You got me, I watched Annie Hall again last night, and the above quote stuck in my mind. It seems appropriate, though, for this posting, because apparently it's that time of year again. Yep, not even out of October, but today was the first of the big end-of-year award ceremonies, as not-really-that-relevant music mag Q invited some fancy-pants big names to a fancy-pants hotel in London.
Why should you care? You shouldn't, really. Awards for Muse (live band), Arctic Monkeys (album), Gnarls Barkley (single, for 'Smiley Faces'... just kidding) and The Killers (video). Oasis won best band in the world, which you may have something to say about.
The main reason, though, that the Q Awards aren't allowed to be taken seriously is that.. well.. here are some of the awards:
Q Inspiration Award, Q Outstanding Contribution to Music Award, Q Groundbreaker Award, Q Icon Award, Q Idol Award, Q Classic Songwriter, Q Outstanding Performance, Q Lifetime Achievement Award, Q Merit Award, Q Innovation Award, Q Legend Award, and, best of all, Q Award of Awards.
WHAT DOES ANY OF THAT MEAN?
Remember when there was just one token award, usually Lifetime Achievement? Here there are like ten of them with different names. Do you think they allocated awards to everyone who bothered to RSVP? It's very very odd. Oh, and Karma Chameleon was named Q Classic Song.
Full results here.
Best fascist dictator: Adolf Hitler!
I am melancholy eternally
The Runout Groove has a great feature about one of my favourite records, 'Everything Must Go' by Manic Street Preachers. It's a really pivotal album of my youth, and I'd write more about it, but their feature is far more comprehensive. So read that.
Here, though, is a b-side from one of the 'Everything Must Go' singles - Australia, I think - called 'Sepia'. It's ace and namechecks one of my favourite films. Everyone's a winner.
[download Manic Street Preachers - Sepia]
A mobster with a gay son. That's ironic.
Look, I don't always claim to be topical, alright? With that in mind, last night I saw the film 'Lucky Number Slevin', which came out earlier this year. Seeing as Josh Harnett's other recent film stank out the joint, and how the reviews have been middling, I was a little worried that it would be rubbish, but Paul McGuigan (The Acid House, Gangster #1) is a convincing reason to overcome my prejudices.
Fortunately, 'Lucky Number Slevin' is fanfuckingtastic. Great dialogue, really neat editing and cinematography, lots and lots and lots of deaths, a really tight twist-heavy plot, great cast, barely any women... also, Bruce Willis has a great haircut that screams "serial rapist".
Rent it now, it's great.
Lindsey: What happen to your nose?
Slevin: I used it to break some guy's fist.
"This is a wonderful show"
Portland icons and language enthusiasts The Decemberists just put out their newest record The Crane Wife and it's dead good. They're playing in Atlanta on Friday, and since I live about seven hours from there, I shan't be going. It's a pity, because I saw them there last summer, and they were terrific. Later in the year, they came to Tallahassee (unheard of!) and it was the best gig of 2005. No Florida date on this tour, alas, so I guess I'll have to make do with the live recording of their date at the Wiltern in Los Angeles last week.
It's pretty 'Crane Wife'-heavy, of course, although there's a sad lack of 'Yankee Bayonet', but 'Odalisque' is back in there, so rejoice rejoice. And Colin leads the audience in a vocal warm up exercise. Plus there's talk about nubian princesses, and we all need more of that.
The best way to listen to this: dress up your friends, and if possible your pets, as 19th century merchants, put fairy-lights up all around your living room and try to acquire enough sand to cover the floor.
[download The Decemberists - Live at the Wiltern, 2006-10-21]
You're only nineteen for God's sake
One time for the Long Blondes. There's no shortage of talk about them on the blog-front at the moment, since their debut album 'Someone to Drive You Home' just found its way onto the internet.
They're from Sheffield, like the Arctics, Human League, Pulp [see most recent post], and perpetual relegation. As it happens, the record is produced by Pulp's bass player, the fine-haired Mr. Steve Mackey. A lot of the tracks have been online for a while in earlier forms, and the album recordings are tighter, most notably opener 'Lust in the Movies', which I've bigged up in here before. It's in turns jaunty ('Once and Never Again', 'Seperated by Motorways'), dark and spoken-wordy ('You Could Have Both', 'A Knife for the Girls') and, for the most part, balls-out fun, best exemplified by previous single 'Giddy Stratospheres' (live video below!).
