Caribou: "Andorra" ('07)

Review to come...

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Alex Delivery: "Star Destroyer" ('07)

Review to come...

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Alaska in Winter: "Dance Party in the Balkans" ('07)

Here's an odd album that's very hard for me to pin down, but I loved the relaxing, lo-fi winter-electronica roll of every track.

The final track features Beirut in a quirky and upbeat change of pace, that somehow still caries the rest of the album's wintry feel mixed among Zach Condon's folk instrumentals and vocal style.

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All Night Radio: "Spirit Stereo Frequency" ('04)

A psychedelic dream-pop ride through the shimmering waves of beach music.

A concept album that's best listened to in a singular sitting, oddly enough covers enough lush sounds and styles within the form of their whimsical, spacey flow. The eclectic joining of several referential styles of pop music into separate tracks serves the feel well. Though I'd argue the first track, Daylight Til Dawn, is easily the most entertaining of the album, the rest sways and treks along into more and more sounds, all feeling uniform and united by the singular concept. The track that's easily the strangest amongst the lot is Oh, When?, which feels like a random Pink Floyd track with its clinking, echoing space-ride of distorted guitars and noises, even fits in perfectly and refreshingly at the point in the album when some might lose interest. These guys just want you to sit and relax.

Dave Scher, of Beachwood Sparks, carries on an interesting sound that makes this album feel like more of a sequel to Beachwood Sparks' self-titled album, albeit set on a tropical beach rather then the desert during a sunset.
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This blog post is dedicated to (son of) Sky Bicycle, this very album containing the track that gave one of my favorite blogs its name. It's shutting down soon, so give it some attention.

Siouxsie & The Banshees: "Peepshow" ('88)

Here's a quickie...

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Siouxsie & The Banshees: "Juju" ('81)

Here's a quickie...

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The Dreadful Yawns: "Rest" ('07)

Quickie upload.

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Atlas Strategic: "Rapture Ye Minions" ('01)

Canadian rocker Dan Boeckner is a busy, busy man. After high school and the inevitable small-time bands, he got organized with some friends and made Atlas Strategic, a rolling, blues-esk, electro-rock ride that has a schizophrenic, chaotic quality to it, not dissimilar of Tom Waits' work. And just like Tom, they can make weird noises sound normal, and vice versa. But, though the ride is wild, it always returns to a steady path, which gives the album a fun, but conscious feel to it. It still remains bound by this cohesive, (and crucial, if you want the album to be listenable) lyrical style that makes the album feel coherent, because we all, overtly or secretly, hate the fuck out of jam-bands. Get bent, Jerry Garcia.
Though these guys only recorded one more album before their '02 breakup, (That's Familiar!, released that same year) Boeckner went on to work in indie-rock with fellow busy-man Spencer Krug (of Swan Lake, Frog Eyes, Fifths of Seven, and Sunset Rubdown) in the immensely popular Wolf Parade. He now is working with his wife, Alexei Perry, on the amazing (and already posted) side-project Handsome Furs, but still tours with Wolf Parade, and even contributed guitar-work on the Islands' debut, Return to the Sea.

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Note: Here's another band with a great album, but an awful fucking cover. Seriously guys, people sometimes make purchasing decisions based on album-art, as dumb as it sounds. Would you have picked up Electric Light Orchestra's pop-masterpiece Out of the Blue based on the cover, if you had never heard of them before?

The Fiery Furnaces: "Blueberry Boat" ('04)

Brother-and-sister duo The Fiery Furnaces form an odd yet hypnotic amalgam of traditional instruments, computer-techno beats, and oddly traditional-sounding vocals, an odd choice for a band in the eclectic and ever-changing field of "electronic-pop". Some songs are lead by the instruments, and then perfectly inter-cut with the electronics, making a very solid and fulfilling-sounding album.

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The Go! Team: "Proof of Youth" ('07)

Today, we have another guest-writer, Kevin. He's a tall & handsome young gentlemen, and his birthday is a mere 2 days after mine.

The young but already experienced band proves their viral energy in this satisfying sophomore release. The bands newest LP begins with a classic Go! Team feel in the for lack of a better word bumping intro track Grip like a vice. The album maintains the fun jumbled sound going into the next track Doing it Right, and then takes break with the third installment on the album My World which gives us all a break from dancing with its mellow horn driven ballad. The unobtrusive mood is not held for long when the scorching horn section kicks in on Titanic Vandalism with shrieks of the teams towering tone and ending the song asking us if we’re ready for more, with the obvious answer of “hell yes.” The next few tracks are a perfect examples of The Go! Team’s prolific style of meshing fuzzy precise drums with powerful but still melodic chanting vocals. The culmination of the album comes in Flashlight Fight the tenth of elevens songs. The air raid siren of guitars keeps you franticly listening to the atomic bomb being dropped into your ear drum. You can only expect this type of smooth flow but still eccentric frenzy from The Go! Team who bid farewell to you in the heartfelt conclusion Patricia’s Moving Picture. With no need to prove their youthfulness the six piece ensemble does so while also asserting the credibility they have earned in the indie culture.

