The Future and Modern Fiction

Can "the present" exist in modern fiction? This is the question that seems to be looming over many current writers and novelists; how to realistically present our modern lives and not write things that seem dated by the time they're released.

In PEN's "A Kind Of Vast Fiction" series, Jonathan Lethem (Chronic City) and David Gates (Preston Falls) tackle this topic through (ahem) email conversations, explaining how their own writing has been affected by trying to keep pace with technology. Lethem inquires as to whether Gates includes images of his characters searching for things on Google or YouTube, and Gates explains, "I probably spend more time e-mailing and reading online than I do having non-virtual human contact—and I bet I’m not that unusual. If my characters were like that, would their lives be eventful enough to write about? On the other hand, if I write about people for whom the internet is—as far as the reader can see—peripheral or nonexistent, am I not essentially writing historical fiction?"

While this concern may seem a bit exaggerated, lest authors run the risk of all fiction becoming historical fiction, is their other alternative to create science fiction? This almost seems to be the route taken by Gary Shteyngart in producing Super Sad True Love Story. Rather than attempting to circumvent "the present" problem, Shteyngart diverts it, creating an adjacent present. Shteyngart's novel is set in a vaguely alternate reality, one where an iPhone is replaced by an "äppärät" (key difference: umlauts), and parts of the story are told through Facebook/LiveJournal-type interchanges, complete with shorthanded text.

Shteyngart is not intentionally writing a work of science fiction, but it's clear he feels hampered by relegation to the true present. And yet, what Shteyngart has to say -- about aging, about our relationships with our parents, about why we think we need love -- these are ideas that have the ability to transcend this alternate reality. When the novel gets too caught up in its own fictitious world, harping on FACing, GlobalTracing, and Media, it loses its true power, which is talking about humanity.

Shteyngart's most powerful passage translucently refers to science fiction, describing his main characters, Lenny and Eunice, visiting the apartment of Joshie, Lenny's boss. (This occurs about 3/5 of the way through the story, and at this point one can only imagine that Joshie likely looks like that creepy old ripped dude from those airline magazine ads.)

"Here were Joshie's beginnings. (...) The twelve-year-old's first cognition of mortality, for the true subject of science fiction is death, not life. It will all end. The totality of it. The self-love. Not wanting to die. Wanting to live, but not sure why. Looking up at the nighttime sky, at the black eternity of outer space, amazed. Hating the parents. Wanting their love. Already an anxious sense of time passing..."

It's these moments conveying the human anxiety about existence that make a real impact. It seems that how characters communicate shouldn't outweigh what they're saying. A device can just be a device -- a phone just a way to show a character getting a message. Alas, perhaps figuring out "the present" problem is missing the point.

SXSW 2011 Dispatches: Rap Acts, Pepsi Max, and Deervana

The last Saturday at South By always has a perplexing feel -- on the one hand, it's the last chance to see some amazing bands, but on the other hand, maybe it's time for this thing to be over already so you can go back to your normal life, you know, the one where you sleep and eat regular meals and stuff.

Saturday afternoon I hid out at the Rolling Stone party at La Zona Rosa. The underutilized annex portion of the venue had been transformed into a lounge complete with ottomans and mood lighting (like a hip Pottery Barn). Tennis played their happy melodies, the petite Alaina Moore tapping her keyboard with husband Patrick Riley on guitar. New song "Robin" echoed strains of the "Love" song (title: "Love") from the animated Robin Hood film. I guess you have to take inspiration from wherever you can.

The young kids from Surfer Blood amped up the energy and the volume with their peppy surf rock. They played a couple of new tunes as well as "Floating Vibes" and "Swim." But the energy of the room got taken to new heights by London's The Joy Formidable. Ritzy Bryan's blonde bob shook while Rhydian Dafydd pounded the guitar with a fervor that made the veins in his forehead stick out. There were moments of total guitar freak-outs, on-the-floor writhing, and drum solos. Formidable? Yes. Joyful? Most certainly.
Joy Formidable - The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade by The Drift Record Shop

Over at the Cedar Street Courtyard the patio was completely packed with people waiting for New Zealand's The Naked and Famous. Playing most of the songs from "Passive Me, Aggressive You," the band hit high points with 80s-influenced "Girls Like You," and the synth-y "Young Blood."

The evening was buzzing with rumors, mostly regarding the inevitable Kanye show (overheard: "Kanye is playing Stubb's with Pearl Jam!"). But there were a few other hot ticket shows including Donald Glover's Childish Gambino at Red 7. The Community actor and former 30 Rock writer took the mic, accompanied by two guitarists, a drummer, and percussionist, who also played violin. (Not enough rap shows have violin.) Glover rapped with an intensity that seemed to belie his rather bubbly persona, creating an interesting dichotomy between songs and banter. He worked though "Let Me Dope You" and "My Shine" and showcased a pretty good falsetto, hitting some high notes, on "Be Alone." While it would be easy to write Glover off, he's far too self-aware to let that happen, making note of that in his lyrics and commenting on it on stage, thanking the crowd for letting him be a comedian and a musician ("If Dane Cook was playing piccolo, I wouldn't be at that show."). Of course, it's possible that the two careers - comedian and rapper - fit well together -- where else can you comment on popular culture and make double entendre Alf references?

Sometime near 10pm the warehouse at 3rd and San Jacinto, covered in Pepsi Max branding, was getting ready for Snoop Dogg. The space was coated with signs, banners, lights, all touting Pepsi Max -- it quickly made one wonder if Snoop might be contractually obligated to mention the beverage in his songs -- like "sippin' on gin and Pepsi Max." Or perhaps to say the product name in place of swearing, like, "187 on a Pepsi Max-in' cop." Snoop, along with Warren G, did an RIP Rappers portion of the show, covering songs from Tupac and Nate Dogg, and Biggie's "Hypnotize." After that I got the Pepsi Max out of there.

