So, yeah, the end of September is an odd time for a blog post about CD's from the first half of the year (I used a release date of June 30 as the cutoff), but screw it. Its my blog. Plus, I need to get this one done if I have any hope of doing second half of 2010 and year end review columns (I actually started writing this a few weeks ago, but didn't have time to finish it until now). One of these days I'll get into a rhythm and start cranking these out on a more regular basis (hopefully in October with my month-long horror movie fest)...
10.) The Roots – How I Got Over
The Roots continue to be the most unique and versatile hip-hop groups out there today. Simply the fact that they are a full, instrument-playing band would probably be enough to earn them that distinction. However, add in that they manage to be the house band on Jimmy Fallon's talk show without any loss of credibility or suffering any backlash, and also that they are not afraid to include a remake of a song by such completely un-hip-hop singers M. Ward, Conor Oberst, and Jim James (“Dear God 2.0”), a song that samples Joanna Newsom (“Right On”), and a song that features vocals by John Legend (“The Fire”) on the same album clinches it for them 10 times over.
9.) Wolf Parade - Expo 86
Wolf Parade is one of the several bands with which lead singer Spencer Krug has been involved (he's also front man for Sunset Rubdown and has been a member of Swan Lake, Frog Eyes, and Fifths of Seven - he's sort of a way lesser known, Canadian Jack White), with each band offering up a different type of sound. Wolf Parade plays a post-punk version of indie rock, calling back to the sounds of XTC and the Pixies from the 80s and early 90s. Expo 86 is their 3rd album, and they have yet to disappoint on any of them.
8.) Broken Bells - Broken Bells
Danger Mouse has come a long way from when he first burst on to the music scene. He started out with the most famous mash-up album of them all, The Grey Album ( a combination of Jay-Z's The Black Album and the Beatles "White" Album), which earned him the attention of The Beatles record company and more free publicity than which he could ever have hoped. From there, he either collaborated on, or produced, albums with such wide-ranging artists s Cee-Lo Green, Beck, The Gorillaz, the Rapture and Sparklehorse. Broken Bells is another collaboration, this time with James Mercer of The Shins, and the resulting music has a cool, experimental, spacey kind of sound. Danger Mouse continues to bring his unique vision together with the musical talents of others to make great music. And, they got Christina Hendricks from Mad Men to appear in their video!
7.) MGMT - Congratulations
MGMT made a huge splash on the scene with their second album, 2007's (or 2008's, depending if you are talking the digital or hard copy version) Oracular Spectacular. That disc steadily built both buzz and record sales until they eventually sold over a million copies and were at the top of the indie music world. For their follow-up effort, they decided against putting out another disc of like-sounding songs that would have pleased many of their new fans, but showed little attempt to grow artistically. Instead, they released a much more ambitious, less-pop sounding album which was met with mostly good reviews, but was still rewarded with a #2 ranking on the Billboard US charts. The sound on this disc is definitely a departure from the last release, but the songs are still solid (if not as catchy) and I always appreciate when a band refuses to rest on their laurels.
6.) The New Pornographers - Together
The New Pornographers continue to put out some of the best pop music out there that no one outside of the indie rock world ever hears. Their lineup of singers with three very diverse voices - Dan Bejar, Carl Newman and Neko Case - allows them to mix up their sound when one of them takes the lead and blend the 3 together on harmonies that given them a unique edge with which most power pop bands aren't able to compete. Together doesn't match up to the level of their previous releases, but it is still an enjoyable listen, perfect when you need a little pick me up.
5.) Spoon - Transference
Spoon follows up one of my favorite albums of 2007 (Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga) with one of their best efforts to date. Over the course of seven albums, Spoon has managed to improve and refine their sound with each attempt, which is something a lot of bands can't pull off over half as many discs. Plus, Transference contains which is probably my favorite Spoon songs, and also one of my favorite songs to come out in the last few years, "Got Nuffin".
4.) The National - High Violet
The National are another group that has managed to steadily improve its sound and popularity with each release. Starting with their 3rd release, 2005's Alligator, The National have been widely recognized as a great band by the indie rock world (both that album and it's follow up, 2007's Boxer were named on numerous "Album of the Decade" lists). However, with High Violet, they have finally started to get notice in wider circles - High Violet hit #3 on Billboard (it was a decent year all around for alternative releases on the charts). The droning, chamber pop vocals of lead singer Matt Berninger give The National one of the most unique sounds not only in indie rock, but in all of rock today.
