God. Fucking. Damn it.

There's nothing I hate more than delayed flights and hectic days at fucking airports -- especially when I wanna be home this badly. Pray for me.

Friday's weather forecast

Top Albums of 2008: # 1 Bon Iver -- For Emma, Forever Ago

Bon Iver -- For Emma, Forever Ago

What can I say about this album that hasn't been said already? If you've listened to it, you know -- if you haven't, quit being a moron and click this handy download. For real.

Honorable Mentions:


Johnson&Jonson -- Blu and Mainframe are Johnson&Jonson
Some of the dopest hip-hop out this year. Kinda like a more hood version of Madvillainy. Blu is emerging as LA's best emcee.


Q-Tip -- The Renaissance
The venerable Q-Tip...This is an amazing solo effort (FINALLY!) that didn't disappoint. He's really evolved as a producer, I think...

Well, that was fun. It's always nice showboating your musical taste. Here's the list again, in bullet form! YEAH!

10. Vivian Girls -- Vivian Girls (HM: Ty Segall, TVOTR)
9. The Dodos -- Visiter (HM: The Gaslight Anthem, O'Death)
8. No Age -- Nouns (HM: KiD CuDi, Born Ruffians)
7. Wale -- The Mixtape About Nothing (HM: Little Joy, Why?)
6. The Hold Steady -- Stay Positive (HM: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Kanye West)
5. Beach House -- Devotion (HM: Gang Gang Dance, Centro-Matic/South San Gabriel)
4. Okkervil River -- The Stand Ins (HM: Times New Viking, Abe Vigoda)
3. Blitzen Trapper -- Furr (HM: The Donkeys, Frightened Rabbit)
2. Fleet Foxes -- Fleet Foxes (HM: Santogold, Beck)
1. Bon Iver -- For Emma, Forever Ago (HM: Johnson&Jonson, Q-Tip)

Awesome. Maybe I'll do a Top 25 Songs list or a Best Video list before I leave for Oregon for two weeks...

Purify the colors...purify my mind

More funny

This Is Who I Am

This Is Who I Am from Distant Pictures on Vimeo.

Top Albums of 2008: #2 Fleet Foxes -- Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes -- Fleet Foxes

Truly one of the most hauntingly beautiful albums of the year, the vocal quality of these gentlemen is astounding -- it really goes without saying. I've never heard harmonies this great. It truly is a singular approach in modern music. Songs like "White Winter Hymnal", "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song", and "Blue Ridge Mountains" represent pure craftsmanship and tonal perfection. This is about as beautiful as music gets in the 00's.

Honorable Mentions:

Santogold -- Santogold
Big year for this songstress. Very deserving. Some call her a poor man's M.I.A. -- that might be true, but she's still makes Beyonce look like a talentless pile of mess (but it still has a great ass.)


Beck -- Modern Guilt
I'm never not gonna pay attention to Beck. He's one of my favorite singer-songwriters ever, and this Dangermouse produced album is a solid effort from the man. He's beginning to garner quite the prolific career -- something both well deserved and well received on this end.

Top Albums of 2008: #3 Blitzen Trapper -- Furr

Blitzen Trapper -- Furr

This Portland sextet has released their most cohesive album in Furr, their fourth effort overall. Really, it would have been hard to follow their last record Wild Mountain Nation with anything as dense as that, so they took the much smarter route and, well, didn't. Instead they put out an album full of Dylan-esque twang ("Black River Killer"), bittersweet piano hymns ("Not Your Lover") and straight-up rock gems ("Gold For Bread", "Sleepy Time in the Western World"). Blitzen Trapper have taken their vast sound and toned it down to a more focused, calculated approach -- something that sounds not-so-great on the surface, but it's a tactic that has made this already-amazing band even better.

Honorable Mentions:

Deerhunter -- Mircocastle
I love this record(s) so much it hurts sometime. I kept it off the official list because I felt it lacked some of the pop sensibility of their other stuff, but there's no denying that Deerhunter has soaked up Radiohead's aural tendencies without becoming carbon copies. Good for them.


Lil Wayne -- Tha Carter III
The greatness of this album need not be explained.

