Orphaned Music Reviews #1: February
The following music reviews were originally slated for publication in the February 2007 issue of az magazine. They appear here in unrevised form:
Pernice Brothers‘ beautifully crafted pop has gotten play on TV fare such as Six Feet Under and The Gilmore Girls. The group’s music nicely complements the tone of both shows: sweet on the outside, bitter and ironic on the inside. The sixth and latest Pernice album, Live a Little (Ashmont), augments the creamy melodies of previous efforts with a string section (not heard since 1998′s Overcome by Happiness). They’re not reinventing the wheel here, but on the other hand why mess with brilliance? Worth getting for the caustic lyrics and Joe Pernice’s fascinating voice, as light and ethereal as an extended sigh.
Nanci Griffith has always been a singer-songwriter proudly unbound by categories (Is she Country? Pop? Folk?), which makes whatever she’s currently involved in all the more intriguing. With her all-covers collection Ruby’s Torch (Rounder), Griffith saunters through compositions by Tom Waits and Jimmy Webb, Frank Sinatra’s “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” and even the ’70s MOR standby “Bluer than Blue”. She creates a consistent mood with her smoky, authoritative voice — making this effort a perfect “nighttime wine sipping on the veranda” disc.
Brooklyn’s The Hold Steady emerged from obscurity and delivered one of 2006′s most critically acclaimed albums with the unapologetically fun Boys and Girls in America (Vagrant). The band strikes just the right combination of tight and rowdy rock ‘n roll and evocative lyrics on barflies, bad girlfriends, and disillusioned youth just aching to have a good time. If that description sounds like the Bruce Springsteen of thirty years ago, you have the right idea. Proving their depth, the group supplements this mostly upbeat set with a couple of first-rate ballads (“First Night” and “Citrus”).
Gone Dotty
The screenshot below illustrates what I’ve been working at all day. Tell me, designers, have you ever had to deal with a bitmap file with an unwanted halftone pattern in the background? The only method to get rid of said pattern is to painstakingly chip away at it with an eraser in extreme close-up. It’s a bitch.
Deja View
Going through the 1973-74 episodes on Sesame Street Old School Vol. 1 gave me some of the weirdest “deja vu” feelings. Cartoons and skits buried in the subconscious for thirty years flashed back as if I just saw them yesterday. Case in point is the following clip of two muppets singing “Me/Yo,” a perky tribute to the ‘Lil Narcissist in all of us. Ayn Rand would approve, I’m sure. I can appreciate the quality and craftsmanship that went into these things much more as an adult — and really, Joe Rapaso must’ve written these tunes in his sleep, they’re so great. The only bad part lies in how once the song enters your head, it has a tough time leaving.
Working in the LAB
I’m proud to be a part of the first issue of LAB magazine, a new online and print publication (you can download a pdf at the site). According to the intro from editor Joseph Robertson, the magazine will focus on various independent creative types — “a new breed who are actively creating what they want to see in the media and in the market, not content to sit still and passively consume the same old slop.” Gnarly, huh? I contributed a comic titled “My Workday” detailing a typical day in this freelance designer’s life. The comic stands as somewhat of an exaggeration, but not really — you’ll have to see it. This inagural issue is jam-packed with interviews and articles on people like Derek Powazek, Ray Fenwick and my bestest friend Julie Jackson of Subversive Cross Stich fame (her piece is illustrated with the S.C.S. mascot I created for her, a lady we informally call “retrohead gal”). Nice work, Joseph!
Music on a Bum Trip
Bad news: my monthly music review column for a local magazine (which I wrote about here) has been cancelled. In laying out the first issue, the editors decided that music reviews (along with book reviews, which were to be written by Christopher) didn’t fit in with the rest of the content of this magazine. I’m saddened, but having worked in the business for a time I know that stories and pieces get shelved all the time for all sorts of reasons, logical and not. The thing to concentrate on now is what to do with what’s already been completed. The two batches of three reviews I’ve written will end up getting posted here in the future — to a smaller but more appreciative audience! I also have new and upcoming releases by The Shins, The Autumn Defense, Sondre Lerche and Dean & Britta in the pike to write about. Those’ll end up getting covered here, too.
On a more positive note, I recently bought a couple of excellent “Free” releases for entirely personal, not professional, reasons. The first was the re-release of The Free Design’s trippy 1970 masterpiece Stars/Time/Bubbles/Love by Light In The Attic Records. My friend Ion tipped me that all of the F.D. reissues were just made available for download on eMusic, so I immediately signed up and snatched this one. For those who don’t know, The Free Design was a brilliant but hitless easy-pop combo who plied original songs (courtesy of founding member Chris Dedrick) and gorgeous harmonies on several 1967-73 albums. Part of their appeal was in how the jewel-perfect, swingin’ ’60s production of Enoch Light often masked the imperfect underbelly of the songs. For example, the magificently dense “Bubbles” seems bouncy and cute enough on the surface, but it also revolves around the lyrics “Bubblegum kinda keeps my heart from gettin’ heavy and crying.” The tears of a clown, indeed!
