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Hey Jude, You Made It Bad

5 Sep

Is there anybody going to listen to my story, all about the film I saw today … ? (Or Wednesday night, to be more exact.) Across the Universe is director Julie Taymor’s strange, strange movie set to the music of the Beatles (33 songs in all). To cut to the chase, it’s a mess. A truly bizarre, unnecessary mess of a movie. Often it takes the really easy way to a cliche; for example, the lead characters are named Jude and Lucy, and there’s another one named Prudence. Yes, this means you’ll hear “Hey Jude” and “Dear Prudence” during the film. (Mercifully, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is saved for the end credits.) “Let It Be” is recast as a gospel song and sung during race riots and a funeral. And worse, “With a Little Help from My Friends” is sung by a bunch of drunk college students. The film goes from strange to stranger. And then Bono shows up to sing “I Am the Walrus,” followed by Eddie Izzard singing “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite.” And it’s a long movie too (more than two hours). Sure, the songs are good, but they’re not always the right fit and too often they feel forced into the story. I laughed out loud during “Revolution.” And I didn’t ever really buy that Evan Rachel Wood was doing her own singing. (On the other hand, Jim Sturgess, who plays Jude, makes a decent impression. And T.V. Carpio’s version of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” is tender and sweet.) Can’t say anything really makes Universe worth seeing. Nothing’s gonna change my world, not least of all this movie. I’m giving it a D.

Let the Music Play

16 Aug

The kind folks at Philips sent me a press release Thursday announcing that today, August 17, is the 25th birthday of the compact disc. Did you know the CD was that old (or that young, depending on your perspective)? And did you know that the first CD to be manufactured was The Visitors, by ABBA? Over the past 25 years, more than 200 billion CDs have been sold. That’s a hell of a lot of music. So it got me thinking: How many CDs do I own, and of them, which are my favorites?

Well, I wouldn’t even want to know how many I own. I think I got my first CD player and CDs when I was around 11, sometime around 1985. But to be honest, I’m sort of embarrassed that I can’t remember. Today, if you saw my apartment, you’d see stacks and stacks of music. There’s a CD tower, CDs stacked two layers deep on bookshelves, and CDs in a tupperware container under my bed. That’s music I’ve bought, and mixes I’ve burned (like this one and this one). It has to be close to 500 CDs. Maybe more. It’s insane.

As for my favorite CDs from the past 25 years, well, that’s a harder question to answer. But certain albums always sound good, so off the top of my head, here are some of the CDs that seem to be in perpetual rotation, in no particular order:
* Gold, by Ryan Adams
* Back to Black, by Amy Winehouse
* Shine, by the Pat McGee Band
* Gordon, by Barenaked Ladies
* MTV Unplugged, by 10,000 Maniacs
* The Dance, by Fleetwood Mac
* Twentysomething, by Jamie Cullum
* Chariot, by Gavin DeGraw
* For the Kids (Vol. 1), by Various Artists
* For Me, It’s You, by Train
* Painted from Memory, by Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello

If I had to pick a list of “desert island CDs,” that’d be a chunk of them. So now I ask you: What are your favorite CDs — not the best CDs, just your favorites — of the past 25 years? Not albums reissued on CD, but albums originally released on CD in the past 25 years. I really want to know. Put your answer in the comments field below.

Le Camembert! Jacques Cousteau! Baguette!

6 Aug

I’m not going to apologize for a second Flight of the Conchords post in a row because last night’s episode had to be the second funniest episode of the season (episode one still reigns supreme). Here are two clips from the show I wanted to share. All I’m going to say is, “Just because you’ve been exploring my mouth, it doesn’t mean you get to take an expedition further South…. Just because we’ve been playing tonsil hockey, it doesn’t mean you get to score the goal that’s in my jockey.” It’s tres magnifique! Enjoy.

I’m Into It. Are You?