Top Albums of 2008: #4 Crystal Stilts -- Alight of Night

Crystal Stilts -- Alight of Night

A sound that evokes My Bloody Valentine and The Shins simultaneously, the Crystal Stilts are a great Brooklyn band that actually released TWO albums this year -- but this one was without a doubt the better effort. Every track is a spacey gem. Really, I didn't hear another album like it this year -- it truly stands alone as one of the great indie-rock releases of the year. Unfortunately, all the downloads have since been broken, so...I guess buy it? Weird, I know. But worth it. I totally would.

Honorable Mentions:

The Donkeys -- Living on the Other Side
Horrible name -- amazing album. The Donkeys sorta sound like American Beauty-era Grateful Dead and the Band. Some great tunes here.


Frightened Rabbit -- The Midnight Organ Fight
Lyrically sound Scottish rock...and by lyrically sound I mean absolutely amazing lyrics. Straightforward but effective. "The Twist" is an absolute gem of a song.

Top Albums of 2008: #5 Okkervil River -- The Stand Ins

Okkervil River -- The Stand Ins

Okkervil River's last record, The Stage Names was their best. Now, it seems, their newest effort The Stand Ins is in fact their best. At this rate, the album they release next year will be their best. And I'm fine with that. With each album, Will Sheff seemingly grows as a songwriter -- although I use the term "grows" sparingly. He and Okkervil River are already matured musicians, and well beyond their years. "Blue Tulip" is one of my favorite songs of the year.

Honorable Mentions:

Times New Viking -- Rip It Off
These guys are straight out of 1993. Snotty vocals, fuzz-box guitars, amplifiers on the verge of combustion, virtually nonexistent drums -- it's altogether unpretentiously perfect. 16 songs in a half hour. Awesome.


Abe Vigoda -- Skeleton
Abe Vigoda have been called punk rock's Best Kept Secret by virtually every blog in existence, but apparently not secret enough for Dean Spunt of No Age not to find them. They released their debut on his label, and have since drawn comparisons to other LA neanderthals X and the Minutemen.

Crazyness.

Fat City Reprise - Long Gone from Cesar Kuriyama on Vimeo

"While all the music video directors out there are trying to make HD happen, Cesar Kuriyama, a New York based animator and lighting technical director, decided to go old school animation like and create a music video out of 45,000 still photos.
The video was brilliantly shot with a Nikon D200 DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) at 4 pictures per second rate. Basically, the director, alongside his photography director Tommy Agriodimas, shot bursts of photos several times of each scene and ended up editing the photos to reach 24 frames per second. And viola – a music video that looks like it was almost shot with a regular video camera - but much more unique."

Top Albums of 2008: #5 Beach House -- Devotion

Beach House -- Devotion

When people get pop music right, it's a beautiful thing. Especially the dreamy, atmospheric brand that the Baltimore duo Beach House dole out with ease on their second album, Devotion. Each track is cohesive and seamless, each chord wonderfully complimentary to the next. It's crafted amazingly -- something that seems effortless but is anything but. Good shit.

Honorable Mentions:

Gang Gang Dance -- Saint Dymphna:
Don't let the ridiculous cover fool you -- the tracks within are experimental-dandies that have a traditional structure somewhere below the surface. At first brash and confusing, it soaks in over time. Completely enjoyable.


Centro-Matic/South San Gabriel -- Dual Hawks
I'm a big Will Johnson fan. Both of his respective projects have been churning out quality guitar-rock tunes for years, and this double-album is no exception. Fantastic tuneage.

Top Albums of 2008: #6 The Hold Steady -- Stay Positive

The Hold Steady -- Stay Positive

When you talk about the progression of a band, from album to album, one must question whether or not they've actually made a progression. When the Hold Steady released Separation Sunday, they earned the label "Best Bar Band in The Country". After the release of Boys and Girls in America and this year's Stay Positive, they’ve become one of the best bands in the country, period.


Honorable Mentions:

Kanye West -- 808's and Heartbreak
I'm a huge, huge Kanye West fan and I really like the way he stepped out here. This is a dark and ambitious pop album that sees the outspoken emcee truly baring it all. It's been a great accompanying album to the new found falling snow here in Chicago.



