Music Review: World Music – Goat

Friday, May 10, 2013 14:21 ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

World Music – Goat

Occasionally you hear something new that is the sonic equivalent of a kick in the balls or a punch to the gut… that was my reaction to hearing Goat on NPR’s All Songs Considered.

Although their debut album was released in August of 2012, I hadn’t heard a single thing about Goat.  Once I heard the song Run to Your Mama, a song that has now inspired a nine track remix album, I knew I was listening to something altogether different from anything I’ve heard before.

Based in Sweden, Goat has more than a little theatricality to their schtick.  They hail from a small town in Sweden, Korpilombolo, that claims to have a history of voodoo and of Christian crusaders that brought upon the town a curse from the former inhabitants after the destruction of the village… and that creepy angle is played up in both their music and their stage presentation.

About the music… I’ve read a few descriptions that tend to float around calling their sound… Afro-pop/metal fusion… or prog rock/Afro-pop.  There is a heavy African or Indian influence to much of their music, with a heavy dose of a hard and driving rock backbone.  The first track, Diarabi, is an instrumental, that begins with something akin to a drone with a sitar-like hook before the drums and the rest kick in… pure forward momentum.

The second track, Goatman, was their first single released.  According to Wikipedia, they never wrote any songs until Goatman, just jammed.  When they were approached to record their album, they had to actually write songs, whereas they had previously just played with little to no structure… and that free limber style still comes through in each recording.  The endings seem to fizzle away as opposed to anything that builds and crescendos.

I must say something about their stage performances and all their publicity… they play in masks and elaborate costumes and prefer to be anonymous.  After giving the album a few listens, I thought, ok… what do these cats looks like?  The image below is one of the only ones I could find…

Goat

My first reaction was… well, I guess I’m into this now.  I’m intrigued… to say the least.  The mandrill mask is a nice touch… and yes, a little on the creepy side, but I dig it.  Stanley Kubrick would have certainly approved.

The album proceeds along at a great clip and the textures of each piece shift and change throughout, much like a multicolored rug (the album cover perhaps), but all with that driving beat that seems to be propelling them forward at all times.

Although Run to Your Mama is probably the stand-out track of the album, another favorite of mine is Golden Dawn… opens with a quick vocal clip saturated in reverb and echo and an immediate jump into what sounds like a piece that would fit right in during the opening credits of a 1970′s blaxploitation film, or any Tarantino film.  Simply fantastic.

Another wonderful little tidbit regarding their history… this album was released in August last year… their first public performance was in October, and from what was written about that show, they hit the floor running and are an amazing band to see live if you have the opportunity.  Unfortunately, they just finished a very limited tour of the US and never once stepped foot in my state (California… you know, that little state on the west coast).  I understand they will be performing at the Glastonbury Festival later this year, I’m a long way from Scotland.

If any of this weirdness sounds good to you, definitely check out Goat and their debut album World Music.  In lieu of being able to see them live, wet your whistles on the clip below of a live performance in Stockholm from November of last year.

Running to my mama,
Cornelius J. Blahg

Posted in: General ⋅ Tagged:

RIP: Ray Harryhausen (1920 – 2013)

Tuesday, May 7, 2013 12:59 ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Calibos, Ray Harryhausen, and Medusa

The original King Kong (1933) was an inspirational film for many… but for one man, Ray Harryhausen, it opened his eyes to the potential of animation within film, and a creative genius was born.  Today, that creative genius has passed away at the age of 92.

His first feature film as an assistant animator was 1947′s Mighty Joe Young, an obvious wink and nod to the film that started the whole monster genre.  From there, he went on to work on many films throughout the next three decades, including; The 7th. Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts, and his final film, and a long time favorite of mine, 1981′s Clash of the Titans.

His use of stop motion animation within live action films became known as Dynamation.  Although this technique is now considered quite antiquated and looks quaint by today’s CGI-heavy standards, it was revolutionary at the time and gave birth to a wide array of imaginative scenes and indelible images.

Harryhausen’s influence is apparent in many films today, and on the occasion of his death today, many filmmakers have stood up and acknowledged his influence on their work.  My fondest memories belong to Clash of the Titans… not only was Calibos a frightening visage for a young child to see, but Medusa, her hair of serpents wriggling and writhing as Perseus approached, was enough fuel to feed my imagination for years to come.

My favorite homage however comes from Pixar’s Monsters Inc.  The sushi restaurant they dine in is named, “Harryhausens”.

Sully, Mike, and Boo

With that, I want to say… rest in peace Mr. Harryhausen, and thank you for all that you had done to enrich and enlighten all of our imaginations and movie going experiences.