At midnight at Lustre Pearl Dawes played great set, steadily rocking until they were joined for a high-energy sing along love fest with Deer Tick on closer "When My Time Comes." The aforementioned Deer Tick followed, with a set devoted to Nirvana covers. The band seemed to channel Nirvana's ethos, not simply covering the songs, but knocking them out with real feeling. The crowd was only happy to sing along to "All Apologies," crowd surf, and toss cans in the air. Deer Tick finished out the set in the only fitting way -- completely smashing their instruments. If that's not rock and roll, what is.

Dawes - When My Time Comes by RootMusic

SXSW 2011 Dispatches: All Ages Show

Downtown Austin has been bursting with music, craziness, sundresses, Ray Bans, and, as of this morning, hundreds of people waiting for the Perez Hilton party outside of ACL Live. More than a couple of times I've also overheard the word "Winning!" emerge from people's conversations. (It seems to have it's own key, like when people chant "Air Ball.")

While the festival is in its last full day, here's a recap of some of the acts.

After Royals Baths wrapped up at Club DeVille Thursday evening, London's The Vaccines took over. With their super high-energy and great rock guitar they boasted a hint of Arctic Monkeys with a full dose of Strokes. (Though the lead singer more strongly resembles Daniel Radcliffe than Julian Casablancas.) Their six-song set was short, but packed a punch -- like surf rock on Four Loco.
The Vaccines - Blow It Up by Radar Maker

Nashville's Royal Bangs definitely banged it out royally at Buffalo Billiards. What the band lacks in stylistic consistency, they more than make up for in volume. After they finished, Young the Giant played an energetic set to a crowd who clearly only wanted to hear "My Body."

Friday afternoon at Cedar Street Courtyard Chicago's Maps and Atlases took over after the lovely sounds of Marit Larsen. The texture of their music was an interesting hybrid of rock guitar with folksy vocals. The addition of the xylophone on the song "Pigeon" seemed to add just the right touch.


Over at the Onion AV Club's party at the Mohawk, Nashville's Tristen played a nice upbeat set, bringing to mind Rilo Kiley with their tone and pacing.
Tristen - Eager For Your Love by AmericanMythRecordings

Outside Wye Oak made a heck of a lot of noise for just two people. The Baltimore duo cranked through their sounds with a volume that doesn't quite translate into their recordings. Or perhaps I'm playing their music too quietly.

Working the way through Swan Dive (where it turns out Dolorean, not Delorean had been playing -- big difference, actually) to the back patio of Barbarella, bodies were crammed together awaiting the arrival of Deer Tick. Proof that the band's bourbon-drenched tunes have mass appeal: the very handsy baby being held next to me, who alternately pawed at my arms and rubbed animal crackers on the folks in front of him. The set was fast and fun, and clearly enjoyed by all ages.

Deer Tick - Twenty Miles by Partisan Records

SXSW 2011 Dispatches: Let The Day Parties Begin

The South By rumor mill was definitely churning this morning, and when Jack White's mobile studio cranked out the music at noon outside of Frank, the rumors were confirmed. (Yep, people stood in the back of a tow truck to try to get a glimpse.)


At 12:30 Seattle's The Head and The Heart played KEXP's live broadcast from Mellow Johnny's. Everyone clapped along to "Lost in My Mind," and the band looked like they couldn't be happier.

Down in the Valley by theheadandtheheart

At the Mohawk's outdoor stage at 2:30, the kids from Givers were rocking out with playful abandon. Drummer Tif Lamson also pulled out a ukulele, and at some point one of the members harnessed a flute (marching band-style). The songs had a Vampire Weekend-type vibe to them.
Ceiling Of Plankton by GIVERS

The Big Stereo party is usually worth stopping in for, if for no other reason than to have a quick mid-day dance party. At 3pm inside Barbarella the floor was pretty vacant, save for some DJs spinning the Gossip and Duck Sauce.

When the sun finally seemed to peek through the day's cloudiness, Denver's Tennis lit up Club DeVille with the sailing vocals of Alaina Moore. The band's peppy style is intensified by Moore's strong voice (which bears some passing resemblance to Nicole Atkins). It's no wonder the band's gotten such a steady stream of good press. Nicely done.

Marathon - Tennis by arrhythmiamusic

Already Buzzing: Bands To Catch At SXSW Music

The South By Southwest Film and Interactive festivals are well underway, as evidenced by the pop-up Apple Store at Sixth and Congress and the number of dudes in hoodies carrying backpacks at the Etsy party Saturday night. But before the Music portion of the fest "officially" begins, here are some of the bands riding the buzz into Austin.

Foster the People

With a three-track EP released in mid-January, this Los Angeles band has been gaining a lot of steam on the back of their super-catchy "Pumped Up Kicks."
Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks by MusicForBears

The Head and The Heart
This folk-fueled indie band from Seattle signed to Sub Pop in November, and leaves Austin to start their European tour with The Low Anthem.
Cats and Dogs by theheadandtheheart

The Naked and Famous
Sounding something like New Zealand's answer to The Limosines (with maybe a hint of the MGMT of Oracular Spectacular), they're just readying to drop their first album Passive Me, Aggressive You.
The Naked And Famous - Young Blood (Dave Sitek Remix) by The Naked And Famous

Smith Westerns
If you need evidence that this Chicago four piece are buzzing as indie darlings, they're playing the NPR showcase, the Pitchfork party, and the SPIN party -- the triumvirate of hipster approval.
Smith Westerns - Weekend by Vicente P

