Last Tuesday saw the release of a ton of interesting and/or promising albums. I splurged a bit and got a few I'd had my eye on for a while. A single listen is generally not enough to really "get" any album, but once in a while I do these first impression things and write about my initial thoughts on an album after the first listen.
Psapp-The Camel's Back Psapp's first album, The Only Thing I Ever Wanted, was a nice little surprise a few years ago. It was one of those albums that I thought would be kind of disposable. I'd listen to it for a few months and then it would sort of disappear into my collection. But I've found myself putting it on pretty consistently since I got it, which is why I picked up their second effort. I would say it's more of the same--lots of fun little songs, with some bells and whistles (literally--they use a lot of toy instruments in their music) to make it interesting. Only time will tell if this album will grow on me like their first. I hope it does. Psapp - The Monster Song
Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3-Goodnight Oslo Pretty much the same story for Robyn Hitchcock, except he's been around a lot longer than Psapp. I really enjoyed his debut with the Venus 3 a few years ago, Ole! Tarantula, but like that album, it looks like Goodnight Oslo will be a slow burn. Hitchcock's songwriting is always solid, if a little perverse at times, and this looks like a strong effort.
Beirut-March of the Zapotec/Realpeople Holland This album is actually two EPs, as opposed to an LP. The first, March of the Zapotec, is straight up Beirut, loaded with horns and the folksy tones of Eastern Europe, and this time, Mexico. I still haven't heard a song to match "Elephant Gun", but this first EP is a nice listen. Realpeople Holland is apparently a side project of Zach Condon's--it's all electronic, contrasting sharply with the first EP. Though I usually find Condon's voice highly tolerable if not downright pleasant, I found it didn't meld well with this style of music. I will say, I hadn't realized how similar to David Byrne he sounded until I heard this second EP. That said, I was ready to never listen to this EP again until I heard the last track, "No Dice," which is a fun techno beat with no vocals. That one's a keeper.
M. Ward-Hold Time Easily the album I was looking forward to the most of these four, M. Ward didn't let me down. I was unsurprised and quite pleased that Zooey Deschanel lent her vocals to "Never Had Nobody Like You"; I was more surprised by Lucinda Williams' vocals on "Oh Lonesome Me." Having these two guest vocalists on the same album was an odd choice. Deschanel's voice is as sweet as can be, whereas Williams sounds like she's been smoking three packs a day for a few decades. Ward's voice matches well with both, but for different reasons. The cover of "Rave On" is one of Ward's more interesting choices--I have to say I like the original, faster version better, but maybe I'll get used to this take. I'm really more interested in the originals, and I'd say that even after only one listen, M. Ward's songwriting and production is as strong as ever. A must for any M. Ward fan and a decent introduction for any newbie.
Aside from a few interviews and essays, I haven't read much by Chuck Klosterman. Pop culture already sucks up a bit too much of my time, so do I need to read about it even more? That said, he was recently featured in Newsweek's "A Life in Books" feature, in which authors and writers are asked about their favorite books. Nothing very surprising about his 5 "most essential" books, but when asked for A Book You Would Have Parents Read To Their Children, Klosterman responded: "'Gravity's Rainbow.' I don't really understand children."
I laughed out loud on my train. I may have to go out and buy one of this guy's books. Any recommendations from someone who's read him?
For the record, if you simply must read one Pynchon novel before you die, go for The Crying of Lot 49. Gravity's Rainbow has its moments, but it almost kicked my ass.
This is a review I should have written weeks ago, but better late than never, I guess. I say "should have" because anyone who looks at this blog even occasionally knows that I can't say enough about Andrew Bird. Noble Beast, released last month, is finally getting the Bird Man the attention he deserves. There's been a veritable media blitz--NPR loves him to death, I've been seeing and hearing interviews with him left and right, and I believe he's playing Leno tonight. For a guy who's songs you'll probably never hear on the radio, this might be as good as it gets.
But I digress. The only unfortunate thing about Noble Beast is that it came out so early in 2009 that I'm concerned it won't find a home on people's top 10 lists at the end of the year. I think I can safely say that won't be a problem for me. Bird is easily one of my favorite artists of the last decade, and Noble Beast places a close second behind Mysterious Production of Eggs for his best album to date. From the infectious opening whistle of "Oh No" right on through to the end, there is nary a weak spot.
Maybe I'm a sucker for whistling, or a little violin plucking, or big words, or all of these things put together, but this is definitely good stuff. The melodies that were stuck in Andrew Bird's head for years as he crafted the songs for Noble Beast will get stuck in your head. The words in his lyrics, whether you know what they mean or not, will stick in your head like a poppy seed in your teeth. From Bird's recent NPR interview (there's lots of links to streaming concerts and songs through the NPR site, too): "Bird's lyrics often feature archaic language — words such as radiolarian, plecostomus, dermestids, coprophagia — which he chooses mainly for their sound, but not at the expense of their meaning....'I guess I'm attracted to more archaic words because they can be imbued with more meaning, because their definition is elusive. And sometimes my use of words is a bit reckless. I'm aware of that.'"
