The Redundant Monkey

I'M GOING (BACK) TO SAN FRANCISCO (BUT WITHOUT FLOWERS IN MY HAIR)

...because I didn't learn my lesson the last time. 

Tomorrow morning I'm heading out to SF again, and this time I'm doing Berkeley.  I missed all the hippies the last time I was around, but that's what I get for staying at Fisherman's Wharf.  Maybe we'll run into Ta-kun.  Hopefully I'll have some fun stuff to write/complain about, but seeing as how I haven't been posting shit lately...don't hold your breath.

Scott McKenzie - San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)

ROBOT LOVE CANNOT EXIST IN A WORLD OF HUMANS

Happy Valentine's Day!

For those of us in love, congratulations, love is wonderful.  For those of us not in love, well then, love sucks, and you're not missing a thing.  I was planning on posting a couple of love songs in celebration of today, but I thought that was cheesy.  Then I thought, well let's put some "love suck" songs on, but then I thought, that's not cliche at all. 

I got to thinking about robots.  Robot's can't love.  Robot's can fly spaceships, calculate numbers really fast, teach you how to spell, and even cure cancer,  but love eludes them.  Scientists can be so cruel sometime.  So to all the robots who can't love, this one goes out to you.  Here are a couple of anti-love songs, sung by robot-sounding humans (and I don't mean Madonna).  I feel your pain. 

• Chromeo - Mercury Tears   -  This is the sad tale of a robot who's pretty much resigned himself to being a single solitary unit.  Chromeo come from Canada, and consists of best friends, Pee Thug and Dave 1.  Their bio claims that they're "the only successful Arab/Jew partnership since the dawn of human culture."  See Madonna had it right when she said "Music brings the people together."  The whole album is pretty tech sounding, casios, drum machines, and vocoders.  You can find this song of their album She's in Control.
• Rhythm King and Her Friends -  Get Paid  -  This song could be about a robot who is truly dedicated to her work, or something.  Number 1 prime directive, work! I'm stretching thin here.  This comes from the German electro band Rhythm King and Her Friends, and off of their album, I Am Disco.
• Captain Ahab -  You Never Ever Ever Ever  -  This is for the robot who's tired of his or her robot mate not doing nice things for them.  If you've ever been in a relationship for over a year or so, you get to that point where you notice things aren't like they were when you first started dating.  "You don't open the door for me anymore, you don't buy me flowers, you don't say how pretty I am anymore, and would it kill you to rim me every once and awhile?"  Not that I'm speaking from experience, I'm just saying...  This song came from Captain Ahab's website a long time ago, a few years perhaps, I'm not sure if it's available anywhere else.  I heart Captain Ahab because it's really some fucked up silly shit, and I mean that in the best sense.  For good measure here is his version of Avril's Skater Boy.

• Captain Ahab - Sk8er Boi  - Finally, a love song for the robot with a crush. These can be also found on his website, where you can download two more songs for your listening pleasure.

NO DIGGING REQUIRED

This is a compilation I just mailed off to Prof. J in Atlanta.  I decided to forgo any kind of themes for this one and just stick to some plain ole good music.  Shake yo ass and enjoy.

No Digging Required

1. Mulatu Astatqe - Yegelle Tezeta
2. The Greenhornes - Too Much Sorrow
3. Dengue Fever - Tip My Canoe
4. Marion Black - Who Knows
5. Holly Golightly - My Love Is
6. Oscar Brown Jr. - The Snake
7. Electrelane - The Valleys
8. Loudon Wainwright III - The Swimming Song
9. Feist - Mushaboom
10. Kathy McCarty - Desperate Man Blues
11. Sharon Jones - This Land Is Your Land
12. Bill Withers - The Same Love That Made Me Laugh...
13. Antony & The Johnsons - Be My Husband
14. John Martyn - Glory Box
15. Gil Scott-Heron - Home Is Where the Hatred Is
16. Colonel Bagshot - Six Day War
17. Handsome Boy Modeling School  feat. Cat Power - I've Been Thinking
18. Enon - Murder Sounds
19. Gilbert O'Sullivan - Alone Again (Naturally)
20. Feist - Tout Doucement

ANSWER KEY:

