bloodbath

elizabeth mcgrath, the lead from one of my favorite bands, miss derringer, is the subject of an upcoming documentary:



looking forward to this one. (note: intro to the doc by debbie harry; i saw miss derringer open for blondie at the key club in los angeles, in 2007.)

somewhere

really simple and slow-moving story of a hollywood action star who has everything he wants...but doesn't really want any of it. he spends a few weeks with his 11-year old daughter, because mom decides she needs a break, and it creates "purpose" in his life again.

stephen dorff is really good in his role, as is elle fanning, who plays the daughter. they interact so sweetly together, even though they rarely acknowledge the need for each other, outwardly. but the viewer really feels their relationship building.

the movie also offers some insights as to what the glamorous life of stardom is all about: one just lays around, looking for something to do.

definitely a recommendation.

the new superman?

youareanobject:

This guy will be playing Superman in that new movie they’re making so they don’t lose the rights or whatever. Whatever, Zack Snyder is directing, and he directed the bromo-erotic camp-fest known as 300, but I’m assuming this will be more like Watchmen, so.

that's really unfortunate, because watchmen was the second worst movie i've ever seen...right after 300. and sucker punch looks remarkably bad, too.

waiting for SOMEWHERE

Taken at Landmark Theatres - Hillcrest Cinemas

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the fighter

just in time to not beat the oscar nominations, we went to see the fighter today. nominated for best picture...really? it has moments of wannabe scorsese, and the christian bale character, dickie, is a cartoon character at best, but i'll give it this: mark wahlberg is finally watchable again, and i love amy adams, always and forever.

but it's melissa leo, as his mom, who steals the show.

there are some moments of bad artistic decisions (family of down syndrome sisters, cold turkey hallucinations), dumb story distractions (a broken hand that doesn't really delay the boxer's career), but for the most part, it's really watchable from start to finish, and the end (um, spoiler?) is genuinely thrilling. and this from one who doesn't much care for sports movies.

a recommendation. but not a nomination.

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relax

frankie goes to hollywood came out with this blatantly sexual anthem at the very moment we were all being scared off by anything sexual. did i even remember there was a banned version of the video? no...this would barely even raise an eyebrow today, especially if it starred some american idol finalist.



but, a song / record that justifiably remains visible almost 30 years on.

watching the US version of SHAMELESS...yay, joan cusack is on TV again

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the sounds - better off dead

the sounds, an awfully good band, are starting to put out some new stuff (hooray). this first song? it's okay.

BETTER OFF DEAD IS UP NOW! | The Sounds

doesn't even compare to "beatbox" off their last album, though...

the league. the human league.

at about the same time as (virtually) the rest of the world, i was introduced to the human league with their single, "don't you want me." and it immediately stuck with me, even if having only heard it on tiny radio speakers in my car.

YES, it was terribly unique, instrumentally. and the lead vocal being so flat like that. the interchange between M and F was engaging. and again, the instrumentation was just compelling.

when i found the album, dare at my local record store (under a section heading of "avante gard", as "new wave" hadn't been established yet): what was this? a plain white cover with a cropped photo of a man with heavy eyeliner? so...not american.

though none of the other songs from dare made any airplay (in detroit, michigan, USA, anyway), it was on heavy rotation on my turntable for several weeks. later, in utah, i would hear "love action" remixes at the local disco club ("star disco" or something like that), a single that became my enduring favorite from the album.

then one night, the club deejay announced a new single from the human league, "mirror man", and i was thrown off a bit...very girl-group, not very synth-new-wave. did i like it? i did...but wished / hoped it wasn't a new direction for the league.

several weeks later, the EP fascination came out, with the very awesome single, "fascination". some other tracks seemed more like concepts than songs, but still, a great record.

fascination kept me entertained until "the lebanon" single was released, in advance of the new album, hysteria. again, it seemed the league were heading into another new direction with big guitary sounds; other tracks on the album were less rock-inspired, but stuck with a big bassline. particularly lovely was "louise", which, like "don't you want me", told a nice story, this time somewhat more sentimental.

i never cared much for crash, the album by janet jackson's producers, though the single, "human" was hugely popular. just too not-human-league for my taste, i guess.

then i lost touch with human league. they released romantic?, an album nobody heard or bought. followed five years later by octopus, which again most folks didn't listen to, though it had a TERRIFIC single (really, one of their best), "tell me when".

and there's where the magic of human league becomes apparent: though they drift in and out of popularity, every few years they suddenly reappear again with a fresh new retro-y yet now-y single that really makes you wonder if they were ever off your radar (and if so, WHY?).

