Distraction... Video Alphabet "E"

This is going to be the final entry in this series for tonight...

E is for Echo & The Bunnymen - "Bring On The Dancing Horses"



E is for Echobelly - "Insomniac" ...how apropos.



E is for The Editors _ "An End Has A Start"



E is for Elastica - "Connection"



E is for Everything but the Girl - "Missing"

Distraction... Video Alphabet "D"

Still going... but since I'm obviously not going to finish tonight, I'll continue this theme until completion over the rest of the weekend.

So without further ado...

D is for The Decemberists - "O' Valencia"



D is for Depeche Mode - "Just Can't Get Enough"



D is for Dodgy - "In A Room"



D is for The Dresden Dolls - "Good Day"



D is for Dubstar - "Stars"

Distraction... Video Alphabet "C"

Entry number 3... only 23 more letters to go... sleepiness is starting to set in...

C is for Camera Obscura - "Let's Get Out of This Country"



C is for The Cardigans - "Carnival"



C is for Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - "Creedence"



C is for Cousteau - "Last Good Day of the Year"



C is for The Cure - "Just Like Heaven"

Distraction... Video Alphabet "B"

Turns out I had too much coffee at the diner earlier tonight and now I can't sleep and my attention span's a little too hyper for a movie or to just read. So I've been indulging in a favourite past time of mine which is just finding music videos on YouTube. So for fun I thought I'd do a bit of a "Video Alphabet" here and post an A-Z assortment of favourite bands and videos here because:

1.) I love so many bands that I've never featured on my blog.
2.) Heaven only knows what time I'll actually go to bed.

So indulge me if you will... and onto the next letter!

B is for Bauhaus - "She's In Parties"



B is for Belle and Sebastian - "The State I Am In"



B is for The Bird and the Bee - "Again and Again"



B is for Bjork - "It's Oh So Quiet"



B is for Blur - "The Universal"

Distraction... Video Alphabet "A"

Turns out I had too much coffee at the diner earlier tonight and now I can't sleep and my attention span's a little too hyper for a movie or to just read. So I've been indulging in a favourite past time of mine which is just finding music videos on YouTube. So for fun I thought I'd do a bit of a "Video Alphabet" here and post an A-Z assortment of favourite bands and videos here because:

1.) I love so many bands that I've never featured on my blog.
2.) Heaven only knows what time I'll actually go to bed.

So indulge me if you will...

A is for Adorable - "Sunshine Smile"



A is for The Arctic Monkeys - "Fluorescent Adolescent"



A is for Art Brut - "Formed A Band"



A is for Ash - "Girl From Mars"



A is for Aztec Camera - "Oblivious"

Obsession... Collecting Classic Movies

At the beginning of this month, the government began rolling out the first wave of stimulus rebate cheques to us taxpayers here in the States, and I just had the good fortune of receiving my rebate three weeks ago. If I was a mere single person I would have enjoyed a $300 rebate, however I am a recently divorced single person, so this divorcé enjoyed $600, my half of the married couple's bonus of $1200.

I was quite hesitant to spend this money at first. I bought a couple movies, some used books and a $4.00 shirt at the local Salvation Army Store, and then nothing. But then I thought it wise to buy a few things for my apartment, because as a guy who's only been single since July, I find there's still all kinds of odd household items I'm reacquiring. Then I broke down and bought a couple more movies. Then I had some minor work done on my Saturn, spent some to pay a little extra on my one remaining credit card -someday soon I will be free of you, Bank of America! The next part of my plan was to save the rest. But then I started daydreaming about stuff... for example, I had looked at a Zune and that seemed like a good idea. I have yet to ever own any kind of mp3 player, and I thought it might be nice to wake up to some of this technology the rest of the world's using. But ultimately my love of movies again won out(again).

Thus I am now the proud owner of one of the best big ticket movie items any studio released this past Christmas, The Ford At Fox Collection.


This set is a massive collection of 24 films by director John Ford and includes a hardcover retrospective book of his time making pictures with Fox and two authentic reprints of the original movie programs for the films Four Sons and The Iron Horse. This set is an amazing effort on the part of 20th Century Fox and ever since it's release I've wanted to support this type of release by voting with my wallet and purchasing it.

This one set alone covers nearly half of Ford's entire efforts as a director at the studio. The pictures included are:

Just Pals(1920)- only 50 minutes long, stars Buck Jones as a small town fellow who befriends a homeless boy.

The Iron Horse(1924) - George O'Brien stars in the story of the building of the Union Pacific Railroad
Both versions of the film, the U.K. and United States releases are included, each on individual discs.

