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Monday, February 29, 2016
Music Week
Music: Current count 26339 [26298] rated (+41), 410 [420] unrated (-10).
Most of this week's haul has already appeared in
Rhapsody Streamnotes, if
you noticed. I was rather bummed when I posted a link on Facebook and
only got three "likes" and no comments. I put a lot of work into that,
and I thought I came up with some really interesting records, most of
which got very little recognition elsewhere. It seems that even Facebook
didn't like the post, as it swallowed the URI and didn't bother picking
up an image (a process which became mysterious and unpredictable a year
or so ago). I did check that the link works, but maybe it got assigned
some super-low priority that kept it out of readers' feeds. I also don't
seem to have any way to share my Facebook posts with the Expert Witness
group, which would give them a little broader circulation.
One thing a bit odd about last week was that most of the A- records
pictured to the right and listed below came after the Streamnotes post.
Usually I find a few things as I'm wrapping up. but last week only Tribu
Baharú appeared in time, with two records (Alberto Pinton and Daveed
Diggs) found the day after the post. This week's two jazz records are
2016 releases, from my mail queue. The other two appeared on Ye Wei
Blog's 2015 EOY list (although it looks like the Diggs album originally
appeared in 2012). About half of this week's records are 2015 releases --
consider that half-full or half-empty as you like.
Thought I'd note that we watched the Oscars last night -- using the DVR
to speed through commercials, acceptance speeches, and most of those song
numbers (my wife had control of the remote). We probably saw a record low
number of nominated films, and I've rarely been so ambivalent about the
ones I've seen. Some crib notes:
- Picture: Saw 4/8 in theatres (The Big Short, Bridge
of Spies, Brooklyn, The Martian), plus Mad Max: Fury
Road on TV. The "future dystopia" shown in the latter struck me as a
pretty literal portrayal of this year's Republican platform -- with global
warming turning the planet into desert, without in any way dimming our
fetish for fossil fuels and guns; water is privatized, creating a master
class which literally lives above the masses, who are effectively turned
into slaves; the women (aside from a token truck driver) are reduced to
being "breeders" and/or are hooked up to milking machines. Sure, that may
not be exactly what Trump, Cruz, Rubio, et al. have in mind, but we're not
talking about clear thinkers here. Presumably the movie appeals to action
junkies, not far removed from people who find entertainment value in war
and cruelty -- the sort of people who like to harp on how we "live in a
dangerous world" and always need to be armed to the teeth to survive.
Here, not only does avarice and ignorance lead to disaster, those same
traits preclude any chance of learning from past mistakes. We missed the
winner, Spotlight. Bad timing. The Big Short and Bridge
of Spies were pretty good films.
- Actress: Saw 2/5, missing winner Brie Larsen. I would have
picked Cate Blanchett (Carol) over Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn).
- Actor: Saw 2/5, missing winner Leonardo DiCaprio -- still in
theatres here, so maybe we should check it out. I would have picked Bryan
Cranston (Trumbo) over Matt Damon (The Martian).
- Supporting Actress: Saw 1/5, Rooney Mara (Carol),
thought she was pretty good.
- Supporting Actor: Saw 2/5, including winner Mark Rylance
(Bridge of Spies, though we know him more for Wolf Hall),
a terrific choice.
- Director: Saw 2/5, obviously preferring Adam McKay over
George Miller.
- Animated Feature Film: Saw 0/5.
- Original Screenplay: Saw 1/5, would have been happy with
Bridge of Spies.
- Adapted Screenplay: Saw 4/5, missing only Room. Won
by The Big Short, a remarkably fine job (also, almost unheard
of, I've read the original book by Michael Lewis).
- Foreign Language Film: Saw 0/5.
- Documentary Feature: Saw 0/5.
I'll stop there, since most of the rest was won by Mad Max: Fury
Road. I can sort of see the logic behind Makeup and Hair Styling,
Costume Design, and Film Editing (though I much preferred Carol
in the first two and The Big Short in the latter, just to pick
the first things that popped into my mind). But the two awards for sound
only reinforce my old suspicion that the loudest film wins. By the end
I realized that Mad Max: Fury Road would have been less offensive
(and probably made more sense) had I turned close captioning on and cut
the sound way down.
For context, here's a quick, ranked rundown of 2015 movies we did see:
- The Big Short [A-]
- Bridge of Spies [A-]
- Trumbo [A-]
- Carol [A-]
- The Martian [B+]
- Mr. Holmes [B+]
- Brooklyn [B+]
- Black Mass [B+]
- The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel [B]
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens [B] -- in IMAX
- Mad Max: Fury Road [C+]
As I said, we didn't see much in 2015. We did catch our first 2016
release, Hail Caesar, today: not an especially good film, but it
had more than a few great jokes (and a couple amusing dance numbers)
[B+]. The Revenant is still in local theatres, and there's a
good chance that Spotlight will get another encore. Less likely
that The Hateful Eight will come back, but that's another film
that we meant to see but didn't find time.
On the other hand I've probably watched more television this year than
any time since I was a teenager. While most of it is rather light, I've
gotten to where I prefer the pacing of a serial. Something, perhaps, to
write about at a later date.
