A Little Too Likely to be Funny
Hilarious, but oddly possible.
Until Whenever
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
RockStar Week Six
Because no one demanded it. This week the singers go unplugged (but in some cases overproduced; I think they kind of missed the point of being inspired by Marty's acoustic-guitar-only performance last week). Here are my pithy takes:
Jordis - Knocking on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan)
Good Lord this woman can sing. Overproduced and too many strings and a bit schmaltzy, but she still was wonderful. I resisted throughout, having wanted a very stripped-down version with just guitar and voice, but she won me over in the end. I'd love to hear her tackle a non-over-covered Dylan song. "Tangled Up in Blue?"
Jessica - Torn (Natalie Imbruglia)
Better that she's been, but still not special. She may cling around for a week more or two, but I'd be shocked if she wins.
Ty - Maggie May (Rod Stewart)
Great rethinking of a song I've never really cared for. The finals should really be between Jordis and Ty.
Suzie - Bring It on Home to Me (Sam Cooke)
Great, soulful performance of a song I didn't know.
Marty - Hit Me Baby (One More Time) (Britney Spears)-- Marty
Marty takes the curveball and does well with it, but you have to wonder; wasn't he in a win-win situation? I mean, if he blew it, wouldn't the song have been blamed? He certainly got a lot of credit for managing to do it well.
Deanna - I Can't Make You Love Me (Bonnie Raitt)
Admirably sung, but, again, not special. At this point, only special will really cut it.
J.D. - As Tears Go By (The Rolling Stones)
When will America vote this arrogant SOB off? He thinks he's being soulful, and intent, and mysterious, but really he's just being egotistically dramatic with his "intense" version. Blech.
MiG - Baby, I Love Your Way (Peter Frampton)
Very intense, soulful rendition of a could-easily be-cheesy song, with MiG accompanying himself on piano very ably.
Deanna, Suzie, and J.D. should be on the block but who knows what America will do.
Until Whenever
Because no one demanded it. This week the singers go unplugged (but in some cases overproduced; I think they kind of missed the point of being inspired by Marty's acoustic-guitar-only performance last week). Here are my pithy takes:
Jordis - Knocking on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan)
Good Lord this woman can sing. Overproduced and too many strings and a bit schmaltzy, but she still was wonderful. I resisted throughout, having wanted a very stripped-down version with just guitar and voice, but she won me over in the end. I'd love to hear her tackle a non-over-covered Dylan song. "Tangled Up in Blue?"
Jessica - Torn (Natalie Imbruglia)
Better that she's been, but still not special. She may cling around for a week more or two, but I'd be shocked if she wins.
Ty - Maggie May (Rod Stewart)
Great rethinking of a song I've never really cared for. The finals should really be between Jordis and Ty.
Suzie - Bring It on Home to Me (Sam Cooke)
Great, soulful performance of a song I didn't know.
Marty - Hit Me Baby (One More Time) (Britney Spears)-- Marty
Marty takes the curveball and does well with it, but you have to wonder; wasn't he in a win-win situation? I mean, if he blew it, wouldn't the song have been blamed? He certainly got a lot of credit for managing to do it well.
Deanna - I Can't Make You Love Me (Bonnie Raitt)
Admirably sung, but, again, not special. At this point, only special will really cut it.
J.D. - As Tears Go By (The Rolling Stones)
When will America vote this arrogant SOB off? He thinks he's being soulful, and intent, and mysterious, but really he's just being egotistically dramatic with his "intense" version. Blech.
MiG - Baby, I Love Your Way (Peter Frampton)
Very intense, soulful rendition of a could-easily be-cheesy song, with MiG accompanying himself on piano very ably.
Deanna, Suzie, and J.D. should be on the block but who knows what America will do.
Until Whenever
The U2 Canon--Boy 
U2 is, without question or pause, my favorite band. They are the only band I've seen live multiple times, and one of only a handful of artists whose new albums I religiously will purchase on the for sale date. I have posted before about my near-religious belief that Bono is the best rock vocalist, ever, here. I have U2 bootlegs; I have no other bootlegs. I've bought scalped tickets for silly prices to see them; not so for others. So, yes, I'm a big fan. As such, I thought it might be interesting, for me if not for anyone else, to go through the U2 canon, album by album, track by track, and post my thoughts. Shall we begin?
Boy was U2's first album proper. There had been an EP in England that I honestly don't know much about, but for all intents and purposes the U2 catalog starts here. This was an album made by very young men, barely (if at all) out of their twenties, and it shows. The singing and playing is remarkably earnest, truly the work of, well, boys, and yet the four band members were already clearly on to something, with many of what would become the band's signature elements already in place--Bono's impassioned, uninhibited vocals; the Edge's ringing, minimalist guitar figures; Adam's fairly stolid bass support.
I Will Follow--The song that got the most play in later years, it was a staple of the 2000 All that You Can't Leave Behind Tour. The first song on the first album in a lot of ways defines the U2 sound. The song kicks off and is defined by an insistent, repetitive, urgent guitar riff backed by a similarly simple bass line. The bridge slows down considerably for a trance-like dreamy interlude defined by echoey guitar. The song aptly announces the album's whole theme, that of boys turning into men and the trauma encompassed within that transition, and was partly, at least, about Bono dealing with loss of his mother as a teenager.
Twilight--Moody mid-tempo number after the more straight-ahead rock of "I Will Follow." Bono's voice already exhibits that open, belty quality, but is much more stylized and affected early on. "Under shadow, boy meets man." One line to sum up the album's theme; a trick U2 would revisit on later albums.
An Cat Dubh--Gaellic for "The Black Cat" this song is driven by a great, if remarkably simple, bass line. In Bono's grunting and the keening noises added to the mix, you can hear a young band playing in the studio. The band pulled this out of decades-old mothballs on their still-going Vertigo tour. segues directly into:
Into the Heart--An early earnest U2 experiment. Almost an instrumental, the Edge attempting a lyrical guitar melody over an heartbeat of a bass line. Pretty, but slight, with lyrics that border on the mawkish.
Out of Control--An early classic, more straight-ahead rock, with a nicely propelled feeling mirroring the lyrics about the headlong chaos that adolescence can feel like.
Stories for Boys--Twisty, very un-Adam-like bass line anchoring another uptempo song. The open-ended guitar figures give the song an almost-sinister sound. The first instance of what would be many ably handled Edge backup vocals.
The Ocean--An attempt at a mood piece. A Brian Eno piece before the band met him. Bono attempts some beat-like poetry, almost spoken over the atmospheric bass and guitar. Hasn't aged well.
A Day Without Me--Classic adolescent angst. "You'll miss me if I die!" The lyric "starting a landslide in my ego" just screams teenager.
Another Time, Another Place--One of the album's more sophisticated tracks, the guitar and bass working very well together to establish a menacing mood. This track has more than stood the test of time--they could have resurrected this on tour to great effect.
Electric Co.--The other song they've been doing on tour as an homage to their very early club years. A great song, insistent and hard, almost punk-like, one of the band's better rock tracks.
Shadows and Tall Trees--An overly overt stab at being poetic--"I walk street rain tragicomedy" "Life through a window/A discolored pane/Mrs. Brown's washing/Is always the same." Still, the chorus does hint at how U2 would in the future be able to handle the kinds of grand musical statements they attempt here with limited success.
Boy is by no means the most accomplished debut album, but it is surprisingly well-formed for such a young band, and very indicative of where they would go and showing teasing hints of topics and sounds that would obsess the band for years to come.
Until Whenever
U2 is, without question or pause, my favorite band. They are the only band I've seen live multiple times, and one of only a handful of artists whose new albums I religiously will purchase on the for sale date. I have posted before about my near-religious belief that Bono is the best rock vocalist, ever, here. I have U2 bootlegs; I have no other bootlegs. I've bought scalped tickets for silly prices to see them; not so for others. So, yes, I'm a big fan. As such, I thought it might be interesting, for me if not for anyone else, to go through the U2 canon, album by album, track by track, and post my thoughts. Shall we begin?
Boy was U2's first album proper. There had been an EP in England that I honestly don't know much about, but for all intents and purposes the U2 catalog starts here. This was an album made by very young men, barely (if at all) out of their twenties, and it shows. The singing and playing is remarkably earnest, truly the work of, well, boys, and yet the four band members were already clearly on to something, with many of what would become the band's signature elements already in place--Bono's impassioned, uninhibited vocals; the Edge's ringing, minimalist guitar figures; Adam's fairly stolid bass support.
