An Ear For An Era: 1950-1954

Welcome back!

I'd like to start off by repenting for one misjudgment from last week. I said that no blues artists really stood out, but that was probably because I hadn't gone through enough of my no-year-labeled stuff. I went through a lot of that and caught up on what I'd missed and I have to say that Lead Belly really does stand out as a great blues artist from the 40s. Check him out.

I also kind of glossed over Miles Davis, just putting him in the appendix section. But there will be plenty of time to discuss him later.

Here's the early 50s now. The time period that birthed my parents and rock and roll continued to be developed. Blues got a bigger budget, Hank Williams had a radio show, and jazz exploded.

Let's start with one T-Bone Walker. There was a big CD anthology I picked up once, without knowing anything about the guy, because it looked like he was probably an awesome early rock & roll guitarist, as the cover to the collection features him doing the splits while playing the guitar behind his head. Then I was slightly disappointed to hear that he pretty much just played the blues. But now I have proper perspective. It's blues with a backing band. Horns! Some upbeat stuff that is absolutely early rock & roll! Everything about this guy tells me that he had to have been the second biggest influence on the artistic direction of Chuck Berry (the first, of course, being Marty McFly). This is a slower, more-blues-less-rock track but I keep getting it in my head. It's "Railroad Station Blues."

You know who else really ruled this blues-rock-but-not-blueshammer-style thing in the early 50s? Big Maybelle. Have you heard of her? She's the real deal. If you love a woman singing from the bottom of her being, super powerful vocals, check her stuff out. You will be glad you did. This is "Send For Me," and I don't know why that picture to accompany the song in the video is a cat. It's still the right song though, so give it a listen.

I'd be remiss if I failed to mention Muddy Waters, but I don't know that that's particularly revelatory. But obviously the "real" blues were still being played and you can't go wrong with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Lead Belly.

So in the last installment, I mentioned that Hank Williams "started rock & roll" (not really but it seemed like it in some way). In 1951 he had a radio show and recently a box set of "unreleased recordings" was released so I got it. It's a lot of awesome Hank Williams songs from this radio show. Anyway, there wasn't really much upbeat stuff in this box set, just a lot of great country sadness. So listen to him.

Jazz continued to develop in the early 50s, and I had a total of THREE full albums from 1954 in my collection. They were all jazz/swing. A couple Sinatra records were there, which of course are timeless. I associate him more with the 40s than 50s but as far as my music collection is concerned he got his start in 1953. So sure. He put out the fun Swing Easy! and then also the more ballad-driven Songs for Young Lovers. I preferred that one.

You know what the other jazz album I have from 1954 is? One that is maybe my favorite album of the history of 1899-1954. Maybe. Dust Bowl Ballads was pretty great as well. But this one, it surprised me how engaging it was to me because I'm not a huge jazz guy. And I'm a bit saddened that I don't have more representation of this guy, because he may be my favorite jazz musician: Dizzy Gillespie. The way he wails, it's the first time in my "Ear For An Era" project that I felt the need to TURN IT UP. It's meant to be played loud. The punk rock of jazz or something. The album is Afro and it is beautiful. I'll post the most famous song, the intro that shows up on all sorts of different best of comps and stuff, and that is because the album builds and morphs the themes introduced in this song. The album is full of nuance, but the intro here just gets me excited for the ride because it's so loud and brassy.

I also need to talk rock & roll now. I'm actually surprised there wasn't more rock & roll yet, after it was pretty much defined in 1949 and became such a sensation. Sure, we got "Rock Around The Clock" and other such Bill Haley hits, but I don't know, I just associate the 50s with the big rock beginnings. It seemed like a slow start. I know the next session is going to have a lot more. But we did get Little Richard getting started. More blues than rock at this point, but this song is a pretty good one!

I think that'll do for this installment. I have to go to bed now. But be excited because this "rock and roll" thing is about to take off in a big way!