3.) Beach House - Teen Dream
Beach House's sound is perfectly suited to their name. However, its not for the beach house of mid-summer, when its full of people, barbecues, swimming and laughter. Its for the beach house at the end of the season, after everyone has left and its up to you to close it up for winter. Their music is very dreamy and haunting - the kind you'd listen to to remind you of summers past, when you think about the way you want to remember how things were, but instead remember how things really were, before for you close everything up and start again anew the next year with a whole new set of memories....
2.) Blitzen Trapper - Destroyer of the Void
Blitzen Trapper started out with a folk rock sound on their initial release, moved to more of an alt-country sound on their next 2, and finally have settled (for now) on an experimental sound that is a hybrid of all their previous output. Its an eclectic mix where some songs are the most modern sounding music around, and some sound like they could have come from the late 60's ("The Tree" sounds particularly like an acoustic George Harrison Beatles tune).
1.) Yeasayer - Odd Blood
This is the second release from the experimental/psychedelic pop-rock trio. The songs on this CD definitely lean more towards a pop rather than a rock sound. They are incredibly catchy, merging psychedelic sounds from the 60's and 70's with the coolest electronic sounds from the clubs scene of today. Its definitely an album that would be a good soundtrack for any party.
A pretty solid start to the year in music. The releases from the 2nd half of the year have been just as good (look for a post on those in late November - I'll try not to have that one done as late as this one was).
(Also, I apologize for the ads before some of these videos. The site I used previously to embed songs is no longer around, so I had to resort to Youtube, and this is what happens...)
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
The Curse and the Blessing of a Large Music Collection
And I do mean large – I am at 2002 CDs and counting. Included in that number are 63 discs that were released just this year (and its only August). That’s a lot of new music to keep up with. And I have, to the detriment of the rest of my music collection. I have listened to the new CDs all at least once, but in order to do that, I have not really been paying attention to some of the older stuff in my collection (except for whenever I listen to my iPOD on shuffle in the car). However, keeping up with the newest music has meant that I have neglected the new music a lot as well. As I stated, I have listened to all the 2010 CDs at least once. But, for the majority of them, I have listened to them ONLY once. I haven’t really had time to go back and listen to them enough to get to know them, especially if it’s a band for whom this is either their 1st CD overall or just the first of theirs that I have heard. That is the “curse” of having too large of a music collection (I could always stop wanting to get all this new music, but, lets be realistic, that’s not going to happen). It also doesn’t help that I am also kind of a movie buff (although that obsession is not nearly as bad as the one I have with music, its still there), so time that could be spent listening to music is instead occupied by my Netflix subscription.
I have decided on two courses of action in order to make up for the problems listed above. The first is for the new music. I have made a playlist of all the 2010 songs that I like (I also did this for 2009 songs, since I am sure I had the same problem last year) for my iPOD and I am going to make that my go-to playlist for when I am in the car or mowing the lawn for a while. This will sort of be like my own new music radio station, to help me become familiar with the songs. I would also like to think I could hold off on listening to anything new I get for a while, but that’s not likely (although, how I have managed to hold off on listening to the new Walkmen disc, which I have read good things about, is kind of amazing).
The second thing I have decided to do is to dig back in to the rest of my CD catalog much more often. With 2000 CDs, it’s really hard to know where to start. Since I have my entire collection on a spreadsheet, I figured out an easy way – I went online and found a random number generator, and what ever number comes up, that line on the spreadsheet is the disc to which I will listen. I tried it out today, and the first disc that came up is “The Moon & Antarctica” by Modest Mouse. I haven’t heard this disc in a long, long time and I love it (despite the fact that a friend of mine recently said that this is the disc, rather than any of the more commercial ones that came out after, where Modest Mouse fell off). This is the “blessing” of having a huge music collection – digging back into it and “re-discovering” discs that you haven’t heard in a while.
I guess it boils down to this – I’d much rather have the problems of too much music to listen to rather than go through life not listening to enough.
I have decided on two courses of action in order to make up for the problems listed above. The first is for the new music. I have made a playlist of all the 2010 songs that I like (I also did this for 2009 songs, since I am sure I had the same problem last year) for my iPOD and I am going to make that my go-to playlist for when I am in the car or mowing the lawn for a while. This will sort of be like my own new music radio station, to help me become familiar with the songs. I would also like to think I could hold off on listening to anything new I get for a while, but that’s not likely (although, how I have managed to hold off on listening to the new Walkmen disc, which I have read good things about, is kind of amazing).
