Brock and I plan on doing our first music video. Just one for fun, to get experience. It will be "Leaving Town" by The Casket Lottery. Shhh, don't tell them!
With that in mind consider this frail form limping among giants. Picture an album only a few years old getting a face-lift and being tossed into the fray with serious contenders like Mascis and Malkamus. I am of course talking about Reggie and the Full Effect and their re-released debut album, “Greatest Hits”.
Punctuating this revisiting of their old stomping grounds, The Full Effect has retouched the album with new artwork and 7 new songs not found on the original release. Those songs, aptly titled the Lord of the Blings saga, as well as other recordings, could have easily fit on an EP or some other Vagrant compilation. But here they are, along with the original Full Effect songs that gained the band infamy a short while ago. Don’t think for a second though that I’m reprimanding Reggie and the Full Effect for this re-release, don’t even consider it. You see, these songs, clever and so typically Reggie in their own unique styling, are far better then anything to be found in the Moon and Antarctica’s extra recordings. They’re fast, synthy, and in some cases absolutely ludicrous. In other words, they’re Reggie and the Full Effect at their best. Some of the song titles practically drip in overly enthralling dramatics (like “Raining Blood”). Meanwhile, the album itself is the same as always, if not a little better then the first time I heard it. Reggie and the Full Effect have never been better then on their first effort, and I’m beginning to think that no matter how great future releases are they never will be. That’s what makes this re-release so relevant.
Yet, with the lack of reason behind this re-release I fear I’ve found perhaps the biggest Reggie joke of all. The Greatest Hits re-release was never meant as a serious re-issuing of a classic album. You see it only serves to mock albums that consider themselves as such.
We never really talked about them (as they weren’t exactly one of our favorite bands), but just so you know, Year of the Rabbit recently broke up. Why, I have no idea. I didn’t expect them to last too long though. I guess that means that Failure remains the longest running project Ken Andrews has been involved in.
Aside from the Casket Lottery show, we had some memorable moments in California. The walk down Hollywood Boulevard was especially notable to me since I’d like to work there one day. I also liked the beach, and I found some time in between the show and sights to read a short collection of Earnest Hemmingway stories and even pen the beginnings of my own short story.
We stayed in some nice areas of California, areas I hadn’t seen before. Hollywood and the beach weren’t the only things we saw. We also saw some massive skyscrapers in L.A. and the Mid-Evil Times restaurant. (We didn’t eat there though…)
The downside to seeing the great performance by The Casket Lottery was missing Modest Mouse’s appearance on David Letterman. I’m sure I can find a video of it somewhere on the net though. Did anyone happen to see it on TV? If so, what did you think? It’s just insanely cool to me that a band like Modest Mouse can walk into a theater where the likes of Jessica Simpson and Avril Lavigne have stood, and turn out a great, yet terribly dark song to millions of viewers. Gabe and I complain about smaller artists like The Casket Lottery going unnoticed, but there are triumphs for underground music here and there. With The Casket Lottery’s show and Modest Mouse’s television appearance, I’d say Friday, as a whole, was a triumph.
Am I on? Hello?
Yes, indeed. The Casket Lottery show @ The Che Cafe was stupendous! First of all, the setting was inspiring, a small artsy cafe surrounded by trees on the campus of UCSD (University of California San Diego). The weather was great and we were anxious to see them, after having missed them the night before in Hollywood.
I knew it was going to be awesome when Nathan asked me to help him do the set list. Holy crap, that's never happened to me! What an honor, I must say. It must've been in appreciation of my obsessive fanboyness of The Casket Lottery. When asked to come out to their van, I thought he might turn around, punch me in the stomach, and say "quit stalking us!" Fortunately that didn't happen.
Songs I requested were "One Trick Pony," one of my favorites, "Vista Point," one of the wife's favorites, "Heaven Help Me", knowing it was one of Brock's favorites from Survival is for Cowards, "The Bridge" and "On the Air," because he wanted to play at least one new song. They started out with a 12 song setlist, but because his voice was shot and they were driving to their next destination that night, they cut down to like 9 or 10. Despite that, however, it was the best show they put on that I've seen. And as Brock mentioned, possibly one of the best shows ever.
A major highlight was "Lost at Sea." They dressed it up a little and it sounded really good live. Thanks to their friend, Brent, for helping them out to make those songs possible.
I also videotaped the show on my brand new Panasonic mini-DV camcorder. Brock will pleased to know that it came out quite good for the circumstances. I'm working on editing it now.
More about the entire California trip later. Brock, feel free to expound on it.
I finally got around to renting Lost in La Mancha the other day (and watching it tonight), and I have to say it’s a tremendous documentary. The fact is that any film is subject to a number of difficulties at any time during its production and misfires litter the Hollywood landscape. This neat little documentary was utterly heartbreaking to watch because Gilliam’s other films tend to be unique, cerebral masterpieces. He’s a fantastic visionary, but I have to say that he came across as a real tight ass in this “un-making of” film.
Every little thing had to be absolutely perfect with him. Now, I know directors have a certain vision that they have to pursue…I’ve experienced that on a much smaller scale, but he was utterly tyrannical in my opinion. He was surrounded with all of these brilliant producers, crewmembers and actors, a true wealth of talent, and yet the second something went wrong he exploded in a blitz of four-letter expletives. He certainly didn’t seem to pose leadership and guidance to his film crew. I think he was, in essence, a mess.
I was disappointed that the film didn’t delve further into his ideas regarding the script though, which seemed to be a revisionist slant to the Don Quixote tale. I was also a little angry that the documentary chose not to delve into some of the conversations and ideas that Johnny Depp shared with Gilliam. There’s a part when Depp first arrives on location and he begins to discuss the script and his character with Gilliam, and then the documentary cuts away to a completely different aspect of the production. I would have really enjoyed seeing how Depp works with other directors (he’s allegedly very hands-on in the creation of his characters and their role in the film) and it was a shame Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe decided not to expand upon that. Or they just didn’t get that footage, whatever.
Gabe, his wife Beckah and I went to see the Casket Lottery in California last week. I won’t say much about it, because I think it’s better Gabe divulge the details (if he feels like it) but I will say Friday’s show at the Ché Café was the absolute best Casket Lottery set I have ever seen. Maybe one of the best gigs I’ve seen.
Modest Mouse’s conquest of mainstream media will reach a high point tomorrow when the band will appear on the Late Show with David Letterman. On a show that’s viewed by millions of people worldwide the Mouse will play not Float On, nor Ocean Breaths Salty, but Satin in a Coffin. Yes, you heard me, Satin in a Coffin, one of the darker elegies on their newest album. I’m sure Letterman will like it.
But in addition to their late night appearances the Mouse also honored the online music store iTunes recently by creating their own “celebrity playlist”. If you’ve viewed the iTunes store you know that a “celebrity playlist” is basically a mix put together by some famous person, like Beyonce or Avril Lavigne. Modest Mouse’s playlist joins the ranks with some very weird dance hall tunes and jazz compilations. Check it out.
On another note, Gabe and I are a tad worried that this current Casket Lottery tour may be their last. No doubt some of you noticed the cryptic message the band’s frontman recently posted. Hopefully that isn’t the case, but either way, be sure to see one of their shows if they’re coming your way.
And yeah, the new blogger is funky. But hey, guess what Gabe? We’ve got 401 posts. Heh, or so it tells me.
Wow, the new Blogger is funky.
Ah, yes. The great heat spectacle that was Coachella. Brock summed up the experience nicely. I agree with him that The Pixies were the main highlight of the weekend, though, Mogwai was up there for me. They are an instrumental sonic-rock band that likes to layer the guitars. Some songs featured three guitars. Pretty awesome.
