Underated Band of the Week: The Stone Roses

The week's Criminally Underrated Band of the Week is The Stone Roses. It's tough for me to write about the Roses - they truly are so significant that it feels trite for me to have to compose some short blurb about them. They only made two albums, but their impact is still felt today.

The self-titled debut, Stone Roses, is one of the greatest albums ever made and it sounds like a greatest hits package. Each and every song is perfectly crafted - this is the best pop album made since the Beatles, and perhaps is the finest pop album ever. It is perfect - every piece is placed with intention. Produced by John Leckie (The Verve - A Storm in Heaven, George Harrison - All Things Must Pass, The Bends - Radiohead, Showbiz - Muse), who is one of my top five producers of all time, gives the album an identity by wrapping everything in a beautiful reverb that is not over the top, but just right. The band sounds live, though there are plenty of overdubs. Very well mixed and original without being overtly "experimental".

Led by childhood friends Ian Brown (vocals) and John Squire (guitar), the Roses featured the finest pop songwriting combination since Lennon and McCartney. The Roses floated around Manchester for over 5 years before being signed, and the duo worked their craft on this collection of flawless tunes. The rhythm section was second to none in rock history - Mani (bass) and Reni (drums) are incredibly intuitive and powerful players. Years before being signed Pete Townshend (who knows a thing or two about drummers) called Reni the best drummer he had worked with since Keith Moon. Mani eventually became an integral member of (the vastly underated) Primal Scream, defining it's late run of brilliance (Vanishing Point, XTRMNTR, etc.).

Anyway, their debut album invented Brit Pop, setting the stage for the 1990's - Oasis, Suede, Blur, etc. The Roses disappeared in the wilderness for five years, returned in 1995 with the much maligned Second Coming (which is not as bad as writer's would have you believe, and is actually quite excellent), but by then Oasis had stolen their audience, pop, and crown. The story of The Stone Roses is one of the great stories in rock history.

There are so many clips I could have inclued - I went with this classic, from 1989. The clip is set up by Tony Wilson, former head of Factory Records and subject of the film 24 Hour Party People. Enjoy.

Top 25 Movie Posters of All Time

Premiere magazine has put together a great gallery and rankings list of the 25 greatest movie posters ever made. It's definitely worth a look. You can check it out here. Good stuff.

Glasvegas Christmas EP Rocks

I know I post alot about them, but Glasvegas are my band of the moment, and I cannot get enough! Just wanted to mention this again, because for a limited time you can get the EP (A Snowflake Fell and It Felt Like A Kiss EP) and the complete debut album for only $10.99 on itunes. This is a great deal, and I would really like everyone I know to pick it up to support this awesome up and coming band. Just to offer full disclosure, one of the songs on the new EP features a very prominent element of swearing. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Vertigo: Better Than Ever

Watched Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller Vertigo the other night. I have seen bits and pieces of this film since I was a young kid, and never sat down and watched it from beginning to end. Wow, wow, wow. It truly is a bizarre film, with a brilliant twist ending.

This is an example of great film making, but also an example of a whole bunch of genius collaborators coming together. Hitchcock of course, but also the title sequence (posted below) and poster (to the left) were designed by the incomparable Saul Bass and are fine examples of New York School design of the 1950's. The beguiling score was written Bernard Herrmann, and is spellbinding in it's usage of repeated leitmotifs. Additionally, Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak are impossible to take your eyes from. The title is significant to not only the plot but to the viewer as well; we are never able to get our bearings as viewers, and the pace continues to enhance a disorientation of the senses through plot, camera movements, framing, performance, dialogue, etc. Brilliant.

Another point of interest is that the restoration is stunning. We watched the film on my father in law's HDTV Blue-Ray player, and it is stunning. The color, sound, and overall crispness is breathtaking, and greatly enhances the viewing experience. Essential viewing for anyone interested in film, art, etc. Genius indeed.

