Archive for March, 2008|Monthly archive page
Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz with Bill Evans
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This is a recording of a radio broadcast from 1978 with Bill Evans, one of my favourite piano players and jazz musicians. It is a very insightful interview, with him playing solo or in duet with McPartland in between the conversation. It was very interesting to me to hear his thoughts on jazz music, and to get a glimpse of his thinking and sensibility behind playing and improvising.
Killing Moon: the Best of Echo and the Bunnymen
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Killing Moon: the Best of Echo & the Bunnymen is a very good compilation revealing the most important songs in the history of this post-punk / new wave / now pop-rock band. Previously I’ve only heard Flowers, which was nice and gentle, although a bit too much for my taste. They wrote some outstanding songs in the early days (Killing Moon, Pupper, Silver…), although there are moments where I thought that these guys were obviously trying to sound like a more accessible Joy Division or early The Cure. Still, I recommend it, it’s a valuable double album, and some of you who have not listened to them may find yourselves looking for more.
Sweeney Todd
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Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a movie directed by Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in lead roles. It is an adaptation of a musical, on an old theme around a barber revenging for his wife, believed to have poisoned herself after being raped, and a stolen child, all of which happened while he was falsely accused and sentenced. So he slits his clients’ throats etc. The story does not go into much depth, it is about the drama and action, it is a musical after all, and is supposed to be amusing. In the end, it is. The movie is satisfying solely for the atmosphere and excellent goth esthetics. Depp proves once again how good actor he is, I was totally drawn into his Todd persona. Carter on the other hand, is an iconic human meat pie-baker and a woman with her desires and tricks. As for the tunes, there are times when I thought that they’re singing just for the sake of it, without a clear melody. But some are very good, and the best repeat by the end, for instance I feel you Joanna (or so I believe the title is).
The Kills – Midnight Boom
Ahh The Kills‘ third album is awesome. Finally they have managed to make none of the songs sound a bit empty somewhere in the middle. The sound is more rich, I think there are real drums here now, still lo-fi and short in length, a bit sinister, sexy, very passionate and overall exciting!
Switched to Chaos
I’ve just changed the blog theme from Simpla to ChaosTheory. I prefer dark background to white because is it much easier on the eyes – staring at a white computer screen is much like staring at a light bulb. Also, I’ve noticed that album covers and posters look more alive above black.
Hercules and Love Affair – s/t
I guess I’ve been busy lately and haven’t found anything very interesting. Hercules And Love Affair do sound ok, and although I’m not a fan of dance music, some tracks are upbeat and fun enough to consider bringing a CD to a party.
Eddie Vedder – Into the Wild Soundtrack
Somehow, the moment I heard the humming over guitar picking which marks the beginning of Into the Wild, I knew that it was Eddie Vedder. OK, I do listen to Pearl Jam a lot. However, this is a different sound – as you would know if you’ve seen the movie, which I very much recommend. It is a simply beautiful – warm, captivating – half an hour of gentle music which echoes the determination, struggles and life changes which happen to CM. I particularly like Guaranteed, Rise, Hard Sun, Long Nights… oh, all of them.
Control
Control is a movie (not a documentary) about the late, great, Ian Curtis, directed by Anton Corbjin, who turns out to be a famous photographer. This does show in the movie which is made completely in black and white, and does often show some captivating esthetics.
The main actor, Sam Riley, is fantastic. After you’ve watched the movie, just compare to the original, that is if you haven’t seen much of Joy Division before. (I haven’t at least, although I do own and occasionally enjoy Unknown Pleasures and Closer.) The focus is much less on the band – mostly on Ian’s relationship with his wife (they married as very young) and another girl he has fallen in love with later, which is fair I think because the main reasons for his suicide come from there. The details I will leave to you, however I will say that the movie has managed to bring me close to his mind. I think that I understand him, despite quite minimal dialogue throughout it. Don’t let the line about “coolness” make you believe that this is a romanticized portrait of a troubled musician – Ian is shown in flesh and blood here. Ultimately he felt that he was losing control of his actions, feelings, even body – with strong disappointment and without anything beyond what he has already discovered in the world which would make him feel the life worth living.
But she expressed herself in many different ways
Until she lost control again
And walked upon the edge of no escape and laughed
I’ve lost control
Nick Cave – Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
The first Nick Cave album which I heard was The Boatman’s Call. It has left a strong and lasting impression on me, his voice, lyrics and the piano. I admit that I have never been listening to him much, so I was a bit surprised when I heard this album being… rock’n'roll. But quickly I realised how he and his Bad Seeds are just plain awesome. All songs have a good melody somewhere, the band is very tight and sounds excellent in a variety of settings, whether it should be eg a reverbed desert sound on Night Of The Lotus Eaters, or full-on rock on Albert Goes West just after it. Nick always sounds at his place, a mature guy who can do whatever he wants in his music. His songs are usually storytelling and have a dose of irony and humour, my favourite being We Call Upon The Author.
Sambassadeur – Migration
Sambassadeur, a Swedish group, are the other half in my late fix for sounds of dreamy romantic girls. While the Beach House are a bit avantgarde, instrumentally these guys sound a bit conventional, mixing late 80s sounds with shoegaze – however the melodies are quite nice and fit well into this early spring time.