I would've like to have seen MF Doom more closely and for his whole set, but Marco was very, very hungry.
Acting class came to a close for me on Monday. I got an "A". Watch out, here I come...
The insurmountable heat that had pervaded the first day of the festival wasn’t forgotten when we woke up Sunday morning; we were all still a little drained from the previous experience. Yet as we got ready and planned to be at the festival around three we didn’t plan to encounter the bloated traffic leading up and into the festival. After more then two hours of “stop and go” traffic we parked in the dusty festival grounds and questioned once again why we were there. Somewhere around this point Gabe stated, “This was my first festival and it’ll probably be my last”. I think Alex, Marco and myself all agreed to that. It just wasn’t worth it to spend two hours packed in traffic waiting to go to a field jammed pack with 50’000 sweaty humans so we could watch music from a distance. We felt like freaking sardines.
Thankfully, by the time we got there the heat was subsiding. Moreover, we got to watch bands like Cursive, Belle and Sebastian and Air as we waited for Sunday’s headliners.
Speaking of those groups for a moment, I must say that I was extremely disappointed with Cursive’s performance. Gabe had mentioned it to me before we entered the festival, but I didn’t believe him until got to see for myself how sloppy and disjointed the band is live. It’s a humongous disappointment for me because they sound so very cool on their album. I guess they’re just a band that shapes up in the studio.
At the very least they weren’t annoying like Belle and Sebastian, who I wanted more then anything to strangle with a stray mike cord. They’re everything a popped up, substance drained version of the Beatles might be: catchy, cheery, pleasant, but utterly detestable.
It goes without saying that we left the main stage before Belle and Sebastian could finish so we could fork over some more cash to the festival’s overpriced food and drink vendors. After that we headed back to the main stage to stake out a spot for the Flaming Lips and watch Air.
I’ll be honest, I loved Air, but I’m positive that it wasn’t Gabe and Marco’s cup of tea. It was electronic music though, and that’s one of those things that you either love or hate.
After Air’s performance we all began to see some of the bands we were especially excited about, like The Flaming Lips, Mogwai, Basement Jaxx and the Cure.
The Flaming Lips
A fan on the official Coachella message board described the Lips’ performance at the festival by simply stating “over the top”, and I think I agree with him. It was loud, bombastic, and just a tad bit cheesy. But it worked in such a phenomenally energizing way that I’m almost positive they would have done better as headliners then the Cure. I can’t bad-mouth the Cure, but I can say that The Flaming Lips were ridiculously good despite the fact that they only played a 4-song set. Most of it was Wayne Coyne playing games with the audience, but they made the night memorable.
Basement Jaxx
After the Flaming Lips I departed for the outdoor theater to watch Basement Jaxx drop some beats on a very welcoming audience. In all truth, there wasn’t a single person who wasn’t hopping under that theater. People left and right were grooving to Jaxx’s piercing trip-hop grooves and thrashing electronic beats. I even wormed my way into the crowd and began to dance.
Around this time Gabe and Marco were watching Mogwai in one of the festival tents. I can’t say how that show was, but both attested that it was loud and enjoyable.
The Cure – Day 2 Headliners
The Cure wrapped up the second day at the Coachella festival, but I’m not a hundred percent sure they were the best way to end what was otherwise a brilliant weekend of musicians. My doubt stems from several different origins though: For one I’m not a big Cure fan. They’ve got some great songs, but I haven’t heard enough of them to get involved in a live performance.
Second, Robert Smith just didn’t seem to be into it. True enough, we were quite a ways away from the main stage, and Smith’s shtick has always been that of the moper. But there was nothing to identify with in his moping that night. His sullen resignation wasn’t that of the disappointed, but rather that of a man who had just wiped the bank clean and didn’t have to give much in return.
Third, we left early to beat the traffic, so we didn’t catch the entire show. Still, reviews have been disappointing. Most everyone crowned the Pixies as the champions of that weekend, not the Cure.
All in all it was a daunting experience. I think we were both overjoyed and disappointed by some of the things that occurred at Coachella. Marco was more then a little unhappy with the festival’s apprehension of nearly everything you brought onto the polo grounds, including bottles of water. The free water the festival provided was really nothing more then water out of a hose. The clots of t-shirt vendors and merchandizing didn’t help abolish the greedy image the festival projected either.
And while the heat was near unspeakable, we’re Phoenix residents. We’ve been through summers numbering in the hundred and twenty-degree range. It wasn’t until we maneuvered around the near endless seas of people that the worst of the weekend came out.
And on a slightly different note, wouldn’t it have made more sense for Modest Mouse to open up for the Flaming Lips on the second day of the festival?
Ah well…
I hope you all enjoyed a good laugh at my “fesitval” miss spelling. I guess that one slipped by my sight. It stays up until tonight as a shame example for a vapid ass like myself.
Speaking of which…
I hope the first Coachella write up wasn’t too much. Believe me, there’s plenty more I could have told you about, but I stuck with the highlights in case there was something Gabe wanted to mention. I’d tell you when to expect the second day’s write up but I’ve been known to phase out due dates. Probably tomorrow, that’s all I’ll say.
These were the set lists for the respective key players on Saturday by the way:
Pixies Bone Machine/U-Mass/Isla De Encanta/Wave of Mutilation/Brocken Face/Cactus/Caribou/No. 13 Baby/Gouge Away/Tame/Monkey Gone To Heaven/Debaser/Velouria/Hey/Gigantic/Nimrod's Son/Here Comes Your Man/Vamos/In Heaven - Where Is My Mind/Into The White
Radiohead Intro - Where Bluebirds Fly/There There/2+2=5/Lucky/Myxomatosis/My Iron Lung/Exit Music (for a film)/The Gloaming/Karma Police/Sail to the Moon/I Might Be Wrong/Sit Down. Stand Up./No Surprises/The National Anthem/Paranoid Android/Idioteque/Street Spirit (fade out)
Encore: You and Whose Army?/Planet Telex/Creep/Everything in its Right Place
It came as no small irony during Beck’s set list at Coachella when the folk singer hummed out the line “there’s too many people” before a group numbering in the hundreds. As he held on to that lyric, I glanced around to see the hundreds of bodies crowded around a tent that was probably only intended to hold 150 people. The Coachella festival was packed.
Reviews and articles that flooded the media after the festival have reported the attendance to be a record high nearing 50’000 people during both days of the festival. And if those numbers seem ludicrous to read, believe me, they didn’t seem ludicrous at all come Saturday afternoon when Gabe, myself and Marco arrived at the Empire Polo grounds.
Our first day at the festival started off a little shaky. Before Beck’s disappointing appearance we caught some of the “…Trail of the Dead” at the outdoor theater. In hindsight we probably should have stayed there and watched the whole damned thing, because right after Beck we came back to the theater to watch Death Cab for Cutie.
The languid Beck performance had seriously dampened my spirits, and even though the Death Cab and Trail of the Dead sets were both well played, they also put a dent in my personal armor. Groups like Trail of the Dead and Death Cab were great, but it wasn’t like they were bands I couldn’t normally see in Phoenix (at a better ticket price no less). We were baking in the sun and paying marked up prices for lukewarm bottles of water and frozen lemonade. People were lying all around us getting high and t-shirt vendors littered the field. It was at that moment that I considered that I had made a mistake in coming to the festival.
And then the Pixies played.