Reckless or not, it works. I could probably do a post for every song on this album, but I'll stop here and just encourage anybody reading this to check out Noble Beast. If you're already an Andrew Bird fan, get the Deluxe Edition, which features a bonus instrumental album, Useless Creatures. It's a bit more experimental and weird, but still a great listen.
So I really don't feel qualified to write a game review since I play games so infrequently--I generally leave game reviewing to Sparky. But I stumbled across Crayon Physics Deluxe a month ago or so, and it's an icon I'm wary of clicking on my computer because it usually means an hour of my life is about to disappear (at least).
The premise is simple. On each level, you get a ball, which can move, and a star, which does not. Using only a "crayon" to draw lines, pivots, and other objects that more or less obey the laws of physics, you have to get the ball to touch the star. Occasionally you get a tool, like a rocket, to help you out. It's really easier to show you than to describe it, so check out one of the Kloonigames trailers:
It's often the simple games that are most addicting, and so it is with CPD. Like the only other game I've played relatively recently, World of Goo, it has a lot of what Sparky calls "Aha!" moments. Some solutions are deceptively simple; some have taken me way too long. It's not as pretty World of Goo, and there's no plot to speak of, but you also aren't limited in tools. You can fill the screen with the most elaborate Rube Goldberg device imaginable to get the ball from A to B (see video below). With the full game--as opposed to the free demo you can download from Kloonigames--you also have the challenge to solve each level with an elegant solution (draw only one line or object), an old school solution (no pendulums, can't nudge the ball, etc...), or an awesome solution. I'm still working on getting an awesome solution.
Crayon Physics.... One possible solution from Highway6 on Vimeo. My biggest fault with the game is that there are only three or four tunes in the background music. The music is actually kind of pretty, but it gets old fast if you end up playing for a while. I'd recommend turning the music down and putting on your iTunes or music player of choice while playing. I would also suggest giving yourself a set play time, as in "I will play Crayon Physics Deluxe for one hour and no more," or you may be in for some late nights.
When I saw that Bill Willingham, the writer behind Fables, and Matthew Sturges, who collaborates with Willingham on Jack of Fables, were working together on a new series, I figured it was worth checking out. The first trade paperback in House of Mystery introduces what is essentially a spinoff of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series (also a Vertigo property), specifically a chapter in that series called "World's End" in its TPB form.
The House of Mystery, or the Inn at World's End, or whatever you want to call it, is a big ol' mansion that sits at a junction of world's and dimensions. Wanderer's from any and every plane of existence can and do end up there, some just for a visit, and some for longer stays. No money is exchanged in this establishment, only stories. The customers pay their tabs with tales. It's a convenient framing device for telling a variety of stories. Sturges takes the reigns on the frame, introducing us to Fig, a young architect who can "talk" to buildings and who has been dreaming about the House much of her life. Eventually, she ends up at the House and meets the staff. And since she apparently can't leave the grounds, she's doomed to become one of the staff. Meanwhile, a motley crew of patrons, from a transdimensional process server to a renegade witch, tell their horrific stories, which for the most part are written by Willingham.
That's probably what surprised me most about this book. It's pretty much an old school horror comic, with plenty of guts and gross-outs. There's some dry humor here and there, and it's not a splatterfest by any means, but at its heart it's essentially Tales From the Crypt with an actual story tying together the vignettes, as opposed to a cackling zombie-puppet.
Luca Rossi draws Fig's story, and I can't say I'm in love with the art here. Some of it's just fine, but the only reason I can tell most of the women apart is because their hair color is different. This lackluster illustration is more than compensated for by the various artists who draw the internal stories. Ranging from the cartoony (Steve Rolston) to the photorealistic (Zachary Baldus), nearly all the guest artists outshine Rossi, in my opinion.
Overall, I don't see this becoming one of my favorite series, but it was definitely good enough that I'll keep my eye out for the next TPB. It's success will depend largely on how Fig's story evolves. I think it holds promise, but right now there's a danger that it will grow too convoluted too early. Perhaps things will pick up as we learn the backstories of the rest of the House's occupants.
I actually have plenty posts coming up, but since I wrote down some of my favorite tracks (that weren't on top 20 albums) from 2008, I figured I'd throw them up here. I wouldn't say I disliked the albums these songs came from at all, but if I were to, say, make a mix for someone, these are the only songs from these albums I would consider for inclusion. Maybe some day I'll figure out how to stream songs on here, but for now I'll highly encourage you to find these songs on the internets and give them a listen.
