After I wrote my post on Thursday, I finished up my comics (X-Factor 200 was fun with the Thing vs. Guido/Shatterstar fight and GLCorps undid what it did last issue too fast). I don't recall much else about the evening.
Yesterday I woke up and got stuck in traffic behind a downed power line in Easley. When I called the guy I was meeting to explain I used some harsh language like "some brain surgeon knocked down a power line" and he gave me a guilt trip ("when I'm perfect I'll start judging other people"). That reminds me of the character I met at the Taylors library on Wed. His son had just been popped for possession of MJ after being on probation. He thought I was an attorney. Anyway, we started talking and he said two things that stood out in my mind: "I wish my son could go through his life with his anus intact" and (regarding why his brother-in-law has 8 kids) "Keep it in your pants or at least make a snowstorm on her belly." Classy.
I did some work at Greenville Tech and tried to track a source down. I skipped the holiday party for my company because I am an asocial crank (and I had work to get done). I was off at 12:45 but I worked until 1:45. I read some of the Secret Warriors tpb (ok so far). Mom and I watched Year One with Jack Black and Michael Cera. It was...not very good. I laughed a couple of times but it was pretty painfully unfunny (lots of frantic mugging). Not recommended.
I then stayed up playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance on PS2. There is such a vast chasm of difference (re: quality) between Ultimate Alliance 1 and Ultimate Alliance 2 for PS2 in that UA2 sucks balls. There is nowhere near the same level of customization or detail. The character choices are kind of stupid with no costume changes. Boring. But I was up until 3am with UA1 and loving it.
Josh
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
12/17/09 Radio and comics
I have decided to start keeping this up again as a personal blog. I miss having a place to write so it may not always be pop culture.
A mini-black out woke me up from a dream I was having about sneaking around the house of my high school geometry teacher. She had these three daughters (in my dream) who were super hot and I was trying to spy on them. Oddly, the absence of background noise woke me up when I realized my fan had stopped blowing. I finally got back to sleep but slept in a bit to make up for it.
I didn't get out of the house until 11 but headed to Easley for a fruitless stop. I next journeyed to the post office and mailed out my Christmas packages for Eric, Diana and Susan. I drove on to Greenville Tech (where the records woman is strangely attractive to me) and on to Simpsonville. I interviewed a cool guy for about 1.5 hours and then finally got some lunch around 3:30 at Jack in the Box (not my usual steak melt but a cheeseburger). All day I was meaning to listen to the cd Eric sent me but I kept listening to Howard Stern and the XM radio that never stops broadcasting awesome. This is going to be a tough habit to break.
After another fruitless trip to Travelers Rest (read: Tigerville), I got back home at 5ish. Today I read Dark Avengers 12 (Sentry's powers are explained and, boy, is he powerful), Supergirl (Silver Banshee shows up, meh) and Thunderbolts vs. Agents of Atlas (I am glad they are keeping the AoA story alive in various other titles). There may be more later but that is it as of now.
I have been thinking about making a timeline of all my crushes and loves. It has been settling in all week that I will never have kids and I just have to kind of accept that. I had a window there and spurned it so now I have to sleep in the bed I made. More to come.
Josh
A mini-black out woke me up from a dream I was having about sneaking around the house of my high school geometry teacher. She had these three daughters (in my dream) who were super hot and I was trying to spy on them. Oddly, the absence of background noise woke me up when I realized my fan had stopped blowing. I finally got back to sleep but slept in a bit to make up for it.
I didn't get out of the house until 11 but headed to Easley for a fruitless stop. I next journeyed to the post office and mailed out my Christmas packages for Eric, Diana and Susan. I drove on to Greenville Tech (where the records woman is strangely attractive to me) and on to Simpsonville. I interviewed a cool guy for about 1.5 hours and then finally got some lunch around 3:30 at Jack in the Box (not my usual steak melt but a cheeseburger). All day I was meaning to listen to the cd Eric sent me but I kept listening to Howard Stern and the XM radio that never stops broadcasting awesome. This is going to be a tough habit to break.
After another fruitless trip to Travelers Rest (read: Tigerville), I got back home at 5ish. Today I read Dark Avengers 12 (Sentry's powers are explained and, boy, is he powerful), Supergirl (Silver Banshee shows up, meh) and Thunderbolts vs. Agents of Atlas (I am glad they are keeping the AoA story alive in various other titles). There may be more later but that is it as of now.
I have been thinking about making a timeline of all my crushes and loves. It has been settling in all week that I will never have kids and I just have to kind of accept that. I had a window there and spurned it so now I have to sleep in the bed I made. More to come.
Josh
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Movie Double-Shot: Funny People and The Collector
On Friday, I went to see Funny People with Jack and, as per usual with Apatow, I was pleased with the results. Judd Apatow has his name on a ton of movies but this is only the third he has directed (after 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up). If you know those two movies, you know whether or not his comedy is your cup of tea.
