On paper, U.K. sensations the Foals look like one of the worst ideas ever conceived, a head-on collision of empty indie-rock signifiers (shout-y British vocals, flailing new wave rhythms, chipping, minimal, post-punk guitars) that are, at this point, well-worn to the point of insignificance. Furthermore, Antidotes, their debut, was, kinda, produced by TV On The Radio mastermind and seeming hired-gun producer David Sitek (I'll get to why I say "kinda" in a bit) , a guy who, while I dearly love TV On The Radio, has produced, otherwise, indie rockers that I've never really got the appeal of (The Liars and Celebration, for example) and features the Antibalas horns, another band I've never really understood, on several tracks.
But, somehow, Antidotes has become one of my favourite albums of the, admittedly young, year and I think its due to something that I like to call the "Franz Ferdinand effect". If you'll indulge me; this effect refers to something that I believe several bands, the most prominent of which is Franz Ferdinand, do very well, which is to streamline, and graft strong pop hooks on to, post-punk/new wave musical elements which would otherwise not work for me. The Foals do this supremely well and with weirder musical elements than Franz Ferdinand themselves ever mined. I referred to post-punk and new wave earlier but that's only part of the equation for the Foals whose spastic, busy, rhythms owe quite a bit to math rock, a genre that, with a few exceptions, puts me off with its technically-minded attitude towards music, and whose use of the Antibalas horns allies them, at least slightly, with afrobeat, which I do like, but only in moderation. However, its the way that the Foals digest these influences, much as Franz Ferdinand does with spastic new wave, that makes them work, their rhythms are busy but not especially technical and, critically, they always have swing and movement to them. Furthermore, the horns are deployed sparingly, usually as texture in the songs' codas or as neat stabs of rhythmic attack in a chorus. In fact, the only song on Antidotes which I don't like is its first one, "The French Open", which is both the song where the horns are most fully used and the most math-rock of the album's tunes, it's overly complex and doesn't really go anywhere.
More to the point, though, "The French Open" isn't very catchy which is something the Foals excel at. All of the other tunes on Antidotes have at least one memorable hook or chorus but, importantly, they're never "big" hooks, like an 80's power ballad, but rather slight phrases or guitar lines that stick in your mind. Part of why these songs work so well is that the production on the album isn't overly fussy or bombastic, something that a lot of indie-rock types, in hopes of being the next Arcade Fire, are beginning to indulge in, leading me to my point about David Sitek. Sitek was originally contracted to produce this album, and his name remains in the credits, but the band, unhappy with his production as it "sounded like it was recorded in the Grand Canyon", remixed it before the album shipped and, though I sort of want to hear what Sitek had planned, it seems to have made the album better. There's no detailing, beyond the horns, to these songs, just a bright, in-your-face, guitar-bass-drums set-up that works because of its clear, immediate kick. In fact, the only song here where that isn't the case is, once again, "The French Open", which has overly reverb-laden drums which lessen the song's impact, if that's what Sitek's mixes for the entire album sounded like then the band made the right choice by doing some extra studio muddling.
Antidotes isn't perfect, it runs a little too long, there's no real variety and it comes off more as a collection of songs than an album, but it's the rare album that justifies its pre-release hype with strong songs and I think that's something that everyone can get behind.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
SILENCE IS THE ENEMY
- I'm starting to import posts from my older blog to here so I can free up that blog for another project, so, you'll probably see, like, seven posts from me today.
- Lost continued with great episodes this week as "Some Like It Hoth" was dramatic, enlightening and, surprisingly, quite funny. The show can tend to get bogged down in a sort of stone-faced seriousness about itself and it's nice to see a bit of humour creep in now and then. Lest we forget, Lost is a show about an island filled with polar bears and smoke monsters that travels through time when a wheel is turned, and that's just a touch absurd. There were a couple small things that annoyed me; mostly, I really think, as I've said before, that every character having daddy issues sort of dilutes the concept and did the writers really feel the need to give them to Miles too? Still, that's a small thing and the classic lines alone ("Ewoks suck, dude", "You owe me a fish taco") were enough to push this one over the edge for me. Also, the final twist was mighty intriguing and makes me hate that we have to wait two weeks for a new episode. I'm not sure if I'll watch that recap/special thingy that's on next week, I may as well, but, who knows.