Like the other ace Sheffield album from earlier this year, these songs are simple, catchy and will stick in your head for ages. Unlike that record, though, this band has sexy ladies. Everyone's a winner.
I'm not gonna upload any songs from the record, but it's not too hard to find them on other great sites.
I wanna dance, that's all
Three updates in a day? I must really be slacking off elsewhere.
I wanted to do a post about the new Pulp reissues, and was dallying, so The Onion AV Club's feature today about their album This Is Hardcore was all the inspiration I needed. Pulp was the first band I ever saw in concert. It was March 1996, a few weeks after Jarvis became a household name thanks to invading Michael Jackson's stage at the Brit Awards. It began my now decade long love affair with both live music, and tie-wearing. Good stuff.
The band followed the sudden success of 'Different Class' with Jarvis getting into drugs and porn, and writing This Is Hardcore, released in 1998. The title track remains their best ever (I will fight anyone that disagrees, and what a video too), and with the glamtastic 'Party Hard', epic 'Seductive Barry', brooding 'The Fear', tender 'A Little Soul' and 'Dishes', it's a phenomenally dark and impressive album. Don't even get me started on the guitars in 'I'm A Man'...
The bonus CD that's part of the new reissue is equally fascinating. It begins with the scathing 'Cocaine Socialism', which is about a certain member of the Blair family and isn't too complimentary. Elsewhere, there's their attempt at a Bond theme ('Tomorrow Never Dies'), a string-heavy remix of 'This is Hardcore', and today's download, a song called 'It's A Dirty World', which would've made for a great subtitle for the record overall.
Just as an aside, Jarvis Cocker has a solo record coming out soon. There's a song you can download over at Fluxblog. Do that, won't you?
I am not Jesus, though I have the same initials.
[download Pulp - It's A Dirty World (Session Outtake)]
She looks like that dead girl! How sick are you?
There are many things which, popular wisdom dictates, you should never do. Drive whilst intoxicated, for instance. Punch a bear in the face. Call Mike Tyson a big, lisping twat. Add to this esteemed list, “watch Brian de Palma’s The Black Dahlia” because, friends, it’s balls. Not THE balls, which would be good, but just plain balls.
The 1940s noir look is slick, the costumes are dead on, everyone smokes, and the cinematography is pretty. Beyond that, there was nothing to enjoy about the most lumpen, painful and generally boring two hours since
None of the performances were great, and this from great actors! Aaron Eckhart undoes his cred-forming turn in Thank You For Smoking, Scarlett Johansson phones it in over a dodgy phone line. Hilary Swank (Oscar winner!) is okay as a lesbian femme fatale with a family that’s spectacularly crazy. And Josh Hartnett sort of drifts by.
The film is ostensibly about a
Never taken a short cut before?
Rejoice!
Two teasers are now online for the best film of 2007, Hot Fuzz.
Watch them now.
Nick Frost is great.
"Is it true that there's a place in a man's head that if you shoot it, it will blow up?"
http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/trailers/menu_hotfuzz.htm
(edit: SOULJACKER PART ONE... by eels. That's the song in there. It bugged me all day.)
Is it wrong to be strong?
Alright, I admit it. I don't really have a justification for loving Jackass: Number Two. There's obviously no plot, the first half features a lot of bare male ass, there's a decent wait until the vomit shows up, you get to see Wee Man's, erm, wee man, there's some horse shit, and someone drinks horse semen. There isn't even any Party Boy this time around!
Despite all this, it's still the most fun I've had at a movie for a while. There was more Knoxville and less Bam this time around, which I'm happy with. That said, there's one scene called 'The Switcheroo' which is Bam-instigated and fantastic. Further, there are a lot of animals in this one. The horse sex we've discussed, also some bulls, leeches, bees, sharks, and snakes (a lot of snakes). Plus John Waters, Academy Award winners (!) Three Six Mafia, and Jay Chandrashekar, a facefull of pubes, a rocket to the moon, and a Sideshow Bob style rake-to-the-face gag. Plus a lot of rocket-powered pranks.