#3 You can get dengue fever from a mosquito, get sick, and maybe hemorrhage and die. The band Dengue Fever, hailing from Los Angeles, won't make you hemorrhage, but they do make your ass shake.  Would you rather die from bleeding to death or death by ass shaking?  Let's assume you choose ass shaking, here are a few things you should know about the band.  They're different from your usual LA band, and different is good.  What might fall really close to being gimmicky actually succeeds in sounding completely unique and refreshing .  Most of the songs found on both their self-titled release and their latest release, Escape From the Dragon House are sung in Khmer, which is the official language of Cambodia.  So what's so unique about that?  Well the only Cambodian in the band is singer Chomm Nimol, the rest of the band consists of Americans who look like they've time traveled out of some 60's or 70's psychedelic band.  If you have a chance to see these guys perform, I highly suggest it.

#5  I think it's become my personal mission in life to spread the virtues of Golightly to the rest of the world.  When you think of Holly Golightly, you immediately think of Audrey Hepbern.  I don't.  Mickey Rooney forever ruined the movie, Breakfast At Tiffany's for me.  Watching someone do a yellow face impression that is so awfully racist, made it so difficult to watch, that I've never finished it all the way through.  This Holly Golightly (which happens to be her real name)comes from England.  She started out in the all girl garage band Thee Headcoatees, and eventually left the band to start her own solo career, and since then she's released what seems like a billion different albums.  With so many releases under her belt she's never really broken through to the American audiences.  Only the cool kids, like yourself, know about her.  Recently her song, There Is an End, was featured in the opening credits of the movie Broken Flowers. My Love Is comes from her 2004 release, Slowly But Surely.  Check out her official website to learn more about her, and she's also got a myspace page, where you can check out a couple song samples.

#6 Oscar Brown Jr., singer, songwriter, poet, playwright, poet, and civil activist, sadly passed away last May, but he left a kick ass musical legacy behind.  When I think of cool, I immediately think of an Oscar Brown song.  I particularly like The Snake because I'm a sucker for songs with a story.  You can read a very limiting biography at Allmusic. The Snake comes from an album containing two of his earlier releases, Tell It Like It Is and In a New Mood, which you can purchase here.

#7 I never really know how to explain what kind of band Electrelane is.  They're indie rock, but that's such a half ass descriptive label, that in the long run, doesn't doesn't mean anything. So hmm...I'll just describe this track.  It's a choral masterpiece backed by a drum beat.  Simple enough right?  They've transcribed portions of Siegried Sassoon's poem "The Old Huntsman" and arranged the music so it sounds like something you would hear in some kind of hipster church.  I think I would like the Polyphonic Spree if they were as moody as this bunch, instead of them being so damn cheerful and bouncing off the walls all the time.  You can find The Valleys off of their 2004 release, The Power Out.

#11 Sharon Jones is a soul powerhouse.  You don't hear too many people singing like her these days and what passes for soul now, is a pale imitation of what she can do.  She has a sound that is undeniably classic, and it's hard to believe that this record just came out last year.  This Land is Your Land, is of course a cover of the classic folk song by Woody Guthrie.  I remember being taught this song in elementary school, and I thought it was hokey as shit.  Then I heard Sharon Jones' version, and there's these last two verses of the song that I never knew existed.  They are a biting commentary on the whole, "separate but equal" issue.  This land, really isn't the huge melting pot we think it is, there's your side, and there's my side.  My land, and then there's this little spot for you, over there, far away enough so I can still keep my eye on you.  Anyway you can find this song in two places.  The first, and this one I highly recommend, is from Jones' last release, Naturally.  The second, is off of the Ubiquity compilation, Rewind 4, which also includes a soul version of the White Stripes, "Seven Nation Army," done by Nostalgia 77.

#18 I heart Enon.  This comes from their 2003 release, Hocus Pocus.  After five little music descriptions, I'm pooped.  Think Deerhoof, but not as crazy, more accessible, more cute, and more groovy.  Hocus Pocus was on my top ten that year.  Just listen to them, dammit.

I'M NEVER GOING TO DANCE AGAIN

It's December here at the Monkey, so that means posting time is limited.  I know, I know.  How can I possibly be so busy at the end of the year?  Blame out of town friends and a multitude of Christmas/Holiday parties I need to make an appearance at, lest I wish to be known as The Prick Who Hates Christmas.  Truth be told, I do hate Christmas, but you know, if it makes people I know act a little nicer and friendlier for a few weeks out of the year than I can't complain. 

