Lame is the new cool...duh

A little tribute to hipsters. Kind of like the video version of Your Scene Sucks. Enjoy.

Once

This movie has received rave reviews and a number of film festival awards and it deserves all of it. It is the best "musical" I've ever seen. I put quotes around musical because it's not really a musical in the traditioanl sense. Some of the songs are written and sung by the people in the movie, but there aren't elaborate, or not elaborate, dance numbers or any of the other elements of a normal musical.

I'm a huge fan of realism/minimalism and this movie is a splendid example of realism/minimalism . One thing that I think is a key element of realism is the almost amateur camera work found in just about every good example of realism. By this, I mean it has parts that were clearly recorded free hand (with out a triopd or any steadying equipment). Some people don't like this, but I think it's a charming quality of realism. I say almost amateur because the shots are beutifully crafted even though their appear amateur. The movie takes place in Dublin, Ireland and the camera shots made Dublin look like the prettiest, most charming city in the world. One quality of the movie that I thought was interesting was that they never mention (to my knowledge) the name of the main characters. In the credits, they are simply listed as Guy and Girl. A movie that can capture you in the story and make you forget that you don't even know the main character's names has to be doing something right.

The story is about a guy and a girl who meet, record some songs with friends, and then...well you'll see. Of coarse there is much more to the movie, but that is the basic plot. The story is touching and makes you feel. It is simply beautiful. I'm not sure if this movie is entirely fictional or not because the main character of the movie is played by the lead signer of a band from Ireland called The Frames. It seems plausible to me that this story is could be based off of how The Frames got their start. The soundtrack is incredible as well. Most of it is sung by the two main characters and is beautiful. It captures and goes along with the story exquisetly.

Since this film is technically a foreign film (it's an Irish film), it has my vote for best foreign film. It's absolutely spectacular and indeed one of my favorite movies. You should check it out soon because who knows how much longer it will be in theatres.

Pretentious scenesters make me laugh and cringe

If you've never taken a look at my little sidebar called "Please Pay Attention", I recommend you do so. It's just a little collection of webistes I like, but I'm currently going to be talking about one website in particular: Your Scene Sucks.

Basically this site takes a bunch of different scenes (emo, screamo, myspace whore, etc.) and pokes fun at them. It's quite entertaining and does a good job of encompassing just about every stereotype there is associated with certain scenes. There are many scenes represented on the site, but it is in no way completely representitive of all the scenes. For instance, a punk or metal scenester are missing, but Rob Dobi, the creator, says more are in the works. The site is pretty much just an amusing website that hopefully will give you a little chuckle. An especailly funny part of the website is the "Mailbag" section where you can read hate mail Rob has recived. It's mostly digruntled emo kids defending their scene. Good times.

Speaking of Rob Dobi, before he made this jolly website, he had a hip little t-shirt company called Full Bleed. You can now check out his fifth season here: http://www.dobi.nu/fullbleed/. He's done so well that Urban Outfitters decided to buy some of his designs and I've seen more people then just a bunch of hipsters wearing them. All his shirts are printed on high quality American Apparel t-shirts. I myself own quite a few of them and I recomend checking them out.

Days of Rage (4.0) and (5.0)

I missed yesterday, so I figured I should just post two videos today to make up for it.


This second video was taken at Rage's reunion performance at Coachella this year. The sound isn't great, but it is a really good song and it contains De La Roca's speech towards the end of the song.

Days of Rage (3.0)

The last single off of The Battle for Los Angeles, Testify.

Thumbsucker

I had heard great things about this movie for a while, but I only recently got to see it. Before I saw the movie I was worried that it would end up like a certain other movie (Half-Nelson) which got a ton of hype and ended up being mediocre at best. Fortunately, this was not the case. The movie was stellar. It was the perfect little indie flic with a touching story to go with it. The soundtrack mostly consists of two amazing music groups/artists; The Polyphonic Spree and Elliot Smith. It fits perfectly with the movie and sounds incredible even by its self.

All the characters were well cast and interesting. There were even a few big names in the movie; Keanu Reeves and Vince Vaughn to name a few. Keanu's character is Justin's, the main character, orthodotist who Justin has to visit regulary because he sucks his thumb and thus messes up his teeth. Keanu starts off as a hippie and progrsses through several schools of thought. Vince Vaughn is Justin's debate coach who buys Justin and the rest of the debate team beer. There is always someone strung-out on something: on drugs, on sex, on love, on school, on life. Throughout the movie Justin has to deal with his thumbsucking (hence the title). He tries several different solutions, but in the end...we'll you'll see for yourself.

