Saint Etienne - Smash the System: Singles and More

Oh, I do love Saint Etienne. Why? Well, it's not easily expressed (some previous attempts: here, and here, and here, and here). I often think of them and Belle and Sebastian as of a piece, and what ties them together in my mind is that, more than any others', their music represents something for me - some hazy ideal of elegant disaffectedness, at once brightly lit and sepia-toned, thoroughly contemporary and yet not at all made for these times, breezy and subtle and shot through with something wistful...music for the heart and for the inner life.

I think that there might be as many as three Saint Etienne compilations out there, but this seemed the one to get, and it's sheerest delight across the whole of its 2 x cd playing time - much of it I knew already, some I didn't, but it all, you know, it all just fits.

The Sundays - Blind

Considering how much I love the Sundays, it's perhaps a bit surprising that it's taken me this long to listen to this, the middle of their three lps - maybe it's that what their music means to me (and what it represents) is just as important as the actual music itself. Anyway, though, here we are, and while Blind hasn't really caught at me yet (the strong Cocteau-isms which make themselves felt in places tend to detract from rather than enhancing the band's uniquely enchanting flavour, and the songwriting isn't generally immediate), but sometimes these things take time, and besides, as I was saying just before, maybe it doesn't even matter if not.

Jasper Fforde - The Eyre Affair

I borrowed this because I felt in the mood for something fluffy and fun to read, but Fforde turns out to be less frothy and somewhat heavier than I'd anticipated. I'm not sure what it is - the ideas are whimsical and clever (and times, perhaps rather too clever-clever but it comes with the territory) and the whole concept is very enticing (a genuinely literary detective in a world parallel to our own but far more literary in many sense of the word, diverse alarums), so I don't know, maybe it's that the writing itself doesn't express the playfulness and delight that one feels must underlie it all, which itself may be down to the actually crimes and other bad things that happen throughout. Still, The Eyre Affair shows enough that, coupled with Tamara's promise that it's the weakest in the series (I started with it because it's the first), I'll likely track down at least the next.

Mirrormask

Well, this was rather charming. Dave McKean directed it, and the film has very much the same aesthetic as the collaboration between him and Neil Gaiman that I've read, Wolves in the Walls - that distinctively crooked, childish, slightly grotesque collage/bricolage effect. In fact, it plays a bit like a story-book as well, framed by the 'real world' setting on either side and following a scene-by-scene structure in between, more akin to the feeling of turning page upon page than to a being carried along by a more sustained narrative development. Then again, that goes hand in hand with the dreaminess of events - also nicely invoked by the blurry, sepia-styled cinematography which frequently prevails, especially at the edges of things.

'Dream-like' is a good way of describing the film as a whole, I think. It's quite weird, in that slightly warped, clocks-melting-over-the-landscape kind of way - at times slightly menacing, but never overpoweringly so and never sustainedly. There are some wonderful creations - the sphinxes are marvellous. The actor who plays Helena looks the part, too. Labyrinth + The Neverending Story + The Nightmare Before Christmas + a strong dash of Englishness + a large dose of something wholly its own = Mirrormask.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Much fun - the no doubt massive budget is put to good use, and the joie de cinema of the two 'rolling structure' scenes (the pirates escaping in the cage of bones, and the three-way swordfight atop and within the large wheel) is something to behold. Of course, Depp's fantastically camp Jack Sparrow is the highlight. And finally, I actually know what Keira Knightley looks like!

Night Watch

I saw the trailer for this Russian fantasy a while back, and thought it looked spectacular. That trailer, as it turns out, wasn't misleading - the film is a visually dazzling, hyper-kinetic, frequently chiaroscuro plate of careening vehicles, messy, stumbling fights, apocalyptic explosions, striking set pieces, and unremitting gloom.