The premise is completely given away by the trailers but I will try to not reveal the important things. The movie opens with Adam Sandler as George Simmons, a very famous comedian who has parlayed his success into a mansion, tons of swag and more money than he knows what to do with. He is diagnosed as having a rare form of Leukemia in the first five minutes and he suddenly realizes how empty and meaningless his fortune is without a family or real friends. In the first act he sort of recruits Seth Rogen (an aspiring stand up) as his personal assistant and confides in him that he is dying. A big reveal happens about halfway through and then the last hour or so is dedicated to Sandler trying to win the love of his former fiance (who has been married and reproducing for 12 years with Eric Bana).
The humor is mostly dick and fart jokes but they are hilarious. There are several touching moments but it never got me to the point of real emotional involvement. Seth Rogen continues to be a real superstar of comedy, turning in another superbly funny performance as a habitual nice guy. My favorite joke of the movie is part of Rogen's stand up act that plays up the fact that he becomes friends with girls rather than a romantic interest (you'll know it when you see it). Sandler shows some of those acting chops like in Punch-Drunk Love here and really captures the loneliness of his character while still keeping a defensive screen of sarcasm and wit about him at all times. Leslie Mann gets her best role to date as Sandler's long lost love. She gets to show some really diverse colors as she moves from lovable to crazy to human. Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman turn in good supporting roles, showing up long enough to bring some mild conflict and ribald humor. There are a ton of celebrity cameos here and some of them even work (a stand out involves Eminem and Ray Romano).
The only complaint I can see people having is the length. It almost felt like two movies to me (the one before the big reveal and the one after) and there are tons of subplots that run throughout. I liked the size of the meal here but your mileage may vary. Again, not for people squeamish about dirty jokes but overall a winner.
The Collector, on the other hand, I just barely liked. I keep falling for these horror reviews on Ain't It Cool News where everyone over there just loves torture porn. I am not a huge fan. I made my disliking for The Strangers well known last year. Every Saw movie after the first one just got worse and worse. I've never even seen Hostel or Wolf Creek. Even though I knew the writers of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Saw movies wrote this one, I read a review that said this was really compelling and exciting.
The premise is super-cool, a thief must break into the house of a rich family he installed the alarms for by midnight or Bunny Colvin from the Wire is going to do bad things to his wife and daughter (his wife apparently takes money from loan sharks). When he breaks into the house, he finds that a serial killer has taken the family hostage and booby trapped the hell out of the place. This would seem to set up a cool cat and mouse game between the killer and the thief. But is doesn't.
It is hard to tell whether the killer even knows if the thief is in the house for most of the movie. The thief has keep avoiding trapped rooms but he is pretty passive as the killer goes to town on the family and some hapless bystanders. I can't talk too much about why I don't care for this movie without going into the ending but, if you know why I didn't care for the Strangers, I can say that this is pretty much the same complaint (only slightly better than that movie). The other big problem is the MTV editing where two dark figures, dressed in black, tussle in an unlit room. I had no clue what was going on several times or who came from where and how. There are a couple of traps that I have no clue as to how they worked. That is a failure of basic storytelling. There is a good 20 minute run or more where I don't think anyone speaks and that is a bold move. However, when you take away dialogue, you have to be visually compelling and this movie fails in that regard.
This wasn't nearly as clever or as exciting as I was hoping (several gags are straight out of the Saw playbook). It is exhausting and sadistic in many ways. Not an experience I wish to repeat but, if you love the Saw movies, you should probably see this.
Josh
The premise is completely given away by the trailers but I will try to not reveal the important things. The movie opens with Adam Sandler as George Simmons, a very famous comedian who has parlayed his success into a mansion, tons of swag and more money than he knows what to do with. He is diagnosed as having a rare form of Leukemia in the first five minutes and he suddenly realizes how empty and meaningless his fortune is without a family or real friends. In the first act he sort of recruits Seth Rogen (an aspiring stand up) as his personal assistant and confides in him that he is dying. A big reveal happens about halfway through and then the last hour or so is dedicated to Sandler trying to win the love of his former fiance (who has been married and reproducing for 12 years with Eric Bana).
The humor is mostly dick and fart jokes but they are hilarious. There are several touching moments but it never got me to the point of real emotional involvement. Seth Rogen continues to be a real superstar of comedy, turning in another superbly funny performance as a habitual nice guy. My favorite joke of the movie is part of Rogen's stand up act that plays up the fact that he becomes friends with girls rather than a romantic interest (you'll know it when you see it). Sandler shows some of those acting chops like in Punch-Drunk Love here and really captures the loneliness of his character while still keeping a defensive screen of sarcasm and wit about him at all times. Leslie Mann gets her best role to date as Sandler's long lost love. She gets to show some really diverse colors as she moves from lovable to crazy to human. Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman turn in good supporting roles, showing up long enough to bring some mild conflict and ribald humor. There are a ton of celebrity cameos here and some of them even work (a stand out involves Eminem and Ray Romano).