Three Bad Men(1926) - stars George O'Brien in a saga of three outlaws of the wild west who become protectors of a little girl after her mother is killed. Sports some of Ford's great scenic long shots that his westerns are known for.

Four Sons(1928) - Three German brothers enlist in the German army during WWI, the fourth goes to America.

Hangman's House(1928) - This picture is screen debut of John Wayne and stars June Collyer, Larry Kent, Earle Foxe, and Victor McLaglan in a saga of love denied set in Ireland. Ford would revisit Ireland years later to make his film, The Quiet Man.

Born Reckless(1930) - The early problems of sound in movies, especially dialog, plague this tale of a gangster sentenced to fight in World War I.

Up The River(1930) - More early sound problems and some very poor singing and dancing are inserted into a film that features the only mutual appearance of Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart. Barely an early talkie was complete without a musical number, and this one is no exception! Oh, boy!

Seas Beneath(1931) - stars George O'Brien in a maritime thriller.

Doctor Bull(1933) - stars Will Rogers in the first of three collaborations between Ford and Rogers.

Pilgrimage(1933) - Drama about a son who is sent off to war to prevent him from marrying a girl that his mother thinks is beneath him. The son is killed in battle. However, all of this was too late to prevent a grandchild from being produced from the union.

Judge Priest(1934) - stars Will Rogers as a southern Judge who enjoys taffy pulls and croquet when not on the bench.

The World Moves On(1934)- moves from reconstruction to the depression much like the British-made Cavalcade did, except that film took on a much smaller slice of time.

-By the way though Fox Studios, any chance Cavalcade could see a DVD release soon? I think it's one of only three Best Picture winners not currently available on DVD.

Steamboat Round The Bend(1935) - This final collaboration between Rogers and Ford is perhaps the best. Rogers plays a man going up and down the Mississippi on an old steamboat charging the local population admission to look at the wax figures he is carrying. He plans to use the money he raises to hire a lawyer to free his nephew from prison.

The Prisoner of Shark Island(1936) - Warner Baxter plays Dr. Samuel Mudd, who was wrongly sent to prison for treating Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, despite the fact he was not aware of the man's true identity.

Wee Willie Winkie(1937)- This lengthy Shirley Temple film seems an odd vehicle for John Ford. A decent film but it is certainly not a notable effort for either Temple or Ford.

Four Men and a Prayer(1938) - A British officer is branded as a coward and his sons try to clear his name.

Drums Along The Mohawk(1939)Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert play newlyweds up against the lawless frontier of the backwoods of New York state prior to the Revolutionary War.

Young Mr. Lincoln(1939) This set includes the edition that has already been masterfully produced on DVD by The Criterion Collection. Henry Fonda plays Abe Lincoln in this highly fictionalized account of Lincoln's life as a young adult.

The Grapes of Wrath(1940) The story of the Joad family as they suffer mistreatment when they move from their repossessed Dust Bowl farm to California. The first of only two Best Actor nominations for Henry Fonda. His second nomination and win came for his role in On Golden Pond.

This disc also includes several editions of Movie Tone News:
1934: "First Drought In Many Years Hits Mid-West"
1934: "Drought Distress Is Increasing In The Mid-West"
1934: "Mid-West Drought Distress Becomes National Disaster"
1934: "Outtakes"
1941: "Roosevelt Lauds Motion Pictures At Academy Fete"

Tobacco Road(1941)A tale of elderly rural southerners trying to stay on their land and keep their home through the trying "Dust Bowl" era.

How Green Was My Valley(1941) Stars Walter Pidgeon and Maureen O'Hara in the story of how lush Welsh countryside became an ugly strip-mined area over time. Believe it or not... this film beat Citizen Kane for Best Picture of 1941!

My Darling Clementine(1946) John Ford, who actually got to know Wyatt Earp while living in Hollywood, directs Henry Fonda, who plays Wyatt Earp. This film was dramatised, but less so than director, George P. Cosmatos', film Tombstone(1997).

When Willie Comes Marching Home(1950) - stars Dan Dailey, as Willie, a young man who joins the army to go off and become a war hero, but as fate would have it winds up doing training duty right back in his home town.

What Price Glory(1952) - This story of WWI starring James Cagney was based on an anti-war play that Ford turned into an rather ineffective comedy with rather strange results. Probably one the oddest and the weakest of the entries.

