Songs I can’t get out of my head: Vol. 7

The Virgins






The Virgins – Rich Girls
The story goes that lead singer Donald Cumming was living in New York and writing poetry and no one was listening – so he set his words to music, and before he knew it, his band, The Virgins was off and touring. Now on the road with Ra Ra Riot, we caught them opening for Tokyo Police Club in October. This track, featured on their EP, blends Strokes-y guitars with a super-funky bass and a vocal track that sounds like it could belong to the Arctic Monkeys.

Two Gallants – Despite What You’ve Been Told
If there’s a standout track on 2Gs’ moody self-titled album released this past September, it would be this one. Here the lead vocal wail is complemented perfectly by a banjo-sounding guitar, and it’s rather catchy. The video, which features an aging clown, is genuinely weird, but you might catch a glimpse of a few San Francisco landmarks.
Expect to see the SF band at SXSW.

Iron & Wine – Innocent Bones
There’s a reason Iron & Wine’s “The Shepherd’s Dog” ended up on so many 2007 “best of” lists – its beautiful mellow sound has all the makings of a soundtrack for a lazy Sunday afternoon, or perhaps an artsy indie coming-of-age movie where the characters take a road trip to “find themselves.” I can see that too. This track is simple and delicate and deserves at least a couple lazy afternoon spins.

Hot Challenge – Wine
With the electro sensibilities of Hot Fuss-era Killers, this track from SF band Hot Challenge works some synth into the mix. They’ll be at Great American Music Hall February 2.

Les Savy Fav – Patty Lee
This Brooklyn four-piece (whose members met at RISD) has become well known for their live shows – thanks largely to the clothes-shedding antics of lead singer Tim Harrington. (Catch them in SF April 27th at Great American Music Hall.) This track from their “Let’s Stay Friends” release is less hard-edged and features falsetto-ish vocals, but generally sounds quite similar to Against Me’s “Thrash Unreal.”

Songs I can’t get out of my head: Vol. 6

Operator Please

Von Iva – LaLa

When this hard-rocking trio of SF girls opened for Imperial Teen last month at the Independent, I was duly impressed – and not just because the lead singer jumped on the drum set in a tight dress and high heels.  This signature track bemoans the superficiality of Los Angeles.

Operator Please – Leave It Alone

There’s something oddly infectious about this effort from the Australian five-piece Operator Please.  The lead singer’s vocals are reminiscent of a huskier Blondie, but the track is a stand-out for its rockin’ violin.  

The Heavy – That Kind Of Man

If a song can be a mode of transportation, this groove offers time-travel back to the 70s.  Pick your afro and listen to this funk & soul groove. 

White Denim – World As A Waiting Room

Issuing a five song EP, Let’s Talk About It last year, White Denim has been drawing praise and positioning themselves to take off as a bona fide top tier rock act.  This track, from an album they’re releasing a track at a time online, sounds like it’s taking its cues from the likes of the Black Keys.  Also check out “Paint Silver Gold” from this new release.  

For Your Consideration - Round 1

With Oscar ballots in the mail and the first round of fine flicks already in theaters, I thought I’d offer up a handful of Round 1 potential Oscar nomination candidates.

Best Supporting Actor

Javier Bardem – No Country For Old Men
In this film Bardem is a presence – he terrifies –while uttering little dialogue, never showing remorse, and always seeking revenge. Hand over the statue now and nobody gets hurt.

Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton
Playing a top attorney teetering on the brink of self-destruction, Wilkinson gives the film’s best performance, staying just this side of over-the-top.

Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson’s War
Ever a true chameleon Hoffman steals the show from Ton Hanks and Julia Roberts (who was rather painfully miscast in her role as a wealthy Texas socialite with a political agenda). Hoffman is brilliant as the spiteful and deadpan Gust Avrakotos, whose ego is as big as his mustache.

Best Actor

James McAvoy – Atonement
Everybody loves an epic war-torn romance-drama (as long it’s not Cold Mountain), and Atonement’s success hinges on the two lead performances – not least of which is McAvoy’s. As the Sabrina-ish son-to-“the help” Robbie Turner, McAvoy’s painful war scenes alone are deserving of a nom.

Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises
If you weren’t startled by Mortensen’s turn as Nikolai, the right-hand man to the head of a Russian crime family, perhaps you missed his completely naked bathhouse knife-fight scene.

