Well not exactly. They're more like a few bits of perspective on some miscellaneous entertainment that has piqued my interest/curiosity/disdain lately:
"I Was A Lover", TV On The Radio - This is perhaps my fave song of the minute and definitely my favorite TVOTR song. And yeah, it is almost 4 yrs old now, which in these hustle-y bustle-y times means it's really about 20 yrs old, but it is so infectious and invigorating (and coyly political) that it is now my go-to wake up song during my 5 minute morning commute to work.
jj No 3, jj - Another dreamy and pleasantly confusing pop record from good old reliable Sweden. I'm still amazed at how this duo manages to sound simultaneously both melancholy and joyous.
Plastic Beach, Gorillaz - Damon Albarn has had a pretty interesting music career. He could have easily faded out and become like Britpop assholes of the '90s and early '00s such as Noel & Liam Gallagher and Pete Doherty, but instead he's been able to consistently reinvent himself post-Blur (i.e. Mali Music, his work with the Gorillaz). And he has collaborated with such a wide range of musicians from all over the musical spectrum. Anyway, I have a lot of respect for the guy as an artist--which is saying a lot since I never want to hear "Song 2" again. Ever. Plastic Beach is another example of Mr. Albarn reinventing his sound yet again--it's a lot to digest and very ambitious. The guest artist list is dizzying and kinda hit-or-miss. Bobby Womack (!), Lou Reed, Mick Jones, and Little Dragon make intriguing contributions, but what is Snoop Dogg doing here? And sadly, Mos Def and De La Soul don't seem to be at their best--the hip-hop elements don't really work as well here as on previous Gorillaz albums. My initial thought is that Demon Days is still their best record.
Journal Of Ardency [EP], Class Actress - Female vocalist. Up-beat. 80s-sounding synths. Nuff said. [Side note: Yes, I found out about them on Pitchfork. No, I don't wear skinny jeans or appreciate the scenery more than the substance.]
White Collar Crime, Phaseone - St. Louis producer's new mixtape featuring a remix of Radiohead's "Videotape", and other remixes from artists such as Burial, Bon Iver, Panda Bear, and more. And hey, he's letting us take both of his 'collections' (White Collar Crime, Thanks But No Thanks) for free! Click here
The Inception trailer - Holy shit this makes me giddy. Leo and Christopher Nolan teaming up ought to make for a compelling film. Nolan is widely recognized as a great director, but I still think he's underrated. Hope this movie proves me right. (Sorry Mike, looks like Ellen Page from Juno is in there.)
Secondhand Sureshots - This mini-documentary has a pretty cool premise: four California-based producers are tasked with going into local thrift stores to purchase five records (with a $5 spending limit) from which they will pull, edit, and mix together samples to create an entirely new piece of music--no drum machines or any other instrumentation allowed, samplers only. I think you can watch several previews on Vimeo (here are some clips)--but it's actually so good it prompted me to buy the DVD. There's a great scene where each guy is in a different thrift store, and they each independently comment about how in every single thrift store across America, you will always find dozens upon dozens of Barbra Streisand records. The music they each come up with from the records is really pretty amazing, too.
Happy Daylight Savings! (Sunday @ 2am) - But it may kill you, according to this disheartening LA Times article.
Remember Me - Caution: going into rant mode now, page breaks and syntax be damned. So uh, I'm not sure if you've heard all the buzz surrounding the controversial ending to this family/relationship melodrama starring Robert Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin, but it is fucking God awful--let me repeat, it is fucking God shit awful. It may rival Birth of a Nation in terms of exploitation--not in terms of race-fail, but just in sheer, overall wrongness. Here, let me SPOIL it for you: Robert Pattinson's brooding trouble-magnet character has a fight with his girl, Emilie de Ravin's brooding trouble-magnet character, and he retreats to his father's office, located on the upper floor of...wait for it (and get your barf bags ready)...the World Trade Center! And then guess what happens? Oh you're gonna love this: he witnesses a plane fly right into the building. Surprise! It's fucking 9/11... IT. IS. MOTHERFUCKING. 9/11!!!!!! I cannot overstate how hard it has been to type these last few sentences. To think that some douchebag screenwriter (Will Fetters according to IMDB--this appears to be his only work) and director (Allen Fetters who gasp!--directed an episode of "The X-Files" and 3 episodes of "Millennium"--his only other movie credit appears to be "Hollywoodland") are going to rake in millions of $$$ on the blood, death, and continued emotional suffering of thousands of victims and their family members is just sickening. Not to mention the millions of New York City residents who witnessed this devastating tragedy on that fateful day and its emotional and physical aftershocks. Look, I'm not saying that films can't take on huge national tragedies, wars, etc. But this movie doesn't have shit to do with 9/11--this ending was added solely for shock (schlock?) value. A simple, fatal car accident could have easily conveyed the 'frailty of life' and 'appreciate the time we have' theme that the movie was apparently going for. And here I thought Shutter Island had a terrible ending. Alright enough, I've already wasted too much time on this tripe and I don't want to think about this anymore.
That Liberty Mutual 'random acts of kindness' ad on TV - So, while I was basking in the bad mood brought on by Remember Me, I happened to see that Liberty Mutual commercial where a person witnesses someone doing something nice for a stranger (holding the elevator door, letting a car pull in/merge ahead of you in traffic, etc), which then leads that initial eyewitness to perform another kind act later in the day. You've seen that, right?
Well, I was thinking it'd be funny if we had the flip-side of this scenario: Person A sees someone else doing something shady or despicable, and then Person A escalates and continues this shady behavior later in the day. It could start off relatively innocuous, like giving the finger to that person who cut you off, and then end up with people tripping old ladies and kicking homeless people. It would still have the same uplifting, flute-y music, but it would be an ad for a pepper spray manufacturer or something (actually, keeping it as an insurance co ad would probably still work). Ahem, perhaps this would be an awesome project for a local, short-film maker, you know, if he's open to these sorts of ideas from his non-filmmaking friends. Get in touch with my agent and we can hammer out a deal. Although, I guess that's a lot of work for just a 30-60 second fake TV spot. Moving on.
Das Racist - A hilarious (at least I think so) rap duo featuring what I believe to be the first Indian emcee, please correct me if I'm wrong. It's interesting because they do send-ups of lots of the tired old hip-hop conventions in their songs and videos. And they also do a lot of literary, cultural, and indie music name-dropping--Mike: if you were looking for a Jeff Mangum reference in a hip-hop song--"catch me in the crib getting light to Jeff Mangum" (from "Rainbow in the Dark"). Their jokey mannerisms belie some pretty deep (and sometimes hidden) subject matter in their lyrics. Here is their Myspace page and an embedded video:
2 comments:
Wow, Pete. I can't remember you ever getting this worked up about something, and I would've never thought the use of Sept. 11 as cheap way to heighten dramatic tension would be the straw that finally broke your back.
It's nice, though, to hear that you're going to the movies again, even if it is because your wife made you. Next time, might I suggest The Blind Side.
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I had actually seen Remember Me, I merely read about it online. God only knows the rampage I would've gone on had I seen it..
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