Keep on dreaming; that's just what I'm going to do

Couple o' Book Reviews

2009-08-26T22:43:00.004-06:00

There are a lot of books that start out with a strong premise, but fail to deliver on what should be an inventive story. Count How I Became A Famous Novelist by Steve Hely in that category.

The book centers on Pete Tarslaw, an office drone who decides to write “the best sellingest best seller of all time.” His motives are mainly based on a desire to show up at his ex-girlfriend’s wedding as something more than just a seat at the singles table, and a belief that he’s discovered the perfect con: writing novels.

Now, this could have been a funny story, but it comes off as almost insulting. Pete’s cynical views on the publishing world (while probably correct) are supposed to be witty, but instead come off as too glib to be satire. This is parody and not particularly brilliant at that. I’ll give Hely points for doing pretty decent caricatures of famous novelists, but none of makes any lasting impression.

The main problem is the characters. Hely never tells the reader why Pete is so hung-up on his ex-girlfriend. There’s no hint as to what they were like together, and if they had something special, or if she was just his last real girlfriend. Pete’s character in general is pretty unlikable, and even when he’s supposed to become sympathetic, he just sounds whiny.

The best part of the book is the fake New York Times bestseller list he creates on page 43.

Hely name-checks plenty of real authors in his book, like Stephen King, Cormac McCarthy and James Joyce – enough to know that he has real respect for artists who really can create something meaningful. At the novel’s end, as Pete describes a book that actually matters, he says, “I wish I’d written something that good."

Me too.

Ryan Boudinot’s Misconception is a “coming of age” story that never grows up to equal books that have done way better before – see J.D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey. The story has basically all been done before, and the characters are too flat to garner any real attention from the reader.

The book is about Cedar Rivers and Kat Daniels, two adults who shared a turbulent high school summer together, and are reconnecting twenty years later, because Kat is writing a book about it, and needs Cedar’s promise that he won’t sue.

The rest of the story is told in flashbacks – with a return to the present here and there – about their budding romance and the totally messed up summer that totally ruins everything. Like I said, the plot is all too familiar - without giving everything away, see Juno for a far better take on one of the novel’s main subjects.

The thing that kills the story are the characters, who despite going through some pretty horrific stuff, don’t seem affected (in the past, or present) at all. Parents get divorced, children run away, there’s child abuse and pretty much everything else you would expect from a Dateline special, but none of it appears to change the characters in anyway. “Cardboard cutouts” is the phrase that comes to mind.

This is a shame, because there were several parts of the novel that had me chuckling out loud, especially in the beginning, but it all fizzles out to grey by the book’s end.

There’s too little here to make the reader really care about anything that’s going on.

Sadly, the novel’s title says it all.

"We're gonna be doing one thing and one thing only... killing Nazis."

2009-08-22T14:04:00.005-06:00

“Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France...”

So begins Quentin Tarantino’s latest opus, Inglourious Basterds. The film is a shining example of what continues to make Tarantino one of today’s most compelling directors: his near perfect ear for dialogue, the nuances of his characters and an ability to build tension that would make Hitchcock proud. Oh yeah, and a smattering of violence just to point out how obsessed our culture is with it.

As has always been the case, Tarantino is a director drunk with films and the history of cinema. Perhaps no other working director is as aware of the power of film to change history (which he takes full advantage of in Basterds), and history’s effects on film. Watch as he name checks Charlie Chaplin and some of the greats of German cinema in the same scene, or the way that the bulk of the kick-ass soundtrack is Ennio Morricone music. Tarantino is some kind of wonder DJ of a director, blending everything together into a perfect piece of celluloid.

Besides, there’s a rare joy that comes from hearing Tarantino’s dialogue in no less than four languages: French, English, Italian and German.

Basterds – which is broken up into five chapters – takes place over four years in Nazi occupied France. The title refers to a group of Jewish-Americans lead by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), a man who has some Apache blood flowing through his veins, and uses his ancestors' example as a way to disrupt and dishearten the German people. From all the men in his group he asks for one hundred Nazi scalps, each. “And I want my scalps,” he growls in a gritty Tennessee accent.

Playing against him – although the characters don’t meet until the climax of the film – is Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), better known as “The Jew Hunter.” Waltz is the Nazi’s head man when it comes to finding people, and a load of the film's tension comes when he encounters Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent), a French Jew whose family had Waltz had killed. Dreyfus runs a cinema in Paris, and when a smitten Nazi hero brings a bunch of the Nazi higher-ups – including the Furher himself – to her theatre for a movie premiere, her plan for revenge and the Basterds all converge.

Viewers will have to throw out what they know from high school history for the ending, but that’s okay. What’s going on is too entertaining – and more than just a little cathartic – to suspend disbelief. Tarantino choreographs the final gun-fight like a spaghetti-western on steroids, and it’s a beauty.

All the actors are in top form, but three deserve special mention. Pitt is comic gold, bringing a hilarious mix of dry wit, violence and Americanism to Raine. Watching him not at all hiding his thick southern accent as he speaks Italian will have your sides splitting.

Laurent is a wonder as Shosanna. The sheer fortitude she brings to her character is amazing, all the more so when she loses it for a moment after meeting Landa three years after her family’s murder. Her final speech – fittingly, it’s a small movie – is as a prime example of vengeance personified.

The real winner, however, is Waltz. He imbues Landa with a perverse charm and ability to disarm someone verbally without missing a beat in any language. Waltz is so good you almost find yourself rooting for him, which considering what he stands for, is saying something indeed.

At the film’s end, as Lt. Raine looks at a bit of his handiwork, he comments, “You know what? I think this might be my masterpiece.” Go see Inglourious Basterds, and you’ll feel the same way about Tarantino. There’s nothing inglourious about it.

"Welcome to A World Where Anything Is Possible"

2009-08-15T12:43:00.003-06:00

For anybody who is concerned that Pixar is the only studio producing animated films that touch on anything other than cheap gags, Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki has brought another gem to the screen. Ponyo will pop your eyes with visual wonders, while cutting through the noise to touch you on a human level.

Miyazaki, the genius responsible for such treasures as Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, has always been a fan of pictures that feature a strong female protagonist (not unlike underrated TV man, Joss Whedon). So, in remaking what is already considered a classic, The Little Mermaid, Miyazaki adds more humour and a more defiant female lead. I’ll be crucified for this by some, but I’ll take his version over the Disney’s original any day.

In the movie, Ponyo (Noah Cyrus) is the daughter of an undersea wizard who is attempting to keep the ocean in balance with an acceleratingly destructive human world (another common Miyazaki theme). Before any images get conjured up, let me stop you right here: Ponyo isn’t any kind of luscious mermaid – instead, she’s a goldfish with a human-like face. When she is rescued on the seashore by a little boy named Sosuke (Frankie Jonas), they fall head over heels for each other. It’s the kind of sweet, child love that doesn’t really get portrayed much in movies anymore.

Just like in The Little Mermaid, Ponyo defies her father and uses magic to turn into a real girl, but is their love real? That’s the question that gets answered as the story unfolds.

As any Miyazaki fan knows, his plots are never that simple. There are subtexts galore here: ageism, environmentalism and strained family relations. Ponyo isn’t quite as geared for the older audiences as Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle were, but it truly is a film that both old and young will be dazzled by.

Give Disney credit for doing a fantastic job dubbing the film, so it doesn’t distract from the images, and still gives depth to the characters. Actors Tina Fey, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett and Liam Neeson all give strong performances without showboating.

Naturally, the real joy of Ponyo is the visuals. Miyazaki stands out in a crowd that is coming to rely so heavily on computer-animated work, and leans far more towards more “traditional” animation. But don’t let that fool you – there’s nothing old-school about the undersea world he creates, or the time-capsule worthy image of Ponyo running across living waves during a storm.

When the Oscars roll around, its up in the air between Up and Ponyo for Best Animated Picture, and I don’t know where I stand as of yet. All I know is that Ponyo is the perfect, shining way to close out the summer season.

As Ponyo becomes a real girl, she revels in the wonders all around here, never missing a thing that delights her. Go see Ponyo and you’ll know how she feels.

"I can't stay." "I know."

2009-08-14T22:37:00.002-06:00

The Time Traveler’s Wife snuck up on me. The film - based on Audrey Niffenegger’s novel – takes its time grabbing you, and as I’ve read the book already, I knew how the film would end. So does the audience. So, it was quite to my surprise that, as the film neared its climax, I had a pit in my stomach. I knew what was happening it was affecting me on an emotional level. I bought it all: hook, line and sinker.

Colour me a hopeless romantic.

To be fair, The Time Traveler’s Wife could pretty fairly be labeled a “chick flick,” but that’s not a term I’m sure I really believe in. We’ll ignore the fact that this – like most “chick flicks” – was written and directed by men, and the fact that Brad Pitt (yes, that Brad Pitt) was an executive producer. Just because a film is a drama about love – something that both sexes go through – doesn’t mean that it’s something that should only appeal to women. For God’s sake, Casablanca may be the most famous “chick flick” of all, but if Bogie can pull it off with style and his manhood intact, I see no reason why modern men can’t enjoy these films as well. But I digress.

The plot of Traveler is easy to sum up, but confusing (at first, anyway) to jive with. It revolves around Henry DeTamble (Eric Bana), a man who has a neurological disease that causes him to randomly travel through time. The woman he loves, Claire Abshire (Rachel McAdams), he first met when he traveled back in time to when she was six years old, and they’ve been in love ever since. The story follows their life together, going through the many pitfalls that would accompany such a condition.

The joy in the film (and in the book) comes from watching it all play out. You experience life out of order, as Henry does, but it allows a unique perspective on the major events of life. As would be expected, it’s a tearjerker, so be prepared.

Bana shows yet another side of himself (see his flair for the hilarious in Funny People), dropping the tough-guy attitude he usually has for a man vibrantly in love with a woman, and how the very nature of who he is is breaking them down. McAdams, one of the sexiest and most talented actresses we have today, brings the money as she always does, acutely exhibiting the joy and heartache that Claire experiences trying to deal with Henry’s condition. They’re the third wonder couple of the summer’s film season, and watching them together touches on some kind of magic.

The pacing is a little slow, as I already said, but by the end, I wanted to see more of their life together, which gets a bit rushed in order to get to the ending. Most of the science transferred over from the book gets lost, and instead the movie’s focus is the relationships, which hurt the film a little, but not over much.

The Time Traveler’s Wife is basically what one would expect from a so-called “chick flick,” but hell, that’s okay with me. So they turn up the schmaltz. It works, and that’s what the audience wants anyway (the scene – clichéd as it may be – where Claire and Henry run through a field towards each other gave me goose bumps). Put your prejudices aside and let it carry you away.

"Comedy is for Funny People"

2009-08-01T13:16:00.002-06:00

Judd Apatow is a lot like Quentin Tarantino was in the late 90’s; he has his hands on a lot of films (writing, producing, ec.) but he’s only directed two – now three – films. Audiences have come to expect a certain kind of comedy from Apatow's movies: funny and crass, but deeply rooted in the characters and about way more than cheap laughs.

In respect to all these expectations, Funny People is without a doubt, Apatow’s most mature film. Its fitting that the story is based on getting older, and what to do when you see the next generation coming up, when you’re still uncertain of what you want to do. Fittingly, the bulk of the movie’s cameos – another requirement from Apatow's films – are older entertainers. Warren Zevon and Jackson Browne both get name-checked - one movingly, the other hilariously -, and James Taylor has perhaps the funniest cameo in the whole movie.

The movie’s plot is centered around George Simmons (Adam Sandler) a former stand-up comedian, turned comedy actor who has lost himself in a slew of crappy family films and meaningless relationships. When he finds out that he has a form of leukemia, he starts to reassess his life. On the top of his mind is the quintessential “girl that got away,” Laura (Leslie Mann).

Into this world comes Ira Wright (Apatow regular, Seth Rogen), a hopeful comedian whose sense of humour catches George's attention one night in a comedy club, so much so that he hires Ira to be his assistant. The two have a great love of comedy, and a real friendship develops, even if George doesn’t want to admit it.

So, when George gets the news that he has miraculously beaten the disease, he has to decide what to do with the second chance he’s been offered. No fair spoiling the end, but its not what would be expected from this kind of comedy.

This all may sound a little too dramatic for an Apatow comedy, but Apatow is a director who knows how to blend humour and heartbreak together seamlessly. Even if the movie was a bit long, all the scenes go toward advancing who these two men are. You could call Funny People a “bromance” (which is a term that just drives me up the wall), but it really is about two men trying to find a way to do what they love in the world.

As always, the supporting cast is fantastic. Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman as Ira’s roommates are hilarious, but my favourite was Eric Bana, dropping all the action/drama gravitas he normally is saddled with, and going for outrageously funny as Laura’s Australian husband.

The main three actors are all at the top of their games. Mann (Apatow’s wife) has never been more lovely or vulnerable, skillfully creating a woman in the midst of a crossroads in her life. Rogen, who seems made to deliver Apatow’s brilliant lines, is as funny and charming as he’s ever been, while still conveying all the emotions of a green guy in the world of comedy.