Pixies
Although I was fairly down on myself before their performance, the Pixies uplifted my spirits and made the entire weekend worthwhile. No band at that festival, save for the Cure has a reputation quite like the Pixies. The Pixies even has the better of the doubt in the case of the Cure, for while some fans either hate or like the Cure’s newer material, most every Pixies fan feels their newer and older works to be equally respectable. Simply put, they’re legends. I’ve seen hype before though, and more often then not the hype isn’t lived up to. But the Pixies lived up to their hype; they excelled to a plain beyond the hype. Their performance Saturday night was so good that every band I saw that day, including my favorite, Radiohead, all palled in comparison.
Tell your friends that the Pixies live and that they conquered that festival like no other.
Radiohead - Day 1 headliner
Radiohead’s performance was brilliant as well, but after such a tremendous showing it was hard to say that they were the best band there that day. Clearly the Pixies were victorious in that regard, but Radiohead’s set was worthy proof that they were the best choice for Saturday’s headliners. Thom Yorke’s voice was riddled with laryngitis, but he still jittered and convulsed across the stage to angular pieces like Myxamatosis and crooned during quieter moments like Exit Music.
The real highlight of the night came though with the band’s encore performance of Creep. In this entire tour I think they’ve played Creep once, maybe twice. But they broke it out Saturday night “for the Pixies”. “Back in college, Pixies and R.E.M. changed my life” Yorke earnestly stated to the multitudes.
Ah yes, Brock and I will be basking in the sound waves of the Coachella Music Festival. We'll tell you all about it when we get back and get done with school and projects. Yee haw.
I know exactly what Brock means. I also haven't posted due to being very busy myself.
Brock beat me to Ted Leo, despite my championing of him. I do have him performing live on a couple DVDs and a handful of downloaded songs, just never picked up their material.
When I gather myself back up, I'll post more.
Probably one of the most rewarding (or agonizing) things for a blog reader is to have a post of enormous proportions dropped upon him/her after a week without anything. Yet, you’ll have to forgive me, for I’m about to pull a Pitchfork.
Plainly said, I’ve led a very busy life lately. A brand new screenwriting contest is on the horizon and I’ve had to put in some personal time cleaning up my script and rewriting it in time for my next submission. This semester of school is also rapidly drawing to a close. All of these things, school, the script, and a gaggle of other tedious tasks call for my attention. And as much as I’d like to blog, I’m so worn out by the time I finish other matters that I simply cannot summon the energy to post something meaningful. Quality over quantity I suppose. Or, if you’d prefer, I’ll never fill up a week with meaningless “I’m still alive” posts when I could be giving you news, links or something worthwhile.
But that’s that, and this is this. Since I last spoke to you I’ve been heavily drawn into Modest Mouse’s new CD, which I’ll get to in my next post, and I’ve also discovered some albums that I had previously neglected.
Now, I’ll briefly state that I’m strongly against burning music and trading it in most cases. But these were CD’s that I had always told myself I would get but always let fall by the wayside. When I was offered them for simply copying and mailing my Modest Mouse collection, I couldn’t resist. And I’m glad I didn’t.
Ted Leo is everything you want from rock and more. One of the biggest trends in recent years has been for guitar-slinging garage dwellers to pick up their instruments and crank out shabbily produced rock tunes. The White Stripes made it a statement and the Strokes made it a standard. But none of those guys come close to the rock of Ted Leo and his Pharmacists.
This is one of the times I’m inclined to agree with Pitchfork. Ted Leo has taken everything meaningful about this medium and discarded its meaningless fashion statements into a void. Where other guitarists emulate one another again and again, Leo’s guitar thrashes along harmoniously, a distinct extension of the group’s front man/literati. And his voice…it hoops and hollers.
I’m a little late to the Ted Leo craze, but I’m glad I finally listened to his work. He’s fantastic, and if you haven’t had a chance to check him out yet, I strongly urge you to.
It's only 6 minutes to noon and I already feel like I've dodged two fatal bullets this morning. For starters, the core block of film classes, which I had neglected to register for last week, was still available to me this week. So I'm all set for the fall. And then there was the untimely incident of Coachella's Day 1 being sold out. For those of you who got tickets (myself included), rejoice. You'll soon be sharing an entire polo field with the Pixies and Radiohead.
We’ll see how my fortunes hold out as the day marches on. I’ve still got some work to churn out and I’ve got a big test tonight in cinema class.
Today I’m doing a little screenwriting work and contemplating my final projects for this semester. The teacher in digital multimedia introduced my next and final project last night: to create a sonic landscape on the computer using purely audio samples. No pictures, no footage, just editing pure, raw audio.
I’ve been listening to Good News for People Who Love Bad News quite a bit, and I have to say I like it. A lot. But I don’t plan on writing a review for it. I think Gabe covered the album pretty well in his review and I agree with his thoughts. For me, it’s an enjoyable album. Whoever thought ‘Dance Hall’ belonged on it though should be shot. I have no idea how you can consider past works, like ‘Wild Pack of Family Dogs’ or ‘Doing the Cockroach’ and say to yourself, ‘Yeah, Dance Hall is a worthy addition to our catalogue.’
That being said, I do want to write something up about the album in the next few days or so. Not a review, but rather a glimpse at some of the lyrics and what could have been.
Yeah, it’s been quite some time since we’ve posted. But thankfully, Gabe delivered the goods today with that pair of reviews. As for me, there’s been the draining experience of my Monday night class: Introduction to Cinema. (Pull up a chair kids; it’s story time.)
Introductory to Cinema is a humanities class that I have to take in order to complete my degree. It’s kind of notorious among students as being an “easy ride”. A large number of people every semester enroll in this class because all you have to do is watch movies in order to earn credits.
The thing is, every now and then a film major spills over into the class because their major requires them to know a little bit about film history. In this class they can watch Chaplin films and learn a bit about Georges Melies.
As a film student I’ve found most of the material engaging. But I’m the only film student in the class. Everyone else approaches the material in a less then enthusiastic manner. Just last night, before the class began, there was this whole discussion going on among the students about how boring directors in the 60’s are (the era we’re currently studying). Now I don’t mean to sound like a geek, but they’re sitting there bashing Stanley Kubrick. Stanley Kubrick. Eventually bashing of 60’s directors moves into bashing of directors. Finally one of the students let slip “I don’t understand why any of this material is so important anyway. It’s not like anyone here’s a film major”.
Discreetly I replied, “I am.”
It was a fun night.
Wow, we almost went a week without posting. Slacking, we’ve been.
Yes, Brock is completely right about the director of I Died. He, Mark Atwood, continuously blamed the short falls of his film on a small budget, which was around $13,000. Simply, not an excuse. El Mariachi is the prime reason for that. It was supposedly made for something around $7,000, which is contested, probably because it was done so well for a price that small. Even if El Mariachi was made for the same amount as I Died, it is leagues better. Mr. Atwood needs to watch El Mariachi a few times.
A couple long-awaited CDs came out last week – Modest Mouse’s Good News for People That Love Bad News and Audio Learning Center’s Cope Park. Modest Mouse’s album was probably the most highly anticipated, as it had been quite a while since The Moon and Antarctica plus, it kept getting pushed back. After all that, I have to say I was a bit disappointed over all. I like it as a whole, but just “liking” a Modest Mouse CD is comparable to just “liking” a date with the hottest supermodel ever. Even “Float On” is a bit poppy, as demonstrated by its ever growing popularity on the radio. Perhaps it’s because of the departure of the original drummer, but it seems to be missing the quirky, intricate drumming that was once synonymous with Modest Mouse. Instead there’s synth bass, which I feel should be saved for Ugly Casanova. The album still displays the “weirdness” of Modest Mouse, but at the same time the songs seem bland. The standouts for me are “Float On,” despite its poppiness, “The World at Large,” “Blame it On The Tetons,” and “The Good Times are Killing Me.”
