The Age Of Adz

Sufjan Stevens, everyone’s favorite banjo-wielding folk-star, has been on hiatus since 2005. Let’s put that into perspective. In 2005, the world had not yet swung a Wiimote. They had not yet navigated a foreign country using the almighty Iphone. Heck, most who heard the name Barak Obama, probably thought it was the name of some Al-Qaeda terrorist. Well, maybe the good people of Illinois knew who he was. Speaking of which, Illinoise was the most critically acclaimed album of the year and while its parts may be traced and categorized, its sum manages to still sound unlike anything I have ever heard; like music of the future. Well at least it seemed like that until the Age of Adz.

To those who were waiting for Sufy’s follow up - you know, Maine, California, or any of the other 48 albums that were promised - let me just say this: prepare for disappointment. Not that the 50 states project was ever to be taken seriously, but an album offering more of the same with perhaps slight progression or evolution (a la Michigan to Illinoise), was expected. At least, I was hoping for that album. Upon first hearing the streaming track “Too Much,” confusion was all I felt; confusion even though I was forewarned and even excited for the new venture into electronica. It was as if I was awaiting the return of an old friend who had left the state for school, only to find that he was now into Reggae, leather and Twilight. In short, I was disappointed, as I expect many will be.

But don’t let your hearts be troubled! Once the dust settles, you will realize that you best friend is still your best friend, he just likes to wear glitter sometimes. OK, this analogy is not working... only 13 year old girls and my wife would follow. What I mean to say is, I have a new love in my life. The album is still growing on me, but what is clear is that Sufjan has created something very special and genuinely heart-breaking.

I was initially distracted by the new sound - the bleeps and the bloops - but the shock will dissipate as the lyrics and melodies surge through you. Because, in comparison, this album is far more personal than its predecessors. It is almost is as if Sufjan is singing his diary; and it seems Sufjan has seen dark days. As a result of this, the album and Sufjan himself become far more relatable. Singing along to songs about industry in Illinoise is peachy, but there is a disconnect. Singing along to “I Want to be Well,” on the other hand imbues the doubt and horror into the listeners mind. It will take time to process the content found underneath the orchestral and thematic waves and clashes of classical and electronic instruments. However, the album leaves me with an undeniably sinking feeling of sorrow with a tinge of hope. Does this stem from Sufjan’s own lost love, loss of faith, or identity crisis? It will ultimately be up to the listener to decide. I cannot recall being so moved by an album’s lyrical content.

There is a great beauty in the transparency and raw emotion evoked. And this beating heart of the album comes through not only through the words, but the instruments as well. It is as though Sufjan has created a machine that takes emotional input and outputs a corresponding noise. This is where the electronic clashes seem to be accounted for. There is discord, there is conflict; and it is translated softly, violently, and beautifully.

In the spirit of true artistry, Sufjan has produced an album without fear. Why not throw the expectations out the door and end the album with a 25 minute epic including vocoder? Yeah, you heard me, vocoder. He has ambiguously and bravely laid is heart out on the table through song; even if it sounded like crap the beauty of such a feat would have to be admired. Thankfully though, the beauty is amplified by the sweet, sweet melodies of a master. There are stunning and poppy melodies that will catch you instantly; but as with most of my favorite albums, it is chalk full of subtleties that slowly reveal themselves to you in time.

And time will tell just how good this album really is. But for now I am just glad to sink my teeth into something so fresh and enthralling.

The Age of Adz drops tomorrow Oct. 12th. In the words of Ike, son of Greil, “Prepare Yourself!”

- By Scott

The Promise Ring

Started in the late 90's as a side project of guitarist from Cap'n Jazz. I think with that info and my previous posts its easy to understand why I love this. Just another recent rediscovery. This video is just the song, couldn't find a proper music video

And completely off topic but, I realized that I sometimes procrastinate getting things done so I can just listen to music. Example, if I'm at my desk listening to something I am really into, but I need to go run an errand or take out the trash etc. I'll tell myself to do it later. I also wait in my truck until a song is finished to get out when I arrive somewhere. It's probably an overall bad habit, but a super awesome one, and I'd imagine pretty common.

