I love that the tension between the head-over-heels drum introduction and the song suddenly trying to get a hold of itself, is mirrored in the lyrics’ struggle with over-the-top acrobatic desperation and trying to keep one’s cool. I love that the lyrics sound like the mantra anyone really feeling something recites to reassure oneself, and wants to, but tries so hard not to plead out loud to the one they want.
Comments (View)
“Santa Claus”, Throwing Muses
Bravo, Lettuce Entertain You ambiance coordinators, bravo!
Comments (View)
maura:
pareene:
choire:
kryz:
pareene:
rendit:
The Greatest Christmas Movies of All Time, In Order
2. The Apartment
1. Batman Returns
Dude. Die Hard.
Life of Brian. Duh.
While I agree very strongly with all this, I must say that Home for the Holidays is actually an exceptional movie that is, like Die Hard, really about the spirit of the holidays. (Honestly I love that movie almost as much as Clue and Noises Off, and that is really saying something. Home for the Holidays, I mean. Though also Die Hard!) Oh shit. Now I’ve gone and provided commentary.
Ok I could go on all night but also Gremlins and Brazil. And The Thin Man!
People. PEOPLE? Scrooged? For the Carol Kane bit alone?
Reblogging for truth. I am continually amazed at the short shrift Scrooged gets this time of year. My favorite Xmas movie by a considerable margin (although that may not be saying much). And for better or worse, it’s somewhat prescient. Any time I see a performance from an awards show, or more recently the intros to Sunday/Monday Night Football, I can’t help but think of the scenes with the Solid Gold Dancers, etc. etc. SOOO funny.
Comments (View)
Fuck A. Kirk Hammett - yes, that Kirk Hammett - has a REALLY nice house. Sorry, I mean, Georgian mansion. I might have styled it a little differently but…Oh, that light fixture! Oh, that location! (I wouldn’t actually want to live in San Francisco, but it’d be nice to have on hand for visits.)
Comments (View)
I’m working from home today (no air quotes!) and challenged myself to get up at the same time as Scott. Which is a good thing, because it enabled me to catch this unexpected profile of Visqueen (!) and their frontwoman Rachel Flotard (!!) on Morning Edition.
A few years ago, when I was dealing with my first real suckerpunch of a breakup and wasn’t feeling so great (literally…for reasons still unknown, I caught a staph infection around the same time) and had a creepy roommate and generally hated life, I listened to King Me constantly and remain convinced that it’s one of the only things that helped. So I’m not surprised that Flotard could develop something cathartic out of a far more devastating situation.
I admit that during this interview, I cringed at Flotard’s mention of organ and cello, as the “serious” songs on Visqueen’s prior records have been slightly heavy-handed. But from what I can tell from this interview, the additional layers are well-integrated. And, perhaps owing to extensive touring with Neko Case, her voice sounds more nuanced than ever before. Color me EXTREMELY excited about this record.
If nothing else, you should listen to this interview because she’s a really funny lady. And because it will remind you to call your dad and tell him that you love him.
Comments (View)
Make that 13-degree high temp. Can’t wait for Thursday!
Concert Nirvana def. achieved last night. All four guys (well, five, if you count the new keyboardist, who looks like an extra from Strange Brew and appears to be living out his lifelong dream) rocked well, but it was really the Chris Murphy show. If he was in pain, it didn’t show, and his voice has literally never been clearer - including on record. Appropriately, “Fading Into Obscurity” brought the house down, but they played a lot of golden oldies too, including some deep cuts. The show was not without surprises, including a mellow, almost dub-like, breakdown in the middle of “Money City Maniacs” which veered perilously close to jammy but was ultimately a welcome and impressive breather. Plus I’m sure that at this point they need to go to greater lengths to keep the song interesting to themselves.
I hate to say it, but in a way, it was pretty sweet to go to a show where the median age appeared to hover in the mid- to late- thirties. I’m fairly certain nobody balked at my business casual/snowboots ensemble and my dancing was no more or less dorky than anybody else’s.
EXCEPT THE GUY WHO WAS HIGH OFF HIS NUTS. ON A MONDAY NIGHT. AT A SLOAN CONCERT. Dude was basically performing an interpretive dance to each line of each song (miming Cupid drawing his bow for “The only thing left to do, is cure the broken hearted”, extending his arms outward for “Reach out”…). At first I thought he was just one of those middle-aged fanboys who tries to compensate for social deficiencies by showing everybody else that he’s the BIGGEST FAN EVAR. But as the show wore on, his moves became less choreographed, morphing into genericized “umbrella dancing” peppered with random hugging and shoving of his neighbors, and it was clear that he was rolling. While waiting for the encore he crouched to the floor, covering his head, for reasons known only to him, reemerging upon the band’s return. After the show, he stumbled out with the rest of us. Casting his gaze on Scott, he smiled and said, “It’s not my fault…maybe.” Wowzers.
Comments (View)
Whoa. In looking for Sloan tickets, it’s come to my attention that the mighty Ultimate Fakebook has reformed. Stef and I saw them play many, many times, including when my little brother’s ska band opened for them in our rival highschool’s gym.
That anecdote suggests that they were awful, as does the AMG’s description of the band linked on the page. But they weren’t. They were a really, really good power-pop band. A really, really good power-pop band who unfortunately fell prey to the mid-90s major-label signing frenzy and unnecessarily re-recorded their best album (a la Tuscadero). A really, really good power-pop band who unfortunately, got mixed up in the nascent mall-emo scene just as they were extricating themselves from that mess. A really, really good power pop band who were either twenty years too late or ten years too early. (Seriously, in another life, they’d be touring with the Hold Steady, not effing Motion City Soundtrack.)
Anyway, a happy surprise. Not unlike the shoutout given to the aforementioned Tuscadero on Sound Opinions a couple of weeks ago. Their lyrics were grossly mischaracterized (apparently irony is lost on Jim Derogatis these days) but at least they were remembered.
A nice tribute.
Comments (View)
This is AMAZING (but a spoiler if you didn’t see last night’s episode). Particularly the aside about the eternally repeated freezer bag ad which, at this point, practically haunts my dreams (and makes a nice reappearance in the coda of this piece). It also helps that Stein’s sentiments about the “cheftestants” completely match my own, although if there’s anyone out there who DOESN’T think Michael is a dick, please stay the hell away from me.
Good fashion commentary too. I remember thinking about the hair when I saw the preview for last night’s ep. Did the producers mandate that the contestants had to change their hair to illustrate the passage of time, per the conceit used in countless movies? Padma had go-go bangs, Kevin…well, I can’t top what Stein wrote, Michael opted for the Tousled Douche, and Jennifer’s mane suddenly became as frazzled as her cooking. SYMBOLISM, people.
Comments (View)
