April and May, 2009: While I was out...

POST COMPLETE!

Well, it's not perfect. But it's as good as it'll be. And I need to catch back up.

Okay, so I left off... April 12th? Really? Dear god. I've missed goddamn pirates and pig diseases... are you kidding me? Okay, 2009, let's get back up to speed.

MUSIC: REVIEWS

I've bought a bunch of albums since mid-April. Quick reviews:

DOOM, Born Like This: Don't get me wrong, there's quality on this album. But from one of the most awkwardly homophobic songs of 2009 ("Batty Boyz") to the flimsy duration (the 40-odd minutes feel like a ten), half of which is basically samples of old cartoons... The good moments here (and there are some) are buried very, very deep. Maybe I just don't get it.

Junior Boys, Begone Dull Care: I don't know why basically no reviewers have called this album what it is. It's a straight-up soul seduction album. It's smooth, achingly romantic, and backed with a vaguely slutty kick. These aren't selling points exactly, but they're reference points handled deftly by Junior Boys; the production is almost neurotically detailed, and by combing some appealing and catchy first-listen highlights with some satisfying nuances that reward repeated listens, the album's a formidable one-two punch.

Bat For Lashes, Two Suns: "Daniel" sucked me into the Bat For Lashes goth-pop musical whirlpool, and I really love it here. It's not all as immediately addictive as "Daniel," but everything is thoughtfully textured and intricately gorgeous. This is an album that's really worth spending time with.

Micachu, Jewellery: This album knocked me flat. The track I'd already heard ("Calculator") was a little weird, sure, but it's really the most straightforward pop song Micachu provides. The bizarre, arch compositions here are really refreshing and invigorating, and the tricks don't grow old; you find yourself singing along to some mildly questionable lyrics, which is really kind of cool.

Camera Obscura, My Maudlin Career: Maybe I'm in the wrong state of mind, but after three tracks of the exact same sounds repeated ad infinatum, this got pretty grating. Which isn't to say it's bad; it's actually a really solid album. It's just something that rubs me the wrong way, for whatever reason. Maybe this will change.

Wavves, Wavvves: I really dig this album. I mean, sure, it's about 50% solid songcraft and 50% noodling, but the noodling is oddly pleasurable and the solid songcraft really connects.

The Thermals, Now We Can See: This album is probably the most accessible thing I've purchased, musically, in 2009. The chords are strong, the vocals are at the top of the mix, the hooks are catchy... a lot of fun.

I also bought Dan Deacon's album; initial reactions include "HOLY SHIT WHAT" and "WAIT WOAH AWESOME" but I'm going to give it more time before I say anything definite.

Okay, so that's where I've put my musical dollars. I've also been listening to TreaZon's mixtape, Drake's mixtape, the soundtrack to Make-Out With Violence (still my favorite film of 2009, somebody please distribute this so I can share it with friends?) and a lot of chiptunes. But now, on to some musical news...

MUSIC: NEWS

These are arranged in order of significance, and/or awesomeness.

Cuban Linx II is coming out for real! Radiohead is recording a new album! Kudi is finally releasing an album! This is all such great news, but music is on the karma payment plan, so... oh. The Lucksmiths broke up. Damn.

Muse named their new album.

My sister turned me on to Idolator, and I'm digging it. They, like me, think the new Mew song is rad. Maybe a little too angular and maybe a little confusingly mixed, sure, but when it takes off it has a wicked groove. Which got me on a Mew kick, and damn, that voice is one of the best things on the planet Earth.

Drake's coming out with a video for one of my favorite tracks off So Far Gone, "Best I Ever Had." Those orchestra hits in the beginning are like cocaine. Ear cocaine. My ears are high as shit. Anyway, the video's going to be about the ladies.

Also vindicating its absurdly high playcount, "Make Her Say" (formerly "I Poke Her Face") is Cudi's next single. Good call. For fun, check out the illroots comments; evidently, if your song leaked over a month ago and you're waiting for more than a month to release your album, you are a fool.

Oh, and R. City is fresh. Find that tape.

I'm going to announce it here, once and for all: Coldplay ripped off MY song! (Shh, it doesn't matter that they clearly didn't, jump onboard!)

M.I.A. is all up in the news.

All Camel did was use popular indie musicians, against their will, to sell addictive death sticks. Now the poor guys are getting sued to hell.

Sufjan Stevens wrote a simple one-off song about Sofia Coppola years ago. And it's still kick-ass.

It's kind of weird to say there's a new J Dilla album coming out, but it's weird in the raddest possible way.

So I was okay with Asher Roth at first, because a lot of respectable folks endorsed him, and I was down for some lazy, goof-off hip hop. But uh... nah. No. No way.

Swine flu reared its ugly, fictional head and prevented a rad tour from going down.

David Letterman became an indie venue somehow. Honestly, this is just an excuse to post a Bat For Lashes video, and to feed my raging, out-of-control crush on Natasha Khan.