2001 brought them back with "all i ever wanted", again, one of their very best singles. this was part of an album, secrets that has no dull moments. outside of dare and maybe fascination, secrets, is a key album in catching up with human league.
 
the new single, "night people" doesn't disappoint, with clever lyrics and all that, but i'm hoping the rest of the album offers more than this club track.

 

note: the title of this post comes from nina blackwood's intro of one of their videos.

oscar nominations

here i go with my annual take on the oscar nominations. i do this pretty much to get a check on what movies i've seen, or not...and this year, i was seriously missing anything that wasn't mainstream, it appears.

0 = NOT SEEN
1 = SEEN

disclaimer: i haven't seen the fighter, so all the following might change based on an intended viewing this weekend.

there's a good chance that winter's bone is the greatest movie ever made, because 1) it's all over this list and 2) i've not yet seen it.

but the big question: where the hell is TRON in all this? seriously.

Best Picture
1 Black Swan: i wish.
0 The Fighter
1 Inception: worthy. had i seen this recently, i'd probably go with this.
0 The Kids Are All Right
1 The King's Speech: typical academy pick, certainly worthy.
0 127 Hours
1 The Social Network: worthy.
1 Toy Story 3: huh? no...this is what you get when you have 10 movies nominated for "best picture".
1 True Grit: no. entertaining and all, but not "best".
0 Winter's Bone

Best Supporting Actor
0 Christian Bale, The Fighter
0 John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
0 Jeremy Renner, The Town
0 Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right: haven't seen it, but he'd be my pick, only because he is mark ruffalo (see "george clooney", last year).
1 Geoffery Rush, The King's Speech: probable winner, and i have no real argument with that.

Best Supporting Actress
0 Amy Adams, The Fighter: a favorite, but having not seen it....
1 Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech: love her from time to time, but not for this.
0 Melissa Leo, The Fighter
1 Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit: i'll say yes.
0 Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Actor
0 Javier Bardem, Biutiful: he's almost always good...probably should take this, but i haven't seen it, and i'm not willing to commit to him quite yet.
1 Jeff Bridges, True Grit: no, not for this.
1 Jessie Eisenberg, The Social Network: worthy.
1 Colin Firth, The King's Speech: probable winner, and i have no real argument with that.
1 James Franco, 127 Hours: haven't seen it, but he'd be my pick, only because he is james franco (see "mark ruffalo", above).

Best Actress
0 Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
0 Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
0 Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
1 Natalie Portman, Black Swan: yes! why? because SHE WAS PERFECT.
1 Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine: worthy.

Best Director
1 Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan: i wish, but really, not a chance.
0 David O. Russell, The Fighter
1 Tom Hooper, The King's Speech: typical, will probably win, but not my vote.
1 David Fincher, The Social Network: if for fight club, totally. for this, not so much.
1 Joel Coen/Ethan Coen, True Grit: no.

Best Screenplay — Adapted
0 Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours: i really should have seen this.
1 Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network: yes, please.
1 Michael Arndt, Toy Story 3: huh?
1 Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, True Grit: no.
0 Debra Granik and Anne Roselini, Winter's Bone

Best Screenplay — Original
0 Mike Leigh, Another Year
0 Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson, The Fighter
1 Christopher Nolan, Inception: yes, please; brings new meaning to the word, "original".
0 Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right
1 David Seidler, The King's Speech: likely winner, though does one call a historical adaptation "original"?

Best Foreign Language Film

i'm remarkably ignorant of these.

0 Biutiful (Mexico)
0 Dogtooth (Greece)
0 In a Better World (Denmark)
0 Incendies (Canada)
0 Outside the Law (Algeria)

Best Animated Feature

all animated features seem the same to me, anymore. they're pretty and witty, but i can't really tell one from the other.

1 How to Train your Dragon
0 The Illusionist
1 Toy Story 3

Best Documentary

who knows, i've seen none of these, though gift shop is on netflix streaming now.

