Monday, June 29, 2009

HI, BILLY MAYS HERE

A TRUE AMERICAN HERO
R.I.P.
Billy Mays
(1958 - 2009)

Saturday, June 27, 2009

YOU'VE GOT THE TOUCH, YOU'VE GOT THE POWER

- Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen is like a Wendy's Baconator in movie form: it's way too big, has zero nutritional value, is processed to hell and makes you feel bloated and sick after consuming it. It's the only movie that's ever actually given me a headache and I suppose that's some sort of accomplishment, but, still. I'm also kind of shocked that THE BAY was able to get away with this level of racial stereotyping and objectification in a mainstream, big budget movie. Here's hoping that the much better, and less morally offensive, Star Trek emerges as the summer's biggest earner.

I'm not going to go through why exactly the movie is terrible because I'd be typing all day, so, I'll suffice to say it's all garbage with the following exceptions:

- John Tututuro, who brought his usual zaniness.
- Tyrese Gibson, thankfully allowed to just be himself rather than the WACKY BLACK MAN.
- The opening action sequence.
- In fact, the action in general was better than the first just because it was more comprehensible.

That's it, avoid if possible.

Monday, June 22, 2009

I AM STRONGER THAN MENSA, MILLER AND MAILER

- I have a Twitter now, if you'd like to stalk me for whatever reason.

- Up is a really great movie that you should definitely see if you haven't already but I don't have the energy to type about what makes it so good for very long. Suffice to say: it's funny, it's heart-warming, it's surprisingly emotional at times and the animation looks fantastic.

- To continue with the series of posts I started yesterday:

Get Bizzy - Lil Wayne feat. Gudda Gudda

Unlike a good amount of Wayne's material, I can't mount any sort of logical defense as to why I like this. He jacks one of the worst recent rap hit beats (V.I.C.'s "Get Silly"), slobbers all over it in an auto-tuned drool, loses the freakin' beat a couple of times and then hands it over to no-name Gudda for a godawful guest verse. I guess the reason I have it is that it makes me laugh; the boasts and threats here are so "WTF, mate?" that you can't help but laugh. I mean, insulting people because they take Tylenol,and as the first line, no less? Saying you look like there's "red barf" on your neck, and as a boast? I don't know what drugs Wayne was on when he recorded this, but they must have been freakin' awesome. It's not a good song by any stretch of the imagination (not even on a technical rapping level, as Wayne sometimes is) but it is a strangely fascinating one.

Faster - Manic Street Preachers

Probably the best pure piece of song off of one of my favourite albums (the Manics' The Holy Bible); "Faster" functions on two distinct, but equally important, levels. On the surface, it's a hammering piece of strident hard rock goodness, accentuated by the sneaky glam hook in the chorus. The guitar riff is instantly memorable, the rhythm section keeps a deceptively simple, muscular pace and James Dean Bradfield's vocals have such a popped-vein intensity, he could be singing about cupcakes and it would still register as the most emotionally wrenching topic ever. But, the thing is, the words he's singing are equally as interesting as the band's delivery. Of course, if you are at all familiar with the Manics, you know the sad story of guitarist/lyricist Richey Edwards and his disappearance after the recording of The Holy Bible, so, I won't continue to beat that dead horse here. But, I will say that, if one removed the music and cut out the second chorus repeat, I believe that the lyrics could stand on their own as free verse. An exquisite jumble of slogans ("Self-disgust is self-obessesion"), self-aware angst ("I know I believe in nothing but it is my nothing") and flat-out nihilism ("Man kills everything"), it paints a fascinating, if disturbing, picture of its writer. And, yeah, okay, it probably gains a few automatic points from me for name-dropping Sylvia Plath (and right after Norman Mailer, no less!) in the chorus, but, still. The kind of cryptic lyricism on display here is throughout the whole of The Holy Bible but this is the one song where the music doesn't feel subservient to it (and give Bradfield a lot of credit for hemming Edwards' words into something of a coherent melody). It's a great album all around, though. And see if you agree with me about those lyrics.

Have You Forgotten - Red House Painters

A complete 180 from the Manics intense, cryptic and LOUD nihilism is this song by premiere sensitive-indie-dude Mark Kozelek which is likely the definition of open-heart sincerity; it's pretty much the most soft-spoken and charming love song you'll ever here. The words scan like the kind of thing a high school guy would write for the girl he's had a crush on since they were in elementary school (right down to the out-of-place curse words) and Kozelek sings it with such an earnest, untaught ease it's easy to overlook the occasionally clunky lines (he rhymes "nice" with "nice" at one point, natch). Of course, it's emotional cat-nip for the kinds of guys who feel this way themselves (no comment on whether that applies to me) and the girls who wish most guys were "more sensitive", but sometimes we all need this sort of music. It's as comfortable as a fluffy pair of slippers and as calming as a cup of tea or a summer wind. And thank god it hasn't been co-opted (yet), as one of the official "songs to learn on acoustic to pick up chicks".