4 Aug

I’ve been a fan of the HBO show Flight of the Conchords since it first debuted (here’s an earlier post about it). While the show hasn’t always been as uproarious as that first episode, the music’s been pretty consistently funny. And, I’m a big fan of Jemaine Clement; the guy just looks funny. For your weekend viewing pleasure, thought I’d share this clip from a recent episode. It’s a little ditty called “If You’re Into It.” This is what the show considers a romantic song. (And, it features a guest appearance by Sutton Foster, who I interviewed for Continental a couple years ago.) Enjoy. If you want an MP3 of the song, click here. (It’s courtesy of My Old Kentucky Blog.) More video from the show can be found here. And of course, the show itself is on Sunday nights at 10:30, right after Entourage. It could be a dream come true … if that’s what you’re into.

Still a Toddlin’ Town

16 Jul

Went back to Chicago this weekend for Andrew and Fun Summer Rachel’s wedding. As always, a good time was had; Chicago is truly — say it with me — my kind of town. Here are a few tidbits from the weekend:

They did: The wedding itself was great. Very nice venue. An awesome band had me up and dancing all night. Andrew sang “Some Kind of Wonderful” (and he was good). Sat with all of Andrew’s doctor friends from Boston — it was just like old times when I was the only non-doctor in the room. Wine was tasty. Bride was beautiful. Good to see the boys from the bachelor party again. The couple was so so happy. And I had a blast.

Swingtown in Chi-Town: After the wedding and the after-party, Robin and I hung out at the bar at the Four Seasons with members of Steve Miller’s band. Yes, the Steve Miller Band. We talked for a bit with his manager and met one of his guitarists, but the man himself was MIA. Apparently, Steve “doesn’t do the ‘hang out thing’ anymore,” his manager told us. So I replied that he must just “Take the Money and Run.” And we went back and forth with similar references. On the way out, I seized an opportunity. Knowing I’d likely never again have the opportunity to hang out with the Steve Miller Band or their manager, I asked the manager what “the pompatus of love” is. His reply? “Hell if I know. Steve just likes to make stuff up.” And there you have it. (Incidentally, Robin got to hang out with Joe Cocker earlier in the day on Saturday. Apparently, the Four Seasons chain is quite popular among touring singers.)

Back to the Bean: I just can’t help it sometimes. Like a moth to a flame, I’m drawn to the same places over and over when I visit. In Los Angeles, it’s the Getty Center. In Chicago, it’s Cloud Gate, aka the Bean, which I think I’ve now taken every conceivable picture of. I just think it’s so cool. But considering this was the first time I’d been to Chicago in warm weather (the other times were in October and November), I felt compelled to revisit some sites I’d seen on previous trips, like Buckingham Fountain (which was going at full blast) and Navy Pier. And yes, I took a ton of pictures at all three of these places. Actually, the ones at Navy Pier are pretty cool because I went up in the Ferris Wheel and the view was real nice.

Good food, bad food: Another trip to Chicago and again I didn’t eat at Ed Debevic’s. (Most would say that’s a good thing, though.) Instead, on Saturday I went with Samara to Giordano’s for lunch for some Chicago-style stuffed pizza. Yum. So good, but so so filling. One slice was enough. And that one slice sat in my stomach for most of the day. Ugh. On the other hand, I tried the new SoBe Coolatta from Dunkin’ Donuts this weekend. In addition to the sugar in the coolatta itself, now it has an extra kick. And, it tastes good. So … I’ll be needing one of those Monday morning.

Anyway, it was a great weekend. If you want to live vicariously, here are my pictures.

Hello, "Philadelphia"

3 Jul

For your listening pleasure on this July 4th (or whenever you happen to be reading), the new single from Peter Cincotti, “Goodbye Philadelphia.” Seems that with his new album, East of Angel Town, Peter’s developed a little edge and a harder sound than the one he had on his last album, On the Moon, which was largely a jazz album, sort of in the style of Michael Bublé (except that Peter also plays piano). I’m really digging the new sound, and am looking forward to the rest of Angel Town, which is out on August 17. “Goodbye Philadelphia” is a nice pop song, with Peter in good voice, and it’s got some patriotic themes, so I figured it’d be appropriate for today. If you like it, buy the EP on iTunes. Enjoy, and Happy 4th!

