Tuesday, December 31, 2002
Top 30 Part V: 6-10
I had anticipated that I would finish this list before the year was up. Hmm... guess I was wrong! Err... I mean, I did this intentionally because, uhm, that would... errm... work better... because... music has a continuity that renders arbitrary temporal boundaries irrelevant? Yeah that's it! Hmm... but wouldn't that make these top xx lists kind of dumb? Anyway, here's 6-10:
10. Death Cab for Cutie - You Can Play These Songs With Chords
A collection of rarities, b-sides, and other stuff from My Favourite Band (tm) that pleases fans but may not necessarily make the band new ones. Most of the material on this mammoth 18-song collection aren't up to the usual Death Cab studio standards, but that's to be expected: Hey Tomcat! sucked while State Street Residential, Wait, Prove My Hypotheses, and Army Corp of Architects whooped ass; an alternate version of Song for Kelly Huckaby was redundant, but the mangled cover of the Smith's This Charming Man was smile-worthy.
9. Lisa Loeb - Cake and Pie
Tails was great, but Firecracker, not so much. With Cake and Pie, Lisa Loeb is back at her best, writing and singing cutesy Lilith fare that just makes you want to give her a big hug. I hear so many potential singles here that could be exploited a million different ways, yet her (former) big label bosses refuse to market the album properly. Asswipes. Well, now that she's on Artemis, I hope she gets the type of commercial success that her type of music is capable of bringing her.
8. Kay Hanley - Cherry Marmalade
[long sentence alert] After lending her pipes to Rachael Leigh Cook and Molly O, in Josie and the Pussycats and the failed cartoon Generation O! respectively, the former Letters to Cleo front woman delivers her solo debut after taking time to breathe life into baby Zoe with husband USA Mike Eisenstein. Cherry Marmalade is exactly what you would expect from a solo Kay: a delicious, more singer-songwriter oriented LTC record complete with as many second-person pronouns as one could possibly cram into a record. The result is the type of AA pop/rock that top-40s wouldn't play and rock stations wouldn't touch, kind of like Nina Gordon's solo record and the more recent stuff from Juliana Hatfield. Ack! That's another reason why commercial radio sucks!
7. Patty Griffin - 1000 Kisses
Living With Ghosts was a hauntingly beautiful set of demos, while Flaming Red was a folksy, bluesy, and twangy rock record. If the locked-in-vault and never-to-be-released-because-of-stupid-labels Silver Bell is a direct descendent of Flaming Red, then 1000 Kisses was begat by Living With Ghosts. Like LWG, beautiful and haunting aptly describes 1000 Kisses; yet, the simplicity has be replaced by textured intricacies. Although not overwhelmingly layered, subtle production work skillfully augment the already-powerful combo of Patty's voice and her guitar. On barer tracks like Making Pies, Patty picks up the slack, creating a landscape of simple elegance that none can match. Patty Griffin: classy, classy. 1000 Kisses: classy, classy. Easily a top-5er under normal circumstances.
6. Bright Eyes - Lifted or The Story is the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground
The title might be reminiscent of girlfriend Fiona Apples' When the Pawn Hit..., but geniuses like Conor Oberst can be a little pretentious when the want to, eh? No, I don't relate to his lyrics like I do Rivers Cuomo's, but he sure can write them words, innit? Long verse after long verse, Conor spins out these interesting stories and accompanies them with these beautifully sounding sounds. Oh yes! Orchestral folk music! This record is a lot more hopeful and positive than his previous work, but be not fooled: for a period of time, I still had to take a break from listening to any Bright Eyes cos it was so depressing, this record included! But I came back, as I always do, cos it's so, so, sooo good.
Tha Ho's Top 5 of 2002 will be up sometime in 2003! (when I'll see what the future can bring to me)
NP: Lush - Undertow (that song from that Kate Moss make up commercial!)
posted by Hanson |
3:44 PM
Monday, December 30, 2002
Top 30 Part IV: 11-15
Under normal circumstances, both the Flaming Lips and the Chantal Kreviazuk records would've easily cracked my top 10 of the year. The fact that they didn't just goes to show you what a strong musical year 2002 has been. Here are the next five of my countdown:
15. Weezer - Maladroit
Overall, Maladroit (rhymes with Detroit) was a disappointment. It's a step down from the very good Green, which itself was a step down from the masterpiece that was Pinkerton. With that said, it's still a fine hook-ladened rock record; it's just not up to par with previous releases (and that includes b-sides) from Rivers and co.
14. Sixpence None the Richer - Divine Discontent
I was pleasantly surprised by this much-delayed release from these popsters (stupid labels), perhaps expecting something lackustre after their long hiatus. However, this record of nice pop songs (minus almost all of the Christian imagery found on previous Sixpence releases) proved me wrong. I'm a sucker for a pretty voice, and Leigh Nash provides just that. I'm glad she's back doing her band's own material rather than singing all that cheesy crap Dianne Warren churns out for big studio movies.
13. Tanya Donelly - Beautysleep
I saw Tanya play a show here about a year ago. The crowd was sparse, and most seemed to be holdovers from her days with the Throwing Muses or Belly. I was probably one of the few post-Muses, post-Belly converts, picking up her solo debut Lovesongs for Underdogs at a used record store a few years ago (admittedly, I recognized her name because of the Muses, though I haven't had much exposure to their music). Her new one is good, better than Lovesongs. Vocally, it features much of the same oddities that make Tanya unique, and musically, it sounds a little more mature. Very fine record indeed.
12. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Personally, I can't believe I'm ranking this record so lowly. I mean, I love this record! I guess this speaks to how strong a year 2002 has been musically. Much like the Soft Bulletin, layers upon layers of production heaped onto each other provide a wall of sound that could knock a grown man over. I'm not usually a "lots of production" kind of guy, preferring the simple lo-fi approach, but shit yo, the 'Lips are something else. As per usual, the vocals aren't fantastic, but who needs great lyrics and singing when the music just knocks you off your ass! Fight Test would've made a fantastic radio single.
