The Bourne Normalcy

Just when you thought you’d gotten enough of covert operations films and spy movies, Paul Greengrass brings you the follow up to 2002’s secret agent flick The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy. Yeah, it was a big movie this weekend. I even heard that it raked in somewhere around 50 million dollars. I happened to see it over the weekend and I have to say however that the film, although a step up from other spy films, tended to suffer from numerous problems.
As I see it, this film’s key to success, aside from its status as a sequel to a highly popular film, lies in three specific areas. They are the film’s lead actor, Matt Damon, the film’s allegedly “smart” storyline (that’s minus the fluff of a Bond flick), and the film’s rugged, washed out cinematography. These three points, which could have served to make this a uniquely engaging film, instead served to crop up as its greatest mistakes.
Starting with Matt Damon, we come to the indispensable fact that he’s really nothing more then an emotionless robot. Many could argue that a covert operations specialist would be void of emotion, trained to be bland and tasteless. Others could just as easily argue that this is a movie. And if the character isn’t engaging or elicit empathy in some way with the audience, then there must be problems with the character and/or the actor. In this case I thought it was Damon who made the slip-up. No matter what happens in the film, his character Jason Bourne, accepts it with the quiet gravity and personality of a wooden marionette. When he does display some sense of emotion he falls pray to the cookie-cutter emotional responses common in 9 out of 10 actors.
Regarding the film’s plot however, I tend to be a bit more forgiving. True, it was a mess of espionage and double-crosses, but I think we’ve come to expect that from our spy films. Spy films offer a unique opportunity; when a plot hole exists in the story, simply cover it over with “missing files” or “information that’s encrypted”. The Bourne Supremacy, like any other spy film, builds for itself a history that’s muddled in secret missions and devious government programs. While its choking thickness is something I’d normally slander a film for, I feel I can let this issue off with a warning. The Bourne Supremacy you see is merely a cinematic manifestation of everything we’ve come to love in modern serial television. Shows like 24, Alias and a host of others coast by week after week on contorted plotlines like this. If the people love it why change it?
But the biggest and most unforgivable mistake of the film lies in the cinematography and camerawork. This is without a doubt some of the worst camerawork to be committed to film this year, and the most railing thing about it is that you just know it was done on purpose.
Most, if not all of the film seems to be shot on a very shaky handheld. Why? Probably because the director of photography and the director felt that it would give the movie a cool, edgy and independent look. It doesn’t, it just looks unprofessional. Shots fail to frame up; views seem to wander on and off the characters, and to worsen the matter the editing is sharp and fast. And the film’s strengths suffer because of it. There’s a car chase sequence in this film that’s just fantastic. It’s truly a contender for being as well done as the respective sequences in Ronin or the French Connection. But it’s all lost due to the shaky hand-held camera. There’s a reason why the steady cam was invented. And believe me, no matter how much of an aesthetic appeal some filmmakers think a handheld has, there are entire legions of independents that wish they had the budget to use a steady cam.

All in all? Fine, but just like the samurai genre, I’ve yet to see a good spy film that’s definitive of this generation. The Bourne Supremacy had what it took to become a noteworthy film, but it wasted its strengths because of a few misplaced weaknesses.

Time Stamps

To be honest, I have no idea why we get the time stamps and not the "comment links". I also went through the settings, trying to figure it out. It's crazy. I'll try and figure out what the dealio is...

My Trip Smoked

My Trip Smoked

What follows is an account of the blogger Brock H. Brown's travels...

Braid

In writing a detailing of my experiences at the Braid shows, I came to two conclusions: The first is that Gabe, being the bigger fan, wrote a much stronger summary. The second conclusion is that a justification of Braid's excellence is pointless. History has already written volumes on Braid's worth. Hence, instead of spending your precious time and emptying my vocabulary, I'd much rather expound upon the band's dynamic. Don't worry; you can rest assured that the shows killed. In my exploration of Braid's live inner-workings however, you will come to an understanding of that.
First and foremost, you need to take into account that Braid is a vastly different band then Hey Mercedes. I say this because in my observation of Hey Mercedes live I've noticed that Hey Mercedes is primarily a "frontman" band. Although influenced by its other members, it’s shaped by the stage presence of its frontman, Bob Nanna. But in order to see the difference between Hey Mercedes and Braid you must throw in Chris Broach. And the second you do that, the group ceases to be a "frontman" band and becomes a counter-balancing act. Broach is quite simply the frontman opposite Nanna. Nanna is poppy, thoughtful, whereas Broach is dark and emotive. In essence, Bob Nanna croons the audience with his feelings; Broach unloads them like caps from a semi-automatic. Nanna was always a performer of want, and Broach one of need. And this dynamic between the two, this contrast shows greatly in a live performance.
That isn't so say that Broach’s lack in Hey Mercedes makes that group worthless, just that his presence is part of what made Braid so worthwhile.
The truly haunting moment during the shows came however at the end of the night. Closing with the last song on Frame and Canvas, "I Keep a Diary", the boys who became Hey Mercedes gradually exited the stage, one by one, until the audience was left with the visual commentary of a solitaire Broach whom strummed the song's final chords.