Audio Learning Center’s last album Friendships Often Fade Away had an overall depressive theme. It contained sad connotations within the music, lyrics and vocals. It quickly became a favorite of mine. Their new album Cope Park seems to express the angry side of frontman Christopher Brady. This anger is expressed through a flurry of resonating guitar and bass along with Chris’ yells in songs like “Stereo,” “Car,” and “Passenger.” There are still melancholy songs, however, like “You Get That From Your Mother” and the ironically titled “Happy Endings.” Brady uses the bass in a unique way in that it sometimes carries the melody instead of just providing rhythm along with the drums. Just like in the first album, the drums are tight and drummer Paul Johnson provides little intricacies that you’ll miss if not listening closely. Last week I told Brock that I felt Friendships Often Fade Away as being the better album, but as I listen to Cope Park more, that may not be the case.
This week, I’m looking very forward to the EP Smoke and Mirrors from The Casket Lottery and The Will to Strike, a discography of previously released, but out-of-print material, from Kill Creek.
I’ll tell you what bothered me so much about I Died; the director blaming everything that was wrong with it on his budget.
Let’s face it; no independent director has a plethora of money at his disposal. Some very well known directors don’t even have a large capital to draw from. But just because you can’t afford lighting equipment and better cameras doesn’t mean that your story will suck or that the acting will be second rate. It’s not your pocket book’s fault that the pacing is worthless, and that your leading protagonist acts like a deer caught in headlights.
Yes sir, Brock and I had a grand ol' time at the Phoenix Film Festival. As he mentioned, I was a volunteer, which meant I spent most of my time working. It was a great experience, however. We got to "rub elbows" with film makers and celebrities, the likes of Dylan Baker, Rick Schroder and Toni Kalem. I had to check IDs at an after party and someone asked me to keep an eye out for Toni. She was in Private Benjamin and wrote and directed A Slipping Down Life. It starred Guy Pearce, but Brock and I didn't get to see that movie, unfortunately. I completely agree with Brock on his mini-reviews, but I didn't get to see The Falls.
The one movie Brock and I had to painstakingly endure, was I Died. I can't believe some of these movies are on IMDB. Just not done well at all.
As I already mentioned, Gabe and I attended the Phoenix Film Festival over the weekend, and had a good time. We were there in different capacities though; I was a simple festival attendant and Gabe was one of the festival’s volunteer assistants. Either way, we both saw several films and even got the chance to attend a seminar by Industrial Light and Magic. Regarding the films we saw, most were good, but a few weren’t. Well, it’s more like one wasn’t. But I won’t go into that at the moment. Instead I just want to give you the details on the three films I appreciated the most at the festival:
Black Cloud: An inspiring story about a Native American boxer who has to learn to overcome inner demons in order to pursue his dreams. Beautifully shot for around a million dollars, Black Cloud had some great cinematography and interesting character hubris. But it suffered a tad from some genre clichés and a few of the scenes were a little too sugary sweet for my tastes.
The Falls: Another troubled young man stakes out to rescue a missing former girlfriend and finds himself in a world of crime and corruption. Highly inspired by classic film noir, the Falls also had some good cinematography. Moreover, a few of the film’s smaller performances were borderline great. But the ending was a bit too overreaching and some of the revelations at the end of the film were a bit predictable and formulaic.
You Got Nothin’: Two bookie collectors from Hoboken New Jersey set out to L.A. to collect a large sum of money. Here was a film that enjoyed some genuinely funny moments, but lacked punch. In short, the film, while good, was never great.
Holy cow, so much to talk about. I had a good weekend with Gabe at the Phoenix Film Festival. I'll mention more of that later (maybe Gabe will tell you about it before I do). Also, I want to tell you a little bit about the new Blue Album Special Edition.
Much to come,
-Brock
That Pitchfork reviewer does seem to share a lot of the same sentiments I had about the album. But he also brought up some noteworthy points of his own. I agreed with his interpretation about the album’s two namesake environments, the moon and Antarctica: They’re the only vestiges of human space left without a Nike or Bud Light advertisement.
I can’t believe they’re re-releasing the Reggie album though. Gabe’s right, it is their best and most known, but to re-release it just seems so cheep. I’m sure the extra tracks will be cool, but it begs the question, ‘couldn’t the band have simply put the 7 tracks on an EP?’
In other crazy news, check out this MSNBC contributor’s write up of the ten best bands of all time.
You really can’t argue with the list if you consider historical significance as the prime contributor, but I’m sure every one would have their own interpretation.
All the same, here’s my current list…
Pixies - Braid - Hum - Radiohead - Smashing Pumpkins - Nirvana - Beatles - The Casket Lottery - Weezer - Modest Mouse
Pitchfork Media has a review of the re-release of The Moon and Antarctica here. It reads as if they've read Brock's retrospect on the same subject. They even mention Pink Floyd but, unlike Brock, compared the original album cover of The Moon... to a Pink Floyd cover. Also, the reviewer noted hearing some difference in the sound, but only slight. Perhaps Brock moonlights as a Pitchfork writer, with an alias? Hmm?
Speaking of reissues, Reggie and the Full Effect is reissuing Greatest Hits 84-87 with seven bonus tracks. It's noteworthy to mention that the original came out on Second Nature Recordings. Now is Vagrant trying to cash in on Reggie's most popular, and successful album? Probably. You can download one of the new songs. It's not too shabby, but makes for a good gimmick with it's title. There are three songs that reference Lord of the Rings. They are: The Fellowship of the Bling, The Two Blings, and The Return of the Blings.
Congrads on your A+ Gabe! Well done. No I haven't gotten the Blue Album Special Edition yet, or the DVD. Monetary setbacks is the reason I'm citing as well. Hopefully sometime this weekend I'll be able to get it though.
I did get the one Pixies album I didn't own earlier this week though. Bossanova. I'll tell you about that and more later today (or tomorrow)...
Me! We got our grades back in Acting class for our last monologue. A+! Oh, yeah. My scene partner and I have picked a scene and it's good. It's about an unhappy couple. Quite funny.
So, Brock, did you pick up the Weezer goodies? I did the ol' budget and found out I'm pretty poor this time around. I had to delay my Weezer purchases. Oh, well. Soon enough.
Check out some of Jeremy Enigk's music (from The Fire Theft and Sunny Day Real Estate) from the upcoming movie The United States of Leland.
Osama was good, but as Gabe mentioned, rather stark. The film had its own wry sense of humor, which blended nicely with its detached narration, but it was ultimately fatalistic. I did enjoy it very much, but it was an eye-opener. If Afghanistan continues to put together films with this much effort then time could see them become a major player on the international film market.
I’m looking forward to Eternal Sunshine very much. I’m hearing plenty of good things about it: Carrey’s tormented performance, Winslet’s peppy characterization, Wood’s brilliantly understated acting, and Gondry’s sharp interpretation of Kaufman’s script. These are all things I’ve heard, but I’m hoping to confirm them when I see the film.
Glad you liked my bit on TM&A. Cope Park sounds great!!
Nice reflection on the re-release of The Moon and Antarctica Brock. That artwork on the cover was featured on their website for a while. Looks cool.
Another album coming out the same day as Modest Mouse's is Cope Park from Audio Learning Center. Modest Mouse will most definitely dominate the CD player, but I've been looking forward to a new album from ALC for a while now. Go to the website now and you can hear the entire album in streaming audio. There are some real good songs on there. It seems to be an angry album, contrasting their first effort, which was very somber.
