ph: Alex Franco
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Rarely Heard: The Feelies - Away
The Feelies were an Aemrican rock band formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1992 having released four albums. (The band reunited in 2008, and most recently released an album in 2011.) Although the Feelies never sold a great number of records, their influence was felt on the indie rock scene and they are reveled by both critics and fans resulting in a minor cult status. Allmusic.com. "nerdy, nervous, and noisy, even decades later their droning, skittering avant-garde pop remains a key touchstone of the American indie music scene." Of course, you can hear in this song that they are themselves strongly influenced by the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed in specific.
Rarely Heard: Ex-Girl - Zozoi
Ex-Girl are an all-girl Japanese experimental rock group which have already produced a quite eclectic and unpredictable oevre, at times it's compared to Frank Zappa's works. Their first album Big When Far, Small When Close, however, is almost soley in a cappella, the trio harmonising with only minimal musical accompaniment, and the result is quite amazing.
Friday, August 1, 2014
The Movies I Watched in July
Blind Man 2012 6
Cowboys & Aliens 2011 6
Der Tiger von Eschnapur 1959 7
Downfall 2004 6
Hitchcock 2012 7
In & Out 1997 5
Planet Ocean 2012 Documentary 7
Sightseers 2012 6
The Dark Knight Rises 2012 7
The Devil and Daniel Webster 1941 7
The Informers 2008 6
The Invasion 2007 6
The Man in the White Suit 1951 7
The Milky Way 1969 7
The Proposition 2005 6
The Sixth Sense 1999 8
The Tomb of Love 1959 7
The Ward 2010 5
Traffic Jam 1979 7
Up Close & Personal 1996 5
Cowboys & Aliens 2011 6
Der Tiger von Eschnapur 1959 7
Downfall 2004 6
Hitchcock 2012 7
In & Out 1997 5
Planet Ocean 2012 Documentary 7
Sightseers 2012 6
The Dark Knight Rises 2012 7
The Devil and Daniel Webster 1941 7
The Informers 2008 6
The Invasion 2007 6
The Man in the White Suit 1951 7
The Milky Way 1969 7
The Proposition 2005 6
The Sixth Sense 1999 8
The Tomb of Love 1959 7
The Ward 2010 5
Traffic Jam 1979 7
Up Close & Personal 1996 5
L'ingorgo (1979)
A tremendous congestion hits the Roma highway ring and the biggest traffic jam ever seen endures for more than 36 hours.
This is a massive production with a great star cast in multiple intertwining subplotsand the result is brilliant black satire on the state of Italian society.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Rarely Heard: Mac Davis - In the Ghetto
We all know this song performed by Elvis Presley. Less known is the fact that Elvis never wrote any of his songs. He shared songwriting credit on a few tunes, like All Shook Up and Don't Be Cruel, but it's generally believed that he had nothing to do with writing them. Mac Davis was hindered to release In the Ghetto, because it was "too controversial", but with Elivs it became a hit. Mac Davis also wrote A Little Less Conversation and had his own number one hit in the 70s with Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me.
Rarely Heard: Camper Van Beethoven - Take The Skinheads Bowling
Camper Van Beethoven is something like the ultimate alternative rock band before the term was invented. They are so much so that they are just as well hated as loved for sticking to their otherness. Not simply a rock group but not anything else, they pulled off a series of entertaining fusions: Eastern European folk, tropical grooves, post-punk atmospherics, country laid-back good times, psych/garage band aesthetics, lyrics about Mao, Greece, and more.
New Stuff: Eddy Current Suppression Ring
I came across a mention of the band and looked them up - they make some great music and are barely known.
