OctoberOctober And the trees are stripped bare Of all they wear What do I care.October And kingdoms rise And kingdoms fall But you go on...and on...-- U2, "October"These are the reviews I'm working on for this month.Amazon: The Decemberists - The Crane Wife (their major labeldebut, inspired by this Japanese folk tale), Nellie McKay - Pretty Little Head, Ben Folds - Supersunnyspeedgraphic, Hinder - Ex-treme Behavior, Aimee Mann - One More Drifter in the Snow(her first Christmas album), Totally Awesome (the title is sadly inaccurate), 9/11: Press for Truth, Riptide - The Complete First Season [three-disc set] ('80s cheese with Perry King and Joe Penny--

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Dirty Pretty ThingLily Allen, Alright, Still, Regal/Parlophone (EMI)Riding through the city on my bike all dayCause the filth took away my licenseIt doesn't get me down and I feel okCause the sights that I'm seeing are pricelessEverything seems to look as it shouldBut I wonder what goes on behind doorsA fella looking dapper, but he's sittin with a slapperThen I see it's a pimp and his crack whore.***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****There are records I just can't stop playing. St. Elsewhere was like that. It got so ridiculous after awhile that I had to put the CD away before I made myself sick of it. It's like eating something yo

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When the Shillelagh Meets the HoodPart Five: Not So Magically DeliciousThis site's tagline is "Where the shillelagh meets the hood." It comes from something my friend Jeff said when I mentioned, a few years ago, that Ireland's Jim Sheridan (In the Name of the Father, et al) would be directing Get Rich or Die Tryin', the story of New York rapper 50 Cent. Well, I'm always interested when the Irish put their spin on black culture and vice versa (although I can't say I've come across many examples of the latter). I've explored this topic in previous posts, but examples of the former include the Irish blues of Van Morrison and Rory Gallagher and the Irish

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Men in ScarvesLast Sunday, The New York Times published "Lover Boys," a profile by Lynn Hirschberg of three up-and-coming French actors. Actually, they've already arrived. The author's point is that they have what it takes to become international stars, and not just national treasures. (To her credit, Hirschberg didn't use the word "treasure," but she/her editor did title the piece Lover Boys...) The trio consists of Mathieu Amalric (Kings and Queen), Gaspard Ulliel (A Very Long Engagement), and Romain Duris (The Beat That My Heart Skipped), the gent in the scarf. Here's the key paragraph on Duris, whose career I've been following since When the Cat's

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It's a Family AffairThe Slits, Revenge of the Killer Slits EP, S.A.F.Reforming a legendary band 25 years after the fact is rarely a wise idea. So, I'm pleased to report that this three-song release is actually pretty good. Considering the terrible things I've heard about Ari Up's recent live "performances" (and I use that term loosely), the music is better than I had any right to expect.First of all, vocalist Up [second from left] and bass player Tessa Pollit [third from left]--Palmolive and Viv Albertine are missing from the current line-up--may have gotten older, but they haven't grown up. Thank God. The spirited tunes sound like a mash-up between t

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Greek to MePatricia Barber, Mythologies, Blue Note"Ample hours to dream, still I lack / Repose, and wander through the night."-- Patricia Barber, "Morpheus"When it comes to concept albums, my first question has always been: Is the music any good? Second: Does the concept work? Chicago-based jazz musician/composer Patricia Barber, who produced her ninth recording with the support of the Guggenheim Foundation, tickles the ivories with finesse, but her soft-spoken vocals just don't do it for me.I usually like smoky alto talk-singers, but there's something a little forced about Barber's style. She tries to swing, but enunciates too carefully for her words

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Not Turning OffSpoon - Telephono and Soft Effects (Matador/Merge)"My favorite songs are minimal—We Will Rock You, Back in Black, Kiss by Prince. Those songs take on the world, but they do it with just a few instruments. I can't explain why, but that's really all you need."-- Britt Daniel to TIME magazine (2003)I've always thought of Austin's Spoon as the post-punk version of classic rock. By that, I don't mean Led Zeppelin, but the more melodic sounds of the Who, the Kinks, and the Rolling Stones--yep, Britons every one. And yet I'm thinking of their most American-sounding stuff, i.e. Exile on Main Street as opposed to their early-1960s sides. That sa

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Julie, Malcolm, Tom, Dirk, and AlbertIf there's anything that has me feeling guilty about my all-time top 30, it's the lack of British entries. I'm as much of an Anglophile as an Anglophile can get. I'm British on both sides (my maternal grandmother was even born in Liverpool, home of a certain Fab Four named--Clinic!), I've visited the Island four times (including a post-graduate semester back in the Thatcher era), and I've been subscribing to the spectacular Sight & Sound for an eternity and a day (to quote Theo Angelopoulos...who is decidedly not British).The point is: I live for British culture, specifically British film. Heck, even the food i

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Thirty is the Magic NumberYes, I realize that Mrs. Fellini (Giuliet-ta Masina) has Spock eyebrows in 19-57's Nights of Cabiria. That was herstyle at the time. (See La Strada.) Iswear it adds to her impish charm.***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****Three weeks ago, I met the founder/editor of the fine German filmjournal or "filmzeitschrift" STEADYCAM. He happened to mentionthat he was looking for top 30s, so I put one together (see below).I haven't sent it to him yet, though. It's a work in progress. Ev-ery few days, I take a look at it and make a change or two.At first, I thought: How easy. Yeah, right. Well, it wasn't reallythat

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Covering BumbershootJust a few thoughts while this thing is fresh in my mind. First of all, bumbershoot means umbrella. This is, after all, Seattle...even if Labor Day is as hot and dry around these parts as the rest of the country. Amazingly, even a lot of Northwesterners don't know this. Plenty of those who do still insist on referring to the local arts festival as "bumpershoot" (as in bumper car). Imagine how confusing it must be for newbies and out of-towners!For those who are unfamiliar, Bumbershoot probably sounds like a silly name for a festival, regardless as to what it means. They may have a point. Then again, I've got three words for such fo

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It's My Birthday They say it's your birthdayIt's my birthday too, yeahThey say it's your birthdayWe're gonna have a good time.-- The Beatles, "Birthday"Or maybe it isn't, but mine definitely takes place during the sublime month of September. Seriously, as they say on Grey's Anatomy--it's the show's catch phrase--I love this time of year, especially when the air turns crisp, the big movies hit the screen (Brian De Palma's Black Dahlia, Martin Scorsese's The Departed, etc.), and the fall TV schedule begins. That said, here are the reviews and other ephemera I'm working on for this month.Amazon: Fraggle Rock - The Complete Second Season [five-disc set] (

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Fried Chicken and Scrambled Eggs: Gnarls Barkley SpeaksOnce again, I'm stealing from Rolling Stone. From Jonathan Ringen's "The Acid Nerd Gangsters" (8/24/06). *****Danger Mouse"I discovered Pink Floyd when I was 18. The Beatles, as well. It was so mind-boggling that people would make music for the sake of experimentation. For the Gnarls record, a lot of psychedelic music was a big influence--that mix of experimentation and melody.""A lot of people perceive that if black people are doing music that isn't traditionally black music, then it's a deliberate attempt to do something different, but this record wasn't deliberate on either of our parts. We did

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