Too late for yesterday's political post, but I should note that we can
add Kris Kobach's name to the list of Donald Trump endorsers. Had this
happened a day earlier, I would have slotted his name in the Trump fanclub
list somewhere between David Duke and Ann Coulter. Kobach is Secretary of
State here in Kansas, or as he likes to think of it, the guy in charge of
rigging elections. But he also freelances writing anti-immigrant legislation
for ALEC, most of which has been ruled unconstitutional. A truly repugnant
excuse for a human being.
New records rated this week:
- The 3.5.7 Ensemble: Amongst the Smokestacks and Steeples (2014 [2016], Milk Factory Productions, 2CD): [cd]: B
- Andy Adamson Quartet: A Cry for Peace (2015 [2016], Andros): [cd]: B+(*)
- Melissa Aldana: Back Home (2015 [2016], Wommusic): [cdr]: B+(***)
- Dave Anderson: Blue Innuendo (2015 [2016], Label 1): [cd]: B+(*)
- Annie Girl and the Flight: Bodies (2015, United for Opportunity, EP): [r]: B+(**)
- Dawes: All Your Favorite Bands (2015, Hub): [r]: B-
- Debashish Bhattacharya: Slide Guitar Ragas From Dusk Till Dawn (2015, Riverboat): [r]: B+(***)
- Chaise Lounge: Gin Fizz Fandango (2015 [2016], Modern Songbook): [cd]: B+(***)
- Jonah Considine: Golden Flu (2015, Nein, EP): [r]: B+(*)
- Daveed Diggs: Small Things to a Giant (2012 [2015], Deathbomb Arc): [bc]: A-
- DJ Sandji: 100% Balani Show (2015, Sahel Sounds): [bc]: B+(***)
- Ginkgoa: EP Ginkgoa (2015, self-released, EP): [bc]: B+(**)
- Vijay Iyer/Wadada Leo Smith: A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke (2015 [2016], ECM): [cdr]: B+(**)
- Matt Kane & the Kansas City Generations Sextet: Acknowledgement (2014 [2016], Bounce-Step): [cd]: B
- Knife Pleats: Hat Bark Beach (2015, Jigsaw): [bc]: B+(*)
- Charles Lloyd & the Marvels: I Long to See You (2015 [2016], Blue Note): [r]: B+(**)
- Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord: Bring Their 'A' Game (2015 [2016], Hot Cup, EP): [cdr]: B+(***)
- Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord: Make the Magic Happen (2015 [2016], Hot Cup, EP): [cdr]: B+(***)
- Mark Lyken/Emma Dove: Mirror Lands (2015, Time Released Sound): [r]: B
- Made to Break: Before the Code (2014 [2015], Trost): [r]: B+(***)
- J Mancera: Mancera #5 (2015 [2016], self-released): [cd]: B+(**)
- Will Mason Ensemble: Beams of the Huge Night (2014 [2015], New Amsterdam): [r]: B+(*)
- Gilligan Moss: Ceremonial (2015, EMI, EP): [r]: B+(*)
- Takami Nakamoto: Opacity (2014, HIM Media, EP): [r]: B+(**)
- Angelika Niescier/Florian Weber: NYC Five (2015 [2016], Intakt): [cdr]: B+(***)
- Nonch Harpin': Native Sons (2015 [2016], self-released): [cd]: B-
- Eva Novoa: Butterflies and Zebras by Ditmas Quartet (2015 [2016], Fresh Sound New Talent): [r]: B+(***)
- Oblik: Order Disorder (2014 [2015], Ormo): [bc]: B+(***)
- Alberto Pinton Noi Siamo: Resiliency (2015 [2016], Moserobie): [cd]: A-
- Quantic: The Western Transient: A New Constellation (2015, Tru Thoughts): [r]: B
- Quttinirpaaq: Dead September (2015, Rural Isolation Project): [bc]: C+
- Tribu Baharú: Pa'l Más Exigente Bailador (2015, self-released): [r]: A-
- Twin Talk: Twin Talk (2014 [2016], Ears & Eyes): [cd]: B+(*)
- Wildhoney: Sleep Through It (2015, Deranged): [r]: B+(*)
- Wildhoney: Your Face Sideways (2015, Topshelf, EP): [r]: B+(*)
- Young Thug: Slime Season 2 (2015, self-released): [r]: B+(***)
- Omri Ziegele Noisy Minority: Wrong Is Right (2015 [2016], Intakt): [cdr]: A-
Old music rated this week:
- Eva Novoa: Eva Novoa Trio (2010 [2012], Fresh Sound New Talent): [r]: B+(**)
- Eva Novoa: Eva Novoa Quartet (2010 [2013], Fresh Sound New Talent): [r]: B+(***)
- Horace Parlan: Movin' & Groovin' (1960, Blue Note): [r]: B+(**)
- Horace Parlan: Up & Down (1961 [2009], Blue Note): [r]: B+(***)
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
- David Fiuczynski: Flam! Blam! Pan-Asian MicroJam (Rare Noise): advance, March 25
- Krakauer's Ancestral Groove: Checkpoint (Table Pounding): April 8
- Kirk MacDonald: Symmetry (Addo): March 4
- Hendrik Meurkens: Harmonicus Rex (Height Advantage)
- Larry Young: In Paris: The ORTF Recordings (1964-65, Resonance, 2CD): March 11
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