There will probably be some talk about George Clooney (Michael Clayton), but as much as Clooney is a great entertainer/performer, his performance here lacks a soft vulnerability. Clooney doesn’t let his guard down enough to fully realize his character, and with the likes of Mortensen and Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood) in the running, he shouldn’t have to worry about an acceptance speech.

Best Actress

Keira Knightley – Atonement
As the cold and love-starved Cecilia Tallis, Knightley plays this role better than anyone could have done it, infusing real emotion into a period piece.

Ellen Page – Juno
After viewing Juno a second time, I realized the reason I love this film is thanks to a pitch-perfect performance by Ms. Page. Her deft handling of the smart-alecky dialogue maximizes every line, and when Juno lets her guard down, realizing she doesn’t “know what kind of girl she is,” or veers off the road to cry in her mini-van, it just kills me.

When all is said and done, Knightley may walk away with a statue, but my heart will always belong to Page.

(I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Keri Russell wind up in the running for her role in Waitress.)

Best Supporting Actress
Usually this category is packed with greats, but the field is looking a little sparse.
Currently, bets are on Saoirse Ronan, the young girl with a wild imagination in Atonement, and Tilda Swinton, the no-nonsense businesswoman in Michael Clayton. But, I’d say it’s anybody’s game. Heaven knows Amy Adams will wind up nominated for something.


Stay tuned for Round Two – we’ll find out if Johnny Depp, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Paul Dano should ready their tuxes.

My 2007 Must List

As the year draws to a close, and as “Top 10” and “Best Of” lists run rampant, here is the only list you’ll need.

Oscar-noms aside (as those will be mentioned in detail later), there were a few stand-out films:



Musical
Best romance disguised as a musical, involving vacuum cleaners and the lead singer of The Frames
Once

Romance
Best romance involving pie
Waitress

Comedy
Best chance to leave the theater with a laugh-induced bellyache
Death At A Funeral

Double-Feature
Best use of a machine gun/Kurt Russell
Grindhouse

Comedic Family Drama
Best Wes Anderson flick
The Darjeeling Limited

Documentary
Best rock doc involving faux instrument playing
Air Guitar Nation

Western
Best use of non-American actors playing cowboys (Take that, Seraphim Falls!)
3:10 To Yuma

“Kids” Movie*
Best appearance by a rat in the kitchen
Ratatouille

Best use of Daniel Radcliffe in a role not involving horses
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix
*Tie


Music

I’m not going to lie, I did not listen to every album that came out this year. But I did listen to as many as I could get my hands on, and with the conceits that I A) like indie rock and B) like to dance – here are my picks for 2007’s top albums.

First, the obvious:

The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
The follow-up album to the band’s breakthrough 2004 disc Funeral is jam-packed with upbeat instrumentation and automobile imagery. The effort from “Canada’s Most Intriguing Rock Band” is polished and optimistic – even without any “Neighborhood” tracks.

Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
Say what you will about the disc’s diva, Back To Black is a flawless effort that manages to escape sounding like a “throwback album,” yet still sound both fresh and retro. Thanks to the deft production from visionary Mark Ronson, Back To Black lends itself to the dancehall as easily as it does a lazy smoky bar.

Music to mellow out to:

Band Of Horses – Cease To Begin

Shout Out Louds – Our Ill Wills

Blonde Redhead – 23


Worth a listen:

Rilo Kiley – Under The Blacklight

Okkervil River – The Stage Names

Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer?

Goods for a good cause

One of the greatest things about the holiday season is that it is ripe with events. From plays to visual art exhibitions to choral performances –‘tis the season for sharing creative gifts. This past weekend I attended two performances – both which had teamed up with the SF Food Bank.

The Friday night play I went to donated a part of their proceeds to the organization, while the Saturday night improv show had a bin set up to take my canned goods. It’s nice to do something with a cause in mind – and nothing is better than when creative arts and canned goods can team up.

Get involved with the SF Food Bank – you can donate food at most SF Safeways, Grace Cathedral, and many Blockbuster Video locations.

Songs I can’t get out of my head: Vol. 5

Dappled Cities – Fire Fire Fire

A fine indie rock offering from a weird little outfit that toured earlier this year with Tokyo Police Club. While at first this track seems like a sensitive groove, its appeal is really in the tongue-in-cheek humor of lines like, “you’re not a fire, so I will not dance in you.”