Brock and I saw the Afghan movie Osama. Not a feel good movie, but well done. We'll be glad, I'm sure, to cleanse our palate with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
In the build up for this new album a whole new collective of fans have spawned off the fruits of their previous album, The Moon & Antarctica. Songs from ‘Antarctica’ have popped up everywhere, from beer commercials and skate videos to car advertisements.
Chances are, if you watch TV you’ve heard some of it.
Now, on the eve of their final release on the Epic label, Modest Mouse’s original powerhouse record gets a re-release. This time around however new packaging and a short BBC recording distinguish the album’s presence.
Why the band would feel compelled to rehash a product that was already so near to perfection is beyond me. If the sound is improved, I certainly haven’t noticed it. And the BBC recordings offer no revelatory glances into the embryonic stage of the album’s development. Rather, they merely show that even a year before it’s release, Isaac Brock had a clear definition of how he wanted ‘Antarctica’ to sound.
But I can say that the second I saw the new packaging peaking out at me from the Sam Goody CD rack, I was instantly compelled to buy it.
The cover is magnetic, utterly entrapping.
I gaze at the artwork and feel that this is the kind of cover that distinguishes itself as belonging next to other nebulous concept covers. It defines this album as a modern rock masterpiece that belongs in your collection even if you exclusively collect Britney Spears.
But fans have known that all along.
Since its release, it’s been one of the finest rock albums that an indie illumine could produce. ‘Antarctica’ is just one more claim that a band with underground roots can create something infinitely more majestic and beautiful then commercial music ever could.
This album reviles in the icy grip of post mortem. It hauntingly fantasizes about cheep motels and inner hells. In short, it’d bury you alive and get piss ass drunk on your very grave if given the chance.
Understandably, the motive behind this re-release is questionable. Now that everyone’s paying attention is Epic drawing a legend out of an already revered work? Or are they simply squeezing everything they can out of the Mouse before they loose this very hot commodity?
Whatever the motive, The Moon and Antarctica re-release should appeal to the band’s “newer” fans. Herein you will find the very heirs to the Radiohead crown. And it isn’t Coldplay.
Yeah, it feels like we've won some grand prizes. No more consolation prizes for us!
Well, Brock, since we've got the same notion, let's make some music videos! I'm going to sell some stuff I need to get rid of. Maybe then I can afford to get a decent digital camcorder. No "top of the line" stuff for me, yet.
Watched Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns a documentary on They Might Be Giants. It was very interesting. Those guys are talented, and very smart. It's hard to believe they've been around for 20 years! I've always liked them, but never really got into them. I appreciate them a lot more now.
I can’t even begin to say how expressively cool things are right now. As each day goes by we get closer and closer to Coachella and the Pixies. What’s even more exciting is that this morning Gabe picked up tickets to the Braid show in Anaheim California. It’s amazing, all of these great bands which I never thought I’d get a chance to see, like the Pixies and Braid, are reforming to play some shows for the fans who miss them and the fans who never got a chance to see them. Years from now when I’m swaying back and forth in my old hickory rocker while the grandkids rifle through my CDs, I’ll be able to say, “Yep, I saw that thar Braid back in Oh-Four. Back then we called that rock music.”
Also, I plan to put up a little bit of a review on the brand new Moon & Antarctica RE-release later today, just as soon as I write it.
I’d really like to film something with you Gabe. I’m just raring to go. In fact, I’ll let you in on a little something: I’ve wanted to do a series of fantasy music videos for quite some time. I’ve mentally composed a list of favorite songs that I’d want to make a video for, and I’ve even written down a few concepts here and there. Imagine us filming a video for the Foo Fighters’ Everlong in Castles and Coasters.
And we don’t have to destroy the videos once we’re done with them. My secret wish has always been to do a series of fantasy music videos, lock them away in a vault, and then come back years later as a well know director with permission by the bands to release the fantasy videos as ‘alternate music videos’ for their songs.
I’m also excited for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I’d like to check out the script.
Cigarettes & Coffee announced that PT Anderson composer favorite, Jon Brion, scored the music for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Hot. I'm very excited for this movie.
I read Pitchfork daily, so I saw that article as well. Brock, I felt the absolute same way you did. We just won't go there.
Can't wait to see your first work, Brock. When do I get to be in one of your projects? I need to get my camcorder back from Josh and we should film some stuff. I had the idea that we could do some "fantasy" music vidoes. You know, take some of our favorite songs and do videos for them, as if the band had asked us. Then destroy them so we don't get sued, heh, heh.
If you’re an avid reader of Pitchfork, and you happened to come across my post yesterday, then allow me to apologize for some of those things I said. As you probably know, I was a bit addled by their article on Braid. My rotten disposition came about because I felt the article drew false conclusions upon unfounded statements, statements that the writer basically twisted into sensationalistic journalism. So if you like either Pitchfork or the Rapture (the conceptual music link) then understand that I wasn’t trying to make an attack on the website, just its hackneyed writing.
With that said, let’s move on to today’s business, namely, me telling you about my experience in editing. Well, there isn’t actually a whole lot to say on the matter. I went into class, breezed through a particularly easy mid-term, and spent the rest of the evening with a partner editing the video I had shot a week earlier.
We ended up laying down some very nice transitions and effects, and when deciding how to present the credits, my partner threw in a stroke of brilliance. We took the very last frame of the video, a man jumping up into the air and clicking his heels, and froze the frame at the peak of his jump. Then, like an old episode of M*A*S*H, we rolled the credits over that still frame.
I’m not satisfied with our musical selections though. The other editor was hell bent on fading in and out different songs throughout the entire video. I, on the other hand personally felt that since the video is only two minutes long a lot of different audio tracks might break up the pacing. Hence, I’ve picked out a song that I think we could lay down over the entire video, ‘I Don’t Know’, from Hello Nasty.
I’m sure the other editor will at least let me try it out before we turn our project in.
Anyway, in important news…I’m glad to hear that Gabe’s monologue went so well. I knew he was gonna pull it off. I just didn’t expect his teacher to be so completely bowled over by his performance. It’s definitely a progression from holding oranges in your hand, eh Gabe?
Thanks by the way for adding the Phoenix Art Link. First Fridays are always a blast. If you’re ever in Phoenix on the first Friday of the month, or if you’ve lived in Phoenix without ever attending one of its art events, then think about attending a First Friday. You’re sure to see some good work and interesting ideas.
Pitchfork Media posted an article on Braid's upcoming reunion tour and DVD. It's mostly just stuff you probably already knew, except the good fellas decided to throw in some of their usual pretentious commentary, half-assed conclusions and self-indulgent references to spice the article up. Thank goodness for Pitchfork. If they weren't around the music community might be too stupid to decide what conceptual music it’s supposed to listen to.
That is a line from my monologue. I nailed it. I'm beginning to like this acting thing very much. I get a rush from it. It's my skydiving. My teacher had nothing but praise, as well as the rest of the class. I don't want my head to get big, so I'll say "it was decent."
I went to a show last night in hopes of seeing The Fire Theft and Grandaddy. Unfortunately, due to my class getting out at 6:50, and me forgetting about it, I completely missed The Fire Theft. However, I did get to see Grandaddy, who were great. They had a screen with some home video looking footage playing, some of which was pretty hilarious. They were tight and very interesting. They took away some of the pain of missing The Fire Theft.
Great idea on the Phoenix links, Brock! I added one for Art Link, which has all the info on Phoenix's First Fridays. On the first Friday of every month, downtown Phoenix art gallerys have open house for anyone to come and view the art.
