Here is the long awaited (well maybe for me, more than you) Rabid Lamb Logo. I expect it will go through many drafts, but here’s the first one. Huge thanks to Adam for actually designing and drawing the actual rabid lamb…who I am thinking of calling Ham Head…
I have no idea how to review the book I just read, The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory.
I don’t really read historical fiction, I think the last historical fiction I read when I was about 15, and this book, though very engaging, is not really in the same league with the stuff I generally read these days, much of it award winning literary fiction and short fiction. Yet, I cannot deny that I was totally obsessed with this book while I read it, and the proof is in how quickly I devoured it. The book is about 660 pages, and I began reading it Tuesday night after work and was finished late Thursday night after work. Three days. 660 Pages. Clearly, I was smitten.
Let’s start by talking about why I even picked this up since it’s so outside my normal reading range. I am pretty fascinated by the whole Anne Boleyn thing, I think a lot of women are, it’s such an interesting time in the history of women, where they literally had no power and were traded as commodities by their fathers, brothers, uncles, and husbands on a daily basis without a thought as to their own desires. Yet a woman could also become a Queen, as Anne Boleyn did…which held great power (maybe, if you were brilliant like Elizabeth I and didn’t marry a guy who could/would take it all away). Anyway, it is a very interesting and horrible time for women and I’ve always been fascinated by it and have thought often of picking up a biography of Anne Boleyn or a good history of that time period. Instead I went for some historical fiction. At least I didn’t see the movie. I was actually afraid I was going to see the movie, and I was afraid it was going to be terrible and put me off of the whole idea entirely, so while at the bookstore I decided to pick up Gregory’s fictionalized interpretation of the Boleyns with the idea that I would also research getting a great biography as well. This is still my plan, I just didn’t think I’d finish Gregory’s book in three days. So, prologue aside, onto my attempt to rate this monster…
The Good: It was completely compelling. The high-stakes narrative drove the story forward so feverishly that I didn’t care that the beautiful literary writing I have come to expect in things I read was absent. I just needed to know what was going to happen to these characters and how it was going to unfold (even though I knew the true end for Anne, Mary Boleyn’s story is largely unknown or unwritten).
The story is told from the point of view of Mary Boleyn, which is quite a brilliant decision because it allowed Gregory to speak from a point of view largely ignored or unknown in the history of the Boleyns and the court of King Henry VIII. It also allowed me to hate Anne with a fiery freaking passion, which I did for about 450 pages. Like any good story though, Anne reaps what she sows, and Gregory successfully turns her around in the last 150 or so pages so that I could feel the requisite horror and sympathy for her ultimate fate.
I feared that the romance factor would be gag inducing and put me off the book immediately, but I was pleased to find there was very little, if any of this. In fact, because Mary and Anne are never really allowed to be in love (except Mary in the end) there was almost no romantic swooning at all, for which I was very very grateful. When Mary finally does swoon in the end, you don’t mind so much because she’s had such a miserable lot of luck most of the time, she’s earned a good swoon.
Gregory also did an excellent job of getting my feminist ideals all twisted up within this web. There is an excellent point in the story, when Anne is becoming successful in her bid for winning the King’s affections (pushing her sister quite roughly to the side without a thought by the way) and she makes an impassioned argument to Mary that basically the world will never be the same for women, because she (Anne) is proving that even women, who are perceived to have no power, can accomplish great things (becoming Queen out of sheer will) by being clever and intelligent and not giving up or letting others set her path.
It’s a good argument, and you almost feel with her for a moment, until you hear Mary’s perspective, which though milder, is equally as feminist and powerful in its own way. Mary sees Anne’s pushing aside of a legitimate Queen (Queen Katherine) who has literally done nothing wrong except for get older and not bear any male heirs, as setting the standard for wives to be removed and tossed aside as soon as a king, or man, tires of them.