- So, the new Green Day single is out and it's decent but nothing special. I'm actually very excited for 21st Century Breakdown, if only because the band has been citing Bruce Springsteen as an influence in interviews about the album (and calling it a 21st century Born To Run, which, well, we'll see) and anytime a band does that I'm instantly interested. However, "Know Your Enemy" is basically a stripped-down and punked-up AC/DC tune with big, stomping power chords and a shout-along chorus. As that, it's okay and it does get stuck in your head easily (I predict I'll be humming it under my breath without even realizing it within a few days) and the hammering drums anchor the tune well. Still, the things I like most about the song are the incidental little details like how Armstrong does that little, highly-accented, "right!" after singing the title or the "way-oh-way" background vocals in the verse. Lyrically, too, it feels kind-of flat and listless with its psudo-punk sloganeering ("KNOW YOUR ENEMY", "VIOLENCE IS AN ENERGY", etc.) providing none of the story-telling that the band is capable of, though, to be fair, punk was always more about screaming about authority figures than offering coherent political platforms or depth-filled poetry, so I can't be too angry about it. I feel like I should be disappointed given what the band has promised but then I remember that the first single from American Idiot was the title-track which was also a quick blast of hooky, punky energy (with equally obvious and polemic lyrics) that didn't belie what was actually going on with that album. Now, "American Idiot" is a better song than "Know Your Enemy" (the earlier song has a bit more live-wire energy to it and the latter feels a bit too cleanly-produced and squared-off) but I predict that they'll end up serving the same function: A quick blast of typical Green Day stuff to re-introduce them to the public (remember, it's been 5 years since American Idiot, though it's somewhat misleading to say that as the band has kept in the public eye via side-projects and non-album singles) and prepare radio for the later, less typical, singles. Overall, the song hasn't affected my anticipation for the album one way or the other, though it did remind me that it's coming soon and, in that sense, it's performed its function. So, here's hoping that the whole album will follow through on the band's promises.
- Lost continued with great episodes this week as "Some Like It Hoth" was dramatic, enlightening and, surprisingly, quite funny. The show can tend to get bogged down in a sort of stone-faced seriousness about itself and it's nice to see a bit of humour creep in now and then. Lest we forget, Lost is a show about an island filled with polar bears and smoke monsters that travels through time when a wheel is turned, and that's just a touch absurd. There were a couple small things that annoyed me; mostly, I really think, as I've said before, that every character having daddy issues sort of dilutes the concept and did the writers really feel the need to give them to Miles too? Still, that's a small thing and the classic lines alone ("Ewoks suck, dude", "You owe me a fish taco") were enough to push this one over the edge for me. Also, the final twist was mighty intriguing and makes me hate that we have to wait two weeks for a new episode. I'm not sure if I'll watch that recap/special thingy that's on next week, I may as well, but, who knows.
- So, the new Green Day single is out and it's decent but nothing special. I'm actually very excited for 21st Century Breakdown, if only because the band has been citing Bruce Springsteen as an influence in interviews about the album (and calling it a 21st century Born To Run, which, well, we'll see) and anytime a band does that I'm instantly interested. However, "Know Your Enemy" is basically a stripped-down and punked-up AC/DC tune with big, stomping power chords and a shout-along chorus. As that, it's okay and it does get stuck in your head easily (I predict I'll be humming it under my breath without even realizing it within a few days) and the hammering drums anchor the tune well. Still, the things I like most about the song are the incidental little details like how Armstrong does that little, highly-accented, "right!" after singing the title or the "way-oh-way" background vocals in the verse. Lyrically, too, it feels kind-of flat and listless with its psudo-punk sloganeering ("KNOW YOUR ENEMY", "VIOLENCE IS AN ENERGY", etc.) providing none of the story-telling that the band is capable of, though, to be fair, punk was always more about screaming about authority figures than offering coherent political platforms or depth-filled poetry, so I can't be too angry about it. I feel like I should be disappointed given what the band has promised but then I remember that the first single from American Idiot was the title-track which was also a quick blast of hooky, punky energy (with equally obvious and polemic lyrics) that didn't belie what was actually going on with that album. Now, "American Idiot" is a better song than "Know Your Enemy" (the earlier song has a bit more live-wire energy to it and the latter feels a bit too cleanly-produced and squared-off) but I predict that they'll end up serving the same function: A quick blast of typical Green Day stuff to re-introduce them to the public (remember, it's been 5 years since American Idiot, though it's somewhat misleading to say that as the band has kept in the public eye via side-projects and non-album singles) and prepare radio for the later, less typical, singles. Overall, the song hasn't affected my anticipation for the album one way or the other, though it did remind me that it's coming soon and, in that sense, it's performed its function. So, here's hoping that the whole album will follow through on the band's promises.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
TWO OCEANS AWAY
- 24 last night managed to strike a good balance between the over-the-top Tom Clancy-esque counterterrorist action that we know and love (list of insanity forthcoming) and the genuine resonance that it can reach at times. I, like all true 24 fans, hate Kim but if they're gonna bring her back into the show this is the way to do it: a brief cameo, a few lines and a cry session with her dad. And she might even be useful this time around! Also, the ending twist did catch me by surprise but I hope the story is more that Tony has his own terrorist thing going on and less that he's working for whatever Hodges is a part of, because the latter would make no sense.
