Movie of the Month, Part 26: Fish Tank

I recently
reviewed
the follow-
ing DVD for
Video Lib-
rarian, and thought the results were worth sharing.

FISH TANK - The Criterion Collection [****]
(Andrea Arnold, UK, 2009, 122 minutes)

Britain's Andrea Arnold won a best live-action Oscar for the
2003 short film Wasp, but she takes her intimate technique to a
whole new level with Fish Tank. Newcomer Katie Jarvis plays
15-year-old Mia, who lives in the projects of Essex with her trash-
talking sister and party-girl mother, Joanne (Ken Loach veteran
Kierston Waering). It isn't an easy life, but she finds release by
dancing to hip-hop, which she hopes to do professionally.

Around the time Joanne starts spending time with charming Irish
immigrant Connor (Michael Fassbender in an effortlessly se-
ductive performance), Mia becomes fixated on a white horse who
spends its days chained to an empty lot. Whether she recognizes
the broken-down beast as a kindred spirit or not--it recalls Bres-
son's Balthazar--Mia's life isn't much different. With a lack of ed-
ucation and opportunity, she may never escape the slums.



Desperate for affection, she flirts with Connor, who flirts back,
innocently at first. She pushes further and so does he, until the
night he crosses a line. Soon, and in an entirely different way, she
becomes as obsessed with the man as the horse, but the danger
she faces in trying to free the creature is nothing compared to
the danger she represents in trying to punish the man.

Fish Tank begins as a social-realist character study before Ar-
nold shifts gears into thriller territory. In the untrained Jarvis's
hands, Mia remains sympathetic even as she gives in to her bas-
er instincts, but the director doesn't withhold hope, and her film-
making is looser and sexier than in her grim, if gripping debut,
Red Road. Supplements include interviews with Waering (vi-
deo) and Fassbender (audio only), three shorts (Milk, Dog, and
Wasp), and an essay by Ian Christie. Highest recommendation.

Click here for Movie of the Month, Part 25: Still Bill

Endnote: Slightly revised from the original text. Jane Eyre,
which features Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska, opens at the
Egyptian on Friday, 3/18. Image from Reverse Shot via IFC.

Pronounced Shift: Times New Viking's Dancer Equired

Times New Viking, Dancer Equired, Merge [4/26/11]

I don't know why Times New Viking switched from Matador to Merge, but they re-materialize on Dancer Equired minus a few rough edges. Since they're both fine labels, I can't say whether this marks a step up or down--guess it's more of a lateral move.

The press notes aptly and affectionately describe the trio's past methodology as "pissy histrionics." Instead of an over-amped garage band, however, the Cleveland combo now resembles a peak-era Flying Nun act with a trick bag of jangle and chime.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Click here for "Ever Falling in Love" and here for the mini-docu-
mentary Hello, We Are Times New Viking from Columbus, Ohio.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Vocally, the three-piece, which shares mic duties between
keyboard player Beth Murphy and drummer Adam Elliot,
doesn't sound like the Chills, on which Martin Phillips took the
lead, but there's a musical similarity. When Elliot sings solo,
they also recall Guided by Voices. Like that fellow Ohio out-
fit, these three prefer short snippets over epic workouts.



I'm reminded of the transformation the Ponys made when they
moved from In the Red to Matador. They also shed some of their
garage trappings, though they didn't pick up as many pop moves
as Times New Viking. And the latter has always been a pop
band at heart. Plus, Murphy's bittersweet keyboard playing
continues to lend a dreamy feel to everything they do.

Dancer Equired only took a few spins to work its magic. It
doesn't herald a major change in direction; rather a pronounc-
ed shift. I wish I could claim I was a believer from the start, but
I didn't discover the band until 2009's terrific Born Again Re-
visited. I can't predict how old fans will react to their fifth
full-length--for me, it ranks among 2011's best releases.

Still to come: Keren Ann - 101, Sonny and the Sun-
sets - Hit After Hit, and Vivian Girls - Share the Joy.



Endnote: Times New Viking plays the Sunset
Tavern on Tues., 6/21. Image from Clash Music.

