He was everything a boss should be; mysterious, sinister and iconic and as he began his dialogue I began to remember the shudders I got as a child when, at the beginning of the gunfight, he suddenly and venomously yelled 'Draw!'.
Wednesday 15 September 2010
DRAW!
I first played Metal Gear Solid when I was about 9 years old and have recently started playing it again. I did not remember much of the game, however what did stick in my mind, and what came rushing back when I started playing again, was the first boss battle against Revolver Ocelot.
He was everything a boss should be; mysterious, sinister and iconic and as he began his dialogue I began to remember the shudders I got as a child when, at the beginning of the gunfight, he suddenly and venomously yelled 'Draw!'.
He was everything a boss should be; mysterious, sinister and iconic and as he began his dialogue I began to remember the shudders I got as a child when, at the beginning of the gunfight, he suddenly and venomously yelled 'Draw!'.
Stanley Donwood
Stanley Donwood, the man behind all of Radiohead's album covers from The Bends onwards, plus the Radiohead Bear, above, has just had his work put on show in the U.S. for the first time, in the San Francisco gallery FIFTY24SF. The exhibition entitled Over Normal is one I would love to have the chance to go and see and is sure to be enjoyable, interesting and provocative.
Desire Enlargement
Thursday 9 September 2010
This Is Happening - LCD Soundsystem
This Is Happening is purportedly the last album LCD Soundsystem will make. It was always going to be a hard for a band whose first single, Losing My Edge released in 2002, was an era-defining electro masterpiece, however James Murphy and Co. only went on to bigger and better things, releasing two full length albums of intelligent, unique dance music. This Is Happening is no different.
The album starts with Dance Yrself Clean, a nearly-nine minute long collation of electronic sounds which leads into a pumping bass beat. The song highlights Murphy’s evolution into a talented lyricist; lines like ‘talking like a jerk except you are an actual jerk’ intrigue and amuse, and the album is full of lines that revolve in your mind after a listen. The following song Drunk Girls is seemingly the one and only radio-friendly song (the other eight tracks all run over five minutes, some almost double that) with its thumping refrain, and again showcases Murphy’s astute and humorous lyrics: ‘drunk boys keeping pace with the paedophiles’.
Like previous LCD albums, a lot of the best music comes from when Murphy works by himself. Both One Touch and I Can Change are done completely by Murphy (except for some yells by Nancy Whang in the One Touch refrain) and can both be considered as classic LCD tracks, building from minimal beats and glitches into an amazing mixture of sounds and rhythms which only get better with repeated listens. Sandwiched between these two tracks is perhaps the most interesting and best song of the album.
All I Want starts with a simple drum beat before a shameless rip of David Bowie’s Heroes guitar riff. Many critics may discount this song for the guitar alone; however Murphy uses it as a fan of music, rather than someone looking to make money from it. The guitar combined with a light piano chord progression and the perfectly delivered lyrics make for a beautiful song, and it continues to build with miscellaneous blips before closing with Murphy’s desperate cry of ‘take me home’.
The feeling of the band being at the end of an era and moving onto new paths resonates throughout the album, and is perhaps most obvious in the next track You Wanted A Hit which chronicles Murphy’s desire for a hit single, amidst oriental electro twangs, and how he deals with the pressures of tours, interviews and fame after the hit comes.
The next two songs are arguably the weakest on the album, but still demand a listen. The ambiguous lyrics of Pow Pow and comic refrain make for a unique song while the slow, jazzy piano chords on Somebody’s Calling Me punctuated with its long synth drones also is an interesting listen. The album (and possibly career?) closer is Home and the song, just like the album, does not disappoint. It begins with gurgling electro melodies before Murphy’s lyrics perfectly slot in and continue the message begun in You Wanted A Hit; he has lived his dream, and now its time to move on and go home as ‘it won’t get any better so goodnight’.
9
If this is to be the band's last album it will be a great shame, not only for electronic music, but also for the industry as a whole. Not only did LCD Soundsystem make intelligent electro music that you could be moved by, as well as dance to, they also made music in the right way, for the right reasons. A truly great band that should be appreciated by all lovers of music.
My Top 5 Essential LCD tracks:
- "Losing My Edge"
- "Great Release"
- "Someone Great"
- "All My Friends"
- "All I Want"
Article first published as Music Review: LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening on Blogcritics.
The album starts with Dance Yrself Clean, a nearly-nine minute long collation of electronic sounds which leads into a pumping bass beat. The song highlights Murphy’s evolution into a talented lyricist; lines like ‘talking like a jerk except you are an actual jerk’ intrigue and amuse, and the album is full of lines that revolve in your mind after a listen. The following song Drunk Girls is seemingly the one and only radio-friendly song (the other eight tracks all run over five minutes, some almost double that) with its thumping refrain, and again showcases Murphy’s astute and humorous lyrics: ‘drunk boys keeping pace with the paedophiles’.
