Cults - Cults

Cults hit at least two pure pop pleasure centres for me, and they hit 'em hard - girl group vocals and melodies (along with the associated 'minor symphonic' feel) wrapped up in 21st C bedsit indie-pop stylings, xylophones and all. And more than that, their songs are filled with little flourishes and surprise right turns that actually make me smile - the bit when the drums first kick in on album opener "Abducted" and then the unexpected mini guitar solo near the end of the same song, the loopy bridge/chorusey vocal uptick on "Walk At Night", the way "Oh My God" leads off lyrically and then just keeps on going, and so many more. An inventive, often surprising, and very pleasing record.

"Deutsche Musik!"

A mix of German music very kindly put together by Wei's pals Almut and Urs; suitably diverse given the broad theme, and very enjoyable. Favourites: Nylon's "Liebesleid (Die Liebe kommt, die Liebe geht)", the morose "Finger weg von meiner Paranoia" by Element of Crime, the pop kicks of Mia's "Tanz der Molekule", and, most pleasingly, the ramshackle, tossed off-feeling, and above all else catchy "Liebe zu dritt" by Stereo Total.

Moon

This second watch made me again appreciate how economically and well this film is put together, and how neatly it nudges the viewer in certain directions - with the hallucinations and Gerty particularly. Also, how good Sam Rockwell is in it.

(previously)

Arvo Pärt - Tabula Rasa

The object is a mysterious thing. I'm intimately familiar with Part's Tabula Rasa, which this book re-presents in its original recording, along with the original liner notes and photos; in terms of what's new to me, there's also a new short introductory note, a Part discography, and - the main event - 'autograph' manuscript copies of the Cantus and "Tabula Rasa" itself, and scores for all four of its pieces. Not being especially musically literate - which didn't stop me, a few years back, from tracking down and buying a copy of the score of the piano/violin "Fratres" - the scores don't mean a lot to me, but when I saw this in Readings yesterday, I knew that I wanted to own it anyway. Call it the aura, or something.

Comic Book Tattoo

A big (30 x 30cm, and thickish) book of short comic narratives, each inspired by a Tori Amos song; there are 51 in all, most around a dozen pages long, and each with a different writer and illustrator. The brief was for the artists to create something reflecting or expressing how the song made them feel, rather than attempting a literal rendition of the song itself or its lyrics (whatever that would mean).

I must admit, I skimmed through it a bit, and not many stuck with me. I liked the whimsy of "Caught a Lite Sneeze" (Mike Maihack) and the heftier, more substantial "Winter" (John Ney Rieber / Ryan Kelly), also the amusingly inverted "Leather" (John Bivens) and the dreamy, actually moving take on "I can't see New York" (Adisakdi Tantimedh / Ken Meyer Jr); I also thought that the gentle "Pretty Good Year" (Derek McCulloch / Colleen Doran) almost exactly caught the tone of the song.

Also, along with this piece, it made me want to go back and listen to her back catalogue again.

George Megalogenis - The Longest Decade

A good bit of political writing - from '06 but still interesting - whose strong point is the material from the detailed interviews that Megalogenis was able to conduct with book of the book's principals, Keating and Howard. The core argument, reflected in the book's title, is that between them the two men, as Treasurer and PM, broke the decade-long boom-bust cycle that had previously characterised the Australian economy, and moreover that there were deeper continuities between the two, not only on economics, but also on social policy and even, to an extent, in foreign policy. Readable, enjoyable, insightful.

Jim Brickman - Beautiful World

Soft, pretty, new age-y piano music - pleasant incidental background music. (A gift.)

Red Cliff

This was the original two-part version, and it turns out that while the cuts for the western release were judicious, it's a fuller and better film, and epic, with the additional material included - most notably, the character of Pit and his relationship with the princess, but also a fair bit of general background and shading in of the other characters and context. Stands up well on a second watch, too.

Emmylou Harris - Hard Bargain

It's pretty remarkable how Harris has kept making such great music for so long; listening to Hard Bargain earlier today, I found myself thinking 'what if?' about her old singing partner, Gram Parsons. This one, her latest, is unusual in that it's mostly her own compositions, but it's no less strong for it.

Neil Young - Le Noise

Never got round to mentioning this one - a collab from last year (I think) between Young and Daniel Lanois. Otherwise basically a solo record - a couple of acoustic songs, and the others wrapped up in layers of distorted guitars and sometimes looped vocals. Not the most penetrable, but at least interesting.

