Response to someone's question about favorite TV shows and most disappointing movies

On youtube there's a collaborative channel I follow called Trannystar Galactica where someone will ask a question, usually on a topic related to the trans experience directly but not always, and this week's question for the group was on something that I like to opine about. So I posted a video response. We could maybe call it my latest vlog entry, but we don't have to!

Valentino's Pret-a-Porter line for Fall 2011

It's been a while since I posted anything on fashion. This is the new fall ready-to-wear line from house of Valentino. I like the subdued reds and the simple but very feminine lines. I have a goal of being able to wear stuff that is more like this by Fall '11. We shall see!

Blonde Redhead - Top Ranking - Mike Mills

My brother posted this at facebook. I remember Blonde Red Head doing a show at the Middle East over a decade ago, and thinking they were a very interesting band, but a little too Sonic Youth influenced. Wow have they progressed! I love the song, and the vocal is so beautiful and full.

The video itself is by Mike Mills, who is not the bass player in R. E. M., contrary to what I had believed before checking just now. It starts out interesting but abstract, but subtly pulls you into its world.

Paul Poiret

Another touchstone designer; his was the big name in fashion before Coco Chanel. He was the king of the industry in the years before WWI, and never got his mojo back after the war, in fact died in poverty in 1940. I love these designs, though! I love all the bright, dramatic colors, the embroidery, and the asymmetrical necklines, which I'm sure were really out there for the time. I had wanted to see lampshade dresses, which I've heard about but couldn't imagine, and the last few garments shown are, indeed, lampshade dresses. They are really cool and unique. So many of these designs have would have been thought of at the time as having an "oriental" flair.



Sorry for this being in French. I don't speak it either.

Avsh Alom Gur's Spring / Summer '09 designs (London)

I thought it would be cool to juxtapose this against the New Look video down a few posts from here. Avsh Alom Gur is another designer I've learned about from the Linda Grant book I'm reading. She talked about him in her chapter on sexiness. Warning -- a couple of these looks may be mildly NSFW.



I'm kind of getting the chair thing -- it serves as both a pure design element and a reflection of an attitude about clothes in general. I love the stripeyness and the contrasting ogee element. Some fun looks, and now I'm going to be looking everywhere to see if I see those chairs...

Carolina Chocolate Drops -- Genuine Negro Jig CD Review

Went CD shopping the other week with the idea that I'd get something unfamiliar and bring it home to review here on NME (HA! just thought of that!) This caught my eye out of the folk section. It fits in to my personal fascination with identity, hits my string band sweet tooth, and had a pretty cover. I didn't realize it until later, but I've actually seen them live at Old Songs Festival 2006.

As I thought about this purchase more, I began to feel a little uneasy about the fact that they blazon themselves with the "genuine black string band music" label, but over time and with multiple listens to the CD, I've become more comfortable with the idea. They win me over with their facility with the string band music style, as evidenced by this performance of one of the songs from the CD -- "Cornbread and Butterbeans" for a show from North Carolina called "Blue Plate Special"



They also have won me over with their eclecticness. They may be waving a particular banner right there in your field of vision, but they cover a lot of ground on this 12 song CD. Here's another example from the same program, a pop song called "Hit "Em Up Style"



What you're getting as examples are from the first half of the CD. Worth noting that that half of the CD pretty much sets you up with fine examples of what you'd expect from such a band as they are, so what's revelatory here is the second half of the CD. English folk balladry, a Tom Waits cover, beautiful modal love songs. They cover a lot of territory in that single CD, lots of switching instruments happens (as you can tell by the two performances here), and yet a single throughline of unified sound emerges.

As a commentary on identity, I find it really comforting and affirming. Everything can find its way into a particular context, a whole world can be explored from pretty much any point of view, and that point of view can remain intact.

Dior New Look

This is new territory for me. I've been watching Project Runway for the last few seasons, and really enjoying it. I know, really, nothing about fashion. I'm currently reading two books -- Fashion for Dummies by Jill Martin, which is, from my naive but not insensible point of view, good basic advice on how to dress, and The Thoughtful Dresser by Linda Grant, which is reflections on the meaning of clothes and fashion, and which I am finding really insightful (to be fair, most writing on fashion is going to seem insightful to me). Linda Grant is a British novelist a few years older than me, but close enough in age that I can catch a lot of her cultural references and know exactly what she's talking about. I'm just starting the second chapter, and having read a reference to Dior's 1947 "New Look", I went to see what was available at youtube that might show me some of the couture that revolutionized fashion in the postwar era.

