I’ve been shoveling snow all afternoon and holy moley – it is tough. Gratifying and good hard work, but I have an oozing blister on my thumb and I think my arms and legs may actuallyfall off. We’re going out for (several) margaritas after my hours of no-joking slave labor, then over to some friends’ house to ring in 2007.
Last year I posted up a New Year’s mix, and I was listening to it while assembling some Trader Joe’s brownies (imported in the luggage from California, since Colorado is TJs-forsaken) for the fiesta this evening. One of my favorite songs from that mix is “Up All Night,” which seemed appropriate to belt this afternoon, perhaps because of the victorious refrain “When the roads are clear, we’ll head on outta here,” a nod to my savage clearing of the 3 foot drifts in the driveway. Plus, you know, there’s the ‘up all night’ business:
Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? How do we know what we believe to know? Why do we believe anything at all?
Innumerable questions looking for an answer, an answer which will raise the next question and the following answer will raise a following question and so on and so forth.
But in the end, isn’t it always the same question and always the same answer?
Those existential ruminations form both the thematic foundation and the opening montage of one of the best art-house films I’ve seen in the last decade. If you’ve never seen the kinetic 1999 movie Run Lola Run (German title: Lola rennt), you absolutely must. This visceral and immediate story traces how one decision can alter the path that our immediate future takes, and how all of our lives are interconnected in ways we can’t see.
Essentially one dramatic moment played out with three different possible endings, the film folows Lola (Franka Potente) — a badass German punk with hair dyed flaming red (I wonder if the Alias creators saw this first) who gets an emergency call from her boyfriend Manni. He has lost a large sum of money not belonging to him. Together they have 20 minutes to get 100,000 Deutschmarks, or Manni is pretty much a goner.
So she sets off running.
As Lola makes split-second decisions on where to turn, who to talk to, and how to get the money that Manni needs, three different stories reveal themselves. The viewer is left with questions of the immutability of fate & death, and how all those small decisions (which don’t feel at all monumental at the time) can effect what happens next and, indeed, our whole future.
Images and spiraling storylines flash at the viewer a mile-a-minute (or, I guess a kilometer-a-minute: filmed in Germany). As Lola brushes past someone on the street or throws an offhand remark to another passerby, the movie shows us the next series of events in that person’s life with a series of rapidly flashing vignettes, some comic, some tragic. Oh, that we could see those things in real life – it’s an absolutely fascinating concept. How many times have you seen someone pass and wondered their story? Wouldn’t it be fantastic (and a bit terrifying) to see the next 10 years of their life played out for you in ten seconds of shotgunned images?
I love films that deal with alternate possibilities of reality (like this one, or how about Sliding Doors or Frequency?) and the ways that our lives interconnect without us realizing it. One split-second decision can change everything. Our life consists of the decisions we make, and director Tom Tykwer explores Lola’s choices and their ultimate effects on her reality. God love the German philosopher within the director. The movie is intelligent and urgent; you should have some friends over, pour some lagers, and have yourself an impassioned post-film discussion.
The electronic soundtrack is pulsating and relentless, making the whole movie seem to pass in a few minutes. The viewer is drawn in through the triple-punch of the action, the camera work (which seems as caffeinated and agitated as Lola herself), and the music. Together they live and breathe, and breathe hard. Check out two of these tracks. I’m no club kid, but there are irresistible within the atmpsophere and context of the film:
I know, I know. Christmas is over. Trees are dropping their needles at an alarming rate, I’ve made a clean sweep of several bags of wrapping paper, and I’m thinkin’ about taking the Christmas kitsch down.
My Christmas was fulfilling and, surprisingly, largely music-gift free — unless you count the singing frog toy (from an elderly relative) that squawks that “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” song when you squeeze its foot. Other than that . . .