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Video: "Grip Like a Vice"

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Is Is" EP ('07)

Hey there! I'm Sacagawea, and I'll be popping in & out of here, so get used to it!
Sometime building up to the YYYs infamous lyrical growth-spurt, the Is Is EP emerged. Written in-between their first full album, Fever To Tell ('03)and their sophomore, Show Your Bones ('06) the five-song EP echoes the earlier sound, which was harder around the edges & simply described as "dirty fun." The tracks were first revealed to the Ys truest fans & followers at a show in Brooklyn, where they played in complete darkness. Can it get any more intimate than that? The energy peak is snug in the center of the EP, with "Kiss Kiss," a song about which that is almost impossible to decipher, but is clearly meant to sound sensual, & bring a bang of a performance. The powerful wrap-up track & my personal favorite, "10 x 10" put images in mind of a tantalizing Karen O leading a march into a murky ocean, lightning bolts penetrating the earth with every count-of-eight.
K.O. & the boys proved that they had grown with experience through songs like "Turn Into" and "Way Out" with the launch of Bones last year,and also added a certain personable quality to Karen, showing us that she is a real person and tender lyricist, not only the performing robot facade she took on. But now the band sends us a message with Is Is that though they're all grown up, they are still the same colorful, young, and daring band we knew years back.

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"Down Boy" Music Video (from the Webster Hall performance)

Naked Lunch: "This Atom Heart of Ours" ('07)

Here's a special request from a very special little lady...

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Micah P. Hinson: "Micah P. Hinson and the Opera Circuit" ('06)

My latest folk obsession. Enjoy!

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Akron/Family & Angels of Light: S/T ('05)

The album starts off with the first 7 tracks by Akron/Family, who transform halfway through the record into Angels of Light when combined with Michael Gira (producer, member of Swans). This turns out incredibly, with a crazy-but-conscious roar of the first 7 tracks, which violate every genre barrier ever created. Then, the switch to Angels of Light with Michael Gira, featuring an incredible cover of Bob Dylan's "I Pity the Poor Immigrant."

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Ernst Ingmar Bergman: July 14th, 1918 - July 30th, 2007

"No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul." - Ingmar Bergman

Ernst Ingmar Bergman, born in Faro, Sweden, died today at his home in Sweden. He was 89.

The internationally beloved, admired, imitated, and owed filmmaker is nearly impossible to sum up in a few words. Watching one of his films is a conversation between you and him, completely void of the soap-boxy, preachy tone that many filmmakers fall prey to today. He speaks to you, asks you questions, begs for a response, from one human being to another.

Highlights of filmography:
-The Seventh Seal ('57)
-Wild Strawberries ('57)
-Through a Glass Darkly ('61)
-The Virgin Spring ('60)
-Fanny And Alexander ('82)
-Shame ('68)

Super Furry Animals: Guerrilla ('99)

Super Furry Animals carry an odd, psychedelic-pop style that's most easily explained and demonstrated through this album. The trademark unpredictable-but-subdued roller-coaster ride that is their sound rolls through the band's two varieties of songs, the insanely-lovable pop tunes, and the techno-esk, funky beats that manage to not disturb the flow of the album.

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Beachwood Sparks: S/T ('00)

Beachwood Sparks sounds like a group of cowboys traveling through the desert, under the light of a trillion stars, stopping occasionally to marvel at their brilliance. The country-pop group dabbles in psychedelic, spacey harmonies which bring a beauty to the entire album that's rarely found amongst this type of music.

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Page France: "...and the Family Telephone" ('07)

Though harnessing a lovably sweet sound and cute lyrics, Page France is anything but a shallow and hollow album. Page France is proving the same thing the Swedes have been doing: Just because you're cute doesn't mean you don't make real, interesting music with depth. The most refreshing bit of it all is how playful but solid their lyrics are, so there's never a dull moment.

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Video: "Hat and Rabbit"

Tunng: "Comments of the Inner Chorus" ('06)

Tunng brings a breath of fresh air to those of us who love the recent folk-music explosion. Electronic-folk outfit, Tunng mixes natural-sounding loops of folk instruments and alternating between beautiful vocals on some tracks and sampled clips from other media, bringing a very refreshing album that is simultaneously relaxing and peaceful.

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Video: It's Because... We've Got Hair

Shows :: Pitchfork Music Festival '07: Day III

Day 3: Sunday, July 15th

****All my pictures****

The third and final day of Pitchfork's Festival kicked off with a bang, with the shockingly-confident Deerhunter striding out on stage. At first, I had thought they had bought into their own hype. Then they started playing.

