Beirut--March of the Zapotec/Holland

Happy Monday, Friends Recommend. In an unexpected turn of events I have decided to (at least occassionally) return to the original concept of FR and start dealing with these lists. Over the weekend I bought an album from emusic.com of this band Beirut that JESKa mentions in her list. She recommended the band and not an album in particular, so it figures that the album I bought was one that she hasn't heard. What can you do. She strongly recommends their first album though...she told me this.

I must admit that I was terribly confused at first listen. The album started with this great brass music, which had a really strong vibe of the streets of Mexico or Italy. Like some band of old men that just set up and started playing in the middle of the day. My reason for buying the album this past weekend is that I'm going to Italy and Switzerland in a week and a half and thought this music would 1) put me even more in the mood/get me more excited about the trip, and 2) give me something fun to listen to while over there, eating chocolate and drinking wine at a lake. The first half of the album is exactly what I expected. The first six songs follow this style, and do it in a great way. Then at song seven the album takes an unexpected turn into mostly electronic music, with a lot more vocals. I didn't dislike the electronic side of things, it just came out of nowhere after the first six tracks of really non-american sounds. This left me confused, and I don't think I liked it initially.

My confusion was cured when I came home, searched for the albums and found out that it is actually a double EP. The first half being music written by Beirut and recorded in Mexico with The Jimenez Band. The second EP highlights frontman Zach Condon's electronic side project Realpeople. This makes much more sense now. I must say that while I like the electronically stuff, I definitely prefer the first EP of Mexican brass band music. Like JeSkA said, it is a different and refreshing approach, while the electronic thing is like a lot of other things I'd heard before. If I bought another of their album's (which is likely) I would try the first album Gulag Orkestar, which can be sampled HERE.

Below are two videos from the double EP. The first clip from the first, March of the Zapotec, the second from Realpeople's Holland. You decide for yourself which you prefer:

The jESKA Top 5

I'm actually starting to go a little mad over these top 5 lists (no offense, to anyone) and I think a week is all that should've occurred with these top 5s. I'm tired of thinking about what my top 5 songs "of all time" would be and why, and can't even imagine attempting a top 60 minutes, despite what I said about in a previous comment. Also, I'm pretty sure this is still a fairly inaccurate compilation on that front, but Adam badgers like no other so without further ado (& in no particular order) :

Blue Valentine (written and performed by Tom Waits, 1978)



Another Tom Waits. I feel a little like I'm punishing some of you b/c of the frequency of Tom Waits songs in these Top 5s, but I just couldn't help it. I love this song. I think one of the things I like so much about Tom Waits in general is that he creates songs and stories and sounds that aren't necessarily reflective of his own story but of a story that he wants to convey. I think it's a natural inclination for singer/songwriters to write what they know (or close to it), and that's what most of them do and I really appreciate that he creates really distinct characters with his songs.

California (written and performed by Joni Mitchell, 1971)



I don't even know how to put into words why I love this songs so much. It's the sort of song that I could listen to at anytime, and it's especially pleasing to unexpectedly hear it because it always puts me in good mood. This is from her acclaimed album Blue which ranks on several top album lists. And for you jazz buffs out there, it might interest you to know, "the album was influenced by jazz, particularly the music of Miles Davis. Mitchell used alternative tunings on her guitar to allow easier access to augmented chords and notes in unexpected combinations."

Crazy (written by Willie Nelson; as performed by Patsy Cline, 1961)



Maybe this one's too cliche and cheesy for some but seriously, it's iconic, beautiful, and moving and I think deserves to be in some top 5 list or another. It does fall into the performance vs. singer-songwriter category and it determined that I stand differently on that debate than I thought I would. I really wanted to opt for Willie but her performance of this song is what propelled it to stardom, even though I'm a huge Willie Nelson fan (which I guess is one of the few musical contributions from my family, since I haven't shared this bond with anyone else to date). He has much more to offer the world than On the Road, Again and To All The Girls I've Loved Before.

Kodachrome (written and performed by Paul Simon, 1973)



Does everything look worse or better in black and white? I can't decide anything else after this stupid list, so why don't you duke it out amongst yourselves and tell me.

Tonight You Belong to Me (written by Billy Rose & Lee David, 1926; as performed by Bernadette Peters & Steve Martin from The Jerk, 1979)



Ukulele and cornet, esp. the cornet -- need I say more? Maybe. Bernadette & Steve are just adorable in this scene. You know how there's always that stupid question in stupid quizzes of "what is your ideal date?" -- this would certainly be mine. Sigh, if only I knew how to play the cornet.