Saturday, June 20, 2009

GOT MY FIRST REAL SIX-STRING

So, on my MP3 player I have a bunch of albums and a folder of podcasts but I also have a folder called "Other" which contains a bunch of random songs that I don't have the full album of. The contents of this folder change pretty frequently so, in what I will try to remember to make a recurring feature, I'm going to go through the folder and talk about some of the songs and why I like them. This time, I'll discuss all of them but in future installments I'll only cover the new stuff:

Cold Days From The Birdhouse - The Twilight Sad

One of the more unfortunately named bands of the past decade, but no less great for it. Their album, Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters, was one of my favourites of the year it came out but this song, the opening track has an appeal all its own. The way the Twilight Sad combine these seemingly disparate elements (folky slide guitars and accordions, shoegaze guitar swirls, U2-esque hammy choruses and staunchly Scottish vocals) is inspiring and I love the way the song goes from bubbling whisper to strident scream in its four-minute run time. It isn't in a rush, it takes its time going where it needs to and it's all the better for it.

Feel Good Drag - Anberlin

This is one of those songs where you kind of have to ignore the lyrics; which are a jumble of emo narcissism and off-hand sexism with one kind-of clever line ("Everyone in this town is seeing somebody else"). Focus instead on that chunky, heaving guitar riff that makes this whole thing work. It carries this through those lyrics, the overly shiny production and the singer's melodramatic delivery. The bridge is also kind of wonky, but it leans hard on the immortal "quiet verse, loud chorus" formula which will, when done well, never get old for me.

Hot Revolver - Lil Wayne

Already dedicated an entire post to talking about how great this song is.

Ironic - Alanis Morissette

Yeah, yeah, none of those lyrics are truly "ironic" (rain on your wedding day just sucks, for example) but that isn't why this is good. It's essentially a grunge song given a layer of high-pop gloss and while that may sound like the worst idea ever, Alanis cuts through that shininess with that defiantly untrained voice of hers and makes it all great. I also particularly love those little wordless vocal runs at the song's beginning.

You Learn - Alanis Morissette

Once again, the words are kinda iffy; depending on what sort of mood you're in they can seem genuinely inspiring or like motivational speaker crap. But some things here aren't so malleable; that hip-hop-ish drumbeat, the heavy bass groove, Alanis' endearing vocal ticks and the ghostly back vocals are always there.

Like Eating Glass - Bloc Party

The yelping vocals might put a few people off, but this one of those songs that I think almost anyone could get into. The choppy dual-guitar attack, the nervy rhythm section, the gigantic chorus, the abundance of hooks; Bloc Party could have made a million more albums just like Silent Alarm and I would've bought every single one but, unfortunately, they didn't. They went off, discovered electronic music and made one decent album and one terrible one. Oh well, we'll always have a record full of their nervy post-punk-meets-arena-rock anthems. Best part: the moment the second verse kicks in with "I can't eat, I can't sleep" and the second guitar coming in.

Summer Of '69 - Bryan Adams

I propose that this be the new Canadian national anthem: it's made by a Canadian, pretty much everyone knows all the words to it and it's infinitely catchier than "O Canada". Moreover, this thing just explodes with energy and life; yeah, the lyrics are dopey, working in every teenage cliche, but they're also kind of endearing for that dopiness. And that thick guitar riff, Adam's husky vocals and basically every part of the song being a hook should erase that anyways. Whenever this comes on the radio, I crank it up; it's one of those songs.

Boys Of Summer - Don Henley

I fucking hate the Eagles and this is the only song even vaguely associated with them that you'll ever hear me say a positive word about. The sound is, in a lot of ways, the embodiment of 80's cheese, but that's kind of intentional to create a disparity with the nostalgic lyrics. And the song really does sound like summer, too: full of empty space and possibility but also sort of foreboding. Henley's vocals do get a bit whiny on the chorus, but I can forgive that. Bonus points for the really good video. Avoid the pop-punk cover by the Ataris at all costs, as it replaces all that masterful empty space and varied instrumentation with a grinding guitar attack that does the song no favours.