The wondrous, shoe-gaze-esk roll of thunder erupted from the speakers in such a way I had never heard before. They were loud, but beautiful, setting up a semi-ambient tone for the show that everyone went nuts for. Maybe everyone else was like us and had traveled miles and miles on planes, trains, and automobiles for the chance to see some music, and a little tired, were awoken and excited for the day by the cadaverously-skinny Bradford Cox. The strident-confidence previously mentioned added to the performance in that I wasn't sure if Mr. Cox was human when he walked out on stage, and, without further adieu, jumped right into his music. He said "Thanks" after the roaring applause about 2 songs in, confirming he wasn't an alien, but still, a strange, wonderful, talented man...

And then, towards the finale, Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear himself walked to the side of the stage to play alongside the band. He got very little attention, as I'm sure he hoped to. I love you Ed.

Forget anything I've ever said about Deerhunter being "hyped". Pitchfork wasn't kidding, they are incredible. Cheers to them, and cheers to Deerhunter for starting off the day so brilliantly.

After that, we carried on over to The Pony's. This was the first band of the day to be hindered severely by irritating sound problems, but not the last. Though, this was definitely the most frustrating of the day, as The Pony's played so well. Chunks of songs would come through only their amps and the main speakers taking a break. Grr...

But, still a very enjoyable performance nonetheless. We moved back to the previous stage to catch Menomena.

I feel like I'm the only one who's a new fan of Menomena. Everyone else I ask seems to have liked them forevor. I didn't really catch up with them until their recent album. I felt a bit left out as I hadn't heard most of their shit before that day, but they made a fan of me. They were weird, funky, and most of all fun, so I'm sure I wouldn't have enjoyed it any more had I heard every last track they'd ever recorded. The band resembles Grizzly Bear in a way that instruments get tossed around for each song and each member pulls their weight perfectly. No man slacked off, and they all put on a great performance.

Later in the day, we saw a bit of Stephen Malkmus, who failed to disappoint. Though not particularly grabbing, all that I had heard about his voice was given weight in person: It IS beautiful.

We ran over to the gathering crowd and waited anxiously for Of Montreal. Some funny banners were brought out on stage showing a Mexican wrestler and a boxer receiving a K.O. and a mouthful of loose teeth and blood, and then a large wrestling themed banner with the bands name written across. Goofy, but we loved it.

Of Montreal put on quite a show. Complete with crab-kings being suspended in the air by the new-kid in the band and a Darth Vadar, a juice-distributing gold-painted seductress, a 5 balloon-headed character, and some sort of... masked S&M monkey-man? That's what I picked it up as... whatever. Kevin Barnes made plenty of costume changes on stage, and eventually ended up slowly removing his dominatrix uniform. A guitarist was dressed as a boa-packing angel with mascara eyes. Oh yah, they played music too!

They played most of their newer favorite stuff, mostly the electronically-guided material rather then their 60's pop tunes of earlier albums. Not entirely disappointing though, as it probably would have slowed down the half-hour of intensity.

Immediately after, we saw The New Pornographers. A.C. Newman was present, but Neko Case had to be replaced by A.C.'s niece, who did a pretty dead-ringer Neko-voice. It was a very enjoyable show too, playing plenty of favorites, and A.C. being a hilarious lead. They got some serious chuckles and made the crowd happy. A great way to end a great festival.

Shows :: Pitchfork Music Festival '07: Day II

(I did not attend Day I, so don't expect any posts on that... Sorry!)

Day 2: Saturday, July 14th

Because of some train scheduling problems & confusions, we missed Califone (...shucks...) and Voxtrot (Meh?). (Hey, who ever said I was a professional blogger?) When we arrived, Grizzly Bear came on stage and addressed the sound issues that would plague every other performance of the festival. The most unfortunate aspect of this was that most of the performances were so incredible that a problem like sound was irritatingly unprofessional. A few of the best performances were butchered by sound problems, but I'll get back to that later. On with the festivities!

***All My Pictures***

My most anticipated band of the entire event came first, and I was transfixed every moment. Though this show probably would have flown better in a tiny venue with great acoustics, Grizzly's beautiful sound that I have grown so attached to adapted to fit the stage, and boy, was it brilliant. I've also never seen a band where everyone pulled so equally the weight of playing on stage, and they all had equal confidence. These are musicians through and through. My love for Grizzly Bear was only strengthened this weekend by seeing them live. If I can recommend one album to download that I've put up, be it "Yellow House."

Also, later we camped out near the 'B' stage waiting for Dan Deacon as we watched The Oxford Collapse (...snooze...). After snapping some creepilicious photos of Dan Deacon, we spotted who else but Chris Taylor & Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear, and... well, just look.