Debate Club

Posted by Jessica c/o Adam:

Perhaps some of you thought I was joking when I said I was going to not only add Rachel Getting Married to my queue, but bump it all the way to the top. I was not. I debated announcing this again when I received the hot topic in my little mailbox so that I might hold a public viewing, but I didn't want my goal of actually watching the movie and attempting to form my own opinion on it be derailed by a peanut gallery. According to Netflix, I will rate this movie 3.5 stars, this has me wondering how Netflix thought Ward or Rick would rate the movie prior to them actually viewing it. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

There is an aspect of Ward's original post on this topic that I originally glossed over (and perhaps you did too) that is really pivotal to his review: watching a movie after hearing rave ( and/or even "reverse") reviews on it. I get both sides of the coin with this little gem. "Part of the reason [Mike] hated this so much is because this movie received all kinds of accolades, with reviews calling the movie "brave" and "raw", etc." and yet I'll be viewing it knowing that Mike hated it and most certainly does not recommend it for viewing. I'm sure I'm not alone in having more than one movie ruined for me after missing the bus -- something about great expectations, blah blah blah. However, having gotten this far without yet viewing the movie I suspect that Netflix is pretty dead on with it's guess.

I was a little worried because as soon as I hit play all that running through my head was the critical acclaim vs Mike's reverse recommend and it took about 10 or 15 minutes for the story to pull me in. However it did, and I was able to watch the movie like it was any other on my long Netflix queue instead of like the project it's become. And, I ended up genuinely liking it and probably would've liked it even more had I watched it under different circumstances. In fact, I would even go as far as giving it a 3.7 or 3.8 if I were allowed [insert rant here about the Netflix rating system and how there's so much in between a 3 and 4 and 4 and 5], yet it is also a movie that I would never actually recommend to anyone either (along with You Can Count On Me, Happy Endings, Winter Passing, We Don't Live Here Anymore, Junebug, and countless others).

Here's the tricky thing about movies like Rachel Getting Married, at least for people who aren't professional movie reviewers, they're poignant only in as much as you can relate to them. That, and in as well as they're told. While watching this movie I couldn't help but think of one of the main guidelines my creative writing teacher refrained over and over again in college: you get to the universal through the specific -- that was a big selling point for me. It's very specific, if that makes any sense at all. I also thought the acting was fantastic. These characters, unlikeable though they may be, were complex, unique, and human (my guess is this translates into "raw" in movie review lingo). It wasn't the Hollywood pitfall of bad guy vs. good guy which doesn't give you anyone to root for. And for me, that was another big selling point. Not to say that there's anything bad about a Hollywood bad guy vs. good guy movie, there are lots of great ones I'm sure will be pointed out in the comment section here. But, in a movie where you can't relate to the characters or the story, it would help to have at least one guy that redeems it for you. And while the shaky camera work was over the top and annoying at times, I understand why it was chosen over the steadiness provided by dollies. It not only lends to the whole unsteadiness of the characters and plot, it also makes it feel like it less of a Hollywood movie and more like someone we could know. So, I can understand why someone (perhaps even several people) might not like the movie so I wouldn't recommend it even though I think it's a worthwhile viewing.

All in all, what I've learned from this is that reverse recommending is the way to go. It certainly induces debate in a way that everyone agreeing how awesome Radiohead is does not. (I kid, sort of.) Also, were it not for Ward's strong opinion on the movie I probably never would've viewed it all and I'm glad that I did, so thanks Mike! With that in mind, Crash (not the 2004 Crash, the 1996 Crash featuring James Spader and Holly Hunter) is one of these flicks that a couple of my friends saw during high school in the theater and actually walked out of because they hated it so much. It's been over a decade and I have yet to view this one because I'm sort of scared that I might actually hate it, and then what would there be left to debate?

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?

FREE BOOKS!

My conclusion to the Jessica list may initially seem like a boring one, but the more I think about it the more excited I get. She recommended a bunch of websites to check out, one of which is http://bookthing.org/index.html. Pretty unexciting based on name alone right? But taken straight from their website the mission is this:

"Our mission is to put unwanted books into the hands of those who want them."

Also gathered from the FAQ section of the website--Yes the books really are really really free. They just have to be stamped when you leave that they are not for resale. Presumably all the books come to The Book Thing of Baltimore, Inc. through donation...they aren't overly specific about that but it seems implied. It occurs in Baltimore, MD. Yeah, Baltimore! The "City that reads" you still aren't, but this is a step in the right direction. Cal Ripken Jr. would be proud if he knew of this.

Go to the website for the address. Times they are open, as listed on the website are Saturday and Sunday 9a-6p. FREE BOOKS! There is still one full weekend left to check this out before Christmas...talk about a recession sale.

The Griffin and Sabine Trilogy--Nick Bantock

Since I haven't read this series of books, you can't really consider this a recommendation from me. I chose to write about it because after seeing it on JesKa's list I decided it was something that I want to buy and read based soley on the concept of the trilogy. I'm actually really excited to get ahold of them, and am much looking forward to reading the series. Good job, JeskA!