As I sit bloated in excess, and enjoying the extra bit of cash I have now lining my pocket, one thing that always deeply touches me every year is to sit down and read the World Vision Gift Catalog. I see what a difference I could make in a very, very real and immediate way in someone’s life with just a little bit of the resources that I am so blessed with. There are some really cool ideas contained within these pages. So yes, allow me to get a little Sally Struthers on you for a minute, and use this blog for a bit of good – here are some ideas of worthy final resting places for your end-of-the-year largesse:
Provide a goat The early-morning bleating of a dairy goat is a happy sound for children in countries like Haiti and Kenya. They know it’s ready to be milked! A goat nourishes a family with fresh milk, cheese, and yogurt, and can offer a much-needed income boost by providing offspring and extra dairy products for sale at the market. It even provides fertilizer that can dramatically increase crop yields. A perennial favorite, both to give and receive! [$75 – give]
Change a child’s life through music education Music instruction can be life-changing for a child — cultivating his or her ability to learn, fostering emotional development, and allowing an expression of inborn creativity. For children with troubled backgrounds or impoverished living conditions, it is especially beneficial. Your gift provides training and musical instruments such as guitars, xylophones, and keyboards to benefit children in need in countries like Indonesia, El Salvador, and Mozambique. [$20 – give]
Warm woolen blanket Even in warm-weather climates, nights can be chilly, especially at higher elevations. Show your love by wrapping a child, expectant mother, AIDS patient, or elderly person in a clean, durable wool blanket for a cozy night’s sleep. [$30 – give]
Small business loan for an impoverished woman Put strength in the hands of an impoverished woman with a small loan she can use to start or expand a business — the income from which can help feed, clothe, and educate her children. As loans are repaid to World Vision’s WILFund (Women’s International Loan Fund), the funds are used to provide new loans to others. Your gift today can be recycled to literally hundreds of women in years to come! [$100 – give]
Help pay for a much-needed eye surgery Imagine being kept out of school, or shunned by your peers, for having crossed eyes — or trying to care for young children without being able to see well. Your gift, in partnership with a nonprofit eye clinic in Azerbaijan, can provide surgery for children suffering from seriously impaired vision. Or, it can resolve common yet debilitating vision problems for a Zimbabwean grandparent caring for children who have lost parents to AIDS. [$20 – give]
The gift of play: Soccer balls Playtime is an essential part of childhood, but many impoverished children have never even seen a real toy. Your gift of a soccer ball will replace rounded wads of trash and banana leaf balls for an energetic boy or girl. And with a generous match from Baden Sports, your gift gives two brand-new balls instead of just one! [$16 – give]
We Are The World – U.S.A. For Africa (man alive, that brings back some serious mid-’80s memories for me! You know it makes you want to sway back and forth with one hand over your ear -like holding a headphone- and wail like Tina Turner)
Around this time last year, I featured a “guest blogger” post by my pal/faithful reader Chris in England, who regularly takes the time to make me fabulous and varied mix CDs which arrive in the mail at random intervals and never fail to brighten my day. I am a firm believer in the power of good music in your mailbox when you least expect it to make any day immeasurably better.
Chris and I have remarkably similar musical tastes (meaning his are also superb, obviously). In addition to the old-goodies he throws in, his mixes also serve as a much-appreciated barometer of what is new and interesting over in the UK and the Manchester area (often before it fully hits over here). It’s really one of the best things going in my mailbox.
Chris always sends along commentary with his mixes; he is a closet music blogger dying to get out. It would be criminal not to share all this goodness with you folks, so enjoy.
CHRIS FROM ENGLAND GUEST-BLOGS AGAIN his comments in italics
Chelsea Dagger – The Fratellis I am in love with the glorious stick-in-your-head nature of this song. I’d listened to The Fratellis before and wanted to write something, but nothing sums them up better than what Chris writes: “Watch out for the track from The Fratellis – a bit like Supergrass playing ’70s glam rock.” That is exactly spot-on what I hear when I listen to this -the most apt description I’ve heard yet for these boys from Glasgow- but could never articulate it so perfectly. So I’m just gonna let him introduce you to this infectiously fab tune.