Bonnie 'Prince' Billy -- Lie Down In The Light
Always the veritable folksman, Will Oldham has crafted a collection of somber, melodic tunes on par with anything else he's released over the years. It's an album for any mood or any situation -- good shit.

I love coke rap...

Ghostface Killah -- Kilo (Remix) feat. Raekwon and Malice of Clipse

Top Albums of 2008: #7 Wale -- The Mixtape About Nothing

Wale -- The Mixtape About Nothing

Does anybody else find it weird that the best hip-hop album of the year wasn't even technically an album? Regardless, Wale is one of the best young emcees in hip-hop right now -- lyrics, flow, style: everything about him is different and amazing. He's certainly the freshest breath of air since Kanye West earned Jay-Z five mics. Hopefully he'll put out an album proper next year -- although, any collection of tracks in any format this stellar would be welcome.

Honorable Mentions





Little Joy -- Little Joy
Little Joy are a rock band from LA -- although I think they relocated from Brazil. They have an amazing pop sensibility and their self-titled record is a really great listen. "Shoulder to Shoulder" is definitely one of the best songs I've heard all year.



Why? -- Alopecia

Unconventional and conventional at the same time -- Why? is the brain child of Jonathon "Yoni" Wolf, a sort-of hip-hop artist with a knack for witty lyrics. Definitely not his strongest effort, but it's certainly enjoyable and worthy of a listen...A listen you'll have to seek on your own, as I couldn't find a download. Lame.

Two of my all-time favorites...

Top Albums of 2008: #8 No Age -- Nouns

No Age -- Nouns

I was hesitant to add this album to my list as I was not entirely convinced that it was truly a great record. But I've listened to it on and on for the past few months and I've come around -- blogs be damned, it's a really good record. Loud and noisy and poppy and awesome. I love the song "Things I Did When I Was Dead".

Honorable Mentions:


Kid Cudi -- A Kid Named Cudi
This oft-brilliant mixtape shows some glaring promise. Cudi's approach is different than any of other emcee out now. Plus he's from Cleveland. No one's from Cleveland...The song he does with Wale is amazing.



Born Ruffians -- Red, Yellow and Blue
These guys are like Tokyo Police Club -- but a shit load better. It's a poppy, dancey effort with some generally great rock tunes. If it didn't taper off towards the end it would have placed very highly in my list...but alas, there's some filler. But it's a debut, so they have a long ways to go.

I'm so pissed I missed this movies run in Chicago...

I know I'm late, but wow!

Great video.

Top Albums of 2008: #9 The Dodos -- Visiter

This album kinda snuck up on me a few months ago -- I don't know how I went most of the year without hearing it, but I did. It's a really good folk album, that's both experimental and poppy at the same time -- more on the pop side than anything. Some great melodies and some great lyrics here, as well. There's a shit ton to like about this album and about this band. Good, good stuff.

The Dodos -- Visiter

Honorable Mentions:

The Gaslight Anthem -- The '59 Sound
This is an album I actually came across very recently (as in five days ago) but it's a really solid effort. The Gaslight Anthem blend punk, soul, blues and country into a very enjoyable experience. If Bruce Springsteen made an album with Social Distortion, it would be The '59 Sound.

O'Death -- Broken Limbs, Hymns & Skin
This album is dark and noisy and a lot of fun. O'Death are just about the most out-there folk band I've heard in a while, and if you think this album is chaotic, their live show is ten times more than you can imagine. It's hard to imagine songs about murder and deceit being fun, but this is it.

Top Albums of 2008: #10 Vivian Girls -- Vivian Girls

K, here's how we'll do this. I'll post the album I picked for the particular spot(plus a download, just in case you haven't heard it), and also share one or two honorable mentions -- albums I really enjoyed but couldn't bring myself to include in the Top 10. After this list, I'll do films. So coming in at number 10, we have...