The only complaint I can see people having is the length. It almost felt like two movies to me (the one before the big reveal and the one after) and there are tons of subplots that run throughout. I liked the size of the meal here but your mileage may vary. Again, not for people squeamish about dirty jokes but overall a winner.
The Collector, on the other hand, I just barely liked. I keep falling for these horror reviews on Ain't It Cool News where everyone over there just loves torture porn. I am not a huge fan. I made my disliking for The Strangers well known last year. Every Saw movie after the first one just got worse and worse. I've never even seen Hostel or Wolf Creek. Even though I knew the writers of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Saw movies wrote this one, I read a review that said this was really compelling and exciting.
The premise is super-cool, a thief must break into the house of a rich family he installed the alarms for by midnight or Bunny Colvin from the Wire is going to do bad things to his wife and daughter (his wife apparently takes money from loan sharks). When he breaks into the house, he finds that a serial killer has taken the family hostage and booby trapped the hell out of the place. This would seem to set up a cool cat and mouse game between the killer and the thief. But is doesn't.
It is hard to tell whether the killer even knows if the thief is in the house for most of the movie. The thief has keep avoiding trapped rooms but he is pretty passive as the killer goes to town on the family and some hapless bystanders. I can't talk too much about why I don't care for this movie without going into the ending but, if you know why I didn't care for the Strangers, I can say that this is pretty much the same complaint (only slightly better than that movie). The other big problem is the MTV editing where two dark figures, dressed in black, tussle in an unlit room. I had no clue what was going on several times or who came from where and how. There are a couple of traps that I have no clue as to how they worked. That is a failure of basic storytelling. There is a good 20 minute run or more where I don't think anyone speaks and that is a bold move. However, when you take away dialogue, you have to be visually compelling and this movie fails in that regard.
This wasn't nearly as clever or as exciting as I was hoping (several gags are straight out of the Saw playbook). It is exhausting and sadistic in many ways. Not an experience I wish to repeat but, if you love the Saw movies, you should probably see this.
Josh
Monday, July 6, 2009
Wilco (the album [the review]) plus a war with Radiohead
Another volley is launched in the war between Radiohead and Wilco for who will rule my headspace of music. In one corner you have the British darlings of alternative rock, the 'head. With seven albums to their name, and only a few duds, these are the guys to beat. Can the scrappy American group led by Jeff Tweedy bring them down? We'll see.
Wilco (the album) is the seventh from this group and we can finally do a side by side comparison (if we don't count the Mermaid Avenue stuff).
A.M. (Wilco) vs. Pablo Honey (Radiohead). Both came out of the gate a little unsure of their sound. Tweedy used Wilco to explore the country rock he popularized with Jay Farrar in Uncle Tupelo. Unfortunately, most of the ideas lacked kick and where, frankly, half-baked. Radiohead cashed in on the surge in popularity for alternative rock with their hit song "Creep." Although the band was all set from this first album, they leaned heavily on crunchy guitars and screamed lyrics. There was little of the musical inventiveness that would mark their later work. Advantage: Radiohead, but only by a little.
Being There vs. The Bends. Here we see two bands come into their own. Tweedy had recruited his secret weapon, Jay Bennett, and made some line-up changes. Their second album was still rooted in country sounds but you could see the yearning to explore in tracks like Outtamind (Outtasite) and Sunken Treasure. Thom Yorke and his crew dug deep and moved guitar rock forward towards the millenium by perfecting the recipe of Pablo Honey while adding depth, maturity and experimentation to their songwriting. If you picked only the best tracks from Being There, it might have a shot against The Bends but it is over long and suffers from a lack of editing. The Bends also features "Just" one of my favorite tracks of all time so I give this one to Radiohead as well.
Summerteeth vs. OK Computer. Here is where I will lose 90% of my readers. OK Computer has been fellated and jizzed over as the greatest album of the 1990s ever since it came out. Yes, Radiohead pushed things forward into really cool places (with Johnny Greenwood really showing out by making guitars make noises I've never heard before). Multiple movements in songs and a pervasive dark atmosphere made this one tight and cohesive. Unfortunately, Climbing Up the Walls is on here and I despise that song. I know others who hate Electioneering (although I think it is a good nod to classic Radiohead rockers). There are some great b-sides to go with this album but I can't enjoy it all the way through like I do the Bends or Kid A. Summerteeth, on the other hand, was the sound of Tweedy letting Bennet go wild. The songs shimmer with energy and happiness but the lyrics are tortured and depressing. The juxtaposition of sound to content was novel to me at the time and I love all 14 or so tracks on this CD. I have to give Wilco this one.
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot vs. Kid A. Another really tough match up. YHF is regarded as Wilco's OK Computer, where the Bennett/Tweedy dynamic found the edge of insanity and then pushed past it. Songs are filled with weirdness and jagged rhythmic changes but they still have hooks, somehow. YHF is an eye-opener of what American music is capable of. Bad news for Wilco, then, that Radiohead showed the world what they are capable of. Kid A takes all the lashing out and weirdness of OK Computer and subverts the angry guitars into raging horn sections, bizarre drum tracks and...well, angry guitars. This album is a perfect little unit from start to finish and I would rather take a blow to the head than try to choose between my appreciation for the execution of this album and my emotional attachment to Summerteeth. Radiohead win this round.