The real money is Sandler, though. After doing a bunch of lackluster roles, Funny People is his best acting display since Punch Drunk Love. I’m not sure how much of his own life he plumed for the role of George, but he brings all kinds of loneliness, bitter humour and confusion to bear for this character. I know he won’t get any love when the award season roles around, but he knocks it out of the park here.

Funny People isn’t as laugh-out loud funny as The 40-Year-Old Virgin or Knocked Up, but it is a film that shows a writer/director coming to grips with age in an industry that usually tries desperately to avoid aging. For me, age looks good on Apatow.

"All My Memories from High School are from Tonight"

2009-07-27T14:37:00.002-06:00

I Love You, Beth Cooper is a lot like high school. It starts out with promise, fizzles out into the same old thing in the middle, but manages to turn bittersweet by the end. Its certainly not going to become required high school experience watching (like The Breakfast Club) but its no Not Another Teen Movie, either.

The plot (based on the hilarious book by Larry Doyle, who penned the screenplay) is pretty simple – and familiar. Dennis Cooverman (Paul Rust) is the stereotypical geeky high school valedictorian, who has had a major jones for Beth Cooper (Heroes’ Hayden Panettiere, who I would love to see cast as someone who isn’t a cheerleader, because I think she may have some actual acting chops if she could ever show them), who is also the typical high school hottie – cheerleader, blonde and a stupid boyfriend.

Inspired by the advice of his best friend Rich (Jack Carpenter) and burdened with the knowledge he’s about to leave school behind, having never spoken to Beth, Dennis declares in his speech that he, well, loves Beth Cooper.

Embarrassed but flattered, Beth and her two token cheerleader friends actually show up to Dennis’ extremely lame graduation party, but a jealous boyfriend follows, which leads to a night of being chased around by punks, awkward sex jokes, and ultimately, the heart-warming affirmation that this geek is the one who is really ahead in life.

Like I said, same old story. The beginning, with its awkwardness, but positive affirmation about saying what you never could say actually has some promise, and if the movie had followed this line, it could have had a much larger impact. In the middle, however, it falls into the same jokes audiences have seen ad nauseam.

Surprisingly, even though the end is pretty predictable and has its share of clichés, when Rust and Panettiere finally get alone together and talk, and both take off the mantles of the roles they play in the high school hierarchy, there’s some genuine human connection. The two play earnest and confused well, and you actually understand why Dennis would fall for Beth.

The book – as is always the case when the book came first – is better than the movie, but its disappointing because since the author is overseeing the transfer, one would hope that he would be able to transfer more of the subtle humour and teenage angst that were so well done in his book.

I Love You, Beth Cooper, isn’t going to knock anybody out of the park, but if you can make it to the end, you might just see a tinge of wit and humanity. There are worse ways to end a picture.

"Its love, not Santa Claus"

2009-07-25T13:24:00.002-06:00

Give it up for a cinematic love story that’s not afraid to explore all the nuances of love – both the joy and the heartache – using two believable, relatable characters. In an age of over-dramatized soap flicks or callous one-nighter movies, (500) Days of Summer is the sunlight breaking through the clouds.

The story owes a large debt to films like The Graduate (which gets name-checked several times in the film, in fantastic ways) than to the typical list of romantic comedies. Being a major romantic myself, it added another layer of enjoyment to the film that it’s the male lead who is the more lovesick. This doesn’t pop up as much in cinema as I would like, and whenever it does, it right away sets the film off from its peers.

Said male lead in Summer is Tom (one of today’s best working actors, Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who gets perhaps one of the greatest introductions on film in a while, from the movie’s narrator: “Tom Hansen of New Jersey, grew up believing he’d never truly be happy until the day he met the one. This belief stemmed from early exposure to sad British pop music and a total misread of the movie, The Graduate.” When Tom meets Summer (the enchanting Zooey Deschanel) at the office where he works writing greeting cards, be believes that day has come.

What follows is the story of their relationship, told Memento-style, jumping around chronologically, as they go from boy-meets-girl, down the familiar relationship path, with some major hitches in the road. The biggest being that Summer doesn’t believe in love, or in “being anyone’s anything.” Still, Tom breaks down her walls as their story progresses, but as the narrator warns, “this is not a love story. This is a story about love.”

You’ll have to watch the film to see what the actual difference is, and its no fair spoiling the ending, but what viewers get is a much more in-depth examination of all that goes along with being in love than most movies provide. There’s the brutality of going back in one’s mind in an attempt to find the moment things started to sour, the complete and utter difference between reality and expectations when one sees their ex again, and of course, the joys of first getting together. Audiences will be hard-pressed to find a movie that more accurately describes being in love.

Major props go out to director Marc Webb and writers Scott Neustadler and Michael H. Weber for crafting a film that allows visuals to take the place of dialogue in describing how a character feels – the dancing scene after Tom and Summer’s first night together is one of the purest expressions of joy on film of the summer.

Of course, the real power of the film is Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel, who join John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph from Away We Go, as two actors who bring everything to the table in their portrayals of being a couple. Deschanel is at her quirkiest and most charming, and she’s never looked lovelier. It’s a no-brainer why Tom falls for her from word one. Gordon-Levitt continues his streak of fantastic performances bringing all manner of wit and heartache to Tom. These two make you believe in their love, the way the classic movie couples did. The film feels less like something that was written, and more like videos of real life, their acting is so vibrant.

Summer is winding down and Autumn’s on the way, but there’s no better way to catch some of the last summer joy than (500) Days of Summer. Its one for the ages.

Summer Music Recommends

2009-07-08T22:40:00.001-06:00

Here's a bunch of albums that came out right around the summer, and I haven't had a chance to write full reviews of. There's little blurbs under them, but they're all worthwhile!

Swoon - Silversun Pickups
Fuzzy guitars and pounding lyrics make for a great grey day record.

Together Through Life - Bob Dylan
The master songwriter goes south of the border for a little Mexicali-Blues.

Summer of Hate - Crocodiles
Waves of guitar reverb make for the best album from a Jesus and Mary Chain follower in years.

21st Century Breakdown - Green Day
The best rock album of the year, and a great example of Quadrophenia-esque rock concept albums.

Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King - Dave Matthews Band
One of the DMB's best efforts yet, and a fine example of how they can mix musical styles into a cohesive and engaging mix.

Secret, Profane & Sugarcane - Elvis Costello
Costello takes a break from his punk rock roots to delve into Americana roots, straight out of Appalachia.

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - Phoenix
The only pop-punk album you'll find that name checks a half-ton of 19th Century composers.

White Lies for Dark Times - Ben Harper and the Relentless7
Harper steps away from his more experimental records for a Hendrix-style guitar based jammer.

Back & Fourth - Pete Yorn
Yorn hasn't made a consistently decent record since his debut, but he nails it on his fourth effort.

Sunny Side Up - Paolo Nutini
Nutini takes everything from Scottish ballads to reggae beats for a great summer mix of styles.

Electric Dirt - Levon Helm
The Band's drummer releases the best album The Grateful Dead never made, only better.

City of Black & White - Mat Kearney
Kearney abandons the weird Brit-rap from his debut and sticks with the gorgeous ballads that work best.

Wilco (The Album) - Wilco
Another album from Wilco in the vein of Sky Blue Sky, Wilco gives fans a great alt. country record.

Manners - Passion Pit
An amazing mix of punk and dance-techno, this may well be the catchiest release of the summer.

Bible Belt - Diane Birch
Birch is a more old-school soul version of Cat Power, and her album sounds like something right out of the Mississippi delta.

In Defense of Megan Fox

2009-06-28T19:41:00.002-06:00

A major part of contemporary American culture is deconstructing people in the spotlight, whether they are politicians, musicians, actors or even those who are having their fifteen minutes of fame (i.e. Susan Boyle, Jon & Kate, ad infinitum). The list of reasons that we do this is undoubtedly as long and varied as the people who enjoy this pastime so much; there’s curiosity, animosity, jealousy, boredom and countless other reasons. What rarely ever happens is a regular person defending one of these people.

That’s what I am endeavoring to do with Megan Fox, because being in the spotlight as much as she has recently, the woman’s taken a lot of flack, and I’m not quite sure how much of it is deserved.

To get it right out of the way, I’m not going to lie and say that, as a heterosexual male, Megan Fox didn’t first come to my attention because of her looks. Of course she did. The way the first Transformers film was made, that was exactly the point, and let’s be honest: it worked. Myself and countless other males around the country were hooked from scene one. This fact makes me biased, of that I have no doubt, but this discussion could only be started by someone who is biased.

The first thing I’d like to address is the many people online and in the critical circles who claim that Fox is only “pretending to act,” and who completely disregard any acting abilities she has. Let’s be honest: she’s no Meryl Streep, yet. Yet is the key word of that phrase, because I’ve watched her films several times, and I see a definite potential for some serious acting chops. I think most of the basis for these condemnations come from the fact that she’s only been in big-budget summer films (with the exception of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People but there she was basically typecast as a exaggerated version of the person the press thinks she is) which, let’s face it, are hardly the kind of films that really hone actors’ skills. I think that once she gets offered some meatier roles – ones that aren’t just about spectacle – that people will see a different side to her. I’d love to see her in some kind of quirky comedy or drama, because I think she has the talent to do something real and visceral with these kinds of roles.

Of course, one must consider the fact that Fox enjoys the bigger movies better, and who’s to argue with that? If those are the films that she enjoys making, why should she be railroaded for it? “Big” movies like The Dark Knight and The Lord of the Rings have shown that just because a film has a big budget, that doesn’t mean that it can’t be powerful and moving, despite its massive scope. There’s no reason to discredit somebody’s abilities just because they don’t do an occasional indie film here or there. They just aren’t some people’s style.

All the criticism I hear about Fox’s acting – how shallow it is, and is based solely on her looks – calls to mind Marilyn Monroe. She too was considered less of an actor and more eye candy, something she battled her whole career. Yet looking back, who could have brought more humor to Some Like it Hot or heartbreak to The Misfits? Fox has only been in three movies so far – which is a fact that people seem to forget when they’re attacking her – so I would hardly say she’s had a decent chance to develop her skills as an actor yet. There’s some kind of grace period for an actor to really develop their skills that we just don’t allow anymore. Give her time, and the right roles, and I remain confident she’ll surprise a great many people.

The attacks on her personality in my mind are tied together with her image as a sex symbol, so I’ll examine these two things together. Our country is very confused when it comes to sexuality. We condemn those who are too expressive with their sensuality, while at the same time, making fun of those who are more introverted when it comes to that aspect. The fact that Fox is not only completely comfortable with her sexuality, but appears to embrace it and all the connotations – both positive and negative – that go along with it turns a lot of people off. Somebody that comfortable with themselves becomes intimidating to people who aren’t, but perhaps wish they could be. She gets the labeled as a man-eater, or as a stuck-up person just because she is aware of the fact that she is attractive, and goes along with it. It takes a huge amount of confidence to accept a label the way she has, and I’ve admired her from the start for her ability to do this so naturally. Yet in all the interviews, stories (from people who have spent real time with her, not just a minute) and discussions, she has always come across to me as a very confident, funny and sweet person. She has a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor, and as somebody who is the same way, if people aren’t used to that, it can really alienate or offend them until they get it.

Hollywood and our culture on the whole have a nasty habit of making beautiful women out to either be mean or stupid, something that has been a part of our male-dominated society for ages. That’s why they broadcast during those pre-movie trivia games – like its some kind of shocking news – that Natalie Portman went to Harvard, or that its such a big deal that Emma Watson would rather go to university than act. Megan Fox is just one of countless actresses who gets pegged with this prejudice.

You can throw that whole “boy with the rose,” thing out there – which anyone will admit was an honest mistake (some of these people should try having their picture taken 100 times in two minutes and see how much they are able to notice) – but she handled it very well, apologizing right off and hoping that she could maybe find the boy and apologize personally. That maybe doesn’t fit with how some people view her, since she’s evidentially so conceited, but I see the situation as a glimpse of how she really is, not how people want her to be.

I won’t apologize for being a Megan Fox fan any more than I would apologize for being an Audrey Hepburn fan. I hope eventually people stop talking about what she can’t do, and everyone gives her a chance to show us what she can.

"You Won't Have This Much Fun Again Until You Discover Oral Pleasure!"

2009-06-27T14:55:00.003-06:00

For anyone tired of all the big-budget blockbusters of the summer, Away We Go will be a breath of cool air. Who knew that Maya Rudolph (from SNL) and John Krasinksi (from The Office) could take this little idea of a movie and turn it into a comic gem in the style of The Graduate and Garden State?

This is the pop-indie movie people have been waiting for all summer (this and (500) Days of Summer) and boy, does it deliver on all fronts. You’ll leave the theatre smiling, just to turn around and watch it again.