No Matter What – Badfinger “A very old song (one of the first songs I bought as a very very young child), Badfinger was signed by Paul McCartney to Apple and responsible for one of the saddest stories in rock history (two members of the group killed themselves in later life, etc). Anyway I think the song was ‘power pop’ well ahead of its time. You can feel the Beatles influence in the production.”
Silent Sigh – Badly Drawn Boy Part of the three-song sequence of Manchester artists, Chris calls this “a wonderful singalong — the best Badly Drawn Boy song ever.” I find it surprisingly Prince-like (not a bad thing).
Emily – Stephen Fretwell “Scarborough-born Fretwell: name-checked by Ryan Adams and a bit like Damien Rice.” Lovely and wistful and wonderful.
Dear readers, Chris and his services are available for rental if you need a great long-distance musical correspondent. Oh wait, actually he’s not — but I’ll pass along the goodness if he keeps sending me the goods.
Seattle’s Band of Horses turned up at the top of many “Best-Of” lists this year with their full-length debut Everything All The Time (Sub Pop), a jangly, shimmering album that is mandatorily compared to The Shins, My Morning Jacket, and Neil Young in every album review ever written (oh, and sometimes Flaming Lips).
Yep, you can hear all those influences, but I think they are doing so well because –beyond the comparisons– they have an eminently fresh & enjoyable sound that is uniquely their own.
Before they hit the blog buzz this year, they released several versions of demo tapes (under the simplified moniker “Horses”) that are worth taking a listen to. This is the stuff that caught the ears of Sub Pop:
Not to be a downer on this fine, fantastic Christmas morning, but James Brown died early today. He was unparalleled, an absolute legend who contributed in massive ways to the sounds of soul and funk, and will be missed in a huge way.
From the NY Times ATLANTA (AP) — James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured ”Godfather of Soul,” whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early Monday, his agent said. He was 73.
Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Sunday and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, he said.
Copsidas said the cause of death was uncertain. ”We really don’t know at this point what he died of,” he said.
Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and a handful of others, Brown was one of the major musical influences of the past 50 years. At least one generation idolized him, and sometimes openly copied him. His rapid-footed dancing inspired Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson among others. Songs such as David Bowie‘s ”Fame,” Prince‘s ”Kiss,” George Clinton‘s ”Atomic Dog” and Sly and the Family Stone‘s ”Sing a Simple Song” were clearly based on Brown’s rhythms and vocal style.
If Brown’s claim to the invention of soul can be challenged by fans of Ray Charles and Sam Cooke, then his rights to the genres of rap, disco and funk are beyond question. He was to rhythm and dance music what Dylan was to lyrics: the unchallenged popular innovator.
”James presented obviously the best grooves,” rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy once told The Associated Press. ”To this day, there has been no one near as funky. No one’s coming even close.”
His hit singles include such classics as ”Out of Sight,” ”(Get Up I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine,” ”I Got You (I Feel Good)” and ”Say It Loud — I’m Black and I’m Proud,” a landmark 1968 statement of racial pride.
”I clearly remember we were calling ourselves colored, and after the song, we were calling ourselves black,” Brown said in a 2003 Associated Press interview. ”The song showed even people to that day that lyrics and music and a song can change society.”
He won a Grammy award for lifetime achievement in 1992, as well as Grammys in 1965 for ”Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” (best R&B recording) and for ”Living In America” in 1987 (best R&B vocal performance, male.) He was one of the initial artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, along with Presley, Chuck Berry and other founding fathers.
He triumphed despite an often unhappy personal life. Brown, who lived in Beech Island near the Georgia line, spent more than two years in a South Carolina prison for aggravated assault and failing to stop for a police officer. After his release on in 1991, Brown said he wanted to ”try to straighten out” rock music.