Bastards.

December also means it's going to be a mix tape madness month for me.  In addition to buying gifts for people, I'll try to give a little personal touch by making mix cd's specifically tailored for each individual.  I figure, hey this also a good excuse to put some more mp3's up.  I'm listed in quite a few different directories as an MP3 blog, and I get so much traffic from them.  Unfortunately I haven't been keeping my end on of the bargain, and it's been quite some time since I've uploaded any tracks.  But not anymore!  Rejoice my friends, for here are a few more.

This mix cd was made for a friend of mine who recently came down to Southern California and had a chance to see me dj at the bar.  This silly lightweight friend of mine, decided to load up on Ginger Ale and Maker's Mark (which I personally feel next to any sour drink, flavored martini, or cosmo, is one of the gayest drinks I've ever had to order for anyone).  I only saw him drink 2 or 3 of them, but the boy got fucked up. 

Not just fucked up, mind you, but FUCKED UP. 

Fucked up in the sense that he was lying on the floor on the verge of passing out.  Fucked up in the sense that he dropped a glass, which shattered, and as he was lying on the floor almost passed out, decided to slice up his hand.  I've always believed you could tell how drunk a person is by how they lie on the floor.  If the person is on their side, writhing in pain, it's a good sign that there's still some life in him.  This friend did one of those embarrassing on your back, dead man poses.  This of course occur ed in the hallway between the dance floor and the bathroom.  As he lie there, people going to the bathroom feigned brief concern that passed as soon as they passed him. His blood splattered jeans looked like they belonged to a puberty bound 12 year old girl who was caught off guard by her first period.

I ended up having to leave the rest of the bar, forcing Mark to finish the rest of the evening off all by himself.  I missed the fuckers who threw ice (or maybe it was glass) through the window into the dj booth.  I'll catch you fuckers next time.

So for my favorite little drunk friend, I made him two Cd's.  This first one is basically a sampling of some the stuff we play.  This isn't a definitive playlist, but it is some of the more interesting tracks he might have missed.  Remember to check out some of the websites where these mp3's were taken from....Enjoy!

I'M NEVER GOING TO DANCE AGAIN -or- THE HOUR I SPENT LYING ON THE FLOOR OF DANCE

1. The Kills - The Good Ones
2. Blondie - Call Me
3. Fidelski / CRFTP - "Hey Mickey...Your white orchid is a holla back girl!"
4. Joan Jett - Bad Reputation
5. Missy Elliott - Gossip Folks (Mousse T's Pogo Remix)
6. LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
7. M.I.A. - $10
8. John Marr - Toxic Rhythm
9. Stacey Q - Two of Hearts
10. Scissor Sisters - Available (for you)
11. X - Los Angeles
12. Concrete Blonde - Still In Hollywood
13. Gwen vs. Queen - Holla Back Queen (Fidelski's Remix)
14. Lyrics Born - I Changed My Mind
15. Basement Jaxx - Good Luck (Tim Deluxe Extended Funk Club Mix)
16. B-52's vs. Felix vs. Fatboy Slim - Rockafeller Rocket Shack
17. Yaz - Don't Go
18. Peaches - Shake Yer Dix (Agent Lovelette Mix)
19. Sylvester - You Make Me Feel
20. Ben Folds w/ Rufus Wainwright - Careless Whisper

ANSWER KEY / IMPORTANT LINKS

#3 and #13 were both mixed by Fidelski, and they can be found the website, Communist Remixes For The People.  As far as mashups go, the Gwen vs. Queen track is probably the most interesting and flawless mashup I've heard this year.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say it is THE best mash-up of the year.

#8  I love love love playing this mashup of Britney Spear's Toxic.  Up in the booth you get a lot of crappy requests, and Mrs. Federline is someone that gets asked for a lot.  I have issues with this, but I'm not an unreasonable guy.   So I was lucky enough to find this online a few years ago. As soon as the kids hear the intro to this song they run onto the dance floor and squeal like little girls.  Then the vocals kick in and they're surprised and shocked to find out that Mrs. Federline isn't the one singing.  Instead, John Marr takes the accapella from Cutback's "Rock to the Rhythm," and turns the original loathe-some poop track into this sped up dance-hall number.  It's funny watching the kids try and keep up to the beat.  As far as I know, John Marr's website has been down for quite some time now, and I wasn't able to find a link. 