Vivan Girls -- Vivian Girls

Vivian Girls are a rad little punk/garage/shoegaze band from Brooklyn who's self-titled album is also their debut. The album is everything you'd expect from a riot grrl inspired outfit, but it's never boring. The low-fi production is very much appealing, as are the melodic tunes: they're short, sorta sweet, and always on point. This might sound cliche, but I see a lot of potential in this act. This is an extremely appealing first album, and they'll probably only get bigger from here.

Key Tracks: "Such a Joke", "Going Insane", and "Tell The World"

Honorable Mentions:

Ty Segall -- Ty Segall
Another self-titled debut from a promising garage act -- this Mr. Segall plays a mean, buzzsaw guitar that, when paired with the fuzzbox vocals, create an altogether raw sound. This album fucking rocks.

TV on the Radio -- Dear Science
Another solid release from the venerable TVOTR. I enjoy this album quite a bit -- not nearly as enough their debut, but I think it tops Cookie Mountain. No matter what, though, an album from these guys will always be worthwhile.

Vintage trailer -- Hitch Hike (1977)

Classic exploitation starring David Hess and Franco Nero -- two of my favorite actors ever. Awesome some flick that I can't find anywhere on DVD, other than Netflix...

Top 10's on the way

Every blog needs them, and this one will be no exception. Expect Top 10 Albums and Films to be coming in the following weeks! Until then, here's this hilarious/disturbing/hilarious picture:

Robert Rodrigeuz's "BedHead"

His first short film.

Kanye's rapping! No autotune! Yeah!

GLC feat. Kanye West -- "Big Screen"

Via FSD, if course.

Olbermann goes hard.

So fucking good...

Right Away, Great Captain! -- "The Eventually Home"

Dilla does "Be"

This is the original version of the title track off Common's classic. Kanye's track is completely different than this one, so comparing them is useless -- it's just always good to hear some unreleased Jay Dee shit.



Common -- "Be" (Produced by Jay Dilla)

Director Spotlight: Ollie Evans

I like the way this guy edits. Seems sorta choppy on the surface, but it definitely works. Pretty cool. He might've directed that video "A-Punk" for Vampire Weekend. Not sure though.

Gossip -- Jealous Girls


The Young Knives -- Terra Firma


Das Pop -- Underground

untitled

How about some new Kanye while we're at it?

That dude KiD CuDi on the hook -- maybe someday they'll do a song together where they actually rap. Maybe.

This album's probably about a week away from leaking fully. Sorry about the DJ hooks.

Kanye West -- Anyway

New Jay Electronica

Pretty good.

Jay Electronica -- Exhibit A (Transformations) [Prod. by Just Blaze]

Zack and Miri Make a Porno review

Soon to be posted at The-Frat-Pack.com




Indie filmmaker Kevin Smith has been doing raunch for over a decade. His benevolent, wise-cracking films seep with equal parts vulgarity and wit, and although he's never been known for his directing prowess, his unwavering fan base has stood by the chubby auteur for the entire ride. His latest effort, the sickeningly sweet [i]Zack and Miri Make a Porno[/i], is his latest foray into the heralded realm of "dick and fart jokes", this time enlisting the help of comedic super-star Seth Rogen and budding leading lady Elizabeth Banks.

Rogen and Banks star as Zack and Miri, respectively, two long-time friends and roommates experiencing some dire financial straits. After reaching the rockiest of bottoms, they decide to scrape together some dough by making a porno they will film and star in themselves. But as the cameras start to roll and the clothes come off, their friendship is called into question as new feelings arise due to their survival-by-fornication. Crazyness, of course, ensues. But what also arises is a insightful look at love and friendships, as the titular characters go through the motions of their emotional awakening.

[i]Zack and Miri[/i] is an appealing, albeit uneven experience. One of Smith's biggest criticisms as a writer continues to be his using his characters as a vehicle for his own cynical diatribes. His films have always been somewhat self-indulgent, and this one is no exception: the parallels between the making of Zack and Miri's porno and Smith's making of his first film, [i]Clerks.[/i], are more or less the same. And while the film may not be set in his obligatory Askewniverse, the dialogue is entirely Smith's -- whether you like his style will ultimately make or break this film for you. Which is to say fans of Smith's, and fans of Rogen's, will be in tears. The movie is consistently hilarious, with one-liners and site gags aplenty. Let it be known that [i]Zack and Miri[/i] is very Apatow-ish: the sophomoric language mixed with genuine emotion has become a new trend in recent comedies, and while the brand is mostly associated with Judd Apatow, one could argue that Smith has been doing the exact same thing since his debut film, [i]Clerks.[/i] -- only he had more Star Wars jokes.