Criterion Covers Are Spectacular

The Criterion Collection series of DVD releases feature some of the greatest films ever made both domestically as well as internationally. Not only are the films excellent, but the packages are as well. These are just a sample of some of the spectacularly designed DVD packages. The designers visual style is based around dynamic typography, visceral photographic cropping, and extensive usage of the colors black and white. Do yourself a favor and go over to the Criterion site and browse. Enjoy.

Terrence Stamp Rocks The Limey

The Limey is an excellent revenge thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh (Traffic). It stars force of nature Terrence Stamp as Wilson, a man bent on avenging the death of his daughter. It also co-stars Peter Fonda (who I've always liked), and Luis Guzman (always good). Very well composed revenge drama reminiscent of early seventies Sam Peckinpah films like Straw Dogs (totally killer) and The Wild Bunch. The Limey is like 100 other films, but it's slick direction and man on fire performance from Stamp makes it a visceral thrill to watch. Pulp yes, but really good pulp all the same.

Oh yeah, great poster too. For more great movie posters, go here.

Really Well Designed Site

Designer Jason Santa Maria has a really great site - both in terms of design and content. Do check it out here, it's fantastic. That is all.

The Resurrection of Rourke

As a previous post of mine spoke of, I love Mickey Rourke. He is receiving rave reviews for his performance in Aronofsky's The Wrestler (which is in limited release and I've looked as far as Atlanta and can't find anywhere that is showing it). I'm so glad that Rourke is receiving such a career reappraisal, as I truly feel it is merited. Even Bill Simmons over at Page 2 is devoting whole columns to The Wrestler.

I am a big fan of many, many of his films - Diner (a classic), Rumble Fish (one of my favorite films of all time), The Pope of Greenwich Village (underrated), Angel Heart (totally brilliant), Barfly (probably Rourke's best performance, I estimate I've seen it over 50 times), and Sin City (groundbreaking). I've even seen a whole bunch of movies just because he was in them, even in small parts - Heaven's Gate (all 50 hours, and it's truly a masterpiece), Homeboy (I'm willing to bet you don't know anyone else who has watched this entire movie), Harley Davidson & the Marlboro Man (awful), White Sands (decent), Bullet (Tupac movie), The Rainmaker (Coppola), Domino (Ridley Scott makes it worth it), Man On Fire (Scott again), Once Upon A Time In Mexico (good Rodriguez pulp), Buffalo 66 (bad Gallo pulp), The Pledge (superb Sean Penn direction), Wild Orchid (bad), and 9 1/2 Weeks (good). There was a period of my life when I was actively attempting to see every Mickey Rourke film ever made.

In case you were keeping score, that is alot more bad films than good. But Rourke does that - he makes you watch terrible films because he can be so brilliant that he can make these films worth watching. There are few actors that I like enough to watch anything they are in - Brando (I will, and have, watched anything with Brando in it, no matter how abysmal), Pacino (he is become borderline), and Depp (I have seen every film he's been in except The Brave, but that's never been released in the US). At one time I would have had placed De Niro on that list, but there are some De Niro movies I won't watch (like Showtime or Rocky & Bullwinkle).

Anyway, the wonderful Sheila Variations has written (over at the House Next Door) the ultimate treatise on Rourke that sums up so much of what I think about his career. It's lengthy but totally worth the time spent on the read. Enjoy.

Fincher's Zodiac is Spellbinding

2007 might have been the highwater mark of this decade for filmaking. There were several excellent films that came out of major studios last year - There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men, The Darjeeling Limited, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Control - all of which are five star films. Additionally, there were some really good films as well - Alpha Dog, Eastern Promises, I'm Not There, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - all were very strong, interesting films that major studios usually do not support.

But the film I'd like to throw the spotlight on today is Zodiac. The film focuses on the Zodiac murders of the late 60's and early 1970's, crimes that were horrific and sent the west coast into a heightened sense of panic for years and years. David Fincher is one of my very favorite directors, (Seven, Fight Club, The Game) and he is a master of creating atmosphere. This atmosphere feels completely authentic, which is especially effective as he often takes the viewer into places that are uncomfortable. As in his previous films, most notably Seven, Fincher places the viewer in a world where every interior or exterior shot carries a sense of dread - the tension builds and builds until you as a viewer sit on the edge of your seat, palms sweating profusely. He is a master storyteller, and arcs his films in such a way that you hold your breathe for the duration.

