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Best of 2006
CJ
2006 for me was a poor year in comparison to 2005.
Music
Roots - Game Theory
Some of their best tracks to date. Innovation at no expense to entertainment.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
Double album with few turkeys. A rare feat.
The Charlatans - Simpatico
Been around long enough to produce a reggaesque album
Band Of Horses - Everything All The Time
The new MMJ
Movies
Awesome - I Fuckin Shot That
Live
Pearl Jam - Astoria
19th Dec 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
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Walk the line
Having too much to drink and walking home can be dangerous
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15th Dec 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Jay-Z
Kingdom Come
HOVA comes out of retirement with mixed success. A few very good tracks but otherwise average. Chris Martin features (!)
24th Nov 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
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Mr Hudson + The Library
The Bread + Roses EP
It's often an interesting idea to combine hip-hop beats with more traditional vocals. It's also often a bit bland when it happens. Only the remix of the title track Bread + Roses, with more edgy beats and distorted vocals, is really of interest here.
23rd Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
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Bruce Springsteen
The Seeger Sessions: We Shall Overcome (American Land Edition)
Since making it big in 1975 with his third album Born To Run, Bruce Springsteen has had the artistic luxury of rarely releasing a record with the same sound as his last. The Seeger Sessions is no exception. A folk record, this is the first covers album The Boss has ever done. Based on the tracks recorded and popularised by Pete Seeger in the 40s, 50s and 60s the album was recorded with a large ensemble of musicians over two days, and as a result the album has a very live feel. Although this reviewer is not overly familiar with Pete Seeger's music, most tracks on this release have a familiar sound and feeling, as if perhaps we all used to sing them back in our school days.
Things kick off with the snappy and enticing banjo chords of Old Dan Tucker. This is one that would certainly get people to their feet at the hoe down. Springsteen's banjo and gravelly vocals sit perfectly alongside the bass and rythms of the big band. Next up is Jesse James the tale of Jesse James and his murder by The Coward Robert Ford. The band keep tempo with Springsteen's quick story telling developing into some saloon bar accordian.
The album moves on with much variation in tracks from the Seeger catalogue. Mrs McGrath tells the story of the mother of a son badly wounded during the civil war, their woes being spelt out with a strong fiddle accompanyment. O Mary Don't You Weep takes turns to faith and the story of Moses and Pharohs army drowning at the parting of the Red Sea. Pay Me My Money Down was sung by black ship workers when captains tried to slip out of harbour without paying them, and the title track We Shall Overcome reflects Springsteen's active criticism of the current US political regime as a famous song sung around the world in political protest for justice and equality.
This edition varies on the original April release with the addition of five extra tracks, the strongest of which Froggie Went A Courtin, and the excellent American Land, recorded live in front of a New York audience. However, all additional tracks are up to the quality of the original release and there is a sense that the back catalogue was there to produce many more tracks to this high standard.
This is not an album that you will play repeatedly, but like Springsteen's other more adventurous projects you will return to it again and again at times when something a little different is what's required.
19th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 4 star reviewsDJ Shadow
The Outsider
Shadows inspired first album Entroducing has dated, his second The Private Press hasn't. His third, The Outsider is less likely to even get off the ground.
Shadow has indulged in some of his own musical preferences here with the majority of the first half of the album as straight hiphop with guest rappers. Unfortunately on the whole the quality of these initial tracks is poor. The rapping, both lyrically and stylistically, as well as the beats, sound like something from a Busta Ryhmes b-sides album. A case in point being Keep Em Close (featuring Nump!), with chorus lyrics "keep your friends close but those that you want to rob, keep them closer"
One of the most appealing aspects of Shadow as an artist was his commitment to producing hiphop that shied away from this kind of predictable bragadosery nonsense. Its a shame he has included this too many times on this album. Much of the rapping sounds like it was recorded in one day as a freestyle with no preparation. Set against Shadows reputation for attention to detail this just doesn't work. Enuff featuring Q-Tip and Lateef exemplify this most glaringly.
Having said all this the second half of the album largely moves back to the innovation and eclecticism of samples, beats and instrumentation upon which Shadow made his name. The guitar on the New Orleans inspired Brocken Levee Blues, and the drumbeats on Artifiact really shake the listener out of the monotony that the first tracks slip them into. Unfortunately for this album I suspect it will be a case of too little too late.
18th Sep 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
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The Rifles
No Love Lost
These Jam wannabees hailing from Walthamstow have put together a pretty catchy short album. Certainly good enough to win me over from initial scepticism. Check out She's Got Standards, Hometown Blues and When I'm Alone. Nothing new but still entertaining.
29th Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 3 star reviewsThe Big Lebowski (Oudoors at Somerset House)
(dir. Joel Coen)
As usual "Some new shit came to light". This time with about 2000 other dudes and dudettes at Somerset House. Great movie, great setting, hampered only by a little drizzle mid-way.