Disneyland

Being able to see the Braid shows with Gabe, Rebeckah and Alex was a real treat. But the secondary purpose of my trip to California was a hook-up with my family at a two-day stint in Disneyland.
Aside from being able to enjoy the added presence of my aunt, uncle and young cousin (they all flew in front Salt Lake City just to be there) I got to enjoy some of the rides at the massive theme park.
Yeah, Mickey Mouse is a corporate bastard, and Eisner has enough money to mass-burn his greed in the world's most expensive bonfire, but the immense fun of the park quelled every anti-corporate slogan that normally emerges from my mouth. Besides, why should I let the brutal opinions of the anti-corporate cannibal within me interfere with family time? We all got to go on cool rides like Indiana Jones, and the brand new Tower of Terror. My Mom, a normally timid person, went for some of the most gut-wrenching rides at the park, like the Tower and even Disney California's loopy, vomit churning roller coaster.
While I have yet to fully get behind roller coasters, I did go on the Tower of Terror. And let me tell you, the free fall experience of you and 20 other people hurling down a metal shaft into absolute darkness is far worse then anything a mere roller coaster could throw at you. My Uncle tended to think so too: "The rush of speed on the coaster is completely different then the feeling of free fall. I just felt like my stomach was trying to force a way up my throat there."
Still, there were a few oppressions that befell us at "the happiest place on earth". Namely, the tormenting heat. "Hey! I thought Disneyland was in California," you say, "not Phoenix". I thought so too, but apparently, California is going through a patch of warm weather right now. And the combination of heat and being dropped down dark shafts serves to drain the stamina very quickly.
The other downside? This would be the un-ending vendetta between my family and "Splash Mountain" (or the 'log-raft' ride for you non-Disney folk). For years we've tried to ride that infernal attraction to no avail. Massive lines and time constraints always kept it out of our schedule. But this year would be different. This year we got "fast-passes" to the ride, allowing us to skip ahead of the throngs of people and experience the ride at our comfort. It was all coming together when, in my family's moment of triumph, the park shut Splash Mountain down due to "ride difficulties". What?! You mean the ride had won again? Next year...it’s end game for the log-rafts.

Coronado

After Disneyland we made the trek down to San Diego and stayed a few days on the beautiful Coronado Island. While I could let my volatile disposition pass subtly at Disneyland, I couldn't help but comment a few times on the snooty disposition of Coronado and Hotel Del. And a few others in my family couldn't either. You see, us Browns, we're not wealthy, but we do enjoy spending time in nice places. And Coronado, despite all of its catering to society's "upper-crust", is a relaxing and sociable place to visit. The Hotel Del is always nice to stay in, more for its architectural impression then its elitist tendencies. It was built about a hundred and sixteen years ago, and it still smacks of the rich Victorian era. The dark woodwork and shining handrails, they were a lone Bohemian’s entire dream in the 1800's. And they're still nice surroundings. Besides, spending time on Coronado, despite the riches, added much needed inspiration for my short story. It does reference the island's "golden beeches and shores" after all.

Super

Recently purchased DVDs:

X-Men 1.5
Superman: The Movie
2001: A Spacey Odyssey

Yup, trying to fill up on the older movies.

Yo, Brock, why is it we don't have a link for comments that actually says "comments" instead of the time stamp? I went through the comments settings and didn't see anything.

Oh, Mickey

Welcome back, Brock! Good to have you back. I can't wait to hear about your trip, like how you ran into Mickey Mouse's arms and he spinned you around, all the while you're peeing your pants! Or not. That's just kind of how I imagined it. My sick mind.

Some things of note

Before I start with a big post sometime tomorrow, I'll nip a few little things in the bud tonight.

-You can post comments now. Click the time links at the end of every post to see the comments for that post. (I.E. 10:46)

-I've tried several times to write a short story, but over my trip I got near to finishing one for the first time. And now that I'm back, I plan to do the deed. I began this short story when I was on the road with Gabe and his wife to see The Casket Lottery back in May, and I've nearly completed it with this trip. It's entitled Blood on the Golden Shores and once it's done I'll let you read it.

