running out of ideas?

When I saw a picture from the set of Alice and Wonderland I was instantly reminded of Emily Browning's coat in Series of Unfortunate events... both designed by Colleen Atwood. Well, it is a great coat... 

on the plus side...

i am OBSESSED with this clip. 

I watched The Saddest Music in the World a couple years ago (I was 12) and it definitely did things to my brain. Some of those images just stick with you forever... (woman's glass leg shattering into a million pieces, peppy pianist catching fire...) But the effect is beyond incredible. I've found myself addicted to watching little clips and trailers of guy maddin films on youtube because it's so wonderful just to immerse yourself in his world for a while...

what is wrong with me?

not really digging the new Animal Collective EP... 

I know I'm a little late as this was leaked on the 19th but I just stumbled across Fall Be Kind EP and... wasn't that impressed... Overall, I felt it was a little over-processed, too much reverb and sparkle. But let's look at this track by track so I can put my finger on what it was that bugged me... 

1. Graze: Animal Collective has this dangerous tendency to lean towards a sound that is, in my opinion, too big for them... As seen prior in Safer, I feel that when they overdo it with the reverb, echoes and over project their voices, it takes away from their more haunting, subtle side as seen in Loch Raven or Banshee Beat (maybe I'm just an old fashioned freak folk fan, but Feels was definitely my favorite Animal Collective) and then the weird jig in the middle... no comment. It's like they're trying to go back to their campfire songs and switch around time signatures like they always have but now it just seems forced and gimmicky and has no flow... 

2. What Would I Want: Definitely the best song on the EP. The beginning has that cacophonous, celebratory quality which you can only get from a well-done Animal Collective track. The middle vocal part is a little more conventional than usual but I forgive them... Almost like Fireworks at times but definitely more inhibited and reined in. As usual, I hate the chimes. They're all over this EP and I feel like they automatically cheapen every track. 

3. Bleed: Definite DJ Shadow influences at the beginning which I'm okay with, kind of like their vocals in #1 on Strawberry Jam which I LOVED, but from there onward I feel like it just turns into self conscious and over structured harmonies and overlapping soundscapes that don't introduce anything new or exciting for the group... 

4. On A Highway: One of my least favorites. At this point, the music is so ballad-like and structured that it almost sounds like Death Cab. which is not good. The lyrics are overflowing with platitudes and cliches, totally missing any type of spirit and quirkiness we got from previous AC tracks... I predict this one is going to be really popular though. 

5. I Think I Can: Hmmm... not sure how I feel about this one yet? A little too rigid but it still feels more natural than the rest of the EP. 

Maybe I just need to give it another listen, but I feel as if my overall impression is that they're starting to lose their extremes... The joyful moments are no longer as joyful, the haunting sections aren't quite as haunting... everything is just sort of in this middle ground, and kind of in a safe place for their commercial viability and fans. I think this will be successful but I can't help but feel like there's something missing throughout the EP. 

Frontier

The latest Danielle Stech-Homsy cosmic cotton candy creation, still keeps the general ethereal mood of Bride of Dynamite but has a more smooth, processed feel, which isn't necessarily a bad thing... If Bride of Dynamite took place in a small cave, Frontier is more of a venture out of the cave and into the surrounding wilderness. Thus, we lose a bit of the intimacy of the first album but gain more interesting landscapes and sweeping sounds. I find her songs most successful when she sticks to a more simple vocal line (such as the haunting non-vibrato strophes of Bride of Dynamite evocative of the songs of troubadours of the medieval era), and lets the background noises and effects become a part of the landscape rather than taking control of the song. The Light House (my favorite track) embodies all these qualities, and much like Everyone is Someone's, uses sound bytes that seem as if they were collected by spending an afternoon sitting with a recorder on a playground bench and oddly placed blips and crackles to expand the meaning of the song and create a poignant setting. The Visitor, reminiscent of Radiohead's Treefingers, seems more labored and thought-out, unable to transport us to Rio en Medio's asteroid in the same way the rest of the album can with its gossamer, celestial state of being. 

les yeux sans visage

over the past couple days i've been completely obsessed with this french horror film... it really embodies my mood right now.

marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc

First collection of the week with a point of view, and something new to contribute... Marc said that he didn't want girls all wearing black and studs, and that they should be themselves instead, bla bla bla... Cliches aside, I thought this was a cool collection with a less literal definition of the meaning of cool. With the scarves balled around the neck, ballerina buns, kooky layering, and overall slouchy Comme Des Garcons feel, it's a different kind of confident woman which I always appreciate as I feel I can identify with her more than with the Balmain "rebels." This season's rebel is so much more interesting, and doesn't need shoulder pads or spikes to show that she's tough... Taking your boyfriend's button down, sticking a frothy Erin Fetherston-like number over it and topping it with a fringed bag is a lot more edgy in my opinion than wearing the same tired bleached jeans and combat boots...

coconuts, plenty of junk food

NEW COCOROSIE!!!! FINALLY! I was SO excited to find this the other day. Apparently, it's a tour only CD EP with no plans for release, but it's on youtube and I used file conversion sites to turn the videos into mp3s... I'd seen a couple live videos with them where the music was a little too techno/dance for my taste but from listening to coconuts, plenty of junk food I'm glad to see that they haven't completely abandoned their beautiful freak folk roots. Okay, track by track review, ready?
Coconuts- my least favorite; the fake flute solo interludes I find a little unbearable.
Happy Eyez- I'd seen a live version of this on youtube and loved it, the lyrics are so cute! They call me wee willy winky...
Milkman- beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. There are parts of it that remind me of Charles Foster Kane's wife's voice in Citizen Kane, with Sierra's fragile warble and washed up opera singer tone.
Joseph City- I love this, as it paints a whole different picture for me than other CocoRosie tracks. This is the first time I've ever gotten an abandoned urban jazz club kind of feel from their music. Makes me picture them in an empty bar sitting at the piano bench together in long tattered white dresses...
Spirit Lake- I keep thinking I'm hearing Rufus Wainwright in the beginning. This is nice too, a little reminiscent of Armageddon from Noah's Ark...

Here are the Youtube links...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H16z-3AtUR8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTA4iRTc3eE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocKiErJ64ik&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r60GFrOyj0o&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmLJRvvFi9o&feature=related