Been clicking through Stylus magazine's Top 10 archives -- fun stuff. My favorites so far include Top 10 Musical Turn-Offs and Top 10 Musical Moments From Pretty in Pink:
You think you’re the only one left feeling strangely unsatisfied by the end of Pretty in Pink? NO ONE likes that ending. If you found yourself rooting for Blaine ("Blaine? His name is BLAINE?? That’s not a name, IT’S A MAJOR APPLIANCE!!") and Andie to make up at the end of the movie, you have no right watching that movie and get the hell out of my Top Ten. This one is for the people who still watch that movie every time it’s on cable, hoping, praying that this time it’ll end differently, knowing deep down that the movie is better for ending this way and crying your eyes out because of it. You are not alone.
My PC's mp3 player is set on random now, and it's fun hearing stuff for the first time in weeks or months. Last few songs, in reverse order, were by Saint Etienne, Ella Fitzgerald, Toasters, Beck, PM Dawn and Prefab Sprout. Some of these songs I don't even remember ripping. "I Don't Give" by Avril Lavigne?! Nice 80s pop-rock vibe, but I think I'll skip it... ah, R.E.M. on now. "Sweetness Follows." :) It's these little things, they can pull you under. Live your life filled with joy and wonder.
One album I've been rediscovering -- since my friend Reitch returned it to me late last year -- is ebtg's Temperamental. I was going to attempt to write about how brilliant this album is, but luckily I found this amazing review from Salon circa 1999, and it basically saves me the trouble:
Everything But the Girl are among the greatest current practitioners of romantic pop. When Tracey Thorn sings, "I walk the city late at night" on the duo's new album, "Temperamental," it's as authentic an image of the genre as the cover of "In the Wee Small Hours," the blue-green painting of Sinatra idling under a 3 a.m. street lamp because anywhere is better than going home alone.
Self-pity is at the heart of romantic pop's great theme -- the search for love and the heartbreak of its aftermath -- and an undeniable part of its appeal. Assemble the right ingredients: Scotch (or bourbon); cigarettes (optional); low lighting; the right music ("No One Cares" or "Dusty in Memphis," "A Night in Manhattan With Lee Wiley" or "Al Green's Greatest Hits"). Blend. You've got the makings for a luxuriant wallow in romantic moroseness. Serves one.
Finally, I contributed something to this exhibit, opening at 6PM later, at Megamall. Hope y'all can drop by. :) Peach a.k.a. Isha, among others, will be performing.
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4 comments:
I don't really like Modest Mouse all that much (it seems a blendered drink of Talking Heads and someone else I can't think of right now, without the edge), although their latest song Ocean Breathes Salty has a great, great video, thus lending the song a singable quality. Now The Killers I like - a nostalgic trip through the 80's! And who'da believed - they're from Vegas - some good things come from there, yes.
Hi Pauline! :) That video sounds good; wish local music video stations would play it. Or maybe they do, and I just keep missing it. Quark Henares loves the Killers too. I like their album well enough, but I think I need to listen to it a bit more to come up with a really coherent assessment. "Somebody Told Me" sticks in my head like bubble gum.
And hi, Lala! :) I hope to see you as soon as I wrap up all my overdue PULP crap -- which will be very soon. I think. *crosses fingers* I didn't really contribute that much to the exhibit, just scribbled some lines on a photo. ;p
RE: Pretty in Pink, I was rooting for the a-hole played by James Spader. I thought his hidden lust for Molly Ringwald was touching. And misplaced. Over here, Mr. Spader. ;D
Hi Luis! Miss ya.
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