From the 1950s, when Brown had his first R&B hit, ”Please, Please, Please” in 1956, through the mid-1970s, Brown went on a frenzy of cross-country tours, concerts and new songs. He earned the nickname ”The Hardest Working Man in Show Business” and often tried to prove it to his fans, said Jay Ross, his lawyer of 15 years.
Brown would routinely lose two or three pounds each time he performed and kept his furious concert schedule in his later years even as he fought prostate cancer, Ross said.
”He’d always give it his all to give his fans the type of show they expected,” he said.
With his tight pants, shimmering feet, eye makeup and outrageous hair, Brown set the stage for younger stars such as Michael Jackson and Prince.
In 1986, he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And rap stars of recent years overwhelmingly have borrowed his lyrics with a digital technique called sampling.
Brown’s work has been replayed by the Fat Boys, Ice-T, Public Enemy and a host of other rappers. ”The music out there is only as good as my last record,” Brown joked in a 1989 interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
”Disco is James Brown, hip-hop is James Brown, rap is James Brown; you know what I’m saying? You hear all the rappers, 90 percent of their music is me,” he told the AP in 2003.
Born in poverty in Barnwell, S.C., in 1933, he was abandoned as a 4-year-old to the care of relatives and friends and grew up on the streets of Augusta, Ga., in an ”ill-repute area,” as he once called it. There he learned to wheel and deal.
”I wanted to be somebody,” Brown said.
By the eighth grade in 1949, Brown had served 3 1/2 years in Alto Reform School near Toccoa, Ga., for breaking into cars.
While there, he met Bobby Byrd, whose family took Brown into their home. Byrd also took Brown into his group, the Gospel Starlighters. Soon they changed their name to the Famous Flames and their style to hard R&B.
In January 1956, King Records of Cincinnati signed the group, and four months later ”Please, Please, Please” was in the R&B Top Ten.
Pete Allman, a radio personality in Las Vegas who had been friends with Brown for 15 years, credited Brown with jump-starting his career and motivating him personally and professionally. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
How about finding a whole disc full of Rolling Stones gems and studio outtakes from throughout their career that you may not have heard before? Would that warm up your December? Yeah, me too. Hot dang, these are great.
The good folks over at alt.rocknroll.stones put together this ace collection — and since it’s chosen by the uberfans, you know it’s the best of the best outtakes. From the recognizable opening riff of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” and other covers, into the loose-bluesy groove and straight-up Rolling Stones sound you love, this collection got me very excited.
Don’t miss the sad and sweet vibe of “Stuck Out All Alone” or the electric groove of “Memo From Turner.” Lots of studio banter on several of these, joking around and musical experimentation. The instrumental “Ivy League” is very appealing, and dig the screams that start off “Livin’ In A Harder Love.”
This is a rough and fun collection, vital listening.
ZIP IT UP, BABY I found these over at my friend Rich’s fine blog, which is also currently hosting some rad Beatles “Revolution” bootleg material, and always unearthing great music. I also got a lot of background info on these version at this fine site for the very thorough.
So good, in fact, that his minions put together this enjoyable little recap of the recent “You & Me Acoustic” tour with footage from his in-store stops and shows around the country and abroad (San Diego, Alexandria, Australia, Berkeley, Seattle, etc. but no Colorado – boo). Set to the musical accompaniment of Yorn’s cover of the Junior Kimbrough tune “I Feel Good Again”:
Pete’s a touring maniac, and he’s off again this Spring ’07:
PETE YORN TOUR DATES Feb 6 – Big Easy, Boise, ID Feb 8 – Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC Feb 9 – Roseland, Portland, OR Feb 10 – Showbox, Seattle, WA Feb 12 – Empire, Sacramento, CA Feb 15 – House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV Feb 16 – The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA Feb 17 – House of Blues, Anaheim, CA Feb 19 – House of Blues, San Diego, CA Feb 20 – Marquee Theater, Tempe, AZ Feb 22 – Suede, Park City, UT Feb 23 – Ogden Theater, Denver, CO Feb 26 – Granada, Lawrence, KS Feb 27 – Pageant Theatre, St. Louis, MO Feb 28 – Music Mill, Indianapolis, IN Mar 2 – First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN Mar 7 – Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH Mar 9 – House of Blues, Cleveland, OH Mar 16 – Roseland Ballroom, New York Mar 19 – Avalon, Boston, MA Mar 20 – 9:30 Club, Washington DC Mar 25 – Amos’ Southend, Charlotte, NC Mar 31 – House of Blues, New Orleans, LA
I just took this picture in my backyard — it’s of the hill of the junior high school right behind my house. These three kids have been out there snowboarding for hours, now that the snow has stopped and it’s a gorgeous sunny day (28 degrees, but gorgeous). I love Colorado. Backyard snowboarding.