Dr. Dog (Fate)- "The Old Days"
Headlights (Some Racing, Some Stopping)-"Cherry Tulips"
The Mountain Goats (Heretic Pride)-"Autoclave"
Yael Naïm (Yael Naïm)-"New Soul"
Bon Iver (For Emma, Forever Ago)-"Skinny Love"
I realize this was a big year for Bon Iver and this album made a ton of top ten lists, but with the exception of this song I couldn't bring myself to fall in love with the whole album. I think you have to be in the right frame of mind to be receptive to this kind of music, and I wasn't quite sad enough this year to embrace it.
Mumlers (Thickets & Stitches)-"Red River Hustle"
The Magnetic Fields (Distortion)-"Too Drunk to Dream"
What this list ultimately comes down to for me stems from one question: Which albums did I end up listening to the most this past year? Obviously I don't keep track of how many times I listen to every album (I'm not that anal retentive about my music...yet), but I usually have a pretty good feeling about how often I pop something in the CD player or bring it up on my iPod. So, with the exception of one album that I got fairly recently but that I really, really like, these are the albums that I listened to over and over again in 2008. They might not be the best music in terms of quality--and really, quality is pretty subjective, right?--but they gave me what my ears craved, and that's good enough for me.
10) The Nobility--The Mezzanine First blogged about this Nashville group back in April, and I kept on listening to them. The title track was one of my favorite tunes of the year, but the rest of the album was plenty catchy, too.
9) Eliza Carthy--Dreams of Breathing Underwater Carthy has apparently been around for a while, but this was my introduction to her crazy-good mixture of traditional folk with a splash of rock and also some other stuff that I can't pin down. Whatever it is, it's a great listen. Carthy has a strong voice without a trace of the whispiness that tends to characterize some British folk singers (ahem, Vashti Bunyan). The album starts out strong with "Follow the Dollar" and ends even stronger, with my favorite track, "Oranges and Seasalt", a song about terrible margaritas. If you only listen to one song from this album, listen to that one, but trust me when I say the whole thing is worth a try.
8) Michael Franti & Spearhead--All Rebel Rockers So this is the aforementioned album that I haven't actually had for all that long, but that I really, really like. A humungous thanks to Nat at ...and sometimes why for introducing me to this artist. A little background, and a much overdo thanks to Nat. When she posted about her local folk festival, I was intrigued because I'd never heard of most of the bands she'd seen. Not only did she give me a detailed description on nearly ever set she watched, but she sent me a mix with music from all the artists (and an excellent bonus disc CD with several other Canadian artists). It was awesome. I'm still listening to them, and I'm still figuring out which groups to explore further (personal note to Nat: the Weakerthans are awesome, but their album wasn't 2008, so didn't make the list).
But I digress. I loved the Michael Franti song Nat put on my mix (see video for "Say Hey" below), and it turns out I really liked the whole album. Nat says they're awesome live, and I can believe it. ARR gives us a mix of funk, rock, soul and plenty of other good stuff. Some songs are political, some are simple, many will make you shake your booty (again, see video below).
7) Vampire Weekend--Vampire Weekend I realize there's been some backlash with VW, but the album's still catchy as hell and definitely worth a spot on this list. Older posts can be found here and here.
6) Blind Pilot--3 Rounds and a Sound How have I not posted on this album? That was an oversight. Consider it a pleasant surprise. This Portland group hit a sweet spot for me. There's nothing outrageously innovative here...some nice strings pop up throughout the songs, occasional horns, mixing seamlessly with some guitar plucking and minimal percussion. Pleasant vocals, good harmonies, incredible hooks. Hmmm...I'm probably not really selling these guys. All I know is I found myself playing this CD a lot. Like, a lot a lot. It was my comfort food for the year. Give "Oviedo" a listen below--it's one of my favorite tracks on the album, the song that initially got me hooked. If you like it, I can assure you the rest of the album is worth a listen.
5) Fleet Foxes--Fleet Foxes Simply put, if you didn't put this album in your top ten of 2008, you are a crazy person and should go live in a crazy house. Full stop.
4) Try Me Bicycle-Voicings Well, this is awkward. In finding the links to write his entry, I learned that this album was actually released in 2007. Oh well...screw it. I've already put way too much effort into this and I'm not going to rearrange my list now. I'm pretty sure this got a re-release in 2008, so we'll just count that. This a pretty album from beginning to end. That's really the best word for it. Pretty. The guitar and piano are perfect, Andy Naylor's vocals are comforting--the complete opposite of abrasive. I could sit down in a dark room with nothing but this album playing and a nice glass of red wine and I would very happy. OK, that sounds pretentious, but it's true. This is the perfect album for unwinding after a long day.