11. Chantal Kreviazuk - What If It All Means Something
shed your shackles
break your chain
drop the ProTools
your bound your bane
vox and keys
just let them be
alone and unhindered
and the world will see
your true greatness
foreseen by me
NP: some stupid music from my brother's video game
posted by Hanson |
12:29 AM
Sunday, December 29, 2002
Lets Hope the Academy Won't Snub *This* Kaufman
I saw Adaptation today, and like Spike Jonze's previous feature, Being John Malkovich, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I won't go much into the background or the plot, but the script was witty and intricately written. It's less of an obvious mindfuck than BJM was, but "getting it," IMO, takes a similar effort; lets just say the second half-or-so can be taken several ways, and I took it as pure satirical genius.
Nick Cage also does a great job in the movie, playing both Kaufman brothers. Here's to him getting over The Family Man and Gone in 60 Seconds! Lets hope the Oscars won't screw him like they did Jim Carrey when he played another Kaufman in Man on the Moon. Bastards....
Enough of that scummy critic-esque stuff from me. What really struck me about the movie was the *second* scene at the pie-serving diner place. Cage and the orchid-loving waitress. Oh my jebus jones. That *is* my nightmare come to life. I was cringing all the way through that. *shudder* Just thinking about it gives me the creeps....
I see so much of myself in the movie version of Charlie Kaufman... *sigh*... sad, but true....
NP: Rilo Kiley - Three Hopeful Thoughts
posted by Hanson |
1:03 AM
Saturday, December 28, 2002
I'm No Angel
Angel once said that there are three things he doesn't do: date, dance, and sing in public. Well, for me, I love karaokeing, regardless of my surroundings, and as of Thursday, you can add another one from that list that doesn't apply to me.
So, it was Thursday night at Luvafair, and I had my first positive experience at a club that doesn't involve live music. Usually, the blaring bass-heavy crap pumping out of the stereo systems at these places tend to suck the fun out of it for me (for a number of reasons). And the people there don't help either. However, Thursday night was different, as Britpop was the theme, and instead of the latest remix of that awful Nelly/Kelly Rowland song, we got a non-album mix of Ladytron's Playgirl. The DJ also spun The Sundays, The La's, and Radiohead, not to mention such don't-mind-hearings as Blur, Pulp, New Order, Coldplay, etc. Now, if they had dropped in some Catatonia and Stereophonics, tossed in some Idlewild and Delgados, mixed in some Dido and Brassy, and spun a little Beth Orton and Belle and Sebastian (ha!), it would've been even more incredible.
But really, I had no complaints. Like a sugared-up ADHD caffeine-fiend without his Ritatin, I had a great time moving my body around on the dance floor for three hours (interrupted by a short beer break) cos as anyone who knows me knows, I'm not above looking like an ass in public. I guess all those years of wrestling in high school and catching on baseball teams did wonders for my stamina, as my body was still up for more when we left at 1:30.
Besides the music, what makes this place cool was the fact that the people there were not the regular pretentious patronizing patrons from the pages of People posing and parading prominently that patronize other popular places of this type. These were regular people: regular in the sense that (most) of the girls looked good without slutting it up. And I never thought I would see so many black-rimmed glasses at a club! I mean, I could totally see some of theses people spinning 45s at home while they're brooding over unrequited love!
Too bad Luvafair is closing its doors at the end of the year, repositioning itself as what seems like a run-of-the-mill hipster place. Just like Rivers Cuomo said: "every time I pin down what I think I want it slips away." *sigh*
Oh yeah! It was also nice to finally put a face to a blog/icq nick ;-)
NP: Azure Ray - Novemeber
posted by Hanson |
2:42 AM
Thursday, December 26, 2002
2 For 1
First: I didn't blog on Christmas! That almost looks intentional (almost). How dare I blog on Boxing Day then, it being the best and most holiest shopping day of the season! My targets for today: cds, a record player, more cds, an better electric razor, and even more cds. *checks wallet* It is doubtful that I'll get everything I want, but I'll sure as heck try!
Second, the freebie: I spent most of Christmas day doing house cleaning, and I don't mean just *regular* cleaning, I mean a real good scrubbing with furniture moving everywhere and and all that good shit. As a result, I got quite a bit of physical exercise, and you know what? It felt good!
It always does, moving my body around like that; I always feel invigorated after exercising, but I can never muster enough motivation to do it on a regular basis. It's like I know something is good for me, but for whatever reason, I just can't bring myself to doing it. *shakes head* Why oh why!! To quote Britney (or rather her writers), "that is just so typically me."
Oh yeah! Happy Kwanzaa everyone!
NP: Rilo Kiley - The Good That Won't Come Out
posted by Hanson |
11:23 AM
Tuesday, December 24, 2002
Film Critics are the Scum of the Earth
The irony is not lost on me that I'm writing this in the midst of posting my "Top 30 of 2002." However, this has been boiling inside me like a hearty soup; the ingredients have been simmering, and with each passing hour, more is adding in to enhance its flavour. After what I saw today, I can take no more. Soup's served!
I was watching Crossfire on CNN peripherally, and they had this film critic on, talking about movies to see in the theatres this holiday season. His name was Michael Medved, and his politics obviously lean towards the right. Now, his tastes are his own, and I won't get much into that, but he made two absolutely idiotic comments that literally had he jumping up and down, telling him to shut the fuck up.
Well, what did he say? First of all, about the Gangs of New York, a movie I'm looking forward to seeing eventually, he revealed a little spoiler about one of the last shots. Apparently, the World Trade Center and its symbolic twin towers are shown at the end of the film, and this Medved fellow had the audacity to claim that Scorsese deliberately used this image to say that New York was somehow being punished for the mistreatment of immigrants earlier in its history.
WTF? First of all, it is doubtful that Scorsese, being a New Yorker, would do such a thing. Also, the film was virtually in the can before the attacks, so the shot was obviously planned well before 9-11. Did Medved know this? I'm not sure. He ought to have known, being the professional that he is supposed to be, but since he seems like a right ass, it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't. Either way, that was an idiotic comment that deserves a berating, so yeah, I be doin' da beratin'.
