When the Sky is Full of 0’s and 1’s
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We saw this film yesterday, would have seen it last week when it came out but due to car problems we could only see Capote last weekend. Both of these films opened last week, beginning the deluge of big name, high quality films that want to be considered for an Oscar . This is both a great time to be a movie fan and the worst. We have had to slog through summer, when we’ve had the most time to see films, seeing good and occasionally great indie films or big studio films that the houses don’t have much hope. I digress.

Good Night and Good Luck is absolutely terrific. It is a cross between a documentary and a dramatic work (docu-drama) shot all in black & white so that they could use actual footage of Murrow’s and McCarthy. The set design, props, everything was very authentic, drawing me into the film and the era. The movie chronicles Murrow’s on air battles with McCarthy showing the behind-the-scenes set up to each weeks broadcast. Not only does it shed light on a very interesting time in American history and 50’s journalism, it also serves as a reference as to how far news television has come and still needs to go. We get a glimpse from this about the power the advertisers were beginning to grasp in the worl of news and political reporting, something that I am sure still happens to this day. Using actual McCarthy footage and the exact same well written lines of Murrow’s responses did well to frame the tension and show off the poetic creativity of Murrow. Clooney did a great job of directing and played his part in the film very sub-dued, making it one of only 2 performances of Clooney’s that I have liked (the other being in O Brother, Where Art Thou? ). It’s going to be tough for me to decide what film will be movie of the year for me. 10/10

We really wanted to see 2 films this weekend. Both Capote and Goodnight and Goodluck were opening but due to some car problems we had to make a choice, and for us Phillip Seymour Hoffman wins out every time. I am not all the familiar with Truman Capote as a writter or a person, so I have to say I learned a lot by watching this film. The main theme of the film follows Capote through the period of obsession and research he did for the book In Cold Blood . Through the film Hoffman does a great job of really becoming Capote, taking on his high pitched voice and effeminate mannerisms. The film does a good job of showing the conflict going through Capotes mind, faced with the problem of trying to finish this monster of a book while also feeling something for one of the killers. There are some great lines that give the viewer a glipse of this struggle, like when Capote talking to Harper Lee says “its like we grew up in the same house, but he [Perry] left through the back door while I went through the front”. He sees real talent in Perry’s drawings and a commonality in the broken homes that they both came from. With his friends, Capote tells funny stores and demeaning jokes, but with Percy they talk of real feelings. The only times we get a glimse into Capote’s character is when he is with Percy. Is this why he fights for them to get a better trial, with a better lawyer. Or is it merely so that he can get all the information that he needs to finish this book. The movie ends with that question for the view to decide. The supporting cast of Keener and Clifton Collins Jr. as Perry do a great job as well. 9/10

Well I though it would be fitting to post about The Dentists seeing as they have just released a compilation of music called “Some People Are On The Pitch They Think It’s All Over Now” on Rev-Ola records. You can buy the record straight from Rev-Ola or “
Darla . This collection is a great way to get introduced to the band. Following is how I was introduced.

Flipping through the 7inch section at reckless one day I came across this:

Interesting collage of outerspace and fire, with the band name “The Dentists” on the rings of saturn. Having never heard of the name I was a bit apprehensive, so I walked over and told Kirstie about it. “A 3 record box for only 4 bucks” I exclaimed. She was thinking more logically and said we should google them or ask the list . If memory serves I believe a few ppl told us things like “earlyl 90’s” “brit jangle pop” and we were now crazy for not picking that up. The next week it was still there so I grabbed it and rushed to get home and play it.

Opening it up :

I pulled out each record and placed them down on the turntable. Each side better then the last, where had this band been all my life. Simply great brit pop of the late 80’s early 90’s. Thin, distorted guitars strummed frantically with a great back beat of symbol heavy drums and plunking bass. I have choosen the songs off the third disc in this box because they are 2 demos, a rehersal space cover, and a soliloquy.

This is the “Black holes” 7inch and side one starts with Your Kind of Day which according to the small print is an adaptation of a Polish folk song called “My Grandmother Bought a Cardigan and It Wasn’t Raining” ( A google search bring up nothing to verify this statment)

The second track is a short spoken word, a bit of Shakespeare. The Quality of Mercy is kinda silly, but that is what you get with 7inch’s sometimes.

Side 2 brings a great Motohead cover. Ace Of Spades with someone by the name of Mr. Floppy on vocals. I have no idea who that is but they do a pretty good job of sreaming in key.

Lastly, is a another demo of their own song. Eyes could be considered the standard Dentists tune, and even being a demo is quite good quality.

