The Christopher Myers

Another introduction that we have to keep short, because Chris has provided us with his own commentary. This is not a bad thing, but why would you want to hear from me when you can hear from them?

A man who needs little to no introduction around these parts. He posts every once-in-a-while on this blog as poor poor pitiful me, usually when he has a problem with the way things are run. He's an all-around good guy, good softball player, good voice that will melt you like butter, good predecessor to my Calvert Hall math award, good egg baby, good Disney collector, and some kind of television expert, etc. He also posts pretty infrequently at a blog called The French Inhaler. If you backtrack I highly recommend you check out the kids who prank call him. Really good bit.

Anyway, Chris twisted the concept of Friends Recommend by recommending to you things he now likes that he was originally determined to hate. Here we go, in his own words:

THINGS I WAS DETERMINED TO HATE:

TV:

Friday Night Lights ---I thought that High School Football + Goofy Looking Teens and Dementiated Grandmas = A terrible show. Every episode on hulu.com. If you watch the first episode and don't want to keep watching, you're heartless. Tyra Collette, Matt Saracen, Tim Riggins, Buddy Garrity, Smash Williams, Coach Taylor, Tami Taylor, Matt Saracen's grandma, Jason Street, Landry "Lance" Clark...I have no clue how to determine my favorite character. I can't think of many other shows where I can list the first, last and nick name of nearly every possible character.

Battlestar Galactica ---While frustrating sometimes because of their "We'll make it up as we go along" long-term plotting strategy, this Sci-Fi is so much more than just some lame spaceship show and I can look past the little WTF-were-they-thinking detours. Gaius Baltar.

30 Rock ---Was a staunch supporter of "Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip" in the battle of the "Behind The Scenes at a Sketch Comedy Show" shows, so I resented this show when Studio 60 got canceled and this one lived on. This one is good, it turns out. I included this so that Adam could riff on an episode of this and then pretend I didn't recommend anything else.

Corner Gas ---The most unattractive cast in all of television would turn anyone away initially. Find yourself a good Oscar-centric episode (Mail Fraud? Spin Cycle? Mosquito Time? Slow Pitch? Dress For Success?) and fall in love.

Movies:

Memento ---Once it was released on DVD, I decided to give it a chance and see if Dave Wright could actually act or not. Turns out he's awesome.

Music:

Jonathan Richman - Surrender to Jonathan
Randy Newman - Sail Away / Good Old Boys ---Spent my first 18/23 years throwing these two in the category of "Supposed genius songwriters who were blessed with a non-voice and record their music in a style that makes it almost unlistenable." I included this so that Adam could pretend that "I Love LA" is on one of these two Randy albums and then call it a day.

Nick Lowe - Rose of England/Jesus of Cool ---Spent my first 26 years thinking he was some lame old guy.

Gram Parsons - GP/Grevious Angel ---Spent my first 20 years thinking he was Graham Parker, whom I incidentally have never heard either, but seems like a lame old guy.

Bee Gees - Main Course ----Spent my first 24 years thinking this would be too much high singing for me, then heard rumors that their first few albums were considered by some to be the Lost Beatles albums, which is pretty accurate. Then I explored the disco era in depth. This Main Course is something special.

Kenny Rogers - Eyes That See In the Dark ---Spent my first 20 years thinking that Kenny was a chicken-eating borderline douchebag. Barry Gibb wrote and produced this album. Sure, there's "Islands In the Stream," but on top of that, we have some of the best songs I've heard in my adult life. Perhaps too Adult Contemporary for some.

Miscellaneous:

Google Reader. ---Google Reader is Google's best invention. It has made me better friends with friends of mine who also use it to read internet stuff. I was never determined to hate it.

Chutes Too Narrow--The Shins

The Shins are a confusing band to me. I really like The Shins, and I think they are the best of the "The _______" bands that all seemed to pop up around the same time. You know, about five years ago (maybe a little less) it seemed like "The _______" bands were getting very popular where the "_______" is a four or five letter word, like Hives, or Strokes. Well, I like the Strokes too, but there were a lot of these bands that I didn't consider so good. I consider the Shins good. Just prior to Garden State coming out my brother made me a mix CD (this would have been the tail end of 2003, or the beginning of 2004) to take back to grad school in Michigan with me. I listened to it a lot of times in the car ride back, which was about 9 hours each way, and continued to listen to it for the next couple of months. The standout track on this album was "Kissing the Lipless" by the Shins. If any Shins song were to change my life it would be this one, not that other one about which that quote was previously spoken by a tiny Jedi queen.

Anyway, I loved this song, and when Garden State came out I have to admit I started feeling a little funny about really liking The Shins. Now I'm not a weirdo, and I didn't let it effect my liking of this band, but something just felt funny. Like all of the sudden hearing The Shins had this connection to Garden State and made me think of the movie even if it wasn't this song. The little included montage is exactly what I am talking about. The Shins were good to begin with...they didn't need to be tied in with movie imagery, but I just couldn't shake it. Everytime I heard the band I didn't want to hear the quote "Good luck exploring the infinite abyss" or something like that. Well, whatever. I actually do like the movie, and I actually do really like The Shins. I just wish they weren't tied together in my brain for so long (I have since gotten over this!)

I am glad Mike Ward picked this one. I think it is a great album from start to finish, especially from start because it begins with my favorite Shins song. The whole album is good, rock with a slight twang. That is how I think of it. It can rock moderately hard, but it has this little twist (are they from the south?) If you somehow haven't heard The Shins this is the place to start, for me. If you haven't heard The Shins I'm not sure where you've been. But if you have this connection of them with Garden State like I previously did, and you judge them for it, I advise you pick up this album and check out what they're really about. It's worth it. Here is a live version of Kissing the Lipless. Just for you. Also, great handclaps.