Then Dan Deacon came to the stage. Well, sort of. He set up his ancient electronics in the crowd, with the stage containing just the speakers. He then proceeded to be fucking hilarious, and extremely entertaining even before the music started.

Then, he kicked in, turning the area into a packed, overcrowded goofy dance-party. As this was at the smallest stage, I couldn't get close enough for enough quality pictures, as there was very little room. People started climbing trees like monkeys, jumping on the fences, all of it was begging for catastrophe. the fence near a busy street eventually collapsed, and a few people fell, but no one really got hurt, but they still pulled the plug on the show. The dumbasses always have to ruin things for the rest of us, don't they?

After Grizzly Bear (and the purchase of a neato t-shirt), I split up with the rest of my friends for 20 minutes to see Battles, another current favorite. They were very interesting to see live, as there is quite a large amount of cool work and instruments being used on-stage at once, so the performance was anything but boring.

After a little bit, I met up with my friends at Fujiya & Miyagi on the 'B' Stage. As much as I love their album, they just had too passive and overly computer-generated sound. This sound also came from two dudes standing on stage, barely moving. So, overall, fairly boring as a live show, but they played well, so I can't really penalize them for their sound.
Then we took a break, where my friends showed me what Yoko was handing out: "the onochord". Essentially, if you haven't heard this, Yoko has reached such an artistic peak that she no longer communicates via the words you simpletons so love (Note: I only speak your "Language" because I want to initiate you to the 45th century). She now communicates via a flashlight.
So that you too may make the big jump to the great Ono's "language", the only true one, of course. There is only one sentence in this language, a sentence of such simple, philanthropic message that I wonder where this goddess of rock & roll came up with it: I Love You.
Aww!
Well, later in the night, we also found out that Yoko Ono doesn't enjoy using the simple words of the English language, but she has not completely renounced the vocal chords. From a half-mile away (as it was just too powerful and spiritual for me to understand, we left), I heard her piercing moans and they brought me to tears. Really.

...Nah. She sounded like a wildebeest being drawn-and-quartered.

Anyways, lets step back a second. Did I mention I saw Girl Talk?

And boy, did my new favorite DJ put on a show. I couldn't even get a good picture amongst the dancing party'ers on stage on either side of a giant blow-up spider, leaning over the mixboards of Greg Gillis, who was shirtless by the time we got up close. Ow Ow!

I didn't quite understand what was happening, but apparently Greg's set got cut short like Dan's. But, not without a little crowd-surfing first (and pondering why Dan Deacon doesn't ever do it).

Grizzly Bear: "Yellow House" ('06)

So I'm off to Pitchfork Music Festival 2007 tomorrow, and I'm pretty fucking pumped. Though I've always thought Pitchfork has ignored some high quality indie bands and has a very pretentious bias towards the most arbitrarily-chosen groups ( They hate Dr. Dog & Kings of Leon. Huh?), they're not fuck-ups by any stretch. Though #1 album of last year may have been pushing it, I was very happy to see somebody recognizing The Knife and their "Silent Shout", as up to that point I had been the only one I knew who really enjoyed it. And I'd be lying if I said that they've never introduced me to any bands or that none of their reviews gave me any insight on a different view of the album. So, why the hell not? After all, it's all about the music.

And there are quite a few great bands in attendance: my new favorite DJ and hip-hop pioneer Girl Talk, the indescribably fun, bouncing-and-trekking rock outfit Battles (Check older posts for download/review), everyone's love affair whose albums contain more talent then they can contain, The New Pornographers, the chaotic, "if really cool 6 year olds got together this is the music they would make", "Drinking out of Cups" goof-ball Dan Deacon, and the eternally loved Canadians of Of Montreal. I'm even excited for Pitchfork-favorite, though over-hyped, Deerhunter.

Am I forgetting someone... Oh yes, my current musical obsession: Grizzly Bear.

I'll just come out and say it: I can't describe everything I love about Grizzly Bear. Aesthetically, the sound is so original and in such a chord that relaxes me into a lull with such a mind-invading beauty that can change mood more effectively then any death-metal bassists slamming away alongside a blood-curdling vocalist screaming with all the wrath of Thor the Thunder God behind him. Grizzly's beautiful vocals compliment the sound with such incredible cohesion that they sound as if they're just another instrument under the control of some great creator, and apparently I'm not the only one who catches themselves singing it.

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P.S.- If you do really dig this album, don't bother with the "La cite des enfants perdus"/"Yellow House" crossover (Ala "Wizard of Oz"/ Pink Floyd's "Darkside of the Moon"). I'm a fan of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film as well, and I tried this multiple times, all to yield only a similar atmosphere and a few thoughts on how the film could have been cut to "Yellow House". Pretty much it. A few other people I've asked have tried as well, to no avail of course. Sad, but I guess its just one more of these lame crossovers that fell through when put up to actual tests (the worst ever being Terry Gilliam's "12 Monkeys" and Radiohead's "O.K. Computer").

