On the Road Again...

Looking for a movie to watch the other day, I settled on the 2019 Netflix original, The Highwaymen staring Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson as a pair of former Texas Rangers brought out of retirement to hunt down Bonnie & Clyde. This true crime drama came and went without a lot of notice, but it's actually quite solid.  

Certainly not anything earth shattering as far as film making goes, and by that it, it's just not that original. It pays homage to lots of films that came before, especially The Untouchables. However, it's a solid film with solid acting. 

Like The Untouchables, it takes the perspective of those who hunted down a folk legend. One of the things that I thought the movie did very well, was how it depicted the making of a criminal into a celebrity. 

Both lead actors play their roles well, and never over indulges even when the chance is there. I think the restraint is strong part of this movie. It never sensationalizes anything, and resists the temptation to play into the current trend of movie making to stick to a tried and true method of portraying a true crime story. 

Parasite

Every once in a while, the Academy Awards throws the world a curve ball, and sometimes they get it perfectly right. This year, the world was shocked when the Korean film Parasite won best picture. Like a good number of people out there, I knew nearly nothing about this film. And the next day, when I started reading about it, I felt that I knew even less. Having finally watched, I know why. This is one of those films that's nearly impossible to sum up in any meaningful way that conveys how remarkable it is.

Despite some of the images that you'll find, or the eerie trailers you might see, this isn't an Asian horror film, though it certainly borrows visually from that genre. This is a drama, but it's dram with dark humor the reminded me of Reservoir Dogs meets American Beauty. 

This is the story of class inequality dressed up in a brilliant plot that sees a lower class family gifting their way into the employment of an upper class family that lives in the blissful isolated ignorance of wealth. 

I really have nothing negative to say about this film. The acting, the story, the look, and the pacing of it were all fantastic. After it ended, the "shock" of the Best Picture win no longer felt like a shock. It wasn't a curve ball, it was a slam dunk.

Weekend Music Roundup

Welcome to the never-ending weekend where one day is the same as the other. I've made more of an effort this week to listen to a few new albums during my crazy days of Mr. Mom and Work-From-Home hero. I thank Fiona Apple for that because I wasn't about to wait any longer to listen to her new album, which is going to be near shoo-in for best album of the year. There's some other good albums on here as well, so take some time and listen to some music while you quarantine.

Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters: The indie art pop icon's first album in 8 years is her fifth studio album in her 24 year career. It wasn't until her last album that I became a convert to the brilliance of Fiona Apple and went back to absorb her previous work. There's an intangible soul to her voice as it sprays poetry at the listener, poetry dressed up in perfect experimental pop soundtracks. The only artists that really compares to her is Amanda Palmer, but there's something about Amanda that I've always found a little pretentious, where Fiona is blunt and expressive in her emotions, hardly hiding them in art, just poetry. This album is a masterpiece from beginning to end.  

Wolves Like Us - Brittle Bones: The third album from the Oslo post-hardcore band was one of the albums released toward the end of 2019 that I was listening to in my frenzy to hear things I might have missed. This is pretty standard post-hardcore fare. It's aggressive, lots of quick guitar and pounding drums and passable vocals. The result is kind of just okay, nothing to get worked up about and not enough to hate. If that's your genre and you're looking for another band, this might be for you. 

Toy - Happy in the Hollow: The fourth studio album from London neo-psych band was released back in January 2019 and I'd been meaning to check it out for a while. I really enjoyed their second album, released in 2013 and said at that time that this was a band to watch. Unlike most American neo-psych bands, the British bands derive influences from synth pop, new wave, and shoegaze, whereas most American tend to pull from 60s psych and folk. This is a very solid record of ethereal soundscapes and fuzzed guitar.

Graham Parker - Heat Treatment: The 1976 album from the new wave icon is his second, released 5 months after his debut. As frequent readers of the Roundup surely have noticed, I've been really into Graham's early work lately. Sure, it reminds me of Elvis Costello, but there is more of a working class grit to his style of new wave that I really connect to. This is the third late '70s album of his that I've acquired and all three are brilliant. Yet another artist that never got the acclaim he deserved, though he's by no means a forgotten artist, just a little less widely known than he deserves. 