-By Wes

Ahhh Legos

I recently came across this video

Build Anything from Studiocanoe on Vimeo.

Pretty creative, and who doesn't love legos. If you get a chance check out the "Stuff You Should Know" podcast, they had a Lego episode and it was extremely interesting, tons of facts.

- By Wes

Owen... my new old favorite

Were back! Summer’s over so now I've got some time for blogging and discovering. So with that quiet comeback I’ll get right to it. Being stuck at home all day with no work or school leaves me with unlimited time to discover and rediscover media. I’ve liked Owen for a long time, the hypnotizingly beautiful solo project of Mike Kinsella. Mike is a repeat offender front man of Chicago emo bands. Cap’n Jazz, Joan Of Arc, Owls, and American Football are a large chunk of projects he’s been apart of, in lots of these his brother Tim has joined him. Just one of these bands is reason enough to check him out, especially Cap’n Jazz or American Football. Owen showcases Mike’s amazing songwriting and guitar skills, his songs float along with ease. His lyrics have obvious deep meaning and tell stories effortlessly, and... bonus, he references classic literature a ton. But, I caution you, as Colin pointed out to me once Owen songs employ the harshest uses of “fuck” I’ve ever heard in music, listen to the album “No Good For No One” and you hear them repeatedly in about 5 songs. As for what album to start with I’ve had “Owen The Ep” for a while, like 6 years but recently acquired a ton more. To be honest they all have some gem songs but I’d say if you could only choose one I’d check “At Home With.” In short I grew to re-love Owen because it’s emo in purest form, it was like discovering American Football or Cap’n Jazz again. Heres a quote from a fan that describes it quite well "ahhhh my dog died, lost my girlfriend... queue the OWEN up and good to go for another few years." And if you were to quote me about Owen, In my opinion an acoustic guitar has never sounded so good.

Heres a fan made video as this song doesn't have an official music video, that I could find at least

and heres a link for another song, his label disabled embedding... sucks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeu5NbmPgQI

- By Wes

Sean Stiegemeier

So I discovered this guy from a really awesome time lapse video of the volcano in Iceland. The video has been traveling around lately, Gizmodo posted it as well as Huffington Post and some other news blogs. But when I checked out his vimeo page, and his website I discovered so much more sweet stuff. Specifically a music video he did for Stomacher, who I had never heard of before but the song is awesome and theres a link for a free download of the album (always a plus). The video is a compilation of a ton of time lapses he did while traveling, including a lot of shots in Yosemite Valley. I'm a sucker for Yosemite being that I live there at a summer camp every summer, sean gets cool points right away. I also discover that he's done some sweet videos for a band two of my coworkers are in, Beta Wolf (formerly know as Takota), and apparently they've been friends with him for a while, second set of cool points. And for the checkmate, he's done some sick Thrice shoots, one shot in particular of Dustin at what looks like the HOB Anaheim show where they filmed a DVD, that I really want as my desktop wallpaper. I love me some Thrice. I spent about an hour just looking through this guys stuff loving all of it. Sean I don't know you, but thumbs up your work is awesome! Check out his sites, He makes the type of stuff that makes me want to give up on photography.

http://vimeo.com/sstieg
- By Wes

The National - High Violet

The beauty of Ohio based, The National is it grows on you like good pair of rainbow sandals. At first you think to yourself, this is just stiff and awkward, there is no way i could spend more than an 30 minutes with these things.  But before you know it, you stick with them, and they become the most comfortable, feet pleasing, article of clothing you own!  This is no understatement, and about 1 million socal OG's and 10 million wannabe's will vouch for me.

So, with The National you might at first think, is this guy serious?  his voice sounds like Brendan Frasier covering some Leonard Cohen classic.  Please get this picture out of your head. I am so sorry I did that to you.  Anyways, the National have been around for about a decade and they continue to bring solid indy alt-rock albums that are polished enough for old folks, but edgy and complex enough for the most pessimistic hipster.  The 5th installment and their latest, High Violet (2010) is close to a masterpiece.  They continue the great songwriting and devastating, understated lyrics but have really matured with exceptional instrumentation and complexity.  Each song is filled with layers of drum work, electic guitar, epic piano and then layers and layers of texture coming from i'm not sure what.  

