Drunken spontaneity is usually reserved for The View, but perhaps it just follows Meredith Vieira. The Today Show cast dressed impressively as Star Wars characters, but it was the Ewoks that took control (scroll down for video).
During a segment with Better Homes & Gardens, the Ewoks got into the vodka and slowly began to instigate themselves more and more into the proceedings, eventually becoming the center of the entertainment. Giggling, fighting, moonwalking and even humping Al Roker's leg, the Ewoks proved too powerful for even Darth Vader (Ann Curry). Perhaps it's time to track down Ewoks: The Battle for Endor again?
We're quickly approaching the point of no return as far as significant releases go, before the tide turns to that of gift-oriented, so we have to savor what morsels are thrown our way. This week that means the latest from The Swell Season, Devendra Banhart, Tegan & Sara, Wolfmother, Gemma Ray, Broadcast And The Focus Group, Boat, a live release from R.E.M., a compilation from The Breakaways and deluxe reissues of U2's The Unforgettable Fire and James Brown's Live at the Garden: The Expanded Edition.
As wrong as it is, it's hard not to think of this album as a sequel to Once, where Glenn Hansard and Marketa Irglova have broken up and are putting it to song. Of course The Swell Season existed before Once, with many of the songs from their debut ending up in the film, so this technically is a follow up to that release, but for the vast majority of the record buying public, Once is the starting point. I'm not sure what Hansard & Irglova are thinking putting their Van Morrison impersonations front and center (opening songs "Low Rising" and "Feeling The Pull"). The rest of the album has worked wonders as a sincerity tonic, cleansing my palate of all the irony and sarcasm in indie rock that are part of my usual diet, and for that I am grateful.
The transition from folk to minimalist new wave pop is almost complete for Tegan and Sara, with this their sixth album, Sainthood. Their past two releases both signaled the change, but the subject matter was a little dark on So Jealous and The Con. Here, there's a lighter feel to go with the witty banter the sisters showcase during their live set, and it just feels a bit more relaxed, confident... and yes, fun. And when your opening single is titled "Hell," that's saying something.
Remember back when I said Hugh Laurie could have the Emmy locked up with the first episode? Retraction... of course, I had no idea that Jon Hamm would have such a plum like this to submit as his Emmy reel.
Like last week, the writers (Matthew Weiner with Marti Noxon & Cathryn Humphris) did a great job of framing the episode around the climax of Betty confronting Don, and the theme was a similar one. If last week was how folks see things, this week is the shattering of illusions, romantic or otherwise. If Betty's impression of Don changed when she opened the box, it shifted dramatically again after Don came (mostly) clean about "the big lie." And that was true in every story. Roger's old flame Annabelle has romantic illusions both about family dog food business (it's made from ponies!), to her feelings about Roger. The scene where she compares their past to Casablanca says it all, where Roger is quick to reply, "That woman got on a plane with a man who was going to end World War II, not run her father's dog food company."
Roger was kind of at the center of this episode, seeming much less like the clown that he's been this season so far. Even his conversation with Joan belied someone who has come a long way from the joker we'd seen in prior episodes. Speaking of Joan, she did some shattering of illusions herself, making Greg understand that she had unattained dreams as well.
Lest we forget, Betty had dreams as well, although it's likely they've been distorted over the years. I liked that they had her express her anger upfront with "Am I supposed to be feeling sorry for you?" only to wilt in compassion after seeing Don's tearful confession about his brother Adam. This was Don's worst nightmare, but it actually looks to be a good thing for him and Betty.
Not so good for Miss Farrel... though I doubt we can close the book on her.
Not to split hairs with a future award-winning episode but... Bobby and Sally's costumes felt a bit too obvious, along with the lingering camera framing on Don after Carlton delivers his "And who are you supposed to be."
