Friend John tells me that his friend Keith and other fans helped pull off this "2010 Living Room Tour" event, inviting the Trashcan Sinatras to perform in a Portland living room to unofficially kick off their U.S. tour. Read about it here.
Try the Trashcan Sinatras Myspace page if you want to hear some of their music.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Bettye LaVette, The Morning After
A couple of days later, and more listens, I must admit that my enthusiasm is waning somewhat. As much as I like Bettye, her take on every piece in this album (see Bettye LaVette and the Brits) seems pretty much the same so far. You be the judge.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Bettye LaVette and the Brits
Found out about this while listening to that great radio humor-news show, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me on NPR Radio this morning:
If you even begin to like soul-funk-rhythm/blues goddess Bettye LaVette as much as I do, you will probably love this stuff. I'm ordering my own copy immediately.
Visit Bettye
If you even begin to like soul-funk-rhythm/blues goddess Bettye LaVette as much as I do, you will probably love this stuff. I'm ordering my own copy immediately.
Visit Bettye
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Lost, and Then Some ...
Okay. People keep asking, so I may as well get it over with.
Daughter Ivi talked me into staying up with her for the finale Sunday night of LOST.
What a disappointment. Smaltzy, cliche-ridden, cop-out, juvenile, boring are all terms that come to mind, even though I suppose that in a general way it is almost the best that could be hoped for, given the corner the writers seemed to have painted themselves into. Some nice moments here and there, but mostly gratuitous and rather insipid. Reminded me of Indiana Jones films in places. Jack (I suppose that one mark of the show's success is how I think of such characters as "Jack" and not Matthew Fox, for example) seemed rather foolish and pathetic. "Sawyer" continues his stream of overacting (probably trying to act his way out of bad writing), etc. The worst of it all -- Ivi and I were both in agreement on this -- was the music; the soundtrack seemed like something from a cheap Hollywood film or TV show from years past, almost canned off-the-shelf stuff that might be included in do-it-yourself video or slideshow production software for amateur home users. If I had never seen any interviews of the writers, it might have helped; they seemed uninspired, almost juvenile, a bit too full of themselves and the "importance" of their themes and willing to go off in whatever direction their whims seemed to take them. You could almost imagine storylines coming out of a Cheech-and-Chong-like pot-smoking session.
I have refused to let Lost waste any more of my life, so I am avoiding any reviews or post-mortems, but I do get the drift that as many people loved it as hated it, and it continues to be controversial. Perhaps some sort of movie sequel(s) will emerge later on. Heck, maybe a video game.
ADDENDUM #1: I recently rather accidentally discovered my latest fix for TV dramedy: Six Feet Under. For some reason, I had never heard of that five-season HBO series that had launched in 2001 or 2002, nor did I know anyone else who did. Stumbling across the fact that Radiohead had some part in its OST, I had to take a listen. Figuring that if Radiohead was involved, it couldn't be all bad, so I Netflix'd the first disk of season one, and have become hooked. Closing in by now on season five, I have to move Six Feet Under to position two, just behind my current "all-time" TV fave, Mad Men. Battlestar Galactica is probably number three, and Lost has slipped to fourth spot. If you haven't done Six Feet Under, I highly recommend that you give it a go. I do get sick and tired of, say, characters like Brenda, but after all that is how it often works out in real life with people you still stick with. These are characters you come to really care about, in contrast to the Lost characters, who mostly gradually became increasingly meaningless. But the Six Feet Under acting is great (the women actors are especially impressive), and the writing and other qualities don't let up. (By the way, I have imagined and speculated on an end to that series -- please, no spoilers -- that would perhaps be something like I had hoped for with Lost, only done right ...)
ADDENDUM #2: I also find myself currently following ABC's Flash Forward, for escapist fare that suits my sci-fi fancy when I come home from work so wiped out that I cannot seem to leave my easy chair. Mostly good fun. Lost's "Charlie" really comes on as a great sometimes bad guy in this thing, and I find myself somewhat drawn to the Janice and Dmitri characters, but the others are mostly forgettable.
ADDENDUM #3: On one of those recent occasions when I fell asleep in aforementioned easy chair, I was to awaken for about half an hour to catch a chunk of a new BBC Hamlet done in modern trappings, led by the Doctor Who character (a favorite of my kids in that series; I forget his name) playing a barefoot, rock tee-shirted, levis-wearing crazy-making Hamlet. This one must be revisited when it comes around again, or maybe I will seek out the DVD -- there must be one -- when I get a chance.