The second thing I have decided to do is to dig back in to the rest of my CD catalog much more often. With 2000 CDs, it’s really hard to know where to start. Since I have my entire collection on a spreadsheet, I figured out an easy way – I went online and found a random number generator, and what ever number comes up, that line on the spreadsheet is the disc to which I will listen. I tried it out today, and the first disc that came up is “The Moon & Antarctica” by Modest Mouse. I haven’t heard this disc in a long, long time and I love it (despite the fact that a friend of mine recently said that this is the disc, rather than any of the more commercial ones that came out after, where Modest Mouse fell off). This is the “blessing” of having a huge music collection – digging back into it and “re-discovering” discs that you haven’t heard in a while.
I guess it boils down to this – I’d much rather have the problems of too much music to listen to rather than go through life not listening to enough.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Halloween Fest, Pt. 4
Zombie
While this movie was originally marketed as a sequel to Night of the Living Dead, it was not. It was an Italian-made film (as noticed in some of the actors having to be dubbed) that nevertheless would have made a fine sequel to Romero’s zombie original. The plot is pretty standard for a zombie film – there are zombies and they want to eat people. That’s pretty much it. This film does an excellent job, though, of ratcheting up the tension throughout the film leading to the big zombie attack climax. It does this by parceling out the zombie appearances in small but very impactful ways – the two most memorable scenes involve a zombie attacking a shark(!) and a zombie attack on a woman that involves some sharp pieces of wood and an eyeball. Added to this is a classic 70’s synth soundtrack which is exactly the type of music I think of when I see a slow-moving mindless zombie on the attack. The gore factor is pretty good in this one too. I recommend this if you are a fan of zombie films to see how they can be done well without just bombarding you with zombies.
While this movie was originally marketed as a sequel to Night of the Living Dead, it was not. It was an Italian-made film (as noticed in some of the actors having to be dubbed) that nevertheless would have made a fine sequel to Romero’s zombie original. The plot is pretty standard for a zombie film – there are zombies and they want to eat people. That’s pretty much it. This film does an excellent job, though, of ratcheting up the tension throughout the film leading to the big zombie attack climax. It does this by parceling out the zombie appearances in small but very impactful ways – the two most memorable scenes involve a zombie attacking a shark(!) and a zombie attack on a woman that involves some sharp pieces of wood and an eyeball. Added to this is a classic 70’s synth soundtrack which is exactly the type of music I think of when I see a slow-moving mindless zombie on the attack. The gore factor is pretty good in this one too. I recommend this if you are a fan of zombie films to see how they can be done well without just bombarding you with zombies.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Halloween Movie Fest, Pt. 3
Blood Sucking Freaks
This movie was completely not what I was expecting. I had heard of this movie before but I didn’t know anything about it other than the title. Also, I apparently read the Netflix description but didn’t REALLY read it, because the description is pretty accurate. This movie isn’t really about any blood sucking freaks at all (according to Wikipedia, that wasn’t the original title, so that explains that). It really is a combination of an old-school version of Hostel and a soft-core porn. I don’t think more than 2 minutes passed at any time without someone being naked onscreen. Like most of the current crop of the so-called “torture porn” movies out there (like Hostel, Saw, etc.), Blood Sucking Freaks doesn’t really set out to scare you – it just wants to disturb and revolt the hell out of you. Most films try and do that by turning up the gore factor and seeing how grossed out they can make you. Not this one. There was not a whole lot of blood used. Instead, this flick attempts to disturb you by abusing women and treating them like objects (literally, as in one scene the main antagonist uses a woman as a foot stool), while at the same time weaving a black humor throughout that instead of being funny, really adds to the depravity. Movies involving abuse and torture are disturbing enough on their own, but, by throwing in attempts at humor, this movie seems to be saying “Sure, we just cut that woman’s fingers off, but look! We are using them to bet at backgammon. Isn’t that funny? Torturing women is fun!” That, at least for me, made the movie all that more creepy (and not in the way that I normally look for in a horror movie) and uncomfortable.
