tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73814506313631747922024-02-19T10:01:44.116+00:00Living With LeehamLeehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-3990018106662010752012-04-13T10:55:00.006+01:002012-04-13T11:05:47.849+01:00Happy Birthday, Al Green!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVjAzDidnbOn4gxMvLSxv3bMT1uCDC01nRT3t2bz-AG3OdDiXiDsf3PAQMfCkqZLWdHxii9HYcSgvICHRi_ZiE8zgp9XL37cpl-l2PvE6VmnUfebCb0qeZyTS6c6cjsLwd4V4L0w-vm3Xu/s1600/algreen.jpg" style="font-style: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVjAzDidnbOn4gxMvLSxv3bMT1uCDC01nRT3t2bz-AG3OdDiXiDsf3PAQMfCkqZLWdHxii9HYcSgvICHRi_ZiE8zgp9XL37cpl-l2PvE6VmnUfebCb0qeZyTS6c6cjsLwd4V4L0w-vm3Xu/s400/algreen.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730823713151417890" /></a><div style="font-style: normal; "><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9R5D1KweXbz5nF3dajbE9f058TguCZJ7VaRH79SpqEuhLaZ4ozjkVf1R3SVaC-9GfTKeIWKFpQthBJYn4omxacts6zegkEwavSyEWBLU_aonXzi6HVg77MmzIIQ8TQGXqe3VVaQSWodE1/s1600/watershipdownfinal.jpg" style="font-style: normal; "><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9R5D1KweXbz5nF3dajbE9f058TguCZJ7VaRH79SpqEuhLaZ4ozjkVf1R3SVaC-9GfTKeIWKFpQthBJYn4omxacts6zegkEwavSyEWBLU_aonXzi6HVg77MmzIIQ8TQGXqe3VVaQSWodE1/s320/watershipdownfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730823568974340018" /></a><br /><div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><span >Watership Down</span></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><span >Richard Adams</span></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span ><b><br /></b></span></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span >Astonishingly involving drama about a group of rabbits trying to establish a new warren, <i>Watership Down</i> is a completely stunning piece of modern literature. Written in 1972, <st1:place st="on" style="font-style: normal; ">Adams</st1:place>' created such a believable world on the Down that it was, deliberately, hard at times to distinguish between the fact that we were reading of the lives of rabbits and not people. Touching on political ideologies and the way they envelop one's life - Capitalism, Communism and Socialism are all depicted - he manages to cleverly avoid having the book becoming a soapbox diatribe leaving one thoroughly touched by the relationships developed. The book has a notoriety of having an incredibly sad ending, however, this reader found it nothing but uplifting. Hazel deserved no less. Exquisite.</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDswUQf4CH2ngK35KcQKfoIpC69bJxPAkKTt1ql2SrNpsFfwnt4wg_fPQmSo8SvHMPUteGZjwEBjdkgNdW1E2twe5_HeCU5Edsd-xwCJ6lLvpcgQk3eZZdU4ahIUWRv_o7P84xmX42PQLP/s1600/gethimtothegreekfinal.jpg" style="font-style: normal; "><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDswUQf4CH2ngK35KcQKfoIpC69bJxPAkKTt1ql2SrNpsFfwnt4wg_fPQmSo8SvHMPUteGZjwEBjdkgNdW1E2twe5_HeCU5Edsd-xwCJ6lLvpcgQk3eZZdU4ahIUWRv_o7P84xmX42PQLP/s320/gethimtothegreekfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730823112258894194" /></a><br /><div style="font-style: normal; "><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i>Get Him To The Greek</i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; ">Nicholas Stoller</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span><b><br /></b></span></span></div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">Given surprising depth by Brand's performance, this is a manic, not totally successful comedic romp about the fickleness of the music industry and life in general. Hill does well with his schtick and Combs is unexpectedly hilarious in a small role but the film belongs to Brand. His turn may now be tired too but the moments of obvious reality - the jonesing</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; color: white; "> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">scenes - show a willingness to bring a truth to the screen.</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBWyJyVTDoNM7KqNiNd_43F_00obaE4rMxo66iUv51m3DGWqVrlGYDq3ykzAIYSxJ2KFqpSd3RldpmSZPrlvJIZJSeTfuP85S_Rhk8ymXauc9b3LCVF7xBcwdQbzKlK5Mb6yistDZ3NSwf/s1600/attackonmemoryfinal.jpg" style="font-style: normal; "><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBWyJyVTDoNM7KqNiNd_43F_00obaE4rMxo66iUv51m3DGWqVrlGYDq3ykzAIYSxJ2KFqpSd3RldpmSZPrlvJIZJSeTfuP85S_Rhk8ymXauc9b3LCVF7xBcwdQbzKlK5Mb6yistDZ3NSwf/s320/attackonmemoryfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730822608514992482" /></a><br /><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i>Attack On Memory</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; ">Cloud Nothings</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span><b><br /></b></span></span></div><span style="font-style: normal; font-size: 12pt; "><span>Development and growth is an interesting thing to consider when looking at any artist’s canon. Obviously when a canon is young that development may not be immediately obvious, however, in the case of Cloud Nothings it’s mind-blowingly immense. From the debut LP to the sophomore effort and now to their third, Dylan Baldi’s baby has gone at a million miles an hour from solo project to fully-fledged rock band, making really great rock music. It doesn’t quite sustain the energy of its opening two tracks but as piece yelling, “Oi!! Take notice,” boy, it does make one do that.</span></span>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-63421380588510306452012-04-12T23:52:00.008+01:002012-04-13T00:01:55.617+01:00Happy Birthday, David Letterman!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsP1cK75tExC4edz7_hcjur9kGy-eGAGEWHEWExfRGHO23AthEjg2nqrQkNYIE0cpgENXoQ7j9s7R96eSaZL1nzsozDQE34bvNcr2bsGi9HFWqegnsnL5WNEOb3rG4f0Glig8RRYoyLoN/s1600/davidletterman.jpg" style="font-style: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsP1cK75tExC4edz7_hcjur9kGy-eGAGEWHEWExfRGHO23AthEjg2nqrQkNYIE0cpgENXoQ7j9s7R96eSaZL1nzsozDQE34bvNcr2bsGi9HFWqegnsnL5WNEOb3rG4f0Glig8RRYoyLoN/s400/davidletterman.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730652754024444306" /></a><div style="font-style: normal; "><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz-mTCQR8Wg04yjTkfsTcOeafDsCgr5WEdTabdbdKAaMWb_uCRfCmtMzTKvsIyPVczs7Jj_eP_A73UKCXut1QzrJ3Pt_ee3jru3MWH48WlP_RO5ypn59fqfNsH5MgmzzqWU4z-kJC0SInC/s1600/jamrachsmenageriefinal.jpg" style="font-style: normal; "><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz-mTCQR8Wg04yjTkfsTcOeafDsCgr5WEdTabdbdKAaMWb_uCRfCmtMzTKvsIyPVczs7Jj_eP_A73UKCXut1QzrJ3Pt_ee3jru3MWH48WlP_RO5ypn59fqfNsH5MgmzzqWU4z-kJC0SInC/s320/jamrachsmenageriefinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730652611577490370" /></a><br /><div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><span >Jamrach's Menagerie</span></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><span >Carol Birch</span></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span ><b><br /></b></span></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span >Set in Victorian England, this adventure on the high seas is an interesting-enough take on the exploration tale, however, it by its end feels slightly repetitive and slightly off in tone. The ultimate decision made by Tim is a difficult one and Birch doesn't pull any punches in showing the reality of the piece, yet Jaffy's story in the end doesn't feel like it measures up to that ultimate sacrifice. It's definitely better than Miller's <i>Snowdrops</i> but one has to wonder whether the Booker judges really did get it wrong when it came to picking that shortlist. Two significant misses so far.</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><br /></span></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKn1j1yj7ZepvT64L3aCbQT3tBnyzYIL8KxVkDIiBZli8oz58V3rjAKOKP9-lbdoj_9UhMmXOSSm2OheAUXpWIYPXOVEiGwaAQsNCGV3USYcVFgL-cfUjufc6TCQa063Ehk9yUPj-L5QVj/s1600/redhillfinal.jpg" style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKn1j1yj7ZepvT64L3aCbQT3tBnyzYIL8KxVkDIiBZli8oz58V3rjAKOKP9-lbdoj_9UhMmXOSSm2OheAUXpWIYPXOVEiGwaAQsNCGV3USYcVFgL-cfUjufc6TCQa063Ehk9yUPj-L5QVj/s320/redhillfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730652168719279842" /></a><br /><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i>Red Hill</i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; ">Patrick Hughes</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span><b><br /></b></span></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span>Tonally interesting and featuring a very good Ryan Kwanten, this confused Australian genre pic falls short in the end due to its predictable storyline and willingness to go the urban legend route without much thought for authenticity. The racial debate is one that should be investigated in Australian cinema more so it is interesting that Hughes has done it in this way but it doesn't quite work for all its efforts.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; "><br /></span></div></span></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPo4X92XwbavYuFBCsS_m4WCuYcjtu1V97H8LX-2yKIZ4kiw-lX0sGJTTlnmjyrH6y6jNUzG3NeqB2ZUL6UMtr3eybqzQlfqyEWGdm1fs478_GU-ZEXxERfX2vMlaPYKVu9gc1V3GrBKF/s1600/furtherexplorationsfinal.jpg" style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPo4X92XwbavYuFBCsS_m4WCuYcjtu1V97H8LX-2yKIZ4kiw-lX0sGJTTlnmjyrH6y6jNUzG3NeqB2ZUL6UMtr3eybqzQlfqyEWGdm1fs478_GU-ZEXxERfX2vMlaPYKVu9gc1V3GrBKF/s320/furtherexplorationsfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730651516308702978" /></a><br /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; "><i>Further Explorations [Live]</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b style="font-size: 12pt; ">Chick Corea, Eddie Gomez & Paul Motian</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span><b><br /></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12pt; "><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><span style="font-style: normal; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; ">This live album from the jazz great sees him produce a lively mix of jazz pieces firmly showing his skill at the piano.</span><span style="font-style: normal; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; "> </span><span style="font-style: normal; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; ">Structured really nicely and developing an almost storylike quality to the set this is Corea at his best.</span><span style="font-style: normal; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; "> </span><span style="font-style: normal; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; ">His 51 Grammy nominations would indicate that this is an artist of formidable talent who covers a formidable scope within the jazz world.</span><span style="font-style: normal; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; "> </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; "><i>Further Explorations</i>, as the title suggests, demonstrates that hunger to widen the scope he has already put to considerable use.</span></div></span>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-37492031142967325662012-04-11T11:26:00.008+01:002012-04-11T11:43:13.950+01:00Happy Birthday, Louise Lasser!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLOFaVk3OI_mir5CpJPgIg2K7iJ2fj-WomL-HrDVOoa6XNnGRYNdx7Cl6vqQTjlrEnxvabKtfBHUr7MGiuBUnr3yUbAdFJGgP5Y5RdrTq_GNNYFxLbLt8rt0Cum8g1R3lT-qBEIiaxjOVg/s1600/louiselasser.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLOFaVk3OI_mir5CpJPgIg2K7iJ2fj-WomL-HrDVOoa6XNnGRYNdx7Cl6vqQTjlrEnxvabKtfBHUr7MGiuBUnr3yUbAdFJGgP5Y5RdrTq_GNNYFxLbLt8rt0Cum8g1R3lT-qBEIiaxjOVg/s400/louiselasser.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730089594293099442" /></a><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijzvGcLwEeRUQtuk7god9IcDCj8ZvXXQQNDebPskByB4ftVNcWR9DeuoS46yOEXc2vWRWSiTfONcoKi_BSQJ7xjTpiaZV9dTuWsvJoR9OlPepFAxKsiVeDiMy6DMlx7Gf8cBgau5e7Zt7f/s1600/thesaffronkitchenfinal.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijzvGcLwEeRUQtuk7god9IcDCj8ZvXXQQNDebPskByB4ftVNcWR9DeuoS46yOEXc2vWRWSiTfONcoKi_BSQJ7xjTpiaZV9dTuWsvJoR9OlPepFAxKsiVeDiMy6DMlx7Gf8cBgau5e7Zt7f/s320/thesaffronkitchenfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730089433164200866" /></a><br /><div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; " ><b><i>The Saffron Kitchen</i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; " ><b>Yasmin Crowther</b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; " ><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span >Really disappointing, Crowther's novel is completely passionless. Maryam's story should be one of great pain and suffering, however, it leaves one feeling nothing but contempt for her choices. Her suffering should be indicative of that of all Iranian women and yet there is a complete hypocrisy in her holier than thou self righteousness. Ali is presented as the complete antithesis of the stereotypical Iranian male and he comes across as a cardboard cutout goodie-two-shoes. It's written solidly but fails in conveying a sense of truth within the dialogue; it's almost as if the novel has been translated and by its end this reader couldn't relate very much at all. It sadly ends up being a bit of a non-event.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(2, 25, 40); background-color: ; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span><span class="apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></span></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4LWYYfHyLi9AgfeJBZXS87ZSYDPB8jMH9bO8AUjkxBUSkLphZnzJiK39EKmZmFoOq4FssB6cik8-U3vy77RyDEDNs3Rt4S4JdhzjlgAmkRwa7l_sdiGeYJoxg-3cTFQsVqdiScyRtpLPe/s1600/thesocialnetworkfinal.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4LWYYfHyLi9AgfeJBZXS87ZSYDPB8jMH9bO8AUjkxBUSkLphZnzJiK39EKmZmFoOq4FssB6cik8-U3vy77RyDEDNs3Rt4S4JdhzjlgAmkRwa7l_sdiGeYJoxg-3cTFQsVqdiScyRtpLPe/s320/thesocialnetworkfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730088515940345730" /></a><div><div><div><span><u><br /></u></span><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; " ><b><i>The Social Network</i></b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; " ><b>David Fincher</b></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; " ><br /></span></span></div><div><span ><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">An interesting if overrated film about the social networking phenomenon, Facebook, this </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">David </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">Fincher-helmed vehicle is completely stolen out from under his feet by a superb Jesse Eisenberg. Touching on issues of social awkwardness, greed, sexism, apathy and an overall disregard for human consequence, <i>The Social Network</i> aims high, however, by its end it falls victim to the very vapidness of its subject.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqUJU1fXRPczBN1F8S9gvZqwbQcrusIsewhbsjliEZqj1f6YssB1x021mU5n_9A7QhrOCz-XglGL3EZnT5Kgje4PXjsHbZdbROYDV8M4eSPtg99Pgjqz_KJ-ayVz5GYS9QlYm2e7HcOYlh/s1600/somethingfinal.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqUJU1fXRPczBN1F8S9gvZqwbQcrusIsewhbsjliEZqj1f6YssB1x021mU5n_9A7QhrOCz-XglGL3EZnT5Kgje4PXjsHbZdbROYDV8M4eSPtg99Pgjqz_KJ-ayVz5GYS9QlYm2e7HcOYlh/s320/somethingfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730088105378112482" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span><b><i>Something</i></b></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span><b>Chairlift</b></span></span></div><span style="font-style: normal; font-size: 12pt; "><span><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span><br /></span></span></div>Equal parts Martika, La Roux and Marina And The Diamonds, this American electronic pop duo have popped up with their second LP and it’s a good ‘un. Stringing Caroline Polachek’s lead vocals through the entire gamut of emotions of the upbeat to the downright melancholic they’re not wringing with originality but what they do they do supremely well. Considering its release date (January 24) it’s a very early contender for the top of the pile come year’s end.</span></span></div></div></div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-61601570775111496242012-04-10T00:06:00.011+01:002012-04-10T00:27:13.951+01:00Happy Birthday, Max von Sydow!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2bXQLavYQqscc5-PEbWoheE1AU0qQGFjj0sOAiVBKfASdT_3-X7vWuuzI1Bq75iGZkNAt7XHWg8mXsxH17pHDQiQLqTmtIpx6GzEnCsKZfzkU8VJuBHUQDs0YhESZoTfU_tHhPt1EQg1K/s1600/maxvonsydow.jpg" style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2bXQLavYQqscc5-PEbWoheE1AU0qQGFjj0sOAiVBKfASdT_3-X7vWuuzI1Bq75iGZkNAt7XHWg8mXsxH17pHDQiQLqTmtIpx6GzEnCsKZfzkU8VJuBHUQDs0YhESZoTfU_tHhPt1EQg1K/s400/maxvonsydow.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729542507453268930" /></a><div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: center; "><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr4AktovYFT9ysdtFNcUlAalivLYV29UAxCb-zqpgTh1-kWFIgE6AOduT8nlhXt5XLp9cj7NfYzLbR3QHZADD6tqnOyGmZRGNEUlxlnczP9t7aIZ_04y_dRYcN3kWdgLzgwHwU-L6ZsYwr/s320/thetigerswifefinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729542903972889314" /></div></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><b><i><span>The Tiger's Wife</span></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><div style="font-size: 100%; "><b><span>Tea Obreht</span></b></div></div><div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-size: 100%; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; "><span><span><span><span>Astonishing in its clarity and verve, this debut by the twenty-six-year-old Obreht presents an assured world of the former Yugoslavia. Magic realism is a tricky hand to play with as the reality needs to be real enough to allow for the magical elements to work. Praised works like Marquez's <i>100 Years</i>... left this reader bewildered and confused, wondering what the fuss was about yet somehow this wunderkind of modern American literature seems to get it just right. It's not a perfect novel - there is a repetition used and a lack of focus in the continuity of the piece towards its end - but through the eyes of Natalia, a young volunteer doctor, we see a past, a present and a future for this part of the world tinged with the right amount of contempt, cynicism and hope. Energetic writing is always exciting to read. It's even more exciting when it has something interesting to say. Obreht's novel is a welcome confirmation of the hype surrounding her.</span></span></span></span></span></div><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2bXQLavYQqscc5-PEbWoheE1AU0qQGFjj0sOAiVBKfASdT_3-X7vWuuzI1Bq75iGZkNAt7XHWg8mXsxH17pHDQiQLqTmtIpx6GzEnCsKZfzkU8VJuBHUQDs0YhESZoTfU_tHhPt1EQg1K/s1600/maxvonsydow.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6fhUNvz6ZJxeE-XkaPFcNT8cl88Le7ysCp23BttmOz1uh1BoYYn0TKdbJskyTKut6jgUBSZLqzW4Hsz_z7gc-LqBkf_pOZZFwQmj8cA1q6pZ735FJjKwHRtPufZOT94SxzwxcFnHyRe9g/s320/capitalismalovestoryfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729542908569023986" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 142px; " /></a><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><span><br /></span></div></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; "><div><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><u><br /></u></div></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><div style="text-align: left; "><br /></div></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><i>Capitalism: A Love Story</i></b><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><b>Michael Moore</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: left; "><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: white; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: black; ">Once again <st1:city st="on" style="font-style: normal; "><st1:place st="on">Moore</st1:place></st1:city> finds a really interesting topic that all should be thinking about and milks it for all its worth. Once again, however, he fails to hit it out of the park because his egocentric antics get in the way. <i>Bowling For Columbine</i> was a shining gem within the world of documentaries and whilst he has continued to document the current world with vigor and insight none of his subsequent work has amounted to the power of that film. Here he returns to the grounds of his <i>Roger And Me</i> and investigates how quickly the whole of the <st1:country-region st="on" style="font-style: normal; ">USA</st1:country-region> is following in the footsteps of <st1:place st="on" style="font-style: normal; "><st1:city st="on">Flint</st1:city>, <st1:state st="on">Michigan</st1:state></st1:place>. Greed is highlighted in all of its forms, perhaps most abhorently in business life insurance policies to profit on the deaths of employees. <i>Capitalism: A Love Story</i> ends up being a powerful film lessened ever so slightly by its provocateur's insistence on including himself in his work.</span></div><span style="font-style: normal; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimb4JjH6zDC4Tbd5jrFHK77mNOP46e-1CFqoUFto0CKpPKJxDDyqHpsQGrHx7ASnRrVG3aqQPyRwz6mIPnoxLz5uHinv9AhXzDK5jUijUTGS7ZwowJh2ADE8fTIL71erZwTDOb-vpknc6Y/s1600/stanwinston.jpg"></a></span><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; "><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK1-NsdWV1DSb2Ht0VaE_w06qxk-lm6JV5oyUDO34Rn-ZAoqqkUvH96J3Gf7yDWxcCdaF7myG2CSJak1pjYdf0ZILHPBT4Yfa92eRgJy6wQ8hBJFo5kMBNNQwlhR9Hft5Vof65fXHWFcPD/s320/keepyourdreamsfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729542914201952242" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 142px; " /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b><i>Keep Your Dreams</i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b>Canyons</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><span><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span>This inconsistent but at times brilliantly evocative piece from the Australian duo shows a completely bizarre lack of continuity idea-wise but a steady sense of tying it altogether with a nice understanding of production. There are absolute corkers on here in the likes of <i>‘Tonight’</i> and some truly odd saxophone solos – it sounds as if the 80s have been ‘snapshotted’ and firmly implanted within their LP. It won’t be for everyone’s tastes and there will be those who write it off as poor man’s M83 but as a whole there is enough here to get excited about.</span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-22101587953987485652012-04-09T11:20:00.010+01:002012-04-09T12:11:13.956+01:00Happy Birthday, Jazmine Sullivan!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw50V2U-oDgEspPLrCpydTOmd2tN1C1G5DmViEMlNo7Urzo_ffkVIBCz8fOZGdQzAg2Bje6MWogrIfQUjNuUPK8GCq03vRxcLtmXavo2mKN4jmSp7eFfKCZyl7xfCKDAS2cdVDqb1di-Gc/s1600/jazminesullivan.jpg" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw50V2U-oDgEspPLrCpydTOmd2tN1C1G5DmViEMlNo7Urzo_ffkVIBCz8fOZGdQzAg2Bje6MWogrIfQUjNuUPK8GCq03vRxcLtmXavo2mKN4jmSp7eFfKCZyl7xfCKDAS2cdVDqb1di-Gc/s400/jazminesullivan.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729353489640186034" /></a><div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; text-align: center; "><br /></div><div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihoGm-Hrsp2x1QR3w2D2aIUIbFDS3AHRKa4PNLjX8AUl0hwVphv1aNT1gfwGEiQGL8y-Php3fH9mAngLJ7Wn9rKnyyeZZhys8h3HmyTof_qmzySFEz4EB0vOnzY9qjWTmKgRHBU5uNYD_V/s320/atonementfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729354229987527474" /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><i>Atonement</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b>Ian McEwan</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; ">Compellingly written and satisfyingly demanding of its audience, McEwan's much-lauded novel will probably go down as one of the classics of the 2000s. It's a fine mix of tension and passion and uses the always present guilt anyone feels when having wronged another to within an inch of its life to create three-dimensional characters who quite painfully emerge fully formed from the pages. Modern romances tend to fall victim to the saccharine yet <i>Atonement</i> is the very antithesis of this. Without presenting its narrative in a cynical or finger-pointing way at the general public's desire for a happy ending he manages to evoke an incredibly strong sense of remorse and pain and in Briony he produces a woman so effectively flawed she becomes almost more human because of it. It's a very fine novel.</div><div><span><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJNUXj7pRH3qY19TlM333ETDCsruVtpcG-hq0fdThrwR3btwc_GVIxDkxOzc1ufVPufwL3vFGIpOFn9qqAW1F5qHK7grQjCPo-xMTRzeRKKIJPB5zuygdDhFzudKutMGRoiQ4ngcC1wceV/s320/district9final.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729354891493117538" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 142px; " /></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimb4JjH6zDC4Tbd5jrFHK77mNOP46e-1CFqoUFto0CKpPKJxDDyqHpsQGrHx7ASnRrVG3aqQPyRwz6mIPnoxLz5uHinv9AhXzDK5jUijUTGS7ZwowJh2ADE8fTIL71erZwTDOb-vpknc6Y/s1600/stanwinston.jpg"><span><br /></span></a></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><div style="text-align: left; "><br /></div></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><i>District 9</i></b><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><b>Neill Blomkamp</b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: left; "><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">This is quite simply how one makes a genre film - ground it in a sense of reality. Sure the film in itself is lacking very much in reality but what is real is the concept of humanity being presented within the folds of the story. Using a post-Apartheid South African backdrop Blomkamp bring a real energy to the screen with a keen sense of how to move a story along whilst making a point. This isn't science-fiction for the sake of science-fiction it is a story about what is within, using the structure of a science-fiction story. Sure, the subtext is a little heavy-handed at times but he recovers nicely with his willingness to go to the hard places - Wikus leaving Christopher upstairs to be killed is a prime example of the ugly side of humanity that Blomkamp does not shy away from. Technically outstanding, <i>District 9</i> has to be one of the surprises of its year. A corker of a film.</div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnruenMgLurl95m9envCyyfQkQZFTyCLMciJI4jyXM-tKLFps5G_loydspI0tM9eU3cc28dEFLavHuDCXWmTz0D49S1QXZqq344vOb4_zugtVawa5WbKsUy38c_YxKdPaCncFPxlt66cel/s320/if...final.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729355825119640050" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 142px; " /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><i>If...</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Bill Ryder-Jones</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">This cinematic journey made as an imaginary soundtrack album is a fine example of successful conceptual music. He knows where his strengths are as a composer and he handles the quiet moments well. It's an episode in gorgeousness and does indeed make one wish for the accompanying film to see how the sound and image would meld.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-22581864224982084612012-04-08T15:23:00.011+01:002012-04-08T16:22:08.003+01:00Happy Birthday, Robin Wright!<div style="font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxMdVcHCL7_qRdQELhal6AAyzM8vNtkkV_rCa2KTl6BxcCk59UseU6eqFNfS7yfQ05E6MbE2aTu17S0tjCYndRcqzkaLAhfJHhRjVsOKRvVSO2FFYudrRnp7GIWjG81sVRv6jWeWxIaZzR/s1600/robinwright.jpg" style="font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxMdVcHCL7_qRdQELhal6AAyzM8vNtkkV_rCa2KTl6BxcCk59UseU6eqFNfS7yfQ05E6MbE2aTu17S0tjCYndRcqzkaLAhfJHhRjVsOKRvVSO2FFYudrRnp7GIWjG81sVRv6jWeWxIaZzR/s400/robinwright.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729044535422048370" /></a><div><div style="font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; "><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnc28okECDTD0SmD4R7qDU08DDDM9c2jqAIGyeE8VKNFho-l1OAjc4j3GDBvqcI1M2TNu2ex7otVjcRY9ZdWOgXE2NOv8CABF6J8JNLyLibhwRfycb0HYyndKIITVa63cHe0szeEAL2AsK/s320/thewindupgirlfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729048645344298690" /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i>The Windup Girl</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><div style="font-style: normal; "><b>Paolo Bacigalupi</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; ">At the centre of the novel is an idea so brilliant in conception that even with the sound writing skills on display one can't help but be a smidge disappointed with the execution. It's tense and energetic and appropriately cynical and above all frighteningly realistic with that realism being at times scarily bleak. Characterisaton is adequate for the most part with some of the men of the piece becoming slightly indistinguishable from each other, however, the women are all drawn with considerable depth and interest. A really good read that in the hands of a great writer could have been a masterpiece.</div></div><div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimb4JjH6zDC4Tbd5jrFHK77mNOP46e-1CFqoUFto0CKpPKJxDDyqHpsQGrHx7ASnRrVG3aqQPyRwz6mIPnoxLz5uHinv9AhXzDK5jUijUTGS7ZwowJh2ADE8fTIL71erZwTDOb-vpknc6Y/s1600/stanwinston.jpg" style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; "><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-QN30tgcWX429w4pfjjdcQg6KPO6EYXdkvodP6s-CzMGsWVi7_k2quLTlHT9BKpLxKxC4Y11Lii_9eWdp3JM7yS2k8_WmnXfKK0dJPQjIwlJl_Yuhfaq0no5RFwkMphIpZlzhb64B2X6d/s320/sevenpoundsfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729048654745968338" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 142px; " /></a></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><i>Seven Pounds</i></b><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><b>Gabriele Muccino</b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><span>It's not a good thing when one falls asleep three times during a film and can still pick the ending about forty minutes from the end. It's also a bad sign when the film takes an interminable time to get there. Smith, outstanding in the unfairly maligned <i>I Am Legend</i>, fails to show anything more than hammish tempestuousness here and he's failed miserably by his director, Muccino, who brings nothing of any substance to the table.