PopMatters reviews Park Avenue Music’s By Hearts + Horses: Noise or ambient rock can be a hit or miss affair. If it’s too arty then it just becomes pretentious to the listener who will often chuck it. But then again if it’s not too highbrow what’s the point. Park Avenue Music have found the proper balance on this album, starting with the gorgeous “Norway Kitty” which could have been placed on the soundtrack to either Babel or Lost In Translation and been a highlight on each.
My own review can be found here.
According to the mighty Kaiju Shakedown, Dragon Dynasty‘s release of Fist Of Legend—arguably Jet Li’s finest film as well as one of the greatest martial arts films of all time—will be released September 9. In other Dragon Dynasty/Jet Li news, a special edition of Tai Chi Master—a film that, while not as great as Fist Of Legend, is still pretty dang good—will be released on July 29.
Renae and I finished up Dr. Horrible Saturday night, and all we could really say at the end was, “Joss Whedon, you sadistic @#$%&?!” Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We just should’ve known that Joss would find some way to twist the knife a little and come with the darkness—even in a seemingly dorky little musical comedy. And yet, he does it in a way that spells “genius” with a capital “brilliant” and has us coming back for more.
Suffice to say, we will be picking up whatever super-duper ultra-deluxe DVD edition happens to come down the line in the future.
You can’t go wrong with a band named Dreamtiger, especially when they’re on a label named PurrFactory Records and do such a good job of conjuring the sound of Spooky-era Lush.
Jimmy Akin on the “science” of PZ Myers’ “cracker” plan (aka Myers’ proposed plan to procure some communion wafers, desecrate them, and post the results online):
...let’s suppose that [a dispassionate scientific demonstration of the falsity of Catholic belief regarding the Eucharist] was his aim. He’s a scientist. How good would the science of the proposed experiment be?
Rotten.
In order to have a scientific demonstration of the falsity of Catholic belief regarding the Eucharist, you would need to have a proposition of Catholic theology regarding the Eucharist that could be falsified by his experiment.
But the Catholic Church does not claim that anything special will happen in the empirical realm if you desecrate a host. Lots of hosts have been desecrated in history, and in the overwhelming majority of cases, nothing special happens in the empirical realm.
Catholics would say that this is because Christ has chosen to make himself vulnerable in body to such disrespect, just as he made himself vulnerable to death on the Cross, though he informed his disciples that all he needed to do was ask and his Father would put twelve legions of angels at his disposal to defend him. The voluntary vulnerability of Christ as the Lamb of God is a central theme in Christian theology.
Whatever the Christian explanation for the fact that nothing unusual normally happens in the empirical realm when a host is desecrated, the fact is that the Church does not maintain that anything is supposed to happen.
Akin has also posted an MP3 from his radio show with a response to Myers’ actions. You can read Myers’ post that started the hullabaloo here. Note: Myers has since stated that his post was intended more as “satire and protest” than anything else.
On July 22—this coming Tuesday—an event of cosmic proportions will occur: Spaced will finally be released here in the States on Region 1 DVD (order your copy here). And in preparation for the occasion, BBC America will air six episodes tomorrow, July 20, 2008, starting at 2:00pm CST. (I am curious, though, why they’re playing three episodes from Season 1 and three from Season 2, rather than a block of consecutive episodes, but ah well.)
It’s been awhile since we’ve heard anything from Michigan-based dreampoppers Au Revoir Borealis. I reviewed their Tienken EP back in 2002, and since then, the group went on something of a hiatus. However, they’re poised to return at the end of September with a new full-length entitled Dark Enough For Stars. Several songs from the album have been posted on the band’s MySpace page, and they’re full of atmospheric, melancholy pop that will be absolutely perfect for cool September evenings (especially “The Winter Room"). Good to have you back, guys!
Crepusculum has just posted “Abaculus Perceptive”, one of the tracks from his upcoming full-length Sing On In Silhouettes, to his MySpace page and it’s lovely stuff—a blend of his delicate, folk-y acoustic guitar compositions and a Steve Reich-esque arrangement of vocals and recorders.
Michael Boyink and Collective Idea will be offering an intensive, four day training session for ExpressionEngine this September in Michigan. Boyink has written a number of incredibly helpful tutorials and resources for EE, including the first EE book, so this should be really good.
![[Distance]](http://opuszine.com/media/music_reviews/marconiuniondistance.jpg)
- Year: 2005
- Label: All Saints Records
- Genre(s): Ambient, Electronica
- Buy It
For many years, my company has been located in the downtown area of Lincoln. And while Lincoln is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a bustling metropolis, it’s still a city—and all cities, regardless of their size, operate according to the same rules.