Drive-By Truckers - Ugly Buildings, Whores & Politicians: Greatest Hits - 1998-2009

Enjoying this a whole lot - fiery, crashing, all-out-guitars southern rock with the occasional countryish ballad thrown in. "Zip City" is the standout. Like the good middle ground between Bon Jovi and Neil Young, and a thousand followers of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Between the Lines 4: Find Shelter

This series is put out by an Austrian label, but has a strong international focus, with only a few Austrian acts scattered across the two cds making up Find Shelter. The word here is 'indie', with a focus on the ethereal (especially when a girl's singing) and the lugubrious (more often for the boy vocals), many of the songs displaying a bit of a folk flavour and a number of others not shying away from the mildly epic. Most of the artists are new to me - the main reason I bought this was in the hopes of discovering some new music - but the whole set's pretty listenable.

Current favourites:
* "Lie in the Sound" - Trespassers William. The single most ethereal track across the whole set, and the best, "Lie in the Sound" is simply gorgeous, a dreamy Mazzy Star-Camera Obscura styled floater that also reminds me of Mira in its rising and falling starriness.
* "Room" - Nive Nielsen & Deer Children. Another entrant in the surprising little sub-genre of Scandinavian americana (see also First Aid Kit, Baskery) - though Nielsen hails from Greenland rather than Sweden - "Room" reminds me of Laura Veirs' more haunted folk-pop explorations, flowing along on Nielsen's expressive, controlled voice, a slowly plucked banjo, and a lovely melody.
* "Merci De Rien Du Tout" - Marianne Dissard. And another americana blend - this one taking significant elements of the French chanson (in fact, it leans more on that latter than on the prairie widescreen elements in its background). Dissard's intimate vocals sell the song and the idea; google tells me that she did the girl vocals on Calexico's classic "Ballad of Cable Hogue", which entirely fits.
* "Landslide" - Unbunny. Strummy, wavering-guitary, left of centre singer-songwriter tune which lodges in the head on first listen and stays there.

And others that have particularly stood out:
* "Fly Butter Fly" - Ping Ping
* "Pigeons" - Page France
* "Swim Until You Can't See Land" - Frightened Rabbit
* "Fortune Teller" - Forest Fire
* "Come Out" - Kristofer Astrom
* "The Washington DC" - Mexican Elvis
* "What's Out There" - Nina Nastasia
* "My Beloved" - Scout Niblett

Three Kingdoms

Mediocre Hong Kong martial arts action-adventure focusing on one of the heroes of the war of the three kingdoms. It's glossy, and the action scenes are pretty good, but story and character are more or less missing in action, with massive amounts of plot seemingly taking place in the gaps between scenes and never explained.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong

I was a bit sceptical about The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - what I'd heard about that first lp, while positive, had led me to expect an anaemic, derivative retread of ground covered by previous greats. But when I actually listened to it, I quite liked it, and, to my surprise, have kept on listening to it at intervals since...it's good. And so I came to Belong with moderately high expectations - which the record, in every aural sense bigger than its predecessor, has met while wearing its influences as clearly on its sleeve as ever.

It starts with the first song (and title track), which sounds - particularly at the start - exactly like a Siamese Dream era Pumpkins song, which is no bad thing, especially when the guitars are so satisfyingly fuzzy and distorted, and the verse-chorus-verse so sweet and big. Then there's the distinctly Cure-y synth line that comes in at the end of the driving (if unfortunately named) "Heart in Your Heartbreak", followed by more of the same in "The Body" before, a bit later, they really go all out on "My Terrible Friend", which, voice aside, could have come straight off Wish...and on either side there's the mellow, downbeat "Anne With An E", which draws heavily on the prettier, softer end of Kevin Shields' palette, and the JAMC-cribbing "Girl of 1000 Dreams".

Impressively, though, for all of that, they sound like a band with their own identity, which is due in large measure to their ability to write good songs, in which their style comes through without being overpowered by the spot-the-influence trappings; moreover, Belong marks a bit of a progression for them, towards a fuller, more widescreen sound...the Pains are turning out to be pretty good.

Romeo Must Die

Entertaining, but for the wrong reasons - this film is a mess, full of unnecessary elements, though the  incongruities (some of them admittedly deliberate) create some humour. Even the fight scenes, which ought to've been a highlight, were weakened by the too obvious use of CG in spots.