The plot of Away We Go is pretty simple. Verona (Rudolph) and Burt (Krasinksi) - an un-married couple, by Verona's choice - decide they need to find a new place to raise their coming baby, and go on a kind of cross country journey in search for the perfect place.

They make stops in cities where they have family or friends, starting in Phoenix, then on to Madison, Montreal and Miami. The characters that populate each place are in turns hilarious, odd, and heart-breaking, but always well-developed, and appropriately human.

All these secondary characters are brought to life by first-rate acting, but the two winners have to be Maggie Gyllenhaal as LN- a Madison professor who has taken family life to a frightening level – and The West Wing’s Allison Janney, (who makes every picture she’s in better) Verona’s old colleague Lily, who is as vulgar and crass as she is hysterical.

Let’s be honest though; this is Rudolph and Krasinski’s picture. They make you believe in their quirky love the way Charlie Chaplin and Virginia Cherrill did in City Lights, the way Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck did in Roman Holiday and the way Zach Braff and Natalie Portman did in Garden State.

Rudolph is all kinds of sweet, sarcastic and sexy, totally underplaying a character that could have easily been destroyed by too much talk, too many tears…just too much. Watching her face as she battles her emotions shows the viewer exactly what she is experiencing.

I can only use superlatives for Krasinksi’s performance. He is flat-out fantastic in a role that calls for odd-ball humor, tender emotion and everything in between. This is the nail in the coffin for the handful of women out there who haven’t already fallen for Krasinski on The Office. The way he blends his trademark wit and humor with feeling and melancholy (and always managing to make it either hysterical or touching, as the situation calls for) is a wonder. Oscar take note – this is the kind of performance those little gold statues were made for.

Of course, three cheers go to real-life married couple Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida for their wonderfully written screenplay and Sam Mendes for his compassionate direction. Eggers and Vida deserve an Oscar nod for Original Screenplay, as well.

And props for tapping folk singer/songwriter Alexi Murdoch for the film’s main musical voice. He got left behind after The O.C. crowd forgot about him, but this should bring him to the wider audience he deserves.

Before they decide to go on their trip, Verona asks Burt if he thinks they’re fuck-ups. He replies in the negative, but she remains unconvinced. As the magic of Away We Go proves, the answer is an unequivocal “hell no.”

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

2009-06-24T15:38:00.002-06:00

Everything about Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is the very definition of “sequel” in the strictest sense of the word. There’s nothing particularly inventive in this sequel: it’s basically the same plot, the same characters, the same themes – only bigger, louder and longer.

Now, the most important question is, does that matter? If you’re someone who is looking just for entertainment for entertaiment’s sake, or if you’re an intelligent viewer who has the capability to turn their brain off for several hours and just immerse yourself in some eye-popping visuals, than this is summer blockbuster manna.

Like previously stated, the gang from 2007’s hit are all back. This time Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) is about to start college, two years after the Autobots (the good robots) first landed on earth. He’s excited about starting a new stage in his life, one that’s normal and alien-robot free. Mikaela (Megan Fox) is majorly in love with Sam – as he is with her - though the main conflict between the two of them throughout the film is that neither of them can actually bring themselves to say the “l word.”

As he’s packing up to go, a sliver of the All-Spark from the first film, catches Sam’s eye, and makes a major imprint on his brain, causing him to see the Cybertron’s language everywhere. It turns out the symbols he sees are a map that both the Decepticons and Autobots need to find a source of energy that will take the earth’s sun for it’s energy.

So, the race is on to find where this source is before a resurrected Megatron and a whole list of new baddies can locate it.

Like I said, same plot, just bigger. Way bigger; the movie clocks in at right around two-and-a-half hours, when it could have easily been far shorter.

The acting is nothing spectacular. LeBeouf is hilarious in those awkward moments he always seems to find himself in, and there’s momentary glimmers of some real leadership power, but it gets buried under an avalanche of clichés. Fox is as gorgeous as ever, but she gets stuck playing the role of girlfriend/piece of luggage. Despite these facts, the two have genuine chemistry and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I thoroughly enjoyed their scenes together. There’s a genuine wit and sexiness present there and I blame their performances on the lack of material and characters written in such a one-dimensional way, that there’s not much they can do with it.

Of course, the real reason most will be going to this is for the action sequences, and those don’t disappoint. Just like in the previous film, the sound and visuals of the Transformers as they do their thing will pop your eyes. If only the scenes didn’t get bogged down so much with lame new “comedic” characters, they’d flow a lot better.

For all of this, I found myself enjoying Transformers 2. I guess I have the ability to turn my brain off and just float along with the movie. If that’s your idea of a good flick, or if you want to seem some major visuals, this is the movie for you.

A New Twist on an old Con

2009-05-30T15:19:00.002-06:00

Listen up, all you yegs: Rian Johnson, the writer/director who brought film noir back into style with 2005’s Brick is back, this time adding his magic touch to the con film. If Brick was his Maltese Falcon, than The Brothers Bloom is his The Sting.

Johnson has a knack for snappy dialogue and wonderful characterization, and is an extremely literal director, a phrase that here means he’s obsessed with storytelling. There’s a touch of Wes Anderson’s style is Johnson’s second picture, but the sheer cinematic joy is all his. Besides, there’s something to be said for a film whose two main characters’ names are Stephen and Bloom, the centerpieces of James Joyce’s Ulysses.

The best thing about The Brothers Bloom is the characters; no doubt about it. The plot is a fantastic ride of twists and turns, but it’s the actors and the unique characters they play that are the real money in this con caper.

Mad props to Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody as Stephen and Bloom, respectively, for bringing devilish wit and humanity to the titular characters. Stephen is all action and smarts, an author of “dead Russian writer” proportions who uses real life to spin his stories into cons. Bloom just follows his brother’s lead, immersing himself in whatever character his brother has written for him, which leaves him feeling like a man without a life.

That is, until Stephen sets his sights on Penelope (Rachel Weisz) – a rich orphan who collects hobbies in her massive New Jersey mansion – as their final con, setting into play a rich tapestry of events culminating in a conclusion at once witty, shocking and heartbreaking. That’s all I’ll give as far as the plot goes – it’s a ride one has to go on for themselves.

The leading ladies are the real thieves in this one, stealing practically every scene they’re in. Weisz is a sweet, sexy wonder full of mischief and childlike excitement that leaps right off the screen as has you jumping up and down for joy. The scene where she describes how best to not get cheated will performing a series of elaborate card tricks will knock you down flat.

Save an explosion of applause for Rinko Kikuchi, who plays a nearly silent Japenese wonder criminal named Bang Bang. Kikuchi already proved she could act in Babel, but her comic turn here, which is at times as melancholy as it is erotic, better land her some more starring roles, pronto. She’s the spice that makes Bloom really sizzle.

For a break from all the summer blockbusters, The Brothers Bloom is just the ticket. It’s like running through the sprinklers after days of going to the pool: fun, fast and full of moving life. What else is summer all about?

"What's That in the Sky?"

2009-05-29T22:23:00.000-06:00

Not only is Pixar’s latest film, Up, a magnificent piece of art, but the title lends itself to all manner of fantastic puns that describing soaring, flying, and the sky’s the limit. Fortunately for the viewer – and unfortunately for the reviewer – these turns of phrase don’t do the film justice by a long shot. It wasn’t quite as good as Wall-E for me (blame that on being a sucker for romance) but it comes within a hair’s breadth of matching it.

In the hands of any other studio, a film about an old man – Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) – who ties a bunch of balloons to his house so he can float down to South American to fulfill a promise to his dead wife, could have easily turned into a farce or just plain schmaltz. In this studio’s able hands, it instead becomes the wonder film of the summer. No other picture will dazzle your senses, pop out your eyes visually and still manage to be uproariously funny and moving at the same time.

The plot is pretty simple, as stated above. I should mention that Carl picks up a passenger on his journey, one pudgy wilderness-camper named Russell, who provides much of the film’s more obvious humour. Add in a delightfully adorable talking dog named Dug, and you’ve got a live one on your hands. There are plenty of laughs and thrills to delight both children and adults – and how many so-called “family films” can actually achieve that?

The real power of Up is its focus on the realities of life. Pixar’s films have never talked down to kids, and have often handed down pretty heavy subjects to those in the single-digits. In that regard, Up may be Pixar’s darkest film to date (the opening of the film – a dialoguess story of a married couple’s life - is one for the time capsule, despite its darkness), but by showing viewers that life can be cold and hard sometimes, the filmmakers only increase the power of the love and life that carries the movie along. This isn’t just film making for children – it’s a movie for people, in the grandest tradition of the term.

In a summer full of movies that promise wonders galore (Terminator, Harry Potter, Transformers), Up is the real wonder; a film that never lets its magic get in the way of the human story. Tie a balloon to it and let it fly you away.

The Edge of Love Review

2009-05-13T07:50:00.003-06:00

Let’s get one thing straight: Keira Knightley has it all. She’s a damn fine actress, she’s got the pretty in spades, she can sing and she can quite literally light up the screen – as she does in the opening scene of her latest film, The Edge of Love, based on the life of Dylan Thomas. I submit that if Scarlett Johansson is this generation’s more intellectual Marilyn Monroe, than Knightley is our more sensual Audrey Hepburn (if you think that’s crazy, consider that Kinghtley is slated to play the lead in a new version of My Fair Lady). Just like Hepburn, even if the material isn’t all it should be, she still manages to shine.

Alas, sub-par material is the case in Edge. Being billed as the “next Atonement” – it isn’t – is setting the bar pretty high, and the movie doesn’t quite make it. I place less blame on the actors - Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys – and more on the writer and director.

The main hang-up is that the movie never gets a strong foothold on what the story is, which causes the same problem for the audience. I felt like the director John Maybury couldn’t quite decide if he wanted to tell the story of Welsh poet Thomas, or the women who loved him, and so instead he tried to do both, without pulling either off. The film felt directionless and meandering, which is okay when you have such pretty images to look at – not just the actors, but the beautiful cinematography – but it holds a movie back from having any lasting impact. Personally, I was more interested in the women who loved him than Thomas himself (that may be because I don’t know much about him, and the fact that out four, Rhys’ performance was the most lackluster), but just picking a story to tell and running with it would have grounded the movie. Its like they were trying to make a more serious Shakespeare in Love, but couldn’t decide on what to focus on – the man or the love.

As for the acting, there was a lot that was glossed over, or just not conveyed. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what would make Rhys’ callous, uncharming Thomas so irresistible to Miller’s Caitlin and Knightley’s Vera. It couldn’t have just been that he was a poet, but I never saw what it was. Miller’s acting was fine as Thomas’ lose canon of a wife, but a glimpse into her more vulnerable side would have done a lot in the way of creating empathy. Despite the shady character build up, I was still surprised by Thomas’ sudden turn into utter douche-baggery near the film’s end, which seemed to me out of left field.

Murphy as William, a WWII “hero” does an admirable job, even if it’s odd seeing him in a not so creepy role, and he and Knightley play well together, but there wasn’t enough of them to really sell it for me. Blame that on the film’s lack of focus.

To be honest, though, this is totally Knightley’s show, and while the performance certainly isn’t flawless (her Welsh accent comes and goes and we never see the moment where she really falls for Williams) she’s got the fire that keeps the film burning, even if it’s a slow burn.

Just like falling in love, its not enough to just go to the edge, but you have to commit and jump. The Edge of Love does just what it says: gets to the edge, but can’t quite make that final leap.

"I'm Working on A Dream"

2009-02-07T11:02:00.003-07:00

Less than two years since Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band released Magic, a lush new collection of songs that hearkened back to their boisterous past of The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle, the Boss and band got together and put together Working on a Dream, the most sonically diverse album since Born to Run. And damned if it doesn’t offer up a host of surprises along the way.

Springsteen, who has proved himself the most literate rock writer since Dylan, is a master-smith when it comes to recording albums that ably balance epic storytelling with numbers that encapsulate entire feelings and moments in one song. His subjects are as wide ranging as the music on Dream, whether he’s tackling the old west, having a major jones for the check-out girl at the grocery store, or laboring in this fading world to create something meaningful. If all this sounds a bit heady, don’t worry – Springsteen is having too much fun to get dragged down by anything. If the album had an overarching theme, it is hope, which blazes forth from even the darkest subjects.

As far as opening numbers go, good luck finding any this year more immediately arresting or dramatic than “Outlaw Pete,” a Guthrie/Williams/Dylan-esque story of a cowboy cursed by bad luck since before he was born. The song is eight minutes long, and starts quiet but crashes like a storm by the end, with a fantastic guitar solo and Springsteen’s voice overpowering everything as the voice of God or the thunder, wailing “Outlaw Pete, can you hear me?” The Boss hasn’t sounded this big coming out of the gate since “Thunder Road.”

From there he gets into some of the most upbeat songs he’s written in a while, with “My Lucky Day” and “What Love Can Do.” “Surprise, Surprise” sounds like a forgotten British Invasion hit that Springsteen dusted off and added his own touch to.