Video: "Knife"


Also, count on photo-coverage of Pitchfork. The festival started today, I didn't go as I don't have as big a hard-on for Sonic Youth, and Slint isn't worth going all the way to the city to see exclusively. I'll be there Saturday and Sunday.

The Ballet: "Mattachine!" ('06)

As per request, from a very special lady...

Self-proclaimed "Sissy-pop" indie-rockers The Ballet aren't afraid they won't fit in. Chords of electronic bliss twine with jubilant string arrangements so happy they could make Final Fantasy blush. Amidst this, the soft-and-sweet-voiced lead follows the lead of the strings, never once stepping out of place to make himself the star of a single track. Guaranteed to catch you singing along and humming the tunes long after the album ends.

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Video: "In My Head" [Live]

A.C. Newman: "The Slow Wonder" ('04)

The New Pornographers are not a fluke. Each member of the band proves him or herself in multiple ways, one of which being a solo-album. Neko Case's fine work has yielded 5 eclectic albums, and A.C. Newman's solo work is no less incredible. The interesting thing is hearing his style present on this album, and then listening to a New Pornographers album with that in mind. It seems like the NP's albums have too much talent to contain in one, 60 minute album, so its members take it out on a solo project.
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Video: "Twin Cinema" (by the New Pornographers, off Twin Cinema)

Animal Collective: "Feels" ('05)

Animal Collective seems to get bigger and better with every record (Or maybe just pop-y and more accessible, either way, I'm digging it), and this was by far their biggest and most fruitful jump.

Animal Collective's music is becoming more and more formless. It's more about feelings than actual individual notes (making the album title very appropriate). They have a very organic, but unshaped wave of sound that makes their earlier "noise-rock" records seem like building blocks to their current sound. The album feels alive and climbing, as if when you set the album down on your shelf, the tracks dance around until they're released again. A wonderful album.

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Pela: "Anytown Graffiti" ('07)

Here's a quickie upload.


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Man Man: "Six Demon Bag" ('06)

We've come full circle. This is the incredible, noisy, energetic, drunken-sway of a band whose show not only inspired me to make a blog, but also bestowed the blog it's very name (From the track of the same name.) It's insane, insanely lovable, inarguably wild, and extremely enthralling in every second.

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Video: "Van Helsing Boombox" (Live)

Love is All: "9 Times That Same Song" ('06)

Swedish band Love is All sounds one part Polyphonic Spree-like jubilant yelling, two parts Karen 0 art-rock-esk lady-in-charge power.

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Video: "Make Out Fall Out Make Up"

Handsome Furs: "Plague Park" ('07)

Dan Boeckner's (Wolf Parade, vocals & guitar) side project is a wonderfully quirky with an excitingly original sound which compounds natural-sounding electronic backgrounds that meld perfectly with the trekking, flowing vocals of Boeckner.

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Video: "Dumb Animals"

Shows :: Architecture in Helsinki (Chicago, 6/11/07)

I got to see the Aussie (Pronounced "Ozzy") octet Architecture in Helsinki two nights ago at Logan Square Auditorium, and it was fantastic. The venue had really nice acoustics, and everyone had a pretty friendly attitude towards each other and the band, which was tested when a most-likely-intoxicated woman yelled for the band to play "The Owls Go" and the lead singer gave back a cute reply and went on with a smile. They had a considerable amount of energy that isn't present in throughout their earlier records which was very invigorating and exciting. I was going pretty nuts, as were my friends, especially when they whipped out the new single "Heart it Races" at the end of the show.

On a side note, they were opened by Mahjongg, who were good, but would have opened better for a less-dance-y band probably?

Thanks to Colleen for taking some pix, as I left my camera at home.

Pitchfork's coverage

Video: "Heart it Races"

Mew: "And The Glass Handed Kites" ('05)

Ignore the creepy/shitty album cover, the album's terrific. Sort of a weird, natural-sounding electro-pop album filled with angelic voices. I can't explain my complete connection to the band, but then again, I I'm not doing a very good job explaining them in the first place, so let's move on.

Enjoy!

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Video: "Why Are You Looking Grave"

The Clientele: "God Save the Clientele" ('07)

I spent today enjoying the summer weather, and decided to give this album a shot. Within seconds I was relaxed into a lull by the album, complimented by the big blue sky, puffy white clouds, and chirping of the birds nearby. It had the effect on me that most indie-folk bands have, but having this odd, original style that didn't capitalize on the summer sound blatantly and with a hollowness of thought.

