Fish is not well :(

original lead singer of Marillion, FISH (Derek Dick) is not well. Possibly throat-cancer :(



his blog

I will admit I read this a little while ago, and he does go on for awhile. But part of me feels even more guilty about missing that Chicago and/or Milwaukee gigs last June. I just couldn't afford everything $-wise and time/vacation-wise.

Sometimes things suck. I just hope he recovers, and then perhaps one day is able to sing again.

Announcing some upcoming film reviews...

k, I am seeing the 1st 2 in the next few days, and the others I've seen recently or in the case of "Sex Drive" I recall in August. Yeah, they need reviewing, and I hope to quite soon. But of course my time doesn't allow them to fully yet. I will say, I can't claim I'd put any of them really in the class of "Slumdog Millionaire" nor "Synecdoche, NY" and probably not "Snow Angels," "Transsiberian," nor "Sleepwalking." However, every single one of them I liked and would recommend. The upcoming reviews for them should elaborate..



This was funny, albeit mostly slapstick biopic mockumentary. Meeting Bruce and the Q&A was half the fun.

75/100





A very



Really dug the action and perspective in this movie based on true events that occurred in England in the early 1970's. Saffron Burrows I knew from BOSTON LEGAL, and she's every bit as alluring and elegant in this. The gang members, the humor, and plotting between multiple factions into the ramifications of the actual Heist is what made it work well and kept you guessing until the end. I can't claim to have seen many if any other things Jason Statham has done, but I guess this was more plot/dialogue based for him, and he impressed enough. One of the better pictures of the year, that in retrospect, I wish I had caught in the theater now.

82/100





Maybe the best thing Will Ferrell has done. Other than OLD SCHOOL, nearly every thing he's starred in (and OS he was a support in fact) has not been too funny or any good really. But I'm not surprised this was good, since it was made by Marc Foster, who I liked both FINDING NEVERLAND and MONSTER'S BALL from. Emma Thompson and Queen Latifah are both as well. And while on paper it reminded me a helluva lot of THE TRUMAN SHOW, and I wouldn't go as far as to say I liked it as much as that movie; the plot and twists in the direction of the plot worked much better than I expected. Was he gonna die? Were he and the author possibly in the same world? It was a bit like Voodoo in a way I suppose. Sure, it wasn't that realistic, so I suppose you could sall this somewhat in the fantasy genre. It didn't really matter just based on intrigue on the story and where the characters were going. I also really liked Maggie Gyllenhaal. Verrry cute. I'd go for her baking me cookies any day : ).

80/100



I didn't have any interest in TWILIGHT, lol..save for the fact Mute Math had a song in the soundtrack. So I saw this instead. I liked this, but at the same time for a vampire picture, it didn't leave me that much satisfaction to be honest. The style and cinematography is nice. The acting is good enough; although generally foreign films have performances I appreciate more consistently. Maybe my biggest disappointment with this was how it was so subtle. The whole kids/vampire story almost always feels weird to me. Maybe based on the fact I like the whole lustful/romantic elements to vampire stories, I just couldn't fully embrace this thing.

The one really creepy moment does come towards the end when the vampire comes out of the dark so fast I jumped.

I guess with subtle, clever elements, I couldn't help but yearn for the very little-seen mini-series on the SCIFI Channel in the late 90's "Ultraviolet"..this movie seemed to tap into a bit of that vampire movie-that's-trying-to-hide-the-fact-its-one in that way, but I can't credit it for going far enough. However, I would recommend this still 100 times instead of the lovey-dovey melodramatic garbage that is TWILIGHT.

63/100

re: Random Finds #1

Kacica - Mosaic



I really like a lot of this. Very dreamy, but also catchy and energetic. Experimental, with some layering and psychedelic elements. At times quite bass-driven. Mixing elements from artists like Bjork, Mew, Deerhoof, and even Sigur Ros..the compositions are quite impressive at times.

Had I heard this early enough to include it in my 2008 AOY race, I could see this at least being in the top 30 if not top 20. I've been mesmersized and energized by this enough this week that it would belong that high, if not higher.

80/100



Oedipus - Humbility (2005)

They don't seem to quite fall into the category of "alt-prog" band whose trying hard, but ends up being mediocre and unoriginal. There's a nice diverse combination of styles here. I guess the bulk of this record reminds me of inter.funda.stifle-era Fair to Midland or even some of the Opus Dai and The Apex Theory work. But at the same time they have these unpredictable time changes in some of the songs that it keeps you entertained. One piece even features this gorgeous use of trumpet. Another band that I kind of thought of was Biffy Clyro, pre-PUZZZLE. They are probably not quite as experimental as a lot of that, but they do deserve points for trying to push some boundaries. This was released in 2005; so I'm quite curious where they might be at with a new record or even if/how active they still are.

I think it can't be stressed enough, how the beginning of this album didn't go as far. The 1st track esp was not an amazing opener. But many of the songs and the last 2/3 I suppose are rewarding to sit through.

75/100



Run Chico Run - Slow Action

Not blown away, but I did finally manage to get through this whole thing. The last 3 or 4 tracks surprised me. Maybe 1/2 of this thing works for me. I think I should check out some of their older work to get a better idea about this band. I must admit though, they/this album easily could have gone into the boring-category had I not made an effort here.



Akphaezya - Anthology II: Links from the Dead Trinity

I really am digging a lot of this. Very much like if Unexpect used a lot more clean vocals and were more refined and subdued in their experiments. A lot of great ethnic elements and jazzy sections. Give me a bit more time and I'll be able to start pointing out favorite tracks. It reminds me a little bit of earlier this summer how Subterranean Masquerade began to grow on me more and more.



Return of Simple - Saffron

Not likely as addictive as The Reign of Kindo, but I do like a lot of this. It's almost like catchy piano-driven raggtime jazz-pop with Beach Boy-like vocal arrangements at times. People who dig The Reign of Kindo should check this out no matter.

65/100

on deck: The Wildhears, Kalisia and some others...

Oh Man..ABBEY ROAD RETURNS!

http://www.collectiveunconscious.net/gigs.html


Abbey Road Returns!



* Sunday, March 1, 2009 at 7 pm
* St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, Minneapolis MN
* Ticket information coming early 2009



* Friday, March 20, 2009 at 7:30 pm
* Little Falls High School, Little Falls MN
* Saturday, March 21, 2009 at 7:30 pm
* Paynesville High School, Paynesville MN
* Ticket information for both shows coming early 2009.


NOTE! Days & times are all tentative at this point, please check back for more solid information!

I saw them do ABBEY ROAD back in 2001..it was incredible. Everything was authentic and to-the-letter. McCartney's Rickenbacker, Hammond Organ..the whole 9 yards. It was certainly 1 of the most memorable shows I've ever seen. They even went barefoot! lol

To go along with this news about BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER. I haven't thought about Collective Unconscious for many years..these 2 gigs coming up in March certainly have put them back on my radar. I still really regret missing out on their PET SOUNDS w/ the Orchestra back in 2004 (or '05?, forget) in St.Cloud, MN.

Random Finds #1

ok, this is in effect the 1st of perhaps an unlimited number and frequency of blogs that will be posted at least in the coming year if I find it remains worth doing so.

This is, I hope/think of instead of just posting a new topic or whatever about said new band..and I'll include new movie or even tv show actually now thinking about it. But I'm not gonna kid myself, it will primarily be for the proverbial stumbling-upon said band likely on a blog/link/database. Perhaps on another board, $1-$5 Cheapo-find, Opening-at-a-concert-band or podcast, mix exchange, etc..or somewhere else.

These may be bands I checkout only once and forget about. They may have a song I like, but the rest bores me on 1st or 2nd impression. Or sadly, they may be a band I checkout and find ok, but it'll take some forum topic or suggestion to have myself discover to liking them.

Also of course mostly it'll be new albums..many leaks..or perhaps an album or band whose 1st work came out sometime in the last few years (I'm getting a lot of 2006 and 2007's..next year probably a lot of 08's will pop up as well). But it hardly is limited to something recent..could be a 70's or 80's band..could be older than that.

K (and of course that whole endless schpeel will not be re-posted in each one; just this initial introductory entry).


Oedipus - Humbility (2005) ..funny how I stumbled upon this NAME on my my most reliable source of links, but not that surprisingly, it was for ANOTHER BAND OF THE SAME NAME, lol. Not the 1st time that's happened (Alps for example). They sound rather Muse-like just from the samples. Findind a link for this guy wasn't easy, but I'm certainly glad I finally did.


Run Chico Run - Slow Action (2006) a random find at Cheapo a few days ago. I sampled like 3 unknown band's discs and this was the only one that got me to gamble with it...mainly due to the fact it was $2. The 2nd track I liked, but I'm not expecting a lot. And I guess this album is one a handful of discs in their back catalog; so it's possible I won't care for this, but maybe something else from their past.


Kacica Mosaic (2008) Japanese band whose vocals don't sound entirely Japanese. But kind of shoegaze-like in a Mew-kind of way. Like Run Chico Run, I suppose among the 5 or so names I checked today so far on unsaid database, this was maybe the only one that I'm gonna give a chance to.

