OK, here are the last few lists. I haven't had time to edit my writing here so all apologies for poor word choices, strange puncuation and misspellings. Please do your best to enjoy!
Top 5 Movies of 2007
5. In The Shadow of the Moon
4. Milarepa
3. No Country for Old Men
2. Eastern Promises
1. Inland Empire
5. In the Shadow of the Moon. Great documentary with most the living astronauts who flew to the moon. Very positive movie that is still quite intelligent. Outside of the great interviews it's got amazing moon footage that's never been seen before.
4. Milarepa. Fictionalized account of the Tibetan Buddhist priest Milarepa who started out as a black magician. The pacing is very measured (those of you who don't share my love of this style of film making might call it "slow"). It has some computer effects but the film stock, the colors used, and the actors all give a sense of timelessness. Part one of a two part series. Also, got a great invocation scene!
3. No Country for Old Men. I'm sure you've heard of this one. It's amazing to me just how perfectly this film comes across given how far it skews and subverts the "crime movie" genre. Pitch perfect acting and direction. I believe that this movie will continue and inform the way movies are made more than any other film I've seen recently.
2. Eastern Promises. Probably not objectively as good a movie as "No Country" but, for my money I liked it better. I love Cronenberg's obsessive peeks into conspiracy and paranoia and after a slight break (with "History of Violence") it seems he's back firing on all barrels making a marketable mainstream movie that is still pure Cronenberg. The initiation scene is my favorite initiation scene in any movie outside of "Holy Mountain".
1. Inland Empire. First the Cohen Brothers, then Cronenberg and now Lynch - a number of great directors have made strong comebacks this year proving that the directing game is one game that doesn't rely only on the impulsive energy of youth but where artists can mature and grow. Inland Empire, more than any other movie, feels like a filmed dream. I'm not always sure what actually happened in the movie and what I imagined to have happened and I like it that way. There's an aura of creepiness and paranoia that I love and finally it seems that Lynch has overcome his issues with women. Laura Dern rules the movie with a multi-faceted intelligent portrayal and, as a friend of mine pointed out, is truly the lead in the same way Henry in Eraserhead was rather than in the way Laura Palmer was (confusing, untouchable whore, very hard to figure out). Well I'm rambling but fair to say it's a great movie well worth seeing.
FAVORITE TV
Noel and I don't have channels so we only watch via Netflix and the net. Here's a rough list of what we enjoyed. Only 4 because I can't think of anything else current that we dug.
4. Lost
3. Dr. Who
2. Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job
1. Big Love
We watched a few discs of Heroes but couldn't really connect. Lost we stopped watching because our Mac broke that had the latest episodes downloaded from iTunes but I'm sure we'll come back to it. The characters tend to switch personalities as dictated by the needs of the plot but the overarching story is great mystery.
Dr. Who started kind of patchy but worked itself up to an amazing run. The last 5-6 episodes were classic sci-fi fun. "Blink" is one of the best bits of Dr. Who that I've seen and I've been a fan of the show since I was 6 or 7.
Tim and Eric - great humor taken to a point where it becomes genuine surrealistic art. Brilliant.
Big Love. Wonderfully written and acting. Very consistent writing between episodes with even the fill in writers having a solid understanding of the characters psychology. Probably the best cast I've seen on a show. Very engrossing and personally interesting as I was raised Mormon (though not polygamist) there are a lot of little pieces that I'd all but forgotten about.
I had plans for other lists but time is short and so that's going to have to do it for the year. Enjoy and have a happy new year!!
dnd
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Year End List (part two)
OK, so I thought I'd do my top 10 most played songs of 2007 list today. After each track I've listed the number of plays logged in my home iTunes. Please know my computer died in April so really this is a list from May on.
10. Metro Station "Shake It" (35 listens)
9. M.I.A. "Bamboo Banga" (35 listens)
8. Flunk "Sit Down" (36)
7. Rhianna "Shut Up and Drive" (37)
6. M.I.A. "Hussel" (44)
5. Hana "Ayume" (47)
4. South Rakkas Crew "Test Me Nuh" (51)
3. Ceci Bastida "Ya Me Voy" (59)
2. Mala Rodriguez "Por La Noche" (73)
1. M.I.A. "Paper Planes" (98)
Again, this list isn't really my top 10 favorite songs, just most listened. I don't have time right now for commentary. Maybe later. Enjoy!
10. Metro Station "Shake It" (35 listens)
9. M.I.A. "Bamboo Banga" (35 listens)
8. Flunk "Sit Down" (36)
7. Rhianna "Shut Up and Drive" (37)
6. M.I.A. "Hussel" (44)
5. Hana "Ayume" (47)
4. South Rakkas Crew "Test Me Nuh" (51)
3. Ceci Bastida "Ya Me Voy" (59)
2. Mala Rodriguez "Por La Noche" (73)
1. M.I.A. "Paper Planes" (98)
Again, this list isn't really my top 10 favorite songs, just most listened. I don't have time right now for commentary. Maybe later. Enjoy!