Not content to let Rogen and Banks have all the fun, other Apatow regulars put in great efforts as well. [i]The Office's[/i] Craig Robinson steals every scene as an embittered coffee-shop clerk doubling as the movie’s producer and breast-auditioner (His obsession with making the all-anal extravaganza Star Whores: Revenge of the Shit is golden, as is the underrated actor.), and Justin Long gets chuckles as a macho gay porn star.

But do be reminded that this is a Kevin Smith film, and a true Kevin Smith film wouldn't be complete without the likes of Jeff Anderson and Jason Mewes (Jay to Smith’s Silent Bob, here playing second fiddle to his own scrotum). Both shine in small roles. Anderson, in particular, will be remembered as taking the brunt of one of the biggest "shit-storms" ever, while Mewes finally bares all as an actor (IE: you see his dick).

Sound vulgar? You bet. But [i]Zack and Miri[/i] is a tricky little bastard, a sweet-hearted chick flick covered in jizz that frequently hits comic G spots. You really can’t save Kevin Smith from Kevin Smith -- the film is structurally unsound and the gee-whiz romanticism is somewhat reminiscent John Hughes dragged through [i]When Harry Met Sally[/i]. But Smith has a knack for dick jokes. Likewise, Rogen and Banks have a gift for delivering them. The charisma and filthy lunacy (like [i]Clerks[/i], [i]Zack and Miri[/i] was initially slapped with an NC-17) make it easy to see past the discharge to Smith’s most consistently funny flick since his first.

****

Anni Rossi

Chicago-area singer-songwriter Anni Rossi. She's good -- plays a mean viola. Here's her EP. Download it.



Anni Rossi -- Afton

Director Spotlight: Nima Nourizadeh

Music video director Nima Nourizadeh graduated from Central St. Martins College of Art & Design with a BA Hons in Fine Art Film & Video in 1999. He's done some amazing videos. Here is some of his work.

Jim Noir -- "My Patch"


Santogold -- "L.E.S. Artistes"


Hot Chip -- "Over and Over"


Flight of the Conchords -- "Ladies of the World"

I haven't blogged in a week, but this shit is gold. Pure gold.

XXL Freshmen 10

So every year at around this time, XXL crowns ten up and coming emcees as the Freshmen 10 -- basically, who they think is hot at the moment and could potentially have a career in the game. But, just like every other list of this kind, there's been mass controversy and cantankerin' from the blogs to the forums to the dorm rooms and back again. So I figure?, why not do my own list? Right? I know my shit. I will say, though, there's gonna be a repeat or two -- but I will say right now: Asher Roth, Ace Hood, and Curren$y are garbage and have no place on my list. Anyone else I left off, I don't have any real qualms with -- just not cuttin' it, in my eyes.

Anyway, with out further ado: Drew Hunt's Freshmen 10


Wale: So this is a guy who is on XXL's list, but it's with very good reason. This guy came out this year and was extremely exciting. He shoulda got massive amounts of love in '07 when he dropped the disgracefully unappreciated "100 Miles and Runnin'" mixtape. "W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E." is way to perfect. But he really came into prowess this year with "The Mixtape About Nothing", the Seinfeld inspired tape that was about much more than nothing. With a glaring approach to lyricism that even has the big dogs interested, Wale is basically the shit. Apparently he's got an album coming out next year, but I see him sticking with the mixtape shit for a while.
"W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E." -- Wale