A Ghost is Born vs. Amnesiac. Tweedy jettisons Bennett and manages to recover pretty well. The whole thing doesn't flow very well with two monolithic beasts to overcome (Kidsmoke and Less Than You Think). However, I think there are tracks on here that stand with anything off of Summerteeth or YHF. Radiohead had recorded so much for Kid A that Amnesiac became a kind of leftover platter for sampling where their heads were. This is probably my least revisited Radiohead album (even though, live, the songs work very well). There are too many experiments that go nowhere (Hunting Bears) or just plain don't work (running I Will backwards as the track for Like Spinning Plates). There is a good album to be found in Amnesiac, but Radiohead didn't take the time to find it. Advantage: Wilco.
Sky Blue Sky vs. Hail to the Thief. I don't know what happened to my boys here. Radiohead was so angry about George Bush that they made a really scattershot album. There are moments of greatness (like Go to Sleep, or 2+2=5) that recall the glories of earlier, more rocking times. But there is still the hangover of Amnesiac permeating the album and leading it down to many dead ends. Likewise, Tweedy added Nils Cline to the group and, I guess, exchanged the guitar player for his balls. There is nothing remotely dangerous or experimental about SBS. It is a very mellow album that lulls one to sleep and tries not to offend anyone's sensibility. After the glorious "fuck you" that Kidsmoke was on the last album, I could not imagine a more neutered sound. Tweedy had finally gotten off drugs but, at what cost to his music. Declaring someone the winner here would be like declaring a winner between a retarded mongoose and a dead cobra. Draw.
Wilco (the album) vs. In Rainbows. Both of these albums give me hope in two very different ways. In Rainbows is all about finding a way to move into new territory with the weapons radiohead has developed over the past two decades. There are no huge leaps forward or stunning experiments, rather radiohead seems to focus on songcraft for the sake of writing good songs again. They still haven't gotten the flow back from the days of Kid A but most of the album hangs together well (except I still hate Reckoner). For Wilco (the album) Tweedy seems to be looking backwards. Every track reminds me of a song from another Tweedy work. Let's break it down...
1. Wilco (the song)- The melody for this is dangerously close to Tweedy's "We've Been Had" from his Uncle Tupelo days. Instead of rejecting rock and roll as a lie, Tweedy tries to see the positive impact of rock on the listeners. This is a catchy rocker right off the bat which immediately separates it from anything on Sky Blue Sky. Good move.
2. Deeper Down- This song shares a lyrical idea with "She's A Jar" from Summerteeth (the bookend lyrics) and is not a million miles away from it musically. The arrangement recalls Being There era attempts to find a sound that is somewhere between indie rock and americana. This isn't the best song on the album but is solid in execution.
3. One Wing- When I first heard this, I did not care for it. It has grown on me, though. Musically, this song dwells firmly in Sky Blue Sky style shimmery guitar and mid-tempo percussion. Somewhere buried in all that is a hook or two that works pretty well. The lyrics are unintentionally comical but Tweedy somehow pulls them off with his sincere voice. Check back with me later to see how I would rate this.
4. Bull Black Nova- The internet cool kids love this one. It sounds like Kidsmoke but shorter. This is as experimental as the new album gets with a keyboard doing a call and response with a guitar line. The song seems to be building to something and, even though the release is not as cathartic as the best rock songs, it still works.
5. You and I- This duet is pretty sweet natured and happy. It serves as a nice comedown after the snarling beast that is Bull Black Nova. The sentiment is nice but, ultimately, this is an undistinguished song.
6. You Never Know- Here is one of two songs Tweedy seems to be channeling Summerteeth through. Beach Boy harmonies, a bouncy piano line and all the things I thought had died when Bennett was kicked out. Of course, no one has his flair for weirdo percussion or instruments flying in from nowhere but it still holds up as a good pop song (if a little repetitive by the end).
7. Country Disappeared- Honestly, I can't even tell you what this sounds like. Like the worst formless much on SBS, this song just kind of sits there which is a shame after the propulsion of the last track.
8. Solitaire- I have gone from liking to hating to liking this song again over the course of a week. This is not like anything on Tweedy's plate except maybe his work with the Minus Five. He avoids an easy rhyme at the beginning and it seems to meander a bit but this song about loneliness is pretty good in all.
9. I'll Fight- Here is some old school Wilco as well. A lyrical idea out of AM or something moves this little ditty along. It isn't well developed but what is here is fun.
10. Sonny Feeling- My second favorite track and another Summerteeth contender. This one has a guitar hook that works like an ear worm. I dare you not to at least enjoy this song while it is playing (if not whistle it fondly when it is not). Another Beach Boys homage and a strong way to end the meat of the album
11. Everlasting Everything- This is, sad to say, not a good way to end an album. Soggy, undercooked and a pale imitation of On and On and On. There is one cool musical moment right before the chorus starts but, otherwise, this one needed more time in the studio.