The Old Dark House
This is a classic horror film from the original Universal horror heyday. It was the next release by the same team that made Frankenstein. That includes Boris Karloff (I love Karloff, but I can’t ever hear his name now without thinking of this great line by Bela Lugosi in “Ed Wood” – “Karloff? Sidekick? FUCK YOU! Karloff did not deserve to smell my shit! That limey cocksucker can rot in Hell for all I care!”) as a hulking, mute butler. The story involves some travelers who, while searching for a place to escape the storm, come across a creepy old mansion inhabited by a family that acts weird the whole time. That’s really about the extent of the plot. Reading that, you would think this was a boring movie, but nothing could be further from the truth. There is something about old black and white horror films, set in musty, ill-lit gothic mansions that can convey a sense of tension and foreboding that keeps you locked into the film no matter what is happing with the characters. Fortunately, the characters who reside in the house are odd and creepy enough that, even if they are just sitting around, talking and acting weird and suspicious, it adds to the overall atmosphere of the movie. This is the type of movie that couldn’t be made effectively today – our modern, slick way of filmmaking would just make this film boring.
13 Ghosts
This is one of those types of movies to which Popcorn (from my last post) was paying tribute. During its original release, moviegoers were given special glasses which allowed them to see the ghosts in color (the film was black and white) if they looked through 1 lens or not see the ghosts at all if they looked through the other lens. Maybe if it was 1960 again, and I saw the movie with that gimmick, maybe I would have liked it more (although probably not). It just sort of fell flat with me. The story is about a down on his luck family man who inherits a house from his uncle that turns out to be haunted (and also his uncle hid money in the house somewhere). The film couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be spooky, somewhat campy, or (as I saw someone comment on IMDB) an episode of Scooby-Doo. Or maybe they tried to be all those things at once. I don’t know. All I know is that it resulted in a movie that was just there. I didn’t hate it, nor did I love it.
This movie was completely not what I was expecting. I had heard of this movie before but I didn’t know anything about it other than the title. Also, I apparently read the Netflix description but didn’t REALLY read it, because the description is pretty accurate. This movie isn’t really about any blood sucking freaks at all (according to Wikipedia, that wasn’t the original title, so that explains that). It really is a combination of an old-school version of Hostel and a soft-core porn. I don’t think more than 2 minutes passed at any time without someone being naked onscreen. Like most of the current crop of the so-called “torture porn” movies out there (like Hostel, Saw, etc.), Blood Sucking Freaks doesn’t really set out to scare you – it just wants to disturb and revolt the hell out of you. Most films try and do that by turning up the gore factor and seeing how grossed out they can make you. Not this one. There was not a whole lot of blood used. Instead, this flick attempts to disturb you by abusing women and treating them like objects (literally, as in one scene the main antagonist uses a woman as a foot stool), while at the same time weaving a black humor throughout that instead of being funny, really adds to the depravity. Movies involving abuse and torture are disturbing enough on their own, but, by throwing in attempts at humor, this movie seems to be saying “Sure, we just cut that woman’s fingers off, but look! We are using them to bet at backgammon. Isn’t that funny? Torturing women is fun!” That, at least for me, made the movie all that more creepy (and not in the way that I normally look for in a horror movie) and uncomfortable.
The Old Dark House
This is a classic horror film from the original Universal horror heyday. It was the next release by the same team that made Frankenstein. That includes Boris Karloff (I love Karloff, but I can’t ever hear his name now without thinking of this great line by Bela Lugosi in “Ed Wood” – “Karloff? Sidekick? FUCK YOU! Karloff did not deserve to smell my shit! That limey cocksucker can rot in Hell for all I care!”) as a hulking, mute butler. The story involves some travelers who, while searching for a place to escape the storm, come across a creepy old mansion inhabited by a family that acts weird the whole time. That’s really about the extent of the plot. Reading that, you would think this was a boring movie, but nothing could be further from the truth. There is something about old black and white horror films, set in musty, ill-lit gothic mansions that can convey a sense of tension and foreboding that keeps you locked into the film no matter what is happing with the characters. Fortunately, the characters who reside in the house are odd and creepy enough that, even if they are just sitting around, talking and acting weird and suspicious, it adds to the overall atmosphere of the movie. This is the type of movie that couldn’t be made effectively today – our modern, slick way of filmmaking would just make this film boring.
