March 2010

Jimi Hendrix’ three proper studio albums were three of my favorite records in high school. They remain so today, strong as ever, because I have a brain. So when Legacy decided to reissue said albums with a bright new mastering job and accompanying DVDs, I was sold. Just like the recent Beatles reissues, these discs were a no-brainer must have. When I got to the record store I saw the three familiar beauties lined up, shining bright, next noticing a fourth reissue, titled First Rays of the New Rising Sun. I’d seen this disc before, many times, but always figured it was a hits or live collection or something. Hendrix, when alive, was known to be a man of taste with notably great album art … but damn, Rays, released posthumously, is a very unsightly looking album. But, considering that Legacy decided to reissue it over Hendrix Blues or Band of Gypsys, I figured I needed to do some research on the ugly. 

Sure enough, Rays wasn’t the budget-priced, truck-stop-ready release I’d written it off as. Not even close. Instead, I learned that it’s actually an almost proper fourth studio record - the album he was finishing when he passed in September of 1970, held aside until 1997, at which time it was compiled by Hendrix historians to the best of their ability. Now knowing this, I sped off to the store, bought it immediately and devoted what had to be at least a solid week to the very long, sometimes frustrating album.

And, sure, maybe most Hendrix fans already know about this hideous gem, but I didn’t, and I suspect many don’t ... [Continued]

Written by G. William Locke

ALBUM REVIEW: DREAMIN' MAN

March 30, 2010

I love all those dudes. Dylan, Waits, Wainwright, Drake, Cohen, Parsons, Springsteen, Buckley, Newman, Morrison, Stills, Stevens, Donovan, Thompson, Nilsson, Simon, Prine - all those folk-infected 60s- and 70s-era songwriters. Townes Van Zandt is my king and I even quite like early records from James Taylor and Jimmy Buffett. But, of all those huge, influential talents, one has always stood head and shoulders above the rest for me. He’s the man I go to in my darkest hour, when I’m broke, fired, failed, dumped, ugly and hopeless. He’s Neil Percival Young, and the sweet vulnerability and sincerity of his voice and writing has, more times than I care to admit, been my saving grace. My brother. My dad. My best friend. 

And so I’ve long made a point to try to buy all his albums. This was never a problem until recently. In the past four or so years, since starting his Neil Young Archives Performance Series, I’ve had to cut back, as the man has just been releasing far too many discs for my wallet to handle. Just last year, for example, he released an epically expensive box set that I’ll never be able to afford. He’s been releasing at least one archival live album per year and only months ago reissued his first four studio albums (which, by the way, are worth the investment). All this while still releasing a new studio album ever 18 or so months. I love ya, Neil, but damn, how many generations of kin do you hope to spoil?

So when I first saw Dreamin’ Man: Live ‘92 in stores I wasn’t surprised  ... [Continued]

Written by G. William Locke

SCREENTIME: TRIPLE FEATURE FAILURE

March 29, 2010

Tops at the Box: That Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland was once again the No. 1 film at the box last weekend, bringing in another $34.5 million, tells us much about the Spring 2010 film season. While most studios use this post-awards/pre-blockbuster season time of to dump the projects they we’re least happy with, some studios keep a promising film or two aside to suck up as much money as possible. This year we get Alice, a stellar enough children’s crossover film that’s already made over $565 million across the world. Needless to say, the competition hasn’t been too strong. Coming in at No. 2 last weekend was Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which brought in about $22 million over its first three days. Last weekend’s No. 3 film, The Bounty Hunter, a date night comedy crapper, brought in about $21 million. Films No. 4 and No. 5? Meh, who cares. Hang on, things will get better soon.  

Out this Week: Dreamworks’ animated feature, How to Train Your Dragon, could actually make some decent bread for a few weeks. Not only is it in 3D (very hot right now), but it’s voiced by It-Boy Jay Baruchel, It-Man Gerard Butler, It-Nerd America Ferrera, Kristen Wiig, McLovin and the hilarious Jonah Hill. It’s also somehow scoring very stellar reviews thus far. The new film this week that we’re most intrigued by is Hot Tub Time Machine, staring John Cusack, Crispin Glover, Chevy Chase and the always awesome Craig Robinson. If you’ve not yet heard the premise of the film, it’s about four dudes, all bored with their adult lives, who travel back to their 80s glory years. How do they do that, you ask? Word is that all you have to do is dump a few cans of Red Bull into a bubbling hot tub. Early reports are that this is a new camp classic, but we’re not quite sold. Stay tuned.