Grizzly Bear's new video is like an uncanny alley manifesto. Watch at your own risk.

Flaming Lips vs. Arcade Fire... ish.

Crystal Castles were involved in another controversial catastrophe. Surprise! (Note: There's a lot of loathing in the chiptune community directed towards Crystal Castles. I side with the chiptune musicians, considering, y'know, Crystal Castles plagiarized them in "practice" songs and stuff.)

Okay, that's not the most diverse set of blogs, but I think I covered everything major. Phew, it's time for some film stuff.

FILM REVIEWS

Star Trek
I saw this movie three times total; once in a preview IMAX screening hosted by Harry Knowles, then on opening night at the Drafthouse, and then with my father. I loved it each time. I'm a fan of pretty much anything Abrams touches these days, and he really balanced everything so well in Trek that you forget how sensitive a property it is, and how intense that burden of pop culture is. There are a lot of genuinely breathtaking moments, and there's a lot of fun hijinx to throw wrenches in the way of the Enterprise. The actors are well cast, the story is self-contained enough to be fun but has enough room to breathe... Honestly, even while watching movies I love, I often end up wondering eventually when they're going to end, and it's a feat when I'm wrapped up enough in the brisk pacing not to notice that two hours have gone by. It's just... really good.

Up
I cried, and I am not ashamed of myself for it. The opening sequence covers a lot of ground in that very Pixar way, that say-a-lot-with-a-little precision that makes their films universal. And lately, it's been utilized to cover more treacherous ground than childhood fantasy, which is impressive. This particular outing, though, really hits home. It's mature in its sensibilities; we are spending a good deal of time with an elderly man and his confrontations with nostalgia and death. But there's jokes too. It works. And Up makes its point: dreams are vital, but letting go of them when the time is right, that's vital too. I mean, people, this is a movie distributed by Disney; challenging the power of dreams even slightly is a big deal. End of the day, the movie is poignant, beautiful, and solidly accessible. It's the kind of movie I want to raise my kids on when I've got some of my own.

FILM NEWS

Same order as before... all things in order of badassness.

Cannes went down! Lars Von Trier freaked people out. Tarantino divided everybody's opinions. The best news of all? Chan Wook-Park made a huge bloody splash with Thirst (duh!) and now the movie has been picked up for release at the end of this July! Awesome!

District 9 looks incredible.

I'm very hesitant to jump onboard for Avatar. Lots of cool stuff coming out in a slow trickle, sure, but the marketing suggests that this film is the big new incredible thing and that's always cause for a little suspicion.

This micro-short Last Day Dream is fantastic. Give it some of your time!

Duncan Jones, who blew me away with Moon, is getting a new project underway about WWII.

My skepticism of Thor keeps getting peeled back. I love Hiddleston from Wallander (which really deserves your attention as well) and the casting is solid so far. Damn you, Branagh! Getting my hopes up!

I'm very excited for The Road, but this trailer seems to mishandle the themes I understand the movie to deal with. In a similar vein, The Book of Eli looks pretty solid too.

Mr. Nobody looks pretty great.

Nine wasn't even on my radar, but now I'm really intrigued.

Emile Hirsch and some other people are working on a Hamlet adaptation.

Robot Chicken writer tackles one of the most sacred films of all time... Short Circuit.

Stretch Armstrong really is happening, unfortunately.

NEWS

Oh god we are all so screwed ahhhhhhh

WEIRD

The Hipster Grifter is our new folk hero? Are you goddamn kidding me?

Billy Corgan falls further down a Citizen Kane-style black hole of self-involved misery.

Charles Hamilton got punched in the face.

Gooby is frightening. And maybe also is Satan. But the bigger story here is that this is the ultimate lesson in how to make bad trailers.

Nobody - NOBODY - messes with Dolph Lundgren.

Publicity stunts aside, my favorite part of this MTV controversy is Quinto's bemusement.

Andy Samberg is known for odd and awesome cameos, but a JJ Abrams keyboard solo? I feel like it's too early for Christmas...

Elderly people don't like new music. That's not a surprise. They run a vlog about it. That's a glorious, hilarious surprise. Also vlogging about indie music, Brian Williams and Russ Feingold. Honestly? Real talk? They both pull it off.

The drummer from the Shins runs a taco cart now.

PERSONAL

Okay, I've been inconsistent at blogging. But it's not like I've been experiencing so much 2009, so much culture, and stowing it away in hiding. The truth is, my life went through a series of big reshuffles and I frankly didn't have time to consume much more culture than Scrubs reruns and the Stewart/Colbert block. (Neither of which I am knocking, both of which I love) I went from finals week to crashing at my family house in San Antonio to lots of transit to living in a new apartment in Austin, all within about a month.

But I'm back.

Tonight, I sleep.

Tomorrow, I ride again.

Want a comeback?

It's coming.

Massive post sometime after a week. I've still been following this damn year, and I've still got some things to say.

If you're wondering where I've been, go to college, enroll in film classes, and see how the last month of YOUR first year treats you.