“Queen of the Supermarket” displays why he was aptly called the “next Dylan” when he first arrived on the music scene, with this gem of a story about a lonely man who finds love – or just lust – with a girl who works at a supermarket, but can’t say anything about it. The lyrics read like something John Updike would be proud of but the music has the dramatic sweep of Phil Spector’s wall of sound.

Always a realist, the album’s “darker” numbers tackle the uncertainty of the future, and the acceptance of death. The bouncy “Tomorrow Never Knows” bleeds into “Life Itself,” which sounds like what many would call “classic Bruce.” It’s an admission that life will ultimately lose to time no matter what, and all one can do is find someone to help make it through the day.

Of course, the title track could have been Obama’s theme song just as easily as “The Rising,” and is as genuine a song about the longing for hope and what it takes to bring it about as anyone could ask for. While Springsteen is clearly aware that all’s not well in the country, there’s nothing to stop it from getting better.

The album’s closer, a gorgeous elegy for organ player Danny Federici, is the follow up to “Wild Billy’s Circus Story,” and paints a lonesome picture of the carnival closing for the last time as the sun sinks behind the horizon. Federici, and fans, couldn’t ask for a better song to tie together an album that shows for Springsteen and the E Street Band, the show is still going on.

“The Wrestler,” for which Springsteen won a Golden Globe for, is a nice bonus cut, and fits well with the rest of the album, but Dream would have been just as stellar without it. The only thing really missed is more of Clarence Clemons wailing saxophone, but otherwise there’s little to bitch about.

Two stellar Springsteen albums within two years, and one his best in years; as he sings in “The Wrestler,” “tell me friend/can you ask for anything more?”

Clarke's Best Music '08

2009-01-12T17:19:00.054-07:00

Top 50 Albums of 2008

1. Narrow Stairs - Death Cab for Cutie
This was a close year, as there were a handful of fantastic albums released, but the winner goes to Seattle’s Death Cab for Cutie for creating an album whose sound fits perfectly with our modern times. It’s all washed out and fuzzy, with bleak tracks like “Pity and Fear,” and “Grapevine Fires.” What’s so miraculous about the album is the way Ben Gibbard is able to marry dark lyrics with almost absurdly happy music, as on “No Sunlight” and “You Can Do Better Than Me.” Just like our society, songs and meanings are conflicted, often leaving the listener without any answers, like the narrator at the end of “Bixby Canyon Bridge.” This is an album to immerse yourself in as a check on where we are in the nation’s psyche. Start climbing the stairs.

2. Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends – Coldplay
After coming dangerously close to releasing the same kind of album over and over again with X&Y, Coldplay took a step back, got a new producer and a new sound, and released their best album to date. There’s more world-music influenced numbers on the album and less of the love-drenched ballads that have been the band’s bread and butter. Incredibly catchy cuts like “Viva la Vida” and “Lovers in Japan” are standouts, but this is the first time since Parachutes, that Coldplay has crafted an album as an album, not just a collection of singles. With all the U2 comparisons – most of them dead-on – this could finally be the beginning of a new level for Coldplay.

3. Evil Urges - My Morning Jacket
It’s interesting that the album that is My Morning Jacket’s mainstream debut is undoubtedly their most experimental, dabbling in James Taylor acoustics, Prince-esque R&B driven numbers, and progressive southern-rock. Jim James has never sounded more primal or like he’s having more fun. His insane giggle on “Highly Suspicious” will send shivers down your spine, while the longing in “Librarian” will grab your heartstrings and twist. Evil Urges is the band’s Ok Computer and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. My Morning Jacket is in good company.

4. Tha Carter III – Lil Wayne
2008 was a pretty slow year for hip-hop, but even if it had been a gold year, Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III would still take the cake. Featuring killer productions by hit-makes like Kanye West and visits by A-listers like Jay-Z, there’s something for everybody on Tha Carter. Of course, the main draw is Wayne’s voice, which is at times nasal, cocky, giggly and confident. Listeners can get lost just trying to keep track of his moods and his words at the same time. No matter. This is the year’s hip-hop classic, and will no doubt go down as one of the game’s best records. For those who are just now jumping onto the Lil Wayne bandwagon, hurry up – there’s no telling where he can go from here.

5. The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs – Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006 – Bob Dylan
For any who believe that Dylan’s best material was in the 60s and 70s, and everything he’s done since has been sub par hasn’t been paying attention to such great albums as Oh Mercy, Time Out of Mind and Modern Times. The unreleased and altered cuts on this album show that Dylan is still in full possession of his poetic powers; you think you know a song and it’s meaning, like “Dignity,” but then you listen to how the song evolved and realize there’s so much more behind it that goes unsaid. Dylan’s not the best living songwriter for nothing, and this gem of unreleased material shows it in spades.

6. 808s & Heartbreak – Kanye West
Cut Kanye West a break. With this album’s release, a lot of people complained that it wasn’t full of the cocky, funny songs that have made West one of hip-hops leading MC’s. True, he doesn’t really show his best lyrical control on the album, and does more singing than rapping, but that doesn’t mean what he’s creating isn’t any less immediate or listenable. He proves he can still make the hits with songs like “Love Lockdown” and “Say You Will.” I think as West continues to evolve, this album will be looked on as a turning point in his career. Dylan going electric its not, but it’s certainly something worth paying attention to.

7. Attack & Release – The Black Keys
The two-man duo from Ohio have been the best blues band that no one knew about for years, but since their strictly blues debut, The Big Come Up, The Black Keys have been changing into something more experimental. It certainly doesn’t hurt to have Danger Mouse as a producer, and what at first would seem like an odd combination, instead gave birth to something both familiar and unusual. Attack & Release has the most instrumentation of any Black Keys album, like “Psychotic Girl” and “Same Old Thing” and manages to still sound like The Black Keys. Keep an eye on where these guys go from here.

8. Only by the Night - Kings of Leon
Probably the catchiest album of the year, Kings of Leon has finally broken onto the mainstream with Only by the Night, and after listening to the album with such hook-filled numbers as “Sex On Fire,” “Use Somebody” and “Revelry” it’s easy to understand why people are finally paying attention to these southern boys.

9. Where the Light Is - John Mayer
The best live album of the year, which was recorded at a show where Mayer showed his fans his evolution on stage: starting with acoustic coffeehouse troubadour, to blues man, and finally blending the two together to create his own sound, the album is full of wicked guitar solos and Mayer’s soulful voice. Listen to his fiery version of “Everyday I Have the Blues,” and you can hear that the blues isn’t going out of style anytime soon.

10. Cardinology - Ryan Adams and The Cardinals
2008 was a pretty quiet year for Ryan Adams, only releasing one album, but what an album it is. It’s the perfect combination of Adams’ alt country leanings and his rock sensibilities. Adams has finally managed to balance the two together to create his strongest collection of songs yet. As long as he stays in this musical vein, he can release as many albums a year as he wants.

11. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
This was the debut album of the year, and after one listen it’s easy to understand why. The album is a gorgeous mixing of Beach Boys harmonizing, My Morning Jacket southern rock and Appalachian folk. Just by describing the album doesn’t sound like it would work, but man, does it. Arguably the prettiest album of the year, I can’t wait to see what they do next.

12. Dear Science – TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio is the one band that got the mixing of rock and techno that has become so prominent, exactly right. It’s something you can dance to, or pay attention to the lyrics that show a world in chaos and confusion. It doesn’t sound like anything else that was released this year, and there’s hardly a higher compliment that can be given.

13. Flight of the Conchords – Flight of the Conchords
Quite possibly the most eclectic album of the year - definitely the funniest - the full LP from New Zealand’s folk duo is so choc-full of lyrical gems that it’s like rifling through a treasure chest. The songs are funniest when you’ve seen them performed live – to be sure – but this album shows why they are so popular in the first place.

14. Jukebox - Cat Power
Chan Marshall’s second full album of covers is so heavily drenched in atmospheric organs and steel guitars that it actually sounds like a grey night in the city. As usual, Marshall’s voice is where the money’s at, and an artist who can take Frank Sinatra’s “New York” and turn into a lonely wail in the night is an artist to revere.

15. Keep your Eyes Ahead - The Helio Sequence
The most underrated album of the year, The Helio Sequence is following in the footsteps of such indie greats as Death Cab for Cutie and Band of Horses, while throwing in a little Nick Drake for good measure. A lovely album full of luminous hits, culminating in “Broken Afternoon,” keep your eyes on The Helio Sequence.

16. Gossip in the Grain - Ray LaMontagne
Despite having a reputation for singing only sad, lonely songs, LaMontagne showed on his third album that he has a lot more soul in him than most had thought. As beautiful as his music is when it’s sad, it’s even prettier when it’s glad.

17. Wheels - Dan Tyminski
The best bluegrass album of the year, featuring Tyminski’s rich vocals and racing guitars and banjos, displays exactly why he’s risen to such prominence since his time playing with Alison Krauss and doing the singing for George Clooney in O Brother, Where Art Thou?

18. Med Sud I Eyrum Vit Spilum Endalaust – Sigur Ros
All of Sigur Ros’ albums are gorgeous collections of long, swirling cuts sung in a language that is almost impossible to understand, which hasn’t done anything to make them less appealing. They’ve hit their peak on this album, which has some of their happiest songs and most beautiful ballads. You don’t need to understand the words to be touched by the music.

19. Day & Age – The Killers
Returning to their captivating, 80s style rock numbers on Day & Age, shows that The Killers can write a hook when they want to. Dancing back and forth over the line between Bowie-esue numbers and danceable club hits, the album displays that the group is still as infectious as ever.

20. Stay Positive – The Hold Steady
The Hold Steady sounds the most like early Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, and on Stay Positive they’ve fully embraced that sound, creating an album as rich and full of stories as The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle. Songs like “Sequestered in Memphis” prove that storytelling in the style of Dylan and Springsteen is alive and kicking.

21. 19 – Adele
One of the slew of new British songstresses to be hailed as the “new Amy Winehouse,” Adele is without a doubt the most soulful and smoky. Adele’s soaring voice carries the single “Chasing Pavements” and the Bob Dylan cover “Make You Feel My Love.” For someone so young, this is one hell of a debut – more Aretha than Amy.

22. For Emma, Forever Ago – Bon Iver
Recorded by himself in the Wisconsin backcountry, Justin Vernon – also known as Bon Iver – has crafted an album so gorgeous in its brevity and heartbreak that it’s impossible to listen to it and not remember how you felt after you had your heartbroken for the first time. If only all heartbreak created such art.

23. Feed the Animals – Girl Talk
Girl Talk – or Greg Gillis, as he’s also known – is a DJ of the highest order, using samples from artists as widespread as The Band, Kanye West, Black Street, Mark Mothersaugh to fashion the club album of the year. All the songs flow into each other seamlessly, creating the perfect album for playing during a party, or just to appreciate what a real DJ can do.

24. Rockferry – Duffy
She may have the looks to be some kind of 60s pin-up girl, but Duffy sounds like Dusty Springfield at her best. Hits like “Mercy” may get you dancing, but slow burners like “Warwick Avenue” are what really set Rockferry apart from the Amy Winehouse’s of the world.

25. When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold – Atmosphere
One of underground hip-hop’s top names, Atmosphere has made the album of their career, mixing their insanely smart lyrics with some unique samples and beats. Only Slug could rap about the love for his daughter and make it sound so sincere.

26. Lust Lust Lust - The Raveonettes
The Raveonettes have taken a major cue from The Jesus and Mary Chain on their latest album, and the payoff is a pinnacle of synth music, hitting the peaks of how gorgeous and compelling the music can be. Awash in waves of guitar fuzz and reverb, Lust Lust Lust will leave you lusting for more.

27. Orange Blossoms - JJ Grey & Mofro
JJ Grey and Mofro sound like the soul band that Jack Bruce would be in if he got started today. Orange Blossoms is the perfect blend of soul and blues, in the old school sense. The best retro album of the year is also an exhibition on how soul-stirring the blues can be.

28. Seventh Tree - Goldfrapp
Taking a break from the dance hits that have made Goldfrapp famous, Seventh Tree sounds just like a summer afternoon. It’s a gorgeous collection of songs for both the dusk and the dawn.

29. Fate - Dr. Dog
Fate wins the award for the album that sounds the most like The Band. Using a wide range of instruments and vocal styles to make an album that sounds like something record in a barn in Woodstock, Dr. Dog may have just the right sensibilities to be this generations The Band.

30. Modern Guilt – Beck
The second great album that Danger Mouse produced this year, has Beck stepping away from his quirky Guero-type music, and has him more in the vein of his classic Odelay! It seems like eventually Beck would have to make a bad album, but if he keeps churning out material like this, that won’t be happening any time soon.

31. Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst
The lead singer of Bright Eye’s first “official” solo release sounds like a somber ode to the road that Jack Kerouac wrote about so passionately. Oberst’s road is more Cormac McCarthy than Kerouac – dark and myseterious – but more fascinating due to that fact.

