WLS, 890AM - Chicago's Talk Station: Amazon review of Broken English
And lastly:
All Music Guide to the Blues, Country, and Hip-hop: I'm listed as a contributor to all three books. That was news to me (I wrote for the AMG between 2001-2003).
Endnote: Hot Splice, the NWFF Blog, has linked to my reviews before. In a recent post, publicist extraordinaire Ryan Davis introduces You're Gonna Miss Me with, "There’s also this knowledgeable, with less crazy-rock-star-rise-and-fall hang up, response to the film at SIFFblog—published last week, but I’m just getting around to linking to it now." I get another shout-out here. Also, The Seattle Weekly's Hannah Levin calls me a "kick-ass blogger" in this entry (and speaking of Miranda July, I defend her in this Slog comment). Pictures from Google Images.
Carrie Akre, ...Last the Evening, Loveless [10/30/07]
Nothing can keep Carrie Akre down. Back in the 1990s when the major labels were scooping up every act that had anything to do with the Northwest, her bands Hammerbox and Goodness got swept into the maelstrom. As with most other non-grunge acts—see the Posies and Harvey Danger—those relationships weren't built to last, but Akre soldiered on as a solo performer.
Now Seattle claims a number of self-assured female performers, like Sera Cahoone and Laura Veirs, but Akre got there first. I don't mean to suggest that she predates Heart, but Ann and Nancy Wilson were rockers before they turned the volume down for the Lovemongers (they also originated in Vancouver, not Seattle).
As ever, Akre resists trends. It's always been one of her biggest strengths—and weaknesses. She's a belter. Unless a woman is working in the idioms of blues or metal, there isn't much of a call for belters nowadays. The rock reign of Janis Joplin and Grace Slick ended decades ago.
...Last the Evening was produced by Steve Fisk and features Mark Pickerel on drums and Johnny Sangster on guitar, but there's no alt-country here. Throughout, Fisk keeps the focus on Akre's powerful pipes and generic lyrics like, "I believe that dreams will come true if we have faith." Akre's third solo outing, after Home (2000) and Invitation (2002), doesn't sound much different from the kind of thing So-Cal twentysomethings, like Sara Bareilles and Colbie Caillat, are doing. It isn't bad, but her mid-tempo pop-rock is too straightahead for my taste. Still, I admire her perseverence, and hope this record reaches more sympathetic ears.
The Bird and the Bee, Please Clap Your Hands, Metro Blue/EMI [9/25/07]
I fell in love with the Bird and the Bee upon release of their debut. This EP represents the duo's dance-oriented side, but it's still dreamy pop. (By "dance," I mean go-go boot shimmying rather than robotic raving.) Whether it'll make new fans, I couldn't say, but I can't imagine that those already familiar will be disappointed. And I find it amusing that they titled the first track "Polite Dance Song." It almost plays like a response to The Bird and the Bee's "Fucking Boyfriend," a rather impolite dance song.
The four originals are joined by an extraneous cover of "How Deep Is Your Love" with backing vocals by Sia ("Breathe Me"). Personally, I wish they had selected something from earlier in the Bee Gees' career, like enchantingly fey 1960s tracks "Holiday" or "New York Mining Disaster 1941." That could've resulted in something more surprising and satisfying, since the Bird and the Bee don't have much new to bring to this disco-era ballad.
The Capstan Shafts, Environ Maiden, Rainbow Quartz [10/16/07]
In contrast to the prog-rockers of old and their side-length suites, Environ Maiden consists of 29 lo-fi miniatures with a slight British accent. I can't be the first to compare the Cap- stan Shafts to Guided by Voices. (As it turns out, I'm not.) Further, Vermont's Dean Wells, a professional woodworker, claims to have been inspired by GBV's early gem Vampire on Titus.
Like GBV's Robert Pollard, Wells is a prolific fellow: 17 releases on a variety of labels since 1999. Other writers have compared him to early David Bowie, Destroyer, and the entire Elephant 6 collective (Olivia Tremor Control, Apples on Stereo, etc.). It's true, all true.
9/29 Update: Coincidentally enough, I received Nina Simone's Anthology for my birthday. On this two-disc set, Simone covers "To Love Somebody." No, she doesn't turn into into a dusky blues or an anguished operetta. On the contrary, she keeps things light—bouyant even. I pronounce it the best Brothers Gibb cover ever.
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From Supermodels to Skateboards
Every once in awhile two editors will unknowingly assign the same review to different writers. But, to quote Highlander, there can only be one, and I just noticed that the Amazon editorial review for the following was penned by another contributor. Since I (also) took the time to cover it, my piece now lives here.
ONE LAST THING... (Alex Steyermark, US, 2005, 93 mins.)
A comedy about terminal illness is bound to be a risky proposition. Thankfully, One Last Thing... skips past the symptoms, the diagnosis, and the tears straight to the final wish of pot-smoking 16-year-old Dylan (Michael Angarano, also cast as a terminally ill teen in Lords of Dogtown). The comedy, incidentally, isn't broad, while the marijuana is medicinal (though healthy pals Ricky and Slap also partake).