So, a solid album. I would put it up there with a Ghost is Born. Not cohesive but entertaining. Unlike every other Wilco album, I have no idea where they will go from here (unless Solitaire is the roadmap track). I would probably give In Rainbows the edge for now but check with me later. Looks like Radiohead hasn't been dethroned just yet.
Josh
Wilco (the album) is the seventh from this group and we can finally do a side by side comparison (if we don't count the Mermaid Avenue stuff).
A.M. (Wilco) vs. Pablo Honey (Radiohead). Both came out of the gate a little unsure of their sound. Tweedy used Wilco to explore the country rock he popularized with Jay Farrar in Uncle Tupelo. Unfortunately, most of the ideas lacked kick and where, frankly, half-baked. Radiohead cashed in on the surge in popularity for alternative rock with their hit song "Creep." Although the band was all set from this first album, they leaned heavily on crunchy guitars and screamed lyrics. There was little of the musical inventiveness that would mark their later work. Advantage: Radiohead, but only by a little.
Being There vs. The Bends. Here we see two bands come into their own. Tweedy had recruited his secret weapon, Jay Bennett, and made some line-up changes. Their second album was still rooted in country sounds but you could see the yearning to explore in tracks like Outtamind (Outtasite) and Sunken Treasure. Thom Yorke and his crew dug deep and moved guitar rock forward towards the millenium by perfecting the recipe of Pablo Honey while adding depth, maturity and experimentation to their songwriting. If you picked only the best tracks from Being There, it might have a shot against The Bends but it is over long and suffers from a lack of editing. The Bends also features "Just" one of my favorite tracks of all time so I give this one to Radiohead as well.
Summerteeth vs. OK Computer. Here is where I will lose 90% of my readers. OK Computer has been fellated and jizzed over as the greatest album of the 1990s ever since it came out. Yes, Radiohead pushed things forward into really cool places (with Johnny Greenwood really showing out by making guitars make noises I've never heard before). Multiple movements in songs and a pervasive dark atmosphere made this one tight and cohesive. Unfortunately, Climbing Up the Walls is on here and I despise that song. I know others who hate Electioneering (although I think it is a good nod to classic Radiohead rockers). There are some great b-sides to go with this album but I can't enjoy it all the way through like I do the Bends or Kid A. Summerteeth, on the other hand, was the sound of Tweedy letting Bennet go wild. The songs shimmer with energy and happiness but the lyrics are tortured and depressing. The juxtaposition of sound to content was novel to me at the time and I love all 14 or so tracks on this CD. I have to give Wilco this one.
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot vs. Kid A. Another really tough match up. YHF is regarded as Wilco's OK Computer, where the Bennett/Tweedy dynamic found the edge of insanity and then pushed past it. Songs are filled with weirdness and jagged rhythmic changes but they still have hooks, somehow. YHF is an eye-opener of what American music is capable of. Bad news for Wilco, then, that Radiohead showed the world what they are capable of. Kid A takes all the lashing out and weirdness of OK Computer and subverts the angry guitars into raging horn sections, bizarre drum tracks and...well, angry guitars. This album is a perfect little unit from start to finish and I would rather take a blow to the head than try to choose between my appreciation for the execution of this album and my emotional attachment to Summerteeth. Radiohead win this round.
A Ghost is Born vs. Amnesiac. Tweedy jettisons Bennett and manages to recover pretty well. The whole thing doesn't flow very well with two monolithic beasts to overcome (Kidsmoke and Less Than You Think). However, I think there are tracks on here that stand with anything off of Summerteeth or YHF. Radiohead had recorded so much for Kid A that Amnesiac became a kind of leftover platter for sampling where their heads were. This is probably my least revisited Radiohead album (even though, live, the songs work very well). There are too many experiments that go nowhere (Hunting Bears) or just plain don't work (running I Will backwards as the track for Like Spinning Plates). There is a good album to be found in Amnesiac, but Radiohead didn't take the time to find it. Advantage: Wilco.
Sky Blue Sky vs. Hail to the Thief. I don't know what happened to my boys here. Radiohead was so angry about George Bush that they made a really scattershot album. There are moments of greatness (like Go to Sleep, or 2+2=5) that recall the glories of earlier, more rocking times. But there is still the hangover of Amnesiac permeating the album and leading it down to many dead ends. Likewise, Tweedy added Nils Cline to the group and, I guess, exchanged the guitar player for his balls. There is nothing remotely dangerous or experimental about SBS. It is a very mellow album that lulls one to sleep and tries not to offend anyone's sensibility. After the glorious "fuck you" that Kidsmoke was on the last album, I could not imagine a more neutered sound. Tweedy had finally gotten off drugs but, at what cost to his music. Declaring someone the winner here would be like declaring a winner between a retarded mongoose and a dead cobra. Draw.