I'd definitely recommend it, just take a shower afterwards.
There's blood on my laptop y'all
Last night was something of a rite de passage for me. I went to my first gig in my new hometown (Gainesville, FL), at the Common Grounds venue. It was nice to finally catch a show in what is, honestly, a poor town for live music. Opening up were The Ettes from L.A. and they were steadfastly okay. Seriously, a solid three-piece who had good dynamics, catchy hooks but nothing that you'd remember after they finished. They reminded me a LOT of the Sheffield band The Long Blondes, whose 'Lust in the Movies' is available here, and has been one of my most played of the last few weeks. Although the Ettes didn't really have anything as catchy, they were a decent support band.
The headliner was Girl Talk, who is just one dude, Gregg Gillis from Pittsburgh, and his laptop. Mashups were everywhere in 2002 in the UK, and then disappeared for awhile, and his album 'Night Ripper' combines having a shit-ton of illegal samples with being fantastic. The live show was a lot more surreal. Gregg took the stage in a full suit, said a few words, and hit play on the computer and then proceeded to invite the audience onto the stage, and then rock the fuck out. Beyonce's 'Ring the Alarm' was in there early, but it'd be pointless to go through all the songs played. Some were famous - 'Ain't No Other Man', 'Where Is My Mind?' - some were not. Gillis' on-stage energy was huge and everyone that made it up there before security stopped allowing more people up were having a great time. On the floor, it was less convincing, although by God, we tried.
Disaster struck when someone hit the wrong key on the laptop, so Rick Ross' 'Hustlin' got stuck on a loop. It takes a while for someone that isn't soaked in sweat to make it to the stage to fix the problem, and after that there's only time for one more song. It's Girl Talk's ill-advised, and honestly quite rubbish, cover of Nirvana's 'Scentless Apprentice' (see video below). Gregg is shirtless by this point and jumping off the stage, rolling on the floor, and generally being a bit weird. Great fun, great entertainment, great night's worth of dancing...
If you didn't come to party, then why did you come here?
No more songs about sex and drugs and rock n' roll
I know it seems like I write about these two bands a little disproportionately, but that's only because they played together recently, that's all. I promise this'll be the last post about We Are Scientists and Art Brut for a while.
The Rich Girls are Weeping has a download of WAS covering the Brut's 'Bang Bang Rock And Roll' from their split tour-only single. It's done in the style of the Velvet Underground. It's not, as promised, seventeen minutes long. Still no sign of Art Brut's cover of WAS' 'The Great Escape' which apparently is a 'Freebird' ripoff (Eddie's words).
[download We Are Scientists - Bang Bang Rock N' Roll]
Levitation ain't your only friend
Well, the Killers' new record is out today. Not shockingly, Sam's Town is not the greatest album of the last twenty years. But unlike most, apparently, I actually quite like it. Putting the intro after the first track is still daft, despite Flowers' explanation, but the segue from 'Enterlude' into single 'When You Were Young' works well. Since Hot Fuss was essentially a handful of great songs, a couple of good ones, and then a few crap ones, the only real disappointment for me is that Sam's Town has fewer great songs.
All the criticism that this record is too overblown, too MOR, too 80s... I don't really feel it. The last record, after all, had a gospel choir (they're back here, by the way), and to be fair to them, they'll never write another song as bad as the shimmering shit-pile that was 'Glamourous Indie Rock n' Roll.' The best bits here are still cheap-disco, big-chorus, dance-like-a-twat capital-F Fun.
'When You Were Young', with all its "burning down the highway skyline on the back of a hurricane" nonsense, is still a great summer single. (Although Rolling Stone's comments about the lyrics are worth a read). 'For Reasons Unknown' is huge. 'Bones' is ace and brassy. 'Uncle Johnny' is a cousin, or, well, an uncle, to 'Andy You're A Star'. Things tail off towards the end, as they did on the first album.
It's a little too easy to hate on The Killers these days, but Sam's Town shows that they still have a few tunes up their flowery sleeves. Based on what they look like these days, I think that they'd make for a great Halloween costume. If only I had three friends.
[The Killers on the Hype Machine]
Are you trying to mock me on live television?