Anyway, the good stuff:
- The president is all like "You're under arrest" and Jon Voight is all like "RAGE!!!".
- Jon Voight and the president's husband should have an old-man rage showdown.
- I guess I would call what Tony did to those guards latino-fu, but I don't know if it even merits that distinction; it was so clumsy and awkward.
- I did like his desperate attempt to grab the trigger device and his brilliant jump away from the explosion, though.
- I do actually like how the show is showing Jack being weak and unable to help for once, it's a change.
- When that black dude whipped out the shotgun, Larry scrambled behind that dumpster right quick.
- I swear to god that the one agent who the black guy shot was in American Pie, can any one confirm that?
- Larry (A.K.A. Agent Douchebag) didn't get a silent clock but he didn't really deserve one, though the way he died was hilarious.
- That whole Ten Redux thing by Pearl Jam? It's interesting but it's not worth re-buying that album for, and I say that as I guy who's top ten albums would likely include Ten. That said, I would say that it's at least different enough from the original that it merits checking out. The main thing that's changed is just that everything, from the instruments to the vocals, is made clearer and hits harder. Ten, while great, is probably the most "90's" album in terms of production that you'll ever hear. By that I mean, the original mixes have this weird gauzy, cotton-y feel to them, as if everything is slightly out of focus, and all the elements tend to blur into one another at a point. Ten Redux cleans the mix up so that everything has its own distinct sonic space and, for most of these songs, that's a plus. "Jeremy", "Even Flow" and "Alive" have been drained of some of their power by constant radio play but these new mixes beef up the punch, giving them at least a slight bit more life. Same story for the other rockers like "Once" and "Why Go". The only time I think that the old mixes were better is when the album slows down: "Oceans" doesn't have the same, excuse the pun, watery, calming drift when that mush of acoustic and electric guitars is pulled apart, "Black" feels a touch too melodramatic when those piano crashes are made clearer and the new mix of "Release" shows a bit more unnecessary torture in Eddie Vedder's vocals that isn't covered by that shimmering guitar line. That said, the rockers outnumber the ballads, so, overall the album is better. Still, it's not better enough to justify buying this new set if you already own Ten (and, really, who doesn't?) and, due to the radical difference in price points between the two, I would still recommend the original album over this for newcomers.
- No Line On The Horizon is a good U2 album (and a lot better than I thought it would be after hearing that "Get On Your Boots" mess, which I shall not speak of again) but it clearly wants to be a great U2 album. It doesn't get there for a couple of reasons but it's a good bit better than their last couple of efforts. I really didn't care for How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb because I thought that it was too straight-forward in its attempt to write anthems and I've always liked U2 the best when they know how to temper their arena-rock impulses with either introspection or atmosphere (and, ideally, both). No Line, in its best moments, is a worthy successor to The Joshua Tree in this way as it balances grand-sway melodies with open-space grandness and heart-bearing romantic ache. The title track starts off a bit awkward but once it gets going it has a lovely, up-down rhythmic bob, "Magnificent" is a worthy entry into U2's canon of arena-shakers with Bono's strong vocal hammering that chorus home (it's the next single, good call) and "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" is a bit obvious in its shout-along hook but it's still an effective little rocker. "FEZ-Being Born" is a bit unsure of itself (and the intro goes on far longer than it needs to) but I like the lightly industrial grind of its guitar work and "Unknown Caller" dresses up itself a bit unnecessarily with watery synth tones but it has an open-road drive worthy of a vintage mid-tempo b-side. Somewhat surprisingly, the album's best moments come when it slows down; "White As Snow" is a lovely, sorrowful update of a traditional folktune but the best song here is "Moment Of Surrender" a mid-tempo ballad, which, while a bit overlong, has an open-hearted ache reminiscint of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" but updated with the lessons that the band has learned since then. The problems with the album come either when the band go too far into their atmospherics (as in the formless "Breathe" and "Cedars Of Lebanon", which, unfortunately, close the record) or try to be nakedly up-tempo (the stumbling white-boy funk of "Stand Up Comedy" and the aforementioned disco-fied tragedy "Get On Your Boots"). Moreover, the album was produced, for the most part, by Daniel Lanois and Brain Eno who are, of course, responsible for the two U2 albums that pretty much everyone loves (Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby) but it's not quite up to snuff with those two albums mostly due to a problem of the band not writing songs that are up to those standards. However, if reports are to be believed U2 will be putting out another album this year titled Songs Of Ascent which will be, apparently, slower and more meditative. Given that the slower tracks were the ones that worked the most here, I'm looking forward to hearing that one.
