Thursday, January 08, 2004

Best flicks?

Best movies of 2003? That's a tough one indeed. Honey is on the top ten, hands down. Oh, and Gigli.

No, honestly, did anyone see Pieces of April? I liked it, but I was especially surprised to recently find out that the movie only cost $200'000 to make. That's crazy! I believe the director used digital cameras instead of highly expensive film to shoot the movie. But really, I had a hard time telling the difference. It gives me hope as a student director that I just might be able to make movies free of studio interference after all.

Nice stores Gabe! Free shipping is nice. Fight the evil Amazon and get your copy of Ocean's 11 in one quick stroke kids!

Best Movies?

I thought about doing this but I can't remember everything that came out earlier in the year. I've been trying to find a list somewhere on the Internet that might list every movie that came out in certain years. IMDB couldn't even do it! Oh well. In America made a lot of top ten lists but it originally came out in 2002. So, what can you do? That was a good one by the way.

I have a couple of suggestions for Brock and all of you imaginary readers out there for purchasing CDs and DVDs on the web. They are Deep Discount CD and Deep Discount DVD. They often beat out prices of other places. Plus, buying from them is better than from the giant conglomerate that is Amazon. One gripe - the items can take a long time to arrive if you go with standard (but free) shipping.

Tuesday, January 06, 2004

Brock's Favorite Albums of 2003

Motivated or contrived, you decide. Seriously though, this is my list of favorite albums for 2003. I realize that there are only six albums listed here, but I felt that six was all that I could list. Although at least ten of my musical purchases this year where 2003 releases, I came to ask myself, ‘which albums from this year did I truly like?’ These are the few albums that I felt could be more then ‘good releases from the year 2003’. But for now, they’re simply my favorite from 2003.

Small Brown Bike - The River Bed
This album seems even better now with Small Brown Bike’s breakup then it did when I purchased it months ago. Tearful references aside: perhaps this was a glimpse at the direction Small Brown Bike hoped to take with future releases. Certainly, the lyric’s repeated reference to siblings and family account for some of its meaning. Whatever that meaning might be, the powerful guitars, drumming and songwriting display a unique direction for the band. New avenues will never be explored, but truly, The River Bed brings one to ask, ‘do they have to be?”

The Casket Lottery - Possiblies and Maybes
What more can I say? It’s an essential collection of songs for every Casket Lottery fan. It’s a gem, plain and simple. Here’s to their upcoming EP.

Hey Mercedes - Looses Control
I really can’t say that anything else on this album strikes me as well as Nanna’s lyrical play. It’s only with word-proficiency comparable to Wes Anderson that Bob can spout off strings of dialogue like “Goodnight, bloodsuckers. Sleep tight in your traps. The cheapest trash gets bought so fast.” I’d love to be able to think of stuff like that off the top of my head every time I meet one of Indy Rock’s detractors. Lyrics aside, Looses Control proves that Hey Mercedes is just a bunch of rockers out to have a good time. That alone puts them above the rest of Vagrant’s ‘emo’ lineup.

The Fire Theft - The Fire Theft
2003 was a year of hyped up comebacks. Unfortunately the hype proved to be greater then the product in many cases. New bands touted by legendary musicians fell flat on their face, possibly suggesting that you simply cannot reclaim your former glory. And then The Fire Theft was released. Fantastic songs, great production, dreary but melodic soundscapes, The Fire Theft had it all. Even more astounding was the impact achieved when you listen to the album from start to finish. It truly is an epic ride, complete with tragic ballads and wistful rockers. The album’s dark closer, Sinatra, seals the deal.

Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
You won’t find popular songs like ‘Clocks’ or ‘Seven Nation Army’ on this album. You won’t hear of wild escapades between Thom Yorke and Gwyneth Paltrow. And you most certainly can’t expect to find an over-hyped, media driven status quo of a band performing on Hail to the Thief. Rather, you’ll find some of the best songs released this year. These songs provide an audio commentary on humanity deeper then most social commentary books ever could. Most notable of all, the band has managed to reconcile their electronic equipment with more traditional instruments. (Moreover, Thom Yorke’s ghostly howl has never sounded better)
Hail to the Thief has established itself as more then one of the best albums of 2003. Rather, it goes on to join Kid A and OK Computer in a place that only Radiohead can lay a claim to, a place where you won’t find Chris Martin or Gwyneth.

Rocky Votolato - Suicide Medicine
Is Rocky Votolato a one-man army fighting against the evils of the corporate empire, or is he heir to the thinking man’s rock? Suicide Medicine leads one to believe that he may be both. His lyrics and songwriting however leads me to believe that he may one day come to be the latter of the two, which would truly be fitting in light of songs like ‘Alabaster’, ‘Every Red Cent’ and ‘Prison is Private Property’.
With a vehemence missing from ‘similar’ artists, Rocky delves into material that goes well beyond the tortured relationship or boy likes girl dynamic. He builds a series of songs that darkly glide over the recesses of his life. They shed light into the mind of a person disgusted by the mass-produced attitude of big label music and the money driven lackeys that fuel it. They even manage to spark an inkling of thought in the listener. When I look back at everything music was this year, I realized that for most popular artists sensationalized by MTV and the media, sparking thought came last on their list of objectives, if it even came at all. That’s why Rocky (and Radiohead) are tops. Sparking thought seemed to be one of the top things on their agenda.

Gabe's Best Albums - 2003

Besides not having much time to write up reviews or an analysis for each album, I'm much too lazy. I'm not saying Brock has all the time in the world, but I think he's more motivated than me. This list may change if I realize I completely left one out. I had a hard enough time trying to remember all the albums I bought that came out this year. It was also difficult sorting them in order.

So, not only are the best albums for me of 2003, they were also the only albums I bought that came out in 2003. I bought other albums, but they were older ones.

1. Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
Just a great album with a couple songs that could actually bring me to tears.

2. The Fire Theft - S/T
Very close to being number one, very close.

3. Rocky Votolato - Suicide Medicine

4. The Casket Lottery - Possiblies and Maybes
Much listened to.

5. Small Brown Bike - The River Bed
RIP

6. Jeff Buckley - Live at Sin'e
Possibley could've been higher on the list but I've only had it a week.

7. Cursive - The Ugly Organ

8. Hey Mercedes - Loses Control
Love the guys, but the other albums were tough to beat.

Monday, January 05, 2004

For sure

You'll get the first half of my 2003 recaps tomorrow, I think. Some of them are lengthy for an album. A paragraph or two for each highlight I'd say. And as you probably know, I'll be dishing out 'the bad' in addition to 'the good'.


Hoo boy...