<3 mainstream indie flix

Film Endorsement from Very Short List:

"Set in the late 1980s [80s r the new 80s] and directed by Superbad’s Greg Mottola, Adventureland is a coming-of-age story [cliches are the new black] centered on a recent college graduate (Jesse Eisenberg) ["unique" looking "indie" bro] who finds employment (and love) [employment is the new love] at a rickety amusement park. A group of terrifically kooky [the blogger bro who wrote this obviously bought an MFA in creative writing from Columbia] character actors — Kristin Stewart, [relatable tween vampire] Martin Starr, Bill Hader ["regular guy" from a show that hasn't been relevant/funny/watchable for 25 years], Kristen Wigg [relevant semi-altbroad? should probably watch more NBC to know who this is], and Ryan Reynolds [really mediocre canadian mr. scarbro]— rounds out the cast, and the ridiculously great soundtrack includes songs by David Bowie, the Velvet Underground, Yo La Tengo, the Modern Lovers, and Lou Reed. [kinda think lou reed is long overdue for a killing spree at this point.] For a simple nostalgia flick [new film genre alert], it’s refreshingly uncynical and affecting." [economy is too bad for cynicsm these days. just want to go to the movies and "escape"]

This just sounds "so" "cute." Want to see it and be "kooky"/alt/dance like no one is watching. Then I will illegally download Yo La Tengo's complete catalog and know I am morally superior to everyone who has not yet done so. Might also put Lou Reed and David Bowie on my ipod so I'll be judged favorably by people who equate musical taste with character.

Recommendation for August

Watch The Last Waltz, devote life to embodying the spirit of The Band.
Seriously. In the 1960s and 70s, this 80% Canadian band constructed the tale of late nineteenth century America that we cling to today. They toured with Dylan on his infamous 1966 Britain tour, wrote "The Weight" and were all multi-talented babes who were also friends with Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Eric Clapton, and recorded their debaucherous brilliance in a drugged-out binge of face-melting guitars and sweat with Martin Scorcese!
They'll make you rue the day "The Weight" became the poster song for yuppie nostalgia thanks to The Big Chill, and they'll make you believe in the integrity of the Confederacy, or at least question that convenient little narrative you were fed in eighth grade about the good guys in blue and bad guys in gray.
For being Canadian, for being the more awesome and under-appreciated cousin of the Grateful Dead and not even caring, for being the hosts to perhaps the greatest rager in recent American music history and dressing up for it, for having a good time all the time and for having the foresight to film it, Blogtrack salutes The Band.

Meditations on 90s Rock

Or, Thursday night with youtube.

Thanks to an abandonment of academic responsibility and a large bottle of "Bohemian" wine, I have a newfound appreciation for the first half of the 1990s, during which my older bro grabbed the remote and flipped from my chosen Nick at Night to the depraved MTV, as I reluctantly witnessed what it was to be cool in 1995.

Whoa!!! Anger! Dissafection with the deteriorating American Dream! Long hair that is badass and well-conditioned!!!

Lessons learned in retrospect:
1. Eddie Vedder is sex personified (thanks Keh).

2. Gavin Rossdale is a beautiful human, even prettier than Kurt Cobain but probably less talented (or too well-adjusted?). But Glycerine is an awesome video. Good god. Extra points to G. for NOT marrying a model. (ouch, Vedder.)

3. Anthony Kiedes (sp? I don't care) is a shit-eating vulture (see video for "Danny California") and if there was any justice in the world, his lack of talent would eat him from the inside. SoCal rock has always been an embarrassment (see Ratt, etc).

4. Green Day's 90s vids are as cool now as they were 14 years ago. Wow!

5. It's probably a sign of the times that the Offspring's "No Self Esteem" still sounds awesome. So does Live.

6. 90s rock (Nirvana, etc.) was based on an hatred of hair metal that was distilled for major labels into a poorly articulated vendetta against the norm (Stone Temple Pilots) and turned into a cliche critique of suburban businessmen and housewives. See Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun." You can almost see Chris Cornell channeling Dali.
a) Was the 1990s the beginning of the end? Is this the sound of the Regan era eating its own?
b)Why has 90s rock been rendered null and void by bandana-wearing hipsters? Is it because 90s bands were concerned with writing ill-conceived songs about things (ie the human condition, a nebulous version of the Man) , and contemporary artists write better songs about nothing (ie themselves, boring parties)?

7. Kurt, why did you kill yourself? Actually, I can see why.

anti-formalism

And I will stroll the merry way
And jump the hedges first
And I will drink the clear
Clean water for to quench my thirst
And I shall watch the ferry-boats
And theyll get high
On a bluer ocean
Against tomorrows sky
And I will never grow so old again
And I will walk and talk
In gardens all wet with rain

Oh sweet thing, sweet thing
My, my, my, my, my sweet thing
And I shall drive my chariot
Down your streets and cry
hey, its me, Im dynamite
And I dont know why
And you shall take me strongly
In your arms again
And I will not remember
That I even felt the pain.
We shall walk and talk
In gardens all misty and wet with rain
And I will never, never, never
Grow so old again.

Oh sweet thing, sweet thing
My, my, my, my, my sweet thing
And I will raise my hand up
Into the night time sky
And count the stars
Thats shining in your eye
Just to dig it all an not to wonder
Thats just fine
And Ill be satisfied
Not to read in between the lines
And I will walk and talk
In gardens all wet with rain
And I will never, ever, ever, ever
Grow so old again.
Oh sweet thing, sweet thing
Sugar-baby with your champagne eyes
And your saint-like smile....

Van Morrison, Sweet Thing, 1977

painting: Elissa Gore