And now I must give The National my highest compliment.  As a long time asping/failing musician myself, I often listen to music and imagine in my head what they could have added to parts of songs. like, "a little more bass melody here... add a backing string texture... drop that predictable bridge and add a new part,  jamming out an outro..." something like that.  But with the National's High Violet, that never happens.  I can't imagine changing or adding to the songs at all.  They just feel so full and complete.  What comes to mind is a quote from my favorite person, It is finished.

Other things to check out by the national:  song, Fake Empire. compilation, Dark was the Night. 

Things not to check out: every obnoxious politcal involvement, just pretend it never happened.

- By Mark

Scott Pilgrim

So Edgar Wright is making this movie (http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/universal/scottpilgrimvstheworld/) which is based off this graphic novel (http://www.scottpilgrim.com/) and it comes out August 13th. I'm excited, I love Edgar Wright, and I also really like Scott Pilgrim, I'm not the comic type of guy but I read this and it was pretty good, thumbs up for sure! And from the trailer it looks like a pretty freaking rad movie adaptation of a comic, Im totally into the onomatopoeia. This is the summer movie I'm anticipating the most. I'll let you know more after I see it. And not to mention the final book comes out this summer too!

And finally ,

I will be taking a little break from doing any posts for the summer. Because of my job I wont have much time for discovery or blog upkeep. But if the other guys write posts I'll try my best to get them up ASAP. Just wanted to give you all fair warning that posts might be sparse, but we'll be back in full swing in September. See you then, and keep an eye out for my final post that is still in progress and should be up soon!

- By Wes


UPDATE 5/31


New Trailer was released today check it out  its pretty freaking RAD! http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/universal/scottpilgrimvstheworld/


UPDATE 9/13


this is super late but I saw it twice and it was rad! go see it if you haven't or wait for the DVD but it is a must see super fun movie

British TV

I recently realized I really like british TV (in addition to my love of edgar wright's movies), with The Mighty Boosh, Look Around You, Spaced (which you all ready know I love). I decided to check out some other british stuff. The first show I looked into was Man Stroke Woman. Here's just one of the clips you can find on youtube. Apparently british TV is full of sketch shows, i'd say in monty python fashion. Tons of british comedy actors have a 2 season sketch show in their resume, this is one of them. Not every sketch is amazing but there are enough great ones to make it worth while. And the jokes are super british, theres no in your face american humor. Heres one of my favorites, theres a ton more on youtube check em out.

Another show I came across is Green Wing. It's a pretty classic hospital sitcom, I've read a lot on the net of people calling it the british Scrubs. I don't think its exactly like scrubs but its similar in that its a sitcom with mostly dry humor set in a hospital. The whole show is on Hulu (www.hulu.com/green-wing) so you should check it out. It's definitely worth a look, good characters, story, and pretty funny.

I like the fact that the more the internet develops more diverse stuff becomes really accessible, like british TV that I would have never seen without first reading about or seeing clips of online. It opens up a whole new bucket of content to Americans, and I don't have to stick with tired crap that gets pushed out season after season by major networks.

- By Wes

Ok Go never stops with the awesome music videos

So whatever you may think of Ok Go. Everyone knows that the video for "Here It Goes Again" was really cool. As for the song, I definitely got tired of it. But I first saw the video before it really blew up and I was like that's pretty sweet. But more recently Ok Go released an album in mid January "Of the Blue Color of the Sky." And yet again for the song "This Too Shall Pass," they made a cool music video. Its not a drastically original idea, or anything that hasn't been done, but it's still really entertaining.

My favorite part of the video is when the TV playing "Here It Goes Again" gets smashed by a sledge hammer. Pretty clever Ok Go. One of the funnier things about this is that there are two music videos. Why? I have no clue. And of course the other one is also sweet, check it out too, embedding was disabled so here's a link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJKythlXAIY. So there it is, I just wanted to share a cool video with everyone. Personally I like the song, I think it's leaps and bounds better than their Here It Goes Again days. As for the rest of the album, I've only given it a short listen so can't make a good judgment but it hasn't sparked anything yet. If you disagree about the song, at least it was entertaining to watch, both times.