And one of those rules is that, no matter how big or small your city, it becomes a “no man’s land” in those early morning hours. Even the most familiar streets become strange landscapes, and buildings that you pass by everyday become haunted places behind their steel and glass facades.
This was impressed upon me whenever I’d pull late shifts at work, and find myself stumbling home around 3:00am. Naturally, I was exhausted, my mind and body reeling from having just worked 15 hours straight, and so my sense of perception was certainly altered.
But my feelings of “otherness” were largely due to the town’s emptiness. Aside from a few drunken bar denizens or homeless folks, I might as well have been the only remaining citizen, and it’s a strange and discomfiting feeling to be sure, to see what were busy streets and bustling offices transformed into neon-lit ghost towns.
Marconi Union’s Distance provides the perfect soundtrack for that sort of environment, and listening to it immediately takes me back to those late night/early morning travels.
It’s no coincidence, I think, that most of the song titles reference urban environs, if only obliquely. The duo’s ambient electronica perfectly conjures up the sensation of driving down lonely, rainslick city streets. The neon lights, barely lit office buildings, and eerily swaying stoplights glisten and glimmer off of the wet concrete, painting the city in a shifting shimmer of color that’s in a constant state of bokeh.
The music is reminiscent of Strategy and Pan-American, other artists who have delved into this sort of somnabulistic haze as well. However, Richard Talbot and James Crossley (the duo behind Marconi Union) compositions have fewer glitch and dub influences.
Static-y hisses and clicks fleck the album’s edges, but just barely, leaving the music’s surface mostly calm and undisturbed. The duo’s synths drift about, encouraging the listener towards a more introspective frame of mind. Occasionally, clusters of tones will coalesces for just a moment, before dissipating, their quickly fading beauty and structure only adding to the introspective mood.
Other instruments, such as guitars and saxophones, wind their way throughout. The former lends more texture to the music, the notes either looping back onto themselves or flaring out, sending flecks of light coruscating through the tracks. The latter’s breathy tones add a slightly organic element to the sometimes austere atmosphere on “A Temporary Life”, the voice of those living souls wandering through the empty streets, trying to get back to the comfort of their warm rooms.
Human voices appear as well, on “These European Cities”. But their vocoderized form does little to add any warmth á la the saxophone. Instead, their artificial nature adds an ominous later to otherwise lulling music—like you’re listening to the city’s ghost whisper in your ear, trying to convince you to lose yourself within its labyrinthine, Blade Runner-esque streets.
There are some who will doubtless find Distance a bit on the slow, uninvolving side—especially if they’re not really a night person. But I find it aloof and reclusive—and rather beguiling. And as a night owl, someone who oftentimes finds themselves most productive between the hours of 11:00pm and 3:00am, music that carries you into and through that late night frame of mind is most welcome.
Mr. Elastic—whose sporting a swank new design, BTW—linked to this video over on Jed Sundwall’s blog. It’s essentially Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” slathered in layers of distortion, and set to accompany footage from NASA’s archives.
I’ll admit, that on a purely surface-y level, there is something quite haunting and beguiling about the video—tons of reverb and distortion will do that to you, I guess. However, while watching the video, and reading Mr. Sundwall’s thoughts, several questions came to mind:
- Does all of the distortion and reverb in the world really cover up the fact that you’re listening to a manufactured pop song by a manufactured pop idol?
- Does the fact that this sounds an awful lot like My Bloody Valentine (due to some fairly easily reproducible studio trickery) diminish or devalue My Bloody Valentine’s music, and the methods they used to produce it?
- Does the fact that the music is paired with NASA footage elevate the song above its roots? Or does it somehow devalue or cheapen the footage?
- Should the intentions of the video’s creator mean anything to you or influence your perceptions of the video as you watch it?
- If the video’s creator claims that there’s no rhyme or reason to it, does that matter? Can it still have any value?
- If postmodernism is, according to the Wikipedia entry that Sundwall references,
a cultural, intellectual, or artistic state lacking a clear central hierarchy or organizing principle and embodying extreme complexity, contradiction, ambiguity, diversity, interconnectedness or interreferentiality, in a way that is often indistinguishable from a parody of itself.
then can there be any room for criticism or evaluation of the piece in question? Or is artistic criticism and evaluation, which often references or appeals to some manner of objective standard, however incompletely, ultimately a pointless and foolish endeavor? - And finally—and I ask this with all due respect and no snarkiness intended whatsover—if Mr. Sundwall thinks postmodernism is great, which I assume means that he approves of Wikipedia’s definition, than why does he bother asking the reader their opinion of his opinion? What does it matter if he’s right or not, or if we think he’s right or not? If the hallmarks of postmodernism are “extreme… contradiction, ambiguity, [and] diversity,” than whose to say what’s what?