0 Exit Through the Gift Shop
0 Gasland
0 Inside Job
0 Restrepo
0 Waste Land

Best Art Direction
1 Alice in Wonderland: yes, please; i really liked what they did with this adaptation, visually. but will not win.
1 Happy Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1
1 Inception: yes please; great look to the movie
1 The King's Speech: probable winner, and yes please: i really, really liked "watching" this movie.
1 True Grit: no.

Best Cinematography
1 Black Swan: no. digital and grainy.
1 Inception: yes please: gorgeous.
1 The King's Speech: yes please: great compositions.
1 The Social Network
1 True Grit

Best Costume Design
1 Alice in Wonderland: yes, please.
0 I Am Love: what was this?
1 The King's Speech
0 The Tempest
1 True Grit

Best Editing

i wouldn't even know.

0 127 Hours
1 Black Swan
0 The Fighter
1 The King's Speech
1 The Social Network

Best Makeup

only saw the wolfman, which did not make an impression on me in this regard. (and who knew barney had a movie?)
0 Barney's Version
0 The Way Back
0 The Wolfman

Best Score

i'll ask again: where the hell is TRON in all this? boo on the rest of these, only because they squeezed TRON out of the running.

0 127 Hours
1 How to Train Your Dragon
1 Inception
1 The King's Speech
1 The Social Network

Best Song

eh, who even cares. movie songs tend to follow a pattern. a VH1 pattern.

0 "Coming Home," Country Strong: i'll pick this one, only because it probably doesn't sound like the others.
0 "I See the Light," Tangled
0 "If I Rise," 127 Hours: i'll pick this one, only because it probably would remind me of james franco.
1 "We Belong Together," Toy Story 3

Best Sound Editing

1 Inception
1 Toy Story 3
1 TRON: Legacy: yes, yes, yes.
1 True Grit
0 Unstoppable

Best Sound Mixing

who knows...my ears are shot.

1 Inception
1 The King's Speech
0 Salt
1 The Social Network
1 True Grit

Best Visual Effects
1 Alice in Wonderland: absolutely yes.
1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1
0 Hereafter
1 Inception: worthy.
0 Iron Man 2

Best Documentary Short

did not see any of these. where was i this year?

0 Killing in the Name
0 Poster Girl
0 Strangers No More
0 Sun Come Up
0 The Warriors of Qiugang

Best Animated Short

these are never made readily available till after the nominations are announced, and then only via youtube.

0 Day & Night
0 The Gruffalo
0 Let's Pollute
0 The Lost Thing
0 Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)

Best Live-Action Short

same as "best animated short", above.

0 The Confession
0 The Crush
0 God of Love
0 Na Wewe
0 Wish 143

just got the munchies and tore through this bag faster than i thought possible

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rental

we had our hopes sorta crushed yesterday: barber and his partner saw us come in last weekend, and thought, "THEY should be the ones to rent our place!"

barber and partner are suddenly moving away from our town, and wanted someone they could rely on to rent their house. we went to see the place AND LOVED IT, sent our email to them the next day with a couple of demands (reasonable, like paint the walls a plain off-white, instead of their avocado and tangerine scheme).

and then spent the next two days making serious plans.

after two days of no response from them, i sent a followup "hope you got our we-want-it email", to which they responded that they were 1. going through a rental agency and 2. want to retain the option to sell the place a year from now.

maybe the biggest disappointment is that we aren't getting away from our current asshole property manager anytime soon.

no idea

i have no idea what prompted this memory, but...

i was in 6th grade, and my teacher was mr mcguire. he was probably around 30 at the time, but as a kid, i wanted so badly for this man to like me. i remember that i was fairly intimidated by him, since he seemed to favor the boys in class who were sporty and athletic. which i was not.

i don't remember much more of him, though i remember overhearing a conversation my mom had with my sister after visiting with mr mcguire during parent-teacher conferences. something to the effect of mr mcguire asking mom if she realized that i was different? mom reported that she acknowledged that i wasn't interested in the same sorts of things other boys my age were. mr mcguire wondered why i didn't have an interest in those things, particularly sports? obviously, my mom didn't have an answer for this.

that's about as much as i recall of the conversation. i remember, though, how i felt afraid to face him again. that, and, some sense of relief that now, maybe, i wouldn't be expected to be like those others my age. that's a strange combination of feelings.