But what makes Zodiac a great film is that the theme is really obsession - the obsession to kill of the serial killer mirrored by the obsession of the men who are attempting to solve the case. This includes police (Anthony Edwards and the magnificent Mark Ruffalo), a reporter (Robert Downey Jr. bringing his bizarre authenticity as usual), and a cartoonist turned obsessive (a hollow-eyed Jake Gyllenhall). The case goes on for years and years, and everyone associated with the investigation loses themselves in it. This is a brilliant film that the studio clearly did not know how to market, and it came and went quickly from theaters. It should have been nominated for Best Picture rather than the usual Oscar schlock like Atonement. Do yourself a favor and check it out - it will keep you up at night long after the final frame.

Magic Pen Writes In Helvetica

More good stuff here.

My Dead Pony Is King

If you have spent any time on my website, www.timspeaker.com, you might have noticed that I am a big fan of an illustrator that goes by the name my dead pony. His work is nothing short of spectacular. Go ahead to his site, spend some time wandering through his work - it will knock you out.

No Resevations Is a Really Great Show

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not much of a Foodie (but my wife is, bigtime). I hate vegetables (especially onions, which make my skin crawl), I really only like meat and cheese. I honestly could be a meatatarian, as the only things I really like to eat are meat based. I do love pasta and pizza, and have a notorious sweet tooth (which is very hard for me to control).

So if I told you that one of my very favorite shows on TV is No Reservations on the Travel Channel, you might be surprised. But I love this show enough to watch marathons of it (actually, when I am home sick, I pray for marathons of it). This show is great because of it's really about it's host, Anthony Bourdain. Though Bourdain is a world class chef (and the show is ostensibly based around food) he speaks as much about the people, culture, and geography as much as about food. Often the show strays from food for long periods (Sicily episode), and much of the time Bourdain himself is the focus (New Jersey episode).

Bourdain is so interesting to listen to that he makes me interested in food production, it's history, etc. - which is something that is not easy to do. LaPorte disagrees with me about the show - he likes Samantha Brown more, which is like liking Lawrence Welk more than Iggy Pop. Bourdain's punk rock foodie shtick could get old to some, but not to me. Trust me, it's great, and addictive. And Bourdain's blog is a great read too. Check it out here.

Cool/Funny/Creepy Album Cover

This is cool/funny/creepy. That combination only comes together every so often.

More Cool Ideas From Mac

Wow, this is cool. A patent has been filed from Mac this week for a 3-D desktop. So cool, check it out here.

I Got a Fever and the Only Prescription is Glasvegas

Had not the Walkmen put out the stunning "You & Me" this year, my album of the year would have been the debut from Scottish band Glasvegas. I am crazy into this band. They bring together many things that I like: they are a working class Glasgow band fronted by brothers (James and Rab Allen), are often compared in the press to Oasis, write anthems about their everyday lives, sound a bit like Jesus & Mary Chain/60's Motown/50's Doo Wop, were discovered by certified genius/nutter Alan McGee, look cool as could be (James Allen is a dead ringer for Joe Strummer, and that is as cool as it gets). Yeah, I'm full on obsessed. Below are two parts of a mini-documentary giving you the perfect introduction to the Glasvegas. Check it out, really, they are amazing. Enjoy.

UPDATE: Got the new Christmas EP at midnight from itunes, and as usual, it's awesome! For a limited time you can get the EP and the complete debut album for only $10.99 on itunes. Buy them, you won't be sorry!

Escalona Design Is Smart, Funny

Saw this this morning by Joe Escalona, and it is awesome. More cool stuff to be found on his website here.