#16  I've always wanted to play the B-52's "Love Shack," because I've always felt that it was a pretty fun, the only problem was that it was cheesy as fuck.  Add in some "Rocket Ride" and some "Rockafeller Skank" and I think it gave it just enough edge to make it actually danceable.  You can find that mp3 along with some other great mashes here.

#20  Last but not least....a live cover version of George Michael's "Careless Whisper" as sung by Ben Folds and Rufus Wainwright.  You can find that song at the aqLMA: live music archive, along with some other great live Ben Folds.

MIX CDs = LOVE (but usually they = vanity project)

I've been M.I.A. because I've been L.A.Z.Y.

Last weekend Mark, Sherrie, Tony and I made the big trek down to the O.C.  Rebeca was turning the big 3-0, and that's worth a trip to Fullerton (even though the traffic was horrible.  On the way back home, they shut down the 5 to one lane, twice).  But whaddyagonnado?  This girl is an intellectual brick house, and she ain't bad on the eyes either, plus we go back.  Retail and bookstores bonded us.  I had just moved to the OC and I was afraid of everyone there, but not her (even though at first she so wrongly assumed I was a religious zealot), but that's another story for another time.   For her birthday I got her a few bootleg Cd's of a certain redheaded singer, and I also made her a mix CD.

One of my big passions growing up was making mix tapes for people.  It started out as introducing people to new music they might have never heard of.  I played the part of a musical prophet bringing down the tunes from the Mount to quench the musical thirst of my disciples.  This was all good and fine for awhile, but getting people hooked onto new music wasn't enough any more, and making mix tapes eventually turned into something else.  I got bored of just putting random songs onto a tape.  The flow was mastered that was fine, but it seemed like something was missing.

As technology improved, mix tapes turned into mix Cd's and song placement got a little trickier.  Side 1 always used to be the first part of some great musical story or journey.  Side two was the conclusion, ending in a finale of a song that would leave the recipient breathless and wanting more. With no physical intermission such as turning the tape over, you had to think of a better way to sequence your CD so that your listener would still be interested.  Whereas each side of a tape became like a pop tart individually wrapped in foil, a mix CD was all of the pop tarts in one bag, and you had to eat them all otherwise the rest would go stale.

I realized, that the songs I was picking all started to have a theme to them.   Ah, so here it was, the challenge came to me.  Let's make a mix CD with a story, with a different kind of flow.  Of course the music had to be good, but now they had to mean something.  Mix Cd's then became a challenge to me, and in turn that much more fun to make.  My other great passion in life was writing, so I figure aside from music journalism, this was a way to utilize both of my great loves.

Of course for my job now, what I do most of the day is make mix Cd's.  That killed any kind of enthusiasm I had for the art.  So on special occasions, like Rebeca's birthday, I shake off the dust and see if I still have it.

I realize that I put too much emphasis on making Cd's.  Mark asked me, "Do people really appreciate it when you give them mix Cd's?"  The answer is always, they might appreciate them, but not as much as the person who made them.  It's a narcissistic art on the one hand, and on the other it's a narcissistic art.  As long as they seem happy when they get them, I'm OK with it.  They might never listen to the CD and I'll be fine with it.  (bastards!)

The following mix CD is a double doozy.  It's a love story, from beginning to end.  From falling in love to breaking up, to fucking hating your ex, to everything being a-OK, and back to wanting to fall in love again.   It's kind of like when Cupid met Psyche or like when Annie Hall meets Alvy singer.  There are a couple MP3's in there so...enjoy!  Also if you like the music check out some of the links I've provided so you can check out some other tracks, and maybe buy something.