Like previous LCD albums, a lot of the best music comes from when Murphy works by himself. Both One Touch and I Can Change are done completely by Murphy (except for some yells by Nancy Whang in the One Touch refrain) and can both be considered as classic LCD tracks, building from minimal beats and glitches into an amazing mixture of sounds and rhythms which only get better with repeated listens. Sandwiched between these two tracks is perhaps the most interesting and best song of the album.
All I Want starts with a simple drum beat before a shameless rip of David Bowie’s Heroes guitar riff. Many critics may discount this song for the guitar alone; however Murphy uses it as a fan of music, rather than someone looking to make money from it. The guitar combined with a light piano chord progression and the perfectly delivered lyrics make for a beautiful song, and it continues to build with miscellaneous blips before closing with Murphy’s desperate cry of ‘take me home’.
The feeling of the band being at the end of an era and moving onto new paths resonates throughout the album, and is perhaps most obvious in the next track You Wanted A Hit which chronicles Murphy’s desire for a hit single, amidst oriental electro twangs, and how he deals with the pressures of tours, interviews and fame after the hit comes.
The next two songs are arguably the weakest on the album, but still demand a listen. The ambiguous lyrics of Pow Pow and comic refrain make for a unique song while the slow, jazzy piano chords on Somebody’s Calling Me punctuated with its long synth drones also is an interesting listen. The album (and possibly career?) closer is Home and the song, just like the album, does not disappoint. It begins with gurgling electro melodies before Murphy’s lyrics perfectly slot in and continue the message begun in You Wanted A Hit; he has lived his dream, and now its time to move on and go home as ‘it won’t get any better so goodnight’.
9
If this is to be the band's last album it will be a great shame, not only for electronic music, but also for the industry as a whole. Not only did LCD Soundsystem make intelligent electro music that you could be moved by, as well as dance to, they also made music in the right way, for the right reasons. A truly great band that should be appreciated by all lovers of music.
My Top 5 Essential LCD tracks:
- "Losing My Edge"
- "Great Release"
- "Someone Great"
- "All My Friends"
- "All I Want"
Article first published as Music Review: LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening on Blogcritics.
Saturday 4 September 2010
Spike Jonze
The first time I came across Spike Jonze's work I didn't realise it. I was probably about twelve and I was watching Jackass: The Movie with some friends at a sleep over. I don't really remember what I thought of the film except that it was fucking funny and I wanted those guys' jobs.
The second time I saw Jonze's work was a similiar situation. I was aboout the same age and I had been playing Tony Hawks Underground on my Playstation 2. After reaching a certain point I unlocked a teaser trailer of a skate video directed by Jonze for the skate company he co-owns, Girl. I didn't really know what I was watching and didn't think much of the video.
However after the release of a trio sucessful mainstream films it is interesting to look back at where Spike Jonze came from, and how good some of his early work is.
Jackass has always been one of my favourite shows and I await anything new they do, as a crew or individually, with eager anticipation. While some people will say that the TV show and the films produced are a horrifying commentary on the atavistic nature of modern culture, there is a reason why the first two films have a combined worlwide gross of $163 million. Jonze, co-creator of the franchise, is clearly an innovator and not afraid to operate outside the normal parameters perceived by most film directors. People enjoy seeing things they haven't seen before, things they haven't had the courage to do, or things they are unable to do. Although critics might not be able to see it, there is a method in the madness of the Jackass crew.
Jonze's innovative nature is shown in much of his work, some may point to Being John Malkovich, others to the video he did for Fatboy Slim's Weapon of Choice, however it is perhaps best shown in the video I saw on the Tony Hawks game all those years ago entitled Yeah Right!.
The title says it all. In the video Jonze explores the limits of what can be done through editing, employing slo-mo cameras and clever camera tricks on a skate film which leave you wondering how he did that. True Jonze style.
Jonze has done many music videos and although he has done some famous ones such as Weapon of Choice, he also, especially in his early days, did some obscure ones. One such video is for Fatlip's single What's Up Fatlip. Again some of Jonze's best traits as a director are shown here; the video matches Fatlip's unconventional style and lyrics perfectly. A truly unique video for a hip hop song, full of Jonze's quirkiness and stupidity (sorry for poor quality).