Elvis Costello TV Is Fantastic

I am a big fan of Elvis Costello, but an even bigger fan of Lou Reed. The Velvet Underground is one of my favorite bands of all time - I've always been a huge fan, but the older I get the more time I spend listening to VU intently.

Elvis Costello has a show on the Sundance Channel called Spectacle. He talks with all types of people, plays music, whatever he feels like basically. It's pretty awesome. Anyway, I watched the episode the other night that features the indominable Lou Reed. Not only does he interview Lou at length and perform "Perfect Day" and "Set The Twilight Reeling" with him, but Julian Schnabel is also in the audience. Schnabel gets up on stage and becomes part of the interview. Schnabel (unbeknownst to me previously) is Lou Reed's best friend, which is how he came to direct Lou Reed's Berlin, a concert film documenting a 2006 live performance of the album Berlin in it's entirety. The Berlin site is here.

This show is not to be missed. More info about Spectacle can be found here. Sublime.

Killer Poster Design

A CELEBRATION OF JUNE / POSTER COLLECTIVE

The exhibition displays 30 A1 posters produced by 30 creative individuals from throughout Europe, each offering their own interpretation of a day in June. As a collective the posters present a unique insight into the month of June, covering a variety of creative disciplines and providing a range of personalised approaches.

With 365 days in a year it has become an effort to fully understand the context of one single day in our own calendar. We often fail to recognise the true significance of events in our day and the impact it has on our lives.

The intention of the poster collective is to offer an identity to every single day in June, producing a poster display that presents a wealth of information about the days involved and finding something unique with each day of the month. The exhibition offers a great insight into the period of June, presenting personal interpretations from both Artists and Designers

http://www.artrabbit.com/events/event/6486/a_celebration_of_june

Another Great Logo Site

Oooo, here is another awesome logo site. This site is for WOLGA, the Worldwide Logo Design Annual. So cool, so so cool.

Best Logo Site Ever

Wow, seriously, this is the best logo site ever. I can't even describe how awesome it is, just check it out. Check it out here.

Other Music Awards of 2008

This is an addendum to the Top Ten Albums of 2008:

The First Things First Award
Guns N Roses, Chinese Democracy (Needs it’s own separate category, too difficult to compare to other albums released this year – it there ever was an album that was in a class of it’s own, it is this one! I have never in my life felt so unprepared to rate an album in my life. I can’t place this – it’s either #1 or not on the list at all).

Just Missed (tough to leave off the top ten)
Atlas Sound, Let the Blind Lead Those That Can See But Cannot Feel (I really, really love this album – it was very difficult to cut from the list).
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (A special mention of Cave’s spectacular soundtrack to ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’ - one of the most haunting suites of music I have ever heard – unfortunately I discovered it this year, but it came out in 2007.)
TV on the Radio, Dear Science

Best of the Rest (stuff I really, really like)
Crystal Stilts, Crystal Stilts
My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges
Spiritualized, Songs In A&E

Solid Contenders That Missed The Cut (strong albums that are noteworthy)
Bon Ivor, For Emma, Forever Ago
Beck, Modern Guilt
Coldplay, Viva La Vida

Also Rans – The Biggest Disappointments of 2008
The Verve, Forth – Overproduced, and as I feared, too much Ashcroft, not enough McCabe. In other words, too much Urban Hymns, not enough Storm In Heaven. As a 15 year fan, I am depressed after the wait.
Kings of Leon, Only By The Night – Badly overproduced, undercooked songwriting, cliché lyrics. A few bright spots (Closer, Cold Desert, Crawl), but this is the first strikeout from a great young band previously batting a thousand. They’ll be back.
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Cardinology. Not really bad, just two records in a row that are just kind of boring and forgettable.

Songs of the Year
Madagascar, Guns N’ Roses. (I can’t believe I am writing this, but this song is SO good that it almost justifies the project. The album may be flawed, but this is a masterpiece.)