The other thing that pissed me off was his insinuation that the boxoffice success of The Two Towers had something to do with the resemblance of the villain Saruman to Osama bin Laden. Huh? They're both lanky blokes, true, and they've both done some pretty nasty things, I suppose, but shit, yo, this sounds right dumb! Against this type of colossally moronic, idiotic, STOOOPIDNESS, what more can I say? Dumb dumb dumb....
I really don't know where else to take this. The critics of the Georgia Straight pisses me off. The newspaper critics of the Vancouver papers piss me off. EVERY SINGLE critic on TV pisses me off. Hell, can you find a movie critic that *doesn't* piss me off? Doubtful. They all suck, the lot of them.
And don't even get me started on music critics.... yeah, I read them, but it doesn't me I trust them (unless they agree with me, hehe). Which reminds me, I need to do my 11-15 of 2002 soon ;-)
NP: Bjork - Army of Me
posted by Hanson |
5:58 PM
Things People Search For
I have a counter thing set up for Synapse to Synapse, and people have found my site using the weirdest search strings in search engines. For example, in the last month or so, people have found my site by typing in:
- "Chantal Kreviazuk Jennifer Lopez fuck"
- "the girl in the hanson cab"
- "Download dancing clubbers"
While these have very little to do with my site, at leasts people who are finding it now aren't wankers. Yeah, you heard me. My site used to be called "Fumbling Towards Ego Wanking," and *that* got me some *strange* hits from search engines, if you know what I mean. I don't think I need to bring this blog up to NC-17, now do I? Those British pervs... I tell ya.
NP: The Clash - Straight To Hell
posted by Hanson |
12:53 AM
Monday, December 23, 2002
Joe Strummer: 1952-2002
What a lousy way to end a year. RIP Joe Strummer (of punk pioneers The Clash).
posted by Hanson |
11:15 AM
Sunday, December 22, 2002
Top 30 Part III: 16-20
Among Pitchfork's Top 50 of 2002, only four of them were considered for my top 30 (Wilco, Interpol, PGMG, and my #12 album). To quote The Organ: "I am not surprised." Anyway, on with the rest:
20. Martina Sorbara - Cure For Bad Deeds
I think I've mentioned before that sometimes, a recording just can't fully capture the essence of an artist. Martina makes her own clothes, Martina makes her own guitars, and yeah, Martina makes music as well. This album is but a photograph of Martina's playful self (one that literally drips of sex), and like any other photograph, it is a moment in time, a static still, a representation and nothing but. Martina takes the regular Nettwerk female singer-songwriter fare and infuses it with her own Portuguese-influenced style, and this album captures the tunes. Too bad it doesn't capture the soul; for that, you'll need to see her live.
19. Ladytron - Light & Magic
The future is here! The future is here! For a glimpse of a world with moving sidewalks and flying cars, plug this little disc of electro-pop songs into your machine. This is what the Jetson kids should be listening to: fun techno with better-than-techno lyrics. Hmm.... did that even make sense?
18. Pretty Girls Make Graves - Good Health
This year, the universal object of fawning-over for female-fronted post-punk is, of course, the latest release by that certain trio from Olympia, WA. I, however, haven't really gotten into the new one by Corin and Carrie's music factory. Good Health, in my opinion, has that one beat (oh oh oh oh!).
17. Grandaddy - Concrete Dunes
I like its music. I don't like the way it was put out. I'm sort of ashamed that I have it. I'm not writing on it anymore.
16. Pedro the Lion - Control
Yes, the work of Dave Bazan (who puts the Pedro and the Lion into Pedro the Lion) can be construed as Christian music. So the blank what? It's good music, so I couldn't care less. Besides, this one is a lot more toned down lyrically. Sure, Rapture compares orgasming to "hearing Jesus in the age of sin," but dude, that song tells a cool story! I mean, how can you not appreciate lyrical smarts like "Gideon is in the drawer / clothes scattered on the floor"? I certainly do, that's for sure.
NP: Law & Order: Criminal Intent
posted by Hanson |
9:56 PM
Saturday, December 21, 2002
Golden Globe Nominations
Oh god. Not another Ho-rant about award show nominations! OK guys, I'll keep this one (relatively) short.
-Best Actress for TV: Hello? Lauren Graham isn't spelt Marg Helgenberger!
-Best Drama: *yawn* Wake me up when The Gilmore Girls starts getting its rightful props.
-Best Original Song : It's always funny to see a bunch of so-called movie experts pick the winner of the BEST SONG catagory. What the hell qualifies them for this job anyways? It always ends up being the five biggest names who are eligible, and this year's no different. I mean, why nominate Badly Drawn Boy's Something to Talk About (from About A Boy) when Bryan-fucking-Adams did a song for a stupid movie about a horse?
OK. Bored now.
posted by Hanson |
2:29 PM
Friday, December 20, 2002
Most Beautiful
To the tune of Frente's Most Beautiful:
wide open eye
am I serious?
am I delirious?
grading chaos
have I got a mind?
I could really lose it in this
super network course
I see the most beautiful distro I know
and the most beautiful thing is
when I see my course mark... mark, mark
will Hanson be
dumb and free
in a potential catastrophe
never too scared too bare to care to taking an exam that could ruin me
cos it's the most weariful thing I know
and the most weariful thing is
something cruel I dunno why
I crammed all there is to cram
something cruel i dunno why
I crammed all there is to cram
la la la la la la la la la dee a
where is your bridge?
linking up your nets
oh gees please stop my talking now!
packet full of packets
or a class B that lacks it
guess I can't care less 'bout
the most weariful thing I know
cos I've seen the most beautiful distro
woah ho
it's in the gradebook... book, book
it's in my happy head
That, my friends, is an ode (a poorly written one) to CMPT 371, a course I did rather well in. I thought I had completely screwed up the final exam, but apparently not. The way it looked after my two business midterms, this semester was going to be my worst (academically speaking). A round of painful finals later, it seems that I have weathered the storm!
OK. Enough obsessing about my school work. Lets move on to something different.
Didja hear? Death Cab is playing in Seattle on Feb. 28th, a Friday!! This is so, so tempting, especially now that I might be able to get cheap accomdations!! Hmm.... chances of me going: *very* high indeed.
