Thursday, March 07, 2013
1st Quarterly Good Better Best [2013 Singles]
Disappointment: Darius Rucker "Wagon Wheel"- I like Rucker and I'm real glad the OCMS boys got a paycheck, but he hams it up a little much trying to make it his own.
Good Like a beautifully naive answer to "Heartbeats"
Better Tie goes to the one with the more pronounced Scottish accent:
Best One time a Cootie Catcher (edit: actually, on further reflection is was M*A*S*H, which is predicts four major tentpoles in life based on a whirlygig you draw) in Chicago's Midway Airport prophesized my perfect future, except I had to get married in a pink leather tux. Glad none of that stuff came true, except this song, which is the ideal pop anthem for that mystical device and the girls who run them, so mischievously. God bless 'em and the mystery with which they imbue our lives.
Bonus, Honus! "I Love It" Icona Pop (ft. Charli XCX) fun pop throwaway. Told ya so on Charli
Good Like a beautifully naive answer to "Heartbeats"
Better Tie goes to the one with the more pronounced Scottish accent:
Best One time a Cootie Catcher (edit: actually, on further reflection is was M*A*S*H, which is predicts four major tentpoles in life based on a whirlygig you draw) in Chicago's Midway Airport prophesized my perfect future, except I had to get married in a pink leather tux. Glad none of that stuff came true, except this song, which is the ideal pop anthem for that mystical device and the girls who run them, so mischievously. God bless 'em and the mystery with which they imbue our lives.
Bonus, Honus! "I Love It" Icona Pop (ft. Charli XCX) fun pop throwaway. Told ya so on Charli
Tuesday, March 05, 2013
1st Quarterly Good Better Best [2013 Albums]
Disappointment: My Bloody Valentine- m b v
This feels like a practical joke. Kevin Shields released ten B-sides for the express purpose of A. money and B. joy at watching posers pose.
Good: Blue Hawaii-Untogether
Now this is my kind of modern art pop. Accessible but inventive. Mixing Bjork, Cocteau Twins and The Knife with some Bay Area, hyphy-lite beats and a warm, mammalian core. Music to wait out March with.
Better: The Men-New Moon
The Replacements+Meat Puppets? (I came at this equation independent of The A.V. Club. Damn my non-prompt posting habits!) Sometimes very noisy Americana finds a new angle on traditional Townes Van Zandt-esque Western themes. Sounds so fresh it just might make country cool again, like Uncle Tupelo in '93.
Best: Yo La Tengo- Fade
The Velvet Underground, watching a kid's soccer game after a great brunch and some QC with the spouse. YLT carries on with such clear-eyed, full-hearted adult sense of purpose. Reinvigorating; the perfect pick-me-up after a long day. If their white noise turned you off previously, this one's for you. Their Loaded.
Bonus, Honus!
16:55 of northwest hermitcore* at its finest.
*expository essay forthcoming; I hereby copyright this term
This feels like a practical joke. Kevin Shields released ten B-sides for the express purpose of A. money and B. joy at watching posers pose.
Good: Blue Hawaii-Untogether
Now this is my kind of modern art pop. Accessible but inventive. Mixing Bjork, Cocteau Twins and The Knife with some Bay Area, hyphy-lite beats and a warm, mammalian core. Music to wait out March with.
Better: The Men-New Moon
The Replacements+Meat Puppets? (I came at this equation independent of The A.V. Club. Damn my non-prompt posting habits!) Sometimes very noisy Americana finds a new angle on traditional Townes Van Zandt-esque Western themes. Sounds so fresh it just might make country cool again, like Uncle Tupelo in '93.
Best: Yo La Tengo- Fade
The Velvet Underground, watching a kid's soccer game after a great brunch and some QC with the spouse. YLT carries on with such clear-eyed, full-hearted adult sense of purpose. Reinvigorating; the perfect pick-me-up after a long day. If their white noise turned you off previously, this one's for you. Their Loaded.
Bonus, Honus!
16:55 of northwest hermitcore* at its finest.
*expository essay forthcoming; I hereby copyright this term
Monday, February 25, 2013
Favorite Songs of 2012
POP
10. G.O.O.D Music "New God Flow" {almost perfect, but for a goddamn lazy uncle joke, Ye}
9. Ellie Goulding "Lights"
8. Ke$ha "Die Young"
7. PSY "Gangham Style"
6. Taylor Swift "I Knew You Were Trouble"
5. Future "Turn Out the Lights"
4. 2 Chainz feat. Drake "No Lie"
3. Carrie Underwood "Blown Away"
2. Nicki Minaj "Va Va Voom"
1. Carly Rae Jepsen "Call Me Maybe"UNPOP
10. Chromatics "Kill For Love"
9. Grimes "Genesis"
8. Cloud Nothings "Stay Useless
7. Magnetic Fields "Andrew in Drag"
6. Grimes "Oblivion"
5. Spiritualized "Hey Jane"
4. Dinosaur Jr. "Watch the Corners"
3. Chromatics "Into the Black"
2. Clams Casino "Palace"
1. Friendzone "Little Red Corvette" {CMG Fantasy covers Podcast}
~~~~~~~~~~~BONUS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Songs I Would Pay a Monthly Tithing Never to Have to Hear Again
~Ultimate example is All-Star by Smashmouth. That song is a curse on humanity from the dying breath of a gypsy queen~
10. "We Are Young"- fun.
I'm happy Janaelle Monae hopped on (though under-used) and I'm real glad the Glee kids had a fresh one to sing, but if this song gets stuck in my head again, I will start plotting vengeance.