Bag It Up, Oasis. (What a stomp – this album goes from Zak Starkey Caveman drumming to Meg White Cavewoman Drumming, but it’s actually Noel pounding away, who has now played every instrument on an Oasis release.)

Sweet Talk, Spiritualized (The best Spiritualized song since Cool Waves – glad to have you back J. Spaceman.)

Skinny Love, Bon Ivor (So good)

Belles, The Gutter Twins (Gutwrenchingly beautiful in that way only Greg Dulli can be. Strangely, better than anything on Saturnalia. Also the show I am most jealous about not having been at.)

Evil Urges, My Morning Jacket (Great changes, great band).

Time To Pretend, MGMT (I really wanted to put “Kids” on here, but I can’t not have this song – a surprise album to me.)

M79, Vampire Weekend (The best song Paul Simon never wrote, on a really superb debut record.)

Sequestered In Memphis, The Hold Steady (An awesome song on an album chock full of them. A total summer record.)

Vanished, Crystal Castles (Not my normal fair – no guitars! - but this song has infected me totally.)

Lover’s Day, TV on the Radio (Swooning and oddly moving. I couldn't find it, but here's another great track from the record.)

Song For Jo, Scarlett Johansson (The most played song of the year for me – dense, intimate, dreamy – takes me to places I’ve never been – most of all, startlingly mature and immensely beautiful.)

Closer, Kings of Leon (Crushing opener – I would love to see them open live with this).

Sit and Wonder, The Verve (Very A Northern Soul-era, epic and dark).

The Shock of the Lightning, Oasis (Noel’s guitar is incendiary, Liam cuts through time & space).

Goodnight, Travel Well, The Killers. (I don’t want to call Day & Age a disappointment, because it is a good record – it’s just that when only one song is as good as any of the songs on the previous record, then that is a dropoff. Sam’s Town had a heartbeat you could feel, while Day & Age has a digital pulse.)

Geraldine, Glasvegas (50’s doo wop + 60’s girl groups + 80’s Jesus & Mary Chain + looking exactly like Joe Strummer = Awesome. One of the best videos I have seen in ages – youtube it!)

Rich Kid Blues, The Raconteurs (A cover, but one of Jack White’s greatest vocals ever - watch this).

Red Moon by The Walkmen (Summarized the feeling of moving 1000 miles away from your wife to live in a big house alone in the South)

Daddy’s Gone, Glasvegas (The ghosts of Johnny Cash, Joe Stummer, and the walking corpses of Phil Spector and William Reid hover all over this).

To Be Where There’s Life, Oasis. (The Wembley Version is a monster – epic, original, and a word that describes the entire record it comes from – sexy – which is not a word I would ever attach to an Oasis record previously!).

Best opening line: “Me & my friends are like/the drums on ‘Lust For Life’/We pound it out on floor toms/Our songs are singalong songs” – Craig Finn, “Constructive Summer”, The Hold Steady.
Best line: “Raise a toast to St. Joe Strummer/I think he might have been our only decent teacher” – Craig Finn, “Constructive Summer”, The Hold Steady.


Single of the Year
The Shock of the Lightning, Oasis.

The last great singles band also has the best lead singles by any band in history:
Definitely Maybe – Supersonic
What’s The Story – Some Might Say
Be Here Now – Do You Know What I Mean?
Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants – Go Let It Out
Heathen Chemistry – The Hindu Times
Don’t Believe The Truth – Lyla
Dig Out Your Soul – The Shock of the Lightning


Even their comps have great lead singles:
The Masterplan – Acquiesce
Stop The Clocks – Lord Don’t Slow Me Down

Best Rock n Roll Movie of the Year:
Control – The Ian Curtis and Joy Division Story (this was a good year for Joy Division on film; the documentary Joy Division is one of the best rocdoc’s ever made).