Given that his 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' was so universally beloved, there's a lot of hype upon Michel Gondrey's new film 'The Science of Sleep'. Someone warned me that not only is it NOT the best film of the year, it's not even the best Michel Gondry film of the year (That'll be 'Dave Chappelle's Block Party').
Well, as you may expect, it's visually stunning. There's a lot of the homemade special effects that we've seen in many of his music videos. In fact, you don't have to watch Science too closely to find nods to his videos for 'Everlong', 'Bachelorette' or 'Deadweight'. The dream sequences are really arresting and there's a strong sense of fun throughout the film.
Where I thought it was lacking was the narrative. For a film rooted in dreams vs. reality, it is sometimes tough to keep up with. It's hard to love the (waking) characters, Gael Garcia Bernal's character is close to the line between sweet and creepy. His co-worker Guy is ace, though. Gondry wrote this one himself, and it doesn't carry the tenderness of Charlie Kaufman's scripts that he's worked with before.
Definitely see it if you can, but don't expect anything too amazing.
She's electric, got a family full of eccentrics
I saw 'Who Killed The Electric Car?' last night. Now, I'm pretty liberal politically, but from this one, even I was yearning for a little more balance. It's a really interesting documentary and all, with some nice interview footage of Tom Hanks and Mel Gibson (get this: Mel brings the crazy!) and it of course presents a great case for the electric car. All I'm saying is, it didn't really offer any perspective other than saying "Big oil companies / the Government / consumers were to blame". There's a good amount of resources on the film website, so if you're interested, give it a read. Good film, well presented, just could've given the bad guys more of a voice.
Nothing's right if you ain't here
There's a strong chance that everything Mark Lanegan touches turns to evil. In addition to his solo and Screaming Trees stuff, his collabs with Queens of the Stone Age and more recently, Isobel Campbell, are dark as aw'hell. Lately he's been working with The Twilight Singers who just announced a new tour. Their newest record, Powder Burns, is one of my faves of the year (and Denis Leary's), so I'm hoping to make that Orlando show. They're supported by Stars of Track and Field who sound like the kind of band I'd have liked maybe three years ago. There are a few songs you can get of theirs from Good Weather for Airstrikes. Check 'em.
But damn, on the Singers' Myspace they've just put up their cover of Live With Me by Massive Attack, and I can honestly say, it's pretty immense. The original, from the recent 'Collected' best-of, wasn't nearly this brooding or dark. Lanegan and Dulli singing together give it such an evil, sinister edge. Check it out now.
And here's a live video of them doing it. Heh, I said doing it.
Good Weekend
The Spinto Band / Art Brut / We Are Scientists
Club Downunder, Tallahassee, FL
September 22nd, 2006
British bands don't come to Florida, and when they do, they certainly don't come to Tallahassee. In the last three years, I can remember Arab Strap, Four Tet, Mogwai, and Andy Rourke from the Smiths. Even Elton John cancelled a show at the Civic Center. So you can imagine my excitement about Art Brut making the trek over. Apparently, lots of other people had the same excitement, because when The Spinto Band took their twelve-legged rock and roll machine to the stage, the house was nicely packed. Their set was good fun, solid indie and well enjoyed. To be honest, I was kind of preoccupied catching up with friends whom I hadn't seen since the spring, so I didn't give them the attention that they deserved. So I missed their between-songs anecdote about some bad stuff that happened to them in North London, the memory of which was triggered by my NORF LONDON t-shirt that they'd seen earlier in the night. Heard the story later from their guitarist Jon, who forgave my t-shirt shaped indiscretion.
Next up were the band for whom I'd made the trip. Straight into 'Back in Black', a fine choice of intro, before morphing into 'Formed A Band'. Jasper and Ian were a mess of hair, Converse and Shakira. Eddie Argos, meanwhile, had just chipped a tooth the previous day, and the significant pain was offset by a lot of alcohol. They played almost all of 'Bang Bang Rock N Roll', plus a couple of new ones, and 'These Animal Menswe@r'. There were a lot of blank faces in the crowd, although a lot of people were digging it. 'Bad Weekend' was introduced as a blues song. 'Emily Kane' featured a whole status report vis a vis Emily's getting back in touch with Eddie. During 'Moving To L.A.', everyone pointed at L.A. Great energy and great songs. The live Brut is beefier than the recorded Brut and twice as fun. Go and see them, already.