Becoming John Ford(2007) An in-depth feature-length documentary that I think was featured on TCM in advance of this set's release on DVD. This disc also includes examples of Ford's work making pictures for the armed forces:

"The Battle of Midway"(doc. 1942)
"Battle of Midway"(additional footage 1942)
"December 7th"(doc. 1943)
"Torpedo Squadron"(doc. 1942)

For years, Fox Studios has been making a substantial effort to represent their studio's legacy of classic films on DVD through lines like their Studio Classics line, Fox Film Noir series, the Cinema Classics line, and numerous box set releases. Fox really gambled though to invest their time and funds into the restoration of these films and the release of this set. So even though it was a lot of money for me to acquire this set right now(-thank you Barnes & Noble membership and a coupon), I really wanted to support their effort. This isn't a set for everyone, so this type of item isn't highly profitable for a studio to produce. Sets like this are produced for the art of the material. So I am proud to see Fox make a move that puts them in line with the types of restoration and presentation efforts studios like The Criterion Collection, Kino Video, and even Warner Brothers have been making for years. Universal and Columbia(Sony) could do well to service more of their classic films this way, but at least they have displayed several strong efforts of their own in the last couple of years. Paramount is probably the worst example of a studio neglecting its rich film legacy, which is just sad considering they are America's oldest film studio. There's always hope though that continued interest in DVD buyers and viewers of networks like TCM might encourage more attention to works that are the history, the very legacy of motion pictures.

Now off to enjoy my nouveau bachelorhood watching some movies...

Recommendation... This is Ivy League

I bounce back with a band recommendation!

I have a real soft spot for early 1960s British pop/Merseybeat/folk-rock influenced indie pop bands, and This is Ivy League is a welcome addition to the fold. The Brooklyn, NY based band consists of the duo of Alex Suarez and Ryland Blackinton. The pair has been working together as a band since 2006, and their EP London Bridges was released that same year. Also available is their self titled debut LP which is available now on Twenty Seven Records.

Their sound possesses that same type of delicate and polished pop sensibility that bands like Belle & Sebastian have embraced for years, and they handle their retro sensibilities every bit as well. Their choirboy harmonies and chiming acoustic guitars should make influences like Simon and Garfunkle quite proud of this pair's efforts.

I really like this band quite a bit, so please check out their video for "London Bridges". You may just like them too!

Frustration... Why Does It Always Rain On Me?

Just a quick post tonight, the video for a classic song from Travis. Fits my mood and the weather tonight... I'll post something worthwhile tomorrow.

Jubilation... Good Times At The Drive-In

Finally got to see some of the big summer movies tonight thanks to that fine old American tradition in movie going -the drive-in. What a double bill too -Indiana Jones and Iron Man! Both were very fun films as was the experience of just being there outside with a bunch of snacks and good friends... even if it did get a bit cold later on. Good times, good times...

So in that spirit of fun, I'm just posting something silly for the Indiana Jones fans out there. It's quite late or I'd say more.

Frustration... Films that should be on DVD, Part 1

I'm a very avid collector of old movies, and I keep two lists going at all times regarding classic films:

1.) Films I'd like to own on DVD.
2.) Films to record off of Turner Classic Movie because they have been ignored so far for release on DVD.

As I'm trying to diversify my blog posts here not to just focus on music, but some of my other passions too, I thought I'd try to regularly post a bit about some of these films that have been neglected on DVD. So since my best friend, Kate, is stuck on picking up every film she can find by Paul Newman, I thought I'd make my first "films that should be on DVD" post go out to her. So I have turned this spotlight on a film that was important for Paul Newman, as it was only the second time he starred in a feature role in a film.

The movie was Paris Blues, an MGM picture from 1961. The film follows two American Jazz musicians, Ram Bowen(Paul Newman) and Eddie Cook(Sidney Poitier), who have ventured to Paris for a life of staying up all night playing in a jazz club and sleeping all day. This carefree lifestyle remains unchallenged until the pair of expatriots make the acquaintance of two beautiful American tourists, and suddenly the men find themselves torn between two passions: women and their music.

This picture's a little light on action, but remains a fun picture that's both a love letter to Jazz and to the dreamy romantic reputation of the City of Lights. This picture also includes an amazing Jazz "Battle Royale" between Bowen and Cook versus Jazz great, Louis Armstrong. I included the scene below so that you can see for yourself. This film was released on VHS in 1998, but really deserves a DVD release. Fortunately with the relationship MGM has now with Fox for reissuing their back catalog of films from this time period, I do have some hope that we'll see this as a future DVD release. For Jazz fans, this film is important because the incredible musical score for this film was put together by none other than Duke Ellington. Murray MacEachern dubbed Newman's trombone work, Paul Gonsalves did Poitier's tenor sax dubs, and obviously Louis Armstrong did his own work.