-Josh and his bro's blog is delicious. I loves me some "Try Avoidance".

-Star Wars, Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith. And yes, I'm a nerd.

-Brock

Interstellar blast

...I'm back to save the universe. As you've probably guessed, I couldn't access the net while I was over in California. I'm sorry about that. But I'm back now, and I promise to tell you plenty about the trip in the coming days. Good post Gabe! He hit the nail on the head; Braid was...surreal.

Surrealism

“Surreal.” It was uttered repeatedly over the weekend. How else would you describe seeing a favorite band for the first time, five years after their demise?

My wife, Rebekah, and I ventured on a six hour trip to California to see the temporarily reunited Braid. Brock and Alex accompanied us. We saw them perform at the Chain Reaction in Anaheim on Friday night, and at the El Rey (awesome place, converted from an old theater) in Los Angeles on Saturday night. Surreal.

The crew took the stage. Bob, Chris, Todd and Damon. The anticipation, culminated over a couple of months, plus the ocean salty air, created a dreamy atmosphere. Was it a dream? So real.

The four of us were quite familiar with Bob, Todd and Damon, having seen them several times as Hey Mercedes. But Chris Broach adds quite a dynamic with his playing and pained yells. If I had seen them before, I think I would’ve said “dang, it’s like they never broke up.” But I guess they were still working out some rough edges at the beginning of the tour. Therefore, I was happy to see them near the end of it.

Braid had become my life’s theme around late ’97. I had the chance to see them on two occasions. Couldn’t make either. They broke up. I was devastated. So, I’ve tried to make it up by seeing them three times on their reunion tour. I rocked out with my fellow Braid devotees, yelling every lyric at the top of my lungs at all three shows. My vocal cords took a beating too. All in good fun. Bob Nanna joked at the Phoenix show after having Jimmy Eat World open – “it’s good to support the local, struggling bands.”

They played all shows with equal intensity. I can’t begin to describe it. I don’t have the words. Perhaps Brock will do it.

Thank you, Braid.

Cali Post?

Monday I got back from a three day weekend in California. Braid was the reason. And it was good. More on that later.

Brock's family came through Sunday to begin their week long stint in the area. So, Brock's still over there. His hotel should have Internet access. Will we see a post from Brock in Cali? Post it up, Brock!

That's Not All...

Also, Cop 633 in Chunking Express, is Broken Sword in Hero! Didn't even recognize Tony Leung Chiu Wai.

Yes, I'm Not Crazy will be screened, along with about 48 others. They'll be shown at the Harkins Centerpoint in Tempe on Wednesday, July 21st. Tickets are $5 and can be obtained from the Phoenix Film Festival office (602-955-6444).

Comments

I'm trying to enable comments. Let's see if this works.

Edit Doh! I wonder why it's not working...

Foolproof

He's the same cinematographer? That's crazy!
Hey everyone, I'm Not Crazy will be screened on the 21st. I think I have the details in an e-mail Gabe sent me. I'll post them and if you're a Phoenix resident and you're not doing anything that night, maybe you can jaunt on over and see our flick on the big screen!!

Cinemaustralian

On another interesting note regarding Wong Kar Wai, is that he's used the cinematographer Christopher Doyle a few times. He's Australian but he's filmed quite a few Chinese movies, including a new favorite of ours, Hero starring Jet Li. He also filmed Rabbit Proof Fence, a very enjoyable movie.

Curse of La Mancha

Well, thanks for the words regarding our film man. Maybe I'm hard on myself, and yeah, I think you pretty much nailed our flick's flaws. Still, you can't help but ponder. Oh well.

One of the little niceties that I’ve grown used to over the past few months has been watching Cowboy Bebop on Cartoon Network’s adult swim. Admittedly, Cowboy Bebop comes on very late, but I suffer from insomnia. Watching it feels like winding the night down with a good prime time show.
However, they recently stopped playing it at 1:00 in the morning on Cartoon Network. Now they play it on Saturdays, I think. Still, it bothers me to no end. I enjoyed being able to watch it nearly every night of the week. It’s by far my favorite Japanese Anime and quite possibly one of my favorite shows of all time. Quite simply, I’m going through Cowboy Bebop withdraws. So I think I’m going to end up buying the series collection on DVD. Sequentially of course, but I’d like to have it because of a few episodes in particular.


Speaking of Asian entertainment, I also wanted to mention that I enjoyed the film by Wong Kar Wai. I’d love to see some more of his work, particularly Fallen Angels. With regard to his films it’s also interesting to consider his work methods. I’m probably going to explain this incorrectly, but I think what Josh told me about his method is that “he gives his actors an overview of the story and the situations and then lets them act it out as they may". Regarding that, the results he gets from his actors is extraordinary. His films, for lack of a better comparison, seem to be the cinematic counterparts of a J.D. Salinger story.