The Wildhearts I could go after a bunch of theirs it sounds like. I am optimistic about their power-pop elements, however the stuff on their myspce that has vocals like Kurt Cobain I will likely skip. I hope this ain't another Better Than Ezra, and more of a Silverchair or Jellyfish.

2008 Albums Rankings Artwork/Comments/Links Part 1

Ok the podcast idea may have to put on hold as I started to do it the other night and my pc starting freezin up. However, that could have been due to many other factors including some spyware I hopefully ridded my pc of.

This is a write-up of the top 10. I will try and do a few more of these; but the difference I hope will be not as much time/length given to all 100+..I'll have to wing it I suppose.


1. Apes and Androids - Blood Moon

I love this album. The concept just sucked-me-in. The themes, melodies, creative arrangements among other things forced me to go back to it. Like Kaddisfly's "Set Sail the Prairie" this album spoke to me in many ways. It was one that I went back to whenever I needed an uplifting feeling, or an escape. I loved how it gave me this feeling of watching an 80's Scifi story. Emotional depth. For example the chorus that opens "Nights of the Week"..the guitar tone is such a goosebump moment.

It's also not to be overlooked how becoming a fan of this band, it opened me to discover other so-called experimental electro power-pop and related groups. Not the Elephant 6 bands, but the Matt Mahaffey stuff like Self and Wired All Wrong, and of course Brian Jacobs and David Tobias previous band Call Florence Pow.

The whole thing is greater than the sum of it's parts, so to suggest 1 or 2 songs wouldn't be the most effective opportunity to enjoy this. But to name a handful of the tracks: Riverside (1 of the most uplifting songs of 2008.."Nothing's Wrong"), Hot Kathy, Make Forever Last Forever, Johnny and Sarah (maybe my current favorite. It reminds me of a story about a Bonnie and Clyde couple, and the guitar solo just rules), We Don't Understand You ("Put Your Hands Up"), Radio, Sweetest Little Thing (one of the bigger growers), Golden Prize ("I don't think you know what girl's from the Midwest are all about")

Evidenced by the fact after 100 or more times playing the thing, I still am learning plenty of new things about it; the concept/story or even just understanding lyrics (for the better or worse).

This will be an album I will likely go back to again and again. My biggest curiousity is how they follow it up. They wrote it mostly in 2006 and 2007 I guess, and the 2 songs I've heard by them "Creepy Girls" and "Endless Dream" are of the quality of the work on BM. Jacobs and Tobias are impressive enough songwriters, I could see their next work being even better.


2. Burst - Lazarus Bird

A breakthrough record. I found myself being more surprised how much I enjoyed this record time after time. "Cripple God" has that great melodic section "I will..carry...I will carry youuuu...." and "We Watched the Silver Rain" with it's incredible rhythm. The melodies are so rich and cemented into your brain after you listen to this. It was the Metal release of the year. As a result, I may find my interest in a group like Mastodon to go up.


3. Ours - Mercy...(Dancing for the Death of an Imaginary Enemy)

I love this band, but after 6+ years of waiting for this (myself, admittedly about 3 since I became a fan during the Summer of '05), my expectations and excitement for this album was not what it would have been. But it managed to surprise me how polished every song was on here, that many of them seemed to have new life. "Worst things Beautiful" I love the catchiness too. Like U2 at their most catchy. "Willing," "Saint"..that one turned out a lot better than I expected. Contrary to many fans, the live version I had known never blew me away. "Ran Away to Tell the World" grew on me a lot. "Live Again" "Mercy" "Murder".."Get Up." It certainly was an album that didn't lack depth. I guess that's part of why it stood out.

I still doubt if it'll become the staple album their (10-years-in-the-making) debut record "Distorted Lullabies" is for me, but it does prove how Ours are a band who manages to record quality records. Maybe best, now that Jimmy Gnecco has announced the major label situation is over, the lack of studio catalog the group has had will not exist. 2009 another Ours record is expected, along with an acoustic solo album and a sideproject with April Bauer as well. Neverending White Lights perhaps too. Makeup for time lost given the fact he/Ours has dozens of unrecorded songs that didn't end up on this record. If he puts out more work like "Mercy" I will not be a disappointed Ours fan.



4. Mutyumu - Il y a

This was the record out of leftfield. The 2nd LP from this Japanese group. Vocals all in Japanese, in a subtle opera-style. I guess the strings and especially piano phrases just get me every time here. The emotional depth is echoed throughout this album.

Highlights: Kaenchō, Inori [prayer] are two of them. But I think like every record in the top 10, this is an album you put on and just enjoy the whole ride. Classical, Ambient, Jazz, hints of Hardcore. It's just a wonderful blending of styles with impressively written compositions.

I just wish I could somehow track down an affordable copy of this or their Self-titled debut cd. Maybe I'll find my way to Japan someday and a copy will be there to purchase. Or instead, they manage to get some import vendor to lower distribution costs to the Western Continents. Because I would call them somewhat of a brilliant secret. Maybe not for that much longer.


5. The Stiletto Formal - !Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta!

The energy on this record is perhaps my favorite part. The 1st 6 tracks had me going back to it a number of times over the last few months. The title track, and "We Are All Muckrakers" maybe being 2 of the best songs. I love the post-rock guitar over the hip-hop narrative on the title song. I won't deny the fact at 1st the Mars Volta similarities were unignorable. Like Portugal the Man. Except their singer wasn't singing as high as Cedric Bixler for one, and the fact they combined a much better melodic sense along with Violin and Cello, that it didn't matter. So in other words, energy, melodic sense, and strings pulled me in. And the whole record over time just got better. I dig Kiss Kiss and Murder By Death (1st 2 albums w/ out the Johnny Cash vox and with the Piano); and this band included a lot of elements that I love about those 2 (mainly the strings to be honest).

A step-up from their 2 EPs which I need to play more, but I don't recall enjoying quite as much. I expect to play this album a lot in the future.



6. Marillion - Happiness is the Road

It was totally free to download, and I decided to pass on the $40 pre-order deal after the less-than-impressive value for that with "Somewhere Else." But they are my favorite band still. This album was a lot to take in, and I honestly am still digesting a lot of it. The fact it was 2 full discs, 1 being "Essence" and the other "The Hard Shoulder"..as-a-whole it gives me reason to want to hear both albums back-2-back. The reason for that is due to the fact I enjoy both discs about equally. They both have many great Marillion-moments. And they also both contain much of the style/sound of this album. Wall-of-sound or ambient passages, that unlike some groups including Porcupine Tree, can often drag and bore me. But the slower sections on here, don't go on so long that I fall asleep. I suppose I would say they are worth getting through for the big moments. In fact, over some time, "Somewhere Else" I would claim the same about.

Among my favorites..

ESSENCE: "Trap the Spark," "A State of Mind," "Happiness Is the Road," "Half Empty Jam," (Ian Moseley does his best Neil Peart impersonation towards the end).

THE HARD SHOULDER: "Thunder Fly" "The Man From the Planet Marzipan" "Asylum Satellite #1" "Whatever Is Wrong with You" "Real Tears for Sale" (I always think of "The Last Straw" with this..big goosebumps)

This may not be a top 10 decade contender "Marbles" is. And it also could be one of their last records at least for awhile if not ever. But if that is the case, I can't deny that the boys finished on a big note.

Now only if they could manage to tour the States again without losing $..maybe someday. A tour with Porcupine Tree or on Progressive Nation perhaps?..we'll see. The Fan Weekend in Montreal, sadly I don't have $1200 to invest in right now.



7. Bend Sinister - Stories of Brothers, Tales of Lovers

I was very excited for this after loving their debut "Through the Broken City." Definitely one of the most addictive debut discs for me over the last couple of years. And that album had a ton of riffs and hooks that I loved. Crescendos that totally worked for me.

This album is a concept album, much like BROKEN CITY, but didn't catch my ear as much right out of the gate. However, it has grown a lot on me. Another one that fits in "greater than the sum of it's parts." Very thematic, and classic rock-sounding. best listened to all-at-once. Over some play I concluded it's for the better that it wasn't exactly about the individual song, but more about getting swallowed-up by the ideas and styles. To give a few highlights: "Give Into the Night" "Dr.Lee" "Jimmy Brown" "The News" and "Demise" is probably the one piece that had a build-up like some of the epic tracks on "Broken City." Overall though, I enjoyed this more and more and it probably has grown close to the same level of their debut record. The *progressive* tag still fits them for the fact it's quality, but not the same thing. I just still wish more people knew about them and they could manage to tour America.



8. Sculptured - Embodiment: Collapsing Under the Weight of God

The early leader. Folky progressive death metal project from Don Anderson of Agalloch. I love how this is less-is-more and how this is how progressive rock and heavy metal can work without an overly self-indulgence. The artwork even kicks ass. The title track is a 10 minute emotional build-up. The conclusion has this fading guitar melody over some sound samples from the David Cronenberg short film "Camera" about a man who has a dream he describes the experience aging rapidly from seeing a movie in a movie theater and waking up "terrfied" and aged.

Not a record I would say everyone will love (mainly due to it's methodical pace and the vocal style being slightly black-metal, but not in-your-face or anything), but for fans of Agalloch or progressive metal that isn't too Dream Theater-ish, this really worked. Less is in fact more on here. Like Agalloch or Subterranean Masquerade, the atmosphere and epic quality they create really won me over.



9. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer

Total grower. I think these guys fall into the category of Indie-band-i-never-expected-to-like-that-would-never-have-progressive-rock-in-their-sound-but surprisingly-do. The Decemberists, The New Pornographers, Midlake, Cloud Cult and a handful of others as well. There is this great, subtle epic quality in their music. Many songs seem kinda meh..but then they go into sections I just love. They rock out. Maybe it's how they arrange the keys and piano, I dunno. Their singer is nothing special; in fact on paper I'd call him slightly annoying, but like death metal vocals I suppose, over some time his voice grows on you. And the music is so damn good, it doesn't matter.

No this is one the Indie crowd got right. My favorite pieces perhaps are "California Dreamer" "Kissing the Beehive" and "Call It a Ritual" ..but again, I'd rather play the whole thing. I'm not as certain about their debut LP from a couple of years ago. But this record works really well start to finish.


10. Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)

Finally a band from Minnesota pops into my radar and makes an album I grow to really enjoy. Finally a MN band is tapping into prog rock, that I like and know. I've known their name for many years, but always associated them to be 1 of a ton of "alt" bands that community champions that I can't stomach. Hardly here. These guys use strings well, and have a great energy and emotional element throughout this album.

Definitely an exception within the Pitchfork's playlist (and light years better than flavor-of-the-year Fleet Foxes). "Everybody Here Is a Cloud" is the one 89.3 played a ton of, and it is a radio-worthy song. However, pretty much every track on here works well and could work on the air.

The only thing I suppose I could say is, it never blew me away entirely. It was consistent, but not classic. But given it is without any songs or elements I'd skip, it managed to make the top 10.

11. King's X - XV
12. Woven - Designer Codes
13. Protest the Hero - Fortress
14. The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia
15. Demians - Building an Empire
16. Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer?
17. Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - Not Animal
18. Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - Animal!
19. Adebisi Shank - This is the Album of a Band Called Adebisi Shank
20. Arsis - We Are the Nightmare
21. Annuals - Such Fun
22. The Stills - Oceans Will Rise
23. East of the Wall - Farmer's Almanac
24. She Said Destroy - The City Speaks in Tongues
25. Agalloch - The White (EP)
26. Anathallo - Canopy Glow
27. Gojira - The Way of All Flesh
28. Exotic Animal Petting Zoo - I Have Made My Bed In Darkness
29. Jeremy Messersmith - The Silver City
30. God is an Astronaut - God is an Astronaut
31. The Reign of Kindo - Rhythm, Chord, & Melody
32. Bloc Party - Intimacy
33. Black Mountain - In the Future
34. Hills Like White Elephants
35. Eluveitie - Slania
36. Mason Proper - Olly Oxen Free
37. Distrails - Virginia Creeper (EP)
38. Gloria Morti - Eryx
39. Big Fresh - Big Fresh Forever
40. Panic at the Disco - Pretty Odd
41. Opeth - Watershed
42. Ebu Gogo - Worlds
43. Russian Circles - Station
44. The Faceless - Planetary Duality
45. Steven Wilson - Insurgentes
46. Darla Farmer - Rewiring the Electric Forest
47. The Mars Volta - The Bedlam in Goliath
48. Brendan Canning - Something for All of Us...
49. The Big Sleep - Sleep Forever
50. Foals - Antidotes
51. Paper Route - All We Are Forgotten
52. Damiera - Quiet Mouth, Loud Hands
53. Genghis Tron - Board Up the House
54. The Jealous Girlfriends
55. Textures - Silhouettes
56. Klimt 1918 - Just in Case We'll Never Meet Again (Soundtrack for the Cassette Generation)
57. Opus Dai - Touch the Sun
58. Skeletons - Money
59. The Atomic Bomb Audition - Light Will Remain
60. Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
61. The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
62. !Forward, Russia - Life Processes
63. dEUS - Vantage Point
64. Brain Drill - Apocalyptic Feasting
65. Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
66. Nomia - Nomia (EP)
67. Roger Joseph Manning Jr - Catnip Dynamite
68. Sigur Ros - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
69. The Arusha Accord - Nightmares of the Ocean (EP)
70. Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
71. Other Lives - Other Lives (EP)
72. Go-Neko! - Una Especie de Mutante
73. Andy Dixon - The Mice of Mt. Career
74. Metallica - Death Magnetic
75. Lehto and Wright - Between the Jigs and the Reels
76. Big Blue Ball - Big Blue Ball
77. Jenny Dalton - Rusalka's Umbrella
78. The Alps - III
79. Enslaved - Vertebrae
80. The Alps - Something I Might Regret
81. Tangled Thoughts of Leaving - Tiny Fragments (EP)
82. Pitchblend - Lines of Unreason
83. Braintoy - Vehicles
84. Blowing Trees - Blowing Trees
85. Shiny Toy Guns - Season of Poison
86. Radius System - Escape / Restart
87. Hate - Morphosis
88. Hieronymus Bosch - Equivoke
89. Eaten by Tigers - Solstice (EP)
90. Sleepin Pillow - Apples on an Orange Tree
91. The Dresden Dolls - No, Virginia
92. Hiromi Uehara - Beyond Standard
93. Janus - Red Right Turn
94. Mt.Helium - Faces
95. Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant (EP)
96. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
97. Evangelicals - The Evening Descends
98. National Bank - Come on Over to the Other Side
99. Cynic - Traced in Air
100. The Deer Tracks - Aurora
101. Tiger Lou - A Partial Print
102. Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
103. Black Milk - Tronic

Albums of the Year: 2008

Ok..well here's the deal. Instead of slaving-away trying to write something clever, I am gonna try something different this year.

Here's the list...k..cool
1. Apes and Androids - Blood Moon
2. Burst - Lazarus Bird
3. Ours - Mercy...(Dancing for the Death of an Imaginary Enemy)
4. Mutyumu - Il y a
5. The Stiletto Formal - !Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta
6. Marillion - Happiness is the Road
7. Bend Sinister - Stories of Brothers, Tales of Lovers
8. Sculptured - Embodiment: Collapsing Under the Weight of God
9. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
10. Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)
11. King's X - XV
12. Woven - Designer Codes
13. Protest the Hero - Fortress
14. The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia
15. Demians - Building an Empire
16. Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer?
17. Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - Not Animal
18. Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - Animal!
19. Adebisi Shank - This is the Album of a Band Called Adebisi Shank
20. Arsis - We Are the Nightmare
21. Annuals - Such Fun
22. The Stills - Oceans Will Rise
23. East of the Wall - Farmer's Almanac
24. She Said Destroy - The City Speaks in Tongues
25. Agalloch - The White (EP)
26. Anathallo - Canopy Glow
27. Gojira - The Way of All Flesh
28. Exotic Animal Petting Zoo - I Have Made My Bed In Darkness
29. Jeremy Messersmith - The Silver City
30. God is an Astronaut - God is an Astronaut
31. The Reign of Kindo - Rhythm, Chord, & Melody
32. Bloc Party - Intimacy
33. Black Mountain - In the Future
34. Hills Like White Elephants
35. Eluveitie - Slania
36. Mason Proper - Olly Oxen Free
37. Distrails - Virginia Creeper (EP)
38. Gloria Morti - Eryx
39. Big Fresh - Big Fresh Forever
40. Panic at the Disco - Pretty Odd
41. Opeth - Watershed
42. Ebu Gogo - Worlds
43. Russian Circles - Station
44. The Faceless - Planetary Duality
45. Steven Wilson - Insurgentes
46. Darla Farmer - Rewiring the Electric Forest
47. The Mars Volta - The Bedlam in Goliath
48. Brendan Canning - Something for All of Us...
49. The Big Sleep - Sleep Forever
50. Foals - Antidotes
51. Paper Route - All We Are Forgotten
52. Damiera - Quiet Mouth, Loud Hands
53. Genghis Tron - Board Up the House
54. The Jealous Girlfriends
55. Textures - Silhouettes
56. Klimt 1918 - Just in Case We'll Never Meet Again (Soundtrack for the Cassette Generation)
57. Opus Dai - Touch the Sun
58. Skeletons - Money
59. The Atomic Bomb Audition - Light Will Remain
60. Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
61. The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
62. !Forward, Russia - Life Processes
63. dEUS - Vantage Point
64. Brain Drill - Apocalyptic Feasting
65. Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
66. Nomia - Nomia (EP)
67. Roger Joseph Manning Jr - Catnip Dynamite
68. Sigur Ros - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
69. The Arusha Accord - Nightmares of the Ocean (EP)
70. Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
71. Other Lives - Other Lives (EP)
72. Go-Neko! - Una Especie de Mutante
73. Andy Dixon - The Mice of Mt. Career
74. Metallica - Death Magnetic
75. Lehto and Wright - Between the Jigs and the Reels
76. Big Blue Ball - Big Blue Ball
77. Jenny Dalton - Rusalka's Umbrella
78. The Alps - III
79. Enslaved - Vertebrae
80. The Alps - Something I Might Regret
81. Tangled Thoughts of Leaving - Tiny Fragments (EP)
82. Pitchblend - Lines of Unreason
83. Braintoy - Vehicles
84. Blowing Trees - Blowing Trees
85. Shiny Toy Guns - Season of Poison
86. Radius System - Escape / Restart
87. Hate - Morphosis
88. Hieronymus Bosch - Equivoke
89. Eaten by Tigers - Solstice (EP)
90. Sleepin Pillow - Apples on an Orange Tree
91. The Dresden Dolls - No, Virginia
92. Hiromi Uehara - Beyond Standard
93. Janus - Red Right Turn
94. Mt.Helium - Faces
95. Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant (EP)
96. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
97. Evangelicals - The Evening Descends
98. National Bank - Come on Over to the Other Side
99. Cynic - Traced in Air
100. The Deer Tracks - Aurora
101. Tiger Lou - A Partial Print
102. Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
103. Black Milk - Tronic

Now that I've lost everyone with 100 albums, that seem like 2nd nature to myself, what I will do is provide in a near-future blog..some "highlights"..especially of course Apes and Androids.