</span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo1INAIyLU5cCFJj4xzAWFWZmU91Tc9wj76SwLXgtL93LJFjm2WHazak3KqXr4P6C_1XKJoKIDb0IkkOHkN-wz5K72Cs27cWiUfI7Vn6uGyxgvmxxAZzMFmKk1oRuGWpnoc9W2AIpMPs8b/s320/lightsoutfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729048660811509618" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 142px; " /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>Lights Out</i></b></div><div><b>Big Deal</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-style: normal; ">While the sex-soaked intimacy of their live sets is slightly watered-down in this debut LP from the London-based duo of Alice Costelloe and KC Underwood there is still enough present to be kind of swept up in the edgy angst being divulged. Lyrically, the album soars on tracks like </span><i>'Chair'</i> and Costelloe's willingness to bring into question her take on relationship and love - she's only eighteen - is brave rather than earnest. The fact that she's an equal playing partner to Underwood, some eleven years her senior, is also reinforcement to the fact that this is a duo with far greater substance than their simple sound of acoustic and electric guitar might suggest.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-74158611382417199052012-04-06T16:02:00.010+01:002012-04-07T09:20:53.172+01:00Happy Birthday, Stan Winston! (RIP)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimb4JjH6zDC4Tbd5jrFHK77mNOP46e-1CFqoUFto0CKpPKJxDDyqHpsQGrHx7ASnRrVG3aqQPyRwz6mIPnoxLz5uHinv9AhXzDK5jUijUTGS7ZwowJh2ADE8fTIL71erZwTDOb-vpknc6Y/s1600/stanwinston.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimb4JjH6zDC4Tbd5jrFHK77mNOP46e-1CFqoUFto0CKpPKJxDDyqHpsQGrHx7ASnRrVG3aqQPyRwz6mIPnoxLz5uHinv9AhXzDK5jUijUTGS7ZwowJh2ADE8fTIL71erZwTDOb-vpknc6Y/s400/stanwinston.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728303935872916178" /></a><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><u><br /></u></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz5KAS2FTHJP9JnYquwdsJfoy40Q4VNJw1w7LrzPthFQ57QEAsdlNXKQ4iZbHYrP46jqjijsfc-hWcuCY1nOLrj6qtBdVhR_kTXSkqFevyGHhCIZRNtoh62Bsk87z03-94DMpIqS9YLbnW/s320/closerangewyomingstoriesfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728312159049720162" /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><i>Close Range: Wyoming Stories</i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; "><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><b>Annie Proulx</b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><span>As a collection of short stories it has a real cohesion with Proulx's ability to use Wyoming as the linking character between the different stories quite impressive. Some of the stories are more resonant than others and the best known, <i>'Brokeback Mountain'</i>, probably the most affecting. It's a fine example of work by an author who has a real understanding of place.</span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimb4JjH6zDC4Tbd5jrFHK77mNOP46e-1CFqoUFto0CKpPKJxDDyqHpsQGrHx7ASnRrVG3aqQPyRwz6mIPnoxLz5uHinv9AhXzDK5jUijUTGS7ZwowJh2ADE8fTIL71erZwTDOb-vpknc6Y/s1600/stanwinston.jpg" style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; "><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH64u0hpb1iFSA2_Mgw0IGslIxmAKQ4f_ALxNR9vbJKIhnZq-ZbuIGT-0hT9twEUesHK3-1spz-bdYvsCLQe-7aLD6Q-1rnNfcFAkRVXA1y73ziQdmPZJc0HxXz7ACp12NkcfV5MtaHufj/s320/skylinefinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728313285336411138" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 142px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i>Skyline</i></b><div style="text-align: left; "><b>Brothers Strause</b></div><div style="text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: left; "><div><span>Appallingly conceived and written, this alien invasion wannabe epic falls miserably short on just about every front. With some reasonable visual effects, the film cannot shake the fact that it has no idea how to tell a story convincingly. With perhaps the most ludicrously hilarious ending ever - that hand gesture has to be deliberately funny surely - Skyline is awful.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT8kO7QiuqyBKe2cVyxW3Tmo0gAiarWQ6k-EBSOk4kaxHx6IFPN3DKsx5BXu8ApPn2_gnRGg8L2LAlWcVVw2DicpL2QcQoTQWtb9gOIxbbP22GR45C-FWi0APdR6psi9l2NdgKapxLeYi4/s320/goflyakitefinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728315006573748930" style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 142px; " /></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>Go Fly A Kite</i></b><div><b>Ben Kweller</b></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div>At his best Kweller is a lovely sing-a-long pop/light rock/folk/country sweetheart. This may not be anywhere near his best but as the collection progresses it becomes clear he is having fun. There are tinges of lots of others in this - at times there is a striking resemblance to some of Brendan Benson's work - but what shines through is Kweller's playfulness and whimsy. It's a nice little set not setting its sights any higher than Sunday afternoon.</div></div></div></div></div></div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-68945467053719688462012-04-05T16:58:00.010+01:002012-04-06T09:47:50.794+01:00Happy Birthday, Georg Holm!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXjPo_-rN-DgcKCdLWWzviTdbSZwbLStvJdTUpl3agxh4Rj7KGVHpa-AHFNLIF83B2fR7X6bgMlQYgTApcH3j1FRDEaO3sKGzOYn1kX9Ke0nUuSHzki_d2gU9AGKpjnUz9v23Ax8WOjSD/s1600/georgholm.jpg" style="font-style: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXjPo_-rN-DgcKCdLWWzviTdbSZwbLStvJdTUpl3agxh4Rj7KGVHpa-AHFNLIF83B2fR7X6bgMlQYgTApcH3j1FRDEaO3sKGzOYn1kX9Ke0nUuSHzki_d2gU9AGKpjnUz9v23Ax8WOjSD/s400/georgholm.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727957600671726674" /></a><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFR-Gy_tQyDnoS0p3DikqKJhhWw7vwiIknJb2pBIBcwB8w33NKsWm-4egLdNkeCIKfKq0-ao0XtbzAwKVW6cwnq6WyGxr-vXkQE0rUq8NUlcoMBlgBPvzftGuySBi8C4_bnSSzWGZ2FQZH/s320/thepassagefinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727963398377519634" /><div style="font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><i>The Passage</i></b><div style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><b>Justin Cronin</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; ">This post-apocalyptic vampire tale is the first in a projected trilogy about the outbreak of a virus developed during tests to prolong human life. Centred around the tale of a young girl, Amy, and her role in the fight for human survival, this convoluted but mostly enjoyable romp is a long - 963 pages long - but, for the most part, snappy read.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; text-align: left; font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiCSuh8f_nThHkVMh9xisscPcifPT_eZB0tuwuuaty4kmyjjz-h2P5cBJTsXqyTrRYqVWOozdcD7zxrT1ooLqQ9-Q9OC-AZMrrDHEeRCXJuhEoNztmaMUzlKlkkboO_BM8H_U_UTohkb18/s320/themostdangerousmaninamericadanielellsbergandthepentagonpapersfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727963402881621730" /></div><div style="font-style: normal; text-align: left; font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><b style="font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><i>The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellsberg And The Pentagon Papers</i></b><div style="font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><b>Judith Ehrlich & Rick Goldsmith</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: left; "><div style="font-style: normal; "><span>Despite painting him as the perfect and definitive whistleblower, which is arguably correct in some cases, the film escapes a sense of pandering by trying desperately hard to get to the bottom of what was going on during this incredibly tumultuous political and social time in the United States. Questions abound as to the level of information the public needs and should know and they're all brought around to the simple point that they need to know the truth without any sense of manipulation or miscalculation of what they can and cannot understand. It's really effectively put together and even with some slightly unnecessary animated sequences - they jar, considerably - the film highlights a point in American and world history that many younger generations will not know about. It's, again at risk of damning praise, an important film.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgodYFQP7fWt8hRydbiM0voXlwW4ttBwQ5A5-QN691M1gIGjJ-yMz3Gkyv5N6hd54HFdjIL1gIjuE9VYUCJMn4yQ6Puke9XNv0Oq564sYeLq8f5MMUF_5ofAHZZnDscOUHIXhhZLgMfIKt0/s320/whichsideareyouonfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727963405970458754" style="font-size: 100%; float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 142px; " /></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b style="font-style: normal; "><i>Which Side Are You On?</i></b><div style="font-style: normal; "><b>Ani DiFranco</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%; "><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; ">Typically political, unashamedly so in fact, and buoyed by an earnestness that stays just the right side of self-righteous, this collection from the prodigious offerer that is Ani DiFranco ends up being towards the better half of her now seventeen albums.</span><span style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; "> </span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">It doesn’t entirely work but when she’s on in the likes of '<i>Life Boat'</i>, she’s really on.</span><span style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; "> </span><span style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; ">It’s another interesting addition to her already interesting canon.</span></div></div></div></div></div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-44300982092434264602012-04-05T12:29:00.011+01:002012-04-05T17:42:19.604+01:00Happy Birthday, Elodie Bouchez!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaNz6Zg35x69sqOhfMJa8YmWJnrVP6sjAXVPhr5K-2tr2alSTHYS3UBrmH_Jzo7yCQNW2PoSOETvu9NV4pW4NPUelrjg8SxIQ9W4RcjoJ8MNEKwIB4A5wYORLTWH21_AEqf3IXmM-NVCyO/s1600/elodiebouchez.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaNz6Zg35x69sqOhfMJa8YmWJnrVP6sjAXVPhr5K-2tr2alSTHYS3UBrmH_Jzo7yCQNW2PoSOETvu9NV4pW4NPUelrjg8SxIQ9W4RcjoJ8MNEKwIB4A5wYORLTWH21_AEqf3IXmM-NVCyO/s400/elodiebouchez.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727957925071621202" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsTxHldcSOgeyCZza4AvXrAPqzd2vFnxkwwlCSka-tjcSQIzqKQoOkPzXo7Vi19oggfePwr5JawkrB-RhXoy_Yk2Ya-gvQ-_8xBm9dRpP8_grfOVLOM8Q0EWABgWVSUjSvTtaUhd4_0tUk/s1600/thenwecametotheendfinal.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsTxHldcSOgeyCZza4AvXrAPqzd2vFnxkwwlCSka-tjcSQIzqKQoOkPzXo7Vi19oggfePwr5JawkrB-RhXoy_Yk2Ya-gvQ-_8xBm9dRpP8_grfOVLOM8Q0EWABgWVSUjSvTtaUhd4_0tUk/s320/thenwecametotheendfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727890443435341906" /></a><br /><b style="line-height: normal; "><i><span><br /></span></i></b><div><b style="line-height: normal; "><i><span>Then We Came To The End</span></i></b><div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; "><b><span>Joshua Ferris</span></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; "><span>It ta</span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">kes a little while to get into the rhythm of it but, when one does, the book turns into a rollicking indictment of Western boredom and fear. It doesn't completely work - the near-ending's farce of Tom's storyline is a little underwhelming - but there is enough here to see how Ferris has built up a growing following. Having read The Unnamed, before this, there are similar problems in his structure, however, he's a no-fuss writer who writes about seemingly mundane things in an interesting way. It'll be interesting to see where he ventures next.</span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; font-style: normal; "><span><span style="line-height: 18px; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijDSU_xeRGKqc-echWR0GewSAn7tzNROl8KLZZv7B9AsqXGYlTyH0Le3-9DE5XjSVAKyqFe0s15jH5ma-nhoS_qJ35c47oXk_yhHv-B6qvOJNPgKWtodBNh2Rd563lwjjdNAYa3fbFl7Kb/s320/saltfinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727888189768037602" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 142px; " /></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; font-style: normal; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><span><br /></span></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; font-style: normal; "><b style="text-align: left; "><i><span>Salt</span></i></b><div style="text-align: left; "><b>Phillip Noyce</b></div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><div><span>Intelligently directed by Noyce this is the perfect example of a genre pic not taking itself too seriously and in the end getting close to very good for it. Its ending lets it down considerably but with an in-form Jolie - she's never bad even with all the naysayers - and a non-stop sense of action, Salt in the end meets its purpose in spades. Good, action-packed fun.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjULpb3YJTIy9YCP1Gd2tp_Aeix_zFkPcpbH9uvE0FdVQlR4vNTvwZbHUib7pHsYPcC8eW4el7BjDKoq9JZVAr_DtNHLec1Hyrr1X3EfE8CB-TNkNThgwPmKSY0f53CWdnzDQMK5xDO09YN/s320/youngmaninamericafinal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727891458193383026" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 142px; " /></div><div><b><i><span><br /></span></i></b></div><div><b><i><span>Young Man In America</span></i></b><div><b><span>Anais Mitchell</span></b></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><div><span>Imagine Joanna Newsom with more heft to her voice and a lot less pretension with her lyrics and you've pretty got much the perfect folk artist in Mitchell. With an astonishingly well-written set of country-folk songs melding together with that buttery warble of hers, Young Man In America may very well be the surprise album of 2012. It's without doubt one of the best albums of 2012 and marks a voice that has been around for a while but who may just be about to get her due.</span></div></div></div></div></div></div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-22692517191152690002011-12-26T22:25:00.006+00:002012-04-05T16:01:27.226+01:00THE MUSIC OF 2011...10-1<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3PzcA0ES52wbxCCiXCpeIdOFi6w0ira0GuNjygqMotY2yHSKrwIBjkvBAZk7krww9y2W80-A5QLJsLnffvk6z9-rl8e6UUrI5Xvnk_pZ-jRFi1_CgkucTLYO7gY6xBvEGkzA6KISAfwMr/s1600/thesmilesessions-thebeachboys.jpg" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3PzcA0ES52wbxCCiXCpeIdOFi6w0ira0GuNjygqMotY2yHSKrwIBjkvBAZk7krww9y2W80-A5QLJsLnffvk6z9-rl8e6UUrI5Xvnk_pZ-jRFi1_CgkucTLYO7gY6xBvEGkzA6KISAfwMr/s400/thesmilesessions-thebeachboys.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727927253320422658" /></a><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><span>1.</span></b><div><b style="line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><i>'The SMiLE Sessions'</i></b><div style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b>The Beach Boys</b></div><div style="text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">When an album can be listened to and its influence on modern music can still be heard some forty years after it was created, it’s an astonishing thing. For new listeners to The Beach Boys at their best, this is an insight into where that combination of happy hooks, psychedelia of the 60s and 70s and sheer genius song construction were put into place. The sessions behind the creation of the </span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); font-style: italic; ">SMiLE</span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); "> album, which was never released on its completion, are amazingly fluent and for lovers of Sufjan </span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">Stevens, Belle & Sebastian, Kings Of Convenience, Fleet Foxes or Megafaun a possible inlet into what came before them. Perhaps the only masterpiece of 2011, and in fairness it’s from 1967 so it doesn’t really count, </span><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); text-align: -webkit-auto; ">it sounds as relevant today as it perhaps ever has.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZf3Q65Sa0lKNRDvNt5DRAPuLBGsPi65nPtqgqtkQTfOKhTAHmBpV1kNPsVRNbKY4NUXXJ52TiwjkMpSuxr9k1lZwnKWV8wTmwyAH5qtZASzgwRBmu5TQmsirYWrekH39nZ4l7_c3go_Xn/s400/ritualunion-littledragon.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727927898417125442" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /></span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b>2.</b> <b style="font-size: 100%; "><i><br /></i></b><b style="font-style: normal; font-size: 100%; "><i>'Ritual Union'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b>Little Dragon</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">There’s something so right about Little Dragon, something so modern it almost hurts. From the sexy bordering disinterested vocal deliveries of Yukimi Nagano to the minimalist melodies it’s as if the time has been captured and recorded within almost pitch perfectly. Harvey may have written the best album protesting </span><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">the predominance of ambivalence. Little Dragon gives the best rendition of it and that very ambivalence </span><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">somehow pays off in spades.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><br /></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgawFhRVI-HFML2LtCgZJ0GLErt3osWtcetKOo54OXMBxA4mHJlR5xenpfJI59PyEZDrlcAbJyg8wVjTDWSmUvIzWCbQtyoF6txhOjhvKSMAYxqCddXJqPVcEABGKoLOYQoI6LO61UAgDdj/s400/letenglandshake-pjharvey.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727928173631047650" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /></span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; ">3.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><i>'Let England Shake'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b>PJ Harvey</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">Polly Jean grew up in a way that escaped self-righteousness but yet managed to get her point across nonetheless. An astounding collection of protest songs that go beyond </span><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">protest and land firmly, at the risk of </span><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">damning praise, in the realm of importance.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rIVxBbbaZqfCawaG8CAQK6jpr7F8wqRay-9IcpcxEfufeAw2XandsfqHEvsf7hpSJBoQqSyUDHh2uDxRU6rDK-8V9AZX51GcFGXrbR4d8VNwL5zIzM0Zm-ENxomurppbDWjWFlG5HRi_/s400/burstapart-theantlers.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727928351324784402" style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b>4.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><i>'Burst Apart'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b>The Antlers</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">The Antlers’ </span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); font-style: italic; ">‘Burst Apart’</span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); "> takes everything great about modern music and creates what is u</span><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">ltimately a massive finger to the mainstream. There is nothing popular about this </span><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">collection of moody mixed-up messes of songs that scream both a sense of the quiet and in your face at the same time. It’s a gorgeously confident set that should have had them break through a little </span><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">more than they have.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><span ><span style="font-size: 100%;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFpg1qU_SFdoLZUi63YeqIVnceupkDgR1v7h_upOUCqt96ZVAntWeLq1nCkn6-hWeUUsuQtKwnH7lX-Yysv9uFP1ps4XggykMzDteMXPV0Q-wTxqjFm2oalFgxabJ27d7_-Vr40A3vEqUM/s400/breaksinthearmor-crookedfingers.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727928991419133730" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /></span></span><b style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; "></b><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b>5.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><i>'Breaks In The Armor'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b>Crooked Fingers</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">Eric Bachmann had a big year with the rerelease of Archers Of Loaf’s Icky Mettle and this sixth LP from his solo venture, Crooked Fingers. Working with Matt Yelton and Liz Durrett, Bachmann created a beautifully subtle rock record. It’s proof that content still far outweighs gimmickry and production. Stellar.</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFiQotqOsnSv2yR8chRSK5fJ_LILBT91ZND4v-Zd5hrfLsDscQ5hYqPgjpk2yIlVPF6eVtzMyZSClHwdvW8BIpCt1Dx7DqeL2Ilgctr2vEul8y_4rrZViK_9YyUeaYEtzh5ZkOmj3o-plM/s400/jamesblake-jamesblake.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727928992614439586" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><b></b><b>6.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><i>'James Blake'</i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; ">James Blake</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">James Blake is a crooner of the blues variety so beyond his years this collection of mood pieces is the perfect accompaniment to mindless wandering through cold, wet London streets and an example of how </span><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">age means little when the storyteller gene is inherent within the one desiring to go beyond the surface of any emotion.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><span ><span style="font-size: 100%;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg5rvioEQCpjAotwinFLPaTKvUxhezozpoSWQoNkewVWVnn8YdZpcz55BWpwRzX2W382TJxd26DF-XXr_qZRMV5a3YAa18XG0ryZ8cKV1Y4SQZQjAzFkpOI7m-y6E4nFNUiG2fv8oyLKAu/s400/annacalvi-annacalvi.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727929007736856914" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /></span></span><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b>7.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><i>'Anna Calvi'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b>Anna Calvi</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">She’s a belter. She’s a mean instrumentalist. She’s a throwback to the Robert Palmer music video girls. And despite all of these things she’s able to somehow still come across as soft. Her diminutive size hinders in no way the fact that she arrived in 2011 and she arrived with a considerable thud through the music door.</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ALihprrQk8Y85sTNpWEiPa8_HOThwa4U5mfbiEVAHE66g-nA9lv-wX78bn5eYRl9xa_S2RxDxWhRr00wlE29lcZqXhWrP5ZAeo60mzb4nrp8zOdRAkK28ZfegpEqNMdy1PFTVhjqjjgC/s400/we%2527renewhere-gilscott-heronandjamiexx.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727929011935556450" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b>8.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><i>'We're New Here'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b>Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">Scott-Heron left a significant hole in the music world with his passing earlier in the year. What a triumph </span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">then that his </span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); font-style: italic; ">I’m New Here</span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); "> from late last year and the Jamie xx remixed version, </span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); font-style: italic; ">We’re New Here</span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); "> from this year ended his career on a huge high. It’s the perfect realisation of his immense writing skills being made more accessible through the work of Jamie Smith whose work as a part of The xx bears an at times beautiful echo of Scott-Heron’s work. A greater meeting of minds did not take place in 2011.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgupStJELhXcMOPRC6fPhJ6gvXfE5wFOSnEzETkx6RZIldTg2lmg6bwHaQQJWoC1czopUkUuB49ifsNTNb_3j6eKdnKcLSP2qc9crmcwwRS3PQ5YuhXVvM1kAzVy0bvAUfAph3hd0OiTjNd/s400/floreat-maracarlyle.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727929021674029010" style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b>9.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><i>'Floreat'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b>Mara Carlyle</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">She’s the outcome of a sedated Björk or a somewhat chemically enhanced k.d. Lang. There’s a greater accessibility to her music and a gravitas and tone to her voice that even with her idiosyncratic charm Björk can’t come close to and a modern willingness that leaves Lang for dead. Carlyle should be a far greater name than she is. In fact, that she’s a practical unknown is beyond a musical travesty.</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLqvZ7vl73KqppeUmzheczBTAwThVyRlzvfbET2CGdivoy4SZVQrhT1kGY-za0_L1SdABLOba9M46Vpxd2KgEHSFyOCwJjpxcEvB6UfebtvrWWCyHSclY9Ou2eJzvaKDbsrwZGFGoGf2CP/s400/bornthisway-ladygaga.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727929140464553218" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /></span></span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); "></span><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b>10.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><i>'Born This Way'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b>Lady Gaga</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">Everything about this album in its excess should spell disaster but as a whole it envelops everything that is glam about her and wraps it up in a perfectly grubby but entirely glossy set of electronic pop. There is an amount of filler on the album but its filler with purpose as she wails, scratches and bulldozes her way to that final edge she so brazenly tiptoes towards. Fantastically fun.</span> </div></div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-47267900695037387952011-12-26T22:22:00.006+00:002012-04-05T16:17:34.900+01:00THE MUSIC OF 2011...20-11<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3u5Yqfr6wbDbO9oDJhrur1gS7ATH8MaqjLBEJWrZu3AH_QCtCd5PG_xDEWTfW_c8_ROzZ72kBO4vznsWR72mGWYDBVHcw9unOoOmM5vuzvIIOiQWZxp5PSVOsHBTFPpOzMIxsbJuvPJ2h/s400/woundedrhymes-lykkeli.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727935343484819746" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><b style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; ">11.</b><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Wounded Rhymes'</i></b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; ">Lykke Li</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">She’s a dynamo, riddled with angst and a backing track of drums so dense one can’t help but move when she enters the airwaves. She’s the continued example of Scandinavian pop and how that region’s music has developed from the hook-heavy days of 70s and 80s ABBA to something with considerable heft.</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div><span ><span style="font-size: 100%;"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDqqWUbzUmqsdLTzW6MY2lmSSMMHNhlQy4St6jgGr3TUDEwYgSLepQN5KP1eGCX5lKWNgp1UCeMLQgchQk72U8_NiuuvQ3jWyI59GT63opbfxbJmHnOb9ZqvFd3HnZg7EYP5INdwIWn6IK/s400/scandalous-blackjoelewis.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727935336901136418" /></span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><b>12.</b> <b><br />Black Joe Lewis And The Honeybears</b><b><i><br />'Scandalous'</i></b></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Motown throwback, this Texas band brings a sincere and energetic honesty to this blues-soaked 2011 release. It’s as if Caleb Followill joined a big band and toned down his rock sensibilities and let the musicianship say as much as his boozey drawl. Joe Lewis combines that with his James Brown-esque vivacity to bring about one of the true toe-tappers of 2011.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br /></span></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQE0tjm2Fy4mC-t7rfQULxygwtOFL2739hxX9Bu-aroW1-JgIOPJd2m-17LVbDTQ4YRUuXc8dNvMkAcFOX4Kq-Wh8vvxxkM-c99Ro2-eOLII8uhVV6uD1y7iJ0GFgK4V_DUcgj5PNuocAA/s400/konkylie-whensaintsgomachine.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727935331143878898" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>13.</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Konkylie'</i></b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>When Saints Go Machine</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; text-align: justify; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">The Danish electro-pop group arrive with their second studio album and deliver in absolute spades. It’s a perfect combination of folk-inspired electronic pop and the bizarre. Beautifully structured – it reminds of the sublime </span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); font-style: italic; ">I Am A Bird Now</span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); "> by Antony And The Johnsons – it brings a real focus to the combination of the electronic beach-and steel-drum inspired sounds – </span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); font-style: italic; ">Konkylie</span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">literally translates as seashell – leaving the listener with a skip in the step that has significant heft. This is far from lightweight fare.</span> </div><div style="font-variant: normal; text-align: justify; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ8cm-4QZBug11ChHO5uUYx3JkaTfAj7W8eRcbNqzcUfqKMyVJsJG830Qn4bO7BY3iawjx6yori0PlPg6OptnEkh8yq7nvmlWL8drgzZQcUoIZH14awGtWs8IkCtNQFZrQzqs3PMuzgoBy/s400/shapeshifting-younggalaxy.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727935320799885602" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /></span></span><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>14.</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Shapeshifting'</i></b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Young Galaxy</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; text-align: justify; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">This moody album by the Canadian indie electronic-pop band brings to mind the synth-soaked eighties, the earnestness of nineties lyricism but with a completely modern sensibility. This is smart music that invokes a significant amount of support for the mantra that less is more. Good stuff.