RIP,
Cornelius J. Blahg

Posted in: General ⋅ Tagged:

Movie Review: Evil Dead

Thursday, April 11, 2013 12:08 ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Is that evil? Or is that dead?

It is always unfortunate when writing a review for any remake that it can rarely, if ever, be discussed on it’s own merits as opposed to having to compare and contrast with the original.  That is doubly the case when it is a beloved horror film franchise trilogy such as Evil Dead.  The fortunate end to all of this, however, is that the remake is good.

While Sam Raimi has been off making huge superhero blockbusters, and Bruce Campbell has been making TV shows and cameos in every Sam Raimi huge superhero blockbuster, fans have been clamoring for a new Evil Dead film starring everyone’s favorite smart ass deadite killer Ash.  They opted out of that scenario, but decided to produce a new story about the Book of the Dead and the cabin that spawns the evil… all of it… all the evil… and passed the directing torch onto newcomer Fede Alvarez.

Alvarez ditched the campiness that made the original three films (more so the later two) so memorable and replaced the jokes and hammy acting with some serious gore (bordering on torture porn) and every ‘Chekov’s gun’ they could cram into every scene.  It was as if they took each element from the original two films (remember now… the second film in the series, Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn, is little more than a slightly bigger budget version of the first, The Evil Dead) and put them in a large bag… shook the shit out of the bag… and reassigned those elements to different scenes and different characters, then added a few new gizmos and gadgets to make us squirm.  Chainsaw?  Check.  Machete?  Check.  Nail gun?  Seriously?  Ugh… check.

Many are probably lamenting the loss of the humor and the extreme campiness, but I am not.  The originals are still there, we can watch them at any time… but the notion of this group of five people going to this cabin in the middle of nowhere, basically so they could party, reading passages from a fleshy book that brings back some unknown ‘evil’ into the world, and getting killed off one by one, was somewhat old when the first film was made.  The slasher film genre as a whole was already on it’s way out in favor of franchise villains Freddy Kruger and Jason Vorhees, and on the way into self-parody and irrelevance when The Evil Dead showed up, giving us some much needed levity and over the top gore that was missing from much of what the genre was producing.  When Army of Darkness came onto the scene, it was no longer a film to be feared, but a laughably silly movie where Ash is thrust into the middle ages as a demon fighting hero, complete with mechanical hand and witty quips.  Evil Dead does a fantastic job of returning the series back to it’s slasher film roots with an ample amount of blood and viscera and none of the cracking wise we’ve come to expect.

This time around, the five young people head to the cabin in order to help Mia (Jane Levy) kick her heroin habit.  Mia’s brother, David (Shiloh Fernandez) has not been present in her life lately and everyone else is surprised that he even shows up.  He brings along his girlfriend, Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore), and they are all joined by Mia and David’s longtime friends, Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) and Olivia (Jessica Lucas), a nurse who is helping Mia with her withdrawal.  Having the set up for them being at the cabin being that someone is kicking heroin is a great twist onto the old trope… having the cabin belong to David and Mia’s family is even better… there is more of a structure to the story than most horror films ever even aspire to, which makes the question of whether or not what begins to happen is real or not, much more believable.  Is Mia simply hallucinating, or is it really happening?

I wouldn’t say that the film starts of slow… this may have been a feeling of anticipation or expectation… but when it does finally start moving, it becomes a non-stop gore-fest, often times pushing the boundaries of what I can tolerate in a film.  We all have our specific squirm inducing things that push those particular buttons… I certainly have mine, and this movie got me squirming and half closing my eyes at least twice.  I can’t recall the last time that has been the case.  Is this torture porn?  Honestly, I’m not sure… I think it dances on the border a bit, but I felt the gore was there for a reason, and that reason was to push these people further and further into fear and madness… one of whom seems to be the film’s resident pin cushion/punching bag.  Let’s just say, even though there are only five people, there are many more ways to maim/injure/disable/mutilate someone more than once.

One thing that is held over from the original to this… moments of stupid amounts of blood.  Raimi’s silly ‘torrents of blood’ is used a few times to amazing effect.  Also, don’t expect certain people or certain implements to be used in the same way.  Think you know who the Ash analogue is?  Believe you know how that chainsaw will be used?  Are you sure about that?  All you will know for sure is that, yes, Ash’s car makes a cameo.