And the wonderful thing is that they are both right – which is when feminist perspectives get so interesting. Anne is right to push her way forward and not be bound by the men in her life (father, uncle, brother, and even her King) and though it is ultimately her undoing her daughter eventually becomes Queen Elizabeth, a powerful, brilliant, and eternally clever woman, like her mother was, who is arguably one of the greatest Queens in history. But Mary is proven right as well, in that when the King tires of Anne she is quite quickly beheaded (he has already learned it is quite fine to get rid of a wife, even if she is a Queen) and he goes on to divorce (“annul”) two more wives and behead a third before he dies (not in this text). Setting the stage for men with wandering eyes and lustful hearts everywhere to get bored and move on at the slightest whim. And that has worked out SO well for women.
The Bad: I did hate Anne with a venomous passion. Perhaps that was what Gregory intended, or perhaps she didn’t care and just wanted to present the characters as accurately as she could, but it was a flaw in the book I thought. Despite my drive forward with the book I sometimes wanted to put it down simply because I hated Anne so much. I also think this could have been a real problem if I had not pushed through the book so quickly. If I had been reading more slowly and had left off on a bit about Anne, I might have been more hesitant to pick it back up immediately.
Though Gregory’s book is historical fiction and makes no claim to historical accuracy, it’s not that far off. A lot of what is in the book as fact (executions, religious and political moves, movements of the royal family, affairs, children, miscarriages, mistresses, marriages, coronations) is largely accurate. However. while this book is a mere one or two (maybe three?) steps away from being accurate (and makes clear that it is), it has spawned a Hollywood film that is about 100 steps away from this partial accuracy, and from what I can tell, about 100 steps away from the fictionalized though historically based account that Gregory told. While this is premature since I have not yet seen the movie, I can pretty well tell from the trailers, previews, synopsis, and rants from other fans of Gregory that the movie takes incredible liberties with Gregory’s material and the actual history. I’m sure I’ll see the film eventually (though I don’t want to pay so it may be a long time) and I’ll post an update here if I’m not right in my assumptions.
I implore you Hollywood…why? Why spend the money to buy Gregory’s or anyone’s material if you just want to tell your own horrible inaccurate piece of crap story anyway? I’ll never understand you Hollywood…but you sure are pretty and shiny. Good for you. Impressive.
The Ugly: Nothing really. It’s been a very long time since I read something with a historical basis, and a while since I read something with such a strong and direct narrative. I find no major faults with this book, and for what it is, it is extremely effective. I missed my beautiful literary language though. I do wonder if I will feel the same way about this book after I read a couple biographies – my appetite has totally been whet for it – so I’m going to pick some up immediately (anyone have any great recommendations?)
The Rating: Ugh. Here we go. I’m going to dock it one star for just not being in the “upper echelon” of material that I read (god, how snobby did that sound?) and then a half star because it’s not a perfect book. So 3.5 stars.
I finished a couple weeks ago, Interpreter Of Maladies by Jhump Lahiri, the author of The Namesake (now also a motion picture – which looks quite good).
This is an unbelievably beautiful collection of short fiction. I had not read anything of Lahiri’s, except for her piece in a December 2007 issue of The New Yorker, Year’s End, which was equally as stunning.
Interpreter of Maladies seduced me immediately as Lahiri has an eloquent and sparse way with perfect words. Her stories are haunting and complex. I was left with sorrow in almost all of them, yet the book was strangely uplifting. Lahiri does something interesting in Interpreter in that she is not beholden to just one voice, which is somewhat strange for collections like this, usually the author seems to be looking for things to hold the collection together, and point of view is often an easy way to do that, Lahiri switches point of view between stories masterfully, moving from first to third person with ease, and yet her stories link together beautifully, because they are all filled with the same kind of happy melancholy, a private and perfect loneliness, a desperate sadness that still holds mysterious pockets of hope. They also all involve Indian characters in some way or another, which kept things together nicely.
