Film Review: The Future

In 2005, Miranda July burst onto the independent film scene with Me and You and Everyone We Know. Six years later, and she’s back up to her old tricks in writing, directing, and starring in another darling film. In The Future, she and Hamish Linklater play a couple in Los Angeles who plan on adopting a cat. This is a cat that they’ve rescued, and they cannot adopt it until it finishes receiving medical care. It dawns on them that once the cat, affectionately named Paw Paw, comes in to their lives, it will provide a dramatic shakeup of how they have been living their lives to date. As a result, they come to the conclusion that they only have a month left to truly experience what live could be like. They quit their jobs and storm on full speed ahead. The following story landed at Calgary International Film Festival on Friday, September 22^nd and very much deserved to have landed such a coveted time slot during the film fest.

Without knowing much about July, it becomes more and more apparent through each film that she absolutely throws herself into everything she does. In both films, we get a great glimpse at just how caring strangers can be, but also how bizarre. Another common element up front is sex. Not sex appeal, but more so all the weird stuff that goes into sex, and the lengths people will go to get what they want. However, this film starts to take on a life of its own through the whimsical qualities it brings. I cannot remember the last time I saw a movie I enjoyed so thoroughly that was essentially narrated by a cat, but Paw Paw does a wonderful job of tying the story together. One of the most beautiful things about this movie though is through all the magical feelings that come across the screen, it never becomes out of touch with human beings of today. The characters on screen never lose touch with reality, which is a danger when tackling a project as the usual type of quirky business July has become associated with. Overall, this film gives a brutally wonderful story in an hour and a half, one in which you can’t help yourself be captured within it.

Even though The Future was only in town because of CIFF, it is definitely something worth going out of your way to go find and watch. There is no telling when July will produce another, or even if she will. Chances are though that she will make something you won’t know how to feel about until it’s over, and then want to go through it all over again.

- Other Nathan

Yip Deceiver - Self Titled EP

I had the good fortune of seeing these guys open for Gobble Gobble at Tubby Dog over Sled Island this year. It was basically a bunch of hipsters doing this awkward (but fun) backward/forward rooster style lean dance to this LOUD pop music being made by this wall of synths and drum machines while a ton of lights went off and hot dogs were thrown about. It was a total blast.
Yip Deceiver is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Davey Pierce, who may be better known for his work with of Montreal (though honestly, I dig this WAY more then of Montreal!) Now, its something of a collaborative project.
They play a really bouncy, fun take on 80's new wave and electronica, mixing synths and clever lyrics with indie melodies and a sheen of tasteful autotune ontop of the vocals. They really nail this nostalgic, teenage heartthrob sound with all of there gloss and glam. Normally, that kind of thing sickens me but its played so earnestly and goofily by these guys, I can't help but move move shake shake. It also kinda sounds like 8-Bit SNES videogame backround music, which is just straight up rad.
Its perfect pop music played electronically, and its just insanely catchy and weird and fun. Have I said weird enough? Have I used to many adjectives? You get the idea. Iits impossible to listen to these songs without bobbing your head!

1. Obnoxia
2. For All The Haters
3. Sadie Hawkins Day
4. Get Strict
5. Sadie Hawkins Day (Lonely Paul remix)

DL link here!

Braids - "Native Speaker"

I do yoga to Braids. I know thats a weird statement to start with, but it should give an idea of just how calming and amazing this band is.

Braids is an indie pop/art rock band from Calgary that lost a high school battle of the bands to a Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band. I saw them open for Deerhunter at Sled Island, and it was pretty mind expanding. They layer spacious, warmly melodic sounds and dynamic vocals with a perfect flow. If this all sounds a bit heavy handed to you, dont worry - they sound really playful and optimistic, but not overly so! Each song on this debut CD averages about 6 to 8 minutes long, but it never feels that long. They dont drag, and it constantly compels.
Its pretty amazing how they manage to both create such layers and walls of music while wrapping it around tight, catchy tunes. They transcend age and genres. There music just makes sense, in a really undescribable way. They speak to you, and listen to you.
They just really rule is what I'm trying to say, and I hope you dig them!

1. Lemonade
2. Plath Heart
3. Glass Deers
4. Native Speaker
5. Lammicken
6. Same Mum
7. Little Hand

DL here!

The Detractions are recording

Unless you are one of the dozens of people who have seen our basement shows with a revolving lineup for the past half a year, the title of this post is going to mean NOTHING to you. So I thought I would clarify.

