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Author Topic: Merry Music of May 2020  (Read 10057 times)

1SO

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Re: Merry Music of May 2020
« Reply #10 on: May 03, 2020, 08:04:53 PM »

Shine On Harvest Moon (1944)
"I know that you'll protect me,
cause you're so brave and large.
I feel like stepping out tonight,
so how's about it, Sarge?"

"I'm helpless to resist.
This case is now dismissed."


My wife came away from Naughty But Nice thinking Ann Sheridan is the coolest, so with lunch I went with one of her musicals that's been on my Watchlist for years. This is one of those 40s fake biopics about a couple of Broadway stars that are connected to songs that have mostly been forgotten. He wrote the lyrics and she brought the songs to life on stage. Aside from the title track, you would know Jack Norworth (Dennis Morgan) best for "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

I'm used to all the musical numbers for these movies taking place on the stage, so it was a very merry moment when the group is arrested and the booking breaks out into a song. This happens again later on when Jack Carson sings "So Dumb" to his sweetheart (Marie Wilson) "I gaze upon that lovely dome, and realize there's no one home." Robert Shaye plays the same bad guy he always plays and Irene Manning plays the same song-stealing diva she played in Yankee Doodle Dandy, but there's also S.Z. Sakall mangling English. It's feels longer than it is, but the cast shine bright.
RATING: ★ ★ ★ - Okay

Knocked Out Loaded

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Re: Merry Music of May 2020
« Reply #11 on: May 04, 2020, 04:19:37 PM »
Girl Walk: All Day (Jacob Krupnick, 2011)



A girl dances herself through the streets of NYC. The reason why she dances is not totally clear. She may be happy, or else frustrated, for failing to keep up in her dance class. Somehow, she takes it to the streets. There is only so little interaction between her and the persons around her and most people fail to acknowledge her at all. Everyone seems to be minding their own business for the most part. Maybe that's how things go down in the Big Apple an ordinary day? The soundtrack to which she (and a few other dancers) perform is a pretty bland and dismissible mashup of well known chart hits, beats and rap sans attitude. The only thing that filled me with wonder while I watched, was if the dancers were able to hear the music while they performed. From what took place around them it didn't seem that way and if that was the case I need to give the dancers som extra credit.

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Antares

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Re: Merry Music of May 2020
« Reply #12 on: May 04, 2020, 04:40:38 PM »
The soundtrack to which she (and a few other dancers) perform is a pretty bland and dismissible mashup of well known chart hits, beats and rap sans attitude.

The original songs that the rappers sample are great, unfortunately you have to hear the rap crap added to it. Black Sabbath, The Brothers Johnson & The Ramones don't deserve to be diminished so.
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Knocked Out Loaded

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Re: Merry Music of May 2020
« Reply #13 on: May 04, 2020, 04:52:30 PM »
The soundtrack to which she (and a few other dancers) perform is a pretty bland and dismissible mashup of well known chart hits, beats and rap sans attitude.

The original songs that the rappers sample are great, unfortunately you have to hear the rap crap added to it. Black Sabbath, The Brothers Johnson & The Ramones don't deserve to be diminished so.
I have little against most of the songs that they used. What I meant was that the soundtrack as such is a nuisance. I guess that we are on the same team, right?
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Knocked Out Loaded

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Re: Merry Music of May 2020
« Reply #14 on: May 04, 2020, 05:01:28 PM »
Praise You (Spike Jonze, 1999)

https://youtu.be/ruAi4VBoBSM

I had to rinse my system by watching this video a couple of times after having finished the Girl Walk All Day movie. In the process I also stumbled upon two documentaries on this page. :D
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Antares

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Re: Merry Music of May 2020
« Reply #15 on: May 04, 2020, 08:11:47 PM »
The soundtrack to which she (and a few other dancers) perform is a pretty bland and dismissible mashup of well known chart hits, beats and rap sans attitude.

The original songs that the rappers sample are great, unfortunately you have to hear the rap crap added to it. Black Sabbath, The Brothers Johnson & The Ramones don't deserve to be diminished so.
I have little against most of the songs that they used. What I meant was that the soundtrack as such is a nuisance. I guess that we are on the same team, right?

I meant diminished by what the rappers did to their creative work.
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MartinTeller

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Re: Merry Music of May 2020
« Reply #16 on: May 04, 2020, 10:22:54 PM »
Oh boy... I'd better just avoid this one.

Eric/E.T.

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Re: Merry Music of May 2020
« Reply #17 on: May 05, 2020, 04:18:57 AM »
The soundtrack to which she (and a few other dancers) perform is a pretty bland and dismissible mashup of well known chart hits, beats and rap sans attitude.

The original songs that the rappers sample are great, unfortunately you have to hear the rap crap added to it. Black Sabbath, The Brothers Johnson & The Ramones don't deserve to be diminished so.

No one else sees this statement as problematic? Talking about "rap crap", especially in contrast to popular white artists, is a dog whistle I thought was dead and buried.

Overlooked MT's response when I posted this, apologies. Sometimes I miss shorter responses at the ends of posts for whatever reason.
« Last Edit: May 05, 2020, 05:33:22 AM by etdoesgood »
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Eric/E.T.