My second purchase was an expensive impulse buy of the 1996 Japanese compilation Free Soul: Vibes. The Free Soul collections were put together by Toru Hashimoto (who also did the wonderful Cafe Apres Midi discs) with an accent on smooth ‘n funky ’70s obscurities. We’re talking really obscure here, with some songs that have never appeared on CD anywhere else. For instance, this edition leads off with a track by girl group The Fuzz. Logically it would have been their only hit (the dreamy “I Love You For All Seasons”) represented here, but instead we have a cut buried on side 2 of their one album (“Search Your Mind”). And it’s excellent! Note that this disc contains two tracks from one-hit-wonders Blue Swede, and yet it never sounds cheezy. Lots of goodies here and considering its 77-minute length, a bargain. Check this Japanese fansite for the other Free Souls.
What Makes a Making-Of
Recently I re-watched Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star, a documentary included on the Mildred Pierce DVD, and marvelled at how well-made it was. It made me think about how tricky it is to make a good doc, especially with a subject matter where most of the participants are no longer with us. With many vintage film DVDs, it’s a logical choice to have documentaries on the star or the director (or even the technical process; see the great Technicolor doc included on The Adventures of Robin Hood). What are your favorite DVD “Making Of”s? I have a few of mine, along with a couple of notoriously bad ones, listed below — note that I’m just including older films here, since they’re more challenging to make than the typical recent Hollywood product.
THE BEST
Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star (on Warner’s Mildred Pierce) Nicely made doc goes a long way to disprove Joan’s “Mommie Dearest” image, even with interviews from daughter Christina (who, after all, knew JC pretty well).
Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood (on Fox’s Cleopatra: Five Star Collection) This was a two-hour special which originally aired on the pre-crap edition of the AMC channel. Watching it is like viewing a train wreck in slow motion — and it’s refreshing that the makers acknowledge that this is a flawed film with a fascinating production history.
Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer (on Criterion’s Sullivan’s Travels) Kind of cheating here since this one originally aired as part of PBS’s Great Performances, but this one was beautifully produced and delved into every facet of Sturges’ life.
The Making of American Graffiti (on Universal’s American Graffiti: Collector’s Edition) What impressed me about this one is how just about everyone connected to this film got involved with loving recollections — even the reclusive Harrison Ford and bit players Suzanne Somers and Kathleen Quinland.
Freaks: Sideshow Cinema (on Warner’s Freaks) Notable for being longer than the film it covers, this one did not have the benefit of interviews with anyone involved (since they’re all dead) but nevertheless has a lot of neat tidbits on the production. It leaves you in awe that a film this utterly unique was ever completed.
All About The Birds (on Universal’s The Birds) This might be a nostalgic choice, since The Birds counted among the very first DVDs in my collection. But it’s another excellent production, long but not overlong, with choice recollections from Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Veronica Cartwright and Hitchcock’s daughter Patricia.
Destination Hitchcock: The Making of North By Northwest (on Warner’s North By Northwest) Another one that was very enthralling and expertly made.
THE WORST
Memories of Giant and Return to Giant (on Warner’s Giant: Two Disc Special Edition) Rock and James are deceased and Elizabeth wasn’t talking, so all were left with is ramblings from supporting and bit players in two docs as spiritless and boring as the Texas landscape portrayed in the film.
Celebrating Dumbo (on Disney’s Dumbo: Big Top Edition) For such an innocuous film, Dumbo actually had an interesting and thorny production — but you’d never know it from the endless, superficial puffery in this doc. Yeah, we already know it’s a good movie. Jeez.
Inbox ‘o Stuff
Things have been a little weird around here. For one, I’ve been crazy busy with several projects floating around at once. For two, we’ve had a cold snap recently which changed the ficus trees in the neigborhood from a healthy green to a dead brown. I enjoyed the rain it brought, but the bitter cold can be overwhelming (not to mention the fact that it gave me a bad cold). But I do have a couple of things to share here.
For several weeks I’ve been getting emails from the makers of something called Supermarket of the Stars, a series of short comedy bits with Illeana Douglas playing an actress who is forced to take a menial grocery store job. Illeana is one of those people who can do no wrong, especially since her turn in Grace of My Heart as a singer-songwriter closely modeled on Carole King. Love her. I finally checked out the fifth and final chapter, just uploaded at YouTube. These are cute and funny, leisurely paced and somewhat reminiscent of Christopher Guest’s films (it helps that that wonderful Guest regular Jane Lynch has a supporting role here). Apparently the show isn’t that new at all and the whole thing’s really a big marketing ploy, but that’s okay.
I also got an email from Marty Weil, who operates the simply titled ephemera weblog. Coincidentally, I’ve had this one bookmarked for several weeks now. Weil interviews ephemera collectors and dealers here, along with sharing plenty of weird old printed crap. Just what I love!
Smokey Bear, You’re Next!
Little Pieces Of My Childhood Disappearing Dept.: Boing Boing posted on the U.S. Forest Service’s newly redesigned Woodsy Owl costume. The formerly rotund, cartoony spokesbird now sports a slimmer, more “active” look. And a shirt. Then B.B. followed up with a post on the government’s weird guidelines for disposing of the old costumes. Seriously, did you see the new costume? L-A-M-E lame.