As for best stories, they were all so evenly perfect that it is difficult for me to pick favorites. Because I tend to relate heavily to romantic relationship stories I would have to say that A Temporary Matter, Sexy, This Blessed House, and Interpreter of Maladies were some of my favorites. But that is not to say that When Mr. Pirzada Came To Dine, A Real Durwan, Mrs. Sen’s, The Treatment of Bibi Haldar, and The Third And Final Continent were any less powerful or stunning.
It is really quite an amazing feat in any collection, to make each story not only lovely and strong, but also so haunting. I give Interpreter of Maladies 4.5 stars and cannot wait to read more of Jhumpa Lahiri’s work.
So this is my first book review of 2008. The year in which I am not torturing myself to read a book a week, and I have to say, I’m really enjoying reading again, mostly because I don’t feel so pressured, it’s also of note that I’m getting a lot more done that isn’t reading – so it’s good on all sides.
Adam lent me this book, Superfolks by Robert Mayer (which he has not read) thinking I might find it interesting, both because I love me some superheroes, and also because my novel (and my in-progress second and third novels – part of a trilogy) are basically about a superhero. I think he thought it would be helpful and constructive to read, and that I also might enjoy it. He’s not wrong. I did enjoy it. But it also totally enraged me, and in the end, despite the fact that I concede my rating may be a bit unfair considering that it was originally published in 1977, it only gets 2.0 stars. Here’s why.
The Good: It was enjoyable in a fluffy way. I can appreciate that Mayer was doing something innovative with superheroes for his time. It reads easily and the hero/superhero David Brinkley is likable enough (despite the misogynistic aspects) but he’s also not too sticky sweet and perfect, he seems very three-dimensional.
One of my favorite parts of the book was a little detail that if Brinkley used his powers of ex-ray vision for non-superhero reasons, like looking at an interns boobs through her tight sweater, then he became instantly clumsy, and that despite the consequences, he often abuses the power and as such is often running into things and falling down. It was a funny bit and an element that would make Superman as Clark Kent more believable in his civilian disguise.
I was very interested in the idea, that was unfortunately only touched on, of Brinkley’s inability to perform sexually as his superhero persona, and the other more psychological ideas about the realities of being a superhero that were explored, it was all very interesting, but unfortunately not really fleshed out thouroughly.
There was a brilliant (also pretty unexplored) idea about villains (powered or not) that all went to the same boarding school (The Winthrop School For Boys) to be trained to be villains – Lee Harvey Oswald being a current (though deceased) alumni and martyr – it was funny and creative and I wish it had tied more into the overall plot, rather than just being a wonderful little side note. The overall conspiracy/plot was also quite clever, though it made for the most dull reading in the book.
The Bad: The title is terrible. Who came up with this title? The title really does not pertain at all to the story. David Brinkley lives in a world with superheroes and supervillians, yes, but the story does not focus on other heroes at all – there are vague mentions of them – mostly in an effort to create a sense of the world that Brinkley lives in, and I think two super villains and one superhero (retired) make fairly brief appearances. The book is also not really about people with super powers in general or as a comment on society, or science, or the future, or anything, so I can’t figure out the reason for the title choice. The Incredibles, with its five minute newsreel footage at the beginning, which brilliantly sets the political and social stage for that world is more about “superfolks” and how that effects them and the world, than this entire 240 page book.
We never know our “hero’s” superhero name. It’s annoying. He is often referred to as Indigo, but later it is suggested that this is just a code name for him by respective governments. You never know for sure. I’m certain Mayer had a reason for doing this, but I’ll be damned if I can figure out the reason. It only served to frustrate me.
There are little tricks that Mayer uses, which I’m sure many readers like, but which left me a bit cold. Tricks such as using famous names for normal people and normal people names for famous people, for example, Jane Doe is a famous movie star and Gloria Steinem (one of our most powerful women in reality – so of course she must be “brought low”) is described as married with children and wearing a smelly housedress and an extra 30 distasteful pounds. There are a lot of name drops like this and initially I thought it was a bit clever, but it gets old fast.