The headliners, We Are Scientists, had been to Club Downunder before, but in the ensuing eleven months, they've become really quite popular. Especially in the UK. But their return to Tallahassee was a sellout, and the expectations were high for their show. It's a shame, then, that they weren't very good at all. Don't get me wrong, I like them a lot. But on Friday, WAS were dirgy, flat, lethargic and just plain unimpressive. The songs were played really slowly, it felt, and whilst you can't criticise them for playing new songs, there seemed like way too many of those. The crowd seemed to respond - by the time set-closer and highlight 'The Great Escape' was played, augmented by Art Brut, the floor was maybe 70% full, in what had been a packed house. And I think a lot of people were turned off by Keith and Chris' initially-funny-but-eventually-quite-grating stage patter. Here's a picture of when Chris went upstairs to check out the view. In the middle of a song.
Incidentally, about an hour after the end of the gig, I found myself in the back seat of a car, between Eddie Argos and Michael Tapper (drummer for WAS), going to a house party, talking about kegstands. Eddie said that he doesn't do them anymore, ever since his mum found this video on YouTube.
All in all - go for the science, stay for the art.
Academic Excellence
Florida State University To Phase Out Academic Operations By 2010
Go Seminoles! After Lost and The Simpsons, someone else makes fun of my alma mater.Rock.
Attention! Unbelievers!
Good Weather for Airstrikes has the elusive non-demo recording of The Marshals Are Dead by Bloc Party. The scratchy demo has been around for ages, as have various live recordings, but this is the version touched by ‘Silent Alarm’ producer Paul Epworth, aka Phones, aka Epic Man. Check it.
This weekend I’m going to see We Are Scientists and Art Brut at my favourite live music venue in the
--
You already know that I quite love Guillemots. Well, their singer Fyfe Dangerfield recently covered 'Something Changed' by the much-missed Pulp (first gig I ever went to, fact fans!) and you can listen to it here. As if you needed me to tell you, it's ace.
--
Saw The Last Kiss this past weekend. It wasn't bad, by any means, just had the really strong sense of unimportance. Zach Braff's character, like most of the men, seemed troubled and self-important but without really having any reason to, and his resulting problems all were entirely his own doing and so it was hard to be sympathetic. The female characters really didn't have much dimension, and throwing in jokes sort of lessened the impact of how serious the film could've been. Why would Rachel Bilson's character be so interested in Braff's? Is "she's just like a man" really the best compliment they can pay to his girlfriend? Does Braff really need to say "fuck" as much as he does? There were more questions floating around afterwards.
--
Finally, some words about Arab Strap. Only saw them the once, in December 2003, when they came to aforementioned genius concert venue. I knew their cellist, Alan, because he toured with the Delgados as well, and so I was lucky enough to get in early, and catch them soundchecking. I've got a great picture of the whole band onstage with nobody in the audience, performing their song 'Fucking Little Bastards', one of my favourites.
Once the doors opened, the show was ace. There was a fire alarm halfway through, so everyone had to go outside, and then get back inside a few minutes later and straight back into 'New Birds'. It was a great gig, they're a great band, and I'll miss having them around. I'm glad, though, that it's completely amicable and like the Delgados, they'll still be working on their own solo stuff. If you're new to the Strap, I'd suggest checking out the record 'Monday At the Hug And Pint' - most people don't think it's their best, but I do. It's probably their most accessible. Here's me with Alan (middle) and Aidan. For a gruff beardy man, he has one hell of a voice.
Good Sunday
Here are the reasons why today was brilliant.
1. Arsenal beat Manchester United.
2. Arsenal beat Manchester United at Old Trafford.
3. Arsenal beat Manchester United without our two main strikers.
4. Arsenal beat Manchester United after the latter had a 100% record to start the season.
5. Arsenal beat Manchester United after the latter hadn't lost at home for nearly thirty games.
6. Arsenal beat Manchester United after missing a penalty early on.
7. Arsenal beat Manchester United with a goal in the last five minutes.
8. Arsenal beat Manchester United and it was thanks to a mistake by Christiano Ronaldo.
9. Arsenal beat Manchester United and I watched the whole thing live.
10. Arsenal beat Manchester United.
It's best to go out with a bang
MEMO TO BANDS I LOVE...
