Merry Christmas, ya' Jerks!

Concert Review: Silver Jews

“Time to go to work.”

My jaw dropped as the tall, lanky figure in a grey suit sauntered past. David Berman had just walked into the Picador.

The frontman of Silver Jews, Berman is arguably one of the best songwriters in America. Despite garnering critical acclaim and minor indie scene stardom, Berman and company only recently started touring in 2005.

I felt some apprehension after my initial excitement when I saw the Silver Jews were coming to Iowa City to play at the Picador in support of their recently released album, Lookout Mountain Lookout Sea. What if they weren’t good live? I’d seen some YouTube videos of the band playing live where they just looked flat and lifeless onstage. However, my fears were unfounded.

After a puzzling and entirely overlong encounter with opening anti-folk act The Mattoid, Berman and his band took to the stage. Starting with the opening track off of 2001’s Bright Flight, “Slow Education”, Silver Jews played a career-spanning set. Berman’s rough, gravely, whiskey-tinged voice was the first sound heard out of the Jews singing, “When God was young/ He made the wind and the sun/ And since then/ It's been a slow education.” Towering, bearded, and balding and equipped with a shiny oversized belt buckle that read “Joos,” onstage Berman comes off like a beat poet with a great backing band, wobbling all over the place, leaning on the micstand, and gesturing along with his lyrics. I caught myself chuckling at many points during the concert, Berman’s semi-absurd lyrics and gestures exposing new meanings to the lonesome, lyrically sprawling songs.

A rarity for bands touring on the heels of a recently released LP, only five of the eighteen songs on the Silver Jews’ setlist came from Lookout Mountain Lookout Sea. All six of the band’s LPs were represented with multiple songs. One of the highlights of the night came when Berman strapped on a bright blue acoustic guitar and played “Random Rules”, the lyrically brilliant jangly opener off of American Water. Featuring the opening line, “In 1984 I was hospitalized for approaching perfection”, voices from the crowd joined Berman’s as he took Iowa City across all the wrong rivers and for a walk down all the wrong halls.

On many of the post-American Water (1998) songs, Cassie, Berman’s wife and bassist, shared vocal duties on the choruses. The couple played off of each other onstage, Berman at times turning towards Cassie and singing parts of songs directly to her. This sounds cliche and kitschy, but for those in the audience it seemed natural, with a sort-of Johnny Cash and June Carter vibe to it.

Berman tore down all pretense to the concert, telling stories, dedicating songs to people in the audience he’d met before the concert, and often wandering around the stage during instrumental breaks in songs as if looking for something. After the last song of the regular setlist the rest of the band exited the stage. Berman stayed. Pointing out the ridiculousness of an inevitable encore, Berman stood onstage sipping a drink while the band filtered back through the door.

The show’s encore was solid. The crowd applauded when the first creepy, paranoid notes and thumps of “New Orleans” were heard. After the post-modern freakout at the end of “New Orleans”, Berman and company turned to a more conventional type of song, a love ballad. On the auto-biographical “Tennessee”, David Berman serenaded his wife singing, “We're gonna live in Nashville and I'll make a career/Out of writing sad songs and getting paid by the tear.” Silver Jews closed with one of their more uptempo songs from 2005’s Tanglewood Numbers, “Punks in the Beerlight.” The night ended with everyone in the audience singing the chorus. “I love you to the max! I love you to the max! I love you to the max!”

Moustache Salad gives the Silver Jews in concert a fu-manchu with side-burns. (4.5 out of 5)

Concert Review: Ben Folds

"It's so weird to be back here."

Let me get this out of the way first. I’m a pseudo Ben Folds fan at best. I dig the stuff by Five, Rockin’ the Suburbs is pretty good, and Songs for Silverman is okay. They’ve all got their moments. While I’m not a huge fan, I went in to this concert with some decent-sized expectations. This is his third show here, so he’s got to be doing something right. Plenty of my friends have seen him before and all of them came back with shining reviews, so I figured I’d be in for the same. Real quickly, Missy Higgins was a good opener. Nothing I’d listen to again, but it was a cute set and fit the piano-rock atmosphere. She was adorable to boot. Onwards to the main act.