- By Wes

#4

Scott's Top Ten of The Decade Continues...

 #4 City of God (2002)

First of all, let it be known that this is a tough movie to watch. It has some of the most terrifying and heartbreaking scenes in cinema.  So… you’ve been warned, not everyone should see this.

The film focuses its unflinching lens on the rampant gang scene on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. The story progresses from one generation of killer teens to the next. It is a raw depiction of the underbelly of all those terrible stories you see on the news – filled with heroes, villains, and victims. But not once is the evil not understood by the viewer. We see through beautiful craft just how evil begets evil – we watch with horror as a child is robbed of innocence and given a gun in its stead. It is Lord of Flies tale that is impossible to forget, even if you want to. And I cannot praise the direction and editing of this film enough, more than most movies this one transports you from the couch to the world on screen.

Favorite moment: Maybe it isn’t my favorite, but the scene that always sticks out in my mind is the one where a young boy is peer-pressured into shooting another child in order to be accepted by a gang. Yeah… not a happy moment, but it really encapsulates the tragedy of the whole movie.

- By Scott

#5 Kill Bill

#5 Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 (2003 & 2004)

First of all, I feel justified in combining these two movies because they originally were supposed to be one epic movie and were later edited into two for theaters. Now that that is out of the way, onto Tarantino’s revenge saga. This is a movie lover’s delight – a spaghetti western, Chinese kung fu, Japanese samurai, anime, blaxsploitation cornucopia.  He took all of the best parts of these genres and integrated them into a seamless five-point-palm-splitting-heart technique to the chest.  In an age where Transformers CGI garbage is considered “good action” Kill Bill has some of the best good old fashioned choreographed fight scenes ever. Not to mention it is rank with classic Tarantino dialogue; you know, the  kind of lines that make you smile with malicious delight every time you hear them – the kind of lines that you try to memorize and mouth as you watch the movie for the 100^th time.  In short, the films have wonderful cinematography, pitch-perfect music, bad-ass characters, some the best writing this side of the century, and great tempo. Who doesn’t love a good revenge story?

Favorite moment: This is tough – there are a lot of moments to choose from. I’d have to say though, the confrontation between the Bride and Elle in the trailer.  After a while of fierce battle, there is an intermission and as both pick up their Hanzo swords they exchange words from across the hall. Elle decides to piss Beatrix off by revealing that she killed her master and begins to laugh a classic maniacal laugh as the camera zooms onto her one evil eye which seems itself to defy goodness. Just as you really start to hate that stupid eye our hero charges, the titans clash, and Beatrix (like a total bad-ass) snatches her one eye out with her kung fu grip and, as her defeated foe writhes on the floor screaming, proceeds to drop the eye on the floor and squashes it with her bare foot. YES!