Wilco (the album) vs. In Rainbows. Both of these albums give me hope in two very different ways. In Rainbows is all about finding a way to move into new territory with the weapons radiohead has developed over the past two decades. There are no huge leaps forward or stunning experiments, rather radiohead seems to focus on songcraft for the sake of writing good songs again. They still haven't gotten the flow back from the days of Kid A but most of the album hangs together well (except I still hate Reckoner). For Wilco (the album) Tweedy seems to be looking backwards. Every track reminds me of a song from another Tweedy work. Let's break it down...
1. Wilco (the song)- The melody for this is dangerously close to Tweedy's "We've Been Had" from his Uncle Tupelo days. Instead of rejecting rock and roll as a lie, Tweedy tries to see the positive impact of rock on the listeners. This is a catchy rocker right off the bat which immediately separates it from anything on Sky Blue Sky. Good move.
2. Deeper Down- This song shares a lyrical idea with "She's A Jar" from Summerteeth (the bookend lyrics) and is not a million miles away from it musically. The arrangement recalls Being There era attempts to find a sound that is somewhere between indie rock and americana. This isn't the best song on the album but is solid in execution.
3. One Wing- When I first heard this, I did not care for it. It has grown on me, though. Musically, this song dwells firmly in Sky Blue Sky style shimmery guitar and mid-tempo percussion. Somewhere buried in all that is a hook or two that works pretty well. The lyrics are unintentionally comical but Tweedy somehow pulls them off with his sincere voice. Check back with me later to see how I would rate this.
4. Bull Black Nova- The internet cool kids love this one. It sounds like Kidsmoke but shorter. This is as experimental as the new album gets with a keyboard doing a call and response with a guitar line. The song seems to be building to something and, even though the release is not as cathartic as the best rock songs, it still works.
5. You and I- This duet is pretty sweet natured and happy. It serves as a nice comedown after the snarling beast that is Bull Black Nova. The sentiment is nice but, ultimately, this is an undistinguished song.
6. You Never Know- Here is one of two songs Tweedy seems to be channeling Summerteeth through. Beach Boy harmonies, a bouncy piano line and all the things I thought had died when Bennett was kicked out. Of course, no one has his flair for weirdo percussion or instruments flying in from nowhere but it still holds up as a good pop song (if a little repetitive by the end).
7. Country Disappeared- Honestly, I can't even tell you what this sounds like. Like the worst formless much on SBS, this song just kind of sits there which is a shame after the propulsion of the last track.
8. Solitaire- I have gone from liking to hating to liking this song again over the course of a week. This is not like anything on Tweedy's plate except maybe his work with the Minus Five. He avoids an easy rhyme at the beginning and it seems to meander a bit but this song about loneliness is pretty good in all.
9. I'll Fight- Here is some old school Wilco as well. A lyrical idea out of AM or something moves this little ditty along. It isn't well developed but what is here is fun.
10. Sonny Feeling- My second favorite track and another Summerteeth contender. This one has a guitar hook that works like an ear worm. I dare you not to at least enjoy this song while it is playing (if not whistle it fondly when it is not). Another Beach Boys homage and a strong way to end the meat of the album
11. Everlasting Everything- This is, sad to say, not a good way to end an album. Soggy, undercooked and a pale imitation of On and On and On. There is one cool musical moment right before the chorus starts but, otherwise, this one needed more time in the studio.
So, a solid album. I would put it up there with a Ghost is Born. Not cohesive but entertaining. Unlike every other Wilco album, I have no idea where they will go from here (unless Solitaire is the roadmap track). I would probably give In Rainbows the edge for now but check with me later. Looks like Radiohead hasn't been dethroned just yet.
Josh
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Public Enemies
Here we are again, with the same old problem. Movies about real life and real people, I would argue, are never as interesting as fiction. I know truth may, at times, be stranger but real life rarely follows satisfying conventions of plot and characterization. Being raised on American cinema, I am a big fan of and believer in the three act structure in regards to action/adventure movies. Or, in this case, crime drama. Episodic (or as I think of it, European) narratives work well for long-form works like TV series, comedies with strong central characters or slice-of-life dramas. Public Enemies does not fall into any of these genres.
Looking for action? Well, probably won't find enough here to keep you happy. There are a few shootouts but, if you know the story of Dillinger, you know how anti-climactic the movie is. Looking for strong characterization? Sorry, all out of that, too. Christian Bale's Melvin Purvis has no real shadings besides being a bit of an image-conscious kiss-ass. Dillinger throws out a line about being beaten by his father and refuses to take a dirt farmer's money in one bank he robs, therefore, we are supposed to like him. Depp tries like all get out to make Dillinger charismatic and charming but he comes off as sort of a dick. The film is loaded with a strong supporting cast including Giovanni Ribisi, Leelee Sobieski, Stephen Dorff, Billy Crudup and other folks you will recognize (like the sidekick from Snatch as Baby Face Nelson and the judge from the Wire). Michael Mann (who has directed good movies like Heat, Thief and Collateral) seems to hope that the legend of these characters and the power of the acting will make up for any lack of "why should I give a damn?" character building. It doesn't.