Best “Album” of the Year (Or the “The Times, They Are A Changin’ Award”)
Hands down, the best musical entity I heard all year is the British band Exit Calm. However, they don’t have a record out; they aren’t even signed to a label. The “album” that I speak of is only a clutch of demos (8 to be exact) that are featured on their myspace page. Had this been released commercially, it would have, hands down, without question, been my album of the year. I really needed to mention them, as We’re On Our Own, Awake, Reference, Higher Learning, Before Tomorrow, Hope, and All On You would be on my songs of the year list. To me, these have already become classics, and they were played at least twice as much as anything else was this year on my various musical devices.

Fear not true believers, word on the street (or the web, as it were) is that the debut album from Exit Calm will be in stores (at least British ones) sometime in 2009.

Top Ten Albums of 2008

Every year some friends and I in Madison have our annual Top Ten Night, where we unveil our top ten albums of the year, as well as other musical awards. It has become a very big deal throughout the years, and we were collectively published last year on Dane101.com. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend this year, as I moved to South Carolina. Tomorrow night is the Top Ten Night, so it is time for me to unveil my list. After months and months of careful deliberation, here it is.

Top Ten Albums of 2008

10. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
9. The Killers, Day & Age
8. The Hold Steady, Stay Positive
7. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
6. Scarlett Johannson, Anywhere I Lay My Head
5. The Daysleepers, Drowned In A Sea of Sound
4. The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely
3. Oasis, Dig Out Your Soul
2. Glasvegas, Glasvegas
1. The Walkmen, You & Me

Darjeeling Limited: Slow Growing Masterpiece

I am a huge fan of Wes Anderson, who is one of the top five filmakers currently producing in the world right now (along with P.T. Anderson, Scorsese, Bertolucci, etc.). His first film, Bottle Rocket, hooked me immediately, but it was his second film that really made me a fan. Rushmore was the second movie I ever went to see in the theater by myself (Trainspotting was the first) and is one of the best films of the 1990's (and features some of the best movie quotes ever). The Royal Tennenbaums was next; this film is a complete masterpiece. I went to bed watching it every night for 6 months.

Following Tenenbaums Anderson's films became more complex, but in a different way. They became more difficult to decipher, but bore great fruit with repeated viewings. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou was next, and took me several viewings before I really got into it, but once I found my place in it I totally fell in love with it, and in particular the performance of the great Bill Murray.

The same experience ocurred with The Darjeeling Limited, which I believe is the most difficult of his films to take apart. However, the more I watch it, the more I find in it. The performances are quiet, without alot of overt dialogue. This is a beautiful film, set in India, that really must be watched again and again. Take the time, you won't regret it.

Kyle Cooper = WOW

You know Kyle Cooper from his pioneering title sequences to Seven, Donnie Brasco, and others. He is amazing. Check out his reel below. WOW.

I Want This Book!

This is all in lead up to my inevitable future epic blogpost about Joy Division, Peter Saville, Factory Records, Ian Curtis, Manchester, etc.

So here is a little teaser for it - from the Chronicle Books site:

"Factory Records -- A creative juggernaut of the post-punk era, Factory Records was the catalyst behind the U.K. music explosion of the late '70s through the '90s with groups like Joy Division (soon to be the subject of an Anton Corbijn movie), New Order, and Happy Mondays leading the New Wave. At Factory, musicians and designers commingled creatively, with innovators such as Peter Saville, Den Kelly, Mark Farrow, 8VO, and Barbara Kruger elevating album covers to a new art form. The label broke further ground when it opened its own disco, the legendary Hacienda. Factory Records is the ultimate and only collection of Factory's complete graphic output, including every single piece it produced: extremely rare record sleeves, club flyers, and posters all gathered together for the first time. A must for collectors and enthusiasts, Matthew Robertson's meticulous compilation of underground ephemera is poised to introduce a new generation of music and design fans to the creative genius of Factory".

Dexter Covers, Showtime, Excellent

As a promotional lead up to the fantastic new season of Showtime's Dexter, Showtime created several different magazine covers featuring lead Michael C. Hall as the show's namesake. To a graphic designer, these are an interesting study in the replication of a concept. Too cool.