STOP BREAKING UP.
I'll write more about them later, but bad news from the Arab Strap camp.
Yes, it’s the end for Arab Strap. After ten years, six studio albums, three live albums and all manner of everything else, we’ve decided the story should come to a close. There’s no animosity, no drama, we simply feel we’ve run our course and The Last Romance seems to us the most obvious and logical final act of the Arab Strap studio adventure. Everybody likes a happy ending!
Here's my favourite Arab Strap song. I'm gutted.
[download Arab Strap - Soaps]
Spaceships over Glasgow
Here's the thing. I fucking love Mogwai. I was a little late to catch on, not converting until 'Come On Die Young' came out in 1999, but since then I've been a fierce advocate of theirs. The latest two albums haven't done too much for me, I have to say, but they're one of the most incredible bands you can ever see live. I'll never forget seeing them in November of 2001 at the Brixton Academy, and they played two of their loudest songs (Xmas Steps and Like Herod) back to back, with the latter being accompanied by a really minimal but effective lighting display that just KILLED. And the second time I saw them, it was in Tallahassee. I wrote about it at the time, read here.
Theirs is music to absorb. Music to listen to in the dark. Their album 'Rock Action' is probably the only music I can comfortably read with. Criticising them for not having lyrics is pretty dumb - they pack more emotion into a song like 'You Don't Know Jesus' or 'Mogwai Fear Satan', than many bands can capture in words.
I bring Mogwai up today, because of this page, where you can download a whole CD's worth of session recordings they did for the BBC. Not to be confused with their official release 'Government Commissions', here there are a whole set MORE of songs. Highlights: an early version of 'Waltz for Aidan', before the lovely Mr. Moffatt was even involved with it; an early take of my beloved 'Xmas Steps', here called 'Procedure 4'; their legendary Guns N' Roses cover; and what better way to go out than a twenty minute version of an old Jewish hymn, their epic 'My Father My King'.
[download Mogwai - Government Commissions, Vol 2]
Now I can finally get hepatitis!
Steve Pink co-wrote the screenplays for High Fidelity and Grosse Point Blank, so he's earned some points in his career already. He's also the director of Accepted, a film that's so banal and uninspired that even a soundtrack with the Pixies, Le Tigre and the Hives cannot breathe life into it.
Above all else, this film really lacks any sense of originality. The plot follows the age old 'make a lie out of desperation, watch it escalate uncontrollably, then have the "is it really that bad to lie?" speech at the end' routine. Like The School of Rock. Also, there's a stuffy academic who's trying to put the renegade heroes out of business. Like Old School. And they have to contend with preppy frat boys with a superiority complex. Ever seen Animal House? There's a scene towards the end of Accepted which is almost identical to the "Tell those assholes to shut up" scene.
Let's overlook this for some reason. The characters themselves are almost entirely unlikeable. Justin Long, an actor who I do not like, is the lead and has very little to offer other than a face that reminds me of a young David Schwimmer. Yes, handsome in an ugly sort of way. His is a dull character who initially is fast-talking and quick thinking, but quickly becomes actually quite boring. I'm no big punk purist, but if you are, you may want to avoid the film just for his assassination of Blitzkrieg Bop. His love interest makes a mid-movie switch from dating the jock nemesis, to dating our hero, who is painstakingly DIFFERENT to the jock. It's that easy. Other players kinda lack dimensions, too. There are the parents, who can only love their kid if he gets into college, the annoying younger sister, a kid with ADD whose name is also ADD, the weird hippie girl... Even Lewis Black phones in his performance. Jonah Hill gets a couple of laughs ("I hope you have hobo-stab insurance"), but they're lost in the averageness.
And another thing... according to this film, going to college (that's a real college, not, like, one that you and your buddies invented in an abandoned mental hospital using a website) is (a) sure to turn you into a zombie concerned only with grades, (b) sure to turn you into a haze-happy frat boy, (c) going to stifle your attempts at creativity, and (d) not nearly as good as going to a place where there's a class about Rocking Faces Off.