</span> </div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Vrk33p7UmugZ-rTM_RxwftSNHToo0pAvEOTQKytbRisPonrgVRc_FEm6lydmrN7DuLiwy5NuKsy2VkLhtpXRlyFBuMDAg5yjimOoE9shlYo9mPXSXu1dFX5hKL_TTBI1IHKcOvI6jg9K/s400/diamondmin-kingcreosoteandjonhopkins.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727935316637957282" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /></span></span><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>15.</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Diamond Mine'</i></b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>King Creosote & Jon Hopkins</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; text-align: justify; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">Stunningly beautiful, this collaboration between the Scot, Kenny Anderson, and the Englishman, Jon Hopkins, does wonders with sound as it constructs both a sense of place and space within both the lyrics and music. It’s a beautifully tempered piece of modern folk that speaks a language truly relevant to the music world of today. With a genius understanding of simple melody, this may be the prettiest album of 2011.</span> </div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVT5DzQuHk8_EHGEdskc20vr2Bi-Nz9mJgBGyX_pPyf8wsP4X8-j7Ok-2pb_FzhQlTnH1A3hSeN_2aK6l2RlzLfqaHt7JgrZu-DuGGeICDBJGvkgDVYsQPh1TbzSIt7JrhL_084uP42tNx/s400/onamission-katyb.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727933088972063666" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /></span></span><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>16.</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'On A Mission'</i></b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Katy B</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">She seems completely unassuming when looking at her and yet that voice that tells her story is one filled with such a nuanced balance of sex and mischief and plain excitement that one finishes up her album with a sheer sense that she is something to get excited about. There are classics amongst the lineup and whilst it doesn’t maintain that level of consistency throughout one can’t but argue that she is indeed on a mission and a mission worth completing.</span> </div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsvJutqWz2v8IKdhNddgicFOb6IP0UJopTh60Qh5rXrZo-nnFsiLsFaN7g5JZVHhHmsNvUwzpSEkzeWXpubiwv30FMfj_qbLgkXFCvZKKwAiJLu9Phugjwc1RVVQel4j15R5yX9MXShi-i/s400/theriptide-beirut.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727933073719614738" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /></span></span><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>17.</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'The Rip Tide'</i></b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Beirut</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">Bringing their energetic big-band/carnival sound to this, their third, album, Beirut show once again why they’re an important part of the slightly left of centre sound of the once-again growing folk scene. Lyrically it harks back to the genius of The Decemberists’ </span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); font-style: italic; ">Picaresque</span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); "> and it’s perhaps as grand in scale. A terrific addition to their canon and another reason why even a not-quite-brilliant Beirut album is still one of the best releases of any music year.</span> </div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIxbJGkEPU_cELm3PWGz7bOnaKTMAhYLJmgnjkv5uX4qSzG7kJSjoujA8UCvJeA4K4L259CqDN54GeLcAxRhaEZVQ7qo1emCCr1yM1XkRzt4I0ho_1Ayanma29BFkCAhsyb3K83gablYrz/s400/conatus-zolajesus.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727933068818359938" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /></span></span><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>18.</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Conatus'</i></b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Zola Jesus</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">Diminutive in height only, Nika Roza Danilova is the epitome of that tried old saying that good things come in small packages. From the gravitas evident in her voice to the intelligence which she employs in creating a real sense of cohesion in her set, the brains behind her Zola Jesus are not in question. With </span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); font-style: italic; ">Conatus</span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); "> we can see the potential in spades. Her next step will be to prove that she’s not a one-trick pony. It’s another of the great ‘modern’ releases this year. </span> </div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghM4oe_o-AeSfVpRiH6VEgk5T652WwKfXzppLIyY3XNg0-f3wZ2cioOi_C4zqCHYZZjv601tmXB9lzqDfNOaJQbDUYywbozesU-F-1Blk5B8wkfDX6WyCZpAmh0GkPqZX9X_lW0W7iBovR/s400/onthewater-futureislands.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727933063196285554" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /></span></span><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>19.</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'On The Water'</i></b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Future Islands</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">If Leonard Cohen and La Roux, both in their prime, had a baby it’d be called Future Islands and </span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); font-style: italic; ">On The Water</span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); "> would be its defining words. Beautifully odd. </span> </div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); "><br /></span></div><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0DmPyixgY71Sd3gnx6KPvAkeeXJQGzTYiBgvaJaLTYaPKXzs1JFJhlVGLe-gpXpY7I7k9dxHH4M8_rNzLfw7ZQ9y2D4Mp4j0sM1lLHS4fyebNj6hLWTgzj2t6yRPjYpSQr_7muGfrcij/s400/theyearofhibernation-youthlagoon.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727933058962620290" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /></span></span><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>20.</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'The Year Of Hibernation'</i></b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Youth Lagoon</b></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); "><br /></span></div><div style="font-variant: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); ">Trevor Powers out Bon Ivers Bon Iver and brings a beautiful weirdness to his melancholic musical journey. </span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); font-style: italic; ">The Year Of Hibernation</span><span style="color: rgb(2, 25, 40); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(252, 254, 253); "> is that perfect combination of old and new finding its way through the growing mass of electronically tinged singer-songwriter albums to emerge as one of the more memorable LPs of 2011. </span> </div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-64337006355610384112011-12-26T22:13:00.009+00:002012-04-05T16:45:42.558+01:00THE MUSIC OF 2011...40-21<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeiyV07am_7rg2NjkWCsI3F0YEp3jWHIeXi3TKkvbV4CjvhP3Ea8XelbaPqxfI8oU1qgHvKG_V4Byx3UuLl0VMFQnVgximDwMlDHmcZB0Hpa8J9ABW-8w2p1jJsRHawcQGRg9fcAWqWegM/s1600/metals-feist.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeiyV07am_7rg2NjkWCsI3F0YEp3jWHIeXi3TKkvbV4CjvhP3Ea8XelbaPqxfI8oU1qgHvKG_V4Byx3UuLl0VMFQnVgximDwMlDHmcZB0Hpa8J9ABW-8w2p1jJsRHawcQGRg9fcAWqWegM/s400/metals-feist.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727943234211493442" /></a><b style="font-style: normal; ">21.</b><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Metals'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Feist</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpDfEIVfO9cKE0sUfAmcSY9ZGA0iihnJ3t34LqE9xadmvOjfDp8K300bxndKVEBDhERRB_lo3KrhHQ7JskReo7AsjUmPHccUsiTPXiwtpt5EcGtuOXAYM4QWcQfjJy-n3fOwCkOinQU3_n/s400/inthemountaininthecloud-portugaltheman.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727942725153258114" /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; ">22.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><i>'In The Mountain In The Cloud'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Portugal. The Man</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ytAznipDtdCsFi1VDd-w73Kxl_XjSafZ-V-r0oTHA4UWSSrmVeZfc24r2PtrQWmzAQX-seEyyxA9ybd6m31QWSWZFgEgK85Z1VF6H_HkySJ-HkLJ1EglH_P0JLx512TWXXOx9HppRfU4/s400/revelationroad.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727942722439321170" /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>23.</b> <b style="font-size: 100%; "><br /></b><div><b><i>'Revelation Road'</i></b></div><b style="font-size: 100%; ">Shelby Lynne</b><b style="font-size: 100%; "><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiELB9UGZKg1TiRuYWMmgygwxCSH43PDOJ3gPmXWZGIBcxBEV6_DxXkB9KAnLCVG7uwnIspSs7KJ98H5W43o7hdmufohM87dZPb_Hs1byFYkU6wQSlpgX_zHY9bYQLRaF_CYAeL7r798IJM/s400/tirtha-vijayiyerwithprasannaandnitinmitta.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727942714188050114" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; "><b>24.</b> <b style="font-size: 100%; "><i><span><br />'Tirtha'</span></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Vijay Iyer With Prasanna & Nitin Mitta</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYg9SEoeVvaAzvFFPumaMe5_RmbplhnZRWUhVVdG3QlGQsfPuN6hVhiBwBGNThnjgRgxbT2h9eCplQDx21Y-Q2pcervoZF2htIDYeSroopaXiKCkV31seIRtAjxs_mh6qtfIPnNSpBLF3N/s400/soultime-sharonjonesandthedapkings.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727942702836906386" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>25.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Soul Time!'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCFTzM7kCk4RFmSL3P_cOpksiUBNstDRqwuVbjjzjNtxoOFP5JoDXtu3vIBRgFQNNaGb0104WeNeCiJTovUnQcpzmZYmzKq_uYM5-ub3R4kaUrgI54Wd2w21tIJH4AWuYBxGfEFFitCh0/s400/glassswords-rustie.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727942699645853730" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>26.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Glass Swords'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Rustie</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_e6uPpagLl1Tj6ee0rj4JWjSbvItXVMP-2h6aub9DxOdlSmPewhTg9oronzZAbuAbAJ-qlQdpQbtzigumkUOE7ABASvsw7R2AGAA-oJuIVn47i0eKNoiU2HxavP9Cr6dU_vYkSURtzoD4/s400/all6%2527sand7%2527s-techn9ne.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727941589254698834" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>27.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'All 6's And 7's'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Tech N9ne</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiTmrO7PggslEP8VRjOc2NNUS9ymF8qDA6ZVwSEquRiwSFAMD08Xrn5uRzntNXfek_YBLgZ0vb4k3CO-dnX-hJGZbkzamoGye05oST8iibwQr_jt8FF_MYwLtoa9ew5rA7sf4yyVX53UmX/s400/undun-therootssmall.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727941587260310002" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>28.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Undun'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>The Roots</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTz-oHsF5jgmeQm2mm85xcswdp5IWaI6x7nEgBQ86tAAj0k-iJhzesShx8guzA6S50gno6LArGG5uTSJF5b7BhTNQs3BJ-pEIK6tg3Jg_A4Q3KL7x-iXvHMYiGAsq-3FUAcxy3QKvolHkC/s400/littlebird-kaseychambers.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727941575186247666" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>29.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Little Bird'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Kasey Chambers</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PrCCXA1TWdygsAVLLTtATbMhdee8eEQUQY2upESBgNz4kUNi5ktu-LhGk7sXMEdCQEnwVRFE9EjFtn50JwOgVqNbWH7QJ_wMdGPkcXZ9o4Pt-_7oudgw3GD4QGCowAinu5dJxZ-fkuCl/s400/last-theunthanks.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727941568828251586" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>30.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Last'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>The Unthanks</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge86cqgaPH7Xz6NwzYonf-TZvSM_bWuC2ijKRcAbGs6bL3zDl4uhspb1pcv5ZR2DiVPNk_vw5PmeP092p4Lzge9FvlSMVCjD6Zh_x1jBSqC8OfpErIqe-mDYI91b9wKVPOjiQ7lCULCPru/s400/nottimefordreaming-charlesbradley.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727941564226201794" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>31.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'No Time For Dreaming'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Charles Bradley</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOEmxs7dRht5kTl_8nCWRIeKAq9ZpY0YPpnzxz7Eo_sLJM48-BgHwj80Uc5dyymyzFiVTo0Ogu7X9DGIl1YiJ0KHsFgu0he4dklvyoOhVjd1jxspeCBI7PY_iz1cSO2stfRCPpIeDe4aIQ/s400/director%2527scut-katebush.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727939781682342450" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>32.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Director's Cut'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Kate Bush</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEES4-qzxxutyAsOatQxDoxN_uZKigONEUeLRUQeI2D8dr_-C_Sflhi4TYvhDCxiSpmlixmVUAZ9BpMrU-yCOot1VNzEacYgOFv2au2LI6Sh0oXiGgPXcFsEflzZwO4Rot8uecC5PpW88n/s400/buildarocketboys-elbow.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727939772672210786" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>33.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Build A Rocket Boys!'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Elbow</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDwr-AGCX9lTAx8dXhfmnICgInYxksB4IaozZi32OgmUqB4mW7vLC8EDlHK9cK0j3BuMM5FDBlA5EDhww1ApxwjTWV2NPF1Vm0rtwDv5QDTE6mNWs4-jm_y165ExiwFIEffoa5Pqq3Iks/s400/50wordsforsnow-katebush.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727939761038658450" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>34.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'50 Words For Snow'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Kate Bush</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUElbN2QRafXiNd6hdK892d-1DnHiLt_jeq4W3Bb6xDdQzwOE4bIXerggI1VTlbymN4LCdbGXNQYRo0kFdacWqDJ7xi4lH2JRgyYMwdsoimUXdc2ArkQH2YrVx4uZP3yhWBkhQHljdrwXp/s400/backtolove-anthonyhamilton.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727939757354353250" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>35.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Back To Love'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Anthony Hamilton</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWnZ1MQIk3V57l7N45NenqTVzyYmfBPCro3MSwIocIJ_Wca3ggvsM7XTlqQ7p-5qIMEzjdTqIJoTq_tKcsn7xfDFo74vxtVJalEuw1Cn0aKCi1UlVGJdms-6NGgovEsAAMErvlxkf-2piP/s400/thaoandmirah-thaoandmirah.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727939748304866402" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>36.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Thao & Mirah'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Thao & Mirah</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgg3J6pHQk52AEaXOFd282S1jIoUZVTQaS3DkiSFapXQKm8G6WNJi00V2ke5xBbAZS_bwsMaQdnFzlluZRgpsITMo8wXZkBMo6O5QLMf_g36KhZxUFqIkA_6aYLAsm-Wao65n9M_metzoK/s400/departing-theruralalbertaadvantage.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727937681825342818" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>37.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Departing'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>The Rural Alberta Advantage</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZG42IE1P_wvunNbYy3mkhHfO4TYAMI5beP1e_p-Sxjf-L4y-406yrItiyA2rR8Yy-uwLK3xaqfcby4ihb0x6ymhPkrTjnEtiqN-XBxd7NyNoVzb_8WlR-T0aUaml8qEdenAuuAKGIIqmD/s400/belong-thepainsofbeingpureatheart.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727937679107850626" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>38.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Belong'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi89fsCFjj-gU6gn3nHVG53XeD5JdiKlS1M8bHChAMdimYzn88vRcsyQZgxjDAq2jcjrppym7bwoq4H65b4CUdhg4RAhD7BSB1AknHol-JuR2lAWuTqC5FsSTuMu76EXp_r1SbqRyDN2XS/s400/makingmirrors-gotye.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727937660845001506" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>39.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Making Mirrors'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Gotye</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8mZ4DxCgSLha0nC4mCpqZeHKIpLjdWvK_BqWF0onQc57ftVDt6VqLJVVl2zQii2Kiorhomr7Unx5g5k9_ZCMyi0p1xzV5jQ1FwQRekqWf1aMCwWG5wvKdlVn6dRt8Rwz59JGb24G59j1d/s400/smartflesh-thelowanthem.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727937651467481026" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>40.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Smart Flesh'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>The Low Anthem</b></div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-35064190901175792762011-12-26T22:05:00.011+00:002012-04-05T18:31:35.968+01:00THE MUSIC OF 2011...60-41<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vNH6p-Sa3kiS7nutM6ovp5Oeq34hMXXj8h3OBo59nhXz7Tx5AjbbCHo6aWyhF2JHPT76mQMlUkEDwVOgQCqgmZdw0iyWbo1yURW01sTsWmC_99rzXnd2GBYQqOMsIzb-A0PgiSr5711p/s200/grinderman2-grinderman.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727969964616185698" style="font-size: 100%; float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><b style="font-style: normal; ">41.</b><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Grinderman 2'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Grinderman</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkxHAHz9eE4xTP6ruIKM0MrlB1xo-nssrjQKwY0REk6_HPaLkhLzuzbystjziFVix62CO1SXtKls2xOg9cSrXO5RefLewizvHY1RPsXy0xj6-RBK7jF4SvIM3envXa3Cepkj6cuvpz9i2Q/s200/watchthethrone-jayzandkanyewest.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727969949188112162" /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>42.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Watch The Throne'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Jay Z & Kanye West</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRRYnV0DytsvaaTettlsQtfrNWCosF5LYr5w0S3PP-dFQ-7_XFBw3FJEsOOkvx8R94TV2q2vsY8KhB6E9-n5U2nSfw7U-3WokLIwpaSCO7f1YOZd8glTCLtnGlWD46J9yq1AcwFS_GELk4/s200/tomboy-pandabear.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727969944873018386" /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>43.</b> <b style="font-size: 100%; "><i><br />'Tomboy'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><span>Panda Bear</span></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><br /></b><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim7InfXEFaYHVrvvBilXqIYXP_nBwlU4vhdq6hg8uO94RPt5swhODPArWgbEcTvmEJ7bH30oByRtCxLE56NuDj27O7Tt9rCHGQ7z2hHuDGp_dJ0XMuo5cJAjMz44iaaq6gXr51ldLRrDbh/s200/enditall-beans.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727969937775510978" /><b>44.</b> </div><div><b><i>'End It All'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><span>Beans</span></b><b style="font-size: 100%; "><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><span><br /></span></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><span><br /></span></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><span><br /></span></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><span><br /></span></b></div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEeWrvE-McX-31JFrqkZAVOjSsKArGEd_pVAnu5bwU2HCjIP-Tv7R60qXtCMcK2DCfd2nuRITcKS2poYEtTc67H8U2YZCuKT6LikY97mz51s8pZcA8eXud15ysv41avpSiXlJ6HoFs2Y7/s200/grownunknown-liaices.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727969933952226386" /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>45.</b> <b style="font-size: 100%; "><i><br />'Grown Unknown'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Lia Ices</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMHgACdbIw1hIVNZZVj-NKi0gHFwSN8Utt5NXyO7DAw1IkHODzBjSYIXUiISHvSMwfPmdSPHbneerb10Wz3vj_t8chwVnfoL9DZTp4l8CD-TX0yHdmmOMsYs0YjlkNT7BUA5adFHlDn6Ep/s200/acreatureidon%2527tknow-lauramarling.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727968922390482946" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>46.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'A Creature I Don't Know'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Laura Marling</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbA8kixk7oyRUDg3WR3tV9C7W_4R4timLN0jo4FBTEDM3g7c9FU4tJjmfKcVyrTOo8etIigvkoCOXFc0mEleHpPBE0LA8rnI975QnWeK7g3gmzCxchhSCmqzBxrVLpnSjATr3fiGzAUUgH/s200/lasttraintoparis-diddy-dirtymoney.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727968914971029874" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>47.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Last Train To Paris'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Diddy - Dirty Money</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubPvVySQrrFTUN0Tqii5Ss7lYRHALxym3F2aOKq1Wjdb3Lmv6UN9EYr_lyIq3H6l0MJ0gEejeIEFrWVsXAw6GfKhfx2o7SAT3Z8xf5hQvD83WNosDgI6ijk1OwP4fyjRpYNcA0SypUjuy/s200/seekerloverkeeper-seekerloverkeeper.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727968904715644834" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>48.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Seeker Lover Keeper'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Seeker Lover Keeper</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigkETLoaOYLaX8uqc4qgFIYjUTSLIWClNLRRXduEclwHwhzbj1mWJWDLNZEd0ZTTAeB4Ji1ID4LzT1HRVLUAhDUq8q24kHW66PWFqLRjnY9_Sx2l3mVaT813-CrmjEC_fr369rL1-NHBiM/s200/wondervisions-delicatesteve.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727968890180775586" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>49.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Wondervisions'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Delicate Steve</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnW21xaumZ7H5yT32mZkp2vY7lkQXBJXckWpK70Hw5mWSOLgT5LvoEhwKyBWm26feDefl50gf-A7OBTex0uWqA3jFjz3DtBaX6y1HwPuzwuD0ebZXuRAdACFE9Diwtk_Qq6IuuEc9knLff/s200/velociraptor-kasabian.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727968881134990258" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>50.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Velociraptor!'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Kasabian</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjId8MEAhQF0QV4sgg91KY-cwb6ICe1pevTyFigegvQI1C6v1TKuYJ-egn3OQhSXer3BDo_Yoo737d_FJifhTkvdFCVrH0VWXn5LuLrOYmDa9zJ0zuJnWnc77Wi47-7tXzO7E4cYDtWpcVI/s200/musicsoundsbetterwithyou-acidhousekings.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727967785949422594" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>51.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Music Sounds Better With You'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Acid House Kings</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwIZYKJtSHzxPUhG_YobKGV80tjQuMJ9yXMAT-kO0YbdWYt6V_VPDsRMLtP1X6Bvhj5_qpXEB-_hIt6z94yBDPmlappY2YLbzikGjTWyP-5qB0K163R2ct2pjrfVYoIFktnGYovbo16ji/s200/boniver%252Cboniver-boniver.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727967774919296690" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>52.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Bon Iver, Bon Iver'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Bon Iver</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSj_41zES4LOuLWz-iJc2_ru4FqunPAbViuqmvmJTtFr8_4gTFiRYsn4WaXomjLuEmvLjn4Alk_KoA3F0k91ssnTFmRJ4L8iure3wG0HQ8jouX2ouZUbPxMke0gWjqoxmEOxqMchDNDnNf/s200/megafaun-megafaunsmall.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727967764181096690" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>53.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Megafaun'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Megafaun</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqqfwWHlmtMLalB7prU83Bk25ieXo04VW9qLesule5trHSEX_MQRld-QiZ2BvFTu1fxDf7kpIjptAvMmDmFgHxkZsoFqlAmyGnNW8GyRXqbTz6XlS3Rx5B6lLoIa7HwnrriRo_rHANuoK/s200/ashesandfire-ryanadams.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727967752756386786" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>54.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Ashes & Fire'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Ryan Adams</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxwWIpN2loFSww5c1V8naYy8D-efydGCfGP7EmyJKMHSCJbcThe5nUAzW_VN6ikP4rU4hh7RhW1_sob0jgUFfS3Aor8jpIlaN9iYixxqt3r22bjrC4_euS6Eptn2UVHcMWh53W5KS1UwJf/s200/nativespeaker-braids.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727967734226635010" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>55.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Native Speaker'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Braids</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjNYjOqWESjlZpuyp_d3RZ9aX8s9gHygT6sVsuqwIE2ntgTpTLb3Rg2va4L2V2YnYVUNoLzLb7PxWLapocv16W6s9Y7fbc9Tn9seu6mVT4NBFmKOW9fwCa_Xl1VELc6kPyUKVGx0GlvKa6/s200/stiithecosmicbirthandjourneyofshinjutnt-akronfamily.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727965949064109634" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>56.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'S/T II: The Cosmic Birth And Journey Of Shinju TNT'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Akron/Family</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMT_e3lJoQZn-hFMmP-m40kx-_QhICrGi_p6UHOajUwjcx7C_chrx5TJ8Zf6KjsTmVENNrAOV0FN_y0UaZ1gOXSXmjFcr2HyIBvuB5p9X84LpP4Cl26pDMdMANP6g6do0-2Tjf6It5F4v/s200/teenageandtorture-shilparayandherhappyhookers.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727965938192788050" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>57.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Teenage And Torture'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Shilpa Ray And Her Happy Hookers</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy0EWm-hV0TChWTNXcAUfmc_HsYykWaYbpx6TodzwKfp6Szp1dq6tRq5Yl78-gCc_HhGtu0WUTeKOPd5U35MiG3-ZfXijC_7PCqta-HnM_A7Aej6M4zt3-ZxWfixiuJWV6N8jZFlAztYyv/s200/biophilia-bjork.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727965919005905922" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>58.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Biophilia'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Bjork</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUBV7It1lb6VrJn7rTcfVtrYLqo_roY4ksYnswhXXc2IB8yxOWJSoNxUAQ9P1hFI4F0ev09YhH7aQ4Yn9lgjZPdbqBSQjDhBuXUXIIZxoDrOt-Ef6-J_O8uRw0MDYjDiCTlHprPjlNw5u/s200/weliveinrentedrooms-eastriverpipe.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727965911455095234" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>59.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'We Live In Rented Rooms'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>East River Pipe</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrccvSrhxjx7GQ668BTRCitRkEmueE0hUNqwpWS5iyjdzxnRwm55ep90TOgGxtM-CSjc59wwrzFZhDiiIIR7kErfRSKsrFqUuCMwYIH_6MQ65_aryeqZ4jY2Hz1xRTDVC-rtTgMWKSoDvl/s200/21-adele.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727965903649590978" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>60.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'21'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Adele</b></div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-7977823955065486382011-12-26T21:57:00.012+00:002012-04-07T09:47:41.371+01:00THE MUSIC OF 2011...80-61<img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuRsZESLEXQV2nmwglvKSxgdDalrfuUT2D5kktm48PlpUGoyFiMNjSNNS_fsHRYENx8xkgr5YexKJ6FObkS3VlUX47QjSEW2z0WR6ccomW31Bsj_5qSoNxczEyc7d3syIBEC9AXSxm3SDO/s200/lovemeback-jazminesullivan.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728577303926291186" /><b style="font-style: normal; ">61.</b><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Love Me Back'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Jazmine Sullivan</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYm5L18HnjlOf4_eToYPlLTELKRUriUsZrnKT-ETVK1_WnrSsLJ84ajY_Tmp8dIZICatzPHMhEggsROabBOjFobjG2P8rERXgrmnmqSIJrpIJy4kZJQatoDdJrFWfI11wrkhtFNbhjDt5/s200/fieldsongs-williamelliottwhitmore.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728577297561509058" /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>62.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Field Songs'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>William Elliott Whitmore</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-CG4OmyHAXlavKTH1D7Su8T2ELP1OpJxBbLg5r0HBnN4p7Vdgj2fDerzI_uHzfUD2_u1TzdoaYaykfbI8AiCeiEw-QoHyyQlihY8jdm7pCKK-UbWp1cG-lS_e3hGP5RagBTqrAmaJStvW/s200/outsidesociety-pattismith.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728577288683199010" /><b>63.</b> <b style="font-size: 100%; "><i><br />'Outside Society'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Patti Smith</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRaKmT0m1Q3938LOaOI4-K5y1SGck655-fAqpTWeF2mg6wPWkDSnKsiDiuJ9IUs8amjYHmaVaqjuZmjuoeb1KnzR_rpnB8o8lp-mHbp1mmgjyLHHd6xjD-d1xRCXTf2uwRxN3Xbj0Z3nv/s200/onyourradar-thesaturdayssmall.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728577279971016258" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><b>64.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><i>'On Your Radar'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>The Saturdays</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7UP_93WP8-bn1FEJArrjA4Ej5GWYqXLsLAm3VJasxgM-mx-Y6wEkoscX2by0m7FZGT6Qc0RGpEhRNUTRCvUudK13crYCko48yrl8pNrSH2PTVmbryCB2l6TvatV5Ih9Qu-DH6Mi4mifiy/s200/d-whitedenim.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728577279253024034" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>65.</b> <b style="font-size: 100%; "><i><br />'D'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>White Denim</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_YjXEV5HZNXlWR8UIFZ-puEfZgF3W0aANI0oiKIWapfdGM_GZhQ0q976eJHOV3qndV5MNcieOUsueD2GyQxedwt0fUvWCqYHOX_xK0335ZH_BnuRkoTC8jZZEVBvNVDp6a_0-8mwxvyJ3/s200/blissrelease-cloudcontrol.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728575996784943794" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>66.