Rilo Kiley - The Execution of All Things
posted by Hanson |
5:32 PM
Thursday, December 19, 2002
Top 30 Part II: 21-25
Here we go again. I remembered after posting Part I that Interpol's Turn On the Bright Lights could've also been slotted into #30. Oh well... Avril got it, so that's that. Here's the rest:
25. Emm Gryner - Ice Boy EP
The only reason this is down here is because there's only 3 songs on it. Those 3 songs, however, are very, very, *very* good. Recorded on a 4-track while she was on tour this fall and sent without charge to loyal holders of the Headliner pass (i.e. old-school fans of hers), this commerically unavailible EP showcases Emm's ability to write simple pop songs. The production is minimal, so it's basically Emm, her keyboard, and her lovely, lovely voice. Sheeeeet boy! Dis shit be good!
24. Ben Lee - The Dirty Little Secret EP
I picked this up when I saw Ben open up for Vanessa Carlton. I was sufficiently impressed with his performance, and this EP (which is basically the Something Borrowed, Something Blue single with a couple of extra tracks) made me a fan. I can't wait till his new album is released over here.
23. Juliana Hatfield - Gold Stars 1992-2002: The Juliana Hatfield Collection
This is a good survey of Juliana's career: a little recent-stuff-heavy, perhaps, but these collections tend to be like that. Also included are some rarities including the cover of Every Breath You Take which was originally released on the Special Edition of Beautiful Creature (which I don't have... SE, that is... I have the regular one). This is nice, but I already had it on mp3 :-)
22. Rilo Kiley - The Execution of All Things
When I look back on the year that was 2002, this would probably rank higher. It's just that I haven't had time to digest this properly. Beautiful melodies, beautiful voice. Not only that, the other guy in the band, whatshisface, not Jenny Lewis, sounds a lot like Elliott Smith too! Good stuff.
21. Our Lady Peace - Gravity
Mainstream rock that I actually like. Funny how that works! I've been listening to them since their first album back in 1994, and with the exception of Clumsy, the band has taken steps forward muscially with every album, and Gravity is no exception.
NP: Star Trek DS9
posted by Hanson |
11:46 PM
The Task At Hand
I had a little scare today. When I plugged my MP3 player into my computer, it rebooted the bloody thing. After it tried unsuccessfully to boot up again, it told me that my primary drive had failed. My heart skipped a beat. Years of school work, emails, and data: was that the end of that? And what's worst, my beautiful MP3 collection. Nearly 16 gigs of hard to find (and some not-so-hard-to-find) material... gone?
Luckily, I cold-booted the sucker and it was fine. *phew* The MP3 player still wasn't working, but at least my hard drive was fine. That was close. Too close, in fact. That's why tomorrow, I'm going to back up my entire collection. Getting the bejesus scared out of you like that ought to amount to some good, eh?
Yes, tomorrow is Burn Loads of Stuff Day!
NP: Catatonia - Bleed
posted by Hanson |
2:13 AM
Wednesday, December 18, 2002
Roger Ebert: The Asswiping Asswipe
Anger... simmering.... rage... boiling.... want... to... explode!
Fucking Roger Ebert. Now, you know I don't swear often (ah, who am I kidding?), but this Ebert fellow, he pisses me off. Quite a bit. So instead of praising the resounding and transcending magnificence that is The Two Towers, I'm going to pull a Dennis Miller and rant about this mofo (although much less eloquently).
So, I opened the newspaper today to read the review(s) for The Two Towers, a movie I had the pleasure of enjoying at midnight last night. The rag that I read, the Province (hold your snickers people! I read it for the sports and entertainment stuff, really!), runs reviews from Mr. Famous Critic Roger Ebert. When I saw that he gave the movie 3 stars, I thought to myself: guarded praise... oh boy... here we go.
The next thing I read was something to the effect of "good but doesn't capture the spirit of Tolkien." Spirit of Tolkien! Spirit of Tolkien!! SPIRIT OF TOLKIEN!!! How, uber-critic, do you know SPIRIT OF TOLKIEN!! Do you know him? Does he call you at home? Do you have a dorsal fin!?!
He then goes on to say that there wasn't enough hobbit stuff and that Big Pete basically spoilt the intention of Ronald and turned the film into big-ass swashbuckling adventure. Well la dee da, nugget-brained wannabe-elitist! What do you think a movie based on a book that centres around a big-ass battle was supposed to be?? *two-finger salute*
With The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien, IMO, set out to create a pseudo-mythology. It was not, as Ebert implied, supposed to be whimsical tale about how nice little hobbits triumphed over the big bad; rather, it was an epic to end all epics: the ultimate battle of Good vs. Evil. Surely, little things overcoming big things *is* a theme, but the way the story is told, that was certainly not the main theme of The Two Towers (hell, Shelob was even pushed back to the next film!). At its heart, LOTR is an action/adventure, and TTT movie lives up to that and then some.
Helms Deep and the drowning of Isengard were two tentpole events of the book, and I have no complaints of how they were translated on to celluloid. Ebert seems to think they spent too much time on the battle scenes; well, Mr. Ebert, how the fuck would YOU have done it? Spent more time shooting Frodo and company walking around? *More* on the "weight" of the Ring? Sit yo ass down, foo, and let the man do his work!
The Battle of Hornburg and the Ents were the two things I was especially looking forward to, and I can't see PJ cutting any part of what was left in there. The film was already 3 hours long, and to add more hobbit stuff (not that I would mind) without cutting what was already in there would make the film even longer (duh!), and that probably wouldn't sit well with the casual fan.
I'll post a less ranty bit about the film after my second viewing tonight :-)
NP: Rilo Kiley - My Slumbering Heart
posted by Hanson |
2:22 PM
Tuesday, December 17, 2002
Counting Down the Hours
All right... let me do this all now cos I'll be leaving to line up soon.
5, mofo, 5 till I see the glistening armours of the Rohirrim!
*wait an hour*
4, mofo, 4 till I see Boromir Junior, Faramir!
*wait an hour*
3, mofo, 3 till I see awe-inspiring bloodbath of Helms Deep!