I Will Follow--The song that got the most play in later years, it was a staple of the 2000 All that You Can't Leave Behind Tour. The first song on the first album in a lot of ways defines the U2 sound. The song kicks off and is defined by an insistent, repetitive, urgent guitar riff backed by a similarly simple bass line. The bridge slows down considerably for a trance-like dreamy interlude defined by echoey guitar. The song aptly announces the album's whole theme, that of boys turning into men and the trauma encompassed within that transition, and was partly, at least, about Bono dealing with loss of his mother as a teenager.
Twilight--Moody mid-tempo number after the more straight-ahead rock of "I Will Follow." Bono's voice already exhibits that open, belty quality, but is much more stylized and affected early on. "Under shadow, boy meets man." One line to sum up the album's theme; a trick U2 would revisit on later albums.
An Cat Dubh--Gaellic for "The Black Cat" this song is driven by a great, if remarkably simple, bass line. In Bono's grunting and the keening noises added to the mix, you can hear a young band playing in the studio. The band pulled this out of decades-old mothballs on their still-going Vertigo tour. segues directly into:
Into the Heart--An early earnest U2 experiment. Almost an instrumental, the Edge attempting a lyrical guitar melody over an heartbeat of a bass line. Pretty, but slight, with lyrics that border on the mawkish.
Out of Control--An early classic, more straight-ahead rock, with a nicely propelled feeling mirroring the lyrics about the headlong chaos that adolescence can feel like.
Stories for Boys--Twisty, very un-Adam-like bass line anchoring another uptempo song. The open-ended guitar figures give the song an almost-sinister sound. The first instance of what would be many ably handled Edge backup vocals.
The Ocean--An attempt at a mood piece. A Brian Eno piece before the band met him. Bono attempts some beat-like poetry, almost spoken over the atmospheric bass and guitar. Hasn't aged well.
A Day Without Me--Classic adolescent angst. "You'll miss me if I die!" The lyric "starting a landslide in my ego" just screams teenager.
Another Time, Another Place--One of the album's more sophisticated tracks, the guitar and bass working very well together to establish a menacing mood. This track has more than stood the test of time--they could have resurrected this on tour to great effect.
Electric Co.--The other song they've been doing on tour as an homage to their very early club years. A great song, insistent and hard, almost punk-like, one of the band's better rock tracks.
Shadows and Tall Trees--An overly overt stab at being poetic--"I walk street rain tragicomedy" "Life through a window/A discolored pane/Mrs. Brown's washing/Is always the same." Still, the chorus does hint at how U2 would in the future be able to handle the kinds of grand musical statements they attempt here with limited success.
Boy is by no means the most accomplished debut album, but it is surprisingly well-formed for such a young band, and very indicative of where they would go and showing teasing hints of topics and sounds that would obsess the band for years to come.
Until Whenever
Music Morsels Volume V - Experiment
Mandy Patinkin, one of my favorite actors and singers, comes into a fair bit of criticism for a vocal approach that can often be called, charitably, wildly over the top. He possesses a big, strong voice that he can wield with pinpoint accuracy while belting to hit the rafters. It's a theatrical style, to be sure, and even this devout fan can admit that it can be, on occasion, a bit much.
Experiment, his third album, seemed designed to explicitly address this very criticism. The entire album is sung softly, crooned with gentle emotion, and not once does Patinkin unleash the roar he has become famous (infamous?) for. In fact, he sings, towards the end of the album, the mighty "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables, a song designed to show off strong, belted high notes, as a gentle, tender ballad, hushed in solemnity. The album ostensibly tells a story through the song selections, but its charms for me have always lied in how deftly Patinkin switches from an old chestnut like "As Time Goes By" to modern Sondheim fare like "Multitudes of Amys" and make them sound as if they belong together. This, much more than his first two albums, is sonically and programmatically disciplined stuff, with one mood being sustained over the course of the whole album. The last song, the Cole Porter standard "Experiment," is one of those select few I sing to my twin girls on occasion, its message, I think, being remarkably appropriate for children.
Experiment
Before you leave these portals
To meet our fellow mortals
There's just one final message I would give to you
You all have learned reliance
On the sacred teachings of science
So I hope through life you never will decline
In spite of Philistine defiance
To do what all good scientists do.
Experiment.
Make it your motto day and night.
Experiment
And it will lead you to the light.
The apple on the top of the tree
Is never to high to achieve
So take an example from Eve
Experiment
Be curious
Though interfering friends may frown
Get furious
At each attempt to hold you down
If this advice you always employ
The future can offer you infinite joy
And merriment.
Experiment
And you'll see.
Until Whenever
Monday, August 15, 2005
"I've got/Some-something that you like/You've got . . . "
Jaquandor dittoes the message of a post to a Film Score Monthly thread about how file sharing is not just wrong, but misnamed. Swapping files is stealing, plain and simple, goes the message. Not sharing. Well, yes. And no.
As a teenager I used to go to my local library and take out LPs of music I was interested in. I'd take them home, put the record on the turntable, and copy the music to a tape. I'd then return the LP to the library. As a teenager I'd also make a copy of a CD I liked and give the tape to a friend. I'd tape a song offof the radio so that I could listen to it again and again. Is this different than being able to go online and download an artist's entire catalog? Of course. But the notion that sharing music can be good, and that it's not stealing, is one I find it hard to disabuse myself of. I've never downloaded albums off of the internet without paying for them, aside from a few live bootleg things. But I have ripped CDs that I borrowed from the library so that I could listen to them after I had to return them. I have borrowed CDs from friends and ripped them. Is that stealing? Maybe it is. But I think there are more grays here than Jaquandor, or the poster, is acknowledging.
Until Whenever
Jaquandor dittoes the message of a post to a Film Score Monthly thread about how file sharing is not just wrong, but misnamed. Swapping files is stealing, plain and simple, goes the message. Not sharing. Well, yes. And no.
As a teenager I used to go to my local library and take out LPs of music I was interested in. I'd take them home, put the record on the turntable, and copy the music to a tape. I'd then return the LP to the library. As a teenager I'd also make a copy of a CD I liked and give the tape to a friend. I'd tape a song offof the radio so that I could listen to it again and again. Is this different than being able to go online and download an artist's entire catalog? Of course. But the notion that sharing music can be good, and that it's not stealing, is one I find it hard to disabuse myself of. I've never downloaded albums off of the internet without paying for them, aside from a few live bootleg things. But I have ripped CDs that I borrowed from the library so that I could listen to them after I had to return them. I have borrowed CDs from friends and ripped them. Is that stealing? Maybe it is. But I think there are more grays here than Jaquandor, or the poster, is acknowledging.
Until Whenever
Friday, August 12, 2005
Doin' the Friday Shuffle
Play ball!
1. "A Fine Romance" -- Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong -- Ella and Louis Again
The two standards albums Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong did together are paragons of easy-swinging, playful jazz singing. The interplay between the two is a delight as they trade verses and scat around the song.
2. "Ride" -- James Horner -- The Mask of Zorro (Film Score)
Not one of my favorite Horner scores, but some nice percussion here.
3. "10 Minutes Till the Savages Come" -- Manhattan Transfer -- The Offbeat of Avenues
Pretty much the only "smooth jazz" I enjoy. This track is nicely mellow, with trademark Transfer harmonies enlivening the choruses.
4. "The Oxen" -- Benjamin Britten -- A Ceremony of Carols
A moody little carol from Britten's celebrated work. I find that I hardly ever listen to this, most likely because after even a short time I find the children's choir-sound grating.
5. "The Cookie Factory" -- Danny Elfman -- Edward Scissorhands (Film Score)
I think this track may have been recycled many times, it's classic Elfman stuff, a bit of galloping "quirk" with the angelic choir adding effect here and there.
6. "Mothers Talk" -- Tears for Fears -- "Tears Roll Down" The Best of Tears for Fears
Semi-funk from the English duo. This has actually got a nice pulse to it, and Orbanzal always had a good voice. A bit heavy on the synths though.