Sharon Van Etten
A breakout voice at SXSW 2010, Brooklyn's Van Etten returns with beautiful breathiness to play the Onion AV Club party and the Brooklyn Vegan showcase.
One Day by sharonvanetten

Twin Shadow
The synthy charm of Forget made it one of Pitchfork's best albums of 2010 (at #26), and it doesn't hurt that singer George Lewis Jr.'s voice has drawn comparisons to Morrissey from Rolling Stone.
Twin Shadow - Slow by wereofftherails

Mona
Word is that this Nashville band is big in Britain, and while they have yet to release an album, they're all set to play Rolling Stone's day party at LZR. On "Lines in the Sand" singer Nick Brown sounds like some cross between Jeff Buckley and Rod Stewart.
Mona, 'Lines In The Sand' by nmemagazine

More picks:
Fences

The Joy Formidable

Young the Giant
Royal Bangs
Dolorean
Givers
Wye Oak
The Vaccines
Awolnation
Grouplove

Here's a track to listen to while you're making your list, from another SXSW act to watch, The Chain Gang of 1974.
The Chain Gang of 1974 - Hold On by rayray4290

How To Win Your Oscar Pool

With the big show slated for this Sunday, Oscar season is in full-on statuette speculation mode. Here’s a quick cheat sheet to help you win your Oscar pool (even if the endless predictions are enough to make LA Times film critic Kenneth Turan long for simpler times):

Because Everybody Says So:

Best Actor: Colin Firth, The Kings Speech

Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter

Director: David Fincher, The Social Network

Screenplay (Adapted): The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin

Animated Feature: Toy Story 3

Races That Could Go Either Way:

Original Screenplay: Seriously, it’s probably going to The King's Speech, unless people want a way to honor The Kids Are All Right – this would be the category to do that.

Cinematography: It’s either going to be True Grit or Inception. If the Coens take home nothing else, they may take this.

Costumes & Art Direction: One of these categories is going to go to The King's Speech, and the other to Alice in Wonderland. Let’s say Alice for Costumes and King’s Speech for Art.

Score: This may actually be the category where it’s anybody’s game. The only sure thing is that it won’t go to How To Train Your Dragon. Sorry kids. I want to give it to The Social Network for being so subtly eerie, but the smart bet is probably 127 Hours.

Documentary Feature: Sure, this will probably go to Inside Job. And sure, we don’t know if Banksy was pulling one over on us with Exit Through The Gift Shop. But even if he was, doesn’t he deserve something for executing such an elaborate prank?

Best Supporting Actress: Word is this is a contest between Melissa Leo (The Fighter) and Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit). Who knows? Let’s give it to Leo for her character’s incredibly ostentatious hair and outfits.

Original Song: Hmmm... does anyone know what these songs sound like? Let's just give this award to "My Heart Will Go On,” for old time’s sake. Or to Randy Newman.

Categories That Are Kind Of A Mystery:

Sound Editing: Inception

Sound Mixing: The King's Speech

Shorts:

Animated Short: Day and Night

Live Action Short: The Confession

Documentary Short: Strangers No More

Other Stuff That Contributes To The Show Being, Like, Four Hours Long:

Foreign Language: In A Better World

Editing: The Social Network

Makeup: The Wolfman

Visual Effects: Inception

So that leaves us with Best Picture, and if you’re into things like “winning,” then fine, put down The King’s Speech. But, on your Oscar ballot, but some hearts around Toy Story 3.

Robyn at ACL Live

One of the best parts of last Thursday’s Robyn show at ACL Live, apart from the insanely energetic pixie-diva herself, was experiencing the brand new venue. Attached to the newly-opened W Hotel/Condo Building, ACL Live at Moody Theater is exactly the type of state-of-the-art space that Austin’s been long overdue for. Excellent acoustics, a broad open dance floor, multiple bars, and stair-stepped stadium seating – it’s the type of venue that’s been clearly designed for both the artist and the audience. Nicely done.

Of course when the Swedish phenom took the stage nothing else much mattered. Clad in a patchwork of different fabrics and colors, mauve pants beneath denim pockets and a light colored t-shirt, Robyn performed most of the songs from her Body Talk album with an intense and unfailing energy. Flanked by two drummers and two keyboardists, all wearing lab coats, Robyn did the robot during the hypnotic “Fembot,” after opening the show with “Time Machine.”

When the crazy blue strobe lights set in motion during “Dancing On My Own,” it felt like the beginning of a rave – a feeling that only intensified during “We Dance to the Beat.” By the time Robyn worked up to “Indestructible,” there was a full-on dance party going on, the crowded dance floor going nuts. Some time during “Call Your Girlfriend” she peeled a banana, and then returned to eat it during the encore. When Robyn started in on the funky “Dancehall Queen” (after some intense clapping during “Stars Forever”), one couldn’t help but marvel at the depth of her energy.

Opener Diamond Rings earned a recent shout-out in New York Magazine’s “Approval Matrix,” and he decidedly deserved it if for no other reason than his willingness to perform the incredibly catchy “All Yr Songs” in gold spandex pants.

Diamond Rings: All Yr Songs by gaga-digi

Songs I Can't Get Out Of My Head: Vol. 16

Awolnation - "Sail"
There's something oddly mesmerizing about this track -- Aaron Bruno's scratchy voice lamenting his ability to focus amid hazy backing music; it's hard to listen to just once.


Sail by awolnation

Mumford & Sons - "The Cave"
Luring us in with a gentle banjo, the London quartet build this song slowly, gradually getting worked up to a fast but beautifully melodious pace.

Mumford And Sons - The Cave by IndieRock Universe

Bright Eyes - "Haile Selassie"
Before the Bright Eyes album The People's Key drops on Feb. 15, the band's been releasing (and now streaming) tracks online. (Listen and get this track here.)

