Bejar and the merchants of smut

" Bejar, Pressed and ready for action! "

Myriad Harbour is probably the best New Pornographers song to date. As we know, Dan Bejar is an active recording and touring member of said Vancouver supergroup. Every album, they allow him a couple of songs to fill out the track list. He's the darker edge that offsets the power pop sweetness that is key to huge success they have achieved.

In the past, I thought his additions to NP albums were too finely polished and quantized by the machine that A.C. Newman captains. This time around he's channeling the same ghosts of rock past that he does in his other group but when the background vocals kick in you know it's none other than the New Pornographers. Still, the ragged beauty of a Dan Bejar song reaches the listener unmolested.

I have noticed since their last album things have gotten a little more melancholic in NP land. It's a good move and Dan Bejar fits in perfectly with this new aesthetic.

Sure, there are better songs on Destroyer albums but this is going to be heard by a lot more people. That more people will finally hear less diluted Bejar is a long time coming. The mainstream is finally getting a taste of what great music lies just below the surface.

the angry streets of East Van

I've run 12 marathons, done the Grouse Grind several times (including the race), successfully navigated the Baden Powell trail and even completed the Diez Vista 50 Kilometer Trail run. I am not writing this to impress or blow sunshine up my own arse.

No, today I have a far more important goal.

First, I wanted to illustrate this point: I am able to run over uneven terrain for great distances with out upsetting my equilibrium.

I am fed up with the state of the sidewalks in East Van; the streets are hilly, undulating, peaceful tree-lined idyllic setting, perfect for running, right? Don't be lulled in by these serene setting, it's war out there. These trees have root structures that are perfect for forcing sidewalks into jagged foot hungry predators. In my life as a runner, which started in July of 1990, I have lost my footing only 2 or 3 times. In the last four months I have been tripped up 3 times by the mean streets of East Van, almost 4 but that time the edge of the sidewalk just ripped a hole in the side of my right shoe.


I don't expect the city to do anything about this. They have already tried to smooth out some of the nastier spots with asphalt. Right now, they are putting all their money into the Olympics, which is far more important for their public profile.

What I do suggest, though, is the citizens of the area not ride their bikes on the sidewalks. It's hard enough trying to watch your footing without some myopic septuagenarian coming at you with a rickety old 10 speed. Also, when riding your bike in a prohibited zone try not to carry two cardboard boxes, which further inhibits your less-than-ideal pedal pushing skills. I am glad that none of them wear helmets (even though it is the law, our Olympic -centric civil servants turn a blind eye) because it makes it easier for me to store your guilty faces in my lexicon of inconsiderate cluster-fucks. Your time will come.

Oh, the joys of staying fit

18 Scenes

M.M. and I just saw Paris Je T'aime and, in our estimation, it's one of the best collection of short subjects every put up on the screen. This shouldn't work in theory. Two producers come up with and idea to have 18 world renowned directors describe their favourite French city. Add some A-list actors, the best cinemtographers and mix vigorously. The result: comedy, drama and romance along the better streets and buildings of Paris. After having just seen the hit-or-miss collection Chacun Son Cinema we thought PJT would be more of the same. Not so, this is one hell of a consistent compendium.

Of course, some of them stood out but of the whole collection there were probably only three I didn't like: one involving mimes (you knew there was gonna be one of those) and a Vampire who's got the hots for everyone's favourite Hobbit were two of the lesser entries. Not that they were bad, just not my taste.

I feel truly inspired after seeing these films and am suffused with the power of Cinema's potential. PJT is the best of that art form. The assembled actors are the finest working today and include: Maggie Gyllenhal, Emily Mortimer, Natalie Portman, Sergio Castellito, Steve Buscemi, and Gena Rowlands. It amazes me now how much these directors packed into a short considering they've been working with long form pieces for the greater part of their careers.



The directors that surprised me the most were Wes Craven and Alexander Payne. The master of horror's entry, "Pere-Lachaise", is in full Woody Allen mode and man does he have a deft touch when he leaves his comfort zone. I would love to see more projects from him like this. Mr. Payne's entry "14th Arrondissement" shows his talent for blending humour and poignancy without the benifit of a feature length pallette. After writing him off because of my dislike of his last two films this is being very generous but deservedly so. This omnibus has really made me reassess cinema's bastard child, the short film.