After researching this series of books by British author Nick Bantock, I found out that it is the first of two trilogy's he wrote based on the same concept. By most accounts I have read great reviews of The Griffin and Sabine Trilogy, and less than great accounts about the later Morning Star Trilogy. For this reason I am going to stick with the Griffin and Sabine Trilogy, unless I love it so much that I need more. What I learned from my favorite unreliable source Wikipedia is that the book is an epistolary novel, which means instead of a standard book format the story is told through a series of documents, in this case letters and postcards. The basic concept of a story told through letters is not new to me. My long-standing favorite book The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky is written entirely as a series of letters by a boy of high school age. What I was impressed by is how much further Nick Bantock's trilogy takes this concept. The story of Griffin Moss, a postcard-making artist from London, and Sabine Strohem, a postage stamp artist from the South Pacific is told through a series of actual letters and postcards, instead of the book being written simply in a letter format. The collection of postcards and letters can be removed from the book and read as such, with some of the letters even coming in envelopes.

I have posted a couple of images of a few excerpts from the book, but I feel like the good time begins when you actually have the stuff in your hands. Most reviews of this I have read scream the trilogy's praise. I just hope that the story of Griffin and Sabine is as interesting as the concept. JeSka?

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind--Michel Gondry

Before you look at the title of this post and decide you don't really have to read it, because you love Eternal Sunshine as many people do, be warned that I probably won't even address the movie in this post. I think it is awesome, and if you want to learn about it wikipedia has a very detailed entry here. It features an amazing cast of actors (Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood (so what if he's a weiner), David Cross, etc), and won a much-deserved Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay (which Charlie Kaufman contributed greatly to). It gets a full recommendation from me, and it being one of the only movies I own I stand strong behind it. As a whole the film really is a work of art, something not often achieved by a movie that was relatively commercially successful.

The mastermind behind Eternal Sunshine is director Michel Gondry, also known for his works Science of Sleep, Be Kind Rewind, and Human Behavior. What interests me most about the French director is his work outside of the feature-length film industry. Some of his best work comes in the form of short films, commercials, and a slew of music videos. I guarantee you've seen a LOT more of Gondry's work than you realize. My introduction to him outside of Eternal Sunshine came through this DVD called The Work of Director Michel Gondry (2003). It features many of his best music videos and a couple of really great commercials (I know, that is a weird thing to say) but they are worth checking out. In the music world he is most known for directing seven of Bjorks videos, in addition to David Chappelle's Block Party, and videos by the White Stripes, Beck, the Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters and Paul McCartney to name a few. Once again, Gondry makes real art in areas that don't always depend on such to be successful (music videos and commercials).

The best way to show his style, which is very original, is by example so I've included a few of my favorites. If you like them, it would be worth it to pick up the DVD mentioned above and go from there...it has a good representation of his work on it. I have included music videos of Beck's Cellphone's Dead, The White Stripes' Fell In Love (the lego stuff is awesome), and possibly his most well-known Bjork's Human Behavior (with the chasing bear). Also I've posted one example of his commercial work for Levis, but there are a ton more on youtube. Also, did anyone see the Science of Sleep? Was it worth a damn?

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay--Michael Chabon

I should start with an apology for already falling behind this week. I was expecting this week to be another of commentary on Eric's list, but a firm kick from behind from a number of loyal readers urged me to push ahead. I guess this is for the better, because today I received an A+ list from funnyman Todd Hargest, and a promised list in the works from both thechristophermyers and Matthayes. So it looks like we'll be pushing ahead for at least another couple of months. I promise that even though I fell behind (this being a Tuesday post, and the first regarding Jessica's list) I will be sure to address four of her recommends. I might have to double up one day, or something unheard of like that. You have my word that it will happen though. The walrus will get its due. And now, onwards.

I have owned The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (from this point forward referred to as AAKC) for at least three years now. It was actually recommended to me by Jessica in the earlier days of our knowing each other. I picked it up in one of those everything-is-clearance book stores in Ocean City, MD. I think I paid four dollars for it, which might be part of the reason I was never super motivated to read it. Have you ever noticed how paying less for something like a book or a CD seems to diminish its appeal? Like it isn't very good because it came so cheap. That might be how I felt about this. It is also a long read. It requires some commitment, and I was just never motivated to give it the time required to read it. A number of things caused me to pick it up and actually give it a try, one being my recent trip to Michigan, knowing that I would have a good amount of reading time. The other is that on goodreads every friend of mine who has read it (which is four total) gave it five starts (the maximum amount of stars!) I don't know that I personally would give it the full five stars, but I did enjoy it enough to make me happy that I read it.

