia
Myspace
The Internet

Grow Up and Blow Away on YouTube (music only):

Mikael Håfström

2007-06-26T21:48:00.000-04:00

1408 was so scary, I might just kill myself.

1408 is The Shining on steroids. It's The Excorsist on LSD.
It's The Ring for atheists. It's Silence of the Lambs with rabies.

It was so scary that when I got home I had to watch Napoleon Dynamite and make fresh guac for an hour just to keep from shitting myself.

It was like being on a thrill ride that's broken and the carny-on-duty is Ozzie Osbourn after an heroin-enhanced orgasm.

It's The Omen with clown suits. It's the musical version of Saw III.
It's Hellraiser on fire and holding a machine gun.
It's Darren Arronofsky directing a Kafka play with a knife to his throat.

It was so unsettling that I plan to sleep the rest of my nights in a gurney.

If you plan to see it, don't wait to rent the DVD. Get your money's worth and see it in the theatre. Two of the things that made this movie so thrillingly terrifying is the use of the big screen close-ups of John Cusack's frantic and trembling face, and the audio effects, which sounded like George Lucas frothing at the mouth during a hail-storm.

If there's one theme that the horror genre of every medium knows works like a nightmare, it's little girls. And I don't mind saying that the Little Girl Quotient of 1408 hovered somewhere around a factor-8.5. And by that I don't mean for on-screen time. I mean for potency. As for as on-screen time, the little girl in 1408 follows the Jaws, Alien 1 tradition of being scarier for the time she's NOT on screen.

Which is not to say that the little girl is the monster here... That's the best part. There really IS no monster, just the evil hotel room and John Cusack's pysche as it batters itself, juggling terror, guilt, suicide, hopelessness, trauma, sorrow, fear, malice, nihilism, regret, torture, and hell.

The plot? It's basically John Cusack is a skeptical ghost-hunting author whose life's been sucking the big one since his young daughter passed away of some god-given make-a-wish fare (perhaps lung cancer, since our pro-tag doesn't smoke 'anymore'?). All you need to know is that he goes to stay at this haunted-assed room because it's known to be extra-haunted, and will make for a good final chapter of his next book.

And exactly how bad-ass is this now off-limits hotel room that is appearently so evil that it makes the Amityville Horror seem like a beej and a sandwich? So bad-ass that Samuel L. Jackson himself got chopper'd in to the cast in order to orate to john exactly how severe a fisting this room is going to give him if he says.

At this point, it seems there's no way that
the room/rest of the movie is going to be able to live up to /overcome/ be taken seriously, especially after a grimicing Sam Jackson tries to bribe Cusack with a bottle of aged brandy into NOT staying in the room so that Sam won't have to "clean up the mess"...

This movie's balls SOMEHOW manage not to out-grow it's brains. Somehow. Despite it's indeed thrilling composition, and thorough badd-assery, it manages to be genuinely scary on a sincere, personal level. Is it simply because the protagonist is played by every film student's man-crush since 1986? I sure hope so! But I'm not telling you any more, go see for yourself, and then have fun on vacation this summer!

1408 on: IMDB

Smoking Popes

2007-06-23T09:05:00.000-04:00

Power-'Stalgia Slack-Rock Back with New Live Album

Ultimately, we have to thank the Smoking Popes for all of the Alkaline Trios, the Thursdays and the Baysides out there. Without the Popes, the world may have been one without The Get-Up Kids or Vendetta Red or Fall-Out Boy. Without the Smoking Popes, bands like Green Day or Weezer or Jimmy Eat World may never have gotten to the point that they have gotten to today. Before automatically jumping to the conclusion that the Smoking Popes' biggest accomplishment was unleashing a blight of pop-punk domination upon the cultural world, you really ought to give their music a listen. Fans starving for some new Popes tunes are in luck: the band debuted two new songs at The Taste of Randolph Street festival last weekend in Chicago, announcing that the tunes would be included on a new album that will be released sometime in the near future.