3) Jim White--Transnormal Skiperoo Loved this album from the very first listen. The only reason it dropped a notch or two on my list is that the songs are so all over the place in terms of how they make me feel--from silly to sappy to very, very sad--that eventually it became exhausting to listen to the album from beginning to end all in one go. Still one of the more underrated albums of the year, in my opinion.
2) The Airborne Toxic Event--The Airborne Toxic Event Every year, I seem to have at least a few guilty pleasures on my list. TATE should probably be this year's, but I refuse to feel guilty about the pleasure I get from listening to this album. Pitchfork gave this puppy a whopping 1.6. Wow. I'm not saying this band is highly original. And honestly, some of the lyrics might make Rick Springfield roll his eyes. But I'm sticking with my first impression: these songs are pure and simple rock and roll, and I can listen to this album over and over again.
1.) Thao and the Get Down Stay Down--We Brave Bee Stings and All You can learn more about Thao, hear some of her music, and see a cool video in one of my older posts. It's like her song "Bag of Hammers" says, her music soothes me like a lick of ice cream. I fully realize this album won't be #1 on many lists, but it's the CD I listened to the most by far, so there you go. Listening to it made me happy, and usually that's what it all comes down to for me.
So that's it for 2008. For any regular readers (both of you!) who actually take an interest in my musical opinions, sorry it took me so long to get my act together this year. I'd planned on throwing up some favorite tracks in this post, but this has already taken me too long. Maybe a future post. But 2009 has already produced some good to excellent albums in a few short weeks, so it may be time to move on...
Truly ahead of its time, its flaws are--in retrospect--endearing. And you'll have to decide which is creepier: Paul Williams as Swan or the music (which he wrote) actually being good.
As long as we're talking horror movies, I happened to watch my first horror movie in a long time last week. The Ruins was in movie theaters last spring very briefly and was barely a blip on the radar for most people, but I'd heard some reasonably good things about it, so I gave it a shot.
It wasn't terrible. I'd even go so far as to say it was pretty good. The setup is pretty standard: some attractive people on vacation in Mexico follow a complete stranger to an off-the-map ancient temple so they can have one more adventure before they leave the country. Things go awry quickly when one of the group gets killed by some local villagers the moment they set foot on the pyramid. I'm not really spoiling much when I say that the Big Bad that lurks in the temple has nothing to do with Mayan ghosts or the like. It's the EVIL VINES that grow all over the place. I know, sounds lame, but it's better than it sounds. There's lots o' killin' going on in this movie, but very little of it is actually done by the vines. They're just sort of the grease for the wheels of murder here. Though there is plenty of visceral gore to admire (and I did my fair share of wincing, because the gore effects are pretty convincing), there's a psychological element that makes this flick a bit smarter than your maniac-in-a-mask slasher film. There's also a "real" actress in this--I'll watch Jena Malone in just about anything. Finally, the fact that most of the film takes place in broad daylight and still manages to be scary is exceptional.
Not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but worth a gander if you're a fan of the genre and missed it last year.
Schlocky, over-the-top, slasher horror fun. The 3-D was AMAZING, the plot semi-intriguing yet still comfortably formulaic, the actors (some throw-back) stilted, and the obligatory horror elements (teeners drinking where they shouldn't, boobies and crotch [in 3-D no less], red herrings, unbelievable 80's-style blood and guts) all were aggressively covered in what seemed to be a "FUCK YOU!" to the tired 90's self-reflective, minimalist gore horror genre of popular TV actors overstepping old stereotypes for overstepping's sake.
Thus, I loved it: the 3-D effects and the fantastic gore alone are worth every penny. Especially impressive was the miner's hat light shining through the screen (how did they do that?). But the movie could have easily failed as an effects piece and didn't, something rare both to the horror genre and 3-D genre.
I'd even watch it again in 2-D.
It had a preview of Coraline 3-D; we all have to go see that next month.
OK, let's just get this going. I'm not going to expound upon the albums about which I've already written, 'cuz this whole exercise will take a while as it is. There are tons of links on here though, so click on the band name to go to a relevant web site or the album title for the Amazon profile.
20) Nerf Herder--IV Yes, I know they're simplistic and fairly ridiculous, but I thought this was a strong effort for these aging bubblegum punks.
19)Jesus H Christ & the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse--Happier Than You Like Nerf Herder, the band borders on a novelty act, but the music is very competent and the lyrics are whip smart. Risa Mickenberg's vocals leave something to be desired, but the songs themselves tend to make up for that. "Liz the Hot Receptionist" has received a little press, but it's "Back Burner Guy" that got my attention with lyrics like this.. When I’ve got you i’s a funny thing I won’t be neurotic. I won’t have to cling As long as I know you lust after me. I can be the girl he wants me to be..