New to Home Video: Plenty of great releases this week, starting with the DVD and Blu-ray release of Wes Anderson’s excellent stop-motion classic, Fantastic Mr. Fox and season three of the very good “Mad Men” series. Also out: The Blind Side; The Men Who Stare at Goats; reissues of the first two Toy Story film; Jim Sheridan’s Brothers; Jet Li’s Red Cliff; a Blu-ray two-fer issue of Akira Kurosawa’s excellent Yojimbo and Sanjuro films; and, most importantly, the long awaited Blu-ray transfer of Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven. Why, you ask, does ScreenTime keep making a stink about Days of Heaven? As far as cinematography goes, we consider it to be one of the very best – if not the very best – films we’ve seen. Also, the fine folks at the Criterion Castle have been very excited about this release, claiming that this is the best the film has looked since the first print was made in 1978.

Triple Feature: Before writing this week’s column, we at the ScreenTime offices sat down and watched three consecutive films. All three films were released in 2009 and, at some time or another, something of a hot item in the press. We began ... [Continued]

Written by G. William Locke

SCREENTIME: NEVER MIND THE BULLOCK

March 28, 2010

While living in Seattle I found the whole “grunge” image the city gets to be – to the city’s residents, at least – a thing of the past. Sure, there’s still much love for Pearl Jam and all those other early-90s era flannel-clad rockers, but the focus has shifted. Obviously, people who live in the Pacific Northwest – and pretty much everywhere in the U.S. – love Seattle folkers The Fleet Foxes. Seattleites love a duo called The Dutchess and the Duke, too. But I found another band, The Cave Singers, to be the most universally loved band by locals. Kind of shocked me, honestly, as the Singers are still a very young, very modest band.  

Welcome Joy, the band’s second record in less than two years, is some seriously pensive stuff. Many of the songs fall from the speakers gently, arriving almost as less lyrical b-sides from Townes Van Zandt classics like High, Low and in Between and The Late Great Townes Van Zandt. Never a bad thing to be compared to Townes. The 10 songs on this short record are all fairly modest and warm, never going out of their way to be hip or weird or genre-bending. They’re songs, nothing more. Lean and to-the-point, just like any old school dusty country classic.

Singer Peter Quirk’s vocals often quiver and shake, holding the rambling songs together with a songwriter mumble not heard much since the late 60s. There’s a real authenticity in his voice that ranks the young singer alongside other current throwbacks like J.T. Earle and Will Oldham. Quirk’s vocals exude a hippie vibe at times, the delivery feeling almost religious in nature ... [Continued]

Written by G. William Locke

SCREENTIME: CONTINUTES TO COMPLAIN

March 25, 2010

I thought Clem Snide was over. Everyone thought Clem Snide was over. Then they returned last year with a new record, Hungry Bird, which was actually recorded years earlier. The album, notably more mellow and less accessible than the band’s past work, wasn’t exactly the perfect comeback record. The band seventh proper record, the just released The Meat of Life, however, is a great comeback record. It reminds of the band’s glory days, even hitting some new highs in the deep Snide catalog.  

Sure, the Pitchforks out there aren’t going to like Meat. Those sorts of media outlets (and I suppose most of these new blog sites) want everything to be new and radical and groundbreaking. Simply doing what you do at the top of your game doesn’t matter any more, not to this Internet generation of Wikipedia-obsessed college sophomore journalists who know everything but history. That there has never been anyone quite like Snide frontman Eef Barzelay in the history of rock doesn’t matter any more. That Barzelay is working at the top of his game again, however, does matter – to fans, that is. Simply put, Meat is the best batch of new Barzelay songs since the third Snide record, the untouchable The Ghost of Fashion, even registering as maybe their most consistent and approachable record yet.

Opener “Wal-Mart Parking Lot” is an instant hoot, opening with the kind of memorable lyric only Barzelay would come up with: “Punched in the heart, in the throat , in the knee cap too / That’s how it felt when you told me we were through / So I drove all night until I found that spot / Sunrise in a Wal-Mart parking lot ... [Continued]

Written by G. William Locke

SCREENTIME: TALKING SMACK (AGAIN)

March 23, 2010

We love you and will play your records forever. Thank you for everything you gave us. You lived a great life and inspired a generation. In fact, if we even tried to type out the names of the bands we love who took a large chunk of their shtick from you, we'd be up all night. We'd be up all month.The Replacements, for sure, are indebted to you. You worked with them and they even wrote a tribute to you. Yo La Tengo, absolutely. They covered you early on and still cover you today, over 20 years after their debut. Teenage Fanclub, more than anyone. Teenage Fucking Fanclub. Everytime I hear their great, great song, "December," from their great, great record, Bandwagonesque, I think of Big Star. Without Alex Chilton there would be no Bandwagonesque ... no Teenage Fanclub. And without Teenage Fanclub there wouldn't be a website like this one. There wouldn't be modern indie rock.You did damn well while you were around. We're so sad to see you go so young. Thank you again for making the most of your time and talent, you were a beautiful artist.Posted by G. William Locke