I'M IN LOVE WITH THE QUEEN OF THE SUPERMARKET

- Two quick thoughts on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince:

1) It's okay, just like all the rest of the movies are okay. Book purists will cry foul over the changes made (and, to be fair, the added fight scene is pretty garbage), but, really, it's impossible to truly do any written work justice on film. Judging it as just a film on its own, it's middle-of-the-road good: the direction is surprisingly dark-toned, the acting is mostly competent with a few outstanding points, the action is good, the special effects are convincing. It's a film that really does nothing particularly special either way, thus, I'm perfectly happy to have seen it once but I doubt I'll ever watch it again.

2) Not nearly enough Alan Rickman


- So, 2009 is over halfway over and I've listened to a lot of albums that have come out this year (31 to be exact), but, in looking over my posts I realized I've only talked three of those albums. I need to correct this state of affairs, so, I will be starting a series of posts about the albums I've listened to and my thoughts on them.

Firstly, I'll give a quick look back at the ones I've already talked about and see if I still feel the same way:

No Line On The Horizon - U2 (Original Review)

My opinion has changed the least on this one, everything I said in the original review still applies except for the fact that "Stand-Up Comedy" has kind of grown on me as an endearingly goofy novelty. It's certainly not a good song, but it's kind of fun to hear U2 stab blindly at a funk tune, they're trying really hard but they just can't nail it. Otherwise, I still think the slow tracks work best, that the two closing songs are formless and that the songwriting isn't their best. Still looking forward to Songs of Ascent.



Working On A Dream - Bruce Springsteen (Original Review)

I initially pegged this album as being overly chipper and as I listen to it more, I'm thinking that may be slightly inaccurate. It's certainly more upbeat than the fiery, angered Magic but it has these undertones of melancholy that become more apparent with repeated listening. The heroic gunslinger of "Outlaw Pete" meets a tragic end, the love songs are more about pushing away doubts and fears to accept another than a naive romanticism (e.g. "I've lost all the other bets I've made"). Even "Queen of the Supermarket", which I had pegged as a "grandly silly ode", begins to reveal another dimension when you realize that its central crush is unlikely to ever be resolved as the narrator simply "drifts away" every night after buying his groceries and the strings that perk up when "I'm in love with the queen of the supermarket" is sung aren't humming like angels, they're sighing, almost weeping. The only songs that remain completely positive are the good-but-slight birthday song "Surprise, Surprise" and the anti-defeatist title track (and maybe throw in "Good Eye" as I can't tell what the heck the lyrics are on it anyways). My general stance on the album remains (the lyrics are lazy at points, the melodies can drift too far, some of the songs come off as failed experiments) but, like most Springsteen records, it did reveal new dimensions with more spins.

Together Through Life - Bob Dylan (Original Review)

Dylan's voice sounds even more ragged, after comparission with his other more recent albums, than I had initially thought. But, these songs have grown on me a good bit, their relaxed grooves seem less taxing and more smooth and some of lyrics have begun to reveal a classic Dylan wit (albeit a tempered one). It's still a notch below Modern Times (which, in itself, is a notch below Love and Theft) but I'm on a more even keel. Maybe the change in the weather helps, what with the album's sunny, Tex-Mex textures? Who knows. At any rate, I'll never hate an album that contains the line "I'm listening to Billy Joe Shaver and reading James Joyce".

I'll start in with the album reviews proper tomorrow, starting with these:

Blood Bank by Bon Iver
Further Complications by Jarvis Cocker
Hometowns by The Rural Alberta Advantage