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Best of the Year Lists (Part One)
Seeing as the end of 2007 is fast approaching I had a crazy and utterly unique concept. Why not compile a series of "best of" lists regarding various stuff that was released and happened over the course of 2007? I know, it's a radical idea but I think it might just catch on!
Over the course of the next few days I'll put together a number of lists and then compile them (along with any changes that have to do with things I forgot) on Jan 1 or 2 depending on how tired I am after the 108 sun salutations I'm doing on the 1st.
First up I thought I'd unveil my top 10 albums of 2007. I'm not going to include re-issues as that's a cheat in my mind. This is a bit harder than it used to be as I tend not to buy albums anymore opting for single and piecemeal tracks (yep, say hello to the iTunes age). Also there's a few albums I suspect I'll like but haven't listened to yet (new Radiohead, new Underworld, etc.) Well, without further ado, here goes.
10. Download "FiXer"
9. Britney Spears "Blackout"
8. Saul Williams "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust"
7. Nine Inch Nails "Year Zero"
6. LCD Soundsystem "Sound of Silver"
5. Sa Dingding "Alive"
4. Mala Rodriguez "Malamarismo"
3. Burial "Mix Up"
2. South Rakkas Crew "Mix Up"
1. M.I.A. "Kala"
And here's the commentary:
Download "FiXer" Good post ambient techno grooves by cEvin (Skinny Puppy) Key and Phil Western. Don't like it quite as well as their last album 2000's "Effector" as the tracks jump around a little too much for my taste.
Britney Spears "Blackout" Great production by Danja (Timbaland lite) makes the album sound like a mutant R&B Faint fronted by a 2020 female robot. People complain that Britney doesn't sound human on this album but that's what makes it so good. A complete analysis of the sexual gender bending politics of the pitch shifted voice in "Freakshow" could fill a small book.
Saul Williams "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust" Produced by Trent "Nine Inch Nails" Reznor this album is a great hip hop/industrial crossover album that is available free on Williams' site. Sometimes sounds a little too NINny for its own good but there are amazing moments including the cover of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and the creep out zone of "Ritual"
Nine Inch Nails "Year Zero" A real return to form. Tracks like "Capital G" are great pop cuts with others like "Vessel" being as interestingly strange as anything TrentMan has done in ages. It got a lot of play around my place right when it came out though I'll confess it gets put in more sparingly as the year goes on. Pretty sure it'll warrent plenty of future re-visits though.
LCD Soundsystem "Sound of Silver" Like "Year Zero" this got more listens early in the year than late but the humanized electronics are great though sometimes the vocals are a little too post-ironic for their own good. Would probably be lower on the list if it weren't for the amazing and heartfelt track "Someone Great" which genuinely spoke to me after Matt Zaun passed away. One of the most honest songs about the death of a friend that I've heard.
Sa Dingding "Alive" Roger from Magus turned me onto this one. Imperial Chinese vocals with a world techno beat. Lyrics in Chinese, Hindi, Tibetan and self-created languages. The first four cuts are perfection, the rest of the album varies a bit but the first four more than make up for any of the weaker cuts. I'm excited to hear more crossover Chinese music as there's a certain sound in Chinese vocal music that I don't hear anywhere else.
Mala Rodriguez "Malamarismo" Hispanic female hip hop artist. "Por La Noche" got constant play and the album has been revisited numerous times. Mala's voice has a forceful sexy desperation that drives me fucking crazy and the beats are solid and sticky. Probably the sexiest album of the year for me. "Volvere" just came on shuffle play as I write this and it sums up well what makes me love this album so much. Mala's voice layered multiple times (the way she plays off different vocal tracks is great stuff) , mid-tempo stoned groove, lazy horns and an amazing overall vibe.
Burial "Untrue" I'd never heard of dubstep before I heard about this album on Pitchfork and I haven't tracked anything else down in the genre yet, I'm taking my time drinking the album in. It sounds like Rapoon remixing Massive Attack. Great dubby pop voices over the top of spacious beats and melting electronic music and drones. Yummy. Sounds really good listened to all the way through and is great music for night driving, reading and staring out bus windows. "In McDonalds" has been making regular appearances in my yoga mixes these days. Great vibe for savasana.