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Bliss Release'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Cloud Control</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9h7pCrESQN7gyWtDxcJeION0-Efma3KnHeZ55dZWjAYxLmb5XGCwUKV3COioaa7w-BiZ4D3NShxpBA1am6MmvRvZb_FQQeJfZLEWq31vh7GvNf7arahWXqqopG_RpzMBkAQWpKOoeZpIc/s200/hurryup%252Cwe%2527redreadming-m83.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728575983639691794" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>67.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Hurry Up, We're Dreaming'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>M83</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHueYrb9V9TsysDpp9PLV7Zrxn-Zy4vluKkAug7G1rupC3rAN1b5PD6n6dsNQWGErUDCzYF-vR09uGNEw_qYf8Mv-BQL2nzXnVcpEkyRQBYNEBHmcBdkap5VzZnt4tZjmZRCJVJGgQlmW2/s200/inlovewithoblivion-crystalstilts.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728575977994750114" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>68.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'In Love With Oblivion'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Crystal Stilts</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUEeeujuV57VhZM9yMq-2DqbpDZv0vsdzDbSSVYtjEQ0j9pR8RTcgeRMEVgNajPSvvuPptlO7RRbI7ayGUs4VYR-j5TzoyOCQWURl0_6rqFzbgiMJvFZWrPP0lPL-Ooz2eeWBC-5HBQI5/s200/helplessnessblues-fleetfoxes.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728575969771277826" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>69.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Helplessness Blues'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Fleet Foxes</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCvysPrCqy8I2CYvlaAYU4AoOVwLGzIa_zN1z2WHNrJq30VlyayUQtCzbgKEkuQQ2Tvoflxk0y-u9W-r1Txnn98hoz9SIDJQFkdnb00JV8mMc1CCVyPpfTR1DBDhacb-ax3Vp3aUTXXmM/s200/inni-sigurros.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728575965862111170" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>70.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Inni'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Sigur Ros</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTHfDLp2GlHNIwvTWak0RBEyIPByH6iXSwBV0pFWq4LIXHSRwrExj_q-Uo9w1hTltxb3-LkAYeosqErefYo1e8qGztv2JeFUEuMkLopR40PLA1Iu34qS0dqlD43UGwOl0WQTEVcZmYZO0F/s200/thekingoflimbs-radiohead.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728574981040665762" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>71.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'The King Of Limbs'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Radiohead</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB-Fw2CkivpMxN6wARWbvZez21-hmXYRwcDgMbbcz2ExAjO3SaaZ66eAl4Vhp4RgPMZ4_AmmuKobRHhoK0SPeor2wXQIr_2jttF0rOG-DSRidJjvmVUtfU3i-I-IPIPuW_vTzKcZEhb1Jz/s200/betterday-dollyparton.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728574979549518162" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>72.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Better Day'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Dolly Parton</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHpIiX4ijvHwF3tyfzaI8EvRba6wO1c1p8_qm6GHIYJmRx63KmudMFZyX1k0TccU44jB0_qs46aplLAh7OTfBCEU0_0akPxSfmqeO_3hRvpfd-x0vV_QzU3W9YbN9W0d127PraG-o2jvDs/s200/ceremonials-florence%252Bthemachine.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728574974323465698" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>73.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Ceremonials'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Florence + The Machine</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCnqxfuvyK20ysEp83FOxect9Fmz2NTKy1EcrDk7ctEufgkOWJFmtwIZlHPJEVnk9szZmA7xI8OTc3WH9zjrMwHdQ3MWl18hZYkRiRAkXljHw5ybarSumq788MyO40k7CYRFNPo_4tyc-f/s200/fomo-liamfinn.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728574965566157378" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>74.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'FOMO'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Liam Finn</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6HlJ5mFvZmCMfi4bZK3nQ29L0XAzY7vfZXw9MJM_gkSxSTwKy9kcE04Yh5EHPvt9ncLM3vq-ZOiy4T2i1pM2MJdigGzFtOS9g6Upi2NvLQXhBXdZi7k-ol3w8Nd5_DJkyQzxFawv_CKWu/s200/circuital-mymorningjacket.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728574962566508578" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>75.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Circuital'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>My Morning Jacket</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlJ_tsZK44BLnU9l3HIyswjOfzJ0lY9UaeZd6cH0vBZYBpamNERoOYVX75aevtzJCZaQCiqMCxC40Jg2nYFGRyGFRrU1qj7jOuq9rpcRro7UrmYuWkYysv0VN3xCe-WbkPU18T7BrNhlTD/s200/strangemercy-stvincent.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728573864782354370" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>76.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Strange Mercy'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>St. Vincent</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfdduYrfkTsqJ4rzVGLh7VaPJJZghZcxugvs5rnHb0aWBHT5Pw92BP1XHmuJL9suGYXZm6BXpPC7sbQG8jYVUPSScmt9ExFDRS14TGOu06K26A2oBPve_cAOYHhdrRaHZ1qpz8OIrn0PG/s200/cinderella%2527seyes-nicolaroberts.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728573860172209570" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>77.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Cinderella's Eyes'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Nicola Roberts</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMCVbA4pD8k2YlOBKRinwg4Di8O870nyCspaqOO9ZHftRXWIj_AfQ6C0sQuoxTBPY2vK_WehBWTxeuhPs2yAkE5K_e0IACVcQKpuLTBf9bL5fW3fwSK92wS9nQU41ib5HRSCuBSgf3VnII/s200/moonfire-boyandbear.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728573852197859954" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>78.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Moonfire'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Boy & Bear</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZwiPW74p9-VRvpY5xsjAHjgN-2_Nuxo3h3jMG7UomkSjsG81pBbRQUUpz8vSxFzMC3e2tKMLRBsXL9eUCJKG-qLqgQ7iV-7_PW2e_fk0AlN80DbLVmdDHnTamMutvwvLFSb_7yoeQesPc/s200/smother-wildbeasts.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728573850502480818" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>79.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Smother'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Wild Beasts</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilSrCXSR6FbdH16LmUQzCDFtMp9fUfextdJb6wjtnOzMojeJOaGkD9b6H1Oz6apCHVvxnL35tOvke7dmu2OHn7IUIn5zDYCAklbVWhgZHGeWdFoLt1cIQc2ivL_e8Luz-DKsmruzxw7yn6/s200/underneaththepine-toroymoi.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728572960766851842" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; ">80.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Underneath The Pine'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Toro Y Moi</b></div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-84498323558230037662011-12-26T21:43:00.012+00:002012-04-07T10:04:27.800+01:00THE MUSIC OF 2011...100-81<img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5TgEW4h4-i9W0HP-CjRl5Np9wzbq7AkOzZ-Kh2t5w-NHVjtF_R8U5eJylPFeEM9vtjLkhDJqVQILPl11aWH4MZ62HV3e03FyjhoX1Fgxbt5-r6DNkmD5H8al3XbCE42vcvDsgdWZ0NUpy/s200/stonerollin%2527-raphaelsaadiq.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728581834780661250" /><b><span style="font-style: normal; ">81.</span><br /></b><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Stone Rollin''</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Raphael Saadiq</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZcuIcS73eiKiaerrkE6PFy9qGhxdEBEDYaIS2ZmCrXWnjz_yNxBDJi8SAd2362RM-L09fio6SiKFQMgWYqD3PD5hOupT_eMEh_m8MyNctnTmHdUo-4ffP8kOkWWbk1oowK7Xqxkg24WVy/s200/ashore-junetabor.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728581829615186290" /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>82.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Ashore'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>June Tabor</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG3EGy4WkHogLTSiTmF0IQVqfBeTNM7HLUWZC6xXdrFATACUGZsi-K4gWgAk_OWgl1Ejd5t-eP9vijxlndco0tGDPRIhO9Ykvkwbh83X4YXKqVFOwcvvJ_hWVVM4R6Xu8YXkhnoHfN0oF1/s200/marbleson-jessesykesandthesweethereafter.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728581814528507538" /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>83.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Marble Son'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; "><b><br /></b><b><br /></b><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-J9DFXPcS_dnI7qFR6Gq7tHmXqgavwdmk5P_KHnJC-sjwY-MxbyJM3Jqf82rvk8RhsTILVNo0JYvYQ6K9wk3l8rENJ02weNRAuNwz0vOIh0dxZ9iSQeKuDHvKORUjAfT8BWcAPcExrTeo/s200/4everevolution-rootsmanuva.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728581812860550802" /><b>84. </b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; ">'<i>4everevolution'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Roots Manuva</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5IerTGcFOf_pMe3LF177GiOOugWDJ9NSzU4iJG3qGCFCe2e2nXSOOmr91d_eSwHp-og68PqgIvcW2A7Oeu8dKGUzI8oHlNMgecge9iQzodNZ6EB5uLzK8IMaHRrmW14oXnw1Gfu-ckyi_/s200/whatdidyouexpectfromthevaccines-thevaccines.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728581802224369538" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>85.</b> <b style="font-size: 100%; "><i><br />'What Did You Expect From The Vaccines'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>The Vaccines</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLOOzs_b7vWM0BkEAjHUX7vlqWE2yktw2PQ4mWjabXtatqdAAyQ1iWwMJJ5HeiK18b3iK-w8Z__CEZQM4VDJMYvryzVXu0DEIjAlIk9xQP69mb3vIZgILSmaKUBMr3LX6vSSUo5M1d223Y/s200/gilgamesh-gypsyandthecat.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728580866284073170" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>86.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Gilgamesh'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Gypsy & The Cat</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVRvCXY2oU0e_7x6kdxrV7rMktWXvdScidkHNR4OJPgdM1ABAd4WR5ErO1UY50Jj2Y2-jvHYwscncY59oGuP8ayub1hyphenhyphen_1MegVEezSRyyfM3feSSnbddES5Wi_5YGlF7WfSzIfgtREXE1b/s200/theloveep-corinnebaileyrae.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728580863596170882" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>87.</b> <b style="font-size: 100%; "><i><br /></i></b><b style="font-size: 100%; "><i>'The Love EP'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Corinne Bailey Rae</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOt_CG7-t50JYO37sMWiR7Bz94LavKkAS5R4wvAd1w_vMY4hSVYYsGopDMI1I624G04jurSHz7sKA7__0AQRZ_JWqAj-nT1nqxHbmNoUxFOHhQkGTyD6dqTiInIStAKfwzHKnzIe4fnYHN/s200/nocolor-dodos.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728580849709819186" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>88.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'No Color'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Dodos</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><i><br /></i></b><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR4lOGcC_7UrKqWnFEl_d9EaFgSlQuqsT2nP2uSsWPvyx0Ldv8OIxvdDxINq9UD9_W_u_o1V-aEm9lqmVx0KUazCkjJ2goDuyvvdzQxKqecffHXTN6gSul9Lffh1Zz1hujKcCWYh8l31vI/s200/losingsleep-edwynncollins.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728580846856126994" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><b></b><b>89.</b> <b style="font-size: 100%; "><i><br /></i></b><b style="font-size: 100%; "><i>'Losing Sleep'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Edwyn Collins</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0RgWzk72ktG3SRBlQKTGtmFBOPlyaU_hQl4Do_fIbl77MDfiFIiqZeM9odVMdYfLVtOCBb3-uoEGtiCMfjs8k7sOed_QJih6SXrQhyphenhyphenIFlE6LgPnucKUcj9hW_URVLXCz3pkExSHKRQtsB/s200/spaceisonlynoise-nicolasjaar.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728580837437672610" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>90.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Space Is Only Noise'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Nicolas Jaar</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCox8SlXQyUcXzoTBjs6nnrcecqL9WLE6EqVGzrba0nzDD4joMWwTW8LK4mLmABk2QOTUFY7m7cWj2eiP0ciomvlAIRlxa2Z-c_TovjLCiwmgqwBKM1Dkg7mhO1fvP1LJXxIsBJVVcvS0n/s200/takecare%252Ctakecare%252Ctakecare-explosionsinthesky.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728579787559019666" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>91.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Take Care, Take Care, Take Care'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Explosions In The Sky</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkAVCyPvoAGSpcOWmRGLKi9lqHQuL2tyY8daTTQDvdcO1OePm2X7Si9f1SQqqfcst598p6FeE2i6c58AKqDEQJfFuAi__dd4bb2UsJaA9FqgYzlLGjsKj4db3waGj8Bc0Pjy5PGYMU0bJX/s200/condors-nedry.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728579785207718738" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>92.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Condors'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Nedry</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg4beageZrwiPI0SdGMOCXH7TohmDW1akXuoptN_om8fq7ptfaEIhXkMTUufCgGRxH689ebf2WNFLX6VsYXYdqV7z35eq2csCAKIkhkhyphenhyphen-wO0kD82LPR66IjlHPVkNEVCXyVFu-ih6FplU/s200/kaputt-destroyer.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728579781367817314" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>93.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Kaputt'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Destroyer</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZsMt6C17Oacm3vfRYo_rlrW9pQIFpgMSKiJe8YUFwJHeKZDUX7I4YS5xSR6d2dwAhQOk448AfctPeK3bbmfWzmrqd2-T3mXIPEDLbSyxqcW0xvg6Ah6Qj8BfoJbkWi3vZGmwvAqgN6hgd/s200/gotellfiretothemountain-wulyf.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728579777873502258" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b></b></span><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>94.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Go Tell Fire To The Mountain'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>WU LYF</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjea99lfXGtQKh0mb_ct3k-9Wp09g8iAYeqP28FH9hDbvg8uIcKcc_UZ_EnLVLdCfHm5r3aApsPlAzctWT7irLWaIhv34sa4ykjtUUc6XhU9iX7DqpCO0MmWer2RSMAQ35gvhUBQTqxohO6/s200/smod-smod.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728579766193424914" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b></b></span><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>95.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'SMOD'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>SMOD</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFg767j4nRHwOSwnrGwxKLlA0Mcyx6-fKIPnyAybOR4UQifIHym7MQh-qM83pQ5jHDl_Y1OW_gX2UqUkQjoYDZdq-Ir6jmtNxq8vYHntxJyyZOSCRQzw-4i3p_BCS-1n9ovrD9Z7GNsxnz/s200/oddsoul-mutemath.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728578554111473474" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>96.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Odd Soul'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>MUTEMATH</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk58noZfMSFXmJ_pPmfGafrJoornIKSeRNRIXGFXIq_nKFk6XcTATWxbhW1c7jGq8-dHGwIFQ18eMTIcCxcTdSD6-Gm9b4OL2JFZo4cfETXXUfp6gKx7tA4C4G4nD_W10B3cZg16qzLejl/s200/ownsidenow-caitlinrose.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728578546308034546" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>97.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Own Side Now'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Caitlin Rose</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgadKFFYOfa_H5h6n3641QyjOMKWGvT4sY8_Jsv-hUzvg8Tbw_w41Wk8wMCEQ4PugD9TYvKxKEDeqc6lk7kgqmWT48l2cxv_mVEbKqkKXHF-jWb4yKfedtQSEMCMzxn35D6ajnb4POe693/s200/twomatchsticks-thewoodenbirds.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728578540821954146" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>98.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Two Matchsticks'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>The Wooden Birds</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgojjAjlCbZNsCXsPpi48dJ7gJ2bnRKrx8Pi4fYFFBMq3eotWxWG5xkkANqJBUOjAYg7JtexYWoJxaKDxyRuMmZKfYuZAFbHSnUiMj9L1q_-WIeBbVK06c7xE3NIVvIPQhzNsuEyDCy3og7/s200/liveinmarciac-bradmehldau.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728578533328503906" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>99.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Live In Marciac'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Brad Mehldau</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><br /></b></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgobfEwJfNVP2aE7jKrSwSLE_kKkutCdl9wiYxzPiMWu3YoMrMi4g5Z2tZwN_WAx4cW68Re9YGYSuv2j3XFRdKYp9N57_dORjK6hAIRhp2L3OMV33u_UiLJME16k0WuOaikUIKUHK2oIll5/s200/bibleeyes-egyptrixx.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728578529056783682" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px; " /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>100.</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>'Bible Eyes'</i></b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>Egyptrixx</b></div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-40232903876244260412011-01-01T11:07:00.022+00:002011-01-01T13:07:04.051+00:00IN TRUNCATION:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-JfjM7fSrXK0HnpzJexR9H899cIB1OyKT86FeDRJBrKNseF3YcqPct1flHAOvZ6R3o4p1XSFCbWN0YnetAHh4GelpdAFtFV91VHRH_W2sb4jBsuj6TDMhLxNodLfhctg_vrO8BAEv9fvK/s1600/contra.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-JfjM7fSrXK0HnpzJexR9H899cIB1OyKT86FeDRJBrKNseF3YcqPct1flHAOvZ6R3o4p1XSFCbWN0YnetAHh4GelpdAFtFV91VHRH_W2sb4jBsuj6TDMhLxNodLfhctg_vrO8BAEv9fvK/s200/contra.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557195464625978306" /></a><div style="text-align: left;">Vampire Weekend were sued by the woman on the cover of <b><i>Contra</i></b> but that element of distaste left nothing in the mouth once the album was heard. Eschewing a real sense of fun and whimsy, the sophomore album nicely balances the use of humour and nostalgia to bring about a sweet, at times non-sensical, journey into the world of Generation Y. From the evocative lyrics of <i>'Horchata'</i>:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;">In December, drinking horchata</div><div style="text-align: left;">I'd look psychotic in a balaclava</div><div style="text-align: left;">Winter cold is too much to handle</div><div style="text-align: left;">Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">to the hilarity of <i>'California English'</i>:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;">Blasted from a disconnected light switch</div><div style="text-align: left;">Through the condo that they'll never finish</div><div style="text-align: left;">Bounced across a Saudi satellite dish</div><div style="text-align: left;">And through your brain to California English</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div></div><div>to the softer and seriously tender <i>'Taxi Cab'</i>:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div></div><blockquote><div>You stand this close to me,</div><div>like the future was supposed to be</div></blockquote><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Vampire Weekend really excel at conveying the contradictions of modern youth. <b><i>Contra</i></b> is a welcome confirmation of their breakout debut.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeOW_pjHnaCTD94dwAr3utXn-_5PdHgLAPY57cDq2mQs70ttOvpjl8UjNu9C0YRPfE4d6-pb7HOxvyV6EVOIZohxaVTdnCSbZhySMh_J7HmtziNaVLxmZ8z8HoSp1v7xB9E8o0sxpvHoKa/s200/huntingmydress.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557195183594258162" /><div>Stepping out from the shadows of her famous previous employer, Tom Waits, Jesca Hoop released a new album in 2010 entitled, <b><i>Hunting My Dress</i></b>. Reminiscent of Australian, Sarah Blasko, or English chanteuse, Laura Marling, Hoop uses the melancholy tone to her voice effectively throughout the ten-track album. What she does lack, however, is a consistent sense of melody and whilst the sheer fun of tracks such as, <i>'Four Dreams'</i>, and the intriguing quirk of <i>'The Kingdom' </i>and<i> 'Feast Of The Heart'</i>, ring true and signify someone with something to say, the album as a whole doesn't quite convince. This won't be a break out but it may well send enough ripples through the music-listening world to remember her name for next time.</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWubzxAChy3wFVg3KQm3d6s1LKsYjqfzvtSDRuFhW8eGNTFxDvfiXFmKUiOd1JghF7BbBt87Gy6cp_eWguChwQybwniP8rvqb7lbn_t1-gOzk5v8QyN8hD00Hv9DnWt5rVV8SzpAbWfaO-/s200/seekmagic.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557194534573253122" /><div>Dayve Hawk's debut album under the moniker, Memory Tapes, is unlikely to be his break out either, however, like Hoop there is enough here to identify a musician with a significant point of view. The electronic genre has boomed over the past decade and with the likes of MGMT, LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip and M.I.A. racking up the fans it's not entirely surprising to see some new faces on the scene. Not entirely new, as he was the former frontman of Hail Social and he has released other pseudonymous work, Hawk brings a sense of the mellow to <b><i>Seek Magic</i></b>. There are some real moments of sheer beauty in tracks such as, <i>'Swimming Field'</i>, <i>'Bicycle'</i> and '<i>Plain Material'</i> that are matched by a willingness to take risk at a potentially significant cost. For example, the odd construction of <i>'Graphics'</i> creates an illusive quality that markedly hinders the listener from grasping the story being told and the Neil Young sound to <i>'Green Knight'</i> falls slightly flat, sounding less assured than it should. On the whole though there is enough here, as mentioned, to warrant keeping Memory Tapes in the back of your little black book. Risk pays off sometimes and it's likely that it may indeed do so for Hawk in the future.</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMEzJ6EXu6Ga00g5ITJ1iVsl1Yb4xD1AT-QI6yHkL0vuvZlJ0CFtKOnatcsIuAAHApsKZaK5j-Ndy9djTPQq4VKFWByiwr7chHuV_lq85fKQvok7SNds_ExdPHHmzfXhHAoo0gQJC9wkY/s200/waitingforyou....jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557193898718922386" /><div>Marking a debut as one of the year's best is always difficult, but for King Midas Sound (Roger Robinson and Kevin Martin) it has proven rather simple. Put together a real ambiance with a real lyrical understanding and an intelligent mellowed sound and you have quite an album. From the impassioned <i>'Earth A Killya'</i>:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>'My stomach is no graveyard for the dead'</blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div>to the pained experience of <i>'One Ting'</i>:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>'How can you do this to me?'</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>to the sheer gentle rhythm of the piece, King Midas Sound have aimed soft but big. <b><i>Waiting For You...</i></b> is a triumph.</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8hPJjvAQBxaFV2DTwdAEE_KCcFhe0mKZpjfzXinIE3NNWKMuXX1CR4SxFILYDa2ERPNMr8li5uzFRJct4zdcxL3U8bzwlOkrLscyo6FCPhulyim26d0k-frt2DnIdqI5dMYPUQ_l1lhUy/s200/weusedtothinkthefreewaysoundedlikeariver.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557193456543851586" /><div>Endeavouring to create the same sense of melancholy is the Richmond Fontaine LP, <b><i>We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River</i></b>. That title probably gives everything away without listening to the album in that there is just too much present. The four-piece band, hailing from Portland, Oregon, is a stalwart of the Pacific Northwest live circuit and success has seen them tour both the UK and Europe and release eight albums. What's missing here though is a real sense of nuance. The simplicity of the title track is when they're at their best:</div><div><br /></div><div></div><blockquote><div>We came home one night and the door was open,</div><div>most our things...broken</div></blockquote><div></div><div><br /></div><div>but it's a journey within each song that somehow makes a mess of things. For when the honesty of the lyric rings true, as in the above, then Richmond Fontaine sound great. When it doesn't as is the case in <i>'The Boyfriends'</i>:</div><div><br /></div><div></div><blockquote><div>I don't like that, I don't like that</div><div></div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>it sounds bland. The album plays out like a BLOG set to music and the interest level, much like a BLOG, peaks and wanes. It's just that the troughs make it really hard to keep on listening for the possibility of future peaks.</div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-25753464920776041642011-01-01T09:48:00.010+00:002011-01-01T13:03:44.559+00:00BRIEFLY:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJuR7voaPj-e7gfEccsJr1npotSyjOS_jJrpH3Ii6ry0uhCpricJR1-vPKiP6UkdwP5J00vt2Dy86CxqKU9cvrMH-Z8WOcf8KwnmRKiaUlHpcfLFk9n09QjVF_ccLb-i7NTHJCd-F02AZO/s1600/beingdead.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 135px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJuR7voaPj-e7gfEccsJr1npotSyjOS_jJrpH3Ii6ry0uhCpricJR1-vPKiP6UkdwP5J00vt2Dy86CxqKU9cvrMH-Z8WOcf8KwnmRKiaUlHpcfLFk9n09QjVF_ccLb-i7NTHJCd-F02AZO/s200/beingdead.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557159649870056354" /></a><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i>Being Dead</i></b> by Jim Crace is the reason why this reader reads books. His use of language is beauty wrapped up in words. Even with a grim premise this reader just wanted to read and read and read and read. For those who are lovers of language it is a must. For those who like a good family drama it is a must. For those who like crime scene gore it is a must. It's simply a great book. It may be this reader's favourite book. Ever.</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivw6ABFpST-KrbbVaHck5iPp6SF6k7Aqp9pgxUyuqVKtPti5wyi4XukH1gBEIKpDU6S_YczlAmIFWFJZsi8uD79LHhrx03LLT9MVGQCGuXu0fpMs4i6zs83vgulj3ZmAzOHIiso03Q-Blb/s200/thedarkroom.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 136px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557159492982443394" /><div>Shortlisted for the Booker a few years back is Rachel Seiffert's debut novel <b><i>The Dark Room</i></b>. Essentially three short stories placed together, the novel tells the story of three Germans before, during and after World War II. Beautifully realised the novel barely sets a foot wrong as we learn how the war affected those on the inside of German boundaries. It's an immensely sad and </div><div>powerful reading experience and an astonishing debut.</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01W42oji6OWUgmwx671qCLUvC7VcDR7Js72cxWB67AMC09zag_GE-sitpJTNul4XAB5UByOjin-0x7iFCXuop5C4SfKeIXY1-wZJdAspwZhY5KnIgw0Ovqe-JuC8DYOf7EkT5q_LvWXsP/s200/themasterofknots.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 132px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557159318878826274" /><div>Far from Booker-prize territory is Massimo Carlotto's <b><i>The Master Of Knots</i></b>. Slight in size but grimy in nature this crime-novella is a grisly examination of sadomasochism and the Italian underworld. It's fast-paced and interestingly written with a tone not often present in Western writing. Even despite his famed personal history, <b><i>The Master Of Knots</i></b> is example enough of why Carlotto is a household name.</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixFsMC9AxFFKXxcyYEgwrrIFacUsDGybzLXrenUA0bM6aRzTmeYHp699TJkrnXrkYq33Rl0oLtOsVQLw-vrX45cD9ncuTj7gNcZmKtMkcBt831-gHAxCbpgO5bvjhZpLVEAq58NhtEyXB_/s200/miracleonthe17thgreen.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 171px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557158979880581298" /><div>Far from literary genius but no less the household name is writer, James Patterson. His novels have been massive hits worldwide for years. This one, <b><i>Miracle On The 17th Green</i></b>, which is a collaboration with Peter de Jonge, strays from his crime-laden canon and attempts to tell a tale of a man making good. It's slight and easily read and not wholly unappetising it's just that this fluff is so far from good it makes one wonder how he is as successful as he is.</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtnqVsyB4wvXKykcXNMujbtdf9qNUz6NweasIAZePTsRP6U1KEZyhNs9jX2meY3_njEo-yNtDhM2Bgw5GKAGEj8waFEakfYfHQZWIQ73IvgvHQAUbgTXC82kzm-epFn5EI4oRLfOqGsmbg/s200/thewatchinglake.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 128px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557158493953450450" /><div>Far from successful but not unknown is the Australian author Elaine Forrestal. Making her mint in the world of children's literature, Forrestal has garnered a reputation for writing cleverly structured, place-driven narratives. <b><i>Someone Like Me</i></b> is a fantastic achievement in her canon, however, <b><i>The Watching Lake</i></b> pales in comparison. It's an atmospheric but unconvincing take on the ghost story that tries to incorporate the Indigenous mysticism of the past unsuccessfully. It's a let down knowing the strength of Forrestal's previous work.</div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-53124006832683792812011-01-01T08:06:00.014+00:002011-01-01T13:01:47.200+00:00IN SHORT:<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwNQWRvWxthfjxkkhs0eoY7-BmOOjWqxvi4ZmUA1o2_AnYn1MlbxhZkUu6PHjNmhVSzdoKt958_WL2whogpyCMTDzsIwTzOOCmXkawvEKaCgzYqSa6Ip5jiRT7BaMFj9fi67xxMDwT-HID/s200/single.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557136893072062850" /><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i>A Single Man</i></b> is singularly a tour de force. It has its detractors who aim their criticism squarely at Tom Ford, however, for this viewer the film remains a sumptuously heartfelt homage to Isherwood's aesthetic and work. Colin Firth is in top form with a wonderful supporting cast of Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode, Jon Kortajarena, Paulette Lamori, Ryan Simpkins, Ginnifer Goodwin and Teddy Sears. It's so beautifully realised it will go down as one of the best films released in 2010.</div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTkwuIQxCwZTCB4sm3anN3SyqSFsMC964GNLF4hwdSUmFFJthqoq7Sz2uvxsodccIshhDOS1ve96UYNCd20R2Hi4nvXKiAN9kNAtu1Gyb5csTbWG9jVhFDlB6OHJ6gBFWXnsKuqmfMRJDl/s200/cove.