Moving on to a few tidbits of musical news, you might find it fitting to know that Modest Mouse is currently filming their next music video for the single “Ocean Breathes Salty”. While there’s no real information given regarding the video aside from the single itself, Modest Mouse do plan to appear on Late Night with Conan O’Brian on the 21st. It’s presumed they’ll play Ocean Breathes Salty, although the crowd might riot if they don’t play "Float On". Of course they could always end up playing a non-single, like they did on Letterman with “Satin in a Coffin”.

Modest mouse will also be playing at the Celebrity Theater here in Phoenix on the 23rd. Unfortunately I won’t be able to see them as I’ll be on vacation in San Diego. Before I head over to San Diego though I’ll be with Gabe, Rebeckah and Alex at the two Braid shows in L.A. With all the good reports of their tour so far, I expect this to be not only a fun trip but also a fun set of shows.

And as always I’ll take along reading material for the trip. At Coachella I had Moby Dick and for The Casket Lottery I brought Sherlock Holmes and Earnest Hemmingway. This time I’ll be bringing Don Quixote. We toss around jokes about the Curse of La Mancha often enough that I’ve unavoidably become interested in La Mancha itself and the character behind the story, Don Quixote. When I thought upon what I should bring to read for this trip I ultimately decided that I might as well read the book itself. Who knows? Maybe Gilliam will never finish it. Maybe years from now I’ll set out to complete Brock H. Brown’s version of Don Quixote. (not really)

Au Contraire

Yes, I still live. We're proud to have come across a sole reader, our friend, Josh Provost.

Ah, the artiste and his constant self-degredation. Brock, your performance is nary the cause of our failing to make the top 25. Besides, I had a visible laugh as well. Those could have been cut, but the real problem was in the focus of the film. The majority of that being a character that was insanely retarded doing crazy stuff (no offense to the mentally handicapped). As funny as it was, it took away from the theme of "escape." However, we definitely had a better film than some of those that made it. We can only blame that on the judges who have a affection for the mundane and ordinary.

Brock and I were able to enjoy a viewing of a Wong Kar Wai film (Chungking Express) at Josh's house. It was enjoyable and I would like to see more of his stuff.

Radiohead Album 7

According to At Ease, Radiohead will begin work on their 7th album in 2005. Check it out.

Future Brock also has a finished script

Right now I’m in the middle of rewriting my script. I had begun the rewriting process quite a while ago but neglected it until now. Rewriting is very difficult; it involves a lot of problem solving, plenty of thought and analysis and a little bit of self-meditation. And you never quite know if you’re fixing the problems with the script or simply creating more. I’m working on the rewrite now though because I want to finish the script and have it as polished as I can in time to send it into this contest. I’m going to see if Gabe, Alex and maybe Rebeckah can read it this time as well and offer insight.
Now, as you probably know, whenever I get involved in some writing endeavor, I tend to squelch on my posting duties here at Eyes Like Static. But I’m going to do my best not to let that happen this time. In fact, I’ve got some items in particular I want to mention later this week.

And guess what? This time next week I’ll have seen Braid, twice. Future Brock is such a fortunate dude…

With Great Power

When I last blogged nine days ago, I denoted that I had much to “talk about”. “Complain about” would be the better wordage, for I had just come from seeing the 25 films that won the Phoenix 48-Hour Film Challenge. Yes, Alex, Kevin, Gabe and his wife, and myself had gone to the screening of the top 25 films in order to see what beat us. As it turned out, it wasn’t much.
That’s not to take away the vision and finesse beheld by the sole “greatest film” of the night, Klac, but it is to say that aside from a few films, very little stood out as being great, or even better then our film. My reasoning behind that is this: One of the top ten films was nothing more then a taping of a bunch of guys sitting around and “discussing” what they should do for their project. Once you realize the laziness that must go into creating a project like that, you can’t help but feel the very fiber of your integrity being eaten away.
Yes, some of these films were bad.