This further backs up my theory that the best music to listen to during summer has little to nothing to do with the actual season in name, but has a relaxing tone and a summery tone. (Aka, fuck the Beach Boys!)
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"Dead Man" ('95) / "The Proposition" ('05)

When one thinks of the term "Western", they would most likely recall fondly back to John Wayne shootin' some injun-folk in front of Monument Valley. The films I'm reviewing today have grown off of, and even improved on, the heroes-&-villains adventures of The Duke and other American-Western hero's.
The "Western" genre is dead. It died with Pike & the other boys of the The Wild Bunch in 1969 in a hail of gunfire. The remains of the genre consist of fake westerns with 0 heart, soul, or grit posing as genuine. The "hero's" of these films are pretty boys who smeared mud on their face to make them look tough (eg. American Outlaws, Tombstone). The real hero's of westerns had wrinkles, scars, dried & crackling skin, and an omnipresent layer of dust on their bodies that seemed more native to them then their own skin. The memory stays in a genuine way through two forms. The first has kept the memory alive through the scriptwriters who have written in homages, references, or western-styled scenes into their films (Kill Bill Vol. 2 screamed Italian spaghetti western in parts) that all payed their respects to the genre. But the genre lives again through it's sons, who pop up every few years to sing their requiem, and move along on their own path.

Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man was a brilliant example of this, taking a weak-willed - let's just say it- pussy-character, and putting him in the same blood-soaked shoes as previous genre hero's: stranger walks into town looking for work or shelter, and gets in to trouble with the local criminal class. Johnny Depp gradually becomes the hero we wished for during the course of the movie, right before our eyes. Then, he shows his vulnerability, deepening the character and smashing our view of the hero. It essentially changed how I thought of a hero, and even helped me start to see fault in the Western's tendency to make the hero unbreakable. Dead Man serves to both carry the torch of the western and go it's own way. Johnny Depp's character, William Blake (I don't feel like getting into the differences, but essentially think of the characteristics and the poetics of the poet William Blake being transported into a character in the west.) travels across the West to a small mining town, hearing he has a job waiting for him. After spending all his money just for the train ticket, he soon hears that someone else was hired in his stead. Jobless and homeless, he goes to the local bar, and meets a woman. The two go back her place for some lovin', and a jealous admirer (Gabriel Byrne) steps in with a present for the woman. She angrily tells him she doesn't love him, and in retaliation the jealous man tries to shoot William. Caught in front of the bullet, the woman dies in William's arms, and William reveals a revolver from under her pillow. He raises it and weakly fires at the jealous admirer, killing him. Under the circumstances, the man's father, the same man who screwed Blake over for the job by giving it to someone else, hires three hit men (one of which is Lance Henriksen) to hunt down William. This sets off Will on a journey to escape the men, and other hit men on the prowl for his head. He meets Nobody, a corpulent Native American and becomes friends with him. The film is shot beautifully in black & white, and includes many jaw-droppingly cool shots. The poetry of the film is nearly indescribable, between the photography, graceful acting, and a lyric script, all melding in a perfect cohesion that gives the film a dream-like quality. As if a parent were reading you poetry all night while you slept and the words invaded your dreams.
Dead Man: 5.0/5.0

The Proposition is another son of the fallen genre of the western that pays it's respect, but doesn't get distracted from going it's own way and being it's own film. The realism of it is honesty, and makes the journey the viewer goes on that much more palpable and personal. There's a beautiful and real balance in both nature and characters in this that was refreshing. There are no hero's, there are no beautiful, natural oasis'. Everything has a beautiful and brutal side to it, especially the characters. Our protagonist is a murderer, and probable rapist, but redeems himself with his good intentions and actions later on. The love of the lead "Villain" is so unconditional, pure, and true for his "family", completely independent of the fact that they are mixed by race. He loves his brother, the protagonist, too dearly to even defend himself from him. But he is not all good either. He too is a rapist, murderer, and robber. The stunning and seemingly-endless landscapes appear purely good, as it is in most films, but as we see when a drunk is left in the sun for too long, it has a brutal side as well, acting as an omniscient character rather then a setting. It's this polarized "ying-yang" of beauty & brutality that makes the film so deep and epic. The beautiful photography, intense acting, touching soundtrack, and deeply-human script all add to the realism of the overall film, so that the journey you go on may feel as personal as possible.
The Proposition: 5.0/5.0

PS- Oh, and did I mention Nick Cave wrote the screenplay and co-scored the soundtrack for The Proposition?

Pere Ubu: "The Modern Dance" ('78)

Pere Ubu has such sweet sound. It can best be summed up by idiosyncratic yelling by the absolutely insane lead singer attempting to overcome the sweet guitar-work, but somehow avoids sounding irritatingly prolonged or being a jam band, as most of these type of albums unfortunately turn out. Enjoy the fuck out of Pere Ubu's craziness.