One of the things that is really striking to me is the seemingly impossible waists -- some of those models must be corseted to within and inch of their lives! But they are beautiful dresses, I love the third one, the white(?), textured, sparkly fabric, the wide flowing skirt. It seems like such a happy garment, meant for celebration. I also like the dramatic suit you see fifth. and, actually, pretty much all of what this vid shows. These designs were shown first when my mother was, by my estimation, a freshman in High School, and I know that she loved these sorts of looks.

I can't discuss them intelligently, sorry, but I do find them to be beautiful.

CONTINUED: A couple of things should be mentioned: First, I miscounted the garments in the video, and I find, especially considering what I'm also going to add here, that this makes things confusing. The second look that I really wanted to mention because I thought it was beautiful and dramatic was the sixth one, not the fifth. The fifth look (the checked suit) was the outfit I saw that most looked to me like it made use of a rather severe corset. My girlfriend tells me that there were no corsets used in the New Look, so I'm not sure how they achieved that very restricted wasp waist.

Metablogging Maybe

I am thinking that I want to abandon the Facebooks. I'm way addicted, and it's not a good thing. Also, I would love to have all the random blogging I do in a bunch of different places appear in one place, and have that place be focussed on my writing. That was always the purpose here anyway, so I am thinking that I will start bringing that blogging impulse I have to these pages more of the time, if not (and probably not) exclusively.

One thing I've been thinking of doing is music reviews. Lots of my friends have these "modern music bores me" outbursts. I also note that most music reviewers these days scrupulously avoid having anything substantive to say about the music they review. It'll be a challenge to not fall into those patterns, should I follow through with this latest whim. I think I can be of help, though. I have pretty wide ranging tastes and I try to get under the surface of particular things I listen to. The amount of time I spend thinking about music these days actually exceeds the amount of time I spend listening to or playing music, for sure.

I won't write about huge volumes of music. I think that I'll try to assign myself at least one review a week for the next upcoming little while. I'll try to post something this weekend. Cool! I get to go CD shopping tonight! :)

untitled

The Who at the Super Bowl

I just watched this (the only portion of the evening I had any interest in, really) on Youtube.

XXX
(UPDATE -- These vids are no longer up! Maybe you can find different uploads somewhere on the web but I don't think I'll look for 'em...)
XXX

I've heard a few people say they thought it was sub-par. There are things to complain about, if you're of a mind. They played a ten minute medley of their classic rock hits instead of concentrating on full versions of songs. Well, that right there proves that some people have unrealistic expectations. Their most recognizable stuff from the period they chose to represent would have allowed them to do 2 or maybe 3 songs. That wouldn't have satisfied anyone, either. I don't know what I would have done in their stead, but I'm happy they did it the way they did. Others complained about the vocals. I thought they were in fine voice. They didn't harmonize like on the records, and they didn't blend their voices very well. So what. This is rock n roll, not pop. They hit the *emotional* notes perfectly. Roger sounded like Roger and Pete sounded like Pete. Someone else asked if that was Nigel Tufnel on the drums. No. That was Zak Starkey, Ringo's son. He grew up knowing Keith and seems to me to play just like him. All around, it was a pretty wonderful twelve minutes, encapsulating everything I like about the Who that you could put in such a short set.

Now, if only they could have gotten rid of the football and just had a three hour Who concert, that would have been better!

I Can't Believe It!!!

Paul Blart: Mall Cop is still in the top 5 movies, after 8 weeks in release, and has earned an estimated domestic gross of about $135 million. That Kevin James must be really HI-LARIOUS! I've always thought Kevin James is to Jim Belushi as Jim Belushi is to John Belushi, so I guess what this really means is that we really need John Belushi right about now...

Does Anybody Know...

Of music, art, film, etc. made by youthful (say, in their twenties) artists currently that is vital, well made, sincere, not celebrity-obsessed, not status-quo upholding, fun, positive, meaningful, poetic, subversive...

In other words, are the youth of today making art? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. I'm kind of despairing at the moment. Everything I'm seeing seems like recycled fashion magazine fodder. No new ideas. No thought for the future. No imagining of anything that doesn't already exist.

Show me something, please. I need to know it's out there.

Naive New Beaters

So, I have a contact at flickr who takes pictures of electronica concerts in (I think) Paris, named Gertrudramones. I like her photos, she's good at capturing the excitement of a good concert, gets shots with lots of wild colors... And most of the bands she photographs are new to me. I'll see something in her photostream that looks interesting & go check it out & I am almost never dissapointed. Latest example is Naive New Beaters, who have a couple of really interesting videos up at youtube, including the example I've posted here.

