Months Of Music

Every year, at around the same time, I get hit with a slew of new albums by some of my favorite artists who seem to enjoy making me pay for everything at once. I know what you’re thinking, who the hell pays for music? I guess I’m one of the few nowadays, but I’m actually pretty proud of that. These artists worked hard and deserve to see their work hitting high sales lists. Honestly, nothing is more depressing than feeling that all of your pain was for nothing. Granted concerts get the blood pumping and the green flowing.

Anyway, I just wanted to talk briefly about my favorite recent albums... and some other noteworthy ones:

Big Whiskey And The Groo Grux King (Dave Matthews Band) - I think this is what you’d call a masterpiece. It comes from the heart and soul. The band took a massive hit when LeRoi passed, but somehow out of the tears a new bond was formed. It took the missing man’s passion to rekindle something in the almost separated band’s friendship... I think the coolest thing is LeRoi’s last tapes inspired the album as a whole. So we can sort of call this LeRoi’s last stand.

Hombre Lobo (Eels) - While not the greatest album E has ever shaped, it has moxy. E has a great deal of fun here and I’ll be damned if I can’t play along.

Around The Well (Iron & Wine) - These aren’t necessarily “new” tracks... but they’ve never (or rarely) been heard before. Their last album, The Shepherd’s Dog, is one of my all time favorites. And this one feels like a lovely companion piece including some of the B-sides and alternate takes from that effort. Iron & Wine is quickly becoming one of my favorite bands. In fact they lead my top 25 most played list on iTunes.

Far (Regina Spektor) - Far is one of those rare albums that just lifts my body up while smashing my head into the mud. I think I’m in love with Regina Spektor and she kind of shoves it in my face. Blue Lips and Eet are such good tracks I listen to them and laugh out loud because I’m so happy.

No One’s First, And You’re Next (Modest Mouse) - Just a good collection of B-sides from a growing band. Like Iron & Wine’s The Shepherd’s Dog, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank tops my favorites list... it just hits me in a different emotional place.

The flaming lips Borderline
by cringer

The Birth (Stardeath And White Dwarfs) - The kid brother band to The Flaming Lips... and very much a triumphant Freshman album. I’ll buy the next one too.

Wait For Me (Moby) - Just a great album. Emotional and Eclectic. Moby kicks ass and raises the bar for electronic music every time he spins a record.

Life On Earth (Tiny Vipers) - I feel like I’m the only person who knows this band, but it is amazing. beautifully simple and melodic. I have all four of her albums and love them love them love them.

Humbug (Arctic Monkeys) - An oddly darker album by a band best known for their hit I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor... but you probably won’t wanna dance to this album. That’s alright though. Listen in the car. What’s weird to me is the way the drums sort of over power. Not in a bad way. It’s just surprising. It’ll grow on you.

Dark Night Of The Soul (Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse) - So amazing. So sad. EMI won’t let this album be released traditionally. So if you can... you have to go illegal to get this bad boy. If you don’t already know, just check it out HERE.

These are just some of the summers best (in my eyes, or ears). Maybe you’ll enjoy them as much as I do.

Horror And Horrible Horror

I have a firm belief that Horror is in many ways the perfect genre... when used correctly. But that’s a heavy concept, to use Horror correctly. 

Think of it like this. Horror consistently grosses well at the box office. Sometimes this is because it was a small budget picture and therefore did not need much to break even. But more interestingly it is because people are hoping to be thrilled. And they will gamble often to see if a film can actually force them to react. So we’ve created a system where the flick doesn’t have to be good in order to make money... it just needs a good trailer, or 

A RECOGNIZABLE TITLE.

And that’s what I really wanna talk about.

Originals and the Dreaded Remake... Films that force viewers to compare them to something else. And if they fall short of the classic greatness, then that is death (with the exception of a few bucks). But if they jump the hurtle without misstep they will be praised for years to come.

My opinion is a film should not be remade simply “because”... or, sometimes people force their love for a classic work to cloud their judgement and make the wrong decisions for the wrong reasons. A light example is Halloween. How and why was Rob Zombie allowed to touch this film at all? What about it actually needed remaking? But it made money.

Yet sometimes the remake is righteous. The filmmaker doesn’t make the movie just out of admiration but with a specific purpose... the ideal version of The Thing From Another World is John Carpenter’s The Thing. He gave the film meaning for a new generation by rationalizing what the scenario would actually be like. And it’s amazing how real this movie is considering the source material.