Rather than putting up a still from the movie, as I usually do, here's a picture of Feedback, the winner of Who Wants to be a Superhero?
From the illest part of the Western Hemisphere
Out this week, Game Theory by The Roots is getting shit-hot reviews. This may have something to do with how much of an improvement it is over the previous one, The Tipping Point, which, truth be told, wasn't too terrible. But now on a new home (Def Jam) and with the Jiggaman as a boss, they've made an album that doesn't get too self-indulgent and manages to stay focused. Only the closing tribute to J-Dilla clocks in at over five minutes, and sure enough, it's the weakest track on here. The return of former rapper Malik B on a few tracks provides a nice contrast to Black Thought's much-maligned monotone, and as ever the band cover a lots of bases. There's lady-friendly smooth jamz like Clock With No Hands and first single Don't Feel Right, the up-in-yo-face title track and In The Music, the Sly Stone aping Baby, and the short-but-ace flute workout Livin' In A New World.
Have a listen to Atonement, as chill as a good freezer, and boasting a sample from 'You and Whose Army?' by Radiohead. Really.
[download The Roots - Atonement]
Failure and Surrender
"As you have all heard hope of the states is no longer. " - Open letter from Sam Herlihy.
Here's another indispensable non-album track from the band.
They'll be sorely missed.
[download Hope of the States - The Last Picture Show]
These ain't the last days at all
Following the lukewarm reception to their newest record (not least from this site), comes the as-yet unconfirmed announcement that Hope of the States could be heading to splitsville following this weekend's Carling Weekender shows. Sure, it doesn't say "The band is breaking up", but for them to not play live anymore, it can't be a good sign, can it?
I would be really sad to see them go. I stand by the fact the newest record, 'Left', sounds unambitious and kind-of-like a better Embrace. Outside of some soaring choruses, I found little to fall in love with. And this is all the more frustrating because when they first came out, they had so much promise to them, which they delivered upon with 'The Lost Riots'. I can't articulate very well how much that record means to me, but this review from the NME puts it close. Suffice to say that 'Enemies/Friends' will always be one of my favourite songs.
If the rumour is indeed true, then shit, let's go out on a bang. Today's song is their usual set-closer 'Static in the Cities', a song so good that they never bothered to officially record it. This is the demo version of the track, and the band realised that they'd never be able to improve on it. This song kinda captures everything that I love about HOTS. From humble beginnings to the Apocalypse over about eight minutes, I always thought it'd make a better album finale than '1776', but maybe that's just me. Enjoy!
[download Hope of the States - Static in the Cities (demo)]
(go to thehalfwayhome for lots of bootlegs and rarities)
[UPDATE: Steve Lamacq wrote a guest entry at the nme.com blog saying:
"It is with a heavy heart that I sit here, having just witnessed the last Hope Of The States gig. Watching the as ever, charismatic Sam wandering off stage at the end was one of the most poignant sights I've seen this year. But then Reading, for the most part, hasn't been the place for massive pop landscapes, the like of which HOTS specialised in."
And he would know. Balls.]
They're novelettes!
I don't really have much to post about tonight. I begin law school in twelve hours' time, so I'm hoping to have an early night, maybe watch 'Akeelah and the Bee' til I fall asleep.
But, rather than leave you suckers hangin', here's a short clip from The Mighty Boosh. It's one of the funniest things I've seen in years. If you don't think it's hilarious, fair enough. But you should probably loosen your tie and chill.
Enjoy!
The pre-eminent Proust scholar in the U.S
To atone for the brain cells which may've died on Friday night during Snakes, I went today to watch Little Miss Sunshine with the girlfriend and a lot of Sunday afternoon old folks. Nice to see the Science of Sleep trailer on the big screen beforehand. That Gondry sure is mental.
Little Miss Sunshine is riding on a wave of really great reviews, is released by a trendy studio, and has Sufjan on the soundtrack. It has the potential to drown in some sort of hipster mudslide. Luckily, it's brilliant and you should all see it. There are a lot of laugh out loud moments, characters you can really warm to, some really uncomfortable parts, and it never has any of that "LOOK! WE'RE MAKING A STATEMENT!" gaudiness. The soundtrack, with a lot of Devotchka songs, is spot on, and although there are a couple of parts where it gets a little too slapstick/crazy (there's a corpse scene), the performances are so earnest that it's hard not to at least like the film.