D.O.A (Death Of Auto-Tune) - Jay-Z

Has Jay-Z become hip-hop's grumpy old man? Maybe, as he's dissing the most popular technique in current rap, calling out Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy and making Frank Sinatra references all on the same track. He gets in some good digs, although I think the message is wasted effort, and drops some really good lines ("This ain't a number one record/this is practically assault with a deadly weapon") but the real star here is No I.D's beat. Combining stomping drums with wailing funk guitar and saxophone honks, he's given Jay the perfect base for his rant. And, it might just be me, but I think this is the type of beat (lots of live instruments, rock-influenced) that Jay-Z sounds the best on (think "99 Problems", "Threat", "Pray" or "Success").

When You Were Mine - Prince

Probably my all-time favourite Prince song, and not just for the way the lyrics tie sexual freakiness in with genuine emotion. The herky-jerky new wave rhythm remains oddly funky, the chipping guitars, while paper-thin, are a nice addition, the keyboard that comes in for the chorus just ups the catchiness. It's particularly impressive when you consider that prince himself played all the instruments and did all the vocals (including the masterful backups) on this thing. Best part: When the song drops to just the guitar and Prince's voice after the instrumental bridge. (Sorry about the crappy quality live video, it was all I could find. It's a pretty good performance, though.)

A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke

I'm not huge on soul music (though, strangely I love when rap songs work in soul samples) but this song is really something special. A million people have written a million times about how good this song is, so, I'll share a personal anecdote. The first time I heard this song was over a crappy portable radio that was half-tuned to the station, in shitty ear bud headphones, while walking knee-deep in a river. It was awesome.

Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins

I think that Top Gun is kind of sucky but it has one of the more amazing soundtracks of its era, full of cheesy 80's goodness, of which "Danger Zone" is the pinnacle. It's basically the perfect "pump you up" song, great for workouts and such; I listen to it every morning to get ready for the day.

Weighty Ghost - Wintersleep

This song hits a lot of big, obvious buttons for. The strummy guitar, the big hand claps, the poetically meaningless lyrics, the softly delivered lead vocals, the massed backups; it's like it it was made specifically for me. Also, they're Canadian group, and they opened for Pearl Jam! I wish all of their songs (most of which are not folky at all) were like this, they might be my favourite band of all time then.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

NOBODY ON THE ROAD, NOBODY ON THE BEACH

- The Hangover is a fun little comedy; it's nothing too big or spectacular but it keeps up its brisk energy through all of its, fairly short, running time. If you've seen the commercials, you basically know what to expect, it's a film about a wild night in Vegas and the morning after, with everything that entails, but, for the most part, the film stayed away from gross-out gags and kept firmly in the realm of absurdity, buddy banter, or slapstick. This is a good thing because the film doesn't use its R rating as an excuse to pile on nudity or potty humour, not to say that that sort of thing isn't in there but it's used sparingly and intelligently. The film also has an excellent, if B-list, cast who know how to give this thing a deft comedic touch; whether that means Bradley Cooper's smarmy jerkiness, Ed Helmes' henpecked shtick (by the way, his bitchy, overbearing girlfriend was funny but points out the problem that most of these movies have in handling female characters) or Zach Galifrankis' off-the-wall absurdity. It's probably the best of Todd Phillips' movies, though I haven't seen Old School in a while, and I think he's one of the guys who gets how to do stupid comedy correctly, so, that's a meaningful, if slight, compliment.

- I'm planning to re-watch all of Lost up to this point over the show's hiatus to see if I can "pick up" anything that I may have missed the first time around. If I do notice anything I think is critically important, though I doubt will, I'll be sure to post it.

- This is really a thing that need no further mentioning but, man, that New Moon trailer is awful.

- Terminator Salvation is good but it's sort-of overly grim, there's no chance for even a bit of humour to poke in through the dark, post-apocalyptic, world (which, to be fair, is pretty immaculately constructed). That's kind of disappointing because I think that the first two Terminator films, let's try to forget about the third, were some of the most successful action pictures in terms of integrating comic relief into their fabric. Also, Christian Bale is still doing that friggin' Batman-voice, I seriously hope that that's not going to be his "thing" from now on because he's a really good actor who I'd hate to see get stuck in one-note performances (though, the trailers I've seen for Public Enemies do assuage my fears a great deal). Sam Worthington is a real discovery, though; he's consistently great in this thing, even when forced to spout some pretty absurd dialogue. The other actors didn't really hit me one way or the other, expect that I thought Moon Bloodgood was a little weak, Common always sounded like he was about to break into a rap, Helena Bonham Carter was in there for roughly five seconds and Anton Yelchin's American accent is weird. Good action throughout, with great special effects and effective camerawork. I would be happy to revisit this world for the inevitable sequels, though I wish that those films won't be so self-serious. Even still, for a guy who's only other credits are some football movie and the Charlie's Angels films, McG did a good job here, and if you're in the mood for some action, and you've already seen Star Trek, I'd recommend checking this out.