In several scenes, the frenetic editing makes the geography of the fights muddy (this is getting to be a bigger deal to me as quick cuts become the norm). In one instance, we have identically dressed white men shooting at each other at night, in the woods. It was very difficult to follow the action until the cast began spreading out a little. Likewise, the music for the movie is sloppy and all over the place. Songs aren't used to any consistent purpose but appear multiple times for no reason. Likewise, the score cuts in and out aburptly and makes things laughable.
In the end, there are about three really good scenes in the movie. One where Dillinger's girl is being interrogated, one where Dillinger takes a walk through a police department like a ghost and a handful of action moments that add up to one good action scene. Unless you are just a real fan of criminal history, I would not really recommend this movie. It doesn't deliver enough thrills to be an action movie or enough insight to be a character drama.
Josh
Looking for action? Well, probably won't find enough here to keep you happy. There are a few shootouts but, if you know the story of Dillinger, you know how anti-climactic the movie is. Looking for strong characterization? Sorry, all out of that, too. Christian Bale's Melvin Purvis has no real shadings besides being a bit of an image-conscious kiss-ass. Dillinger throws out a line about being beaten by his father and refuses to take a dirt farmer's money in one bank he robs, therefore, we are supposed to like him. Depp tries like all get out to make Dillinger charismatic and charming but he comes off as sort of a dick. The film is loaded with a strong supporting cast including Giovanni Ribisi, Leelee Sobieski, Stephen Dorff, Billy Crudup and other folks you will recognize (like the sidekick from Snatch as Baby Face Nelson and the judge from the Wire). Michael Mann (who has directed good movies like Heat, Thief and Collateral) seems to hope that the legend of these characters and the power of the acting will make up for any lack of "why should I give a damn?" character building. It doesn't.
In several scenes, the frenetic editing makes the geography of the fights muddy (this is getting to be a bigger deal to me as quick cuts become the norm). In one instance, we have identically dressed white men shooting at each other at night, in the woods. It was very difficult to follow the action until the cast began spreading out a little. Likewise, the music for the movie is sloppy and all over the place. Songs aren't used to any consistent purpose but appear multiple times for no reason. Likewise, the score cuts in and out aburptly and makes things laughable.
In the end, there are about three really good scenes in the movie. One where Dillinger's girl is being interrogated, one where Dillinger takes a walk through a police department like a ghost and a handful of action moments that add up to one good action scene. Unless you are just a real fan of criminal history, I would not really recommend this movie. It doesn't deliver enough thrills to be an action movie or enough insight to be a character drama.
Josh
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Blind Pilot- Three Rounds and a Sound
Every single time I make a pronouncement about the type of music I like and the type of music I don't, someone comes along and changes the way I think about a certain approach. One of my most steadfast beliefs is that an acoustic guitar alone cannot carry an album. In the "alone" part I may be right but Blind Pilot has shown me that an album of acoustically driven songs can be just as dynamic and interesting as Radiohead or Wilco.
First off, let me say that their album is vastly different from the live experience. On stage, these guys are able to make their mid-tempo numbers seem like break-neck speed metal (not really but their songs did seem more dynamic in their tempos live). On record, almost all the songs aim for and find their place in a sort of lazy, laidback rhythm that works really well. The percussion is really the only way to tell how fast a song is supposed to be.
The lead singer (whose name I don't know) has a high, resonant voice that really expresses emotions well (a little like a Jeff Buckley without quite such a range). The lyrics are thoughtful and engaging. The rest of the band brings in xylophones, banjos, trumpets and other instruments sparingly but enough to give each song its own flavor.
I almost never let a CD repeat in my player but I can't bring myself to take this one out. If you like chilled out acoustic americana, I recommend Blind Pilot.
Josh
First off, let me say that their album is vastly different from the live experience. On stage, these guys are able to make their mid-tempo numbers seem like break-neck speed metal (not really but their songs did seem more dynamic in their tempos live). On record, almost all the songs aim for and find their place in a sort of lazy, laidback rhythm that works really well. The percussion is really the only way to tell how fast a song is supposed to be.
The lead singer (whose name I don't know) has a high, resonant voice that really expresses emotions well (a little like a Jeff Buckley without quite such a range). The lyrics are thoughtful and engaging. The rest of the band brings in xylophones, banjos, trumpets and other instruments sparingly but enough to give each song its own flavor.
I almost never let a CD repeat in my player but I can't bring myself to take this one out. If you like chilled out acoustic americana, I recommend Blind Pilot.
Josh
Monday, June 8, 2009
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
I almost didn't finish this. Starting this book back during...January(?), it immediately got under my skin. I started having nightmares and a feeling of dread or unease followed me around. I didn't enjoy being made to feel terrified by a simple book so I put it aside to read some Vonnegut. Let me say, I am really glad I came back and finished it.