Furthermore, I was very moved by the sum of all these films. When I forget to criticize what makes a film tick and am just swept away by the sounds and images this is a sign of great art. It shows that even though the whole endeavor may be contrived and packaged to entertain the masses the outcome can still be sublime.

Alternate Realities

Just finished ready Harkuki Murakami's Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and Kafka on the Shore, back-to-back. They totally straddle the line between what's real and imagined in a brilliant way. Murakami loves to put the everyman/woman in otherworldly situations and then take them (and you) to fantastically imagined planes of reality. I would recommend his books to anyone who loves detective stories that go deeper than the standard Raymond Chandler or James Elroy crime novels. What I'm trying to say is: his books are modern extensions of what noir masters have set forth. Not for everyone but for those who get Murakami he makes our lives feel a bit more substantial. He writes about Japanese people but from a western point of view. His Japan is informed by the west and isn't some exoticized Eastern netherworld. I need to read his new book After Dark and his biography to completely absorb the entire canon (aside from a few short stories).

Last night we showed our trailer 3 special guests whom gave us many helpful hints. They mostly liked it but they felt it needed some more key points of info. We're up to the task so it won't be a problem. When you seen the final film you won't be disappointed.

more from the mind of Lubener

Just spent 3 hours at mm's nephew's bday party. A half a dozen screaming kids but hey I came out unscathed and kinda enjoyed the experience.

We are about to show our new Ladyhawk trailer to two of Vancouver rock intelligentsia's most esteemed members. We hope it goes over well. We have wine here to wear down their defenses though. Here's hoping it works.

David Lynch's Inland Empire is making a second appearence hear in Vancouver. We are going to catch it on July 8th. K.T. has seen it three times and assures us our lives won't be complete until Lynch's glorious pixels wash over us.

Wilco is coming to town again and playing at none other than the Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park. It's on Aug 20th and M.M. and I will be there. It's an outdoor amphitheatre with a liquor licence so why wouldn't we go? We're pretty fond of their new album Sky Blue Sky so that doesn't hurt either. It's not as good as Yankee Hotel Foxtrot but what could surpass that career topping high.

I'm editing some stuff for a christmas music doc this monday. The section I'm working on features the infamous El Vez (the Mexican Elvis) if my dad is reading this he'll get a kick outta that.

I'm back in the blog-sphere bitches! get used to it.

When blogging was good

A lot has happened since my last post. First off Pandora is no longer available to people oustide of the US. Boo Hoo. There are many other things to be excited about though...

My good friend Terry is almost done with his new movie "When Life Was Good". Go to the website whenlifewasgood.com. This film of his is really great. I just love the direction he is going in. I have a small part in it but if you sneeze you'll miss it. That aside I would still love that movie. He is no longer just a friend who makes films but a filmmaker that happens to be my friend. WLWG is going to take him places. Hopefully he'll still hang out with Mona and I.

I might finally make the jump to Facebook. Only for film networking not social networking. You have to draw the line to what groups you are a slave to. Next year there will be something even better and we'll all leave facebook. That's my prediction anyway. Mona and I are finally going to put up some of our short films on that Facebook thingy.

I'm waiting to see some movies thanks to their glorious trailer...


Margot at the Wedding, the new Noah Baumbach, starring Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jack black.


There will be Blood, the much awaited P.T. Anderson. The only period piece I'm excited about.


Also I just got the new OZU boxset thanks the the wonderful Huguette at work. I will write a post about her very soon. She is an amazing woman that I work with at the Hotel. All of you need to know about her and her amazing presence on this earth.

Movies I've seen recently...


Red Road - A Scottish movie that is moody and thrilling. Not a thriller really because it doesn't really go down that tired genre's path. It also has some great acting, cinematography and very little exposition.



Chacun Son Cinenma - a collection of 33, 3 minute films that were commissioned by the Cannes Film Festival for their 60th anniversary. My friend K.T. had to order this DVD from France at great expense so props to him and his love of Cinema. K.T., Mona and I all sat down and watched it on the weekend. The goal was to make a film that captured the feeling of being in a theatre when the lights go down. About half of them were amazing. My favorites were Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Zhang Yimou, Tsai Ming Liang, Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Raymond Depardon. There were a few stinkers, unfortunately one of my favorite filmmakers was responsible for the worst pieces of crap on the disc. I won't mention it here because I have too much respect for the Director's body of work.