And finally -- during the last NPR pledge drive, KQED played some selections from "Good Radiation," and inevitably parts of the song became lodged in my brain. There aren't a lot of songs that give multiple shout-outs to Terry Gross (though there should be), and props to Austin, so it's worth a listen just for that. (Or because you're really into amateur rap, whatever.) And, while you're at it, you know, it would be a good time to donate to Public Radio.

Love In The Time Of Social Networking

With the Oscar nominations officially released, it’s clear that there’s still a lot of love for The Social Network. But can a film this contemporary take Best Picture?

On the surface, the story of The Social Network is one that we’re familiar with – Mark Zuckerberg founds Facebook while he’s a student at Harvard, drops out, and becomes the youngest billionaire ever. But under the direction of David Fincher (Fight Club) and with a script by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing), there’s no denying the elegance with which the story is told.

In the opening sequence Mark (Jesse Eisenberg) and his girlfriend Erica (Rooney Mara – who is working with Fincher in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) converse in a pub, and their charged interchange sets the tone of the picture. Mark’s working at a breakneck pace, but people and relationships can’t be broken down into ones and zeroes. Fincher reportedly shot the scene 99 times, and it’s so tightly written that it compresses what could be 15 minutes into five and a half.

Sorkin’s dialogue drives the film and it’s deftly crafted. Even if the story is culled from Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental Billionaires, it’s Sorkin’s intensely pithy interchanges that allow the story to flow through the characters. Really, the only disappointing part of the script to The Social Network is that it never makes a crack about Pets.com (which was the butt of many jokes in the Silicon Valley circa 2005).

It would have been easy to make a very boring film about the creation of a website and the lawsuits regarding ownership that followed it, but The Social Network maximizes every tool at its disposal. It plays with ideas about status, class, and the nature of communication and friendship – underlying themes that tend to bubble up at just the right moment. It also utilizes its college setting – alternating quick cuts of computer hacking with images of sorority girls on their way to an exclusive party – making sure the viewer’s interest doesn’t wane. But is the brilliant construction enough to push The Social Network over the top?

Certainly the actors deserve a lot of credit for making this picture as compelling as it is. Eisenberg (now nominated for Best Actor) plays Mark with such focused aplomb that you might forget his precociousness in Adventureland. Mark’s best friend and right-hand man, Eduardo (British actor Andrew Garfield, who is taking over the Spider-Man franchise) may be the film’s most sympathetic character, as he finds himself alternately fighting against and defending Mark in the litigation scenes. And the Winklevoss twins (both played by Armie Hammer) exude just the right amount of entitlement and privilege to make them perfect foils. While these characters are pitted against each other, the lawsuits are largely symbolic – they’re not about money as much as they are about credit, acclaim, and loyalty.

There’s been a very literal interpretation of the final sequence of the film – where Mark sits alone, endlessly refreshing the webpage where he’s just requested Erica as a friend – that suggests he’s regretting a lost love. But this gesture is more about wanting to right past wrongs. Mark’s only real love has ever been his work, and the acknowledgement that it’s solely his. The film’s final scene is not about love, it’s about maturity.

Despite the film’s contemporary contrivances, its seamless construction and ultra-tight writing could definitely help earn the Best Picture award. Of course, sometimes being contemporary in and of itself can work in a film’s favor (the navel-gazing, yet of-the-moment Crash springs to mind). The Social Network is a decidedly modern film, but its themes – class, status, distinction – are far-reaching. Though, with all that being said, it’s hard not to secretly want Toy Story 3 to pull out the big win.

Character Study: The King’s Speech and Winter’s Bone

When a proper Englishwoman comes into the office of Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) seeking help for her husband’s speech impediment and explaining that his job requires much public speaking, Logue suggests her husband find a different job. Of course when it’s revealed that her husband is the Duke of York, things change.

The real life story of King George VI’s rise to power and struggle to overcome stuttering, The King’s Speech is really built on the strong performances of Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush. Playing the King-to-be, called Bertie by his family, Firth does a masterful job of creating a prickly and sensitive royal whose speech difficulties have impaired not only his ability to communicate but also his sense of self-worth.

Meeting for the first time, Logue insists on calling the Duke Bertie and asking personal questions. Logue’s methodology is miles from anything Bertie has experienced before, and it’s clear from the very start that Logue intends to overstep normal boundaries.

As Bertie and Logue begin their speech sessions, a subtle friendship emerges. But while Bertie is on the precipice of curbing his speaking difficulties, his father, the King, dies, leaving the throne to his older brother David (Guy Pearce). The world is on the brink of WWII and David is carrying on an affair with a married woman from (gasp!) Baltimore. When David chooses the woman over the crown, Bertie must assume the position.

The King’s Speech really succeeds when it lets in moments of great humor. Firth has some great lines, but almost all of the humor is provided by Rush, who manages to steal nearly every scene he’s in. Logue’s theatrical ambitions add just the right amount of misplaced bravado.

If the movie feels a bit slow, that’s largely part of its aesthetic. It’s a relatively simple story whose pacing is a function of that simplicity – it takes a while to build climactic interest.

There are a couple of minor cosmetic details that feel odd. It’s hard to believe that David is older than Bertie – both in his impetuousness and appearance. A bit more could have been done to make Pearce look believably older, as he’s actually seven years younger than Firth. Additionally, it’s hard to get past the appearance of Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall). Perhaps it’s because Spall played Susan Sarandon’s henchman Nathaniel in Enchanted, but something about him is distracting.