This movie played on TCM back in January and I missed getting it recorded, so I hope it airs again soon. If you'd like to see it on TCM, check out their website and vote for the picture. In the meantime, enjoy the clip!

Recommendation... Simone White

I have never met anyone who is familiar with this artist, but I really enjoy her stuff and I think she deserves some attention somewhere. I first discovered her thanks to hearing the "Beep Beep Song" which was featured in an Audi commercial a year or so ago. After finding info about the commercial on Google I was able to learn who the artist was and find her music.



The first thing that struck me about her was her lovely voice and I like the wistful folk, indie pop, jazz tinged style of her songs. She's someone that with the right exposure could capture the kind of attention groups like Feist or an artist like Regina Spektor has enjoyed.

Simone has two CDs, Sincere Recording Co. presents Simone White(2004) and I Am The Man(2007), that are available through her website, but they might be found in the right music stores. She has so many videos available on youtube to watch, so I'll include a few of my favourites here. But certainly look her up and enjoy more of them on your own.

"I Wrote This Song About You" or the "Beep Beep Song"



"Why Is Your Raincoat Always Crying"



"I Am The Man"



"Christmas Makes Me Blue"... my favourite Christmas song this past year.



If you look into her music, I also strongly recommend the songs "I Didn`t Have Any Summer Romance" and "You May Be In The Darkness". I especially love those tracks and hopefully you will too!

Anticipation... The New Coldplay album

I know a lot of Coldplay's early fans may have moved on after all the commercial success they received with their second album, particularly the single "Clocks". However as I'm not one to hate my bands when they become successful, I am rather jazzed about the new album, Viva La Vida arriving in stores on June 17th.

Here's the official video for the first single, "Violet Hill". I think it's a strong first single, and I'm expecting a solid full album.

Enjoy!

Confession... Too tired to post today

Between work, still having a bit of a cold, and going out for a bit with a couple friends tonight I am way too tired to do a proper post. I'll try again tomorrow!

Recommendation... The Wombats want you to "Dance to Joy Division"

Don't think about it... just do it now and let the love tear you apart!

Dedication... The boys from Winnipeg to a girl and her cat in Virginia

"I know you might roll your eyes at this..."



The Weakerthans with "The Reasons"... maybe one of the rockiest songs I've posted on here yet.

Admiration... Men in Film

To keep things fair, here's the companion piece to "Women in Film" by Phillip Scott Johnson covering the history of leading men in Hollywood featuring Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, James Cagney, Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Errol Flynn, Fred Astaire, Clark Gable, Laurence Olivier, Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, James Stewart, Tyrone Power, Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Gene Kelly, Burt Lancaster, William Holden, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Rock Hudson, Montgomery Clift, Anthony Quinn, Gregory Peck, Richard Burton, Jack Lemmon, Sean Connery, Sidney Poitier, Charlton Heston, Steve McQueen, Peter O'Toole, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider, Warren Beatty, Dennis Hopper, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Harrison Ford, Kevin Kline, Kevin Costner, Michael Douglas, Christopher Walken, Mel Gibson, Sean Penn, John Travolta, Antonio Banderas, Tim Robbins, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, George Clooney

Music: Bach's Allemande from Suite for Solo Cello No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009 performed by Antonio Meneses

Enjoy...

Admiration... Women in Film

I'm heading off to bed soon, but I thought it'd be nice to unwind with (and probably fall asleep in front of) an old movie. As I was looking through my collection, I got to thinking about movie stars and who I'm in the mood to watch because sometimes I just pick movies that way. I've also been looking at a lot of photos of old film stars lately because I'm working on a home decor project for my living room using pictures of old movie stars. Well, all this got me thinking about this video I have had posted on my myspace page for close to a year featuring a brief history of women in film, so I went looking and sure enough... I found it on youtube.

So here's a look at Women in Film by Philip Scott Johnson.