The Caterer brothers haven’t skipped a beat, pumping out all the classics they’d solidified years ago. The droves of drunken, tattoo-plastered hipsters sang arm-in-arm with shirtless, beer-soaked yuppies. The cool night air and tree-top cover set a perfect stage. The Popes charged through a fan-favorite set, stopping everywhere between debut album opener “Let’s Hear It For Love” and fan-favorite “Pretty Pathetic.” Willy Wonka classic “Pure Imagination,” played by request, got the whole crowd crooning along. “Before I’m Gone” broke wide open for a feedback-filled solo, as Josh Caterer proclaimed his love for his hometown. As an encore, “Writing a Letter” left the whole crowd smiling. The two new songs (both available on the band’s MySpace page), however, may have been the most memorable of the night. “Grab Your Heart and Run” had an anthemic hook worthy of any prior Popes classic. “Welcome to Janesville” crunched along with heavy, rhythmic guitar and driving bass. Non-Chicagoan Smoking Popes fans are in luck though: just pick up the 2006 “At Metro” live recording at your local record store and you’ll experience a nearly good-as-being-there concert.

When the band came home to Chicago on November 11, 2005 for their first show after a seven year hiatus, they showed the world the way pop-punk should be done. Lead singer Josh Caterer and his brothers Matt on bass and Eli on guitar (drummer Rob Kellenberger is featured on the CD/DVD, while Ryan Chavez beats the skins on the new album), agreed to reunite for the Flower 15 concert series at the Metro that raised over fifty thousand dollars for Chicago area charities. Luckily for those that missed the concert, the career-spanning set was captured on audio for their reunion CD entitled, logically enough, “At Metro.” The show was also recorded for a DVD that accompanies the CD. Each and every one of the 23 songs from the power-packed power-pop concert are represented in video format, while nearly all (19) of them are also collected in CD form for those long car rides.

Just listening to the CD might give an un-informed listener the idea of a lounge singer fronting a modern pop-punk band; as if Johnny Mathis stepped in front of the microphone for Weezer before Rivers Cuomo got the chance. Once the catchy songs and tense guitar solos draw the new listeners in, they’ll have no choice but to pop the DVD into their home theater systems. Lo and behold, the lead singer is sporting old school Chuck Taylors. The guitarist does have black thick-framed glasses and wicked sideburns. But upon closer inspection, the listener unfamiliar with the Popes surely will exclaim something along the likes of “Those dudes are old!” In fact, the band formed in their hometown of Chicago in 1991(with drummer Mike Felumlee, now of Alkaline Trio) and released their debut Get Fired in 1993. This concert makes quite clear the difference between the Smoking Popes and modern pop-punk bands: 1) The Popes have been doing this for a long time 2) They started making this kind of music before it was deemed cool and marketable 3) They are doing it (even after a seven year hiatus) in such a way that the raw emotional power of the songs live on. For some reason, the DVD sometimes gets this point across better than the CD can. But in either case, the concert is a marvel of pop sensibility coupled with unbridled emotion.
There’s something about Josh Caterer’s voice, as it soars majestically over the crunching power-pop of the rest of the band. It’s a nostalgic necessity, an undeniable manna from the pop-punk gods. When he insists “I am with you all the way” in the song “Don’t Be Afraid,” you have no choice but to believe him. Even when the Popes delve into the more down-trodden realm of the emotional, there is no denying an utter sincerity lying beneath it. Take for instance the song “No More Smiles”, with a chorus of “No more smiles from now on, they are all gone, I’ll never understand what went wrong”. A band would pump the song full of sap until it started dripping out like maple syrup. The Smoking Popes refuse to run that course, keeping the drum beat light and driving while the guitars power on, marching on their neo-innovative pop-punk roots.