Seemed like a good place to just cut quicker to the closing credits with the song "Where is Love" from the musical/film Oliver!, which is a fitting song in that Don is that orphan singing about his lost mother. "Must I travel...far and wide? 'Til I am beside...the someone who I can mean...something to..."
In the past, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo has been known to be a bit of a control freak, so it's surprising to see just how much he's let go with their latest release, Raditude. Whether it be the band switching instruments, giving Lil' Wayne a guest spot to rap (Weezer & Weezy!), or even letting The Office's Rainn Wilsonname the album, it's a looser, more free-flowing Weezer.
As far as television goes, the band has a two-night engagement on The Late Show with David Letterman, and has already taped five songs for upcoming episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live, to air sometime in November. One of those songs for either shows is undoubtedly going to be the advance single "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To," a song that signals the bands return to relevance. The video for the song, besides borrowing a tad from Being John Malkovich (Weezerville as Malkovich inside is own head), also harkens back to their "Buddy Holly" days, with it's fifties-style nostalgia in the art direction. It also sports the beautiful Odette Yustman (Cloverfield, The Unborn), which is never a bad thing. Too bad music videos don't have the same cache that they once had. (Oh, where have you gone, MTV?)
Finally, Oscar-winners Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (The Swell Season) have finally followed up their surprising debut with Strict Joy, and while it would undoubtedly benefit from having film like Once as a feature-length music video, the duo create their own stories befitting the film playing in your subconscious, kind of like a sequel (let's call it Twice). Not seeing it? Maybe it's time to wake up the projectionist.
Like last week, those who'd already made their top albums list for the year (or decade, eh, P4k?) are out of luck, as another couple releases can slide right in. First one being Logos from Atlas Sound (Deerhunter's Bradford Cox) and another being the latest from the UK duo F*ck Buttons. Other new releases of note come from Flight of the Conchords (which I reviewed with videos), Russian Circle, Spiral Stairs, El Perro Del Mar, Alec Ounsworth (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah), Maps and soundtracks from Sufjan Stevens (from a musical production), Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard, and the much anticipated New Moon soundtrack.
In his first release as Atlas Sound, Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel, Deerhunter's Bradford Cox sounded like we'd interrupted a private moment in his bedroom. With this second release, Cox has taken us out of the bedroom and into... the living room, I guess. Regardless, it's a great album of found sounds and pop wonders wrapped head-to-toe in guaze, like a pop rock mummy. The standout track is the collaboration with Animal Colelctive's Noah "Panda Bear" Lennox, "Walkabout," which samples the Dovers' "What Am I Going to Do". Elsewhere, when Cox buries his vocals, it feels like Deerhunter's more shoe-gaze-y moments, but somehow more artful in it's presentation. With an album like Logos, it's going to be hard for Cox us to convince us that Atlas Sound is a side project anymore.
Not all things can get the mash-up treatment, like Sisqo and My Fair Lady - but I bet somebody out there is working hard to prove otherwise to writer Ian Brennan. Speaking of Brennan, given his previous scripted eppy, "The Rhodes Not Taken," perhaps he should get a few more thrown his way. The concept of "Mash-up" is thought to be applied to the songs, but not a single song got the treatment, instead it was just diverging characters dallying in the practice. Ultimately, there were two reasons this episode worked better than most. Matthew Morrison's footwork and, more importantly, there was no sign of Terri (and that last point can't be emphasized enough).
Flight of the Conchords' I Told You I Was Freaky is out today, an album with the added bonus of ready-made videos for each song already at your disposal. Here's a look at the album and the unique context from which the songs are born.
While the first season of Flight of the Conchords was a cultural breakout* as far as comedies go, it was the second season where those kiwis Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement figured out how to better marry the songs and the story lines on the screen. As such, this second album is more of a soundtrack than the first, leaning more on your remembering the visuals and story context than the first.
*I say cultural breakout in that while viewer numbers wasn't great for even pay cable standards, the few that saw it talked about it endlessly.