Great Show? Affirmative

17 Jun


Did y’all watch the new HBO show Flight of the Conchords Sunday night? So funny. SO SO funny. And after a hilarious Entourage too. Below is just a taste of the episode, but at HBO.com you can watch the whole thing. (You can also download the entire episode or some selected scenes for free at iTunes.) The Robot video is funny, but it’s not as good as this song. This show is some of the funniest deadpan humor I’ve seen in a while, especially the songs. These guys are supposed to be New Zealand’s fourth most popular digi-folk music group trying to make it big in the U.S. Oh man, I can’t wait for episode two.

Hello Jeremy Fisher

11 Jun

How much do I love discovering great new artists? Only a smidge more than I love telling y’all about them. Most recently, I did it with Amy Winehouse, Jon McLaughlin, and James Morrison, but there have been others. And now I’ve got another one for you. On Monday I got an advance copy of Jeremy Fisher‘s debut CD, Goodbye Blue Monday, in the mail at work. Intrigued by the press materials, I loaded it up and was instantly captivated by the breezy hooks and Paul Simon–like sound. Jeremy’s a singer-songwriter whose music is an appealing mix of folk, soul, blues and pop — kind of like a cross between Van Morrison, early Bob Dylan and, yes, Paul Simon — which makes him something of a throwback to the ’60s folk revival sound. Whatever you call it, I really like the CD.

As it turns out, Goodbye Blue Monday is only Jeremy’s U.S. debut — he released his first CD in his native Canada in 2004, and Blue Monday was released up there in March. The video for Jeremy’s song “Cigarettes” has already been viewed on YouTube nearly two million times. Personally, I prefer the song “Scar That Never Heals,” and the video for that is below for you to sample. The song is like a cross between “Me & Julio Down by the Schoolyard” and the Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun.” If you want to download those two tracks and three others, you can do so at this site. The full Blue Monday CD won’t be out stateside until August 28, so those five tracks should tide you over until then. Actually, I’m kind of surprised the CD isn’t being released sooner; “Scar That Never Heals” is a perfect summer song. It’s one of the catchiest tunes I’ve heard in a long time, particularly that tongue-twister of a chorus with all those “doo doo doos.” I expect to play it many times in the coming months. And maybe you’ll be doing the same.

I’m All Out of Love

7 Jun

Almost like a birthday present to myself, Thursday I finally finished reading Love Is a Mix Tape.

I say finally, but it only took me a month to read (which, believe it or not, is really quick for me).

As I’ve said before, I don’t read books. It’s not that I’m against the medium, but I just don’t seem to have the patience for anything longer than a typical magazine article. And maybe it’s because Mix Tape is written by Rob Sheffield, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, but damn if I couldn’t put this book down. Continue reading →

Not Really a "Best" Buy

5 Jun

So here’s what I don’t understand.

I went to the Fenway Best Buy Tuesday night to pick up Bruce Springsteen‘s latest release, Live in Dublin.

It’s out separately as a 2-CD set and a DVD, or you can buy the CDs and DVD together, with the same track listings.

And I figured, since I had a $5 off coupon and new releases are usually on sale, that I’d spring for the combo pack. After all, the DVD looks great.

Well, the 2-CD set was on sale for $11.99 and the DVD was on sale for $9.99, but the combo pack was still at regular price, $27.99.

When I asked a salesperson why buying the two items separately was cheaper than buying the combo, and why they weren’t just charging the same price (i.e.: $21.99) for the combo, he told me, “You raise a good point.”

So I decided to only buy the CDs and save myself $10. I likely wouldn’t have watched the DVD anyway, despite how good the clips on Amazon.com are.

And what’s more confusing is that on BestBuy.com, the combo is on sale, for just $19.99. Maybe it’s something about moving units and not making money, but whatever it is, I just don’t get it.

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