This film features Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, Gloria Swanson, Marlene Dietrich, Norma Shearer, Ruth Chatterton, Jean Harlow, Katharine Hepburn, Carole Lombard, Bette Davis, Greta Garbo, Barbara Stanwyck, Vivien Leigh, Greer Garson, Hedy Lamarr, Rita Hayworth, Gene Tierney, Olivia de Havilland, Ingrid Bergman, Joan Crawford, Ginger Rogers, Loretta Young, Deborah Kerr, Judy Garland, Anne Baxter, Lauren Bacall, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Lana Turner, Elizabeth Taylor, Kim Novak, Audrey Hepburn, Dorothy Dandridge, Shirley MacLaine, Natalie Wood, Rita Moreno, Janet Leigh, Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Ann Margret, Julie Andrews, Raquel Welch, Tuesday Weld, Jane Fonda, Julie Christie, Faye Dunaway, Catherine Deneuve, Jacqueline Bisset, Candice Bergen, Isabella Rossellini, Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sigourney Weaver, Kathleen Turner, Holly Hunter, Jodie Foster, Angela Bassett, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts, Salma Hayek, Sandra Bullock, Julianne Moore, Diane Lane, Nicole Kidman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron, Reese Witherspoon, Halle Berry

Music: Bach's Prelude from Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 performed by Yo-Yo Ma

I imagine it took a good bit of effort to put this together and pick who would be included, so I'm not complaining here by stating that a few of my favourites are missing. So my additions would be:

Clara Bow


Louise Brooks


Jeanne Moreau


Jean Seberg


Penelope Cruz


Great film, so many great actresses, I certainly understand you can't include them all!

Inspiration... Visit to Picasso

I'd seen this short film by dir. Paul Haesaert called Visit to Picasso(1950) a few months ago and for some reason was remembering it when I woke up this morning. It makes me want to paint. So there is the goal... make time this weekend and create something!

You too!



Details on the film from
DocsOnline:

Confession... Happy When It Rains

Just like the Jesus and Mary Chain...


That's all I've got for today... off to do other things!

Jubilation... New CD purchases for this week!

I love street dates... every Tuesday new arrivals on CD and DVD... every Wednesday new releases for comic books, magazines, and books... good stuff. If I ever won a large sum of money, I wouldn't waste it on a fancy car or anything -I'd buy more things to listen to, to watch, and to read. I'd try to do a lot of traveling too!

Anyways... the new Death Cab for Cutie album, Narrow Stairs is out today and my player's breaking it in right now. This is the first video for the first single, "I Will Possess Your Heart".



My continued affection for Swede Pop led me to pick up Lykke Li's Little Bit EP. This is the video for that EP's title track.



I also finally bought She & Him, the project of M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel. There's a lot to like about this album, but no real videos out there. So I offer instead the pair and their band accompanied by Yo La Tengo performing "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here" live on the Conan O'Brien Show.



A good week... now off to do other things!

Dedication... R.I.P. Robert Rauschenberger

An icon of American modern art, Robert Rauschenberg died of heart failure yesterday at the age of 82. His passing was announced today by Jennifer Joy, his representative at PaceWildenstein gallery in New York.

His use of odd and everyday articles earned him regard as a pioneer in the Pop Art movement which gained a great deal of fame beginning in the 1950s. Rauschenberg's works didn't borrow and lift from popular culture as Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Can or Marilyn Monroe works and Roy Lichtenstein comic book panel works did, but his pieces or "combines" worked more as a combination of three-dimensional objects and paint to blur the lines between the ideas of art and objects in modern life.

He created one of his most famous works, "Bed," after once waking up with the urge to paint but without the money to afford canvas. Thus, Rauschenberg stripped his bed and utilised the quilt off his bed as a painting surface and went at it with paint, toothpaste and fingernail polish. I think that work such as "Bed" speaks of an artist's abundance of desire to simply create! It's amazing!



Rauschenberg was also a sculptor and a choreographer in his life. Another work many audiophiles would also know is his cover for the Talking Heads album, Speaking in Tongues.




He led a fascinating life and is survived by an amazing body of work. Click here to learn more about his life and his work.

Association... Talking Heads classic

Here's a classic everybody knows from that album Speaking in Tongues, "Burning Down the House."



I'm going to have this in my head all night now...

Admission... My war-mongering days are over

I thought I'd try a kind of personal post tonight because I found this picture today of me and some friends from 1987 posed in the backyard at my parents house. This photo opt interrupted a game of War we were engaged in for my twelfth birthday. I am sure this birthday warfare also included some ice cream and cake.