It’s also not clear what stage he has really set for his world, it’s not the real world, or any other pre-established comic book world (i.e. Wonder Woman exists, as do Batman and Superman, but so does Snoopy the Flying Ace and The Lone Ranger), so but I can’t get a sense of what it’s supposed to be like with any accuracy.
People in Mayer’s book also behave in ways pretty contrary to the way we do in 2008, and I suspect contrary to the way people behaved in 1977, and QUITE often in a borderline pornographic way, but there is no set up for why that is acceptable in this society…did something go horribly wrong…or right…to make people act this way? It came up too often to be ignored but not often enough that I accepted it without reservations…especially with no “historical” explanation. The little in-jokes may have been inventive and inspiring or chuckle inducing in 1977, but in 2008 it left me kind of bored, and without a clear sense of the world in which the in-jokes existed I was left frustrated.
The Ugly: The 1977 publication date is hugely at issue in this review because there are many 2008 socially unacceptable things in the book that were probably the norm in 1977. The same way I bristled at the N-word being used occasionally in Matheson’s I Am Legend (fitting that Will Smith got the lead in 2007 – it’s nice when things come around like that) I bristled at the black/white separation here and the way it was handled. I know I cannot expect things like that not to exist in what is essentially a period piece but it’s also hard to just accept it. And this brings us to my major issue with the book, especially in the final pages…
Spoiler Alert
Women are without a doubt second class citizens in this book.
They are sex objects and wives and mothers and that’s about it. They are certainly not superheroes, the best they can do, apparently, is be a hollow version of Superman’s ‘Lois Lane crack reporter’, in the form of Peggy Poole, who is really not as much a reporter as a vehicle for Brinkley to remember his youth and past sexual desire for her. Women can also be whores, as evidenced in the form of Brinkley’s ex-high school sweetheart Lorna Doone, who also operates simply as a vehicle for Brinkley to remember his youth and past sexual desire for her, though as a whore she is now sad looking and unappealing. Boy we women cannot win. What time period is this set in – the 1500’s? Jesus.
I understand it’s 1977, but really? I mean, Charlie’s Angels was on the air then (1976 – 1981)…I’m not saying that it was a groundbreaking show and the angels certainly used their looks to their advantage in every single frame and they were ultimately taking orders from not one, but two men (one of who lived inside a speaker phone no less) but at least they were the stars. They weren’t sidelined reporters and whores, and little housewives, they were private investigators, and spies, and models, and athletes, and they were smart. You know what else was out in 1977…a little show called Wonder Woman…oh yeah, and this show you may have heard of…it’s not like women weren’t on the rise…they were stepping up and were showing, especially during the late 1970’s, that they were NOT just the little wifey, the powerless sidekick, the whore, the sex object. And these shows weren’t even particularly innovative and revolutionary, but rather mainstream, so I have to say that ultimately Mayer’s book is buried in the opposite of innovation and forward thinking. It’s like he decided to do a superhero novel, which was super innovative for the time, and then decided that that was quite enough innovation and quit.
As if to add insult to injury, the end of the book is like a giant punch in the vagina of all women.
Seriously. In literally the last pages of the book, our “hero” allows his old flame Peggy to give him a blow job…he justifies the fact that he allows this to happen while his wife is literally in labor with their third child, by saying that “he didn’t ask for it or instigate it” and that he “deserves it” for saving the world (yet again). Whoo. What a hero. Someone hold me back from this awesome specimen…this golden example of man. Blech. It turns out that it is actually his apparently gay sort-of-one-time sidekick that is blowing him (his eyes were closed) and so he chases him out of the room when he realizes the mistake, and ‘hyuck-hyuck-hyuck’ we can all feel okay that he didn’t actually cheat on Pamela (his wife) with Peggy (his old flame) because it was really Peter (what’s up with the P names?) and he of course didn’t want that. So we are supposed to overlook the fact that our hero wanted it to happen and that he thought it was happening and allowed it to go on, but since it technically didn’t happen the way he wanted with the person he wanted then it doesn’t matter and all is well. Hahahaha! Isn’t life grand? Totally annoying.