THE WITCH, THE MORTAL, AND THE SCORE SHE HAD TO SETTLE

Disc 1

1. Miranda July - When I Call a Name 
2. Josh Ritter - Come and Find Me (remix)
3. Lovage - To Catch a Thief
4. John Martyn - Glory Box
5. The Kills - The Good Ones
6. Iron and Wine w/ Calexico - He Lays in Reins
7. Sara Montiel - Quizas, Quizas, Quizas
8. Maggie Estep - I'm an Emotional Idiot
9. Antony and the Johnsons - Be My Husband
10. Eleni Mandell - Can't You See I'm Soulful
11. Etta James - Baby, What You Want Me To Do
12. Cat Power - Good Woman
13. Sharon Jones - How Long Do I Have To Wait For You
14. Linnzi Zaorski and the Delta Royale - Evenin'
15. Mirah - Don't Die In Me
16. The Frames - What Happens When the Heart Just Stops
17. Telepopmusik - Brighton Beach
18. Handsome Boy Modeling School feat. Cat Power - I've Been Thinking
19. Nina Simone - Since I Fell For You
20. Lyrics Born - I Changed My Mind

Disc 2

1. Eileen - Ces Bottes sont faites pour marcher
2. Oscar Brown Jr - But I Was Cool
3. Kathy McCarty - Desperate Man Blues
4. The Real Tuesday Weld - Still Terminally Ambivalent Over You
5. Hefner - Hymn for the Cigarettes
6. PJ Harvey - Who Will Love Me Now?
7. The Decemberists - Engine Driver
8. Spoon - Tear Me Down
9. Clem Snide - Something Beautiful
10. Le Tigre - Tell You Now
11. World Leader Pretend - Punches
12. Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch
13. Colin Meloy - I Know Very Well How I Got My Name
14. Siouxsie - The Passenger
15. Holly Golightly - Walk a Mile
16. Wicked Little Town (Tommy Gnosis version) - from the Hedwig and the Angry Inch OST
17. K-Os - Hallelujah
18. Ruth Brown - If I Can't Sell It
19. Elliott Smith - Happiness
20. Kanye West - Touch the Sky

Disc 1 (Answer Key)

#1 Taken from the original soundtrack to one of my favorite movies of the year, so far, Me, You and Everyone We Know / #3 From the Lovage album Music To Make Love To Your Older Lady By, featuring Dan the Automator, Mike Patton, and Jennifer Charles from Elysian Fields / #7 Sara Montiel's version of Quizas can be seen in the Pedro Almodovar Bad Education and it can also be heard on the album 24 Grandes Exitos / #10 Eleni Mandell's smokey song can be found on the album Afternoon / #17 Telepopmusik featuring Angela McCluskey off of their latest album Angel Milk

Disc 2 (Answer Key)

#1 A French cover of These Boots Were Made For Walking by Eileen, found on the compilation album Femmes de Paris volume 1 / #5 From Hefner's 1999 album, The Fidelity Wars / #6 A b-side to PJ Harvey's single, That Was My Veil / #8 Spoons cover of Tear Me Down from the benefit cd of Hedwig and the Angry Inch covers, Wig in a Box (probably the best cover on the album) / #15 Holly Golightly, from the album, Truly She is None Other

                                 

OH ETTA, BABY! I FORGIVE YOU!

A good soul song should feel like a great big ole sonic hug, given to you by the elderly all-knowing black relative you wished you always had (of course if you do have one of these, than you know what I'm talking about).   

At work we were looking for a song to replace Etta James' Don't Cry Baby.  I had never heard the song, so I had to look up.  I found Don't Cry Baby on itunes and listened to it and my system was thrown into shock.  Her soulful voice cut through the thick lifeless air that was permeating through my office.  I'm usually at level 4 when I'm at work.  What I do isn't brain surgery, so why bother operating at 10, especially when no one is watching. 

Her song comes on, and immediately I'm transported to some weird Blues listening land, where your shoulders start swaying, neck starts bopping, and you immediately feel compelled to put on your best Jazz-face.  Jazz-face, as Robbie Williams would say, is that face you make when you smell one of your own farts, you're both disgusted and secretly enjoying the smell.

I'll admit that I did start to get teary eyed. Hearing Etta James sing, "Don't cry, don't cry baby," well, it made me want to cry.  It felt like she was singing that song directly to me.  She was apologizing for treating me so bad, she didn't mean it, but I wanted to give her smile to let her know, that it was OK, that I still loved her, that I forgive her, and that I think this marriage counseling bullshit is actually working for a change.  Of course the phone rings and smacks you right back into reality.  As usual I have to lower the iTunes and I am forced to eavesdrop on the telephone call in the other room.