But the other thing I want to try and do is instead of a novel-size write-up..A PODCAST or 2,3..it's MUCH EASIER for me to do..takes a lot less time I imagine. I will try and at least provide some little snippets..etc at least..even if it's in the background.

2008 Albums that need refreshing/more play

Marillion
Margot
Gutter Twins
The Stills
Gojira
Annuals
Hills Like White Elephants
She Said Destroy
Opeth
Panic at the Disco
Brendan Canning
Jeremy Messersmith
The Faceless
Bloc Party
God is an Astronaut
Foals
Big Fresh
Damiera

Big Sleep
dEUS
Reign of Kindo
! Forward, Russia
Deerhoof
Roger Joseph Manning
Sigur Ros
Eluveitie
Andy Dixon
Pitch Blend
Alps
Alps
Brain Toy
Tangled Thoughts of Leaving
Shiny Toy Guns
Eaten By Tigers
Go Neko!
Sleepin Pillow
Mt.Helium
Mason Proper (CD)
Deer Tracks
Of Montreal
Radius System (not heard)
High Dials (not heard)
Dresden Dolls
Hate
Hate Eternal

Ra Ra Riot (not heard)
Guns N Roses (not heard)
Immortal Technique (not heard)

2009 Album Anticipation List: a thought too...

2009 Album Anticipation List/Release Date Calendar

a note: 2008 has been a ton of fun, but also not entirely reciprocated on many of the forums and message boards about posting album after album with a list. So, that was an experiment that while saw some benefits I guess, probably is not worth repeating. At least to the extent of this year.

The rym thing, yeah that was fun and fine to do.

Cutting to the chase, what I propose my hope/plan to do for 2009 is just to keep that to a minimal or at least a lower frequency. Instead, I logically see transferring that work and effort here in this blog and fwd-ed to the other personal spaces I have online (myspace, cupid, etc).

What that will mean is this blog will be updated at a much higher frequency. And it may often be very vague, short, commentaries. Not that much different than Twitter actually.

I guess I'll see, but at least in that case, I won't have to go through the disappointment of many of the albums and bands not catching-on. Looking like a clueless fool bumping the topic multiple times in-a-row with little to no evidence of it doing any good.

Now, on to that current list of upcoming records for the final year (in the Christian Calendar) of this 1st decade of the 2000's. I.e. 2009.

Kevin Gilbert
Imogen Heap
Umphrey's McGee - Mantis
Modern Skirts - All of Us In Our Night (1/20/09)
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Kiss Kiss - The Meek Shall Inherit What's Left (2/10/09)
Malajube - Labyrinthes (2/10/09)
In Vain (being mixed right now)
The Appleseed Cast - Sagarmantha (Feb)
Pure Reason Revolution - Amor Vincit Omnia (3/9/09)
dredg (3/24/09)
Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
Mew
The Dear Hunter - Act III
The Decemberists - Hazards of Love
Scott Matthews
Neverending White Lights - Act III
Orphaned Land -The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR
Mute Math
OSI
Kaddisfly
Pain of Salvation
Necrophagist
Karnivool
Dream Theater
Maudlin of the Well
Revere
Doves
Between Two Skies
Oceansize
Thurisaz
Fair to Midland
House of Fools
Immortal Technique
Porcupine Tree
Between the Buried and Me
St. Vincent
The End
3
Born of Osiris
Muse
U2
Sufjan Stevens
Greg Herriges
The Mars Volta
Jimmy Gnecco

this is a nice list. But based on what's happened in recent years, I could easily see

a) not all of these albums making out. Mind you, some of them is purely speculation and guess-work just based on their schedules and how many years it's been since their last full-length record.

b) My favorite or what I get most into/excited about next year ain't there at all. Why?..the surprise/unknown/newness of those bands and albums that come out of nowhere each year. So I'm more *anticipating* or looking fwd to [unknown band] most. Apes and Androids, Kaddisfly..those 2 among many speak for themselves.

My 2009 AOY it's quite possible, heck I'd say it's probable ain't there and ain't a band I either

a) know yet

b) am not that into yet...or thought were good once, but their recent stuff hasn't been as good to me.

I guess since 2009 albums have already started leaking..the hunt has already begun. I hope I find the next Apes and Androids soon..as they kind of saved, esp the 1st half of 2008 from being mediocre. I guess this blog will be like a little news service for that and all those others as I track my 2009 album of the year race.

In the mean time, yes the 2008 aoy's are not far away. Short little blurbs about most as I am meaning to try and do. With the looming deadline for 1 board being Dec 19th/20th..I am gonna try and get them posted there by next week if not earlier. So in here, the timing likely won't be too different.

Packing/Moving is important. But still there is.

Amanda Palmer and Bruce Campbell's new movie on Friday and then Bruce again on Saturday.

Dean Magraw with John Williams on 12/13.

Also a note: Golden Globe Nominations are 1-week from Thursday 12/11/08. Wouldn't it be funny if PUSHING DAISIES got some..wouldn't surprise me. And now it's 86'ed of course, lol. Let's hope no SAG-strike happens.

2 movies in the latest Landmark email I wanna see including the new Catherine Deneuve French family x-mas picture. The other one is about time travel I recall, but the name escapes me at the moment.

New/mid-season/cable tv shows of course too are coming up. With some time available..I plan to elaborate some on that list I posted not too long ago of those shows. I think having an actual schedule will help, so it won't likely happen until the 1st or even 2nd week of 2009.

Synecdoche, New York and Quid Pro Quo

Synecdoche, New York imdb

Charlie Kaufman's latest work. Hmm, I guess I was thinking about this driving home how

a) this was a movie that very well would require multiple times seeing it to really understand well

b) there's a ton of elements to the story and perspective. And especially it being quite "introspective".

c) I've never seen anything quite like what Kaufman did with this movie in anything. I'm not certain any story has been told on-screen or even in writing, to what was explored here.

d) Charlie Kaufman should do something involving Metaphysics.

e) It would help to have watched Kaufman's movie "Adaptation" before or after seeing this just to grasp exactly where he's coming from.

f) I totally can see why this movie was not released for many years. I guess going back to 2005. It's to put it simply, a mindfuck, and one that many will either totally hate it, or totally love it. The IFP's will probably go to bat for it (although in recent years even they have let me down embarrassingly), but the Multiplex's I easily could see not touching this movie with a ten foot pole.

Enough about all that. This is one moving yet confusing movie. Over 2 hours in length. Phillip Seymour-Hoffman is his usual talented self playing the lead character, a man whose married and has an artist wife (played by Catherine Keener, who makes miniature-sized paintings) and 4 year old daughter. He is a stage director. His wife seems to lack passion for him and ends up going off to Germany with her daughter. Caden (PSH) believes he's dying. He also has clear advances from 2 younger women, 1 played by Michelle Williams, whose a lead in his current play. The other, whose job is to take tickets at the box-office, played by Samantha Morton.

When his wife goes away with his daughter, he then receives $500,000 Grant to make a new play. At that point he ends up mixing more with both of those younger women, namely Samantha Morton's character Hazel. That doesn't work out. She ends up moving into a house that is always on fire for some reason. He does hook up, gets married, and has another daughter with Michelle Williams's character Claire. Eventually it doesn't work through the process of making this huge production for a play of what is in effect his life, in this abandoned lot in a borough of NYC.

Confusion: He goes to Germany, which seems like not too long after, and they make note that his formerly 4 y/o daughter is now 11. Between that time they do flash a sequence of him at Claire's mom's funeral and then Caden and her getting married and having a daughter. But the way it looked, it very easily could have been imagination/dream sequence/fantasy.

Before you know it, 17 years have gone by. I would assume most of the same large ensemble of people working on his play are still doing it.

This is where it gets REALLY WEIRD. He then ends up casting people to play people who were playing him. Sort of like the chaos theory, a tv-inside-a-tv-inside-a-tv-inside-a-tv. He has a guy play him, and then a guy playing the guy playing him, lol.

Ya see perhaps why this was not released in 2005?..mind you, Kaufman not only WROTE this..but also for the 1st time DIRECTED IT.

So, not meaning to spoil..but I guess within the whole epic story, Caden ends up outliving all these women, including his daughter who somehow dies of ink-poisoning from her tattoo, or something, in Germany. His daughter Olive in effect grew up and was a German girl who became a young woman who ended up ultimately being tied to his ex-wife's best friend Maria played by Jennifer Jason Leigh.