*wait an hour*
2, mofo, 2 till I see the march of the Ents!
*wait an hour*
1, mofo, 1 till I see Gandalf the White!
*wait an hour*
Oh oh! I'm seeing it now!! *emit unsightly emissions*
posted by Hanson |
7:02 PM
Counting Down the Hours
6, mofo, 6 till I see the fall of Isengard!
posted by Hanson |
6:04 PM
Counting Down the Hours
7, mofo, 7 till I see golden halls of Edoras!
NP: Fellowship of the Ring - Extended Version
posted by Hanson |
4:57 PM
Counting Down the Hours
8, mofo, 8 till I see the majestic Fangorn and its/his namesake.
NP: Fellowship of the Ring - Extended Version
posted by Hanson |
4:01 PM
Counting Down the Hours
9, mofo, 9 till I see the steed of steeds, Shadowfax!
NP: Fellowship of the Ring - Extended Version
posted by Hanson |
3:21 PM
Counting Down the Hours
10, mofo, 10 till I see Gollum!
NP: Fellowship of the Ring - Extended Version
posted by Hanson |
2:13 PM
Counting Down the Hours
11, mofo, 11 till I see Merry and Pippin drop the leaf pin!!
posted by Hanson |
1:05 PM
Counting Down the Hours
12, mofo, 12 till I see Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas hunt some orc!!
posted by Hanson |
12:18 PM
In Defense of Nemesis
Sure, there were plot holes (one Mr. I-should-be-with-the-Traveler-now Crusher comes to mind), but all in all, Nemesis is a far superior movie than the shitty piece of shit that was Insurrection. The visuals were stunning, and there were some genuinely good moments. Could it have been better? Certainly. Was I expecting more? You bet. Was I a little disappointed. You could say that. Did I think it sucked? Now you're going too far.
NP: Skuller - Rock Nugget
posted by Hanson |
1:52 AM
Top 30 Part I: 26-30
So, we're at that time of the year when people start talking about the Best of 2002 *.*s. Following in that tradition, I'm going to post my Top 30 CDs of the year, but because of my music-geekness, I'm going to do it in annotated form in 6 parts (5 discs per part). Without further adieu, here's Ho's Top 30 Records of 2002, Part I:
30. Avril Lavigne - Let Go
OK. Right off the bat, I don't believe in guilty pleasures, so the debut release from the only famous person out of Napanee, Ontario is all pleasure for me. Nicely produced and full of catchy tunes, this pop/rock effort is probably as good as mainstream pop radio will get you. It's certainly better to hear Complicated, Sk8er Boi, or I'm With You while you do your Christmas than it is to hear the latest rapper/R&B-ho combo that's burning up the charts this week.
29. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
What more can I say about this record that hasn't already been said? Well, I like this a little less than critics do, but I still like it quite a bit. Yay for a band with the alt-country tag that doesn't sound that alt-country at all!
28. Tegan and Sara - If It Was You
The energy that the Quin sisters exude on stage cannot be wrapped up and packaged into a recording. While nice, this release is nothing compared to seeing Tegan and Sara live. However, if you don't get a chance to do that, this and other T&S discs will give you a glimpse of their enjoyable folkie pop/rock sound.
27. Anna Waronker - Anna
The former frontwoman of That Dog returns with her debut solo release on her own record label. Very much in the vein of her previous band, Anna rocks out prettily. If you like That Dog, you should like this too. Now if only I can pronounce her last name properly...
26. Jessie Farrell - Today
Vancouver Represent! I first saw Vancouverite Jessie open up for Tara MacLean a couple years ago, and since then, she's grown considerably as a musician. No longer the nervous pixie grabbing the mic tightly while singing on stage, Jessie shows off her confident new self on this record of modern singer-songwriter pop songs about love, lost love, and, well, some more love. You know, I would've totally wet my pants over this record five or six years ago, but now, I merely like it.
Tomorrow (or the day after): 21-25.
NP: Craig Kilborn
posted by Hanson |
12:44 AM
Monday, December 16, 2002
Minus Ken Stringfellow, Plus Michael Stipe
Just came back from the Minus 5 / Dirtmitts show, and I've got plenty to write about. First of all, I smell like cigarettes and alcohol (and no, it's not my ima-gi-naaaaaaaa-sheeeeee-an nor is it a crazy sit-chu-waaaaaa-sheeee-an, so don't go all Liam-in-Germany on me), but more importantly, I just saw R.E.M. play a small club. How, you might ask, did I fucking pull that off? Well, let me explain (in a patronizing-to-music-people way):
So, Peter Buck, the guitarist of R.E.M., plays bass for the Minus 5 as well. It just so happens that the whole R.E.M. crew is in Vancouver recording their next album, which is probably why Buck was free to do this one-off show with the Minus 5 here in town. I guess being trapped in the studio all this time must've made Stipe and co. itchy to play live, and since they probably don't want to do a full-blown show, this is a way of doing it through the backdoor. Anyway, before I talk more about R.E.M., let me talk about the rest of the show.
So, I basically went to the show tonight to see two things: The Dirtmitts and Ken Stringfellow playing with the Minus 5. The Dirtmitts played a good set to a tepid crowd. Their lead singer, Natasha Thirsk (sister of Kristy??) has gotz it goingz onz, if you know what I mean. Their sound is the female-fronted 4-piece power-pop that I adore so much, so naturally, I enjoyed them quite a bit. Too bad they closed the merch table early so I couldn't pick up any CDs, but the loads of mp3s of theirs that I have should suffice until the next time I head down to Scratch.
Next were the Minus 5, the supposed headliners. I saw them at Bumbershoot earlier in the year and they were pretty good. I especially enjoyed the songs of theirs sung by Ken Stringfellow, a former member of the Posies, a band that I also liked. So when they started playing tonight without Ken, I was quite disappointed. They played a tight, loud, and entertaining set nevertheless (heavy on songs about death, as frontman Scott McCaughey, ex-Young Fresh Fellow, kept pointing out), so I was reasonably happy.