I'll try to be better about posting more often. I have to get more than one person looking at my blog per day.

Pandora the Genome Project

Once again I feel like the last person in the world to be hip to something great. If you don't know already (and you probably do, but I'll keep writing anyway) the Genome project is a team of musicians who listen to songs and break them down to their musical DNA. In their words - On January 6, 2000 a group of musicians and music-loving technologists came together with the idea of creating the most comprehensive analysis of music ever. They have apparently listened to over 10 000 artists.

Joined at the hip is pandora.com. On this site they have a streaming music player that you type a band or song into the search line and they decide what other bands and songs complement what you've selected. So, if you set up a station for the Beatles they will tell you what's distinctive about the voice, instrumentation and the way in which their music is played.

Here what I got when I punched in The Beatles...

we chose this track because it features a subtle use of vocal harmony, acoustic rhythm piano, major key tonality, a dynamic male vocalist and melodic song writing.

Funny thing is they played the Kinks and Todd Rungren before they played the Beatles because of some screwy licensing deal. I think that's fine though because if you like the Beatles it's pretty easy to download Beatles songs. The great thing is if you are sick to death of the Beatles but you want something that sounds like them, then you're all set.

You can get more advanced by adding more bands or songs to your radio station. For example I set up a station for Camera Obscura and then I added Cat Power, Neko Case and Belle and Sebastian. Unfortunately for that station those aforementioned bands are probably the best of that sound so every other song I heard was kind of a way to slick or sub-standard version of those bands but hey I'll give it time. Another great feature is that you can rate the songs with a thumbs up or thumbs down. Apparently, if you give the shitty songs a thumbs down you'll get better songs and essentially fine tune your station to where you want it.

The thing I like about this service the most is it frees me from Pitchforkmedia.com, which I usually go to to learn about new music. I like their site but I don't always agree with people-in-their-twenties-who-know-nothing-of-music-history making all my musical choices. Don't get me wrong, Pitchfork is great but it's a popularity contest. Pandora is far more democratic and based on merit not nepotism. Just because a band is unknown or not on a cool label doesn't mean they can't be amazing. So, thank you Pandora for this.

Sometimes it's OK to be last to discover something.

These are the stations I've set up...
The Jazz Butcher
The Minutemen (I just saw their great Doc "We Jam Econo" so I want to hear more stuff like them)
The Velvet Underground
Black Mountain
Ladyhawk
Camera Obscura
Boards of Canada
Yo La Tengo

work faster, work leaner; create a body of work!

I recently listened to Joe Swanberg's podcast at the workbookproject.com.

This is what it's all about.

He shoots his movies on video for nothing, has a crew of 2 and comes up with high quality stuff. Prolific is a word that comes to mind; inspiring is another. How has he managed to do all this?

He shares with us how he's finished three features and two seasons of a web TV show in the past two years (as well as another in the can but unedited). The key is his unique approach to the medium. First off --- He spends very little money on these films, he's the shooter, actor, producer and editor. He used to do the sound but now he has a sound guy. He very recenlty started working with a producer but really he's managed to cut out about 90% of the useless twits who manage to gum up the works (you know who you are; you can stop reading now). He doesn't write scripts but rather uses the actors own life experiences to form the story.

He said for his latest, Hannah takes the stairs, all he had was a pencil drawing to secure financing. He says a lot of indie filmmakers spend so much money on their first film that they are tied to those projects until they can recoup their initial investment. He uses the four-eyed-monsters kids as an example. They made their first film in 2005 (yes, it's called four-eyed-monster) at the same time Joe had just finished his first film --- Kissing on the Mouth. As I mentioned he has completed several projects since then but Arin and Susan (the directors of FEM) are 80 000 dollars in debt and can't move forward with any new projects.

So, yes I like what Joe Swanberg is doing. I think that Mona and I should just do our next fiction project by ourselves with non-actors that have great stories to tell and look great on screen. First we have to finish this doc.

Friend or Foe

Is this world set up for forward thinkers? Or is it destined to stunt the growth of those who challenge mediocrity?

I can't tell you how many times I've faced the challenge of fitting in with the straight world. At work I bite my tongue and am forced to justify my opinions on a daily basis: it's a tough grind. When you go against the norm it's not a fun existance. People at my work just want things to go smooth; they want to avoid situations that make them think. What the fuck is the matter with thinking or feeling or having emotions? I want to gain emotional maturity through my life experience.