Untitled

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sister act

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friday afternoon and too many hours remain

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i hate tv

bravo has this not-project-runway show, the fashion show, running its second season right now. it's okay. it's fine, really...just no project runway (not just because tim gunn is absent, either).

tonight, though, tv made me want to give up watching competition shows forever. clearly, they select winners and losers, based entirely on how loud the viewers will scream at the tv in reaction to the ridiculous judgements.

i'm no designer, so what do i know? but when a "collection" is based on wool blankets your dad used to purchase from the army/navy surplus store, well, there's no rationale for calling that collection a winner.

but yeah. what do i know.

samuel smith nut brown is delicious

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Ben Franklin’s 200+ Synonyms for “Drunk”

desk plant

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zharlotte has gone missing

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mirrors - into the heart

the more i see / hear of this band, the more i want. i have a hard time imagining anybody hitting the whole electropop thing any more on target than this.

now updated with a youtube link, and not the nonworking link i had yesterday:

turkey club salad

Taken at Brians' American Eatery

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"liked"

guess who stopped by to post a "like" on my facebook?

peter godwin, that's who!

early moon during dog walk

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gotz my haircut yesterday (taken by jond)

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window shopping

Taken at Urban Outfitters (Hillcrest)

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images of heaven

this would be my choice if, for one day, i could take anyone's song and claim it as my own


peter godwin images of heaven

summer afternoon

Taken at The Hole

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watching doc on TARGET, thinking I LOVE TARGET

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conferring birds

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sexbeat

i've been obsessing over this song since 1983. yes, it is that good.


sexbeat - sexbeat

difficult to find on amazon, but on about 100 "goth" compilations on itunes. that's hilarious, because three years ago i couldn't buy it for the price of my gold capped molar.

the green hornet

seth rogen is the most adorable man in show business. apparently, that doesn't translate well to an action character, though pineapple express made a much stronger argument than the green hornet. (do see pineapple express!)

i went in thinking / hoping this might be good, but it wasn't. it wasn't bad; it just wasn't good. seth rogen plays that seth rogen character, his sidekick wasn't interesting, cameron diaz wasn't onscreen enough, the bad guy wasn't scary (a plot point that was surprisingly on target).

the movie was gadget-heavy, though not compellingly so. 3-D was rarely put to good use, let alone worthy of IMAX-size screening. there were moments of scott pilgrim -esque graphics embedded into the movie, but not done so well, and not done anywhere near enough to being an interruption when they did appear.

wow. i wanted to like it...sorry, can't recommend it.

weight watchers update

readers may recall i've been doing weight watchers for the past 7 months. guess what...i've lost over 45 pounds!

it hasn't been easy, but it hasn't been as difficult as i thought it was going to be. truth be told, i wasn't expecting i'd be successful at this, but so far, so very good. (me and jennifer hudson? like THIS *shows fingers intertwined to show our bond*)

i'm taking the next session off, meaning that i won't sign up for meetings; rather, i'm going to go by their etools method only, with weekly weigh-ins with a couple of coworkers. results in a few weeks...

ryuichi sakamoto - asadoya yunta

no particular reason for posting this track, other than it's been playing in my mind for the past week after reading a post about ryuichi sakamoto on another blog.

long, longtime favorite song by this artist. i have no idea what the lyrics mean--it's a traditional folk song from okinawa--but the arrangement and vocals of the record really, really appeal.


ryuichi sakamoto - asadoya yunta

fwiw, i first became aware of sakamoto while living in japan, during a time when he was involved with the technopop group, yellow magic orchestra (YMO).

(and for those who think that i think blondie can do no wrong, they did a pretty blah cover of this song. i actually can't even play it.)

recent tv

what i've been watching recently...

undercover boss

what happened top this show? the first season was fun to watch, because they showed the heartwarming stories (single moms, college dropouts), AND the bad or cranky employees who likely got fired after the show was taped (hooters manager who skipped sexual harrassment training).

this year it's ONLY the heartwarming stories, so that angle has gotten predictable and tired. the CEO's are way, way too undeveloped to be able to train for an entry level position, oddly enough. and please stop with the CEOs testifying how their "faith" got him where he is today.

boring.

hoarders

this show really came up this season. yeah, we're still seeing pets buried alive under mountains of newspaper, screaming hillbilly moms who can't let go of an old butter dish, etc., but this year: scary! the season finale was about a guy who filled the gaps in his life with rats. 2,000 RATS...enough to force him out of his own house, to which he would return everyday to feed the swarms.

embarrassing to watch him choke out his grief and sorrow as his pets got hauled away. creepy to see the animal rescue workers dig through the walls to grab more rats. bizarre to see the therapist act as if this wasn't something all that unusual.