Oh, and Dexter is great too. One of the most original, well written and acted programs in television history. At some point Showtime just flat out passed HBO for the highest quality. Since The Sopranos took the dirtnap, Entourage has been kind of slow and Curb Your Enthusiasm has been up and down, Showtime has come on strong with The Tudors(featuring Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), Dexter, and my favorite, Californication. Californication is very adult content, but is very well written and acted by the killer David Duchovny as Hank Moody, one of my favorite characters ever.

This Makes Me Laugh

This is really funny to me...had to post it.

Hey Everyone Look!

Oooooh, look! It's beautiful typography....

This Just In: Schnabel Still The Man

Most everyone has an opinion about artist and filmaker Julian Schnabel. Personally, I love his work, and his films (Basquiat, Before Night Falls, The Diving Bell & The Butterfly). Check him out here, he's the man.

Underrated Band of the Week: Echo & the Bunnymen

Finally feeling better from a lingering sickness, and now I can't sleep. So in honor of insomnia, I bring you the Criminally Underrated Band of the Week: Echo & the Bunnymen. Near and dear to my heart are the Bunnymen, so I will try to keep this one brief.

Maybe you know them from Donnie Darko (it's the song that opens the film), maybe you've never heard of them, maybe you just think that have a silly name. But the Bunnymen feature one of he greatest singers in rock history, Ian McCulloch(a big influence on me in my band days), a truly inventive guitarist in Will Seargent, a bass player that defined the post-punk style in Will Pattinson, and a drummer in Pete De Freitas who could shift from African rythyms (All My Colours) to punk attacks (The Back of Love) to orchestral pop (Lips Like Sugar) without missing a beat. From 1980 until 1985 they were the best band in the world, and that is really saying something when you consider that during that period The Smiths and U2 were out in the world. They also hold the distinction of being the only band in history to break up for an exended period of time (1988 - and have a member die - De Freitas), and get back together (1997) to create work that equaled their previous break up peak.

Lets's just run down their albums:

Crocodiles - 5 stars
Heaven Up Here - 5 stars (so underrated)
Porcupine - 5 stars
Ocean Rain - 5 stars (a masterpiece; one of the greatest albums ever made)
Echo & the Bunnymen 3.5 stars

and post reunion
Evergreen - 5 stars
What Are You Going To Do With Your Life? - 5 stars (one of the best albums of the 1990's)
Flowers - 4.5 stars
Siberia - 3.5 stars

Anyway, here they are back in the day performing The Killing Moon (a good entry point to get into them). Enjoy.

The Saville Rules (Because Saville Rules)

British designer Peter Saville is one of my all time favorite graphic designers. He is best known for designing the seminal Joy Division, New Order, and Suede album covers. I can't get enough of his sublime style and color palettes, but it is his work as a typographer that I love the most. On his website he has posted many of these typefaces for free. They are beautiful, they are free, and you don't get to say that very often.

Anyway, I found this great list on another graphic design blog. Enjoy.

'Things I Learnt from Peter Saville' by Sarah Morris
1 Never answer phone calls directly until after midday.
2 Use all surfaces as work space including the carpet and coffee tables and closets and drawers.
3 Think of your persona. Think of your house as your persona. Think of possessions as extensions of your persona.
4 The preparation of coffee is an art form.
5 Treat all institutions with heavy scepticism.
6 Treat yourself sceptically but very indulgently.
7 Money is to be spent only. Well and fast.
8 Collect all ephemera around your life and work and archive it incessantly.
9 Never learn computer programs. Don't get that involved with technical information.
10 Take notes. Carry paper.
11 Areas of comprise have potential.

They Don't Call Them Classics For Nothing

I'm a bit ashamed to admit this, but I had never seen High Noon until now. High Noon stars (dignity personified) Gary Cooper as Will Kane, the marshall in a town under siege. It also includes a very young Lloyd Bridges, beautiful as always Grace Kelly, and the eternally villainous Lee Van Cleef. When I was a kid, two of my favorite films were Sergeant York and The Pride of the Yankees - both films featured Gary Cooper, who I looked up to as a hero. Wow, it is fantastic! Check it out, you won't be sorry!