But character after character dies, and while Caden does in fact age and takes a lot of meds. His medical problems seem to not be a focus as he gets older (which they are at the beginning of the film, being that he thinks he's having a mid-life crisis, and dying very lonely).

The play is still being written, rehearsed some 20+ years later. One possible idea is making the play is Caden's LIFELINE. As long as he is continuing to write, cast, and rehearse it, he is still around. But the people in his life are not ultimately of the same fate. The play is a metaphor for his life.

Getting past a few issues I have with using human waste (green poop? among others) and the way he derailed/faded-out both his 1st wife Adele (Catherine Keener) and their daughter's role in the story, this is as unique and memorable movie I've seen this year, this decade, or even ever. Like I wrote above, it definitely is one of those things if you are open-minded enough and have an imagination for, that will take your brain into a place I don't think you've gone before. Likely only someone like Charlie Kaufman could do that.

8.5/10



I am a fan of Nick Stahl. Namely movies like MAN WITHOUT A FACE, BULLY, and IN THE BEDROOM. And earlier this year, I thought he was quite good in SLEEPWALKING as well. In this, he plays a paraplegic who discovers an unknown population of wheelchair-admirers among other things. He also meets a woman, played by Vera Farmiga, who actually tips him off of this originally; but she claims to be different. She wants to get close to him, but also wants to share her desire to be like him.

The metaphors and characters were somewhat interesting, but the plot didn't go too far. I'm not sure if they found love, or just who they were. He ends up being able to walk and she ends up going through the charade of acting as if she was paralyzed as well.

The fetish and desire to connect via a handicap is not too known or typical as a basis for a love story; but I didn't entirely grow to connect to either of them even with their seemingly miraculous change in their physical lower-half's status.

5/10



Jeremy Messersmith - The Silver City

This is just a brief, early review. It's climbed to #43 on my list

This has been quite the good year for music from my home state of Minnesota. Cloud Cult put out perhaps a *breakthrough* record in "Feel Good Ghosts"..Jenny Dalton you could say the same about somewhat compared to her last LP. And then this guy, Jeremy Messersmith also made a really polished sophomore effort. Fans of Sufjan Stevens who are yearning for something new..perhaps another *state concept album*..well for MINNESOTA, a state Sufjan has yet to do, this record is very much of the caliber of those albums like ILLINOIS and MICHIGAN. Some nice Beatles-ish moments among other elements. I like every piece on it, and it definitely fills more when heard all at once.

7/10

Just out of shear laziness/lack-of-time I probably will end up posting many reviews (copy/pasting) from my rym account or forum posts. If I were being paid for this, I'd find the time (somehow!), but of course I'm not so it very well may be the best I can do. I will mention though, I think when the final "List" is written up in here, and there will be one again..and it will be finished of course unlike last year's draining-of-steam and time. I plan to at least write up stuff about the top 10 (esp #1 of course..hehe!) and I was thinking today, maybe the best thing to do with the others is to just link the myspace's, give artwork, and do "Twitter" length reviews (140-200 characters max). Maybe a few key tracks, etc. Probably will expedite the process and allow the mass of 50+ reviews to come out. Honestly, it very well may be closer to 75 or more again.

Early November Double Features

On back-2-back nights this week I caught 2 movies in theaters. Tuesday, in order to avoid the election, I saw a couple of movies in Uptown. The following evening I ended up catching 2 more in Edina.



What Just Happened? imdb

For the 2nd straight year, De Niro has been in something I might describe as a redefining or at least a different kind of a role for him. 2007's "Stardust" playing a gay flying-pirate captain. And in this, a Hollywood producer; who while has a strong personality, he ends up having to do a lot more psychological examination of his clients and his own personal life. The portrayal of a high-stakes, high-stress lifestyle. And I think overall it was pulled off well.

This will remind many of the Tim Robbins movie "The Player." I suppose the comparison is quite valid in that it's a look inside one part of Hollywood. At the same time, possibly due to the tone or time it was made, "The Player" seemed a lot more subtle and dramatic, while "What Just Happened?" had a lot more constant humor. De Niro reminds me of among others, of the late Sidney Pollack, who had those meltdowns that were always worth seeing. One of those guys that either he made you laugh just on how he spoke, his interaction with others, or his sense of priorities were funny due to how he would communicate with people. Also, generally just someone I would enjoy being around I guess.

While the ultimate fates of the different clients and people he invests so much into dealing with is not entirely a "happy-ending" ("Indie" I suppose in that way), seeing the portrayal of different experiences a producer like him goes through is rewarding enough. Bruce Willis and the whole "beard" predicament. To hear De Niro mouth-off about that alone was priceless. The ending of the Sean Penn picture with the dog and how the director manages to con the Studio head (Catherine Keener); which is evidenced when it gets into Cannes. Everything with his ex-wives and daughter and the side-plot with the producer who dies, and Stanley Tucci.

While I doubt it'll be a classic many years from now, I pretty thoroughly enjoyed this. Quite funny, and without much if any filler.

7.5/10



Happy Go Lucky imdb

This was uneven. The 1st 1/3 I'd say or maybe about 1/2 of this was a lot of silly antics from the characters, mainly the lead Sally Hawkins who plays "Poppy." Perhaps her accent at times made it slightly difficult to follow, the personality she presented as a free-spirited, jolly young woman who found it easy to smile or laugh at most of her daily life experiences. Maybe my favorite scenes being when she ends up going to Flamenco dancing class with a co-worker. Poppy, and I think actually even more, the instructor were quite funny. "Myyyy spay-sss...My-spaysss!" I kind of wished I had been in the class myself!

But the Poppy character (and Hawkins I imagine) reminded me a lot of the british female musician Imogen Heap. Partially in her colorful style of fashion (she always wore multicolored knee-high boots among other things), and maybe more-so in her cheery persona that Imogen Heap could be described as having when she does interviews, or especially in her Youtube video blogs. In fact, I think it wouldn't be too big a stretch if it came about, for Sally Hawkins to portray Heap on the screen, which begs my curiosity if Imogen Heap is aware of Hawkins or this movie (and vice-versa).

The 2nd portion of the movie ends up getting a bit more serious. Mainly with Poppy's relationship with her driving instructor played by Eddie Marsan. I imagine this was an influence in his character from real-life, but Scott, Poppy's driving instructor, almost every scene is very on-edge and stressed-out. Poppy contributes to that while he's trying to teach her, but he definitely comes across as someone who has anger-issues. I guess the whole "backseat driver" symptoms come up with anyone who rides in a car with a new driver; but it's his job after-all, so you'd think he'd had enough experience to avoid stressing out over it. Perhaps it also was some strange way of displaying his love or at least social interest in Poppy. But that's kind of the challenge. He's so strong-willed and short-fused, that even SHE can't lighten him up.

But I also credit the actor for that. While that may not be everyone's cup of tea in terms of dramatic performances, he does a very good job of adding a in-your-face, serious character to what mostly is a less-than-serious story overall. At the same time, I guess the previews and entirety of this film didn't end up being as moving as I hoped; but it was certainly one of the more memorable pictures I've seen this year. And it introduces Hawkins, which added reason to see it as well.

6.5/10



Slumdog Millionaire imdb

Caught an advanced screening of this picture which on the surface sounded like a modern-day Bollywood work or some common foreign-language movie that I often see nominated during awards season. Well, it very well may get nominated during awards season, but I wouldn't call it exactly run-of-the-mill. Very cleverly edited and flashback + present day storytelling of an 18 year-old phone-center assistant who ends up appearing and having great success in East India's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." He gets taken-in by the show's security in suspicion of cheating to continually getting question-after-question correct, with having very limited education and only being 18 years old. He's even tortured, as the police don't believe his story. But HIS STORY is where it gets quite interesting.

His mother is killed when his village is raided when he is very young. Him and his brother flee, and they end up meeting a girl named Latika who he immediately befriends. Through turmoil and his older brother's influence, Jamal ends up losing Latika, who is of course his first and he believes true-love. Eventually when they get older, Jamal and his brother Salim end up seeking out and rescuing Latika from what would be considered a child-slave trader, whose primary interest in the kids is to find the one's who can sing well and then blind them. Blind singers apparently command(ed) more money to perform or trade there at that time it's set in. After they escape, it is shown how much all 3 of them have changed. Salim unfortunately falls prey to what I'd describe as a mob-businessman; and he's forced-in to taking Latika to him. Jamal loses both of them at that point.

A few years later, he starts working at the cellphone customer service office and stumbles upon their database and both Latika and Salim's whereabouts. He visits both of them, and learns that not a lot has changed. Latika is still more or less a slave to the same wealthy mobster; but he manages to see her and also learn that she watched the Millionaire show. Jamal gets the idea that if he went on the show, she would see him.

What transpires at that point I won't spoil. But it definitely worked on many levels. Logistically I suppose some things didn't necessarily seem entirely realistic, like how would Latika be listed in the cell provider's listing if she more or less was a slave? But the story, flashbacks, and the way it ended up being told was very moving. I particularly liked the youngest portrayals of the three main character most.

It may not be my film of the year, but I would say it's certainly one of the best I've seen in many months. "Transsiberian" and of course "Snow Angels" might be it's biggest competition. I hope more people get to see this. It won some festival awards recently in fact, as the girl from Miramax, who appeared at the theater mentioned.