In that spirit, to celebrate the release of I Told You I Was Freaky (or, the practical title not chosen, Flight of the Conchords: Music from the Second Season of the Television Series) here's the visuals (re: videos) to go with each song from the release. If anything, it reminds of how hungry we are for them to get back in a room with co-creator James Bobin and crank out a third season.
1. "I Got Hurt Feelings" / Purchase mp3 From episode 2.03 ("The Tough Brets") The obligatory return of Hiphopopotamus and Rhymenoceros has some fun with the tradition of rappers' dissing each other, turning it on it's ear with a "Sticks and Stones" sentimentality.
2. "Sugalumps" From episode 2.02 ("A New Cup") Probably the funniest episode of the season is a domino of tragedy - Bret buying a used cup for $2.79 leads to Jemaine turning to prostitution. Oh, and two great songs, this one and "You Don't Have to be a Prostitute" (#10). Obvious parody of the unfortunate "My Humps." (See original post on song and episode from January.)
3. "We're Both in Love With a Sexy Lady" From episode 2.06 ("Love Is a Weapon of Choice") Brett & Jemaine both fall for the same lazy-eyed dog owner (Kristen Wiig). Great parody of R. Kelly.
5. "Demon Woman" From episode 2.07 ("Prime Minister") Mary Lynn Rajskub plays the psychotic Karen, inspiration for the song. Cliff Richard was (and still is) a huge star in the UK and his song "Devil Woman" seems an obvious reference here, even if obscure to us Yanks.
8. "Petrov, Yelyena and Me" From episode 2.10 ("Evicted") Of all the songs on the album, this one feels the most shoe-horned into the storyline, much like "Bowie Song" from season one. And like that song, it gets a fantastical video, making it worth the 'stretch.'
9. "Too Many Dicks (On the Dancefloor)" From episode 2.05 ("Unnatural Love") Michel Gondry directs the episode, and his music video background shines through.
11. "Friends" From episode 2.04 ("Murray Takes It to the Next Level") Jim Gaffigan guests in the episode and music segment as Murray's friend Jim.
12. "Carol Brown" From episode 2.05 ("Unnatural Love") / Post from February Easily the best FOTC penned song from either season, this one is reminiscent of the band The Sleepy Jackson, a band from Australia, which works nicely with the context of Jemaine accidentally sleeping with an Australian and dealing with the consequences.
13. "Angels" From episode 2.01 ("A Good Opportunity")
14. "Pencils in the Wind" (bonus track) from episode 1.04 ("Yoko)
This week's episode, "The Color Blue," deals with perception, setting up the metaphor right off the bat with a discussion between Don and Miss(tress) Farrell. "How do I know that what I see as the color blue is the same as what everyone else sees? " The question posed by one of Farrell's students gets answered over and over again in many ways. "The truth is, people may see things differently, but they don't really want to." Basically, people see what they want to see, especially Betty, until the wool is pulled off their eyes. The episode ends with everyone looking at Don Draper, while Betty sees essentially a con man.
You have to hand it to Matthew Weiner (and, in this case, his former assistant-turned-writing-partner-turned-ex-employee Kater Gordon) for making this episode more than what it was, which was the inevitable dramatic turn of Betty finding out about Don's past. The whole episode is obviously written around that (non) event, and finding a subtle theme to make it work is the genius of Mad Men. As a result verywhere you look in "The Color Blue," there's two sets of eyes looking at the same thing differently, and in many cases, first seeing it how they want to see it, then uncovering the ugly truth of what they're looking at.
Lane Pryce doesn't see anything the same way as either his London bosses or his wife. Pryce can't understand why they'd want to sell Sterling Cooper, because he's made it more efficient, but the ugly truth is that is exactly why they want to sell. Elsewhere, perspective is everything with Pryce and his wife sees their stay in New York as a sort of prison sentence, but Pryce is determined to "make the most of" his stay. News of the sale saddens Pryce, but his wife sees it as a chance to get back home -- they even see being stuck in traffic through entirely different lenses. It's a wonder they're still together.