The reason I bring this up? I’m watching The Haunting. It is surprisingly brilliant. Though I’d be labelled a moron if I said the same about its purposeless remake. The original is layered and saturated with common perceptions of the 50s and 60s. An attempted rationalization of ghosts and their effect on the living. But the remake is just a Hollywood movie with no expectation at making you think... rather it hides behind cheap special effects and a body count. The original had almost no special effects and only one death to speak of (minus the prologue). But that was a horror movie. And a fantastic one at that.

“Suffer Little Children! Suffer Little Children! Suffer Little Children!”

Tell me that’s not creepy. Other examples are Carrie and Carrie... the later being absolutely pointless, boring, and lame. Or House Of Wax and House Of Wax. The original isn’t necessarily scary, but very fun and interesting. The remake is stupid... made for a generation used to cheap thrills that don’t effect them after they’ve left the theatre.

But then there’s The Fly and The Fly which are both great... funnily though, both films suffer from bad sequels, Return Of The Fly and The Fly II. Cronenberg’s version is great because it had a reason to be made... it changed the purpose of the film to suit a new generation... He collected his views on how obsession can lead men down the wrong path. A concept only quickly stated in the original.

This entry is more of a list I suppose, but I hope I’m at least making you think of how the studios view their investment in Horror as a genre. They often seem to say, “make a good trailer... if you can’t do that, find something cheap to remake. We should at least make bank.”

I ask, why can’t they shoot to make a Horror film worthy of winning an Oscar? And I hear a stupid answer about the genre being cheap. But if films like The Thing and The Shining can scare you without using cheap tricks... if they can also make you think and keep you grounded in a believable reality... why shouldn’t they be award winning pictures?

A Little Flight Music

Songs for running away... from whatever it is you need to run away from. Be it work, home, or yourself, these songs should help you along the road:

1. Cluster One - Pink Floyd

2. Come Away With Me - Norah Jones

3. Boo - Pinback

4. The Living Sea - Monkey

5. High And Dry - Radiohead

6. Parachute - Sean Lennon

7. Isolation - John Lennon

8. Jets - Moonbabies

9. Where Is My Mind? - Pixies

10. Perfect Disguise - Modest Mouse

11. The Seer’s Tower - Sufjan Stevens

12. I Talk To The Wind - King Crimson

13. Dreamer - Tiny Vipers

14. Jltf - Moby

15. Seaside - The Kooks

16. Wondrous Place - The Last Shadow Puppets

17. Pretty As You Feel - Jefferson Airplane

18. A Comet Appears - The Shins

19. Blue Lips - Regina Spektor

20. Smoking Pot Makes Me Not Want To Kill Myself - Stardeath And White Dwarfs

21. Halfway Home - Jason Mraz

22. Highway (Under Construction) - Gorillaz

Peace.

Who Gets To Classify Neo-, Pseudo-, And Actuo-Noir Anyhow?

So I’m confused... every time someone brings up the term Film Noir I assume I know what they’re talking about because I understand the “rules” of the “genre”. I put those two words in quotes because they are both facades.

Let’s talk the “rules” of Noir. 1) It must dabble in some form of criminal activity... that’s key. 2) It must pull focus to darker places like smoke or shadows, but that’s all camera work, right? 3) It must live in a world of anti-heroes and femme fatals. 4) And it definitely must be stylized. So if the film doesn’t factor in all of that... it’s not a Noir? Or could it be Pseudo-Noir? 5) This is the kicker (for extra points), the film in question must have been made between the years 1941 and 1959??

Let’s talk “genre”. How in the hell is Film Noir considered a genre? I say this with the upmost respect for the films therein, but every time someone lists to me which ones are Noir and which aren’t I find myself trying very hard not to ball my fist up and punch them in the face. See if we follow the “rules” then Noir is simply a specialized Crime-Drama or Thriller. But apparently that’s not how it works. It’s as if the French were just trying to confuse me by classifying something that it turns out is actually unclassifiable.

Seriously, if a film was made in the ‘60s to present day... it’s Neo-Noir? I understand the reasoning for some films to be classified this way, but someone’s trying to tell me we can never again make another Actuo-Noir. And that doesn’t fly. See, if you are honestly prepared to call this a genre, then it must be a genre... not an era of film, which is closer to what they seem to have pinned it as, just without the title.