The mythos is set up early - light against dark in An Eternal Struggle - and the plotting and pacing, while unflagging, is a bit of a mess, but what distinguishes Night Watch is primarily its look, which carries through in the sets, the lighting, the actors. There's also some inventive camera work - the following of the path of the screw from the aeroplane overhead, for example (not the only sequence which reminded me a bit of Jeunet's work - and especially The City of Lost Children - although, overall, a better reference point might be a grittier and more visceral Underworld; it has a sort of indie feel - stemming, perhaps, from its being made outside the Hollywood system - and a related sense of dirt under its fingernails and, at times, menace that is the realer for not being as slick as much that we see on screen).

As I said before, it's really a bit of a mess, trying to cram in far too much and doing so very unevenly, and as such not all that satisfying. (The ending in particular falls in a heap - in part because Night Watch is the first in a projected epic trilogy.) But it's striking enough that, in many ways, that doesn't matter - though my sense of the whole is of a jumbled cacophony, individual images and scenes stand out. (The most memorable sequence is Anton's gasping, desperate struggle with the vampire early on in the abandoned warehouse - in an inversion of the usual belief, the vampire is only visible in the mirror, forcing Anton to first conduct the fight while standing in front of a large, wall-mounted mirror, lunging wildly at his lurking assailant, then, once the mirror is shattered, rely on a broken fragment held in his hand, against his face.) This film intrigued me, and if the next two get made, I'll try to watch them.

The Killers - Hot Fuss

Inspired to buy this by Sam's Town, which has improved with repeated listening though I think the appreciation curve has levelled out by now. I realised while listening to Hot Fuss the first couple of times that I'd already prospectively caricatured the album, expecting it all to be glossy straight-ahead unsubtle stadium-aspiring quasi-indie rock (in the words of one of their songs, glamorous indie rock & roll) - like Sam's Town except less polished and expansive (not that that latter is the height of subtlety itself). Said expectations prove to be not far off the mark, but even so I like this album; apart from the radio singles, I particularly enjoy the most OTT ones - 'forementioned "Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll" and also "Midnight Show" (mainly because of its chorus) come to mind. Also enjoyed finally getting to hear the infamous 'I got soul but I'm not a soldier' line.

Julie Miller - Broken Things

"Ride The Wind To Me" feels like the quintessential Julie Miller song, but there's much else to like on Broken Things. Husband Buddy is an integral collaborator, and it shows - the overall sound of this record is similar to that of the joint album of theirs I've heard. It's hard to find much to say about Broken Things, except that she does the basics well - well-crafted songs, sensitively sung.

The Bourne Identity

The end of a long week - well, aren't they all? - and I was home on a Friday night (I write this, dear reader, without any self-pity - some nights are just too hot for going out and paintin' the town red), so watching this on tv was a pretty good option. I'd seen it before and been impressed - it's taut and impactful and suitably morally ambiguous.

"Which Direction for Sustainability? Economists and Environmentalists Talking" @ BMW Edge, Fed Square

Like the 'what difference is Australian writing making?' seminar, this was part of the 'Melbourne Conversations' series: Cheryl Batagol (chair of Melbourne Water and deputy chair of Sustainability Victoria), Noel Purcell (Group General Manager, Stakeholder Communications for Westpac), Richard Dennis (economist and strategic adviser to Bob Brown) and David Yencken (patron of the ACF and, from what I gather, a bit of a grand old man of the environmental/sustainability movement in Australia).

So it was quite interesting and all, but short on really substantial commentary - as an interested but relatively uninformed attendee, I felt that I ought to have learned and been provoked a lot more than was actually the case. Maybe that's not the purpose of these kinds of public seminars - but surely, without wanting to give myself airs, in broad outlines I'm exactly the kind of person they should be trying to engage? It wasn't a wasted attendance, though - I did pick up a bit, and when in the initial stages of learning about a field, it's always good to be exposed to as much as possible, even if some of that material is only reiterating basic assumptions and perspectives.

(w/ Nicolette - Wei & Julian F also around)

"Zeitgeist: Our Post-Secular Age - On Faith" (Meanjin 2006, vol 65 no 4)

This is a good one. Taken as a whole, it's thought-provoking, diverse and often illuminating, and the subject matter is both intrinsically interesting and particularly topical right now - just how these sorts of collections should be.