8/10



Religulous Religulous

Bill Maher somewhat channeling Michael Moore with an agenda that religion is all fiction and fairy tales more or less. This definitely was worth seeing for the amount of comedic value and one-liners. I also liked a lot of the different unusual people from many sects and angles into different religions. The black fella who was a minister I believe, who had been involved as a singer on a pop hit that it escaping me now was a laugh-a-minute. Claiming he was in the Jesus-bloodline, lol. The satanic priest who was a born-again; Maher had a field-day with him. I imagine like Michael Moore and a lot of these cleverly edited documentaries, a lot of footage was shot and edited out, that Maher had no comeback or debate with. But like Michael Moore, it's for entertainment value 1st and foremost, so it didn't matter.

I suppose one thing I wished he'd been able to do is cover more religions, more obscure perhaps like Buddhism, and many of the ethnic religions. Time and resources (money) being factors I suppose. Maybe a 2nd picture will consider doing that. Id' also have liked to have seen Deepak Chopra or at least 1 modern theologist interviewed. I wonder if Chopra declined.

Unlikely the funniest movie of the year, but still one I'm glad I got to see. Maybe since Maher made it, Michael Moore now won't have to.

6.5/10

The Wicker Man

These are a couple of a handful of reviews I mean to add here in the next few days/weeks as I'm starting to consume a fair amount of new films now.

My background with "The Wickerman" is this. I know a fella on some message boards who goes by that screen-name for one, but if I'm not mistaken, he takes it from the song that Iron Maiden wrote. Perhaps the song itself was inspired/named-after the movie or story.


The band Agalloch released an EP earlier this year titled "The White" which takes samples from it. Very folky, dreamy, acoustic. It's really a moving album in fact, and it certainly always made me curious of the source of the samples until I found out they were taken from that 1974 picture, which honestly, reminded of something taken from The Twilight Zone or perhaps The Outer Limits. Even Mysterious Island..when the sample referred to an island, pagans, and a heathen.

Well I happen to be a pretty big fan of Christopher Lee. Mainly a nostalgia and lover of the british "Hammer Series" Dracula pictures. Many others, along with Peter Cushing. He always commands a presence on screen.

Cutting to the chase. I finally saw the 1974 supposed *Horror Classic* which I rented for Halloween. The best things I can say about it is, I liked it more than the remake (not surprisingly), the performances were good from Lee, Edward Woodward (who may be best known for playing the lead role in the 80's crime-drama "The Equalizer"), Ingrid Pitt, and Britt Ekland who among many of the female cast, is hardly shy for the camera (hehe).

The biggest criticism I have are about it is

a) What was up with ALL THE MUSIC? I felt like I was watching a Ken Russell film at times, lol. I mean I guess part of the intent of the director was to make it creepy, in a subtle, lack-of-a-sense-of-reality sort-of-way. I guess. But I'm sure I'm not the only one who kind of got lost watching girls sing while naked over bonfires. And at the same time, I think Woodward's meltdown at them also added to it's lack of suspense.

b) I wished they'd shown more background on how Sgt Howie or whoever on the mainland got word of the girl's disappearance in the 1st place. I suppose it's not something they care about, but logically, it doesn't make a ton of sense for them to call the cops to search for a girl in an entirely different portion of land. I mean, part of it is the society there, but my 1st reaction if I were receiving the notice would be to ask if they have any authorities on the island 1st and foremost for that sort of thing. But that would defeat the purpose of the whole story of course.

I also didn't love how un-poetic the ending was. Had I written it, I'd have had Woodward escape out of the Wicker Man and somehow caused Christopher Lee's "Lord Summerisle" to die either at the hands of the Wicker Man or just from shear shock. It definitely is a film that didn't include the most complete resolution. At the same time, Lee has claimed it's his best or favorite performance of his career (or it was the best film he was ever in, I forget exactly what the bio info said on the DVD)

7/10

Now the remake from '06 at least did give more background on the girl and the fact Nicholas Cage as the cop, comes over to see an old flame and learn it's his own daughter who became missing.

They did try to make it more suspenseful or horror-movie-like. Maybe the best or most creepy thing they had were these two twin ladies who really could have been the much older versions of the two creepy girls that are flashed so freakishly in Kubrick's "The Shining." I genuinely felt creeped out watching them; although the fact it was in daylight didn't help.

The other real head-scratcher that the filmmaker Neil LaBute put in this adaptation was this scene at the beginning with Cage on the highway stopping this lady and her daughter; which eventually leads to a Semi hitting them and Cage attempting but failing to save both the girl or the mother. They kept flashing back to it, which I thought could have worked well, but their never really was any explanation about the significance of it. Was that supposed to be his daughter, Rowan Woodward? (last name I imagine used a cameo sort-of to Edward from the original) Was the fire supposed to be a foreshadow for things to come? It really ended up just being a random event that gives you only your imagination as to what the point of that scene was.

The love story I guess added something, but I would agree with a lot of the comments and reviews online about it. Cage did a good enough job, it's just the material was so predictable and trying to be creepy just for the sake of it, that it didn't add much or have the out-of-left-field approach that the original at least did. At the same time, I probably wouldn't go as far as to think it's the worst movie this decade or anything. Some reviews totally panned it, and I guess for me, it was watchable at least, especially for someone who hadn't seen the original (although of course I would recommend seeing that one as well).

4/10

Mid-season TV Shows to Look Forward To

No time to elaborate, but this is why perhaps the loss of Pushing Daisies and Eli Stone might not be so bad if mainly these new ABC shows actually are 1/2 as good as they sound. Rob Thomas is involved with 2 of them afterall.

Cupid

Good Behaviour

Reaper

Trust Me

Castle

Dollhouse

The Unusuals

Better Off Ted

My Boys

Psych

Monk

Burn Notice

Kyle XY

Lost

Battlestar Galactica

More to come soon..

Writing blogs: while it can be satisfying and maybe not as much of a chore as I think of it to be at times, it always seems to come down to thinking to do it, motivation, and of course the all important time.

I'm in a tough spot now, especially after learning about the potential of my apartment perhaps being required to get shown as early as sometime next month. I am moving out of this, to put it mildly, less-than-satisfactory (esp. in terms of noise, paper-thin-walls) flat on December 31st, 2008 presumably. And of course from now til then, I need to find a better, more acceptable place to live. I have done some research this whole year for places, especially within the last month. However, I still may not have done half of what I need to do still. And of course, all the physical work/time I will require to get my current place in suitable condition.

Plus, sleep, and my regular weekly activities of lots of tv, some films off and on, and concerts, which 1 biggie is tomorrow night in Ours @ the Varsity Theater in Mpls.

here's what happened at the last Ours headlining show in Mpls for me.



However, to summarize, my life has been somewhat hijacked by many things (family events included) in order to even put up in here a fraction of what I could and really should.

2009 = if all goes well, a larger volume of blogging in the AllMediaReviews library should have a chance to be added to.

But I suppose just to add a few things.

wire/news/opinions (music and other media/pop culture notes)

-I love this Japanese modern-Classical/Post Rock/Jazz/Opera/Ambient group
Mutyumu..pretty much blown away and addicted..perhaps to the level of Burst recently and even Apes and Androids. With more time, some longer text should be added about both of those bands/albums. Along with some others which are overdue of course.

-I saw "Choke"..also overdue..and a decent number of films out, coming out, or I hope to see..deserve some space in here as well.

-"My Name Is Bruce" is finally happening in December..and late November supposedly "Fanboys" as well..if not the DVD around X-Mas.

-"Life on Mars" I am digging and may be my favorite new show so far.

-Annuals upstaged Minus the Bear last week at the Varsity Theater..and former local-MN band Themes I enjoyed a lot too.

-New albums from Marillion and Bend Sinister released either tomorrow (10/21)..next Tuesday (10/28) or in November like the 11th i have seen...

-I'm a bit more intrigued by the upcoming album from progressive tech/death band The Faceless now after hearing samples from "Planetary Duality" on their myspace.

-Steve Wilson's "Insurgentes" seems to be getting a lot of hype..I passed on the $40 or whatever the pre-order was for the 2-disc version. I like the guy, but sorry, I passed on the Marillion pre-order after-all. I will be checking the album out when it's available soon still of course.

-Pain of Salvation's new DVD I guess is released on November 25th and to be called "Second Death of"

-Anathallo's "Canopy Glow" is probably not that far away from surfacing I imagine. The thing that did a few weeks ago I liked a decent amount of. Scary, but I may actually prefer it over the new Margot albums actually. It drops next month no matter.

-and of course maybe the biggest remaining record's uncertainty this year is my beloved Soundscape's "Grave New World"..I played the myspace songs again the other day..it may have an outside shot at knocking on the AOY door..the nostalgia is so powerful for me.

-I read about Karnivool in the studio tonight..their new album it doesn't sound like is too far away.

-the 10th dredg "Leaflet" was posted on myspace/youtube..such an f-ing TEASE. 1 of the parts sounded like an Apes and Androids thing..with the "lie lie lie lie lie lie lie"..it sounded like. dredg plays the Varsity Theater on Monday November 17th, 2008.