John Waters' Top Ten Films of '08

Two posts in one day! So I stole this from artforum.com, but you need to register so I saved you all the trouble by just reposting it. An indirect John Waters' recommends his top 10 films of last year. Warning: Contains John Waters-esque language. Enjoy:

1 Sorry, it’s a tie: (A) Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen) Does anybody not think this is the best American movie of the year (even though it was made in Spain)? Come on, it’s got a great script, the actors look like real movie stars, and Woody Allen films Scarlett Johansson with the same obsession Paul Morrissey had for Joe Dallesandro. Gives heterosexuality a good name! (B) Love Songs (Christophe Honoré) I may be the only person who would pick this as the best foreign-language movie of the year, but what do I care if you don’t like this hipper-than-thou bisexual French musical? When the sexy, smart-ass characters burst into songs about brain tumors, saliva, and human sandwiches, I get all teary inside and realize that this is the only romantic comedy I’ve ever really loved.

2 Mister Lonely (Harmony Korine) A Marilyn Monroe look-alike lures a Michael Jackson impersonator to an island that is sort of like a cinematic Jonestown without the suicide, except for nuns who jump out of a plane piloted by Werner Herzog. Korine’s most fully realized movie doesn’t copy anybody.

3 Savage Grace (Tom Kalin) Julianne Moore in the best Isabelle Huppert role of the year. When a bad mother with good clothes fucks her sexy son, we feel downright criminal in our celluloid enjoyment.

4 Man on Wire (James Marsh) To see Philippe Petit lie down on the tightrope strung between the World Trade Center buildings as the police attempt to arrest him is to experience the most joyous defiance of the law ever seen on film.

5 The Last Mistress (Catherine Breillat) A brilliant costume drama that gets down on its tripod to worship the amazingly pillowy lips of its male lead, Fu’ad Aït Aattou. The most seductively sexual on-screen storytelling since Salò.

6 My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin) I remain frozen in admiration of this homegrown masterpiece from the most reluctantly radical and humorously tortured maverick working in the movies today.

7 The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky) The director may be channeling the Dardenne brothers, but Mickey Rourke eerily reminds me of Jean Marais bringing beauty to the Beast in Cocteau’s La Belle et la Bête. Just imagine Mickey’s Oscar speech!

8 Taxi to the Dark Side (Alex Gibney) Once you see this documentary about an Afghan cabbie who was at the wrong place at the wrong time in the US war on terror, you’ll feel like rioting in the streets. Go ahead. Turn over a car. It’s good for you.

9 Milk (Gus Van Sant) Sean Penn’s amazing performance as Harvey Milk will make everybody in America have a gay agenda. I also salute the director’s restraint in not showing Dan White eating Twinkies.

10 Cassandra’s Dream (Woody Allen) Colin Farrell’s best performance ever as a guilt-ridden murderer who lets his remorse eat him alive. And I’m certainly not sorry to tell you the critics were wrong on this one.

Hard Candy (2005)

We're flipping back a few lists again. I have a movie or two in the works from this Ward list, and one from the Todd list, but I need to obtain them before I can watch them. Hard Candy comes from Heather's picks a couple weeks back, and after just finishing it a few minutes ago I'm not too sure how I feel about it. I'm not sure that you can consider this a recommends because I'm not sure that I recommend it. It was good, there is no question about that...so in that sense I am saying that you might want to see this movie. But I don't know that any movie I've ever seen (minus maybe Meet the Parents) has made me feel this uncomfortable for the entire duration of the movie (in a completely different way than Meet the Parents).

Ellen Paige (Juno) plays a very un-Juno role in this one. I will only give away plot that occurs within the first 15 minutes, but basically not-Juno meets an older guy (I think my math award skills calculated that he was 32, and her supposedly 14) via the world wide web. You remember chat rooms, right? Do they still exist? Anyway, they talk on the internet, arrange a meeting, he reluctantly allows her to come back to his house, and she drugs him with a screwdriver (the beverage) and holds him captive in his own house. The plot that unfolds is good, and maybe now that I have finished it and don't feel so uncomfortable, and have had one hot toddy I might be realizing that I liked it. You be the judge for yourself. Here is the trailer if it helps:

Killing Yourself To Live--Chuck Klosterman

Mike Ward calls Killing Yourself To Live by Chuck Klosterman the funniest book he's ever read. This means a lot to me, so I just ordered it with a Barnes and Noble gift certificate that I had from Christmas. We'll see about this one, but I must admit excitement to give it a try. A seemingly good description of the book:

For 6,557 miles, Chuck Klosterman thought about dying. He drove a rental car from New York to Rhode Island to Georgia to Mississippi to Iowa to Minneapolis to Fargo to Seattle, and he chased death and rock 'n' roll all the way. Within the span of twenty-one days, Chuck had three relationships end -- one by choice, one by chance, and one by exhaustion. He snorted cocaine in a graveyard. He walked a half-mile through a bean field. A man in Dickinson, North Dakota, explained to him why we have fewer windmills than we used to. He listened to the KISS solo albums and the Rod Stewart box set. At one point, poisonous snakes became involved. The road is hard. From the Chelsea Hotel to the swampland where Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane went down to the site where Kurt Cobain blew his head off, Chuck explored every brand of rock star demise. He wanted to know why the greatest career move any musician can make is to stop breathing...and what this means for the rest of us.

If the description interests you, there is a longish excerpt (I believe from the beginning of the book) RIGHT HERE! I could see how this guy's approach could annoy a number of readers over at Amazon that gave the book a bad review, but it seems right up my alley. Good call Mike Ward...looking forward to the rest.

On a side note, what do you all think of this Bon Iver guy? I'm listening to For Emma, Forever Ago at the recommendation of both TJ Huff and Mike Gittings. I think they hit it with this one. Real good so far. The first time I listened to it was in the car and the second time in some good headphones. This is a headphone album for sure.

Okkervil River--Stage Names

Yet another recommends that I initially wrote off as not liking, and on repeat listening it grew on me and kept growing until I found myself listening to it all the time. This is a Mike Ward recommends, but it was recommended to me about 6 months ago by brother Eric when I joined emusic.com.