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 135px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557137026178497826" /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Shocking in its subject matter and unabashedly one-sided, this documentary about the mass slaughter of dolphins in Japan is a sad indictment of a world focused on money and human demand. Well made and featuring some truly painful and striking images, <b><i>The Cove</i></b> is a welcome addition to the growing canon of publicly-accepted documentaries.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBXfJHS-V07uVEGkBibyy0w0Dlcd8BJCt1_P6bNpkplhEeNavxVuUgZSODkmnK2vRB0JCzjEPIPWChVkwZzq0M0id43QZUWw8kEvENSHfjJulQwWC7kEugUNx0GUur5a3Ro8Gl4LvUPiK8/s200/september.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 135px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557137488296020802" /><div style="text-align: left;">Also insightful but delving into a wholly different world is the documentary, <b><i>The September Issue</i></b>. Following the day-to-day goings on within the Vogue house, the film focuses on two very different but strong women - Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington. Looking at the impact the running of Vogue has on Wintour and her family is interesting but it's Grace's striving for the perfect shot and shoot that really holds the viewer. This is an intriguing insight into the oft-thought vapid world of fashion. As a follow-up to the fictional <b><i>The Devil Wears Prada</i></b>, this is a worthy watch.</div></div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRVATY_v6zwRXobzusYp7f5wjSBOM6__QyVxO_31NxNxVFgVphIsAkaLulZTvg7YH7hljoDrFnOMVcEzUN6YVaF3IQMgSJy7Hd60BMp0fHSPy0YDbsglzU92lamb5tdaPWjkFfoKOZfmQ/s200/michael.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 134px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557137771611237602" /><div>Far less quiet but no less insightful is the documentation of the last work of Michael Jackson. Looking at the creation of his tour piece, <i>This Is It</i>, the film is constructed incredibly well, using split screens and interviews seamlessly to piece the puzzle together that is the whole. Simply letting the film speak for itself does wonders for the work as the viewer is reliant on their own storytelling voice rather than that of an annoying narrator. Surprising in its depth and as grand as its protagonists claim Jackson to be, <b><i>Michael Jackson's This Is It</i></b> is a real film far from the money-grabbing vehicle it was initially suspected of being.</div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-17079361675371538142010-08-01T01:58:00.043+01:002011-01-01T12:59:34.571+00:00THE WEIGHT OF THE WAIT...Judgment. We're embedded with this lesson from fairly early on through religious education that to judge is to be wrong. Yet there is a hypocrisy in the very sentiment as identifying one as guilty of judging is in itself making a judgment. Observation is merely reporting the facts, which in itself would be describing the behaviour, but to label the behaviour goes one step further and in effect becomes judgment. We're notorious for doing it but is it that wrong? Isn't opinion important? And aren't opinions about making judgments? Yes, perhaps there is a significant difference in judgment of something and someone but is judgment of anything in a sense a judgment of those behind it? This may seem a somewhat circular and pointless series of questions but what it is leading to is the inevitable sense that we do judge and in some cases pre-judge. Sometimes our judgments prove correct whilst at other times they are proven to be false but what it comes down to is the realisation that whether right or wrong judgment is about the take on something. It is how one interprets and deals with a scenario, situation or subject that becomes the significant issue when judgment takes place.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3VwFwKRWwB4XA3SWr4gTP3o701_1ub6yIsQcD2cf3z1eLoJ_pQen5Cu1SayojFJsxUwZZWHZk74cG0tCNod9bla4kcvKQEMbB-c8SWp1-UphkoNvrFWzhhxdD2Advj-LsfrcsWnXaY5Rw/s1600/theblindside.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3VwFwKRWwB4XA3SWr4gTP3o701_1ub6yIsQcD2cf3z1eLoJ_pQen5Cu1SayojFJsxUwZZWHZk74cG0tCNod9bla4kcvKQEMbB-c8SWp1-UphkoNvrFWzhhxdD2Advj-LsfrcsWnXaY5Rw/s200/theblindside.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500735312213038306" border="0" /></a>Take the Sandra Bullock vehicle, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Blind Side</span>, for instance. It's a Sandra Bullock movie. It's about a middle-class white woman, Leigh Anne <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Tuohy</span>, who rescues a troubled and homeless African-American teen, Michael <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Oher</span>, and offers him a home. Immediate <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">pre</span>-judgment would suggest a saccharine-coated weeper that would see the African-American teen overcome hardship and go onto greatness and in the end it would seem <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">pre</span>-judgment would be correct. As what occurs during the film's two-hour-plus running time is a series of realisations and advertisements for stereotype-breakdown that leaves one with a confirmation of the cynicism with which one may have entered the viewing.<br /><br /><div>Sure it is an uplifting tale of sorts but it's a tired one. Sure it is an inspirational tale of sorts but it's a seen one. And sure it is an antidote to the barrage of bleakness that seems to have enveloped the screens of recent times but it's an antidote that leaves no lasting immunity. For <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Blind Side</span> is a purely by-the-numbers examination of a difficult social issue with far greater implications than what it is willing to acknowledge.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLTcplluRyEllrUiXV3ZFIJnGNfrtl7WdMaigvVExXGfF2UxJ_P1iFTaLw4XAGgoI5G_pfcwVbdbTkIlLKxlbs_BBIMs_Kspnbaq6D0who4cNUCqiRhQ_xt21mmi79ph4SK5gr6eGYisB/s1600/theblindside02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLTcplluRyEllrUiXV3ZFIJnGNfrtl7WdMaigvVExXGfF2UxJ_P1iFTaLw4XAGgoI5G_pfcwVbdbTkIlLKxlbs_BBIMs_Kspnbaq6D0who4cNUCqiRhQ_xt21mmi79ph4SK5gr6eGYisB/s200/theblindside02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500736267008188434" border="0" /></a>The problem largely lies in the lacklustre screenplay by director John Lee Hancock. He's no real idea of how to bring depth to this story and creates a world so ordinary in its look that one can't always see the true significance of the story being told. Performances are solid without being great and Bullock's Oscar, SAG, Globe-winning performance is testament to the power of the awards machine rather than the acknowledgement of quality. It's a middle-of-the-run turn that lacks the zing of Julia Roberts' performance in <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Erin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Brockovich</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">, </span></span></span></span></span></span>a similar sort of turn, that garnered her her awards run back in the early 2000s.</div><div><br />In the end <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Blind Side</span> treads so carefully that it ends up really saying nothing. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Oher</span> story is a far more impressive one than the one that graces this version, which is a shame because one would have thought that with a more original take on the story the message may have stuck around far longer. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Blind Side</span> is mediocre at best.<br /><br />Far from me<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0S7Ul-5ankrIYdakgo3Gomkbx2XxOTvd_FwvbfrFMuEiI8YAHx17Sat0SOzaxnUP_wE2QvxVDyyg-c3UUmlCxmVIhxP77HOpb50aNq2nExntbn_rYxeFooWns_g9yE6_GmS20s322PZPa/s200/brothers.jpeg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 135px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555762520335160866" /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">diocre</span> but not quite great either is the American remake of the Danish film, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><b><i><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Brødre</span></i></b></span>, entitled <b><i>Brothers</i></b>. Remakes, particularly American ones, of non-English language films generally garner the true ire of film fanatics. It's therefore no surprise to realise that this adaptation comes to the screen with a lot of expectation that it will fail to live up to its predecessor and therefore be justly lambasted with the criticism aimed at arguably unnecessary remakes. It's interesting then when the pre-judgment is slightly amiss.</div><div><br /></div><div>Focusing on the return of a scarred war veteran, Sam <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Cahill</span> (Tobey <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Maguire</span>), to his family home, <b><i>Brothers</i></b> identifies the trauma one brings home after armed conflict. Returning to his wife, Grace (Natalie <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Portman</span>), and two daughters, Isabelle (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Bailee</span> Madison) and Maggie (Taylor <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Geare</span>), Jim Sheridan's take on Sam's return in this familial drama brings considerable shades of grey to the narrative originally written by Susanne Bier and Anders Thomas Jensen. For as Sam struggles to come to grips with his family having moved on so too must he as he encounters the damage distance and grief can create when he confronts his brother, Tommy (Jake <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Gyllenhaal</span>), about the relationship he has with Grace.</div><div><br /><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR-Elo-4k9Brocw54ErHcd0a_Wg9TtU5GtMjhQTcPxMxWzgGLw1E7qcrV6ioLAhFa-RmQOgzPCIYiQSgv2zVbAnxH3CbT509fO35mfBvn5lElWwtfJNUxyggSgbFo8aUiC66hHg-Gn3zEV/s200/brothers2.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555763880184094498" /></div><div>Showcasing the family dynamic, there is a lot to be moved by here, but the film fails to completely convince and that's largely due to the misfire of a performance from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Maguire</span>. He simply doesn't have the presence to convince of this man's troubled past. Apart from his one big scene, in which he convincingly applies himself, there is a lot missing from that baleful blue-eyed stare. Compare him to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Gyllenhaal</span> and there is no question that his performance just doesn't stack up. The supporting cast is top-notch with Clifton Collins Jr., Sam Shepard and Mare <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Winningham</span> all good and the two child actors in Madison and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Geare</span> outstanding. In the end though Sheridan somehow drops the ball and <b><i>Brothers</i></b> ends up being a good film when it in fact should have been great.</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhldr60Vsi2RM5Lz0hcrdtAhPJRMcjZaWagrQH04vg3S4v1o0P8m7-iVO1vbK_b4Q8GwJOpROElnLJVGh8juNVF4L2CCFOhf0mtIX6vSce436bI3Ax3Skbztzyf6YhSzKUuXRPyOqkDFmAQ/s200/cedarboys.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 143px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555764662195553746" /><div>It's perhaps then interesting to look at when <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">pre</span>-judgment allows for films to truly shine. In the case of the Australian film, <b><i>Cedar Boys</i></b>, that probably lies in the fact that expectation of low-budget Australian fare is never really beyond that of average. It's interesting that this is the case as Australians are renowned in nearly every field with the film industry, yet, when it comes to films being made at home there is always a sense of doom and gloom as to their quality and success. For what it's worth there do tend to be very few 'bad' Australian films but on the other hand there do tend to be very few 'great' Australian films also. This obviously has a lot to do with the size of the industry but it does tend to bring a certain set of expectations that can allow for films to surprise.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the case of <b><i>C</i></b><b><i><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">edar</span> Boys</i></b> it's not a great surprise but rather a mild one that a film of low budget can muster what it manages to in the end. For this investigation into the world of Lebanese Australians comes at a time when racial tension between the minority group and the larger white Australian community continues to broil. And for the most part it's an intelligent investigation into the cultural expectations and cultural misnomers present within Australia today. For whilst the gang culture is investigated it's actually the familial and interracial relationships that spark most interest here. This can be attributed more to the performances in these sections of the film with Rachael Taylor an interesting on-screen presence and Les <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Chantery</span> a real nuanced addition to the goings-on.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuYuKDMSgFvNGCXrbjSJ518wplCn02oCybH__f5htY7xDS_8YQ4pJN8P4M7DCsKXQhnl-3QM7vaopCz892bh_PZDWFcX9XIFZXpsYIJb9___O12ZZxyKikD3p7EUSO9jh9V5Mt-vFR1bz9/s200/cedar2.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 117px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555766107692814514" /></div><div>In the end the original lowered expectations probably help <b><i>Cedar</i></b></div><div><b><i> Boys</i></b> but having said that there is still enough on show here to warrant a sit-through and a significant sense that there is</div><div> something to be said about the racial and cultural tensions present in Australia that filmmakers are really trying hard to investigate.</div><div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3_HH4L2mkSIm4my2kLRAWAdT8VJCozTNJPGcl8nG1i-wy-wLtg1SoHB2nJtYiSCli72p4iCS_wcbgzijT2ZIRBvTKMly29bm2elo6quecAHgXKl9Ooca8xiv-suVUWFpIcynIGZfQo-9b/s200/frozenriver.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 134px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555766686648930002" />What can add expectation and a sense of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">pre</span>-judgment to anything is the collection of praise already heralded upon something by those who have already borne witness. <b><i>Frozen River</i></b> came to Australian shores wracked with expectation as a double Oscar nominee. Investigating the world of people smuggling, <b><i>Frozen River</i></b> takes hold of a small community and lets the inherent social and economic problems tell its story.</div><div><br /></div><div>Featuring a forceful and honest turn from Melissa Leo as single mum, Ray,</div><div> the film takes us on a journey as a mother is forced to contribute to a significant social problem to solve her own. Supported by a criminally unheralded Misty <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Upham</span> as Lila, a Native American involved in the scheme, and her moral compass in her son T.J., a very good Charlie <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">McDermott</span>, Ray faces the internal demons of her decisions and repercussions of both her actions and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">inactions</span>.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fXQCgMIS4Ai2Bj_nEgl2akgGQ2h-y98I6NlCn8PwHrhdKs-0itelJgKZ-cDu8fXdKrZiOh5rGBft9fZiNM7E2EzHY6BkRgw6l3eRbaAF3LPrGhYt4oTm-JpQHiVJEnJcYJaAy_PSjpho/s200/frozenriver2.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 160px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555767833995676370" /></div><div>As a film, <b><i>Frozen River</i></b> works marvellously. It's filmed nicely amidst the freezing locale of the St. Lawrence River and bears no sense of pretension or self-importance that seems to dog so many independent films. Courtney Hunt's screenplay and direction are quite fine and as she lets her story unfold and her actors</div><div>flourish, one cannot help but be grateful that, on this occasion, the expectation was more than adequately met.</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSnWTKvMAiGLtis9xoEW6ZxFV3Hl2ozkQvk9AcOaJmHFIm9nLYLcdrDt7XeLyccPqEV7TpFiN-3KGnS7O7MH5IEoTJSQ5MsA07TZ6ULYgKEkwTi63Xj3dAUX8KlZGOSOQ8stMFzmPNVGVz/s200/lastride.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 140px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555768348424172674" /><div>It's the case too with the Australian film, <b><i>Last Ride</i></b>, that the burden of expectation comes thick and in this case two-fold. For whilst it too bears awards expectation - the film saw its star Hugo Weaving <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">AFI</span> nominated - it also carries the very expectation of its star. For Weaving is a familiar name in Australian film on both sides of the artistic fence. From the Hollywood blockbuster <b><i>The Matrix</i></b> to the world-wide smash of the <b><i>Lord Of The Rings</i></b> trilogy to smaller Australian commercial successes in the likes of <b><i>The Adventures Of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert</i></b> to even smaller <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">arthouse</span> fare such as <b><i>Proof</i></b> and arguably <b><i>Little <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Fi</span></i></b><b><i>sh</i></b>, Weaving brings weight. He's an actor's actor, usually convincingly immersing himself within a role to the point where one forgets who it is that is present on the screen.</div><div><br /></div><div>So it should be no surprise here either that, in the end, <b><i>Last Ride</i></b> also meets and in some circumstances exceeds expectation. For whilst the story is not a particularly original one, the</div><div> father-son relationship developed on screen is one of significant depth and understanding. For </div><div>the sense of fear of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Weaving's</span> Kev is ever present through his menacing and quiet turn. The fact that it works is largely due to the strong supporting performance of young Tom Russell as his son, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">Chook</span>. The swimming scene alone is enough to identify the trouble within their relationship. The fact that the relationship doesn't even really need scenes like that or the incredibly odd scenery of the nigh-missing Lake <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Gairdner</span> in South Australia to be utterly convincing is testament to the chemistry between the two actors.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc0sU3wElFna39fyi3BjAnnudjKe0CVI6iAkDDlZqeXGcDP-CCHARCEY2wQgO_oH0wVHmkwemZ0LmTp0Vp3WI3sVwBtj4ufCxeVJeEhKwzHD86p5qrfWOrVfKw0u9jyjnV_6DHYnDJNx3p/s200/lastride2.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555769413734097634" /></div><div>Director <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">Glendyn</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">Ivin</span> uses his actors well with even those in</div><div> smaller roles, John <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">Brumpton</span> and Anita <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">Hegh</span>, delivering exceptionally and he embraces the camerawork of cinematographer <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">Greig</span> Fraser - a crackerjack new arrival with his work on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">Campion</span> vehicle <b><i>Bright Star</i></b> also <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">mindblowingly</span> good - wholeheartedly, which in turn lets this rather small story</div><div> unfold quite interestingly amidst this sometimes huge backdrop. <b><i>Last Ride</i></b> delivers and it delivers in spades.<br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbs0iwseS-ekvQJnr1se-bYsv7Vabm2o9xVcrmTDYz_dAuFRee-M0oHkAjDBJ0BgeTGaqjqwkwNjgmV4u8YYeAxIosxgnLhxKcmiLUp1wvE0F1-XZk9_5ymLqq5YAw94TGXTpxDP0rgDHf/s200/seraphine.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555770059299159458" />Which is also what can be said of the French bio-pic, <b><i><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">Seraphine</span></i></b>. Another film to hit Australian shores bearing awards-weight burden after it beat out a red-hot field (<b><i>The Class</i></b>, <b><i>I've Loved You So Long</i></b>, <b><i>Paris</i></b> and <b><i>A Christmas Tale</i></b> amongst others) at the Cesar Awards to win Best Picture, the Yolande <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">Moreau</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">starrer</span> is a quiet and odd little film embracing both the worlds of silence and sound within the creative process.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">Seraphine</span> Louis, a French artist within the naive movement, known also</div><div> as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">Seraphine</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">de</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">Senlis</span> came to prominence after her work was discovered in one of the houses she cleaned. Biopics bring with them their own set of expectations but what sets <b><i><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45">Seraphine</span></i></b> apart from the majority of others is the lack of the vulgarity of the obviousness of the torment that propels her to complete her work. For whilst she suffered from a diagnosed mental illness later in her life the focus of the film isn't this but rather the way her creative process developed.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_46">Moreau</span>, in the lead role, is astonishing in a performance that will likely go down as one of the decade's best. Strikingly odd but amazingly lacking in quirk or an overly mannered sense of delivery this is a truly lived-in turn. The fact that one is kept at a distance from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_47">Seraphine's</span> process is even greater testament to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_48">Moreau's</span> ability to make the viewer care.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-qKe1n_V0PLSDlnZOXC56M3o-Q9JDAiUf6OqBeSllKyUlpiomVrbF28B6awBY2q1_cV5gEnIPlLA5lUYscvCLCnL7FDTr-3DQJQ9r5zi63i2Q-mTT82IA4PpxhGt-kfcBaUIOOI65NGH/s200/seraphine2.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 112px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555771024660698898" /></div><div>The support is also spot-on with Ulrich <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_49">Tukur</span> once again proving that apart from perhaps Neils <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_50">Arestrup</span> he is Europe's best go-to man in cinema and Adelaide <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_51">Leroux</span> is memorable as the caring <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_52">Minouche</span>.</div><div><br /></div><div>What one garners from <b><i><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_53">Seraphine</span></i></b> at its conclusion is that the creative process is one filled with pain. For some it is an avenue to let it go. For others it is a way to embrace it. For <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_54">Seraphine</span> it appeared to be a means to meet both and in the end at a purely superficial level it is her story and this particular telling of it that proves no matter what the weight, the burden will be carried if the heart of the matter is kept protected and left true. No sugar-coating will keep a viewer entranced or convinced even if the expectation and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_55">pre</span>-judgement are ones of universal acclaim. It may blind at first but in time the shine dulls and the truth does win out. In the case of <b><i><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_56">Seraphine</span></i></b> it is clear the truth is already present.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span style="font-weight: bold; ">THE BLIND SIDE</span><br /><em style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; "></em></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">2009</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">DIRECTOR:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">John Lee Hancock<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">CAST:</span></p><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Sandra Bullock<br /><br />Tim McGraw</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Quinton Aaron</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Jae Head</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Lily Collins</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Ray McKinnon</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Kim Dickens</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Adriane Lenox</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Kathy Bates<br /><br />129 min</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 14px; ">USA</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span style="font-weight: bold; ">BROTHERS</span><br /><em style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; "></em></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">2009</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">DIRECTOR:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Jim Sheridan<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">CAST:</span></p><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Tobey Maguire<br /><br />Jake Gyllenhaal</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Natalie Portman</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Sam Shepard</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Mare Winningham</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Bailee Madison</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Taylor Geare</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Patrick John Flueger</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Clifton Collins Jr.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Carey Mulligan<br /><br />105 min</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 14px; ">USA</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; ">CEDAR BOYS</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; "><em style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; "></em></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">2009</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">DIRECTOR:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Serhat Caradee</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">CAST:</span></p><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Rachael Taylor<br /><br />Martin Henderson</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Bren Foster</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Les Chantery</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Daniel Amalm</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Dan Mor</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Serhat Caradee</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Ian Roberts</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Waddah Sari<br /><br />100 min</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Australia</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span style="font-weight: bold; ">FROZEN RIVER</span><br /><em style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; "></em></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">2008</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">DIRECTOR:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Courtney Hunt<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">CAST:</span></p><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Melissa Leo<br /><br />Misty Upham</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Charlie McDermott</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Michael O'Keefe</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Mark Boone Junior<br /><br />97 min</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 14px; ">USA</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span style="font-weight: bold; ">LAST RIDE</span><br /><em style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; "></em></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">2009</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">DIRECTOR:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Glendyn Ivin<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">CAST:</span></p><span style="font-size: 14px; ">John Brumpton<br /><br />Mick Coulthard</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Rachel Francis</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Anita Hegh</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Adam Morgan</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Levine Ngatokorua</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Chrissie Page</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Kelton Pell</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Tom Russell</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Sonya Suares</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Hugo Weaving</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br />90 min</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Australia</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span style="font-weight: bold; ">SERAPHINE</span><br /><em style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; "></em></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">2008</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">DIRECTOR:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Martin Provost<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px; ">CAST:</span></p><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Yolande Moreau<br /><br />Ulrich Tukur</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Anne Bennent</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Genevieve Mnich</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Nico Rogner</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Adelaide Leroux<br /><br />125 min</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 14px; ">France </span><span style="font-size: 14px; ">׀ Belgium</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-88575759031070229612010-07-25T09:11:00.014+01:002010-07-27T14:06:45.461+01:00HEAD FIRST (Goldfrapp)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5p2vpifWgfJxTzIdBD6QRwKXLsZn5p7xlD3_gCF5scy9iu3dIN_8EIDGoVdln1RRdivBlzppVwwBHDeHFFCl412jenBk-gJ58m1JAWjDgOHO4T76pxFnY9CZqemmPw_Sb0AsIIeQQayi/s1600/headfirst.