32. Off With Their Heads – Kaiser Chiefs
The most wry and political album to come out of Britain this year, the Kaiser Chiefs return to their gritty, sarcastic sound after a less than stellar outing on Yours Truly, Angry Mob. They may not be the next Clash, but they’re certainly on their way.

33. You And Me – The Walkmen
The Walkmen have always been one of the indie scene’s most dependable bands for fuzzy guitars, clever writing and moving singing. They certainly don’t disappoint on You And Me, which smacks a bit of The Velvet Underground and The Arcade Fire. A mix like that is bound to be interesting.

34. Volume One - She & Him
No doubt one of the oddest pairings of the year, Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward have created one of the most unlikely musical feats of the year: an album that sounds like it could have easily been recorded during the 60s soul movement. Deschanel and Ward may be young, but Volume One proves they are two very old souls.

35. Consolers of the Lonely – The Raconteurs
The Raconteurs are the band most likely to be the new Led Zeppelin. On Consolers, with its guitar driven songs and wailing vocals, Jack White and Brendan Benson have created the perfect album for the Guitar Hero generation. This one’ll have you playing air guitar all night long.

36. Intimacy - Bloc Party
Bloc Party has always been one of Britain’s most interesting bands, and they continue to hold that reputation on Intimacy, a release that at times sounds like the bastard child of TV on the Radio discothèque and The Cure balladry.

37. Little Honey - Lucinda Williams
William’s sunniest album, Little Honey shows that she can do a happy love song just as well as she can do an embittered one. Her cover at the end of AC/DC’s “It’s A Long Way to the Top,” is the perfect ending for an album that shows Williams certainly knows how to rock and roll.

38. Something for All of Us… - Brendan Canning
Another release from a member of Broken Social Scene, Something for All of Us… is choc-full of catchy riffs and great singing. The music keeps your toe tapping and Canning shows that he’s not just any lyricist. It’s certainly not just any side project.

39. April - Sun Kil Moon
Sun Kil Moon has been making quiet acoustic albums on his own for years, but he’s reached a new high with April, which not only features some of his loveliest ballads, but some of his best guitar playing to date. Who says a sad song has to be a quiet one?

40. The Rhumb Line – Ra Ra Riot
The heir-apparent to The Arcade Fire, Ra Ra Riot’s The Rhumb Line has gotten orchestral rock down to a science. Engaging and expansive, there’s a lot of music to get lost in.

41. Hideaway – The Weepies
One of the best bands you don’t know about, The Weepies have perfected their melancholy music and lyrics and added a new level of depth to craft an album that is perfect for a cloudy day at home.

42. Nouns – No Age
The best release by what was a whole list of bands to re-embrace the new lo-fi scene, Nouns sounds like the kind of rock recorded recorded in someone’s basement during the 70s. Bands like The Ramones and The Sex Pistols would be proud.

43. Firesight - Jessie Baylin
Baylin’s luminous voice playing over elegant piano and guitar ballads make for one of the most striking releases of the year. “Lonely Heaven” is a standout on an album that ranks up there with Norah Jones’ best.

44. Harps and Angels - Randy Newman
Proving that Newman still has his sarcastic wit about him after all these years, Harps and Angels is not only a sly finger pointed at all the phonies in the world – see “A Few Words in Defense of Our Country” – but a love song to the music of New Orleans. It’s a warm welcome to an old friend.

45. NaS – NaS
NaS’ best – and most political – album since Illmatic shows that the MC still has it. Despite his previous statement that hip-hop is dead, NaS either doesn’t believe it, or is dead-set on bring it back. Either way, it’s a thirlling welcome back to one of the games best players.

46. Oh! Mighty Engine - Neil Halstead
Recorded for Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records, Halstead’s album feels more like Harvest Moon Neil Young than Johnson, with lovely layered guitars and a strong voice driving home such numbers as “A Gentle Heart.”

47. Elephant Shell – Tokyo Police Club
For an album where there is maybe one song longer than three minutes, there are a lot of memorable cuts and hooks; enough to make you wonder if the Tokyo Police Club can accomplish so much in so short a time, what can they do with more?

48. She Ain’t Me - Carrie Rodriguez
The best country album of the year features some of the best singing and writing to come out of the country scene in ages. In a genre that seems more like rock with violins, it’s nice to hear a voice with so much soul and sincerity as Rodriguez’s.

49. Songs For You, Truths For Me – James Morrison
Morrison’s sophomore effort is one hook after another, and it all comes together to create one of the best pop records of the year. The standout is his duet with Nelly Furtado on “Broken Strings,” a break-up song that is instantly relatable.

50. Hey Ma - James
It’s been a while since the band James has released a record, but if they were saving time to work on out all the kinks on Hey Ma, than it was time well spent. James may have been out of the game for a while but, as this album demonstrates, they haven’t lost touch yet.

Top 100 Songs

1. “Lollipop” – Tha Carter III - Lil Wayne featuring Static Major
This year’s top song goes to what is undoubtedly the catchiest thing to hit the airwaves in years. Lil Wayne is at his most clever and goofy here, oscillating back and forth between satirizing other stars hits and making very thinly veiled hints about oral sex. I mean, what else could “like me like a lollipop” mean? In this case, it’s the year’s sweetest treat.

2. “Bixby Canyon Bridge” – Narrow Stairs – Death Cab for Cutie
Unseating “The New Year” as Death Cab’s best album opener, “Bixby” also takes the cake for the best album opener of the year. The mix of atmospheric guitar waves – courtesy of Chris Walla – and the Radiohead-esque middle section is the recipe for an immediate attention grabber. And the way it cuts out at the end? Perfection.

3. “Sex on Fire” – Only by the Night – Kings of Leon
This one just gets under your skin, and doesn’t come out until you’ve been listening to it on repeat for days. Take my word for it. Caleb Followill’s howl matches beautifully with the lyrics. I can’t say how many times I’ve listened to this song, however, and still have no idea what it means; is it a guy praising himself on his prowess under the covers, or wailing over a disease he’s caught? I’m leaning towards the latter, because like a disease, this one is catchy as hell.

4. “Death and All His Friends” – Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends – Coldplay
This closer on Coldplay’s best – and most adventurous - album to date has the band doing what it does best: a quiet build up to a foot-stomping, crowd-singing close. When that close has the aptly prophetic lines, “I don’t want to cycle, recycle revenge, I don’t want to follow death and all his friends,” you know you’ve got something special on your hands.
5. “Love Lockdown” – 808s & Heartbreak – Kanye West
The techno beat of this destined-to-be club classic blends perfectly with West’s computerized voice. This is West acting as the hit-maker that fans have come to rely on for years. He nails it on this one.

6. “Mississippi (Previously Unreleased Version #2)” – The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs
- Bob Dylan
This quieter, solo version of Love and Theft’s “Mississippi” is as lovely and ragged as Dylan can be. It’ll pull at your heartstrings while echoing such classics as Randy Newman’s “Sail Away.”

7. “I Will Posses Your Heart” – Narrow Stairs – Death Cab for Cutie
The eight-minute lead single from Death Can’s Narrow Stairs let every fan know what they were in for: new sounds and directions from one of modern rock’s – indie or otherwise – best bands. Just try to listen to the first lyric free moments without tapping your toes and bopping your head.

8. “Same Old Thing” – Attack & Release – The Black Keys
Thanks to Danger Mouse’s production, this cut from the blues boys from Ohio shows that while their roots are permanently dyed blue, their music isn’t just the same old thing.

9. “Evil Urges” – Evil Urges – My Morning Jacket
Opening tracks were on a roll this year, as “Evil Urges” demonstrates. It shows My Morning Jacket playing to their strengths: crafting crazy, psychedelic lyrics around catchy southern rock.

10. “Cath…” – Narrow Stairs – Death Cab for Cutie
This was Death Cab’s year for memorable cuts, and “Cath…” may well be their hookiest song since “Sound of Settling.” What makes it even better is the band’s ability to take a marriage right out of a John Updike novel and have you humming it on your way to work.

11. “Viva la Vida” – Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends – Coldplay
Perhaps the most infectious string-driven song since The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony,” “Viva la Vida,” proves that despite the lyrics, Chris Martin is still king.

12. “Gravity” – Where the Light Is – John Mayer
This live cut is the perfect example of what Mayer has perfected; taking beautifully searching lyrics, and melding them with blues and soul melodies. Opening the track with a cover of Otis Redding’s “I’ve Got Dreams to Remember” is the icing on the cake.

13. “You Are the Best Thing” – Gossip in the Grain – Ray LaMontagne
LaMontagne had built himself a reputation as a Nick Drake type songwriter, steeping himself in melancholic acoustic guitars. This cut, with the addition of a blazing horn line, shows that LaMontagne has found that there’s light in every darkness.

14. “Use Somebody” – Only by the Night – Kings of Leon
A completely relatable song about trying to get noticed by someone gets extra weight thanks to the bands pulsing guitars and the unforgettable harmonizing of the chorus.

15. “Against Privacy” – Loyalty to Loyalty – Cold War Kids
Tinkling cymbals and fuzzy guitars serve as the perfect backdrop as Nathan Willett wails about what the band is for and against. Let’s hope their for more songs like this.

16. “Chasing Pavements” – 19 – Adele
Written after breaking-up with – and punching – her ex, British singer Adele lets her soaring voice carry this gorgeous number, one you’ll be singing on your own pavements.

17. “Golden Age” – Dear Science – TV on the Radio
The band that did the best job of melding rock with techno beats earns its stripes with this discothèque gem. Just listen as the band lays down it’s best “Stayin’ Alive” beat and bounce along with it.

18. “Ramblin (Wo)Man” – Jukebox – Cat Power
The steel guitars and fuzzed out organs allow Chan Marshall’s blues drenched voice to totally steal the show on this cover song. Rearranging the name makes the song even more her own. This is girl power at its peak.
19. “Time the Conqueror” – Time the Conqueror – Jackson Browne
Browne picked a damn good year to get political, but this song transcends politics to hit on a human level. If there was a better song released this year – or any, really – that deals as beautifully with the inevitability of time as this one, I haven’t heard it.

20. “Sentimental Heart” – Volume One – She & Him
The opening track to the unlikely paring of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward’s joint effort grabs the listener and shows that Deschanel is more than just a talented actor. She’s got an old soul.

21. “Fix It” – Cardinology – Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
This cut from this years only Adams release shows just how twangy and gorgeous his music can be when sets his mind to it. And the chorus and hook? His best in years.

22. “Ragged Wood” – Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
A perfect blend of The Beach Boys, My Morning Jacket and Appalachian folk, this track makes it abundantly clear why Fleet Foxes is the debut band of the year. Listen and get swept away.

23. “The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room)” – Flight of the Conchords – Flight of the Conchords
This side-splitter from New Zeland’s “fourth most popular folk duo” is the quintessential modern love song. If playing this one doesn’t get you any, you’re doing something wrong. Or your name is Bret or Jermaine. Either or.

24. “Lately” – Keep Your Eyes Ahead - The Helio Sequence
Following in the steps of Death Cab and Band of Horses, this luminous opening track about the hubris of covering up a broken heart is the year’s best break-up song, and a brilliant introduction to a band that should have received more attention years ago.

25. “Mr. Carter” – Tha Carter III – Lil Wayne featuring Jay-Z
Lil Wayne and Jay-Z share more than just a common last name, as they both exhibit in spades on this horn driven classic. With cuts like this, Wayne comparing himself to “Pac, Biggie and Jay-Z” sounds just right.
26. “Warwick Avenue” – Rockferry – Duffy
This slow burner from the “new Amy Winehouse” is actually more reminiscent of Dusty Springfield, and that’s for the better. Duffy’s heart-broken voice and the gorgeous background music make this the best on a brilliant debut.

27. “Valium Skies” – Forth – The Verve
This is the best Oasis song never written, and The Verve is the band to carry it off. Richard Ashcroft’s voice seems to be channeling Bono, but it’s all about the soaring music here. This is more silvering lining than cloud at it’s most breathtaking.

28. “You Found Me” – The Fray – The Fray
The first single from the Colorado band’s album to be released in February is the perfect reminder of what fans have been missing: great hooks with wonderfully searching lyrics. This is just one of the reasons the band’s sophomore effort is so highly anticipated.

29. “Rag Doll” – She Ain’t Me – Carrie Rodriguez
Pretty doesn’t begin to describe the beauty of this torch song from the best country album of the year. Listen to the agony in Rodriguez’s voice, and tell me she hasn’t lived this song. Haven’t we all?

30. “I’m Yours” – We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. – Jason Mraz
Mraz has always had a talent for writing songs that don’t get out of your head in any hurry, but he’s outdone himself on this pop gem. Radio rightly couldn’t find a catchier – or sweeter – summer hit.

31. “Robocop” – 808s & Heartbreak – Kanye West
The mix of techno and strings here snatches the listener instantly as West laments a dying relationship. It’s also the best use West has made of strings since “Jesus Walks."