I thought that it was time to add some new links to our blog. For one, I added Rocky Votolato. In fact, I’m not sure why neither Gabe nor myself added him earlier; we talk about Rocky as much as we talk about those other bands. So it’s only fair that the man be given a spot on our “column of relevance”.
Under Rocky and the other links you’ll notice that I also created a new link section corresponding to Phoenix events. This doesn’t mean that I’m going to start slapping up links for every Oktoberfest or coffee shop to open in downtown Phoenix, but I do want us to mention important Phoenix cultural events from time to time.
My decision to commit to this happened when I was visiting the link for Lawrence Kansas and I realized that we talk about Lawrence (and its music) on this blog enough that some might think we’d be better suited as Lawrence residents. That’d be nifty, but currently Gabe and I are Phoenix residents and from time to time we also mention Phoenix cultural events that catch our eye. This is just to make it easier for our Phoenix readers (assuming we even have readers in the first place) to check out some of the upcoming shows and festivals for our developing city.
Phoenix has been working very hard to establish a cultural and artistic foundation for itself, and recently a heightened interest in things like the ‘Art Expo’ and ‘The Phoenix Film Festival’ have added a level of credibility to those attempts. And so, here are some links to continue in that effort. I’ll take them down when the Animation Weekend and Film Festival have passed.
Weezer.com has put up a quick preview clip for their new DVD release, Video Capture Device. I can't place my finger on the clip, but I'm guessing that it's some of the rare footage the DVD touts.
Yeah, I made a quick post on your computer. I think that's the first ever post I made on your turf. When you think about it like that, it's kind of a landmark.
The tissue was there just in case. Not that anyone would cry when there's four guys together watching it.
Yes, the Art Detour was a nice outing. The weather was excellent. It's gotten a bit warm around here this week (low 90s) but as long as it isn't in the 100s and humid, it's OK.
Tomorrow night I do my monologue from Glengarry Glen Ross. I'm ready!
Brock, you sneak! Blogging from my home computer.
A new Beastie Boys album will be released this year. Finally. Yes, that's right, the Beasties will unleash the follow up to their massively huge Hello Nasty this Summer. Mass hysteria is sure to follow.
Gabe, Marco, a friend of ours and myself attended the Art Detour Saturday in downtown Phoenix. This time we went for a change in plan and visited some of the galleries we normally stray from, including The Ice House and AUX. The Ice House's work was an impressive use of artistically molded steel, while AUX showcased some interesting work by a mathematically inspired artist. I was especially impressed by those pieces; the artist created his work by visualizing mathematical equations into their visceral offspring. The result was some startlingly beautiful geometric figures. One piece in particular had been overlaid with color and shading to create a stunning picture of planetary bodies in orbit.
After the Art Detour we went over to Gabe's house and watched Whale Rider. I must admit that I was taken back numerous times while watching the film. Rebekah (Gabe's wife) had mentioned that it was a tearful viewing, and Gabe (jokingly?) set out a box of tissues before playing the movie. And while I didn't cry, there were some very impacting moments in the story. The finale in particular was visually and emotionally reaming. I won't spoil it for you, but the movie succeeds in creating a haunting portrait of beached whales, while at the same time interlocking it into the story's premise.
On a side note, I won’t be able to attend The Fire Theft and Grandaddy show on Wednesday night. I’ve got midterms in digital multimedia and I also have to edit the video I directed. Voiceover work, audio files and transitions all need to be applied to the footage the crew and I gathered.
I’ve already seen The Fire Theft, which leaves Grandaddy as my main disappointment. I had really gotten into their music over the last few months in hopes that it would pay off in seeing them live. Now I’ll have to wait until they come around again. If you’re thinking of going on Wednesday, I highly recommend it. The Fire Theft puts on an amazing set. They’re energetic, brooding and epic. You won’t be disappointed.
Holy cow, post from Gabe's house, on Gabe's computer. He's got a weird keyboard, trying to get used to it. I think it's one of those orthopedic keyboards. Anyhoo, yes you will get to see my film. I didn't devise the story, but I'm quite happy with the product.
Gabe is in the front room blasting Star Wars on the surround sound. Knocking some kid's ear-drums out. I swear, I've entered Coruscant.
-Brock
Brock Brown and his group for "Library Triangle Love!" Will I get to see it, Brock? Can't wait to hear about it.
Braid Tour 2004 was updated a little bit. You can read a message from the band (Bob) and view the trailer for the upcoming DVD. Rock on. I cannot wait!!! No tour dates yet.
To be honest, I didn’t watch all of the Oscars. When the show finally aired it just didn’t seem that appealing to me. It’s all become so routine, the same actors and the same actresses get nominated every year and win every year. They may have different names and a different film to plug, but it’s all in the same spirit: Politics, favoritism, and ignorant voting. Although the Academy Awards does have a flash of brilliance every now and then, it often tempers that with a return to its old tricks. Like the nominations of underappreciated actors and actresses ever stood a chance to win against their big name counterparts. Charlize Theron won because she’s Charlize Theron.
It was sad to see Murray loose Best Actor. I didn’t think he deserved it, but to watch him campaign for it, stash up all his chips and reputation on it, revere it like the golden talisman that would unite his career under a catharsis of brilliance, and then loose it was heartbreaking. (Oh, and Johnny Depp’s apology award will be for Willy Wonka.)
Peter Jackson did deserve ‘best director’ though. He succeeded in completing a truly monumental task. Return of the King’s viability in many categories is questionable, but Jackson earned that director award.
Eleven out of eleven. I guess it was to be expected. The last hurrah. I think some of the categories they won in, though, were questionable. Like for Film Editing. I didn’t see City of God, but just the clips looked impressive for that category.
Overall it was the typical Oscars ceremony. No big surprises, no overly scandalous statements. I was pleased to see Sofia Coppola win for Best Original Screenplay. I think she was deserving of that. I hope that no wins for excellent movies such as Whale Rider and In America, take away from any recognition they deserve. It was funny to see “Mitch and Mickey” perform their song from A Mighty Wind. Hilarious.
Yeah, that Coachella ticket doesn’t have my name on it until Brock has my cash in his pocket!
Oh, and in an update, I got the storyboards done. I had to meet up with the DP a bit later then I had hoped, but once we finally sat down to do the storyboards we breezed through them. The previous night had been difficult because we sat down to write the storyboards with ‘the group’. In other words we tried to lay down the storyboards with the actors, art director and writer. Which was hard. So there’s a lesson for me: it’s easier to just get the people actually involved in establishing the shots to work through the storyboards.
Sweet, I'll be a Brock H. Brown regular.
Brock, I hope you get a cinematographer part as well, or director. Sounds like fun. After we do our next monologue, we get to do scenes. I've been looking forward to acting with someone else. It's lonely doing a monologue. We also have to watch a play, and review it.
Excellent work Gabe! I knew you’d get a good grade, but an A minus is just great. With grades like that I just may have my own personal John C. Reilly.
Last week in my telecommunications 100-class (digital multimedia) the teacher broke up the class into crews to prepare us for our first filming. Tonight we’re going to assign jobs in our individual groups in order to prepare for our in-class production. Actors, a Director, a cinematographer and a two-person editing team as well as plenty of other roles need to be assigned. I hope I can snag a part as a cinematographer or even the director. Anything would be fine though just so long as I’m not an actor. I’d probably be better suited to some job behind the camera.
We were graded in Acting class for our monologue performances. I got an A-. Not too shabby for a first performance, eh?
There's word that Braid will be doing a three month reunion tour this summer. You can't even begin to imagine how elated Brock and I are about this, unless you're a huge Braid fan as well. I had the opportunity to see them three seperate times. None of them happened. Finally...redemption.