If I haven’t made this point clear, I probably should… this is a gory movie.  If you are bothered by graphic violence or violence against animals, don’t see this movie.  I may be a desensitized monster… but you may not be.  Just thought I should mention that…

If you are a hipster who will whine about Hollywood churning out nothing but remakes and sequels, you may want to pass.  Not that you won’t enjoy this, but because you won’t allow yourself to enjoy it.  If you think something from your youth is sullied by a crass cash grab of a remake that is now suddenly raping your very childhood… don’t bother.  If you enjoy a great horror film that takes familiar ideas and makes them seem new and updated for a modern audience while at the same time giving a stream of homages and hat tips to what came before it… then go see Evil Dead.  I had a fantastic time and found myself more than pleasantly surprised by much of what I saw and how often my expectations were dashed.

Groovy,
Cornelius J. Blahg

Posted in: General ⋅ Tagged: ,

RIP Roger Ebert (1942 – 2013)

Thursday, April 4, 2013 12:04 ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert, possibly the most influential film critic in the country, if not the world, has passed away today, a day after announcing the return of the cancer that ravaged his body in 2002.

Growing up, At the Movies with Siskel & Ebert was always a welcome way for me to pass the time, never realizing how much of an influence he actually had on my perception of film criticism and entertainment.  I may not have always agreed with his reviews, but it was always known that his was a position of authority and amazing perception.

He began his professional career in 1967 writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, a gig he retained until his passing today, and was also the screenwriter for the Russ Meyer’s camp classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.  But it was his presence on TV that had the greatest impact on myself and others over the years.

After Gene Siskel’s death in 1999, he teamed up with Richard Roeper in 2000 to begin At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper until he was no longer able to speak after multiple surgeries combatting his thyroid cancer diagnosis in 2002.  I can’t say I watched much of the show after this point, but I was always eager to read his reviews.

Ebert was the first critic to win a Pulitzer Prize, as well as the first to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  These are simply two highlights in an extraordinary career that earned him accolades and honors previously unknown for film criticism.

He may have lost his literal voice after his battle with cancer, but he still wielded a pen like no other, and his opinions and observations will be missed by many… myself included.

RIP Mr. Ebert,
Cornelius J. Blahg

Posted in: General ⋅ Tagged:

The TV Box: Game of Thrones, S3E1: Valar Dohaeris

Tuesday, April 2, 2013 13:47 ⋅ 6 Comments ⋅

Tyrion and his Bronn-tourage

This will be a review of the HBO series Game of Thrones… NOT the novels.  As much as I would love to go over the whole A Song of Ice and Fire saga and how it compares with Game of Thrones, I don’t believe I have the mettle to tackle that in this blog.  That said, if you haven’t seen the first episode of the third season, don’t read beyond this point.

Trying to wrap my head around reviewing HBO’s Game of Thrones has been taunting me for the last two years.  I imagine it to be somewhat comparable to to trying to cozy up to a dragon… sure it looks pretty and you want to jump on it’s back and ride it into the sunset, but chances are you will simply be burned to a crisp and devoured whole.  I was also reluctant to begin reviewing The Walking Dead on a weekly basis, but eventually found a way to do so… clumsily and far from eloquent at first, but I believe I eventually found my way around how to do it… I won’t bother with recapping the episode, I will simply give my impressions.

Game of Thrones cannot be viewed on an episode by episode basis.  The scale and scope of this saga can only be viewed from the end looking back, which poses all sorts of problems for any viewer, even one who has read all five of the novels in the series thus far… largely because there are still two novels to be written.  Keeping track of all the characters, each of their individual arcs, how they relate to other character’s arcs, and an enormous backstory and mythology that informs every scene is exactly what turns off so many, yet grips those of us who love a great sprawling tale… and Game of Thrones is nothing if not sprawling.

In the first season, we felt the comfort of following who we believed to be the main character, Ned Stark, and his struggles in navigating the politics of this huge kingdom and his children’s place within that world.   There were plenty of other characters and motivations happening concurrently; the Targaryens in Essos, the Baratheons and their children of incest, and the Lannisters and their lust for power, wealth, and each other… but it was the Starks that we were rooting for.  They were the good guys… then Ned got his head lopped off in the ninth episode and all bets were off.

The second season focused on what it meant to rule.  Suddenly, scores of other houses that were merely backdrops to the Stark family drama became relevant and found each other in a massive power struggle between five rival would-be kings and muddied the waters that much more.  Who was the good guy?  Who was the villain?  Did those terms even apply?  Eventually, the season culminated in an incredible battle in the ninth episode (see a pattern here?), Blackwater, determining, for the moment, who was in charge of Westeros.

Of course, none of that even touches on Dany Targaryen’s struggles in the east… but by the end of season one, she had a trio of dragons and spent the majority of the second season asking, “where are my dragons?”.  For as much as we wanted more of her tale, we got very little… but that isn’t to say there isn’t great significance to what happened on her end, and what is yet to come.

