The Eric Hopkins Top 5

Brother EricHop presented me with an idea for a week-long blog series for me and my fellow Friends Recommends bloggers. The assignment to name our top-5 songs of all time and discuss them. Simple, right? Not so simple for me, but I don't have to post until Friday (thanks BrotherHop) so I have a little bit more time to think about it. Apparently TheChristopherMyers and Wardo think about this every morning when they wake up, so they should have no problem. Today we hear from idea originator Eric Hopkins, with his top-5 songs of all time. These are some great songs, and better late than never (my fault!), right?

Exciting note: I've received a Colmus list. It should go up next week after these top-5's conclude. From here on out you're hearing from Eric:

This is a little long. And if I was coming to this blog and saw a post this long, there is a chance I wouldn’t read it. Maybe you should come back each hour and read a paragraph. Here are what I think are my five favorite songs, in no particular order:

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, 1998)



The first time I heard this song was in Matt Davis’s car. He had a tape of the album playing when he picked me up on what, in my memory, was one of the first perfect days of spring. I immediately asked him what the song was. At the time I heard it, it was the song I always wanted to hear, and the title song introduced me to one of my favorite albums. All the instruments belong and contribute to the song. Even though one person wrote the song on guitar, the band parts don’t seem like a second thought created to accompany the song. NMH made me want every song to have a saw in it. To answer Adam’s question, best horn solo ever, man. The lyrics are straight from the soul and it just seems like a song that took as long to write as it takes to play, like it just unfolded out of Jeff Mangum’s mind as he strummed and sung it for the first time.


Sympathy for the Devil (The Rolling Stones from Beggars Banquet, 1968)



To me, this song has the same feel as the NMH song, but in a more “jammy” way. I still think of it as a song that was crafted as it was written, but instead of it coming from one person, I think of it more like these guys were sitting around in a room on the drug of their choice and then some dude just starts picking up the bongos. I did see the Goddard movie “Sympathy for the Devil” which I think was half about the Stones recording this song and half about rebels spray painting propaganda on brick walls, but I saw this 9 years ago and only remember Keith Richards lying next to a speaker in the studio listening to a mix of the song and a rebel guy in a military uniform spray painting propaganda (in French?) on a brick wall. I love the guitar solo, Keith Richards played both this solo, and the awesome bass part on the recording, and Mick’s first person lyrics as the devil are great. Apparently Mick was reading The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (Megan recommend!!!) when he wrote the lyrics to this song. I think I might check out this book. Lots of girlfriends helped in the creating of this song. Mick’s girlfriend gave him the book he was reading and apparently Keith Richards’s girlfriend came up with the great Whoo hoo background vocal part.


Only In Dreams (Weezer from Weezer “The Blue Album”, 1994)



This is the perfect rock song. It has everything in it. The best bass line ever, distorted parts and clean parts, loud parts and soft parts, and high background vocals. The best part of the song is that it ends with and amazing build up that starts with bass and minimal guitar, that builds to some great two guitar parts and then the best two guitar solo ever. The lyrics are pretty special as well “You can’t resist her. She’s in your bones. She is your marrow”. It is sad to think that a song this good was on a bands debut album, and instead of continuing to make more songs this good, they end up with “Beverly Hills”. Weezer could have written my favorite and least favorite song.


A Sight for Sore Eyes (Tom Waits from Foreign Affairs, 1977)



Any bloke on this blog, with an opinion of Tom Waits, will tell you that the Island records years and after are his best. I prefer the albums he released on Asylum in the 70’s, which have the best piano bar ballads you will ever hear, A Sight for Sore Eyes is one of these. The song is a tale of s man sitting at a bar talking to an old friend from the neighborhood about what happened to the people from the old gang. If that content doesn’t make for the best piano bar ballad ever, the lyrics also include a toast to baseball greats DiMaggio, Drysdale, Mantle & Whitey Ford. As for the piano, the intro is Auld Lang Syne, and the piano in the rest of song has a lullaby feel. Talk about a great song, a lullaby about the old gang!


Desolation Row (Bob Dylan from Highway 61 Revisited, 1965)



This song is everything I love about Bob Dylan. It is early Dylan at his best, an eleven-minute stream of classic, abstract and poetic Dylan lyrics. And, there is a kick ass harmonica solo. According to the wikipedia entry for the album, the song was recorded with a second guitar player who was flown in to accompany Dylan on the track. Takes 6 and 7 were spliced together and used for the album track. I would assume that it was recorded without any overdubs, because I think Dylan recorded most of his earlier albums live in the studio with the whole band. Man, the song is over 11 minutes and I could listen to it back to back. These long lyrically driven Dylan songs are very relaxing to listen to and I always loved to put them on and forget about everything.