Superb Illustrations

The illustration work of Howard Tangye is superb, utilizing reductive line in a Egon Schiele meets NYC fashion magazine kind of way. Don't listen to me, go check it out here.

Bardem: Spanish For Awesome

Just watched the Milos Forman film Goya's Ghosts. This was an interesting film concerning the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition, the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic conquest of Spain. This is a brutal, brutal film, but is beautifully shot and acted, with a truly original plotline. The film features excellent performances from Javier Bardem, Stellan Skarsgard, and Natalie Portman (in a chameleon-like performance).

But the real reason to watch the film is another towering performance by Javier Bardem. What an amazing talent he is - Bardem brings an energy on screen that is not like any other actor. Darkness, evil, compassion, tenderness, sometimes all in the same film! I have now seen him in several films - Before Night Falls, No Country For Old Men, Collateral - and is hard to take your eyes off of while he is on screen. Cool as cool can be.

Anyway, check out Goya's Ghosts - it is brutal, but superb filmaking. Striking.

Rumble Fish: Still Underrated

The Sheila Variations is a great blog that I read often. It covers alot of my favorite topics - film, literature, art. But the author of the blog often touches on particular issues that I am into, namely James Joyce, Marlon Brando, and recently, a superb essay on one of my very favorite films of all time, Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish. Anyway, check it out here. It's great, and will remind you how amazing Mickey Rourke can be. Rourke truly is one of the most underated actors of the past 30 years, and is mesmerizing in Rumble Fish, but also in Angelheart, Diner, and the truly unparalled Barfly (which absurdly is not available on DVD). Anyway, check out Rourke, Rumble Fish, and the Sheila Variations - all good ways to spend your time.

Paper Trail Cover is Awesome, If Familiar

The new T.I. album cover, Paper Trail, is spectacular. British artist Ian Wright composed the artwork, and it is an excellent composite of materials. It is very reminiscent of many of my paintings. Good stuff.

Old Horror Movie Titles Rock

I love old movies, and being a typenerd, love their titles as well. What can I say? They are awesome. There will be more to come, because I can't get enough of them.

Here are some good ones.

Viva La Klosterman!

I know this blog has been alittle Klosterman-centric of late, but I do want to give special attention to Fargo Rock City. This book has dominated my thoughts of late, and could double as a memoir of my youth. Here, this says it best:

"Klosterman's highly touted debut has as much to do with Fargo, N.D., as the Coen brothers' slice of Americabre, Fargo. That is, nothing at all, really. Misleadingly titled to cash in on Fargo's cinematic mystique, Klosterman's memoir about growing up a sexually repressed metalhead, with a humiliating (mom-dictated) Richie Cunningham haircut is actually set in Wyndmere, N.D. Klosterman starts up with a bang ("You know, I've never had long hair"), shifts gears often (from memoir to music criticism, somewhat jarringly at times), and rarely idles. Ultimately, though, Klosterman, ironic throughout the book, does not write with enough sincerity to prove his thesis "that all that poofy, sexist, shallow glam rock was important." Granted, it's a daunting task to write a hymn of praise to the genre that spawned David Lee Roth so the author wisely stretches his pop-culture references like taffy. In the final chapter Klosterman, now an arts critic for Ohio's Akron Beacon Journal, quotes a friend's definition of a "guilty pleasure" "something I pretend to like ironically, but in truth is something I really just like" to explain how he really feels about glam metal. His closing summation of what metal means to isolated kids in the heartland will strike a power chord for many readers. Fans of 1980s M”tley Crue, Poison and Ratt are pushing 30 and 40 and seeking a nostalgia trip".

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Buy it here.

Record Cover Site

Sleevage is a wonderful website dedicated to the art of the album cover. It is packed with information concerning the design of each cover, and really appeals to an old-school record lover like me. Enjoy.

Check it out here.