Did I mention the White Walkers yet?  The zombie-like creatures north of the Wall who are pushing south as winter approaches, or the bastard son of Ned Stark, Jon Snow?  No… of course I didn’t… there is simply too much to cover in such a short space.  But the second season ended with Jon joining the Wildlings, the free folk of the north who don’t bow to any other king than their own, and the White Walkers attacking the men of the Night’s Watch.  A remarkable ending to an already convoluted season.

The third season opens with the aftermath of that battle.  Sadly, another example of a battle that we don’t see on screen… probably due to budget constraints… but it was enough of a battle to cause the Night’s Watch to retreat… and from there, the episode goes about the task of catching us up on who’s doing what and reminding us of the rich tapestry that is Game of Thrones.

Valar Dohaeris, a bookended title from the second season finale Valar Morghulis, the meaning of which would be a spoiler unto itself (Valar Morghulis is what Jaqen H’ghar told Arya to say if she ever finds herself in Braavos), does an admirable job of bringing us up to speed, yet doesn’t cover everyone.  We don’t know what’s happening with Arya, Bran, or Jaime and Brienne… I’m assuming we’ll meet up with them next week.

A quick rundown of what everyone is up to…

Tyrion is no longer hand of the king and his buddy Bronn is asking for more money.  His father, Tywin Lannister, who has replaced Tyrion as Hand of the King, makes it clear that Tyrion is not going to reap the benefits of his family name nor will he get any credit for the remarkable job he performed in winning the battle of Blackwater… plus his face is scarred and his sister Cersei, the Queen Regent, is still a raging bitch with waning power and a massive ego problem.

The scene between Tyrion and his father was by far my favorite of the episode, showing us examples of two of the finest actors in the series, Charles Dance and Peter Dinklage.  And in this cast, that is saying something.

Emo Jon and Ygritte

Jon is ingratiating himself to the Wildlings after having killed his compatriot in an attempt to infiltrate the enemy and figure out why they are moving en masse towards the south.  We meet Mance Rayder, King Beyond the Wall… and we see a giant.  That was cool, and thanks to budget issues, entirely unexpected.  Ygritte, his Wildling redheaded temptress is also present and firing off witticisms meant to embarrass and belittle everyone’s favorite emo Stark… love her.

Joffrey still sucks, but his new bride to be, Margaery Tyrell, is shown to be deft at the art of politics as she communes with the masses and brings a more personable face to the reign of Joffrey the prick.  This is a departure from the novels, but a welcome one.  Natalie Dormer is lovely and a dead ringer for Diana Rigg, who we will be introduced to next week as her grandmother, the Queen of Thorns (sorry, slight spoiler, couldn’t resist… consider that a taste).

Robb… meh.

Davos lives!  He is rescued from his Little Mermaid perch, all blistered and battle scarred, by his buddy Lando…errrr… Salladhor Saan and returns to his king, the never charming Stannis Baratheon and his red priestess Melisandre, despite being told that she is burning those who don’t worship her red god.  Davos is possibly the closest thing to a “good guy” we have in the series at this point and I am always happy to see him on screen, despite his somewhat milktoast personality.  We need someone to root for… don’t we?

Sansa, Shae, and Roz have a nice scene together that illuminates each characters frame of mind.  Sansa is still playing the games of a young girl, Shae is straight forward and to the point, and Roz, who we know is playing a double agent for both Littlefinger and Varys (who was also absent this time around), is sending out a warning… don’t trust Littlefinger… who is the only person Sansa believes she can trust, because he has become her only hope of escape from the court of the fuck-face king.

Good boy…

Finally, Dany and her ever present companion Sir Jorah arrive to Astapor.  There, she goes about the business of purchasing her 8,000 eunuch army and escaping death by manticore with the aid of one Sir Barristan Selmy, who has been MIA since the first season.  His appearance bodes well for our rightful (?) queen.  Plus, her dragons have grown… and she never once whined about their whereabouts.  Already and improvement in her story line.

Game of Thrones is a slow boil… there are no immediate payouts.  Following this story is an exercise in patience and keen observations, many of which I have probably missed and will notice on subsequent viewings, but am always eager to enter into this world.  Next week will hopefully catch us up on those who we didn’t see… and if it doesn’t, there will be more to come.

I’m sure I’ve misspelled some of these names and missed a number of key moments from the episode… but like I said, I’m not going for a recap, I’m going for impressions… and so far, it looks like we are going to be in for quite a ride.  Once we are caught up with everyone, I will be able to get more into what it all means… and how it all ties together.

Hodor,
Cornelius J. Blahg

Posted in: General ⋅ Tagged: , ,