Part 2 from my pal Ralf as well.
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Friday, November 28, 2014
First Lines: Alistair Macleod - No Great Mischief
As I begin to tell this, it is the golden month of September in southwestern Ontario.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
New Stuff: ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Finally their new album; sadly I had no time to see them play live in Munich this month.
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Rarely Heard: James Blood Ulmer - Are You Glad to be in America?
James 'Blood' Ulmer, one of the heroes of my youth! At times like these in the States I always come back to this song, a question ringing in my mind: "Are You Glad to be in America?" and feel glad I don't live there aynmore. I still have his early collaboration with Ornette Coleman (another hero of mine!), Tales of Captain Black, and my favourite album of his with the Music Revelation Ensemble: No Wave. I recently went through some pain trying to get his 'hit' album Are You Glad to be in America? on cd, it's being sold at unreasonable prices. At the time (late 70s/early 80s) I was so keen to see him live, but always missed the opportunities, and most of my friends did not share my passion for his music. Nowadays, Ulmer is playing straight blues, but he's still a fanatstic guitarist, and you will always be able to recognize the sound of his guitar playing, be it free jazz or blues.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
First Lines: The Constitution of the United States
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Rarely Heard: Lemon Kittens - Shakin All Over
Lemon Kittens are a post-punk band, formed in Reading, Berkshire, England in 1977, and " the Lemon Kittens epitomized the "anything goes" spirit of late-'70s post-punk in the U.K." (Allmusic.com) The result was a fully original music ("bizarre mix of chalkboard saxophones, spacy flutes, chunky guitars, and claustrophobic close-miked keyboards") previously unheard of, but sadly, the band only released two albums.
Jumper (2008)
A teenager with teleportation abilities suddenly finds himself in the
middle of an ancient war between those like him and their sworn
annihilators.
A ridiculous premise gets the full big budget realization, and one wonders: who finances, who makes, who wants to see this stuff?
Maltin**: "Sci-fi and action-thriller genres awkwardly blend in this overblown (albeit fast-paced) account..."
Fraktus - Das letzte Kapitel der Musikgeschichte (2012)
Fictious documentary about a legendary German electronic band and the attempt to reunite its members for a comeback.
Hilarious mockumentary with lots of allusions to German rock history has some flaws, but is neverthless highly entertaining.
Monday, November 24, 2014
New Stuff: Batman - The Complete Television Series
This is a childhood favourite of mine - I've been waiting for decades for this to be released (even signed an online petition about 10 years ago).
Looper (2012)
In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent into the past, where a hired gun awaits who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by sending back his own future self for assassination.
A time travel thriller as convoluted as the plot sounds, a bit silly and with a disappointing ending, although the cast does their best to hold the story together.
Maltin**1/2: "Writer-director Johnson's intriguing, very clever sci-fi concept has fun with the many paradoxes involved in time travel movies (and science fiction in general), but, at a certain point, the plot takes a turn from which its momentum never quite recovers. Cast is good, although Gordon-Levitt's face is distorted by prosthetics (presumably so he can resemble Willis) that are very distracting."
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