22nd Aug 2006 - 4 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 4 star reviewsThe Black Dahlia
The jury's out on the trailer for Brian De Palma's movie adaptation of James Ellroy's Black Dahlia. Josh Hartnett just seems too clean cut for an Ellroy novel as dark as this.
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17th Aug 2006 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Star Status: Sean Connery
On a recent chimp beer session the subject of Sean Connery came up with some debate on his good movie to bad movie ratio. We've looked into his filmography and reckon he has a success rate of around 30% (and we are being a little generous). Not very impressive. Watch out for more in this series.
(2003) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - MISS
(2001) Finding Forrester - MAYBE
(1999) Entrapment - MISS
(1998) Playing By Heart - MISS
(1998) The Avengers - MISS
(1996) The Rock - MAYBE
(1996) Dragonheart - MISS
(1995) Just Cause - MISS
(1995) First Knight - MISS
(1994) A Good Man In Africa - MISS
(1993) Rising Sun - MISS
(1992) Medicine Man - MISS
(1991) Highlander II: Renegade Version - MISS
(1990) The Hunt For Red October - MAYBE
(1990) The Russia House - MISS
(1989) Family Business - MISS
(1989) Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade - HIT
(1988) The Presidio - MISS
(1987) The Untouchables - HIT
(1986) Highlander - MAYBE
(1986) The Name Of The Rose - HIT
(1984) Sword of the Valiant - MISS
(1983) Never Say Never Again - MISS
(1982) Five Days One Summer - MISS
(1982) Wrong Is Right - MISS
(1981) Outland - MAYBE
(1981) Time Bandits - MAYBE
(1979) Cuba - MISS
(1979) Meteor - MISS
(1979) The Great Train Robbery - MAYBE
(1977) A Bridge Too Far - MAYBE
(1976) Robin And Marian - MAYBE
(1976) The Next Man - MISS
(1975) The Man Who Would Be King - MAYBE
(1975) The Terrorists - MISS
(1975) The Wind And The Lion - MISS
(1974) Murder On The Orient Express - MISS
(1974) Zardoz - MISS
(1973) Offence - MISS
(1971) Diamonds Are Forever - MAYBE
(1971) The Anderson Tapes - MAYBE
(1971) The Red Tent - MISS
(1970) The Molly Maguires - MISS
(1968) Shalako - MISS
(1967) You Only Live Twice - MAYBE
(1966) A Fine Madness - MISS
(1965) The Hill - HIT
(1965) Thunderball - MISS
(1964) Goldfinger - HIT
(1964) Marnie - MAYBE
(1964) Woman Of Straw - MISS
(1963) From Russia With Love - HIT
(1962) Dr. No - HIT
(1962) The Longest Day - MISS
(1961) On the Fiddle - MISS
(1961) The Frightened City - MISS
(1959) Darby O'Gill and the Little People - MISS
(1959) Hard Drivers - MISS
(1959) Tarzan's Greatest Adventure - MISS
(1958) Another Time, Another Place - MISS
(1957) A Night to Remember - MISS
(1957) Action of the Tiger - MISS
(1957) No Road Back - MISS
(1957) Time Lock - MISS
(1954) Lilacs in the Spring - MISS
That's:
65 films
47 Misses
10 Hits
8 Maybes
Giving a generous 10 points to the hits, 5 to the maybes and 1 to the misses generates 187 points out of a possible 650.
28.8%
Sean Connery
Rated
17th Jul 2006 - 15 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Home exchange
Another of those ideas that is so simple its brilliant and leaves you feeling annoyed someone else did it first.
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12th Jul 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
The Aviator
(dir. Martin Scorcese)
I didn't have a huge desire to see this film, as I'm not a particularly big DiCaprio fan. However, I kept hearing that it was good so stuck it on the rental list and am glad that I did.
I previously knew absolutely nothing about Howard Hughes - other than the fact he had been involved in filmmaking. This story charts the first half of his life - taking us through all the eclectic events of these years, from his massive expenditure pursuing his love of aviation and movies, a brief tip of the hat to his development of a new type of bra, his relationships with his leading ladies and most interestingly his struggle with inner demons and paranoia.
The casting and acting throughout are superb. DiCaprio is excellent, as is Cate Blanchet as Katherine Hepburn. But the supporting cast all add something to the film - Jude Law makes a brief appearance as Errol Flynn and Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow.
The visual style of the film is big, in the same way that Hughes approached all his projects. Scorsese presents a very grand scope for everything and the (presumably cgi) moments with DiCaprio making the virgin flights of new aircraft are breathtaking. In contrast, the depiction of his mental health problems is also eloquently done as Hughes encamps in his private cinema.
This film is long and only covers the first half of Howard Hughes life, so presumably there is room for a sequel. The acting, directing and cinematography all add up to make this well worth watching.
12th Jul 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet
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