Obscure Disney
I’ve been catching up on an informative and neatly written vintage Disney-centric weblog called Passport to Dreams Old and New, found via The Disney Blog. One part that especially stuck out was the recent post on lesser-known Disney shorts and films. Check it out, then by all means check out the films she wrote about.
In an effort to further my Disney education, I recently viewed for the first time Make Mine Music, the first of three mishmashy Fantasia knockoffs the company produced in the late ’40s. While Fantasia boasted Stokowski and majestic dinosaurs, this one had Dinah Shore singing over twee silhouettes of ballet dancers. Quite a comedown, although the film does have some nifty highlights (mainly the swing dancing and “Casey at the Bat” segments). I was disappointed, however, to find that the DVD was missing an entire segment. The hillbilly parody “The Martins and the Coys” was apparently left off due to its depiction of violent gunplay. Or perhaps they were afraid of offending hillbillies. Whatever. The fact that Disney put out a censored product is several times more offensive to me than anything the segment could possibly have. Wise up, Disney Co.!
The Cartoonists’ Club
This New York Times piece on the weekly lunches of New Yorker cartoonists was very evocative and nicely written, but it also personally left me feeling wounded. Reading it was akin to being the party guest who was conspicuously not invited to the party (I had the same irrational reaction while viewing a recent CBS News Sunday Morning report on the same subject). A selfish impression, sure, especially since I have no interest in living in NYC or even being a cartoonist. Ridiculous, eh? Reality check: you will never get anything in The New Yorker, nor will you have fabulous weekly lunches with your colleagues to celebrate your wonderfulness. Get over it, Matt. (special, uh, thanks to Christopher)
Salty Potato Crisps, Take Me Away
Yesterday I satisfied an odd Pringles fix by buying a can of Original at the local convenience store. It’s been a while, and I hadn’t noticed that the standard Cheez-Ums flavor is now called Cheddar Cheese. Anyway, the can’s protective seal advertised something called “Pringles Minis”. I can imagine the thinking behind this latest Pringles permutation: “Our focus groups continue to love the delicious taste of our product, but many feel inconvenienced by having to open wide to eat them.”
Digging around at Pringles.com revealed a few interesting tidbits about how they market around the world. Australia has a tomato and mozzarella flavor (why not call it pizza?). Paprika and Thai seasonings seem to be popular flavors across Europe. The European light chips are crypitically named “Light Aromas”. Coolest of all, you can get ketchup flavor Pringles in Canada. Color me jealous. And YouTube has a bevy of vintage commercials: an older ad hawking the “newfangled” potato snack, a gloriously cheezy computer-themed spot, and another one with an unknown Brad Pitt playing a surfer dude.
Finalists, Miss Raised Eyebrows 1970
The line of ladies below comes from one of the few things I pilfered from my newspaper days: a sheet of ancient clip art. This and this were amongst the offerings by “Metro’s Mighty Miniatures” in 1970. By the time I joined the paper in the ’90s, Metro art was still in use alongside those made by competitor Dynamic Graphics. Metro’s offerings tended towards the traditional and rural-oriented (e.g. pages of fruit and vegetable photos), while DG went ever slightly more conceptual. With the latter, I can remember designing scads of ads with artwork by Mitch O’Connell (who was presumably gone on to bigger, better things since then).
Pop Secret
Convalescing over the weekend, I kept myself occupied by compiling a new mix CD. Usually for the new year I try to get a good sampling of recent music on these things — and although this one sports a few such songs (such as Lucky Soul’s fantastic Girl Group pastiche “Lips Are Unhappy”, my favorite single of 2006), most of it turned out to be older stuff. I slapped a cover together and titled it The Guy Zummo Experience.
Typical of the mix is the theme song from TV’s Nanny and the Professor performed by The Addrisi Brothers (who scored a hit with the soft-rockin’ “We’ve Got To Get It On Again” around that same time). Although I’m too young to have seen Nanny during its 1970-71 run, I did manage to watch this show a few times when it reran on the FX cable channel in its early days. It was cutely forgettable, with star Juliet Mills having a distinct “Elizabeth Montgomery in Bewitched” vibe. Interesting that Mills went from playing a magical nanny to playing a magical witch in Passions several years later. Typecasting at its best! Check out the groovy Nanny opening credits here.
The Addrisi Brothers — “Nanny” (1970).
It’s SNL and You’re Not
The Onion’s Nathan Rabin shares his impressions of Saturday Night Live after viewing the first season DVD set. Funny that Rabin’s first exposure to SNL was similar mine (and doubtless millions of others). Some long-ago night, my parents had some company over. They sent us kids to bed so everyone else could watch SNL. From then on it had the forbidden allure of Playboy and R-rated movies. By the time our local UHF station was running repeats of those landmark early seasons, I was hooked (although, unlike Rabin, I stopped watching around the time Phil Hartman left the cast). Anyway, a good read.
Out Sick
I came down with the flu last night. I feel terrible (although vomiting for the first time in years is an interesting experience). Therefore I’m giving scrubbles.net a rest until next week.