South Rakkas Crew "Mix Up" This is a blast of pure joy thrown in a blender with a banana. Squelchy, gameboy rocking, maximalistic dancehall reggae freakout music that makes me smile even when I'm in a bad mood. A short album but every track is a keeper. "Test Me Nuh" is so goddamn good that there ought to be a law. Superfast vocals with a heavy beat that sounds like it came out of "Beers Steers Queers" era Revolting Cocks and then a saxaphone riff that is a revelation to me. Not a lot of press on this one but after enjoying the Crew's remixes of Beck and MIA I bought it on a whim and was floored.
MIA "Kala" OK, so the album is as consistant as "Arular" but damn, when it's good it is so fucking good that I want to scream out. "Paper Planes" is my song of the year (that list to come), the very african approach taken towards drums in tracks like "Hussel" "Birdflu" and "Boys" is unlike anything I've heard before, Maya's vocals are excellent fun and MIA continues to have a lot of fun playing with outside perception towards her both in the album and in the press. Afrikan Boy's rap in "Hussel" is fantastic and the remix of "Paper Planes" with him and Rye Rye kicks ass too. Oh yeah "The Turn" featuring production by DJ Blaqstarr is a stoned out of its gouard masterpiece (though "World Town" which samples Blaqstarr doesn't fare so well and is a constant skipper in my book). I realize this review is pure fanboy gushing but the album deserves it.
Over the course of the next few days I'll put together a number of lists and then compile them (along with any changes that have to do with things I forgot) on Jan 1 or 2 depending on how tired I am after the 108 sun salutations I'm doing on the 1st.
First up I thought I'd unveil my top 10 albums of 2007. I'm not going to include re-issues as that's a cheat in my mind. This is a bit harder than it used to be as I tend not to buy albums anymore opting for single and piecemeal tracks (yep, say hello to the iTunes age). Also there's a few albums I suspect I'll like but haven't listened to yet (new Radiohead, new Underworld, etc.) Well, without further ado, here goes.
10. Download "FiXer"
9. Britney Spears "Blackout"
8. Saul Williams "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust"
7. Nine Inch Nails "Year Zero"
6. LCD Soundsystem "Sound of Silver"
5. Sa Dingding "Alive"
4. Mala Rodriguez "Malamarismo"
3. Burial "Mix Up"
2. South Rakkas Crew "Mix Up"
1. M.I.A. "Kala"
And here's the commentary:
Download "FiXer" Good post ambient techno grooves by cEvin (Skinny Puppy) Key and Phil Western. Don't like it quite as well as their last album 2000's "Effector" as the tracks jump around a little too much for my taste.
Britney Spears "Blackout" Great production by Danja (Timbaland lite) makes the album sound like a mutant R&B Faint fronted by a 2020 female robot. People complain that Britney doesn't sound human on this album but that's what makes it so good. A complete analysis of the sexual gender bending politics of the pitch shifted voice in "Freakshow" could fill a small book.
Saul Williams "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust" Produced by Trent "Nine Inch Nails" Reznor this album is a great hip hop/industrial crossover album that is available free on Williams' site. Sometimes sounds a little too NINny for its own good but there are amazing moments including the cover of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and the creep out zone of "Ritual"
Nine Inch Nails "Year Zero" A real return to form. Tracks like "Capital G" are great pop cuts with others like "Vessel" being as interestingly strange as anything TrentMan has done in ages. It got a lot of play around my place right when it came out though I'll confess it gets put in more sparingly as the year goes on. Pretty sure it'll warrent plenty of future re-visits though.
LCD Soundsystem "Sound of Silver" Like "Year Zero" this got more listens early in the year than late but the humanized electronics are great though sometimes the vocals are a little too post-ironic for their own good. Would probably be lower on the list if it weren't for the amazing and heartfelt track "Someone Great" which genuinely spoke to me after Matt Zaun passed away. One of the most honest songs about the death of a friend that I've heard.
Sa Dingding "Alive" Roger from Magus turned me onto this one. Imperial Chinese vocals with a world techno beat. Lyrics in Chinese, Hindi, Tibetan and self-created languages. The first four cuts are perfection, the rest of the album varies a bit but the first four more than make up for any of the weaker cuts. I'm excited to hear more crossover Chinese music as there's a certain sound in Chinese vocal music that I don't hear anywhere else.
Mala Rodriguez "Malamarismo" Hispanic female hip hop artist. "Por La Noche" got constant play and the album has been revisited numerous times. Mala's voice has a forceful sexy desperation that drives me fucking crazy and the beats are solid and sticky. Probably the sexiest album of the year for me. "Volvere" just came on shuffle play as I write this and it sums up well what makes me love this album so much. Mala's voice layered multiple times (the way she plays off different vocal tracks is great stuff) , mid-tempo stoned groove, lazy horns and an amazing overall vibe.