As a disclaimer, I make no money off this blog. These posts are purely fun. If you are in the band that I have put up here and dont want to be here. Post a comment or email me “cinchel @ gmail dot com” . No hard feelings, I will understand. Thanks

This is the show that got me through the week, to great folk/pop/singer songer-writters at the second best place for such things (the first being schubas). The bottle tagged on a third local guy making the evening a bit longer then I anticipated but none the less great. Mike Downy was the opener, just him and an acoustic guitar. The songs were on the bright eyes-emo end of the current folk spectrum but even so, he sang them with intensity and sincerity. Although his song writing could use a bit of work, the fact that you could see that the songs wre coming from his heart and he felt everything that he sang made his set enjoyable.

Nedelle was on next, again just her and a guitar for most of the set. She started with four mellow folk numbers of which I remember 2 from the last time I saw her perform opening for deerhoof (whose shirt she was wearing). After those songs she had a violin and cello join her on stage and announced that the songs would now get sad because strings always make for sad songs. She cutely said though that we should all hang on because she was going to end the set with a real rocking couple songs. Another 4 songs passed, after which she is now joined on stage by Jens, a bass player and drummer. With the extra typical �rock� addition she broke into 2 more numbers with Jens not only providing guitar but harmony vocals. Closing the set she did a perfect version of �Good Grief� with Jens backing her up.

After a short break Jens took the stage accompanied by all the people that were previously on stage. He started the set with a real rocking song, of which I didn�t totally recognize. The next few songs I recognized and noted that he was playing with fierceness not approached on the ep�s. This is not saying that the Ep�s lack something, just that you could tell that Jens really wanted to pour all of himself into the performance. He slowed it down a bit by doing a ukulele redition of �You are the Light� that was simply beautiful. At various points Nedelle joined him on stage to add backing vocals, which she appeared more the happy to do. Realizing that not everyone at the club was there for him he gave us a special treat and did a solo, unplugged version of �The Beat of My Heart� where we �the audience� got to do the �boompaboompa�� responses during the chorus. At this point it was hard to tell who was having more fun us or Jens who had a smile on from ear to ear. Pluggin back in the electric, he and the band ran through another handful of songs. Eventually all great things have to end, and this was no exception. Another unplugged song, this time sung from the top of the steps, closed out the evening. This seem like it has been the 3 time he�s come through town in a little over a year, hopefully we wont have too long for him to come back again.

Somewhat of a spur-of-the-moment thing, we hadn�t planed ahead to go to show. I was poking around The Hideouts web page and noticed that Cass was playing a solo show and kinda joked with Kirstie that we should go. This was Monday and inspired Kirstie to put on Cass�s newest album. A few plays and we just had to go and see him but didn�t want to stay up that late (the hideout show was scheduled for 11pm) so we opted for the Decemberist�s show at the Metro where he was opening. We did see the Decemberist�s over the summer at the Intonation Fest, so we really didn�t have to see them again but knew they put on a good show. Therefore, after a wonderful dinner and a quick call to the Metro we decided to go, and I am glad we did.

Cass McCoumbs was great, joined by a bass player and percussionist (hand drum or tamborine), all three were seated and very mellow. This mellowness of the lineup and the sublime character of Cass�s voice is the reason we wanted to see him and was the reason we couldn�t hear him very well. It seems that people don�t understand that when someone is playing, even if they are a quiet musician, they should shut-up. I wont dwell on it though. Cass�s voice has a tremolo quality to it, too slow of a waver to be called vibrato, it really did resemble the sound of a fender twin, though very smooth. He sings as if he is squeezing every last bit of breath out of him, the notes coming from deep within his soul. The other 2 musicians with him did a perfect job of not only complimenting his guitar with their instruments but also harmonizing beautifully with him. The girl on percussion added an angelic overtone that was so subtle so as not to overpower Cass�s own angelic quality. He played a mix of songs, equal parts of both albums. I prefer �A� to the newest �Perfections� due to the fact that I think he sounds better with the sparse instrumentation and production on his first album. Live I was blown away by how good even the songs off �Perfection� sounded. I was able to pull more feeling and understand the emotion better of all of his songs seeing him perform. With only 2 albums under his belt he has shown a tremendous lyrical skill that was inhanced by his very restrained performance. I hope he decides to tour on his own, maybe at Schubas? (hint hint)

The Decmberists were just as good last night as they were at Intonation, a solidly entertaining band. They opened the set by coming out and making a bunch of noise with symbols and gongs which segwayed into a 4 song meddle that ranged from this psych-rock freak out to the pop-folk chanties they do so well. I was kinda confused at first, I have to admit not being as familiar with the newest album so some of the songs from that meddly might have been from that but I don�t remember them opening the show at Intonation that way. Due to my lack of familiarity it took me a few songs to really get back into their set but once I did I remembered why I liked them so much. They have the ability to have fun on stage and transfer that energy to the crowd at large. The songs have melodies that you cant help but bop your head and sing along to. They have this gypsy or sea-fairing chants to them that roll along like waves. While the songs sometimes hint on politics their stage banter was much more pure fun. At one point Petra Hayden had to give everybody in the front row high-fives because she told a joke. Later the other guitarist recounted his childhood growing up in Chicago and seeing bands play the same stage he was currently on. They played a full hour and a half and broke very shortly for an encore that consisted of a cover of �Mr. Blue Sky� (which would have been the perfect closer) and one final Decmeberist song. A great night of music that I am glad Kirstie dragged me out to see.

