More On Movies... the return part IV

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

A bunch of blowhard actors play a bunch of blowhard real estate salesmen playing macho status games. I mean if you're in the mood this character study has an impeccable ensemble cast where they inhabit these characters in consummate fashion. Jack Lemon's particularly great. Features peak Kevin Spacey. Not really much of a story though. 

The Apartment (1960)

Black comedy pinnacle. With a view to getting promoted, insurance officer Bud Baxter (Jack Lemon) lends out his apartment to a bunch of senior executives so they may participate in their extramarital affairs. Shenanigans ensue but with grim consequences. Whilst The Apartment is funny and clever it presents a bleak vision of urban modernity and the decline of moral values. Written and directed brilliantly by Billy Wilder and co-scripted by IAL Diamond. Jack Lemon pulls off incredible virtuoso performance along with Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, the stunning set design, the cinematography, the fashions and... 

 

Con Air (1997)

Absurd OTT action nonsense of the highest calibre. An array of miscreants, some of America's most reprehensible criminals, are gathered together on one aeroplane what could go wrong? Well everything. Some of the silliest action fun to ever be seen on a cinema screen. Action heroes used to be somewhat likeable, here though, the film makers poking fun, deliberately want us to cheer on the twerpiest smug fuck US Marshall (John Cussack) and the relatively unappealing Cameron Poe (Nicholas Cage) who is meant to be the movie's hero. Then Garland Greene (Steve Buscemi) the vile evil genius serial killer escapes into the night for a giddy ending, after all it was the 90s.

Great Expectations (1946)

Dickens brought to the screen by the master David Lean. Great set design, costumery, atmosphere, actoring etc. all captured by spectacular cinematography.

This Is England (2006)

With a backdrop of Thatcher, mass unemployment and The Falklands war. A 12 year old working class kid Shaun gets drawn into an older gang who are a loose conglomeration of misfits generally identifying with the skinhead subculture and its adjacent trends of mod, two-tone, oi, new romantic and whatever else. The gang soon becomes divided when Combo is released from prison and appears with his racially divisive views. A tragedy unfolds... it's a credit to the director Shane Meadows that this didn't end up as preachy propaganda. Supreme acting from terrific ensemble and empathetic film making guarantee you are watching some of the best 21st century cinema. 

The Heartbreak Kid (1972) 

A groundbreaking cringe-comedy cult movie written by Neil Simon and directed by Elaine May. Unlikeable characters do unlikeable things in unlikeable black comedy. Surely this can't be as bad as I think it is. Perhaps our appetite for insufferable characters who we'd normally love to hate, has waned because parliament and social media has overloaded us with actual real life living contemptible creatures that we are now at our wits end of tolerance. 

Dead Mans Shoes (2004)

Is this Shane Meadows' masterpiece? A classical depiction of revenge and redemption set in dilapidated and neglected rural England. Week men with no moral integrity commit an atrocity but they will be held accountable for their actions because ultimately they are responsible for them. A peak in early 21st century film making. 

Cinderella Man (2005)

He's Irish, He's a boxer. He's down and out in New York city. It's the great depression. He needs to feed his wife and kids and pay the electric. He gets a second chance for a big fight. He is Russell Crowe and you can't deny he's pretty bloody good at the ole actoring thing... even when it's cheesy shit like this. Also this is just an excellent cinematic boxing spectacle. 

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Garish, lurid, bawdy, over the top and a whole lotta wrong fun. A bit of the old ultra violence, a little of the old in-out in-out and a bit of the old Ludwig Van. Fifty years later with the election in the Uk of a dull un-statesman-like prime-minister, who hates his own fellow Englishmen, A Clockwork Orange remains relevant as a satire on authoritarian governments and bureaucratic control. Every frame is iconic, Malcom McDowell as Alex is iconic and well the whole thing is iconic.

Brief Encounter (1945)

One of the most perfectly realised movies ever. This is so beautifully made you don't even realise it's doing that noir circular flashback, end at the start thing. It's a diabolical romance without being a diabolical romance. Two ordinary middle class people are caught in a moral dilemma as they are unwittingly swept up in a delicious forbidden romance. Great characters wonderfully portrayed by top actors. Can't really fault this understated and charming film, everything's in the right place. 