When United Gift Givers offer to fulfill Dylan's deepest desire, “The Wish Kid,” as he becomes known, requests a weekend with supermodel Nikki Sinclair (Sunny Mabrey). He doesn't mind the newfound fame, but it makes his widowed mother, Karen (Sex and the City's Cynthia Nixon), uncomfortable (an un-credited Ethan Hawke portrays his father in flashbacks). She just wants to spend some quality time with her son while she still can.
As for Nikki, she isn't the golden girl her image would indicate. Actually, the model has an attitude problem, so her agent, Arlene (Bound's Gina Gershon), insists Nikki meet the kid to generate some positive press. Her plan works, but Dylan was hoping for more than just a photo op. He travels to New York to try again.
Directed by Alex Steyermark (Prey for Rock & Roll with Gershon), One Last Thing... neatly dodges the "tasteless" tag, but the balance between comedy and drama is decidedly delicate. With Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell (Ragtime) as Dylan's doctor and Wyclef Jean (the Fugees) as a kindly cab driver.
Endnote: Click here for the Slog post that reminded me about this film in the first place. As for Angarano, I like the guy. You may know him best as Jack's son on Will & Grace. Most recently, he starred in Black Irish, a domestic drama from this year's Seattle International Film Festival. Not a bad little picture, and it looks like it's just been picked up for distribution.
The best place to start with Angarano is probably Lords of Dogtown (2005), although Heath Ledger and Into the Wild's Emile Hirsch pretty much steal that particular show. I'm sorry more people didn't give it a chance. It's one of the rare ultra-mas- culine movies to be directed by a woman (Thirteen's Catherine Hardwicke). Here's to many more. Picture from Google Images.
10/1 Update: Speaking of Into the Wild, I just caught a screening yesterday. Wow—it's easily one of the year's best.
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Lord, Have Mercy
Oh oh Domino (it's all right) Roll me over, Romeo, There you go Lord, have mercy I said oh-oh, Domino. -- Van Morrison, "Domino" (1970)
I meant to post this ages ago. Hey, better late than never. At least, I save everything I think I can use, even if that use gets pushed further into the future than intended.
I prefer his brother, Ridley (Alien, Blade Runner), and can't wait to see American Gangster, which stars Russell Crowe (Ridley's Gladiator) and Denzel Washington (Tony's Man on Fire).
Not that Domino neglects the racial subtext of everything American. There is that weird—what degree of reality is this?—realistic 'episode' of the Jerry Springer Show in which one of the characters [Mo'Nique] goes on with a 'flow chart' to show her different ways of naming the racial fissures, fractures, and fusions that have destabilized the notion of what’s 'American' in the first place. She wants to bestow official recognition on categories such as 'Blacktino,' 'Chinegro,' 'Japanic' to reflect the fracturing of unofficial identities. As if a 'flow chart' can capture the flow.
I love that scene. Bill, who forwarded the piece, adds, "Quentin Tarantino says that Domino is one of his five favorite films of 2005. His other four were The Devil's Rejects, Wolf Creek, Hustle & Flow, and Sin City." Also, note the similarity between the look of Domino and the look of Wong Kar-Wai's 2046 [above left]. Shocking, isn't it? (Christopher Doyle shot 2046, Daniel Mindel shot Domino.) The two films otherwise have nothing in common.
Domino, which has nothing in common with Morrison either—though I couldn't resist the reference—also features Mickey Rourke, Edgar Ramirez, Christopher Walken, Lucy Liu, Delroy Lindo, Dabney Coleman, Jacqueline Bisset, Macy Gray, Mena Suvari, and 90210's Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green. The screenplay was written by Donnie Darko's Richard Kelly.
And that's pretty much all you need to know. Except for the unnecessary limb removal scene—a Tony Scott specialty— it's an unadulterated blast. Great hip-hop soundtrack, too.
Endnote: Keira Knightley who plays Domino, a character inspired by Laurence Harvey's bounty hunter daughter, stars in Silk, which is currently playing at Seattle's Seven Gables.
She next appears in Joe Wright's adaptation of Ian McEwan's Atonement, which garnered rave reviews at the Venice Film Festival. Wright previously directed her in Pride & Prejudice. On my Top 30, Domino and Pride & Prejudice tied for #26.
American Gangster is set to be released on 11/2, Atonement on 12/7. Images from Google Images, lyrics from Oldie Lyrics.
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My Generation
Cheater Pint, Dark Side of the Pint, Kinger Recordings
[L]ike the Go-Go's on massive steroids. -- The Noise: Rock Around Boston
If I grow up would we still be friends? -- Cheater Pint, "If I Grow Up"
I listened to this record once, and couldn't think of anything to say. So, I listened to it again. And again. Upon reflection, I think Cheater Pint's debut leaves me speechless partly because of personal taste, partly because of age—mine more than theirs.