What prompted me to write this piece on Spike Jonze was when I saw the last music video he had directed, a song by LCD Soundsystem, a band who I am listening to a lot at the moment, called Drunk Girls. On first watch it may seem like utter stupidity and an excuse to beat up a good band, however once again with Jonze's work there is method in the madness. The egging, setting off of fire extinguishers, the implied gang rape - all of these things seem digusting and wrong to the sober band and viewer, however after a few drinks the feeling changes completley, and things that seemed wrong beforehand might seem ok now, and this is what the pandas act out.
Obviously Spike Jonze is unconventional, and this may cause man to disregard him as an immature director who got lucky. I do not think this is case. He is daring, innovative, imaginative and unique.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xT6cdfP_cM
The second time I saw Jonze's work was a similiar situation. I was aboout the same age and I had been playing Tony Hawks Underground on my Playstation 2. After reaching a certain point I unlocked a teaser trailer of a skate video directed by Jonze for the skate company he co-owns, Girl. I didn't really know what I was watching and didn't think much of the video.
However after the release of a trio sucessful mainstream films it is interesting to look back at where Spike Jonze came from, and how good some of his early work is.
Jackass has always been one of my favourite shows and I await anything new they do, as a crew or individually, with eager anticipation. While some people will say that the TV show and the films produced are a horrifying commentary on the atavistic nature of modern culture, there is a reason why the first two films have a combined worlwide gross of $163 million. Jonze, co-creator of the franchise, is clearly an innovator and not afraid to operate outside the normal parameters perceived by most film directors. People enjoy seeing things they haven't seen before, things they haven't had the courage to do, or things they are unable to do. Although critics might not be able to see it, there is a method in the madness of the Jackass crew.
Jonze's innovative nature is shown in much of his work, some may point to Being John Malkovich, others to the video he did for Fatboy Slim's Weapon of Choice, however it is perhaps best shown in the video I saw on the Tony Hawks game all those years ago entitled Yeah Right!.
The title says it all. In the video Jonze explores the limits of what can be done through editing, employing slo-mo cameras and clever camera tricks on a skate film which leave you wondering how he did that. True Jonze style.
Jonze has done many music videos and although he has done some famous ones such as Weapon of Choice, he also, especially in his early days, did some obscure ones. One such video is for Fatlip's single What's Up Fatlip. Again some of Jonze's best traits as a director are shown here; the video matches Fatlip's unconventional style and lyrics perfectly. A truly unique video for a hip hop song, full of Jonze's quirkiness and stupidity (sorry for poor quality).
What prompted me to write this piece on Spike Jonze was when I saw the last music video he had directed, a song by LCD Soundsystem, a band who I am listening to a lot at the moment, called Drunk Girls. On first watch it may seem like utter stupidity and an excuse to beat up a good band, however once again with Jonze's work there is method in the madness. The egging, setting off of fire extinguishers, the implied gang rape - all of these things seem digusting and wrong to the sober band and viewer, however after a few drinks the feeling changes completley, and things that seemed wrong beforehand might seem ok now, and this is what the pandas act out.
Obviously Spike Jonze is unconventional, and this may cause man to disregard him as an immature director who got lucky. I do not think this is case. He is daring, innovative, imaginative and unique.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xT6cdfP_cM
One of the best films that no-one saw...
I don't know what made me go and see Danny Boyle's Sunshine in the first place, but I am glad I did. It seemed to have been overlooked by the majority of cinema-goers when it came out in 2007, but to this day it is one of the best cinema experiences I have had.
For just over an hour and a half I sat muscles clenched, teeth gritted and slack-jawed. The vastness of the scene, the enormity of the crew's task and the use of chiascuro on such a large scale all make for a film that is both scary and awe-inspiring. However what really effected me, and the reason for this post, was the music, in particular one piece by English composer John Murphy, Adagio in D Minor.
I have often wondered what the most powerful form of art is; a picture, a photo, words, a film, a song...I suppose it is a silly question to try an answer because the answer will probably be different for everyone at different times, however Murphy's piece certainly makes a strong case for music. The song perfectly communicates Boyle's message of the magnitude of the universe compared with humanity and how great an effect one man can have on so many.
Everytime I watch Sunshine or listen to the song it always has a profound effect on me. To describe the song as epic would be understatement, and it is no surprise that it also makes an appearance, very slightly altered, in another film Murphy arranged music for; Kick Ass.
Bravo John Murphy. Bravo Danny Boyle.
Thursday 2 September 2010
'This is how we chill...'
One of my favourite hip hop songs from the genres golden era of the early nineties, this four piece was unconcerned about proclaiming their gangster grit, preferring instead to 'up you on how we just chill'. A truly relaxing and enjoyable song seventeen years on, the lyrics are delivered with an ease and a flow which, combined with rural locations in the song's video, take you far away from the hustle of a big city or place of work.
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