32. “Roll On” – Rock and Roll Jesus – Kid Rock
Kid Rock he can craft a perfect summer hit without all the ego that usually comes along with his music. This is the type of track that Bob Seger could be proud of. Pop this one on as you’re driving on a sunny day, and just roll on.

33. “Green Light” – Evolver – John Legend featuring Andre 3000
Legend yet again shows why he’s the best voice in soul right now, matching his velvet tones with an instantly catchy hook. Andre 3000 of Outkast does him proud with his appearance. This one is a definite go.

34. “Blindsided” – For Emma, Forever Ago – Bon Iver
This track sounds exactly like what it was: recorded alone in the wilderness of Wisconsin, with nothing more than a guitar and a broken heart. Apparently, for Bon Iver, raw beauty in nature translates into music.

35. “Psychotic Girl” – Attack & Release – The Black Keys
The first Black Keys track that features a leading string instrument other than a guitar demonstrates that a banjo can be a wonder in the right hands. The creepy, tingly piano and the hilarious lyrics – when you think about them – prove how wonderful trying something new can be.

36. “Librarian” – Evil Urges – My Morning Jacket
A shout out to book nerds – or nerds who dig women who like books – is a gem of simple guitar work that James Taylor would be proud of. Jim James is at once both funny and sweet in this song that tackles a hot librarian and the destructive power of modern technology. Who else could do it so sweetly?

37. “In Your Atmosphere” – Where the Light Is – John Mayer
The first time this long time fan favorite has been officially released captures Mayer as he first was: a lone man singing his heart out with nothing but an acoustic guitar. While he’s certainly gone onto bigger and better things, with songs like this, there’s nothing wrong with revisiting one’s roots.
38. “Wheels” – Wheels – Dan Tyminski
The opening track from the best bluegrass album of the year is just the right blend of blazing finger-work and bittersweet lyrics. Give it to Tyminski, with his uniquely smooth voice, and you’ve got a bluegrass winner.

39. “Think About It” – Flight of the Conchords – Flight of the Conchords
In a year where political songs were flying around as much as campaign ads, it takes a duo from New Zealand to put it all in perspective for the country. Sort of Quick, go to the acapella jam!

40. “Let the Beat Build” – Tha Carter III – Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne is this year’s best MC to show the world how to build a beat. He does it to perfection on this incredibly catchy number. All those aspiring hip-hop artists out there: take notes.

41. “Ara Batur” – Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust – Sigur Ros
Sigur Ros can do sweeping, swirling ballads like nobody’s business, but they bring their A-Game to the table on this positively gorgeous song. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand the words; the music says it all.

42. “Going On” – The Odd Couple – Gnarls Barkley
Nobody does infectious quite like Gnarls Barkley, but the touching of sweet soul singing on this song brings their artistry to a whole new level. Try and get this one out of your head. I dare you.

43. “Go Easy” – Cardinology – Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
Taping into his rock side for this love song, Adams delivers the perfect mix of heartbreak and hope. Adams has been doing this for so long, he’s a pro; here’s the proof.

44. “Judas” – Forth – The Verve
This is the closest you’re coming to come to the musical equivalent of shimmering any time soon. Just close your eyes and let the sweeping sounds take you away.

45. “Wildflower” – Rattlin’ Bones – Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson
Chambers is has garnered worldwide acclaim for her country-blues mix, but this album of duets recorded with her husband shows that she’s just getting started. The interplay between the two creates the prettiest duet of the year.
46. “Live Your Life” – Recapturing the Banjo – Otis Taylor featuring Keb Mo’
Taylor is a whiz with the banjo, but what sets this cut apart from his other work is the simple interplay between the banjo, guitar, trumpet and the ruggedness of Keb Mo’s voice. Country perfection.

47. “Still Here” – Feed the Animals – Girl Talk
All of Girl Talk’s songs are crazy-fun mixes of a wide range of musicians spliced together, but mixing Blackstreet with The Band? What more can I say? Just give it a listen.

48. “Dead Sound” – Lust Lust Lust – The Raveonettes
The best synth band since The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Raveonettes use this song to show just how luminous that sound can be when done right. The music is in good hands.

49. “Sequestered in Memphis” – Stay Positive – The Hold Steady
The Hold Steady are the closest the modern generation is going to get to the sound of early Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, and this is the gem on the band’s best album yet. Catchy and great lyrics do the Boss proud.

50. “Broken Afternoon” – Keep Your Eyes Ahead – The Helio Sequence
The perfect song for sitting and watching the sun set on a summer evening, or getting introspective alone in the middle of the night, this shining song recalls Nick Drake at his best.

51. “Lost +” – Prospekt’s March – Coldplay featuring Jay-Z
It’s amazing how well Coldplay fits with hip-hop. Chris Martin was on Kanye West’s Graduation and this is their second outing with Jay-Z. As usual, HOVA lays down a killer rhyme to a slightly remixed of “Lost!” I just can’t wait for a duet album.

52. “Yesterday” – When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold – Atmosphere
An old-school soul beat is the backdrop for Atmosphere’s song about the absence of Slug’s father. The two blend perfectly and Slug raps with nostalgia about his dad. Daddy issues never sounded this good.

53. “Tessellate” – Elephant Shell – Tokyo Police Club
The name for the song is almost longer that the actual song itself, which features a driving drum beat and head-banging guitar riffs. You may not be able to correctly pronounce the name, but you’ll sure be able to sing along to the song.

54. “Can You Tell” – The Rhumb Line – Ra Ra Riot
Exhibiting why all those comparisons to the Arcade Fire are apt indeed, “Can You Tell” sounds like The Cure’s Robert Smith at his most desperate. Lines like “my bed’s too big for just me,” shows a perfect understanding of the little things that make loneliness so painful.

55. “Lost Verses” – April – Sun Kil Moon
A nine-minute album opener, “Lost Verses” is Sun Kil Moon – or Mark Kozelek – at his prettiest and most expansive. The final minutes which is just an acoustic guitar is as stirring an ending as you could hope for.

56. “Gone in the Morning” – Hand Built By Robots – Newton Faulkner
Just a little ditty from England’s Newton Faulkner perfectly displays why he made such a big splash when he crossed the pond: clever lyrics played over an infectious guitar line and an even catchier chorus. It may not be particularly deep, but it’ll get in your head.

57. “Like A Fire” – Like A Fire – Solomon Burke
Burke has been a major figure on the soul and blues scene for years, and the title track from his latest release proves that he still has plenty of soul to spare. The guitar lines are as smooth as his voice, and Burke certainly doesn’t show any signs of burning out any time soon.

58. “India/Mountain Time” – Live from Nowhere in Particular – Joe Bonamassa
A long, guitar solo introduces this lovely song about the eternal girl who got away. In this case she lives in the mountains, and Bonamassa’s impassioned howls have the ache of separation that words can’t convey. You just feel it.

59. “Lonely Heaven” – Firesight – Jessie Baylin
Baylin’s voice is what this song is all about. It’s beautiful, emotional and when it is laid over a simple piano ballad, you have the perfect recipe for a classic torch song.

60. “Moab” – Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
A rockin’ number about the road has Oberst at his most Dylan-esque, telling his jilted love story that can only be healed by the road. Kerouac would be pleased.

61. “Spaceman” – Day & Age – The Killers
Returning to their 80s sound, “Spaceman” is about as big of an anthem as any album could ask for. The song smacks of “Mr. Brighstide” with more organ, but just as engaging.

62. “You Got Me” - Hello…X – Tristan Prettyman
Prettyman has made her mark playing relatively simple songs, but her lyrics and voice elevate them more to just a girl being in love. There’s an edge to her voice that makes her hard to forget, and “You Got Me” shows why.

63. “Up All Night” – Free Somehow – Widespread Panic
The killer horn line is what makes this such a memorable song from Widespread Panic’s best album in years. It’s the perfect party song from the band you would least expect to write it.

64. “Feels Like Home” – Angels and Harps – Randy Newman
Everyone knows Newman can write social satire with so much wit that it’ll knock you on your ass, but this simple love song shows that the man can go for the heart with as much vigor as he goes after the government.

65. “Something Good This Way Comes” – Seeing Things – Jakob Dylan
Jakob has never sounded more like father than on this cut from his first solo release, but Bob has never written something this radio friendly. It’s been a while since he wrote something this optimistic as well.

66. “Staying With Me” – Forgiven – Los Lonely Boys
Proving that their hit “Heaven” was no mistake, Los Lonely Boys layer this one with doo-wop style harmonizing and a killer guitar solo. This is a love song that could have been written by the Everly Brothers and been just as popular.

67. “If I Never See Your Face Again (Paul Oakenfold Remix)” – Call and Response – Maroon 5 featuring Rihanna
Proving that Maroon 5 can work with practically anyone, Oakenfold’s remix of Rihanna’s remix shows just how durable Maroon 5’s music is. I have no doubt they’ve played clubs before, but this one is ready made for club immortality.

68. “Leave Our Boyfriends” – Thirteens – Leona Naess
Less a call for girl power than a statement of strength, “Leave Our Boyfriends” sounds like the hit Feist wished she wrote. At once catchy and emotional, it’s a treat for either sex.

69. “It Can’t Rain Everyday” – When Angels and Serpents Dance – P.O.D.
P.O.D.’s most hope driven on their latest album is also the most memorable. The band artfully takes a simple idea and turns into a comfort. That’s an idea worth holding onto.

70. “You Can’t Stop Us Now” – NaS – NaS featuring Eban Thomas of the Stylistics and The Last Poets
NaS came back this year to prove that hip-hop isn’t dead yet, at least not if he has anything to say anything about it. The simple beat lets NaS rap about powerful the movement of a people can be.

71. “Many Shades of Black” – Consolers of the Lonely – The Raconteurs
While Jack White may be one of the modern guitar gods, this piano driven cut shows that there’s more to The Raconteurs than just Guitar Hero licks. This is blues as it should be played.

72. “Everyone Needs A Home” – Field Manual – Chris Walla
The best song of Death Cab for Cutie’s guitar/producer Chris Walla proves that Ben Gibbard isn’t the only strong songwriter that the band has. For a sweet love song, he should keep his band mate in mind for the next album.

73. “Living Well is the Best Revenge” – Accelerate – R.E.M.
Recalling the power and drive of their early years, “Living Well” shows just what can happen when you’re mad as hell, and not about to take it any more. The most fist pumping song they’ve written well since “It’s the End of the World” shows these boys still have it.

74. “More Than Friends” – Shine – Estelle
John Legend’s British find is a soul star of the first degree, using Motown style hooks to pull the listener into a song about a girl who’s sick of being stuck in the friend zone. Any bloke who hear’s this song would be a fool not move on it quick.

75. “Letter to My Son” – Intimacy – Bloc Party
Probably the sweetest song Bloc Party has ever written, “Letter” proves these punk boys can wear their hearts on their sleeves when they want to. It’s a song you can dance to and think about at the same time. That doesn’t happen often.

76. “Uncovering the Old” – Fate – Dr. Dog
The Band could be proud of this cut from Dr. Dog’s best release to date. It’s a simple idea, but the driving guitar lines and use of strings makes it instantly unforgettable. It will take a while for this one to get old.

77. “Dream Catch Me” – Hand Built by Robots – Newton Faulkner
The first single from Faulkner’s album quickly climbed the U.S. radio charts, and it’s not hard to understand why once you give it a lesson. A song of simple hope – even if it’s just in dreams – it fits perfectly in a time when we could all use some hope.

78. “Chemtrails” – Modern Guilt – Beck
If you ever wanted to know what Beck would sound like if he was a member of The Beach Boys, here’s your answer. It’s lush and features some of the best drumming of the year. This is a style Beck could make some real use of in the future.

79. “Losing Keys” – Sleep Through the Static – Jack Johnson
The closing number on Johnson’s first electric album shows that he can still be as warm and comforting as banana pancakes. He may have changed his sound a little, but he’s the same surfer at heart.

80. “Just Blue” – Hideaway – The Weepies
With a sound that is like a sweeter version of The Shins, “Just Blue” shows that The Weepies can take heartbreak and make it as pretty as falling love in the first place.

81. “Valentine” – The Way Out West – Michael Tomlinson
An extremely relatable song from singer/songwriter Michael Tomlinson – who took off from the mainstream music scene years ago – is so true to life and lovely it’s hard to not tear up at it. It’s a time machine in a five-minute song.

82. “Love Bomb” – Seeing Sounds – N*E*R*D*
On their most sonically advance album, N*E*R*D* proved they could be just as soulful as Gnarls Barkley if they wanted. A fitting song for the political season, “Love Bomb” is the only kind of bomb we need right now.

83. “Never Stop” – Solo Acoustic Vol. 2 – Jackson Browne
Browne’s power has always been in his solo material – just a man with a guitar or piano, and some truly remarkable words – and this live version of “Never Stop” hammers that idea home with the lightest touch imaginable.

84. “Remember You’re A Girl” – Off With Their Heads – Kaiser Chiefs
The title alone makes the song worth mentioning, but it’s a perfect example of how dynamic the Kaiser Chiefs can be – both politically savvy and catchy at the same time.

