April 2005 Archives
From Chicks on Speed press release for their newest album Press the Spacebar:
"The third regular CHICKS ON SPEED album after “Will Save Us All” and last years “99cents” sees them radically turn away from electroclash approach they are often and to their dismay associated with"
Dudes, I like your music, but please don't say that you never wanted to be associated with Electroclash when you went on a tour called "The Electroclash Tour." Poor Larry Tee, nobody wants to be electroclash anymore. He'll totally reinvent himself.
Teenage Fanclub is one of my favorite bands ever. I love them so much, and they are really the only rock'n'roll band that I haven't seen that I still really ache to see. They make such great pop music. So, I was so blown away and excited when I heard they had a new album coming out, because I was under the impression that their previous album, Howdy!, had been their last. It wasn't true. Man-Made, their 7th album is coming out in the UK on their own label, PeMa, and in the US on June 7th via Merge Records. I heard they might be touring the US this summer, and therefore my entire things to do before I die list might be accomplished. HOORAY CERTAIN DEATH. I found an advance copy of the album, and I have been listening to it hardcore. It's classic Teenage Fanclub, and while probably not their best it has some amazing songs, and a great vibe of it's own. Check out the first two tracks from the album which are both brilliant:
**
Awkward documentary that tries to show the hard times of the last decade of the 19th century through re-enactments from a Wisconsin newspaper. Not really what I thought what I was getting into. Re-enactments....no thank you...unless it's Errol Morris. I also thought it was going to be more focused on an epidemic in a single town, but this film showed very little focus.
***
Alexander Payne's(Sideways, Election, About Schmidt) first film stars Laura Dern as a very troubled drug addict with a handful of children who finds herself pregnant again. She intends to abort the child, but she is adopted by a group of right to lifers who give her the life she always wanted. She then becomes the focus of a huge battle between the right to life and the pro choice extremists. The film brings forth a lot of the insanity of the Terry Schiavo situation. The film is enjoyable and has some very funny moments. The father from That 70's Show, Kurtwood Smith, turns in an excellent performance. The film is not as confident or as nuanced as Payne's later work, but I would recommend it.
The casinos that are such a huge part of Las Vegas are lined wall to wall with thick carpet featuring insanely busy patterns. For some reason these carpets caused me to get shocked anytime I would touch metal. Now I understand this is a common occurance, but it would happen like 50 times a day, and it wouldn't happen to my travel companion, Mike , and I would watch other people touching metal and they weren't getting shocked either. These were heavy shocks and to avoid them I started having to be aware of all things metal surrounding me. Vegas, I apologize, because to avoid metal a lot of times I would press my grubby fingers directly on your nice glass doors to avoid the fancy metal handles. Check out the video below for some hot shocking action.
Mike and I are having a great time in Vegas. It's truly a pleasure to visit this bizarre town. We are learning a lot about sports betting. Unfortunately that did not equal winning money on day 1. Check out this video (my first attempt at still camera edited video). Click on this photo to view the video.
There is a white tiger behind Mike when he is talking about the bets he made. I swear. WHITE TIGERS, PEOPLE!!!
Anybody got any bets they want placed for them?
* (1 Star)
Dreck. Garbage. Sewer Flith. Kevin Smith is lame. He is such a cliché of a comic book nerd who got lucky by capturing that audience well. Don't get me wrong. I liked Clerks. I liked Chasing Amy. I don't think the dude is a good filmmaker, though. This is easily his worst. This movie is worse than "First Daughter." Not feeling it. No heart, nothing original, poor acting. Liv Tyler = yuck in this role. Just awful. The only good scene involved Will Smith. KUDOS TO YOU, HITCH.
** (2 Stars)
After an incredibly poor box office and critical showing, for some reason I was drawn to this Ben Stiller/Jack Black comedy. That reason was - Amy Poehler playing Jack Black's wife and I had read conflicting reports whether Larry David was somehow involved with this film. It appears Larry David did have some role in the film even though his name isn't in the credits at all. He either just produced to some extent or co-wrote or came up with the story-line. Anyway, David's involvement was not enough to save this project. Ben Stiller is just dreadful. There are some definite funny moments, but it is way too long for what it is. The shining points are the locations - the area where Stiller and Black live is intense amazing weird suburban southern Cali, and where they work is this amazingly bleak factory/office, and Poehler is very funny. Overall, I cannot recommend.
After seeing Dirty Dizzee Rascal tonight I totally have to add him to the cutest rappers list. Upon entering the always disorienting Doug Fir Lounge I was overwhelmed with the smell of men's cologne and gin, which isn't the normal odor at a Portland show. Missed DJ Wonder's "History of Grime" set, but wasn't bummed due to being at a Xiu Xiu show late last night. Dizzee hit the stage and started on a surprising mellow note as he performed in the dark and sitting down for the first song, but after that Dizzee and his hype man Skole(?) get really into it. Just hearing Dizzee yelling "POORTLUND, ORR-EEE-GOON" gave me the giggles. Both dudes were incredible likeable, and the show got more and more exciting as it went on and the extreme high tones and low tones of the grime beats rumbling through the Doug Fir. Dizzee informed us to let loose and "treat it like rock'n'roll." Dizzee culled both of his albums and got the crowd got most worked up for jams like "I Luv U," "Dreams," and "Jus a Rascal." The encore just killed it with "Fix Up, Look Sharp," and the electro-y "Stand Up Tall." What made this such a great show was Dizzee's desire to entertain and for everyone to have a good time, it was a really refreshing vibe. Then Zac told me on the walk home that Dizzee claims his favorite album is Nirvana's "In Utero." Amazing.