In fact, they were bad enough that I couldn’t help but question “if these could make it then why couldn’t ours?” As I sat there and had to endure film after film, I remembered one of the sole criticisms that I heard time and again from people who viewed our film: You can see me laughing.
In more then one scene I can’t help but crack up from everything that’s going on around me. If you think it’s funny to watch Kevin Ross, the guy in the sports gear, prance around our washed out office screaming “superbowl”, then just imagine what it was like to physically be there and have him scream it into your face. I couldn’t help but smile every now and then. And wouldn’t you know it, the takes in which I’m smiling are the ones in which Kevin and Gabe give their starkest, most poignant representations of their caricatures. Still, the point hit home within me. I felt that I had costed us the screening. Deep down I believed, and still do believe that because of my numerous crack-ups, the judges decided to pass on us.
Yet that irks me to no end, because the rest of the film came together quite nicely. I have to say that even though my performance was bad, Gabe’s and Kevin’s were quite good. Moreover, the cinematography (I feel) was quite good for a short film that cost virtually nothing. And that’s not me tooting my own horn there; we all had our say in the visual look and feel of the film. Many of those angles are mine, yet I’d wager that Kevin and Alex have just as many. Gabe happened one of my favorite shots, the placid fish-eye shot that represented a security camera.
I guess what I’m getting at is that just because I screwed up my performance doesn’t mean that the other guys and the film itself deserve to be penalized. And that’s probably not what happened, but it’s certainly the theory that’s been running through my head.

After the screening I felt quite despondent. I couldn’t help but consider “if we got beat by stuff like that, what does that have to say about our dream of being filmmakers as a whole?” I was crestfallen. Thankfully, a midnight screening of Spider-Man 2 was the perfect remedy.
Yes, everything you’ve heard about Spider-Man 2 is true: It’s a great comic book film, a fun summer flick, and a touching character drama. But what impressed upon me, especially that night, was that no matter how hard Spider-Man tries, no matter how hard Peter Parker works to set his life aright, Sam Rami has no qualms about keeping things adrift. The first 20 minutes of the film are particularly harsh on the protagonist. We see him drift from job to job with nothing more then a few bucks and some invisible sense of purpose to keep him going. That unseen sense of purpose just might be drawn up from the charismatic Mary Jane, Peter Parker’s love interest from the first film. Yet, Rami and the story is particularly harsh here, using every disadvantage that could be taken from the Spider-Man persona, and directing it towards the dissolution of Peter’s relationship with Mary Jane. And it works. As the film goes on the characters’ ties to one another wilt. Equally as striking is the rift Spider-Man creates between Peter and his friend Harry Osborne. Osborne still remembers the death of his father, and he hasn’t forgotten his promise to get revenge upon Spider-Man. Naturally, he spends most of the film drilling Peter (Spider-Man’s “personal” photographer) on his own secret identity.
With all of these characters intertwining one another and being driven apart by Spider-Man, I felt that Rami had succeeded in recreating the very essence of the comics. That sole essence is this: Peter Parker doesn’t win. Even though he keeps Spider-Man a secret he still ends up paying merely because of his secret persona’s existence. It’s a catch 22; his friends and loved ones aren’t close to him because he keeps himself deliberately at a distance. Yet by revealing his identity, his friends would surely destroy him.
Also noteworthy about the film is Alfred Monilia’s performance as Doctor Otto Octavius, or as he’s later referred to as Doc Ock. The charisma and interplay between him and Peter Parker was nicely done. He’s certainly established as one of the better performances in this series.

At the request of a fan

Josh tells me to blog more. I will tomorrow. I'm just lazy.

More to come

Ohhh, have I got much to say. Much indeed.

We didn't make the cut

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've sort of been a little weird the past few days. I haven't been unstable or anything, I simply mean that my desire to blog has been null. The first thing that comes to mind for mentioning is that our film didn't make the cut in the 48-Hour Film Challenge. It's no big deal, it was our first effort to submit a short to a contest after all. Moreover, we did it in less then 48 hours, which, for a group of relative beginners, is pretty damned good. And, we all love the short. Who cares if some film board doesn't? For a first effort I'll always cherish it.

Your lucky numbers

First one to e-mail Gabe and I with the correct guess as to who in the video is Gabe and I gets a prize.

Red Carpet

That's right, yo. Roll out the red carpet for Matter of Chance Productions! Ours, and 45 other short films, will be viewed and judged this Wednesday. The top 25 will be shown at a screening next week. I sure do hope we make it.

If you'd like to see this little film of ours, I'll have a link for it in our Links section shortly. It's around 20-something MB.

48-Hour Rush

The 48-Hour film challenge is over, and I gotta say it was a blast. I'm tired though. I need about 72-Hours to recover.

