Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
by Wilco
A masterpiece differentiates itself from other great albums because you hear something you never heard before. It doesn't have to be complicated, or worldly, or powerful. Wilco has produced, with YHF, an album that does not bring a new sound into existence but rather takes from the existing and makes a beautiful noise. Despite the tape loops this is a homegrown sound. It takes more from the Beach Boys than Portishead. Despite the occasional steel guitar, this is not the alt-country band that Wilco was labeled. Songs like "War on War" sound prophetic, but the album release was long delayed. Their next effort, with the Minus 5, is in limbo and at this time looks like it will never see the light of day. Of course, they said that about YHF, too.
On Avery Island/In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
by Neutral Milk Hotel
Sometimes you can tell you would like an album after hearing one song. Maybe it's not the song per se, but the sound. NMH is a part of the Elephant6 music collective, a group of musicians who drift from one leader's project to the next. Each band leader has his own band name (Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power and Apples in Stereo are included.) A little on the NMH sound: it features strong—if warbly—singing with acoustic, electric and brass backing. One instrumental features a bag pipe solo. Once you appreciate the music you start to listen more closely to the lyrics. At times surreal and poignant. Sacred and profane. Beauty contest and freak show. Leader Jeff Mangum has a unique style of writing and singing that is hard to classify, except by using the word complicated. Not much is straightforward here.
The first album, On Avery Island, features "Song Against Sex," a take on the Beatle's "Norwegian Wood." It ends:
From anything we could call loving
Any love worth living for
So I'll sleep out in the gutter
You can sleep here on the floor
And when I wake up in the morning I forgot to lock the door
Because with a match that's mean and some gasoline
You won't see me anymore
The follow up, Aeroplane, has no break out songs. It is more of a concept album. Mangum wrote that he feels like his songs are all part of a single narrative going on in his head and dreams. The superior Aeroplane sounds like a single song broken up by various themes and sounds. Both albums are more than worth the listen.
The Greatest Hits of Marvin Pontiac
The truth of it is that the persona of Marvin Pontiac gives musician John Lurie the ability to shed any preconceived notions of what music to expect from him and the Lounge Lizards. He runs from a bluesy, gravelly acoustic number to a peppy latin-influenced David Bryne sounding rejoinder. There are musical influences that remind one of Laurie Anderson and Tom Waits, yet the songs are almost from another time. The quality of the recordings give away (among other hints) the cover story—that this was recorded before 1977 by a displaced blues musician who spent his formative years in Nigeria. Great cover story, though. Excellent music.
The Color of Paradise
A heartbreaking and beautiful Iranian movie about an 8 year old blind boy. Rather than give away the plot, I'll describe a scene from the beginning. Mohammad is waiting for his father at a school for the blind in Tehran. It is summer break and all the other children have been picked up by family members. He is the last child remaining. Waiting for his father he hears a baby bird fall from its nest. Using only his acute sense of hearing, skillful hands and great patience, he finds the bird in the leaves, rescuing it from an approaching cat. With great effort he climbs a tree and finds the nest. He carefully returns the bird to its nest. Once his father finally arrives the boy tearfully cries out, "I thought you weren't coming." This movie has some breathtaking views of northern Iran, both lush and foreboding. There are well-developed characters that show family life, work and religious ethics in Iran. Highly recommended.
The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman
Sheri is a fellow classmate from William & Mary. It is really exciting to see someone doing great work and getting noticed doing it. Every so often I would hear really interesting stories about her. Sherry saw her on a game show (I think she won something). Bill told me she went from acting in classics to publishing. The English Dept. newsletter reports on her first book, A Stolen Tongue. The Dress Lodger is a story about a young prostitute in cholera-era England. Really. Sheri has a definite gift for bringing the reader into a different time and setting and making you feel like you know the place.
wish list
Gray's Anatomy
This movie is simply a 90 min monologue about this guy and his medical troubles. He explains how he tried all kinds of remedies and potions, because he was too chicken to bite the bullet and get an operation. This movie would seem boring at first glance, but the director—one of my new favourites—Steven Soderbergh makes this an interesting and worthwhile journey into this mans psyche. If you're unsure about this movie, check out Soderbergh's other masterpiece 'Schitzopolis' and then if you have any doubts about his directing ability then that's your loss, not mine. Gray's Anatomy... taste's like chicken. I'm told.
Schizopolis
One of the funniest, nuttiest movies I've ever seen. Soderbergh looks like "everyman", with a nondescript face. Watching him make faces in the bathroom mirror is hysterical. His blase attitude throughout the film is what makes it so amusing. I do feel that the frontal nudity at the end is a bit gratuitist , however.