Okay, so this past weekend's promised update didn't happen. What's new? However, I'm still working on it, so hopefully it will be posted this week.



MP3 Bunky - "Chuy"
Track five continues the pop vibe with this gooey twee-yet-rocking song from San Diego-based boy/girl duo Bunky. Brooklyn Vegan & others pointed me their way, and I posted about Bunky myself back in April, which sadly coincided with the death of comedian Mitch Hedberg (check out Wikiquote for an extensive list of Hedbergisms). Their debut album, Born To Be A Motorcycle, was released on Sufjan Stevens' label Asthmatic Kitty in early March & got some blog buzz during the spring. It's a fun-yet-odd indie pop record, and "Chuy" is both its tightest & best track IMO. I think it fits well.



BTW: I just adore Emily Joyce's squeaky voice (she's the one on the right).



MP3 The New Pornographers - "The Bleeding Heart Show"
The non-stop power pop extravaganza of Electric Version, the sophomore album from Canadian supergroup the New Pornographers, was my most listened to & favorite album of 2003. So naturally, I was looking forward to their follow-up (to say the least). When I first heard the leaked Twin Cinema, I was kinda disappointed. I recall feeling a bit perplexed upon my first listen, with Carl Newman & company taking a more "mature" approach to the album's songwriting (a rationalization IMO). But Twin Cinema is a grower, and by the time I picked up the actual disc in August it had won me over. Perhaps my initial hesitation was due to the album's rather weak start, with beginning with the mediocre MP3 title track and slowing things down considerably on the so-so Neko ballad "Bones of an Idol", leaving me fairly underwhelmed by the time track three MP3 "Use It" finally picks up the pace. Since their previous albums lead-off with such powerhouse songs, I must have been thrown for a loop. But the more I listened to the rest of Twin Cinema - especially this grand sweeping track - the more I warmed up to it. "The Bleeding Heart Show" may be the best song New Porn has ever done, which is quite a statement given their catalog. It begins slowly, unlike most of their songs, but picks up speed & proceeds to build & build until it reaches its anthemic, Neko-fueled coda that ends in pure pop bliss.

New Porn were supposed to play Mpls in October, but had to cancel their tour-closing (IIRC) show at First Avenue due to bandmember illness. Of course this extra-sucked because New Porn's "other" songwriter Dan Bejar & his band Destroyer was touring with the band as well, which he usually does not. Supposedly the show will be rescheduled sometime next spring.

Urgh.

Mp3's above courtesy Matador. And look, they have a MySpace. Wahoo.



DISC ONE
Track 01: The Constantines - "Draw Us Lines"
Track 02: Spoon - "The Beast & Dragon, Adored"
Track 03: The Russian Futurists - "Our Pen's Out of Ink"
Track 04: Broken Social Scene - "7/4 (Shoreline)"



I meant to finish this post much earlier today, so now I'm writing after-the-fact of Arrested Development's return tonite, as TV's best comedy begins its final run of episodes before the f**kers over at Fox shut production down for good. Back from its November sweeps hiatus, tonite's AD was the fifth & final appearance by Oscar-winner Charlize Theron, who had kind of a rough weekend with the poorly-received film adaptation of Aeon Flux not faring all that well at the box office. IMO she fared much better on AD, as what had been a mediocre plotline came together rather nicely as Theron's character Rita was finally able to break out & perform, since the fairly obvious "revelation" of her mental handicap was finally made explicit. The funniest line of the nite came at the very end, when G.O.B. set Tobias' debilitating hairplugs on fire ("My hair! My beautiful hair!") and was unable to put it out in the pool due to G.O.B.'s walk-on-water "illusion" ("Dear god! Why I am not going underwater!") - pretty much all of which happened off-camera. I was on the floor, laughing my ass off. Damn, I'm gonna miss this show.

BTW: As I noted above, Jason Bateman's character Michael Bluth has spent quality time with a slew of hotties, but of course manages to screw it up each time. Can Michael find himself a woman with so little time left? Will she be a looker? These are the questions America wants answered, c'mon!

This entry was posted by mr gilbert at 12/05/2005 11:45:00 PM.