These questions, and others like them, are certainly nothing new, and they’ve been debated and discussed for ages by folks who are far smarter than I.
I hesitate to say, when it comes to art, that this way or this definition or this method of interpretation is right, much less the only way. Art is a mysterious thing not bound by rational and logical rules. We can’t even come up with a good definition of what, exactly, art is, much less a truly objective way of evaluating it. Hence, at some point, any sort of evaluative system striving for pure objectivity will break down.
But at the same time, I most definitely hesitate to rejoice at the loss of any and all standards and objectivity, to say that “extreme… contradiction, ambiguity, [and] diversity” are the highest and best goals, or that the inability to make a distinction between a thing and a parody of that thing is good.
I’m reminded of a poetry class I took in college, where one of the students argued that it was perfectly fine to read any meaning you wanted into a poem because it’s art—and that’s what art lets you do.
Now, is that right? Or is asking whether that’s right or not, an exercise in futility?
I’ve been a fan of Michael Moorcock’s Elric saga for quite some time, ever since high school when I came across those exotically covered paperbacks in the library.
The Elric books are incredibly imaginative, full of ancient civilizations, wicked sorcerors, mighty magics, and the eternal struggle between Order and Chaos. And above all else, they feature arguably one of the most tragic heroes in all of fantasy literature, the albino warrior Elric of Melniboné, who is fated to destroy everything close to him and is inextricably tied to his soul-eating sword Stormbringer. And who doesn’t love a tragic hero?
However, when I’ve picked up the novels lately, I’ve found the unrelenting gloom and despair rather tedious, regardless of how skillfully and fantastically Moorcock writes.
For example, there’s this passage from the end of The Sailor On The Seas Of Fate:
Outside in the middle of the square, at noon, still lay the lonely body of the last Vilmirian crewman. Nobody had known his name. Nobody felt grief for him or tried to compose an epitaph for him. The dead Vilmirian had died for no high purpose, followed no fabulous dream. Even in death his body would fulfill no function. On this island there was no carrion to feed. In the dust of the city there was no earth to fertilize.
Elric came back into the square and saw the body. For a moment, to Elric it symbolized everything that had transpired here and would transpire later.
“There is no purpose,” he murmured.
Perhaps his remote ancestors had, after all, realized that, but had not cared. It had taken the Jade Man to make them care and then go mad in their anguish. The knowledge had caused them to close their minds to much.
Or this passage from the end of Stormbringer, which brings Elric’s adventures to a close:
“But what is the meaning of it all?” Elric said. “That I have never fully understood.”
“Who can? Who can know why the Cosmic Balance exists, why Fate exists and the Lords of the Higher Worlds? There seems to be an infinity of space and time and possibilities. There may be an infinite number of beings, one above the other, who see the final purpose, though, in infinity, there can be no final purpose. Perhaps all is cyclic and this same event will occur again and again until the universe is run down and fades away as the world we knew has faded. Meaning, Elric? Do not seek that, for madness lies in such a course.”
“No meaning, no patten. Then why have I suffered all this?”
“Perhaps even the gods seek meaning and pattern and this is merely one attempt. Look—“ he waved his hands to indicate the newly-formed earth. “All this is fresh and moulded by logic. Perhaps the logic will control the newcomers, perhaps a factor will occur to destroy that logic. The gods experiment, the Cosmic Balance guides the destiny of the earth, men struggle and credit the gods with knowing why they struggle—but do the gods know?”
“You disturb me further when I had hoped to be comforted,” he sighed. “I have lost wife and world—and do not know why.”
Both of these passages typify the existential gloom that permeates the novels. On the one hand, such gloom lends the novels a hard, sometimes cynical edge that is refreshing when compared to much of fantasy literature, which seems devoted to repeating the same Tolkien derivations again and again. Indeed, Moorcock wrote the series partly as a rejoinder to the works of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. However, that same gloom and despair makes it difficult for me to find much ultimate value in the novels.
While I certainly appreciate and enjoy elements of Moorcock’s style, and the world in the novels is certainly creative and has few peers, there’s something rather soul-crushing about them, the cynicism and existential doom ultimately draining one, much as if they’d been stabbed by Stormbringer itself.
Although it surfaced earlier via nefarious means on YouTube, the trailer for the upcoming adaptation of The Watchmen is now officially online over at Apple.