So I just downloaded flock , not really sure what I think yet but it will be fun playing around with it.

but you are wrong. Or atleast I was. Check this out What is even stranger is that I completely forgot that Kirstie talked me into allowing this photographer to snap us at the hideout block party until I was talking to a co-worker today and they mentioned that they had saw me in metromix.

I love the caption

Chicagoans enjoy the music of The Sam Roberts Band at the Hideout Block Party.

From what I remember I was tolerating The Same Roberts Band, not the worst band I had heard but I was more there to check out the dB’s who were fscking great.

So even before I owned a turntable I have been picking up singles. Not a lot mind you, usally limited edition things that my favorite bands would put out, like Radiohead. Since actually purchasing a turntable I have been really addicted to the cheap price and novelty of the format. There is something that hits me with the 7″ format, something about the fact that the band wanted so much for you to hear a certain song they went to the trouble of making a special release of that song. Now I know there is a marketing aspect to this as well, labels know there are many nuts like me that will pay for a song to whet my appetite before the full length comes out, make it a colored vinyl or picture disc and I cant help myself. I must have it. But, while some of the single I have fall into that category many others fall into the “its only a buck and I don’t know the band” or “”reckless”:http://reckless.com put a description on it that sounds interesting, and its only a few bucks”

While they are cheap the value is off-set by the fact that you have to sit by the table and flip the record over every 2-5 minutes, and so its means complete attention. I usually dont have time during the week to really give singles a fair spin, but sundays are very low key days for us, a perfect day to sit down with a few weeks of 7″ bin scouring and play a short set of singles. I started calling sundays “seven-inch sundays” because it had a nice ring to it. Now short of spinning at a club, which is a far off dream for me (a friend of mine john actually spins soul/r&b 45’s at the hideout and i could never pull something like that off..at least not for a long while…my collection is not nearly large enough…not like johns) I figured what they heck I have this blog, and I need practice writing why not do a podcast thing. Here we are, the first installment of “Seven-inch Sundays”.

This week the record falls into that “it was only a buck” (literally) categories. The math equations on the one side caught my eye:

and here is the flip side equally interesting:

What kind of music could be on a 7″ with math on the cover. Could it be math rock, or electronica? No players or instruments listed. Well the moment of truth came, the needle hit the groove and low and behold, jazz. Really good jazz. track one called Bilkamenjo starts of with a nice sax riff, further elaborated on by another sax while the drums start to find a place. Less then a minute in a guitar joins and the drums really get going. and for the next 2 minutes each instrument hops on and off the main theme independently of each other, building up a cathartic wall of sound. A wall that suddenly drops out to silence for a long enough period that I though it was the end of the track. Fooled I was, suddenly i hear that opening riff again and quickly they try to reach the level they had just drop from, bringing the piece to a close.

There are 2 tracks on the first side and the next is called Smiley (excerpt). This starts off smooth, 2 sax’s swelling on harmonized notes. They move onto 2 melody lines that work off each other and at times come to getter for some great doubling. Suddenly the guitar breaks into for a few bars before the horns come back. Definetly a tease, I will have to look for the full song somewhere.

The flip side is occupied by one full piece called Wierd Clowns. A lamentful soundinng piece opened with a solo horn and dull somber plucked guitar. Creeping up in the background the funeral procession trudges through. A lot more reserved then the first side but equally as beautiful.

Since I was curious I did a google search on the name and came across this link where this 7inch is listed on this artists discography. Very intersting.

As a disclaimer, I make no money off this blog. These posts are purely fun. If you are in the band that I have put up here and dont want to be here. Post a comment or email me “cinchel @ gmail dot com” . No hard feelings, I will understand. Thanks

HomeFromIraqNow.org
So I got an email from the TurnYourBackOnBush people today informing me of this. Its a movement to get an initative placed on the ballot in Ma so that the govenor can refuse to send national gaurd to Iraq. If they are succsessful then they will try to do this in the other 23 states that allow such initiatives.
qoute from the email:

Keeping the National Guard at home where we need them The goal of this campaign is to place a binding initiative on the Massachusetts ballot to prevent the Governor from sending any more National Guard troops to Iraq. A yes vote on this initiative will not only stop future deployments of the National Guard to Iraq, but will also send a very strong message to our elected leaders that we want them to end the war and bring all of our troops home.