Because I know I've been that guy, as have some of my friends. You just have to listen to the song to know what I mean. Nearly all the songs are a mini essays or short stories, which is how this bizarre album ended up on this list.
18) The Hold Steady--Stay Positive Touted as a great summer album, I have to agree. I'm probably in the minority who liked this album more than Boys and Girls in America, but I'm used to being in the musical minority by now. Not every song on the album is great, but they all seem kind of...big. There's lots of piano and in-your-face guitar work. "Constructive Summer" seems to be the the stand-out track for a lot of critics--and it is a good song--but it's two of the darker songs, "One for the Cutters" and "Lord, I'm Discouraged" that really struck a chord for me. I suppose it's odd to like two of the downer songs on an album called Stay Positive, but whatevs.
17) Flight of the Conchords--Flight of theConchords Whereas #s 20 and 19 on this list are borderline novelty albums, FotC are proud of being the fourth best novelty act in New Zealand. Don't know if I can add much about this group that hasn't already been said. The songs are brilliant and still make me laugh the tenth time around. Some of them were better in the context of the show, but I know plenty of people who enjoy the album and have never seen the show. I thought the songs on the first episode of the second season were a little weak, so I'm wondering if Bret and Jemaine can keep up with the high standard they've set for themselves.
16) Blitzen Trapper--Furr It's been about a week since my last post, which praised the title track of this album. The album has grown on me enough that it had to move onto my list for the year. It's a great album to drink a beer to, and I wish I'd stumbled across it earlier in the year. For some reason, I think it will sound even better on a hot summer night. I have a feeling I'll be looking into the previous albums before too long.
15) Tilly & The Wall--O This album only got an honorable mention at this year's halfway point, but after seeing them live and giving the album several more listens, O not only became my favorite Tilly and the Wall album, but it made it into my top 20 for the year. With all the tap dancing, it's easy to call them a novelty act, but they definitely don't write novelty songs, and it's nice to hear a band with some real energy once in a while. Also, they score a few points for unique CD packaging--every CD had a unique piece of art for the cover. Neat trick.
13) The Black Keys--Attack and Release I already I don't see eye to eye with certain people on Black Keys albums. I really liked this one. "Strange Days" is the stand-out track for me. It just doesn't sound like it was written in this decade, nor do a lot of the songs. That's not a bad thing. Unlike the 80s, the 70s were a treasure trove of music. The Black Keys have tapped into that treasure and given it a modern edge. A bit more on this album here.
12) Emiliana Torrini--Me and Armini I'd never heard of Emiliana Torrini before a month or so ago, but this album was one of the rare gems that I liked upon the very first listen. By the artist's own admission, it's all over the place stylistically--sometimes she sounds like her countrywoman Bjork, but then she's got the happy-go-lucky "Big Jumps" or the silly, but dancable "Jungle Drums". Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what to think about this album, other than to say that I really like her voice and I've been playing the CD a lot. If I'd picked it up earlier in the year, it probably would have been bumped up into my top 10.
The song in the video below is actually not on this album, but it gives you a taste of what to expect, though I like most of the songs from Me and Armini even better.
11) She & Him--Volume One I was happy to hear that according to NPR's top listener picks of 2008, this album came in at 11. For a while, I thought I was the only person who liked it. Indeed, I liked it enough that I wouldn't mind seeing a Volume Two some day. Until then, I'm looking forward to M. Ward's new album coming out next month. More on this album here.
Honorable Mentions Make no mistake, even though these are only honorable mentions, these are all albums that I enjoyed thoroughly. I wish I had time to do a top 30 again so I could write about why I liked these albums, but I've already mentioned several on the blog. Check them out if you get the chance.
Ponytail-Ice Cream Spiritual Love Psychedelico-This is Love Psychedelico The Dodos-Visiter Jonathan Richman-Because Her Beauty is Raw and Wild Flogging Molly-Float The Kills-Midnight Boom The Ditty Bops-Summer Rain Carla Bruni-No Promises The Terrordactyls-The Terrordactyls Nana Grizol-Love It Love It Golden Animals-Free Your Mind and Win a Pony (also wins prize for best album title) Jenny Lewis-Acid Tongue TV on the Radio-Dear Science Jared Mees and the Grown Children-Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine, Money Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan-Sunday at Devil Dirt
As I've been compiling my favorite album list for 2008, I've also been thinking about my favorite songs of the year. Blitzen Trapper's "Furr", the title track off their most recent album, is not only my new favorite song about a man living in a wolf pack, it's easily one of my favorite songs of 2008.