Eilen Jewell - Queen of the Minor Key

I've seen photos of Eilen Jewell, and she looks like a little blonde girl with big eyes, a bit on the delicate side, but what she sounds like is smoulder, smoke and heart-break, seedy dive bars, cigarettes and a hint of sex. Queen of the Minor Key is excellent, melding country, blues, surf-rock and old style rock and roll and rockabilly elements, sometimes shimmying along with a quiet twang, sometimes grooving and stomping ahead at full pelt - it's a varied set, but tied together by the smoky mood and Jewell's compelling voice and presence at its centre.

(also: Sea of Tears)

Jolie Holland + The Grand Chandeliers - Pint of Blood

Well, this is exciting - all four of my favourite countryish chanteuses (Lucinda, Gillian, Laura (Cantrell), Jolie) have come out with new albums this year. This is the first that I've really properly listened to - probably because Holland was my most recent discovery of the four - and it's a good listen without reaching the heights of Springtime Can Kill You or even The Living and the Dead (though shivering-chiming second cut "Remember" in particular stands up to anything on either of those earlier records, and "Little Birds" also stands out), from which it feels a natural continuation. And like all of her albums, it's much better when listened to closely, with the attention it deserves.

I Am Sam OST

Exceedingly tasteful soundtrack to film of a few years back - contemporary artists covering Beatles songs, generally a bit too reverently, making for a pleasant but not especially interesting or illuminating listen.

Steven Erikson - Dust of Dreams & The Crippled God

The end of it all. The massive, multi-layered complexity of the series and impossibility of keeping all the pieces in one's head without recent reading made me think that I should re-read Dust of Dreams before tackling The Crippled God, particularly given that Erikson had explicitly set them up as two volumes of a single final novel; also, doing so added to the sense of anticipation about hitting the finale, which promised so much.

Anyhow, reading these two in succession makes it clear how much they do fit together as an integrated conclusion to Erikson's epic Malazan series, as a whole heap of things are gathered together and set up in Dust of Dreams that then come to fruition in The Crippled God - and more generally, that last is a fittingly explosive end to the whole ten-book cycle, most (though by no means all) of the main threads pulled together, its first half highlighted by the Shake's stand at Lightfall as Light and Dark are finally thrown directly into conflict, and its second all about the convergence and shattering series of engagements in and around Kolanse as the remaining Malazan forces and virtually every other major power clash over the heart of the crippled god himself. It's a spectacular ending, worthy of the series as a whole - like the nine that came before it, it's something out of the ordinary.

(Previously: [1-8], then starting again with [1-3], [4-5], [6], [7], [8], & [9] ... plus (1), (2), (3).)

"Hamlet" (MTC)

A very solid production, though not outstanding. (Last season's "Richard III", also starring Ewen Leslie, was better, for mine.) This Hamlet is clearly sane throughout, if given to outbursts of anger and anguish - a far more satisfying reading than Bell's from a couple of years back - and Leslie's performance is strong, while the supporting cast is slightly uneven, but generally fine; I thought more attention could have been given to the delivery of lines, which sometimes seemed a little overly rote/conversational, with not enough attention to the language itself. Fortinbras is omitted, some care is given to Ophelia's character, the production's choices make sense of Horatio's uncomplaining loyalty, Gertrude, Claudius, Polonius are all largely as one might expect.

(w/ C)

Charles Burns - Black Hole

Another from the Borders voucher - this one Kim's recommendation. It's unlike anything I've come across before, starkly, sinuously beautiful and gritty - altogether memorable.

Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games

This series has been hotly touted, and its Battle Royale-esque premise appealed; having read this first entry, I get it - the book is very well crafted, pacy, exciting...also, notably bloody for a kids' book.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 2

A suitably spectacular close to the series. Nothing revelatory or significantly different from what has gone before, but very enjoyable anyway.

(1, 2 & 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

(w/ C)

"Love Victoria" (Malthouse)

Saw this because a friend of C's was in it, but its familiarly polymorphous take on modern relationships didn't grab me.

Mercury Rev - Deserter's Songs: Instrumental

With the passing of time, it only becomes clearer that Deserter's Songs is a flat-out classic; this instrumental mix is a reminder of its swelling grandness, largely preserving the original arrangements, and adding various types of instrumentation/programming in place of the vocals, often with the effect that things become even more grandiose and epic, most effectively on "Goddess on a Hiway".

John Doe and the Sadies - Country Club

A warm roots-country record that takes a few listens to grow but then settles in comfortably, Doe's rich voice wrapping around the songs as the Sadies, possibly the world's best backing band, do their thing.

Thao & Mirah - Thao & Mirah

Clattery, enjoyable ear candy.