Freaks and Geeks

I am calling an audible today, which would normally be the day for a fresh face, a new recommender. From fear of running out of these lists too soon, I have decided it necessary to extend brother Eric for one more week. This is my cry for help. I have three lists in the vault and need more to keep this string of mediocre blog-writing going. So, send those lists to hopkinak@gmail.com It might just make you famous. Luckily this list of Eric's is jam-packed with high quality recommends, so I'll have no problem stretching it for another week. Here we go.

Freaks and Geeks is a TV show that aired in 1999-2000, to much critical acclaim. Now, as we know from shows like Arrested Development, good TV shows just can't stay on the air. There is no place in this world for quality television, so after just 12 episodes Freaks and Geeks was axed. 18 episodes of the show were produced, all of which are available in this boxed set which is more than worth the $55 it costs. The show was created by Paul Feig and produced by Judd Apatow, who everyone everywhere has heard of for producing a load of recent comedies like Anchorman, 40-Year Old-Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad, Walk Hard, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Pineapple Express, etc. Most of these films feature a core of actors who started working with Apatow in Freaks and Geeks. A really nice chart of this is available here.

Freaks and Geeks is like The Wonder Years set in the 80's. The central character Lindsay Weir (played by Linda Cardellini) is finding her way in (I think) her senior year of high school, after quitting the Mathletes, joining a new group of friends (the Freaks), and dealing with her brother Sam and his friends (the Geeks). The fantastic character of the gym teacher is played by Thomas Wilson, who we all hopefully know and love as Biff from the Back to the Future trilogy. Once again, and in-depth plot synopsis isn't really necessary here, but if you loved the Wonder Years chances are this will be right up your alley (especially if you were in school in the 80's). Also, the series finale of Freaks and Geeks is one of my favorite last episodes of a TV show ever. Classic. The clips below are some of my favorites from the series, many focused on the character of Bill, who is easily the source of the shows funniest moments. The first clip sums up his character in about 10 seconds (he is the guy with glasses).

Robert Rauschenberg

Robert Rauschenberg (b. 1925, and died very recently May 12, 2008) is a very interesting artist to me. He is someone who I had not checked out until big brother Eric recommended him via this blog. Ideally, that is what this blog is for, to turn people on to something they had never heard of or spent adequate time with prior to reading. This is one such occasion when it worked in favor of the author. I have only spent a day or two researching the life of this guy, but I am certainly intrigued to look further into his life and works.

I will rely heavily on my artist friends to chime in on this one, because surely they have spent time studying what Rauschenberg was about. I read a few bios and other write ups, in addition to some samples of the guys art and found a couple of things that were really interesting to me. A full bio is available here for those with interest beyond this extremely limited assessment. The essence of what he was about seems to be rooted in his distaste for the seriousness of the abstract expressionalist movement that was in its prime when Rauschenberg moved to New York in the early 1950's. Instead of adapting to this movement, he found his own way in the art world incorporating pop culture into his pieces. He is also well know for introducing found objects into the art-making process, which he referred to simply as combines. This technique seems to be a critical part to this day in the work of some friends, and favorite artists of my own. My personal interest in the artist was not sparked initially by viewing his art, but more by some of his personal quotes in reference to the art making process. I found the following quotes to be relevant to all areas of art-making, not just the visual arts. Some of my favorites:

"People ask me, 'Don't you ever run out of ideas?' In the first place I don't use ideas. Every time I have an idea it's too limiting, and usually turns out to be a disappointment. But I haven't run out of curiosity."

"Screwing things up is a virtue. Being correct is never the point. Being right can stop all the momentum of a very interesting idea.”

and the very uplifting..."I feel as though the world is a friendly boy walking along in the sun."

And some of his art that I found particulary stimulating:

Wes Anderson

It wouldn't be possible for me to describe in words my love for all of the Wes Anderson films. My favorite movie of all-time is the Royal Tenenbaums. I can say that without any hesitation, and it really requires no thought. At least one other (Rushmore) would make it into my top 5 movies of all-time, and the others wouldn't be too far behind (even my least favorite of them). I have a hard time even describing his work in words, because they are the perfect balance of (top-notch) acting, musical accompaniment, off-center dark humor, awkward heartbreaking dialogue, visual stimulation (the set design and costume design are detailed beyond description), etc, etc. It would be better for you to experience if for yourself that to read a mediocre description by me.