Standing in the second row of people against the gate right in front of the piano, I was a bit confused by the whole silhouette, flashing lights, and corny eighties intro. I know it was probably meant to be cheesy to the point of being humorous, but it came off as just cheesy. The first half of the set was pretty heavy with songs from his new album, Way to Normal. This totally makes sense as it was just released less than a month ago. That said, it doesn’t make the songs any less worse. Okay, that’s a bit harsh. Way to Normal isn’t terrible; it’s not even really bad. However, it’s mediocre for a Folds album and was a bit of a disappointment.

I just couldn’t get in to many of the new songs, and it was only made worse every time we had to hear an alternate version from their “fake leak” (for those not in the know, the band recorded joke versions of songs off the new album and leaked them early as a prank). I’ll give it to him; some of them are delightfully bad while others are better than their “real” version, but hearing two fairly similar songs in the same concert and even back to back occasionally was just too much. Another letdown came when I saw “Hiroshima”, one of the better cuts off …Normal, on the set list, but apparently it got cut for something else. Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the night came when the band played, “Landed”, one of my favorite Folds songs, only for this version they decided to half-ass it and remove any joy I could’ve had. Finally, the closer, while fun, was weak for a show ender.

Alright angry Ben Folds fans, you may be out for blood at this point, but put the torches and pitchforks down. I actually enjoyed the show and thought it was a pretty good time. As many negative things that I’ve said, I was very impressed every time he dipped into his older catalogue. I’ve always had a soft spot for Whatever & Ever Amen, so “Kate” was nice and “Fair” was incredible. Even the major hits that I’ve sort of tired of like “Rockin’ the Suburbs” and “Zak and Sara” were a treat to see. I have to give it to him on the Altoid-assisted “Free Coffee” too. That was just plain cool. Ben is a very energetic, little fellow. Watching him play was a blast, because he loves what he does and he’s very good at it. While I may not dig the new songs very much, he’s still an incredibly talented pianist. In the end, was it worth the seven bucks? Easily. Far from incredible, but at least it was fun.

Ben Folds gets a Joe Sixpack moustache (3 outta 5).

RockNRolla Follow Up

Beginning with some sad news, actor Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke, The Hustler and The Sting) lost his battle with cancer on Friday, September 26th at the age of 83.





















For something almost completely different...
My Excitement for Guy Ritchie's newest work, RockNRolla is running a little thin... at the moment anyway.
Here's WarnerBros. official site/trailer/thing:
http://rocknrolla.warnerbros.com/
Tell me what you think.

Then watch this one:
Much Better Theatrical Trailer For RockNRolla

Stupid WB...

Anyway, I'm really not sure what to think about it anymore. I followed it kinda closely for a while, but got annoyed with the lack of publicity. I rekindled my excitement when the first trailer hit, but lost it again when WarnerBros. came out with that piece of crap. My hope for avoiding the disappointment of 2005's Revolver, a fake-out gone wrong, is all but smashed. I mean, the first trailer was really dark and sexy and had Gerard Butler (300) and Tom Wilkenson (Michael Clayton, Eternal Sunshine...), who are also sexy, and Thandie Newton (The Pursuit of Happiness, Interview With a Vampire), whom is both dark and really, really sexy and it seemed to be strongly anchored by a painting and some real-estate mischievousness. Sure, Warner put out a "dark" and "sexy" version too, but it has all the hints and mystery taken out neglectfully removed. Where did the damn painting go!!?! Without all that central unification which teases and taunts us, no one's gonna want to watch this movie.