Speaking of still together, Betty's perspective is an interesting one throughout here, for obvious reasons. I loved how they handled the hung-up caller, with both Don and Betty fearing it was their secret tryst on the other line. (One has to assume it was Miss Farrell, right?) Meanwhile, Betty's steamy relationship with her washer/dryer finally hits paydirt, producing Don's keys which leads to Betty finding his box-o-secrets. Confession time: My great uncle had a whole room like this, apparently, where after his death, they discovered boxes of cash, photos and a store's worth of still shrunk-wrap clothes. His secret was that he was gay, and his death was a liberation for my great aunt, stuck in a loveless marriage for nearly 40 years.
I've had less to write about this season, as there's been a lot less in both music and literary references throughout (Mary McCarthy's The Group hardly counts here), but I still find myself so invested in the characters, that I don't miss it (or maybe I'm so invested in characters that I'm missing literary references that are there). However, if I'd somehow just came in during this season, I have to confess I might wonder what all the fuss is about. Even great series' will sometimes rely on our relationship of characters to carry us through episodes by the third & fourth season, but I sense that we're going to get a few more nuggets before we're through.
Neil Patrick Harris' plan for world domination continues, this time as an animated villain in a special musical episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The Emmy host and star of How I Met Your Mother is the voice behind what could be Batman's most flamboyant villain, Music Meister (sorry Riddler).
Of course, NPH has already played a musical villain, having recently created a stir in the title role for Joss Whedon's Emmy award winning Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, so it's no surprise that he steals the episode, titled "Mayhem of the Music Meister" (premiering* on Friday, October 23, on Cartoon Network). The character is able to send his foes into song, including Aquaman, Green Arrow and the vocal power keg that is Black Canary (scroll down for video).
*The episode was previewed at this year's Comic Con to a standing ovation, and has aired already in the UK.
I've been wanting to plug the series since it debuted nearly a year ago, especially since Jellyfish's Andy Sturmer does the theme song, but now is as good a time as any. And the powers that be are striking while the irons are hot, releasing a soundtrack (Batman: The Brave and The Bold: Mayhem Of The Music Meister! Soundtrack) for the episode (via New Line Records) on October 24, the day after the episode airs.
Elsewhere, the talkies are on vacay, but Austin City Limits picks up the slack this week with the combo of super indie acts Andrew Bird and St. Vincent. Meanwhile, the excellent IFC documentary series on Monty Python continues all this week, and with the Python-a-thon, there's the added bonus of the (very musical) films The Holy Grail and The Life of Brian.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Monty Python's Flying Circus and IFC's 6-part documentary (airing part one on Sunday,) here's a silly list of favorite sketches from the series' time on the air.
10. Upper Class Twit of the Year Episode 12 - first aired January 4, 1970 The troupe having a go at upper class British society, featuring a obstacle course like race involving hilarious events tasks like kicking a beggar, waking the neighbor, humiliating a waiter and the ultimate ending. Monty Python's Flying Circus was cancelled in Finland in 1970s after this sketch appeared. It's rumored that the sketch was offending people who had cerebral palsy. If it offends, that's why it's here.
09. Vocational Guidance Counsellor Episode 10 - December 21, 1969 "It's a bit of jump, don't you think? Chartered Accountancy to Lion Taming in one go." Enough of this gay banter, let's watch the clip.
08. Nudge Nudge Wink Wink (aka Candid Photography) Episode 3 - first aired October 19, 1969 Eric Idle often wrote his sketches alone, and had a hard time selling this one on paper. It's all in the delivery (say no more, say no more).
07. The Fish Slapping Dance Episode 28 - first aired October 26, 1972 Probably not technically a sketch, but more an interlude between sketches, its silliness still deserves is place in the upper ends of the Python echelon.
