DVD Reviews:
Heavy Metal Me – Boris – Six tracks, (seven if you consider the English and the Japanese versions of the short film “Heavy Metal Me” separately) from boris (lower case, meaning it’s their arty incarnation). Opening track ia “a bao a qu – long version” which is nearly 10 minutes long. It’s a lot nicer than the one on “Mabuta no Ura”, and hit shows long shots of the three members of Boris wandering around a small town that may be in Holland, may be the UK. “The Evil One Which Sobs” is next, that is 16 minutes of abstract video, shorter than the 21 minute version that is on Dronevil. I can’t even tell what it is is, but it might be dissolving fibres in a gigantic water tank… or something… Hard to tell what it really is, but it’s hypnotic. “Heavy Metal Me” is 11 minutes of blurry black and white footage of Wata hanging around, the sound is staticky,video grainy like filmed with an old Super 8 film camera (maybe it was). Nonsense phrases appear from time to time like “I think of ‘me’ and ‘my world’, Water reflect the sky, for the sake of the sky. The sky is there to be reflected on the water. How-too-entertain doesn’t entertain me.” Arty and surreal. The very odd thing that I discovered is that if you click on “Heavy Metal Me” again after you’ve seen it, you’ll see another version of it, and again, and again, and again. They somehow take the same scenes and reshuffle them, and you’ll get different things every time. I’ve only sat through three of them, but I did hear a snatch of guitar playing once. It’s boring to watch, but every scene is very beautiful in its own lost way. Most of the scenes star Wata. “Feedbacker” is a 27 minute live video (this one’s short – other versions that I have are 35 minutes long and 44 minutes long – it’s basically a full boris album), it starts off black for the first two minutes of feedback before the curtains part, and there are Boris in all their spooky glory. The camera is quite jerky, but there are nice close-ups of Wata doing her thing, as well as those glorious Orange stacks. Great long shots of her soloing like David Gilmour. Amazing – where does she get her mojo? Stunning. Hypnotic. Atsuo comes in with singing at the halfway mark, the song starts to ramp up, and then builds into a feedback freakout with drummer Atsuo attacking the monster gong that hangs behind his drum kit. Bassist Takeshi holds the same note on his bass for nearly five minutes, putting it through the effects wringer. Then the song finally fades out. The final song is “Flood,” from the band’s second release, and the 23 minute live set features 8 minutes of slow intro before busting out into full stoner drone freakout. The song is almost melodic, and a wee bit boring and melodic initially, but as the freakout continues the band truly shakes and rattles and rolls, and Atsuo lets loose on that big old gong several times, Takeshi thrashes his bass, and Wata wrings the life out of her Les Paul. Much of the video is taken from backstage so you see the members’ backs, but you also see the 20-something Japanese slackers, all guys, in the front row blank-faced about the band they paid to see. The end of the set drowns out – the drummer leaves the stage four minutes before the end, and the bassist leaves two minutes before the end. Wata gives it a few more minutes of feedback, then some acoustic, and it’s all over.
Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind – A strange movie about memory. Jim Carry is a bit of an unlovable schmuck, but for some reason he meets this wacky, gorgeous girl who’s also quite horny. Slowly we get to see him interact with this girl, slowly we realize that there’s much more behind their relationship. Why? Because it’s a film from a Charlie Kaufmann script, where anything can happen. The couple has tender, happy moments that are very memorable (or memory-like) in an iconic kind of way. These are devices we refer back to, they make the movie feel like it is warm, comfortable, and we root for the heroes who struggle against what they are doing to themselves. Do they know that they were destined to be together? Things get weird – once we figure out what is going on, we get some back story. And then that back story gets back story. And then that back story gets back story. And then the back story becomes the only story that there ever was. Because it’s destiny. Complaints? None, really, although Kirstin Dunst acting horny is a bit awkward – she doesn’t do horny well. Elijah Wood is good and creepy. And Jim Carrey – well, he can act… like a dork.