13 Ghosts
This is one of those types of movies to which Popcorn (from my last post) was paying tribute. During its original release, moviegoers were given special glasses which allowed them to see the ghosts in color (the film was black and white) if they looked through 1 lens or not see the ghosts at all if they looked through the other lens. Maybe if it was 1960 again, and I saw the movie with that gimmick, maybe I would have liked it more (although probably not). It just sort of fell flat with me. The story is about a down on his luck family man who inherits a house from his uncle that turns out to be haunted (and also his uncle hid money in the house somewhere). The film couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be spooky, somewhat campy, or (as I saw someone comment on IMDB) an episode of Scooby-Doo. Or maybe they tried to be all those things at once. I don’t know. All I know is that it resulted in a movie that was just there. I didn’t hate it, nor did I love it.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Halloween Movie Fest, Pt. 2
Drag Me to Hell
After Plan 9 From Outer Space (in the last installment of my Halloween Movie Marathon), I decided to go for something a little more recent. Drag Me To Hell was released this year and is Sam Raimi’s return to the horror genre for the first time since the Evil Dead movies. If you have ever seen those movies (and if you haven’t FOR SHAME), then you know a little of what you are getting into with Drag Me To Hell – over the top gore, some black humor, and a pretty entertaining movie. It’s about a woman who is cursed by an old gypsy after denying her a loan. The curse involves being tormented by a demon for 2 days before the demon comes to drag you, body and soul, into Hell. Since only the main character can see how she is being tormented, of course everyone thinks she is crazy. There are a lot of fun things in this movie. The original attack by the gypsy woman was crazy and creepy (and very Evil Dead reminiscent), as was every other appearance by her – living or dead – throughout the rest of the movie. Like I mentioned earlier, a lot of the gore (at least in the Unrated Version I watched) was over the top, but in a good “Ugh! I can’t believe they did that!” way (for example, check out what happens when the old lady attacks in the tool shed). While I didn’t find it really scary overall, there were a couple of good, innovative cheap frights (one involving a cell phone) that keep you on your toes. Drag Me To Hell is by no means a GREAT film, but it is pretty good.
Graduation Day
In my first blog entry about scary movies, I mentioned that I loved them all - campy, gory, suspenseful and even the bad ones. This movie definitely falls into that last category. Graduation Day was released in 1981 and was an obvious attempt to cash in on the slasher film craze of the late 70's-early 80's that was kicked off after the success of Halloween and Friday the 13th (and a cheap attempt at that). The plot involves a killer knocking off members of a high school track team the day before and of graduation. I know what I am getting into when I watch slasher films - I am not expecting No Country For Old Men. I usually only want a few things when I watch these movies: blood, cheesy 80's scary music, a few imaginative kills and some cheap attempts to scare the audience. That's really it. This movie hits some of those points, but not all. There really wasn't much blood. The methods the killer uses to dispatch the victims are, other than 2 examples (one involving a football/fencing sword combo and the other involving the landing area for pole vaulters) are pretty run of the mill. There really weren't any attempts to frighten you, either, as every kill is telegraphed for about 30 seconds before it happens. However, the main problem I had with the movie is that the scenes in-between the kill scenes were BORING. Mostly just lots and lots of talking. BORING talking. If there is one thing a "bad" horror movie can't be, it's boring. Many slasher films will keep the interest up between the actual kills by setting up fake kills in an effort to spook you. This movie doesn't do that - if it looks like someone is going to get killed at that moment, they are. This film could have used a few more cheap spooks and a little less dialog concerned with pointing you towards the wrong suspect. If you haven't seen it, I would pass on this film.
Popcorn
Popcorn is a tribute to those cheap horror films from the 50's that would set up gimmicks in the theater in order to scare the audience (like electro-shocks in the seats), since the films were really too cheesy to do it themselves. The plot involves a horror movie festival at an old theater involving those types of movies and a killer that is stalking the staff during the showing of the films. For this movie, rather than use existing films in the fake festival, they made their own. I thought they did a really good job capturing the right sense of style for these films - phony-looking creatures, white-bread characters and very cheap gimmicks (one of the films is enhanced by "Odor-Vision", where they release different smells into the theater to correspond with what is happening on the screen). They also did a good job of capturing that old-school horror feel in a modern (for the time, which was the early 90's) way. Popcorn is a little cheesy, but there is some good tension at times and the plot was just crazy enough to keep my interest throughout the whole movie (in addition to the film festival, it involves a crazed film maker who may have come back from the dead after committing a Manson-esque killing spree back in the 60's).