And that’s not all – the WORST offense by far is that at the very end of the book Brinkley is basically losing his super powers (as he was in the beginning) and is lamenting the loss of them and of his lost heritage, but his wife has a baby BOY in the end, and SURPRISE, there are very strong hints (i.e. ridiculous hard to deny proof) that the son will have his father’s power. I guess those two little girls of his didn’t get anything. I mean what a surprise, why would they? Girls should pretty much be drowned like unwanted kittens at birth, or farmed out as strippers and whores, or maybe sold into the slavery of marriage, or oh, I know, they can be “crack reporters” that get captured all the time, so that heroes can have someone helpless to rescue.
BLAH! ANGER!
I’m disappointed in my man Grant Morrison for writing the intro to this and praising this book so much. I’m angry at Stan Lee for saying, “You’ll never look at superheroes the same way again” – he’s right, I can’t. And I’m more disappointed than ever.
Here it is, in all its gorgeous glory, the first Rabid Lamb guest strip. Adam tends to be more about beautiful cartooning and artistry and details while I am more about the writing or the “joke”. Sadly, even if I had the skill he does, there is just no way I could measure up to the standard he has set with this strip in a daily comic, there just aren’t enough hours to set aside for it. He has promised to do another one soon though…so feel free to hassle him until he gets it done. Additionally, Adam has a great blog of his own, that is mostly about film, although a few other things slip in there on occasion, which I urge everyone to check out: www.dudehesthestallion.wordpress.com.
Also, coming on Monday, Adam has drawn a great mascot for Rabid Lamb Comics, so I’ll be assembling the new logo over the weekend…it should premiere with Monday’s strip. There are also some book reviews coming up that will post today and over the weekend I think…
Thank you Adam – I LOVE it.
What are people thinking?! Crazy stuff.
Project Runway last night…I’m not surprised…were you?
I had this whole rant I wanted to do about The Millionaire Matchmaker (yes, I’ve seen enough episdoes that I have to admit I “watch” the show – but since I watch it largely for comedic value does that make it slightly less disturbing? I think so) anyway, on the finale of Matchmaker this past week, a millionaire (and a good catch of one too – attractive, 6’4, well spoken, educated, not creepy, and well…a MILLIONAIRE) proposed to his date on their first date. And crazier news, the bitch said yes! WHAT?!?!?!?! What world am I living in?
They had known each other for less than 24 hours and spent less than six hours together. INSANE. But it made me think a little bit about the rush that everyone seems to be in to get married, well okay, it didn’t make me want to think about it, it made me want to rant about it angrily on my blog. So here we are.
What is the freaking rush people? How can you possibly know someone can be a good partner for you in six months…even a year is pushing it if you ask me. Nine times out of ten I’d say proposing before you’ve known each other for a year is insane (there are exceptions – Jessica if you’re reading I probably mean you ;). know there is, especially on a woman’s side of things, a rush if you’re in your thirties and want to have children, but you know what – rushing into the wrong relationship, or even one that seems good but hasn’t had the chance to develop yet because you haven’t even been with that person for an entire year (!) is crazy…sure you might get your kid(s) by the time you’re 36 or 38 or 40 or whatever your magic number for that is, but maybe you’ll be in a crappy marriage too…or divorced…or I don’t know, what’s worse than a crappy marriage?
It’s just silly.
I’m really enjoying this whole “phrases people have used to find my blog” bit, I wish I could just keep it up indefinitely, but it’s got to end…we’ve got one or two more coming, and don’t forget about Adam’s beautiful guest strip premiering on Friday.
