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