Gosford Park

I'd seen this when it was on theatrical release, and not since. It hasn't held up as well as I'd thought it might, particularly given that so many of the actors are so much more familiar to me now and the between-the-wars setting so much more cherished - but then, perhaps that was the problem. Of course, though I say 'problem', I still enjoyed Gosford Park very much - it's just that it wasn't as subtle and fresh and memorable as the first time around.

Things You Need to Be Told & More Things You Need to Be Told by the Etiquette Grrls (Honore McDonough Ervin and Lesley Carlin)

Much fun, though I like the responses to readers' questions on the website more. Mostly, I read these books for the attitude, but the occasional useful bit of etiquette seeps through as well.

Many Girls of our generation appear to subsist entirely on yogurt, iceberg lettuce, and bottled water. This is quite impolite, as it connotes that they do not have The Proper Appreciation for Really Good Food that all of us who were not raised by wolves or on ashrams have. Yogurt is a slimy substance that is, to the best of the Etiquette Grrls' knowledge, a Revolting Mix of sour milk and bacteria enhanced with a Flashy Marketing Campaign. The Etiquette Grrls know better than to consume such things.

One of the Etiquette Grrls' biggest Pet Peeves is when passersby, deli clerks, and the like order the Etiquette Grrls to "Smile!" The Etiquette Grrls are Morose Types, and we only smile when we have Good Reason to Smile. Besides, we feel that anyone who goes around grinning like the Cheshire Cat all day is probably Completely Deranged. Utter Insanity is rarely the image you want to project, Dear Reader.

(in a list of things that one should never, ever do at sporting events) Jump up and down in place if you're seated on bleachers. If enough people follow you, you may all die in a Horrible Bleacher Collapse, but that's what you get for being a lemming, and don't say we didn't warn you.

Of course, also answers the important question, 'When may I chew gum?'.

The Audreys / Four Play @ St Kilda Festival, Sunday 11 February

The Audreys were okay, I thought - not as good as I'd imagined they might have been, but still, okay, and big exposed outdoor festival stage sets are rarely great (especially when, as yesterday, it's windy as all hell). Four Play were fun - I haven't seen or listened to them before, and I liked their originals, plus the cover of "Killing In The Name" was neat (not least because it seemed, as Julian F remarked, to be at least in part poking fun at the original).

I really wasn't excited about the festival this year, and only went after no less than four people separately asked if I was (Vanessa, Penny, Wei and Jarrod); these things being what they are, everyone got held up (including me) and I only managed to hook up with Wei and Julian F, but so it goes.

Coffee and Cigarettes

I didn't love this as much as everyone else does (it was Kim who insisted on lending it to me, ages ago - I fear that I've become a Bad Borrower), but even so, it's pretty cool. Things to particularly savour:
• The RZA, GZA and Bill Murray scene (so many little details, but maybe especially the way they insist on saying his name in full every time).
• Roberto Benigni being all strung out on caffeine.
• The Cate Blanchett one.
• The way Tom Waits totally dominates Iggy Pop.
• For the first time ever, finding Meg White attractive.
• The cryptic air that surrounds several of the vignettes.
• The way that they all seem mysteriously part of a whole, particularly as somehow wrapped up by the final one.

I really like Jarmusch! I think he is now a favourite of mine.

Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City

I was browsing in Polyester the other night, basically in my own zone and not paying much attention to things around me, when my ear was caught by a fraught voice singing what sounded like "I'll charm them all", over and over, over a kind of orchestral indie-rock textural thing - I wondered if maybe it was some Arcade Fire that I hadn't heard before. I now know that the song is called "On", that he's in fact singing "I can charm them all" but in a much more interestingly self-doubting and needy fashion that the bald words would suggest, and that it's off the new album by Bloc Party.