Earl Hines - The Legendary Little Theater Concert of 1964, Vols. 1 and 2: I recently picked up this double album for a cool $4. This is a the great jazz pianist performing a collection of classics, with the great Budd Johnson on sax on a few tracks. This is an intimate and wonderful performance of swing jazz favorites. "Lester Leaps In," and "Out of Nowhere," are standouts on this live set. I think too many people focus only on the Giants of jazz and don't dig deeper (even more so than in rock). As a result, the Giants command high value. But if you dig a little deeper, there's a ton of wonderful jazz out there for a bargain. 

T. Rex - Summertime Blues Live: I don't know much about this bootleg that recently hit the webpages, except that it's radio broadcasts and that it's fantastic. I'm guessing it's a career spanning collection, but can't say for sure, and at one point, it seems like it might be one concert. Either way, as with all Marc Bolan live recordings, the result is fantastic. He has a way of making every song sound different each time he performs it, meaning there is never really a thing as having too many live records. "Girl," "Cosmic Dancer," and "Jewel" are real standouts.

Fiction Friday (104)

As you may already know if you follow my posts, I've currently been reading a selection of YA books for a regional Battle of the Books contest that pits teens from area libraries against each other in a trivia challenge. I've read three of the books and have two left. This one was the third and has been my favorite so far. It's basically realistic fiction, with one overarching twist that drives the plot.

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
(Quill Tree, 2017)

If you get a call from Death-Cast just after midnight, you are assured of one thing...you are going to die at some time during the next day. That is the premise that sets this wonderful narrative that is more about life than it is about death.

Mateo and Rufus are two teenage boys living in NYC. When they get the calls from Death-Cast, they are strangers. Through a series of events, they end up spending the remainder of their lives together, discovering who they truly are and becoming who they've always wished to be.

Now it's Dark...

My latest streaming obsession is Dark, the German language Netflix original series which aired it's first season in the winter of '17/'18 and the second season last year. This is one of those shows with clear influences, namely Stranger Things, and Lost. But like all good storytelling, it is more than a collection of influences and develops something new.

It should be known that I'm a sucker for anything involving time travel, and this is a virtual time loop mind twisting adventure. It's very carefully paced, very well acted, and visually stunning. It's certainly a story that keeps you thinking, engaged and guessing at what might happen next. I'm looking forward to discovering how it resolves.

Weekend Music Roundup

 

Well, another weekend slipped past me as I'm caught up in this endless cycle of day after day being the same. But on the bright side, I suppose everyday is kind of like a weekend...but more like everyday is like Monday. Also, minus any drive time, I'm falling behind on my new digital music and have to resort mainly to recent vinyl purchases which are likely to dry up pretty soon. You'd think working from home would allow me to explore my digital library, but that's not really possible when you have to keep one ear open for the kid's never-ending needs.  But I digress...here are some choice albums to explore during your shelter in place days. Enjoy.

Hanoi Rocks - Back to Mystery City: The third album from the Finnish glam band was released in 1983 and is one of their best. This album put them on the verge of stardom in the U.S., but unfortunately, tragedy would strike the following year when drummer Razzle was killed in a car accident (car driven by Vince Neil), essentially ending the band's career. This band would never reach the heights they were destined to reach when glam metal peaked, which is too bad, because they were one of the best of those bands, with a punk / new wave influence to their glam sound. 

The Amazons - Future Dust: The second album from the British indie rock band came out last year. I wasn't familiar with them going into this, but figured it was worth a shot. It's definitely rock, and definitely British, a combination that is usually appealing to me. It's built for the stadium, has influences in the rock that came out of that country in the 00's and is pretty enjoyable. Nothing groundbreaking, but a decent rock album nonetheless. "Mother," "Doubt It," and "25 (Reprise)" are my personal favorites. 

Michael Nesmith - Tantamount to Treason: Released in '72, this is the former Monkee's fifth solo album. I only recently became aware of his solo work, despite being a big fan of the Monkees. His solo records fall into the L.A. style of country rock that was going on at the time, think Gram Parsons. Always the most talented of the band, he proves it on this fantastic solo records. An amazing vibe, with slight nods to pysch folk, I was glad to find this on my first trip out after putting him on my search list. "Lazy Lady," "You Are My One," "Talking to the Wall," and the truly brilliant "In the Afternoon" are standouts. 