A few songs stick out from the stellar twenty-three song set. “Gotta Know Right Now” is one of the songs that seems to have aged the best. It’s easy to tell, both visually and audibly, that Josh Carterer keeps a sincere grin plastered on his face. He sings with conviction and good intentions while the guitars rip into an uplifting progression, the bass thunders out a steady time and the drums rumble along like a warm thunderstorm. “If I told you that I really, really liked you a lot” Carterer smirks and croons, “I’ve wanted to for a long, long time but never had the guts.” The music and lyrics both seem so simple, but the sincerity and technicality throughout make the song an impossible to deny nostalgic gem, a relic of power-pop before it became a commercialized waste of time.

by Adam Kivel

Smoking Popes on:
Wikipedia
Myspace
The Internet

Some Smoking Popes YouTubes:

TK Webb

2007-06-18T15:49:00.000-04:00

At certain points, TK Webb's dynamic guitarwork resembles his labelmates Vietnam — but the similarities are purely superficial. While that band revels in its toe-the-sonic-line identity, TK's Phantom Parade reads like an Appalachian travelogue, a candid, muddy-knee'd collection of tales Webb must've spun on the lam. The well-intentioned "Which Witch" sprouts up amidst stammering floor toms and bright steel-body bravado. "Which witch will rise from the west to watch the mere mortals do their best?" offers the gravelly-throated Webb, whose every murmur douses the implied front row with implied cheap whiskey. "Wet Eyed Morn" is a balladeer's master class with a short supply list: one rattling acoustic, one recessive harmonica. "Classy" comes off like a strong-as-fuck cup of truck stop coffee, spiked with grumbling vocals and unshaven low-fret machinations. The title track, where Webb's six-strung better half is accompanied by a jolly, half-flubbed piano part, is more than incandescent. Quite simply: he don't sound like Vietnam. Dudes sound like him.

by Drew Lazor

TK Webb on:
Myspace
The Social Registry

Zoe Cassavetes' Broken English

2007-06-15T13:38:00.000-04:00

This daughter of film legend du jour breathes new life into a tired genre. The single woman as comedic fodder has translated into film-industry gold over the last few years. Trite happy endings have drawn in female moviegoers to see the predictable likes of Bridget Jones' Diary, Love Actually, and essentially every other Hugh Grant vehicle. Where other romantic comedies about the tragedy of being a spinster have failed, Zoe Cassavetes' writing and directing debut, Broken English, is an honest, often bleak, glimpse into the life of Nora Wilder--played by the ever-charismatic Parker Posey.

Nora's existence as a New Yorker in charge of hospitality at a hotel has reached the pinnacle of its brilliant mediocrity. The gravity of her situation becomes unavoidably apparent when she attends her only friend's fifth anniversary party. Her mother, played by Cassavetes' own matriarch Gena Rowlands, is also there, chiding Nora for not having had the foresight to steal her best friend Audrey's (Drea de Matteo) husband before it was too late. All of this is more than Nora can tolerate. The following day at work, she searches the internet for single men between the ages of eighteen and forty-two. The online dating service turns up the reply: “No results found.”

Just when Nora has resigned herself to a life of drunken solicitude, she encounters an big-shot actor staying at her hotel, played by American Psycho co-star Justin Theroux (who we look forward to seeing as Jesus in David Wain's upcoming film The Ten) . After complaining to the hotel staff about not getting the room he requested, Nora emerges from her bunker of an office to appease him. Enamored by her poise under pressure, he asks her to dinner. Nora, ignoring her better judgment, accepts the invitation.

Slighted yet again, Nora resorts to going to her mother for comfort. Over lunch the next day, Nora laments, “I'm so desperate I can't stand the scent of my own desperation.” Concerned, her mother offers to set her up with a bachelor named Brad (portrayed by Griffin Dunne of After Hours and An American Warewolf in London fame).

What starts out as a promising date turns into another disastrous failure when Brad runs into his ex at the movie theater and admits to Nora that he is still in love with her.