Chip Tha Ripper: One of two dudes coming out Cleveland, Chip is a solid MC with a great fucking delivery -- he sounds like a seasoned vet already. He already has such a trademark voice, too. Deep. Fucking deep. But he's real. According to his MySpace, he's "cool ass, laid back, love 2 laugh, gettin' money, fitted, creative, funny, down 2 earth, soul loyalty and business, chevy ridin', door swangin', globe-trottin', money gettin', hellafied swagg havin', paper stakkin', free lil stace screamin', beat catchin', super freak ass, paper chasin' SOMEBITCH. Ya know????" Awesome.
"Club Rockin'" -- Chip Tha Ripper feat. Akon



Kid CuDi: Now this OTHER dude from Cleveland -- he's on some shit. This guy is out there, but in a real, real good way. Kanye West picked him up and put him on G.O.O.D., and now the rest is up to him. He dropped his mixtape "A Kid Named CuDi" earlier this year, and people noticed in a big way. I find it funny that so many people are into him, too. He's so left of center, I don't know how he ended up in XXL -- but I'm not complaining, he deserves it. He's the shit. Where the fuck is Cleveland coming from?
"Spazzin' Freestyle" -- Kid CuDi


Blu: This dude played a part in the best hip-hop album no one heard in 2007. Along with producer Exile, he dropped "Below The Heavens" and nobody really seemed to be buzzing. Nahright had nothing -- nobody. But it was too good to stay unnoticed for too long, and it didn't take much for everyone to hop on the jock. But rightfully so -- the dude does it all: flow, lyrics, and cadence are all covered. The game needs more emcees like Blu. He's doing it again with Johnson&Jonson, a collabo with producer Mainframe. The album is equally as good as "Below The Heavens", but this time more people are noticing. Go figure.
"Bout It, Bout It" -- Johnson&Jonson (Blu and Mainframe)


Mikey Rocks: No disrespect to his partner in crime, Chuck Inglish, but Mikey Rocks of the duo The Cool Kids is way too cold not to be on this list. See, I know a lot -- scratch -- all of these dudes kinda get pigeonholed into the "hipster" rap label. Call it what you want, whatever -- fact is, it's the new style and this guys reps it better than anyone. Plus, being from Chicago, where this new movement arguably found its fotting, gives him points as well. Some view dudes like Mikey as a fad, but others view it as the the future: put me in the ladder, please.
"The Delivery Man" -- The Cool Kids


Naledge: So if you're gonna bring up Chicago, you can't not mention this guy. Again, no disrespect to Double-O, but Naledge of Kidz in the Hall has a playful approach that is not only relfective of the entire Chicago hip-hop scene, but is a good example of where hip-hop is headed. He fits the mold perfectly, with clever lyrics and flows for days. Although it so goes without saying, "Drivin' Down the Block" is the hoopty-anthem of the year, and features one of the greatest samples ever -- period. Good, good shit. He dropped a good mixtape recently, too called "The Braniac Society, Vol. 1". Most of the links are dead, but if you can find it, get it.
"Ruby Hornet Presents: Freestly in the Park" -- Naledge


Skyzoo: So apparently this guy has one of the Top 10 flows of all time, according to Hot 97. Cool. Anyway, this guy's been around for a little bit, but he's just now coming into his own. I wasn't exactly sold until I heard the mixtape he did with 9th Wonder called "Cloud 9: Three Days High". It's a solid release, and I can definitely see him putting out some real, real quality shit for a while. Top 10 flow is a little generous, but it is a tight one -- he's definitely focused when he's spitting. He even holds down a Dilla beat pretty well, which is still a difficult thing to do, in my mind. Case in point:
"Last Donut Tribute" -- Skyzoo


Crooked-I: Another dude who's been at this for a minute. Crooked-I has been all over, going from Virgin to DPG to Death Row (?), he finally got his shit together and ended up starting his own imprint, Dynasty Entertainment. Some say he bites Jay-Z like a veritable mosquito (the naming of the label doesn't help this), but the fact is he's truly emerged as a capable emcee with sufficient lyrics and a comfortable flow. He could be big in '09, if he ever gets that album out.
"Boom Boom Clap" -- Crooked-I