Ever since I left the studio to work at the Running Room I've had problems fitting in with the masses. I've learned to like them, befriend them and even bedded a few but in the end i just want to go back to my own: the weirdos.

The edit begins

We've been back from Kelowna for a week now and we've started to edit the Ladyhawk doc. Yesterday, Mona and I made a 1 minute teaser for the doc. We got a hold of the final mixes for the album (unmastered, unfortunatly) and their Fight for Anarchy EP. The new album is a natural progression from the first release but the EP is a crazy side-step of lo-fi genius. Bob Pollard, Lou Barlow and David Berman insinuate their influence into the 6 song, mushroom inspired, recording. I don't have a comprehensive list of all the songs yet but I know that song six on the ep has been re-recorded for the full album, which I will refer to as "Whitehouse" for now, since that's where it was was recorded, and that's what Colin wrote on the CDR with a sharpie. They are very against the idea of calling it "the whitehouse night gallery sessions" though. The lead singer/songwriter, Duffy, abhors any album that has "the" or "sessions" in the title.

I have to say the guys in Ladyhawk are some fine lads. Allowing us to film them for two weeks was a bit more than they signed on for. Having two cameras in your face for 10 hours a day can be a bit trying and they didn't complain one bit. But we knew they were tired of us during the last couple of days. We're going to film their Tofino show (our last piece of the film) on April 14th and then we'll be out of their hair. After they see the finished Doc they'll know it was worth it.

self-analysis as an art form

Caveh Zahedi's I am a Sex Addict is another great American film that takes chances in a era that seems to have turned its back on this so-called poppy cock. Yes, this is another film shot on a shitty mini dv camera (I am seeing a lot of these lately) so you film purist can pass this one by.

Caveh is not new to the world of Cinema, I just haven't gotten around to seeing his work. I first heard of him when I saw Waking Life. He was the guy in the "Holy Moment" sequence. A high point in a movie with many peak moments. This new film of his is what you would call an autobiographical Docu-Drama. He re-enacts scenes from his life, mostly concerning his addiction to prostitutes.

Using old footage and new staged footage he has put together a wonderful and engaging look at himself; with all his flaws kept firmly intact. There is explicit sex but it is done in such a playful way that it doesn't detract from what is essential an updated version of Annie Hall. He really has cracked the Woody Allen code on this one.

His self-depreciating humour and observations really draw you to his character (which is essentially him). I found myself being truly moved during several sequences in the film. It's so great that a filmmaker can give so much of himself and not come off as self-indulgent.

The way he wraps up the picture is also a masterstroke. He alludes to Orpheus and the Sirens, with some wonderful animation, to give us a quick recap of what we just witnessed. With a lesser filmmaker this would have been a sucky pat ending but Caveh really hits all the right marks. I am so glad a film like this exists.

go to his website

http://www.cavehzahedi.com/index.html

Inland Empire

Can't wait to see the new David Lynch Movie. Here is a great review of Inland Empire. Hope this inspires you as much as it did me.

never speak it's name

There are things just don't say when we are in certain company. If you are with your parents you don't talk about your proclivity for wearing ladies undergarments and if I'm with one of my guy friends I never say "you know that part in The Devil Wears Prada". These are all minor foibles compared to what I am about to lay on you. If you are talking to people in the Broadcast Industry then you must steer clear of one particularly heinous acronym.

I regularly read several of the indie filmmaker websites to try to get the lowdown on what type of gear is availible in my price-range. Right now there is an inexpensive format called HDV - high definition video. This is a very efficient way to get a high definition image on a mini DV tape. Many argue it's not true HD but it looks a hell of a lot better than standard definition video.

These tapes can be purchased for $4-$10 a piece and they can record an hour of footage. the cameras are anywhere from 1500 to 12000 dollars. The one I am eying up is around the 5000 dollar range(the Canon XH A1). Everyone should be really excited, right?

Well they aren't.


Sure this technology has it's drawbacks but I've seen the images and they look great. If you see these images on a 42 inch HD plasma you will be too. For documentary it seems like a perfect fit.

But there is a problem.