Other Highlights Worth Mentioning:

• I had "Steam Heat" from The Pajama Game come up, and I was going to post the clip from the movie but apparently the movie came out in 1957. Maybe I'll throw it in there next time?
• The Dominoes "Sixty Minute Man" - who knew that songs were that dirty that early on?
• Edith Piaf just keeps going. "Padam Padam" is a good song.
• Louis Prima! "Oh Marie"
• My very first taste of Sam Cooke in the project with the brief gospel song "Jesus Gave Me Water!"
• Sinatra's "South Of The Border" which just makes me think of The Simpsons because they used the song.
• Billie Holiday was still going!
• Elvis put out a few ballady songs, not really rockin yet though.
• Ray Charles got started too, but I don't really care for this super early Ray Charles stuff.

In The Next Installment...

The late 50s! Mostly this means rock and roll really gets going, with everyone from Bo Diddley to Chuck Berry to Buddy Holly to The King (and many many more!) hitting their strides and/or dying. Also looking forward to some Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane, Screamin' Jay Hawkins (!!), the great Lady In Satin album from Billie Holiday, a little someone called Johnny Cash...........stuff is seriously about to 'splode. I'm almost wondering if 5 years is too big a span for this, but my plan is to do 5 year spans through 64 and then a year at a time from there. We'll see if that changes.

An Ear For An Era: 1899-1949

See that? I came up with a title! Nearly by myself! I do admit that my friend Mark got me on the ear/era wordplay thought train. Thanks dude!

Speaking of trains, blues singers sure like trains!

Now, I should put in a couple disclaimers before I get started. This is based on my music library as opposed to all music. So according to my music library, rock & roll was started by Hank Williams and the first album ever was Woody Guthrie's Dust Bowl Ballads.

Another disclaimer is that I still have a good amount of music with no year in the data field. I just tried to go through it real quick but that would take all night. But I did catch a few more and listened real quick tonight. Such as Rhapsody in Blue, which is one of my all time favorite recordings. And Home On The Range by Gene Autrey was year-less. But those ones are back in. I probably missed some other stuff though.

So it all started in 1899 when music came into existence with Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag.

A lot happened over the next 50 years. Jazz. Folk. Blues. Country. Rock and roll.

Here is what caught my ear.


I love this 20s Louis Armstrong stuff. It reminds me of garage rock. It's supremely talented individuals just having a ball. I'd love to have experienced it, just Satchmo going off on his trumpet with his buddies while a big ol' pot of etouffe cooked. Did I mention I love New Orleans? This is the track that exemplified this for me:

Louis Armstrong "Muskrat Rumble"

Into the 30s, there was a lot of this stuff from Louis Armstrong, Django Reinhardt, and the great Lady Day, Billie Holiday.  All of the Billie Holiday songs that came up were highlights, from the freewheeling good-times jazz of "No Regrets" to the brutally sad ballads like "Strange Fruit." And in the 40s, "Gloomy Sunday." But I'm going to post the happier one mentioned above.

Billie Holiday "No Regrets"

I almost wanted to cut it off at the start of the 40s, because I could feel things start to change as the 30s drew to a close. I will miss the pre-40s jazz (with touches of folk). Things got more serious-ish as everyone dealt with WWII and the fallout. At least that's what I'll attribute it to. But it was fitting that the last song was Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again." I will miss you, 30s music!

The 40s were, as far as my playlist will tell you, the expansion of things. There was still plenty of Billie Holiday but the songs were less fun (still beautiful!). Lots of Django Reinhardt and Edith Piaf as well. I sure have a lot of Piaf in my collection. Here's the one song from her that stood out to me, as she really wailed:

Edith Piaf "Mariage"

The 40s also brought, of course, the great Woody Guthrie, whose Dust Bowl Ballads seems to be the first official album in my collection. It's still a fantastic album, even beyond its historical significance. I was struck by the lasting relevance of one particular song, "Pretty Boy Floyd." With lyrics like "Some will rob you with a six gun and some with a fountain pen" and "you will never see an outlaw drive a family from their home," it could be the mission statement for Occupy (maybe it was?).

Woody Guthrie "Pretty Boy Floyd"

I had a pretty big collection of blues songs in the 40s but none of them really stood out so I'm not going to bother posting a video. They were one thing that lead to rock and roll, though, so I have to mention that I don't really think this white guy started the whole thing. But if you really listen to Hank Williams' "Move it On Over" from 1947, it's more than just his "first country hit." It's rock and roll!

Hank Williams "Move It On Over"

Of course, there were other songs that sounded just like that I'm sure. And two years later, Goree Carter had a no-argument-about-it rock and roll song called "Rock Awhile." I probably picked up this mp3 from a blog somewhere.

Goree Carter and His Hepcats "Rock Awhile"

And what better way to kick us into the 50s? Join me next time on AN EAR FOR AN ERA!

Other Highlights Worth Mentioning:

• George Gershwin, "Rhapsody in Blue" - I am in love with this composition. It merged classical and jazz and makes me think of Manhattan. Probably because the film uses it in the opening. Chapter one...
• Pierre Schaeffer, "Etude Aux Chemins de Fer" - Quite a curiosity. Loops of train noises and such. The avant garde was alive and well in 1949! Although you need only check out some underground film from that time to know that.
• Miles Davis. Birth of the Cool. Duh.

In The Next Installment...

The early 50s! I have about twice as much music from 1950-1954 as I did from 1899-1949. It looks like there's more Edith Piaf, a LOT more blues, and a Hank Williams marathon awaiting me. And of course, plenty of early rock and roll! And Dizzy Gillespie. And Frank Sinatra.

Manifesto for a new 'loggin' project

Hi! I know you! You're the reader that reads this piece of the internet known as Quiet Brandon! How's it going?

I'm going to do a new project and this is the little summation of what I expect to happen.

This project will have a name. Such as...

Musichronology 101! or... Journey Through Time via Music! or...any suggestions?

Basically, here's the whole thing. I have a lot of music on my external hard drive. iTunes says it's 36076  mp3s, totalling 221.07 GB or 92 days, 15 hours, 35 minutes, and 53 seconds of music. All different songs. Mostly. Sometimes there's a remastered version and a not-remastered version of the same track here and there. But for the most part, I have lots. I keep acquiring. It keeps growing. But I keep focusing on the NOW, on the "what came out this year? what's the best of this year?"

A few years ago I decided to go through my whole music collection, alphabetically by artist. It was quite the journey. Since them, I have acquired much more music for this thing. So I'm doing a new thing.

The plan is to listen to all of my music--other than classical because that would cause a long section of classical music to start it off and I'm not ready to critically decipher what was happening there--chronologically, and write about my findings here.

I'll divide it into chunks. I'll probably start with "everything pre-1950" and write about that. Then a time period after that. Etc. And then specific years, probably starting in 1964 or so. A post about each year.

I'm not saying I have all the definitive music of this century at my fingertips. Or the past 63 years even. But I have enough that it should be interesting. Maybe we'll learn something about the history of the world or the nation or just of me.

I'll keep listening to new music as it comes out, which will slow this project down, but I can't resist good new music (particularly if it turns out to be as good as this new Yo La Tengo album, which is fantastic). But for the most part, I'll stick to the chronological journey.


Anyone have a good idea for a title of this project?

Officially the don Horn/Ampersand/Quiet Brandon International Media Corporation: Denver Branch Best Music of 2012 The Last Year of Our Species.

Good Day, friends and acquaintances and strangers that somehow came across this thing. I have a great taste in music so my opinions are therefore the most important ones in regards to music released into this world during the calendar year of 2012. If I didn't hear it, it was not important/good. This is an assumption we must make. If I didn't understand it fully, it must not have been worth my time to give it the required attention.

I'm doing things a bit differently this year. I decided against the whole "ranking stuff" thing because come on. I always regret it later. I put the xx over Dirty Projectors in 2009? What was I thinking? And how can you choose between two great albums of entirely different genre? What is this based on? Something unquantifiable? That special feeling that special music gives me? Which one does "that" better?

No no no. This year, I'm just going to share with you a list (in alphabetical order lest you think I'm trying to rank them) of the music that was released that was very very special to me. There are 15 if you want to try to figure out how they would rank based on what I say about them. And I will say why it was special to me. Maybe we can start a dialogue that way. I know listing things starts dialogues, but it usually comes down to me saying "I don't know why I liked this more; I guess I just didn't get into that other one that much."

Take a look. And then tell me what music was the most special to you. Let's bond over this.

A is for...Aesop Rock: Skelethon. I'm not sure if this is less "dense" than his last album or not, but it feels that way to me. I can follow along a little better. It's either me or him that has changed. Probably me. He still spits out words with an intensity that sounds like they've been stuck in his throat for ages and he...just...hastogetthemoutrightnow. I like it a lot. Also, surprising to me because I kind of find her too precious, that song with Kimya Dawson is great. She is utilized in a way that is not annoying! More just creepy in a really great way.

B is for...Bobby Womack: The Bravest Man In The Universe. It sounds just as I hoped it would sound. After the greatness that was Bobby Womack on the last (two) Gorillaz album(s), I had high hopes for a Damon Albarn (and Richard Russell!) produced Bobby Womack album. His voice has oh so much soul at this age, I can't get over it. And Albarn's production is modern yet classy. Usually if you try to modernize soul like this it sounds cheesy and terrible. But something tells me this will age well. The production enhances the vocals, as opposed to masking/ruining them.

C is for...Chromatics: Kill For Love. Speaking of cheesy production...this sounds quite a bit like something cheesy from the 80s. Yet...I like it. Why? Well, this is a great album for driving around at night (yeah yeah, I know their last album was actually called Night Drive). The electricity of the city, experiencing life. Synths. Stuff.

C is also for...Cloud Nothings: Attack on Memory. This one took me a bit. It took me a while to get over the vocals. I almost have a love/tolerate relationship with the vocals. Sometimes it's annoying pop punk, and sometimes it sounds like a young Johnny Rotten (i.e. actual punk). The music, though, just sounds so alive! Kind of like what Titus Andronicus did for me a couple years ago. The energy of that punk rock that I lived for in high school. Unpredictable, turn on a dime, can't-help-but-air-drum-in-the-car rocking out. It kind of reminds me of Nirvana without being stuck in the 90s. And "Wasted Days" may be the song of the year. Maybe.

D is for...Dirty Projectors: Swing Lo Magellan. Beautiful record here. It reminds me of the last TV On The Radio album in that I feel like the last one reached such a level of technical mastery and now they are playing in the newly expanded playground they've created. Using it to create (dare I say) poppier sounds without compromising who they are. Putting more heart on display while making the technical stuff look easy. The breakdown that happens late in the album where they actually purposefully get off the beat, talk over each other, just lends to this as well. They're having fun. So listening to it is just fun.

E is for...El-P: Cancer 4 Cure. This really was a big year for hip hop. As you'll see. I don't know if I can get away with my years-old practice of shying away from commenting on hip hop because I'm "so new" to the genre that I don't know what to say! At this point I don't think that's fair. Why do I like this album? Because it's so bombastic, because it references Step Brothers and Groucho Marx. Because Nick Diamond is on there. And he lets the intro play for a full 3 minutes before jumping in there. This is a hip hop album that would have held up last year, when it seemed like nothing could hold a candle to Shabazz Palaces. It's at that level.

F is for...Frank Ocean: Channel Orange. I'll admit it. I probably would not have even given this a chance if he hadn't posted that coming out thing online leading up to the album. I always figured, he has a nice voice, but I also pre-decided that he wouldn't have anything interesting to say. The Odd Future crew irritated the hell out of me last year and I would just as soon have nothing to do with any of their output. But part of that was the misogyny and homophobia of what they were saying. But he's gay? And this album is getting good reviews? OK fine. Maybe I was wrong about this guy. I'll get the deal of the day $3.99 album on Amazon. If nothing else, there's at least a track featuring Andre 3000. But wow. He has a lot to say. This is some next level R&B. A modern Marvin Gaye (pardon the pun). The production and diversity of sounds is amazing, but what keep me coming back are his songwriting and that beautiful, beautiful voice.

G is for...Godspeed You! Black Emperor!: Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! A couple 20 minute tracks and a couple 6 minute tracks. Those two 20 minute tracks are kind of the definition of epic music, but I just find it accessible. I can just put it on like a pop record and listen to them like it's nothing. It's a quick 20 minute journey. Well a couple of them. Once it really gets going, you really gotta listen to the whole thing.

J is for...Japandroids: Celebration Rock. Kind of the opposite of the rock spectrum. Quick songs (ok, not like Off level quick, they are almost all over 4 minutes) of anthemic whoa-oh-ohs and guitar licks and a few actual lyrics to throw in there. "The Nights of Wine and Roses" is now one of my favorite drinking songs. But all the songs, put together, are a statement of "let's be young! woohoooo!" sloganeering but like, without being shallow, ya know?

J is also for...Jens Lekman. I was a little reluctant to put this on there. Especially because I skipped Jack White (did you notice that? I'm still kind of surprised I skipped his album on this list because it's great!). But also because I find the actual music to be somewhat cheesy. A little too smooth jazz for my tastes. But he always always always gets me with his combination of melody and lyrics. The simple songwriting. It doesn't matter how they are presented. These songs are pure gold. Every one of them.

K is for...Kendrick Lamar: good kid, m.A.A.d city. I wanted but kind of failed to like Section.80. Now I'm wondering if I should give it another chance. He has so much to say on this album, and so many creative ways to say it. It sounds like a debut to me.

K is also for...KIller Mike: R.A.P. Music. Can he and El-P team up all the time now? What a great foundation is laid for Killer Mike to just...kill it. He sounds completely alive and excited to rap about literature and staying sharp. It's inspiring. So listen up.

O is for...of Montreal: Paralytic Stalks. OK I will admit I am somewhat of an of Montreal apologist. Their last couple albums were a little lacking but I really really wanted to like them more than I probably actually did. I may have forced it a bit. But this one? Pitchfork hated this one? After gushing over Hissing Fauna? It's like it wouldn't fit their pre-set narrative of this band to admit they have returned in a big way. This is their darkest album, it is easily their best and most personal since Hissing Fauna, and it's very rewarding. Is it a mess? Kind of, but that's because it's exploring the human psyche, which is a mess. It's still catchy, still has those great sing along choruses about making the one you love start crying and it feeling good, exploring the darker reaches of your mind to come out clean on the other side. You know...therapy.

R is for...Robert Glasper: Black Radio. I didn't know who this guy was (he is a jazz pianist). But one of the free songs of the day on google was a song featuring Lupe Fiasco and Bilal. So I said "ok, I'll take that free song!" And I did and it was pretty good! Then the album came out and I looked at the track listing and who was featured. Erykah Badu! Chrisette Michele! Yasiin Bey (you know, Mos Def)! Why not give this a try? But more than a collection of R&B and hip hop personalities getting their jazz on is a celebration of  the love of the music. That sounds cheesy. But it's great jazz with great singing--and some rapping--on top. It's Billie Holiday for 2012. It's hard to describe. But a gorgeous experience.

T is for...THEESatisfaction: awE naturalE. So after Shabazz Palaces blew my mind last year, I was ready for everything I could find associated with them. So this was the big release of 2012 associated with Shabazz Palaces. And it kind of does for R&B what Black Up did for hip hop. It just blows it wide open. If R&B is the right genre for this. Maybe just call it another variation on hip hop. Why do I have to try to label something like this? But what this album does here is it takes two voices, winds them around each other, puts other pieces around those two voices, and makes something gripping and enchanting. Does that make sense? I didn't think so. Just listen!

Y is for...You should also check out these honorable mentions! Much more great music came out! Alabama Shakes. Animal Collective. The Antlers. Bat for Lashes. Big Boi (still needs more gestation as it just came out, it's probably not as great as Speakerboxxx or Sir Lucious Left Foot but it's still Big Boi). Brother Ali. Cat Power. David Byrne & St Vincent. Death Grips. E.D. Sedgwick. The Evens. Fiona Apple. Flying Lotus. Georgia Anne Muldrow (produced by Madlib!). Grimes. Hot Chip. Jack White. JJ Doom. John K. Samson. Leonard Cohen. Liars. Lower Dens. The Men. Nas. Neneh Cherry & The Thing. Santigold. Scissor Sisters. The Swans. Tanlines. Titus Andronicus. Ty Segall. The Walkmen. The xx. 

What did you love?

Playlist/CD/something coming soon.

Obligatory Third Post About The Oscars

I promised it, although now I'm not sure why. There's not much left to say. I will say that Hugo deserved the wins it got. Nothing upset/surprised me too much. Glad some Colorado filmmakers won best documentary short. The Artist is now officially "overrated" but I wish it no ill will. Good for it. Tree of Life will end up being one of those movies that, years down the line, people will say "really? Tree of Life won no awards?" or maybe not. I like to think it will be recognized as 2001: A Space Odyssey is now. But who knows.

I'm glad it's time to move on. It reminds me of the end of the year when I obsess about putting together my list of best albums and once I've done that I can finally listen to other stuff. I can now watch whatever the hell movies I feel like. Not that any of them were a chore (I should have seen The Descendants earlier, that's for sure!). I just feel liberated.

That is all. Thanks for playing.

Updated Oscar related things and thoughts!

I said I would do this so here it is. Now that I've seen most of the movies nominated for most things, here are some final thoughts about what I would like to see happen tomorrow on the TV screen which is oh so important.

Best Picture: Still Tree of Life, duh. But I can see The Artist taking everything for nothing more than nostalgic purposes. I didn't dislike The Artist and wish it no ill will, but it was simply "good."

Lead Actor: George Clooney will probably win and I now think he should. He was marvelous. I always think Clooney is overrated but I quite liked his performance here.

Lead Actress: Hopin' for Michelle Williams, who channeled the simple charm of Marilyn Monroe. The movie wasn't as good as I had hoped but the acting was great, particularly Ms. Williams. (Prediction is Glenn Close, just seeing the trailer I could tell that that's the type of role that wins Oscars)

Supporting Actor: Kenneth Branagh was also brilliant in My Week With Marilyn. So go him. I don't know who to predict so I decided Max Von Sydow despite the movie being (presumably) terrible. Mostly as a way to finally recognize his brilliance.

Supporting Actress: No interest in The Help but I can see someone from that movie winning. I half-heartedly endorse Bérénice Bejo from The Artist for her charm level, but none of these nominees particularly impressed me this year. Where's Carey Mulligan or Charlotte Gainsbourg?

Animated Feature: I saw none of these. I will blindly hope for A Cat In Paris because I imagine it is a lot of fun, and I will blindly predict Rango. What are we to do without a Pixar nominee?

Cinematography: I was surprised Moneyball wasn't nominated although Wally Pfister got recognized for his work in Inception. But that was probably my second favorite cinematography after Tree of Life. Predict The Artist because it's gonna take home a lot. Even though the lighting had lots of the faults of 40s (and earlier) black and white cinema with multiple shadows always on display. But maybe that was purposeful?

Directing: See above. Predict The Artist but Tree of Life really should take this one.

Editing: Hugo should win, again expecting The Artist...

Song: Go Bret McKenzie!

Adapted Screenplay: I believe The Descendants will and should win. Wonderful story, wonderful dialog, just well told. Moneyball's a distant second.

Original Screenplay: Predicting Midnight in Paris. I didn't see A Separation, but I'm going to hope for that one anyway. None of the nominees I saw impressed me all that much this year.

I sadly didn't see any documentaries, shorts, or the nominated foreign films this year. Other than seeing Time Freak randomly at a film festival. I can hope for Time Freak, but that's not really a fair way to judge it.


I will try to make my final entry about the oscars less list-y and more paragraphy. See you after that!


Oh, one final note. Alfred Hitchcock never won an oscar. Stanley Kubrick only won once for visual effects. The best movies are often not even nominated. Even with 10 nominations. So see Shame, Melancholia, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Drive, The Skin I Live In, King of Devil's Island, and many more. fyi.

of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks

I guess it's time to throw in my 15 cents about this new of Montreal album, eh?

Last year sometime I was reading an interview with Kevin Barnes that had a fairly surprising amount of time praising the Sufjan Stevens album The Age of Adz. It was about how the album was so under-appreciated and in retrospect people would see it as one of the great works of our time. I was happy to see someone defending it so fiercely because I happened to agree strongly with his assessment. Adz was such a massive personal statement into which Stevens threw his whole being, a radical departure from all of his past "mainstream" releases.

It appears that Mr. Barnes was quite influenced by this great work. He seems to have decided to make his own personal version. So what we get here isn't as quite as radical a departure as the one Sufjan Stevens made, but that's only because of Montreal has never shied away from the outrageous/layered/layered/layered/A.D.D.-esque sounds that can be found on this album. But something has changed.

Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? was my favorite album of 2007, a year that included oh so many great albums (Battles, LCD Soundsystem, Okkervil River, Jens Lekman, Animal Collective, Jay-Z, M.I.A., and many others absolutely killed it that year). I had to venture into the world of Myspace to find this, but here is what I wrote about Hissing Fauna in my 2007 summary:

of montreal - hissing fauna, are you the destroyer?/icons, abstract thee
not only my favorite album of the year, but quite possibly my favorite album of the last FEW years. such happy, uplifting music about depressing subject matter. WE JUST WANT TO EMOTE 'TIL WE'RE DEAD. such a perfect opening line to the greatest album i have heard in a really long time. it makes me dance, shed a tear, think, scratch my head, laugh, all while singing along. and i never ever wanted to write this song...

The way that album combined dizzying highs and depressing lyrics moved me in ways I still find troubling. Since then, of Montreal's music has been disappointing me to a degree. The last couple albums just found Barnes reveling in his Georgie Fruit alter-ego, creating a strange fusion of of Montreal and Prince, getting all sorts of funky. Nothing wrong with any of that, it just didn't seem as personal a work, and it was near impossible to relate to it on a personal level.

This new one is different though. He has finally moved on. The lyrics hit the same levels of depression as Fauna, but the music now has a darkness to match. The way they are sung retains what Destroyer did, and once you've spun this a few times, if you're like me you will find yourself singing along with just as much emotion as on Hissing. It's just instead of singing about wanting to "shave your head, have a drink, and be left alone (is that too much to ask?)" it's more about how "somehow I lost the thread of being human, wrapped in all this bitterness."

It's a trip into the depths of Barnes' psyche, it's his most personal work since at least Hissing Fauna, and it's easily the darkest record they have put out. If you can take it, and if you can give it the time and attention it requires, I highly recommend it.

Le Beau Serge

Latecomer: Le Beau Serge

This one hasn't been on my shelf too long. I think I got it last time Barnes & Noble did their whole 50% off all Criterion dealie.

I think this may be the first Chabrol movie I have seen. Fitting, I say, as it was his first film. Maybe I should visit his filmography entirely chronologically. Or maybe that would be too daunting. But with the level of skill and intuition on display in Le Beau Serge, I imagine his films were all very impressive.

Camera movement. That's the main thing I noticed in this film. Lots of long takes. Lots of scenes that took place in just one take. There was a lot going on but it was very easy to follow. This is certainly the work of a filmmaker who has spent a lot of time studying film. Perhaps he was a film critic who decided he would pick up a camera? He was? Cahiers du what now?

But anyway. I don't know what else to say here. It was inventive but not to the degree that other New Wave directors would take things. But he beat them to the punch, so maybe he continued to push and innovate as the 60s went on. I certainly can't wait to find out. If nothing else, I could watch lots of his movies just for the fact that the camera work is certain to be impressive and probably a big influence on later directors such as Paul Thomas Anderson and Martin Scorsese.

Highly recommended, although maybe not as highly as the early work of Truffaut or Godard. But that's just this one movie.

Thou Shalt Not Commit Adulthood

I was fortunate enough this weekend to witness a band I had finally started giving up thinking I'd be able to see. Despite coming of age as a punk rock kid in Fort Collins, my timing was just slightly off and I never got to see the great heroes of Fort Collins punk rock at home. Of course I'm talking about The Descendents.

Growing up I always imagined seeing them at the Starlight, a tiny venue of many punk shows in my day. Today, the Starlight is closed and I don't go back to Fort Collins very often.

So imagine my surprise when I found that The Descendents were playing a show in Denver, sort of a one-off thing, at The Fillmore, which is pretty much the opposite of The Starlight. I never thought they'd play a place like that.