March 2011 Reviews

These are the reviews and other pieces I'm working on this month.

Amazon DVDs: Eastbound & Down - The Complete Second Season and Hot in Cleveland - Season One [two-disc set]. 

Amazon Theatricals: Poetry (with Yun Jung-hee), Jane Eyre (with Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender), Win Win (with Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan), A Somewhat Gentle Man (with Stellan Skarsgård), The Conspirator (with James McAvoy), and Happythankyoumoreplease (with writer/director Josh Radnor). 

SIFF: Eight notes for the program guide (links to come).  

Seattle Film Blog: The Woodmans, Aaron Katz's Cold Weather, and a revamped version of Shohei Imamura's Pornographers. 

Video Librarian: Alonzo Bodden - Who's Paying Attention?, Falco, Fish Tank - The Criterion Collection, The Taqwacores, Barbie - A Fairy Secret, Big Time Rush - Season One: Volume One [two-disc set], Invader Zim - Season One, The Little Engine That Could, Marillion - Live from Cadogan Hall, Soulive - Bowlive: Live at Brooklyn Bowl, A Somewhat Gentle Man, The Swimsuit Issue, 

and Who's the Caboose?  

"Polka Dots" (1976) image from Fans in a Flashbulb.

Back to Reality: Beans, Laura Stevenson & the Cans, and Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx

Beans,
End It
All, An-
ticon


Tight as a rat's rectum.
--"Glass Coffins"

The fourth solo joint from Anti-Pop Consortium member Beans
doesn't get off to an auspicious start, but stick with it, and the re-
cord builds in momentum. He may not be most expressive em-
cee, but he compensates with clever wordplay and multi-textur-
al beats (I particularly like the way he "rocks to the PM Dawn").

His roster of producers include Nobody, Four Tet, Tobacco, and
Interpol's Sam Fog. At times, the instrumental backdrops come
close to experimental/musique concrète territory, but he always
brings things back to reality before the number is through.

Click here to watch the "Blue Movie" video.

In his bio, Beans cites "Suicide as his main influence (with nods
to Sun Ra, Mantronix, Sonic Youth, Public Enemy, & Autechre)."
For me, the highlight is the vocal interplay between the rapper
and Tunde Adebimpe (TV on the Radio) on "Mellow You Out."

Laura Stevenson & the Cans, Sit
Resist, Don Giavanni Records [4/26/11]

Sit Resist offers jaunty, vibrato-laden Americana with woozy
horns in the vein of Regina Spektor. Throughout her second re-
cord, Laura Stevenson's voice swoops up and down, some-
times into a little-girl croak. According to the press notes, her
grandfather, Harry Simeone, a vocalist with the Benny Good-
man Orchestra, composed "Little Drummer Boy." Cool cred-
entials, but I have no tolerance for this kind of thing. She is-
n't without talent, but the disc is too precious for my taste.

Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx, We're
New Here, XL Recordings [2/22/11]

As much as I loved I'm New Here, a remix release feels extra-
neous, even if Jamie xx participated in both projects. After all,
the way Gil Scott-Heron stripped the material down to its es-
sence--the better to hear his words-- was its biggest strength.

Consequently, the most interesting tracks didn't appear on I'm
New Here or have re-emerged in new form, like "My Cloud,"
"The Crutch," and "Ur Soul & Mine." On the contrary, Jamie
doesn't do anything with "New York Is Killing Me" that improv-
es or re-contextualizes it in any significant way; just adds a few
sound effects here and there. Stick with the original recording.

Endnote: For more information about Beans, please
click here; for Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx, here;
and for Laura Stevenson, here. Beans plays Chop
Suey with Tobacco on 4/22. Image from One O'Clock.

Tear the Club Up with Dirtbombs' Party Store

Dirtbombs, Party Store, In the Red

"[A] sci-fi dork in a leather jacket."--Fred Thomas on Mick Collins

It took awhile to get ahold of this CD, which everyone has heard
by now--at least everyone who was dying to hear Motor City ti-
tans the Dirtbombs put their stamp on Detroit techno. As I sus-
pected (and fervently hoped): Party Store was worth the wait.

