arc of time

yup, it’s back. i know it’s been awhile but give me some sort of a break. i have been traveling across oceans and what-not. also none of you are buying anything from amazon based on my picks anyway, so my financial incentive to keep up with this is shall we say not exactly high.

that being said, i am not exactly writing this thing as a money making enterprise anyway and i do enjoy piecing this together and my kiddo appears to be sleeping in this morning so i guess i have a few minutes to put something together.

i struggled with finding a musical selection to put together. i’ve been listening to the bright eyes albums i’m wide awake, it’s morning and lifted or the story is in the soil, keep your ear to the ground quite a bit while i have been flying, since they are good mellow albums for background while reading or napping on a long haul flight, but i profiled cassadaga last month*, and it’s probably too soon for another bright eyes album so that’s out. i’d go ahead and highlight the beggar’s guild’s ep breaking me down since i am also listening to them a bit right now, but much like manchester orchestra, there is no pic of the album on amazon so it’s gonna look kind of silly in the sidebar.

never to fear though, i like a lot of music and as i was flipping through my i-tunes library i came across one of my favorite and a very-underappreciated album from 2006 to bring to you. this week’s pick of the week is dog problems by arizona native the format. the bands second album iit is absolutely one of my favorties of the year. it’s catchy pop with some experimentation but it’s the real merge of the fun, catchy music with some very stirring lyrics about love gained and lost that grab me.

several tracks are just out of this world including the title track, which is really a few different songs in one, and is one of my favorite songs about the damage people in love with each other can do to each other. the last song, if work permits is one of those that starts poppy and catchy and then blares into a rock jam that is pretty unbelievable to behold.

i am not really sure why this album didn’t get more attention. most reviews of it were almost glowing in their praise of it. check out this one from absolutepunk.net and pitchfork ignored it so maybe that is why.

anyway, check it out, it’s well worth it. below is the video for dog problems which might convince you.

for this week’s movie, i offer up robert altman’s masterpiece nashville. i actually had never seen it so i took it with me on the plane determined to watch it before i go back from my journeys. it was recently ranked number 59 on the afi’s top 100 film list, and while i certainly agree with the atl malcontent that there are serious discrepancies with this list, there is no doubt that nashville belongs on it and perhaps even higher. it’s funny because i watched a few days after watching dreamgirls , which somehow garnered a best picture nomination but thankfully is NOT on the afi’s list (although perhaps in time it will be), which is very similar in what it attempts to do as nashville, which is cover the personality and character of a particularly american blend of music.

unlike dreamgirls altman’s work is nowhere near as character driven. like most altman’s movies, its an ensemble piece where the real stars are the script and the cinematography, and in the case of nashville, the music. i watched it over the course of multiple flights and couldn’t wait each time to pull out my computer and finish it.

i don’t write well about movies, so i can’t really describe justly just how well this movie captures the spirit of the time, the city, the people and the music that were coming from nashville in the mid-70′s, but it does. check it out if you never have.

phew, the kiddo is up now. finished that just in time.