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5p2vpifWgfJxTzIdBD6QRwKXLsZn5p7xlD3_gCF5scy9iu3dIN_8EIDGoVdln1RRdivBlzppVwwBHDeHFFCl412jenBk-gJ58m1JAWjDgOHO4T76pxFnY9CZqemmPw_Sb0AsIIeQQayi/s320/headfirst.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497756010140997330" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />1. Rocket<br />2. Believer<br />3. Alive<br />4. Dreaming<br />5. Head First<br />6. Hunt<br />7. Shiny And Warm<br />8. I Wanna Life<br />9. Voicething<br /><br />The fifth studio album from Goldfrapp, the English electronic duo of Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory, sees them venture firmly into the world of 80s synth pop. What's worked with the 80s pop revival for the likes of Delphic, Chew Lips and La Roux lies firmly in the fact that they've made it their own. Whilst their work is distinctly eighties in feel and sound there is an element that clearly identifies it as modern and of far more substance than the majority of the eighties synth pop, which lay firmly in the initial world of electronic discovery. Melodically, lyrically and vocally each of the aforementioned acts have brought something new to the table, which has meant their contributions to this 80s revival have been noteworthy. For Goldfrapp, the act one might expect to make a better fist of this foray, very little works as <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Head First</span> amounts to a whole that seems lacklustre comparative to their other work. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Head First</span> sounds merely eighties rather than inspired by it and ultimately sounds like a bunch of original covers.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8M6EYGRlvRsEuQ6RPqxn00lQ27Mtn2EQvnDg6LVlxw7bzyYOWAL8ufjkVktDVrDR3zV0CBiitTI10nSzVzw1KeZLeiv5UFTeLp_wmoyks2vEn1KbH-XDuM9gO5t3hKfhZo-QgGoF8pzLy/s1600/goldfrapp01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8M6EYGRlvRsEuQ6RPqxn00lQ27Mtn2EQvnDg6LVlxw7bzyYOWAL8ufjkVktDVrDR3zV0CBiitTI10nSzVzw1KeZLeiv5UFTeLp_wmoyks2vEn1KbH-XDuM9gO5t3hKfhZo-QgGoF8pzLy/s320/goldfrapp01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498173128638924386" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The first single, <span style="font-style: italic;">'Rocket'</span>, is typical of <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Head First</span>. With the recognisable breathy vocals of Goldfrapp and the eighties beat and distinct synth sound there is a general lack of meatiness amidst the track's 3:53 runtime. It's a whispiness that plagues the whole album, which sounds surprising considering that in fact it was what made their previous album, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Seventh Tree</span>, a triumph. Here it merely sounds gutless.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJppnG1tflU&feature=avmsc2">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJppnG1tflU&feature=avmsc2</a><br /></div><br />That ethereal quality to <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Seventh Tree</span> did in fact evoke a quite angelic feel to what was going on but here it leaves the listener wanting more than what is delivered. Lyrically, Track 2 <span style="font-style: italic;">'Believer'</span> sums it up best, "A cupid on the go, no arrow and no bow."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzcZvEe_iPW9gEjqqCPqgI_ijiaYnMgktzP3h5hjZafmACU9BQTwPYdeSmdjY3z4SMPRtWwvjFlqGBEestI3djC3TLMWs5eo_05X8yVYZcJSuy4OGfRxPs0UZ0_BbiHFPgK6scyLYyS_uc/s1600/goldfrapp02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzcZvEe_iPW9gEjqqCPqgI_ijiaYnMgktzP3h5hjZafmACU9BQTwPYdeSmdjY3z4SMPRtWwvjFlqGBEestI3djC3TLMWs5eo_05X8yVYZcJSuy4OGfRxPs0UZ0_BbiHFPgK6scyLYyS_uc/s320/goldfrapp02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498173828842254802" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />There are enough bits of interest to stop <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Head First</span> from being a complete waste of time, particularly in the likes of the referential <span style="font-style: italic;">'Dreaming'</span>, which harks to the seventies and eighties hey day of Fleetwood Mac and the Björk-ish sounding '<span style="font-style: italic;">Voicething'</span>, but they're few and far between. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Head First</span> is but a blip on the music canon of Goldfrapp and a murmur in the discussion of music in 2010.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Czuchry" title="Matt Czuchry"><br /></a>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-63838322176797519692010-07-19T00:42:00.030+01:002010-12-28T16:37:38.442+00:00THE HORROR OF IT ALLHorror films have generally been associated with a niche market. Aimed squarely at the teen audience, they were a cheaper way to make money and lots of it. Quite often forming cult-like followings, the horror films of the seventies and eighties focused on the audience's desire to be scared as they got high on adrenaline and raced for their lives from gun or axe or machete-wielding maniacs. Somewhere in the late nineties and early noughties the game shifted. For no longer was the focus on the adrenaline rush of the chase but more upon the response to the carnage. Torture porn was born and in a search for new audiences so began the race by writers and filmmakers to outdo each other in the area of gore.<br /><br />Gore is nothing new either but with the developments in make-up design and CGI effects so did the gore intensify. Gone were the days of fake blood and guts. Here was as close to the real thing as one could get and audiences seemed to lap it up. Entire franchises began to spring up, again not a new thing, but where the focus was on the horror villain in the past such as Jason or Freddy Kreuger now it had become on the killing that was taking place.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Saw</span> took horror to a completely different level. Upping the ante on the gore and beginning the torture-fest trend of noughties horror, it made over $100 000 in a two-month release. It also began a franchise that currently sits at six films whilst in turn making it the biggest-grossing franchise within the horror genre. Ever. Whilst it kept up the tradition of having a central character at its core, in this case Jigsaw, other films that followed in its path tended to merely focus on the gore and the finite detail in how the film's victims were killed. The <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Hoste</span>l films followed as did the Americanised versions of the Asian horror films that had so creepily and eerily thrilled audiences in Asia for years.<br /><br />This shift in tone of horror has been examined by many and identified by some as a direct result of September 11, however, that aside it cannot be argued that audiences aren't still lining up for it with each new film that opens. The barrage may be over but its mark has indelibly been left. For the reality of the gore has seeped its way into even more mainstream and arthouse fare. Television has even been impacted as the crime-scene genre upped the gore relative to their usual fare. Tempered when compared to cinema, it has still, it could be argued, been as a direct result of audiences' willingness to accept the gore that it has become more common fare on the big screen.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_CEAODllfbvqUcoA-5qb6PlvIGdtp8K3G-pgiRVE_8f651yHW4V1km3wCi7zfkZPAhQExmoV0wabVStUEcqbLVqDnWgWPIXciJ5QePvjyMw7HwRpxllBqyFxYnLt2wJ-UFY6hThw6Dau6/s1600/antichrist.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 138px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_CEAODllfbvqUcoA-5qb6PlvIGdtp8K3G-pgiRVE_8f651yHW4V1km3wCi7zfkZPAhQExmoV0wabVStUEcqbLVqDnWgWPIXciJ5QePvjyMw7HwRpxllBqyFxYnLt2wJ-UFY6hThw6Dau6/s200/antichrist.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495420238643396370" border="0" /></a>So what to make of it when one of the world's premiere arthouse auteurs plays his hand? Lars von Trier, one of the original Dogme 95 practitioners, had up until <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Antichrist</span> made films about females with edge. From <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Breaking The Waves</span> to <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Dancer In The Dark</span> to <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Dogville</span> to <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Manderlay</span>, his films given major releases were controversial and for the most part divisive. Whilst the focus was more often than not on the technical side of his films with criticism coming from traditionalists towards the Dogme rules, it wasn't until <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Antichrist </span>that the controversy shifted wholeheartedly towards his subject matter. Sure, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Dogville</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Dancer In The Dark</span> raised interesting questions about his treatment of his female characters and numerous rumours about his mysoginistic attitudes towards his female cast members always fueled conjecture about his personal life and attitudes, however, it was not until the sheer graphic nature of <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Antichrist</span> that people seemed to completely get up in arms. Von Trier was not a foreigner to the potential of graphic film either. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Idiots</span> featured strong depictions of sex and <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Dogville</span> a quite appalling suggestion of rape, however, the sheer ferocity of some scenes in <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Antichrist</span> seemed to shock some viewers far beyond the line von Trier had previously led them.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Antichrist</span> tells the story of a married couple, He (Willem Dafoe) and She (Charlotte Gainsbourg) on the verge of irreparable breakdown after the death of their son, Nick. Beginning with a stunningly shot black and white sequence of the couple having sex in the shower, the film shows its hand quite early on with what appears to be actual shots of vaginal penetration. Whilst this isn't shocking in itself what is is the inclusion of the shot within the sequence being shown. Is von Trier trying to provoke? Is he trying to be controversial? These are criticisms all labelled at the film but what those criticisms don't negate is the fact that this scene in effect has significant power. And that's where von Trier seems to get past the controversy. For later on even further acts of sexual activity, including a scene of a hand job after a horrendous act of violence, don't seem to take away from the sense that this is a family in absolute decay. The power is palpable.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0pWE2goIRbwF25VDr2nS19yhZZZOfxk0QZoCt0C8HAdurR2wFjy-RsRqfI4NvB2uH-kOdUk5kHL5r3qAHvpNIy00rHIKFFVArbkka9hQ9hvr6dc6wQdXiYEeoRWvxHkaoJQqCdsgbMsPZ/s1600/antichrist02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 132px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0pWE2goIRbwF25VDr2nS19yhZZZOfxk0QZoCt0C8HAdurR2wFjy-RsRqfI4NvB2uH-kOdUk5kHL5r3qAHvpNIy00rHIKFFVArbkka9hQ9hvr6dc6wQdXiYEeoRWvxHkaoJQqCdsgbMsPZ/s200/antichrist02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495422239142151826" border="0" /></a>But what is he trying to say? Who knows? might be the best answer but as his talking fox divulges, "Chaos reigns," and that may in fact be the biggest clue as to what indeed von Trier is trying to say. For as a whole <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Antichrist</span> is a horror film of sheer domestic chaos. From the manipulation of He as the psychoanalyst to the infliction of significant violence by She as the patient <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Antichrist</span> turns into one absolute hell-hole of unanswered questions. For whilst the suggestion is there that She could have stopped the death of their son and that in fact she was behind it all along, the shoes scene is significantly telling, what the hell has the genital mutilation scene got to do with anything? Is the idea of castration punishment? Is von Trier suggesting that the sensation of pleasure being removed is the personal consequence deemed appropriate by She as she nears the film's conclusion?<br /><br />Whatever was going on in von Trier's head, what can't be argued against is that the man knows how to make a movie. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Antichrist</span> is a visual splendor. It's the most beautifully shot film he's made and he illicits two brave turns from his leads. In the end, however, the questions far outweigh any answers he gives and one is left wondering if indeed he is merely pulling tricks left, right and centre to shock for the sake of shocking.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitdGPHCRK-okfUGqfA1K6kVlaJabU6gktLdCsDfgpADJbcCarD83IZnMJXBFkjjXWTc6ezr8IcwoJQ_KvGkmIBqwhyphenhyphenQr705f4HHN4ATK4Izpvw4EvS_hEHtlabV1MDB0K7SeUhNN7lqbqI/s1600/thegirlwiththedragontattoo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 140px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitdGPHCRK-okfUGqfA1K6kVlaJabU6gktLdCsDfgpADJbcCarD83IZnMJXBFkjjXWTc6ezr8IcwoJQ_KvGkmIBqwhyphenhyphenQr705f4HHN4ATK4Izpvw4EvS_hEHtlabV1MDB0K7SeUhNN7lqbqI/s200/thegirlwiththedragontattoo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495517335722831618" border="0" /></a>Pulling tricks left, right and centre lies at the heart of the Swedish adaptation of the late Stieg Larsson's best-selling novel, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo</span>. The first film of the trilogy arrives ahead of the inevitable American version with all guns blazing and a searing grubbiness that sets it apart from the majority of other crime thrillers.<br /><br />Following Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and his fight to clear his name of a libel case against a wealthy industrialist, the story shifts gear and begins to tell that of Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) a twenty-something tech genius who works as an investigator and fights too for her own rights as she battles a welfare system that has kept her in care for the majority of her life. Disturbed and insular, Lisbeth is a firecracker, and as dangerous, as she hides behind a peculiar beauty and a huge potential to explode.<br /><br />The first of the connections between the two arises when she is hired to investigate Blomkvist who has been chosen by another man of wealth, Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube), to investigate the disappearance of his great niece decades earlier. Blomkvist, facing prison time, is convinced to partake and so begins the messiness of the convoluted but utterly gripping plot.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq2e-wbNne70wFTdlh5Aoe6K-8waQr2f7dZLu7-a5g-qcDW9apKtt913ZaefDXRteLTiexmmu3FyTLmSluvgEd-7rw9zksDzldF2aZcBam1cltY6R-eUw-tbfIBCN-fh8uhsz9q22Ctc9d/s1600/thegirlwiththedragontattoo02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq2e-wbNne70wFTdlh5Aoe6K-8waQr2f7dZLu7-a5g-qcDW9apKtt913ZaefDXRteLTiexmmu3FyTLmSluvgEd-7rw9zksDzldF2aZcBam1cltY6R-eUw-tbfIBCN-fh8uhsz9q22Ctc9d/s200/thegirlwiththedragontattoo02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495518026858553138" border="0" /></a>A potential who-done-it thriller sounds far from the world of horror but what quickly becomes clear is that Sweden, in this view, is a dark and sinister place. For Lisbeth is brutally raped in a scene that is incredibly difficult to watch and the griminess and evil at the centre of the investigation that becomes clear, will leave many with acrid tastes in their mouths. Why would we want to see this on screen? Well, the answer is clear and it lies in the heart of the matter and that's the fact that it's a ripper yarn told with clarity and a tight hand and eye of a solid director, Niels Arden Oplev. The narrative is intriguing and the sense of place intoxicating as Blomkvist and Salander journey together on this tale of something far darker than we were perhaps initially made to believe.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo</span> is a nifty little film that wil leave the Americans behind the remake potentially shaking in their boots. They've a substantial amount up to which to live.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh13rspgSMeNmg3GIEVNgYQvNPECf93I81ogWP57MNt3ySWvq8D19lhULHe-XDEpuNc5i7-ZwTZZM-jf9_v3CBODRscTpPLmRu8huGQH-BN9gNlex_RNrKlwm_Q2vZwf3mSVBWpkaNJYJlg/s1600/thehappening.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 137px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh13rspgSMeNmg3GIEVNgYQvNPECf93I81ogWP57MNt3ySWvq8D19lhULHe-XDEpuNc5i7-ZwTZZM-jf9_v3CBODRscTpPLmRu8huGQH-BN9gNlex_RNrKlwm_Q2vZwf3mSVBWpkaNJYJlg/s200/thehappening.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495552921566664114" border="0" /></a>Never once troubling anyone to even consider remaking it, M. Night Shyamalan's <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Happening</span> is an absolute mess of ideas and execution that fails on almost every level. Telling the story of Elliot (Mark Wahlberg) and his family as they try to escape from a bizarre environmental payback that causes victims to kill themselves when they come into contact with a particular neurotoxin, Shyamalan opts for that twist-in-the-tale structure and quiet sense of tension he used so effectively in <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Sixth Sense</span>. What goes wrong here is his absolute disdain for the audience's ability to follow sensical plot developments in favour of style. It completely lacks substance.<br /><br />Shot beautifully, the film looks grand up on the big screen but that does nothing to circumvent the fact that stuck in the middle of this picture is a big fat turkey. Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel, two idiosyncratic actors who are just wrong for this tale, struggle monumentally to convince that they are in fact not bad actors and Shyamalan's ending, to suggest it's going to happen all over again in another place, is a kick in the head for anyone who already checked out about an hour earlier.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZyJqilE02babjs6jCoyC0YySAioj2-DGZb6qmLgfy7NdXbknrcb9gN3Jk3kXm48RPHdD_2ZZgABcXitekjVhusaPcIy8uVi5MDM-nBwplVuqbX8bBRqh_u82DxYrGF9tZ1suj5JDXQhi/s1600/thehappening02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZyJqilE02babjs6jCoyC0YySAioj2-DGZb6qmLgfy7NdXbknrcb9gN3Jk3kXm48RPHdD_2ZZgABcXitekjVhusaPcIy8uVi5MDM-nBwplVuqbX8bBRqh_u82DxYrGF9tZ1suj5JDXQhi/s200/thehappening02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495553872750576082" border="0" /></a>At only just over an hour and a half the film still feels long, which goes to suggest that perhaps this environmental allegory might have made a significantly better short film. If he hadn't proved it before, he has here. Shyamalan's a one-trick-pony and that pony is lame. The horror here lies purely in the fact that <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Happening</span> is as bad as many suggest.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-UldLov6NVzwn5YVDxm2iQZOaY9lGKThmE7s5AttDjXP4sQODBMVGcBlepycIFwZJ-75YJTqkQnwZlnKln-6AcDKRrKv2TCIZkJYanJ_6MfSoFrMjjnKTB6Qu_ShtDBxeteFQwWLwdxy/s1600/thelovelybones.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 135px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-UldLov6NVzwn5YVDxm2iQZOaY9lGKThmE7s5AttDjXP4sQODBMVGcBlepycIFwZJ-75YJTqkQnwZlnKln-6AcDKRrKv2TCIZkJYanJ_6MfSoFrMjjnKTB6Qu_ShtDBxeteFQwWLwdxy/s200/thelovelybones.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496288003423363250" border="0" /></a>It's a similar horror in Peter Jackson's adaptation of the massively successful Alice Sebold novel, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Lovely Bones</span>. Taking what is a pretty harrowing and evocative source material, he dumbs it down in favour for imagery losing what it is at the very centre of the piece that makes it such an affecting read.<br /><br />What should be a horror story of the real kind turns out to be a story far from that as he fails to get under the skin of either of the parents (Mark Wahlberg, again miscast, and Rachel Weisz, strangely ineffective) or that of the kidnapper/killer (a wrongly Oscar-nominated Stanley Tucci who has been far better in other places). Hell, he even loses sight of his protagonist, Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) which is a feat in and of itself considering how wholeheartedly Ronan throws herself into the role.<br /><br />What causes the film to derail so badly is Jackson's complete misread of the emotional side of the story. He stops any traction that might take hold, particularly within Jack's storyline, and whilst humour is important to lighten the mood he uses it inappropriately with the introduction of Susie's grandmother, Lynn (Susan Sarandon).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRY7hTmQyf8JgmOJ-IZOavpOPDZxQlz3NyF18TcVMc1pL_biHo848VSUhS_VrBsfEzG-XtUdnDAi7BkThmNmrV6xeWBNi1jFbRd1GkgYmJlPKr0F5klZIt4Mb5K5fnDzfHIoklypEWcxV8/s1600/thelovelybones02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 169px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRY7hTmQyf8JgmOJ-IZOavpOPDZxQlz3NyF18TcVMc1pL_biHo848VSUhS_VrBsfEzG-XtUdnDAi7BkThmNmrV6xeWBNi1jFbRd1GkgYmJlPKr0F5klZIt4Mb5K5fnDzfHIoklypEWcxV8/s200/thelovelybones02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496288840125662114" border="0" /></a>The visual effects abound as Jackson focuses on the fantasy elements of the film but this too has disastrous impact on the emotional gravitas of the story being told. This should be a harrowing tale and in the end it is not. It's neither an uplifting one or even an interesting one as the story parts are left to flounder singularly amidst a whole that just doesn't gel together very well.<br /><br />It is frustrating to see a film that should have been great turn out not bad but simply mediocre. At least with a bad film you could blame incompetency or blatant misinterpretation. In this case it just seems to be as a result of an auteur who simply may have got far too big for his boots. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Lovely Bones</span> ain't that lovely even in the horror sense.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhgmd6AAIg-Q7EtLVRNnDacx6H1NUyYp_cssbJuK19R54LfWVNZv-8nw_NiWC1PVC6j5bo8vQJGp67QtZ37yMPiqH-jrvCzgE4W5EXASJS8Xw4MpPQxZb_cafMZ3TLAApPXxdC0WdEWd5c/s1600/precious.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 135px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhgmd6AAIg-Q7EtLVRNnDacx6H1NUyYp_cssbJuK19R54LfWVNZv-8nw_NiWC1PVC6j5bo8vQJGp67QtZ37yMPiqH-jrvCzgE4W5EXASJS8Xw4MpPQxZb_cafMZ3TLAApPXxdC0WdEWd5c/s200/precious.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497625487071695250" border="0" /></a>Far more shocking than most of what the modern horror genre can produce is what lies amidst the 109 minutes we see of the life of Claireece Precious Jones in <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Precious: Based On The Novel 'Push' By Sapphire</span>. As played by newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, Precious is a quiet, insular shell of a young woman, illiterate and pregnant with her second child to her own father. The victim of incestuous rape and constant beatings at the hands of both of her parents, her mother ironically named Mary (Mo'Nique), Precious suffers in a self-imposed silence as she lies deep within the morbidly obese frame of her body.<br /><br />Forced from her school she begins lessons in a learning centre for troubled teen girls where she receives tough love from the gifted teacher employed at the centre, Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), and begins to realise that there is more to herself than what she is told, particularly by her mother.<br /><br />This isn't a new story. In fact it's a story seemingly built upon what could be viewed as a series of cliches, however, it's the treatment it is given by the cast that sheds new light. For the honesty and sheer courage of the performers is so raw and real that as an audience it is hard to deny that Precious's life is relatively close to hell on Earth.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnzB0x-bZ_tuRPWvllulOBWkKeLMLOiZz85BL8hryZTlLek6ELveJs3eX-elGFew_2KAM-meZdd-ThNux43HK8MyD6uhBl2B-fR6Y_NYnuBtsbkwQ7uYXqx37vvUOet5F8ZI0CJsukxnFW/s1600/precious02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnzB0x-bZ_tuRPWvllulOBWkKeLMLOiZz85BL8hryZTlLek6ELveJs3eX-elGFew_2KAM-meZdd-ThNux43HK8MyD6uhBl2B-fR6Y_NYnuBtsbkwQ7uYXqx37vvUOet5F8ZI0CJsukxnFW/s200/precious02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497626400789270786" border="0" /></a>Sidibe is a revelation in her first ever role as she moves through this horror-filled life and she's supported wonderfully by fierce performances by Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Sherri Shepherd who again proves she has the potential to be a far better dramatic performer than a comedic one, Lenny Kravitz and a surprisingly effective Mariah Carey as Precious's counsellor, Mrs. Weiss. The supporting cast in the school - Stephanie Andujar, Chyna Layne, Amina Robinson, Xosha Roquemore, Angelic Zambrana and Aunt Dot - also add depth to a section of the film that could have, and in fact sometimes does, delve into far less interesting territory <span class="hw">à la</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Dangerous Minds</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit</span>, or <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Mr. Holland's Opus</span> as the treacle is laid on thick. The film turns towards something far less brave and strangely far less honest in this section, which does unfortunately bring a ring of falsity at some points, however, director Lee Daniels never forgets where this story is set and where it is headed and using Sapphire's novel, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">'Push'</span>, as its source material he somewhat clunkily redirects it in a way we sadly know the film needs to go for it to be truly authentic.<br /><br />This is a story of hope, barely, but it is a story given power due to the integrity of its components. There is an undeniable belief on screen that this is a story of a young woman that needs to be told and, it's true, it brings forth an element of 'our' lives that sadly seems to be being waylaid for the troubles of celebrity and the false grandeur that surrounds it. What truth is there in something that is at its core fake? <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Precious: Based On The Novel 'Push' By Sapphire</span> subtly looks at the world to which we have suddenly given creedence and respectfully and wholeheartedly gives it the middle finger. For what more of an honest answer can one give than a telling of the truth? No matter how ugly it is. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Precious</span> is tough and at times torturous but it's a pain worth dealing with as is usually the case with any reality-check.