- By Scott

Neverending Like The Sky

     I recently was reminded of one of my favorite albums growing up, around 9th and 10th grade plus or minus a few musical phases I was a sucker for pure un scenester emo. To this day friends will find and old album of some sunny day real estate carbon copy  band and tell me I'd really like it (which I totally do.) I am no expert, and when most of these bands were around I was like 5, but I would consider myself a connoisseur. I am pretty sure I could attribute the discovery of all these bands and albums (some well know and some not) to one album, it is the gateway drug. Growing up I was lucky enough to have an older brother who had a rad and fairly diverse taste in music, and one day in 1999 I remember being somewhere in my house and my brother came home with a new CD, he bought it the day it was released, I pestered him until he let me sit in his room and listen to it with him for the first time. The guitar parts were melodic backed with awesome almost mathematic drum rythyms, the vocals and lyrics almost make you wish you were heartbroken also (as they were totally emo and about girls). I still get excited when I hear "For Me This Is Heaven" - by Jimmy Eat World, that song puts me in a trance, and "Clarity" is absolutely my gateway drug album. This album introduced me to The Get Up Kids, Sunny Day Real Estate, Texas Is The Reason, Mineral, I could list on and on but I think those first 2 bands are enough to explain how much I discovered, via domino effect, Old and New. I think the most important part of Clarity for me is that I redefined my taste in music, I had never liked anything that slow or melodic. And after appreciating it I started liking tons of stuff I never did before, I discovered old stuff and also started liking a whole new different type of music that was being released, Juliana Theory, Mae, Further Seems Forever, The Anniversary, ect. On top of this new sound, I realized there was a lot of music for me to enjoy and I didn't have to limit myself to like 3 genres and say these are the bands I like and write off everything else. In short because I could talk about this for a while, I would absolutely consider Clarity My favorite album of all time, Lots of people like to give this title to an old classic rock album or a beatles album because of what it did for music, which I agree is substantially  important... but... this is MY favorite album of all time, I'm choosing an album that gave me a new view of music, and one that bridges the gap between bands I love. On almost every one of those music maping websites like www.tuneglue.com really diverse bands that I like get linked back to each other through jimmy eat world. But the real reason I put this album at number 1 is because I've been listening to it since 1999, ten years of playback and its still not worn out to me, I have the original copy my brother bought in '99 and I still listen to it, I still start to sing "The first star I see may not be a star" when For Me This is Heaven comes on, and I sometimes still close my eyes when on a long drive listening to Clairty. This sounds super gay... but it could be the only album I'd go gay for. And that is why Clarity is my favorite album... ever.

    Let me get to the whole reason I decided to divulge my love for emo and the real reason I wrote this post. I saw this video... (which you may have already seen because it's got 28 million views)

A friend showed me this video of some random talented guy playing guitar. (he is good, check out "Heather's Song" too) It made me real sad that I ever thought Chris Carrabba was good at acoustic guitar. But when I watched this song all I could think about was how much I loved the chorus... and why, I realized how much it sounds like Sky's The Limit, A little known poorly recorded project from VA with the most mesmerizing harmonics ever. Around freshman year of high school me and few friends loved this album. Its always hard for me to describe why I love a particular band or album. But all you need to do is listen to a few songs from Skys The Limit's - The Never Ending Sessions to understand. I love how music can do this to you, I watched a guy hit these really great harmonics during a chorus and it opened up this flood of musical memory, and all I wanted to do was bring up my music collection and listen to years of emo that I lived off in high school. One of my favorite things about this whole post is that while I am typing, my younger brother is in his room and he started listening to Clarity... he has no idea I'm writing about it.

- By Wes

Top Ten of The Decade #6

 #6 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

The movie starts, and you’re thinking: “Great, another indie love story about an emo guy and an annoying feminist” – let the self-loathing begin. Then the movie takes a turn into memory erasing glory and doesn’t stop spinning until the very end.  The story revolves around Joel (Jim Carey) as he attempts to erase the memory of Clementine (Kate Winslet) only to find that though he can erase her from his mind he can’t erase her from his heart.  There is a lot more to it, but let’s be clear, you must see this movie more than once to fully understand/appreciate it. That is partly due to the way it all unfolds, which is a bit schizophrenic but with good reason. By jumping from memory to memory the viewers begin to see a collage of one couples relationship – from the good times and the bad times. And this movie’s foundation is the realness of their relationship. Unlike most Hollywood romances we see the intimate moments shared between two people in love that we rarely see on the screen.  We see Joel and Clementine’s weird inside jokes, them disclosing their deepest fears and insecurities, them in their happiest moments, and their fights which are just as cruel and nasty as real fights can sadly be. Adding to it is Michael Gondry’s imagination which makes every scene… well, interesting. With him at the helm, jumping from Joel’s memory to real time is as simple and effective as Joel moving from one room to another. Thankfully, his artful hand never feels forced or tacky, but remains feeling like a wholly fresh experience throughout. This is one of the best love stories I have ever seen – it is raw, fantastic, and it’s got something to say.

Favorite Moment: When Joel and Clementine return to the house on the beach where they first met (all inside Joel’s memory).  As the memory is getting erased, the house begins to fall apart and Joel is about to take his cue and leave Clementine alone just like he did in real life, when Clementine asks, “What if you stayed this time.” Breaking the rules, the two lovers spend one last moment together before the memory is erased forever and Clementine mysteriously whispers “Meet me in Montauk.”

