Mildly Pleased

Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City

If you’re looking for an in-depth analysis of the 1995 Eddie Murphy classic Vampire in Brooklyn, look elsewhere. Instead, here’s something that’s almost as good. Modern Vampires of the City is the third release from Vampire Weekend, the indie pop foursome that’s getting harder and harder to classify. Lucky for them, that’s what makes them so great. Vampire Weekend’s sound has always been tricky to pinpoint. They started out a little Paul Simon-y, their second album was faintly electronic and now they’ve become something almost impossible to define because it’s like nothing we’ve ever heard. Modern Vampires of the City is an amalgamation of everything Vampire Weekend has done previously and then some. Ezra Koenig’s lyrics are more scholarly and insightful than ever, Rostam Batmanglij’s production is more ambitious, and the two Chris’ hold down an always steady rhythm section.

One of the most defining characteristics of Modern Vampires is its foray into baroque pop. Vampire Weekend had played with this classically romantic sound on past songs like “M79″ but here it’s more refined. “Step” is a prime example with its sweeping elegance. There’s a great sense of maturity and growth on Modern Vampires but that doesn’t mean it can’t have fun too. It’s hard to think of anything more enjoyable than the oddly danceable “Diane Young”. Other songs like “Finger Back” and “Worship You” remind us that Vampire Weekend haven’t forgotten the playful punch of their first album. For an artist to grow and adapt without abandoning the sound that made them famous is quite an accomplishment.

I will say that Modern Vampires of the City may not feel as instantly approachable as the first two albums. It’s an unusual sound at first but if you have a pulse you should be able to adapt. I also miss the brevity of past Vampire Weekend songs but I’d sacrifice that any day for better songs. You know you love an album when you eagerly look forward to the next time you sit down and listen to it all over again. Ya Hey!

Favorite Tracks: “Diane Young,” “Step,” “Ya Hey”

Ray Harryhausen: 1920 – 2013
I’m shocked that I didn’t hear about this earlier. Ray Harryhausen was one of the greatest special effects artists of his time. As one of the top pioneers in stop-motion photography he brought countless fantastical creatures to the screen. From his early years as an assistant to Willis H. O’Brien (the animator behind King Kong) on Mighty Joy Young to his monster laden cult classic Clash of the Titans thirtysomething years later, Harryhausen captured the imaginations of many. I’ll always remember him best for Jason and the Argonauts (1963), a film that Tom Hanks once declared: “The greatest movie ever made.” It’s got Hydras, Harpes, a giant statue monster and who could forget the skeletons? When Todd Armstrong faces off against those bony bad guys set to the music of Bernard Herrmann, I get chills.

It’s disappointing that stop-motion has become somewhat of relic, but in a way that only makes Harryhausen’s work more special. It was a different era where effects work was done not with computers but with one’s bare hands. I have a lot of admiration for the patience and attention to detail Harryhause had. So much so in fact that I’ve decided to do a written Top Ten Tribute post to Harryhausen next week. Be on the look out for “Top Ten Harryhausen Monsters” though it wont be easy picking a winner.

Savages – Silence Yourself

Getting excited about a debut album is a phenomenon that is completely alien to me.  The order of things seems to usually be that a band releases an album or two, you like what they’re doing, so you get all amped up over the idea of what their next album will be.  But thanks to the almighty power of the internet, I’ve been obsessing over this London all-female four piece for about the last month.  I suppose from the moment I heard the kitchen-sink brutality of their first single “Husbands”, as well as skimming through endless YouTube videos that did a decent job of capturing the band’s live intensity, I was hooked.  This of course has led me to be reminded of the phrase “hype is double-edged sword”, since I could’ve easily been setting myself up for disappointment.  But fortunately, Silence Yourself is one of the most commanding debut albums I’ve heard in quite some time.

I’m sure this is something I’ve complained about before, but I really do miss the “rock band” dynamic in modern music.  And by that, I mean that it seems like we’re living in an age when it’s so easy for these one-man solo projects to be recorded all in the comfort of one’s bedroom, and thus losing that personal element of collaboration.  Savages however are a band in which you see each member completely feeding off of each other’s energy, and creating something that is so much more powerful than the some of its parts.  But that’s not to say that these parts aren’t remarkable in and of themselves, as the muscularity of the drums and bass-playing is downright ferocious, and gives the guitar-playing the freedom to indulge in all kinds of flights of noise-filled fancy.  All of which is complemented nicely by the simplicity of Jehnny Beth’s lyrics, which do much to drive home the almost primal nature of this band.

