I realized that I was supposed to upload the London Calling show by Patrick Wolf right after my exams, but I forgot... sorry for the delay!
Here’s banner II... link this shit! Click on this link for banner I. That is all, I must get ready now to go downtown and party it up! (haha, how juvenile… whatever!)
There is no need for me to introduce Tilly and The Wall again. However, in case you missed it the first time, you can read my T&TW post here. So, without any further ranting, here are a few tracks from their new album Bottoms Of Barrels...
Murder By Death is the most improved band of 2006. With their third release, In Bocca Al Lupo, they have come a long way since their Little Joe Gould days. In Bocca Al Lupo is a solid release. Their music has never sounded better: In Bocca Al Lupo combines classical strings arrangements with folk and rock rhythms. The most noticeable instrument has to be the cello as it adds great textures and it provides a smooth continuous bassline to all the tracks... I think the music on In Bocca Al Lupo would be shit without the amazing sound of the cello!! All the tracks are little short stories that deal with the themes of conflicts, crimes, punishments, deceptions, sufferings, etc. The combination of classical/folk-like arrangements along with the storytelling features make In Bocca Al Lupo feels like a musical or theatrical play. In addition, the vocal sounds dark and wise: closely resembles to Johnny Cash’s vocal style, which is definitely a perfectly fit to the narratives. Perhaps the highlight of In Bocca Al Lupo is that when you listen to the entire thing, it creates this Medieval or Baroque mood... very cool indeed!Beauty is a form of genius – is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is one of the great facts of the world, like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon. It cannot be questioned. It has its divine right of sovereignty. It makes princes of those who have it… People say sometimes that Beauty is only superficial. That may be so. But at least it is not so superficial as though is. To me, beauty is the wonder of wonders. It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
OMG, Xiu Xiu did a cover of my favorite song of all time: "Asleep" by The Smiths. I’m not really a Smiths fan; in fact, "Asleep" is probably the only song I like by them. I am not exaggerating when I said that it is my favorite song of all time... I have listened to that song more than any other song in my life! If I had to choose only one song to bring to a deserted island, it would be "Asleep". Plus, I have already decided that I want it to be played at my funeral. Seriously, the song means so much to me. I really don’t know where I would be right now if I never heard it... it stopped me from doing a really stupid thing time and again. The song is haunting, yet tremendously beautiful! Xiu Xiu’s version is actually very similar to the original, not a bad cover at all. Enjoy!
Ok, I cannot stop thinking and talking about Art School Confidential... I absolutely loved the movie!!! Maybe because I’m into the whole "art" thing and that I share similar views about art and artists as the writer. I felt like I was in the movie, or at least knew the characters or have experienced many situations in the film. I can sooooo relate to the lead character: the same passion for Picasso and the whole trying to find my own style thing... and oh so many more (sigh!), but I don’t want to give the movie away. Art School Confidential is real (to a certain sense), and it is full of ironies. The film could have been extremely bad, with its cliché characters and eventually cliché plot, but those are just some of the elements that support the whole ironic thing. And the same cliché characters and the somewhat cliché plot also helped create some extremely funny scenes. The only problem I have is the pacing of the movie: the first half of the movie is beyond funny, while the second half is somewhat serious. Well, that's all I want/can say about the movie, go see Art School Confidential asap, it is my favorite movie of the year so far!