Okkervil River is often tagged indie folk, and it was the overly folky elements that needed some time to grow on me. They come to us from Austin, Texas which by many accounts is the biggest music town in the country, so it isn't a bad place for a band to be coming from. Part of what bothered me initially with this record was that a lot of the songs sounded very much the same, with really similar chord progressions. On repeat listenings the subtle differences in the songs began to emerge and I realized how well it worked together as a whole album, with an album sound. Stage Names was my introduction to the band, and although I really enjoy it I haven't checked out any of their other albums. I think the next one for me is going to be the most recent album The Stand Ins, and I'll take it from there. For anyone looking for late night driving music, Stage Names is an album to buy.

I was amazed to find out that the official release of Stage Names contains only 9 tracks, and ends with John Allyn Smith Sails, a great song that ends with an acoustic blowout of Sloop John B. The emusic download that I got has 10 tracks and ends with a song called Love To A Monster. Upon further investigation it seems that this is an emusic.com special track tagged on the end of the album. The problem for all of you is that this is my favorite track on the album! I've included it here for those of you who have the album but not the track, and also for those of you who want to hear what Okkervil River sounds like, because this is a good example. I like how this guy sounds like he's really struggling to sing, and at any given moment the next line just won't come out. Pretty good. Once again, you can't post mp3's to blogspot, so I had to make an iMovie. I included some monster pictures for your enjoyment:

Michael Ward

This guy is definitely my kind of guy. In the past couple years we've become better friends through our involvment with the Baltimore-based glorified cover band the Egg Babies Orchestra. Mike is the keyboard wizard in the band, and we spend a lot of time in and out of rehearsals coming up with funny Davis scenarios. We also share an embarassing love of Saved By the Bell, which is not mentioned in his list. In addition to the Egg Babies, guy plays with Steve Hefter and the Friends, Friends, Friends, and does he also maybe play with Jason Dove? I'm not sure about that one, but I suspect. Regardless he plays a lot, and added keyboard work to Water School albums also, back when they were still a great band (a band at all).

Mike's approach to this list was similar to Todd's, but it's better that you read it in your own words:

In creating this list, I've looked over the other lists that exist so far, and realized many of them include things I love, so I tried to be different, if that's helpful at all. Also this list comprises of things that are more recent to me. Books I've read within the past 3 to 4 years that I really enjoyed, things I've discovered within the past 5 to 6 years in general (with a few exceptions). Also, if I were to say one of these things on the list is for you, it's absolutely the Chuck Klosterman book. If you haven't read it yet, do so. It's the funniest book I've ever read.

Will do, Mike! And now on to the Mike Ward list (all neatly organized in fives!):

Music: (five albums)

Okkervil River--Stage Names
The Zombies--Odessey and Oracle
Neko Case--Blacklisted
Ryan Adams--Cold Roses
The Shins--Chutes Too Narrow

Books: (five books)

Chuck Klosterman--Killing Yourself To Live
Yann Martel--The Life of Pi
John Hodgman--Areas of Expertise
Gabriel Garcia Marquez--One Hundred Years of Solitude
Steve Martin--Born Standing Up

Film: (five movies)

I think all of my faves have been named here already, so I've listed movies I discovered on a whim and really enjoy.

The Lives of Others
Bullets Over Broadway
Conversations With Other Women
Children of Men
The Prestige

TV Shows: (you guessed it, five TV shows)

Stella
Curb Your Enthusiasm--Season Six
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia--Season Three
Arrested Development
Extras--Season Two

Field of Dreams

"If you build it he will come..." is a line made famous by this movie, but found parodied countless times in films like Waynes World and the Cable Guy, and TV shows like Family Guy, the Critic, and even the childhood favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It is the first of a few whispers heard by an Iowa farmer, Ray Kinsella (Kevin Cosner), that cause him to plow under his corn and build a baseball field. After months of nothing happening and the family going near bankrupt, Ray's daughter notices a man in the yard. The man turns out to be the baseball legend Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta), one of 8 Chicago White Sox banned after supposedly fixing the 1919 World Series. The rest of the banned White Sox later join him, and Ray goes on a country-wide trip to try to save the field and realize the rest of his mission. Along the way he encounters Terrance Mann (James Earl Jones) who is a character based on J.D. Salinger, and Archibald Moonlight Graham, who I just discovered was based on a real ballplayer who played in only one game in right field on June 29, 1905.

Field of Dreams is a classic among classic movies, and my favorite of any sports film. It is based on the novel Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella which is another recommends from Todd. It is probably the most quoted movie of my whole life, and was a major force in the raising of me and my brother. We have probably seen it over a hundred times, and I'm amazing that the tape still plays. It sits at number 6 on AFI's Top 10 Fantasy Films of All-Time, and number 9 on the Kleenex-sponsored 100 Greatest Tearjerkers. You'll cry like a little girl at the end. Most likely after this classic speech by James Earl Jones:



ESPN has their own top 25 greatest sports movies list, but we at Friends Recommend feel a little different. Sure their list is fine, but our top ten are as follows (in order, and note that I have never seen Hoosiers):

1. Field of Dreams
2. The Sandlot
3. A League of Their Own
4. The Natural
5. Bad News Bears
6. Teen Wolf (yeah, that's right)
7. Rocky 1-3
8. Caddyshack
9. Major League
10. Hoop Dreams

Upset that I snubbed The Mighty Ducks? I urge you to post your favorites in the comment section. Don't be shy now, and seriously Rudy? Wow. I just found out that Sean Astin (Rudy, Lord of the Rings, etc.) is NOT the guy who played Herc in the Wire. Apparently it was Dominick Lombardozzi. But come on, look at these guys:

Richard Brautigan--The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western

Those of you who are on their toes and up-to-date blog readers will know that this isn't a Todd Hargest pick. The Hawkline Monster by Richard Brautigan dates all the way back to our JesKA post some weeks ago. Tonight I realized a major flaw with this blog, one that Chris Myers not-so-subtly hints at often. When I post a friends recommend list on a Friday and begin trying to make sense of it and comment the following Monday, it gives me no time to check out anything on the list except for the things that I am already in-the-know about. This is OK in the case of someone like my brother, because he and I have similar, almost brotherly tastes on these things. But for someone whose list I am less familiar with, as was the case with JESka, I have to scramble, hastily research, and write a mediocre "review" that you could have easily come up with yourself via the help of Wikipedia. This type of thing works OK with records, art, and sometimes even TV shows because they don't take considerable time to consume and form an opinion of. But I have no way to read a book overnight, or even over a whole weekend in time to comment bright and early on Monday morning.