The Detractions, after much apathy and procrastination, are doing some recording this weekend. In a basement. For a day. Seriously, settle down everyone!

Okay, lemme explain; The Detractions is a musical project I have been playing guitar and singing with for almost a year now with a bunch of other rad local musicians. Peter Cormier (from that awesome folk band Here on the Sun) plays drums, Richard Charter (solo shoegazing wizard) plays guitar as well, and Chris Donovan slaps the bass and does some wailing of his own. And then there's me, whose pretty cool I guess.

Its taken awhile to get settled down with a lineup. Initially I was playing bass and we had one of the guys from (the late) Random Task Collective playing guitar for us and for another while we were a three piece (pictured below.) We played a bunch of goofy cover shows where we all dressed up and jumped around, which was a ton of fun.

Yes, we dressed up as blink 182 and played 90's covers. We also impersonated Sex Bob-Omb for a Scott Pilgrim screening party.


But with Chris joining on bass and me moving to where I wanna be (playing guitar and whatnot) we finally got down to writing original material. The name came from a play on Elvis Costellos backing band, The Attractions.

We played a basement show with The Prabes and Cluster Fox about a month ago now, which went fairly well considering we had never played a show with original material before that. And now, we figured we would get some recording done before school/work gets to hectic for all of us.

I have alot of fun with it. Most of my previous bands were just straight ahead, humourless punk/grind or whatever which gets old pretty quick. The Detractions is great because we all come from different musical backrounds but it all meshes really well. Ontop of that, we dont take ourselves to seriously because whats the fun in that?

Long story short, were gonna record as many originals as we can in one day next Sunday. A friend of mine, local musician Phil Feiss (Fornskog, Garroting Deep) will be mixing for us, so many thanks to him. When its all done, were gonna sell copies free or for donation! Also, a free download will be posted to this blog in case ya'll are interested. Also, we may be playing an all acoustic gig at a coffee shop on 17th sometime soon so keep your eyes out for that. We may do more after that but between school and work, we probably wont start regularly gigging till after this december. I cant speak for all the guys though!

Anyways, just thought I would talk a bit about it. I'm super excited!

- Nathan I

Black Death Review

So I have just finished watching Black Death. The only thing that I can say is, it was pretty good. It's been a while since I've actually yelled at a movie in anger. It was quite the experience, one that is definitely welcome in my mind.

The movie is directed by Christopher Smith (Severence, Creep). He's known for directing on the horror/ thriller side of things and doesn't fail to deliver. He achieve's a sense of both suspense and breathlessness at the climax of the film that literEddieally had me at the edge of my seat. The music, which is conducted by Nick Ingman (Shakespeare in Love, Madagascar) builds the mood and chilled me to the bone. The choices made by Smith creates an aura of evil and gives off a satanic and dark feel.

The film itself doesn't follow any traditional storyline or plot that I can recognize. The story is about a kinght appointed by the church in 1348, right around the time of the first bubonic plague that struck England. This plague was also known as the Black Death because of the black spots and boils it leaves on its victims skin. Medicine in Europe had no means of stopping it and the Church's believed it to be God sending this plague as a means for us to pay for our sins. The knight, played by actor Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones) is sent to a remote village where it is rumored to be ruled by a woman who can raise the dead and may have Satanic ties. The monk that volunteers to lead him to this village is played by Eddie Redmayne (The Good Shepard, Powder Blue) and I must say he delivers a very powerful performance. His anguish, self doubt, and self destruction makes it a performance worth seeing. By the time the third act rolled around I was still craving more and still appropriatly creeped out.

And that's my first review. So how did I do? Feel free to leave a comment here, on Facebook, or on twitter @R_Galarneau. I will welcome any feedback ranging from opinions on how I can improve to what other movies you may want me to review. Well this has been a lot of fun. and Arrivederci for now friends!

~Riley

Hello Interwebs!

Hello to you who may or may not be reading this. My name is Riley and from the onset of this moment I will be bringing you reviews from the film and video game industries. The movies I review (at the moment) are limited to whatever Netflix manages to produce, so expect older films that are classics and other films that have probably flown under your radar. On the video game side of things, I'll mostly cover indie titles and allow my cohort Lukas to cover the games you more likely want to hear about.

I've always wanted to do something like this (review I mean) and now I can get a chance. Bare with me and we will make this a learning experience for all. The first movie I will review will be Black Death starring the wonderful Sean Bean, who is most noted as Being Boromir from The Lord of the Rings. Basically he's a very talented actor who manages to look bad ass all the time.