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Re: Merry Music of May 2020
« Reply #18 on: May 05, 2020, 05:24:52 AM »
Other Music (2020)

Latter sections here go through the artists in the film. No spoilers, not like the film can really be spoiled, but if you want to go into it without a ton of background on the music covered, maybe skip it and come back later.

Other Music is available now for virtual screening. I screened it in support of Phoenix FilmBar. Click here for more information about virtual screening and who you might be able to support.

This is a film about the life and death of a NYC record store that was an institution for music off the beaten path from 1995 to 2016, including the indie and esoteric acts that bubbled up in the 90's, 00's, and continue to evolve and change to this day. It's a subject that is incredibly close to my heart, as someone whose musical consciousness was formed by the stuff they pedaled and even music artists that worked there, including Animal Collective's Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) and Avey Tare (David Portner) and Anti-pop Consortium's lead rapper, Beans. But even as a documentary, this excels, expertly telling the store's story through archival footage of its inception, in-store concerts, interactions between employees and customers, and interviews of employees and admirers (Jason Schwartzman gets a fairly prominent role!), both in-store and away. As we watch the goodbye concert at the Bowery Ballroom, we even get some interesting views of how we can continue to connect with important music, both in-person and online, especially from singer-songwriter Regina Spektor, who is super insightful as a guest interview throughout. Even as this is about the shuttering of a record store, it comes off as much as a celebration of its life than a mourning of its death, which is important to me as I still feel great music as they would be pedaling today still lives on. But damn, it's nice when you have someone who breathes this stuff 24/7 to recommend it to you.

A tremendous highlight of this film is the portion on 9/11 and the William Basinski album "The Disintegration Loops". If you don't know the story, and you are a music-lover, the portion of the making of that album is worth the price of admission. I'd also recommend listening to the album just once in your life with headphones and even just a passable listening situation (really, just on anything, but with lossless audio, not mp3, AAC or whatever), but only after reading up on what it's about (or seeing Other Music).

This film is a definite reminder to me that I need to hit more shows and just get into groups of people who are into music, rejoin the scene. It also reminds me to go to Stinkweeds, a Phoenix independent record shop, more often. Zia shall endure, but Stinkweeds is really our special something in The Valley. I've never gotten deep into vinyl, but CDs are still fairly relevant and most new music - at least the new music I listen to - gets released on CD. Even if CDs die, we'll have the shows. The shows better never die.

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If you aren't as up on the music covered in Other Music, watch the documentary and jump into a few albums from the artists you see there. Talk about wheelhouses, this era of music + 90's and 00's hip-hop IS my musical wheelhouse. Some album recs on music/musicians featured in the film (Band first, then some albums; if no albums listed, I probably don't have a favorite, but still like the artist):

Animal Collective: Sung Tongs, Post Merriweather Pavillion
Anti-pop Consortium/Beans
Belle & Sebastian: If You're Feeling Sinister (Other Music's #1 selling album of all time), Push Barman to Open Old Wounds
Connor Oberst: I'm Wide Awake It's Morning (as Bright Eyes)
Interpol: Turn on the Bright Lights, Antics
The Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs
The National: Alligator, Boxer, Sleep Well Beast (basically everything)
Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (my #1 album of all-time)
Regina Spektor
Sharon Van Etten
St. Vincent
TV On The Radio: Young Liars, Return to Cookie Mountain, Dear Science
Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City
William Basinski: The Disintegration Loops
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Fever to Tell
Yo La Tengo: I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One, And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out

This doesn't cover everything, but a lot.

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The following is a word-for-word quote from Matt Berninger of The National on the shop. Didn't want to mute all the verbal pauses and such. I know there are people despise what they perceive as record store elitism, but I am a proponent of elitism in all walks of life. We need to separate the high-quality from the mediocre and the dogshit. If we don't do that, none of it matters. In that spirit, I offer this quote:

Other music symbolized something which I think is really important, which is just keeping the bar on everything high enough. If your bar on art is high, then your bar on kindness is high, or something like that. And like, when art gets dumber, when movies get dumber, when TV gets dumber, I think we all get meaner and dumber and shittier. You should celebrate stuff that is better than the average,  you know. They just made sure they weren't just selling the average stuff.
« Last Edit: May 05, 2020, 05:42:40 AM by etdoesgood »
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Knocked Out Loaded

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Re: Merry Music of May 2020
« Reply #19 on: May 05, 2020, 06:17:12 AM »
The soundtrack to which she (and a few other dancers) perform is a pretty bland and dismissible mashup of well known chart hits, beats and rap sans attitude.

The original songs that the rappers sample are great, unfortunately you have to hear the rap crap added to it. Black Sabbath, The Brothers Johnson & The Ramones don't deserve to be diminished so.

No one else sees this statement as problematic? Talking about "rap crap", especially in contrast to popular white artists, is a dog whistle I thought was dead and buried.
I am certain I would have enjoyed the movie better if it had used proper rap music like N.Y. State Of Mind by Nas or something similar.
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