Anyway, the good stuff:
- The president is all like "You're under arrest" and Jon Voight is all like "RAGE!!!".
- Jon Voight and the president's husband should have an old-man rage showdown.
- I guess I would call what Tony did to those guards latino-fu, but I don't know if it even merits that distinction; it was so clumsy and awkward.
- I did like his desperate attempt to grab the trigger device and his brilliant jump away from the explosion, though.
- I do actually like how the show is showing Jack being weak and unable to help for once, it's a change.
- When that black dude whipped out the shotgun, Larry scrambled behind that dumpster right quick.
- I swear to god that the one agent who the black guy shot was in American Pie, can any one confirm that?
- Larry (A.K.A. Agent Douchebag) didn't get a silent clock but he didn't really deserve one, though the way he died was hilarious.
- That whole Ten Redux thing by Pearl Jam? It's interesting but it's not worth re-buying that album for, and I say that as I guy who's top ten albums would likely include Ten. That said, I would say that it's at least different enough from the original that it merits checking out. The main thing that's changed is just that everything, from the instruments to the vocals, is made clearer and hits harder. Ten, while great, is probably the most "90's" album in terms of production that you'll ever hear. By that I mean, the original mixes have this weird gauzy, cotton-y feel to them, as if everything is slightly out of focus, and all the elements tend to blur into one another at a point. Ten Redux cleans the mix up so that everything has its own distinct sonic space and, for most of these songs, that's a plus. "Jeremy", "Even Flow" and "Alive" have been drained of some of their power by constant radio play but these new mixes beef up the punch, giving them at least a slight bit more life. Same story for the other rockers like "Once" and "Why Go". The only time I think that the old mixes were better is when the album slows down: "Oceans" doesn't have the same, excuse the pun, watery, calming drift when that mush of acoustic and electric guitars is pulled apart, "Black" feels a touch too melodramatic when those piano crashes are made clearer and the new mix of "Release" shows a bit more unnecessary torture in Eddie Vedder's vocals that isn't covered by that shimmering guitar line. That said, the rockers outnumber the ballads, so, overall the album is better. Still, it's not better enough to justify buying this new set if you already own Ten (and, really, who doesn't?) and, due to the radical difference in price points between the two, I would still recommend the original album over this for newcomers.