Anyway, so yeah, that's what a good soul song should sound like.  Something that gets you "right there" (other people's "right there's" are in different places.  Mine goes right under the rib cage and up the chest cavity to your heart.  When something gets me good, it gets me right there). 

I guess since I've been rambling about Etta James you're thinking I'm going to leave you with some, but that'd be too obvious.  Here are a pair of almost obscure soul songs that have been sampled by two of my favorite DJ's:  DJ Shadow and RJD2.   

• Marion Black  Who Knows
• RJD2  Smoke & Mirrors

Marion Black's song can be found on numerous compilations and soundtracks, but for a good one, I'd click here / Click here to get RJD2's Deadringer, one my most favorite albums in the world.  He's got samples a-plenty on here, but my favorite is the Elliott Smith sample of, I Didn't Understand on the song Ghostwriter. 

• Colonel Bagshot  Six Day War
• DJ Shadow  Six Days (Soulwax Remix)

There's not that much information on Colonel Bagshot, almost nothing at all. Good luck.  The only thing I was able to scrounge up, and this may not be right, is that they are a 1971 Liverpool psychedelic group with their only release, What a Lovely War, put out on Cadet Records. / You can get the original DJ Shadow version of Six Days on his last proper release Private Press. / You can get the Soulwax remix on a reworking of Private Press, called Private Repress. / Is there a relation to 1967 Arab-Israeli War, otherwise known as the Six Days' War?  I dunno.

CLIMB THE STAIRS OF QUIET DAYS...SHHHHH!!

The scorching weather + the fires all over Los Angeles + being sick and stuck in an air condition-less apartment + using up my remaining sick/vacation days at work = one miserable week. 

I took Monday off, feeling slightly ill.  I thought I was OK on Tuesday so I decided to come into work, only to find out, that was a really bad idea.  I had this really irritating dry cough, and I was hacking all day.  I was even annoying myself, I can only imagine how my coworkers felt.  So at the urging of my boss (sneaky sneaky) I used up my last remaining sick day.  Of course the day I choose to take off is the same day that the sun decided to burn the planet and set Los Angeles ablaze.  The apartment smelled of smoke, but I had to keep the windows open because it was so hot, and of course this let all the little ash particles come flying into the apartment.

Not everything was bad, I mean I was at home during work hours.  I liked the fact that I could actively practice not watching Oprah.  Usually I'm at work and can avoid it without any effort, but these past few days I ignored the Oprah show rather vindictively.  Just a whole lot of nothing going on in the Casa de Gary.  You can bet that one the first things I'm going to do when I win the lottery is to get back to a schedule of doing absolutely nothing. 

Actually I didn't just lay around in my own filth and sick, I caught up on my reading and movie watching.  I finally finished reading Carlos Bulosan's America Is In the Heart , and I watched tons of weird quirky asian movies.  Maybe it's a cultural thing, but wow, what a world asian cinema takes place in.

Here are 3 songs from some asian movies I've been watching.

IRON LADIES 2 or Satree lek 2 (Thailand)

Basically this takes place right after the first Iron Ladies.  OK, so what happened in the first Iron Ladies?  Glad you asked.  It's the true story of the 1996 Thai men's volleyball team that rode a wave of victory all the way to the National Championships.  OK, so what's the catch?  The team consisted mainly of gays, transvestites, and transsexuals.  So what's the difference?  I'll save the Sexuality 101 class for another post, but I'm sure you get the idea.  Iron Ladies 2 takes place a little while after the first movie, the group has split and the members of the team are dealing with the fame and notoriety they achieved the first time around.  Egos get big as the bitch-slaps get bigger.  The group is separated when they begin, but do they get back together?  I'll save you the trouble of renting this stinker, they do.  I really enjoyed the first movie, and like most sequels, this one, not so good.  There were some fun moments though, including the Thai drag performance of "I Will Survive."  Classic.  I love how the beginning of this version sounds exactly like Madonna's "Live To Tell."  (right click to save)