Pitchfork, which just happened to post the video for the song the other day, calls the album a "slow-burner", and though I've only had the album a few weeks, I'd say that's a good call. Listening to it, I hear some Wilco, I hear some CCR, and on some songs like "Furr", I only hear Blitzen Trapper. Though the album will certainly earn at least an honorable mention from me, I have a feeling that if I'd had it a little longer before compiling my list, it would have moved up the ranks. Of the pile of new albums I got before the holidays, it's one of the CDs I play relatively frequently.
Before watching this video--which is a perfectly good video, but nothing to write home about--try just listening to the song first. I'm not even sure why I like it so much, but I do. Have you ever seen those tacky wolf T-shirts, with, like, a giant wolf head howling at the moon or something? Imagine this song as one of those shirts, but it's the most comfortable shirt you have ever worn, so comfortable that you don't care that it's kind of tacky. Maybe the shirt reminds you of a good friend who lives far away, or a cool dream you once had, or your first kiss in the woods at summer camp. I don't know why you like your damn wolf shirt, you just do. Now listen to this song about wolves.
So I actually did some reading while I was on vacation. I finished two books, one of which I'd been reading for an embarrassingly long time. Here's the rundown...
Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay So this was the book that took me way too long to read, but in my defense, I was reading other things on the side. Like, umm, comic books, which is kind of ironic since this book tells the story of two cousins who write and draw comics together. Chabon is a member of the McSweeney's group of writers, headed up by David Eggers, who are essentially writing modern classics. At least, they're the ones winning the awards (TAAoK&C won a Pulitzer) and garnering critical praise. This was my first Chabon novel, and though I obviously didn't find it a real page-turner, I did enjoy it for the most part. Set immediately before, during, and after WWII, the prose is rich and meaty and the characters are fleshed out well without spoon feeding too much to the reader about their thoughts and motivation. Ultimately, much as I enjoyed Moby Dick for its description of the whaling industry, I enjoyed this book for its description of the Golden Age of comics. Many of the events and characters Chabon describes in relation to the comics industry were real, and it was pretty cool to compare that time period with today's comics comeback. Though I found the characters and their various story arcs interesting, I didn't find that I had to know what was going to happen to them next, especially as the book progressed and nothing good happened to anyone anymore. I'm glad I read it, but I longed for a book that could be thought provoking and a fun read. Which is why the next book I read was... Christopher Moore's Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal I firmly believe that everyone should read at least one of Moore's novels in their life, and of the four I've read so far, Lamb is my favorite. The premise is simple: the angel Raziel is sent down to resurrect Levi (known as Biff), Christ's best friend during those 30 years of Jesus's life that the Bible conveniently skips, and force him to right a new gospel. Biff is kind of a jerk, but he's loyal to his best friend and they go on some amazing adventures, during which JC learns to become the Messiah. Moore concedes in his afterword that based on his research of the time period (and it's obvious he did do some research), Jesus's early life was probably not nearly as fun as this depiction. It's an interesting balancing act, making the life of Christ funny, but not sacreligous. I think Moore pulls it off--he definitely pulls of the funny part anyway. I'm probably not the best judge of what might be considered sacreligous, but I'd like to think my Christian friends could read this and not be offended. Nor is the book particularly preachy, so my atheist friends should get a kick out of it, too. Moore is no Vonnegut, who could be funny and thought provoking, but knew that brevity is the sould of wit. Sometimes the book drags on in parts that could have been more succinct--descriptions of the Jewish hierarchy 2000 years ago might prove that Moore did some research, but they do little to move the story along. The final section of the book also drops the funny altogether, but then, I have to imagine that it's really, really hard to make crucifixion funny. Monty Python pulled it off at the end of The Life of Brian, but really, I think they're the exception that proves the rule. And though the end of Biff's gospel takes a decidedly dark turn, it stays true to the character as we've come to know him. All of Moore's books are pretty amusing, and they're certainly quick reads. The humor is often sophomoric, but I'm always up for a good fart joke. If it happens to be Jesus farting, all the better.
OK, so I thought I might be able to get my top albums of 2008 up before I left for Germany, but that's not going to happen. I'll get it up in January though, for sure. Besides, I've got a stack of new albums resulting from my usual year-end binge, and there's a reasonable chance that some of them will make the list (TV on the Radio, I'm looking at you!)
So, to make up for what I can only assume is a shattering disappointment, I'm posting the Season 2 premiere of Flight of the Conchords (legally!). It won't make much sense if you haven't at least watched the last episode of the first season. But if you haven't watched the first season by now, you should, because FotC is fun, and fun is good*.