My new, slightly different approach is this, and I feel like it is more in tune with why I created this blog in the first place, which was to become aware of things you love and to make other people aware of them too. I will still spend a couple days a week addressing our recommendeerer of the hour. Did you think Todd could recommend Field of Dreams and not have me say something about it? But I am also going to try to focus on really digesting the stuff on some of our previous lists, and update you as that happens. Both Eric and Ricky B have recently read Jonathon Safron Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, a pick from our first post by Timothy J. Huff. Both came back with positive (at points even rave) reviews of the book, even if it did give Brother Eric heavy boots during his cruise. So to my readers I ask, does this sound like a worthwhile change around here? It makes me enjoy this more, and it makes my part in the whole thing more effective for my loyal reader. I might even throw some of my own recommends in from time to time.


The reason for the change is that tonight I finished The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western. Jessica obviously feels strongly about this story, as she gave it to me (as part of a book with two other Brautigan stories) for Christmas. I really enjoyed the story, almost to the point of saying that I loved it. It is the last story of this book, and it makes me excited to flip back and read the other two included. The story is that of two hitmen, Cameron and Greer, who, as most hitmen do, kill people for a living (comma city in here!). It starts with them on Hawaii camping out to kill a man, but they can't pull the trigger because the man they are hired to off is teaching his young son to ride a horse. I have to say that for hitmen, these are two extremely likeable characters. After returning from the unsuccessful and not profitable trip to Hawaii the hitmen are summoned by an Indian girl named Magic Child, who turns out to not be an Indian at all. Cameron and Greer are taken by Magic Child to meet a Miss Hawkline who gives them each $5,000 to kill the Hawkline Monster. Lots of weird stuff happens at this point in the story but I don't want to give it away.

I would consider the book funny, but in a very dry way. It is also very to the point. This Brautigan guy knows how to say a whole lot with very little. The book is laid out in 3 large chapters and then broken down into mini-chapters, each being 1-3 pages. Every small event in the book is given its own heading making a lot of these mini-chapters. I also really enjoyed this element, as it was different and it made it a fast read (someone with an hour or two to kill could probably read the entire 210-page story. Especially a fast reader). Anyway, kudos to Jessica for a great pick...I enjoyed it from start to finish. Also, doesn't Brautigan on the cover of the book here remind you of Zach, the bass player from J Roddy Walston and the Business here?

I'm Alan Partridge--Steve Coogan

My exposure to Steve Coogan came via Chris Myers' Monday lunches, where he, brother Eric, Chris Laun, and myself would eat slices, wing dings, pizza prizes, and medium cokes from Never On Sundays and watch episodes of I'm Alan Partridge. This show certainly had its moments of hilarity, but brother Eric and myself threatened to put an end to Monday lunches if the show of choice continued to be I'm Alan Partridge. It's not that it was bad or unfunny, but man does this guy drive you nuts...especially on a weekly basis. Rumor has it that after I graduated Peabody they continued on with these Monday lunches until Chris moved out of Mount Vernon. They made the switch from I'm Alan Partridge to another Todd pick and Steve Coogan series, Saxondale. According to brother Eric this was much better received.

It is funny how much longer the wikipedia entry is for Alan Partridge, the fictional character who appears in Day to Day, Knowing Me, Knowing You, and I'm Alan Partridge, than the entry of Steve Coogan, the actor, writer, producer who created and played him. Wikipedia really has the life of Alan Partridge covered. My best explanation of the show is that Alan Partridge is a washed up celebrity (during the show he's a late-night radio host), who is trying to get back in the spotlight (or just make some money) any way that he can. The season that I saw he was living in a hotel, and most of the show's funniest moments came while he was interacting with the hotel staff. The show obviously had something going for it, but for me the character of Alan Partridge drove me nuts. This is a perfect example of Todd's list partially being things that might need a second chance. I might like this one more the second time around. This first clip was emailed to me by Chris today, and it is one of my favorite moments in the show. We've even threatened to drink ladyboys one night, and I could probably still be convinced. The second is another clip from I'm Alan Partridge...I really like this laughing guy in the elevator.

Some Todd Highlights

Hey Friends. No time for a full post today, and I considered not posting at all because it is a holiday. So what we're going to do is highlight some of Todd's picks that I think are great, but won't get to this week in detail. Partially because some are widely known already, and as with the Maritime pick I don't know enough about them to really write anything. So here are three videos highlighting some of the picks from Todd's list.

All the Bowie songs that Seu Jorge covered for the Life Aquatic soundtrack are really great. This is one of my favorites complete with video footage. Todd I hope you get as chilled out when you listen to this as Seu Jorge seems before he plays it. Life On Mars:



OK, sorry but Changes was too good to not include also:



I have only seen a couple episodes of Flight of the Conchords, but this is one of my favorite scenes so far. Most Beautiful Girl In the Room:



And this is a Maritime video for a song from We, the Vehicles which is the album Todd recommends. I do need to buy this album. Dismemberment Plan is one of my all-time favorite bands, half for how great their music is, and half for sentimental reasons. Here is Tearing Up the Oxygen:

Telephone Pictionary Blog

A quick reminder, and a heads-up for those of you who have been on a boat for the past week. Recently-featured Friends Recommender Heather Van De Mark has a sweet new blog all based on the lovable game Telephone Pictionary. Hilarious classics are available for your viewing pleasure at telephonepictionary.wordpress.com. If you are the artist behind one of the anonymously labeled drawings give her a heads-up to receive your proper credit.