Broken Flowers – Great film of Bill Murray moping. Sort of like his Lost in Translation persona, or maybe even him in Rushmore. He’s a middle-aged man in a track suit, he’s had several women in his life. The day that one of them leaves him he gets a letter from one of them. He doesn’t know which one, but she says in the letter that she had his baby 20 years ago. With the help of his Ethiopian neighbour (cue opportunity to have Ethiopian jazz in the soundtrack) he works backwards and comes up with five names. So he goes to visit several of them to try and solve the “mystery.” There’s not much mystery, but there’s an opportunity to film several episodes. The first one is the best – Sharon Stone, and her “daughter” Lolita, played by Alexis Dziena. And it goes downhill from there. A lot can happen to people in 20 years – some people are in loveless marriages with real estate developers, some people become psychics, while others slum it as biker chicks. But life is long and good things can come of it if you’re Bill Murray and you don’t take things too seriously or get delusional about a son you may or may not have. There’s always tomorrow. The film uses quite good songs in its soundtrack (including, briefly, Sleep), and the fantastic “There Is An End” by The Greenhornes with Holly Golightly. Great boogie woogie retro rock with cool old guitar plucking. Crazy, dad, crazy…
Bad Santa – Billy Bob Thornton stars as a blasted out old Charles Bukowski character who runs a scam with a dwarf to run a Santa and Elf gig in department stores every Christmas, then rob them blind on Christmas Eve. Happy holidays. Santa Bob wants to quit the game, but he just can’t stay away. Then, sure enough, he does one last job in Phoenix (you can see where this is going…), digs himself deeper and deeper in a drunk hole, then things start to go awry – a security guard wants a cut, a magical mystery kid shows up, Santa Bob meets a sweet thing that has a thing for Santa Claus… Pretty good black humour. It was directed by Terry Zwigoff, but feels like a Coen Brothers film (without the dash). Well, they produced it.
Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou – A totally wacked out film, and the second Bill Murray flick in this list about a guy who may or may not be coming face to face with the son he may have had with an old flame. This time, though, he’s got a cast of eccentric sidekicks, among them Seu Jorge (from City of God, who spends most of his time singing old David Bowie songs in Portuguese) and Willem Defoe (difficult to recognize here, since he’s playing a supporting role, as a cranky German). There’s also Bud Cort, fat and balding, as a kidnapped accountant, and Cate Blanchett stunning as a pregnant journalist. Owen Wilson, omnipresent on a Wes Anderson set, is there as Bill Murray’s son, he’s the weakest part of the film. Witty Woody Allen-esque dialogue and quirky scene changes abound, and the encounter with pirates is pure garbage… but it’s nice garbage.
American Grafitti – I saw this ages ago, and we all grew up with ghosts of Happy Days flitting past us making us nostalgic to a California era (and its music) that occurred ten years before we were born, so it was interesting to see it again now that I too am going through a phase of listening to “golden oldie” bands, although in my case it’s the feedback-drenched psychadelia of Blue Cheer and the Yardbirds. American Grafitti is a great film, full of funny characters and good dialogue, fantastic editing, and great tunes. There’s a young pre-fame Harrison Ford driving around prepping for his next role as Han Solo, and also Richard Dreyfuss as a college-bound kid wondering whether he should stick around town or look around a bit. Lots of nuances, which is a word you don’t often use when describing George Lucas, such as the scene when Richard Dreyfuss has a talk with his teacher, and a girl comes up at the end of the conversation and says “teach, can I talk with you for a minute?” The scene is regnant with meaning. There’s also good fun when Dreyfuss (he seems to get all the best scenes) gets initiated into the local gang, the Pharaohs. It’s a very white white white town, even the gangsters are white. Wolfman Jack has a great cameo, and the soundtrack of the night is fantastic. Suzanne Somers as “the blonde in the T-bird” is basically unrecognizable, but hey – it’s Chissy!
Adaptation – A very strange self-referenced, self-involved, solipsistic film about a screenplay about a book. An article appeared in the New Yorker about orchids in the Everglades, it was turned into a novel, Charlie Kaufmann was commissioned to turn it into a screenplay, Charlie Kaufmann didn’t know how to write it as a screenplay so he reinvented himself as Woody Allen and wrote a screenplay about Woody Allen struggling to write a screenplay. The story works on many outrageous levels, and there are tons of brilliant scenes, just as there are tons of brilliant distractions. Kaufman also rather unsubtly uses the multiple meanings of the word “adaptation” to get even deeper, and more literary. Great stuff, very good. Kaufmann invents a twin brother, both of which are played by a very remarkable Nicholas Cage out-Murphying Eddie Murphy and Jeremy Irons in the dual role thing, and then “resolves” him in a very amazing way. Well, talk about catharsis!