- By Scott

Passion Pit

    I first heard "Passion Pit" randomly looking for new music at the beginning of the summer. I was using Pandora, not my favorite source for music. Every time I type in a song or band I listen and then find myself sifting through crap till pandora locks me out of my skiping priviledge and I'm left thinking I just want to hear the band/song I typed in, why am I not just listening to my music library? However Pandora does have uses, and regardless of it's shortcomings Passion Pit popped up on one of my stations that day. And It was good I dont remeber which song. But I remeber hearing a few more tracks not much later and thinking I like this. That was the extent of my exposure until I saw this a few months later.

 

    I saw this commercial and instantly said to myself... wait I know that song, what is it? I had totally heard it. Of course! It was that fun electronic pop sound I had experienced before, Passion Pit! I immeadiately remembered that I had really liked it and simutaeneasly wondered why I didn't add it to my music collection the first time. And I didn't make the mistake again. I instanly got passion pit's two released albums, both featuring the song "Sleepy Head" which was used in the commercial.

    Both albums are fun and feature great songwriting. But there are some noticable differences. Their first album "Chunk Of Change" is a more deconstructed electronic pop. It has great writing, an awesome sound, with three stand out tracks, "I've Got Your Number,""Better Things," and "Sleepy Head." The second album "Manners" sounds more produced from that start and you can tell it was their first album post being signed and getting label financing. It is still strong but instead of single songs standing out it has a more cohesive sound as an album. It still features my favorite of their songs, "Little Secrets," a song that just makes you happy when you hear it, and is super easy to listen to at max volume while driving to work. It will brighten your day if stuck in traffic, I know from experience.

   In short this band has made some supper fun music with an interesting sound and great beats. They've got enough pop to not be avant garde and boring, and they sound obscure enough to not be bubbly and dumb. A great indie pop mix. Still a few friends have not enjoyed it as much as myself when I showed it to them, But so what I really like it, and it's totally worth checking out.

- By Wes

#7

#7 There Will Be Blood

PTA… The Paulinator… Anderson the Great… whatever term of endearment you wish to bestow upon Paul Thomas Anderson, his greatness must be acknowledged. Ever since Magnolia I have been down with the man; and give him a little Daniel D to the Lewis… oooooo weee you’ve got a movie! This is a beautifully crafted character study of the monster that is Daniel Plainview. In many ways he is a Citizen Kane type of power hungry monster with just enough humanity to be believable.  His bouts of insanity are as funny and terrifying as Jack Nicholson in The Shinning.  But unlike Citizen Kane, there are two villains: Eli the local priest and Daniel. Their confrontations are pure cinematic joy for me. The movie progresses in waves of tension that slowly builds and releases until someone’s head gets bashed in with a bowling pin. To me, nothing is more satisfying in movies than well-built tension – you know what’s coming, but it still surprises you anyway.

Favorite moment: Eli baptizing Daniel Plainview in the church. I could try to describe how awesome the acting is, you just have to see it to understand its greatness.”I’ve abandoned my boy!” 

- By Scott

Scott's Top Ten Films of The Decade #'s 9 and 8

#9 Spirited Away

I don’t fully understand why I love this movie so much.  I suppose that is actually part of the appeal. I honestly did not know what to make of it the first time I saw it. Now that I have seen it multiple times, what strikes me most about this film is the disarming feeling that I have slipped into another person’s dream whenever I watch it. The world is so foreign, the characters so fantastic, and the story so untraditional that I feel I could only have imagined such a place. It is this feeling that has endeared Miyazaki’s masterpiece to my heart. And of course, the key ingredient to its success is the top-notch animation and the haunting soundtrack that works to lull you into the world where the spirits go. (Wow, I wrote that cheese ball).

Favorite moment: The train ride scene. The imagery of a train filled with lost shadowy spirits gliding over the water is one of the many moments in which, instead of simply telling the audience what to feel, the movie uses music and animation to paint a portrait of Chihiro’s loneliness and uncertainty.