I would just watch them chronologically...it is really great to see Anderson's development from Bottle Rocket (1996) to Rushmore (1998) just two years later. In order they would go Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), and The Darjeeling Limited (2007). My order of personal preference would be:

1) The Royal Tenenbaums
2) Rushmore
3) The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
4) Bottle Rocket
5) The Darjeeling Limited (even though I still love it)

One of my favorite things about Wes Andersons films are the reappearance of certain actors in all of his films, the big guns being Bill Murray, Angelica Huston, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, and Kumar Pallana. Acting doesn't get much better than Bill Murray as Raleigh St. Clair or Herman Blume. Also of particular note are the great slowed down final scenes with perfect music playing that Wes Anderson is now known for. Here are three of my favorite clips from the films Eric specified--Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums, and Life Aquatic. Can the boy tell time?

Pinkerton--Weezer

For me, Pinkerton (1996) is far and above the crowning achievement of Weezer's (now long) career. I'll be honest in saying that I haven't heard any of their albums after Maladroit (2002) and I was really really really not impressed by that one. For me their only album that could possibly rival the quality of Pinkerton is (other Eric recommends pick) Weezer (The Blue Album). Even that album, as great as it is, is really no comparison. I know a lot of people are aware of Pinkerton making me hesitant to post about it, but in the process of researching this post I discovered some really interesting things about the album that I was inclined to share. The major difference between Pinkerton and any other Weezer album is the rawness of the sound. The overall sound of the album is significantly darker than the rest of their output (that I am aware of) and it lacks their poppy side which was so crucial in hits like Buddy Holly and The Sweater Song. There isn't a band song on the 10-track record, and as I've talked about before in other favorite albums (see Bjork's Vespertine) the album as a whole has a sound. It isn't just about quality on a song-to-song basis, part of the beauty of this album is how well every song contributes to the album as a whole.

Some interesting facts about Pinkerton that I wasn't aware of (thanks Wikipedia!). The original album concept was to write a space-themed opera entitled Songs From the Black Hole, a seamless album in which all the songs were supposed to flow into one another. A detailed and pretty interesting summary of this concept is available right here, but as always with Wikipedia reader beware. Still, the failed concept and how it morphed into Pinkerton is pretty interesting, even though I didn't read the whole thing. The album did, however, end up being loosely based around the Puccini opera Madame Butterfly, with the album name coming from a character in the opera.

Another interesting Weezer fact that I feel like I should have been aware of is that Rivers Cuomo attended Harvard beginning in 1995, and started immediately after the initial songs (Why Bother?, Getchoo, Tired of Sex, No Other One) for Pinkerton were recorded. The remainder of the album was recorded over the course of the next year while Cuomo was on break from classes at Harvard. All songs on the album are written by Cuomo, and all seem to be about or directly affected by events in his personal life.

Initially Pinkerton was a major commercial failure, especially being the first album they recorded after the hugely successful Blue Album. However as time goes on, this album seems to make its way onto more and more peoples' favorite albums list. So many musician (and non-musician) friends of mine, including those who listen to relatively little rock music, site this as being one of their favorite rock albums. On the other end of that a lot of people hate Pinkerton for it's underproduced and pop-lacking sound. These people are not my kind of people. Pinkerton rules, simply put. The one time I saw Weezer live, at least two or three years after the release of Pinkerton, they played almost the entire album with only a few tracks from (the then new) Green Album, and a couple choice Blue Album songs. I was thrilled.

A few samples of the album, via youtube. I didn't even know their was a video for El Scorcho, one of my favorite tracks from Pinkerton. Also included is the music video for The Good Life, and a nice (though much rockier, and much less acoustic) live recording of the album's final track Butterfly:

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Larry David is the funniest man alive. There is really no question about this, and there is no argument that could be made to make me think otherwise. He may be the funniest man who has ever lived, but one could maybe make a case against that. Regardless, he is without question the funniest man around today, and Curb Your Enthusiasm is the peak of his comedic genius. Now, this is coming from a Seinfeld fan.

For those who don't know, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David are the co-creators of Seinfeld. The character of George Costanza (played by Jason Alexander) is based on the real life Larry David. Curb Your Enthusiasm is an HBO television series completely based on the life of Larry David, written by Larry David, and even better than having Jason Alexander play the part of Larry he plays it himself. Everyone who claims to be a Seinfeld fan needs to see Curb Your Enthusiasm, there is no question about that.