After Plan 9 From Outer Space (in the last installment of my Halloween Movie Marathon), I decided to go for something a little more recent. Drag Me To Hell was released this year and is Sam Raimi’s return to the horror genre for the first time since the Evil Dead movies. If you have ever seen those movies (and if you haven’t FOR SHAME), then you know a little of what you are getting into with Drag Me To Hell – over the top gore, some black humor, and a pretty entertaining movie. It’s about a woman who is cursed by an old gypsy after denying her a loan. The curse involves being tormented by a demon for 2 days before the demon comes to drag you, body and soul, into Hell. Since only the main character can see how she is being tormented, of course everyone thinks she is crazy. There are a lot of fun things in this movie. The original attack by the gypsy woman was crazy and creepy (and very Evil Dead reminiscent), as was every other appearance by her – living or dead – throughout the rest of the movie. Like I mentioned earlier, a lot of the gore (at least in the Unrated Version I watched) was over the top, but in a good “Ugh! I can’t believe they did that!” way (for example, check out what happens when the old lady attacks in the tool shed). While I didn’t find it really scary overall, there were a couple of good, innovative cheap frights (one involving a cell phone) that keep you on your toes. Drag Me To Hell is by no means a GREAT film, but it is pretty good.
Graduation Day
In my first blog entry about scary movies, I mentioned that I loved them all - campy, gory, suspenseful and even the bad ones. This movie definitely falls into that last category. Graduation Day was released in 1981 and was an obvious attempt to cash in on the slasher film craze of the late 70's-early 80's that was kicked off after the success of Halloween and Friday the 13th (and a cheap attempt at that). The plot involves a killer knocking off members of a high school track team the day before and of graduation. I know what I am getting into when I watch slasher films - I am not expecting No Country For Old Men. I usually only want a few things when I watch these movies: blood, cheesy 80's scary music, a few imaginative kills and some cheap attempts to scare the audience. That's really it. This movie hits some of those points, but not all. There really wasn't much blood. The methods the killer uses to dispatch the victims are, other than 2 examples (one involving a football/fencing sword combo and the other involving the landing area for pole vaulters) are pretty run of the mill. There really weren't any attempts to frighten you, either, as every kill is telegraphed for about 30 seconds before it happens. However, the main problem I had with the movie is that the scenes in-between the kill scenes were BORING. Mostly just lots and lots of talking. BORING talking. If there is one thing a "bad" horror movie can't be, it's boring. Many slasher films will keep the interest up between the actual kills by setting up fake kills in an effort to spook you. This movie doesn't do that - if it looks like someone is going to get killed at that moment, they are. This film could have used a few more cheap spooks and a little less dialog concerned with pointing you towards the wrong suspect. If you haven't seen it, I would pass on this film.
Popcorn
Popcorn is a tribute to those cheap horror films from the 50's that would set up gimmicks in the theater in order to scare the audience (like electro-shocks in the seats), since the films were really too cheesy to do it themselves. The plot involves a horror movie festival at an old theater involving those types of movies and a killer that is stalking the staff during the showing of the films. For this movie, rather than use existing films in the fake festival, they made their own. I thought they did a really good job capturing the right sense of style for these films - phony-looking creatures, white-bread characters and very cheap gimmicks (one of the films is enhanced by "Odor-Vision", where they release different smells into the theater to correspond with what is happening on the screen). They also did a good job of capturing that old-school horror feel in a modern (for the time, which was the early 90's) way. Popcorn is a little cheesy, but there is some good tension at times and the plot was just crazy enough to keep my interest throughout the whole movie (in addition to the film festival, it involves a crazed film maker who may have come back from the dead after committing a Manson-esque killing spree back in the 60's).
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
October
Overall, summer is my favorite time of the year. I love the hot weather, cookouts, sleeping with the windows open, long daylight hours, my birthday is in August, etc. However, my favorite month of the year is October. October has pro and college football, the baseball playoffs, the leaves changing and, most importantly of all… HALLOWEEN! (side note – I refuse to include that apostrophe between the two e’s that has been showing up more and more lately. This isn’t a case of reverting to the non-anglicized spelling of something in order to respect the culture of an existing people. Halloween is derived from a Celtic Pagan festival. Are there a lot of Celtic Pagans around these days embracing their cultural history? NO. So that apostrophe can suck it.)
Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love everything about it – dressing up, passing out candy to trick ‘r’ treaters, carving pumpkins, haunted houses and scary movies. I LOVE scary movies; although they don’t scare me (the only time I was ever really scared by a movie was the Exorcist – watching that move when I was 12 by myself with no lights on wasn’t the brightest idea). I love all kinds of horror/scary movies – campy, gory, suspenseful and even the bad ones. I always take time off from work at Halloween to stage my own personal horror movie marathon (yes, I am 13). This year, Halloween falls on a Saturday, so college football will interfere with my laying on the couch and watching movies. As a result, I have decided to both designate the 30th (and probably the night before) as my movie day and also to try and watch movies throughout the month (I meant to start at the beginning, but it has been a busy month, which also is to blame for my lack of blog posts).