The real injustice of The King’s Speech though is the “R” rating. The film has a couple of moments featuring the spouting of curse words – not said maliciously and not directed at anyone, and yet this uplifting piece about the power of friendship has the same rating as Saw 3-D. Now that’s something to curse about.

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Taking the top spot on the Onion AV Club’s list of 2010’s best films, and landing at number five on Roger Ebert’s list, (not to mention bunches of other lists) there’s been much critical acclaim for Winter’s Bone, and it’s easy to see why. Winter’s Bone feels like a poignant short story – centering on 17-year-old Ree (Jennifer Lawrence), a rural Missouri teen who is basically serving as the adult of her family. Ree is tasked with raising her younger brother and sister in the stead of her seemingly catatonic mother and absent father.

When an officer lets Ree know that her father has posted their house as collateral to make bail (he’s been caught up in drugs), Ree sets out to track down her father. While Ree gets some assistance from her friend Gail (Lauren Sweetser), she’s virtually on her own. It’s never quite clear who, if anyone, Ree can really trust. Even her neighbors and her uncle are infused with a conniving creepiness.

What Winter’s Bone does so well is deliver tiny moments of large realization. In one sequence we see Ree peer into the high school gym – we don’t know if she regularly attends school, but we do know that she is looking in on a world of which she is not a part. Those simple regular teenage things – marching bands and pep rallies – belong to other people, not to her.

Lawrence, looking much like Renee Zellweger in Cold Mountain, carries the film on her back, giving a powerful, layered performance. Through the harsh circumstances Lawrence gives Ree a vulnerability that highlights her tender age and allows the film’s final moments to be as triumphant as they are disturbing.

Albums of 2010

Ground Control has released our annual "best albums" list: http://groundcontrolmag.com/detail/1/2290/

Here are my picks for the top of the 2010 heap:

10. The Black Keys – Brothers – (Nonesuch Records) –
While Brothers, the band’s sixth album, may not be as strong as 2006’s Magic Potion, it does boast some solid offerings. “Tighten Up” and “Everlasting Light” prove the Akron, Ohio duo is making a firm return to their raw bluesy guitar-driven sound, after a dalliance with Danger Mouse’s production on 2008’s Attack & Release.

9. The Roots – How I Got Over – (The Island Def Jam Music Group) –

Dropping two albums this year, including a collaboration with John Legend, providing the soundtrack to the Daily Show/Colbert Report “Rally to Restore Sanity,” and playing nightly behind Jimmy Fallon on Late Night, The Roots may be the busiest band in the biz at the moment. Luckily all that work seems only to have strengthened the quality of their music. With tracks like the socially-conscious “Dear God” (featuring Monsters of Folk) and “Now or Never,” this latest disc may be their best since Phrenology.

8. Delorean – Subiza – (True Panther Sounds) –

How an album packed with 4+ minute songs can be so catchy and so esoteric at the same time is something of a mystery, yet Subiza walks this fine line perfectly. Sonically the Spanish band lies somewhere between Yeasayer and Miike Snow, crafting choruses that seem to float ethereally over varied backing sounds.

7. The National – High Violet – (4AD) –

Led by the dark rich voice of Matt Berninger, The National packs High Violet with delicate brooding songs about lost love and getting and feeling older. Sufjan Stevens and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon contribute, strengthening songs like “Afraid of Everyone.” Praise for the band may have been a while in coming, but with their latest batch of melodies built on haunting, repetitive choruses, the praise has been well earned.

6. Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot... – (The Island Def Jam Music Group) –

While record execs may have been demanding a new OutKast album, Big Boi fought to release a solo disc, and they should be glad he did. The album features what’s probably the year’s best use of an opera sample (on the track “General Patton”) and guest spots by Janelle Monae and Jamie Foxx.

5. Robyn – Body Talk – (Konichiwa Records) –

Perhaps the most prolific artist of 2010, Robyn released more than two albums worth of material this year, carefully crafting the infectious stuff dancehall dreams are made of. The Swedish singer produced the equivalent of pop candy, treats like “Hang with me,” “Call Your Girlfriend” and club anthem “Dancing on My Own” (which found its way into a couple of DJ-created mash-ups).

4. Beach House – Teen Dream – (Sub Pop) –

The third release from this Baltimore duo, Teen Dream is packed with simple lo-fi melodies like the opening lullaby-esque “Zebra.” Like their hipster-friendly contemporaries The XX, Beach House excel at creating delicately organic songs like “Norway.” And “Silver Soul” sounds like it could have come from The Flaming Lips’ songbook.

3. LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening – (DFA) –

Likely James Murphy’s opus, This is Happening, doesn’t follow a lot of rules, either musically or as what a traditional dance-rock album should be. Most of the tracks are long, extended songs that build from something simple into a full-on dance track. Only one song, “Drunk Girls,” is under four minutes, and lyrically the album trades in sentiments of insecurity and duplicity. It’s to Murphy’s credit that he can dare us to dance while requesting our pity.

2. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – (Roc-A-Fella Records) –

Certainly countless hours have gone into analyzing everything Kanye (including a Jimmy Kimmel-sanctioned parody featuring Josh Groban), but given the merits of West’s latest, the rapper’s boundless bravado is not for naught. While he may trot out ballerinas and famous friends, including Jay-Z, John Legend, and Rihanna, Dark Twisted belongs to Kanye. Simultaneously self-aggrandizing and diminishing, with humorous lyrics wrapped in musically interesting coverings, every track on the album is a strong effort – it may well be West’s most mature work to date.

1. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs – (Merge Records) -

Following up their ambitious, heavily orchestrated Neon Bible, Arcade Fire released a disc that feels raw and unfussy. Here the themes– being able to control your destiny, struggling with living in the world – are woven into simple bright lyrics, allowing familiar ideas to morph into great tunes like “Modern Man” and “We Used to Wait.”