Return of the Beasties: The Brouhaha

To The 5 Boroughs - Review

When he released his much anticipated reunion album with the E-Street Band in 2003, multi-platinum artist Bruce Springsteen introduced his fans to a dark and somber work that characterized his feelings regarding the attacks on the Twin Towers. His album, The Rising distinguished the artist’s newly revealed opinions on the heated controversies and social issues that marked the day. But he wasn’t the first, and surely not the last to express such views. Since then everyone from Bono to Sparta, Radiohead and the Flaming Lips have taken the time to address their concerns both publicly and musically regarding the world’s current state of affairs. Their opinions are ardent and their views nothing short of strong.
Now flash back six years to 1998. The Beastie Boys have just unleashed their latest studio masterpiece, Hello Nasty, a wild, frenzied marriage of rock, hip hop and rap. The beats are bombastic, and the rhymes silly. With videos for their devastatingly popular singles, Body Movin’ and Intergalactic, the Beasties prove to fans everywhere that they’re just out to have a good time.
But after Hello Nasty nothing happened. Six years dwindled by. The world changed. The kids who had listened to the Beasties in high school grew up, possibly got married, moved on and got jobs. Divisive social elements struck hard worldwide and still the Beastie Boys remained silent. Bruce Springsteen and a plethora of other artists released their so-called defining works on the events surrounding September 11th, 2001. But on June 15th, 2004 the Beasties kept quiet no more.

There had been talk for months on end of a new Beasties album, but to actually hold it in your hands is nothing short of surreal. Also surreal is the very serious, social conscious views expressed on this album. As previously noted, the Beasties were known by their strictly party attitude. They often had smart, witty concepts and rhymes, but to see them throw their lot in with such artists as Springsteen and others by commenting upon the tragedies of September 11th is unexpected.
If that weren’t enough of a shock to the system, listeners will also be taken back by the album’s sparse, nearly void sonic landscape. Hello Nasty was vivid, lush. Its beats, samples and loops oftentimes borderline overcrowded. But on To The 5 Boroughs the Beasties have room to spare in their empty, almost hollow sounding hip-hop elegies. Surely, both the politicking and emptiness are intentional and reflective of the album’s subject matter: the ultimate dirge to New York and current events.
Yet, despite being expressed with deep conviction and feeling, the political opinions and social views become tiresome. While it’s certainly nice to hear the views of a group of artists you love and respect it’s a little bewildering to hear them express basically the same thing as everyone else.
True, their slanders of Bush and his companions are delivered in the typical Beasties fashion, “Is the U.S. gonna keep breaking necks? Maybe its time we impeach Tex. By the time Bush is done, what will be left?”. It’s just a bit surprising to find out that such views could be expressed in the typical Beasties fashion.
Take it as you receive it I suppose, there may be some who will find their political focused rapping conducive and enjoyable. Personally, I’d much rather hear rhymes more consistent with the theme developed in the lead single, Ch-Check It Out.

But how are the songs themselves you ask? Well, after waiting six years for new Beasties material, anxiously hoping that their next album would be as good as Hello Nasty, if not better, I can sum up the music itself in one all-encompassing word: Great.
The sparseness is bound to turn some people off to the record, but others will see it for what it truly is, the defining element. Check Your Head had its musical diversity, Ill Communication its groves, and Hello Nasty its sheer complexity. But To The 5 Boroughs will thoroughly be defined by its sparseness. And all for the better I say.
The loops and samples exude a vicious edginess and mood unlike any other Beasties effort. The beats, although simplistic, are genuinely catchy and even a bit clever. And although I haven’t gotten the chance to listen to the album on a true sound-system, I’m sure that these songs, when properly backed up by lots of base, will absolutely blaze.
One song of note I’d like to mention is “An Open Letter to New York” which is without a doubt, the masterpiece of this album. Other reviews (the Pitchfork one for example) criticize this song for its general word-pictures of New York City, contending that a more defined, abstract view of the city was called for to express its beauty. I’d stand to object, for in this song, the rapping draws the listener to appreciate New York even if he or she has never been to the metropolis. It develops a common appreciation and understanding with its listeners; in other words, by using easily understood themes in expressing the majesty of New York, no one gets left out in enjoying this track.

After six years of heated anticipation, it’s nice to see the Beastie Boys back in business. Fans have been longing to be reintroduced to their geeky hip-hop saviors for years. But the album’s failing rests in the trio’s inability to completely deliver upon that longing. With much of the rapping the Beasties decided to toss out most of their slap-dash comic references in favor of a political slant. While the music is darkly refreshing, the views aren’t. It’s all been said before, just not rapped. But it never had to be. That’s the album’s failing, and yet at the same time, it’s not a devastating one. It’s still a fine Beastie Boys record, full of hot beats and choice samples. And I should say, it is nice to have the Beasties back. I’d rather hear their opinions than Bono’s.

We Got The

New Beasties Album - Check Review soon.