American Pie – Sure, it’s a dumb movie about guys who want to get laid, but it does invent several characters that you really do begin to care about, so how can you really fault it? The gags are really quite funny, and it’s hard to imagine any other situation where a girl could convince her dad that “there was nothing going on” by screaming at the top of her lungs “I’M COMING!!!!” Another phrases that will never be teh same for met again is “There was this one time at Band Camp…” The infamous American pie scene is, of course, quite disgusting, but if it had been shared with anyone other than Eugene Levy…
Napoleon Dynamite – Wow, blast to the past. Jon Feder in this movie reminds me a lot of one of my ex-colleagues (in a good way), watching this is quite strange. Napoleon’s eccentricities are all so amazingly weird that by the time we get to the end we’re really truly relived to see his transformation. Skits tied together are good, but this little film sort of has what it takes to stretch out to full length. The internet romance between Kip and Lafawnduh is a bit unlikely, as is the weirdness of “Uncle Rico” as Napoleion’s guardian (Jon Heder was 27 when Napoleon Dynamite was filmed) is a stretch, but it’s all in good fun. Vote Pedro!
The Who Live At The Isle of Wight, 1970 – Hard to think of the guys in The Who as young men, but there they were, in 1970, singing “hope I die before I get old” and meaning it. 160,000 people attended the festival, and many of them were probably still there that night at 2:00 AM when the Who played. They were very clubby, talking to the audience as if there were only 150 of them there. Pete Townsend played a Gibson SG and babbled to the audience. Not too much windmill swinging, but his red overalls that cut off well above the ankles were as strange-looking as his white socks. John Entwistle came out in a skeleton jumpsuit, which was pretty strange, but it was hard to notice because I was mainly awed at his fantastic bass playing – it’s hard to realize he’s the godfather of the virtuoso bass players of the age unless you watch him. Roger Daltry has tassles on his jacket that reach below his knees, and that’s mainly what you notice about him, while Keith Moon is noted for his insane grinning and leering. Great show.
The Yardbirds – Nice documentary of the Yardbirds with nice video clips of all of the main performers, including Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton. Wild swimin’ London.
CD Reviews:
“Heavy Rocks”, Boris – Heavy Rocks is the main early rock album from Boris, with heavy collaborations, including Lori from Acid King (a bit of muttering in the opening track), Masonna, Merzbow, Eddie Legend of Mad 3, and Komi of the Abnormals. Opens with the strong “Heavy Friends,” on which Lori mutters. Groaning guitars and bleached bass with stinging cymbols, all great stuff. “Korosu” is a heavy rocker like we got used to on Pink, while “Dyon-Soar” is a collaboration with Yamasaki “Space Machine” Maso, a.k.a. Masonna, doing an analog noise freakout that is a bit distracting. It is also pretty standard rock ‘n’ roll, believe it or not. “Wareruraide” is YET another rocker. “Soft Edge” is an instrumental that is more about subtle noise and feedback. “Rattlesnake” is a howling instrumental rocker (with some hoots and hollers) that kicks off with a stunning intro, perhaps the best on the intro. “Death Valley” is wild rock and bombastic riffs, grand vocals and some noise. “Kori” is tough and hard, deadly and brief. “The Bell Tower Of A Sign” is perhaps the album’s best song and Komi, of The Abnormals, is stellar in its sledgehammer assaut. He gives the song a truly ’70s guitar rock feel with his spooky background vocals. Love it. Closing track “1970″ is not the Stooges song, but it’s pretty okay anyway.
“Mabuta no Uta”, Boris – A strange album of blings and blongs, punctuated by occasional vocals. The standout track is “A Bao A Qu,” which turns up on other Boris releases. It starts off like other songs on Mabuta no Uta, but quickly becomes a real Boris drone song, very nice. The packaging of this one is nifty, though, and it looks nice at least.
