Dear Goofy Albuquerque/Now Living in Portland Boys,
You need to fire the copyeditor/proofreader of your liner notes. Seriously. And James Mercer, if it’s you…you’re smarter than this.
“Reign” = what a king or queen does. i.e. “rule”
“Rein” = the leather stringy bits that you pull back on to slow down a horse, or a fast situation, or what have you.
When you sing, in Turn on Me “You always had to hold the reigns“, you mean reins.
Still love you, but come on, that’s an easy one,
smooches, CMS
Monthly Archives: January 2007
Big Screen: Inland Empire
Honestly, I have no idea what this movie was supposed to be about. And when I say “no idea”, by that I mean “no fucking clue in any way” and anyone who says they did is full of fucking shit. For example, if you read a review that says “this part of the movie was a criticism of society’s xxx”. Just LAUGH TO YOURSELF and say “You pulled that OUT OF YOUR ASS man.”
There was one (or maybe two) storylines that you could PSEUDO interpret to yourself in a Mullholland Drive kind of way. In other words, so in some scenes she’s an actress, but in some scenes she thinks she is really the part that she was just playing in other scenes, now she thinks she’s ACTUALLY her. OK, that was the one percent of the movie that was explainable in any way.
When I say this movie is at least 90,000 times MORE confusing and MORE dislinear and MORE disjunctive and MORE fucked up than Mulholland Drive (which I actually did like in quite a few ways), I think I am underestimating.
And to those obviously insane David Lynch fans who went all out with the applause at the end: Hello, WHAT were you applauding? Everyone in my row just looked at each other and said WHAT IN THE FUCKING HELL WAS THAT ALL ABOUT? And no, I wasn’t the only person in my row!!!!!!!!
And p.s. it was three hours long. Three hours of lots of stress and tension and uncomfortable icky scenes and three hours of complete and utter confusion.
DVD: The Warriors.
What a truly, truly great fucking movie and how have I never seen this, given that one of Walter Hill’s other movies is one of my top-10 movies of all fucking time?
Loved this. LOVED. Loved the Baseball Furies, and the Lizzies, and the Orphans, and the crowds and the drama and the creepy creepy creepy bottle-tapping taunting. Loved the rollerskating, overall wearing farmboys who get their butts kicked in the bathroom at Union Square. Loved the “West Side Story” feel to some of the “running down dark streets, hoping not to get our faces beaten in” scenes. Loved the stuff on the trains. GO WARRIORS GO! RUN! Loved the DJ’s mouth. And her sass. Loved. (She is also in my favorite movie mentioned above. Hello!)
Crazy realization while watching the extras: Oh shit! Now that they’re showing him 30 years later, we see that Ajax is….the Richard guy Kim Catrall’s character was hooking up with on Sex&theCity! NO WAY!!!
À la Super Eggplant, currently, I am…
Does it seem like all I am doing these days is listening to CDs? Well, that’s mostly true… BUT, I am also…
Making: About to sew the binding on to the first Strippers quilt! WOOOOOOOT! (Sleeping under it anyway without the binding on. Hello!) And randomly trying to reacquaint myself with knitting via the half finished Ribovili. Doh.
Reading: “The Eternal Footman” by James Morrow, the third in the trilogy of God’s demise that I have told you about several times now. Sooooooo funny.
Watching: Do I watch anything other than Friday Night Lights (new – and sooooo good) and Everwood (old, two episodes away from finishing the zillioneth rewatch of season 1)? Well, I do, but none of it delights me as much…
Just watched the pilot of Dirt though and I think it’s pretty good. DARK, but good.
Listening: In addition to a bunch of stuff from people’s 2006 top 10 lists, I’m listening to a bunch of Brits: Long Blondes, Paolo Nutini, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly (Best Name EVER! and bonus, I LOVE the album!!), as well as the new Shins.
2006 Leftovers.
So you may remember me offering up a list of “albums other people had in their top 10s that made me wonder…” as part of my overall 2006 music report. As you SHOULD have expected, I went out shortly afterward and bought all of them, except one that I haven’t been able to track down either on iTunes or in physical stores (Hello, Camera Obscura, do you really need to be that obscure?). Here’s how I feel about them at this point.
Really REALLY Like:
Ghostface Killah “Fischscale” – great fucking album. GREAT.
James Hunter “People Gonna Talk” – jazzy. awesome. cannot believe it’s a skinny white dude singing. close your eyes and you’ll be thinking it’s Solomon Burke.
Jim Noir “Tower of Love” – Beatlesque goofy love lyrics, Beatlesque sounds. Happy!
The Rapture “Pieces of the People We Love” – I kept reading about this one and forgetting to buy it. Idiot! They’re this year’s (2006’s) Franz Ferdinand/etc. (hello Michelle, that’s a note to you [not you, Michele G.!]. I know you get mad when people don’t tell you about albums you would like!)
Like (Perhaps a Lot) But Not Top 10ers:
The Mountain Goats “Get Lonely” – this is really quirky and sometimes very quiet & one-man-bandish. But it grows on me more and more.
Josh Ritter “Animal Years” – I don’t think it’s QUITE that amazing. But I like it. Solid songwriting and musicianship, interesting lyrics.