<br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">ANTICHRIST</span><br /><em style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></em></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2009</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">DIRECTOR:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Lars von Trier<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">CAST:</span></p><span style="font-size:85%;">Willem Dafoe<br /><br />Charlotte Gainsbourg<br /><br />108 min</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Denmark </span><span style="font-size:85%;">׀ Germany </span><span style="font-size:85%;">׀ France </span><span style="font-size:85%;">׀ Sweden </span><span style="font-size:85%;">׀ Italy </span><span style="font-size:85%;">׀ Poland<br /></span><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO</span><br /><em style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></em></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2009</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">DIRECTOR:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Niels Arden Oplev<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">CAST:</span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">Michael Nyqvist<br /><br />Noomi Rapace<br /><br />Lena Endre<br /><br />Peter Haber<br /><br />Sven-Bertil Taube<br /><br />Peter Andersson<br /><br />Ingvar Hirdwall<br /><br />Marika Lagercrantz<br /><br />Bj</span>ö<span style="font-size:85%;">rn Granath<br /><br />Ewa Fr</span>ö<span style="font-size:85%;">ling<br /><br />Michalis Koutsogiannakis<br /><br />Annika Giannini<br /><br />Sofia Ledarp<br /><br />Tomas K</span>ö<span style="font-size:85%;">hler<br /><br />David Dencik<br /><br />152 min</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Sweden </span><span style="font-size:85%;">׀ Denmark </span><span style="font-size:85%;">׀ Germany </span><span style="font-size:85%;">׀ Norway</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE HAPPENING</span><br /><em style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></em></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2008</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">DIRECTOR:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">M. Night Shyamalan<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">CAST:</span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">Mark Wahlberg<br /><br />Zooey Deschanel<br /><br />John Leguizamo<br /><br />Ashlyn Sanchez<br /><br />Betty Buckley<br /><br />Spencer Breslin<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">91 min</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">USA </span><span style="font-size:85%;">׀ India</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE LOVELY BONES</span><br /><em style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></em></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2009</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">DIRECTOR:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Peter Jackson<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">CAST:</span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">Mark Wahlberg<br /><br />Rachel Weisz<br /><br />Susan Sarandon<br /><br />Stanley Tucci<br /><br />Michael Imperioli<br /><br />Saoirse Ronan<br /><br />Rose McIver<br /><br />Christian Ashdale<br /><br />Tom McCarthy<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />136 min</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">USA </span><span style="font-size:85%;">׀ UK </span><span style="font-size:85%;">׀ New Zealand</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL 'PUSH' BY SAPPHIRE</span><br /><em style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></em></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2009</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">DIRECTOR:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Lee Daniels<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">CAST:</span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">Gabourey Sidibe<br /><br />Mo'Nique<br /><br />Paula Patton<br /><br />Mariah Carey<br /><br />Sherri Shepherd<br /><br />Lenny Kravitz<br /><br />Stephanie Andujar<br /><br />Chyna Layne<br /><br />Amina Robinson<br /><br />Xosha Roquemore<br /><br />Angelic Zambrana<br /><br />Aunt Dot<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />109 min</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">USA</span>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-1698301682094876042010-07-17T12:37:00.005+01:002010-07-25T01:19:17.716+01:00ACOLYTE (Delphic)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFBFSNb8R5dOrR1Q-DtHmskxJcGFxs6HbCicxH7bWeaR0IqvWSLh-SCyl4gSXus0zBt2BEXG7k0LdN_QPhXY4dIu63BI_ZIjLOTUJYV9qkqOqPRwi7nh9j-9m9rhvmotsHxH5vKSUDd0V/s1600/acolyte.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFBFSNb8R5dOrR1Q-DtHmskxJcGFxs6HbCicxH7bWeaR0IqvWSLh-SCyl4gSXus0zBt2BEXG7k0LdN_QPhXY4dIu63BI_ZIjLOTUJYV9qkqOqPRwi7nh9j-9m9rhvmotsHxH5vKSUDd0V/s200/acolyte.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494844237977744530" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><ol start="1" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal">Clarion Call<br /></li><li class="MsoNormal">Doubt</li><li class="MsoNormal">This Momentary<br /></li><li class="MsoNormal">Red Lights<br /></li><li class="MsoNormal">Acolyte</li><li class="MsoNormal">Halcyon</li><li class="MsoNormal">Submission</li><li class="MsoNormal">Counterpoint</li><li class="MsoNormal">Ephemera</li><li class="MsoNormal">Remain</li></ol><br />The cover of <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Acolyte</span>, the debut album from four-piece electro-pop Delphic, suggests quite clearly the airiness and atmosphere that lays hidden within its fifty-odd minutes of playtime. Hailing from Greater Manchester, the quartet - made up of Richard Boardman, Matt Cocksedge, James Cook and Dan Hadley - are an exciting by-product of the noughties electro-synth revival that is severely and unapologetically throwing back to the eighties but with gusto and a clear sense of reform.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipwwI9XfFRhNYqst6fkcVmyhf9678sAp8IDlGoTKVhF3suKN55Kgkt7sslcI2qsve7AnF9KG-UUZvtU7bA-yfqpOICN1FGs6M6mKt4fcwbTNbAOHRmWgdp56YgKlbfvX0T5BxSSMtIYzz3/s1600/delphic01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipwwI9XfFRhNYqst6fkcVmyhf9678sAp8IDlGoTKVhF3suKN55Kgkt7sslcI2qsve7AnF9KG-UUZvtU7bA-yfqpOICN1FGs6M6mKt4fcwbTNbAOHRmWgdp56YgKlbfvX0T5BxSSMtIYzz3/s320/delphic01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494846122057130418" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />What seems to be differentiating the onslaught of the work being produced now is a reliance on tightly written lyrics and an understanding that what is being said is in most cases now more important than ever. Sure, the sentiment of love lost and growing up maybe the same but there's a sophistication present now that really only graced the work of a few during the eighties pop scene, particularly in the UK. As the Internet makes accessibility to work easier the smaller and more alternative artists are finding their work being noticed and whilst there is an absolute deluge of crap soaking the airwaves there are those little gems that seem to be getting the airplay that may have, in the past, eluded them.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYElrnjc1lImFeyiJxvVrnO_CoR_ZgbCCdvZHR6i_1DwU0gyV9B0gek_SlSOmbCo9THEXNlyaPbDwU0tcagop8Md_JGDksON_FyyaRtDzjwE3xsZ03BuUZRLjvFnqoQQ1LnwL5hqYdz-b/s1600/delphic02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYElrnjc1lImFeyiJxvVrnO_CoR_ZgbCCdvZHR6i_1DwU0gyV9B0gek_SlSOmbCo9THEXNlyaPbDwU0tcagop8Md_JGDksON_FyyaRtDzjwE3xsZ03BuUZRLjvFnqoQQ1LnwL5hqYdz-b/s320/delphic02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494846309443063842" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Delphic's debut LP is a prime example of that in there really is no scene-stealing, top-charting single amongst the ten tracks, however, what mixes together is a lovely bunch of truly beautiful and atmospheric odes to growing older and to young love in this generation of mass communication and media. From the shifting beat and lovely introduction of the electronic sounds that soak <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Acolyte</span> in the first track, <span style="font-style: italic;">'Clarion Call'</span>, Delphic do one thing well and that's not to distract from the melodies they've done wonders in creating. The electronic beats only add in the case of track 1 helping build it to its climax. It's a killer start and with an anthemic lyric line running through it, <span style="font-style: italic;">"A call to all. A call to arms. A call to everything you wanted. It's your life. It's your life. It's your life,"</span> it's no wonder why Delphic seemed to be getting responses from their fans.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcx4omShy4Br_sIJDIvf3Rw2zM3GfyfhYG8wQRW29YKqWKwQYiYnQT0J43Quwf7Pyyr5CfcVOng42g-n0BKsBFEiROUr2d05Zm-f86RPMliRU70YonzcbDAdESNRzprBDfFz83un_DATIt/s1600/delphic03.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcx4omShy4Br_sIJDIvf3Rw2zM3GfyfhYG8wQRW29YKqWKwQYiYnQT0J43Quwf7Pyyr5CfcVOng42g-n0BKsBFEiROUr2d05Zm-f86RPMliRU70YonzcbDAdESNRzprBDfFz83un_DATIt/s320/delphic03.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494846497519697826" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Track 2,<span style="font-style: italic;"> 'Doubt',</span> lays testament to the cleverness of their writing too as it begins with the sounding out of the vowels in a prelude to a barrage of energetic questions that really in the end, as they suggest, do leave nothing but doubt. Other tracks that hit the mark, such as <span style="font-style: italic;">'Remain'</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">'Counterpoint'</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">'This Momentary'</span>, rely on their lyrical strength but it's when they combine perfectly with the music as is the case in the album's two best tracks, <span style="font-style: italic;">'Red Lights'</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">'Halcyon'</span> that Delphic hit paydirt. Neither offering an indictment of their generation or of young love, <span style="font-style: italic;">'Red Lights'</span> is a mere representation of the single-mindedness that seems to be helping their generation to get what it is that they want. If saying, <span style="font-style: italic;">"I wouldn't stop for red lights. I wouldn't come up for air,"</span> isn't clear enough, what is?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFHxtnacFV8">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFHxtnacFV8</a><br /></div><br />That leaves other questions to be asked but in this case they're irrelevant. It'll be interesting to see whether Delphic address them in their future. If <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Acolyte</span> is anything to go by we can only hope that they do and in much the same way they have here. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Acolyte</span> is a cracker.Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-24457703758981825802010-07-17T00:41:00.029+01:002010-07-25T01:20:32.585+01:00ARE YOU SERIOUS?Terrorism is a fact of life. It always has been in some way but it obviously came to everyone's awareness after September 11, 2001. The date is a part of the social vocabulary nowadays with a knowledge of the goings-on on that date perhaps even more than the historical likes of December 25th. It's an iconic part of everyone's modern memories that signified the breakdown in human empathy and a desire to prove one's standing whilst ommitting the right of anyone else to have a differing opinion.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CYVd16o-vIkV7ukiWKeWwFizgMJbrmQzwN2hURRBR7z8b-C7otEuqV8Hps7OZWYSv-PwYH_aEpZcxHGr-RLcb1kpkGKk1jeHXPqkoi3IRuIvKrGSNAxlMqKHk9l4BgQoxQM1NjIW5pg2/s1600/thebaadermeinhofcomplex.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 142px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CYVd16o-vIkV7ukiWKeWwFizgMJbrmQzwN2hURRBR7z8b-C7otEuqV8Hps7OZWYSv-PwYH_aEpZcxHGr-RLcb1kpkGKk1jeHXPqkoi3IRuIvKrGSNAxlMqKHk9l4BgQoxQM1NjIW5pg2/s200/thebaadermeinhofcomplex.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494676696496240530" border="0" /></a>It's beyond the contemplation of a film to begin to even understand the ramifications of the actions of September 11 or to even try to explain them from either side of the argument but what one can understand is the sense of true anguish acts of terrorism cause. From within and without the sense that the act itself is in its warped way a conciliatory event cannot be denied. For whilst there is a danger and complete disregard to life in most acts of terrorism against humanity there is the undeniable breakdown of everyone's humanity involved. It is usually how quickly that humanity recouperates that unites, particularly within the group against which the act has been committed. What though of the group committing the terror?<br /><br />There have been films and documentaries examining the construct of terrorist groups for decades. From the Munich incident in 1972 to the Symbionese Liberation Army abduction of Patty Hearst in 1974 to the IRA attacks throughout the seventies and eighties film viewers have been given insights into both sides of the story. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Baader Meinhof Complex</span> takes this approach in examining the Red Army Faction (RAF) in Germany from the late 60s to the late 70s. Whilst it spends the majority of its time with those involved with the RAF the film never panders to the fact that perhaps there will be those who see the perspective of terrorists as being glorified when examined. It's a brave stance to take as it will be seen to be a legitimate criticism of a film when the humanity of a terrorist is presented. Many will argue too that that is in itself an impossiblity, however, the question has to be asked that is it not the very humanity within one committing acts of terrorism that needs to be looked at to allow one to understand how the act can be committed in the first place? For is it not as we follow Martina Gedeck's portrayal of Ulrike Meinhof that we truly understand how the breaking down of this person is in itself what has caused her to be able to commit the very acts in which she ends up being a participant? Isn't empathising the only true way to understand? It's not condoning or even understanding. Is it not merely searching for an explanation to minimise the future of carnage in the future?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv3E9vszVYoUg8jVLGnn5QexREqZjKsGm74_dZJwmca9CYBuHxy4w9_xN3aGgVmEEKW-rl8qKfz779xmL6oHiYVazvPvya1-WdiXMEZX6rhPrRL8nT_6XoeSBw6NddyA2rTdCuYkab1w8l/s1600/thebaadermeinhofcomplex02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 112px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv3E9vszVYoUg8jVLGnn5QexREqZjKsGm74_dZJwmca9CYBuHxy4w9_xN3aGgVmEEKW-rl8qKfz779xmL6oHiYVazvPvya1-WdiXMEZX6rhPrRL8nT_6XoeSBw6NddyA2rTdCuYkab1w8l/s200/thebaadermeinhofcomplex02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494677347596978834" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Baader Meinhof Complex</span> interestingly steers clear of moralising in any way. Victims from both sides are ruthlessly killed and as the era of the seventies, in particular, is evocatively recreated the sense of unease and unrest is constantly present through this edgy sense of the tangible. At two-and-a-half hours the film is, however, surprisingly, at times, lacking in depth. Beyond merely retelling the actual events, motive and sentiment are left by the way as the too-many characters interweave in this world of hysteria and counteraction. Having said that <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Baader Meinhof Complex</span>, deserving of its Oscar nomination, is an intriguing puzzle-piece of a film that without doubt has merit as an inclusion to the canon of film on the topic of terrorism and civil-unrest. The more we talk, it could be suggested, the closer we get to being on the same page at the same time.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ciq_d_l_OCEKjwXMsFCWMZOr36gl-rELtY6iwhc-AB2xIK2O78r2Ilw_iVFgxEyKTnAmJ5IP2z2z0d5e2_puru4Xm04DPmZOGYAdp0P6kP8CHjiIwPnIgODliI3dkf9DCL4Ry9skJ-GF/s1600/beneathhill60.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 135px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ciq_d_l_OCEKjwXMsFCWMZOr36gl-rELtY6iwhc-AB2xIK2O78r2Ilw_iVFgxEyKTnAmJ5IP2z2z0d5e2_puru4Xm04DPmZOGYAdp0P6kP8CHjiIwPnIgODliI3dkf9DCL4Ry9skJ-GF/s200/beneathhill60.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494708124522892034" border="0" /></a>It's funny because being on the same page is eventually what the soldiers of the German and British fronts were during World War I in <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Beneath Hill 60</span>. This Australian film from Australian actor turned director Jeremy Sims tells of the story of the Australian soldiers charged with the digging of a series of tunnels to literally undermine the German enemy. Using a variety of skilled experts, the film tells of the social hierarchy at play during the war and particularly between the soldiers of immediate British descent and those from the colony of Australia.<br /><br />As the story progresses, the focus shifts to that of Captain Oliver Woodward (Brendan Cowell) and his recollection of the development of the battle as well as of the relationship with his future wife, Marjorie (Bella Heathcote). For a film trying to discover the truth of the sheer isolation of being underground, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Beneath Hill 60</span> lacks a real tension. There is never any doubt as to where this story is headed, which is a bizarre fact considering the actual story of the Hill 60 mob is little known.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3BYJlRPojQCoAGWOVfi97B8saXbCi6a8nBgtX2UHE137yPXQwz9wAg_MpaaSnWjf_Tcfltza_7dm9U5sogHnSEUgTKX_bulksbvU11CzB9VIvmjhUPcD5PqbgIFeH4ek3E5L8w3uVQaII/s1600/beneathhill6002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 112px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3BYJlRPojQCoAGWOVfi97B8saXbCi6a8nBgtX2UHE137yPXQwz9wAg_MpaaSnWjf_Tcfltza_7dm9U5sogHnSEUgTKX_bulksbvU11CzB9VIvmjhUPcD5PqbgIFeH4ek3E5L8w3uVQaII/s200/beneathhill6002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494708613859792930" border="0" /></a>Whilst both sides of the story are treated with respect, some of the better performances are from those actors playing the German underground soldiers (David Ritchie, Kenneth Spiteri and Marcus Costello), the film itself does nothing to actually differentiate itself from the huge catalogue of war films already in existence. Performances are uniformly sound though Cowell struggles to convince as a lead and the production values adequate, however, in the end one wonders whether the real heart of the matter is lost at the expense of trying to spin a good yarn. Experience tells us that good storytelling requires little else and in this case that is the core of the problem. The storytelling in the end is far less brave than the soldiers presented on screen. As a whole, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Beneath Hill 60</span> is a major disappointment.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDW_BY-tHoRt1TWLtSAIZmtoVZIvL6uCjLvl5yuHi806d2e7P5bu0AD-r9_bXLrzqw6mxuxjXwJp7Ws-vhGLnlEiDJKRn7C7aS2sdpFM6SnQKCpW8-UdxqEww2K6bTcNLe4vJPfWzpgV42/s1600/julia.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 148px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDW_BY-tHoRt1TWLtSAIZmtoVZIvL6uCjLvl5yuHi806d2e7P5bu0AD-r9_bXLrzqw6mxuxjXwJp7Ws-vhGLnlEiDJKRn7C7aS2sdpFM6SnQKCpW8-UdxqEww2K6bTcNLe4vJPfWzpgV42/s200/julia.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494731516959378994" border="0" /></a>Avoiding the realms of disappointment but belonging firmly to the land of utterly messy is the Tilda Swinton vehicle, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Julia</span>. Directed by Erick Zonca, it tells of Julia (Swinton) who is at the precipice of destruction as she battles alcohol and the ramifications of random sex. Through a chance meeting with a fellow AA meeting-goer (Kate del Castillo), Julia embarks on a plan to kidnap the woman's son from the boy's grandson.<br /><br />What begins as a case in the improbable or at least unlikely soon begins to rattle along as Julia decides to follow through on the plan after originally resisting. This is where the film succeeds because whilst every ounce of common sense within the viewer is questioning all that is going on it is still flagrantly obvious that Julia is a woman in a state far from common sense. As she endeavours to escape with the boy she encounters further problems as the boy is in turn kidnapped by professional Mexican kidnappers. What to do as Julia, so wracked with guilt, begins to question the sense that this may in fact be like what it is to be a mother.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-rQx5GJTfpSIusqOF5an_8mndK8olmx0EYTRvrO5vEDD3mRdE7odEyZiH_-pgs8_Psgj6iyqFweuUQiq_nXuHgUlDy9MThcbkwcTz7RZPDBqQRPsNR_W_OWJjs4crgd7WR7Wsz-7Vo73G/s1600/julia02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-rQx5GJTfpSIusqOF5an_8mndK8olmx0EYTRvrO5vEDD3mRdE7odEyZiH_-pgs8_Psgj6iyqFweuUQiq_nXuHgUlDy9MThcbkwcTz7RZPDBqQRPsNR_W_OWJjs4crgd7WR7Wsz-7Vo73G/s200/julia02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494731940524615538" border="0" /></a>Zonca's film is an utter mess. It's a mess of narrative and plot that fails to question any sense of lack of reality, however, in doing just that it lets that tale of the improbable end up ringing true. This is largely due to the performance of Swinton who proves, once again, what a fantastic actress she is on screen. Absent of the traditional movie-star looks or persona she is an enigma on screen and once again proof of the differential there can be in mothers on screen. We've seen her in this parental-drunk fierceness before in <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Deep End</span> and watched the determination present even when representing something borderline between what is morally right and wrong in <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Michael Clayton</span>, however, we've not seen her so wholeheartedly and honestly disappear on screen. She is uniformly both mother and slut, killer and caretaker, provider and taker and ultimately perhaps the most human we've seen her.<br /><br />It's not simply the Swinton show, however, as she is given ample support by a career-best Saul Rubinek as her friend, Mitch, and let loose by Zonca who trusts and understands what this story is about. In the end <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Julia</span> is all over the place as far as movies go but, oh, how glorious an experience it ultimately proves to be by the time it is finished.<br /><br /><img src="file:///C:/Users/LIAMPE%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-3.png" alt="" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzBVesSbBC8v-52Ut0FkaPXfS9jn1S3WLAQM7cgmg43E7zEToLxTSIWqOKJCtPyzdfB1qWYkhjcPLNl8N4XpUak2yXB4sI842gxSa-nwC92cjGbTvRDkDWRlxdBG5ekrUVZlOOnDJpw6sO/s1600/publicenemies.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 135px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzBVesSbBC8v-52Ut0FkaPXfS9jn1S3WLAQM7cgmg43E7zEToLxTSIWqOKJCtPyzdfB1qWYkhjcPLNl8N4XpUak2yXB4sI842gxSa-nwC92cjGbTvRDkDWRlxdBG5ekrUVZlOOnDJpw6sO/s200/publicenemies.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494771605695373570" border="0" /></a>Less glorious and more of a mess is the Michael Mann-helmed <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Public Enemies</span>, telling the story of famed bankrobber, John Dillinger. Reproducing the 1930s, Mann sets a miscast Johnny Depp as Dillinger up against a by-the-numbers Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis, the agent from the Bureau set the task of ending Dillinger's crime spree.<br /><br />It's interesting that Mann takes on this story in the glossy way he does as his better films, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Heat</span> and<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> The Insider</span></span> for example, tend to lie themselves in a much more earthy and lived-in tone. Here, he fails to find the connection between his audience and the story leaving no one really looking far beyond the surface. It's this failure to get beneath the skin of Dillinger that truly lets <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Public Enemies</span> down. One only has to look at the modern <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Animal Kingdom</span>, a crime film similar in narrative, to see how the relationships and thinking of the main protagonists can be equally investigated and felt without giving way to sentimentality or at the expense of plot.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Sp93gtjH0uRlpktHb42lCpBhU0ykr3UcJSS-j7v7XzqQe9iFZL3mpAtFzZeKuOEvvgY1aVChiLlFOrl8mFtGq-UNoq5y8dcXez8-VgTX4TyeUooEhlhBWSdAFSZSdxMa8yKPlZ0HvYIr/s1600/publicenemies02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 126px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Sp93gtjH0uRlpktHb42lCpBhU0ykr3UcJSS-j7v7XzqQe9iFZL3mpAtFzZeKuOEvvgY1aVChiLlFOrl8mFtGq-UNoq5y8dcXez8-VgTX4TyeUooEhlhBWSdAFSZSdxMa8yKPlZ0HvYIr/s200/publicenemies02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494772309299538066" border="0" /></a>Another fine turn from Marion Cotillard as Dillinger's lover, Billie Frechette notwithstanding, there is very little to recommend from this watchable but, most damningly, forgettable Mann vehicle.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5pzhglPSgUY92SHdqm8C9C7UmwTGqWqo2QuMg4KTNriVdtfHsyhCFkTQ-3-821UBnFQEx0Yn6k8fGL4zrp_Jz0B4PNP6a3GDcbe4fwZJk8UH4lEmyjlMhe8cag4HQj0zhQ4hMWTeWEyc/s1600/wherethewildthingsare.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 136px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5pzhglPSgUY92SHdqm8C9C7UmwTGqWqo2QuMg4KTNriVdtfHsyhCFkTQ-3-821UBnFQEx0Yn6k8fGL4zrp_Jz0B4PNP6a3GDcbe4fwZJk8UH4lEmyjlMhe8cag4HQj0zhQ4hMWTeWEyc/s200/wherethewildthingsare.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494795315143204978" border="0" /></a>Certainly far from forgettable is Spike Jonze's interpretation of the seminal children's picture book by Maurice Sendak, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Where The Wild Things Are</span>. Written with Dave Eggers, Jonze has produced the exact feeling of being ostracised as a child without sentiment or any hint of patronisation. For here is a boy, Max (Max Records), who is at war with his world. It is a world betraying him as he uses what he knows, his anger and his ability to express his anger, to fight back and let anyone and everyone know that not only is he unhappy but he is afraid.<br /><br />As he fights back against the fear associated with a potential new parental figure in the boyfriend (Mark Ruffalo) of his mother (Catherine Keener) entering the scene, Max finds himself escaping to the world of the Wild Things. Encountering the social interactions of the constantly bickering yet somehow co-existing Wild Things Max begins to introduce rules and suggestions as to how the Wild Things live after they name him king. Voiced beautifully by a wonderful supporting cast (James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, Michael Berry Jr., Chris Cooper, Lauren Ambrose and Jonze), the Wild Things are perfect creations and the lovely attention to the costuming and the detailing of the sets suggests that the filmmakers were aware how important the reality of the piece was in a world so already unreal. By limiting the impact of the visual effect, Jonze has in effect let Max create his world himself.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDkqrV2Cvli5NF77_qfAFUyH9cHqVaxoBdvKW3shpG2JxA9wcpccJioJciTZKG0EjD1bhL1Q0CAY7I4K0IhgTTHNd4jYe4cMVWE8vlSh-7o_KcPjV7L6Ys5r3KvYpHRAcQ3ZNnXgPpsCN4/s1600/wherethewildthingsare02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDkqrV2Cvli5NF77_qfAFUyH9cHqVaxoBdvKW3shpG2JxA9wcpccJioJciTZKG0EjD1bhL1Q0CAY7I4K0IhgTTHNd4jYe4cMVWE8vlSh-7o_KcPjV7L6Ys5r3KvYpHRAcQ3ZNnXgPpsCN4/s200/wherethewildthingsare02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494795884140521922" border="0" /></a>The film wouldn't work if the performance of Max Records wasn't up to par but his turn is a beautiful mix of spirited anger and baleful stares. His understanding of Max, the character, appears well beyond his years. Using effective music and voicework from Karen O from Yeah Yeah Yeahs and letting this simple story of loneliness speak for itself, Jonze has created another fantastic work for a small but nearing brilliant personal catalogue of film that already includes <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Being John Malkovich</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Adaptation.</span>. He is a real danger to create a serious masterpiece within his career and that's a danger of which noone should be afraid.<br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX</span><em style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></em></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2008</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">DIRECTOR:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Uli Edel<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">CAST:</span></p><span style="font-size:85%;">Martina Gedeck<br /><br />Moritz Bleibtreu<br /><br />Johanna Wokalek<br /><br />Nadja Uhl<br /><br />Stipe Erceg<br /><br />Niels-Bruno Schmidt<br /><br />Vinzenz Kiefer<br /><br />Simon Licht<br /><br />Alexandra Maria Lara<br /><br />Daniel Lommatzsch<br /><br />Sebastian Blomberg<br /><br />Heino Ferch<br /><br />Jan Josef Liefers<br /><br />Eckhard Dilssner<br /><br />Hannah Herzsprung<br /><br />Bruno Ganz<br /><br />150 min</span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Germany </span><span style="font-size:85%;">׀ France </span><span style="font-size:85%;">׀ Czech Republic</span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">BENEATH HILL 60</span><em style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></em></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2010</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">DIRECTOR:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Jeremy Sims<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">CAST:</span></p><span style="font-size:85%;">Brendan Cowell<br /><br />Harrison Gilbertson<br /><br />Steve Le Marquand<br /><br />Gyton Grantley<br /><br />Alex Thompson<br /><br />Alan Dukes<br /><br />Mark Coles Smith<br /><br />Warwick Young<br /><br />Anthony Hayes<br /><br />Leon Ford<br /><br />Chris Haywood<br /><br />Bob Franklin<br /><br />Anthony Ring<br /><br />Andy Bramble<br /><br />Tom Green<br /><br />Aden Young<br /><br />John Stanton<br /><br />David Ritchie<br /><br />Kenneth Spiteri<br /><br />Marcus Costello<br /><br />Gerald Lepowski<br /><br />Jacqueline McKenzie<br /><br />Bella Heathcote<br /><br />122 min</span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Australia</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">JULIA</span><em style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></em></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2008</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">DIRECTOR:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Erick Zonca<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">CAST:</span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">Tilda Swinton<br /><br />Saul Rubinek<br /><br />Kate del Castillo<br /><br />Aidan Gould<br /><br />Jude Ciccolella<br /><br />144 min</span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">France ׀ USA</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> ׀ Mexico</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> ׀ Belgium</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">PUBLIC ENEMIES</span><br /><em style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></em></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2009</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">DIRECTOR:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Michael Mann</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">CAST:</span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">James Russo<br /><br />David Wenham<br /><br />Christian Stolte<br /><br />Jason Clarke<br /><br />Johnny Depp<br /><br />John Judd<br /><br />Stephen Dorff<br /><br />Channing Tatum<br /><br />Christian Bale<br /><br />Carey Mulligan<br /><br />Emilie De Ravin<br /><br />Billy Crudup<br /><br />Marion Cotillard<br /><br />Giovanni Ribisi<br /><br />Diana Krall<br /><br />Shawn Hatosy<br /><br />Lili Taylor<br /><br />Leelee Sobieski<br /><br />140 min</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">USA</span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE</span><br /><em style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></em></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2009</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">DIRECTOR:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Spike Jonze</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">CAST:</span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">Max Records<br /><br />Pepita Emmerichs<br /><br />Catherine Keener<br /><br />Steve Mouzakis<br /><br />Mark Ruffalo<br /><br />James Gandolfini<br /><br />Paul Dano<br /><br />Catherine O'Hara<br /><br />Forest Whitaker<br /><br />Michael Berry Jr.