This picture makes me laugh so much because looking at it now I'm reminded how little I was once, but that I have apparently always been impervious to cold as I'm the only one without a sweatshirt or jacket. Also I can't fathom sometimes how much I enjoyed just running around with toy guns and wearing camouflage when I was a kid. There's nothing glorious about war, and I'd learn that soon enough, for not long after this picture was taken our family really started to learn the impact the experiences of the Vietnam war had on my father. It's also weird to think that within months after this picture I would begin the descent into my "I wear black on the outside" phase and music would be more important in my life than anything else for a time. This picture was taken in March of 1987, and Junior High was on the horizon and a new battle in my life was to begin then in the fall: the battle to be accepted. Lets' just say I didn't do so good... but it all worked out in the end. Hence the eccentric adult before you now!

The line up left to right: Jason Partner, Shawn Kitzmiller, Yours Truly, and Mike Adams.

And since I rarely post without a music video...

I found an independently made video on Youtube by video poster,Leadingnorth, with footage of WWI set to the tune of Belle & Sebastian's song "I Fought in a War". It's an interesting piece of historical footage which "starts with the funeral of Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian then moves on Bizmark, the Kaizer, French troops taking taxis to the front & other mixed footage". Kudos Leadingnorth for this anti-war video!



Just as an after thought here, I am seriously thankful that I grew up in a part of the world where as a child I could "play" war, and not be caught in a war all around me. No child should witness the horrors of men or be made the victims of the conflicts of men. I think sometimes that if I am ever a parent I may not want my kids playing war while so many other children around the world have no choice but to engage themselves in it simply to survive.

Confession... Guilty Pleasures

Last quick note for the night, I'm so flippin pop for liking this damn cover as much as I do!

The Manic Street Preachers covering Rihanna's "Umbrella"... yeah, I said Rihanna!

Jubliation... 3 Great Album Purchases This Week

This week has been stellar as far as picking up new music! I only wish I had more time to go on about it. But here's a few vids to share a bit of what I'm bit-bopping to this week...

The Kooks/"Always Where I Need To Be", from the new album, Konk.



Santogold/"L.E.S Artistes" from the self-titled album.



The Last Shadow Puppets/"The Age of the Understatement", which is the title track for this disc of the collaboration between Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) & Miles Kane (The Rascals).




Enjoy... I'll post something more soon!

Appreciation... Anyone???

To blog or not to blog... that is the question. I'll keep muttering on here whether I have many visitors or not, but I'd really like to hear from anyone who's visited this page. Does any of this bring you any semblance of joy or it it mere fluff and rubbish?
I've got a counter on my site to record how much traffic I'm receiving, but I'd love it if visitors to the site would leave comments. So if you have the time or care to remark, please feel free to do so.

Cheers!

Realisation... The Divine Comedy/Becoming More Like Alfie

Neil Hannon presents a cautionary tale...

Appreciation... Helena Noguerra & Serge Rezvani

The other bit of CD purchasing I did last week was to pick up Helena Noguerra's nouvel album, Fraise Vanilla, which pays tribute to the best musical works of Serge Rezvani. Rezvani's initial artistic endeavours were as a painter, but in by the sixties he had adopted the nickname of Cyrus Bassiak and started passing his time as a musician and songwriter. His first notable work as a songwriter was his contribution to Francois Truffaut's 1961 film, Jules et Jim, in composing the song "Le Tourbillon" as interpreted by Jeanne Moreau. He even played himself in the film, albeit under the pseudonym Bassiak, in the role of Albert.

His next major contribution to the French Nouvelle Vague soundtracks of the sixties was to accept Jean-Luc Goddard's invitation to compose the songs of Pierrot le Fou which starred Jean Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina. After that, Bassiak became the premiere composer of songs for French films of the era. Now, more than forty years later, Belgian singer, Helena Noguerra, is working with Rezvani, who is no longer working under his under alias, to revisit the most wonderful songs of his music repertoire and revive some of the most emblematic music scores of the French New Wave Cinema (Nouvelle Vague) of the 1960's.

It's a great album for fans of French pop and cinema! Here's a promo for the album:



And from, Jules et Jim, "Le Tourbilion":



And from Pierrot le fou, "Ma ligne de chance":



C'est tout pour maintenant. Bonne nuit!

Fascination... the new Portishead album Third

If you're a fan of Portishead and haven't picked up the new album, I highly recommend correcting this oversight immediately. It's the first new material in ten years, and this album is a great new/next step in their output as a band. So pleased with this release... it grows on me more and more with each listen. I favour it more as a good evening/night time album... moody... and dense... but pick it up and decide for yourself.

This is track 8 from the disc, "Machine Gun"... enjoy!

Frustration... Not enough hours in the day

Yeah, I've been busy working and feeling generally rundown so no new posts recently, but I'm working to remedy that this week.

Stay tuned...