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The Jesus & Mary Chain: "Psychocandy" ('85)

Incredible, early shoegaze album, on par with The Cure's "Disintegration". Darkly beautiful, but avoids being pointlessly depressing, a common pitfall of goth bands

Note: I recently discovered that the term "Shoegaze", a sub-genre that commonly involves dark styles, but with noisier, shaky guitar-work (and avoiding the lyrical-fallacy that's common in goth music), came from the tendency of the early artists breaking away from the "goth" sound to look down at their shoes while playing. Many of these artists played songs that switched back and forth between what is considered "Goth" and "Shoegaze" styles, so the differences in early shoegaze and goth music at the time were minimal.
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Video: "Just like Honey"

"Frankenhooker" ('90)

The title alone makes the movie worth owning. It can be best used in a sacred part of your home, sitting on a high shelf with a fluorescent light over it, so all may sit in the rays of its glory. It also makes an excellent conversation piece. Rule of thumb: If disinterest or a blunt denial are ever a response to the question, "Do you want to watch Frankenhooker?", the person's not worth the conversation, nor your attention.

Essentially, this is the movie I've been waiting for since I first saw It's Alive (And parts 2 & 3). The concept of killer babies seemed untouchable by incredible-standards. I needed another horror movie with such a ridiculous, life-changing concept that simply by questioning any plot-holes (and this movie is the swiss-cheese of plot-holes) or mistakes ruins the movie for you and anyone you're watching it with, transforming you into an asshole. And I found it. Frankenhooker.

Get the popcorn ready, because this story is epic.

Jeffrey Franken: medical-school dropout, New Jersey resident, and gas & electric worker. Somehow, he nabbed a cutie-pie as a fiance. At a family birthday party, the fiance's showing off a remote-control lawn-mower Jeff made, and after pressing one too many buttons, the lawn-mower shoots forward and cuts her up into a "Jigsaw puzzle" of parts (to quote the cop on the news, who's standing next to a reporter played by Mrs. Wrigley from "Adventures of Pete & Pete").

As his last name is Franken, Jeff decides to play the re-animator and bring his fiance back from the grave. He decides, watching the news, that since hookers are just gonna kill themselves on the rock anyways, he's just doing a pre-emptive strike in the name of death by taking their lives for parts to piece his wife back together. He drives on down to the local red light district, gathers up a couple hussey's, and holds an "audition" for them, where he checks out all their parts and picks favorites for his frankenhooker-wife. After he makes the final decision, he developed...wait for it... "Super-Crack" to make the girls O.D. on (Cue necrophilia jokes). But his perfect plan to have one girl with the perfect body to use goes haywire when the girls snoop around his bag and discover..."SUPER-DRUGS!!!" Huffing and sucking down as much super-crack as their herpes-encrusted mouths can, the room transforms into an all-girl orgy/crack-party (Sorry, super-crack-party). But as Jeff's being held down, he can't stop them from doing this, as the super-crack makes the girl's FUCKING EXPLODE. After an intense scene with flying limbs and parts being chucked back and forth, Jeff makes an apology to all of them. Then, stuffing them into a garbage bag, he picks up part-after-dismembered-part to bring home for his wife...

There's too much to say about how entertaining this movie is, and I'm probably not even doing it justice. Just watch damnit.

Look out for "Death Bed: The Bed That Eats" soon. It may be the next fix I need for my super-addictions to bad taste and fake blood.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: "Abattoir Blues" / "The Lyre of Orpheus" ('04)

I have a man-crush on Nick Cave. There, I said it. Now that that's out of the way...

I've had one of those odd fanboy-isms over him in such a way that he can do no wrong in my eyes. If he recorded an album of him cock-slapping a snare-drum, I'd most likely rave about it, calling it "original" (Fuck, I'm so pretentious). Anywho, I wasn't going to write this review, as it would probably have no bearing on the quality barometer. Like a certain George A. Romero movie from 2005, even if the album was bad, I'd refuse to admit it. But don't let that lessen your confidence in Nick Almighty, as the album IS generally incredible.

In case you're wondering, I review these two albums together as they were released and recorded together. After Blixa Bargeld, guitarist, left the Bad Seeds, Nick & The Bad Seeds recorded these two in just 16 days. It's his finest works, and shows his versatility better then any other record can. Each of his records tended to carry a certain style through and through, but this is more of a continuous mix of styles that's a great opening for any Nick Cave virgins. Every Nick Cave style I've found, from story-songs to glorious rock anthems are all present, and each one screams Nick, loud and clear.