For anyone who thinks it's an about-face, it isn't. Detroit native
Mick Collins has been talking up techno for awhile now (when I
interviewed him for Tablet in 2005, Collins said, "I have a techno
record coming out later this year"). Further, he hints at things to
come on 2008's We Have You Surrounded, which features more
robotic/post-punk moves than any Dirtbombs effort to date.

That doesn't mean the new record attempts to out-manmachine
Kraftwerk or Daft Punk. The quintet hasn't put their humanity a-
side. Even when MC strives to sing like an android, he still sounds
like a man--on "Sharevari," he's a French one...with bionic parts.



Consequently, Party Store feels more cohesive than the schizo
Surrounded, their last studio recording. In that sense, it serves
as a twin to their soul and funk collection, Ultraglide in Black.

Granted, I'm not sure that Carl Craig's "Bug in the Bassbin" needs
to exceed 20 minutes. Then again, once you've locked onto a good
groove, you might as well, pace James Brown, do it to death. "Bug"
is the kind of quasi-psychedelic jam meant more for trancing than
dancing, though the group's patented two-drummer attack (Pat
Pantano and Ben Blackwell) insures that you can do that, too.



Also, epics tend to work best at the beginning or end of LPs,
whereas "Bug" arrives in the middle. What the hell, the Dirt-
bombs have always played by their own rules. It's also an in-
strumental, like "Jaguar," so if Mick's vocals are your favorite
part of the 'bombs, this won't be your favorite release (I reco-
mmend neophytes start with Ultraglide, and work forward).

Ironically, Party Store doesn't make me want to go off on a
techno bender, which may say more about me than the Dirt-
bombs. Rather, it makes me want to spin the disc non-stop--
which definitely says something about the band in question.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ******

Bonus: Click here for the Kyle Hall remix of "Bug in the Bassbin," here
for the Ectomorph remix of "Jaguar," and here for the Omar S remix of
"Sharevari." (All three are available on a gatefold, limited-edition 12".)

Endnote: If interested, you can find most of the original tracks
on YouTube, like Derrick May/Rhythim Is Rhythim's "Strings of Life." Click here for more Dirtbombs reviews, videos, info, etc. Image from This Is Book's Music (photograph © Brian Alesi).

Dreamy and Direct: Kurt Vile, Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death, and Andy Votel

Kurt Vile,
Smoke
Ring for
My Halo,
Matador
[3/8/11]


Now that Jay Reatard is no longer with us, I proclaim Philadel-
phia's Kurt Vile the independent recording artist with the best
hair. Not that the two sound alike, because they don't (except,
perhaps, on "Puppet to a Man"). Throughout his fourth album,
Vile gives his folk-oriented songs a subtle psychedelic twist, re-
sulting in an LP that feels dreamy and direct at the same time.

Click here for "Jesus Fever"

At its worst, it's a little samey, but I like the indirectness of
his vocals, which has more to do with the way he records than
the way he sings, as if his mic were wrapped in layers of gauze.

Smoke Ring follows in the wake of 2009's Childish Prodigy,
and Vile plans to promote it Reatard-style: by playing Amer-
ica's finest record stores. Look for him in your town soon.

Update: Kurt Vile plays a solo acoustic set at Bal-
lard's Sonic Boom location on Sun., 4/24, at 6:30 pm. 

Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death,
Some of Us Are in This Together, Don't Stop Believin'

I wish I liked this release better, because Triumph of Leth-
argy Skinned Alive to Death hail from Seattle, but Spencer
Moody's angst-ridden vocals are a significant buzz kill (the ex-
Murder City Devil seems to be going for a Steve Albini effect).

I prefer "Salt" and "Hey Asshole" on which former Pretty Girls
Make Graves front woman Andrea Zollo does her thing. Other-
wise, the quartet recalls Pelican. Similarly, they'd work better
as an instrumental outfit or with a different vocal approach.
The Laughing Hyenas set the standard for this sort of thing.