But the really interesting part was when the band left the stage after playing an hour or so. Scott claimed he had to take a dump, but we all knew better. New equipment had to be brought on stage to be tune after they left, so we knew something was up. Rumours have been circulating around the city that R.E.M. might show up because of the Buck connection, and five minutes after the stage was cleared, the rumours were proven true.
Members of the Minus 5 slowly trickled back on stage, and Mike Mills, R.E.M.'s bassist who played with the Minus 5 tonight for parts of their set, came up as well. Then, a skinny bald guy emerged from the side stage door at Richards wearing a New York City t-shirt to a loud ovation. Of course, that was Mr. Michael Stipe of the famous rock combo R.E.M..
So, as the cheering got louder, Stipe made a few barely-audible comments at the mic while everyone was getting ready on stage. One of them was "fuck Canada," which I'm sure was made in jest because he, being a bleeding heart liberal, should have no problems with this lovely hippie country of ours. After saying a few more funny things, they launched into their 3-song mini-set that consisted of 2 brand new tunes off their new album that they've never played live before and a track off their last disc, Reveal, that I've never heard before.
One interesting thing of note was that Stipe was aided by a stand with song lyrics on it. It just seems weird to me that he didn't know the words to his own songs well enough to perform them without crib notes.... ah well... that's big-time rock stars for ya.
All in all, it was just cool to see a band like R.E.M. play a small club like that. I'm not an R.E.M. fan, but any time you get to see a big band that doesn't suck play a little venue like Richards, it's cool. Cool, cool, cool, and I was at the very front! :-) Yay for the surprises that live music brings ya!
OK... I've written enough... time to hit the sack.
NP: a ring in my ear from the show (and no, I don't hear the ocean or the crowd *grin*)
posted by Hanson |
2:10 AM
Sunday, December 15, 2002
Did I Call It Or What!
Last week, I said that Phish was going to make an appearance tonight on SNL in the Jarrett's Room skit, and what happened tonight? Exactly what I said, that's what! I AM a golden god! (and no, I'm not on drugs)
Good show overall too. Gore didn't try to do anything wacky and just played to his strengths: being the stiff and mocking himself. The opening skit with him and Tipper was both funny and disturbing.
NP: Emiliana Torrini - Gollum's Song
posted by Hanson |
1:28 AM
Saturday, December 14, 2002
I Faced the Same Evil I Defeated It!
Like mountains of brave and/or ignorant souls before me, I faced the evil that is the She-itch and I defeated it! Well, not quite; I bested one of her minions that she keeps inside of her personal Khazad-dum: the finance final exam. At least I think so. Anyway, I felt good after a solid three hour fight, and that's the best I could've hoped for. Next up, my User Interface Design final tomorrow, a course taught by the polar opposite of She-itch: the nice, helpful, and decent human being Melanie.
Oh yeah! 4 Days to The Two Towers!!! (take that, Wing Kee!! ;-Þ)
NP: Elvis Costello - Smile
posted by Hanson |
12:42 AM
Thursday, December 12, 2002
I Spun It Right Round, Baby, Right Round
The soundtrack for today's studying was Ladytron's Light & Magic, an album I *finally* picked up yesterday. I put it on repeat and let'er rip. After listening to it non-stop for half a day, I began to wonder why a major hasn't picked them up yet. Nothing Top 40 has to offer is nearly as catchy as Seventeen, Evil, or Playgirl (not on this album), and if you put any of these songs on the radio, I can guarantee they'd be hits! Not that I would necessarily want such a cool group to be ripped off -- err... I mean signed -- by a major; it just doesn't make that much sense to me...
If I ever get off my ass to write that proposal, record that demo tape (which I will do after exams, hopefully), and get my show approved, I would totally pimp the hell out of Ladytron (among a myriad of other pimp-worthy artists ;-).
posted by Hanson |
10:05 PM
Nuggets of Truth
Gee whiz -- I'm posting a lot today....
So, there I was poking around the internet whilst finishing up my big-ass formula sheet, and I unearthed this nice little nugget from a show review that induced quite a bit of head-nodding from me:
"Even with the scattered couplings one should not expect the energy in the room to be remotely sexual. This is an indie-pop crowd, after all, and sex just gets in the way of geeky brooding."
Ah... true true... nothing should get in the way of indie kids and our good old fashion brooding!
NP: Sarah Slean - California
posted by Hanson |
1:33 AM
Wednesday, December 11, 2002
All Is Full of... Huh?
Seeing/hearing RZA (as in member of Wu-Tang aka Bobby Digital RZA) talk about Norse mythology and Bjork... surreal....
Anyway, I think I'll eventually buy the Bjork greatest hits comp. I have to find out why so many musicians wet their pants at the mention of her name. I mean, I like some of her stuff, but for musicians, she's like the holy-frickin-grail. Maybe it's just the fact that I have no musical background and so I can't fully appreciate her brand of avant-garde pop. Oh well... I guess I'll find out!
NP: Ben Gibbard - Joga
posted by Hanson |
11:21 PM
Ho's 2nd Law
"When studying, a concept that you devote less time to because you thought you knew it well enough will *always* come up in your exam. Not only that, the concept will be presented in such a way that you'll realize you apparently *don't* know it as well as you had originally thought."
NP: Ladytron - Evil
posted by Hanson |
7:03 PM
Tuesday, December 10, 2002
Things That You Think Don't Happen But Actually Do
Today, while I was writing my Consumer Behaviour exam, my pen ran out of ink. Yup. Right there, during an exam, right when I was writing out the answer for one of the short answer questions, the friggin' thing RAN OUT OF INK! RAN OUT OF MUTHAFUCKING INK! It's a good thing I have my trusty me-book and thus my me-book pen with me, but since the pen I was using was black and my me-book pen was blue, the exam booklet looked kinda weird afterwards. Oh well... big shit.
NP: Emm Gryner - Let It Snow
posted by Hanson |
11:07 PM
I Did It
I did it. Failed gracefully, but I did it. One small step for Ho, one utter non-movement for Ho-kind. Yay for the effort though!