9. "Bandz Make Her Dance-"Juicy J (unescapable this summer)
8. "Stronger"- Kelly Clarkson
7. "We Are Never, etc."- Taylor Swift (AVRIL thinks this song is trite)
6. "Whistle"- Flo-Rida (Pat likes this song)
5. "Girl on Fire"- Alicia Keys (Written for a Chase card)
4. "Diamonds"-Rihanna
3 "Some Nights"- fun. (no hate, just so0o goddamn earworm-y)
2. "Somebody That I Used to Know"- Gotye (straight up hate)
1. "Truck Yeah"- Tim McGraw(?)
I don't really want to know. He's the only guy in country smart enough to cover Ryan Adams and he's making Trucktober commercials and putting them out as singles? How can you Houdini out of that kind of self-loathing?
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Favorite Comedies of 2012
Saw nowhere near enough relevant movies this year, so just put together a list of the 'comedies' in the Greek sense of the word, because that's what I am gravitating towards these days.
Huge Disappointment: The Five-Year Engagement
Jiminy Cricket a script by Jason Segel as opportunistic as it is thin and lazy. Shows some sparks early and goes to an interesting place with manchildren Brian Posehn and Chris Parnell, mocking/celebrating modern DIY faux-outdoorsyness before deciding to leave them as pancake-flat caricatures. Absolutely arbitrary shit keeps the plot slugging along and then the film wraps up with a set-piece that looks more like a kooky music video/Kia advertisment with apropos indie soundtrack. Allison Brie is saddled with the worst British accent since..........my wife's? And at least she uses hers to ruin Emma Watson.
Honorable Mention: Friends With Kids
Runner-Up: Bachelorette - Was this script was sitting in someone's bottom desk drawer for five years before Bridesmaids hit the jackpot, OR did it get typed up immediately after? Kristen Dunst and Lizzy Caplan almost salvage the effort with their admirable commitment to irredeemable, sociopathic behavior.
10. Cabin in the Woods
9. Pitch Perfect
Fat Amy.
8. Bernie
Jack Black is an island unto himself and the townspeople tell their story with as much down-home charm and oddness as possible. Linklater makes an unpredictable, oddly comforting film about a good man driven to murder, a parable perhaps about the way a hateful, black hole of a person can drag down even the best along with her. Redemption is impossible for some, and impossible to lose for others.
7. To Rome With Love
I might like minor Allen better than major?
6. Wreck-it-Ralph
Vocal ensemble is perfect, the arcade environment crafted with love, not pandering a la Big Bang like I'd feared.
5. Safety Not Guaranteed
Heartfelt, adorable, NW shaggy-dog tale that sticks to your ribs with its willingness to be sincere and dare.
4. Save the Date
This micro-genre of twenty-something angst is perhaps the most justifiably maligned. This is the rare, alchemical success that will spawn such drivel as Lola Verus (you either!) Lord preserve us. And Christ, someone get Martin Starr more work.
3. Sleepwalk with Me
I have a soft spot from the fact that I've met and conversed with the man, and he is just as earnest and likable as his work suggests. His description of the early stages of love is so succinct, spot-on and funny that I could have watched a whole romantic comedy of him in that mode. But he takes us down a darker, more pathetic road of floundering, compromising, half-assing it, that in our age is brave and honest and relatable.
1. Moonrise Kingdom
Far and away the best. Everything in its right place.
Huge Disappointment: The Five-Year Engagement
Jiminy Cricket a script by Jason Segel as opportunistic as it is thin and lazy. Shows some sparks early and goes to an interesting place with manchildren Brian Posehn and Chris Parnell, mocking/celebrating modern DIY faux-outdoorsyness before deciding to leave them as pancake-flat caricatures. Absolutely arbitrary shit keeps the plot slugging along and then the film wraps up with a set-piece that looks more like a kooky music video/Kia advertisment with apropos indie soundtrack. Allison Brie is saddled with the worst British accent since..........my wife's? And at least she uses hers to ruin Emma Watson.
Honorable Mention: Friends With Kids
Runner-Up: Bachelorette - Was this script was sitting in someone's bottom desk drawer for five years before Bridesmaids hit the jackpot, OR did it get typed up immediately after? Kristen Dunst and Lizzy Caplan almost salvage the effort with their admirable commitment to irredeemable, sociopathic behavior.
10. Cabin in the Woods
Between this and The Avengers, Joss Whedon is an MVP for bringing a little levity back to our BATTLESHIP (no italics for you!) age.
9. Pitch Perfect
Fat Amy.
8. Bernie
Jack Black is an island unto himself and the townspeople tell their story with as much down-home charm and oddness as possible. Linklater makes an unpredictable, oddly comforting film about a good man driven to murder, a parable perhaps about the way a hateful, black hole of a person can drag down even the best along with her. Redemption is impossible for some, and impossible to lose for others.
7. To Rome With Love
I might like minor Allen better than major?
6. Wreck-it-Ralph
Vocal ensemble is perfect, the arcade environment crafted with love, not pandering a la Big Bang like I'd feared.
5. Safety Not Guaranteed
Heartfelt, adorable, NW shaggy-dog tale that sticks to your ribs with its willingness to be sincere and dare.
4. Save the Date
This micro-genre of twenty-something angst is perhaps the most justifiably maligned. This is the rare, alchemical success that will spawn such drivel as Lola Verus (you either!) Lord preserve us. And Christ, someone get Martin Starr more work.
3. Sleepwalk with Me
I have a soft spot from the fact that I've met and conversed with the man, and he is just as earnest and likable as his work suggests. His description of the early stages of love is so succinct, spot-on and funny that I could have watched a whole romantic comedy of him in that mode. But he takes us down a darker, more pathetic road of floundering, compromising, half-assing it, that in our age is brave and honest and relatable.
2. Silver Linings Playbook
I am still easy to manipulate, if you play the beats right.1. Moonrise Kingdom
Far and away the best. Everything in its right place.
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