7. "Casey (Medley): And the Band Played On" -- Mandy Patinkin -- Mandy Patinkin
Mandy does three songs in this medley: "And the Band Played On," "Marie," and "Once upon a Time." It's a very well-done medley, tenderly sung.
8. "I Allegro Ma Non Troppo" -- Beethoven -- Symphony #6 ("Pastoral")
The opening movement of the Pastoral symphony; you can hear nature waking up all over the countryside.
9. "War Dance" -- XTC -- Nonsuch
Is it just me or is the clarinet figure here very strongly reminiscent of the clarinet line in the Law & Order theme?
10. "Look at the Sky" -- Mark Hollman -- Urinetown (Original Broadway Cast)
Hilarious parody of an "inspirational" Broadway number.
Until Whenever
Play ball!
1. "A Fine Romance" -- Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong -- Ella and Louis Again
The two standards albums Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong did together are paragons of easy-swinging, playful jazz singing. The interplay between the two is a delight as they trade verses and scat around the song.
2. "Ride" -- James Horner -- The Mask of Zorro (Film Score)
Not one of my favorite Horner scores, but some nice percussion here.
3. "10 Minutes Till the Savages Come" -- Manhattan Transfer -- The Offbeat of Avenues
Pretty much the only "smooth jazz" I enjoy. This track is nicely mellow, with trademark Transfer harmonies enlivening the choruses.
4. "The Oxen" -- Benjamin Britten -- A Ceremony of Carols
A moody little carol from Britten's celebrated work. I find that I hardly ever listen to this, most likely because after even a short time I find the children's choir-sound grating.
5. "The Cookie Factory" -- Danny Elfman -- Edward Scissorhands (Film Score)
I think this track may have been recycled many times, it's classic Elfman stuff, a bit of galloping "quirk" with the angelic choir adding effect here and there.
6. "Mothers Talk" -- Tears for Fears -- "Tears Roll Down" The Best of Tears for Fears
Semi-funk from the English duo. This has actually got a nice pulse to it, and Orbanzal always had a good voice. A bit heavy on the synths though.
7. "Casey (Medley): And the Band Played On" -- Mandy Patinkin -- Mandy Patinkin
Mandy does three songs in this medley: "And the Band Played On," "Marie," and "Once upon a Time." It's a very well-done medley, tenderly sung.
8. "I Allegro Ma Non Troppo" -- Beethoven -- Symphony #6 ("Pastoral")
The opening movement of the Pastoral symphony; you can hear nature waking up all over the countryside.
9. "War Dance" -- XTC -- Nonsuch
Is it just me or is the clarinet figure here very strongly reminiscent of the clarinet line in the Law & Order theme?
10. "Look at the Sky" -- Mark Hollman -- Urinetown (Original Broadway Cast)
Hilarious parody of an "inspirational" Broadway number.
Until Whenever
Thursday, August 11, 2005
RockStar Week Five
No, I will not miss Brandon.
Didn't actually see the elimination show, but did see Tuesday's performances. What'd I think?
Suzie - Losing My Religion (REM)
In an attempt to stand out, Suzie rearranged this song (bye-bye mandolin) and made it (what else on this show?) harder and more guitar-driven. Opening it semi-a cappella was an interesting move, but overall she just kind of killed the song's charm with heaviness. The band liked it, but the audience will disagree, putting her in the bottom three.
MiG - All Right Now (Free)
I haven't liked MiG (and I despise holding down the caps lock button for that ridiculous capital 'G'), but he was excellent on this. Clear and strong vocals, and just the right amount of energy, never overwhelming the song.
J.D. - Crazy (Seal)
Is this really a rock song? Either way, J.D. (officially my most hated contestant--he just exudes arrogance, and not that typical loud reality show kind, but the quieter really narcissistic kind) just butchers the song, the harder arrangement kind of obliterating the melody, and the soul that was the original's strength nowhere to be found.
Jessica - Come as You Are (Nirvana)
Jessica (who ended up in the bottom three for this performance--again) keeps slipping by, but she's got to be out soon. She's very bland and her attempt to emote here involves some one-note screaming as opposed to any real emotion.
Jordis - Layla (Eric Clapton)
Her first dud performance, something about how the tune sat in her range just didn't work; it was a very perfunctory performance. She's built up enough headway for this not to hurt her too much though.
Brandon - It's All Over Now (Rolling Stones)
INXS hits the nail on the head when they say the bluesy-rock thing is all Brandon can do. He'll end up in the bottom three again and get kicked off when he drops lyrics to the INXS song in front of INXS. Not a good move, that.
Marty - Mr. Brightside (The Killers)
I didn't know the song, so am not sure how much of a risk it was to do acoustically. Either way, Marty accompanies himself on the guitar admirably and delivers a very good performance, emotional without being overwrought.
Deanna - Long Train Running (Dooby Brothers)
I love me some Doobies. Good rendition and a fine fit for her voice. The band is right, though, to ask her to do something mellower. One member (the oddly mustachioed one) even calls for an all-acoustic show for Week Six. That would be sweet.
Ty - No Woman No Cry (Bob Marley)
Easily the performance of the night. Remarkably soulful and beautifully sung, one of the show's highlights so far.
Until Whenever
No, I will not miss Brandon.
Didn't actually see the elimination show, but did see Tuesday's performances. What'd I think?
Suzie - Losing My Religion (REM)
In an attempt to stand out, Suzie rearranged this song (bye-bye mandolin) and made it (what else on this show?) harder and more guitar-driven. Opening it semi-a cappella was an interesting move, but overall she just kind of killed the song's charm with heaviness. The band liked it, but the audience will disagree, putting her in the bottom three.
MiG - All Right Now (Free)
I haven't liked MiG (and I despise holding down the caps lock button for that ridiculous capital 'G'), but he was excellent on this. Clear and strong vocals, and just the right amount of energy, never overwhelming the song.
J.D. - Crazy (Seal)
Is this really a rock song? Either way, J.D. (officially my most hated contestant--he just exudes arrogance, and not that typical loud reality show kind, but the quieter really narcissistic kind) just butchers the song, the harder arrangement kind of obliterating the melody, and the soul that was the original's strength nowhere to be found.
Jessica - Come as You Are (Nirvana)
Jessica (who ended up in the bottom three for this performance--again) keeps slipping by, but she's got to be out soon. She's very bland and her attempt to emote here involves some one-note screaming as opposed to any real emotion.
Jordis - Layla (Eric Clapton)
Her first dud performance, something about how the tune sat in her range just didn't work; it was a very perfunctory performance. She's built up enough headway for this not to hurt her too much though.
Brandon - It's All Over Now (Rolling Stones)
INXS hits the nail on the head when they say the bluesy-rock thing is all Brandon can do. He'll end up in the bottom three again and get kicked off when he drops lyrics to the INXS song in front of INXS. Not a good move, that.
Marty - Mr. Brightside (The Killers)
I didn't know the song, so am not sure how much of a risk it was to do acoustically. Either way, Marty accompanies himself on the guitar admirably and delivers a very good performance, emotional without being overwrought.
Deanna - Long Train Running (Dooby Brothers)
I love me some Doobies. Good rendition and a fine fit for her voice. The band is right, though, to ask her to do something mellower. One member (the oddly mustachioed one) even calls for an all-acoustic show for Week Six. That would be sweet.
Ty - No Woman No Cry (Bob Marley)
Easily the performance of the night. Remarkably soulful and beautifully sung, one of the show's highlights so far.
Until Whenever
Monday, August 08, 2005
Music Morsels IV - Dead Man Walking
I, perhaps somewhat paradoxically, like opera but only have heard a very small number of operas. Here are the sum total of the operas I am at all familiar with (read: operas I own on CD):
Benjamin Britten
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Billy Budd
Peter Grimes
The Turn of the Screw
Jake Heggie
Dead Man Walking
Beethoven
Fidelio
Phillip Glass
La Belle et la Bette
George Gershwin
Porgy & Bess
And the number of operas I've seen is vanishingly small: Peter Grimes at the Met and college productions of Gianni Schicchi and Carmen.
The reason for this shallow pool of knowledge is fairly simple: I find that enjoying an opera (as opposed to, say, enjoying the latest U2 album) requires a fair amount of time, and I rarely devote the time necessary to the focused listening of an opera. Add to that the relative expense of a full opera on CD and, as you can see from the above, I rarely devote myself to opera.