...Jonas?
That looks like a good tour. They’ve really laid down a plethora of dates in California this time around. The San Diego and L.A. shows are probably the most tempting on the list (for me anyway). I’ve never been to the Troubadour.
The bad blood between Weezer’s front man Rivers Cuomo and former member Matt Sharp was cleared February 12th when Cuomo joined Sharp onstage during a live acoustic performance at the Fullerton CSU campus. Pitchfork posted a lengthy article on it and included a track list for their new DVD. Interestingly, it also mentioned that the two are writing songs together again.
In regards to the three-name discussion, I really like the idea of going by ‘Brock H. Brown’. By simply referring to myself as that I feel like I’m instantly in that clique of actors and directors. Brock H. Brown has a slick feeling to it. I feel like I should have a website devoted to my work entitled BHbrown.com
It's good that Vagrant came through for Hey Mercedes. They're the red-headed stepchild of Vagrant (no offense to Bob and Mike, who I believe are both red-headed).
Ladies and Gents, we have a date for Casket Lottery's EP, Smoke and Mirrors - May 25th. Of course, we can pick it up earlier at one of their shows in mid-May. Here are the dates:
4-17-04 Lawrence, KS @ JACKPOT
5-6-04 Colorado Springs, CO
5-7-04 Salt Lake City, UT @ KILBY COURT
5-8-04 Reno, NV
5-9-04 ???San Fransisco???TBA
5-10-04 ???Sacramento???TBA
5-11-04 Santa Barbara, CA @ HARD TO FIND SPACE
5-12-04 Anaheim, CA @ CHAIN REACTION
5-13-04 Los Angeles, CA @ TROUBADOUR
5-14-04 ???San Diego???TBA
5-15-04 St.George, UT @ ELECTRIC THEATRE
5-16-04 Las Vegas, NV
5-17-04 Denver, CO @ ROCK ISLAND
5-21-04 Kansas City, MO @ SPITFIRE
Hot diggity dog, Brock! You got that script done with a few days to spare! Phew. Now for some major critiquing and editing. Hand it over!
So, I was teasing my wife Rebekah last night about actors and directors with three names. Brock and I like to throw around intitials like PTA (Paul Thomas Anderson), JCR (John C. Reily) and PSH (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Brock, you should definitely use Brock H. Brown on your script and when you direct movies.
Last night I watched Glengarry Glen Ross on IFC for a few reasons. One, I always heard it was good and have been wanting to see it for a while. Two, I'll be performing a monologue from the play for Acting class. Now I'm set. The movie's pretty much word for word of the play, since David Mamet, who wrote the play, also did the screen adaptation for the movie. The only difference is that he added a character with a short part for the movie.
I received too many signs to do Glengarry Glen Ross. When I came into class Wednesday, I really hadn't chosen a monologue yet. The teacher was going through a students book and mentioned "Ooh, Glengarry Glen Ross would be good for you guys!" So, later I found the play on the Internet and downloaded it. The next night it's on IFC. I also get a magazine that night that has a brief article on...you guessed it, David Mamet. I can't go wrong.
You’ll be pleased to know that the Hey Mercedes issue seems to have cleared up. Bob Nanna reposted on the issue and cited fan support as well as Vagrant's support for helping to clear up their lack of funds. Thanks should go to dedicated fans and also to Vagrant for their help in the matter. It’s nice to know that good music goes appreciate by both the fan community and the record label.
Thanks Gabe, that was a great post, man. And yes, he’s right. We’d enjoy hearing from some of you readers every now and then. Don’t be shy.
Anyway, I’m feeling quite productive this week. Every school quarter seems to have a few weeks or a certain period during the semester when it feels like I have to kick into high gear. This week is one of them, as I’ve churned out and shown my second project in class, a simple editing exercise. I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t have enough footage to show to the class however. When I started the project I had plenty of raw footage to edit together, but I seemed to be compiling it at a slow pace. Last night I finished the product with more then enough footage to show the class. Moreover, the class enjoyed the project and the teacher felt it was nicely done.
That isn’t all. Today is it. Today is the day the script ends. I’ve spent all of February working on this thing and it amazes me that I’ve been able to turn around a complete script in a ludicrously short amount of time. That doesn’t mean that it’s a good script, but at least I’ll have something to turn into the Film Festival.
The Casket Lottery has posted some tour dates. Yee haw!! It's a West Coast tour. Is Phoenix on the list of stops? Nope. Yet again, the Casket forgoes Phoenix due to limited support here in the desert city. Oh well, another road trip to Cali!
Man alive, I can't believe we had our one year anniversary on Monday. And I missed it! I'm like the insensitive husband who's forgotten an all important date! A year did go by fast.
Ah, Brock, that's very sweet of you to say! But Brock's the writer here. I too forge on at this here Blog with the thought of keeping all those imaginary readers updated. Even if Brock and I are the only ones ever here, at least we have a place to rant and rave and we can appreciate each others viewpoints.
I am a major music lover. Sometimes, too much, and it irritates the wife. But she gets over it. I guess it stems from an early age. I'd pull out my parents' records and listen to them on my own initiative. It's pretty weird, actually. My parents weren't major music lovers so I'm not sure how it all really started. But I'd often go to sleep with the radio on. It sort of became my security blanket. The habit would continue on to my teens. I'd often put on my favorite CD of the moment, hit repeat, and go to sleep with the album playing all night. I have to hand it to my wife and her brother, Alex, for helping me expand my musical tastes. They only had to throw me a morsel and I ran with it, like a ravenous wolf. I'm glad Brock could share in our musical endeavors also. He too now has developed his own musical palate and has a passion all his own.
Ha, brilliant actor! We'll see about that. Brock will be more than a mediocre director. Trust me. In acting class, we now get to perform a monologue of choice. I don't know if we can do one from a film, though. I hope so.
Happy anniversary Eyes Like Static! If there's actually anyone out there, email us! We'd like to know. There are links at the top, right-hand side.
PTanderson.com posted links to two very interesting articles at the Film Journal on Punch Drunk Love.
They're pretty intriguing and both offer a unique angle to the film's conflicts and characters.
On a fairly discouraging note, Bob Nanna posted a rather sullen update on the Wire regarding Hey Mercedes. Due to the band's constant troubles with transportation (one van repair after another it would seem) they've decided to put their tour on hold for the moment. He also asked (rather embarrassedly) for any donations you could give to get the band back out on the road.
All I can say is, 'where the hell is Vagrant'? Can't they afford to kick back a few to help buy Hey Mercedes a nice van to tour in? If they can readily supply tour busses to their other bands then they should at least be able to pitch in when monetary issues keeps one of their own from touring. I swear, it's ridiculous.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of Eyes Like Static. I gotta admit, it kind of crept up on me. A year flies by just like that. When I realized that the one-year anniversary was coming up, I promised myself that I wouldn’t write an obscenely long post to mark the occasion.
In retrospect, I wondered just what it was that empowered me to create an online blog and stick with it for more then a week. I concluded that it was a number of things. For one, the imaginary readers helps me to believe that somewhere out there someone checks our blog regularly to see if we’ve put up a ‘new post’. Moreover, my love and interest in music and the many other topics we discuss here has enabled me to find a forum to express my thoughts and feelings regarding these great entertainment mediums. But most of all, this blog has survived because of its writer Gabe Loyer. Gabe loves music more then I ever could and in turn got me to appreciate it on a completely different level. His enthusiasm for the great bands, music and movies we discuss is the driving force behind our energy. He’s the brilliant actor to my mediocre director so to speak.