(well, the therapists all seem way too accommodating to their clients, but what do i know.)

i can't wait till next season...it's only getting better.

episodes

matt leblanc plays matt leblanc, famous tv actor landing a role in an imported british sitcom that neither he, nor the imported writers of the original, think he is good for.

the first episode was about the writers getting to LA and being all culture-shocked in the most cliche manner imaginable (it's sunny! houses are big! cars have no tops! celebrities live right next door!)

some potentially interesting side characters...but if the second episode of episode is this dull, i won't be hanging around for a third.

lie to me

watching as much of this series as netflix has available for streaming. it's okay-ish...the characters can't seem to decide if they're angry, eccentric, or whatever. but the little explanations of lie-face expressions give the show a little bit of twist to make it different from law & order or CSI or whatever.


top 3 of my list of favorite current tv:

community
modern family
30 rock


photo credit: http://smallscreenscoop.com/hoarders-rat-episode/312790/hoarders-rats-episode/

psycho (1998)

started watching gus van sant's psycho on HBO, which i'd seen before, but couldn't stop mentally comparing it to the original. made me wonder, why bother reshooting a movie so very closely? especially one as well known as psycho?

ultimately, i FF'd to the more spectacular scenes, and let the others rush by. so made me want to view the original again, though.

funny to think vince vaughn could play so skinny like that, though.

blue valentine

this poster does not represent 

the movie accurately

what is it that makes ryan gosling so charismatic? even for someone who often finds monochromatic people to be...bland, mr gosling has significant appeal.

so, then, blue valentine is consistently watchable, somehow, while seeming not to attempt to engage the audience directly. we see the evolution of a relationship, starting with where it is today, and using flashbacks to show how we got here (not to mention a glimpse of "the future").

it's well done, with lots of grainy, hand-held cinematography, and fairly believable dialogue and situations. one wishes that the label "hipster" was never invented, though, because it's difficult to block that word from one's mind while watching these kids in their initial dating phase, what with the thrift store wardrobe and ukelele-tap dance performance.

on the way home, the husband and i wondered why ryan's character was so put upon, but we came to the conclusion that he wasn't exactly an innocent victim.

and don't base your impression on the poster...it totally misrepresents what the movie is.

anyway. michelle williams blah blah blah, but RYAN GOSLING.

piscis

“Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day; give him a religion, and he’ll starve to death while praying for a fish.”
— Unknown Author (via girlagainstreligion)

white apple tree - youth

today's adorable: another blog-found track from a band about which (whom?) i know nothing...but love, suddenly.


white apple tree - youth

let's make a stop at every starbucks; let's complain about service is slow

dan black - life slash dreams

long time since i posted an adorable, eh? here's one to get us started again...my semi-favorite artist of the past couple years, dan black. this track from his album UN is particularly image-invoking, lyrically. i appreciate that.



dan black - life slash dreams

YouTube - The Making of Tron: Legacy HD

lotsa spoilers...

true grit (2010)

enjoyable, entertaining, but probably not memorable. coen brothers characters are often cartoony, and there were a few like that in TRUE GRIT, but the main character, the little girl, was far too serious and somber and KIA (Know It All) to be someone with whom we wanted to sympathize.

the point of the cartoon character comment, though, is jeff bridges as rooster cogburn. cranky drunk grampa...nailed. but it was always jeff bridges playing cogburn, in the back of this viewer's mind.
pretty scenery, interesting story, never boring. too little of matt damon, and way, way too little of josh brolin. a recommendation? sure, if paying matinee prices.

guilt binge

i've held steady (within a pound or less) over the past few weeks at my weigh-ins...not gaining, not losing...which is pretty good, considering the indulgences of the holidays.

my coworkers and i are tapped out financially, so we cannot (choose not to) pay for another session of weight watchers. instead, we're getting a scale for the office, and will enroll in the online version of weight watchers, and weigh in with each other each monday morning.

we seem to agree that the biggest motivator for staying on plan is to be accountable to somebody / anybody each monday. to look someone in the eye and tell them, yeah, i lost a pound.
but now we have to tell our other meeting members that we aren't signing up for the next session...which might, MIGHT, cause them to close down.