And now begins Act II

I think that for a first video, our filming went generally smoothly. There were a few problems here and there and things that we had to figure out, but otherwise it was great. I also think it’s going to be a good video. Gabe showed me some of the footage he captured onto his PC earlier this week and it looks astoundingly better then when I first saw it on the camera’s playback screen.
It was merely a taste though for what’s to come. The Phoenix Film Challenge updated their time requirements for all entrees; all videos must be no longer then 5 minutes (or is it six?). I’m hoping that things work out for us and that we’re able to guide our project through the 48 hours. But there are a number of factors I’m going to be paying close attention to throughout the shoot. First and foremost, I want to make sure that if Alex and Kevin bring Canon XLS1 cameras to our team that Gabe and I are able to adequately use them without spending too much time learning how. Secondly, we won’t have a substantial amount of time to think up and create our video. Moreover, it isn’t just Gabe and I shooting the video, its Gabe, myself, plus Kevin and Alex. We all know one another very well, but I’m hoping that no differences in opinions or creative conflicts arise. With the time and the new members to the team, I don’t want to get forced into bypassing some important first stage of the film’s creation, like minor storyboards, a treatment or script.
Those are just some of the worries that have been filtering through my mind. I’m perfectly sure that nothing will go outlandishly bad, but still, it helps to expect everything to go bad. I think we’ll all have to just trust in one another and learn to interact and work accordingly.

I purchased some new (old) music earlier this week when I got The Pharcyde’s masterwork Bizarre Ride II. I’ve only known the Pharcyde briefly, but their music video and Fatlip’s documentary on the Spike Jonez DVD encouraged me to check them out. I was even more prompted into their music when Gabe related to me that he had seen them years back at Lollapalooza and that they were a good group. Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed.
Bizarre Ride II is an amazing record. Despite being more then ten years old it still strikes me as a stunning accomplishment. The beats, grooves and overall atmosphere created by the group marks it as a nice companion piece to another defining record of that time: The Beastie Boys’ “Check Your Head”.
Speaking of the Beasties, their new album comes out next week!

Cut! Print!

Well, Brock and I finished up filming for our video. It went well and it was pretty fun. We got a taste of how much work can be involved with these things, and what can go wrong. On to editing.

Here are a few links to Salon's articles on "Pay for Play."

Pay for Play
Payola City
The Day the Music Died

Payola is a load of Crapola

Gabe sent me an article today about the current standard of “payola” in the record industry, and having just read it I can’t even begin to express my anger and distaste at all of the corruption going on in music. The sheer volume of bribery and shady tactics going down is boggling. Maybe Gabe will post the article, but rest assured, there’s a plethora of crap going on behind the scenes that listeners aren’t aware of.
And it makes me Mad. Mad enough that I remembered this crazy idea of mine to become a disc jockey, an idea that sprouted in my mind shortly before I entered college. I wanted to become a DJ primarily so I could play the music I wanted hear. I remember riding around with Alex during the summer, picking up lunch, or shopping for video games or whatever, and listening to the radio, only to be put off by all of the repetitive music we heard. Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears, Blink-182, they all sounded the same. I wanted to become a DJ so I could play stuff like Braid or Hum, or whatever it was I currently liked, stuff that didn’t get played.
But this seedy business going on in the music industry rekindled my desire, with a completely different objective: smite Clear Channel and all of the money-grubbing middle-men bastards who are bullying radio stations into playing the latest 3 minute teeny bopper ballad.
It’ll never happen. The most I could ever hope for would be to work at a campus radio station for a semester or two. Besides, I can infuse my anger and disgust into my films, and possibly reach a much wider audience.

Enough rating, sorry you had to endure that. I should focus on something positive now. For one, Gabe is going to pick me up in 20 minutes so we can go film. I think we mentioned a while back that we planned on doing some music videos for some of our favorite groups, and tonight we’re seeing that vision realized. Gabe’s got his camera, and some new equipment, and we’ve both got ideas for a video for The Casket Lottery’s song “Leaving Town”. I don’t think the band would mind. After all, it’s not like Clear Channel would allow the video to be played without a little payola.

Broach it!

Speaking of Chris Broach, I just received in the mail yesterday, the L'Spaerow CD. I started listening to it this morning and it sounds pretty good. A bit like The Firebird Band. I also got, Kill Bill vol. 1 - Soundtrack, Mogwai - Young Team and The Firebird Band - Archives.

Tonight: Rocky Votolato @ Modified.

Gimmie More

So I'm listening to Chris Broach's newest band (to my knowledge) Life at Sea, and they sound pretty damned good. I just might have to get their album.

First Day Back

Do you realize that tomorrow, Braid (one of the finest indie bands of the 90's for the uninformed) will play their first show since 1999? They broke the hearts of fans everywhere when they broke up in 99, but now they're back together, playing their reunion tour. Check out the link at the side, and be sure to see them.