Rollerball (1975)

Managerial elites from the ruling corporation control every aspect of rollerball (a cross between handball, roller derby and speedway no less) champion Johnathan E's life, sound familiar? This paranoid futuristic dystopian saga with James Caan roller skating is supreme kitch-a-delia of the most turgid variety. Not as much fun as it used to be now we're living the nightmare where ruling corporations like Black Rock have more wealth and influence than most countries and oligarch's are nefariously pulling all sorts of strings that we are powerless to stop. 

The Smiths - Well I Wonder

[1985]

CardrossManiac was a Thirteen year old doing year 8 at high school in 1985 when Smiths albums entered the home. My older brother left behind a vinyl copy of Hatful Of Hollow. Going from INXS, Models, Mentals, Hoodoo Gurus and u2 to The Smiths might not seem like such a big deal but it was massive. Those other bands were mostly fun, good time music or uplifting. The Smiths however dwelt on uncomfortable and dark themes, not always of course, sometimes they were a great laugh and a lot of the time they were dark and comic during the same song. 

I've never thought about this before but I don't reckon I ever played a Smiths tape around my mates and I doubt any of them knew who they were. I mean we're talking Australia in the mid 80s in a dusty isolated country town 500 kms away from Melbourne. This was a long time before national youth network radio JJJ or the even further away internet. This was Chisel territory mate! Acca Dacca and the Oils too. 

It wasn't until a year later that a girl in the schoolyard recognised me singing Frankly, Mr Shankly that I even realised it was possible that others knew about The Smiths. She had older capital city siblings too. Then by 86/87 The Queen Is Dead and Strangeways Here We Come were in local record stores if you knew what you were looking for. Plus telly-wise, by then, it wasn't just Countdown, Beat Box, Rock Arena and Sounds but the all night music video show Rage had begun showing on ABC on Friday and Saturday nights. So we were all becoming a lot more familiar with little known bands. I recall Smiths coverage in music magazines (that were on country newsstands) from 1984 onwards like Australian Smash Hits, Countdown Magazine, Ram and Juke. 

By 1988 when The Smiths had broken up I even recall chicks, I would have considered uncool, with Smiths tapes at school. By this time they had appeared on John Hughes soundtracks and anyone with a vcr and a keen eye on Rock Arena and Rage would have had a compilation of Smiths film clips on a VHS tape.

Anyway for some reason or other I never had a copy of Meat Is Murder until later. I'd listened to my brother's cassette version many times but something about the production gave me the shits. Also the title irked me. How could I abide supporting an album that had a title that went against my own interests ie. meat pies, sausage rolls, roasts, bangers, burgers, Bolognese and chops! Such people are still annoying me to this day, trying to impose their zealous views about meat consumption on the general steak-loving public. All its gonna take is one authoritarian premier or prime minister to say that's all folks. We've already had meat bans at junior football clubs here in Victoria so... Maybe having our meat-rights taken away is when Aussies will actually wake up and finally get off their arses and stand up to the creeping totalitarianism. I'm all for a meat based revolution...

Anyway the above tune has been very underrated by me and possibly you for thirty nine years. It's been a long time since I've read a Smiths book or ultimate Mojo guide magazine so I don't recall if others rated Now I Wonder highly or not. Surely though it's one of their best. These lovelorn lyrics could easily be seen as a bit histrionic but the group approach the song with such incredible sensitivity it's breathtaking. 

The gorgeous drear driving rain stillness bass of Andy Rourke, the perfect precise pressure of Mike Joyce's snare, the array of Johnny guitar greatness, I mean what is he doing exactly, are there strings in there too and Morrissey's voice in an absurd echo-chamber permeates the entire thing. It's a teenage opera of unrequited love with just the right amount of restraint to make it delicious and not dire. 

Well I Wonder is the Smiths at their most understated and tender. 

Great.

We won't be forced to change our viewpoints. 

Blue Oyster Cult: Subhuman

[1974]

So ladies, fish and gentlemen this is a fucking great tune from the excellent Secret Treaties LP. 