So if you live in and/or near Massachusetts try and help by collecting signatures.

Well, you know you are in for a great film when you walk into the theater about 10 minutes before the film is set to start and there is NO ONE there. What a treat, our own private showing. This was the Lars von Trier penned Dear Wendy and it was 4:50pm on a saturday. Not a prime time for film viewing but not usually such a dead time. Anyway, it Trier and its a criticism on America, right up our alley.

The movie takes place in any-town USA, possibly down south due to the faded “stars and bars” on one wall. Similar to Dogville , where all the “action” takes place on one chalk drawn set, here we are given the luxury of real buildings but, the whole world of this movie is not much more then the main square of town. This is a place the 5 main characters have played in their whole life, giving certain sections pet names like “The Swamp”. Originally the characters were supposed to be older but Vinterberg , the director as chosen by Trier, decided that they should still be kids in the movie. Kids that work in the local store, that still get beat up at school. Dick (played by that kid from Billy Elliot ) is the main character, the lead so to speak. Early in the film he has to go to a birthday party for a kid he doesnt like and decides to buy a crapy toy gun that he thinks he will hate. Well he decided that he might hate a worn and abridged copy of “A Picture of Dorian Gray” and keeps the “toy” for himself. Even when he thinks its a “toy” he has a bizarre fascination with the shape, the beauty so to speak. He moves from solitary idolization of the toy to small group research when his friend at the shop where he works sees the gun. Much to Dick’s surprise his friend Stevie (played by Mark Weber ) is a gun aficionado Together they felt a boosted self-esteem by just carrying guns, pacifists with guns they call themselves. They soon realize they should gather the group of outcast friends they have and start a club, so to speak. Calling themselves the Dandies they takeover an abandoned mine shaft and take up the art of target practice and research into guns and killers. They marry their guns, given them names, and treat them with respect. In turn these guns give them power, although they have made an oath not to use them for killing, which they affectionately call “loving” while the Zombies tune “Time of the Season” plays in the back ground. Carrying gives them the confidence to be forward with girls they like, to stand up to bullies at school. They get so sure of them selves that they decide to take one of the Dandies grandmothers across the square, a trip she has long since stopped taking because of her fear of the roving gangs (which we never see). The Dandies think they have it all figured out, all the bases are covered, to deliver her safely across. Little do they know she has a shot gun, and in her dementia shoots a cop who tries to help pick up her bag that has dropped. This is how the most absurd war scene that closes the movie is triggered. A scene in which the Dandies now decide its time to use the weapons they have studied and cared for. In the end all the children die fighting for a bag of coffee and a few feet of land. In what is obviously a mocking send up to most Hollywood blockbuster action films, Trier and Vinterburg have the kids driving behind cars, windows get blown out, glass and dirt flying everywhere.

This is how the movie ends, leaving the viewer sitting there scratching her/his head. On gut reaction most reviews (like this: and this ) derail Trier and Vinterburg for being unAmerican, and state things like you have never been here how dare you complain. Honestly, for the first 10 minutes or so after leaving the film I was seriously confused. In the traditional sense of a film, with plots, character development, and other logical things this is not. On the walk to dinner with Kirstie (who has this to say about the film) it dawned on me that this was far more then just a critism of America’s fascination with guns. Earlier that day we were talking about Full Metal Jacket Kubricks accurate portrayal of a soldier’s life in Vietnam. The marring of the guns, the idea of keeping the main characters as kids, and even the slogan “Pacifists with Guns”, it was all a beautiful satire on America’s involvement in various wars. Vietnam and Iraq were both billed as peace missions, to free the ppl, lead by 18 year old kids, with guns and little else guiding them. Youthful idealism focus by youthful ignorance. The team of Trier and Vinterburg created a perfect balance of sarcasm and reality. An excellent film 9/10.

Now on to a other movie dealing with America and violence. This I will keep short because I really didnt like the film at all. A History of Violence is the most confused film ever. Did it want to be an indie film making a statement about how small town America deals with violence, then get rid of the graphic gratuitous gore. A thriller? Then get rid of the meaning full lines and strange plot twists, where the wife covers for the husband, or were the sun is picked on in school. William Hurt and Ed Harris were even bad, and Harris really tried to enhance his lines, but there was nothing there and he knew it. The worst film I have seen all year. 2/10

So I have finally gotten around to uploading all the water colors that I have done to date to my flickr account. You can view them here , it will show them as a slide show for your viewing convenience.