Update: The more I think about this, the more the “free sexbot” thing is funny. Because it’s not just that someone was looking for a sexbot, which doesn’t REALLY exist…I mean we’re getting there, but you know, you don’t just like pick one up in Best Buy for a couple hundred bucks…but he (yes, I’m assuming he) was looking for a FREE sexbot. Like there are people all over the city going, “Hey, you know what I’m really sick of? My sexbot. I wonder if I can off load it onto somebody…Hmmm.”
Hello all…a little warning here, this comic and several this week are possibly NSFW…so scroll with caution…
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I’m doing a series of these this week, and I have to say, they’re some of my favorite comics yet, so I hope you’ll enjoy them, even if they are slightly NSFW…in a cartoony way. Also, big news, Friday will be the long awaited premiere of Adam’s guest strip for Rabid Lamb Comics…I’m so excited, as it’s just really really beautiful. He did a great job…it will debut Friday as Rabid Lamb Comic #97.
Ten Best Albums of 2007
Read parts one through three – my top ten of 2007’s books here, films here, and television here.
I hope you’ve all been waiting with bated breath for this, the last Best of 2007 List from The 1979 Semi-Finalist (yes, I know it’s March 2008 already – apologies). I especially hope you’ve all been waiting so anxiously because this is what I am by far least qualified to judge…it’s great to wait for someone’s totally unqualified opinion right? Anyway, this list is obviously compiled from the stuff I actually listened to (a relatively small selection – of what must have been hundreds of albums released this year – maybe 30 or 35 albums in total?) and is largely instinctual, I like what I like and that’s about all I can really say, without some brilliant musical background. So, BS prologue over, here we go…
10. The Mary Onettes ~ The Mary Onettes
I kind of missed the whole awesome 80’s music wave, since I was only 14 when it ended and I lived in Salt Lake City (and the middle of nowhere Colorado) from the age of six until seventeen, both of which were WELL behind the “awesome” music curve. I really didn’t even find all that great music until much later in life, and much of it was brought to me by Adam (thanks Adam). I love most everything I hear from that “new wave” sound, but compared to super fans like my friends Brooke & Evan I’ll always pretty much be a tourist. I didn’t experience it as I should have, but only in retrospect, which colors everything, and I also never got involved enough (do I get “involved enough” in any kind of music? probably not) to appreciate all the amazing details, however The Mary Onettes ARE an awesome band and I love this album. It’s such perfect 80’s “new wave alternative rock” without being old and stale, without copying everything before it, instead it’s just really honest and earnest music that has its own sound, but a sound that belongs soundly in the 1980’s. The great thing for me, is that since they are a “new” band I can experience some of what I missed out on in the 80’s and for that I’ll be forever grateful to The Mary Onettes – thanks Mary Onettes! I can’t wait to experience the next album in real time…Best Track(s): Track #4 – The Laughter
09. Proof Of Youth ~ The Go! Team
Woo-hoo! I picked this up because of the first track, and the whole album pretty much rocks just as hard as that first one, even the mellower tunes somehow rock. I love this shit. In my imagination this whole band is the product of sweet assed female ninjas that bred with the dudes from Jurassic 5…producing the coolest most badass ninja jurassic jammin kids that just happened to start a band one day in the garage. I was playing it loud as fuck at work one day after everyone had already left and I swear I could have worked all night on the energy I was getting from the album. Best Track(s): Track #1 – Grip Like A Vice; Track #3 – My World