Yes, in the broadcast industry you never admit you are filming your project on HDV. Why is HDV getting such a bad rap? There is Standard Definition (SD) and then there is High Definition (HD). In between these two formats HDV protrudes like a canker sore on your prom date. I wager that if you gave one of these industry types a project done on HDV they wouldn't be able to distinguish it from real HD.

Back in the 90's when I used to record bands, the recording industry hated these terms -- project studio, Home recording and four-track. If you were a proponent of those you weren't professional. Basically if you didn't spend a ton o' cash recording your album at a industry sanctioned recording facility they didn't want to have anything to do with you.

What the hell does professional mean anyway?

The thing is, in the audio and video world they have standards. Who sets up these standards? Accountants. These financial wizards are always finding creative ways to keep their bloated machine alive. The rental houses, the overpriced post production facilities...the old guard. As independent filmmakers we are in a powerful position. We can afford to shoot, edit and deliver high quality films. They don't like this because all they can control is the broadcast and distribution of your original work. These are things they should only be doing in the first place. So, when you say you are filming on a 5000 dollar camera and not a 100000 beast (that takes several people to run, rent and insure) they get scared. They feel they are being left out. Where's their peoples cut? They point out all of the drawbacks of your format and act as if theirs' is bulletproof. There is no perfect format or camera for that matter. All formats are temporary anyway, nowadays even more so.

I say employ the same technique the US Navy does: Don't ask, Don't tell. Just deliver the final cut to them in 1080i (the standard format for HDTV broadcast) so they can play it on their precious channel. Chances are they won't notice as long as it shows up on their monitors in 1080i everyone should be happy. Remember these are not technical people and most of them can't tell the difference.

Go out now and shoot your original idea (i can't stress that enough) with whatever you can get your hands on. Thankfully even the sub 5000 dollar cameras are way better than what was available for ten times that only 5 years ago.

I am a filmmaker not a film-developer or someone who lunches. I want to be actively making films not just writing proposals for overpriced TV shows that have a great chance of not getting made. That is what HDV allows me to do and what is so bad about that?

Mona and I are going to make our Rock Documentary on our puny HDV cameras...and guess what...it's gonna look great because it's who's doing it, not what you use. The thing is, the opportunity is here right now and waiting around for a better camera is a great way to avoid making a film.

For more info go to these sites

www.hdforindies.com

www.freshhdv.com

http://www.bluesky-web.com/prosumerhd.htm

What kind of Fuckery is this?

Even though the Cover Art is harshly inspired by Flashdance, the contents of this Amy Winehouse CD is pure 60's soul...and boy did they get the sound right. I like retro but when people try to rehash the classic sounds they usually get it wrong. Even my friends are guilty of such failures. In this case she's got the voice, the songwriting talent and the sound down pat. Not an easy task but she and her crew pulled it off. Jack White only wishes he could attain the heights this album has reached.

Is everyone hip to this in Canada already? Am I the last one to get into this? Well, it doesn't matter because I'm hooked for good. This is one of the few album I can say I could recommend to my parents. I could recommended it to my music snob friends as well without "Guilty Pleasure" prefacing that statement. I know Colin and Terry at the Hive will dig this, big time (if they aren't into it already). I can understand how some may hate this but I won't engage in any debates with those folks. She's done an amazing thing with this album in my opinion and that's all that matters.

Hope for Canadian Cinema?

The real coup here is that the Tracey Fragments is opening the Panorama section of the Berlin film festival. The Review of this New Bruce MacDonald movie is on Cinematical...and wait...it's sounds promising. Looks like if there is hope for Canadian Cinema, it will come from the East. Terrry M's UBC prof wrote the book it's based on, so there is a West Coast connection in this as well. The real success of the films seems to have been from the direction style not the original text. In the wrong hands it sounds like it could have been after school special material or worse: video poetry.

I really hope I like this movie cause Bruce stays at the Hotel all the time and he is an awesome guy (so down to earth and approachable). I will also point out that the review is from an American website so there is no nepotism going on.

here be the link

http://www.ciwww.cinematical.com/2007/02/08/berlinale-review-the-tracey-fragments/

The Long Blondes

I don't usually go in for this sorta thing but this takes me back to the nineties and I was really given' er in the nine o's; this was my decade. I'm reminded of bands like Elastica, Sleeper, Echobelly or even Late-Era Lush. Looming over all those band is the inescapable Pixies reference. The slightly surfie guitar riffs, the mobile bass licks and the wanna be wipe out drums are most likely to conjure up images of Black Francis' cash cow. This is not original but it's fun and it's creating some much needed light in my slate gray life (i'm just talking about the weather, it's February in Vancouver after all). Sure, I like the allusions to French 60's film starlets and Scott Walker but mostly I like the energy of this album. These songs are a great soundtrack for running through the streets of East Van. I may even go see them live it they come around these parts.