- No Line On The Horizon is a good U2 album (and a lot better than I thought it would be after hearing that "Get On Your Boots" mess, which I shall not speak of again) but it clearly wants to be a great U2 album. It doesn't get there for a couple of reasons but it's a good bit better than their last couple of efforts. I really didn't care for How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb because I thought that it was too straight-forward in its attempt to write anthems and I've always liked U2 the best when they know how to temper their arena-rock impulses with either introspection or atmosphere (and, ideally, both). No Line, in its best moments, is a worthy successor to The Joshua Tree in this way as it balances grand-sway melodies with open-space grandness and heart-bearing romantic ache. The title track starts off a bit awkward but once it gets going it has a lovely, up-down rhythmic bob, "Magnificent" is a worthy entry into U2's canon of arena-shakers with Bono's strong vocal hammering that chorus home (it's the next single, good call) and "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" is a bit obvious in its shout-along hook but it's still an effective little rocker. "FEZ-Being Born" is a bit unsure of itself (and the intro goes on far longer than it needs to) but I like the lightly industrial grind of its guitar work and "Unknown Caller" dresses up itself a bit unnecessarily with watery synth tones but it has an open-road drive worthy of a vintage mid-tempo b-side. Somewhat surprisingly, the album's best moments come when it slows down; "White As Snow" is a lovely, sorrowful update of a traditional folktune but the best song here is "Moment Of Surrender" a mid-tempo ballad, which, while a bit overlong, has an open-hearted ache reminiscint of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" but updated with the lessons that the band has learned since then. The problems with the album come either when the band go too far into their atmospherics (as in the formless "Breathe" and "Cedars Of Lebanon", which, unfortunately, close the record) or try to be nakedly up-tempo (the stumbling white-boy funk of "Stand Up Comedy" and the aforementioned disco-fied tragedy "Get On Your Boots"). Moreover, the album was produced, for the most part, by Daniel Lanois and Brain Eno who are, of course, responsible for the two U2 albums that pretty much everyone loves (Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby) but it's not quite up to snuff with those two albums mostly due to a problem of the band not writing songs that are up to those standards. However, if reports are to be believed U2 will be putting out another album this year titled Songs Of Ascent which will be, apparently, slower and more meditative. Given that the slower tracks were the ones that worked the most here, I'm looking forward to hearing that one.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
BUT, COME JULY, WE'LL RIDE THE FERRIS WHEEL
- 24 is back to its old tricks after one episode of genuine emotional resonance. In one sense, that's good because this episode had a lot more action than last week and more insanity than you can shake a stick at (list of that in a sec) but, on the other hand, I would say that last week's episode was legitimately good; this week is only good in the sense that 24 always is. That is to say, it's a really stupid show that takes itself completely seriously and that's why it's great. Anyway, the important stuff:
- Jack convulsing on the floor was a thing of genius and beauty, his facial expressions especially.
- Jon Voight was no slouch in Cage-level freakouts either, his big moment being after he threw that guy off the balcony.
- Speaking of which, that was nuts.
- It seems like Jack is the new Bill/George and Tony is the new Jack. I'm not sure how to feel about this development.
- The president is all like "ABORT THE MISSION" and the generals are all like "WTF, mate?".
- Both the president's daughter and Jon Voight are masters of the cell-phone camera.
- Speaking of that, Voight may as well have been like "I got pics, son!" when he was showing the president the bio-weapon missiles.
- I like that he also has basically no motivation whatsoever for being the crazy, evil fuck he is
- The lack of Janeane Garafalo in these newer episodes is distressing, she was here for a bit as imitation-Chloe helping Tony hack a keycard-reader but that's not nearly enough.
- So, the question remains, are they actually gonna kill Jack? If so, that's pretty crazy, I guess the show would end up being "The Renne & Tony Hour" at that point.
- Lost was pretty great last night. Not as good as the other Ben-centric episodes but still great nonetheless. That we're finally getting some answers as to the conflict between Ben and Widmore is great but what I was most surprised at was that the episode actually made me feel somewhat sympathetic towards Ben. I like Ben as a character because he's such a master manipulator (though, we're beginning to see that may just be a facade that's starting to crumble) but his basic appeal is that, to be frank, he's a dick to pretty much everyone. That said, "Dead Is Dead" showed that he has a heart (and a soft streak a mile wide when kids are involved) beneath all that calculation. We got some mythology that will get the message board people chattering away (what do those symbols on the smoke monster's lair mean, exactly?) but, more importantly, we developed characters and had a good story. I'm not sure what I thought of the scene with Penny and Desmond at the docks, though. On the one hand, it would have been a cool twist to kill her, on the other, it's a cool twist that would have ripped my heart out (especially since I watched 'The Constant" on DVD on Tuesday). Anyway, next week's episode appears to focus on Miles, who I'd like to learn more about, so, I'm looking forward to it.
- This new Eminem song is sort of confusing to me. I hate the chorus and the tone he's rapping in is dangerously close to the overly-goofy one used on Encore's "funny" tracks but he's rattling off pop-culture stabs at an impressive clip and some of the stabs are actually worthy as stand-alone punchlines (I liked the bit about Ellen Degeneres which segues into a bit about Sarah Palin). It's no "My Name Is" (the jokes are too tame, for one thing and these super up-to-the-minute references are bound to get old pretty quick) but it's also no "Just Lose It" (there's only two lines of juvenile fart-humour type-stuff which aren't too bad, actually). Also, the video's pretty funny, if really similar to earlier videos of his and I like that he's willing to mock his own image in the media (the bit about those photos of him in an Alf shirt that got out a few months back is pretty great). Overall, decent (and way better than that "Crack A Bottle" mess) but I'm still not holding out that much hope for Relapse. Funny thing is, if he just plugged the lyrics from this freestyle into an actual song, it'd actually be better than his past, say, 4 singles.