08. Cross ~ Justice.
On first listen, I was all, “this is great, but not top ten material”. Second listen, “Hmmm, perhaps I should reconsider”. By the third listen I was in. The mixes are just awesome and the beats are impossible to ignore. The only flaw, for me, is that occasionally, unless of course my cd IS f’ed up, they mix it so hard that the song sounds f’d up (Track #4). I don’t know what this technique is called, but it’s not a technique I’m a fan of. At all. But the rest of the cd is good enough that I’m willing to look past that…and put it right up there in the top ten for 2007. A special thanks goes to ihatewheat of adhoc who introduced me to this band. Thanks! Love it. Best Track(s): Track #1 – Genesis; Track #6 – Phantom Pt. II
07. Neon Bible ~ The Arcade Fire
I was never on The Arcade Fire train, I don’t know why, I just seemed to miss it and was never able to get back on…until now. This is a great album. I love it. I’m going to have to start digging into The Funeral, because if the reviews can be believed, then that album is equal to or better than Neon Bible. One of the things I’ve decided I most like about The Arcade Fire is that they kind of transcend categorization. Not that I’m an expert, but their music doesn’t fit easily under any one label. And you get the feeling when listening that they’re not doing it on purpose so that they can be “awesome and label-less” but rather it’s just actually who they are and how they sound. I kind of just love the hell out of the idea that they’re just doing what they love, what they know how to do, and it comes out just completely beautiful and badass. Best Track(s): Track #1 – Black Mirror; Track #4 – Intervention
06. Back To Black ~ Amy Winehouse
I SO don’t want this on my list, but what can I say…the girl can sing like no freaking tomorrow. So here she is, on the top ten of the year and she deserves it, especially because I don’t even listen to music “like this” very often, but when something is good like this album is it seems to transcend genre lines and pop factor and all that other crap and it just gets to be recognized as the kickass album that it is. Best Track(s): Track #1 – Rehab; Track #5 – Back to Black (although I lean towards Rehab these days considering her current dramas…shades of precognition much?)
05. The Bird & The Bee ~ The Bird & The Bee
I picked this up randomly…I think because I liked the title. Thank the gods I am such a silly ridiculous person. It’s an excellent album. Somehow poppy and accessible, without being annoying and poppy and accessible. Make sense? No? Too bad, that’s the best I can explain it. I defy anyone to listen to track #3 – F*cking Boyfriend and not be singing it the rest of the day…but in a good way. I can’t wait to hear more of this stuff. It’s a soft-ish album overall, but in all the good ways. Best Track(s): Track #3 – F*cking Boyfriend; Track #4 – I’m A Broken Heart.
04. Prog ~ The Bad Plus
Ah, The Bad Plus…how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Prog is a great album, not their best, not my favorite (that would be 2004’s Give – with the infamous 1979 Semi-Finalist track) but this is still wonderful and belongs in anyone’s top ten. For the uninitiated, The Bad Plus is a jazz trio consisting of Piano, Bass, and Drums (Dave King on drums is like watching – and hearing – magic). The Bad Plus is largely known for their creative and super lush covers of infamous tunes like Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears for Fears (on this album) and Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, but the real brilliance for me is in their original work. It is really some beautiful groundbreaking jazz, which you don’t hear much of these days, at least not in mainstream music. They are BRILLIANT to see live. When I leave a Bad Plus show I feel like I can absolutely conquer the world. I want to write, draw, create, live…all of it. I wish they could bottle the experience – I’d stock up – instead I’ve bought tickets to see them again this year – March 22nd at The Blue Note – yay! Best Track(s): Track #2 – Physical Cities
03. Wincing The Night Away ~ The Shins
I’ll admit it, I was one of those people that just kind of fell in love with Natalie Portman in Garden State (if I wasn’t already in love with her) when she’s all “Hey, Zach Braf – this music (The Shins) will change your life” and it kind of does. There’s something wonderful about The Shins. It’s all happy and layered and beautiful and deep all at the same time, and Wincing is particularly this way. I listened to the album many many times in narrowing down my list and it never ceased to be thoroughly enjoyable and moving. I kinda just love the fuck out of it. Thanks Natalie Portman. Best Track(s): Hard call, I’m going with Track #1 – Sleeping Lessons, if only because it’s just a great intro into the whole beautiful package.Track #4 – Phantom Limb and Track #6 – Red Rabbits as close seconds.