Thanks for being there, whoever you are,
-Brock Brown
I hope you guys have a good time in Flagstaff.
Yeah, the Edward Scissorhands DVD is a good buy. It’s got a Burton-Elfman commentary, but other then that it’s not heavily laden with features. But that’s not the point really; it’s simply an amazing movie. Burton has other ‘masterworks’ but Edward Scissorhands takes the cake.
You’ll have to tell me how that Talking Heads film is. I’m not too familiar with the band, but I know that they were supposed to be pretty good. I should probably check that out for myself though.
I purchased Grandaddy’s latest effort ‘Sumday’ today. I’m still listening to it and trying to decide where it fits in with ‘The Sohptware Slump’, so I’ll hold back any premature comments. I’ve been intrigued by them lately though. At least I’ve taken the precaution of not seeing them live with The Fire Theft and having no knowledge of their work.
You can stream The Casket Lottery's raw and unmastered version of On the Air from their upcoming EP Smoke and Mirrors at Second Nature's website. A little preview.
Yesterday I picked up Stop Making Sense, a Talking Heads film by Jonathan Demme. I've heard nothing but good things about it so I picked up. Can't wait to check it out.
After hearing from Brock that he picked up Edward Scissorhands, I had to get it too. Hot diggity dog!
I'm off to Flagstaff this weekend with the wife. Maybe we'll do a little snowboarding. Depends on the weather and snow.
You know, I got really excited when I heard that they'd be touring before Coachella. Like most fans, I thought that they'd be playing all of the major cities in the U.S. before heading to Coachella. I haven't seen the actual dates they've laid down yet, but if most of them are in Canada then it looks like Coachella might be the better bet.
Crock indeed...
I have to mention this bit of news in my post today; Star Wars is finally coming to DVD. No, not the Prequels, they’ve been on DVD for a while. I mean, the original Star Wars films: Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The films will hit American shelves September 21st this year. September is a long ways away, but at least the films will be released before the previous 2006-7-speculation date.
I hope I can melt some faces. We'll see.
If Sony/Epic wants to toy with us Modest Mouse fans, there in for some hurtin'! Yup, instead of a March release date, the album has been pushed to April 6th. That same day, Audio Learning Center's new album Cope Park will be available. April 6th will be a very good day, indeed.
Rumors are abounding that The Pixies are booking venues across North America. For those of us that never had a chance to see them - Amen! I just hope it's not $50 a ticket or something.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have purchased a new axe. A Gibson SG Standard. Much like this red one. Mine is black. I'm very excited.
I'm feeling an improvement today. My sore throat is almost gone, and I'm not that congested anymore. Maybe I'll be able to stage some kind of resistance!
Here's to hoping Corgan's next album is a keeper. Who knows, not having a band might be good for his songwriting. (He worked solo on Siamese Dream after all).
So I'm getting near the end of the pre-work on a script I'm writing for a possible submission to the Phoenix Film Fest (Gabe's a volunteer!). What's it about? I don't want to say. I can drop a hint or two though. Check out the film fest site.
The Fire Theft has posted their dates with Grandaddy and Saves the Day. It's a shame that Nita's is now closed, because it would have been the perfect place to hold the Phoenix show. At any rate, the Marquee Theater is a fine spot. We saw Zwan there I believe, and it worked. Keep an eye out for ticket sales imaginary readers, cause this is gonna be a big one.
By the way, Radiohead landed five nominations in the NME awards (which are voted upon by the readers of the magazine). They include:
There's probably not much question that they have the best live band deal sealed. That's their shtick. They deserve it too, especially after this tour of theirs. You can vote here.
Well, Brock and I went to go see Rocky Votolato with Limbeck last night. We missed the beginning of Rocky's set trying to find this club in a strip mall. All because one of our good local venues, Nita's Hideaway had to close it's doors.
On a much lighter note, The Casket Lottery are finishing up their EP. Unfortunately their looking at a June/July realease date, but...they plan to have it available in May when the go on a West Coast tour! Woo hoo!
Braid's Killing a Camera DVD is slated for realease on May 11th! All I could say was, "hot diggity damn!"
Today they announced the Oscar Nominations for the 76th Academy Awards, and all I can say is that I'm extremely pleased with many of their selections. In fact, this is the first time I've been this excited about the Oscars.
For starters, Bill Murray got his nod for Best Actor, which is only fitting. He earned that nomination, every last shred of it. But he's going up against stiff competition. Johnny Depp, everyone's favorite pirate, seems to have a strong presence this year. I'm betting that Murray has a tad more edge in this competition then Depp does, but it's still close (and he's still got Sean Penn to worry about).
Speaking of the actress category for a second, it would seem I finally got my wish, although it was a tad late. Samantha Morton got a nomination for 'In America'. She should have been nominated for Minority Report, but this is just as good. And what's this about Keisha Castle-Hughes being nominated? Right on!!!
By the way, the Best Supporting Actor category has Djimon Hounsou in it, which is just fantastic.
And of course, the director category has Sofia Coppola, right alongside legendary directors like Peter Weir and Clint Eastwood. Something about that is just so damn cool, even if she doesn't stand a chance against Peter Jackson's 'make up' nomination.
Oh, and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King got a Best Picture nod. No surprise there. Ditto for Seabiscuit...they've been talking about that one for months.
But, the fact that there are so many indie actors and unexpected choices littering this year’s selection is what makes me so excited. Sofia Coppola, Djimon Housou, Samantha Morton, Keisha Castle-Hughes, it's like they've decided to pay attention to the actual talent this time around.
On the Wire Bob Nanna mentioned that Hey Mercedes is also touring with The Fire Theft, Grandaddy and Saves the Day (Which, is just utterly crazy).
I can sort of see how The Fire Theft would be a good recruit for Saves the Day’s shows, and as some of you will remember, Hey Mercedes toured quite extensively with Saves the Day a few years ago. But they’re also including Grandaddy in that lineup? I love Grandaddy as much as the next guy, but don’t they usually run with the Flaming Lips/Radiohead crowd? I’d think Saves the Day would be one of the last bands they’d tour with.
Yeah, I do need to let you borrow some Grandaddy dude. If you like The Flaming Lips then you'll probably like them too. (Coupling them with The Fire Theft is a stroke of brilliance by the way).
The Fire Theft website has tour dates up for the Spring! With Grandaddy! BUT...also with Saves the Day, who will probably be headlining. Who puts these tours together? If Saves the Day invited them, I applaude their appreciation for great bands, but they need to realize that their core fans don't have the same appreciation.
Brock, I need to borrow some Grandaddy from you.
I've been under the weather since Saturday night. Sucks. I don't have much news.
It sounds like Small Brown Bike's last shows went well. I heard they were playing upwards of 20 songs!! I'm trying to find anyone that taped the show. They'll be posting their video for Safe in Sound soon, and a last post. (sniff).
As some of you imaginary readers might know, there’s been persistent talk of a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy movie finally being produced. Time and time again these rumors have often been squelched in light of numerous setbacks. When Douglas Adams passed away I think many people decided that it would never happen.
Well, it is happening. Here’s a link to a prototype costume for one of the book’s (and now film’s) major characters, Marvin.
Spiffy.
It has been quiet. I was just checking out Greenwood's Bodysong last night. Sounds like pretty good stuff.
I was ranting to Brock a couple days ago about Pitchfork and their top 50 list. I've been going through their list, trying to find some new bands to listen to. Not much luck because they mostly suck. Hey, I'm all about originality and creativity, but it needs to spark something emotionally!! Don't leave out that important element, Pitchfork!