- Jack convulsing on the floor was a thing of genius and beauty, his facial expressions especially.
- Jon Voight was no slouch in Cage-level freakouts either, his big moment being after he threw that guy off the balcony.
- Speaking of which, that was nuts.
- It seems like Jack is the new Bill/George and Tony is the new Jack. I'm not sure how to feel about this development.
- The president is all like "ABORT THE MISSION" and the generals are all like "WTF, mate?".
- Both the president's daughter and Jon Voight are masters of the cell-phone camera.
- Speaking of that, Voight may as well have been like "I got pics, son!" when he was showing the president the bio-weapon missiles.
- I like that he also has basically no motivation whatsoever for being the crazy, evil fuck he is
- The lack of Janeane Garafalo in these newer episodes is distressing, she was here for a bit as imitation-Chloe helping Tony hack a keycard-reader but that's not nearly enough.
- So, the question remains, are they actually gonna kill Jack? If so, that's pretty crazy, I guess the show would end up being "The Renne & Tony Hour" at that point.
- Lost was pretty great last night. Not as good as the other Ben-centric episodes but still great nonetheless. That we're finally getting some answers as to the conflict between Ben and Widmore is great but what I was most surprised at was that the episode actually made me feel somewhat sympathetic towards Ben. I like Ben as a character because he's such a master manipulator (though, we're beginning to see that may just be a facade that's starting to crumble) but his basic appeal is that, to be frank, he's a dick to pretty much everyone. That said, "Dead Is Dead" showed that he has a heart (and a soft streak a mile wide when kids are involved) beneath all that calculation. We got some mythology that will get the message board people chattering away (what do those symbols on the smoke monster's lair mean, exactly?) but, more importantly, we developed characters and had a good story. I'm not sure what I thought of the scene with Penny and Desmond at the docks, though. On the one hand, it would have been a cool twist to kill her, on the other, it's a cool twist that would have ripped my heart out (especially since I watched 'The Constant" on DVD on Tuesday). Anyway, next week's episode appears to focus on Miles, who I'd like to learn more about, so, I'm looking forward to it.
- This new Eminem song is sort of confusing to me. I hate the chorus and the tone he's rapping in is dangerously close to the overly-goofy one used on Encore's "funny" tracks but he's rattling off pop-culture stabs at an impressive clip and some of the stabs are actually worthy as stand-alone punchlines (I liked the bit about Ellen Degeneres which segues into a bit about Sarah Palin). It's no "My Name Is" (the jokes are too tame, for one thing and these super up-to-the-minute references are bound to get old pretty quick) but it's also no "Just Lose It" (there's only two lines of juvenile fart-humour type-stuff which aren't too bad, actually). Also, the video's pretty funny, if really similar to earlier videos of his and I like that he's willing to mock his own image in the media (the bit about those photos of him in an Alf shirt that got out a few months back is pretty great). Overall, decent (and way better than that "Crack A Bottle" mess) but I'm still not holding out that much hope for Relapse. Funny thing is, if he just plugged the lyrics from this freestyle into an actual song, it'd actually be better than his past, say, 4 singles.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
AND I WILL STRUM MY MERRY WAY
- I have mixed feelings about this week's 24: On the one hand, it was sort-of boring and not a whole lot really happened. On the other, I actually had a genuine emotional connection to what was going on which I don't think I've really felt about 24 since probably season 4. Jack's inability to help due to his sickness crushes him and that's kind of profound. Jack might be the world's foremost badass but he's also a broken, lonely man who's lost everyone important to him in his relentless quest to project his country. You get the sense that the only thing that defines his existence anymore is his ability to keep fighting and, when that's taken away, there's nothing left, no purpose for him to go on. Sure, there was still some ridiculous shit going on (Starkwell rolls up with friggin' armoured Humvees on a group of federal agents, for one) and the for-the-ladies Jack taking his clothes off bit was, um, odd but this episode actually worked as good drama not as the insane action-thriller piece that 24 usually is. Still, one does have to wonder how the writers will write themselves out of this corner, I hope it's not just a "you weren't infected after all!"-type thing, but that or Jon Voight having an antidote in a vial are the only options I can think of right now.