I remember being surprised when Silent Alarm turned out to be good, and here's a turnup for the books - A Weekend in the City, while seeing the band doing that second album 'stretching out and becoming more expansive' thing, is of a similar quality. "On" turns out to be a good primer for where they're at right now, and it's one of the best songs on the album, which itself is, while far from life-changing, quite consistently strong. Good work, Bloc Party!

Jens Lekman - Oh you're so silent Jens

Of the songs on the 'music for the masses' cd, easily the one that the most people have picked up on is "Black Cab"; I'd been thinking about picking up the cd for a while, but in the end what tipped me into it was the everyone telling me how much they liked that song. Oh you're so silent Jens is a collection of previously released material - eps and singles - and, when I was listening to it for the first time (a late night at work, last week - not a particularly conducive environment for music listening or emotional responses), it gave me a surprising and tingly case of the sads for a few minutes. Most of it's not as brazen as "Black Cab" - it tends much towards the quieter end of things, soft, gentle, things whispered with simple melodies and a light touch - but I do like it.

Tanya Donelly - This Hungry Life

Mostly recorded live and, perhaps as a result, much more in the direction of Lovesongs for Underdogs and Beautysleep than Whiskey Tango Ghosts - ie, more of the mid-to-up-tempo pop-rockers and less of the whispery lullabies. As is the recurring theme with Donelly's solo work, there's nothing to touch the peerless vibrancy of songs like "Feed The Tree" or "Seal My Fate" but there's nothing to complain about here either.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Live at the Fillmore East: March 6 & 7, 1970

From David. Cd and dvd set; I haven't watched the dvd yet. The recording isn't maybe as fiery and amazing as I would've liked (and imagined) but it's still ace to hear Neil and the band cutting up live, back in the day. Naturally, truly epic "Down By The River" and, especially, far-and-away-highlight "Cowgirl In The Sand".

Neko Case - "Canadian Amp" ep

Have had this on my hard drive for ages, but am pretty sure I've not got round to noting it. It's quite 'no frills' Neko, but darn good - it's the one with "Favorite" and "In California", and also her "Poor Ellen Smith" (though that last doesn't suit her as well as most of her covers, including the trad ones - but still).

Joanna Newsom - Ys

It's been a while but I'm still absorbing this record. It certainly takes the listener on a journey, both within the span of each individual track and across the album as a whole, and it's a big step forward from The Milk-Eyed Mender. But is it better? I'm not sure. Taken together, the two albums are a good instancing of the folly of comparisons of that kind. Ys demands to be taken on its own terms, and not in the somewhat shrill, self-conscious way of its predecessor (which, incidentally, I liked a great deal, though I never felt the need to listen to it much after the first month or so) - it's subtle about it, but unequivocal. One that really needs to be lived with, and I'm not sure if I have the capacity or the inclination to immerse myself in such a record just now.

Mountain Man Dance Moves: The McSweeney's Book of Lists

Tee hee. Compiled from the website with various new unicorn-themed ones interspersed, along with supposed extracts from a tourist guide to German (those last being, if manufactured for this book, completely straight-faced).

Eight reasons why a tyrannosaur caught in a tornado is a funny thing to think about

1. The tiny, flailing arms
2. The helpless "RARRRRRR!"
3. The angry, wild-eyed expression
4. That dinosaur with the sail on his back floats by and he's just cruisin'
5. The landing
6. The Wizard of Oz music playing in the background. What an anachronism!
7. Tyrannosaurs inhabited the western United States, an area of the country known for its heavy tornado activity. Statistically speaking, it is probable that the scenario in question actually happened at least once. In this, as in all enduring comedy, there is a grain of indubitable truth inside the humour.
8. "RARRRRRR!" Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! "RAAAARRRRRRRRRR!"

etc.

Kurt Vonnegut - Breakfast of Champions

Turns out that I'd read this before, a fair while back, probably even before Slaughterhouse-Five. It's good, though I'm not sure what's with a lot of it (of course, a book like this tends to makes more sense in the overall impression than in the details, to the extent that it makes sense at all). Has made me think about satire. Also, Vonnegut is so easy to read! And he knows just what he's doing.