Click here for "The Dirty Street"

Andy Votel - Cock Diesel Mixtape
Vol. 1 Cassette, Finders Keepers

Here's something you don't see every day: a cassette-only collec-
tion of music from vintage biker films. Jess Rotter designed the
skullerific cover, and the stamp inside my copy reads 25/100, so
quantities are limited. I don't know if there are any left, but Other
Music carried it last year (I got mine from Rotter and Friends).

There's no track listing, but the OM review notes that most of
the cuts come from Australia's Stone (1974). Though I expected
English-language selections, compiler Andy Votel scoured the
globe for this beautifully fuzzy, buzzy, polyglotal bouillabaisse.

Still to come: Beans - End It All, Dirtbombs - Par-
ty Store, Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx - We're New
Here, and Laura Stevenson & the Cans - Sit Resist.

Endnote: Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to
Death plays the Rendezvous on 2/19. Image from
Matador Records by way of Basic Edits’ Flickr.

Not Too Soon: Aloe Blacc's Good Things

Not
Too
Soon

Aloe
Blacc,
Good
Things,
Stones
Throw

Is it too soon to declare Good Things a soul classic? After all, Stones
Throw only released it five months ago. Classics usually take
a few years to germinate, but I'm gonna go ahead and call it.

Decades from now, will people speak about his LP with the same
degree of esteem we now accord Shuggie Otis's Inspiration Infor-
mation? I hope so, because it shares the same eclectic charm.

There are those who believe that qualifiers diminish the object in
question, and they have a point. If I describe Good Things as
neo-soul, like many have, I'm suggesting that it would be folly to
compare Blacc to, say, Stevie Wonder. Better to compare him to
Rafael Saadiq and label mate Mayer Hawthorne. Those compari-
sons certainly make sense, but I'd rather not go there either, be-
cause it also diminishes their work, just as neo-noir implies that
Roman Polanski's Chinatown doesn't bear comparison to the
noirs of the WWII-era, even though it holds up just as well.



Granted, Blacc wouldn't exist without the soul practitioners who
came before, but they didn't emerge from a puff of smoke either
(no, not even Marvin Gaye). If the prefix must persist, I would
reserve it for artists who understand the parameters of a genre,
but haven't yet found--or don't possess--the means to transcend
them. If you think you've heard it before, it's because you have.
On the contrary, Good Things feels both fresh and familiar.

It began with the first single, "I Need a Dollar," which didn't sound
like anything else released in 2010 (and became the theme to How
to Make It in America). That was already a promising sign, but I
doubted that a full-length could measure up. It does. And doesn't.

As it turns out, Blacc doesn't make the same song over and over
(and I'll never understand why anyone would find that a worthy
goal). On the contrary, he offers 13 discreet selections. Each is u-
nique in its own way, but you can tell Blacc was behind each one.

Furthermore, Good Things doesn't sound like an exercise in
style, even though Blacc started out as an MC. If you listen close-
ly, his hip-hop background becomes apparent, but you have to
make an effort. I have no idea whether this is a permanent shift or
a temporary detour, but his lyrics and delivery indicate that he
means what he says. Were he merely trying to prove that he
could pass for a soul man, his words wouldn't scan as well.

"Mama
Hold My
Hand," for
instance, is
a heartfelt
ode to a
mother. He
may (or
may not)
have taken
inspiration
from Bill
Withers' "Grandmas Hands," but there's no doubting his sincerity.

In "I Need a Dollar," Blacc sings, "If I share my story, will you share
your dollar with me?" Taken literally, it describes our exchange: I
heard a song--a story--and I wanted more, so I bought his album,
i.e. I shared my dollars with him. In return, I received 13 stories.

Whether each one emerges directly from his own life experiences,
I couldn't say, but it doesn't matter, because they don't come ac-
ross as mere fabrications. Put them all together with his earthy
voice and those beautifully understated funk melodies, and Al-
oe Blacc has crafted a soul classic. No qualifiers necessary.

Endnote: Images from Hypetrack and Analog Giant.