As the AV Club article mentions, this could either be really good or very disappointing. Any decent TV version of this series would have to have some incredibly high production values to be any good, and somehow I doubt ABC has the cojones to pony up that kind of money on something this risky. Maybe if they limited the TV series to Fabletown (which exists within NYC) and left The Farm (where all the non-human fables live) out altogether they could do it less expensively, but the writers would have to sacrifice several interesting story lines. I think the show is an ambitious idea, and someone in TV land knows some good story-telling when they see it, but I can't help but be a little pessimistic. I could maybe see HBO pulling something like this off, but ABC? Not so much.
I had a post like this last year, so I figured I better get the ball rolling with this post. Actually, I'm not going to be quite as ambitious this year with the end-of-year lists. I leave for Germany in a week and have metric buttloads of stuff to do before then. I'll be condensing things a bit this year, and no way will there be a top 30 like last year. Sorry...as it is, I'm up way past my bedtime tonight.
Best 2006 album that wasn't purchased until 2008: The Dodos - Beware of the Maniacs I already raved about this album extensively much earlier this year, so I won't really go into any details here. The Dodos got some good press in 2008 with the release of Visiter, their followup to this album, but I have to say I think BofM is the better album. It's more of a fun album, in any case, and it's still getting a lot of play time with me.
Best Reissue 2008: Andrew Bird - Music of Hair This one wins by default because I think it's the only reissue I purchased this year. No, that's not true...I got something by Mission of Burma and hated it. It's no secret that I'm totally crushing on Andrew Bird's music, so this pick should not come as a surprise to anyone who reads this blog. That said, Music of Hair is not for everyone. In Bird's own words, "It is sort of a relic from the time before I got my conceptual shit together.” That sounds about right. The styles of the songs are spotty and the singing (what little of it there is) is fairly weak. There's little if any of the trademark whistling--the album is all about the violin. Lucky for me I enjoy the violin in nearly any style, so I found the album a great listen. I haven't had it for very long, so I can't really say I have a favorite track. I'd say it's a nice album to have playing in the background while preparing a Sunday dinner.
Best EP of 2008: Ben Kweller - How Ya Lookin' Southbound? Comein... I also didn't get many EPs this year, but I'm glad I picked this one up. Generally when a rock artist "goes country", the result is pretty disappointing. But Kweller pulled this one off with aplomb. I genuinely liked every track on this EP, and I would go so far as to say that "Things I Like To Do" and "Sawdust Man" are two of BK's better songs as of late. This EP definitely whet my appetite for the upcoming LP. I'd say it was a must-have for any Ben Kweller fan, and even a should-give-a-listen to nonfans, though it's not really representative of his previous work.
Best Soundtrack of 2008: ??? I think the only soundtrack I bought this entire year was Juno's, which technically came out in 2007. I suppose that it'll have to count, but if anyone has any other recommendations, let me know. Not that the Juno soundtrack was bad, but I'd rather heap praise upon Kimya Dawson for...
Best Children's Album of 2008: Kimya Dawson and Friends - Alphabutt This is a new category for me, and it's actually pretty competitive. My son listens to plenty of my music, but he's also got a growing collection of kids' albums, all carefully selected by me (which means no Rafi). Alphabutt won this one hands down. It has very, very little educational value, and let's face it, Kimya Dawson can't sing worth shite. But guess what? Kids don't care. These songs are fun and delightfully immature. There are several songs about farting, and I'm totally down with that. Farts are funny. My son might not appreciate this album much now, but he will. This'll be the CD we can only play when mommy's not home, because she loathes it. This is not to say die Frau isn't fun, but unlike me, she is usually unable to regress her sense of humor back to age 7. Oh well, more fun for the boys...
Straight to the point. Minimalistic. That's all I have to give right now. See my previous posts as references as well (here).
2008, Best Albums of the Year:
1) Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
2) The Walkmen – You & Me
3) Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
4) J.Tillman – Long May You Run, J. Tillman/Minor Works/I Will Return. Kinda cheating with three albums, but they have really been hitting me hard. If you want happy go lucky, this is not for you. Trust me.
5) Calexico – Carried to Dust
6) Centro-Matic/South San Gabriel – Dual Hawks. This is the most recent addition, and it is possible that it should be higher, if that matters.
7) Cut/Copy - In Ghost Colours
8) Girl Talk – Feed the Animals
9) Thao & The Get Down, Stay Down - We Brave Bee Stings and All
10) Frightened Rabbit – Midnight Organ Fight
11) Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
12) Sun Kil Moon – April
12) Los Campesinos! – We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
13) The Wood Brothers – Loaded
Others that didn't make the list:
Portishead – Third
British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?