I keep amassing new Christmas tuneage to share, or else discovering something I had forgotten, buried in the depths of my iTunes. I figure I’ll spill ‘em now because it’s my last chance for about 11 months.
We’re Not So Bad – Michael Stipe (loosely Christmas related; more of a novelty than anything else. It’s from the funny Matt Groening-produced Christmas movie Olive, The Other Reindeer -say it out loud, get it?- which was playing in the background the other day and this little animated dude starts talking and I stopped whatever I was doing and poked my head around the corner in time to hear Michael Stipe perform this with that unmistakable voice. Drew Barrymore stars as Olive, and there is enough “adult” humor and inside jokes in this to make Pixar jealous).
They’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name (ooh, sorry for getting that stuck in your head) and America has a new double album Here & Now coming out in a few weeks on Burgundy Records; notable because it was produced by Adam Schlesinger from Fountains of Wayne and James Iha from Smashing Pumpkins.
It also features contributions from Ryan Adams, Ben Kweller, Matthew Caws and Ira Elliot (Nada Surf), Jim James and Patrick Hallahan (My Morning Jacket),and Stephen Bishop and Mark Rozzo (Maplewood). It’s unclear at press time (and by that I mean clicking the orange “Publish Post” button) what, exactly, each of these fine young men contribute to the disc, but count me interested.
Also, there is a new Joni Mitchell tribute album coming out on Nonesuch Records with Prince, Bjork, and Sufjan contributing their versions of Joni tracks. This should be good:
Free Man in Paris – Sufjan Stevens Boho Dance – Bjork Dreamland – Caetano Veloso Don’t Interrupt the Sorrow – Brad Mehldau For the Roses – Cassandra Wilson A Case of U – Prince Blue – Sarah McLachlan Ladies of the Canyon – Annie Lennox Magdalena Laundries – Emmylou Harris Edith and the Kingpin – Elvis Costello Help Me – k.d. lang River – James Taylor
Name: Heather Browne Location: Colorado, originally by way of California Giving context to the torrent since 2005.
"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook
"Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel." —Hunter S. Thompson
Mp3s are for sampling purposes, kinda like when they give you the cheese cube at Costco, knowing that you'll often go home with having bought the whole 7 lb. spiced Brie log. They are left up for a limited time. If you LIKE the music, go and support these artists, buy their schwag, go to their concerts, purchase their CDs/records and tell all your friends. Rock on.
Last year I posted up a New Year’s mix, and I was listening to it while assembling some Trader Joe’s brownies (imported in the luggage from California, since Colorado is TJs-forsaken) for the fiesta this evening. One of my favorite songs from that mix is “Up All Night,” which seemed appropriate to belt this afternoon, perhaps because of the victorious refrain “When the roads are clear, we’ll head on outta here,” a nod to my savage clearing of the 3 foot drifts in the driveway. Plus, you know, there’s the ‘up all night’ business:
Not to be a downer on this fine, fantastic Christmas morning, but James Brown died early today. He was unparalleled, an absolute legend who contributed in massive ways to the sounds of soul and funk, and will be missed in a huge way.
Name: Heather Browne