This movie absolutely deserves all the praise it has received (including several independent film awards). I highly recomend this movie for just about anyone. If you're still not convinced, here's the trialer:

Days of Rage (2.0)

Another fun little Rage video. Enjoy.

Rage Against the Macine (1.0)

Rage Against The Machine was one of my first loves as far as music and my love for them has only grown over the years. Sadly, I never got to see them live before they broke up...until now! When I found out they had reunited and were going to play a show in the midwest, I knew I had to be there. I got my tickets to their Alpine Valley show the second they went on sale. I'm more excited to see them then I have ever been to see any band...ever.

Alright, so if you haven't heard of Rage Against The Machine, I highly recomend checking them out. I will admit that they aren't for everyone. If you're politically conservative, they are most definitely not for you. Also, if you can't stand anything more aggressive musicaly then, say, Belle & Sebastian, Rage isn't for you. Despite their hard, aggressive sound (which I like) their message is a valid one. If I were to put them in a genre, I would have to call them political alternative rock. I personally think they're the folk musicians (Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, etc.) who protested the Vietnam war of today. Their music is intensely political and really get's their message across.

As far as Rage's politics, they're most certainly not all talk and no action. They do more then their fair share as far as organizing and participating in protests and other dissident activities to keep the government in check. Here's a few websites (both official and unofficial) that talk of thier activities and them in general: http://www.ratm.com/

http://www.musicfanclubs.org/rage/media.htm

http://www.musicfanclubs.org/rage/

As for why this entry has the little "(1.0)" added to it is because I decided that along with my regular entries this week I'll be posting videos of Rage up until the day of the concert. All of their music videos are incredible and the live footage that I've seen looks amazing as well. I'll start this thing off with my personal favorite video, Sleep Now In The Fire. I hope you enjoy these Days of Rage (if anyone caught that pun in reference to the Weathermen, I'm impressed).

Across The Universe

The Beatles are arguably the best band of all time and Moulin Rouge is arguably one of the best modern musicals of our time. Put these two together and you get Across The Universe. I recently caught wind of this movie when I was notified by a friend. I checked out the trialer (below) and decided I must see it as soon as it comes out (release date September 14th).
The idea behind the movie is similar to The Who's "Tommy". Well, not entierly, but it is similar. Obviously there isn't an album like "Tommy" to go along with Across The Universe because The Beatles are no more. Instead of an actual album, the director has decided to use a montage of Beatles songs spanning their entire career. It is a music/rock opera like Tommy though. Several snippets of musical scenes are visible in the trialer. As I mentioned above, it's like Moulin Rouge in the fact that it's a modern musical and it just seems to have that, I don't know, feel? that Moulin Rouge had.
It takes place in America during the hippie/Vietnam War era (60's and 70's). The main character, Jude (surprise surprise), is a college age kid from the U.K. who meets friends in America and becomes a hippie. The story follows the escapades of Jude and his friends through everything from an ivy league school to New York to protests. All the while, Beatles music accompanies their journey. I'm thoroughly excited for this one and I hope you are too.

Working Class Hero

I just thought I'd share this amazing song by an amazing man. There have been several covered versions of this song recently and I thought people should hear the original. Even though Working Class Hero was released over thirty years ago, the ideas John Lennon expressed through this song and many others are still important and valid today. Enjoy.

Campus Antiwar Network

When I'm not checking out music or movies, I'm getting involved with politics. My views are pretty liberal, so be forewarned. I recently attended the Democratic debat that was hosted by the ACL-CIO. When I was there, I was handed a sheet of paper telling me about an organization called the Campus Antiwar Network. I decided to check it out and I did indeed like it. It's reminiscent of anti-war organizations like SDS from the '60s and '70s. I was first impressed by the video below. For anyone who is a student and wants to end this boondoggle called the war in Iraq, I recomend this organization. Check it out here.

Jesus and Mary Chain

Yet another band I'm late to discover. I was reading an article in Spin magazine about all the bands that were reuniting this year. They listed Rage Against the Machine (who are certainly one of my very favorite bands), Spice Girls, Smashing Pumpkins and Jesus and Mary Chain. I was suprised to see this, to me, no name band amongst several well known bands. This perplexed me, so I checked them out to see what they were like. My next clue that they were something big was that they were one of the headliners at this year's Coachella. The first song that I came across by them was Just Like Honey. I immedietly fell in love with that song, so I decided to purchase the album with Just Like Honey on it (which was coincedently their magnum opus), Psychocandy. Unfortunately, many of the songs on Psychocandy were not like the amazing song Just Like Honey. Most of the songs are filled with large amounts of distortion which kind of ruin those songs for me. However, the songs that aren't filled with an overabundance of distortion are quite amazing.