The Black Keys – Attack & Release The Broken West – Now or Heaven Cold War Kids – Loyalty to Loyalty M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Okkervil River – The Stand Ins
Mates of States – Re-Arrange Us Silver Jews – Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea Spiritualized – Songs in A&E Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer TV on the Radio – Weird Science R.E.M. - Accelerate Beck - Modern Guilt
Most disappointing album of the year:
My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges
Memorable Shows from 2008: 03/02/08: Wilco – The Ryman, Nashville, TN 03/12/08: Seeing David Berman 'poetry reading' at a small art design college in Nashville. Does this count as a show? 05/09/08: Radiohead – Charlotte, NC 05/17/08: Ladyhawk – The End, Nashville, TN 10/01/08: The Walkmen – Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, NC 10/02/08: Andrew Bird – UNC Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 10/03/08: The Black Keys – Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
I'm generally opposed to posting internetty stuff up here, but today's Toothpaste for Dinner just hit too close to home. It probably hits pretty close to home to more than a few people who read this blog...(you'll have to click on the pic to read the whole cartoon) toothpastefordinner.com
I used the long weekend to catch up on some movie watching, and I watched TWO movies in two days. Maybe I'll even watch another one tonight, if I'm feeling crazy.
As a big fan of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's Shaun of the Dead, I'd been looking forward to seeing Hot Fuzz for a while. It did not disappoint. Hot Fuzz does for action movies as Shaun of the Dead did for zombie movies, only more so. Besides being everything a satire should be, it was also a virtual who's who of British actors and actresses. As a self-professed Anglophile, I found myself frequently distracted from the movie because I kept thinking, "Hey, there's Tim from The Office. There's Jim Broadbent. There's..." and so on. Even Timothy Dalton, who I generally only think of as my least-favorite Bond, hams it perfectly here. It's honestly pretty rare that I laugh out loud at a comedy, but I did so frequently here. Definitely worth checking out if you haven't done so already.
I won't go into many details about WALL-E, if only because Clyde Squid just posted a review of this movie over on his other blog. I'll just say I agree with his assessment--it's a fun flick, not that I expect anything less from Pixar. This also happens to be the first movie my son ever watched, which is kinda cool. I honestly can't believe he sat still long enough to watch this from beginning to end; his attention span doesn't usually last more than 15 minutes. By the end of the movie, he was yelping "Wall-E! Wall-E!" My little nerdling.
Watched the latest Futurama movie the other day, "Bender's Game." Despite the title, the movie is not a spoof of Ender's Game, which probably would have been a little too nerdy even for Futurama fans. It's really a send-up of Dungeons & Dragons, which is just nerdy enough, apparently.
There is an inherent problem with all of these Futurama movies, but it was never more evident than in this one. These "movies" were written so they could be broken up into 4 distinct episodes and broadcast on TV. That's a less-than-ideal way to create a cohesive story. The other two movies pulled it off reasonably well, but this third installment felt a bit more slapped together. What you get is something closer to the "Family Guy" style of writing--essentially a string of pop culture references held together by thinnest of story lines. I mean, the plot development that dumps the cast into a fantasy (as opposed to sci-fi) dimension makes no sense at all. The ground literally opens up, they fall through the crack, and suddenly they're in a land where Leela's a centaur and Farnsworth's a wizard. They're conveniently in the fantasy dimension for about 22 minutes.
This major complaint aside, I did chuckle out loud a number of times, just as I chuckle through Family Guy sometimes. I'm a sucker for pop culture references, but I've come to expect a little bit more from Futurama. The writers (and there were a lot of them for this movie) seemed to have phoned it in a bit here, which is unfortunate. Apparently there's yet another movie coming out--I believe there were originally supposed to be three--so maybe they'll try a little harder next time.
I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle. --Arthur Dent
First time at R.B.'s L-C?
First, you should probably know that this blog has nothing to do with Ray Bradbury. Sorry if that's what led you here. Also, there's not all that much about camels. Actually, you're far more likely to someday find something on here about Ray Bradbury than camels, but I digress. For an indirect explanation of our name and a mission statement (of sorts), please check out our first post.
The Venus 3-Goodnight Oslo
Beirut-March of the Zapotec/Realpeople Holland
I was unsurprised and quite pleased that Zooey Deschanel lent her vocals to "Never Had Nobody Like You"; I was more surprised by Lucinda Williams' vocals on "Oh Lonesome Me." Having these two guest vocalists on the same album was an odd choice. Deschanel's voice is as sweet as can be, whereas Williams sounds like she's been smoking three packs a day for a few decades. Ward's voice matches well with both, but for different reasons. The cover of "Rave On" is one of Ward's more interesting choices--I have to say I like the original, faster version better, but maybe I'll get used to this take. I'm really more interested in the originals, and I'd say that even after only one listen, M. Ward's songwriting and production is as strong as ever. A must for any M. Ward fan and a decent introduction for any newbie.