And that's about everything I have for now. Hopefully Nathan I will forgive me for the length of this post, and I promise my general posts won't always be this lengthy. In a couple hours I'll have my first review and we'll se how it goes from there. And yeah, Arrivederci for now!

~Riley

P.S. Now that I go back and read through this, it doesn't seem that long...

New writers! Yay!

So when I first started this blog a year ago, I had this vision in mind of multiple opinions being shared and voiced here and there. Its why I allow anonymous comments, and post on my other social networking sites.

However, until recently, this has basically been me yapping and venting to myself while others read or listen (if they so wish.) But alas, I have finally incorporated other writers to this blog! Yay for bucketlist.

You will be seeing posts from Riley (G-Man), Lukas (Why Bother), and another fellow named Nathan (softerpostcards) here fairly shortly. Lukas is going to focus mostly on video game reviews and opinions, since he is such an avid gamer himself. Riley will be all about film and video games here and there and as for the other Nathan, he's just gonna FSU and write with terrible grammar.

I'm really excited for things to be a group effort, for more then one viewpoint to be shown, and for more forms of art to be focused on. Video Games and Film are both, in my opinion, equally valid and crucial artforms that need to be acknowledged. Plus, Zelda rules.

Oh and as for myself, I'm gonna do a bit of it all with some Theatre and visual art thrown in. And I will still regularly post album downloads for those pirates of you out there because, well, music is best when it is free!

One more thing, from this point I will sign each post as "Nathan I" to avoid confusion.

Cheers,

- Nathan I

Last URL change. again. seriously.

I realize this is getting ridiculous, but I swear this is it.

the blog is now called http://dontgotobusiness-school.blogspot.com

I figured, thats the title that the blog itself has, so changing the URL to it is just less confusing. I'm also a pretty indecicive person by nature, but I swear to stick to this one.

As for the nature of the title itself, I have a friend who decided to go to business school instead of what he loved (theatre) and now he just hates his life. Its a bummer. Plus, its a lyric from a pretty cool Grown Ups song.

Also, I'm gonna be incorporating some other writers into this blog. Keep an eye out for that!

Cheers!

- Nate

Elvis Costello and the Attractions - "This Years Model"

I can't believe I have never posted this one before!
I have ALOT of respect for Elvis Costello, even if I don't like all of his music. He's my favorite lyricist ever, I love how he experiments with so many different styles, and is willing to work with such a diverse range of people. I actually sang a b-side of his from "My Aim Is True" to get into theatre school!
Most of the stuff I like by him is his early work with the Attractions, and this his second album is hands down my favorite record by him (and possibly, ever!)

He would start as a mid tempo country twang rocker and end up a new wave icon, but this album perfectly captures the time in between. Deftly blending organs and synths with classic rock and roll riffs, herky jerk punk grooves, and some seriously snarling lyrics. This was pissed off, cynical Elvis at his best, criticizing everything from the Radio to miniskirt wearing punkettes hanging out at McClarens SEX shop.
I wish I had discovered this album when I was a bombastic, self proclaimed punk rocker who sneered and hated on vague concepts like "government" and hate" and rocked out to my simple 1-2-3-4 chords. Dont get me wrong, that stuff still rules, but Elvis took all those ethos and actually added some intelligence to the mix. His tunes on this record were just as fast and catchy as anything the Damned did, but it also had a brain and a far more unique shine to it. I feel like it is ageless, as a result. Pump It Up, Radio Radio, (I Dont Want TO Go To) Chelsea..... There are SO many classic songs on here, I cant even handle it. Whats even better, he was an INCREDIBLE live performer at this point in his career; go youtube Costello in the 70's to see what I mean.
Bottom line, when people say that Elvis is the King of Rock and Roll, I think Costello.

1. No Action
2. This Year's Girl
3. The Beat
4. Pump It Up
5. Little Triggers
6. You Belong to Me
7. Hand in Hand
8. (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea
9. Lip Service
10. Living in Paradise
11. Lipstick Vogue
12. Night Rally
Bonus Tracks:
13. Radio, Radio
14. Big Tears
15. Crawling to the USA
16. Running Out of Angels
17. Greenshirt
18. Big Boys

DL here! Enjoy!

URL change.... back

Hey!

So I've changed the URL once again to its original name from about a year and a half ago. Its alot easier to refer to and search for, from what I hear. Plus, it sounds less like a freaky barbershop now!