Burial "Untrue" I'd never heard of dubstep before I heard about this album on Pitchfork and I haven't tracked anything else down in the genre yet, I'm taking my time drinking the album in. It sounds like Rapoon remixing Massive Attack. Great dubby pop voices over the top of spacious beats and melting electronic music and drones. Yummy. Sounds really good listened to all the way through and is great music for night driving, reading and staring out bus windows. "In McDonalds" has been making regular appearances in my yoga mixes these days. Great vibe for savasana.
South Rakkas Crew "Mix Up" This is a blast of pure joy thrown in a blender with a banana. Squelchy, gameboy rocking, maximalistic dancehall reggae freakout music that makes me smile even when I'm in a bad mood. A short album but every track is a keeper. "Test Me Nuh" is so goddamn good that there ought to be a law. Superfast vocals with a heavy beat that sounds like it came out of "Beers Steers Queers" era Revolting Cocks and then a saxaphone riff that is a revelation to me. Not a lot of press on this one but after enjoying the Crew's remixes of Beck and MIA I bought it on a whim and was floored.
MIA "Kala" OK, so the album is as consistant as "Arular" but damn, when it's good it is so fucking good that I want to scream out. "Paper Planes" is my song of the year (that list to come), the very african approach taken towards drums in tracks like "Hussel" "Birdflu" and "Boys" is unlike anything I've heard before, Maya's vocals are excellent fun and MIA continues to have a lot of fun playing with outside perception towards her both in the album and in the press. Afrikan Boy's rap in "Hussel" is fantastic and the remix of "Paper Planes" with him and Rye Rye kicks ass too. Oh yeah "The Turn" featuring production by DJ Blaqstarr is a stoned out of its gouard masterpiece (though "World Town" which samples Blaqstarr doesn't fare so well and is a constant skipper in my book). I realize this review is pure fanboy gushing but the album deserves it.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Thursday, December 27, 2007
The Reason for the Season
We've all seen mention about the "Reason for the Season" and putting "Christ" back in "Christmas" so I got to thinking about this. Now "Christ back in Christmas" makes some sense linguistically but the "Reason for the season" despite having a rhyme scheme and fitting more easily into contemporary Christian song lyrics, doesn't make the same sort of sense.
If Jesus is the reason for the season and the season we're entering right when Christmas comes around is winter (which starts 12/21) then it follows that Jesus must be the reason for winter, the season rather than Christmas the holiday inside the season. Inititally, this may seem a rather strange thing for his followers to lay claim to but maybe, upon further examination this makes perfect sense.
Winter is the time when everything is dead and cold so suddenly our gentle Jesus is recast as a lord of death. Now if Jesus is a cold god of death that might make Satan a hot god of life. It does fit with the concept that Hell, the bad place, is known first and foremost for its heat. Are those who are heavenbound going to find need for heavenly parkas to go with their harps and wings? Perhaps it also introduces a reason for the evangelicals to fight Global Warming. Global Warming is the devil's way of trying to exert his hot control over Jesus' glorious cold globe. Revelations! End days are close! More signs! Peter Popoff should open a ministry at the North Pole so as to be closer to the source.
So remember, the next time you complain about the cold weather, you're really complaining about Jesus. Those of you who vacation to warmer climates beware, you're running from God! When you complain about someone being cold or icy you're complaining about them being Godly. Truly, a god fearing person must re-evaluate a great deal once they've discovered this new truth.
So here's to the second coming - it'll be an ice age for sure!
If Jesus is the reason for the season and the season we're entering right when Christmas comes around is winter (which starts 12/21) then it follows that Jesus must be the reason for winter, the season rather than Christmas the holiday inside the season. Inititally, this may seem a rather strange thing for his followers to lay claim to but maybe, upon further examination this makes perfect sense.
Winter is the time when everything is dead and cold so suddenly our gentle Jesus is recast as a lord of death. Now if Jesus is a cold god of death that might make Satan a hot god of life. It does fit with the concept that Hell, the bad place, is known first and foremost for its heat. Are those who are heavenbound going to find need for heavenly parkas to go with their harps and wings? Perhaps it also introduces a reason for the evangelicals to fight Global Warming. Global Warming is the devil's way of trying to exert his hot control over Jesus' glorious cold globe. Revelations! End days are close! More signs! Peter Popoff should open a ministry at the North Pole so as to be closer to the source.
So remember, the next time you complain about the cold weather, you're really complaining about Jesus. Those of you who vacation to warmer climates beware, you're running from God! When you complain about someone being cold or icy you're complaining about them being Godly. Truly, a god fearing person must re-evaluate a great deal once they've discovered this new truth.
So here's to the second coming - it'll be an ice age for sure!
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