- Lost gets a "meh" from me this week, which I kind of thought it would going in. I don't really like any of the series' Kate-centric episodes and this was no different. Her flashbacks just filled in bits that we already sort-of knew and her on-island action just seemed well-worn. That said, there were bits I enjoyed: Jack's refusal to operate on Ben mirrors Sayid's shooting of him in that both of them, in trying to destroy Ben, unwittingly contribute to creating him. Hurley and Miles' conversation about time travel was good info-dump. But, in spite of the attempts at emotional resonance peppered throughout the story, I viewed this episode rather academically. That said, next week's episode looks awesome. If this preview doesn't get you pumped then I don't know what to say.
- I'm really surprised at this new Bob Dylan song. It's got kind of a Latin groove to it but it still fits in with the earthy blues tones of his last couple albums. And his voice is closer to that restrained Time Out of Mind mumble than the scratchy attempted-croon of Modern Times, that's a very good thing in my book. I hope the whole Together Through Life album keeps up this level of quality.
If you're following my other blog (and, really, why wouldn't you?) I have read over 150 pages of Twilight but I'm holding off on a post for a couple days to collect my thoughts proper and avoid going off-the-cuff with stuff that'll immediately be contradicted by later parts of the book. But, if you'd like a couple first impressions:
- Meyer really devotes a lot of words to describing how handsome Edward is, huh?
- I don't know if the names sounding Victorian (and it might just be me but Bella Swan and Edward Cullen just sound like names more appropriate to a knight and his fair maiden than anything modernist) is an intentional call-back to Jane Austin-style romances or it's just coincidence, but it's kinda odd either way.
- Hey, here's an odd thought: We know from all those testimonials on twilightguy.com that guys do read Twilight, so, why's there no "I [heart] Bella Swan" (or, uh, one of the girl vampires) thing as a contrast to all those "Team Edward" and "Team Jacob" things?
- I may have just thought that last thing because, as much as it pains me to admit this in a public forum, Bella is totally my kind of gal. So, uh, if she ever wants to drop her vampire, I'll be here.
-If you're curious as to which character I relate the most to: It's totally Mike, he's just tries so hard to be nice. He's also sort of clingy and a bit creepy, but, whatever.
- Tonally, it's not nearly as mordant or gothic as I had expected, there's a good bit of levity and petty teen drama to it. Also, Meyer seems to be in love with using really long adjectives, it can be a bit much at times.
That's all from me for now.
- Lost gets a "meh" from me this week, which I kind of thought it would going in. I don't really like any of the series' Kate-centric episodes and this was no different. Her flashbacks just filled in bits that we already sort-of knew and her on-island action just seemed well-worn. That said, there were bits I enjoyed: Jack's refusal to operate on Ben mirrors Sayid's shooting of him in that both of them, in trying to destroy Ben, unwittingly contribute to creating him. Hurley and Miles' conversation about time travel was good info-dump. But, in spite of the attempts at emotional resonance peppered throughout the story, I viewed this episode rather academically. That said, next week's episode looks awesome. If this preview doesn't get you pumped then I don't know what to say.
- I'm really surprised at this new Bob Dylan song. It's got kind of a Latin groove to it but it still fits in with the earthy blues tones of his last couple albums. And his voice is closer to that restrained Time Out of Mind mumble than the scratchy attempted-croon of Modern Times, that's a very good thing in my book. I hope the whole Together Through Life album keeps up this level of quality.
If you're following my other blog (and, really, why wouldn't you?) I have read over 150 pages of Twilight but I'm holding off on a post for a couple days to collect my thoughts proper and avoid going off-the-cuff with stuff that'll immediately be contradicted by later parts of the book. But, if you'd like a couple first impressions:
- Meyer really devotes a lot of words to describing how handsome Edward is, huh?
- I don't know if the names sounding Victorian (and it might just be me but Bella Swan and Edward Cullen just sound like names more appropriate to a knight and his fair maiden than anything modernist) is an intentional call-back to Jane Austin-style romances or it's just coincidence, but it's kinda odd either way.