Todd Hargest

Look at this guy, being all angry in the chair. Todd Hargest has been a friend for longer that I initially realized. Friends of older brother Eric's since high school at Calvert Hall, the early stages of mine and Todd's interactions were mostly just him calling me and all of my friends weiners. He did this a lot. Then we had a couple bands together like Mr. Belvadere (I think we spelled it wrong on purpose) and McNASA, in which Todd played guitar and sang about Larissa Oleynik. We are still waiting for Ben Valis to book that reunion tour.

These days Todd and I play softball together (mostly losing), and eat half-off burgers and beers at Swallow at the Hallow together. The following is Todd's approach to Friends Recommend in his own words.

If I was doing a straight 'my favorites' list it would probably look a lot like Eric's or Chris' or Rick's or your's, etc. So I tried to make a list of what I would recommend to people. Great stuff that should have a first look/read/listen or an open minded second. That's the point, right? Anyway here are my lists, Jerkface:

Music:

Archers of Loaf--All the Nations Airports (1996)
Seam--The Pace Is Glacial (1998)
Les Savy Fav--The Cat and the Cobra (1999) the best band I've ever seen live? Definitely top 3
Super Furry Animals--Rings Around the World (2001)
Q and Not U--Power (2004)
Seu Jorge--The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions (2005) my number one chill out album.
Maritme--We, the Vehicles (2006) members of Dismemberment Plan + Promise Ring
Tokyo Police Club--A Lesson Crime (2006)
Georgie James--Places (2007)

Television:

Flight of the Concords
Anything Steve Coogan--Knowing Me, Knowing You, I'm Alan Partridge, Saxondale
The Loop
Wings--underrated classic
Extras
Lookwell!--Conan O'brien sitcom pilot
JPOD--Canadian comedy/drama based on Douglas Copeland novel of the same name. Alan Thicke plays the dad!
OZ

Movies:

Eagle vs. Shark
Field of Dreams
Annie Hall
Manhattan
Stranger Than Fiction

Books:

Shampoo Planet--Douglas Copeland
In Our Time--Ernest Hemingway
Lolita--Vladimir Nabokov
Travels With Charlie--John Steinbeck
Shoeless Joe--W.P. Kinsella

Very nice, Todd. The editor is excited about the Maritime pick because he has never heard that band and loves the Dismemberment Plan. Also he can get it for cheap on emusic. The editor also likes the chronological listing of the music picks.

Adam was listening to Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs at the time of this post, and he isn't sure about it. He likes the cover art though.

House of Leaves--Mark Danielewski

This one is on my list of books to read. HSV has told me many many times that it is a must read book, but I balk at the length, and density, and seemingly confusing plotline. Regardless, it is on my list of books to read, right near the top!

House of Leaves was a bestselling novel after its release in 2000, but only in the past couple of months have I really heard a whole lot about it. It seems like a couple people I know read it around the same time, and all had good things to say about it. I will include a brief plot synopsis taken from this detailed wikipedia entry in a minute. But more interesting that the plot (which seems to take on 3 or 4 co-existing stories) is the layout of the book. I have never before seen a book presented in such a unique and interesting way. When I looked at it in Heather's presence, she tried to stop me from flipping ahead and looking at these things, but I snuck a few peaks. To enhance the story the text is laid out in all different ways to make the reader feel what is happening more. Some paragraphs are written in little boxes and typed backwards, some pages contain only one word. I remember at one point a character in the book is crawling through a tunnel and the text on each page is written in a small tunnel shape (with the rest of the page blank) to create the image of you crawling through this tunnel. The font for each of the four characters' narrative is also different (maybe as an aid to keep them all straight). There are also footnotes, and footnotes to footnotes all over the book. The only color other than black is blue, and it is only (and always) used for the word "house". Also, the front cover is slightly smaller than the rest of the book, so the pages sort of seep out over the edges of the cover.

This doesn't even begin to cover all of the innovative design elements of the book, but I haven't read it yet so I don't know all of them. Even if the story is terrible, which I hear it isn't, it would be fun to read just for all of this extra stuff. It must be good for the publisher to print all this blank space for art's sake. Here is a brief plot rundown, followed by some screenshots from inside the book (and don't mind the links, that is wikipedia's doing):

House of Leaves begins with a first-person narrative by Johnny Truant, a Los Angeles tattoo parlor employee. Truant is searching for a new apartment when his friend Lude tells him about the apartment of the recently deceased Zampanò, a blind, elderly man who lived in Lude's building.

In Zampanò's apartment, Truant discovers a manuscript written by Zampanò that turns out to be an academic study of a documentary film called The Navidson Record.

The rest of the novel alternates between Zampanò's report on the fictional film, Johnny's autobiographical interjections, a small transcript of part of the film from Navidson's brother, Tom, a small transcript of interviews to many people regarding The Navidson Record by Navidson's partner, Karen, and occasional brief notes by unidentified editors, all woven together by a mass of footnotes. There is also a fourth narrator, Johnny's mother, whose voice is presented through a self-contained set of letters titled The Whalestoe Letters. Each narrator's text is printed in a distinct font, making it easier for the reader to follow the occasionally challenging format of the novel.

Ralph Eugene Meatyard--Scary Masks

Ralph Eugene Meatyard was an optician turned photographer, not becoming the latter until buying a camera to document the life of his first child. By most accounts he was on the path to higher artistic achievement at the time of his early death in 1972 (he was only 47 years old). At the time of his death he had photographed and laid out a book titled The Family Album of Lucybelle Crater to be soon published. When it was released after his death it included this insightful preface by James Rhem. I highly recommend taking the 5 minutes to read it if you look at these photographs, enjoy them, and wonder what the huh is going on.