Band of Horses – No One’s Gonna Love You

This cut, from one of the year’s best albums – Cease to Begin – is simultaneously calming and haunting with melodic guitars smooth southern vocals. The Carolina boys, who are label mates with the likes of The Shins and The Go Team!, manage to create an atmosphere on this album that transcends the individual tracks. If you haven’t already, definitely pick up Cease To Begin.

The Coup – My Favorite Mutiny

Here sounding a bit like The Roots, and including a line that references the miniseries of the same name, The Coup give us a funky groove featuring horns and a tinkling piano.

Timbaland + The Hives – Throw It On Me

This is a strange song and has been around for a while, but I heard it again recently (featured in a phone commercial, of course), and was reminded about the genuinely kitschy video featuring the girls of wrestling. A complete heist of “Sin City” – the video’s palate works thanks to the always impeccably dressed Hives who never deviate from their black-and-white ensembles (and score a couple of successes on their new disc “The Black And White Album”). In listening to the song again, one gets the feeling that Timbaland is out to prove that he can collaborate with anyone. As to whether he should, well, that’s another question.

The Coen Brothers’ Uncharted Territory

Before venturing into No Country For Old Men, I was told by friends that the film was “intense.” After reviving my left leg, which had cramped under the strain of being held clenched in anticipation for two hours, I would add freaking intense.

In comparison to something such as this fall’s Eastern Promises, which was a fully-developed story with rich characters and subplots (until the unfulfilling draw-your-own-conclusions ending), No Country For Old Men is a sparse and desolate story, told with little dialogue and even less music.

But it’s precisely this texture that makes the film so terse and terrifying.

When Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) stumbles upon the bloody and broken remains of a drug-deal gone wrong, he suddenly finds himself with a suitcase full of tainted money and a handful of conniving folks hot on his trail.

Llewelyn sends his wife Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald) to her mother’s in Odessa, while he goes on the lam – knowing someone is coming for him. That someone is the frightening, dream-haunting and genuinely scary Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem).

The subtle side-story that emerges as the films centerpiece, and which holds the picture together, revolves around a fatigued police sheriff, Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones). Working to train a new recruit, the sheriff seems generally unfazed by the things he sees. But as he ventures deeper into the case that is unfolding, working to protect Carla Jean, we see that the sheriff may be on his last legs. He may think he’s seen everything, but he’s seen nothing like this.

Despite being based on a novel (by Cormac McCarthy), No Country For Old Men offers us little in terms of a deeper story, backstory, or past history. We actually know very little about the characters. Still, what we do get in terms of performances is quite brilliant.

Tommy Lee Jones gives a real depth and sadness to his aging sheriff. And, even playing something of a hero, Brolin’s Moss maintains a determined and brutish creepiness – rivaled only by William Block – Brolin’s character in Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror.

Set against the barren west Texas landscape, the Coen brothers present No Country For Old Men as a rugged and frightening story. It is a rare film that gives intense meaning to every line uttered. And while perhaps a little too much is left to the audience’s imagination (especially concerning characters’ motivations); the film is highly successful in maximizing every detail it does give.

It’s a ride worth taking, and that ride is freaking intense.

Down And Dirty

While we were perched on our knees, wielding metal picks, and whacking into the rocky soil early Saturday morning, the guy across from me said, “You know, my regular job is ‘data mining’.”

Perhaps that’s a comment you’d only hear in the Silicon Valley, but never the less, as we dug and planted at McLaren Park, I was glad to be stepping out of my normal routine to do something for the earth.

For my weekend project, helping to replant some of the hillsides in the park, I signed up through an organization called One Brick. They’re here in SF, and they have chapters in New York, Chicago, and Washington DC.

For anyone who is looking to get involved when they have the time – even if they can’t make an on-going commitment, One Brick is definitely worth looking into. Plus, they’re heavy on the socialization aspect – so not only can you serve a meal or plant a garden, you may find a new friend. Or at least someone who’d like to mine your data.

Reuse it

In a season that’s often about “stuff” – it’s good to take a look around at how much stuff we already have. Granted, it seems that we don’t realize how much we have until we’re moving and have to box everything up and take it to a new location… But looking through our closets and cupboards, we should ask ourselves what we really need and what we’re really using.