AAKC is written by Michael Chabon. He also wrote the book Wonderboys, which in the late 90's was turned into a fairly popular movie that wasn't all that bad. Amazing Adventures won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2001. That's hot stuff. The story begins with Joe Kavalier, obviously one of the books main characters, escaping from Nazi-occupied Prague at the time of WWII. He manages to escape (he is a trained magician/escape artist, which ends up being a main theme of the novel) to New York City, where he stays with an aunt and cousin, Sam Klayman (the books other main character). Kavalier, a talented artist, and Clay a student of all comic books available team up to create The Escapist, which during the war years becomes one of the most successful comic books around. The majority of the book follows Kavalier's struggle to get the rest of his family out of Prague and into the United States, all the while dealing with the pain of having left them behind. There is much more to the book than this, but as stated before I'm not so good with words, and a summary or review would be better served if you got it elsewhere.

I will say that I was very impressed by how quickly this book read. I figured it would be one of those books that I would pick up every-so-often and would eventually finish some months after starting it. I ended up reading it in less than a week, and every spare minute I had I was trying to squeeze in a chapter. I tend to not devote a great deal of time to reading, so for me to finish a 650 page novel in less than a week, the book must have something going for it. It isn't a book that is jam-packed with action, but it does have some of those moments. You find yourself very attached to these characters, and even start to put yourself in their situation (which turns out pretty depressing in most cases). The book is extremely well-written, and it's receiving the number of awards that it did came as no suprise to me. It is a must read for anyone into comic books, which is a recurring theme in the book. If you aren't a comic book nut it is still well worth reading, but maybe not an immediate requirement (like I insist Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close from Week One is).

Jessica Matthews (Hopkins?)

It only makes sense that the recommender to follow brother Eric be his so-called other half, new bride Jessica. I would give her a proper introduction but her list is lengthy. Also, she wouldn't want a wordy introduction because she is the person who constantly complains that these things are too long. She is great. I wanted to post the picture of her crying at her bridal shower, but I couldn't find it. I also almost posted this in lieu of a real picture of her at her request, but I decided against it. Her specialty is in the literature/writing area, but she has some real fine picks in all walks of recommends, right down to those Ricky B potatoes at the end. Also she has included some of her own commentary, and supplementary links to go along with this. Above and beyond the call of duty Jeska! Here we go:

Books:
Richard Brautigan--The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western
Richard Brautigan--Willard and His Bowling Trophies: A Perverse Mystery
Herman Hesse--Narcissus and Goldmund (I read the Hesse books a long time ago and couldn't tell you what they're about, but I remember really really liking them).
Herman Hesse--Steppenwolf
John Barth--The Floating Opera and The End of the Road (They're coupled together purposefully by the author.)
Mary Shelley--Frankenstein (I know it's a classic, but I feel like it's a classic that a lot of people haven't actually read. It's great, you should read it.)
Harper Lee--To Kill a Mockingbird (Another classic and maybe some of you were forced to read this in grade school, but I didn't read it until I was 25 and it blew my mind.)
Nick Bantok--The Griffin & Sabine Trilogy (It's just neat, you'll see.)
Neil Gaiman--The Sandman (graphic novel series)
Michael Chabon--The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Film:
Eyes Without a Face (1960)--not especially a fan of older films or horror films, but found myself really liking this
It Happened One Night (1934)--I caught this on Bravo several years ago and thought it was great, it also won lots of awards if you're into that sort of thing.
The Fisher King (a Terry Gilliam joint featuring Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges)--I loved this, however not everyone I know has felt the same way.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Way of the Gun (I haven't found very many people who appreciate the smartness of the move the way I do)(editor's note: hmmm)
I Heart Huckabees--another movie that few people I know appreciate
It's A Wonderful Life
Childhood Favorites:
The Labyrinth
The Never-ending Story

TV:
My So-Called Life (it's sort of annoying to me now when I re-watch this as an adult, but this was the only network show that I identified with in my teens).
Arrested Development
The Office (American) -- though it's still too soon to commit myself to this as a whole series.
The Cosby Show

Music:
Serge Gainsbourg
Fleet Foxes
Beirut
Tom Waits (the early(ier) years)
Wilco/Jeff Tweedy
Granddaddy/Jason Lytle (specifically this video: http://www.stewdio.org/jed/ )
Elliott Smith

Places (actual or virtual):
http://www.sleeveface.com/
http://postsecret.blogspot.com/
http://bookthing.org/index.html
http://www.avam.org/
http://www.dimemuseum.com/ (R.I.P.)

Food:
Mutsu apples
Rick's mashed potatoes and bread pudding
My mom's hot German potato salad -- to which I cannot find an adequate recipe to link you to because it's different every time.

*all commentary is the work of the recommender, not the innocent blogger. You have a problem you take it up with her, I'll even send you her email address and two private cell phone numbers.