Our bodies, our selves: Black Swan and 127 Hours

Given the slate of films generating awards season buzz – True Grit, Rabbit Hole, Blue Valentine – it’s shaping up to be quite the winter of our discontent. Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, both in its award-baiting allure and its dark restlessness.

Here Natalie Portman plays Nina, a New York City ballerina intent on dancing the lead role in a new version of "Swan Lake." When the company’s one-time darling, Beth (Winona Ryder), is ousted by the director, Thomas (a regal, intimidating Vincent Cassel), an opening is created for Nina to become the ballet’s new star. However, Thomas is insistent that he’s unsure whether the fragile, severe Nina can believably dance both the role of the white swan and the black swan, and his posturing begins to prey on Nina’s greatest psychological fears.

Under the suffocating presence of her mother (Barbara Hershey), a former-ballerina who sacrificed her career for motherhood, Nina lives a sterile focused life committed only to dancing and perfection. Her mother forcibly dotes, dressing and grooming her and watching her every move while she’s in the house. Outside the house, Nina has few, if any, friends. And with the arrival of Lily (Mila Kunis), the company’s newest dancer, Nina is uncertain whether she’s made a friend or enemy.

What unfolds is a tug-of-war between reality and delusion – we’re often uncertain whether what we’re seeing is really happening, or merely a momentary hallucination or dream concocted by Nina’s fractured psyche. Is everyone out to get her? Or is this simply what she’s convinced herself? In the struggle between black and white, it’s the grey areas that make this film most interesting.

Ultimately, Black Swan may be a story of unadulterated self-sacrifice, though it chooses to trade in moments of horror (sharp objects make a couple of appearances). Where Aronofsky's The Wrestler was a film with heart, Black Swan is motivated by selfish, garish means. If Mickey Rourke’s Randy was a character full of faults and regrets, he was also filled with tenderness and humanity. Those qualities are all seemingly absent from Portman’s Nina, and her struggle is between perfectionism and sanity. It's redemption and failure versus sacrifice and success.

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Seeing the trailers for Portman's and Kunis's extremely similar forthcoming romantic comedies, one wonders if the ladies needed a laughable escape from the intensity of Black Swan. (Of course, even if that may be true, it doesn't necessarily make it okay.)

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If there’s a film deserving of the “tour de force” label, it would be 127 Hours. Set in the beautiful boulder-filled landscape of eastern Utah, the film almost wholly belongs to James Franco (playing Aron Ralston) and a rock. The true story of one man’s survival by amputating his own arm after getting it caught between a fallen boulder and the side of a canyon, one goes into 127 Hours merely to watch the inevitable unfold.

Shortly after setting out for a weekend of canyoneering, and after an encounter with two 20-something adventurers (Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara), Aron finds himself falling and quickly pinned inside a narrow inlet. He spends the next five days subsisting on the little food and water he has with him and reflecting on the events that have brought him here. Other characters are briefly brought into the picture through flashbacks and images replayed on Aron’s camcorder, but the show belongs to Franco.

Like other one-man pictures (most recently Sam Rockwell in Moon), the burden rests on the lone actor’s shoulders to carry the film, and under Danny Boyle’s (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire) direction Franco manages to coax both sympathy and amusement from the audience. It may not be an “entertaining” film (mainly due to the time spent biting one’s lip in anticipation of the deed that must be done), but it’s interesting to watch Franco work as an actor in such literally tight constraints.

Best Songs of 2010

Believe it or not, it was a pretty triumphant year for indie rock and hip hop. And while music writers are currently wrapped up in analyzing Kanye's twitter feed and attempting to justify their love for Vampire Weekend's "Contra," here, for your listening pleasure, is a playlist of some of the best songs released in 2010.

New Politics - Yeah Yeah Yeah
Young The Giant - My Body
The Black Keys - Everlasting Light
Arcade Fire - We Used To Wait
The Roots - Now Or Never
Cee Lo Green - F*** You
Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man
Freelance Whales - Generator Second Floor
Best Coast - When I'm With You
The National - Afraid of Everyone
Beach House - Zebra
Neon Indian - Deadbeat Summer
LCD Soundsystem - All I Want
Dan Black - Symphonies
Yeasayer - ONE
Delorean - Real Love
Caribou - Odessa
Kanye West + Pusha T - Runaway
Robyn (A+D Mashup) - Dancing Since U Been Gone
Big Boi - Shutterbugg

Yeah Yeah Yeah by New Politics by Iamjoshuamdl

My Body by youngthegiant

01 - Everlasting Light by naoalinhados5

Arcade Fire - We Used To Wait by MiscMusic

The Roots - Now Or Never by Rock the house

Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man by Stayloose

Generator ^ Second Floor by blackbirdflyy

When I'm With You by Oohbrilliant

The National - Afraid of Everyone by Pablo Coss

Beach House - Zebra (UK Radio Edit) by subpop

Deadbeat Summer by Neon Indian

LCD Soundsystem - All I Want by Ragged Words

Dan Black - Symphonies by Paper Trail

Yeasayer - ONE by tut

Delorean - Real Love by DJYabis

Odessa - Caribou by olyspirit

Big Boi - Shutterbugg by Rawkast

Secret's Out

According to this NPR story, it's been proposed that the person behind WikiLeaks may have carried confidential information out on a CD labeled as a Lady Gaga album.

One can only assume that if anyone saw him, the conversation went something like this:
Observer: "Hey, what's that?"
WikiLeaker: "Oh, just a Lady Gaga CD."
Observer: "Uh, right. I'm not asking, and you're not telling."

Electioneering

It's interesting to step back for a minute and think about what holding a government position actually is -- a job.