There are a number of reasons I think Curb is better than Seinfeld, probably the biggest and most obvious is that Seinfeld was written for (and therefore subject to editing by) Network television. Curb is written for HBO, where almost anything goes and Larry David (seemingly) has free reign to do anything he wants on the show. The other major difference is that even though not really an actor, Larry David is funnier than anyone on the cast of Seinfeld. The acting overall on Curb feels more natural than Seinfeld, likely due to the fact that there is no script. A scene for Curb is designed in detail in advance, but the script is improvised by the actors. No one has set lines, giving it a much more real life and natural feel.

I love every season of this show, but for me some stand as being better than others. If you have never seen any of Curb, I advise you start with Season One and go through the whole series (Season Six concluded this year). You get a really good impression of what the show is about in the first couple episodes of the first season. The one exception to this is if I have a friend who has never seen a single episode of the show I always show them the Season Finale to Season Three (which Curb fans will know as the restaurant opening with the tourretic chef). This is my favorite episode of the series, and if a person doesn't like it then they probably won't like any of the show. Also, each season has a continuous plot-line within where each episode builds on the previous so you would get more out of watching the seasons in order. Now, the worst seasons of Curb are still far better than anything else on TV today. That being said my ranking of the seasons is as follows, favorite to least favorite:

Season Three (The Restaurant)
Season Six (The Blacks)
Season One (No real season story--more individual episodes)
Season Four (The Producers)
Season Two (TV projects with Jason Alexander and Juilia Louis-Dreyfus)
Season Five (Richard Lewis' Kidney)

It is really promising that the show has no signs of diminishing quality, with the most recent season being my second favorite. Even Season Five, which is most least favorite season overall, has some of my favorite episodes individually. Below are a few clips of the show below, by no means the best (I am trying to keep it relatively clean) but hopefully they give you an idea for the premise. Warning: Some clips may contain inappropriate material:

Eric Michael Hopkins

Talk about friends...look at these guys, having fun on the beach. Brother Eric is two years my elder. And what a guy. Artist/musician/owner-of-great-dog/husband-to-great-wife/brother-to-amazing-brother kind of guy. Most people who know me know him as well, and realize that he got all the muscle and height that my parents have to give (leaving none for me), but a charming, slight, nearly constant grumpiness as well. His primary field of interest is visual art, and he makes some amazing stuff (paintings, drawings) when he is motivated to do so. If I ever get ahold of them I'll be sure to post some of his work from an art show with m. bovie from last year. He also hit four, correction six homeruns for our softball team this year. Whoa! (He insisted I change that).

A recommends list from him reads an awful lot like one from myself would, with the exception of the music section, although all these picks are great. I would say about 75% percent of the things here would make its way onto my very own recommends list, which essentially means I will probably never have to do one. And without further ado, Eric recommends:

Music:

Radiohead--OK Computer, Kid A

The Beatles--Abbey Road

Neutral Milk Hotel--In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Weezer--Blue Album, Pinkerton
Pavement--Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, Brighten the Corners, Slanted and Enchanted

Television:

Seinfeld Season 9, especially "The Burning" episode

The Adventures of Pete and Pete

Freaks and Geeks

Arrested Development

The Office (American)

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Movies:

Anything Wes Anderson (top three, Rushmore, The Royal Tennenbaums, The Life Aquatic)

Edward Scissorhands

Paul Thomas Anderson (Punch Drunk Love, Magnolia)

The Big Lebowski

Christopher Guest (This is Spinal Tap, Best in Show)

Books:

Vonnegut--Bluebeard

David Eggers--A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Art:

Marcel Dzama

Henry Darger

Mark Rothko

m. bovie

Robert Rauschenberg

Souther Salazar

Arrested Development

The Arrested Development count is currently at 1. Keep that in mind, you'll be hearing a lot more about this one from various recommenders. Today is not a very blog friendly day for me, so I apologize to all of those looking for a wordy and typically unfocused post.

I haven't seen all of Arrested Development. I have watched some really great episodes that I would put right up there with some of the best television, but I still need to see the whole series. It's on the list of things to do. So for this one I relied on my family Arrested Development expert, brother Eric, to suggest one of his favorite clips from the show for your viewing pleasure. Curve ball, it's on Hulu not Youtube!