Donnis: Probably the only rapper is Atlanta who isn't preoccupied with here T.I. lives, Donnis probably knows how to get a part started better than any other dude on this list. The guy is fun -- and I don't care if that sounds lame. His lyrics, his style, his everything -- dude's just a blast to listen to. Hip-hop needs this kinda shit. He pops up all over the place, on tracks with Kidz in the Hall, Cool Kids, Hollywood Holt, Joe Scudda and others. But I'm not even sure he has a mixtape under his belt. That should change soon.Get it while it's hot.
"Supersonic" -- Donnis


Charles Hamilton: Most people not this guy as "that dude on Nahright who's obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog", but he's truly a talented emcee who is killing the blogs at the moment. I posted his mixtape not too long ago, and if you haven't downloaded it yet, better hop on it quick. This guy is the total package: different stagger, different flow, different everything. I mean, just watch the video I posted here and tell me this isn't ridiculous. It's good shit. I don't care if he's trendy at the moment -- I'm sold. Sue me.
"Windows Media Player" -- Charles Hamilton

I LOVE KID ROCK!!!

More United States of Intense Fuckery (USIF)

I'm sure you've seen this, but it's too great not to post

One of the better covers I've heard in a while -- seriously gorgeous.

Alela Diane w/ Headless Heroes -- Just Like Honey (The Jesus and Mary Chain cover)

Charles Hamilton -- It's Charles Hamilton

I kinda like this guy. This is his fourth mixtape. Some DJ Skee shit.

Charles Hamilton -- It's Charles Hamilton

I've been Bangin' for Christ since like '99...Where y'all been at?

Haven't done this in a while...Great Director Series: Hal Ashby

Hal Ashby is quite simply one the of the most underrated filmmakers of all time -- and certainly the most of his time. Unfortunately, the relative dearth of critical and biographical writing currently available about Ashby is virtually nonexistent, despite the awards, the misty paeans from his collaborators and, most importantly, the amazing streak of films in the 1970s, a streak that rivals those of his more famous contemporaries, Francis Ford Coppola and Robert Altman. With The Landlord (1970), Harold and Maude (1971), The Last Detail (1973), Shampoo (1975), Bound for Glory (1976), Coming Home (1978) and Being There (1979). That he disappeared behind a string of disappointing pictures in the 1980s and died before redeeming his reputation has led many critics of the Hollywood Film Renaissance to dismiss Ashby as a filmmaker who lacked a coherent voice or who was simply the competent beneficiary of remarkable collaborations. Sad face.

No biographer has yet made a subject of Hal Ashby, which is surprising considering the quality and influence of his films and the dramatic circumstances of his life. Soon after discovering his father's body at the age of twelve, Ashby dropped out of school and began working odd jobs; by seventeen he had already been married and divorced. The young Mormon decided in 1950 to leave the cold winters of Utah and Wyoming behind and to head off for the golden skies of California. For decades, he worked as an AD on numerous projects until he quickly garnered some fame for his skills as an editor, collaborating with Norman Jewison in films like The Cincinnati Kid and In the Heat of the Night for which he won an Oscar for Best Editing. It was Jewison who recommended his friend to direct The Landlord, a project under development at United Artists. Thus Hal Ashby came to make his first film at the age of 40.



The Landlord is an outrageous debut, a film that, almost 40 years later, still feels daring, both stylistically and politically. It deals with Elgar, a spoiled 29-year-old rich kid (Beau Bridges) who decides to buy a beat up tenement in Park Slope, Brooklyn. His plans are to kick out the poor black residents and turn the place into a big old bachelor pad, although he is soon affected by the various residents. It is clearly a film made by an editor, full of Godard-like jump cuts and abstract images. Characters talk to the screen at times and several montages are reminiscent of Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing. When we first meet Elgar, he is reclining on a lawn chair, sipping brandy. He looks directly into the camera and tells us: “It's just that I get the feeling that we're all – I mean everybody, black, white, yellow, Democrats, Communists, Republicans, old people, young people, whatever – we're all like a bunch of ants, see. See, the strongest drive we have as a true life force is to gain territory.” All of his preconceptions and values – racial, political, economic and otherwise – are tested, though, once his life becomes entwined with those of his tenants. The end result is an often brilliant, occasionally uneven film that (ridiculous as this might sound) resembles late Buñuel's attempt at a blaxploitation film.