That being said, Dead Man Walking is easily one of my favorite (yes, of the ten or so listed above) operas. I came to the material maybe a decade after it was heavily in the popular consciousness, reading the book, seeing the film, and listening to the opera all within the same year (roughly). My feelings on the death penalty have varied over the years, and I still have a hard time being militant about one view over the other (at the moment I'm against it if only for the impossibility of certitude and the feeling that no other "civilized" nations use of it must mean something), but Sister Helen Prejean's book (and the two major adaptations of it) are just amazing to me in the way they get you to empathize with murderers.
I, perhaps somewhat paradoxically, like opera but only have heard a very small number of operas. Here are the sum total of the operas I am at all familiar with (read: operas I own on CD):Benjamin Britten
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Billy Budd
Peter Grimes
The Turn of the Screw
Jake Heggie
Dead Man Walking
Beethoven
Fidelio
Phillip Glass
La Belle et la Bette
George Gershwin
Porgy & Bess
And the number of operas I've seen is vanishingly small: Peter Grimes at the Met and college productions of Gianni Schicchi and Carmen.
The reason for this shallow pool of knowledge is fairly simple: I find that enjoying an opera (as opposed to, say, enjoying the latest U2 album) requires a fair amount of time, and I rarely devote the time necessary to the focused listening of an opera. Add to that the relative expense of a full opera on CD and, as you can see from the above, I rarely devote myself to opera.
That being said, Dead Man Walking is easily one of my favorite (yes, of the ten or so listed above) operas. I came to the material maybe a decade after it was heavily in the popular consciousness, reading the book, seeing the film, and listening to the opera all within the same year (roughly). My feelings on the death penalty have varied over the years, and I still have a hard time being militant about one view over the other (at the moment I'm against it if only for the impossibility of certitude and the feeling that no other "civilized" nations use of it must mean something), but Sister Helen Prejean's book (and the two major adaptations of it) are just amazing to me in the way they get you to empathize with murderers.
The opera (with a libretto by Terrence McNally, one of my favorite playwrights) does a great job of dramatizing some of this material. The opening, in which we witness central character Joe and his accomplice commit the murder that will be the core of the story, is wrenching stuff, the music creating palpable violence in its aggression. The immediate segue to Sister Prejean's plaintive solo voice singing the Heggie-composed hymn "He Will Gather Us Around" is extremely effective in, right at the outset, dramatizing the poles of the story--the horrific violence Joe has committed versus the Sister's astonishing capacity for the forgiveness of that violence. Heggie, honoring Prejean, does an admirable job of not soft-pedaling Joe, and of creating an unlikeable character whose human qualities are still able to resonate with us. And in the final scene, the execution, Heggie exercised great restraint, overlapping voices and themes to create a sense of drama, but never stooping to the overly sentimental. And I love that, in an opera, Heggie in the end abandons music entirely. By the end of the scene, the only sound we hear is the beep of the heart monitor and the wheeze of the machinery, and, finally, the monotone of the flatline, as Joe is executed; musical sounds by themselves to be sure but hardly the composed sounds one would expect in the finale of an opera.
Grade: A
Until Whenever
Friday, August 05, 2005
'Doin the Friday Shuffle
And a' one, and a' two . . .
1. "Still Crazy After All These Years" -- Amanda McBroom (covering Paul Simon) -- Paul Simon: The Broadway Album
This is a very uneven album of Broadway singers covering Simon songs. This rendition suffers from overstatement; what makes the original work is how understated it is.
2. "Tell It Like It Is" -- Tracy Chapman -- New Beginning
Tracy indulges in a little (very little) funkiness.
3. "Baby Can I Hold You" -- Tracy Chapman -- Tracy Chapman
Beautiful little song with a wonderfully matter-of-fact guitar figure driving it.
4. "Master Song" -- Leonard Cohen -- The Songs of Leonard Cohen
Creepy song, with Cohen's deadpan delivery actually effective at creating a subtly sinsiter mood.
5. "Country Gentleman" -- John Mellencamp -- Big Daddy
An eviscerating political song that rips apart Ronald Reagan (if hardly subtly): "Country Gentleman, now there's a bird thatflew/High above this nation/Preyed on itsweakness/Picked our bones and threw them in his stew/Thank God he went back to California/He ain't a' gonna help no poor man/He ain't a' gonna help no children/He ain't a' gonna help no woman/He's just gonna help his rich friends."
6. "The Stonecutter's Song" -- Alf Klausen -- Songs in the Key of Springfield
"Who holds back the electric car? Who makes Steve Guttenberg a star? We do!"
7. "Distraught" -- Philip Glass - Kundun
Not one of my favorite scores, it nonetheless has some solid Glass stuff within. I really like the guttural chanting on this track.
8. "Hummer" -- Smashing Pumpkins -- Siamese Dream
The intro leaves something to be desired, but this is otherwise a solid rock song.
9. "I Have a Love" -- Leonard Bernstein -- West Side Story (Original Broadway Cast)
Given that it's really the second half of a song ("A Boy Like That") this often gets forgotten when one thinks of the West Side Story tunestack. A pity, since it's one of teh score's most gorgeous moments.
10. "Perdition - Piano Duet" -- Thomas Newman -- Road to Perdition
Pretty piece of diegetic music from the score, with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman playing a simple little piano duet at a party. From what I understand, that's really them, too.
Until Whenever
And a' one, and a' two . . .
1. "Still Crazy After All These Years" -- Amanda McBroom (covering Paul Simon) -- Paul Simon: The Broadway Album
This is a very uneven album of Broadway singers covering Simon songs. This rendition suffers from overstatement; what makes the original work is how understated it is.
2. "Tell It Like It Is" -- Tracy Chapman -- New Beginning
Tracy indulges in a little (very little) funkiness.
3. "Baby Can I Hold You" -- Tracy Chapman -- Tracy Chapman
Beautiful little song with a wonderfully matter-of-fact guitar figure driving it.
4. "Master Song" -- Leonard Cohen -- The Songs of Leonard Cohen
Creepy song, with Cohen's deadpan delivery actually effective at creating a subtly sinsiter mood.
5. "Country Gentleman" -- John Mellencamp -- Big Daddy
An eviscerating political song that rips apart Ronald Reagan (if hardly subtly): "Country Gentleman, now there's a bird thatflew/High above this nation/Preyed on itsweakness/Picked our bones and threw them in his stew/Thank God he went back to California/He ain't a' gonna help no poor man/He ain't a' gonna help no children/He ain't a' gonna help no woman/He's just gonna help his rich friends."
6. "The Stonecutter's Song" -- Alf Klausen -- Songs in the Key of Springfield
"Who holds back the electric car? Who makes Steve Guttenberg a star? We do!"
7. "Distraught" -- Philip Glass - Kundun
Not one of my favorite scores, it nonetheless has some solid Glass stuff within. I really like the guttural chanting on this track.
8. "Hummer" -- Smashing Pumpkins -- Siamese Dream
The intro leaves something to be desired, but this is otherwise a solid rock song.
9. "I Have a Love" -- Leonard Bernstein -- West Side Story (Original Broadway Cast)
Given that it's really the second half of a song ("A Boy Like That") this often gets forgotten when one thinks of the West Side Story tunestack. A pity, since it's one of teh score's most gorgeous moments.
10. "Perdition - Piano Duet" -- Thomas Newman -- Road to Perdition
Pretty piece of diegetic music from the score, with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman playing a simple little piano duet at a party. From what I understand, that's really them, too.
Until Whenever
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Until Whenever
Ballin'
I had found a host of pop culture blogs, comic blogs, movie blogs, music blogs, artsy blogs, and others to keep me entertained. But no NBA blog. Until now. Hearty recommendation to True Hoop, which I have just begun delving into. Great post here about the problem with Stephon Marbury (Larry Brown will be singing some Rodgers & Hammerstein this year, I've no doubt). True Hoop should also have gotten credit for the Abdur-Rahim news I reacted to so distressingly in a previous post.
Until Whenever
I had found a host of pop culture blogs, comic blogs, movie blogs, music blogs, artsy blogs, and others to keep me entertained. But no NBA blog. Until now. Hearty recommendation to True Hoop, which I have just begun delving into. Great post here about the problem with Stephon Marbury (Larry Brown will be singing some Rodgers & Hammerstein this year, I've no doubt). True Hoop should also have gotten credit for the Abdur-Rahim news I reacted to so distressingly in a previous post.