Heather made special note of Meatyard's photographs of people in scary masks, of which I will share a few. I'm not sure if all of these are from The Family Album of Lucybelle, but at least a couple of them are. My initial surface-level impression of these pieces is that he photographed his family and friends in normal daily situations, but with the added element of these super-freaky masks. Of the masks Meatyard himself said this:

Billboards in any art are the first things that one sees--the masks might be interpreted as billboards. Once you get past the billboard then you can see into the past (forest, etc.), the present, and the future. I feel that because of the "strange" that more attention is paid to backgrounds and that has been the essence of my photography forever.

Enjoy!

Regina Spektor--Samson

Moving along in the HSV list...some real good (usually sad) songs here. That Coldplay song from Garden State is a personal favorite, but if I remember correctly HSV hates Garden State so we'll avoid that one. Also good to see some Mogwai make an appearance. Brother Eric, after seeing Mogwai at Baltimore's Ottobar said they were both the loudest and softest band he's ever seen. I believe this.

I chose Regina Spektor for a reason. There is something about her music (although I've only heard a few songs) that I really like, but I feel bad about liking. Something just feels wrong about it. Aaron Gause and TJ and myself feel the same way about Coldplay. It feels like a guilty pleasure, but I can't put my finger on why. It isn't a guilty pleasure like Guns 'n Roses, or Alphaville's Forever Young (which I am ashamed to say I am guilty of liking both) because I really don't realize why I feel strange for liking Regina Spektor and Coldplay. So, there is no reason to fight it...I should just keep on with it.

My personal liking of Regina Spektor is a result of one incredibly catchy song that I will post at the end. It isn't the Heather pick of Samson, partially because I had never heard it before her list was posted. But I must admit Samson goes along with me liking the lady, and once again I don't know why, and once again I feel a little funny about it. So without further ado I present Samson, which fits snugly in the category of beautiful sad if any song ever has:



And my personal Regina Spektor pick to counteract the happy-sadness of Samson. This song can't help but make you feel good, and I bet you'll want to be singing a-ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaa at the end of it. Just try not to. I have divulged my secret love of Fidelity to a number of people, and every time without fail they admit to secretly loving it as well (Eric Trudel even admits to once seeing her live...bold!). Not sure what it is...

Cedar Point Amusement Park

Heather took an outside-the-box approach to Friends Recommend, most notably with her Skip the Bar and Be a Better Person categories. As mentioned in one of the first posts, this is acceptable and encouraged...no need to limit your recommendations to just music, art, movies, and books. The first post from her list comes from the Skip the Bar section, and I can't think of a better place to recommend (I can't think of a better place in the whole world!).

Cedar Point Amusement Park is located in Sandusky, Ohio which sits on Lake Erie. I have visited twice in my life, the first time with Cory Palmer (see Friends Recommend week 2) and the second time with Heather. I will keep going back as long as I can keep convincing people to go with me. It is a bit of a hike from Baltimore (about 6 hours) but well worth the trip. I recommend driving up in the afternoon, staying overnight (the hotels are pretty cheap), and waking up to spend a whole day in the park. You could probably do two days...I've never even addressed the water parks.

What is so great about this place? It's received the Golden Ticket by Amusement Today for Best Amusement Park 11 years in a row, with 3 roller coasters in the Top 10 in the world, and 5 in the top 20. If you like roller coasters this place is a must-visit. The Millenium Force is my favorite ride ever, and it is extra amazing in the night-time. The Top Thrill Dragster is a hydraulically-launched coaster (huh?) with a drop of over 400 feet at a speed of 120mph. It is nuts and the ride lasts about 10 seconds total. Still worth it. Those two rides alone would be worth the journey to Cedar Point, but Wikipedia has 17 roller coasters listed for Cedar Point so there is plenty more than just these two to keep you entertained. You also get all of your standard amusement park rides to go with them. More info (way more than you could ever want) over at Wikipedia here. And some hot pictures of the place below:

Millenium Force

Top Thrill Dragster

Heather Van De Mark

At her request, I am cutting out a lengthy introduction. I think most of you know her. She's my laaaa-dy, and she has a wonderful list to share with you all. Instead of a lengthy introduction, explaining all about her, and how she is about to jump into the freezing ocean for charity, and I am about to stand on the shore watching, I will just give her a plug. A full explanation is at the blog, but Heather just started a telephone pictionary blog, with some of her favorites from our recently played games. It is pretty great. The link is telephonepictionary.wordpress.com. Enjoy! And here she goes (all the commentary is her own):

Books:

Andre Breton--Nadja - I wouldn't expect many people to be able to find this, or like it.
Mark Danielewski--The House of Leaves
Steve Erickson--Zeroville - great book for film people
Alan Weisman--The World Without Us
Junot Diaz--The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wilde (book on tape version) - you have to hear him read it in his own work, amazing voice.

Beautiful (usually sad) Songs:

Cursive--Sierra
Regina Spektor--Samson
Coldplay--Don't Panic
Bright Eyes--Waste of Paint
Mogwai--Autorock

Songs That Make Me Dance:

The Stone Roses--Fools Gold
Gwen Stefani
Garbage--Sex Is Not the Enemy
Men, Women, and Children--Dance In My Blood!!!

Spoken Word/Poetry/Podcasts:

Taylor Mali
Savage Love
Raymond McDaniel
Alice Fulton
Baudelaire

Art:

Annie Leibovitz--photographer
David LaChappelle--photographer
Jim Dine
Brassai--"Lovers In a Small Cafe..."
Henry Callahan--"Chicago" when women were called broads
Ralph E. Meatyard--People In Creepy Masks

Great Movies You Might Have Missed:

City Of God
Annie Hall
Manhatten
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Hard Candy
Persepolis
The Fountain
The Kids Stay In the Picture
Nightwatch
Conversations With Other Women

Be A Better Person:

Have intellectual conversations
Donate blood
Recycle
Drive less
Play games
Be curious

Skip the Bar:

Cedar Point Amusement Park!
Coed Softball
Tennis
Bikes rides on Gwynn Falls Trail or through Druid Hill Park
Duckpin bowling
Poker nights
Foot races
Going to the ocean
Crosswords
Rome, Italy and all the piazzas

Adam was listening to Peng! by Stereolab at the time of this post, and is still not blown away like he has been told he would be, but it might be growing on him.