How I Met Your Mother (seasons 1 to 5)

Finding myself watching this a lot on tv, I was sufficiently hooked to go through the whole thing to date on dvd. It's really a very nice show, insightful, sharp-witted, fresh-feeling, and sweet-natured without tripping into sentiment. The love of wordplay is a feature, as is its use of structure - along with the basic framing device, the frequent temporal stop-starts and reversals are very effective, not least in keeping things interesting - and the deliberate, self-conscious use of repeating motifs and images (the yellow umbrella being probably the most obvious, but the technique is apparent from the very first episode, with the blue french horn). But what really keeps me watching is the characters and the situations they find themselves in - with all the inevitable self-aware qualifications, HIMYM seems like an idealised version of the familiar.

Intolerable Cruelty

Nice. Been feeling kind of Coen brothers lately. Not sure why.

(last time)

Mean Girls

Still good.

(previously - #1 & 2)

Alternative Nation: 100 Alternative Classics

One of a stack of cds I picked up from JB Hi-Fi for the impromptu road trip we took down the coast and through various forests of Tasmania once it became apparent that the volcanic ash would strand us for several days past the planned long weekend (this was ages ago now), and while it's a terrible name, it's excellent driving music.

Colette - Claudine at School

One of three books that Sarah V gave me this time, having bought them for me straight after she got back to France after our literary acquaintance began in '05 and carried them with her since (the other two being copies of Lautréamont's "Maldoror" and a biography of Apollinaire); it's most amusing, and really the cover grab says it all: "the famous French novel about an amoral young innocent".

London

- Tate Modern. Very good, in fact probably the best of the major modern art collections that I saw this time around. The main action for me was in three of the four major survey exhibitions: (in the order that I went through them, reflecting my own preferences) "Material Gestures: New Painting and Sculptures, 1945-1960", "Poetry and Dream: Surrealism and Beyond", and "States of Flux: Cubism, Futurism, Vorticism" (the fourth, "Energy and Process", focusing on arte povera, was less exciting). "Material Gestures" focuses on abstraction and figuration, and includes the Rothko room, a darkened chamber given over to nine large works from the 1950s Seagram series - all dark reds and blacks...a room that I've literally dreamed about being in before, having seen photos of it in various Rothko monographs. Finally being there was really something - an experience for the heart and the mind. Also illuminating was the large, luminous, and rather beautiful "Water-Lilies" (after 1916), its presentation in this setting providing a compelling argument for the connection between Monet's late period semi-abstraction and the subsequent works of Rothko et al.
- "Jake or Dinos Chapman" @ White Cube Hoxton Square. Deliberately ugly anti-aesthetic art. The bestial childen were striking. (Wei)
- "Alternative London" street art walking tour. Guided East End street art tour, with a bit of history and contemporary street-level politics thrown in - nice. (Wei)
- [Oxford]. A nice interlude, and a very Oxonian experience thanks to Jarrod and Jaani, put up in a fellow's guest room at Magdalen, croquet at night on the college lawns, punting, blackberry picking, etc - and a trip out to the house where my earliest days were spent.
- "Out of This World: Science Fiction But Not As You Know It" & "The Worlds of Mervyn Peake" @ British Library. Enjoyed the sci-fi exhibition, which reminded me of a school project I did in grade 5 (?) on the subject - though not in a bad way - in its thematic-chronological approach. The Peake was smallish - accompanying a broader set of events focusing on the author/illustrator at the time.
- "Nightwatchman" (Prasanna Puwanarajah) / "There Is A War" (Tom Basden) @ The Paintframe, National Theatre. Put on in a pop-up space, a pair of well written, strongly performed and staged plays. The first staged a familiar personal/professional (in this case, sporting)/political narrative of discovery through the dark of the night, and while it may have been just a tiny bit pat in places, it had a basic sturdiness and craft that made it worth the viewing; the second, an a-realistic, blackly funny excursion into the absurdity of war, wouldn't have been out of place at the Malthouse, and hit its points well. (Wei)
- Museum of Childhood. Fun - main collection given over to all sorts of toys, games and sundry paraphenalia of childhood...the doll houses were my favourite, remarkably ornate and coming in all varieties. Miscellaneous other bits and pieces, including "The Stuff of Nightmares", a visual re-telling of The Brothers Grimm's "Fundvogel". (Wei)
- "Takashi Murakami" @ Gagosian, Britannia Street. Hyper-hyper-sexualised commentary on modern Japanese society. Enjoyable in its OTT-ness. (Wei)