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Classic Film Review: Shield Around the K

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Full Title: The Shield Around the K
Director: Heather Rose Dominic
Year: 2000
Comments:

The title says it all. The metaphorical shield truly represented K’s mythical way of battling the corporate ogre in a unique and highly confrontational manner. For those sad souls out there that are unfamiliar with K, here’s a brief breakdown. K was and still is a defiantly and charismatically independent label; one of the greatest models for how an indepedent label can successfully operate. Calvin Johnson (K founder and Beat Happening frontman) challenged his audience and contemporaries by creating and documenting music that was unabashedly simple, coy, and as far away as possible from the mainstream. These kids challenged the mold of expecation of what a Punk band should look, sound, or act like. By making poppy, “twee,” love rock (as some call it), artists like Beat Happening distanced themselves from not only the corporate world, but also the oft-macho hardcore scene, which was dominating underground music at the time. All in all, this doc does a great job of articulating this important aspect of K Records as well as offering some great archive footage, interviews, and music videos and ultimately a detailed, informative backgound of said topic. One thing I (sorta) didn’t like was the fact that the film focused too much on Beat Happening; after all it was supposed to be about the K label and not about Beat Happening solely. Then again, they and their history are obviously vital to the K tale and since they are one of my all time favorite bands, I don’t mind seeing them on screen. Lastly, this doc features various key figures including, Ian Mackaye, Gerad Cosloy, Slim Moon, John Foster, amongst others. So, if you dig cutting edge (well, then cutting edge) Punk Rock or want to learn more about seminal, underground music then grab some black candy and check it out.

Grade: B+

Almighty Defenders, Animal Collective, Art, Black Lips, Box Elders, Bradford Cox, Entertainment, Girls, Harlem, Hunx and His Punx, Jay Reatard, King Khan, Mark Sultan, Music, No Age, Nobunny, Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Random, The Walkmen

Honorary Klaymers

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1) Black Lips

2) Jay Reatard

3) King Khan

4) Mark Sultan

5) No Age

6) Box Elders

7) Hunx and His Punx

8) Walkmen (for Glen)

9) Animal Collective

10) Bradford Cox

11) Harlem

12) Nobunny

13) Girls

14) Pains of Being Pure At Heart

15) Almigthy Defenders

16) Wavves

We feature many artists here, some far more than others, but these very few guys hold the highly prestigious title of “honorary klaymers,” even if they don’t know it.

Chris

Books, Entertainment, Random, rant

Thoughts on Hunter S. Thompson

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I really dig Thompson’s no bullshit style of writing. He told exactly what he felt and wasn’t afraid to include detail and perspective down to minutiae. That said, he really tired this approach. Ho, ho. I will say some of his phrases are money. Getting to his books: Fear and Loathing was interesting as fuck to start, but had me losing interest toward the end of the tale. Better Than Sex was witty, but had a lot of fluff that maybe only political junkies appreciate? Hey Rube has a lot of interesting columns and some flat-out uninteresting ones. His rant on eliminating the pitcher position was gold whereas his schpeel on the XFL was merely average. He’s good in small doses. A nice read on occasion. I give him a B.

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Thank Me Later [2010]

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Rapper: Drake
Release: 6/2010
Label: Young Money Entertainment [Universal Records]

1. “Fireworks” – B-
2. “Karaoke” – B-
3. “The Resistance” – B
4. “Over” – B
5. “Show Me a Good Time” – C
6. “Up All Night” – B
7. “Fancy” – C+
8. “Shut It Down” – B-
9. “Unforgettable” – C
10. “Light Up” – C
11. “Miss Me” – B
12. “Cece’s Interlude” – C-
13. “Find Your Love” – C+
14. “Thank Me Now” – C-

Comments: Aubrey Drake Graham was a nobody without Little Wayne. Little Wayne got a hold of a few of Aubrey’s raps and was like “yo, I want to make this guy big. I want to sign him to my label and a take cut of his income!” Aubrey was like “all right, Dwayne, that’s fine, but I’m not going to make this for commercial purposes.” At any rate, Aubrey was able to get in touch with a shit load of high profile hip-hop players like Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Timbaland, Jay-Z, and Young Jeezy.  to appear, in some capacity, on the album. That’s all nice and all, but does Aubrey know how to tell a story? Yes. He does that at length. “Over” is incredibly Lil Wayne like. It’s more explosive than any of the previous tracks and, for that reason, has more appeal. The chorus is not traditionally annoying, but it’s not anything special. There’s really not much else to say about anything else. I don’t think Drake could have struck out much more on such an anticipated, ultra-hyped album. Most of the songs on here are just average rap songs, lacking solid beats or decent flow. Little Wayne Weezy single-handedly saves “Miss Me.” Drizzy is just weak, ‘yo. “That’s nasty. Yes, my name is Weezy, but I’m not asthmatic.” Damn, Weezy, keep doing your thing. You drop some great lines.

Grade: C+ (78)

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Take A Vacation! [2010]

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Band: The Young Veins
Release: 6/2010
Label: One Haven Music

1. “Cape Town” – A
2. “Change” – A-
3. “Dangerous Blues” – B+
4. “Defiance” – B+
5. “Everyone But You” – B
6. “Heart of Mine” – B+
7. “Lie to the Truth” – B
8. “Maybe I Will, Maybe I Won’t” – A-
9. “Take A Vacation!” – A
10. “The Other Girl” – A+
11. “Young Veins (Die Tonight)” – A

Comments: So you’d probably expect a spin-off full-length from former members of Panic! At The Disco to suck. Well, I personally can’t say that I know what Panic! sounds like, but I’m sure it’s something not too good. Probably something unlike this. Well, this group takes on a self-proclaimed ’60s sound — reminiscent of what was considered pop and “garage” back then. Fair enough. Sure, this album isn’t original at all. Sure, it gets progressively worse from tracks 1-5, but utterly amazing towards the end. Besides some of the negative points of discussion, though, this is really good. I’ve read people hating on this, but with what justification? If you are a lover of the kind of music that got this band inspired, why pass hatred to these innocent victims? Pretty much the entire album is catchy. Check out, though, if I request you must “Take A Vacation!” and “Cape Town.”

Grade: A- (90)

Entertainment, humor, Music

CD Review: Before Today [2010]

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Band: Ariel Pink
Release: 6/2010
Label: 4AD

1. “Hot Body Rub” – C-
2. “Bright Blue Skies” – B
3. “L’Estat” – B-
4. “Fright Night (Never More)” – C+
5. “Round and Round” – B
6. “Beverly Kills” – C+
7. “Butt-House Blondies” – C+
8. “Little Wig” – B-
9. “Can’t Hear My Eyes” – C-
10. “Reminiscences” – C-
11. “Menopause Man” – C
12. “Revolution’s a Lie” – B

Comments: Lounge music meets oldies! How cool is that? Not really that cool, huh? I’d call Ariel a similar artist to the more high profile (and more polished) MGMT. The problem with Ariel’s Before Today is the same problem with MGMT’s Congraulations. There is hardly any fucking direction. There are speed ups and speed downs. Heaviness and laziness. Of course, all these elements are present all over the place. Consistency? Screw that! Psychedelic pop be damned! Pop?! “Round and Round,” my whole household mistook this for an ’80s pop tune. This record is so damn strange! Maybe it’s the lo-fi element that really makes this thing sound like a lost-and-now-found cassette. If Ariel wanted to create twelve novelty songs, he succeeded. He succeeded so much. I like to say this is one of those albums I didn’t want to hate at all, but after listening to it…shit it sucks. Sucks in a terribly average way.

Grade: C+ (77)