• Saisunne Sukhakrit - I Will Survive

Info on Saisunne Sukhakrit / Iron Ladies official movie site / Iron Ladies 2 on Netflix

BATTLE ROYALE 2 or Batoru rowaiaru II: Rekuiemu (Japan)

Another sequel.  OK, how shall I explain this without making it too difficult?  Let's start with the original, the very first Battle Royale, which is one of my all-time favorite movies.  I first became aware of this movie like a lot of people, from watching Kill Bill.  I was amazed by Chiaki Kuriyama's performance as Gogo Yubari, I wanted to find out what else she had been in.  Battle Royale came up a lot in my search, and for a good reason.  Chiaki has one of the most memorable, knife-stabbing a boy in the groin scene, ever.  I swear it shriveled up and I had a mangina the rest of the movie.

This movie is about a class of 9th graders who are kidnapped, placed on an island, and forced to kill each other.   It's a last man standing kind of deal.  They're forced to fight because the government has placed these death collars around their necks, if the students don't participate by the end of the third day, the collars go BOOM.   

What I liked most about the first movie was that even though these kids were killing each other in the most brutal way, they were still trying to deal with all this teen angst.  Issues about fitting in, adolescent crushes, friendship, and being popular were all being dealt with, along with finding out the best way to survive the game.  It's a lot like life I suppose.  "Oh I have a crush on this person, but I have to chop his head off, what do I do?"  I think it's a question we've all at one time or another have had to deal with.

There's so much more to the plot than just that, but I don't want to get too involved. Seriously, just rent it, you'll like it, unlike it's sequel. I loved the first movie so much, I had to see the second, what a mistake.  The plot of Battle Royale 2 has almost nothing to do with the first movie. The kids and collars are there, so are the survivors of the first Battle Royale, but then the story goes crazy.  I'd love for someone to explain to me, what the fuck happened.

This song, played during the credits of Battle Royale 2, comes from the Japanese group Dragon Ash.  It's a nice lil' number sung in Japanese.  The title of the song translates to, "Climb the Stairs of Quiet Days," Aww how pretty. (right click to save)

• Dragon Ash - Shizukana Hibi No Kaidan Wo

More info on Dragon Ash / Translation of Shizukana... / Wiki page on Battle Royale 2 / The mighty original Battle Royale available to rent from Netflix / My favorite Battle Royale related website

SAVE THE GREEN PLANET  or Jigureul jikyeora!  (Korea)

 

Doesn't just looking at that picture make you want to watch this movie?  Save The Green Planet is probably my favorite movie out of the bunch.  It had a plot that was somewhat easy to follow, but it still had those WTF moments you've come to expect out of a lot of asian cinema.  Our main character, Byeong-gu believes that the world is about to be attacked by aliens, and he sets out to stop the invasion.  Simple enough, right?  Turns out Byeong-gu is a little crazy in the head, and his credibility comes into question, when he and his overweight tightrope walking girlfriend kidnap a rich and powerful CEO, believing him to be an alien disguised as a human being.  Introduce the crazy plot points and connections and you've got yourself one great movie.  Is he crazy, or isn't he?  This song comes from the trailer and opening credits of the movie.  It's a punk version of the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," that sounds suspiciously like it came from the OC.  I know, I know, but before you groan, the Korean punk band singing, with their heavily accented english, just make it so darn adorable.  You might not like the song, I barely do, but I highly recommend the movie.  (right click to save)

• Trans Fixion - Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Trailer for Save the Green Planet / Official website

THE KILLS KILLED ME

 

Last Friday I went to The Kills show at the El Rey, and I have to say I was really really impressed.  W, the girl, and Hotel, the boy walked on stage and jumped right into their first song, no hellos, no thank you's for coming, just BAM, rock.  My knowledge of The Kills was pretty limited.  I had their two CDs and I liked them, and that was pretty much it.  So I was suprised to see that they had no drummer, just a soulless unseen drum machine.  Yet the duo made up for the lack of a drummer with some stellar showmanship on the stage.  W, on the first song was already climbing up the speakers as a nervous stagehand ran up to the speakers to hold them down and make sure they didn't topple over.  Rock n' Roll, man. Meanwhile Hotel was doing all of these hurkey jerky moves, kinda like he was in mid-orgasm.  The whole time he was playing, his guitar became an extension of his penis, and boy did he rub the neck of that guitar.   It seemed like the two of them were both posessed, and I haven't seen people rock out like that in a long long time, it was so refreshing.  All in all, it was a great show.