85. “Baby I Want You” – Last Days at the Lodge – Amos Lee
It doesn’t get any simpler than the idea for this song, and the lyrics go hand in hand with that. However, Lee’s earnest voice and jazzy guitar playing shows the power of simplicity.

86. “Orange Blossoms” – Orange Blossoms – JJ Grey & Mofro
The blue song Jack Bruce wishes he could have written – even if JJ Grey actually sounds like Bruce when he sings – “Orange Blossoms” is powered by a great backing band a wicked horn line. What more can you ask for from a blues band?

87. “Dark End of the Street” – Dark End of the Street – Cat Power
Chan Marshall’s cover of an Aretha Franklin song is just another vehicle for the raw power of Marshall’s voice. The added emphasis on the organ, and you’ve got everything you need for a perfect cover.

88. “Prayer for Spanish Harlem” – Giving Up the Ghost – Jackie Greene
Elton John wrote that Spanish Harlem “are not just pretty words to say” and Jackie Greene has taken the idea to heart, turning it into an elegant, haunting song that would do Elton proud.

89. “Rarity” – Little Honey – Lucinda Williams
An eight-minute love song from Lucinda Williams without any bitterness or anger? It’s something new, but on Little Honey, it fits like a glove. If love produces songs like this, let’s hope she stays with her new husband for the rest of her life.

90. “Broken Strings” – Songs for Me, Truths for You – James Morrison featuring Nelly Furtado
The catchiest song on an album full of infectious grooves, “Broken Strings” is helped along by Felly Furtado’s lovely voice. She’s done several duets by this point in her career, but it’s obvious why she’s in such high demand. This should be the slow dance number at this summer’s proms for sure.
91. “I Need You So” – Days Are Mighty – Jeb Loy Nichols
A simple love song in the vein of James Taylor – in fact, Nichols sounds quite a bit like Taylor – “I Need You So,” is another simple premise that is given flower by Nichol’s warm voice. Sometimes minimal is maximum.

92. “Engines” – A Hundred Million Suns – Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol’s music always seems to be stretching for the stratosphere, and they nearly get their with the choir-like opening to this head-bopper of a ballad. It’ll keep you moving, even as you gaze toward the stars.

93. “Caravan Girl” – Seventh Tree – Goldfrapp
The most upbeat song on an album that is tailor-made for summer, “Caravan Girl” has just the right amount of atmosphere and vocals. It’s the perfect song for a summer bar-b-que or just spending time with friends.

94. “Wichita Lineman” – Covers – James Taylor
James Taylor is the perfect person to take this Jimmy Webb song and add his own western-melancholic tone. Listening to it sounds like it could have just as easily been written by Taylor as by Webb, and that’s the sign of a well-executed cover.

95. “Perfect Symmetry” – Perfect Symmetry – Keane
“Perfect Symmetry” is Keane doing what they do best – playing a piano-driven ballad with Tim Chaplin’s vocal’s full of emotion and longing. Only a handful of bands can do longing like Keane, and it’s nice to be reminded of that every now and then.

96. “Time Has Come Again” – The Age of the Understatement – The Last Shadow Puppets
The perfect acoustic closer to an album made Arctic Moneky’s lead singer, “Time” is about as sparse and lovely as most of the music is rambunctious and fun. It’s just the right way to end almost any album.

97. “A Gentle Heart” – Oh! Might Engine - Neil Halstead
With guitar work that could have been done by Neil Young circa Harvest Moon, Neil Halstead sounds like Nick Drake doing what he does best on this heart-tugger.

98. “Oh My Heart” – Hey Ma – James
James reaches new sonic heights with this cut. The music sounds like something Coldplay would have written and the spiraling vocals will send shivers down your spine, in the best way possible.

99. “Too Much Water” – Pass It Around – Donovan Frankenreiter
A perfect summer song from a man who knows summer music, this cut by Frakenreiter is exactly what a night at the beach needs. If you can’t have the beach, this one will do instead.

100. “Broken Man’s Lament” – All I Intended to Be – Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris’ version of this standard exhibits that Harris has more than enough experience being broken by love to carry the song.

Top Reissues

1. The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs – Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006 - Bob Dylan

2. Otis Blue (Deluxe) - Otis Redding

3. Strangers Almanac (Deluxe) - Whiskeytown

4. It’s Too Late to Stop Now (Live) - Van Morrison

5. This Year’s Model (Deluxe) - Elvis Costello

6. Something About Airplanes (Deluxe) - Death Cab for Cutie

7. A Night in San Francisco (Live) - Van Morrison

8. Pacific Ocean Blue (Deluxe) - Dennis Wilson

9. Moon Safari (Deluxe) - Air

10. Stardust (Deluxe) - Willie Nelson

Top Live Albums

1. Where the Light Is - John Mayer

2. It’s Too Late to Stop Now - Van Morrison

3. Live from Nowhere in Particular - Joe Bonamassa

4. Under a Blood Red Sky – U2

5. A Night in San Francisco - Van Morrison

6. Sugar Mountain – Live at Canterbury House 1968 - Neil Young

7. HAARP - Muse

8. Live at Mile High Music Festival – Dave Matthews Band

9. Two Men With the Blues - Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis

10. Solo Acoustic Vol. 2 - Jackson Browne

Top Music DVDs

1. Where the Light Is - John Mayer

2. Live from the Crystal Ballroom - Black Keys

3. Under A Blood Red Sky - U2

4. Live at Artists Den - Swell Season

5. Shine A Light – The Rolling Stones

6. At Kilburn: 1977 - The Who

7. Austin City Limits - Norah Jones

8. Live at Wembley Stadium - Foo Fighters

9. Live from Austin, TX - Amos Lee

10. A Hundred Miles Or More - Alison Krauss

Top Soundtracks

1. LOST – Season 3 - Score

2. Mad Men - Various Artists

3. Wall-E - Score

4. Heroes - Various Artists

5. Shine A Light – The Rolling Stones

6. My Blueberry Nights - Various Artists

7. Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - Score

8. Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist - Various Artists

9. Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Score

10. City of Ember - Score

Top Box Sets

1. Kind of Blue 50th Anniversary - Miles Davis

2. Live in Folsom Prison - Johnny Cash

3. Still on Top - Van Morrison

4. The Power of Negative Thinking - The Jesus & Mary Chain

5. War - U2

6. Definitive Collection Mini LP Replica - Led Zeppelin

7. To Be Free - Nina Simone

8. Perception - The Doors

9. Unreleased Recordings - Hank Williams

10. The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs – Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006 - Bob Dylan

The Hold Steady do more than their name implies...

2008-07-15T10:16:00.003-06:00

The first thing you think when you hear Craig Finn from The Hold Steady, is that he sounds an awful lot like Bruce Springsteen. That’s certainly not the worst comparison to have if you’re a modern rocker.
On The Hold Steady’s latest release, Stay Positive, the band embraces its inner “Boss” and cuts lose with perhaps the best rock album of the summer, if not the year. The album certainly smacks of early Springsteen, especially The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle. Mixed with all the soaring guitars is the driving piano that Springsteen has immortalized on such albums as Born to Run.
The album kicks off with the fantastic “Constructive Summer” and then slides into “Sequestered in Memphis” which is a mix of Springsteen’s music and Bob Dylan’s lyrics. Not only does the band tackle the typical rock anthems, but it also delves into deeper, less characteristic sounds on songs like “Lord, I’m Discouraged.” Tracks like “One for the Cutters” makes uses of harpsichord to create an almost eerie effect when coupled with the electric guitars.
What really drives the album is Finn’s vocals. They’re front and center in every song, and whether he’s singing a love song or wondering about his place in the universe, he makes every word he sings immediate and intimate.
The album leaked a month or so early, so in an effort to add something new for those who actually waited for the album, there are three hidden tracks tacked onto the last song, and they are some of the best tracks on the album.
If you’re looking for the rock album of the summer, want to indulge in a little Springsteen-esque music, or even get your kids on the road to Springsteen, Stay Positive is the album for you.

Beck has no reason for "Modern Guilt"

2008-07-08T16:29:00.002-06:00

Beck can be alternately crazy-fun and goofy, or heartbroken and somber (see Odelay and Sea Change, respectively) but his latest release, Modern Guilt manages to walk the line between the two, creating a fantastically catchy listening experience.
It certainly helps that Beck teamed up with “Danger Mouse” – of Gnarls Barkley - to produce this album; an artist known for showcasing new sides of bands he produces. As he did earlier this year as producer for The Black Keys, Danger Mouse adds some new funk sounds to Beck’s psychedelic rock. Between the two, they create an album that would fit in just as well in the Sixties as it does today.
If the music is where Beck let’s his more fun side out, it’s the lyrics that balance the album out. Songs like “Youthless” and “Soul of A Man” question where our society is going, and the kind of people it creates on the way. “Profanity Prayers” may be as apt a description of the dangers of religious fervor as anyone is bound to hear.
It’s certainly not all doom and gloom by any means. “Chemtrails” is a beautiful song that is washed in organs and guitars, and Beck gets Cat Power (or Chan Marshall) to sing back up on the album’s opener, “Orphans.”
As an artist who goes a different direction with every release, Beck’s Modern Guilt is a step in a new – and exciting – direction.

New John Mayer DVD shows fans "Where The Light Is"

2008-07-01T16:30:00.002-06:00

John Mayer has gone through three major phases in his career: he began as a acoustic singer-songwriter, became a pop/rock sensation, and then took a detour through the blues. In his most recent music (the album Continuum) listeners can hear all three of these phases blended together. For fans curious to see how his sound came about, or to get one of the better concert videos of the year, Where the Light Is will show you the way.
Recorded in L.A. on December 7, Mayer decided to take his 7,000-plus fans in attendance on a sort of tour of the different facets of his career. He opened with a five-song acoustic set, a scorching blues set with the John Mayer Trio, and closed the night with his band, playing some of his biggest hits.
It’s all here on the DVD, with the audio and visual transfer coming across gorgeously. The DVD looks just as good on a regular TV as it does on a giant plasma screen. The sound quality is immaculate, and really makes you feel like you’re right there in the audience, rocking along at the show.
Of course, what fans will really be buying it for is the man himself, and Mayer delivers in spades on the DVD. Whether it be a killer acoustic cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’,” the blistering blues trio cut, “Out Of My Mind” or the sweet sounds of “Gravity” – taken to a whole new level by opening the song with Otis Redding’s “Dreams to Remember” – fans of a certain phase in Mayer’s career, or just the man himself will be in for a treat. For those who want to carry the music around with them, a two-disc CD is being released simultaneously.
For any who have never seen John Mayer, but have been a fan, Where the Light Is shows fans just that.

Sigur Rós' Musical Wonderland

2008-06-26T13:29:00.004-06:00

Don’t bother asking for Sigur Rós’ new album by name, unless you are familiar enough with Icelandic to pronounce Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust. The album title roughly translates to "With A Buzz In Our Ears We Play Endlessly," and with this latest release, listeners should be so lucky.
The Iceland band famous for its stretches of sonic waterfalls tones it down for an album as beautiful and anathematic as anything you’ll find this year. Coldplay, eat your heart out.
As usual, all the words are in the band’s native Icelandic (with the exception of the album’s closing track, “All Alright” which is the bands first time singing in English), but the words aren’t too important with Sigur Rós – you get a sense of what they mean by the cascading music behind them.
And what music. Rós usually drenches their albums in electric guitar overdubs and droning pianos and organs, but this is by far their “peppiest” album to date, in the best sense of the word. It’s all acoustic guitars and pianos, with strings and horns that smack of Sufjan Steven’s brilliant Come On, Feel the Illionoise! album. From the up-beat opener “Gobbledigook” to the rippling “Ára Bátur” Rós takes the listener on a journey through a musical soundscape both magic and familiar.
Pick up this album for a dose of pure enchantment, in any language.

"I'm just waiting till the shine wears off..."

2008-06-17T22:21:00.001-06:00

Coldplay is a very polarizing band. There are some critics and listeners who completely embrace the band and then there are those (like The New York Times in its infamous review of the group) that think Coldplay is destined to be a mere musical footnote.
I am a member of the former category, and this review of their latest album, Viva la Vida will be as much a review as it will a defense of what I think the band is trying to accomplish.
So, let me begin by saying this: the first listen of Viva didn’t do much for me. I didn’t hate it or anything, but it wasn’t like the first listen to the latest efforts by Death Cab for Cutie and My Morning Jacket where I had to listen to it again right away. I listened, enjoyed it, and was able to walk away with other things on my mind. And yet, as the day progressed, I kept wanting to go back and listen to it again; I felt there were things there that I was missing, and I was determined to discover them.
A day-and-a-half of listening later, I’m pleased to say that I still don’t completely “get” the album, but I love it for that. It’s a rare thing that an album would be so engaging and so hard to pin down at the same time. It certainly makes for a much deeper and listening experience, and any band who can offer that to me is okay in my books.
Like the two aforementioned bands, this is supposed to be a very different release, showcasing a different side of Coldplay than we’ve heard before. Bearing that in mind, I thought it would be best to break the album down a little.