Being that Nora's past two jaunts into the realm of the romantic have led her to the conclusion, “Men hate me,” she figures it might be wise to take a break from the dating scene. It's with this mindset that she attends a Fourth of July party, where she meets Julien, a wandering Frenchman who came to the States on a whim to work on the same film set as the woman of his transient desire.

Instantly captivated by Nora's dry humor and cynicism, Julien needles her into staying at the party. This time, Nora is not as easily persuaded into believing something good can happen to her. When Julien tries to kiss her, she thwarts him. It is not until after they have spent the entire weekend together that she realizes Julien may not be like the others.

But of course her epiphany must come at the worst possible moment. Julien tells her that he is going back to France and that he wants her to come with him. Nora is hesitant to take such a gamble on the prospect of love and must decide if she can afford to waste any more time on the caprices of attraction.

Posey’s “acting” is physical and humorous, as in her other films, but falls short for moviegoers who eventually grasp that she is basically playing herself. Still, Posey is a delight to watch in this role and few other actresses have the endearing quirkiness to make Nora an empathetic character.

On the directorial side, Cassavetes is still searching for her stylistic voice. Most of the scenes are static, simply documenting what is on screen rather than ever trying to suggest something more. For instance, in a scene during which Nora is gushing to Audrey about her actor boyfriend, an entertainment news report about his relationship with another actress flashes on the TV screen. All of this occurs with very little shift in character point of view. No movement occurs with the camera to get us inside of Nora’s head and make us feel as used and rejected as she does.

Cassavetes’ screenplay is clearly grounded in her own experiences. The earnestness of her writing is evident on the screen and the fact that she was given twenty days (fifteen in New York, five in Paris) to shoot the film on a million dollar budget speaks volumes about what a movie can be when there is passion behind it.

The film’s conclusion is not what viewers have come to expect with romantic comedies, leaving the audience with a more open-ended interpretation of what the future holds for Nora. It is the ending that fortifies Cassavetes’ strict adherence to realism, a choice that not every filmmaker has the courage to employ throughout his or her story.

Ultimately, Cassavetes’ genuine portrayal of life and love is what makes Broken English so immensely captivating.

by Genna Rivieccio

Zoe Cassavets' Broken English on:
IMDB

Pigeon John

2007-06-12T15:23:00.000-04:00

Pigeon John
Pigeon John and the Summertime Pool Party
Quannum Projects

Representing Hawthorne by way of Omaha, Pigeon John hearts his own eccentricity. Then again, every Cali emcee fronts like a weirdo, so it's familiar territory. Summertime Pool Party is packaged like a chew-on-the-knowledge textbook, but it doesn't educate as much as it numbly points the way to the library. The rhapsody-in-quirk opener "Welcome to the Show" does well in establishing John's lucid swagger: he rhapsodizes about how, within his s'cool-SoCal dream world, Genesis referees his ping-pong matches. On "Do the Pigeon," he proofreads the mainstream over Madlib-esque synth work. But, by playing that move-the-crowd card early, the rest of the record feels sticky with look-ma-I'm-different spittle. The meter's already expired by the time the RJD2-crafted "The Last Sunshine" and the why-Jeebus-why pulpit piece "As We Know It" click into gear. It's his right to insist that no one else gets it, but what truly holds John back is his faulty belief that monotony is undervalued.

by Drew Lazor

Pigeon John on:
Wikipedia
Myspace
The Internet

Micah P. Hinson

2007-06-12T14:13:00.000-04:00

Micah P. Hinson
Micah P. Hinson and the Opera Circuit
Jade Tree

You're required to root for Micah P. Hinson. Why? His hardscrabble upbringing in Abilene, Texas. His nicotine-stained baritone. His sad songs for happy folk. While The Opera Circuit doesn't possess quite the same tonal epiphanies of his earlier Gospel of Progress, it's still crafted with Sunday sermon in mind. The punchy banjo on "Diggin A Grave" leads a manic waltz with rub-a-dub thuds, like famished coal miners banging their fists on the supper table. "Letter to Huntsville" displays why Hinson's an old soul—he knows what to say hours before you figure out how you feel. Crooked Fingers virtuoso Eric Bachmann, who arranged the record's neatly pressed strings and horns, salutes baroque sensibilities without coming off like a Decemberists apologist. Still, Hinson's drastic shifts in mood make it difficult to flag him down. The record's designed around a splintered romance (lingering closer "Don't Leave Me Now" is telling enough), but since you're rootin', you almost want him to move on.