Here's a remix of one of my favorite songs, The Good Ones.  The original, on the album No Wow, is by far a better version of this song, this remix is kind of a bit too clubby for me, but you can buy the original here.  You can get the remix, along with another long remix of this song on import, here.

• The Kills  The Good Ones (Kieren Hebden Club Edit)

The Kills Website.

ON AND ON DOWN BURGUNDY

I know I promised some sap free blogging, but shit happens.  Shit happened.  I've been listening/watching to the news all day, pretty much in horror.  I keep on seeing pictures of places I've visited, places that I fell instantly in love with.  The people, the food, the architecture, the literature, and most significant to me - the music, seemingly gone for the moment. This was a town that was rich with life.  My heart goes out to New Orleans and everyone there.  I'm not going to say much on the topic just because whatever I say will come out as either lacking or trite.   

Here's one of my favorite Tom Waits songs, "I Wish I Was In New Orleans."  Of course no one wishes this now, but I like to think of the New Orleans in the song as a metaphorical place.  A place where Waits felt home, a longed for destination fueled by a hope that everything will be there when you return.

• Tom Waits  "I Wish I Was In New Orleans" from the album Small Change

For good measure, a few more songs about the Crescent City.

• The All-Star Marching Band "When The Saints Go Marching In" from the album New Orleans Parade
• The Simpsons "Oh Streetcar! (The Musical)" from Songs in the Key of Springfield.  (ok yes some people in New Orleans didn't like this song when it appeared in the episode A Streetcar Named Marge.  The first few lines of the medley are especially a bit biting towards New Orleans.  Yet as much as I love to romanticize the Big Easy, the simple fact was that Bourbon Street did smell like pee, puke and beer, but that was all part of its charm.)

THE LAST DAYS OF 29 or OH FREUD, YOU!

The crazy conflict that I've had my whole life is that I desperately crave the spotlight, and yet when the spotlight gets thrown my way I shy away from it. How dare I bask in the glory of the attention.  This dichotomy is a weird personal quirk I have to struggle with on a daily basis.

I am now less than one week away from turning 30.  Yesterday we had an awkward birthday lunch for me at work, and I say awkward because I know for a fact that everyone in the office finds these lunches torturous.  It feel like we're all being forced to converse with each other for an hour. I felt really weird that the sole reason we were going out was because it was my birthday.  All eyes on me.  What's even more worrisome is that next Saturday, Gary's big 30 bash is going to take place, and it looks like there's going to be an assload of people coming. 

In a previous post I wrote about how I tend to get withdrawn every year around this time.  I could never really understand why, I mean other than the fact that I'm this big drama queen.  Then today while I was at the laundry-mat just reading my book, I came across this quote from Freud.  This comes from the fifth lecture of his General Introduction to Psychoanalysis, "Difficulties and Preliminary Approaches to the Subject," about sleep and dreaming, he writes:

Our relationship to the world which we enter so unwillingly seems to be endurable only with intermission; hence we withdraw again periodically into the condition prior to our entrance into the world: that is to say, into intrauterine existence.  At any rate, we try to bring about quite similar conditions-warmth, darkness, and absence of stimulus-characteristics of that state...It looks as if we grown-ups do not belong wholly to the world, but only two thirds; one third of us has never been born at all.

Oh Freud.  As usual with Freud and me, I have to take what he says with a grain of salt, and yet this doesn't seem too unreasonable.  Though the thought of crawling back into my mother's womb sounds repulsive, the fact that I become withdrawn around this time of year, every year, it makes some sense.  Maybe the whole birthing process was so goddamned traumatic for me, that these are like phantom scars that resurface every August.  Fuck it, he is right in the sense that I am a big whiny baby.  Oh well, whatever.  I just need to get over myself.

Here's William Shatner "singing" It Was a Very Good Year, this doesn't come close to the Sinatra version, but it does capture the creepiness and surreal-ness of aging for me.  Click here to purchase the album.  Really, click that, everyone needs this album.

• William Shatner  "It Was a Very Good Year "