Grade 2 - Graveyard Island: The third album from the Isle of Wright Oi! punk band is my first introduction to them, and one of the 2019 albums that I didn't get to review before the year ran out on me. Like many, my early teen years were dominated by punk music, and like most, I kind of grew out of it. But I still like to delve into the genre every now and then and see what it's producing. Oi! is sort of the British equivalent to hardcore bands in the U.S. It's aggressive, clouded by fascist bands from the past, and quite straightforward and bare. It's angry and political and doesn't aspire to be anything different. This is a solid enough effort and brought back a lot of memories of my angry youth. 

Happy Mondays - The Early EP's: Back in the days when it was still possible to be an innovator of a new genre of music, ie. the mid-80s, the Happy Mondays turned the club scene in Manchester on its heels. These are the pioneering tracks that developed the Baggy Madchester scene, paving the waves for bands like Stone Roses. Though, in my opinion, they didn't reach their full potential until Pills, Thrills, and Bellyaches in 1990, these are the songs that built that foundation. Definitely only for fans and music history aficionados.

Sam Cooke - My Kind of Blues: Released in '61, this is part of the soul singer's rapid output before his death in '64. Though the soul singer had a string of hits in his career, he never really had a hit album, partially because this was before the album era. This record is a collection of covers that are not typical blues songs. In fact, it's an upbeat album, a soul interpretation of the blues and because of that, it has a very unique sound. Definitely a good score for $2.

 

The Man on the Moon

Searching for a movie to watch in the world of streaming is a bit like looking for an album to listen to among someone else's collection. You never want to commit to anything, thinking maybe something better is sitting on the next shelf and then you end up spending all your time looking instead of watching. While scanning the various streaming outlets the other night, after nearly half an hour, the Missus and I finally settled on Moon, the 2009 movie starring Sam Rockwell as a contracted worker spending three years alone on the moon.

Any time a movie features only one character, it runs the risk of moving too slowly or being too internal. This movie managed to avoid those traps and deliver a compelling story about the human condition. 

The movie also avoids sci-fi cliches involving robots and space. Instead it creates interesting questions about self, memory, and what makes each of us human. 

Given the current state of isolation in the world, this was an interesting choice of movies to watch. It will certainly make you feel better about being stuck in your house, because it sure beats three years alone on the moon.

Mandalorian

It's hard to imagine a television show with more pressure on it to be brilliant than Mandalorian, the first live-action Star Wars television show and one of the first original shows to air on Disney's new streaming service. Wisely, they decided to stay away from established characters.

Set in the time after Return of the Jedi and before The Force Awakens, this show follows a Mandalorian bounty hunter as he gets caught up in Imperial intrigue as remnants of the fallen Empire eye a mysterious prize. The show benefits from having a tight plot that runs throughout, rather than simply using a frame tale to showcase a bunch of loosely related stories. It also benefits from the fact that the main character is pretty badass. 

I admit that it was a few episodes before I really got caught up in this show, but I certainly did. I liked how they dealt with stories that departed from the central Star Wars tale. Definitely a great start to what I hope becomes the next best saga.

The Get Down

Like most people in the civilized world, those of us lucky enough to pass this lockdown in the relative comfort of a home equipped with high speed internet, I've been catching up on some television these past few weeks. One show that I completely missed when it aired a few years back was the Netflix original, The Get Down.

Set in the summer of 1977 in the Bronx, this show is documents that dramatic time in NYC through the eyes of a Bronx teen as he navigates his crumbling borough, searching for a ticket out. While the Bronx literally burns, from the ashes, a new genre of music is being born. 

This show chronicles the birth of hip hop, the emergence of graffiti art, the decadence of disco, and rise of capitalist greed that would dominate the city in the coming decade. Sure, it's quite fictionalized and heavily stylized, but somehow it works. It never veers into parody and manages to stay above being corny. I think this is mostly do to the tightrope the actors seem to walk, convincing us that these could be real people, even if they are tv versions of real people.