Until Whenever
Ab-Dud?
Aghhhhh!!!!! The Sharif Abdur-Rahim trade to the Nets has been put on hold, due to "questions" about his physical. And I was getting so excited . . .
Until Whenever
Aghhhhh!!!!! The Sharif Abdur-Rahim trade to the Nets has been put on hold, due to "questions" about his physical. And I was getting so excited . . .
Until Whenever
We May Have Gone Too Far
Via PopWatch, I learn that Entertainment Weekly has listed in the issue on stands tomorrow the "10 Best Cars in Movie History." The winners?
1. The Corvette with fangs from Death Race 2000 (1975)
2. The Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
3. The '56 T-Bird in American Graffiti (1973)
4. The Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
5. The ''family truckster'' station wagon from National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
6. The Blues Mobile from The Blues Brothers (1980)
7. The time-travelin' DeLorean from Back to the Future (1985)
8. The Mustang GT from Bullitt (1968)
9. The Pussy Wagon from Kill Bill -- Vol 1. (2003)
10. The titular star of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
Until Whenever
Via PopWatch, I learn that Entertainment Weekly has listed in the issue on stands tomorrow the "10 Best Cars in Movie History." The winners?
1. The Corvette with fangs from Death Race 2000 (1975)
2. The Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
3. The '56 T-Bird in American Graffiti (1973)
4. The Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
5. The ''family truckster'' station wagon from National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
6. The Blues Mobile from The Blues Brothers (1980)
7. The time-travelin' DeLorean from Back to the Future (1985)
8. The Mustang GT from Bullitt (1968)
9. The Pussy Wagon from Kill Bill -- Vol 1. (2003)
10. The titular star of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
Until Whenever
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
RockStar Week 4
This show's dismal ratings notwithstanding, I'm hooked. It's much more performance-based than I had hoped, and the song selection is eons better than American Idol's. See, I like AI, because I like singing and competitions and it mixes the two together like peanut butter and chocolate getting their freak on. But the pop-heavy song selection mostly leaves me cold--I actually like maybe one out of every five song selections. On RockStar, the ratio's reversed, making for much happier viewing.
So, what did I think of this week's singers? (I refuse to call them "rockers" - it's silly stuff like host Brooke Burke's insistence on using "rocker" 80 times a show that's keeping the ratings so saggy.)
Mig - We Will Rock You (Queen)
Fair rendition of a mostly melody-less song, but not anything special. Mig actually sang the song on London's West End as the lead in the Queen musical We Will Rock You, so I'm surprised he doesn't impress me more with it.
Deanna - I'm the Only One (Melissa Etheridge)
Very good. And the leaving the stage to sing directly to the band move was brilliant. They'll remember it and now no one else can do it without looking ridiculous.
Marty - With Arms Wide Open (Creed)
Marty does a good job with a wretched song, albeit shading his voice to be a little too like the Creed singer's in the original. Still, I love that Dave Navarro implicitly mocked Creed and the song by praising Marty's performance as better than the original.
Ty - Everlong (Foo Fighters)
I don't know this song at all, but Ty seemed to do a fine job with some tricky rhythms. He's a sure finalist, but this week was just good, as opposed to special.
Jessica - Blister in the Sun (Violent Femmes)
Jessica does as good a job as could be expected of this largely melody-less song, but I suspect she'll be bottom-three-bound again.
Brandon - If Only You Could See (Tonic)
Very meh. Brandon just kind of bores me, and I'm (fruitlessly, I'm guessing) hoping he'll be cut soon.
Jordis - The Man Who Sold the World (David Bowie)
Very easily the best performance of the series so far. To my mind, she's in the lead by quite a few lengths--the band clearly loves her (and rightly so).
J.D. - The Letter (Joe Cocker)
Another singer I'm hoping gets kicked soon. This wasn't bad, but he really doesn't have the soulful sound the song demands.
Tara - Message in a Bottle (The Police)
I have strong suspicions that Tara, who just looks old (no idea how old she actually is), will get tossed soon. She's been solid but not special (including here) and I think that added to the age issue will send her packing.
Suzie - Get Back (The Beatles)
Suzie does a very good job of getting out of the song's way and letting it guide her--a good move when dealing with songwriters as accomplished as Lennon and McCartney.
Bottom three? Brandon, J.D., and Mig, but I'd be shocked if they get voted there.
Until Whenever
This show's dismal ratings notwithstanding, I'm hooked. It's much more performance-based than I had hoped, and the song selection is eons better than American Idol's. See, I like AI, because I like singing and competitions and it mixes the two together like peanut butter and chocolate getting their freak on. But the pop-heavy song selection mostly leaves me cold--I actually like maybe one out of every five song selections. On RockStar, the ratio's reversed, making for much happier viewing.
So, what did I think of this week's singers? (I refuse to call them "rockers" - it's silly stuff like host Brooke Burke's insistence on using "rocker" 80 times a show that's keeping the ratings so saggy.)
Mig - We Will Rock You (Queen)
Fair rendition of a mostly melody-less song, but not anything special. Mig actually sang the song on London's West End as the lead in the Queen musical We Will Rock You, so I'm surprised he doesn't impress me more with it.
Deanna - I'm the Only One (Melissa Etheridge)
Very good. And the leaving the stage to sing directly to the band move was brilliant. They'll remember it and now no one else can do it without looking ridiculous.
Marty - With Arms Wide Open (Creed)
Marty does a good job with a wretched song, albeit shading his voice to be a little too like the Creed singer's in the original. Still, I love that Dave Navarro implicitly mocked Creed and the song by praising Marty's performance as better than the original.
Ty - Everlong (Foo Fighters)
I don't know this song at all, but Ty seemed to do a fine job with some tricky rhythms. He's a sure finalist, but this week was just good, as opposed to special.
Jessica - Blister in the Sun (Violent Femmes)
Jessica does as good a job as could be expected of this largely melody-less song, but I suspect she'll be bottom-three-bound again.
Brandon - If Only You Could See (Tonic)
Very meh. Brandon just kind of bores me, and I'm (fruitlessly, I'm guessing) hoping he'll be cut soon.
Jordis - The Man Who Sold the World (David Bowie)
Very easily the best performance of the series so far. To my mind, she's in the lead by quite a few lengths--the band clearly loves her (and rightly so).
J.D. - The Letter (Joe Cocker)
Another singer I'm hoping gets kicked soon. This wasn't bad, but he really doesn't have the soulful sound the song demands.
Tara - Message in a Bottle (The Police)
I have strong suspicions that Tara, who just looks old (no idea how old she actually is), will get tossed soon. She's been solid but not special (including here) and I think that added to the age issue will send her packing.
Suzie - Get Back (The Beatles)
Suzie does a very good job of getting out of the song's way and letting it guide her--a good move when dealing with songwriters as accomplished as Lennon and McCartney.
Bottom three? Brandon, J.D., and Mig, but I'd be shocked if they get voted there.
Until Whenever
"I'm Sorry. So Sorry."
Jamie at Something Old notes that in anticipation of a Batman Begins DVD, Warner Bros. is giving the full special edition treatment to the first four films in the franchise, including the universally reviled Batman & Robin. Jamie assumes that Schumacher will, in his commentary track for that film, blithely ignore that universal condemnation I mentioned above and wax rhapsodic about his work. Is Jamie right? Or is there at least a chance that he will acknowledge how terrible the film really is, and discuss honestly what went wrong and why? I don't know if there is, but it would certainly make for one heck of a listen if he did, huh?
Until Whenever
Jamie at Something Old notes that in anticipation of a Batman Begins DVD, Warner Bros. is giving the full special edition treatment to the first four films in the franchise, including the universally reviled Batman & Robin. Jamie assumes that Schumacher will, in his commentary track for that film, blithely ignore that universal condemnation I mentioned above and wax rhapsodic about his work. Is Jamie right? Or is there at least a chance that he will acknowledge how terrible the film really is, and discuss honestly what went wrong and why? I don't know if there is, but it would certainly make for one heck of a listen if he did, huh?