So I say enough with the bullshit. M. Verdoux is not Noir because it is a comedy without the standards of Noir contained therein... it may be a Pseudo-Noir/Comedy or Crime-Comedy (why not?).  But it is not a Noir. The Maltese Falcon is certainly a Noir... so too are Citizen Kane, Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd., and The Lady From Shanghai. The Naked City should not be titled Noir, but Pseudo-Noir. It’s closer to a Crime-Drama... with cops. And check this out, Miller’s Crossing is definitely Noir. Not Neo-Noir, not Pseudo-Noir... but full on Noir. It earned this title by not going too far over the edge with nudity and profanity (not TOO far).

See Neo-Noir was created because there’s too much cursing in the new Noir films... but that makes sense. Wouldn’t you curse in those situations? Hell yes.

I’m just saying, if Film Noir is to exist as a “genre” please make it a genre (without the quotes)... because it deserves to be a real entity. No other genre in the history of film has had as much trouble and confusion brought upon it. Westerns are easy (anything in the West), Sci-Fi as well (anything using Science as a mode of story telling)... and while both of these are the closest related genres to Noir, being that they are purely scenario and setting related, they have never been debated to such a bloody pulp (hah, I said pulp).

You know what else is a good Noir to check out? Brick. And that’s solid Noir. Believe me, it earned the title.

Clap if you agree.

P.S.- Other genres that may be confused for and connected to Noir: Mob/Gang, Mystery, and Detective which can all be more generally categorized under the Crime umbrella. And how sad is it that none of the films I mentioned are available on Blu-Ray? But this one is.

Lookin At Mars In High Res

We’ve got High Resolution pics of the surface of Mars... I just think that’s pretty cool. Check it out!

Dracula Just Isn't Dracula Without The Music

I recently sat down to rewatch the classic Universal Dracula... you know, the one with Bela. And I was excited remembering how it used to frighten me when I was little. I wish I didn’t have such fond memories of the film. And I almost wish I hadn’t read the book between those old viewings and this latest one.

But something happened as the movie carried on... and on... and on. I was bored out of my mind. And then I remembered something I had been given by a friend... 

the Philip Glass neo-score to the classic film. I found the correct time and pressed play on both my iTunes and my Netflix, and this truly made all the difference. Suddenly the bland muted sound turned into colors... and certain key moments popped out, became creepy and interesting.

My favorite moment is Renfield crawling across the drawing room floor. It’s so damn menacing but his face is filled with utter delight. Oh movie magic.

So what’s interesting here is how much a score can effect a film. I know, I know. This isn’t new information, but just a little food for thought.

Now I’m a little scared to revisit Frankenstein... although, few things could be less entertaining than Mary Shelley’s “novel”. So we’ll see.

So... Vampires Are Real??

You know, it’s funny how some fads can take off in a really big way. I’m a fan of True Blood, I think it’s a very well produced show with strong actors and interesting writing. The thing that confuses me though is the explosion of vampire culture. See HBO is putting the beverage Tru Blood on the market... which is kind of cool I guess. But it makes me feel like a bit of a geek. Here’s the thing, it seems the world is becoming very accepting of geekitude. And as a geek in many respects I’m excited, if not incredibly surprised.

Everything from Comicbook-culture (Star Trek to superheroes to vampirism) is now considered decidedly cool. What’s interesting about this is how far it has come. Not fifteen years ago these visions of intricate, alternate realities were left to the obscure. They were those secret little things you’d spend your time reading in the privacy of your room when no one could claim you were doing anything but sleeping.

I’m thinking, it is an example of technology’s ability to bring things closer together while all the while spreading them farther apart. When people go online and see a website has a massive audience (no matter how strange the site) they will be interested in at least learning what it’s all about. And once an odd thing like vampirism catches your eye, you will want to know just a little more and a little more. It’s good for conversation to be as knowledgeable about “everything” as you possibly can be. And everything includes obscure geek culture. But when everyone has access to the internet, and everyone has a multiverse of information at their fingertips, the word obscure almost loses meaning... Because there is literally too much. So nothing can be obscure if everything is obscure. There will always be an audience in some form or another. And the most amazing thing, I think people will actually buy this product... I might.