#8 Amelie

Amelie is a wholly charming romantic comedy which causes you to see the world from the child-like perspective of Amelie.  Jean-Pierre Jeunet (who has made quite a few excellent movies) imbues his story with so much detail and visual poetry that it feels like it was made from a novel and not a screenplay.  You develop a real sympathy for Amelie and the other rich characters; so much so that you find yourself rooting for all of them to have a happy ending. And the soundtrack is absolutely phenomenal keeping the movie feeling light and whimsical throughout. Almost all the movies on this list have exceptional musical scores, but this one might be one of the best in my opinion.

Favorite moment: When Amelie guides the blind man through the town describing to him the surroundings. The scene moves at a brisk pace and always gives me chills to watch as Amelie helps the blind man see Paris through words for the first time. This scene just makes me want to go out and help a stranger.

- By Scott

The Wooden Sky

     Every now and then I get the feeling that an album was written with me in mind.  This morning I thought to myself that The Wooden Sky must have sat down one day to write a record and said, "alright mark, we know that you have been hanging out in your family room for the last 10 years pathetically trying to write genuinely inspired alt country love songs while pretending you are not the only person in your band... so we're gonna write the album you always wanted to."  I was insulted at this notion (even if it was my own imagining) but that's pretty much what happened and so we got "If i don't come home you'll know i'm gone".     

    In many ways this album represents a recent love affair i have developed with the whole folksy-alternative-country-indie-rootsy genre.  Wooden sky has found the beauty that lies in simplicity.  Esp when a song writer can stick with real simple GCD progressions but still manage to keep it fresh.  They also manage to avoid the cheese ball lyrics of country, the boring songwriting of folk and the obnoxious gimmicks you find in far too many indie bands these days.  You won't find any gimmicks here more than changing time sigs from 4 to 3 (which they do - see track 8).

    At first, the titles made me skip right to the third song (what with all those obnoxious parenthesis in the song titles and such) (oh the irony)... but that really wasn't a good idea because the album as a whole sets you up for one straight listen through.  Much like the great epics of our time (sarcasm) such as "Up" (see below) or "Lord of the Rings" (which I'm sure will find its way into this blog eventually) this albums creates a great narrative.  The opening track introduces you to the characters, track three "Angels" sets up the conflict, "an evening hymm" and "something hiding for us in the night" explores the inner turmoil, all of which set up the triumphant climax of the "the late king henry."  thats how i see it at least. 

     But I think my favorite aspect of this album is it keeps it real.   The songs grab you with harmonies and catchy phrasing without out being over-glorified, pretentious, over the top, or trying to pretend that life is more exciting than it is.  They create a great feel that seems harder to come by lately and it got me to listen to the album over and over again – which I have done about 10 times this week.


- By Mark

Scott's list of the top films of the decade - First Entry

    This is a list of personal preference. It is not necessarily a list of what I think the greatest or most important films are of the past decade.  It also isn’t simply my favorite movies of the past decade. I consider my opinions of films to be a balance between the pleasure of good art and the enjoyment of good entertainment.  Additionally, I determine the films worth based on the context of what it is attempting to accomplish. Planet Terror, for example, would never be considered a great movie by film critics, but it was never trying to be an Oscar contender. It was trying to be a gloriously ridiculous zombie flick paying homage to the genre classics from another decade; it achieved that goal with superb execution. In short, I consider the overall greatness of the film and the entertainment value all within the context of what the film was trying to do. All of which is entirely subjective so I don’t know why I bother trying to explain. All that is important is that you know that this list… is an absolute good. (Name that movie!)

    Oh, and I’ll go down the list all through the month of January. So stay tuned for the rest on the list. But let us begin with the worst of the best of the 00’s.

Up (2009):

     I had a hard time choosing between this, my favorite Pixar movie to date, and Memento for the number 10 spot. The critic in me said: “Memento is a far more important feature film that put a new spin on the narrative structure on blah blah blah.” I loved Memento… I love Christopher Nolan (see #3 on the list); but I have seen Up about five and half times now and each time my heart is hooked on the perfect love story of Mr. Fredrickson and Ellie. This movie is just one of the shining examples of why Pixar is the king of animation: they make good story-telling look easy. It is simple but multilayered with perfect character/plot development –almost everything comes full circle by the final act. Not to mention the story is beautifully crafted with bright colors, stirring music, and great voice acting. Sure there are some weaker talking dog puns thrown in (not that there isn’t genuine humor to be found), but the story is so beautifully woven for me to care.