I’m still a little dubious that the film will be able to effectively capture the original graphic novel’s complex narrative structure and characterizations, there’s no doubt that Zack Snyder has nailed the look of things right down to the smallest detail (indeed, Rope Of Silicon has already done a trailer to comic comparison). The trailer looks amazing, and is chock full of iconic images, including Jon Osterman’s disintegration and first appearances as Dr. Manhattan; The Comedian wreaking havoc in Vietnam; and Rorshach looking, well, creepy like only Rorshach can (love the morphing nature of his mask).
BTW, if you watch the trailer and don’t quite understand what all the hoopla is about, Cinematical has put together a guide to the trailer that explains what’s going on, as well as some background information on the graphic novel’s plot.
The Watchmen will come out in theatres March 6, 2009. Click here to visit the movie’s official website.
The first act of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog—the three-part web-based super-villain musical by Joss Whedon—is now online (or available for purchase from iTunes). It’s classic Whedon, which means that it’s pretty much required viewing.
Read Whedon’s master plan here. Act Two will be online July 17, and Act Three will be online July 19.
On a related note, Jeffrey Overstreet wonders—and rightfully so—why someone as talented as Whedon can’t seem to catch a break.
CHUD’s Devin watches the Watchmen trailer:
And it bears repeating: this is a trailer for us. This trailer speaks to the fanbase in a huge way. Your friends and neighbors will be damn impressed by what they’re seeing, but they’ll also be slightly baffled. They’ll want to know more - who is that blue guy? Who is flying that ship coming out of the water? Are they on Mars? Why is that guy getting thrown through a window? - so get ready to start lending out your book. And get ready to start drooling for whatever else they’re going to show at Comic Con - if this is what they’re giving us in the first trailer, I can’t wait to see what they have in store in San Diego.
As I mentioned earlier, the trailer plays before The Dark Knight, and will likely appear on-line shortly thereafter. Although I have some reservations following Zack Snyder’s previous film, 300, I can’t wait to see this.
Woot! Joystiq reports that Final Fantasy XIII will be released for the Xbox 360 as well as the Playstation 3. To celebrate, I’ll just point you to this gorgeous trailer for the game.
Update #1: Joystiq links to a new Japanese Final Fantasy XIII trailer that, while revealing absolutely nothing about the story, contains oodles of really pretty visuals.
Update #2: Joystiq also reports that Final Fantasy Versus XIII will still be a PS3 exclusive. Which kind of sucks, because Versus was the Final Fantasy XIII title—there are three in development (more info at Wikipedia)—that I found most intriguing, if only because it’s supposed to be the darkest Final Fantasy to date.
The latest from the “Are you sure this isn’t from Lark News?” department: An Oklahoma church cancels the giveaway of a semiautomatic assault rifle at one of their youth events. From the church’s youth pastor:
I don’t want people thinking ‘My goodness, we’re putting a weapon in the hand of somebody that doesn’t respect it who are then going to go out and kill… That’s not at all what we’re trying to do.
Twitch reviews John Woo’s Red Cliff:
Red Cliff is hands down highly recommended, not only for those familiar with the story (and who’re likely to find fault with some minor tweaks to supporting characters in involvement and names), but makes a great entry point to the rich stories of brotherhood, valor, bravery which sits snugly in any John Woo movie, and I guess to reintroduce a whole new generation to the era of the warring states, especially to our friends in the West. John Woo had given plenty of respect to the source material, and his meticulous treatment had shone through some of the slower scenes, such as taking time to highlight the peacetime roles of the various generals of the Liu Bei camp. I can’t wait to continue where this movie left off!
This review makes me a very happy boy. Woo was long overdue for a return to form.
On a related note, watch the 9 minute trailer/promo reel from Red Cliff.
In other Miyazaki-related news, the director has teamed up with Pixar to save Sayama Forest—the inspiration for My Neighbor Totoro—from urban development. In order to raise funds for the project, nearly 200 artists will be contributing original art, illustrations, and sculptures inspired by the film to be auctioned off this September at Pixar Studios. Twitch has more info, or just visit the project’s website and check out some of the artwork that’s already been contributed.
The Japan Times reviews “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea”, the latest film from Hayao Miyazaki:
As with most Miyazaki films, I walked out of “Ponyo” thinking less about the rambling story, based loosely on “The Little Mermaid,” than certain strangely gripping scenes, such as a grimly determined Lisa zipping along a seaside road in her mini car, with Sosuke at her side, as angry anthromorphic waves crash and lash around them, or Sosuke and Ponyo puttering idyllically over a submerged town in a toy boat powered by a burning candle, which has magically grown big enough to hold them.
No one but Miyazaki could have created anything like these moments, with anything like his mastery. If “Ponyo” is the start of his artistic second childhood, I say welcome to the sandbox.
No word on when this is coming to American shores, but I hope it’s soon.