No, we don't rent rooms by the hour

I have officially reach a low point.

I am speaking of my job at the hotel. Thankfully I only work there 2 days a week. In the past 6 years I have been asked to do many things for the guests. It's my job, I'm a Bellman; the last line of defense in the war on customer service. I don't mind taking people's mail out, picking up a copy of the Globe and mail for them or even parking their cars in the underground lot. These are all not technically part of the service the Hotel provides but I do it for the guests anyway.

When I arrived at work Sunday the Bellman (I'll refer to him as X) who I was relieving says to me "Have fun with room 507". I asked him why and he said, "you'll find out." Just as he was leaving the switchboard rang...and what do you know, it was 507...

"Can you bring up some condoms?" A woman asked.
"sorry, we don't have any here, you'll have to go to the corner store".
There was a pause and then she hung up the phone. Right away the switchboard lights up again and it's 507.

"Can you go to the store to get those condoms? it's an emergency".
"I'm sorry I can't leave the building". I lied
"Wait someone wants to talk to you".
A man's voice now comes on the phone.
"There will be a huge tip in it for you if you go to the store".
"Er, ah I'll see if someone else can go for you." I look at X and the other two people who were working at the front desk. They all start laughing at me and then X leaves.

I'm holding the phone, not knowing what to say and from the back office the Mangager yells, while laughing at me, "just go do it, no else is gonna go for you."

"This place sucks" I yell and storm out to the corner store.

I buy the aforementioned unmentionables and take them up to 507. I knock on the door. The door opens, just a crack and she grabs them from me. "You're so sweet".

And she slams the door.



Story's over right?

Not a chance.

They phone the front desk again. This time they want BAND-AIDS!!!!???

I take up some and once again have to slip them through the crack. "Sorry, we're naked". and she slams the door.

Prepared for almost anything when the phone rings a third time she asks for 4 beers and adds "Make it fast, we're running out of time."

I take the beers up, this time they let me in. She's wearing a hand towel and a big beefy guy with a thorn tattoo on his upper arm is lying on the bed. Thankfully he has a sheet draped over his condom landing pad. As I survey the room I can only imagine the sexual-tsunami that caused this mess. I set down the beer on the 2cm's of clean space the room had to offer and I get the female of this dynamic duo to sign the bill. I leave and see they've left me a 15% tip. Not exactly the huge tip I'd expect (and was promised) for being their own personal condom valet.

The night goes by slowly. I talk with the regular guests (both in frequency and mental state) and go about my Bellmans' duties.

Of course, they call the front desk again. This time they want to know if any "High-End" restaurants deliver. I guess our restaurant isn't good enough for such royalty. I tell them I'll have to call them back. I do the bare minimum of research and then tell them NO. She says "It's OK, we're going to get dressed and go out."

They can do that? I wasn't aware they had such powers.

They go for dinner. When they come back, get undressed and just before they get down to their nasty business, they call down for another order of condoms (their first delivery included 6) and 4 more beers.

This time I pawn off the dirty task onto the Security guard who just got on shift.

He comes back just as I am taking the beers up so I throw the contraband on my tray and go up to their love-nest. When I get there she tells me they just got married. I a say "really"? cause I don't believe them. I think they were offended. Then she makes some comment about them being our most notorious guests. I couldn't argue so I said nothing and left. At this point I usually say to the guests "If you need anything just call the front desk." I conveniently became mute.

That was the last I heard of them. Later that night though I was told that the security guard found her running naked through the courtyard. He had to cover her with his jacket and take her back to her room.

A true low in my personal history at the Sylvia.

Cast of Rob on Bob clean up in Mexico

You might recognize these folks (Bob, Cathy, Marilyn and Barry) from a little film I did called Rob on Bob. No cliff diving or Bullfighting took place this time. Some livers may have been abused but that's about it. That 130 pounder was caught by none other than Bob.