First of all, Dark Side of the Pint is punk-pop. Nothing wrong with that. It's just that I've always perceived the genre as music made by twentysomethingsfor twentysomethings (or younger). Nothing wrong with that either. Except I'm too old for this stuff.
Like many music writers, I tend to think of myself as both open-minded and discriminating—as much as those qualities are often in opposition—but I left my 20's behind a long time ago. (Though I'm frequently asked to review teen favorites, like Ben Kweller, Fall Out Boy, and Gym Class Heroes.)
Further, I've never really been a punk-pop fan. Even in my 20's, it wasn't exactly my favorite genre. Was it considered a genre back then? I'm too old to remember—I think we just called it punk!
In sum: Cheater Pint is a Boston quartet, and singer/guitarist Lauren O'Neal is a boffo screamer, much like fellow Bostonian Kim Deal of the Pixies.
As for me, I dig plenty of artists in their 20's, like Lily Allen and Lady Sovereign, but they draw on influences closer to my heart, i.e. Madness, X-Ray Spex, etc. Consequently, I forget about age when I listen to their albums. That's how it should be. As for Cheater Pint, the kids are all right, but I'm not a kid anymore.
Endnote: In looking at the band, it occurs to me that they might actually be in their 30s. Still, their music has a youthful sound, and attracts, presumably, a youthful audience—not that I consider 30 old! (Or 40, 50, or even 60.) For more information about Cheater Pint, please see their MySpace Page or their official website (from which I swiped these fine photographs).
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Touching From a Distance
From MOJO's February issue: In contrast to their dour press image, they were friendly and sociable. -- Jon Savage on Joy Division
He was quite different on the stage doing his jerky dancing and all that. Off-stage he was an ordinary bloke, there was no sense of foreboding and doom, not the weight of the world on his shoulders, none of that. All the things that have been attributed to him later, he wasn't. -- Pete Shelley (the Buzzcocks) on Ian Curtis
From the All Music Guide:
[N]one of the band's songs ever really ended; they either fell apart or collapsed, as if to bring about a proper end to something beyond their grasp. -- Thom Jurekon Heart and Soul
Click here for reviews of Control and Joy Division.
And here's my 2001 review of The First Peel Session (1986):
Joy Division recorded their first Peel session in January 1979, the second in November. Their first full-length, Unknown Pleasures, would hit the streets between the two—around the same time Manchester's sewage system collapsed (at least the city had something to celebrate in their hometown band's brilliant debut).
The sessions were originally available as separate EPs; this one includes the initial four tracks, the second the remaining four. Both were rendered somewhat redundant when combined into one release. Then it too was superseded by 1998's Heart and Soul boxed set and 2000's The Complete BBC Recordings. The latter includes all eight tracks, two additional live versions of "Transmission" and "She's Lost Control" recorded for BBC2 in September of the same year, and a short Radio One interview with Ian Curtis and drummer Stephen Morris.
"Exercise One" opens this set with a squeal of feedback and a primal drumbeat. It ends abruptly, and bears a slight resemblance to the short sharp shocks of early Gang of Four. A high-pitched repeating keyboard pattern distinguishes "Insight," while "She's Lost Control" is fairly straightforward, just less polished than the studio version.
Throughout, Curtis is as committed to the material as ever, particularly "Transmission" ("Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance..."). One year from his death, the singer sounds like he could go on forever, singing the same lyrics over and over. It's a hypnotic performance.
Endnote: Jon Savage penned the forward to the Deborah Curtis book (posted about here, here, and here). Savage, who lived in Manchester during the late-1970s, is Britain's punk laureate. Click here for his review of This Is England. Image from eBay.
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The Lord God Made Them All
Walk in silence, Don't walk away, in silence. See the danger, Always danger, Endless talking, Life rebuilding, Don't walk away. -- "Atmosphere" (1979)
In preparation for photographer-turned-filmmaker Anton Corbijn's Control, here's his posthumous video for Joy Division's "Atmosphere." Click here for excerpts from Deborah Curtis's Touching From a Distance: Ian Curtis and Joy Division.
And click here for a great interview with the surviving members of Joy Division.
Endnote: The titles of these posts come from the lovely hymn: All things bright and beautiful / All creatures great and small / All things wise and wonderful / The Lord God made them all (also titles in British vet-turned-author James Herriot's book series).
My point was to present Ian Curtis, in advance of Corbijn's film and Grant Gee's documentary, as a multi-faceted individual. One of pop music's most famous depressives, Curtis was also a husband, a father, an animal lover, and, yes, a first-class prima donna—a man who could handle art like a pro, but was flummoxed by day-to-day life. In other words, he wasn't simply the prophet of doom and gloom he's often made out to be. Image from Google Images.
Top of the World, Ma!
MTV.com:
