Albums of the month: May

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere by Neil Young & Crazy Horse (1969)
A showcase for the rockier side of Neil Young, offering several classics including Cinnamon Girl, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Down by the River, and Cowgirl in the Sand. Running Dry is the best of the slower songs.
A great album, with superb guitar work. I just prefer his acoustic direction on After the Gold Rush and Harvest which hits me harder emotionally.
8/10

 

 

 

 

 

After the Gold Rush by Neil Young (1970)
Southern Man is a classic and Tell Me Why, After the Gold Rush, Only Love Can Break Your Heart are great too. On the track Oh Lonesome Me he makes the listener contemplate going to a party or staying home. There’s an earnestness in his vocal. The last four tracks are weaker.
8-9/10

 

 

 

 

Tonight’s the Night by Neil Young (1975)
A raw, emotional blues rock/country rock album. Part of the so-called ”Ditch Trilogy” (Time Fades Away and On The Beach are the other two), in which Neil Young’s success collided with personal chaos and loss. A darker album with Neil is in a reflective mood due to the death of his friend & Crazy Horse band member Danny Whitten and Bruce Berry (professional roadie for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young). There’s a pessimism that stemmed from the idealism of the 1960s. Needle and the Damage Done (Harvest) was written about Whitten’s heroin addiction. Young revealed in an interview that he felt responsible for Whitten’s death (he was fired by Young on 18 Nov. ’72 and died of an overdose later that night). The album was recorded in August ’73 but wasn’t released until 1975. Whitten sings and plays on “Come On Baby”, which was recorded live in 1970.
The title track Tonight’s the Night (a cautionary song about Bruce Berry’s drug overdose) improves with each listen. The moving ballad Borrowed Tune is a personal favorite and Speakin’ Out has great lyrics and much replay value. Albuquerque and Lookout Joe are the most memorable from the B-side.
8-9/10

 

 

 

 

 

Rust Never Sleeps by Neil Young & Crazy Horse (1979)
You can’t really go wrong with Neil Young from the 1970s. Rust Never Sleeps is a semi live/semi studio album, split into an acoustic A-side, followed by an electric B-side. I was impressed by the songwriting. The iconic opener My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) and Pocahontas are great songs with distinctive guitar melodies, the former is probably one of the most affecting songs of his career.
Powderfinger and the guitar playing is a highlight of the B-side, in the vein of the 1969 Crazy Horse collaborations. Sail Away felt like filler.
8/10

 

 

 

 

 

Demons and Wizards by Uriah Heep (1972)
Why is this album rated so highly on RYM? Annoying quivering vocal, boring lyrics, unremarkable singles. But not a total waste of time as the closer Paradise / The Spell is powerful and skillfully composed. Circle Of Hands is good too.
4/10

 

 

 

 

 

The Garden by Zero 7 (2006)
Third album by Zero 7, an electronic/down tempo group who were active in the 2000s. At times, their sound is reminiscent of the French duo Air. Fond memories of Crosses with José González on lead vocal, easily the track with the most energy and best production. The rest of the album isn’t as essential. I like the jazzy, mostly instrumental Your Place. The Sia tracks are fairly dull.
5/10

 

 

 

 

 

Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino by Arctic Monkeys (2018) 
As a collection of Alex Turner poetry it’s not bad, but if you like a good melody you won’t find many here (She Looks Like Fun and Batphone are the most melodic). The group reinvent themselves, going for a low-key lounge style, very different to the guitar/riff based previous albums. As others have said, it feels less like an Arctic Monkeys album and more of an Alex Turner solo project. I respect the desire to change but I can’t say I found it a particularly enjoyable listen. Sort of in the same vein as 2017’s Pure Comedy by Father John Misty, lyrical content and piano are prominent.
Kudos for the Blade Runner shout-out and space themed concept, writing about another world in order to comment on this one. The commentary on fame, gentrification, Donald Trump, Theresa May, smart phone/device obsessions, internet trolling, and the “endless stream of great TV” is relevant, yet merely repeating what others have said before. Nice artwork on the sleeve.
5/10

 

 

 

 

 

7 by Beach House (2018)
Currently my favorite album of 2018. The songs are very pleasant. Dive, L’Inconnue, and The Jesus and Mary Chain-esque Pay No Mind are early favorites. Lemon Glow is the weakest of the four singles.
The heavy distortion at times makes it difficult to detect Victoria Legrand’s recognizable vocal, for example on the opener. Maybe the change is a blessing. Dive is the most Beach House-y because she actually sounds like herself. I’d be curious to listen to the album in a higher audio quality than free spotify provides.
7-8/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think? As always, comments are welcome

 

 

Top 50 songs of 2017 countdown (#1-#5)

 

 

 

 

 

1.) Do Not Let Your Spirit Wane by Gang of Youths
(The best ballad The National never wrote? A plea to value life, an autobiographical song from the heart. The singer explained in an interview he nearly died. I was lucky to find Australian band Gang of Youths thanks to another blogger: Every Record Tells A Story’s Albums Of 2017)

 

 

 

 

2.) Shadow by Chromatics (the YouTube video contains Twin Peaks S3 spoilers) 
(Technically a 2015 single, was re-recorded in 2017 for Twin Peaks. The new version is beautiful and gives me all the feels when watched with the fan-made video)

 

 

 

3.) Windswept by Johnny Jewel
(From season 3 of Twin Peaks. Evoking a sense of mystery and used at the end of episode 5. Some fans call it the theme of Dougie. Johnny Jewel really outdid himself with this instrumental, eclipsing even the new material by Angelo Badalamenti)

 

 

 

4.) Call the Police by LCD Soundsystem
(Wonderful production and the lyrics are open to interpretation. The strongest moment on an album that I thought was overrated)

 

 

 

5.)  Rise Up by Foxygen
(Their latest album has an orchestral, retro 70s sound. I really couldn’t tell it’s contemporary. The closer Rise Up is epic and inspiring)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This post brings to a close the ten part series, I hope you enjoyed reading and listening. What do you think? As always, comments are welcome

Question: which films are not as good on the small screen?

 

 

I should preface by saying I didn’t go to the cinema very often until the mid 90s, and I haven’t rewatched these films recently, which the list reflects. Also worth mentioning, the post was inspired by another blogger who wrote about watching Gravity on TV: The gravity of the situation.

 

 

 

Independence Day (1996)
I had a great time with this blockbuster back when I was a teenager, it’s funny and visually the spaceships and explosions look epic. The friend I saw it with agreed with me and I even bought the poster. Once released on video my friend rushed out to buy it. He told me about the rewatch and I could see the excitement on his face wasn’t there, the movie lacked epicness at home. I rewatched it too and the result was the same.

 

 

 

 

Gravity (2013)
Rarely have I seen a film that captured space so beautifully and the spectacle was enough initially.  Similar to Avatar (below), once the film is stripped of the 3D and reduced to the small screen, the story and characters become more important, and neither are at the level of the special effects.

 

 

 

 

 

Avatar (2009)
Probably a popular choice in this category. The thrill of Avatar was seeing a 3D film for the first time. Immersed in the world of Pandora, with its creatures, landscapes, and most memorably the floating woodsprites which hang in the air among the audience in the cinema. The story isn’t great, and when rewatched on TV there isn’t the same wow feeling.

 

 

 

 

 

The Sixth Sense (1999)
Keeps you on the edge of your seat, a great mystery. Some viewers may claim it’s easily solved during the first watch. But the excitement of the story unfolding was a cinema-going event which can’t be replicated. The second viewing on home release was a lot less intense, but not a total waste, where you are essentially aware of the twist and the predicaments of the characters are more clearly defined. Still, the twist is what most remember and once that secret is revealed, the film looses some of its impact.

 

 

 

 

 

Gladiator (2000)
Ancient Rome is presented on a grand scale and I believed I was right there. By no means a bad movie on TV, but I couldn’t help feeling a little let down. For me, definitely one of those films that is most entertaining the first time around.

 

 

 

 

What do you think? Which films impressed you at the cinema and then underwhelmed you on the small screen?

Top 50 songs of 2017 countdown (#10-#6)

 

 

 

 

 

6.) Everything Now by Arcade Fire
(A great intro, & We Don’t Deserve Love (from the same album) has a great outro.
Nothing I’ve heard this year is as epic as that piano kicking in at 0.45. For me, 2017’s song of the summer, geared towards big stadiums and crowds singing along. The lyric is about our generation’s opportunity to consume everything)

 

 

 

 

7.)  Nothing To Find by The War On Drugs
(In recent years, I haven’t seen eye to eye with the Grammys. I agree A Deeper Understanding (2017) deserves to win Best Rock Album of the year. Nothing to Find wasn’t a single, but has great lyrics and could be one of the band’s most uplifting songs)

 

 

 

 

8.) Pariah (ft. Ninet Tayeb) by Steven Wilson
(Wilson is sometimes accused of leaning too heavily on his influences. Pariah might be his most affecting song to date. Tayeb’s vocal contribution is inspired. The year’s best duet)

 

 

 

 

9.) Sugar For The Pill by Slowdive
(We exist in a revival era designed to please the fans. Having listened to Slowdive’s entire discography (1990-2017), I’d put Sugar for the Pill up there with the band’s best songs)

 

 

 

 

10.) New York by St. Vincent
(The line ”New York isn’t New York without you love” might be my favorite lyric of the year. I’d love to know more about the hero/friend. Other stand out moments on her 2017 album include Los Ageless, Happy Birthday Johnny, and Savior)

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think? As always, comments are welcome. The top 5 will be posted later in May!

Films of the month: April

 

 

 

A Matter of Life and Death (1946) (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)
The sets and visual side look fantastic (the record’s area in heaven, the stairway, inside the eyeball, the court room), and the story has charm. The two of them falling in love at first sight I guess could happen if you are a believer in that sort of thing. In real life, few women would allow you to kiss her after just 1 minute! But it’s a fantasy so I just ran with it. They don’t make movies like this anymore.
9/10

 

 

 

To Be or Not to Be (1942) (Ernst Lubitsch)
A daring comedy considering was made during WW2, but at times tonally inconsistent . Funniest quote: “what he did to Shakespeare, we are now doing to Poland”
8/10

 

 

 

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) (Karel Reisz)
Great performance by Albert Finney as the angry young rebel, bored with his working class factory job, he lives for the excitement of the weekends, and doesn’t want to end up like his father in front of the TV. Considered one of the earliest and best kitchen sink dramas to come out of the British New Wave of social realism films in the 50s and 60s.
8/10

 

 

 

The Last Emperor (1987) (Bernardo Bertolucci)
My second attempt and I can’t bring myself to sit through the entirety of this Best Picture winner. Reading the wikipedia synopsis to get the gist is enough for me. Praiseworthy for the set decoration, costumes, cinematography, but I couldn’t care less about the characters.
4/10

 

 

 

Den ofrivillige golfaren (1991) (Lasse Åberg)
By the makers of the Swedish comedy classic Sällskapsresan/ The Package Tour (1980)
Lots of golf jokes, wearing helmets, hitting the wrong ball, the misuse of the word handicap. The Scandinavian answer to 1980’s Caddyshack. Starts promisingly but the jokes seem to dry up mid film. Charming, and occasionally amusing, but the story lacks surprises.
6/10

 

 

 

Red Road (2006) (Andrea Arnold)
Feature film debut from Andrea Arnold. A dark, unsettling story about a lonely female surveillance operator captivated by a man she follows via her screens. Her obsessive observing and following held my attention and addresses the legal issues of using CCTV. The voyeuristic approach is very cinematic and there’s an eerie sense of danger and bad things might happen.
The second half goes for an explanation as to her motivation. Slightly overlong for the story it tells. Worth a look but not as powerful as Fish Tank (2009)
6/10

 

 

In Bruges (2008) (Martin McDonagh)
Rewatch. From the director of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Entertaining Tarantino-esque dialogue, but the more I think about the mean spirited jokes, the less I like the film. Offensive to overweight people. I was okay with the dwarf who is given a fully realized supporting character as in Three Billboards. Humanizes two assassins who have a conscience about their job. Nice scenery from Bruge in Belgium. I wasn’t sure if I was rooting for Ray (Colin Farrell) as he does violent and tasteless things and his date still likes him afterwards. Shows that nice people can be violent hitman and we shouldn’t judge too soon.
7.5/10

 

 

 

Super 8 (2011) (J.J. Abrams)
A Spielbergian homage with a cast not unlike Stranger Things. Entertaining while it lasted, but the more I think about it, the less I like the film. The story is far-fetched and I found the creature to lack personality. As with most retro films it isn’t as great as its influences. The first 30-35 minutes are better than the rest.
6/10

 

 

 

Lady Bird (2017) (Greta Gerwig)
Probably my expectations were too high due to the oscar buzz. A good-but-not-great coming of age. The characters are cute but slightly annoying at times. The prom sequence is probably the sweetest part, and the parent-daughter aspect is well done. The other siblings are underdeveloped. Perhaps I need to watch again to appreciate the nuances. I liked that the story is a modern twist on the John Hughes playbook. You can also see the influence of more recent female led coming of age movies so I’m not convinced the structure of the plot is particularly original. I wanted to connect with the characters but only did so fleetingly. The film’s strength is the dialogue and acting.
Favorite quote: mother: “Of course I love you”. Daughter: “But do you like me?”
6/10

 

 

 

Happy End (2017)  (Michael Haneke)
A dark satirical drama about the nature of good and evil. The title is ironic. There are topical themes about self-medication in the home environment, work place safety, alcohol abuse, old age, pets, the European refugee crisis, and being ”seen” on social media, especially the latter is well done in the opening scene, using smartphone video. The daughter (13 year old Fantine Harduin) breaking down in the car was powerful and she is given the most interesting role. The restaurant sequence is also memorable although not as great as the one in The Square.
To me, a messy Haneke work, with lots of semi-formed ideas. Perhaps the story called for the longer TV format. I guess it’s too much to ask that every film by Haneke should be masterful. Sort of a sequel to Amour (2012). Alex Withrow, in his review, argues the director uses Happy End to rally against social media platforms which can detach people from real emotion. “It’s on my phone, it isn’t real.” Also explored in 2017 horror-comedy Tragedy Girls.
6/10

 

 

 

The Work (2017) (documentary)  (Jairus McLeary & Gethin Aldous)
Wins points for its raw emotion. In Folsom prison, inmates and others from outside are together in group therapy. Dealing with issues such as grief, lack of parental love, and distance from loved ones. They are encouraged to go to these dark places so as to face their fear. Some of them break down, letting out years of pent-up pain. Others in the group try and comfort them or express respect at how honest the vulnerability is. Several of the listeners can relate and urge those in pain not to give up.
As another letterboxd reviewer wrote, a film about “masculinity, guilt, and the unhealthy ways that society often teaches us from a young age to detach from our true emotions”
7/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think? As always, comments are welcome