The book operates on at least two different levels (probably more). Johnny Truant, a wastrel in LA, is given a manuscript that belonged to his friend's elderly (and recently deceased neighbor) Zampano. Zampano was writing a 500+ page meditation on a movie called the Navidson Record, that was supposedly released in 1993. The movie is a documentary (maybe) about a family moving into a house in Virginia where extra rooms appear from nowhere and, eventually, they find an all-black corridor that extends into a maze. The story of the Navidson Record is the main narrative as we follow Will Navidson (a world-famous photographer) into an exploration of the dark labryinth that somehow manifests inside his house (it goes on for miles, defying all laws of physical space). There is plenty of horror as the cold, dark expanse starts dissolving the sanity of anyone who enters. This would be spooky enough but then you have the Johnny Truant parts of the book. Truant takes it upon himself to arrange and publish the annotations Zampano has compiled. In the footnotes of chapters, we get to see the effect that reading the book has on Truant. His psychological breakdown begins to mirror our own (if you are a sensitive reader) and we see things get very, very bad for Mr. Truant before it is all over.
In between these two narratives is the mystery of Zampano that you can kind of piece together using his own footnotes and editorial choices. Along with letters from Truant's mother from her time in a mental institution as well as drawings and photos from (and inspired by) the movie, it all adds up to a pretty harrowing view of mental illness, loneliness, depair and the power of ego. The real trick is in the way that the book is written. Danielewski uses all sorts of tricks (in a chapter about labyrinths, he makes his footnotes lead nowhere or double back on themselves) and stylistic choices to force the reader to read actively. You either jump into the book with both feet or it proves too much work and you stop reading. I doubt anyone has just casually read this book. The level of effort put into the reading then translates into the impact said reading has on your subconscious mind.
I will say two things, if you are not affected by this book in any way after having read it, I would be shocked. And, it is absolutely worth it to read the whole thing. There is kind of a climax halfway through the book when an exploration of the house goes completely wrong. This is where I laid the book down and tried to purge my mind of all the negative thoughts the book created. If I had plowed through (although in my defense, there is no hint from the author that relief is in sight) I would have walked away with a quite refreshing, almost joyful release from the ending. You can't say that things end happily for everyone involved but the truths that are illuminated and the insights one can then use for one's own life are pretty damn cool.
As a work of fiction, I think Danielewski has accomplished a pretty singular and amazing feat. If you let it in, this book will make you think about big, important things in your life. While it doesn't give many answers, the questions it presents are well worth the time. Plus, it is a scary as hell horror story to boot.
Josh
The book operates on at least two different levels (probably more). Johnny Truant, a wastrel in LA, is given a manuscript that belonged to his friend's elderly (and recently deceased neighbor) Zampano. Zampano was writing a 500+ page meditation on a movie called the Navidson Record, that was supposedly released in 1993. The movie is a documentary (maybe) about a family moving into a house in Virginia where extra rooms appear from nowhere and, eventually, they find an all-black corridor that extends into a maze. The story of the Navidson Record is the main narrative as we follow Will Navidson (a world-famous photographer) into an exploration of the dark labryinth that somehow manifests inside his house (it goes on for miles, defying all laws of physical space). There is plenty of horror as the cold, dark expanse starts dissolving the sanity of anyone who enters. This would be spooky enough but then you have the Johnny Truant parts of the book. Truant takes it upon himself to arrange and publish the annotations Zampano has compiled. In the footnotes of chapters, we get to see the effect that reading the book has on Truant. His psychological breakdown begins to mirror our own (if you are a sensitive reader) and we see things get very, very bad for Mr. Truant before it is all over.
In between these two narratives is the mystery of Zampano that you can kind of piece together using his own footnotes and editorial choices. Along with letters from Truant's mother from her time in a mental institution as well as drawings and photos from (and inspired by) the movie, it all adds up to a pretty harrowing view of mental illness, loneliness, depair and the power of ego. The real trick is in the way that the book is written. Danielewski uses all sorts of tricks (in a chapter about labyrinths, he makes his footnotes lead nowhere or double back on themselves) and stylistic choices to force the reader to read actively. You either jump into the book with both feet or it proves too much work and you stop reading. I doubt anyone has just casually read this book. The level of effort put into the reading then translates into the impact said reading has on your subconscious mind.
I will say two things, if you are not affected by this book in any way after having read it, I would be shocked. And, it is absolutely worth it to read the whole thing. There is kind of a climax halfway through the book when an exploration of the house goes completely wrong. This is where I laid the book down and tried to purge my mind of all the negative thoughts the book created. If I had plowed through (although in my defense, there is no hint from the author that relief is in sight) I would have walked away with a quite refreshing, almost joyful release from the ending. You can't say that things end happily for everyone involved but the truths that are illuminated and the insights one can then use for one's own life are pretty damn cool.
As a work of fiction, I think Danielewski has accomplished a pretty singular and amazing feat. If you let it in, this book will make you think about big, important things in your life. While it doesn't give many answers, the questions it presents are well worth the time. Plus, it is a scary as hell horror story to boot.
Josh
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