-I want the Rays to win the World Series. Like Brandon Roy, it's just so like a Minnesota team to get rid of a star-in-the-making in Matt Garza. It was no secret, the guy was a stud. And no Mark Redman or even Mark Prior perhaps. Minnesota = the training ground for players to get traded away eventually and become stars for other teams. Maybe we need different coaching/managerial staff if Garza wouldn't listen to the current coaches here. David Ortiz?..there's no denying there's history and a pattern. It might be a miracle if Liriano remains with the club for the next 5 years. Too bad: a staff of Santana, Liriano, and Garza could have been a potentially historic group. But coulda, shoulda, woulda..as a fan of sports in Minnesota, I should know better. 2-good-2-be-true.

blech..okay..so that's my music/media wire..maybe something like that could be a regular thing here..pics perhaps added over time..

Expectations for veteran artists: MUSIC

I posted this on a journal on another site back in August..and it's been bugging me to expand upon it for quite awhile now.

I'm not sure if I should be sad...or moved. I put on TREOS's BETWEEN THE HEART AND THE SYNAPSE today and it occurred to me how I should really write-up some kind of extensive appreciation for that album. How it may have been lightning-in-a-bottle..their peak and a debut as well.

So then it donned on me how a lot of my favorite albums, bands, even tv shows and directors have a *Peak* or a short window of their top stuff and the rest of their careers they fail to recapture that level. In some rare cases they do or top it..or even come close, but in a good majority they never do. It may not just be 1, but 2 or 3 works. Rush maybe being a big exception.

But many of them had short stints..short catalogs of work.

and to MY TASTE of course.

So it occurred to me what makes a lot of sense is always consider if not assume this to be the case with ANYTHING..any kind of art or entertainment. And then the whole depression that happens about a band splitting up, or a tv show ending/getting canceled that was great is more acceptable, almost better in a way. Even when a celeb dies..they gave us their best..their peak..enjoy the peak.

more to add about this..

MUSIC:

So, okay, that is the deal I guess. Mindset, etc. When I discover a band from now on, get into their back catalog too, the biggest thing to try and remember is to not expect them to move me with their future work as they did with the work that I fell in love with initially. Could this be due to it being *new* to me? Perhaps. Could it also have to do with the common situation of a band/artist trying (or needing) to prove themselves? Maybe as well. Or is it partly due to wanting nostalgia?

I just notice over the last few years especially, my most addictive new albums are from bands that I am new to.

Some examples:

2008: Apes and Androids. Totally out-of-nowhere. Their style is like nothing I really had heard before. So in a way it's like discovering liking a new food.
2006-07: Pure Reason Revolution, Mew, Oceansize, Kaddisfly, The Dear Hunter, Fair to Midland, Kiss Kiss, House of Fools, The Receiving End of Sirens, Between the Buried and Me. All of them were new to me. Styles, and the albums they put out seemed to be cases of them trying to make their mark.

On the flipside, it seems there a lot of cases of bands who put out new records the last couple of years that were disappointing and don't seem to have what I loved about some of their previous work.

2008: Mt.Helium (The Apex Theory), Klimt 1918, and perhaps now Janus whose album leaked last week and I had been anticipating for a couple of years.
2007: Coheed and Cambria, Porcupine Tree, Pain of Salvation, Marillion, Dream Theater, and even Rush.

Then there are the bands whose follow-ups of late are good, but not quite the classic hoped for, or of the past.

2008: Ours, King's X, Woven, Demians..some others..Marillion, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's?
2007: Blackfield, Oceansize, Three

So the latest that I'm unclear where it'll go is the new Margot releases. HYPE HYPE HYPE..really since the middle, or late last year. And now having heard both albums, I'm still a little worried it won't be as big a deal as I hoped/thought. I've heard it enough times to know I like a lot of it; and it's a step up from RETREAT overall. But as just a comparison: the new Burst album I love right now and it's jumped all the way up to #3 on my list..but it was right from the 1st time hearing it, impressive. I was wondering if finally with all of the work on both NOT ANIMAL and ANIMAL!, a band could put some pressure on BLOOD MOON, but I'm becoming skeptical now. It really reminds me more of the situation with the new Marillion album. A LOT of material there, and none of it really bad, but as a moving, coherent, cohesive, body of work on 1 release, both of them don't seem to have the desire for repeated play and repeated discovery.

SET SAIL THE PRAIRIE demanded that (repeated play, and repeated discovery) because it had so many styles and flowed so well from beginning to end. And BLOOD MOON does too. It's also just 1 of those things, an album that you put on and your energy instantly is raised. It brings a smile to your face. It goes beyond hearing sounds through headphones. When something moves you, or is effective therapy enough where when you need a boost or something to help you forget something bad, you turn to it and it bails you out. That, to me, is what separates a classic or just addictive album, from just a really good collection of songs. And as much as I'm someone who finds still has boundaries with the avant-garde, Rock Operas, or just some highly conceptual work; for some reason most of my favorite albums of all-time seem to be the ones that have a great cohesiveness to them. Their story, mystery, etc is what drives me to enjoy them over and over. Maybe it's my love for imagination, I'm not sure.

So that all being said, what I thought I also could do is sort of give a list of upcoming veteran bands who have albums expected in the near future and how I'm going to try to keep the *peak* theory in mind.

2009 Anticipation List

Kevin Gilbert: In this situation, it's pretty much gravy due to the fact the stuff that's going to come out soon is material he made many years ago. But instead of expecting another SHAMING or even THUD, I want to hope these will be good enough to demand some repeated play. At least to the amount of THUD which I probably only play maybe a couple of times a year.

Mew: In their case, I still don't think they've made a classic record yet. But given some other bands like Klimt 1918 for example, I want to avoid hoping they'll top FRENGERS or KITES even. If they do, cool, but if not, at least those 2 records will seem all the more better.

The Dear Hunter: This one is a bit tough since both ACTS are great and seemingly Casey Crescenzo can do no wrong right now. But given that in 2007 this groups sort of came out of nowhere and them/Casey have fastly become my favorite current songwriter today, I am gonna have to really work to avoid expecting another 4.5 star record here. He's just so good and has an awesome knack for songwriting and telling a story, this one may be one of if not the most difficult ones to avoid being disappointed if I don't love it. But then again, Rush, The Beatles, etc..they did it for many records in a row. However, if another Apes and Androids comes along next year, it still may hurt the amount of time it gets. Hopefully not.

Imogen Heap Her last record has a lot of goosebump-worthy songs on it and no songs I ever skip. Something magical about "Speak For Yourself." She's great, but I guess I don't want to expect her to have that same impact again on me; because if I do, I will be sad and perhaps even not regard her as my favorite female artist today, which she is. So I suppose expecting the new album to have a handful of songs that good might be best..if there's more, well then it's just cherries on the sundae.

dredg: Considering the level of expectations for CWA I guess after EL CIELO put them on the map, their new album I want to just consider mild expectations with. Look at Coheed last year. I still really love those middle 2 albums, but they were coming off my favorite record of theirs. The next dredg album I don't want to expect EL CIELO part 2, but I somehow question how much like CATCH WITHOUT ARMS it'll be. Actually, in a way, CWA was more addictive due to the energy and pop-like element to it. I suppose this next album's fate will be partly due to how good the energy is. If the quality is of CWA's I don't think it'll fall into the disappointment category. But, the fact is, this is the 1st album by them I do expect something since back in 2005 I had not heard much dredg at all.

Mute Math: Based on the samples on the videos, this new album from them sounds like it could be really good. And to add to that, I don't consider their debut LP to be that amazing over time. They became a superior band live. So if we get much of the same, well their status as a studio band goes nowhere. I like their chances of not disappointing me.

OSI: FREE was a good example of this problem. The S/T debut was a very good record, and FREE just lacked so much of what I loved about the debut. I suppose I could see this a bit like Mars Volta; the bar has been lowered to the point where it's very likely the only place they go is up. Besides, Jim Matheos hasn't done much since FREE as from what I've read. Hopefully he's come up with some new guitar riffs and tones, as well as Kevin Moore. Maybe having Gavin Harrison won't hurt either, but also expectations won't be too high since this is the 1st time he'll have worked with either of them I guess.

The Appleseed Cast: I liked PEREGRINE a lot, but not to the point of addiction. So I guess I'm not likely to expect anything better than that. I read something about their being a very small percentage of vocals on their upcoming record titled "Sagarmantha."

Kaddisfly: Similar to The Dear Hunter. Their last work was just so damn good, and addictive, I may struggle with not wanting another 5-star work. I have felt for a long time now, there's no way they'll be able to shock me like they did again; but at least I can't get past wanting a lot of the inspiration that PRAIRIE gave me. This one will be hard, but maybe the best thing is just to believe their peak was so high it won't matter.

Pure Reason Revolution:Actually I have some optimism here just based on the samples and new work, and how much less demand THE DARK THIRD has had over time. Topping TDT I'm not wanting to expect, but at least going back to their new record as much I don't think is outlandish. The trip-hop and electro style I've only grown to like MORE, so there new album may be pretty safe not to worry.