Going down faster than a Thai hooker
Look, the title was Snakes on a Plane, and frankly, nobody has any reason to be disappointed. It delivered exactly what it promised. Definitely not a classic, nor even something I'd watch again, but dear lord, was it fun. From the guy in Gainesville who had printed out a picture of Sam from The Man and taped it onto his t-shirt to this dude from Tallahassee, people were excited, and the fact that the opening titles say SNAKES in huge letters and then ON A PLANE in much smaller letters got everyone cheering. The acting was pretty poor from the start, especially from Nathan Phillips, and there's a Chinese gangster, Eddie Kim, who beats a prosecutor to death with a bat and screams 'Whoo!' in the process.
Does anything else really matter about the film? Snakes, and indeed people, get killed in a variety of gruesome and hilarious ways. There was lots of hi-fiving in the crowd. Kenan is funny. The lines are corny. David Ellis said he wanted it to be taken seriously, and not just enjoyed on a "so bad it's good" level, but as long as people are enjoying it, what does it matter? I sure enjoyed it - perhaps not as much as the guy who saw it ten times in a row at my favourite cinema in America - and if there is a sequel, I'd see it.
As a footnote... the theme to Snakes on a Plane is by Cobra Starship, a supergroup comprising various blokes and, for clearly no reason other than to appeal to males, the singer from The Sounds. The song itself is pretty rubbish, of course, but Sounds lady looks really uncomfortable in it. Maybe that's what happens when there's a guest cameo from Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy. I guess I'd be uncomfortable too. Check the film, laugh at the music video.
Woke up with a shoe in my mouth
Today's post is about the album "Through the Windowpane" by Guillemots. It's nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, and I sincerely hope it wins. Perhaps you've heard their "Made Up Lovesong #43" which is effortlessly sweet, daft and lovely. The album is really ambitious, and I like that it doesn't always work - there are a lot of open spaces, where it's just the singer's voice over very bare backing, and even though his voice is pretty special, at times it's not that great. But oh shit, when they get it right...
Especially check out the last track, Sao Paolo, which lasts for ages and is layer upon layer of awesomeness.
[download Guillemots - Les Black Sessions (full show)]
She has a real problem with promiscuity
I saw a handful of films in the past week. Mostly because, as the summer is winding down, I need to utilize all possible moments with mindless, unimportant crap, before law school crushes me and my gentle and adorable spirit.
First up, Water. Another Fox Searchlight winner, I was amazed that it was playing at our local dollar theater. Read this, about the making of the film. Death threats, secret location changes, and so on. The movie itself was very pretty, very sad and very good. The darker sides of religious fundamentalism come out to play, and it’s set against the rise of Gandhi in the late 1930s. Check it out if you can.
Pretty much as different from that as you can get, is John Tucker Must Die. Have you seen Mean Girls? Or How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days? Or Never Been Kissed? Or Down With Love? Or any other “pretend to like someone just to ultimately get revenge upon them, and whatever you do, DON’T actually fall in love with them – oh, crap” film? Well, then, you have the idea. This one could have been good, but where Mean Girls liked to be intelligent and catty, this just went for thong jokes, or volleyball-to-the-face jokes. And also the line “She likes early Elvis Costello, and listens to podcasts, and reads Dave Eggers. She’s deep.” And, sorry for the spoiler, but John Tucker doesn’t die, although it would’ve been great if the last scene was him getting hit by a bus.
After years of rubbish films, Woody Allen regained a lot of respect last year for Match Point, and his new film is called Scoop. He’s in it, again, and he’s the best part of it. He talks and talks and talks, and Scarlett Johansson does the same, less convincingly. It’s a fun film, there’s a “Boat of Death” and Hugh Jackman is very charming. The plot isn’t amazing, but it’s enjoyable, so check it if you can.
Finally, I caught last year’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was very day-glo, as you’d expect from Tim Burton. Depp was alright in it, he had a few good lines, but it was really unsatisfying. There was a lot of back story about Willy Wonka’s dad, which was really weird and didn’t fit very well. Overall, it was the equivalent of a fistful of fudge – cool for a little while, but ultimately thick and gross.