The future and the past, the familiar and the uncommon all represent in this sea-breeze-y fluid psychedelia. Mysterious and dark sci-fi subject matter amid some 70s guitar glory. 

A sound sometimes trapped in strange cul-de-sacs then freed into driving flow motion. 

1974: The Records

Chrysalis - Definition

Chrysalis - Lacewing (1968)

Chrysalis are off their rockers on this acid-folk gem. 

Back in the day New York's Chrysalis were ultra obscure, barely even a cult group despite having Zappa connections, only appearing on a couple of 90s bootleg compilations. Definition their one and only LP was just a mythical, impossible to find, "collectors scum" album until it finally got a reissue in the 00s by Rev-ola. It's another one of these almost classic records which is sometimes considered a minor masterpiece in certain quarters. There's no doubt that some of Definition's tunes are great stuff. 

Chrysalis - Father's Getting Old (1968)

The classic radio-friendly heavy psychedelic rock tune of the LP. Coulda been a hit. 

 

Chrysalis - Piece Of Sun (1968)

The great psych trick of making weird music totally accessible delicious pop music. Complete with brass and woodwinds not forgetting some insane bass and psych guitar shenanigans of the highest order. 

Monserrat Figueras/La Capella Reial de Catalunya - El Cant de la Sibil•la I

[1988]

The other contender for greatest medieval Gregorian chant record of all time. This one's a bit more on the pitch black sombre side compared to the previously mentioned Canticles Of Ecstasy from Sequentia which was a lot more on the er... ecstatic tip. The haunting atmosphere here is unbelievably eerie and solemn so I wasn't surprised to learn that the subject matter covered by these ye olde "in foreign" vocals was of an apocalyptic nature. 

El Cant De La Sibil.la (The Song Of Sibyl) has been a Christmas eve favourite in many churches for a thousand years, even getting banned in the sixteenth century.

The captivating lead vocal performance from Montserrat Figueras i García is absolutely sublime. While La Capella Reial De Catalunya's execution of their ominous choral duties and Crawford Young's consummate oud playing perfectly compliment Montserrat, sending the entire endeavour into the transcendent. 

Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, man and true eternal God, from Heaven will come to judge and to everyone will give what is fair.

Great fire from the heaven will come down; seas, fountains and rivers, all will burn. Fish will scream loudly and in horror losing their natural delights.

Before the Judgement the Antichrist will come and will give suffering to everyone,
and will make himself be served like God, and who does not obey he will make die.

His reign will be very short; in these times under his power will die martyrs, all at once. Those two saints, Elijah and Enoch.

The sun will lose its light showing itself dark and veiled, the moon will give no light and the whole world will be sorrow.

To the evil ones he will say very sourly: —Go, damned, into the torment! Go into the eternal fire with your prince of Hell!

To the good he will say: —My children, come! Lucky ones, you possess the kingdom I have kept for you ever since the world was created!

Oh humble Virgin! May you who have given birth to Child Jesus on this night, pray to your son so he will want to keep us from Hell!

The prophesy has been foretold.

The Kinks - Flash's Confession

[1974]

Right, for a start, here's just one tune from Preservation Act 2. How this is not an iconic canonical 70s rock tune is beyond me. So if you're not willing to sit through a double concept album of the rock-opera variety you're just not gonna find it but there are four or five others that are just as great. Really though the entire two record set is a misunderstood quasi minor masterpiece. Some of the tunes might not work out of context but it isn't like they're not accessible or fabulous. You may have to set aside your 60s Kinks expectations but its really not that hard because Ray Davies' genius is on display here too. 

On the instrumental front, Flash's Confession is bizarrely reminiscent of peak 70s Anatolian Psych. This insanely funky wah-wah action is indeed some of Dave Davies' best ever guitar work. Dave is on fire throughout the entire Preservation Act 2. Lyrically it is sung from the point of view of the character Flash who is having a depersonalization experience while he confesses to his evil wrongful ways and awaits his comeuppance. 