by Drew Lazor

Micah P. Hinson on:
Wikipedia
Myspace
The Internet

Greg Proops

2007-06-10T22:32:00.000-04:00

Greg’s notorious style of overly-literate, obnoxiously verbose observational and opinion-heavy social commentary is still topical cream for the synapses. Greg seems to be out to prove himself as the Colin Meloy of comedy. His high-brow language and morally superior attitude make him come across as a pompous know-it all, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love every minute of it. He even goes so far during a joke on his album Houston, We have a Problem as to berate the audience at great length for “awwwing” at a joke they found to be in poor taste (a hilarious joke about how one of the reasons why Paul McCartney has been on the decline since the Beatles is due to the fact that he dated that one-legged woman). Greg's lecture to his audience transcripts as follows:

Um, I have no time for your judgment. My jokes are marvelously constructed with hilarious, surprise inexplicable endings. It would behoove you to get on board my satirical comedy train right now, and lay down the petty Houston bullshit Texas precepts that you have brought in with you. You're in Mr. Proops' house right now and it's time you step up and deal with some of the real shit. I'm not going to spoon feed you or patronize you at any point. I'm going to lay down blistering comedy in a scorching manner. It's up to you to avoid the napalm and run after me to safety. Besides which, you don't know her and she's not here. So who's zoomin' who? Who IS here? Oh, that would be me. Why? Because I love you. I came all the way out from California to entertain you. Where do you see the one-legged girl? Nowhere, that's where. So I will caution you, never take her side against me in a joke...

For a lesser comic, a move like this might work against him, but for Proops, overly-exaggerated soap-box comedy works so well, that part of me hopes his next album is titled, “Here’s why I’m better than you…. And Smarter!”

Use of irony and sarcasm are a staple for Proops, who likes to absurd-ize viewpoints that oppose his own. On his prior album, Joke Book, he delivers a soliloquy about the beauty of the Hawaiian landscape to juxtapose and ridicule Hawaii’s meth problem.

I wanna feel what the natives feel... I wanna be lying on the beach on methamphetamines... That's the moment that I wanna be there. Lying on the beech with pink coral sand, your toes wiggling... Mai Tai clutched gingerly in your left hand... gazing off into the middle distance at a green and verdant volcanic peak shrouded in mist like a tale told by an elder from a tribe now long forgotten. And the sky turns from robin's-egg blue to shale to umber, and then deep ebony as every star starts to burst through like a celebration aimed directly at the heart of your soul... and the sun begins to dive into the pacific ocean and becomes an enormous iridescent orange disk, and then an unlikely purple tube the moment before it leaves the realm of man....
...is the moment I wanna be jinked out of my fuckin' mind on methamphetamines...

Thematically, Greg’s discussions aren’t exactly unpaved ground. His political humor and equal/women’s-rights-related material is derivative of Bill Hicks and George Carlin’s 90s albums. In fact, his discussion of Bill Clinton V.S. Dick Cheney sounds similar to Carlin’s ‘State Prison Farms’ in terms of delivery, with about 10, 15 minutes of lecture, with bits of hilarity peppered in, ending with a massive punch-line that will have you high-fiving your liberal NHS buddies all semester long.