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Video: "Do You Love Me?" (Off of Let Love In)

Scott Walker: "The Drift" ('06)

There's something about singer-songwriter's with a story that's always got me. I feel like a wide-eyed child sitting cross-legged in front of an old bard and lyre-player, recalling tales and inducing fear, laughter, and emotion into the heart of each one of us. Leonard Cohen's rugged, hard voice can make each word feel like a stab wound to the throat or a lover's kiss. Nick Cave's crazy rollicking roller-coaster of a voice can get across a feeling of traveling somewhere on a journey alongside him (The exact reason why The Proposition was so incredible).
But none have as ambitious of a sound as Scott Walker. His primary focus is telling you a story, and his medium of art is his own beautiful and vulnerable voice. Sections of the song will have subdued, quieted music playing softly, so that his voice is pronounced even louder. The Drift is Scott's story-song style taken to new heights, with the whole album being essentially a story. Even if you don't pay attention, the feelings that he runs through you are enough to at least be entertained. I can't stop listening once it starts, and the thought of changing the album before it's over sounds too jarring. If you can't tell already, my love for this album & Scott Walker is deep, and anyone with ears should give it a chance. It has a few frightening parts, but what would a story be without conflict?

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Compilation: "A Japanese Tribute to the Pixies" ('00)

My first upload! Titties!

I found this really sweet tribute to the Pixies somewhere, and I got a load of enjoyment out of it, so I thought I'd share it with all of you. God, I'm such a philanthropist. Gimme a friggin' metal already.

It's essentially just covers of Pixies songs done by Japanese bands. Need I say more?!

Some of them are sorta bad (in a good way, I guess?), and others actually well-done, but all are hilarious if you're a Pixies fan. I'm especially fond of the "Gigantic" cover by Wakusei, (It's pronouned "Geh-gun-tic!") and "Trompe Le Monde" by Ca-P.

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"Day of the Woman" (aka "I Spit On Your Grave") ('78)

I know what you're thinking, and I prefer the second title too. The first one is super generic. It sounds like a 50's monster movie involving radiated, 50-foot housewives. The second title sounds a bit more like the film, intimidating, gritty, and shocking. It even has the feel of a "Shock-film." But once you see one of them, you slowly come across the realization: "Hey, I don't feel like my eyes were raped!" After all, there's nothing more shocking then real-life, actual violence, and we're already desensitized to on-screen violence, so what's the fucking problem? On with the fucking show!
Just like I thought, I was a bit intimidated to watch this. My copy sat on the table for a solid 4 weeks before I ventured into it out of pure curiosity. And boy, was I surprised: It didn't suck! It was well-shot, and excitingly paced (especially for the maligned sub-genre of brutal 70's rape/murder movies with shaky, grainy photography that makes you feel a little dirty just viewing them). The movements of the camera seemed coordinated, rather then a sloppy "Just put the two camera's down, we'll cut back and forth every three seconds for the next 10 minutes" style that many, many horror movies seem to lazily adopt. Don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming it contains a Malick-level of rolling, beautiful shot after shot, but it definitely showed you everything you wanted and didn't want to see. Speaking of which, the violence is atrocious and disgusting, of course, but isn't gratuitous to the point where you feel like you're the one being violated. I hate that shit, it's total eye-rape.

Jennifer, a struggling author and feminist (adding an interesting touch to latter half of the film), has gone away to her time-share cabin in the woods to finish her first book (Oh, the naiveness of youth). When she's not writing, she commonly spends her scantily-clad time in the hammock or the canoe. But when she goes out to get some gas, she attracts the attention of four local boys, one of which has 'tards or something. Err, I mean, he's... a "Slow learner." Uhm, one day they ambush her, and rape her three fucking times, each time more disturbing and brutal then the last. After they're done with her and she's back at home, they send the 'tard in to finish the job. He comes back with blood from her chin on the blade, and says he killed her. When she gets up, after scrubbing off the shame, you would imagine she's not too happy. She then sets off for revenge in some of the most brutal ways I've ever seen. Did I mention this is a kids movie?

If you're into brutal horror or revenge movies, you definitely have to check this out. It's absolutely brutal and anger-inducing, but completely satisfying by the end. The second half of the film, her revenge, could be summed up in one word: badass. The entire first half of rape and torture are less-painful on second viewings, as you know the balance will return fairly soon in the form of some brutal blood-letting.

Welcome.

Because of my recent blog addiction, free time, and need for an outlet to my nerdiness, I've made a leap to the blog scene. I'll figure out the format along the way, but for now, but essentially be talking about albums & movies I think you should know about, but with a more music-centric view. Reviewing is a bit pointless for this, and as I have no scale, an arbitrary number would be just that: arbitrary. I'll give you some thoughts about the album, and if you're interested, check it out. It'll mostly be albums I find interesting an original, most likely indie-stuff. This blog is not a blowjob to Pitchfork, so no worries about me just going through their "Best New Music" section and uploading the albums I have from there. I'll also be taking requests, so just drop me a line and if its within reason I'll upload it!

Anyways, enjoy!