"Been a cheat, been a crook
Never gave I always took
Crushed people to acquire
Anything that I desired
Been deceitful and a liar
Now I'm facing Hell Fire
I can't believe that my time has come
For confessing all the evil
And the wrong that I've done
The reckoning's come
And now I'm just a no one
I confess to the timid and the meek
To the cripples and the beggars
And the tramps in the street
I confess my cruelty, my ego and conceit
I've opened up my body and looked inside
And I'm everything that I once despised
I confess for the thieves
The affected and deranged
I confess for the muggers and incurably insane
I confess to the ugly for being so vain
I confess to those I hurt for causing them pain"

A selection of lyrics from Flash's Confession indicating a songwriter who is undeniably on top of his game. 

Hildegard von Bingen - Canticles Of Ecstasy

Missed this cd at the time, only discovering it this year. As far as 90s atmospheric liturgical jams go this is peak heavenly gear. It might just be the best album of 1994. It's some holy Gregorian chant music from the 12th century. This Hildegard bird was certainly touched by the hand of God. Apparently she was the mbv of her era with her ecstatic yet accessible tunes pushing the boundaries of her genre (monophonic chant) to the outer limits. 

This stunning deeply devotional performance by medieval music ensemble Sequentia is notable for its spectacular soaring heavenly voices and ethereal beauty. Husband and wife team Barbara Thornton (chorus master/lead vocalist) and Benjamin Bagby (arranger/instrumentalist) along with a holy chorus of vocalists seem intent on raising the human spirit to levels near to the divine. 

Take this glorious journey and before you know it you will be closer to God and what a splendid place to be. Canticles Of Ecstasy's a mysterious celestial experience that deserves to be celebrated.  

Pavement

Summer Babe (Winter Version) - Pavement (1992)

Before their twerp-iness kicked in, Pavement ruled in 91/92. The perfect anthemic slacker jam for the 19/20 year old I was. Now it's just a nostalgia show for the sad old man I am now. For all their Fall-isms this tune also reminds me of the guitar work on the pop tunes from Bowie's Low (1977), am I right? Holy sonic data representations of remarkable lackadaisical exuberance Batman.

The tunes on Slanted & Enchanted like the Nevermind demos had an airing throughout 1991 on 3PBSFM in Melbourne, where I was, and probably other college and community radio stations throughout the western world, way before getting officially released.

Box Elder - Pavement (1989)

Tunes from the earlier eps would get an airing too. Two things got them noticed outside that pushed them into the limelight, maybe... was it?... Melody Maker's Everette True praising one of their eps then Wedding Present doing a cover of this on a b-side. At this stage Pavement were just Malkmus and Spiral Stairs with contributions and production duties from the one and only Gary Young. Once this classic line-up ended they went shit ie. post-Slanted & Enchanted. 

Box Elder's actually got a clear narrative of someone who's being held back by his girlfriend but he's gonna make a break and he's glad. I guess in the vein of The Byrds I Feel A Whole Lot Better. Pavement really capture the essence of this scenario in one of the great defiant break-up songs. Poignant yet invigorating, incredibly contagious stuff.

From Now On - Pavement (1991)

...er they were Swell Maps fans you know...

Trigger Cut - Pavement (1992)

Cool sounding words with cool sounding guitars is always a winning combination. Not to diminish the strange rhythmic stylings of Gary Young either. The whole thing has that classic low key cardboard pyrotechnical sound. 

I don't know what most of their songs were ever really about due their surreal/cut up/non sequitur style but they just had this air of "jolly to be wasting your youthful days" kinda vibe, which was a chief principle at the time. I guess that's more of a perverted or inverse principle... 

In The Mouth A Desert - Pavement (1992)

I guess this is like a quasi Pixies tribute innit. Somebody once wrote in Mojo that The Pixies were the last original rock band and no truer word has been spoken in that magazine. It isn't quite as rip off-y as Smells Like Teen Spirit or A Good Idea but hat bass-line is straight outa Kim Deal's playbook. Chuck in a bit of quiet/loud and Santiago-isms but then's it's fused with a Slint-esque darkness and a sprinkling Beefheart-esque guitar sounds. There's just enough that's intrinsically Pavement-y to make this all time 90s rock classic all their own.

Peak slacker rock right here folks!