Neko Case “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood” – I really enjoy this album, but I don’t find myself wanting to listen to it over and over. Best in separate doses. Don’t think she’s quite as compelling as, say, Cat Power or Rosanne Cash, two people who albums DID make my list (see link above).
Lily Allen “Alright, Still” – This is a super fun album. She’s the British PINK!!! But I don’t listen to it that often…because sadly I am an old lady now and its subject matter is a little juvenile. Good lord, did I just say this is too young for me? Oh sad day.
Like Well Enough:
Destroyer “Destroyer’s Rubies”, Dresden Dolls “Yes, Virginia” and Silversun Pickups “Carnavas” – These albums are all very redolent of Smashing Pumpkins to me and all have similar sounds to my ears. Dresden Dolls is a little Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs with the girl punk feel. Destroyer I liked, but don’t get an urge to listen to. Silversun Pickups I like the best of the three, but is so Pumpkin-ish that it doesn’t have a standout/recognizable on its own sound to me. So they’re all fine, but I only put Silversun Pickups on the Pod and I probably won’t be listening to these much.
Didn’t Like:
TI “King” – just not the kind of rap I like, I guess (it’s not Ghostface Killah, that’s for sure). only two songs I outright enjoyed.
Grizzly Bear “Yellow House” – I will try to give this one more listen JUST IN CASE. But first impression was “Eh? No thanks.”
Haven’t Listened to Yet:
Birdman & L’il Wayne “Like Father, Like Son”
Lupe Fiasco “Food & Liquor”
Have Not Yet Found ANYWHERE:
Camera Obscura “Let’s Get Out of This Country” – no idea where I found the single which I bought ages ago, but haven’t been able to find this album on iTunes (only their previous one which I already have) nor at Tower, nor at Virgin…
New Tunes.
Albums I’m Buying:
Jan 23: Shins “Wincing the Night Away” (Bought!)
Jan 30: Youth Group “Casino Twilight Dogs”
Jan 30: Josh Rouse “She’s Spanish, I’m American”
Feb 6: Fallout Boy “Infinity on High”
Mar 6: Arcade Fire “Neon Bible”
Albums I Might Buy But Haven’t Decided:
Jan 30: Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah “Some Loud Thunder”
Feb 20: Explosions in the Sky “All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone” (they do a LOT of the instrumental music that’s been on Friday Night Lights)
Albums I’m Pretty Unlikely to Buy, I Think:
Jan 23: Of Montreal “Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer ”
Albums I Won’t Buy, But You Might:
Feb 6: Bloc Party
Song I Bought Last Night that Was Written on the Same Slip of Paper:
“Please Don’t Pass Me By” by Jack Harlan. Oh so pretty!
First Impression: Shins “Wincing the Night Away”
Like it. LIKE it.
Edgier / less positive and bouncy than their previous outings. More of a downer (more what I like, really). Not until about “Red Rabbits” (song 6) does it start to bounce…and then only momentarily. Don’t get me wrong: I love the Shins, bouncy or not. The general feel of this one is less that way.
p.s. and “Girl Sailor” …SOUNDS LIKE… the Smiths (and Morrissey)! Bonus!
Fiction: “Beasts of No Nation” by Uzodinma Iweala
Gifted to me for Christmas; probably not something I would have bought myself. That said, I agree with the blurb that it’s written in “a powerful, strikingly original voice.” It certainly took me to a place I’ve never been and am unlikely to ever be, and that’s really about the MOST you can ask out of a piece of art isn’t it.
I liked: the intensity, the descriptions, the “beat” or rhythm of the book. The despair and confusion and misery and longing of the narrator are made palpable.
I didn’t like two things: 1) The “dialect.” The author states in the interview in back that he purposely used this “pidgin english” but I felt it distanced me from the character, rather than giving me insight into him. 2) The fact that his precise age was never really clear; he felt “older” and “younger” in different parts, but the novel was consecutive. How old is a “child soldier”? 8? 15? There’s a big difference between those ages but couldn’t really tell from the text (but maybe you weren’t supposed to be able to?).
It’s a very short book / quick read, but not likely to leave your mind that fast.
Holy Crap, Dreams DO Come True!
Crowded House to reform and play Coachella festival.
Hello, I’ll be buying tickets the second they’re available…
In Concert: Peter Mulvey & Clive Barnes.
Really hilarious byplay between these two: they’ve obviously become quite good friends as they play the US and Ireland together. I felt almost like I was at another “Boy Least Likely To” concert (where the two lead singers – or the lead singer & the number two, who knows – poked fun at each other all night).
Barnes is the “only lap slide guitar player in Ireland”, among other things (according to Mulvey). He’s got a gruff, low voice he uses sparingly. His guitar playing is crazy. Mad skillz. Mulvey was in very high spirits and absolutely bouncing during some songs. At the end, they did five or six songs together, most of which they had never played together before, and Mulvey wouldn’t even tell Barnes what song it was before he started — only what key it was in. Not that it made a damn bit of difference!
Truly talented musicians yet they will likely live in obscurity for years, given their place in the “folk” singer/songwriter small world.