I suppose there are plenty of things that you could knock about Savages, such as the fact that they’re just pulling from a bunch of well-worn post-punk influences (Joy Division, Public Image Ltd., Siouxsie, blah blah blah).  But honestly I’ve never cared too much about those bands, because they never really transformed those dark and brooding sounds into something quite as exacting and intense (I seem to be using that word a lot) as Silence Yourself.  You could also rag on Savages for taking themselves a bit too seriously, considering the side of this album’s cover features the band’s somewhat overwrought personal manifesto, which decries the constant distractions of modern life.  But that seems irrelevant, since this is a band that is able to own up to their goal of demanding your attention in the face of all these distractions.  It’s not music that merely aims to be played in the background of your casual internet browsing.  It’s there front and center, and I just find that really refreshing.

Favorite Tracks: “Shut Up”, “She Will”, “Husbands”

As Colin pointed out in his surprisingly thorough write up of “Landslide,” there haven’t been a lot of posts lately. One of the reasons for that is I’ve been spending my time not playing through a bunch of fun new video games, but instead focusing entirely on the trans-media event (my words, not their’s) that is Defiance. And since it’s a MMORPG and a TV show on the Science Fiction (or “SyFy”) network, I thought maybe you guys have no idea what this is. So I’ll tell you.

Iron Man 3

The first Iron Man was great. The Incredible Hulk was better than the first, Iron Man 2 was forgettable, Thor and Captain America were fun, but that first Iron Man movie was great. It made the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe possible. So I can understand Marvel’s desire to kick off the post-Avengers era, Phase 2, as they call it, with the same hero who made Phase 1 so special. But does it make sense for Iron Man to go on his own adventures anymore?

This isn’t a comic book, there aren’t individual titles every month, there’s one or two films a year. When we last saw Tony Stark, he was teamed up with a God, the strongest person in the universe, a time-traveling American hero, an expert marksman, and Scarlett Johansson – not to mention a network of super spies and their flying aircraft carrier – to save the world from an alien invasion. Obviously Iron Man 3 had to be a more personal story, but its scale still ended up seeming too big for the other Avengers or SHIELD to not show up at all.

The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) is like the ultimate terrorist, really good at blowing stuff up all over the world. No one knows who he is or where he’ll strike next. So Tony Stark takes it upon himself to stop him. Doesn’t that seem a little weird, after The Avengers? Wouldn’t Captain America be a bit concerned about a mega terrorist threatening the president and the American public? Wouldn’t SHIELD, the greatest spy agency in the world, be looking into this? I mean, SHIELD was all over Iron Man 2, remember? I’m not saying Iron Man 3 doesn’t address these issues, in fact the main subplot is how Tony is dealing with the after effects of New York, but it’s not very satisfying. I’m all for a more personal story, one that takes Tony out of the armor more, which this is, but it also can’t be a massive, save the world story at the same time, which this is.

This is Tony’s story, though, and I mostly enjoyed it. Robert Downey, Jr. remains really, really good in the role, and more of him playing Tony Stark cannot be a bad thing. Given Shane Black’s knack for snarky dialogue that itch is nicely scratched. The movie actually has a bunch of characters, both old and new, but they are largely pushed aside to follow Tony’s journey. Even Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle drop in and out of the story for long stretches. I think Guy Pearce got a lot of screentime, but it’s hard to remember, because it’s Guy Pearce.

By the way, and this is a spoiler, what the fuck is with these movies and evil industrialists? Jeff Bridges, Sam Rockwell, now Guy Pearce, it seems like every one of Tony Stark’s peers is a super villain. Is that just supposed to highlight how lucky the world is that Tony is such a great guy? Sure, that last battle was awesome, but I’m sick of evil businessmen. Give me Fin Fang Foom in Iron Man 4!

Anyway, I liked Iron Man 3. It had a few really funny scenes, and a couple great action sequences too. It’s cool. Next up is Thor: The Dark World, followed by Captain America: The Winter Soldier next year. I like those characters and look forward to their sequels. Hopefully they will both make a more compelling case for why everything that happens doesn’t attract the attention of the other Avengers. But after Iron Man 3, I kind of wish Marvel had started Phase 2 with a new super hero.