Charlie Haden

Something that Smiley and I share, and have talked about on numerous occasions is the influence of bassist Charlie Haden on not only our bass playing, but our musicality in general. I would say that over time Haden has probably been my biggest influence as a bassist, and although I don't listen to him as much as I once did, I consider him maybe the most considerable force in my development as an improvising bassist.

A brief and understated bio of Charlie Haden goes like this: He made his first big (and I mean BIG) splash in the late 1950's as the bassist for the Ornette Coleman Quartet, with Ornette on alto, Don Cherry on trumpet, and Billy Higgins on drums. The group underwent a number of lineup changes, but any formation of the band recorded with Haden playing bass is fantastic. He went on to play with Keith Jarrett's American Quartet in the late 60's with Jarrett on piano, Dewey Redman on tenor, and Paul Motian on drums. Upon leaving the Jarrett quartet Haden started his Liberation Music Orchestra, a large jazz ensemble with a strong politcal message that went on to record some of the greatest large ensemble records in the jazz library. They still perform and tour to this day in different configurations. A slightly more in depth bio is available here, which includes his projects after the Liberation Music Orchestra.

My top-5 albums either with Haden or led by Haden (in no particular order, this is very hard to do by the way):

Ornette Coleman--The Shape of Jazz To Come - this changed it all for me.
Ornette Coleman--The Complete Science Fiction Sessions
Keith Jarrett Quartet--The Impulse Years Boxed Sets (there are two, both great)
Charlie Haden--Liberation Music Orchestra (Self-Titled) (a slight edge over Ballad of the Fallen)
Charlie Haden--The Montreal Tapes w/ Joe Henderson, or The Golden Number, or Etudes

Smiley, what you got for favorite albums?!?

I enjoyed all of the youtube videos from Smiley's recommend (man, I had never seen that Vandermark clip, or the Hollenbeck/Bleckmann thing. Beautiful). Here is his Charlie Haden youtube recommendation. The Ornette group footage here is great, and classic. The interview footage was taken shortly after Haden was apprehended in Portugal for making a politcal statement on stage while performing with Ornette:

The New Mellow Edwards (Skirl Records)--Curtis Hasselbring

Our first music pick from Matt Smiley is a record I wasn't familiar with prior to receiving his list. I have about half of the Skirl Records releases (9 total) and love every one of them. When I saw this on the Smiley list I downloaded from emusic and started checking it out. The Skirl releases that I have are some of my favorite records of the past couple years, and this Curtis Hasselbring album fits right in there with the rest of those.

As of late I have come to realize that most of the music that I really love recently can't fit into a specific genre box, or be easily identified as any one particular "type" of music. I've been drawn to musicians who are more concerned with producing great music, without any concern with how it would be marketed, or if it is considered jazz, or rock, or classical, etc. This brings us to Skirl Records, and trombonist Curtis Hasselbring's New Mellow Edwards. Skirls website (independently owned and operated by genius reedsman Chris Speed) says this of the album:

Curtis' composing and the New Mellow Edwards' playing defies traditional jazz conventions and favors primal garage rock-derived grooves, textural explorations and classically-influenced structures. Curtis' tweaked version of a modern instrumental supergroup features strong performances from three of New York's most innovative musicians: Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Melvins, Fantomas), John Hollenbeck (Claudia Quintet, Theo Bleckmann) and Chris Speed (Bloodcount, Human Feel).

The album is great all around...top-notch compositions, and stand-out performances that are not surprising, but more expected from Dunn, Hollenbeck, and Speed these days. The music is varied. To call it a jazz album doesn't even begin to describe it, but it certainly has roots in jazz, but also rock, surf, electronic, new orleans, latin, and contemporary classical musics. My reason for going into all of this is because jazz is often viewed as a stale, and in some cases even a dead art form. Young audiences aren't drawn to jazz, because they think "jazz" only refers to Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and the other great artists who were in their hey-day in the 1940's, 50's, and 60's. My gateway to jazz was through that music, and I still love it to this day. But I think that the music has a much wider audience than this, and a lot of it would appeal to people who consider themselves rock fans and have never been exposed to improvised music with a wider scope.

Someone who immediately comes to mind as an amazing musician (jazz, country, rock, fusion and more), whose improvised output would be accessible to, and even enjoyed by fans of modern rock music is Nels Cline. He has performed with a number of jazz legends, has a discography or great improvised music, and many of you know him as the guitar player for superband Wilco. Some of my favorites to check out are The Nels Cline Singers' Instrumentals, and Draw Breath. Wilco fans, I urge you to download (for free, from his website here!) Cause For Concern, and Suspended Head off of Instrumentals and give it a listen. You might be surprised that you like it.

Again, my reason for mentioning this is because all of the releases on Skirl are these type of genre-bending, in-the-cracks, let-your-influences-all-hang-out type of music that I have come to love in recent years. It all has a basis in improvisation, but is the type of music that I think might be equally appealing to a rock audience (fans of Wilco, Radiohead, Flaming Lips, Pavement, etc) as it is to a jazz audience. My two favorite Skirl releases are Andrew D'Angelos' Skadra Degis, and Hilmar Jennson's Meg Nem Sa for starters (short clips can be heard through the links to emusic). The are both a little edgier, and maybe not for everyone...but they are two of my favorite albums of recent years. There are so many albums that fall into these cross-genre cracks, and many have been overlooked for lack of marketability. I couldn't nearly begin to crack the surface in this post, so I tried to (unsuccessfully) stay close to the original recommends. This is something that I think about a lot, so I apologize for the very wordy, rambly post. If you stuck it through to the end, here is a clip from New Mellow Edwards. It is called ABC's of the Future, and it's sort of like electronic music written for an all-acoustic quartet. I really love it:




On a not-totally-related, but not totally-unrelated note, anyone here seen There Will Be Blood? Did you happen to notice who wrote the fantastic score for the movie. Radiohead's own guitarist Johnny Greenwood, who is also a composer-in-residence for the BBC. Great, great orchestral and modern chamber string music, from a rock guitarist, what what? I much look forward to more of his orchestral music.