    Favorite moment: Tie between the perfect silent montage depicting  the life Ellie and Mr. Frederickson shared together and the moment at the beginning of the final act when Mr. Fredrickson discovers Ellie completed her scrap book and he begins to uproot all of his prized possessions in order to embrace his new adventure.

    Pixars magic, though it began in the 90’s, must be addressed; for in the past decade this studio has given us Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars (my least favorite), Ratatouille, and WALL-E. I don’t think the world realizes how rare it is for a production company, which could so easily shove out crap and still make a hefty profit, to care so deeply about good storytelling. And it is beyond obvious, through their work alone, that the good people at Pixar are a passionate bunch.  Bless you Pixar.

 - By Scott

British Comedy Gold

You've probably heard of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and the more informed of you, Edgar Wright. I have been a fan of theirs for a while but only recently did I truly realize how skillful they are. This summer I finally saw Spaced, and then finally owned a copy of my own (thank you birthday). I'd seen Shaun of the Dead, and Hot fuzz, and liked them both very much. But Spaced made me a real fan.

            Spaced, the 2 season, 14 episode, British sitcom from the turn of the millennium that wasn't available in the US till 8 years after its first airing. It’s hard to describe why this is so good or why I like it so much. It's one of those things you just have to see. The stories are real enough to make the show relatable but illusive enough to make it genuinely funny.  But I think the one undeniable thing that any "Spaced" fan would reiterate is that you really care about the characters. To be honest I just want to hang out with them, they are super awesome people, which would make a stellar groups of friends. Similarly, the cast is cool too. A co-worker of mine was asked if he could hang out with and personally know any celebrity, who would it be? Everyone else was saying Clint Eastwood (bad ass), Chuck Norris (perfect, if you want to learn the proper way to punch a hole in someone) etc. But he answered Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright. I totally agree. Watch any special feature on their DVDs and you’ll understand.

            One of the more amazing things about this show is that it sprouted a now well recognized acting career, that of Nick Frost. And started the launch of Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Nick into stardom. Nick who was a long time friend of Simon had never acted before this show. Simon based "Mike" off a character Nick used to do to make him laugh, and he wanted Nick to be cast, that’s it.

            And these three were not the only people to gain popularity from Spaced. A good chunk of the show’s success and brilliance comes from Simon's Co-Writer and Co-Star, Jessica Hynes (Stevenson), who plays Daisy. She is one of the funniest women I've ever seen in TV/Movies. The amazing writing of the show is half due to her, she seems to get left out of the equation by most people these days even though she is an equal key to the shows genius, and she definitely deserves the credit.

            After the show's second season Simon and Edgar wrote Shaun of the Dead, which might have the most perfect opening scene music choice ever. One thing I learned about Edgar Wright is that he has an awesome taste in music. He also has a sixth sense that enables him to make perfect music choices for his projects, and allows me to discover great British bands. Anyway, Shaun was funny the first time I saw it, but amazing after seeing Spaced, I think Spaced enhanced my understanding of these guys. The same goes for Hot Fuzz. After loving Spaced, I can find so much more to laugh about and enjoy in their later stuff.

            The bottom line is these guys (and Jessica) have created some incredible modern comedy, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Check out wikipedia articles about this stuff, they've got a huge and very involved fan base. They also constantly get mentioned on different critic’s and fans lists of “the best/top (insert descriptive film/director/genre criteria) list.” There’s a ton I've left out about the awesomeness of these movies/show, but I could write a 10 page essay about how much I like them and why. I’m sure you could have guessed by now that this post was not for fans of Spaced, you already know how fantastic it is, and don’t need me to tell you. The only thing I have to say is, see it. If you haven't seen Spaced yet and you like these guys it will make their stuff so much better. And if you haven't seen any of it, you better netflix or redbox some shiz right away. However... the great part is, Spaced is on Hulu for free… so there is no reason not to enjoy it.

I can't wait for the last installment of their movie trilogy.

- By Wes