As far as The Jesus and Mary Chain's genre goes, they were one of the quintessential bands of the little known shoegazing genre. Shoegazing was "big"/at it's peak in the early 90's, but originated with in the early 80's. The genre got it's name because the bands would often stand on the stage, motionless (besides obviously playing their instruments) while staring at their shoes. An example of modern shoegazers (or nu-gazers as they are called) is the Silversun Pickups. The Jesus and Mary Chain (whose music is in no way religious oddly enough) would somehow manage to rile thier crowds in riots despite thier shoegazine music. At times they would play shows with their backs turned to the audience and never speak to the audience. Although trashing one's instruments after playing a show (ex. when Pete Wentz throws his bass into a bunch of drums and storms off in anger) is almost cliche now for any "bad ass" band, The Jesus and Mary Chain were among the first to do this, which contributed to their mass riots.

While this scottish group of shoegazers may not be for everyone, I would still recomend at lest checking out Psychocandy or 21 Singles (a sort of best of). I'm quite excited to hear what they will sound like now that they've reunited (they've announced that they're back in the studio).

Here's the video for my favorite song by them, Just Like Honey:

Yeah...

As you may be able to tell, I've been having trouble staying on schedule. From now on there won't really be a schedule for posts. I'll just try to do it as often as I can. Thanks.

Charlie Bartlett

There isn't too much information about this movie yet because it's not out yet and it's an indie flic, but it looks spectacluar. It seems similar to movies like Rushmore and Igby Goes Down. I originally found out about it through a friend (thanks Dave) who stumbled upon it at a film festival in Maui. He recomended it to me, so I tryed to see what I could find out about it. I was able to find the trialer, but no other clips are available right now. At first, I wasn't sure if this would be a 2008 flic or maybe it wouldn't even come out until 2009. Howeverm I was pleasantly surprised to find a poster (pictured above) downtown (Chiago), and after a little more research, I've found rumors of a Nov. 2007 release. I'll do a much more extensive review after the movie actually comes out, but I just though I'd give people an early warning about a movie that I think will be spectacular. If anyone else knows anything about Charlie Bartlett, please contact me because I'd love hear about it.

Here's the trialer:

Belle & Sebastian

I had heard good things about this group, but I finally got to hear them when a friend of mine burned me some of their cds. I must say, I was impressed. I had only heard started to hear about them about a year ago, so I figured they were a young act, but I was quite wrong. They've actually been around for a little more then 10 years.

Their sound has grown and evolved quite a bit as their records progress, which is always a sign of a quality band. My personal favorite album of theirs is Dear Catastrophe Waitress, but I think you can't really go wrong with any of them. Dear Catastrophe Waitress is my number one because it's the most versatile and I think it's the most polished. Thier most recent album, The Life Pursuit, was released in the U.S. on the famous indie label Matador Records. It is exceptional and was well received, but I still think Dear Catastrophe Waitress is thier best.

Belle & Sebastian's sound ranges from album to album, but overall their music is folk revival mixed with modern indie. It really makes for some interesting music that is just a joy to listen to. This Scottish group's sound is comparable to another U.K. favorite, The Smiths, or the suicidal songwriter, Elliot Smith.

Here's a video of Funny Little Frog, a track off their most recent album:

Waking Life

I had never heard anything about this movie or director until I watched it by chance at a friend's house. This movie is now my favorite movie of all time and I love several of the other movies by Richard Linklater (A Scanner Darkly, Slacker, Fast Food Nation, Dazed and Confused, etc.), the director.

It's hard to say what exactly the plot of this movie is or what this movie is about. Basically, it's just about a guy who goes around having thought provoking and at times odd conversations. It's incredibly deep and brings about many new ideas. I would only recomend watching this movie if you are able to simply sit still and think. It's nothing like any other movie I've ever seen. Everything from the format of the movie to the plot (or lack there of) is incredibly innovative. Linklater uses many characters from some of his other movies, such as Before Sunset and Before Sunrise, to make this movie a collage of all his movies. It's just as enjoyable for those who have never seen any of Linklater's other movies, but it would certainly be more appreciated by Linklater fans. As long as you can simply sit down for a little more then an hour and a half and are willing to think, I would almost guarantee that you will love this movie.