Pain of Salvation: SCARSICK lowered their bar. If they make another album like that though, they probably will be into Dream Theater's expectation area then. The issues could be the new bass player and drummer, and what Daniel Gildenlow really hopes to accomplish with their next work. I guess unless they go off the deep-end entirely into avant-garde styles, I don't really foresee why their next album may disappoint me. At the same time, I don't expect another record of the level of REMEDY LANE or THE PERFECT ELEMENT PART 1. Or even their 1st 2 records. I'd love a solid 4-star record honestly. If they go higher, well maybe it'll be considered a comeback.

Karnivool: THEMATA became an addictive album the last 12 months for me. Although, a bit like Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, it's not a perfect record or anything. But an impressive debut for sure. I suppose like Margot, if there's a lot of hype, the danger of high expectations might happen. But outside of Australia, this band is not well-known enough for that amount of hype. At least from what I've seen. So I guess at this point, an album that is at least of THEMATA's quality is all I will regard as an expectation. If it does not go that high, I suppose my feeling on them may be more of like Apex Theory or Brazil. One nice record, but that may be it. Hopefully not as they seem to standout among all those other alt-prog bands from down under. Dead Letter Circus might be the only one that could be in their league at some point.

tbc...

Film: Transsiberian and Burn After Reading. Music:Small Update

Transsiberian imdb link

Forget how much I saw on this prior to reading the summary and seeing it. But the premise sounded like my kind of Indie flick anyway. A couple choose to trek across much of the Russian territories via train instead of flying home to presumably their native USA. They meet another couple through their bunk who seem inviting enough to keep them company along the way; except quite early-on in that time amongst that couple their seems to be way too much more than meets the eye.

Emily Mortimer is very convincing as a woman in more than enough unstable situations involving death, deceit, and a few types of investigations on foreign soil. Ben Kingsley eventually shows up as a Russian detective whose ultimate motivations are not known until the climax of the film.

Woody Harrelson provides reasonable, but not spectacular comic-relief and naivete throughout. And Eduardo Noriega who plays Carlos is both creepy and charming. I guess the things that stand out about this film most are:

a) how dark the plot and story is.

b) Partial spoiler: but why the Jessie character was so paranoid, and time after time with the detectives, to not explain what exactly happened with Carlos. Self-defense among other things you'd think a normal person would consider, especially after all the questions. The guilt and lying seemed like it was eating her up. I suppose the writers did that intentionally; and perhaps the uncertainity of what could happen to her by explaining that in of all countries, Russia, was a big risk itself. But when they are torturing someone, you have no shoes and socks on and gun to your head..um, most people would break under that pressure I imagine.

c) Carlos and Roy ..when Roy disappeared, my 1st suspicion when Carlos picked up the crowbar or whatever it was, was, he was going-to and then did take out Roy then and there. Why he tried to act like he did not care at all when Roy disappeared.

d) the Carlos character, while he was clever in ways, he definitely came across as having alterior motives for many things he did. I suppose that is part of his character, but if the writer/directors of this picture wanted him to be more devious and masked, I guess he didn't really pull that off. Just his relationship with his girlfriend seemed half-assed to a point. But if that was the intention, it worked well since he seemed pretty untrustworthy throughout. But Jessie of course seemed to trust him more than I expected. Also what led to his demise, really, was one of those unrealistic events, that liberties I suppose a film fan can let slide. The effect still worked really well though.

Concluding that this was definitely in the vein of my top film of '08 "Snow Angels" and maybe moreso, the other Woody Harrelson film I saw this year in "Sleepwalking." Dark, character study; and one that has the characters changing/growing and enduring a lot to get past a current predicament. Also it does explore a bit of a theme I thought was interesting in Drug Mules. It reminded me of how they used that work as a plot element in the film "Maria Full of Grace." Dark, dangerous, business, that those who get involved don't always know how risky it is.

7.5/10



Burn After Reading
imdb link

I've never been a HUGE Coen Brothers fan, but I still have enjoyed stuff like "The Big Lebowski" and "Fargo," for example. I guess my impressions of this based on the trailers were it looked a bit contrived and OVERCAST especially. You'd find yourself looking at the ACTORS and many of them left and right in a matter of seconds; instead of the characters they are playing. I suppose this movie didn't entirely avoid that, but it had enough mystery and love trapezoids (not a triangle..not a square even) to allow it to pull me in. The plot(s) were silly, but I didn't find myself taking each situation too seriously to care enough for it to hurt the overall impact.

George Clooney, John Malkovich, and Richard Jenkins I guess are worth watching in most work they do anyway. The loose ends were for the most part tied up save for Tilda Swinton and Clooney's wife. I also found it kind of ironic how Clooney and Swinton end up in so many scenes together, just after they were at huge odds in last year's Oscar nominated "Michael Clayton." Not intentional, but ironic, and ironic how the film up against that one at the Oscars was also a Coen Brothers in "No Country For Old Men."

The best Coen Bros movie? no. Film of the Year? no. Oscar Worthy? I wouldn't think so. Entertaining? Yes, if you don't expect huge comedic or dramatic genius. Coen Brothers I have never found to be nearly as brilliant as they are made out to be, but they are relatively consistent, so I don't imagine even the stack full of casting and the goofy twist the plot takes kills this one for me. Really, it's about on par with many of the recent Apatow films. Decent, but not brilliant.

6.5/10

Upcoming: Choke..more tba as I've caught some previews and reviews of late that I cannot recall at the moment (9/25/08).

Also coming soon/long overdue: a whole boatload of album and some concert reviews. Between the Buried and Me live may or may not happen next week for myself. I am absent from seeing Sigur Ros and Opeth this week, being out of town. 3, Minus the Bear, Brian Wilson, dredg, and Amanda Palmer are all on my concert calendar. Perhaps even seeing Terry Bozzio in St.Paul on 10/19.

in the meantime:
2008 Top Albums

2008 Anticipated

2009 Anticipated

some copying/pasting and more drivel probably could be absorbed here in the near future.

My most played record of the last week:
Burst - Lazarus Bird

Also addicted to:
Jared Micah & Hats - TCMOH

New to:
Friendly Fires
The Alps and The Alps (seriously, 2 different bands..different styles, both good)
Adebisi Shank
Exotic Animal Petting Zoo

Also some tv commentary shouldn't be too far off. FRINGE is the best new show I've seen thus far.

Fall TV Season 2008-09: Friday/Weekend/Cable

7PM

NBC has this show called "Crusoe" which really doesn't look like anything special, but the previews didn't look horrible at the same time. Sam Neil in like his 50th NBC show/miniseries. Based on the character from the Robinson Crusoe book of course.

8PM

The Ex-List: tv.com link



Premieres: October 3rd (CBS)

Creator Diane Ruggiero and 20th Century Fox Television brings The Ex List to CBS. When a woman visits a psychic and discovers that she's already dated the man she is destined to marry, she sets out to find out who it is by looking up past loves.

This looks good, and hopefully a somewhat suitable replacement for a show I really enjoyed last season in "Moonlight." Elizabeth Reaser I have liked from seeing her in Grey's Anatomy and the independent film "Sweetland" among other things. The premise sounds like it may have some legs as well. And as far as network tv, really this is the only thing I'm planning to watch/dvr for now regularly on Fridays.


9PM

Life: tv.com link

I never watched it last year. Some episodes were on my DVR. Donal Logue, who I liked in a few things I saw the past years, notably the film "The Dao of Steve" and "Knights of Prosperity," is joining the cast. I guess I may have to ask a friend of mine what he thinks before tuning in, but I wouldn't eliminate ever watching this.

Scifi Channel has a new show called "Sanctuary" which looks dark, but potentially interesting. It may depend. In looking up a bit of info about it the other day however, it seems like it's cast and writers come mostly out of the Stargate-franchise which for most part fails in my interest. Amanda Tapping: She joins the ATLANTIS show once SG-1 is over, and now she's in this?..mmkay. But, I again don't mean to entirely judge a book by it's cover, so I may check it out before writing it off.

Sunday:

8PM

Valentine: tv.com link



Premieres: October 5th (CW)

Greek deities Aphrodite and her son Eros have settled here on Earth and are in the matchmaking business in this romantic dramedy from The CW.

Valentine is produced by Media Rights Capital. 13 episodes have been ordered for the first season.

This sounds potentially good. And while the names in this case don't totally ring any bells, they look familiar for some reason. "Aliens In America" sadly is gone, but this could be the potential sleeper show like that one, they come up with this season (it seems they come up with 1 or 2, but still cancel them like AiA among others).

Also of course many show's info hasn't come out yet, but will be on the air this season. Battlestar Galactica has 10 episodes left and a movie I guess now. Reaper will be back and it may replace 90210 or Privileged (probably this) sooner than later depending on ratings, lol. Rob Thomas from VERONICA MARS has 1 or perhaps 2 shows coming out. One being the reprise/return of "Cupid."

And, of course the cable shows which are winding down their Summer seasons. Psych, Monk, Burn Notice, and Kyle XY. Dr.Who, Torchwood, and the Sarah Jane Adventures I haven't seen much on. There is to be a Christmas Invasion episode at least with the Cybermen returning, and a movie I guess with Tennant, there's talks about.

Also HBO's "True Blood" I'm in the process of seeking out. But I don't get HBO so that really has no set schedule for myself. But vampires and Anna Paquin plus some reviews have caused me want to check it out.