i hope i don't go on a guilt binge.

black swan

i walked away from black swan wondering if i liked it or not...i wasn't exactly sure...but the movie has stayed with me more than most i've seen recently, so i'm going to go with "liked it".

the trailers for the movie are pretty accurate: is this stalking / sabotage thing only in nina's (natalie portman) head, or are people around her really trying to psych her out? everytime the viewer thinks he has it figured out, suddenly it's turned all around again. this happens half a dozen times, at least.

a tad heavy on the black vs white theme in set decorating particularly with the ballet director's office, with random white and black props tossed in the background.

i also had a small quibble with how meek nina was in her "white" mode...could someone in this art form have gotten where she got, with no backbone? but, that made it all the more gratifying when the black swan emerges throughout the movie.

and the black swan "performance" is easily an emotional highlight of the movie...pretty awesome. it's reported that natalie portman studied ballet for a year in preparation for this role. i wonder what real ballet dancers think of her technical performance.

same director as the wrestler, and requiem for a dream, both of which i like a lot.

(note: the eyebrows made their appearance)

noted

mackintosh braun noted my comments...yay!

2010 albums

mackintosh braun

album of the year: a song from "where we are" pops up in my shuffle, and i'm compelled to stop and listen. more than any other album this year, "where we are" snags me every time.

spacy, but never drab and static; highly atmospheric, yet "pop"; and the processed vocals are still forefront with interesting lyrics. every track a winner. (while looking them up, take a gander at their previous album, the sound, which is sadly, no longer available on CD, but really impressive.)

also rans:


alphaville:catching rays on giant
terrific new album came out this year, catching rays on giant. who knows what that title means, but every track fits well, somewhere in alphaville's history.




brandon flowers: flamingo
early track of the year: "on the floor 2.0", flamingo. i adore this song, really wraps up an album that nicely encapsulates a man coming to terms with his inherited "faith", and the many disappointments therein. interesting concept coming from mr flowers.

daft punk: TRON

for another track of the year: "son of flynn". a minute and a half of 70's electronic nostalgia, which, when watching the (very good) movie, made me want to buy the album from my seat. (why don't theaters carry more merchandising for the "blockbuster" movies?) this album has made me reconsider my apathy toward movie soundtracks lately. starts out all moody synthesizer, and builds into big drumming action stuff. really, really good.

devo: something for everybody
they do what they do, don't they? something for everybody, a new album, released this year, and i had the chance to see them live again, so good to have them back on the list.

"fresh" is a real good single, too. how'd they luck out and get the spot to play this on NBC's olympic coverage?

the drums: the drums

you know how you can instantly spot a new order song by the bass line? the drums have something like that going on, and not in a copycat way. this is a great summer album...at first listen, it sounds all one-pattern, but continued listenings really bring out the teen angst among a warm and friendly collection of songs.




findlay brown: love will find you
came across "holding back the night" on a blog here or there, and loved the song...then i saw the album was out, so i ordered the CD. first listen, i was a little disappointed, because the songs didn't match "holding back" so much...but as each song comes up in a shuffle these days, i find myself checking my ipod to see what track is playing and who this artist is, emulating great voices of the past. i'm growing to like this album more and more and more.

i highly recommend the above.


hockey: mind chaos
an album i sincerely love, but have somehow avoided posting. this was going to be my "album of the year", but then mackintosh braun came along and stole my heart. still, hockey's album is quite good, running through various music styles in a few tracks, all tied together with the lead vocalist's gravel pit delivery (meant as a compliment).

i can't recommend this one enough. really, really wonderful.

hurts: happiness
probably my most anticipated album that actually came out this year, and definitely one of the most fulfilling. take songs by a-ha, give them the sheen of spandau ballet, performed by a duo with the charisma of pet shop boys, but attitude of depeche mode, and you have HURTS. definitely a plus that the first video for "wonderful life" was shockingly goofy; the second version a little too polished, but retaining that odd choreography style.


OMD: the history of modern
the 80's strike again, with a pioneering duo releasing new material that sounds very classic. thank you, plink-plink gods.


scissor sisters: night work
missed their live show, but love the album. i started listening to it, appreciative of their 70's pop radio leanings...but wondering, what of the 80's? and then in pop nods to devo, giorgio moroder, and even george michael.

the lead single, "fire with fire", is pretty gorgeous.

fabulous.