Weekend Music Roundup

The weekend is here, and the Roundup returns. I have been a little preoccupied lately trying to work from home and watch the squirt, so I apologize for missing the last few weeks. I also have not been listening to too much new stuff as I've taken this "stay at home" time to go digging through my own collection and listen to things that I haven't heard in a bit. These are some albums that I discovered over the past few months, a little bit of everything. Enjoy.

Bang - Death of a Country: This was a shelved LP from the Philly heavy psych band of the early '70s that released archivally in 2011 by the great Rise Above label. This is one of those bands that never got the credit they deserved, probably because they were ahead of their time. I'm so glad I came across this at the local shop, it's been on my list. Definitely one of the founding albums of the genre. 

The Wood Brothers - Kingdom in my Mind: The newest album from the Nashville via Boulder americana folk band is their eighth album. I was first introduced to this band with their second album, twelve years ago. While I really enjoyed that album, I somehow missed everything in between then and now. This has that Nashville country influenced sound blended in and reminds me a bit of Langhorne Slim, if only a little less energetic. A solid record, one fans of the genre will really enjoy.

Jaki Byard - There'll Be Some Changes Made: Released in '73, this is near the end of the jazz pianist's most active period of his career. A post-bop / hard-bop musician, he maintains that style at a time when others were experimenting beyond that. Being a huge fan of that jazz era, and of his work, I'm glad he didn't abandon it. Over the past few years, he's become one of my favorites and I always look for his stuff in all the shops I drop into. I was lucky to find an original copy of this on sale for a few dollars and of course snatched it up. "Lonely Town," "Blues Au Gratin," "Besame Mucho," and "Journey  / Night of Departure" are my personal favorites.

Kilo Kish - Redux: Released at the end of last year, this is the newest EP from the Brooklyn based electropop artist, who has been steadily releasing EPs since her her only full length album in 2016. These songs mix pretty solid electronic music with her R&B style vocals, but they have enough punch to transcend dance music and veer slightly into trip-hop. It reminds me a bit of Santigold, if not slightly more poppy. 

Eddie Money - Life For the Taking: Released in '78, one year after his break-out debut, this the second album from the NYC rocker. His sound was always very solidly FM rock radio, but he was a master of the genre. I was a fan of his during childhood and rediscovered his music about ten years ago. With his passing fresh on my mind, I picked up this album recently. It was missing from my collection and is another solid rock record. He's one of those artists who know what he was and didn't try to be anything other than that, and that's where his true cool comes from. 

The Tea Set - Back in Time for Tea: A newly released compilation of work from the short-lived UK post punk band from 78-80. A super curious album that seems to take as much from proto-punk bands like Deviants and Bonzo Dog Band, as they do from the contemporary sound that was emerging after punk's first big splash, Gang of Four comes to mind, though these guys are bit more psyche than that. "On Them," "Tri X Plan," and "South Pacific" are personal favorites on this quirk of an album. 

Fiction Friday (103)

I hope in these times of staying at home you are all having plenty of time to read. That has not been the case for me. I've been working from home, and taking care of my daughter, I've actually had a lot less free time than I did before I was staying home...which is also why there have not been any posts on here for a few weeks. But I'm back, and here is one book a I read.

Timekeeper by Tara Sim
(Sky Pony Press, 2016)

In this re-imagined, steampunk version of Victorian England, time is something that can be broken, but luckily it can also be fixed. Time is regulated by the various clock towers around the world, and these towers are maintained by a union of mechanics who are trained to feel the threads of time and make sure the machines are working properly.

Danny is one of the youngest mechanics, but youth hasn't spared him from tragedy. It seems as though time is working against him. His father, also a mechanic, has been stuck for three years in a town where time has STOPPED. And to make things worse, it seems there is someone out there trying to destroy more towers and freeze more towns in time. And if all of that wasn't stressful enough, Danny is also falling in love.

This is one of those books that has an interesting premise, some very cool ideas, but for me they never came together in a complete way. The characters felt very flat to me, and any scene that was meant to be emotional just didn't ring true. Having the main character simply repeat his feelings over and over and over again isn't a compelling tool for effectively conveying emotion.