Roc Doco Research

I just saw Gimmie Shelter as part of my research for the Ladyhawk Doc.

This is touted as not just another Rolling Stones concert film and boy did it deliver on that. Can't tell you enough how I enjoy the Maysles Brothers approach to documentary. They don't use narration and are very econmical when it comes to titles. What you get is a feeling of actually being there without any heavy handed manipulation.

One of my favourite parts was the scene where they are in muscle shoals studio mixing wild horses. It's just genius how Albert Maysles picked up on all the subtle things that where going on an commited them to film. Don't get me wrong this is a big doc culminating in the stabbing at Altamont but all along they managed to keep it at a very small human level.

The transfer thanks to Criterion, is stunning. The visuals are crisp and the new 5.1 surround mix is amazing. That subwoofer I got at christmas really made me feel like I was there during the live segments.

It's not all The Stones, there are a couple performances by The Flying Burrito Brothers and Ike and Tina Turner. The later was just breathtaking. All Mick has to say after seeing Tina Turner lay emotional waste to the audience is "it's nice to have a chick around once and a while." His way of dealing with being severly upstaged.

It's pretty sad that it took me this long to see Gimmie Shelter but hey I finally got around to it and am all the better for it.

The Good, The Bad and the Queen

i grew up on Blur. One of the first things i remember when I moved to Vancouver in the early 90's was walking into a club called Luv Affair. I heard this song There's no other way just wash over me.

It was a defining moment. I knew I wanted to find out who that band was and be a part of what that music represented. It must of had something to do with just moving from Edmonton, knowing I didn't want to be a part of what that city had to offer and looking for a place I could fit in.

I had wanted to break away from tradition and with a band like Blur I found they could open me up to another way of living. People would say if you like Blur, you'll like so and so. A few years later I quit my restaurant job of 4 years and started working at a record store. Modern Life is Rubbish came out and further solidified my love of these wacky Britons. I worked with a British guy who helped me understand all the UK-centric references on this album. He claimed it was album of the year and I couln't argue with him. It was a great antedote for the glut of grunge music that was surrounding us at the music store.

Later when I was in Thailand (around 1994) a British girl gave me the Parklife tape and that became the soundtrack for most of my trip. Cocky and cockney, this was not an album for North Americans who couldn't handle a little accent in their vocal delivery. This didn't stop Boys and Girls from being a huge international hit. Aside from that one track, though, the rest of the album was mostly ignored on this side of the pond. Once I got to Korea and started teaching English The Great Escape came out and I mostly kept that in my walkman and used it as a shield as I took the subway to my next teaching gig. This was the height of their slickness and they needed to change or they would become too mainstream for their own good. I guess they knew it, too, as seen from what they did on their next album when they went all lo-fi on our asses. When I started The Hive the S/T Blur album came out and we found ourselves disecting and trying to reverse engineer those sloppy sounds they were offering up.

Now comes The Good the Bad and the Queen. This album is the first thing I've liked from Mr. Albarn since that self titled Blur masterpiece. I've only had a few listens but this album has the makings of a Rube Lubener approved classic. A darker dubbier and more soulful version of Blur. With the help of Paul Simonon (the Clash), Simon Tong (The Verve) and Tony Allen (Africa 70 and Brian Eno's choice for one of the most important musicians of the last 50 years)they conjure up some of the bleakest pop you're likely to hear. I thought intially this effort would ram your head with noise but it's far more restrained and sparse (and all the better for it).

The confluence of ideas that brought about this album also gave us Children of Men. The world sucks and the future is not friendly. I think this as I write Dr. Tomorrow's treatment and think technology only allows us to spread our pain around in quicker and more mobile ways. There is no centre therefore we are clinging to the edges. There is no middle so we are slipping to left and right. A album like this helps me to focus on my creativity. I like to listen to it as I write and wash the dishes.

The sound of the album has touches of Air, The Clash and the British ska from the early eighties. There is still Damon's barhouse piano and Carnival keyboards but they are so depressingly drenched in post-apocolytic studio tweeking that it comes across as ancient and modern. It's very much a product of him being fed up with the perfection of modern music. The songs don't end as much as fade off into the abyss.

If you're looking for something to compliment your gorrilaz album, this aint it. I like my stuff depressingly anti-mass-consumerist; it makes me happy. Hopefully it will do the same for you.