His second film is a story of a twenty-year-old rich kid who learns to love life through his encounter with a woman sixty years his senior.



Harold and Maude delights in everyday transgressions: uprooting trees from manicured suburban streets and returning them to the forest; parading a yellow umbrella past the dark faces of a funeral line; flipping a bird to repressive authority figures, whether they be mothers, priests, psychiatrists, soldiers or highway patrolmen. That the film manages to do so without surrendering to the carpe diem-like sentiment that has made a respected actor of Robin Williams is testament to the fine performances of its leads, Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon, but also to Ashby's deft direction, which transforms Clark Higgins' dark satire into a Brothers Grimm-like fable. As with fairy tale, the moral of Harold and Maude is ultimately less important than the telling of the tale itself. The pure joy of Ashby's story-telling frees the film to transcend its often banal symbolism, creating a filmed world that, like that of Wes Anderson (perhaps Ashby's most gifted disciple), allows for the possibility of grace and childhood wonder in a fallen, cynical, adult world.

Ashby accomplishes this to best effect in the final sequence, in which he dismantles and intercuts three events: Harold and Maude's arrival at the hospital, Harold's agonizing wait for news of her death, and his high-speed drive up the California coastline. Accompanied only by Cat Stevens' song “Trouble” and by the roaring engine of Harold's Jaguar-cum-hearse, the sequence is marked by a tragic inevitability. There's no question of Maude's survival, no possibility that this dark fable will be appended with a Disney ending and yet, despite the sadness, Harold walks away in the end strumming his banjo, and the film is rescued from the nihilism of its day.

His next films would not follow this same optimism, although they kept Ashby's playfulness. Bound for Glory and Shampoo are both strong testaments to his work. In many ways, Coming Home best epitomises Hal Ashby's cinematic style, and is also his most personal film. The project was conceived by Jane Fonda with the help of screenwriter Nancy Dowd, and was originally intended for John Schlesinger.

However, the last of Ashby's signature films may top them all.



Being There is his adaptation of the Jerzy Kosinski novel. Kosinski swore that he would never allow it or any of his other work to be filmed, but after learning that a movie project was in the early stages of development, and after experiencing first-hand Peter Sellers' aggressive campaign for the lead role, the author set to work on a screenplay of his own. Ashby's final product is, by most accounts, a smashing success, both as an adaptation of a much-respected novel and as a film, judged on its own merits. The story of Chance, a simpleton gardener who stumbles into America's most powerful spheres of influence, Being There is a satiric jab at the co-opting of the nation's public discourse by television's empty images and content-free rhetoric.

Such ideas were nothing new to Ashby, who had been toying with similar themes in his own work for years. In The Last Detail, Shampoo and Coming Home, in particular, characters are unable to free themselves from the constant barrage of political speeches, commercial advertisements, and reportage that emanate from the televisions, billboards, and radios that seem to have them surrounded. When Sally asks Bob what combat was like, his response echoes the main argument of Being There: “I don't know what it's like; I only know what it is. TV shows what it's like; it sure as hell don't show what it is.”



Hal Ashby was diagnosed in early-1988 with a cancer that spread rapidly to his liver and colon and to which he succumbed, finally, on December 27. Ashby's death at 59 prevented him from witnessing the re-birth of independent cinema that energised America's filmmakers, young and old, during the early-1990s. Imagine how different our appraisals of Robert Altman's career might be had it ended with Popeye (1980), Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982) and Secret Honor (1984) – had it ended before he made The Player (1992) and Short Cuts (1993). Or, imagine how different our opinion of Francis Ford Coppola might be had he not retreated to his vineyards and re-emerged as an acclaimed producer of others' films – had his career ended with One from the Heart (1982), The Outsiders (1983), and Rumble Fish (1983). Hal Ashby personifies, better than any other director, Hollywood's Film Renaissance of the 1970s: its moral ambivalence and political rage, its stylistic audacity and deeply human voice, its supernova of energy that could not possibly burn so brightly for very long.