The first movie up is one that I have always wanted to see, but it has managed to elude me until now – Plan 9 From Outer Space. Yes, the film universally renowned as The Worst Movie Ever Made. And, oh my, does it live up to its reputation. The acting is terrible. I mean, terrible as in they could probably go get the cast of the local high school production of Our Town, they would look like the cast of Mad Men compared to the chumps in Plan 9. Even the greatest screenwriters in Hollywood would have a difficult time coming up with dialog that would sound natural being delivered by these hacks. Unfortunately (or I guess fortunately for fans of terrible-in-a-good way movies), those screenwriters are nowhere to be found for this flick. It is usually stated that voiceover narration or extended exposition in a movie are the signs of a lazy screenwriter. The first 10 minutes of this movie are ALL narration, and the last 15 minutes are almost all exposition, so that should give you some hint of what you are in for with this movie. However, if you love bad movies, you owe it to yourself to see this one. It was time well spent.
I will be posting blog posts on my other movie-watching experiences throughout the month…
Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love everything about it – dressing up, passing out candy to trick ‘r’ treaters, carving pumpkins, haunted houses and scary movies. I LOVE scary movies; although they don’t scare me (the only time I was ever really scared by a movie was the Exorcist – watching that move when I was 12 by myself with no lights on wasn’t the brightest idea). I love all kinds of horror/scary movies – campy, gory, suspenseful and even the bad ones. I always take time off from work at Halloween to stage my own personal horror movie marathon (yes, I am 13). This year, Halloween falls on a Saturday, so college football will interfere with my laying on the couch and watching movies. As a result, I have decided to both designate the 30th (and probably the night before) as my movie day and also to try and watch movies throughout the month (I meant to start at the beginning, but it has been a busy month, which also is to blame for my lack of blog posts).
The first movie up is one that I have always wanted to see, but it has managed to elude me until now – Plan 9 From Outer Space. Yes, the film universally renowned as The Worst Movie Ever Made. And, oh my, does it live up to its reputation. The acting is terrible. I mean, terrible as in they could probably go get the cast of the local high school production of Our Town, they would look like the cast of Mad Men compared to the chumps in Plan 9. Even the greatest screenwriters in Hollywood would have a difficult time coming up with dialog that would sound natural being delivered by these hacks. Unfortunately (or I guess fortunately for fans of terrible-in-a-good way movies), those screenwriters are nowhere to be found for this flick. It is usually stated that voiceover narration or extended exposition in a movie are the signs of a lazy screenwriter. The first 10 minutes of this movie are ALL narration, and the last 15 minutes are almost all exposition, so that should give you some hint of what you are in for with this movie. However, if you love bad movies, you owe it to yourself to see this one. It was time well spent.
I will be posting blog posts on my other movie-watching experiences throughout the month…
Monday, August 24, 2009
MY Top 20 songs of 2000 - 2009 - Part 2
And away we go!
10. Another Sunny Day - Belle & Sebastian
My second favorite song by Belle & Sebastian (number one is "Lazy Line Painter Jane). The opening chords of this song always put me in a good mood when they come on my iPod. It starts out a nice song about new love and ends up a song about that love going completely to shit, but it does it in such an upbeat-sounding way that I want to roll down the windows, drive around and blare it on the stereo every time it comes on. Although that may be because there is something wrong with me.
9. Stuck Between Stations - The Hold Steady
I have written about this band before, but I can't say enough about how cool they are. Every song of theirs manages to tell a story while coming from a band that looks (except for keyboardist Franz Nicolay - that dude is something else) and sounds like your local bar band (only light years better). The best live show around...
8. Good Fortune - PJ Harvey
This song was always one of my go-to's on the jukebox at the st. James Tavern (best jukebox in the city of Columbus... its not even close). PJ Harvey is one of my favorite female singers. she can sound so raw and terrifying (like in "50 ft. Queenie" or at the end of "Down By The Water") or she can belt out some beautiful tunes like this one, my favorite song of hers.
7. Neighborhood #3 - The Arcade Fire
This band came out of nowhere in 2004 (well, technically they came from Canada, but that might as well be nowhere) and blew everyone (including David Bowie) away based on the strength of this song. They had a sound unlike just about every other band around - sort of a baroque pop sound, but (as this song shows) they can rock it out too when they want to...