I Keep Waiting

My friend Peter has a bunch of whacky noise music he recorded over a mess o' years, mostly in the '80s and into the '90s. Really unique stuff. It should be here, but as you can see on the flip, he's got everything pulled down to "remix".

I should maybe take a little blame for that. I convinced him that garageband is easy to use, so I think he's really going back and remixing everything in GB. I hope it comes back someday. I miss "Lenny, Lenny", and Sludge Mountain, and bunches of other stuff he's done.

Truly, Pete is one of my favorite people, much less one of my favorite musicians.

Jessica Simpson -- Two Tracks From Do You Know

I am a cheesehead.

I admit that from the start. I love Abba. I love Will Smith movies. I like Dixie Chicks, especially Home.

But I am not into celebutards. Oh, no. Not me. Except that a couple of 'em might be growing up to be kinda cool. I loved that Paris Hilton for President video.

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

I also have to admit I am loving the two tracks I've heard from Jessica Simpson's "new country" album. I am afraid to buy the whole thing, but maybe over time, I'll grab some more, because the two I've got are pretty great. I first downloaded Sipping on History, because I loved the title and because it was the least popular track. I figured if I was going to like anything on the record, that would be my best bet. The preview was very nice, having kinda a six-eight swing and some very cool guitar sounds, and really tasty pedal steel. Hearing the whole track was slightly less satisfying. At the start of verse one she compares herself to June Carter Cash. I thought that a little bit presumptuous, especially as written, but as the track progressed, I found it to be an engaging enough song for me to try a second track. I picked the most popular track, Come On Over. More of a stomper, this one echoes all those seventies chanteuses like Loretta and Lynn. So far, the public is right, this one is definitely a keeper.

Saucerful of Secrets

I'm listening to SOS and thinking about how much I love it. It's my favorite Richard Wright record. It has his song "Remember a Day" on it, which is my favorite Floyd tune. They were breaking in a new guitarist (who aquitted himself very well, thank you) but because he was the new guy, this was a chance for Wright to fill a lot of space, and he absolutely rises to the occasion. I love the organ sound in "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun". The whole album is wonderful.

I don't know many stories about Pink Floyd. I can give impressions, things I thought about them at various phases in their career. The first album is cool. I love all the Syd Barrett stuff. But I think they got better after Syd left. The whole period before they got stupid famous is to varying degrees wonderful, odd, humorous, freaky, spooky, and fun. I loved their sense of melody, and I loved the way Roger Waters played bass. One of the big distinctions of early Floyd is that Waters played a lot more than he did on the later records.

I think Dark Side of the Moon is their absolute worst album (in large part because it's so soporific) and I'm no fan of The Wall, either. But Obscured by Clouds, which is the first album in their later, more morose style, is actually a great record, imo.

But I count Saucerful both Wright's finest moment and Floyd's best record.

Something Live Podcast

My friend PJ Shapiro does a podcast called Something Live. Once a month he compiles a "greatest hits" of the Cantab open mike (hosted by the inimitable and intrepid Geoff Bartley), does an interview with an artist and records performances of two of their songs for an mp3 podcast. There are lots of really gemmy performances in these podcasts, from songwriters you've probably never heard of. The new one is just up -- fifth one; front to back awesome as is every installment in the series.

Talkin' 'Bout Summa My Fave Elpees

This is actually just me testing out my camera for making videos. Next, I need to figure out how to make iMovie do what I want it to. I think there is probably more of me talking about my record collection coming.

What the Frak is Going On?

Galactica is probably my favorite television show ever. It's Space Opera, with a capital "O", but it's very human scaled at the same time.

I am continually amazed that they were able to whittle the late 70s bombastic Glen Larson albatross down to a beautiful, story-driven show about the power of love.



Here is a short film recapping the first 3 seasons, hitting all the major arcs of the show, in 8 minutes. It's very compressed, as indicated by the sped-up narrator, but it is amazingly mostly there. All you're missing is the details.

Jobriath

This guy tanked, and if ya hear of him at all, you hear of him as a joke. Gotta say though: Though he owes a huge amount to David Bowie, I think he's got his own musicality and a nice Lou-meets-Mick style to him. Wish I'd known about him back in the day. This was right up my alley, taste-wise.

The other thing about him is that he was the first openly gay national rock act. With a $500,000 (mid-seventies, US dollars: probably multiple millions today) record deal. They got him everywhere you got a rock act in those days, media-wise. People really wanted this to work, but it was way too much, way too soon for this neanderthal country. And the Bowie thing did hurt him. Died of complications due to aids in 1983, but he was out of rock 'n' roll long before that.