02. Sound Of Silver ~ LCD Soundsystem
Good stuff. Certain tracks stand out exceptionally for me on this album, and others are just “great”. The beats are incredible and the lyrics surprisingly, have an actual point – which can often get lost on beat heavy albums. There’s chatter on the web about how this and that song are complete rip-offs of other earlier songs – and this could be absolutely true – I don’t have that kind of musical vault-like knowledge – but the end result is some beautiful beautiful sounds that I’m completely sold on – so I guess I don’t feel too badly about it – true or not. Somewhere in the epic space of the internet someone said this album is the music they want to hear on the radio on a night coming home at 3am…and I couldn’t agree more. I can almost see myself cruising through the city, euphoric but epic-ly sad, with this blowing over me and out the windows and onto the streets. Now if only I had a car. Best Track(s): Track #1 – Get Innocuous. Boy do I love first tracks huh? I think I’m a sucker for first tracks the same way I’m a sucker for first lines in books…
01. In Rainbows – Radiohead
I wasn’t so sure about this album upon first listen…but it’s Radiohead, and a lot of my all time favorite albums have taken more than one listen for me to fall in love with them, in fact, I think I prefer it that way, it alludes to a complexity and depth that isn’t just accessible in casual listening. Suffice to say In Rainbows is one of these complex albums. But by listen number two I was pretty in love and I kind of can’t get enough of it lately. I’ve also noticed a lot of other people that are Radiohead fans (boyfriend, boss, co-workers) seem to feel the same way about this album…and I notice we all play it A LOT. It’s in the bloodstream. For the record, Adam and I did download it, or rather he downloaded it and paid a bit extra (10 pounds I think) because he knew he was going to give it to me, which he did. I applauded the way they released this album, and while it certainly hasn’t been certified as a success by all, it takes a while to change an ancient system – they get credit for getting the ball rolling. I’m a superfan. And they easily slide into the number one spot for me for 2008. Best Track: Track #4 – Weird Fishes/Arpeggio
Honorable Mentions:
We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank ~ Modest Mouse. Honestly? This should be on the list – it’s a great album, but I know Modest Mouse like I know few other bands, and while this is great they can do better (and have, like the exceptional This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About). I’m going to wait for better.
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga ~ Spoon. This is a solid album (sans the terrible title) but it just wasn’t quite exceptional or unique enough to crack this top ten group.
Icky Thump ~ The White Stripes. This is good, but I find White Blood Cells to be superior. Also, I have this problem with the Stripes where I like everything, but after a whole album it just starts to all sound the same. And I get sick of the drums and screeching.
I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On ~ The Broken West. Good stuff (and a great album title) but it just didn’t stand out enough in the pack to push its way to the forefront. A band to watch though.
Spells ~ The Comas. Why is this band not super famous? They are poppy enough to be on the radio…yet I’ve never heard them there (although I listen to very little radio these days – so maybe I’m wrong). They’ve got a great sound. They don’t make the list solely on lyrics. I don’t love the lyrics. At all. They seem a little silly…red microphone? really? A bit silly. But they’ve got super potential to take over the world even if they don’t up their lyrics to a new level. Pop radio isn’t exactly picky.
Would’ve thought they’d make the list, but I just couldn’t get into them:
Some Loud Thunder ~ Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. I like their self titled album, but this ended up just sounding like a lot of noise to me, I wanted to get there but just couldn’t. I kinda hated it actually.
Cease To Begin ~ Band Of Horses. I LOVED their first album, Everything All At Once and listen to it constantly, this is just not nearly as good. Maybe they only had one great album in them?, maybe the dynamic (and talent?) has changed too dramatically now that Mat Brooke has left?, I don’t know but man am I disappointed in Cease To Begin, it has none of the magic of Everything.
My Heart Has A Wish That You Would Not Go ~ Aereogramme. I freaking LOVE the first track on this album (Conscious Life For Coma Boy) and there are many other good tracks, but it’s just too soft. I kept waiting for it to amp up and it just never happened. In the end it made me sad.