I took a look around and then took my books to the Friends of the Public Library bookstore, and clothes to Goodwill. It’s good to routinely clean house and keep a check on our excess of stuff. A sweater I haven’t worn in 2 seasons isn’t doing anything but taking up space – until it gets in the hands of someone who can really use it.

So take a look around and ask yourself what you’re really using, and what’s just taking up space. Find an outlet that can put your stuff to better use.

Back to the land & over the airwaves

Yesterday I signed up to spend a part of my weekend planting in McLaren Park. If it’s been a while since you’ve had some dirt under your fingernails, I’d suggest you volunteer at a park near you. We spend so much of our day-to-day lives touching little more than a keyboard, that it’s nice to get a firm grip around a shovel. It could do wonders for your carpal tunnel.

I also made a new pledge to KQED – the large Bay Area public broadcasting channel. If this seems like an odd donation choice – let me deconstruct it a bit.

In Bill McKibben’s “Deep Economy,” he devotes a part of his chapter on “The Wealth of Communities” to public radio and non-Clear Channel/etc.-owned stations. McKibben points out that “entertainment” is easy to come by, but it is nearly impossible to build community and discuss community issues on stations being run by a central entity thousands of miles away.

McKibben states: “Public radio stations testify to the instinct for community, if only because they all rely on listeners being willing to pay for something they can get for free.”

I can switch on the radio or TV any time of the day and be “entertained.” But if I want to know about local events, what local people care about, and how I can help out – supporting public stations can help deliver those messages.

My month of giving

Each year during this time, we’re encouraged to give presents. Regardless of your religious affiliation, the celebration of “Christmas” in America seems to have long ago transitioned into a national shopping holiday. Anyone who has ever fought tooth-and-nail for a parking space to go into a crowded mall and sit on Santa’s lap knows that the key question he asks is: “What would you like for Christmas?” And unlike a Miss America pageant, if you say “World Peace” – he’s going to give you a weird look.

So instead of making this season about buying, I want to truly make this season about giving. Christmas is not about acquiring more stuff – it’s about (and brace yourself, because I’m about to get hokey here) realizing how much love you have, and sharing it with others.

This year, I am aiming to spend at least 20 days during December giving – either by a donation of money or time.

Yesterday marked World AIDS Day, with events held around the world – including a huge 10-hour concert in Johannesburg, South Africa – the country which is estimated to have the world’s highest percentage of people living with AIDS.

I donated online through the UN Foundation, which works directly with the United Nations to identify and direct funds to worthy organizations worldwide. (You can donate as little as $5.)

Possibly the most visible campaign against AIDS, the Product (RED) campaign – also contributes a portion of money made through the sales of Product (RED) items towards the Global Fund, which focuses on eliminating AIDS in Africa. If you’ve purchased a (RED) Gap t-shirt, iPod Nano, or Armani wristwatch – a portion of those proceeds support the campaign.

This year, make a pledge to yourself. Skip a couple of morning lattes, pack a lunch from home, take the $10 or $15 you save and give it to a worthy organization. Or donate an old coat to kids who don’t have one. Serve a meal at a shelter.

If you can, hand-make cards and gifts. They’ll be more meaningful – because they were made with love.

Stay tuned for more ways to give.

Songs I can’t get out of my head: Vol. 4

MIA takes her best shot

Black Kids – I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You

If there’s one reason this Jacksonville, FL group is raising industry eyebrows it’s this song off their 4-song EP (which you can snag for free from http://www.blackkidsmusic.com/). If there’s a second reason, it is of course the band’s name, for obvious reasons of political correctness.

Pitchfork cited the Go Team! and Arcade Fire as points of comparison in their record review – and that’s a dead-on assessment – perhaps with a little bit of Of Montreal-style lyricism thrown in for good measure (particularly on the track “I’ve Underestimated My Charm Again”).

MIA – Paper Planes

A bonus track on MIA’s new disc “Kala,” this seems like a laid-back psychedelic groove – until the faux gunshots and clinking cash register chime in. It’s a track you want to chill out to, but to which you can’t relax.