Things done differently on Viva

Lyrically, Coldplay has always been a very international band. They’re not just concerned with one place, but with the world at large – which is a large reason for their international success. What’s different on this go around is that the album actually sounds worldlier. They’ve worked in some great Arabian style strings, and some great call-and-response vocals. The band is aiming for a world audience, and you can hear it.
This album does the best job to date of mixing Coldplay’s focus on guitar and piano. Until now, it seemed like each of their album’s focused on one, or the other (Parachutes and X & Y were very much guitar albums, while A Rush of Blood to the Head was totally piano driven). On this album, they’ve finally learned to mix the two together, to the point where one couldn’t really say if it was a piano or a guitar album.
The lyrics show a different side of Coldplay than on any of their previous albums. There’s a definite lack of love songs, which have basically been the band’s bread and butter (“Yellow,” “The Scientist,” “Fix You”) although the cut, “Strawberry swing” is about as gorgeous a love song as you could ask for. Instead the lyrics show a less confident side of Chris Martin. There are lyrics about God, politics and the afterlife, but all tinted with a hint of apprehension, like these are areas unfamiliar to the singer. And they are, or should be at least. And not just for Martin, but for any human, which I think makes this album extremely relatable. (Check out this month’s issue of Rolling Stone for a great interview with Martin on where he is in his life currently)

Things done the same on Viva

Musically, you can definitely tell that this is a Coldplay album. Like I mentioned above, they work in more unique sounds, but they’re certainly not trying to alienate their listeners with something totally different.
The band still sounds like they’re trying to be U2 or Radiohead, as they’ve been accused of from the beginning, but I don’t see that as a bad thing. I’m not sure why when Death Cab and My Morning Jacket gets the comparisons of trying to be more like Radiohead, it’s a bad thing, yet people blast Coldplay for doing it. Both U2 and Radiohead are extremely important bands, and I don’t see any fault with emulating them. Besides, just ask who U2 and Radiohead were trying to sound like when they started? Every band starts wanting to sound a little like someone else: Bob Dylan wanted to be Woody Guthrie, Elvis wanted to be a bluesman, as did Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones. U2 wanted to be Joy Division. I don’t see why Coldplay gets nailed for this part of their music.
Martin still has an extremely affecting voice, which he uses to great effect on this album. Whatever the lyrics are, they always sound earnest and sincere, and you know he means them, which is what makes a great singer.

Best parts of Viva

The song, “Viva la Vida” has to be one of the catchiest string-driven songs since The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony.” I’m not sure why it wasn’t their lead single, but since each Coldplay album seems to spit out about three or four singles, I’m sure this one will be one of them. If it’s not, whoever is in charge of that should be fired.
The fact that they don’t put their lyrics in the book is something that would normally drive me crazy, because when I first listen to an album, I like to shut myself off with just the music and the words. Unfortunately, I can’t do that with Coldplay, but – whether this is intentional or not – it makes the listener pay closer attention to the words to catch them all, which makes the listening experience a longer and better one for it.
Using Brian Eno and Markus Dravs (producers for U2 and The Arcade Fire, respectively) allowed Coldplay to take all the new directions that they did on the album. Sometimes you have to change things up, but that’s not always a bad thing.

So, we return to the question, how is the album? Is it their best yet, as some are saying? I don’t know for sure, but an album that encourages listeners to examine it to get the full effect, and a band that changes things up when they could stick with the formula, certainly earns its merits to me.

"Meet the new boss..."

2008-06-14T10:13:00.001-06:00

I left my job of seven years on Thursday. I’d worked at a record store since my junior year of high school, when my mother owned the store and gave me a job there. I was raised on music, but it was through working there that my tastes fully expanded into styles and artists that I probably never would have found myself listening.
It was kind of bittersweet, saying goodbye, though I don’t really think of it as a full-on goodbye, since I’ll still shop there and visit my friends who work there. Still, it was odd to turn in my key and walk away, knowing that a long-running chapter of my life was over. I had good and bad experiences there – like at any job, I would imagine – but it seems to me that the positive outweighs the negative in retrospect. I remember crazy Christmas Eve days, dealing with all the customers, quiet summer nights rocking out to some great music, and some great friends made.
I keep playing one of my favourite lines from Almost Famous over and over in my head: one that I think truly express how I feel about leaving this job behind – “If you ever get lonely, just go to the record store, and visit your friends.”

"Oh! This feeling is wonderful! Don't You Ever Turn It Off!"

2008-06-10T08:52:00.001-06:00

Imagine a funeral in an old southern town. The entire populous has gathered around the ornate gazebo in the middle of the town square, where a young southern lily, clipped before her time, gazes from her open casket at the mourners. Around her are the family, preacher and a band to play the hymnals. Up to the front of the band walks a lone gentleman in a red Civil War coat, his face painted white to match the deceased. A single acoustic guitar starts to play, and that man begins to sing, “I’m going down to Rose Marie’s…”
That scene if from the Bob Dylan biopic, I’m Not There. That man is My Morning Jacket’s front man, Jim James. A band that loves contradictions, ignore the beautiful sadness of the aforementioned scene, and focus on the brilliant madness that is Evil Urges, My Morning Jacket’s latest release.
All the comparisons that have been flying around about the album being comparable to Radiohead’s Ok Computer and Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot are right on the money. MMJ has taken the best from their two best albums (It Still Moves and Z) and thrown them together to create something immediately recognizable and totally different at the same time.
There is no doubt that James is one of the best singers in rock right now, as he gives evidence of over and over again on Urges (listen to him on “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 1” and “Two Halves”). The band is in incredible form – in my opinion, they’re the only band around today in any genre that can pull the gorgeous, melancholy sounds out of the steel guitar like on “Look at You” and then go into straight jam-out southern rock on “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2.” They may be an unconventional lot to look at, but that doesn’t mean a thing: their music is straight from the soul, and that’s what matters.
There’s a mix of influences on the album: you can hear Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers, and Radiohead. Still, I don’t think anybody counted on hearing Prince, ala James on “Highly Suspicious.” His voice is creepy and hilarious at the same time – who could listen to the song and not be curious what “peanut butter pudding surprise” is? – and his cackles and wails will send shivers down your spine.
For my money, the best cut on the album is the quiet, “Librarian.” The acoustic guitar and vocals are amazing together, as they weave a story of a young man who has a crush on the town librarian. The song is full of great lines: “ramble up the stairwell, into the hall of books…/since we got the Interweb these hardly get used,” and is full of the longing that every nerdy guy can relate to.
In a year full of promising new releases, you’re not going to find anything as adventurous or rewarding as Evil Urges. I strongly suggest you let the magical urges of this phenomenal band sweep you away.

"I feel so used...so unsatisfied"

2008-06-09T08:55:00.000-06:00

Published in 1968, John Updike’s brilliant novel, Couples, was no doubt a shock to a country that was doing its best to keep sexual taboos under the table as much as possible, especially with the “swinging ‘60s” hitting their full stride. Updike’s brutally honest, sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking look at the sexual behaviour of a small town – that really could be Anytown, U.S.A. – spent nine months on the New York Times Bestseller List (a number that couldn’t be more fitting) and caused an uproar in the country.
The novel’s focus is on Piet Hanema, a thirty-something living with his wife and two daughters in the east-coast town of Tarbox. The pair is a part of a group of about a half-dozen couples who get together on a regular basis – being the town’s upper-class – and have their own little club running. Updike then takes the reader underneath the surface of theses facades, where the gossip about who is sleeping with who turns out to be true, more often than not, and where couples trade partners like square dancers.
The explicit descriptions of sex is probably what caused such criticism of the book, but never before – and rarely since – has a novel tackled American sexuality in such an honest way. Every base gets covered, from marital to extramarital sex, from sodomy to masturbation, and childbirth and abortion. Almost anything that sex touches on, so does the novel. It’s not all pretty – nor is it meant to be – but it’s honest, and is always the case with Updike, honesty – no matter how ugly – is of the utmost importance.
Fans of Updike’s famous “Rabbit” series will see a lot of Robert Angstrom in Piet Hanema, but the characters that he populates Tarbox with are both unique and familiar at the same time. In true Updike fashion, the action is all personal, with no big blowouts – on the external level – but instead quiet loss and desperation.
For a study of American sexuality – in fiction form, mind you – you’re not going to get a better window into the American viewpoint than Couples. It may make you feel a bit soiled at the end, but hell if that’s not the point.

Two Things You Never Want to See Made...

2008-06-08T11:16:00.001-06:00

Politics is usually a subject that I do my best to avoid discussing (going along with Linus’ brilliant advice – “Three things you never discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin) but since they’ve been at the forefront of all the news lately (which is nice, for a change as opposed to Britney Spears or whoever) I thought I’d write about my political “views.”

I’m a registered Democrat, for what that is worth – though I did that mostly so I could have a say in the primaries – but I don’t consider myself a Democrat, or a Republican; I like to think of myself as an independent, and I am really not a fan of all the categorization that goes along with belonging with one party or the other. To me, that’s one of the main things that is keeping this country down right now – we’re too divided. I can’t stand people – and I know quite a few – who won’t even listen to what the other party is saying. As a journalist I know that that is getting only one side of the story, and there are always two sides, even if we don’t want to see them. People who think Republicans are all backwards thinking Evangelicals or that Democrats are all atheist anarchists is total bunk on both sides; to be sure, I’ve met people on both ends of the spectrum who fit those respective categories, but I don’t think that describes the bulk of either party. Anyone who immediately discredits someone because of their political party, to me, is just as bad as someone who immediately discriminates based on race or religion.

What really sends me off the deep end when it comes to politics is when God gets dragged in. I love the bumper sticker that says, “God isn’t a Republican or a Democrat.” I think one of the smartest things that our founding fathers did was create a separation of church and state, and it drives me up the wall to see that barrier crumbling more and more. When you go to religious services and have your priest/pastor/minister/rabbi/imam or any other leader tell you how to vote, that’s a bad sign, just as it’s a bad sign when a leader uses his/her definition of “God” to justify their political actions. If it were up to me, candidates wouldn’t even be allowed to say what their religion is during the election season; it just shouldn’t be a factor. This is what probably scares me most about the way the American government seems to be heading; history has shown us time and time again the death and misery that comes from using God to justify wars, and I worry we will fall prey to that trap. God is above any political classification, and should be treated as such.

Right now, I’m firmly in support of Senator Barack Obama. I think he is a revolutionary leader in the vein that would have made the founding fathers proud. He’s young, charismatic, one hell of a speaker, and seems totally sincere and willing to devote his all to serving his country. It sickens me that people are circulating rumours about him being a “closet Muslim,” because not only is that not true, but even if it was, so what? I don’t remember anything in the Constitution saying that the President must be a Christian. I think he’s going to change the country for the better, and cannot wait to see him elected into office.

Here I’ll give a few bullet points on some “hot issues” and my stance on them:

Gun control: I’m all for this, but I certainly don’t think guns should be banned. I own a shotgun to go hunting with my father and brother, and I see no reason why I should be forced to give that up. I’m all for more restrictions and procedures to make sure guns don’t fall into the wrong hands, but I certainly don’t think they should be banned.
Death penalty: This is a tough one, which I struggle with a lot. On the one hand, I think that death is a pretty easy release for criminals, and if you really wanted to make them suffer, than a life sentence would do the job far better. On the other hand, I understand that if the crime stole away a loved one or someone dear to you, I can understand how the desire for vengeance would be present and how one could want the murderer to suffer the same fare. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but I don’t think I have the right to tell anyone “no” if it could assuage their grief.
Abortion: I put this issue with the death penalty category, in that I can see both sides of it. I was raised Catholic – though I’m so liberal, that most Catholics wouldn’t consider me one – so I do understand the importance of the child as an individual in a woman, and if I were to ever come up against that situation, I would only leave abortion as the absolute last resort. That being said, again, I cannot justify forcing my thoughts on the population of the women in this country as a whole. Who am I to tell a woman who was raped that she has to keep a baby, or that she has to carry this load that she is not ready for. I – and the government – has no right to do either, and I understand that.
Immigration: We wouldn’t be a country without immigration, so those who want to build walls on our borders are crazy; even if said walls were built, people would just get through another way, and besides, it is contrary to the whole spirit of our country. I think it needs to be monitored and handled better – though the details are beyond me, since I don’t know enough about the issue – but I think stopping it totally would be betraying one of the core parts of our country.
Health Care: I don’t know enough about this to write much here in detail, except to say that our country needs to change it’s health care in a big way. The stats are everywhere showing how far behind other countries we are, and as someone who has just left college and entering the world, this is something I’d love to see worked on.
Social Security: Again, something I don’t know enough about, but I know it will be important to my family and me in the future, and I know that it needs a big push as well.

I do have great hope for our country, and I know what we can achieve when we are united. I just hope we get our act together sooner rather than later…