Thanks guys!

blink 182 - "Neighborhoods" stream/review

Okay, first off, that album art rules. Just had to say it.

My relationship with blink 182 is like most music lovers, I find, except in the fact that I don't deny it. For many folks, blink was the intro drug that got them into louder, faster, and better music. For alot of other people, they're a nostalgia band who wrote insanely catchy and fun music which was surprisingly musically adept at times. For almost everyone who takes themselves to seriously (*cough people who call themselves punks or hipsters cough*) they are a guilty pleasure to NEVER be acknowledged.

But, I'm lucky enough to live in a city where blink 182 gets a modicum of respect! The Grown Ups, fantastic local band, does alot of covers of older blink tunes (particularly from dude ranch.) Most of my friends flock to blink shows, whenever they end up in town. Everyone loves blink 182! They sound like junior high and high school rolled into one, with a ton of dick
jokes to compliment it.

So now, they've gotten back together and wrote a new album called "Neighborhoods." And I just listened to a stream of it online, it gets officially released in two weeks. What do I think of it?

It just doesnt sound like blink 182 to me anymore. I could really break it down and construct a well developed analysis of why (and trust me, I will), but the teenager in me who loves blink just says "its not fun, its not immature, its not blink."

It's natural for bands to change and evolve and there are tons of them that turned out fantastically. When The Thermals did "Personal lives," gone was (most of) the lo-fi riff heavy punk stuff, replaced by personally written non political songs with a serious Modest Mouse/Death Cab indie vibe to it. It ruled. And it still sounded like The Thermals. The Undertones experimented with slower, more progressive songs after writing three buzzsaw pop punk albums. Against Me, despite what everyone says, still sounds like Against Me despite not writing simplistic acoustic anarcho songs anymore.
Even blink themselves wrote that self titled album years ago which experimented with synthesizers, intricate song patterns, and more mature lyrics. But it still sounded like Blink 182.

"Neighborhoods" is full of breakdown drum solos, spacy guitar effects, heavy riffs, heavy handed lyrics, plenty of heart-on-the-shoulder type sentiments. On paper this sounds awesome and its actually pretty good in practise. Listening to the album, I bobbed my head once in awhile, even found myself humming along with choruses.
But it is to apparant to me that each member of blink spent so much time doing side projects and as such, I dont hear a cohesive "blink 182" sound anymore. Tom DeLonge bends his voice into the pseudo whiney howl he uses with "Angels and Airwaves," while playing his guitar like it is a rocketship/synth/thing. Travis Barker spends most of his time showing us, the listener, how great a fucking drummer he thinks he is by dicking about with his high hats and throwing in a drum breakdown every 30 seconds, a habit born from making all his solo remixes of famous songs with drum beats. Mark Hoppus is the only guy who seems to know what blink is and what it should sound like, stretching his voice into really cool dimensions and playing solidly catchy bass lines while probably scissor kicking.
Mind you, its not up to a listener such as myself to tell blink 182 what they should and should not sound like. Thats for the band members themselves to decide. But I think they are trying to unify to many sounds at once, and as such, are forgetting what made them such a great band to begin with. Yea they have grown as musicians, and maybe that in itself is the problem. Tons of people listen to Dude Ranch or untitled not because it was particularly unique or different, but because they were instantly recognizable and fun. "Neighborhoods," while not exactly bad, sounds like any number of other bands or typical Warped Tour generic crap that passes for "Pop Punk" today. (I'm looking at you, All Time Low.)

So pick it up when it comes out if your curious, you might just enjoy it and think its another step forward for them as a band. I am indeed glad they are back and doing shows! But while I realize this is probably the direction they want to take as a band, I am always gonna be weirded out by this new sound they have cultivated for themselves. It just doesn't sound like what blink 182 should sound like to me, personally. I just pop in a copy of Dude Ranch and party down instead!

- Nathan

Back, again.

Hey guys. No, this blog isn't dead... just waiting.

Waiting for me to not be busy with school and job hunting.

My last post was a few months ago, but as I plan to try and write for my school newspaper, I'm going to keep this one going so I can showcase my writing/share the music I love/all that good stuff

I might also do video game and movie reviews here and there!

Anyways, stay tuned because I'm about to listen to a stream of the new blink 182 album. I'm not sure if I'm gonna like it though, because it doesnt seem to contain any songs about fucking your friends mom or girls at rock shows.

Stay free!

- N