Sea Wolf – The Cold, The Dark & The Silence

A mellow ode to a lonely evening, the verbal imagery in this track is strong enough to feel. Don’t be surprised if you think a lot about water rushing through your lungs afterward.

White Williams – New Violence

After an intense (and sweaty) tour with Girl Talk and Dan Deacon, White Williams is headlining a tour of his own – brining his unique brand of electro-dance-pop and scraggly-drawn Demetri Martin-ish visuals. This track showcases his Beck-like tendencies.

Lions For Lambs Treads Too-Familiar Waters

In the opening minutes of “Lions For Lambs,” the playing field is blatantly laid out for us – a Senator looks at charts of declining approval levels, a journalist references her notebook, and a professor looks over his grade and attendance sheets. These are your characters. They like to write things down.

Over the next hour and a half, moving between story lines, “Lions For Lambs” weaves in the story of two buddy-soldiers and former students of Professor Stephen Malley (Robert Redford) who may not survive their tenure in Iraq. Their story is the background to Malley’s new quest – convincing ace student slacker Todd Hayes (Andrew Garfield) to apply himself so that history does not repeat itself.

Meanwhile, on Capital Hill, Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) has called a meeting with seasoned journalist Janine Roth (Meryl Streep) to convince her he a) has a new plan for Iraq, b) is not creepy. Sadly, he doesn’t quite succeed at either.

While I cannot begrudge Mr. Redford for wanting to put together a piece commenting on the current state of international affairs – what with “Rendition,” “Redacted,” “In the Valley of Elah,” “The Kingdom,” and probably “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” (though I haven’t seen it) it’s the in vogue thing to do – but it seems that there is nothing truly daring offered by this film.

While we may be anticipating the new decisions to be made by the characters, it seems that they should have realized the need for new decisions long ago. While the ever-amazing Streep delivers a charming breakdown, one can’t help but feel her character should have experienced this decades before.

The statement Redford seems to want to make is that unless we act with a conscience, we will never escape this struggle.

But considering the methodologies this film chooses to employ, there are too many other films that make greater use of these methods. We’ve seen the story of a young hot-shot slacker getting schooled by a Vietnam-vet professor (“Good Will Hunting”), we’ve seen career-driven characters facing crises of conscience (“Jerry Maguire,” “Broadcast News”), and of course we’ve seen countless send-ups of the TV news business (put “Wag the Dog” back in your NetFlix queue).

While the message is indeed heartfelt, perhaps the film is like Redford himself – best looked at through a very soft-focused lens.

Vol. 3

Songs I can’t get out of my head: Vol. 3

Kate Nash – Foundations
This talky track from UK songstress Kate Nash has Lily Allen comparisons being drawn from every outlet that hears it. Perhaps a bit edgier in lyrics and more paranoid (but really, only a bit), and with an instrumentation borrowed from Regina Spektor, it’s worth a listen, if for nothing else than the line “you said I must eat so many lemons, because I am so bitter.”

VHS or Beta – Can’t Believe A Single Word
From their “Bring On The Comets” EP, this is a perfectly constructed rock song – allowing just a little bit of time for a guitar and drum interlude, a rousing chorus, and plenty of time to get on the dance floor.

The Go Team! – Grip Like A Vice
Two years ago at Coachella, The Go Team! was the band to buzz about, and as their genre-busting “Proof Of Youth” disc tears up the college charts, it’s nice to see them succeed. A mix of rock, soul, rap (and more!), the album defies categorization, but its unbridled enthusiasm hurls it toward a more daring audience. Part party anthem, part band introduction, “Grip Like A Vice” showcases the group’s range of sounds.

The Wombats – Let’s Dance To Joy Division
This super-uptempo track from UK band The Wombats is as danceable and jolting as a fine Franz Ferdinand song, with the boys banging on their guitars and shouting, “everything is going wrong, but we’re so happy!” Let’s dance.

Everything that’s old is new again
Songs you already own, worth playing once more

50 Cent - P.I.M.P.
Before the 50/Kanye battle came into its contrived full glory, 50 was just a thug from New York who was trying to “get rich or die tryin’.” (Note: He did the former, investing in VitaminWater before its buyout by Coca-Cola.) The steel drum in this cut from the album in quotations makes it a standout in a hip-hop landscape where every song has come to sound like every other song. (Seriously, does Timbaland have to touch every new song that comes out?) While 50’s themes (and word choices) are objectionable, musically this track is highly interesting. Listen to it again – but maybe don’t listen to the lyrics.

