Sugar Man as semi-Kurtzian Figure

I was all totally jazzed about Searching for Sugar Man. The movie sits right in my wheel house. Some Afrikaner music nerds get all every-man-detective and go looking for answers regarding a mysterious American singer/songwriter by the name of Sixto Rodriguez–who went by the fairly uncreative nom de plum Rodriguez. I remained totally jazzed over the two days I watched it. However, in the day (and change) that has elapsed since I finished it, I’m left feeling pretty empty.

 

Best Records of 2011: Top 10

I’ve already blown a couple hundred words on what a good year for music it has been. I had composed a little rant about how, despite the high quality to be found across wide-ranging genres, there really wasn’t a clear high-water mark, and then Stephen Hyden went and wrote a longer, better piece about that very phenomenon in the AV Club. So that sort of boned this introductory paragraph about how difficult it was to crown a number one without a cultural swing (whether generic or broader) to join or rally against. Enjoy this really great top 10 even if it is devoid of material which made Zeus quake or stirred fears of revolution in the late Kim Jong-Il.

 

Gold Sounds: T’bone

T’bone
Mt. Trashmore
Clown Ethics Recordings

Chicago math rockers T’bone make complex grooves for the kids who just barely passed Algebra II. Mt. Trashmore tracks tend to fall into one of two categories: pulsating jams with fairly conventional structures and completely or largely instrumental exercises punctuated with bellowed non-sequiturs.  The trio–Ed Bornstein on drums, Pat McPartland on guitar, and Leland Meiners on bass–pack a lot of ideas into a song, time signature and key changes abound, but they went for the populist jugular on the lyrics.

 

Yeah, I Remember my Film Classes: Red State

This is my second post about Kevin Smith’s cinematic “swan song,” Red State. I realize I may be succumbing to the trench coat-clad director’s whims by spending so much of my time on it, but the movie practically screams out to the world “talk about me!”
I’ve already talked about the film’s uneven second half, but I’ve felt compelled to chronicle the film’s downfall. Like the collapse of the 2011 Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox, there’s something magical and fascinating about the erosion of Red State. Strap in, this is a long one (but there are also lots of pictures!).

 

Red State

I haven’t felt the desire to write much lately–as the date line on the second most recent post will indicate, but Kevin Smith‘s supposed cinematic swan song, Red State, has stirred something in me. I have a real soft spot for art with rough edges. Red State definitely fits the bill. I find the film so interesting, I’m compelled to compose two write-ups on Smith’s foray into horror: this more conventional review, and a breakdown of one of the film’s pivotal scenes; which will probably drop in a week or so.
As I’ve already implied, Red State is a mixed bag of a film. A film with a broad scope and vision without the budget to bring it to fruition, a run time without space to show it as thoroughly as needed, and an auteur without the patience to give each aspect it’s due diligence. However, what Smith has almost always lacked in technical skill, he’s usually made up for with above average to even great dialogue and an obvious love for the project.

 

“GOOD Mondays”: “Otis”

[This is, of course, not another G.O.O.D. Friday cut, and therefore not another review of a GF cut, but I already had this heading and all, so deal with it.]
Kanye West is half a year removed from downright dominating Twitter with his weekly leaks, but he’s a spotlight fiend. Before we could entirely come down from all the critical hysteria over West’s fifth magnum opus, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (a title that still sounds like he stole it from Panic! At the Disco), we were already hearing rumbles about an EP or album-length collaberation with Yeezy’s boss, mentor, and “big brother,” Jay-Z.

 

Tangled up in Blues: Edward Gray – Old Bending River

It’s been five years since Ed Gray last laid tracks to tape. That resulted in one of my favorite albums of the last 10 years, the lo-fi stunner The Late Gray Ed Great. The long-awaited follow-up to Gray’s 2006 masterstroke, Old Bending River is considerably more polished. Before you start bellowing “sell out” or some such nonsense, that doesn’t mean Gray is penning tunes for Train or Matchbox 20; River is still dark and gruff, it’s just recorded on some better microphones.

 

Gold Sounds: Deluxe Double Fold

Last summer, Night-People label head, Shawn Reed, unleashed Cola-Heavy Nights, a mix of then recently released and upcoming tracks from the label; dude’s at it again. We’re barely even into spring and Reed already has another summer-themed sampler of recent and upcoming Night-People jams.
From the greaser quaffed Dirty Beaches to the dopamine-diluted reggae of Coppertone; from the sleepy psych of Reed’s fellow Wet Hair bandmate Ryan Garbes to the synthy wisps of Three-Legged Race; Deluxe Double Fold is all the drunken euphoria, backyard bbqs, sweat-soaked porch hangs, and heat-stroked pass outs you can experience.
Go ahead and get down, cause Reed’s broken us off with a lil’ taste of the Night-People Records’ summer output for free. Download it here. Check the tracklisting (with a couple cuts streaming) below:

 

Gold Sounds: Safe Words – Hollow Leg

One of the hardest things about being attached to a smaller local music scene is when a promising act breaks up. It happens a lot. When Iowa City’s Molly Ringwald called it quits a year or so ago, I was pretty bummed. The flip side of that coin is that rarely do talented, interesting people stay off the stage for long. So welcome two-thirds of Molly Ringwald back into the fold, folks. Dustin Hamnes and Jake Mathesien find themselves part of a quintet making a similarly shaggy brand of music in Safe Words.

 

Amplifier Worship: Supersonic Piss – Umbilical Noose

(Photo: John C. Schlotfelt)

Iowa City’s premier punk outfit, Supersonic Piss, has itself a serious slab of shellac about to drop. The dirtiest quartet that the city has to offer is about to scramble some brains and blast through some ear drums with their debut full-length Umbilical Noose–out soon on Rotted Tooth Records.