Which makes campaign season feel like a really strange job interview process.

Particularly this campaign season all we've heard is, "Government is broken" ; "We need less government." Can you imagine applying for any other job in that way? Like, "This company is broken. We need less of this company... Also, I'd like to work at this company... Here's my resume. As you can see, I'm completely unqualified. I have absolutely none of the skills required to work at this company. Which means I'm the only one who can turn this company around!"

Saying something like, "you've got to be an idiot to get into politics" used to be hyperbole. Now it seems it's an actual requirement.

ACL 2010: Saturday

On a very bright and beautiful Saturday morning buses of music lovers barreled toward Zilker Park for the Austin City Limits festival. The day promised great music, glorious weather, and just a few things you might have to see to believe. In the bus seat next to me a hairy-legged hipster attempted to attach a flask to her inner thigh using scotch tape.

At 12:30 the fest was already starting to heat up with Grace Potter And The Nocturnals playing “Hot Summer Night.” Potter, wearing a very short gold sequined dress, took time to comment on her surroundings, saying, “This stage is a lot higher than I thought it would be.” But neither her dress’s length nor her stiletto heels could keep her from rocking out – jumping and headbanging like it was ’94. She thrashed through her set, playing a wooden upright organ, and acoustic and electric guitars, finally ditching her heels and encouraging the crowd to sing along with “Paris (Ooh La La)” and “Medicine.”

01 Paris (Ooh La La) by GPN

Across the park, Bear In Heaven churned out a brand of gauzy Brooklyn guitar rock, straight out of the Grizzly Bear/Dirty Projectors indie garage band catalogue. The band played “Lovesick Teenagers” with the lead singer’s vocals, occasionally resembling Billy Corgan’s. The lead singer enthused, “I hope you fall in love, get married, and have children...today,” with a sort of breezy surfer dude emphasis.

At 2:30 on the main stage, New Jersey’s Gaslight Anthem took a moment to acknowledge their New Jersey-ness before revving into a blistering set of songs including the title tracks of their most recent albums “’59 Sound” and “American Slang.” Lead vocalist Brian Fallon seemed delighted, and also seemed just too sincere to have that many tattoos. Somewhere in the crowd a man emerged dressed from head to toe as a leprechaun.

Back in the middle of the park, clad in vests and ties, noveau Mo-town band Mayer Hawthorne And The County classed up the place doing songs from the Strange Arrangement album, and a cover of The Doobie Brothers’ “What A Fool Believes.” Hawthorne told an anecdote about being asked for an autograph by a man who mistook him for Michael Buble, leading in to the song “Maybe so, maybe no.” In the song’s denouement, Hawthorne mixed in Snoop’s “Beautiful” – something one couldn’t really imagine Michael Buble doing.

At 4:40, UK electro-rocker Dan Black invited the crowd to get weird, and he himself wasted no time in doing so. Wearing white pants, a black and white striped shirt, and with his face painted with red and white stripes, Black and his guitarist worked through “U Me,” “Alone,” and “Symphonies.” At the end two dudes in the crowd exchanged glances and commented, “He was good... but he was weird.”

With James Murphy hinting that his This Is Happening album may be his last, it gave the edge to LCD Soundsystem in the 6pm match-up between them and Monsters Of Folk. Joined by Black Keys’ drummer Patrick Carney (here playing guitar) and a couple other folks, Murphy built the set slowly, with mid-tempo numbers like “Drunk Girls” building into faster numbers like “All I Want” and “I Can Change,” as a disco ball took the place of the setting sun. When Murphy wrapped the set with “Home,” and hundreds of Muse fans began to pour in, home seemed like the perfect place to be.

LCD Soundsystem - All I Want by Ragged Words

Last Action Hero: MacGruber

Toward the beginning of MacGruber, an absolutely ridiculous theme song plays, seeming to say: “Do you even believe we’re making this a movie?!” Only minutes before, a very meaty Val Kilmer (whose character’s name is something of a joke I’ll refrain from telling) has put a plan into action, and there’s only one man who can stop him. That man is MacGruber (Will Forte), a heavily decorated ex-military officer (and former UTEP basketball player) who has been hiding out in New Mexico. With his nemesis looking to strike again, MacGruber is asked to come out of hiding to stop him.

Recruiting a team to aid his cause (his second team, after the first meets with an unfortunate end), MacGruber creates his battle plans on the fly, lacking in preparation what he makes up for in, um...surprise? With the willing assistance of Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig) and Lt. Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe), the incredibly unstable MacGruber does everything he can (including making some rather oft-putting pleas) in hopes of avenging the killer of his late bride (Maya Rudolph).

While it earnestly refrains from being a “spoof” movie, MacGruber is nonetheless laced with satire. It can’t help it; it’s in its DNA. Born from a series of sketches on Saturday Night Live, shorts which always end in an explosion, the MacGruber character (created as a send up of MacGyver) is a bumbling nit-wit who can never diffuse the bomb in time. But on the big screen, he’s much more than that.

Describing the character to New York Magazine, director Jorma Taccone explained MacGruber as “super-narcissistic, a little bit homophobic, a little racist, a little sexist.” And while he is all those things, the more interesting thing about the MacGruber character is that he fits the classic idea of an action hero – a renegade player who can’t conform or fit into normal society, who embraces unorthodox methods and refuses to play by the rules. But, unlike a John McClane-type, MacGruber doesn’t play by society’s rules not because he’s a bemused tough guy, but because he’s an idiot. It’s likely he’s not even aware of what society’s rules are.

