I just saw this in a shop and bought it on the spot. It turns out to be a soundtrack album. It has a handful of decent songs, a few instrumentals and a number of jarring dialogue snippets from what sounds like, but to be fair probably isn’t, an American teen movie. I was expecting a proper album, and I was disappointed, but taken on its own merits it’s all right.
Review articles
The 6ths
The 6ths are really The Magnetic Fields with guest vocalists. Of course, they don’t approach the majesty of The Magnetic Fields’ 69 Love Songs (the best album in the world… ever) but their albums are still essential, at least to me.
The two albums are Hyacinths and Thistles and Wasps’ Nests. Note how the band and album names are specifically chosen to be awkward to pronounce. Perverse? Yes. H & S has more brilliant, tuneful, hearfelt songs than most bands manage in a career. There’s also the fun final track, which slowly fades out over what seems like several hours.
Wasps’ Nests doesn’t quite have the sounds or the songs, but there are still many lovely moments. And bonus points for featuring Chris Knox, the Godfather of New Zealand alternative music.
Loss — Mull Historical Society
Picked this up in Scotland. Some really good singalong songs, especially Watching Xanadu.
The Royal Tenenbaums
Occasionally Hollywood puts out a really good black comedy. Like this one. It made a nice respite from European culture when we saw it in a shopping mall in Lisbon.
Mulholland Drive
A mind-bending film. Lots of funny little David Lynch-isms to keep you amused – I liked Angelo Badalamenti as the Coffee Nazi. And lots of fun to sit around after wards and figure out how it all fits together.
The Man Who Wasn’t There
What a great film. What a great performance from Billy Bob Thornton. What great cinematography. And what a strange ending.
Empyrean Islands — Herbie Hancock
I find it difficult to get into jazz because, well, there’s so much of it. So thanks to Justin for turning me on to this groovy piece of plastic. It’s slow, funky and really interesting to listen to and absorb. And completely different from my other Hancock albums, Head Hunters and Future Shock.
A Closed Book — Gilbert Adair
The air of menace isn’t as, well, menacing as I would have liked, and there are a few implausible plot points. But the different voices in the book work well together, even if things get a bit banal towards the end. Or do they?
I’m Waking Up to Us — Belle & Sebastian
Another melodic pop gem from Belle & Sebastian. Not much more to say about it other than that it’s not as good as the previous one, Jonathan David, but it’s still stellar.
The Fellowship of the Ring
Breathtakingly exciting, and breathtakingly beautiful. And it took my breath away too.