06. The Argument Skit Episode 29 - First aired November, 1972 It's obvious why this sketch made the list. "No it isn't." "Yes it is." "No it isn't." Yes. It. Is.
05. Spam Episode 25 - First aired December 15, 1970 We've got this sketch to thank for the term we use to describe all the email we'd rather not receive. The perfect demonstration of why Terry Jones was the best Python in a dress.
04. The Spanish Inquisition Episode 15 - First aired September 22, 1970 A wondrous parody of the phrase "I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition," involving some of the silliest forms of torture one could imagine. "Fetch... the comfy chair!"
03. The Lumberjack Song Episode 9 - First aired December 14, 1969 One of Monty Python's more lasting songs, some deem it a bit homophobic, but like all Python classic sketches, it has aged pretty well.
02. Ministry of Silly Walks Episode 14 - First aired September 15, 1970 John Cleese was a master of physical comedy and it's on full display in this often mimicked silly sketch. Those looking for this as a satire for government are looking too hard.
01. Dead Parrot Episode 8 - First aired December 7, 1969 The most popular Python sketch as far as the world is concerned, it was actually a recycled version of a sketch that John Cleese and Michael Palin did originally for How to Irritate People. Even Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher used it to describe the Social and Liberal Democratic Party merger.
Last night, 80% of Monty Python (Michael Palin was still in transit) took Late Night with Jimmy Fallon hostage, turning it upside down. Chairs were tossed, water thrown and just a general turn towards chaos, in the name of comedy. John Cleese, in particular, seemed hell bent on making sure it wasn't going to be a civilized affair.
Full episode below:
Or, if you want to just skip to the music, here's Eric Idle backed by The Roots singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," from their film The Life of Brian:
Another week, another episode where we have to look the other way anytime Terri's ridiculous fake pregnancy is waved in our face. We're expected to believe that Will is that clueless? Thankfully, Jane Lynch's Sue makes it all go down so much easier.
While it's generally overused, hearing "O Fortuna" repeatedly throughout the episode (as a theme for the Will/Sue conflict) tickled me nonetheless. I always fantasized having that particular movement has my walk-in music for when I'm up to bat in my fantasized baseball career. Of course, if you strike out, or even worse, hit a dribbler back to the pitcher, it's the definition of anti-climactic.
Shelly Long's guest appearance as Jay's ex/Clair & Mitchell's mother (Dede) would've have stolen the show if it were not for the normally silent Dylan opening up to bring the family together. First with his heart-in-the-right-place-missing-the-brain speech and then with his song that bonded them with the kind of horror families will circle the wagons for.
Bonus web-only clip of the music video Dylan and Haley made for "In the Moonlight (Do Me)":
Something happened to the Flaming Lips right after releasing The Soft Bulletin and the four-CD experiment Zareeka, as the band turned from wondrous experimentation to exhibiting an unnatural need to be loved. Bunny costumes, confetti bombs, singer Wayne Coyne inside a ball practically begging for our applause. Yes, it's very entertaining, but it all felt like it was making up for some paint-by-number recordings. Was the lengthy Christmas on Mars project siphoning off all of the band's creative juices, or was the band just done. Well, with an album like Embryonic, the point is moot, as it's the Lips at their most deliciously experimental (and least accessible). Full of odd sounds and brimming with paranoia, it's great to have the old Lips back. There's not a hit on the album, and that's fine with me. Opener "Convinced Of The Hex" sets the tone and masterfully moves into the second track, "The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine," and from there, you just have to surrender to it's (un)charms. Other highlights include the similarly pounding "See The Leaves", the endearing "I Can Be A Frog", and the space-y "Watching The Planets."
Drunken spontaneity is usually reserved for The View, but perhaps it just follows Meredith Vieira. The Today Show cast dressed impressively as Star Wars characters, but it was the Ewoks that took control (scroll down for video).