Bloc Party – Two More Years
With the new single “Flux” meeting with mixed reviews, I’m reminded of the band’s other between-albums offering – “Two More Years.” Before their brooding and introspective sophomore album “A Weekend In The City,” Bloc Party let loose this single to help determine the direction of their new disc. From a marketing perspective, it’s a wise way to test audience opinion – and then go back to the lab and concoct something brilliant.

'Lars' Keeps it Real

If the story of a grown man who falls in love with an anatomically correct sex doll purchased on the Internet sounds like fodder for a low-brow comedy, or perhaps a high-brow “adult” film, the new indie feature “Lars and the Real Girl” might come as quite a surprise.

In his mid-30s, Lars (Ryan Gosling) lives in a small rural town in a garage across from his brother and pregnant sister-in-law. He works in a cubicle and doesn’t seem particularly unhappy, but when a full size adult female doll is delivered to him and he announces it’s his girlfriend, Bianca, we start to see how troubled Lars is.

At the urging of his brother Gus (Paul Schneider) and sister-in-law Karin (Emily Mortimer), Biana is taken to see the doctor (Patricia Clarkson) who slowly coaxes Lars to understand his feelings.

While all that sounds like the stuff of melodrama, you won’t find that here. Rich in subtlety and its presentation of complex messages and emotions, “Lars and the Real Girl” emerges surprisingly as a tender and heartfelt meditation on loneliness. But what keeps the film moving is its gentle humor, even while tackling the ideas of painful childhood memories and the things we do to cope.

The film’s rural setting is necessary to sustain the action of the plot, as neighbors and friends bend to the acceptance of Bianca as a contributing society member – a circumstance that accounts for most of the movie’s laughs.

Much of the film’s success is owed to Gosling, who presents Lars as a fully functional, emotionally repressed younger brother who is struggling with some very deep issues. While critics may scoff at the absurdity or divisiveness of the premise, once its novelty has worn off, there’s a film with real characters and a real heart.

We Are The Pipettes

Just because it was a Monday night was no reason to keep from wriggling, flailing, jumping, and just perhaps, pulling shapes.

After a warm-up from SF-based opener Social Studies, whose lead singer fought heckles from a former bassist, the UK girl group The Pipettes took the stage last night at Bimbo’s 365 Club.

In vibrantly cute polka-dotted outfits Gwenno, Rosay, and RiotBecki cranked out tune after tune, each with their own synchronized dance motions and repeated refrains. There were no slow moments, and no slow songs – just simple, catchy and sometimes suggestive (fake gasp!) lyrics.

While the girls might have done well to open with the highly danceable “Pull Shapes” rather than save it to the end, the crowd was with them through the whole show – no matter how sweaty, creepy, and overwhelmingly male said crowd may have been.

Dance and boogie!

Songs I can’t get out of my head: Vol. 2

Nico Vega

Nico Vega – Gravity
There’s no real way to capture the scintillating stage presence of frontwoman Aja Volkman, but Nico Vega tries their hardest with Aja signing “Whooooaaahh, you’re bringing me down” on this upbeat romp.

MGMT – Time To Pretend
Heavy on the synth with chanted vocals, MGMT lays it on the line stating, “let’s make some music / make some money / find some models for wives.” It’s a simple song about simple things – sex, drugs, and rock and roll – and my gosh, it’s catchy. As the Brooklyn band tours this fall with Of Montreal, one can only hope they’re as enchanting live.

Minipop – Like I Do
The San Francisco band’s first single off new album “A New Hope” (dropping November 6) is dreamy and wistful thanks to lead vocalist Tricia Kanne’s lightly soulful sound, but it’s the drums that keep this track popping.

Ghostland Observatory – Sad Sad City
On new disc “Paparazzi Lightning,” Ghostland Observatory comes across like a Franz Ferdinand / Dirty Vegas lovechild. The electro-disco sound of this track in particular is sleek and polished and makes you want to dance. (“Piano Man” is also a must-listen.)