Until Whenever
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Buried Beauties Vol. II: Julia Whelan
The late and lamented Once and Again was notable for its stellar youth performances. Since the show's demise, the skinny and blonde (and brilliant) Rachel Evan Wood has gotten film roles galore, while the not-rail-thin (but hardly heavy) and non-blonde (and just as brilliant) Julia Whelan has done a guest spot on the short-lived Dr. Vegas. Fickle Hollywood, we curse you.
Photos seem to be few and far between, but hopefully the below will give you at least a fair idea of Ms. Whelan's very underappreciated beauty. For a taste of her very underappreciated talent, get the first two seasons of Once and Again on DVD at the end of the month.
Until Whenever
The late and lamented Once and Again was notable for its stellar youth performances. Since the show's demise, the skinny and blonde (and brilliant) Rachel Evan Wood has gotten film roles galore, while the not-rail-thin (but hardly heavy) and non-blonde (and just as brilliant) Julia Whelan has done a guest spot on the short-lived Dr. Vegas. Fickle Hollywood, we curse you.
Photos seem to be few and far between, but hopefully the below will give you at least a fair idea of Ms. Whelan's very underappreciated beauty. For a taste of her very underappreciated talent, get the first two seasons of Once and Again on DVD at the end of the month.
Until Whenever
The Unlikely Monikered Mr. Jackson
Stealing a good idea from Jaquandor (since that's what blogs are for), I present here my ten favorite action sequences, in (after the first, that is) no particular order:
1. The Truck Chase--Raiders of the Lost Ark
Since seeing this film I've seen longer chase scenes, chase scenes with more stunts, chase scenes that are much faster, and chase scenes with much bigger explosions, but I've never seen a better one. The acting is what really sells this here; throughout the entire sequence Ford (nor his stuntmen) never stops being Indiana Jones, from the way he takes a punch, to the way he throws a punch, to the way he tumbles across the hood of a truck. And the elegant way he snatches victory from the jaws of defeat, by scuttling underneath the truck after being thrown in front of it, is a marvel of economic characterization.
2. The Dangling RV Sequence--The Lost World
I get the sense that there's a lot of ill-will towards this film out there, but I always liked it. Sure, it's a bit less brainy than its predecessor but still; re-watch the original and you'll realize that it's not the brainiest film in the first place. In any case, this tension-fraught sequence, in which our heroes' RV is suspended off of a cliff, is a classic. The bit with Julianne Moore crashing onto the windshield, and then trying to climb up the interior as the glass spiderwebs below her, is Hithcockian in its assured wielding of suspense. And, come on, Toby is the hero, sacrificing himself to save the day.
3. Boromir's Last Stand--The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The whole sequence is one of my favorites from the trilogy, nicely low-scale and personal, a kind of apertif before the grand-scale battles the next two films will be filled with. Sean Bean does a fine job of portraying Boromir's struggle to make reparations for his attempt to take the ring; this is a prime example of an action sequence that tells us a lot about a character, indeed, that through action shows us the character's growth and the ultimate change he undergoes.
4. The Opening Sequence--Saving Private Ryan
I didn't see this film until a while after its release. Given that my wife was not interested in seeing it, I watched it on DVD one night after she had gone to sleep. We lived at the time in a small ranch, with our bedroom not 10 feet from the TV. So my first exposure to this celebrated sequence was not with Dolby sound in front of a big screen, but on a 19-inch TV with the sound turned very low. And after it, I still felt as if I had been through a battle; it still viscerally moved me even under those less-than-ideal conditions. Remarkable stuff.
5. Anakin vs. Obi-Wan--Star Wars--Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
There have been more visually interesting and acrobatic saber fights in the Star Wars films, but none with the storytelling power of this final one. Williams' score for the fight, the Battle of the Heroes theme, is amazing in its ability to underline the emotions in the fight. Never again, I suspect, will a film fight be able to bring to it so many years of anticipation and tension.
6. Spider-Man vs. The Green Goblin--Spider-Man
The brutality was questionable for a character that for so long has been aimed at eight year-olds, but so right for the film. After a movie's worth of time devoted to Parker getting used to his powers, we see him really unleash in probably the best superhero fight ever put to film.
7. The Battle of Stirling--Braveheart
Braveheart is one of my all-time favorite films, and this battle is a highlight. Gibson has received far too little credit for the closely shot, order-out-of-chaos, "realistic" style he employed here, a style copied in many films since without the clear sense of place that Gibson was able to convey here. That is, throughout the chaos of the battle we always have a clear sense of what's going on, where our key players are, and how the battle is going--not something you can say about subsequent similar cinematic battles.
8. The "Elephant" Sequence--The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Just when we think the stakes can't be raised anymore, they are, with this final sequence from the epic penultimate battle in the third film. The sheer audacity of the invention at hand is what makes this special: witness Legolas' just-this-side-of-believable take-down of one of the gargantuan "elephants" for proof.
9. The Opening Chase--The Matrix
The action in the sequels, especially, but even in this first film, got a little excessive, with too much happening to really take stock of, resulting in nothing but an overload of explosions and punches and crashes and kicks and far too many gunshots. But this first taste of the style the Wachowski's was going for hit the balance perfectly, with fight choreography and filming techniques we hadn't seen before married to a clear narrative--will Trinity escape?
10. Dash's Dash--The Incredibles
Again, great action inexorably married to real character development. The amount of story that's wrapped into this one sequence--Dash and Violet really learning how to exploit their powers, the family coming together to fight as a unit--is remarkable.
Until Whenever
Stealing a good idea from Jaquandor (since that's what blogs are for), I present here my ten favorite action sequences, in (after the first, that is) no particular order:
1. The Truck Chase--Raiders of the Lost Ark
Since seeing this film I've seen longer chase scenes, chase scenes with more stunts, chase scenes that are much faster, and chase scenes with much bigger explosions, but I've never seen a better one. The acting is what really sells this here; throughout the entire sequence Ford (nor his stuntmen) never stops being Indiana Jones, from the way he takes a punch, to the way he throws a punch, to the way he tumbles across the hood of a truck. And the elegant way he snatches victory from the jaws of defeat, by scuttling underneath the truck after being thrown in front of it, is a marvel of economic characterization.
2. The Dangling RV Sequence--The Lost World
I get the sense that there's a lot of ill-will towards this film out there, but I always liked it. Sure, it's a bit less brainy than its predecessor but still; re-watch the original and you'll realize that it's not the brainiest film in the first place. In any case, this tension-fraught sequence, in which our heroes' RV is suspended off of a cliff, is a classic. The bit with Julianne Moore crashing onto the windshield, and then trying to climb up the interior as the glass spiderwebs below her, is Hithcockian in its assured wielding of suspense. And, come on, Toby is the hero, sacrificing himself to save the day.
3. Boromir's Last Stand--The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The whole sequence is one of my favorites from the trilogy, nicely low-scale and personal, a kind of apertif before the grand-scale battles the next two films will be filled with. Sean Bean does a fine job of portraying Boromir's struggle to make reparations for his attempt to take the ring; this is a prime example of an action sequence that tells us a lot about a character, indeed, that through action shows us the character's growth and the ultimate change he undergoes.
4. The Opening Sequence--Saving Private Ryan
I didn't see this film until a while after its release. Given that my wife was not interested in seeing it, I watched it on DVD one night after she had gone to sleep. We lived at the time in a small ranch, with our bedroom not 10 feet from the TV. So my first exposure to this celebrated sequence was not with Dolby sound in front of a big screen, but on a 19-inch TV with the sound turned very low. And after it, I still felt as if I had been through a battle; it still viscerally moved me even under those less-than-ideal conditions. Remarkable stuff.
5. Anakin vs. Obi-Wan--Star Wars--Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
There have been more visually interesting and acrobatic saber fights in the Star Wars films, but none with the storytelling power of this final one. Williams' score for the fight, the Battle of the Heroes theme, is amazing in its ability to underline the emotions in the fight. Never again, I suspect, will a film fight be able to bring to it so many years of anticipation and tension.
6. Spider-Man vs. The Green Goblin--Spider-Man
The brutality was questionable for a character that for so long has been aimed at eight year-olds, but so right for the film. After a movie's worth of time devoted to Parker getting used to his powers, we see him really unleash in probably the best superhero fight ever put to film.