NP: Nothing, but most definitely *not* the third track off the Mary Lou Lord / Sean Na Na split EP
posted by Hanson |
6:07 PM
Monday, December 09, 2002
Of "TP in the R&D" and "Erogenous Zones"
Nothing dirty or dirrty here: I was just studying for my Consumer Behavioiur exam tomorrow. TP in the R&D (sing that in your head to the tune of Cypress Hill's Insane in the Brain) is a mnemonic device I'm using to represent RTPD: Relating, Targeting, Positioning, and Developing. It has to do with marketers exploiting social stratification, but I'm not going to go into that right now.
As for erogenous zones, well, it's a glossary word (I'm not kidding) in my textbook in the chapter "Creation and Diffusion of Culture." Yeah, it's a real fun textbook. It talks about Corey Hart being a "hip" cultural icon, and it thinks that Puff Daddy is a "rock" singer. Hmmm.....
Ooh... Rudi's on TV :-)
NP: The Dirtmitts - In The Meantime
posted by Hanson |
10:07 PM
Mark My Calender: March 15th
A show? A moving opening? No no, but it's equally as good. You seen, that's when tickets go on sale for a pre-season football (read: soccer) match in Seattle on July 22nd, 2003 between Celtic and one of the clubs I support, Manchester United! I'm sooooooo there! Now I just need to find people to go with me.
Imagine seeing the likes of Becks, Giggsy, Keano, Scholesy, the Nevilles, Buttster, Big Wes Brown, Seba Veron, Ole Gunnar, and Ruuuuuud having a run out on the pitch of Seahawks Stadium. Hell, even seeing John O'Shea, Diego Forlan, Luke Chadwick, Kieran Richardson, and Quinton Fortune would be cool. I mean, talk about a dream come true! (ok ok... a *real* dream come true would be seeing United in an FA Cup or Champion's League final against the other club I support, Watford, but that'll never happen and this is pretty damn close!)
I don't care how much it costs. If I happen to be working in Seattle during the summer, then great, but if I have to drive down there just for the game, so be it. It's not like I haven't done it before! This is so frickin' awesome!
NP: Rilo Kiley - Plane Crash In C
posted by Hanson |
11:44 AM
Fell In Love With A Band
And no, it isn't white nor is it strippy. My band-of-the-week is Rilo Kiley, whose sound I'll describe as "indie pop with chick vocals and a little bit of twang." Why are they so cool? Let me count the ways:
a) Their lead singer Jenny Lewis sounds awesome. I'm really digging her voice right now, and generally, if I like the vocals, I usually like the band. That's why I'm super glad she'll be singing on the upcoming Subpop release from Postal Service, a side project from Ben Gibbard and DNTEL's Jimmy-something. Talk about a good thing getting better!
b) They have albums out on both Barsuk and Saddle Creek. All they have to do now is put out an EP on Kill Rock Stars or something and they would have a special place reserved in my hall of coolness!
c) Two words: lo-fi. Hmm... or is that one word?
d) The song Glendora, which has the line: "and would you fuck me? Cuz I'd fuck me." Hehe... good stuff, good stuff. There's nothing like a pretty voice emphatically singing the f-word (Hello Liz Phair!).
NP: Rilo Kiley - Steve
posted by Hanson |
1:21 AM
Sunday, December 08, 2002
Ho's 1st Law
The frequency of one's blog checking/reading varies directly with how much studying or work one needs to get done.
NP: Ben Folds - Careless Whisper (yes, *that* Careless Whisper)
posted by Hanson |
6:51 PM
I Really Ought to be Sleeping
this sat. night
'niro-light
horrid sight
he did bite
what a plight
Wow... hands down the worst Saturday Night Live in quite a while. With the opening monologue, Robert De Niro reached new heights of suck-itude tonight. I hope this wasn't foreshadowing next week's show with Al Gore (!) and Phish (!), which I think will feature Jarrett's Room guest-starring the aforementioned stoners. (and no, I'm not talking about Mr. Lockbox!)
NP: All Girl Summer Fun Band - Charm Bracelet
posted by Hanson |
1:51 AM
Saturday, December 07, 2002
Glenn Quinn (1970-2002)
His character Doyle's passing on Angel was premature and unfortunate, and his passing in life, tragically, was even more so. RIP Glenn Quinn.
posted by Hanson |
10:30 AM
Friday, December 06, 2002
How Much So Can a Ho Ho Grow If a Ho Ho Can Grow So
Hehe, oh gees... you would only get that if you're both North American pop culture savvy AND you speak Chinglish ;-)
Anyway, the title refers to the fact that since it's exam time, I'm locking myself in my house (metaphorically speaking) in order to study my left ass off (I'm saving my right ass for a rainy day). Because of that, I ain't going to bother with all this shaving business, so my facial hair (my 'so') will keep growing without restraint for the duration of my hermit-hood (well, such as it is for a Chinese guy in his early 20s).
On the platter today was BUS 347 (Consumer Behaviour, aka how much can you memorize?) and a good helping of Delerium and recent Radiohead (the wank-fests Kid A and Amnesiac). I find it hard to study (I mean *really* study) while listening to music with a lot of lyrics, and since my tastes lean towards the folky side of rock/pop, I really had to dig to find some appropriate tunes to accompany my memorizing-not-learning. Elliott Smith and Azure Ray just wouldn't work. Surprisingly though, I managed to sneak in some Grandaddy because of their, umm..., sonic-fullness (?), but when I tried Ben Folds Five, bzzzzzzz: no dice.
Tomorrow, it'll be BUS 312 (friggin' finance with She-itch) and CMPT 363 (UI Design). Yay! A double bill! That's even better than seeing Dido opening up for Tara MacLean! What? Me? Sarcastic? What are you talking about? Oh I suppose next, you're going to tell me that my writing is way too verbose for its own good and that I lack the common skill of constructing short, precise, clear, not repetitive sentences that convey information in the most straight-forward and concise manner? Bah!
Anyway, break time over. Time to hit the books... errr... notes again!
posted by Hanson |
11:46 PM
Say It Right, Frenchy! Say Chow-dah!