Maybe I expect too much from Mr. Ritchie after debuting with Lock, Stock... and Snatch. After all, one can't be on top of one's game 100% of the time... especially when you're married to Madonna (I'm still holding out for divorce news).
Perhaps I won't be disappointed with it... RockNRolla received a solid grade B at the Toronto International Film Festival '08, for whatever that's worth. It still looks like it could be really good.

So, TIFF 08 gives RockNRolla a Fu Man-chu (4 out of 5).
I won't even rate WarnerBros. right now... we have some heart-to-heart talking to do... or rather heart-to-my heart crushing fist talking to do.



Other coming attactions:

Quantum of Solace (Quantum of Awesome)

Max Payne

Heads up!

If you head on over to http://wilcoworld.net/vote/ you can pick up a free download of Wilco and Fleet Foxes covering the Bob Dylan tune, "I Shall Be Released." All you have to do is pledge to vote in the impending election. They even have a link for you can even register to vote if you have been putting it off. So don't procrastinate about registering or getting this awesome cover.

Also, you can check out the YouTube vid that has been circling for some time now after the jump.

Burn After Reading

In a major departure from their last film, the Coen brothers move from the dark and brooding to the ridiculous and perverse. Burn After Reading, their latest flick, is a slapstick star-filled comedy packed with quick lines, outlandish scenarios, and visual gags. After last year’s incredible but bleak No Country for Old Men, I couldn’t wait for the brothers to get back to a comedy. I’ve enjoyed their previous works, and this one is no exception.

The movie opens with Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) being demoted from his position in the CIA. Furious, he quits, takes to the bottle, and decides to write a memoir of his rather dull life. To top things off, his adulterous wife (Tilda Swinton) has made a copy of all his confidential files to prepare for their upcoming divorce. When the disc is lost at a local gym, two unwitting employees (Frances McDormand and the lovable Brad Pitt) convince themselves these documents are of the utmost importance. Determined to reap a monetary reward, they begin to search for Osbourne. Of course, things go wrong for everyone and, like other Coen brothers movies, the characters are headed down a slippery slope from one to disaster to another. I’ll leave it at that, although I could go on about George Clooney, Richard Jenkins, and J.K. Simmons. To put it simply, there’s a lot going. The Coens find a way to intertwine every character’s story with each other. However, unlike other movies where the cast is connected through intricate, plot-driven details (i.e. Pulp Fiction, City of God), Burn After Reading uses a less traditional method (i.e. everyone is screwing everyone). While it may sound complicated, everything is relatively simple to grasp while watching it.


Despite a slow start, the movie finally begins to pull its weight at about fifteen to twenty minutes in. As you can tell by the name dropping I pulled earlier, this movie is packed with major actors and actresses. Pleasantly surprising, laughs come from each and every person in this flick. Sure, some take up a majority of the comedic bits (Brad Pitt, and I’m not just saying that because of my man-crush, he’s absolutely hysterical), but each cast member does their part, gets some jokes in, and really adds something. Simmons’ role was also one of the biggest treats. He may not have many lines, but he sure does make ‘em count. There’s also some incredibly unexpected laughs, the strongest example being Clooney’s secret basement contraption which had everyone either gasping or cracking up.

As much as I enjoyed this movie, I’ve heard many conflicting views. I saw it opening night in a decently packed theater with a very reactive audience and loved it. However, I’ve talked to others who were the only ones in the theater or who sat with unresponsive audiences. They got much less out of the movie than I, so the environment you see it in may affect what you think. Either way, the Coen brothers have released another solid movie. If you’ve liked their previous comedic flicks, be sure to give this one a go.

Burn After Reading gets a Fu Man Chu (4 out of 5).

Noah and the Whale Rocks!?!?!

They do now anyway. Recently I watched La Blogothèque's segment starring the Brit-Folk group Noah and the Whale. I have followed the band for what has almost been a year, and they remain pretty consistent with pop-folk melodies. Their songs, which have been likable, are not something that I would think would evoke this type of behavior on stage. Granted, they are no KISS or AC/DC, but for what it is, these guys give a great stage presence.

Check out the vid.