The inversion of this notion of the action hero obfuscates the idea that MacGruber is a “hero” at all. In a scene where MacGruber and Lt. Piper are having a couple of beers, MacGruber unwittingly incriminates himself while revealing his history with his now-nemesis. It’s this moment (and many, many others) where you wonder if you should really be rooting for this guy, knowing you probably shouldn’t, but still morbidly curious to see what he’s going to do next.

It’s Will Forte’s genuine weirdness and commitment to his character that sustain MacGruber. Unlike, say, Austin Powers, where the audience is being winked at and signaled when to laugh, here laughs come from the uncomfortable and awkward moments. Wiig is at her best when keeping her character reserved, only occasionally slipping into the frenetic pace she employs in the SNL “MacGruber” sketches.

MacGruber more closely resembles Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s Team America, than any other SNL-based offering. The cheesy PG-13 shtick of the likes of A Night At the Roxbury is here replaced by explosions, throat ripping, and a fascination with human reproductive organs. Vulgar, but not necessarily offensive, MacGruber may be more brilliant than it initially lets on. And it will definitely make you think twice about celery.

Inside ACL: Alejandro Escovedo

Making his fourth appearance on Austin City Limits, Alejandro Escovedo took the stage Friday night in a sleek grey vest, accompanied by his band, the Sensitive Boys, and back-up vocalists, sparkling in black sequins. Preparing for the release of his tenth album, Street Songs of Love, due June 29, Escovedo devoted much of the set to the new record.

Kicking things off with the energetic “Always A Friend,” from his Real Animal release, Escovedo was all smiles. While he’d joked during afternoon rehearsal, “This is like so many shows we’ve played in the past; where no one claps,” now with the lights and cameras in place and a crowded house, the audience was happy to applaud.

David Pulkingham laid into a heavy guitar on “This Bed is Getting Crowded,” and Escovedo introduced the guitarist, elaborating that he was also the force responsible for bringing “Anchor,” the next new song, to life. After trading riffs with Pulkingham, Escovedo explained how the new album was built – piece by piece during a two-month residency at Austin’s Continental Club. This segued into the titular “Street Songs,” an ode to the Club’s South Congress neighborhood.

Since 1980 Escovedo has called Austin home, and, introducing “Sister Lost Soul,” he recalled his days in South Austin where he met Stephen Bruton (first known to him as a “handsome jogger”), who would go on to produce albums for Escovedo, and who passed away last year. Escovedo dedicated the song to him, summoning a gentle organ and choir-like back-up vocals. After another slower number, “Down in the Bowery,” written for his teen son, Escovedo exclaimed, “Let’s get noisy again,” and they did with “Chelsea Hotel ’78.” While they’d played a version of this during afternoon rehearsal, here they pulled out the stops, allowing for some noisy guitar shredding.

During rehearsal one of the backing vocalists had pulled pairs of maracas from a backpack, and they now made an appearance on “Undesired.” Bringing out another new song, a jazzy piano kicked off “Faith” (which features Bruce Springsteen on the record) and inspired some dancing in the crowd. Without stopping the band plunged into “Real Animal” as if it were “Great Balls of Fire” before ultimately easing into the mellow organ-laced “After the Meteor Showers.”

While the set had had an ebb and flow of fast-paced numbers and more mellow tunes, it was at the end, anticipating a revision of the cello-tinged “Tula” that Escovedo and his band got down to some serious guitar business, pounding out a loud and tight rendition of “Everybody Loves Me.” In front of a home crowd, it certainly felt that way.

What happens in Bologna

The thing nobody tells you about Europe is that occasionally there are Icelandic volcanoes. Taking my first trip to France and Italy, this was probably the thing I was least prepared for. Well, that and the heavy volume of cheese I would be required to consume.

Traveling to two cosmetics conferences, my mom and I stopped in Paris before winding up in Bologna, Italy.

Bologna is endearingly referred to in Italy as “La Grassa” or “The Fat One.” While it is regarded as Italy’s gastronomic center, and a destination for aspiring cooking school attendees, there’s really not much else there. The tourism brochure should really read “Bologna: Come for dinner, stay for dessert.”

That’s not to say that Bologna is without its share of ancient churches. It is, after all, an old city in Europe – those are required. And indeed, Michaelangelo painted the interior of Bologna’s Santo Domingo in 1494 – and then he probably had a ham sandwich and took off because there’s nothing to do in Bologna.

Bologna does of course lend its name to the signature meat, which helps explain why I spent most of the trip humming the Oscar Meyer wiener song. But the other thing that Bologna may be known for is its two towers. Situated near the center of the city, both were constructed when two powerful families decided to have a competition to see who could build the tallest tower. (And because, I’m assuming, the game show “Family Feud” had not yet been invented.) This ultimately resulted in one lithe tall tower and one squat tower, which, when it started to lean, ultimately ended the competition. The lithe tall tower is still open today, and with its promises of the best views in Bologna, it seemed enticing.

297 small, extremely narrow, and rather rickety steps later, the view was rather nice. It was the thought of having to travel back down in the darkened spiraling sections that caused my brief cold sweats. But if my sweats were nerve-induced, a rather hairy middle-aged man was sweating right behind me, running up and down the steps of the tower like he was training for some step-climbing competition or tower triathlon. We reached a landing and he stopped to change clothes before completing another round. Like I said, there’s really nothing to do in Bologna.

To amuse themselves the townspeople gather in the central’s Piazza Maggoire and dance. Let me be clear, I am not an expert on Italian music, or Italian dancing, but I’m not sure I experienced either in the time I spent in the Piazza. In the main section, older folks seemed to be dancing an Irish jig, a grown woman with chicken puppets strapped to her feet played an accordion, and somewhere in the distance a man played an ocarina. Well, he played “Let It Be” on an ocarina. If he’d followed that with “Can You Feel The Love Tonight,” I would have sworn I was in a mall.