Quo Vadimus


Saturday, August 23, 2003

 

The La's to Nirvana.

PopMatters reveals the top 100 songs from 1977-2003.

Skip to the top 10.

posted by Linus | 10:45 AM

 

Words of Wisdom. #008:

"Remember back in the '90s when everyone was doing songs for soundtracks? We were not immune to this semi-lucrative venture either. I mean, what band wouldn't want to hear a four-second vocal-less snippet of one of its songs coming from a faraway transistor radio while Alan Arkin gets out of a cab?"
- Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster on "Does Your Hometown Care?", from the Suburbia soundtrack, in the liner notes for Cup of Sand.

Bonus review.

posted by Linus | 10:26 AM


Friday, August 22, 2003

 

RIP, first in a series. #001:

You are a rock star
You are a rock and roll girl
You are a good rock singer
I like you a lot

Liz Phair
Liz Phair
Liz Phair
Liz Phair

You are so pretty like a flower
You are my lovely lady
You are so beautiful
You are my loving sweetheart

Liz Phair
Liz Phair
Liz Phair
Liz Phair

You are too good to be true
You are the girl of my dreams
Just remember this meaning:
I will always love you like a milkshake

Liz Phair
Liz Phair
Liz Phair
Liz Phair

Tower Records, the difference is selection
----------

Wesley Willis died yesterday. Rock over London. Rock on Chicago.

UPDATE: I was going to post this originally, but the server was understandably overloaded, so I skipped it, and then Claps got in there. Timex - takes a licking, keeps on ticking!

UPDATE 2: Esselle on Wesley.

posted by Linus | 3:00 PM

 

Prairie School Freakout.

Derogatis interviews Janet Bean about her solo record. She also reveals that there will be new Eleventh Dream Day material, which is great news.

posted by Linus | 8:17 AM

 

Egging on our wishy-washy tragic heroes to their downfall.

Good Salon piece on Project Greenlight 2 (season - series? - finale airs this Sunday) by Heather Havrilesky.

Very nice Biagi tribute:

"The major tragedy of "Stolen Summer" was that director of photography Pete Biagi, perhaps one of the first season's most controversial, cocky characters, had the kind of rare talent that more than justifies a little slice of that self-proclaimed genius pie. Biagi endured a very public lashing on the show for being a prima donna, but in the end, his work was the most inspiring aspect of "Stolen Summer" -- he single-handedly demonstrated that low-budget films don't have to look like crap if you hire a good enough DP."

UPDATE: Elvis reviews "The Battle of Shaker Heights".

posted by Linus | 7:50 AM

 

Way Down in the Hole.

"It is, I'm afraid, a somewhat angry show."

posted by Linus | 7:33 AM


Thursday, August 21, 2003

 

We were somewhere around Munich on the edge of Wonkaland when the Fizzy Lifting drink began to take hold. I remember saying something like "I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive..."

posted by Linus | 8:11 AM

 

Cheese perusal.

posted by Linus | 8:03 AM

 

Acworth, Ga., may have an Opry, but try gettin' a decent hair jelly.



Nothing that interesting in this article, but you've got a fun picture* (I love the cell phone) from the gallery and an irresistable opportunity to make an O Brother, Where Art Thou? reference. And I bet that the McGhee's bluegrass radio show is a hoot.

*This was my second choice for a picture. My first was a picture of Annette McGhee, but for some reason it is not online. Don't worry, I'll get it up here soon.

UPDATE: As promised, bluegrass enthusiast and radio host, Annette McGhee:

posted by Linus | 7:41 AM


Wednesday, August 20, 2003

 

It's execrable on a sentence-by-sentence basis as well as in overall form and theme.

Laura Miller obliterates [Salon subscription* required for full article] the new Chuck Palahniuk novel.

Post-Fight Club, I gave Survivor and Choke a try. Not much going on there. Never made it through Lullaby. Done with Chuck.

*or try this.

Weak response from Chuck:

Dear Laura Nelson [sic],

I have never responded to a review, perhaps because I've never gotten such a cruel and mean-spirited one.

Please send me a copy of your latest book. I'd love to read it.

Until you can create something that captivates people, I'd invite you to just shut up. It's easy to attack and destroy an act of creation. It's a lot more difficult to perform one. I'd also invite you to read the reviews Fitzgerald got for "Gatsby" from dull, sad, bitter people -- like yourself.

-- Chuck Palahniuk

posted by Linus | 8:00 AM

 

Best gift ever, man.

