by Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings (2010)

I am indebted to friend Mike for introducing me to Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and loaning me their latest, fantastic album I Learned the Hard Way. Jones, who was working as a corrections officer at Rikers before making a huge mid-life break into a singing career a decade ago, embodies the soul of classic soul music. Every song on the album is a gem and sounds timeless due to the band’s dislike for modern recording equipment and methods.

They’re more than a novelty act though, the songs are instantly catchy and memorable and I can’t wait to explore their other releases.

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Posted on April 25, 2010

directed by Julian Jarrold, James Marsh, Anand Tucker

Film critic David Thomson brazenly proclaimed The Red Riding Trilogy (three films directed by three different filmmakers) to be “a tragic achievement that surpasses that of ‘The Godfather'”. While I can’t quite agree with Thomson’s assertion, I’m thrilled his hyperbole has sparked so much international interest in the three films (now playing at IFC theater on 6th Avenue and On Demand) and the four David Peace novels on which they are based (the first of which I recommended a few weeks back), no matter how flawed the films themselves are.

The trilogy, which chronicles a decade of brutality (though the screen adaptation is not nearly as brutal as the book), anti-hero protagonists, sickening police corruption, torture, murder, and – not one but two – serial killers stalking the north of England, is a grim one. It’s rife with cliches while strangely remaining almost surreally confounding… After watching all three films (and I strongly believe you have to watch all three to absorb the complete feel of the work), I was both intrigued – though always kept at an arm’s length – and somewhat unsatisfied.

I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about the experience which was at times rather demanding (in no small part due to to its splintered narrative, thick northern accents and relentless violence) while at the same time almost laughably trite in its chronic overuse of rote serial-killer-drama conventions. I say ‘almost’ because in the piss soaked, knuckle-beaten, nuclear power plant dotted landscape of the films, there is no room for laughter, or even a smile. The “heroes” are almost as corrupted as the villains and the only ray of decency shines from the films’ pathetic victims and few female characters played with heartbreaking humanity by the lovely Rebecca Hall (as a grief stricken mother) and Maxine Peak (as a decent detective amongst wolves).

It’s certainly not perfect and it’s anything but pretty (although there is some lyricism to the cinematography, particularly the first installment shot on 16mm) but it’s definitely worth a look. By the way, reading the books won’t entirely spoil anything – the film adaptations vary drastically at times and even omit the second book (1978) of Peace’s tetralogy completely.

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Posted on February 14, 2010

by General Larry Platt (2010)

I don’t watch American Idol, I don’t listen to top 40 radio and, quite frankly, I’m kind of obnoxiously snide about both. But just the other day the stars aligned while I sat in a car and the remix of this Idol sensation was playing. It’s far more than a mere joke though, at least in my mind. First of all the singer, General Larry Platt is a respected civil rights activist who marched with Martin Luther King Jr, second of all he may just be the next Biz Markie.

Idol might churn out the kind of pop I’m anything but a fan of, but I think Pants on the Ground could be (after who knows how many seasons of ratings domination) the best thing to come out of Simon Cowell’s muzak machine.

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Posted on January 17, 2010