Daughter Ivi talked me into staying up with her for the finale Sunday night of LOST.
What a disappointment. Smaltzy, cliche-ridden, cop-out, juvenile, boring are all terms that come to mind, even though I suppose that in a general way it is almost the best that could be hoped for, given the corner the writers seemed to have painted themselves into. Some nice moments here and there, but mostly gratuitous and rather insipid. Reminded me of Indiana Jones films in places. Jack (I suppose that one mark of the show's success is how I think of such characters as "Jack" and not Matthew Fox, for example) seemed rather foolish and pathetic. "Sawyer" continues his stream of overacting (probably trying to act his way out of bad writing), etc. The worst of it all -- Ivi and I were both in agreement on this -- was the music; the soundtrack seemed like something from a cheap Hollywood film or TV show from years past, almost canned off-the-shelf stuff that might be included in do-it-yourself video or slideshow production software for amateur home users. If I had never seen any interviews of the writers, it might have helped; they seemed uninspired, almost juvenile, a bit too full of themselves and the "importance" of their themes and willing to go off in whatever direction their whims seemed to take them. You could almost imagine storylines coming out of a Cheech-and-Chong-like pot-smoking session.
I have refused to let Lost waste any more of my life, so I am avoiding any reviews or post-mortems, but I do get the drift that as many people loved it as hated it, and it continues to be controversial. Perhaps some sort of movie sequel(s) will emerge later on. Heck, maybe a video game.
ADDENDUM #1: I recently rather accidentally discovered my latest fix for TV dramedy: Six Feet Under. For some reason, I had never heard of that five-season HBO series that had launched in 2001 or 2002, nor did I know anyone else who did. Stumbling across the fact that Radiohead had some part in its OST, I had to take a listen. Figuring that if Radiohead was involved, it couldn't be all bad, so I Netflix'd the first disk of season one, and have become hooked. Closing in by now on season five, I have to move Six Feet Under to position two, just behind my current "all-time" TV fave, Mad Men. Battlestar Galactica is probably number three, and Lost has slipped to fourth spot. If you haven't done Six Feet Under, I highly recommend that you give it a go. I do get sick and tired of, say, characters like Brenda, but after all that is how it often works out in real life with people you still stick with. These are characters you come to really care about, in contrast to the Lost characters, who mostly gradually became increasingly meaningless. But the Six Feet Under acting is great (the women actors are especially impressive), and the writing and other qualities don't let up. (By the way, I have imagined and speculated on an end to that series -- please, no spoilers -- that would perhaps be something like I had hoped for with Lost, only done right ...)
ADDENDUM #2: I also find myself currently following ABC's Flash Forward, for escapist fare that suits my sci-fi fancy when I come home from work so wiped out that I cannot seem to leave my easy chair. Mostly good fun. Lost's "Charlie" really comes on as a great sometimes bad guy in this thing, and I find myself somewhat drawn to the Janice and Dmitri characters, but the others are mostly forgettable.
ADDENDUM #3: On one of those recent occasions when I fell asleep in aforementioned easy chair, I was to awaken for about half an hour to catch a chunk of a new BBC Hamlet done in modern trappings, led by the Doctor Who character (a favorite of my kids in that series; I forget his name) playing a barefoot, rock tee-shirted, levis-wearing crazy-making Hamlet. This one must be revisited when it comes around again, or maybe I will seek out the DVD -- there must be one -- when I get a chance.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Song Of The Day: Sorrow
This piece is from High Violet, a new album from The National.
You can stream the album in its entirety from NPR First Listen until its release date on May 11. Don't know if the embed above will go away at that time. I pretty much like everything on High Violet; but I have been a fan of The National for some time now ...
You can stream the album in its entirety from NPR First Listen until its release date on May 11. Don't know if the embed above will go away at that time. I pretty much like everything on High Violet; but I have been a fan of The National for some time now ...
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
The Jerusalem Project
Jordi Savall is responsible for one of my favorite CDs, period. It is the 1991 soundtrack to the film (which is worth a watch, too), "Tous les matins du monde".
So my interest was aroused when I learned that he was doing The Jerusalem Project at the Lincoln Center this week. This thing seems to be a pretty ambitious presentation of music that came out of the religions and cultures that influenced the city's development over the past six centuries, using authentic instrumentation and voicing when possible. Much different than the Baroque music from Tous les matins du monde, it is nonetheless a compelling listen. You can stream it from NPR now, all two and a half hours' worth. Listening to this -- and I haven't finished it all yet -- is today's birthday present to myself.
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