Everything that’s old is new again
Songs you already own, worth playing once more


Shout Out Louds – The Comeback
The first track on 2005’s “Howl Howl Gaff Gaff” showcases the Swedish quintet at their most impossibly upbeat and forthright. Also worth checking out – the band’s new release, “Our Ill Wills,” which has some standout tracks including “Tonight I Have To Leave It” and “Impossible.”

Daft Punk – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Perhaps the “it” song of the moment, Kanye may owe it all to this French electrorock duo, who on this 2001 track bring clanging percussion and funky beats to their signature robot rock.

C’mon ride the train

When three estranged brothers agree to meet on a train in India to go on a “spiritual journey,” they get exactly what they bargained for – even if they don’t quite realize it. After a year-long separation, Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) have agreed to meet their older brother, Francis (Owen Wilson) on the Darjeeling Limited to pick up where their brotherhood left off.

Each coming on board with their separate sets of problems, Francis’s commanding head injury, Jack’s recent relationship breakup, and Peter’s forthcoming fatherhood, “The Darjeeling Limited” takes a (sometimes comical) look at three brothers’ preoccupied struggles with themselves.

While there is no “star” of the movie, that position might belong to Schwartzman – Wes Anderson’s “Rushmore” muse, who here becomes his writing partner (the two penning the script alongside Roman Coppola).

“The Darjeeling Limited” reads like a nice short story – Denis Johnson’s “Emergency” comes to mind – simple on the surface but with dramatic underpinnings. The plot is not unduly complicated, though many of the details are nicely interwoven – resurfacing at just the right moment. The look, score, and feel of the movie are all Anderson – his clever uniform-like costuming, his moody, moving music – here the touch isn’t heavy-handed or complex, as in “The Life Aquatic,” but finds just the right balance.

The film moves carefully, relishing the in-between moments, like the look on a character’s face (particularly Adrien Brody’s), and maximizing things like bright colors and smoky cigarettes, which become much more than part of the background scenery.

It’s chock full of character idiosyncrasies and nice details – like Francis’s inherited ordering speech pattern, and the ubiquitous iPod, which makes the background musical score seem natural (simultaneously making a cultural comment, and perhaps plugging Apple, whose iTunes service released the Anderson short “Hotel Chevalier” for free when it was decided that the short would not accompany “Darjeeling” in theaters).

Ultimately, the success of “The Darjeeling Limited” is owed to its simplicity of story. There is an almost mathematical plot arc, but the feelings and details – like the buying of a poisonous snake or the seduction of the train’s stewardess – are just zany enough to transfix us.

This is not a film to go to expecting hilarious hijinks, pratfalls, or slapstick surprises – if that’s what you want, just watch the trailer for “The Heartbreak Kid” again, but remind yourself that it was Wes Anderson’s “Royal Tennenbaums” that made Ben Stiller worth watching – not the other way around.

Songs I can’t get out of my head

Tokyo Police Club is hungry


Tokyo Police Club – Your English is Good

I have no idea what this song is about, but there’s a reason this young band just achieved major label signage – when you find yourself unconsciously chanting “give us your vote!” you know you’ve caught TPC’s energy.

Okkervil River – Unless It’s Kicks

An upbeat number from new disc “The Stage Names,” heavy on the tambourine, urgent on the vocals, and apparently glued to the inside of my CD player.

Stars – Take Me To The Riot

From the just-released “In Our Bedroom After The War,” the track starts innocently enough, with vocalist Amy Millan supporting in a near whisper, but then pungently releases the kick-up-your-heels chorus.


Everything that’s old is new again
Songs you already own, worth playing once more

The Killers – All These Things That I Have Done

Currently getting ready to release an album of B-sides (wait, that wasn’t “Sam’s Town”?), the Las Vegas band may have lost ground with an unsatisfying sophomore effort, but this track alone is reason enough to re-load “Hot Fuss” on your iPod.

The Beatles - I Wanna Hold Your Hand

It all features always in vogue hand-claps, simple sincere lyrics, makes you wanna dance, and is, oh yeah, the best pop song ever written.

Green Day – Jesus of Suburbia

Four songs in one, this track from the Billie Joe-led outfit’s “American Idiot” album is possibly the disc’s masterpiece, and has not suffered the fate of many of the album’s songs – radio overplay. (Can you say “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”?) Clocking in at over nine minutes the theatrical, political, and just downright catchy-ness of various parts of the track make it well worth devoting the time to.

Go play.