"It's Only Words" (Meanjin vol 58 no 2, 1999)

Back issue, loosely themed around words - a few good pieces.

This is a nice poem (in its entirety) by Greg McLaren. It is called 'I Have Sent Countless Letters':

To my enemy I have sent countless letters.

I have seen the golden light in his windows.
His house is bathed in it.

I know of that terror which assails him
though he seems invulnerable.

His exhaustive replies (courteous, perfumed,
in verse)
I welcome daily.

And this is a nice thought which, while initially counterintuitive, on further reflection struck me as quite true (from Darren Tofts' essay 'Driven to Abstraction'): the leap from the written to the typewritten word was negligible when compared to that from the typewritten to the electronic computer word-processed word:

The electronic word breaks dramatically with the tradition of inscription and imprinting that were characteristics of manuscript and typographic culture. An assemblage of picture elements on a screen, the electronic word lacks materiality and fixity. It highlights some important concerns to do with the task of keeping words in their place once we have put them there. Specifically, the electronic word rekindles [T S] Eliot's darkest fear: are we losing our control over words?

Neko Case @ the Prince, Friday 2 February

Man, best show ever, or near enough not to matter. Neko brought her whole band, and when she started singing the first song, "Wayfaring Stranger", it was almost hard to believe that she was actually singing live, so rich, clear and expressive was her voice (sounding even better with the slight reverb effect that was being applied to it). In fact, for the whole show, I was amazed by what a great singer she is - I already knew this, of course, but it's different again, not to mention a bit spine-tingling, when someone is doing it right in front of you, never mind backed by a fantastic four-piece band right at the top of its game (lots of fiery banjo work in particular) and with Kelly Hogan on backing vocals right beside her.

She played most of Fox Confessor and drew most of the rest of her material from Tigers (including both "If You Knew" and "Soulful Shade Of Blue", though no "Train From Kansas City" alas - one of the few omissions that I'd have particularly liked to hear), Blacklisted (pulling out the big show-stopping torch numbers "I Wish I Was The Moon", "Runnin' Out Of Fools" and "Look For Me (I'll Be Around)" and doing a great version of "Deep Red Bells") and the Canadian Amp ep ("Favorite" was the second song up), also throwing in a cover of Dylan's "Buckets Of Rain". The show didn't flag at all at any point, and there were too many highlights to enumerate...it really was just grand.

It was pretty hot last night, and she'd sold out the venue, so there was a real buzz around beforehand; around me, people were talking about Lisa Miller and the Harvest Festival. I got the strong impression that the crowd was really there for the music - along with the younger 'uns like myself, there were a fair few relative oldies, but everyone knew the songs and the reception was pretty rapturous, to the point of demanding no less than three encores (the last being comprised solely of "In California", which she said was the only song they had left), something I've never seen before. It all made me so happy.

Philip Pullman - Lyra's Oxford

A bagatelle - a short story set in Lyra's Oxford after the events of the HDM trilogy. It's nice, though, and justifies its book form and binding with the inclusion of a small handful of extras, the most substantial of which is a foldout street map of Oxford complete with period details.

Evelyn Waugh - Vile Bodies

Too delightful, too divine (not at all a bore) - at once wispy and pointed, it's basically perfect.

Philip Pullman - The Shadow in the North

If kids are reading this stuff, I feel better already. Like the first in the series, this is pretty grim in spots, but not ostentatiously so (over the top 'darkness' and 'grittiness' in childrens'/young adult lit can be really irritating); it's also quite convoluted though it's never difficult to follow if you concentrate. I spent seriously a whole day with the name of a generic category stuck somewhere near, but not quite in, my conscious recollection - I kept getting 'Victorian spectacular', but I knew that that wasn't quite right...the next day, it came to me - 'sensation', not 'spectacular' (though these novels aren't as, well, sensational as that term suggests). Anyway, it's tops.