Adam was not surprisingly listening to Curtis Hasselbring's New Mellow Edwards, and Nels Cline's Instrumentals at the time of this post.

Stella Shorts

The comedy group Stella (pictured above l-r) is Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black, and David Wain. If you are around my age or older you might remember these guys as part of the cast of MTV's The State from the mid-90's. Michael Ian Black is perhaps the most recognizable to people for his role in VH1's I Remember the 80's, etc. As a comedy group Stella has appeared in a number of formats since 1998 (when they began making the shorts). In addition to the 27 short films they made, Stella also had a very brief run on Comedy Central in 2005 which produced 10 half-hour episodes now available on DVD here, and they still perform as a live touring comedy group.

I have never seen the half-hour episodes of Stella, but people like fellow Egg Baby and friend Mike Ward insist that they are worth a damn. I am convinced that he is probably right. My only exposure to Stella is through the shorts recommended here by Matt Smiley, but I am a huge fan of their contributions to other movies and shows. My personal favorites, aside from the shorts, are The State (which is unattainable in it's entirety, but you can now download Season One from iTunes), Michael Showalter's Showalter (all available here at collegehumor.com) and one of my favorite funny movies Wet Hot American Summer. Sidenote, the David Cross and Michael Cera episodes of Showalter are especially worth viewing. There is a ton more info on everything they've been involved in at their website www.stellacomedy.com. If there is a movie or show that one of these guys are a part of, it is probably in your best interest to watch it. Unless you don't like really funny things, then I advise you avoid them.

All of the Stella shorts are also available at collegehumor.com, with a convenient like here. The episode I chose to share is maybe the funniest video on the internet, titled Pizza. Warning: Clip below might be inappropriate for some.



Adam is currently listening to Fred Hersch's Live at the Village Vanguard. Drew Gress!

Matt Smiley

As promised we are back up and running in full force for the new year. Our first post of 2009 comes from Matt Smiley, friend, bassist, musician, throat-singer, etc. I know Matt from my days at JMU, but strangely we were never there in school at the same time and didn't actually meet until after I graduated. The reasons for this are probably boring, and won't be explained in any further detail. Matt is a great jazz bassist, and is pursuing a masters degree out in Colorado. He checks out a LOT of stuff. His initial list had to be edited for length...everything on there was deserving of mention, but there was just no room. And now for the goods:

Music:

"Jazz"
Terry Riley and Don Cherry--Bootleg (download!)
Victor Feldman--Arrival of Victor Feldman (Scott Lafaro's major recording debut)
Curtis Hasselbring--New Mellow Edwards
Steve Lacy/Joelle Leandre--One More Time

"Classical"
Morton Feldman--String Quartet No. 2 (a six hour continuous piece of music)
La Monte Young-The Well Tuned Piano
Charles Ives--Universe Symphony, String Quartet No. 1
Giacinto Scelsi--Quattro Pezzi Su Una Nota Sola (Four Pieces on a Single Note)

Books:

Jack Kerouac--Dharma Bums, American Haikus
Coleman Barks--The Soul of Rumi
Samuel Beckett (first minimalist)--Collected Plays of Samuel Beckett

Film:

Anything by David Lynch
True Stories (David Byrne film)
Outside Out (Michael Gordon film featuring Col. Bruce Hampton
Film (Buster Keaton)--Samuel Beckett

TV:

Stella Shorts
Twin Peaks

Youtube:

Don Cherry--link
Charlie Haden--link
Ken Vandermark--link
John Hollenbeck and Theo Bleckmann--link

Adam is listening to The Vastness of Space by Reid Anderson at the time of this post.

Back In Business

Alright so the big break is over. Back to business as usual, oh, and happy new year to my faithful reader(s). Tomorrow we start back up with our normal Friends Recommends format with a new list from way-out-west friend from Colorado, Matt Smiley. I'll introduce Matt tomorrow...I really like his list and none of this stuff has been mentioned before.

And now a recommends from your humble, modest, and terribly good-looking host. Tonight I am taking a trip down to Fells Point, Baltimore for a visit to the Birds of a Feather scotch bar. There is a chance this place will be a little too swanky for my hooded-sweatshirt, courduroy pants lifestyle. But regardless of how comfortable I feel in the place I am going to drink some good scotch. A lot of it. Because I'm not paying.

As a gift of celebration for finishing recording the new Quartet Offensive album, Heather bought me a bottle of my favorite scotch to (regrettably) share with my bandmates. Now, I don't have the money to be a true scotch connaisseur or anything, but I know what I like. Also I probably haven't ever tasted the scotch that would be my absolute favorite, because good scotch is expensive. But of the ones I have enjoyed Lagavulin 16 is far-and-away my favorite. Made right by the sea on the island of Islay, the best description of the taste of Lagavulin is it tastes like you are eating the earth. It's like licking a campfire, and eating a handful of the tastiest dirt you've ever had. When scotch is described as peety, I am imagine Lagavulin is the benchmark. You can get a bottle of it for under $60 in the Baltimore area, and if Maryland would ever break it stupid laws for mailordering alchol, you could get it for about $53. You can also order it at a number of bars in town, my personal favorite being the Hamilton Tavern, where it will set you back $10 for a serving. Not something you'd order everytime out, but you all deserve a little treat now and again, especially if there is a fire nearby and you have a pipe in your pocket.

Also, I tend to listen to music when I type these entries so I am going to start a currently listening-to footnote at the bottom of each post. Today's choice is Dear Catastrophe Waitress by Belle and Sebastian. And whaddaya know, they're Scottish. Crazy!