“Smile” [Japanese version] – All Music says that this version of Smile is better than the US version in the quality of the mixes, as well as the versions. Granted the packaging is better – while the US version is a regular CD with a picture of an airplane and nothing special about it, the Japanese version is packed in floppy plastic and sponge, with a transparent heart window. Nice. Opening song “Message” is weird drum machines with some soprano vocals, and bursts of squealing guitar. “Buzz In” starts off with baby sounds, then become a regular blasting rocker. “Let Go” is all over the place with strange abrasive guitar sounds and more drum machine weirdness, ending with pretty acoustic guitar. “Flower Sun Rain” sounds similar to the version that opens the US release, but it sounds a bit better. “My Neighbour Satan” sounds like a pop song from Spitz, while “Karehatetasaki” is a monster rocker that is full of sound and buzz and pounds on unrelentingly. “You Were Holding An Umbrella” gets off to a mellow start for the first four and a half minutes before fading out and coming back in a big way with really BIG feedback and noise………….
Here’s a nice video of Boris doing “Statement” from the US release (on the Japanese version it’s called “Message” and opens the CD, but it’s a very different and longer version).
“Blind Faith”, Blind Faith – Wow! I’m not a huge Eric Clapton fan, but hearing something like this is almost like hearing a new Beatles album after all of these years, somehow fresh and remarkable, and very much of an era. Steve Windwood sings for Eric in this band, and he sounds quite amazing. The album is not without flaws – it starts off strong, winding down for the last four tracks (my version comes with two “previously unreleased” tracks – “Exchange and Mart” and “Do What You Like”). Opening track “Had To Cry Today” sounds wonderful, the same riff running through and through and through. “Can’t Find My Way Home is even better, and “Presence Of The Lord” is a real treat – real music by talented people, the former almost like bluegrass with a soprano from Windwood while the latter is a lovely ballad with a blistering guitar solo in the middle.
“Live PCPPEP”, Butthole Surfers – Truly idiotic and revolting, the Butthole Surfers wouldn’t have had it any other way. Many songs appear twice, both in the original album version and then on the live EP that follows (others are on “Rembrandt Pussyhorse”). “The Shah Sleeps In Lee Harvey’s Grave” is utter lunacy, and it’s good fun, especially the weird “shut up” chorus at the end. “Hey” is more sedate, and nearly a pop song. I’ve listened to this album a bunch of times trying to “get” it, even nearly 25 years after its release. “Something” is, of course, irritating, with its screeched vocals. “Bar-B-Q-Pope” is hooting and screeching. “Wichita Cathedral” is boring and repetitive and bizarre (think “Going to Florida”), but “Suicide” is a great old buzzing hardcore song that starts off like an early Black Flag anthem before evolving into another mad Gibby sputtering, perhaps one of their best songs. “The Revenge of Anus Presley” is a sort of like the howl of a mad pro wrestler taunting Satan to “do his worst”, or something. “Cowboy Bob” is all about screams and Gibby groans. The live version of “Bar-B-Q-Pope” is much better fun, starting off with the “I, Calypso” chant, and then a full golf commentary before it gets into the usual screaming nuttiness. Don’t be fooled by “Dance of the Cobras,” it’s just formless squalling. A live “The Shah Sleeps In Lee Harvey’s Grave” does all sorts of hollering and strange “shut-up” calling to the audience, which responds charitably with more shut-ups. A live “Wichita Cathedral” is so-so, and a live “Hey” is pretty slow. The live version of “Something” is nutty and very long, with tons of strange noise and feedback and saxophone, as well as some bad onstage banter about people leaving early. “Gary Floyd” is raunchy country, and “Matchstick” is quite punky. “Sinister Crayon” is nearly like spy music, with the weird echoing guitar track, but there’s plenty of goofy bass and saxophone along with Gibby’s vocals. A demo of “Something” marks the song’s third appearance on this release, and by this time…
“Acoustiques”, Les Rita Mitsouko – Les Rita Mitsouko are good fun, but it’s hard to get excited about this lifeless collection. Maybe I owe it a few more listens, but the unplugged atmosphere doesn’t do the band justice, even if it does bring out even more of Catherine Ringer’s great voice.
“St Anger” [Single], Metallica – St Anger is a pretty okay song, despite the fact that it’s very repetitive and a bit too long. The CD single is filled out with four Ramones covers: “Commando,” “Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World,” “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue” and “We’re A Happy Family.” Somehow “Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World” works out the best, even though it’s the goofiest of them all. “Commando” is pretty good too, but that may be because it’s originally such a sharp composition.