Let me take a few sentences in the middle here to acknowledge the other band that played that night. Another band I missed seeing whenever they were in town despite being a fan about 10 years ago. Hot Water Music is currently working on their new album at Fort Collins' The Blasting Room so they got to play as well as another one-off show that's not part of a tour. They have a huge discography, and my time as a fan only spans a couple of their albums, so I only knew a few of the songs they played but they were still incredible. I may need to get back in touch with their music.

Now, when the great and powerful Descendents took the stage, the first thing I noticed was Milo's grey hair. For a band that prides itself on immaturity, it was quite striking.

But the music. Oh, the music. Every damn song was played with such a high energy level, such electricity and fervor, I almost forgot I was at a venue advertising a Creed concert in the coming weeks. For The Descendents' set, I know every word, every note and every chord was right, right on.

For the All-o-Gistics they brought a bunch of kids on stage. From my understanding, they are the band members' kids. They have kids? They have their own Descendents?? But the kids read off the All-o-Gistics. These kids are the future and if they live by these simple rules they don't have to worry about running out of energy and passion in their lifetime.

One strange thing happened. One of the biggest moments of excitement for much of the crowd was when they played "Nothing With You" off the strange second-reunion-album, 2004's Cool To Be You. It is probably one of the better songs off that album, but it's really got nothing on their 80s discography. I know a lot of kids probably got into the band with that album, but I certainly got into the band with their other strange reunion album, 1996's Everything Sucks but it didn't take me long to discover the beauty that is the band's 80s discography. So why people would particularly latch on to something from 2004 in 2012 when it's markedly inferior to the old stuff (this can't just be my opinion...right??) is a big mystery to me.

What other observations can I make? It was kind of funny when Milo sang "When I Get Old," and he even laughed a little bit at the beginning of the song, but I don't think he's really become his definition of old. Grey hair and whatever age number he has reached has nothing to do with that.

They played damn near every song on the classic Milo Goes to College and I went crazy screaming along to damn near every song they played. That's what's important. I finally got to see those local Fort Collins punk rock heroes live. It wasn't at a tiny, sweaty, smokey bar, but it was still everything else I would hope for. And soon I will be able to re-live the show (and you can see it too!) because it was being taped for some sort of video release. Can't wait!

One last thing. This whole post was about how they embrace immaturity, and how we love them for it, but there has always been one dark spot in one of their early songs, a song that is otherwise awesome and I still love, but it always makes me uncomfortable. "I'm Not A Loser" is a great anthem for punk rock types against jock types that will empower the outcasts of high schools for generations to come, but it happens to end with a bunch of homophobic slurs. These days, it is apparent which side of this ongoing battle of the outcasts vs the cool kids that homosexuals will tend to reside upon, and in this live rendition, this has been recognized, as the slurs were taken out of the song. Some things are worth growing up over, and I'm happy to see that they have become wise without losing their ability to declare "thou shalt not suppress flatulence." Amen to that.

Melancholia

The other one that got snubbed.

It's a good time for a movie dealing with the apocalypse. How would you deal with it? If it was actually happening?

One person just knows things. She knows we are alone in this universe, and she knows that it will end. But with such an innate understanding, you also see the bigger picture:

"The Earth is evil. We don't need to grieve for it."

But for the rest of us, it's all just a mass of confusion. Clinging to anyone that will give you answers, we don't know any better. We just want life to continue because we believe it is important. Especially if we are in fact alone. What is this universe without life, anyhow? Sure, it's beautiful but without life beauty does not matter. No one to perceive it as such. So we want to believe that the threat to all life on earth "looks friendly."

I don't know if this movie even should have been up for any Oscars. Maybe best picture, but the individual elements (acting, cinematography, writing, etc) were basically utilitarian. All just pieces of the bigger picture. Nothing individually stood out, yet the film itself has left a lasting impression on me. And I'm glad I caught it in the theater, particularly due to the final shot. I can't imagine it having nearly as great an effect watching on a TV with my version of surround sound.

So if it's still in theaters near you, definitely check it out. The first act is very uncomfortable, I should warn you, but it's part of what creates this lasting effect. I felt this movie for days after leaving the theater.