Here's a trailer:

Klaxons

I had heard this band mentioned in other blogs, magazines, etc., but it took Pitchfork Music Festival to really get me into them. I saw they were one of the headlining bands at the festival this year, so I searched around for some songs by them to see if I wanted to check them out. They got my attention right away. I was very excited to see them. However, the day of the festival I found out that they were playing at the same time as another band I was excited to see, The New Pornographers. I ultimately decided to see Klaxons instead because I found out that The New Pornographers were coming to Chicago in the fall (I later found out that they're +18 shows and it's about a month before my birthday, oh well). I ended up being very happy with this decision. They were spectacular live. The show was like a giant dance party. I've been quite obsessed with them ever since.
With the release of their first record, Myths Of The Near Future, Klaxons, half-kidding, called themselves "New Rave". New Rave has now been defined as a genre that is reminisent of the '90s rave music mixed with the styles of dance-punk that are found in many newer indie bands. Their songs are fast and fun and their live show is incredible.

Here's their video for Gravity's Rainbow:

Rushmore

I must admit, I am a bit of a Wes Anderson fan boy, but without a doubt, Rushmore is an excellent movie. In my personal oppinion, it's one of the best out there and Wes Anderson's(director of Bottle Rocket, Royal Tenenbaums, and The Life Aquatic) masterpiece. My english teacher called it a modern adaptaion to Catcher in the Rye and I see what he's talking about. While it is similiar to Catcher in the Rye, it certainly has the special touch that is present in all of Wes Anderson's movies.

Rushmore is about a kid who wants to do everything he can in school, except of course, tend to his school work. He is president or founder of just about every club at his school (including the Rushmore Beekeeping Society), but pays no attention to his classes. Eventually his scholastic neglect leads to possible explanation at which point Max Fischer, the main character, says "Maybe I'm spending too much of my time starting up clubs and putting on plays. I should probably be trying harder to score chicks". Max even has an interesting love affair with one of the teachers at Rushmore (sounds a little too odd, but it sounds worse then it is). Jason Schwartzman plays Max and Bill Murray plays Max's best friend. If you like any of Anderson's other movies, there is no way you won't enjoy this one. A great movie for just about anyone.

Here's a trailer:

Live: Aceyalone and DJ Ztrip

My taste in music is vast and at times perplexing. A perfect example of this is the show I went to last Tuesday. It was my first entirely hip-hop/house show and I must say it was an interesting expierience. For someone whose comfort zone, as far as shows go, is seeing a seeing someone like Andrew Bird or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, attending a house show was quite interesting.

The first two acts were clearly warm-up acts (they weren't even on the line up). After the second artist left the stage, my friend and I were uncertain about the rest of the night. We could only hope it would improve dramatically or else we would regret ever buying tickets. The thrid act was DJ Tricky T. He was ok and certainly an improvement. After a while his music became extremely repetitive and our hopes fell again. The next act to take the stage was the head liner; DJ Ztrip. At this point, our hearts sank because is seemed as though the artist we had come for, Aceyalone, wasn't going to be performing. We decided to stick it out and hope for the best. Ztrip played some enjoyable house and techno music. Up to this point, he was the best part of the evening.

After Ztrip played for some time, a man in a green shirt and large black sunglasses walked on to the stage; it was Aceyalone. From that point on the night was amazing. Aceyalone's songs flowed perfectly and went with every beat Ztrip gave him. After a few songs, Aceyalone left the stage and was replaced by Gift of Gab. If you've ever heard Twsita before, think of his fastest song and speed that up by about ten fold and you'll have Gift of Gab. I've never heard anyone speak that fast in my entire life. He even did several free styled songs at near inaudible speed. Eventually Gift of Gab left the stage as well and Ztrip did a few more songs by himself. Ztrip eventually took a break and another unannounced act took the stage. I'm not sure what his was, but it was just one guy playing the drums. He turned out to be quite entertaining. Ztrip rejoined him and threw down some beats for the drummer to play along to. The last part of the night was an extravagant finale consisting of all the acts from Tricky T on. The stage, which hadn't been full at any time during the night because there weren;t really any bands, was exploding with music and stage presence. With two fabulous rappers, two DJs and a drummer, it was simply exploding beats mixed with flowing poetry and heart thumping bass; an intense and amazing expierience.

DJ Ztrip

Aceyalone

Gift of Gab

Drummer (with Ztrip)

Finale