TRASHionals 2003 will be in Boston. Yes! Now, if it all goes according to plan, Mary Lou Lord and Kay Hanley will do a double bill sometime on the weekend of April 11-13. Hell, I'll skip theme pack night in a heartbeat to see either of them! I'll stay an extra day! Anything to see Mary Lou and Kaaaaaaay! Hehe... like that's going to happen though... oh well, one can have delusional fantasies, eh?
Oh! Addendum to the schedue: OLP - Jan. 25th
NP: Rilo Kiley - Go Ahead
posted by Hanson |
11:25 AM
Wednesday, December 04, 2002
This Might Be Fun
posted by Hanson |
11:43 PM
NO!!!!
Will Smith as a "detective" in a movie set in Asimov's robot universe? Say it ain't so! (oo woah oo woah)! Oh please please please don't call him Elijah Baley! And please don't let them fuck with the Three (and Zeroth) Laws!
I still don't know why they haven't greenlit The Caves of Steels. Kevin Spacey would be a perfect Daneel!
NP: Weezer - Say It Ain't So
posted by Hanson |
10:52 PM
Oh Yeah
During a refueling break while studying, I flipped the TV on to MuchMoreMusic and guess who I saw? Mrs. Maida herself, Chantal! I don't think I mentioned before about just how absolutely stunning she looked. My oh my... she's right up there with Ms. Phair, Ms. Slone, Ms. Slean, and Ms. MacLean. If she and her husband Raine ever start churning out babies, they'd be some pretty damn good-looking puke machines!
Just thought I'd share ;-)
posted by Hanson |
12:37 AM
Tuesday, December 03, 2002
Chantal Chante
I conjugated that mofo right, didn't I? Anyway, I just came back from seeing the one and only Chantal Kreviazuk live at a winners-only intimate/small show at the Sonar, a place you don't often find the Ho (ho's, otoh...). Anyway, I had to win tickets to get in, and I can't believe I actually won! Other than a Cara Dillon cd, I've never won anything in my life!
It was a cool show, albeit a little short. I was up at the very front, being the music geek that I am, and I had a notepad and everything to copy down the setlist! (soooo geeky ;-) Speaking of the setlist, here it is:
Time
(improv'd ditty based on Radiohead's Karma Police)
Before You
Jet Plane (John Denver cover)
Julia
Surrounded
Blue (on guitar!)
Redemption Song (Bob Marley cover on guitar)
What If It All Means Something
Feels Like Home (Randy Newman cover)
In This Life
Encore:
Wayne
I'll Be Home For Christmas
Seeing Chantal play the guitar was cool. She wasn't very good, but since that led to a comment about needing a strap on, it was awesome to see. Several comments, actually, all of them hilarious ;-)
posted by Hanson |
11:15 PM
According To thespark.com, I'm a:
MASTERMIND
(Submissive Introvert Abstract Thinker )
"Like just 8% of the population you are a MASTERMIND (SIAT). You can be silent and withdrawn, but behind your reserved exterior lies an active mind that allows you to analyze situations and come up with creative, unexpected solutions. Normal people call this "scheming." Don't learn German.
Anyway, your sense of style and originality are your strengths, and people will respect your judgment once they get to know you. If you learn to be a little more personable, you could be a great leader--you've definitely got the "vision" thing down. Just make sure all the plotting you do behind those eyes of yours is healthy.
Famous masterminds in television: Dr. Claw, The Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Montgomery Burns."
Gee whiz... that's pretty good for an unscientific online test thingy!
NP: Emm Gryner - Ice Boy
posted by Hanson |
10:16 AM
Monday, December 02, 2002
What Makes News Better?
Two words: Rudi Bakhtiar
Paula Zahn ain't no thang; Rudi da shit, yo!
posted by Hanson |
9:39 PM
On Deck...
Dec. 3rd - Chantal Kreviazuk (yay for winning!)
Dec. 15th - The Minus 5 / Dirtmitts
Jan. 2nd - Pretty Girls Make Graves
Now I gotz ta study my shi-zit.
posted by Hanson |
7:30 PM
Sunday, December 01, 2002
Pretty Girls don't just Make Graves...
... they go to Sarah Slean shows too. No, they weren't the spectacularly beautiful hipsters that tried their bestest to look cool at the Bright Eyes show last month; no, they were the run-of-the-mill (though not in the blah sense), attractive specimens of womanhood that you see walking out of contemporary arts, bio, and communications classes (just to name a few). And not just that, the place was crawling with them, outnumbering us guys by a whopping margin. In other words, it's not the crowd that's regularly seen at shows that I go to. Big yay for me, right?
So there I was, positioned near the front of the stage amidst the sparse-cum-comely crowd (I've always wanted to use those words in tandem), and all I could do was bitch to my friend about how much I (generally) hate tall people standing in front of me. Hello! Cute Sarah Slean fans near me! I could've at least *tried* to talk to some of them! Boy if I had a dime everytime I've done something stupid like that.... well, I'd have a lot of dimes.
Anyway, I did manage to talk to the cute friend of this girl I met on a Slean discussion list, though they *did* find me first after spotting my Slean/Universe shirt, so I didn't really start talking to her first or anything. Hehe... that's a start, eh? At least I didn't freeze like... er.... my jaw after a novocaine injection (?)
Anyway, here's a setlist of the show (11-27-02 at Richards), not like it would mean anything to anybody reading this:
Eliot
Bank Accounts
Duncan
Day One (new to me)
Book Smart, Street Stupid
Bulletproof... I Wish I Was (Radiohead cover) [1]
Blue Parade
Vertigo [2]
California
St. Francis
** headgear change ** [3]
The Score [2]
Sweet Ones
Drastic Measures [4]
Encore:
Playing Cards With Judas
Me and Jerome
Weight
Second Encore:
My Invitation
Butterfly (=W= cover)
[1] Wonderful surprise. I didn't know Sarah did this!
[2] First time I've heard these live... awesome stuff
[3] Right before The Score, Sarah took off the red scarf-thing on her head and put on an Angus Young-esque hat... you had to be there :-)
[4] Complete with an improv'd intro about knocking stuff over at stores and wrecking havoc at bingo halls... hi-larious!
Oh yeah, btw, I survived my hell week, so yay me!
posted by Hanson |
10:37 PM
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