6. Banquet - Bloc Party
5. National Anthem - Radiohead
4. PDA - Interpol
3. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart - Wilco
2. Idioteque - Radiohead
1. Wolf Like Me - TV On The Radio
10. Another Sunny Day - Belle & Sebastian
My second favorite song by Belle & Sebastian (number one is "Lazy Line Painter Jane). The opening chords of this song always put me in a good mood when they come on my iPod. It starts out a nice song about new love and ends up a song about that love going completely to shit, but it does it in such an upbeat-sounding way that I want to roll down the windows, drive around and blare it on the stereo every time it comes on. Although that may be because there is something wrong with me.
9. Stuck Between Stations - The Hold Steady
I have written about this band before, but I can't say enough about how cool they are. Every song of theirs manages to tell a story while coming from a band that looks (except for keyboardist Franz Nicolay - that dude is something else) and sounds like your local bar band (only light years better). The best live show around...
8. Good Fortune - PJ Harvey
This song was always one of my go-to's on the jukebox at the st. James Tavern (best jukebox in the city of Columbus... its not even close). PJ Harvey is one of my favorite female singers. she can sound so raw and terrifying (like in "50 ft. Queenie" or at the end of "Down By The Water") or she can belt out some beautiful tunes like this one, my favorite song of hers.
7. Neighborhood #3 - The Arcade Fire
This band came out of nowhere in 2004 (well, technically they came from Canada, but that might as well be nowhere) and blew everyone (including David Bowie) away based on the strength of this song. They had a sound unlike just about every other band around - sort of a baroque pop sound, but (as this song shows) they can rock it out too when they want to...
6. Banquet - Bloc Party
This is another band that sort of came out of nowhere in 2004 with a sound that, at least for bands that got airplay on alternative radio at the time, wasn't like anything else. In this case though, it was dance rock. This song is great for kicking off a party or getting you keyed up for a night of going out (this song and on of their other songs from this same disc - "Helicopter" are two of my favorite party songs).
5. National Anthem - Radiohead
This is a song that I never hear anyone else mention on their list of favorite Radiohead songs, except for me. Too bad, this is my list. I love everything about this song from the grinding bassline that appears throughout the whole song to the crazy, jazz-like brass section in the middle. Wikipedia says that Thom Yorke wrote this bass riff when he was sixteen. SIGH...
4. PDA - Interpol
Interpol may not be the best band to come out of the 2000's, but they were certainly the coolest looking (as long as you ignore bassist Carlos D's silly mustache that he was sporting for a while). When I saw them in 2004, they all had on black suits and they all smoked like fiends (back when you could still do that indoors here) and just gave off the vibe that they were the coolest guys in the place, without also giving off the "we're the biggest douchebags in the place, too" vibe. Don't go trying to find any meanings in the lyrics of this song (or in any other Interpol song) - I once read an interview with lead singer Paul Banks and he said he doesn't even know what his lyrics mean (he just picks words that sound good together).
3. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart - Wilco
My favorite song from one of my top 5 favorite albums of all time. Much like Interpol, I think Jeff Tweedy sometimes just picks lyrics for his songs because they sound good, but don't really mean anything, like "Take off your band-aid 'cause I don't believe in touchdowns" (although, with all the migraine problems he has had over the years, maybe that meant something to his scrambled brain at the time). This song is about someone who regrets ending a relationship and then regrets starting it up again, hence the title.
2. Idioteque - Radiohead
This song epitomizes Radiohead's transformation from a straight alt-rock band to one that was willing to push the boundaries of their music in every direction possible and show everyone that there was no limit to the innovative music of which they were capable. This album pushed Radiohead to the level of top band in the alternative music world (they won a Grammy for this album, not that doing that means anything, but still...).
1. Wolf Like Me - TV On The Radio
The coolest song ever written about a werewolf (knocking off the former champion in this category, "Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon). This song epitomizes what TV on the Radio is all about - it combines rock and funk into a blistering song that's, as the song says "gonna teach you tricks that'll blow your mongrel mind." They absolutely kill this song live, too. There aren't a whole lot of indie rock songs (that aren't considered "dance rock") that will make you want to dance like this one. I think that I am going to blare this on a continual loop this Halloween while giving out candy (my first year in my new neighborhood) to see what kind of reaction I get...
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