The riches of Post-Punk

How many great songs and bands emerged in the so-called post-punk era.  I'm still getting around to catching up (30 years later!) with most of them.  But no other period of music is doing it for me as much as this one right now.  Bands like Public Image Limited, Wire, Joy Division, Pere Ubu, Mission of Burma, The Fall, Gang of Four, New Order, and Echo & the Bunnymen.

Here's a great song I just recently discovered.  I listen to it like I eat Triscuits.  Can't do it just once.

Echo & the Bunnymen:  Monkeys (listen on Youtube)

15 Albums

This post has been going around Facebook, basically name the first 15 albums that come to mind.  Well I was inspired to participate.  Here's my list:



1. The Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
2. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
3. Joy Division - Closer
4. Tricky - Maxinquaye
5. Massive Attack - Mezzanine
6. Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
7. Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
8. Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
9. The Smiths - The Smiths
10. John Coltrane - Live At The Village Vanguard
11. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
12. Mission of Burma - Vs.
13. Leonard Cohen - Songs from a Room
14. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
15. Neil Young - Harvest

Most Memorable in 2009

I've gotten to play catch up in the last couple of months.  And I've pretty much now caught up with everything I really wanted to see from 2008 and 2009.  The one major film I haven't been able to see yet is The Hurt Locker, but I'll check that out the second week of January when it becomes available through Netflix.  All that said, here are the eight most memorable moments I had with movies this year (some just came out, some have been around much longer than I have):

1.  Tulpan (2008) – The most daring movie I saw this year, and the one that most impressed me with its humanity and approach. 

2.  Alien (1979) – Scott pulls off a Jaws; a complex and thoroughly entertaining genre film with characters we actually care about.

3.  Eastern Promises (2007) – Hopefully the start of more Cronenberg crime films.  Is Viggo the greatest actor of his generation?  And is Cronenberg doing even more with crime right now than Michael Mann, David Lynch, and Abel Ferrara?

4.  Broadway Danny Rose (1984) – My first time seeing this Woody Allen film.  I’d forgotten how formally solid and brave he could be while still being as funny as anyone (helium scene!)  Also this is the most impressed I’ve ever been with Mia Farrow’s acting.

5.  Woman Is the Future of Man (2004) – Rohmeresque.  In other words, simple, modern, playful, and real.  And my favorite so far from Hong Sang-soo. 

6.  Chris & Don:  A Love Story (2007) – Two amazing lives; a great story of loyalty, love, and a unique time in American arts. 

7.  Joy Division (2007) – Barney Sumner’s excellent interviews really bring to life the band and their journey.
8.  The Champ (1931) - Campy and dated, maybe, but also human and very moving.

Eastern Promises

I admit; I'm way late on this one.  But, truth be told, I've barely been able to see anything the last two years.  So now I'm playing catch up.

Cronenberg's duo of crime films, A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, arrive somewhat unexpected in the director's canon.  But, once I saw them, the choice made perfect sense, and made me wish he'd been working with this sort of material more often during his fantastic career.  I think the two films are like Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures and Closer or The Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique and Check Your Head.  In other words, two works that chronologically follow each other, almost forcing you to choose which one you like better?  I'm on the unpopular side of all of these, I think, in that I prefer Closer, Check Your Head, and now Eastern Promises.

Eastern Promises has its flaws, but Viggo is working at such a tremendous level (think his moments in Carlito's Way).  And it's awesome to see Vincent Cassel show the same rawness and talent that he's been displaying for years in France (I'd recommend revisiting Kassovitz's La Haine if it's been awhile).  Now, if we could just find a great English-speaking role for Virginie Ledoyen.

I always felt they let the air out of A History of Violence once they let us in on Viggo's real identity.  Whereas the intensity here never really lets up.  Way to go Steven Knight.  I was a big fan of Dirty Pretty Things, and you've done it again.

Elegant, raw, dangerous, and rigorous, Promises will definitely find a spot in my Top Ten at year's end.

Fave Albums and Musings on a Lost Pastime

How I miss spending countless hours at the record store. Perusing the aisles, looking at record, then tape, then cd covers. Not sure I've ever found a real suitable replacement for this. They took away my arcade hours in the early nineties and now it seems we've moved past (unless you're in a major city), the requisite record store visit, too.

Well I still love my music, probably as much as my movies. To pay tribute, here are probably my top ten favorite albums at the moment:

Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
Tricky - Maxinquaye
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
The Smiths - The Smiths
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
The Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Miles Davis - In A Silent Way

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
Joy Division - Closer

Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

What are yours?