- Hey, here's an odd thought: We know from all those testimonials on twilightguy.com that guys do read Twilight, so, why's there no "I [heart] Bella Swan" (or, uh, one of the girl vampires) thing as a contrast to all those "Team Edward" and "Team Jacob" things?
- I may have just thought that last thing because, as much as it pains me to admit this in a public forum, Bella is totally my kind of gal. So, uh, if she ever wants to drop her vampire, I'll be here.
-If you're curious as to which character I relate the most to: It's totally Mike, he's just tries so hard to be nice. He's also sort of clingy and a bit creepy, but, whatever.
- Tonally, it's not nearly as mordant or gothic as I had expected, there's a good bit of levity and petty teen drama to it. Also, Meyer seems to be in love with using really long adjectives, it can be a bit much at times.
That's all from me for now.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
WOULD YOU LOVE ME, LOVE ME, LOVE ME?
- If you watch Lost you probably already know by now that the last episode ended with an event that is either a game-changing twist or a massive red herring depending on how it plays out from here. Still, whichever way it does go, I'm really pumped for next week because of it.
And this was a primo episode even without that big reveal. It may have something to do with the fact that Sayid is one of my favourite characters on the show, but I thought that this one had what a lot of this season's episodes have been lacking. Namely, a sense of personal investment in the overall plot. Lost can throw out off-kilter twists and shifting allegiances like nobody's business (and I'll still be at least intrigued) but what separates, in my mind, a merely good Lost episode from a truly great one is that I get into it on an emotional level as well as an intellectual one. Not to say that this has been a bad season (in terms of plot, it's one of the best so far) but, in all honesty, I haven't really felt all that much watching these episodes. Even "Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham", which I thought I would love as it was a Locke episode, worked more as a piece-mover than a human drama; Ben killing Locke was surprising and thought-provoking, sure, but I was more intrigued than truly frightened by it. There's been no episode in season 5 as richly romantic as "The Glass Ballerina" or "The Constant" or one as tragic as "Through The Looking Glass" or, for that matter, as action-packed as "The Economist".
"He's Our You" worked for a few reasons but the biggest one was the emotion invested in the story by Sayid. Special credit for this episode to Naveen Andrews as he really convinced me here, giving just enough levity to his character (I loved his conversation in the bar and his reaction to be drugged) to let his somber tones hit that much harder. At the heart of Sayid is this grand conflict, addressed head-on in this episode, that he's a man who is basically built to be violent, and is very good at it, but who desperately wants to change. But, the theme of this year of Lost being destiny, he can't escape his nature, he's a killer: always has been (as shown in a great flashback to his childhood), always will be.
I was sorta disappointed at the appearance of the DHARMA torturer (the "our you" mentioned in the title), mostly because the payoff fell short of the set-up (though he could make some more appearances to confirm his supposed psychopathy in later episodes) and, as always, many unanswered questions remain (chiefly, what the hell was up with that flaming van?). Also, this is something that's been bugging me for a while: Does every male character (with the exception of Hurley) need to have father issues? It seems that all the guy's dads were either abusive or abandoned their children or were corrupt or weren't their real dad or something. I understand (and, to a degree, can relate) that the generation of the characters/writers on the show was largely failed by its male role models in general and its fathers in specific but it's a bit much. However, I'm much more willing to forgive plot annoyances and dramatic flat notes when I have a genuine caring for the people involved, as I did here.
One of the reasons I like Lost as much as I do is because it crosses genres freely and non-intrusively: pop-sci-fi and romantic drama and island-survival tale and human interest and mystic incantation all exist on the same level here and, when it all comes together just right, it's quite a beautiful result. And even when the mix is a little off, it's still better than almost anything else on TV.
But, about that twist: Sayid shoots Ben in 1977, Ben may or may not be dead. The message boards have lit up with discussion over this but I'm gonna take a "wait and see" attitude towards it until next week when we see the full result. For all we know, Ben could get up and be just fine (remember how the Island healed Locke?) but, if he is dead, it introduces a lot of fascinating possibilities. Also, here's something interesting: the episode description for two weeks from now reads as follows: "To atone for sins of the past, Ben must attempt to summon the smoke monster in order to be judged". That would suggest that Ben lives but the episode's title is "Dead Is Dead". Anyways, the only thing tempering my excitement for next week is that "Whatever Happened, Happened" is a Kate-centric episode and I don't really like that character. Even so, I'm back into the groove with Lost and I hope it keeps itself to this level of storytelling.
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