7. The Battle of Stirling--Braveheart
Braveheart is one of my all-time favorite films, and this battle is a highlight. Gibson has received far too little credit for the closely shot, order-out-of-chaos, "realistic" style he employed here, a style copied in many films since without the clear sense of place that Gibson was able to convey here. That is, throughout the chaos of the battle we always have a clear sense of what's going on, where our key players are, and how the battle is going--not something you can say about subsequent similar cinematic battles.
8. The "Elephant" Sequence--The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Just when we think the stakes can't be raised anymore, they are, with this final sequence from the epic penultimate battle in the third film. The sheer audacity of the invention at hand is what makes this special: witness Legolas' just-this-side-of-believable take-down of one of the gargantuan "elephants" for proof.
9. The Opening Chase--The Matrix
The action in the sequels, especially, but even in this first film, got a little excessive, with too much happening to really take stock of, resulting in nothing but an overload of explosions and punches and crashes and kicks and far too many gunshots. But this first taste of the style the Wachowski's was going for hit the balance perfectly, with fight choreography and filming techniques we hadn't seen before married to a clear narrative--will Trinity escape?
10. Dash's Dash--The Incredibles
Again, great action inexorably married to real character development. The amount of story that's wrapped into this one sequence--Dash and Violet really learning how to exploit their powers, the family coming together to fight as a unit--is remarkable.
Until Whenever
Monday, August 01, 2005
Music Morsels III - C
I first glommed onto the musical Chess when, while in high school, I was searching for an audition song and a friend gave me a tape with "Anthem" on it. I loved the song (and actually did, if memory serves, butcher it nicely during some actual auditions) and soon had searched out the full score. The version I have is the original 1986 London concept album, made with the London Symphony Orchestra. When I first fell in love with this score, the group ABBA meant pretty much nothing to me (I really know very little about their stuff still) except for a vague notion that they were "cheesy." And yet the Chess score (written by ABBA members and songwriters Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus) evidences a great deal of compositional sophistication. No, this is not high-toned classical composing, nor is it even high-toned musical theater composing, but within the "pop opera" idiom of shows like Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera this is very well-done music.
There is an instrumental piece, in particular ("Chess"), that's full of wonderful orchestral writing. Tim Rice produces some of the best lyrics of his career, both well-done conversational recicative-type material and some Gilbert and Sullivan-ish patter wordplay. Many will know the radio-friendly minor hit "One Night in Bangkok" but it's actually one of the weaker numbers, and very inessential to the plot. The aforementioned "Anthem" is a gorgeously stately ballad; other highlights include some wonderful duets, chief among them the "Mountain Duet," and a dramatic and well-sung "rock" number featuring some stratosphere-grazing high notes ("Pity the Child"). A few of the ballads can get a little too treacly, even for my tastes, but on the whole this is a worthy "pop opera" score, easily one of the best of that admittedly narrow-casted genre.
Until Whenever
Friday, July 29, 2005
Another Point of View
Since the Spin list struck me as so editorially driven and narrowly casted, I thought I'd see what albums Rolling Stone picked as the best of the last twenty years, by going through their list from last year of the 500 greatest albums ever and pulling out the first 100 post-1985 candidates. The RS list struck me as at least more fair, given that it wasn't a single editorial staff making decisions but a poll of hundreds of relatively diverse artists, producers, critics, and others. I've interspersed my own random comments throughout on the relatively few I own. So:
1. Nevermind -- Nirvana
Don't have, oddly enough.
2. The Joshua Tree -- U2
Probably my favorite album ever.
3. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy
4. Appetite for Destruction - Guns 'N Roses
Best debut album ever.
5. Achtung Baby - U2
Almost the equal of The Joshua Tree
6. Purple Rain - Prince
7. Graceland - Paul Simon
Great, but I prefer Rhythm of the Saints.
8. Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen
The first album I ever opened. I hated it at first, not liking music at all, but several years later got into it.
9. Sign o' the Times - Prince
(note: as an indication of what those polled think of the last twenty tears, this is all that was in the top 100)
10. The Bends - Radiohead
Good, but I do prefer OK Computer.
11. Raising Hell - Run DMC
12. Ready to Die - The Notorious B.I.G.
13. Slanted and Enchanted - Pavement
14. Tim - The Replacements
15. The Chronic - Dr. Dre
16. All that You Can't Leave Behind - U2
This album is perceived as lightweight in some quarters, but I think its depths are easily missed.
17. Straight Outta Compton - N.W.A.
18. The Low End Theory - A Tribe Called Quest
19. Paul's Boutique - Beastie Boys
20. OK Computer - Radiohead
#1 on one list and only 20 on this one!
21. Master of Puppets - Metallica
22. So - Peter Gabriel
I actually prefer Us.
23. Dookie - Green Day
24. The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails
25. Bad - Michael Jackson
26. Dirty Mind - Prince
27. Ten - Pearl Jam
28. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain - Pavement
29. The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths
30. Licensed to Ill - Beastie Boys
31. Loveless - My Bloody Valentine
32. Doolittle - Pixies
33. Paid in Full - Erik B. and Rakim
34. Nick of Time - Bonnie Raitt
35. Like a Prayer - Madonna
36. Freak Out - Mothers of Invention
37. Automatic for the People - REM
Gorgeous songs.
38. Reasonable Doubt - Jay-Z
39. Metallica - Metallica
40. Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston
41. The Velvet Rope - Janet Jackson
42. Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club
43. Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
I love this album--some great acoustic gems.
44. Psycho Candy - The Jesus and Mary Chain
45. The Slim Shady LP - Eminem
46. Rhythm Nation 1814 - Janet Jackson
47. The Immaculate Collection - Madonna
48. My Life - Mary J. Blige
49. Meat Is Murder - The Smiths
50. Weezer (Blue Album) - Weezer
51. Fear of a Black Planet - Public Enemy
52. The Marshall Mathers LP -Eminem
53. Grace - Jeff Buckley
54. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - Lucinda Williams
55. Odelay - Beck
56. Nothing's Shocking - Jane's Addiction
57. BloodSugarSexMagik - Red Hot Chili Peppers
58. Unplugged in New York - Nirvana
59. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill
60. Surfer Rosa - Pixies
61. Rock Steady - No Doubt
62. The Eminem Show - Eminem
63. Disintegration - The Cure
64. Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morrisette
65. Exile in Guyville - Liz Phair
66. Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth
67. Superunknown - Soundgarden
68. Play - Moby
69. Violator - Depeche Mode
70. 3 Feet High and Rising - De La Soul
71. Stankonia - Outkast
72. Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumkins
My roommate in college listened to this non-stop. I hated it at the time, but have grown to like it.
73. Substance - New Order
74. Ray of Light - Madonna
75. American Recordings - Johnny Cash
76. Louder than Bombs - The Smiths
77. Is this It - The Strokes
78. Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
79. Post - Bjork
80. (What's the Story) Morning Glory? - Oasis
81. CrazySexyCool - TLC
82. Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers - Wu-Tang Clan
83. The End of Innocence - Don Henley
84. Elephant - The White Stripes
85. Blue Lines - Massive Attack
86. Rain Dogs - Tom Waits
87. Californication - The Red Hot Chili Peppers
88. Illmatic - Nas
89. Rid of Me - PJ Harvey
90. I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got - Sinead O'Connor
91. Time Out of Mind - Bob Dylan
Brilliant, but I preger the equally brilliant flow-up, Love & Theft.
92. Mule Variations - Tom Wait
93. Dummy -Portishead
94. The Battle of Los Angeles - Rage Against the Machine
95. Kid A - Radiohead
Great stuff, but I prefer the live versions of some of these songs.
96. To Bring You My Love - PJ Harvey
97. In Utero - Nirvana
98. Sea Change - Beck
99. Tragic Kingdom - No Doubt
100. Rum Sodomy and the Lash - The Pogues
Until Whenever
Since the Spin list struck me as so editorially driven and narrowly casted, I thought I'd see what albums Rolling Stone picked as the best of the last twenty years, by going through their list from last year of the 500 greatest albums ever and pulling out the first 100 post-1985 candidates. The RS list struck me as at least more fair, given that it wasn't a single editorial staff making decisions but a poll of hundreds of relatively diverse artists, producers, critics, and others. I've interspersed my own random comments throughout on the relatively few I own. So:
1. Nevermind -- Nirvana
Don't have, oddly enough.
2. The Joshua Tree -- U2
Probably my favorite album ever.
3. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy
4. Appetite for Destruction - Guns 'N Roses
Best debut album ever.