This brings to light an interesting issue which was discussed publicly by Bill Clinton when he was on The Daily Show. Clinton said, “When people THINK, Democrats win”…

Greg Proops’ comedy is decidedly leftist, and it’s interesting to see that one of the more liberal-minded of today’s comics speaks with SAT-words that admittedly had me visiting dictionary.com on one or more occasions. Do comedians and their fans represent the American divide of right vs. left? Some comics have no noticeable politics. Jim Gaffigan comes to mind. Some comics are beloved by hordes of fans that are noticeably right-winged. Is there a noticeable educational or intellectual quotient divide between guys like Proops or David Cross whose material and fans reflect a leftist point of view, and Larry the Cable guy, who--even though his comedy isn’t political--is beloved by the Bible belt? Is the right wing simply in love with stupid? Is the reason that there are no visible comedians doing right-wing comedy due to the fact that when intelligent thought is applied, there is simply no absurdity to be pointed out in the Democratic mindset?

All things to think about when you check out both of these Greg Proops albums or catch him live if you have a chance (or enough money). A personal side note: Greg Proops was the very first comedy show I ever saw, back in 1999, and in addition to being one of the funniest I‘ve ever seen to date, it still reigns as the most expensive. It was 40 dollars plus drinks at the Washington D.C. Improv. Greg, if you’re reading this, help a brotha out, and do some shows at less expensive clubs. This is one of the reasons our Philly area comedy clubs are struggling, because they’re not making 48 bucks a head, so they have less money to book popular acts, ergo less draw for their club. Less draw means less money per head etc. and the cycle repeats until more clubs close every year. If popular comedians can lend a hand by doing some pro-bono-esque work at smaller clubs for some less money, it would benefit the comedy industry at large. Especially you liberals, who supposedly believe in some individual sacrifice for the greater good of the community, lets put some money where your mouth is, please!

Greg Proops on:
Wikipedia
Myspace
The Internet

Greg Proops on YouTube:

Lightening Bolt

2007-06-07T19:18:00.000-04:00

Started as an art school project, Lightning Bolt has become one of the most popular bands on the underground circuit. Their unprecedented lineup, sound, and live show has earned them tremendous respect and admiration. So much, in fact, that veteran underground rockers Sonic Youth took them on tour.

Hailing from Providence, Rhode Island, on independent Load Records, drummer Brian Chippendale and bassist Brian Gibson have taken the scene by storm on the strength of their latest album, Wonderful Rainbow, their DVD The Power Of Salad (and Milkshakes), their undying humor, and their incredible performances.
They insist on playing on the floor, maintaining that it is much more intimate. I asked about this when I talked with Chippendale after the show. “It's like everyone's in the band...all three hundred of us," he said, whose drumming is only a few beats from sounding like it was created by machine.

"If you see bands at the same place in the same place, you walk away with a cluttered amount of memories of some thing that happened. But if you see somebody somewhere else, or something striking about it [that makes it more memorable]," he added.

In addition to playing drums, Chippendale also supplies vocals for the duo. They provide their own system for delivering these vocals, using as much distortion on them as most guitarists use. In order to hold the microphone, Chippendale constructed a mask that, like his clothes, is seemingly made of anything he could get his hands on. "I try to rinse it out every night, or every other night. Last night I f***** up and left in a ball in the bottom of a drum. It was all mildewed," he said.

Inspired by a number of groups, including Japanese experimental groups Ruins and The Boredoms, Lightning Bolt is one of a kind when it comes to America. Centimeters away from being a simple noise band and inches away from being hardcore, they have crafted a unique sound that that has repelled a few but has attracted many more.

Their sound no longer influenced by anyone but themselves, Chippendale pointed out jokingly that “the bassist Brian barely listens to anything. He listened to Rush a long time ago, and then quit listening to stuff." Chippendale insists that their secret is constant practicing and keeping an open mind. Their amazing live show consists of half album tracks and half improvised material, all of which flow together on the strength of Gibson’s guitar-esque riffs and Chippendale’s chaotic beats. Clearly, this one-of-a-kind band has to be seen to be believed.

by Drew Stephan

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