<br /><br />Chris Cooper<br /><br />Lauren Ambrose<br /><br />Spike Jonze<br /><br />101 min</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">USA</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> ׀ Germany</span>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-73493213562928566222010-07-12T09:03:00.010+01:002010-07-25T01:21:20.414+01:00IN TREATMENT (Season 1)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ggMrrxjz6YW4KR1N1FNte4WB3iYpIBbh6bv0CULtLbMJS33Xapd0IggqnGpfbtDQDyBy0wQgS0meERgwdf_gMGlQro1o5AWBipDbM5BALjF8QZE_mEOYxX-wfiO9LOz2wMiFP4NbkZqx/s1600/intreatmentseason101.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ggMrrxjz6YW4KR1N1FNte4WB3iYpIBbh6bv0CULtLbMJS33Xapd0IggqnGpfbtDQDyBy0wQgS0meERgwdf_gMGlQro1o5AWBipDbM5BALjF8QZE_mEOYxX-wfiO9LOz2wMiFP4NbkZqx/s320/intreatmentseason101.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492937738543750386" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">2008</p> <p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">DIRECTORS:<br /></p>Rodrigo García<br /><br />Paris Barclay<br /><br />Melanie Mayron<br /><br />Chris Misiano<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>CAST: <p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Gabriel Byrne<br /></p> <p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Dianne Wiest<br /></p> <p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Michelle Forbes<br /></p> <p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Blair Underwood<br /></p> <p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Mia Wasikowska<br /></p> <p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Josh Charles<br /></p> <p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Embeth Davidtz<br /></p> <p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Melissa George<br /></p> <p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Glynn Turman<br /></p> <p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Mae Whitman</p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Julia Campbell</p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Max Burkholder</p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Jake Richardson</p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Drew Matthews</p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">David Norona<br /></p> <p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">43 episodes<br /></p> <p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">USA</p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Mental health is a significant issue in the Western World. Whether the diminishment in human resilience is based upon a lack of narrative lesson through one's childhood or due to the barrage of image and sound from the mass media which dilutes one's own sense of self is not certain, however, what is known is that for many it is debilitating and potentially fraught with significant dangers. William Styron noted in his small biography, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Darkness Visible</span>, of the seeming meaninglessness of the term depression but what he did not note as meaningless was the depths to which one can be dragged downwards. It's without certainty too what the best or most definitive course of action is to cater for depression, which makes it all the more difficult to understand and comprehend.</p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg-Z_BIHg6Y8u3wzV-mvdOOFywo3r48_9wwvBUKQZ9IrFHhBBreaEcT71ImKdjcBJDicwLumDSIRW0ljKmEcqgq-oatXgMkNehtNiYgyD4C3KMeSK5JqgDrNh1_AfvbPnX2TcyBTJKpGnC/s1600/intreatmentseason103.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg-Z_BIHg6Y8u3wzV-mvdOOFywo3r48_9wwvBUKQZ9IrFHhBBreaEcT71ImKdjcBJDicwLumDSIRW0ljKmEcqgq-oatXgMkNehtNiYgyD4C3KMeSK5JqgDrNh1_AfvbPnX2TcyBTJKpGnC/s320/intreatmentseason103.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492952543021783826" border="0" /></a></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">What is known though is that it can affect people in a multitude of ways and through a multitude of causes. The HBO series <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">In Treatment</span> takes a look at one of the methods of treatment for mental health issues in that of counselling given by a trained professional. In this case the professional is the psychiatrist, Dr. Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne). Season 1 of the series follows his sessions with five patients over a period of nine weeks as he helps them deal with a gamut of circumstances from erotic transference to suicide to marriage problems to the weight of expectation. Originally shown throughout the week the structure of the show could be seen as gimmicky, however, when viewed in its DVD format the structure more or less becomes irrelevant. The only significance given the timing of the piece, noted in each episode's title, is the fact that they help identify Paul's state of mind as his week progresses.</p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTRZIjPFL1U1EnTVmcUOrTBIPuaBwHYriCKcF0pZ_8nfCRIbDm89mNvqFK7zDtj6dGIMCBJiJnWlq5Bb_wx1XYL4IXXhZRpGQzJNiIRfpN4foOYgHa13y-NrxZwmuPka4u3lrqrhaanEva/s1600/intreatmentseason102.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTRZIjPFL1U1EnTVmcUOrTBIPuaBwHYriCKcF0pZ_8nfCRIbDm89mNvqFK7zDtj6dGIMCBJiJnWlq5Bb_wx1XYL4IXXhZRpGQzJNiIRfpN4foOYgHa13y-NrxZwmuPka4u3lrqrhaanEva/s320/intreatmentseason102.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492953023726597714" border="0" /></a></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">The first patient of Paul's week, for the most part, is always Laura (Melissa George). About to turn thirty, Laura is a doctor in a hospital. Recalling a series of sexual exploits, she confronts Paul very early on in her sessions with a secret that may potentially have significant impact upon Paul's life. Laura is an annoyance of a character. She seems contrived, however, it's the very nature of her as a person which makes the viewer feel that. In essence that is what she is. She is a contrivance. Attention-seeking in the worst form she's an intelligent woman seemingly lacking the control of her body or her emotions as she battles the scars from a childhood in no way close to being balanced. The brilliance of this particular storyline lies within the casting of George. The Australian redhead is usually a loose cannon on screen. She's really done nothing of significant merit that would suggest she'd be capable of the depth she presents here. It's a telling performance that suggests, perhaps she truly understood the goings on within Laura's head.</p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv3X7lWKjEIZt787cQLnGUTmTA5pskzMBWcD7ywzSSaD12WZCPvofbUh2jMz7jEv7R0QpxnonMaTh_h-jkhcVIxTLihu0Bhfl5lbIdBxlpiZmPCsL9OXXFrsLNCtXYK56DxB3jDDk1Qw-q/s1600/intreatmentseason107.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv3X7lWKjEIZt787cQLnGUTmTA5pskzMBWcD7ywzSSaD12WZCPvofbUh2jMz7jEv7R0QpxnonMaTh_h-jkhcVIxTLihu0Bhfl5lbIdBxlpiZmPCsL9OXXFrsLNCtXYK56DxB3jDDk1Qw-q/s320/intreatmentseason107.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492953488484934066" border="0" /></a></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Laura's Monday sessions bring forth Paul's Tuesday sessions with Alex (Blair Underwood). A returned navy pilot, he is dealing with the burden of parental and familial pressure all whilst trying to come to terms with the fact that he is finding it very hard to feel anything with regard to the innocents he killed in a mistaken bombing in Iraq. Alex too is a contrivance of sorts. He's a character of arrogance waiting to be broken down to allow Paul exactly where he needs to be to get to the truth of the matter. Hints are given to Alex's true motives but what emerges as the season progresses are a few twists and turns that suggest therapy doesn't always end up where one might initially expect.</p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9PwPgmhllHApGKSR9tpQ4pKAItpE_kjWfAWHHDCFUC9dIVuoka7Bq6M0zFKUJZTq4Jc3Xj1NNElNJOPG-jSOLeURiqy-vgN5aPRpm6qX9iyRQfgLis9PT2BlhykgzeSf-iBsgaoNb6zzz/s1600/intreatmentseason105.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9PwPgmhllHApGKSR9tpQ4pKAItpE_kjWfAWHHDCFUC9dIVuoka7Bq6M0zFKUJZTq4Jc3Xj1NNElNJOPG-jSOLeURiqy-vgN5aPRpm6qX9iyRQfgLis9PT2BlhykgzeSf-iBsgaoNb6zzz/s320/intreatmentseason105.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492953947572687394" border="0" /></a></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">As is the case for Paul's Wednesday sessions with a sixteen-year-old Olympic hopeful in gymnast, Sophie (Mia Wasikowska). Another Australiana mongst the cast Wasikowska presents Sophie as a both fiercely intellectual and feebly childlike emotional mess. Attending therapy at the insistence of her mother and an insurance company battling claims over the authenticity of the 'accident' that has left her significantly injured, Sophie must come to terms with the pressures of her sport and the breakdown of her parents' marriage. Hers is a telling tale amidst the five being told throughout the week for Sophie is a contradiction. She is at times both on the verge of breakdown and breakthrough. She argues and yet she falls apart. Wasikowska is perhaps the true revelation of the piece. She gets completely under the skin of Sophie mimicking the essence of a teen whilst truly understanding what it is that has got her to this place she is in. It's a wonderful, lived-in performance.</p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvOvFTN2or6_NqNjHteujrR6W2L3MFhHwQvX1HIBl8ex99y5G7wJouTI0z0ci-YqT2eDI24ws0GdTfWb2AJZJbxt2K05ZSPlMkeoQywvUuLP9nK_qvJuh3d9L2egT0VXr0TRvUdhCB4_Ho/s1600/intreatmentseason108.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvOvFTN2or6_NqNjHteujrR6W2L3MFhHwQvX1HIBl8ex99y5G7wJouTI0z0ci-YqT2eDI24ws0GdTfWb2AJZJbxt2K05ZSPlMkeoQywvUuLP9nK_qvJuh3d9L2egT0VXr0TRvUdhCB4_Ho/s320/intreatmentseason108.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492954748391875634" border="0" /></a></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Paul's counselling relationship with Sophie is followed up by his continued difficulties to get anywhere close to both Jake (Josh Charles) and Amy (Embeth Davidtz). A married couple on the verge of separation, they present again a relationship formed with the concept of what it is that makes one happy and committed crashing heads with the reality of the situation. Questions not asked prior to the matrimony now bear their ugly heads and in so doing present both of them with dilemmas neither are equipped to handle. This is perhaps where the first fault in the piece arises as Charles struggles in the early stages to convince of the authenticity of Jake as a character. He is borderline caricature as the incessantly trustless Jake in their first session. Nuance gives way to obviousness so much so that one wonders what on earth Amy would see in him in the first place. This shifts about midway through their sessions as if it were either a change in the direction of Jake as a character or that Charles finally clicked into what it was that got Jake so close to delivering on his anger-filled exhaltations.</p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9tSfB9WVCmZ2Byroy0Wvr2zA865ogNULImCMjX9oPiBuOsouW05BGv3NTwcF0-TjhX2WNd2Xf0nDwEu83B81k_q53gFWrEF1FctYRrBrW5Gtfb2P2Zo4s-OW70SsIpS013vo-DZzzHs3/s1600/intreatmentseason104.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9tSfB9WVCmZ2Byroy0Wvr2zA865ogNULImCMjX9oPiBuOsouW05BGv3NTwcF0-TjhX2WNd2Xf0nDwEu83B81k_q53gFWrEF1FctYRrBrW5Gtfb2P2Zo4s-OW70SsIpS013vo-DZzzHs3/s320/intreatmentseason104.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492955349241817026" border="0" /></a></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">Anger too is what in the end forces Paul into a conversational liaison with former colleague Gina (Dianne Wiest). Also a psychiatrist, Gina acts as mentor and therapist to Paul as he is faced with his humanity as he struggles to deal with the goings-on of his current patient workload. The relationship that exists between Paul and Gina is made all the more real by the chemistry between Byrne and Wiest. Both are formidable actors but onscreen, together, they are a complete dynamo. Their sessions are uniformly the strongest and as they progress to include Paul's wife, Kate (Michelle Forbes), and discussions of his three children, Ian (Jake Richardson), Rosie (Mae Whitman - very good) and Max (Max Burkholder), one begins to understand how personal history impacts upon those trained to listen and question as much as those who seek those skills.</p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9c7jv2i9Z1ELMdxrlB-JGHsWIV31P5eTT7u_d5Vt_xN8dMssCR2plbpqCCEpGZHBv-kgWZf18jz-CBkNva4Jw3LBhjpvA86r62YgWZWlrMtYqoLazICbYmSHnApa7_P1_QGd03cYUcuG/s1600/intreatmentseason106.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 152px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9c7jv2i9Z1ELMdxrlB-JGHsWIV31P5eTT7u_d5Vt_xN8dMssCR2plbpqCCEpGZHBv-kgWZf18jz-CBkNva4Jw3LBhjpvA86r62YgWZWlrMtYqoLazICbYmSHnApa7_P1_QGd03cYUcuG/s320/intreatmentseason106.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492955776785679314" border="0" /></a></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">In the end <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">In Treatment</span> is a masterclass in television drama. It envelops and engages all whilst shedding light on what it is to be human. It may not all work as some of the episodes, particularly those early on, seem a little in the vein of Psych 101, however, by midway through, the beginnings of a season of fantastic drama unfold and firmly take hold. In treatment? Yes, this viewer certainly has his place on that psychiatrist's couch.</p>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381450631363174792.post-86230331651605915782010-07-03T11:41:00.016+01:002010-07-25T01:22:22.663+01:00YES, A LITTLE BIT OF WEE MAY HAVE COME OUT<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZuO2Hsb1SxVjGlSKoY6DxnZ9gQC9n4-F9adRZ8p6x1XzeUfV778YGgGMl9Mk0WMWsx2rqHGOl6d_VN3qpb4giTg44VotuFUnn5vb81Iuj3gQpSu-VfU7F5z3UO8AqJykH5lPU9H2CLC4/s1600/deanspanley.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZuO2Hsb1SxVjGlSKoY6DxnZ9gQC9n4-F9adRZ8p6x1XzeUfV778YGgGMl9Mk0WMWsx2rqHGOl6d_VN3qpb4giTg44VotuFUnn5vb81Iuj3gQpSu-VfU7F5z3UO8AqJykH5lPU9H2CLC4/s200/deanspanley.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492609331553574962" border="0" /></a>A lot of the funny in anything funny quite often comes from the lack of intent to be funny. Take for example Toa Fraser's follow-up to his directorial debut, <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">No. 2</span>, a New Zealand dramedy about a family reunion of sorts featuring a veteran in Ruby Dee. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Dean Spanley</span> is a film with some similarities to the Dee starrer, with its familial relationship between a grown son (Jeremy Northam) and his ageing father (Peter O'Toole) at its core.<br /><br />What makes this sojourn into Edwardian England as bitingly funny as it is, is the sheer honesty with which O'Toole delivers his curmudgeonly Fisk Senior. He is, with every flick of his eyebrow and turn of his tongue, a sharp and cranky old miser who complains about but eventually longs for, as does his housekeeper Mrs Brimley (Judy Parfitt), each Thursday spent with his son.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbpZuf48aaqZUdtYyvRKxxSX_0Z_i64EgRuNX9h_p3Xb3bX4OILyci19LYMP3Q4gAZcDn171IHYDU0IeFgzfc9r15G8FUpYKfVCwQN7YfNQTLiN8sgeAHA2eYjeLDbT6vssZDDB9FFJe3u/s1600/deanspanley02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 132px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbpZuf48aaqZUdtYyvRKxxSX_0Z_i64EgRuNX9h_p3Xb3bX4OILyci19LYMP3Q4gAZcDn171IHYDU0IeFgzfc9r15G8FUpYKfVCwQN7YfNQTLiN8sgeAHA2eYjeLDbT6vssZDDB9FFJe3u/s200/deanspanley02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492610296482655410" border="0" /></a>Entering the tale at this point are the questionable Dean Spanley (Sam Neill) and Wrather (Bryan Brown) who through a series of concocted plans become an integral part to the story as the Dean shows a peculiar reaction - he seemingly turns into a Welsh Spaniel from a past life - when drinking a rare wine. Fraser's film is a hodge-podge of sinister and silly antics but it all works, largely due to the lovely production design and the performances from the hugely experienced cast. O'Toole completely steals the film but he's followed closely behind by Parfitt who is again wonderfully droll in a potentially thankless role.<br /><br />Again, what sets <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Dean Spanley</span> apart from other recent attempts at comedy is its acceptance that at its heart there is natural humour present. There is no intent to force the humour and in effect no need to wring it for all its worth. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Dean Spanley</span> is a lovely one-hundred minute ride.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfiLbCq5KFshgRknDJoqBW5r6zPgwYaBJQ2Vm2uKnePEUGsoX12CNREzgNLxdmRibWKtcMI23vJlxZzXez6I4dPnFiIURLUKi3ZUJ4M1OaZ4sUfrzml3oJsmAdsrzuLrjZTHqp534lq2N/s1600/iloveyouman.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 148px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfiLbCq5KFshgRknDJoqBW5r6zPgwYaBJQ2Vm2uKnePEUGsoX12CNREzgNLxdmRibWKtcMI23vJlxZzXez6I4dPnFiIURLUKi3ZUJ4M1OaZ4sUfrzml3oJsmAdsrzuLrjZTHqp534lq2N/s200/iloveyouman.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492610685264796722" border="0" /></a>At one-hundred and five minutes and just as lovely, for the most part, is the Paul Rudd vehicle, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">I Love You, Man</span>. Mining the rom-com genre for what it's worth but slightly turning it on its head as it focuses on a bro-mance, this silly but energetic comedy leaves pretension at the door and sails along quite nicely on the coattails of its star.<br /><br />Never quite achieving the success <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Clueless</span> seemed to promise him back in the mid-nineties, Rudd has hit all the home bases here using his cute puppy-dog-looks and innate ability to be kookily funny without being odd. The story is nothing new as a man searches for a best man for his wedding and the inclusion of Jason Segel (I just don't get him) is slightly wearisome, however, what the film amounts to is an easy-to-watch love fest of the friend order that soars at times - Rudd's dancing is charming - but crawls along the sewer ground at others - dog poo jokes! Really? - leaving one as satsified as they might be surviving on a diet of Jatz and cheese, that is full but yearning for some greens.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtvPDF2NsGswnfhHjJBGu2fkk3x-BG6eAdh_FH0cXlS1tI1vGx9lcKQdHDLjTI8r65Z1ijKS_EoHrnOIGS3gBHaKZtP7q1p9r67XDqPjImF92uD0cSbTB-XnABoiTtYg7f4krYrPerTXE2/s1600/iloveyouman02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 149px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtvPDF2NsGswnfhHjJBGu2fkk3x-BG6eAdh_FH0cXlS1tI1vGx9lcKQdHDLjTI8r65Z1ijKS_EoHrnOIGS3gBHaKZtP7q1p9r67XDqPjImF92uD0cSbTB-XnABoiTtYg7f4krYrPerTXE2/s200/iloveyouman02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492611286711049218" border="0" /></a>By its end Rudd manages to succeed in making you forget what it is you've been digesting. He's an actor who should be in more than he is and one would hope that perhaps this might afford him and cinema-goers more opportunities to bear witness to that.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKwm7-KBvF-miNbV_52wfw8fMwL_RW92JfRL4BG0kaYD0D2hjPitMvDc9CqReIgdNHNd8OIlJaNbfOn263BcvUag91lz0CbpXZmiWZaaKGMT-RtXQCPWLkiOZ9IFMZq2FoYWsqq4VMfHxx/s1600/$9.99.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 137px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKwm7-KBvF-miNbV_52wfw8fMwL_RW92JfRL4BG0kaYD0D2hjPitMvDc9CqReIgdNHNd8OIlJaNbfOn263BcvUag91lz0CbpXZmiWZaaKGMT-RtXQCPWLkiOZ9IFMZq2FoYWsqq4VMfHxx/s200/$9.99.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492611583206802786" border="0" /></a>What one might also bear witness to more of is the animation work of Tatia Rosenthal, an Israeli-born New York resident who co-wrote the screenplay for <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">$9.99</span>, an Israeli-Australian co-production, with Israeli writer Etgar Keret.<br /><br />Set in a Sydney apartment complex it focuses on the life of Dave Peck (Samuel Johnson), an unemployed twenty-something who searches for the meaning of life through a book sold for $9.99 rather than through the experiences going on around him. Featuring a vulgar angel (Geoffrey Rush) and a bevy of beautiful men and women, some bizarrely de-boned after quite graphic sex, this exercise in the bizarre is a unique and odd experiment in stop-motion animation. Lovingly created with some ingenious production design and designed with an artist's eye <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">$9.99</span> doesn't answer many of the questions it asks but it does take one on a smirk-worthy journey through the unexpectedly sweet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSG6YLiFyvHrM_XwXFQU1yxXrHs53EupKaeuek6SIAx5GEKV_XggakFsZ4AkFUNVl3yr6EmKt0mn4rXLfAQohUUL-OtfMSj0AX_Dpb2XDVACNKlWyU7NSzspg0sOqdou6LvbFBk16XzZup/s1600/$9.9901.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSG6YLiFyvHrM_XwXFQU1yxXrHs53EupKaeuek6SIAx5GEKV_XggakFsZ4AkFUNVl3yr6EmKt0mn4rXLfAQohUUL-OtfMSj0AX_Dpb2XDVACNKlWyU7NSzspg0sOqdou6LvbFBk16XzZup/s200/$9.9901.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492612053071964770" border="0" /></a>In the end, man bean-bags and all, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">$9.99</span> is a feast for the eye of any animation fan who is even remotely interested in seeing what's beyond the world of Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks and even Studio Ghibli.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbNQLkzVYMLTgnL1ZiE_dUSJGDSKCUwEwgfklPPzvxGTU75FbjEna8X5C7V3DoVdWw9SmO-UxM358zoDaZdLrK5SqS-bJP8E1lE0wMtg5V-HZBmy461ln8sg-dsNt2D4k97bN0sCcIYDPb/s1600/aseriousman.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbNQLkzVYMLTgnL1ZiE_dUSJGDSKCUwEwgfklPPzvxGTU75FbjEna8X5C7V3DoVdWw9SmO-UxM358zoDaZdLrK5SqS-bJP8E1lE0wMtg5V-HZBmy461ln8sg-dsNt2D4k97bN0sCcIYDPb/s200/aseriousman.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492612434202670434" border="0" /></a>And interest in the remote is what has made the Coen boys the household names they are within those households, anyway, who have a bent towards the unusual. Somehow the Coens have, over their long career, been able to find the utterly strange in the everyday and transport that to our screens with both vision and wit. Whether it be the insanely idiotic desperation of a scamming husband in <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Fargo</span> or the maniacal murderous ways of a cross-country travelling hitman in <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">No Country For Old Men</span> or the scheming vengeance of a barber in <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Man Who Wasn't There</span>, the Coens have delivered in one way or another in just about every film they've made. So what to make of the much-closer-to-home events in <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">A Serious Man</span>?<br /><br />Larry Gopnick (Michael Stuhlbarg), a professor at a college struggling with his wife's infidelity, a conniving student, his son's foray into drugs, his daughter's preoccupation with non-Jewish facial features and a racist, ground-stealing neighbour is a man in the midst of mayhem. Add in other problems such as his burgeoning desire for his neighbour's sun-baking wife, a car accident and a series of unhelpful rabbis and you have a sheer life of disaster on your hands.<br /><br />In the Coens' hands, however, the film is a masterpiece of humour very black in kind. For Stuhlbarg's Larry is a mess of a man finding it hard to stand up for himself and finding it hard to resist temptation as a result of his very weaknesses bringing him the grief in the first place.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiahwybiEk4NgoY8ko-yQuqrodYWj7qnJDjwN24Tg81O098JWO5SiWHq2qwSlxj6NtrnbCREXBwlbO9arQOycE2oQH6wrLrlz1gmJvQ8C6lTcRtrLH8KSNjqTCB4hVKqNbibMlUvwQoybyY/s1600/aseriousman02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 112px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiahwybiEk4NgoY8ko-yQuqrodYWj7qnJDjwN24Tg81O098JWO5SiWHq2qwSlxj6NtrnbCREXBwlbO9arQOycE2oQH6wrLrlz1gmJvQ8C6lTcRtrLH8KSNjqTCB4hVKqNbibMlUvwQoybyY/s200/aseriousman02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492613002074603506" border="0" /></a>The performances are all top-notch with Richard Kind, Sari Lennick, Fred Melamed, Aaron Wolff and Jessica McManus particularly good as Larry's family, however, it's the supporting performances of Amy Landecker, David Kang, Alan Mandell, Peter Breitmayer and Adam Arkin among others that lend an authenticity to the goings on that make <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">A Serious Man</span> work. Even the prologue of an arguing Jewish husband and wife works with Allen Lewis Rickman, Yelena Shmulenson and Fyvush Finkel hilariously on point in their brief screentime.<br /><br />However, the film belongs to Stuhlbarg. A virtual unknown, his is a lived-in performance highlighting the mannerisms and nuances of his character which have contributed to him being literally walked over by everyone in his life. It's a bravura and wonderful comedic turn.<br /><br />Performances aside, the Coens know how to make a film. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">A Serious Man</span> is beautiful to look at, neatly edited and tightly scripted. It is obvious that this is a film with a lot of their past in it. The Jewish experience has rarely been seen so funnily presented on the big screen. One only has Joel and Ethan Coen to thank for that.<br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">DEAN SPANLEY</span><em style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></em></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2008</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">DIRECTOR:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Toa Fraser<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">CAST:</span></p><span style="font-size:85%;">Jeremy Northam<br /><br />Sam Neill<br /><br />Bryan Brown<br /><br />Peter O'Toole<br /><br />Judy Parfitt<br /><br />100 min</span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">New Zealand </span><span style="font-size:85%;">׀ UK</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">I LOVE YOU, MAN</span><em style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></em></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2009</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">DIRECTOR:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">John Hamburg<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">CAST:</span></p><span style="font-size:85%;">Paul Rudd<br /><br />Rashida Jones<br /><br />Sarah Burns<br /><br />Jason Segel<br /><br />Greg Levine<br /><br />Jaime Pressley<br /><br />Jon Favreau<br /><br />Jane Curtin<br /><br />J.K. Simmons<br /><br />105 min</span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">USA</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">$9.99</span><em style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></em></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2008</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">DIRECTOR:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tatia Rosenthal<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">CAST:</span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">Roy Billing<br /><br />Tom Budge<br /><br />Joel Edgerton<br /><br />David Field<br /><br />Leon Ford<br /><br />Samuel Johnson<br /><br />Claudia Karvan<br /><br />Jamie Katsamatsas<br /><br />Anthony LaPaglia<br /><br />Ben Mendelsohn<br /><br />Henry Nixon<br /><br />Barry Otto<br /><br />Geoffrey Rush<br /><br />Leeanna Walsman<br /><br />78 min</span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Israel ׀ Australia</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A SERIOUS MAN</span><em style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></em></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2009</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">DIRECTOR:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Ethan Coen </span><span style="font-size:85%;">׀ Joel Coen<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">CAST:</span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">Michael Stuhlbarg<br /><br />Richard Kind<br /><br />Fred Melamed<br /><br />Sari Lennick<br /><br />Aaron Wolff<br /><br />Jessica McManus<br /><br />Peter Breitmayer<br /><br />Brent Braunschweig<br /><br />David Kang<br /><br />Ari Hoptman<br /><br />Alan Mandell<br /><br />Amy Landecker<br /><br />George Wyner<br /><br />Michael Tezla<br /><br />Stephen Park<br /><br />Allen Lewis Rickman<br /><br />Yelena Shmulenson<br /><br />Fyvush Finkel<br /><br />Simon Helberg<br /><br />Adam Arkin<br /><br />106 min</span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">USA</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> ׀ UK</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> ׀ France</span><br /></p>Leehamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397167215313964433noreply@blogger.com0