Not to confuse children with angels

It’s funny; I was going to say, “Sidewalk Star” is actually kind of neat sounding (in a weird way). But now that I know where you lifted “Matter of Chance” from, I’m all the more enthused about the team name. Maybe years from now we’ll be the top Phoenix production studio, Matter of Chance productions. Heh heh… Yeah, I realized we should have a link since it is a Phoenix cultural event. Maybe some of you readers are planning on entering the event too!

Prepare the Sidewalk Star

Tomorrow I send off Brock and my team's registration form for the 48-Hour Film Challenge (thanks for the link at right, Brock). So far, the team consists of Brock, me, Alex Rotundo and Kevin Ross. We will be called "Matter of Chance" which was repeated several times in the beginning of Magnolia. So, I kind of lifted it from there, though it is a general phrase.

Brock, I'd imagine that someone, somewhere, would have used that split-screen or picture-in-picture technique, but I can't think of any off hand.

Stay outta town

It might be at a Greyhound bus station. Don't tell them either.

P.S. Gabe, has anyone ever used the mini screen (like on TV's when you're watching two shows at once) in a music video?

P.P.S. And yes! I want to see The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!

Good News for the Bad and the Ugly

I just picked up the two disk Collector's Edition of Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Can't wait to sit down and watch. I'll have to have you over to view it, Brock.

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!

Just a Reminder

I have to admit, I’ve been a bit taken back recently by the tremendous surge of re-releases. Legendary groups from all eras of the sonic landscape like Jawbreaker, Weezer, Pavement and Modest Mouse have spent time releasing special editions of some of their most famous (or infamous) works to date. In fact, when I was at Coachella Gabe told me that Dinosaur Jr. would soon join the fray with reissued editions of their two masterworks, Bug and You’re Living All Over Me.
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.

Year of the Rabbit: Failure

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.

Arrest This!

Arrested Development coming back? That's hot! And I was getting ready to shiv that Rupert.

I'm Rupert Murdock, and this is my Bleuth Co.

I'll chat with you all later, but for now, rejoice; Arrested Development will be back for a second season.

Satin on a Beach

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.

On the Air

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.

The Production That Killed Don Quixote

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.

Good News (and bad news?)

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.

Wall of Sound

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...

Coachella Festival: Sunday May 2nd

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…

Into the White

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

Coachella Fesitval: Saturday May 1st

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.

We're going to Coachella, Coachella here we come...

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.

Slammed

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.

Brock's Segue, Pt. 1

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.
Starting with those gems, a friend of mine sent me copies of Ted Leo’s Hearts of Oak and The Tyranny of Distance. He’s getting the entire Modest Mouse catalogue in return.
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.

The Lone Blogger

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.

Boo

Meep. The URL wasn't coming in for me last night. I was worried that our blog had been completely wiped out. Everything looks fine today though. Hope you're having a good Friday.

Mis-post

Dang, I wrote a semi-lengthy post this afternoon in Word. Then, losing my mind, I closed it without saving it, thinking I posted it in the blog already! Tomorrow I'll try to recreate it.

Sonic landscape. Sounds like a fun project, Brock.

Acting up

Blogger was acting up for me. It looks like it posted every single draft of my latest post. How odd.

'Dance Hall'?

(More like 'Lame Song')

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.

The Album at Large

So I finally got Good News for People Who Love Bad News. I’m not sure what I think of it so far, but I will say that ‘The World At Large’ is the best new song I’ve heard this year.

Easy Rider

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.

Coping with Good and Bad News

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.

Quickie Rant

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.

I Lived

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.

It had somethin'

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.

New things, new experiences

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

Perfect Disguise

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 Brock

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

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)...

Moving up two notches is...

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.

Stuff

The new Weezer stuff came out today. Holy cow.

Sunshine

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!!

Cope Park

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.

Dark Side of the Moon

...And Antarctica

Unless Epic Records decides to change the date again, a few weeks from now Modest Mouse will finally release their long-anticipated “Good News for People Who Love Bad News”. It’s been a long wait for fans that have known the band for years. And yet, it’s been not so long of a wait for the Mouse’s newer fans.
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.

Consolation Prizefighter

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.

Never Will Come For Us

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.

Spotless

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.

Sunshine Brion

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.

Devil's Pitchfork

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.

Hackneyed words, hackneyed video

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.

Braid v 2.0

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.

Editing

I'll post later about my editing work. Unlike Gabe, I'll be the furthest thing from humble. Hee hee...

The only arrangement I'll accept...

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.

Culture Shock

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.

New

trying something new tomorrow...check out the links area....