5. Achtung Baby - U2
Almost the equal of The Joshua Tree
6. Purple Rain - Prince
7. Graceland - Paul Simon
Great, but I prefer Rhythm of the Saints.
8. Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen
The first album I ever opened. I hated it at first, not liking music at all, but several years later got into it.
9. Sign o' the Times - Prince
(note: as an indication of what those polled think of the last twenty tears, this is all that was in the top 100)
10. The Bends - Radiohead
Good, but I do prefer OK Computer.
11. Raising Hell - Run DMC
12. Ready to Die - The Notorious B.I.G.
13. Slanted and Enchanted - Pavement
14. Tim - The Replacements
15. The Chronic - Dr. Dre
16. All that You Can't Leave Behind - U2
This album is perceived as lightweight in some quarters, but I think its depths are easily missed.
17. Straight Outta Compton - N.W.A.
18. The Low End Theory - A Tribe Called Quest
19. Paul's Boutique - Beastie Boys
20. OK Computer - Radiohead
#1 on one list and only 20 on this one!
21. Master of Puppets - Metallica
22. So - Peter Gabriel
I actually prefer Us.
23. Dookie - Green Day
24. The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails
25. Bad - Michael Jackson
26. Dirty Mind - Prince
27. Ten - Pearl Jam
28. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain - Pavement
29. The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths
30. Licensed to Ill - Beastie Boys
31. Loveless - My Bloody Valentine
32. Doolittle - Pixies
33. Paid in Full - Erik B. and Rakim
34. Nick of Time - Bonnie Raitt
35. Like a Prayer - Madonna
36. Freak Out - Mothers of Invention
37. Automatic for the People - REM
Gorgeous songs.
38. Reasonable Doubt - Jay-Z
39. Metallica - Metallica
40. Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston
41. The Velvet Rope - Janet Jackson
42. Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club
43. Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
I love this album--some great acoustic gems.
44. Psycho Candy - The Jesus and Mary Chain
45. The Slim Shady LP - Eminem
46. Rhythm Nation 1814 - Janet Jackson
47. The Immaculate Collection - Madonna
48. My Life - Mary J. Blige
49. Meat Is Murder - The Smiths
50. Weezer (Blue Album) - Weezer
51. Fear of a Black Planet - Public Enemy
52. The Marshall Mathers LP -Eminem
53. Grace - Jeff Buckley
54. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - Lucinda Williams
55. Odelay - Beck
56. Nothing's Shocking - Jane's Addiction
57. BloodSugarSexMagik - Red Hot Chili Peppers
58. Unplugged in New York - Nirvana
59. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill
60. Surfer Rosa - Pixies
61. Rock Steady - No Doubt
62. The Eminem Show - Eminem
63. Disintegration - The Cure
64. Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morrisette
65. Exile in Guyville - Liz Phair
66. Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth
67. Superunknown - Soundgarden
68. Play - Moby
69. Violator - Depeche Mode
70. 3 Feet High and Rising - De La Soul
71. Stankonia - Outkast
72. Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumkins
My roommate in college listened to this non-stop. I hated it at the time, but have grown to like it.
73. Substance - New Order
74. Ray of Light - Madonna
75. American Recordings - Johnny Cash
76. Louder than Bombs - The Smiths
77. Is this It - The Strokes
78. Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
79. Post - Bjork
80. (What's the Story) Morning Glory? - Oasis
81. CrazySexyCool - TLC
82. Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers - Wu-Tang Clan
83. The End of Innocence - Don Henley
84. Elephant - The White Stripes
85. Blue Lines - Massive Attack
86. Rain Dogs - Tom Waits
87. Californication - The Red Hot Chili Peppers
88. Illmatic - Nas
89. Rid of Me - PJ Harvey
90. I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got - Sinead O'Connor
91. Time Out of Mind - Bob Dylan
Brilliant, but I preger the equally brilliant flow-up, Love & Theft.
92. Mule Variations - Tom Wait
93. Dummy -Portishead
94. The Battle of Los Angeles - Rage Against the Machine
95. Kid A - Radiohead
Great stuff, but I prefer the live versions of some of these songs.
96. To Bring You My Love - PJ Harvey
97. In Utero - Nirvana
98. Sea Change - Beck
99. Tragic Kingdom - No Doubt
100. Rum Sodomy and the Lash - The Pogues
Until Whenever
Doin' the Friday Shuffle.
And we begin.
1. "Blame It on Cain." -- Elvis Costello -- My Aim Is True
Great early Costello. I love that he wrote this stuff while doing some menial office job.
2. "O Tannenbaum" -- Vince Guaraldi Trio -- A Charlie Brown Christmas
The greatest Christmas album ever? I'd say so. This is the opening track, with a great semi-stately opening yielding to a mellow jazz version of the tune.
3. "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. (A Salute to 60s Rock) -- John Mellencamp -- Scarecrow
"What I like about you!" Woops, wrong song. Hell, given the title the near-plagiarism is justifiable. Mellencamp does some fine throwback.
4. "You Little Fool" -- Elvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom
Another in the endless string of damn solid Elvis songs. I love the little harpischord-sounding fills Steve Nieve throws in, and Elvis is in especially fine voice here, singing in a comfortable lower range.
5. "Saving Metroville" -- Michael Giacchino -- The Incredibles (score)
Great score. I am dying for a Lost score. This is a nice moody piece from the end.
6. "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go." -- Elvis Costello (covering Bob Dylan) -- Kojak Variety (Bonus Disc)
Elvis, with some success, takes this Dylan ditty and turns it into a bit of countrified rockabilly.
7. "Anthropology" -- Charlie Parker -- Ken Burns' Jazz Collection: Charlie Parker
Scratchy old recording, but some fine horn work.
8. "Wound" -- Smashing Pumpkins -- MACHINA/The Machine of the Gods
Upbeat driving Pumpkins; could have been on Mellon Collie.
9. "A Wolf at the Door (It Girl Rag Doll) -- Radiohead -- Hail to the Thief
One of the album's better songs; I usually don't like the kind of talk-singing Thom is doing here, but it works for the song, and the music-box accompaniment is nicely eerie.
10. "Elena's Truth" -- James Horner -- Mask of Zorro (score)
Truth be told I don't know this cue at all. Bought the CD used but have never gotten into it the way I have the other Horner scores I have.
Until Whenever
And we begin.
1. "Blame It on Cain." -- Elvis Costello -- My Aim Is True
Great early Costello. I love that he wrote this stuff while doing some menial office job.
2. "O Tannenbaum" -- Vince Guaraldi Trio -- A Charlie Brown Christmas
The greatest Christmas album ever? I'd say so. This is the opening track, with a great semi-stately opening yielding to a mellow jazz version of the tune.
3. "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. (A Salute to 60s Rock) -- John Mellencamp -- Scarecrow
"What I like about you!" Woops, wrong song. Hell, given the title the near-plagiarism is justifiable. Mellencamp does some fine throwback.
4. "You Little Fool" -- Elvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom
Another in the endless string of damn solid Elvis songs. I love the little harpischord-sounding fills Steve Nieve throws in, and Elvis is in especially fine voice here, singing in a comfortable lower range.
5. "Saving Metroville" -- Michael Giacchino -- The Incredibles (score)
Great score. I am dying for a Lost score. This is a nice moody piece from the end.
6. "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go." -- Elvis Costello (covering Bob Dylan) -- Kojak Variety (Bonus Disc)
Elvis, with some success, takes this Dylan ditty and turns it into a bit of countrified rockabilly.
7. "Anthropology" -- Charlie Parker -- Ken Burns' Jazz Collection: Charlie Parker
Scratchy old recording, but some fine horn work.
8. "Wound" -- Smashing Pumpkins -- MACHINA/The Machine of the Gods
Upbeat driving Pumpkins; could have been on Mellon Collie.
9. "A Wolf at the Door (It Girl Rag Doll) -- Radiohead -- Hail to the Thief
One of the album's better songs; I usually don't like the kind of talk-singing Thom is doing here, but it works for the song, and the music-box accompaniment is nicely eerie.
10. "Elena's Truth" -- James Horner -- Mask of Zorro (score)
Truth be told I don't know this cue at all. Bought the CD used but have never gotten into it the way I have the other Horner scores I have.
Until Whenever
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