Bacon air freshener? Indeed a fun stocking stuffer. An appetizer of sorts. The main entree? How about a bacon-of-the-month deal courtesy of Dan Philips's The Grateful Palette?

posted by Linus | 7:35 AM


Tuesday, August 19, 2003

 

Day for Night.

Great review of the Gemma Hayes record by Mr. Begrand:

"Without a doubt, the first six tracks that comprise the "Day" half are absolutely stupendous. The songs are smartly written, very catchy, radio friendly, and positively buoyant at times. The album opens with a trio of songs that deserve attention from mainstream rock fans; "Hanging Around" starts off as sounding like yet another pre-packaged alternative rock song, but Hayes throws in a melody so lovely that it's actually surprising to hear. "Back of My Hand" utilizes some tiny hints of guitar drones underneath Hayes's almost country-ish phrasing, while the wonderful single "Let a Good Thing Go" turns up the distortion considerably, reaching almost Lush-like heights of layered, noisy guitars. Hayes goes fully into dreampop mode on the next three songs. "Tear in My Side" has that typical, slow pace and insistently strummed guitars, not to mention plenty of repeated, mantralike lyrics ("Tear in my side / I feel it all"), but Hayes's fresh approach makes it work very well. Same goes for the splendid "Work to a Calm", which originally appeared on the UK EP of the same name, as well as the ethereal "Lucky One", with its swirling, roaring guitars that make the song all the more anguished. The first half of this album is so good, you just want it to go on forever, carrying you away."

And then there's the second half. Still, it's a very promising debut.

The first six tracks would make for a neat $5.94 purchase on that iTunes thing, if they have it.

posted by Linus | 8:24 PM

 



So I bought that new GBV record, raced into a dark alley, eluded a gaggle of kids and the media, tore off the wrapping, and looked around for good 'ol Mr. Slugworth, but, alas, there was no golden ticket.

[UPDATE: After two four spins, I'm giving this an 8.1 8.5 on the Forkmeter. My faves, so far, are "Useless Inventions", "Secret Star", "She Goes Off At Night", "Beat Your Wings", and the fantastic, previously-Flux'd "Best of Jill Hives." Further listens should unearth more of the "subdued melodicism" (e.g., tracks like "Dirty Water"). Unearthing successful, more to come.]

[UPDATE 2: The Fork agrees.]

posted by Linus | 3:23 PM

 

Extreme Atkins diet.

"He will have pens and paper to keep a journal (perhaps to be published later)". Come on, hook Blaine up with a laptop and let's have some live blogging while suspended over the Thames river.

Perhaps more perilous - having a director following you around London and constantly punching you.

posted by Linus | 11:54 AM

 

The fire is cooking.

From Greil Marcus's 8/6/03 "Real Life Rock Top 10":

3) Pearl Jam with Corin Tucker, "Hunger Strike*," Sports Palace (Mexico City, July 18) Eddie Vedder leads, and then Tucker subsumes him. As she pushes the words of the old Temple of the Dog number in front of her in a deep, thick voice, the performance finds its feet somewhere between Guns N' Roses' "Civil War" and Robert Plant and Sandy Denny's duet on Led Zeppelin's "Battle of Evermore."

*64kb, unmastered mp3.

posted by Linus | 9:52 AM

 

And the fuel tank accepts banana peels and beer.

Esselle has a neat Delorean-based post today. Also, since the E is dipping back into BTTF, I'm going to dip back into the OCC. The Teutuls are definitely worth multiple posts. E links to a guy who tricks out the Deloreans. The Teutuls do this with custom bikes. I mean, check out the photos of their legendary Firebike, and the more recent Paul, Jr. masterpiece, the Comanche bike, here. Incredible stuff.

posted by Linus | 8:19 AM


Sunday, August 17, 2003

 

Telly Alert. #005:

Carnivale (HBO, 12-episode run premiering Sunday, September 14th, 9:30 p.m.)



Starting this week, HBO will air the "making of" featurette for this new series.

Here's an excerpt from the show's description:

"1934. The Dust Bowl. The last great age of magic. In a time of titanic sandstorms, drought and pestilence - all signs of God's fury and harbingers of the Apocalypse - the final conflict between good and evil is about to begin. The battle will take place in the Heartland of an empire called America. And when it is over, man will forever trade away wonder for reason."

A roving carnival, apocalyptic battles between good vs. evil, and that little guy from the Twin Peaks Red Room. This should fill the post-The Wire 2.0, pre-The Sopranos 5.0/Curb Your Enthusiam 4.0 void quite nicely.

posted by Linus | 2:41 PM

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